the gender studies syllabus
a collection of texts for those looking to delve deeper into gender studies
this is not a real syllabus, obviously, in that there’s no class around which it’s organized, no specific teaching goal, and only a broad unifying theme. however, i’ve received questions from a few people asking for recommendations about where to begin with gender studies, and i figured it couldn’t hurt to compile some texts i have saved1 and try to give them some semblance of order for those looking for a bit of guidance.
reading level key: a star* denotes a more challenging text that may take more time or context to understand
foundations: how do we think about sex, gender, and sexuality?
when getting started with gender studies, it’s important to spend some time thinking + developing your own perspective on gender, sex, and sexuality. this is the foundation with which you will approach the entire field—your perspective might change as you learn (mine certainly did!), but it’s still important to begin with asking yourself: what exactly is gender?
performative acts and gender constitution - judith butler (1988)* [article]
the logic of gender - the anarchist library (2013)* [article]
gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity - judith butler (2006, first published in 1990)* [book]2
trans liberation: beyond pink or blue - leslie feinberg (1998) [book]
the invention of heterosexuality - jonathan ned katz (1990) [article] [book version here]
the five sexes, revisited - anne fausto-sterling (2000) [article]
foundations: introductions to feminism
a selection of texts that provide broader background + serve as a good jumping-off point for learning about feminism + feminist movements
oppression - marilyn frye (1983) [essay]
feminism is for everybody: passionate politics - bell hooks (2000) [book]
sister outsider: essays and speeches - audre lorde (1984) [book]
women, race & class - angela y. davis (1981) [book]
borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza - gloria anzaldúa (1987) [book]
sites of conflict within feminism
texts that deal with important places of friction within feminist movements - i think rather than beginning with the history of mainstream/white feminism and then later learning about the issues that arose from those movements, it’s better to begin by understanding the areas where feminism has or continues to fall short, so that you can remain conscious as you navigate the field
the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house - audre lorde (1984) [speech]
bitch on wheels - sylvia rivera (2001) [speech]
the uses of anger: women responding to racism - audre lorde (1981) [speech]
whose feminism is it anyway? the unspoken racism of the trans inclusion debate - emi koyama (2000) [essay]
cultural feminism: feminist capitalism and the anti-pornography movement - alice echols (1983) [article]
a question of class - dorothy allison [essay]
fighting fascism in feminism - chanelle gallant (2023) [article]
more trans perspectives: building foundations for thinking about gender
various texts by trans scholars + writers dealing specifically with trans experiences + trans perspectives
transgender warrior: interview with leslie feinberg - lynden kelly (1996) [interview]
whipping girl: a transsexual woman on sexism and the scapegoating of femininity - julia serano (2007) [book]
on liking women - andrea long chu (2018) [essay]
the pink - andrea long chu (2019) [essay]
females - andrea long chu (2019)* [book]
nonbinary: memoirs of gender and identity - ed. micah rajunov and scott duane (2019) [book]
is transsexualism chronic? - cassius adair (2022) [article]3
you’ve heard of ritalin, now what if i told you governments make bodies into crime scenes for no reason at all - ray filar (2020) [poem/essay]
against policing (ourselves and each other)
do not fall prey to the trap of carceral feminism!!!
are prisons obsolete? - angela y. davis (2003) [book]
playing the whore: the work of sex work - melissa gira grant (2014) [book]
west elm caleb and the feminist panopticon - rayne fisher-quann (2022) [essay]
violence, visibility, and victimhood - charlie squire (2023) [essay]
bodies, sex, and pain
this grouping deals broadly with things like sex, rape culture, and reproduction
screw consent: a better politics of sexual justice - joseph j. fischel (2019)* [book]
on sexuality as work - silvia federici (1975) [essay]
texts after terror: rape, sexual violence, and the hebrew bible - rhiannon graybill (2021) [book]
they don’t even know they are tops and bottoms: compulsory heteronormativity and consent - clementine morrigan (2023) [essay]
the pain gap: on dating, maturity & the benign psychohorror of womanhood - rayne fisher-quann (2021) [essay]
regretting motherhood: a study - orna donath (2017) [book]
introductions to queer theory
queer theory underlies much of my own perspective on gender studies, but it does not always mesh with mainstream feminism (in fact, oftentimes the fields find themselves in conflict).
what does queer theory teach us about x? - lauren berlant and michael warner (1995) [article]
queers read this - anonymous author (1990) [essay]
punks, bulldaggers, and welfare queens: the radical potential of queer politics? - cathy j. cohen (2005) [article]
unstating desire - lee edelman (1995) [essay]
no future: queer theory and the death drive - lee edelman (2004)* [book]4
a cyborg manifesto: science, technology, and socialist-feminism in the late twentieth century - donna j. haraway (2016)* [article]
pop culture grab-bag
a mix of readings focused broadly on media + pop culture
who’s afraid of amber heard? abuse, aesthetics, and assigning deviance to difficult women - rayne fisher-quann (2022) [essay]
standing on the shoulders of complex female characters - rayne fisher-quann (2022) [essay]
contending with the buzzfeed bildungsroman: internet libertarian feminism, economic policy, the teenage girl - charlie squire (2022) [essay]
essays against publishing - jamie berrout (2020) [book]
the making of a millenial woman - rebecca liu (2019) [article]
girls who like boys who like boys: women and gay male pornography and erotica - lucy neville (2018) [book]
the year pop’s men dismantled their masculinity - lindsay zoladz (2022) [article]
love songs of a dirtbag - ann powers (2022) [article]
men, women, and chainsaws: gender in the modern horror film - carol j. clover (2015, originall published in 1992) [book]
the werewolf as queer, the queer as werewolf, and queer werewolves - phillip a. bernhardt-house (2008) [article]
zombies and sexuality: essays on desire and the living dead - ed. shaka mcglotten and steven jones (2014)* [book]
please note: my inclusion of a text on this list does not mean that i personally agree with 100% of everything the text is saying. in fact, not all of these texts are in agreement with each other; they are not meant to be uncritically absorbed!
i recommend reading the preface(s), ch 1, and the conclusion if you just want the meat of the book
for any texts that i can’t easily link to - i’m happy to email a pdf copy to anyone who asks!
you can read the whole book, of course, but for those who are just wanting the tldr — read the first chapter, ‘the future is kid stuff’