Gender is a social status usually based on notions of femininity or masculinity. People can be women or girls, boys or men, or gender variant (e.g., transgendered, genderqueer). Sociologists often make a distinction between (biological) sex and social gender although the way we understand sex is itself partly a product of beliefs about gender. Sociologists are increasingly concerned with multiple gender variations and their intersections with inequalities of race, ethnicity, economic class, and sexuality. The sociology of gender encompasses a wide range of topics such as violence, feminist theory, transgender studies, and gendered patterns of inequality in areas like work or education.

The following courses focus on or are related to the study of gender:

• SOCI 215
• SOCI 304
• SOCI 305A
• SOCI 381
• SOCI 382
• SOCI 388
• SOCI 465

Some examples of research opportunities in the area of gender include:

• Men and masculinities
• Gender and technology
• Gender and social theory
• Gender and the environment
• Gender and food
• Gender and mothering
• Women, gender and citizenship
• Women’s health
• Transgender studies
• Gender and work

Click for details about our gender research activities

Click to contact Dr. Steve Garlick

Sexuality is ordinarily thought of as a kind of identity or orientation that someone has. Engaging in 'sex' is often presumed to be an activity that follows naturally from one's sexual identity. Sociological approaches to sex and sexuality focus on how sexual conduct is shaped by historical, political, and social forces. In sociology, we think of sexuality not as something that a person has but instead as the ways that erotic and intimate relations are organized and classified according to socially constructed categories (e.g. ‘gay’ versus ‘straight’). Sociologists of sex and sexuality are thus critical of claims about transcultural and transhistorical biological differences and sex roles between men and women.

The following courses focus on or are related to the study of sexuality:

• SOCI 304
• SOCI 305A
• SOCI 305B
• SOCI 320
• SOCI 381
• SOCI 481

Some examples of research opportunities in the area of sexuality include:

• Sex Work
• Stigma and Sex
• Sex, Sexuality, and the Body
• Pornography
• Sexuality and Social Theory
• Sexuality and Self-identity
• Sexuality and the Law
• Sex and Regulation
• Intimacy, Emotions, and Sex

Click for details about our sexuality research activities

Click to contact Dr. Steve Garlick