Gender & Body Politics in Latin America

This course addresses gender and sexuality in Latin America from the late 19th century until today. Using a wide range of visual, audio, and scholarly sources students will explore different topics within gender studies, placing special emphasis on the construction of sexual identities in modern Latin America. After an initial theoretical introduction and overview of sexual and gender politics in scholarly literature, the course will focus specifically on how these issues have been expressed, contested, and debated in the region.

The course is divided in four parts. Unit I focuses on gender roles in colonial Latin America, and the construction of a patriarchal society that followed European patterns. Unit II addresses the expanding role of women in the sciences and in the arts during the 20th century, the evolution of female political rights and the rise of feminist militancy.

Unit III explores the rise of a youth culture and the multiple constructions around sexuality that marked the dictatorships during this turbulent period in Latin America. Unit IV looks at the return of democracy and the new social movements of the late 20th century, focusing on the politicization of gender and the body, and the emergence of a new activism that has helped to express and shape novel sexualities and identities.

*Course is Cross listed with GEN331EZE
**Course was previously named Sex and the City: Gender & Body Politics in Buenos Aires