SOCI3012
Gender and society
Offer semester
Lecture time
Lecture venue
Credits awarded
1st semester
6
Gender organizes our everyday life. The way we dress, speak, go to school or work, express care for others, and are subjected to harm are all influenced by gender structures. Big life decisions such as moving to another country or choosing a romantic partner may also come under scrutiny by the community and the state based on gender-related assumptions.
This course invites students to critically engage with the concept of gender as a social and cultural construction that shapes power relations and social practices. We will examine how gender intersects with other identities such as race, class, sexuality, and ability, and how gender stereotypes constrain the lives of persons of all genders. We will explore how institutions such as the family, media, education, healthcare and the workplace both produce and reinforce gender norms. The course will also spotlight gender in relation to social and embodied phenomena, including dating, transgender identities, sexuality, menstruation, and violence.
The course consists of weekly lectures and tutorials. Lectures will cover key theories, concepts, and ideas from each theme through assigned readings and other media. In tutorials, we will dig deeper into one specialized topic within the main theme of the week, based on a separately assigned reading.
1. Understand and explain key sociological ideas used to study gender, including:
How gender is socially constructed and reproduced;
How gender is hierarchically ordered and connected to systems of power;
How individuals can both internalize gender norms and actively create gender identities.
2. Analyze and critically evaluate theoretical and empirical debates concerning key topics.
3. Applygender theories to interpret and critique real-life events, institutions, and practices.
4. Reflect on and synthesize course content in order to develop informed viewpoints and carry out research projects
Tasks
Weighting
Tutorial participation
10%
Tutorial presentation and facilitation
10%
In-class quiz
20%
Magazine article
30%
Reflective essay
30%
Blum, R. W., Mmari, K., & Moreau, C. (2017). It Begins at 10: How Gender Expectations Shape Early Adolescence Around the World. Journal of Adolescent Health, 61, S3–S4.
Chan, R. C. H., Suen, Y. T., & Leung, J. S. Y. (2024). Gender Identity Differences in the Experiences of Family Stressors and Violence Among Transgender and Non-Binary Individuals in China. Family Process, 63(2), 1046–1067.
Chu, C. S. K. (2018). Why Do Girls Engage in CD? In Compensated Dating: Buying and Selling Sex in Cyberspace (pp. 127–151). Springer.
Davies, S. G. (2007). This Thing Called Gender. In Challenging Gender Norms: Five Genders Among Bugis in Indonesia (pp. 15–29). Thomson Wadsworth.
Harris, A., & Bartlow, S. (2015). Intersectionality: Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Class. In J. DeLamater & R. F. Plante (Eds.), Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities (pp. 261–271). Springer.
Hilte, L. (2025). The Science Behind BDSM: Sadomasochism, Consent, and Psychology. Stroom - University of Antwerp. [Magazine article]
Jackson, G. (2021). ‘Ripe for Disruption’: Why Medical Science Must Improve Its Knowledge of Women. In Pain and Prejudice: How the Medical System Ignores Women—And What We Can Do About It (pp. 295–320). Greystone Books.
Katz, J. (2015). Engaging Men in Prevention of Violence Against Women. In H. Johnson, B. Fisher, & V. Jaquier (Eds.), Critical Issues on Violence Against Women: International Perspectives and Promising Strategies(pp. 234–243). Routledge.
Lai, F. Y. (2020). Gender and Sexuality in the Migrant Community. In Maid to Queer: Asian Labor Migration and Female Same-Sex Desires (pp. 38–77). Hong Kong University Press.
Leung, L. (2017). Intersectional Challenges: Marginalization of Ethnic Minority Sexual Assault Survivors in Hong Kong. Affilia, 32(2), 217–229.
Levitt, R. B., & Barnack-Tavlaris, J. L. (2020). Addressing Menstruation in the Workplace: The Menstrual Leave Debate. In C. Bobel, I. T. Winkler, B. Fahs, K. A. Hasson, E. A. Kissling, & T.-A. Roberts (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies (pp. 561–575). Springer.
McKeever, N. (2025). Is Sex Work Inherently Gendered? Hypatia, 1–20.
Richardson, D., & Robinson, V. (2020). Introducing Gender and Women’s Studies (Fifth edition). Red Globe Press. [Selected chapters]
Tarplin, O. (2015). Feminist Porn: Shifting Our Sexual Culture. TEDxJerseyCity. [Video recording]
Butler, J. (1990). Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire. In Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (pp. 1-34). Routledge.
Crenshaw, K. W. (1994). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color. In The Public Nature of Private Violence (pp. 93–118). Routledge.
He-Yin, Z. (2013 [1907]). The Feminist Manifesto. In L. H. Liu, R. E. Karl, & D. Ko (Eds.), The Birth of Chinese Feminism : Essential Texts in Transnational Theory (pp. 179-184). Columbia University Press.
Li, J. C. M. (2015). Adolescent Compensated Dating in Hong Kong: Choice, Script, and Dynamics. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 59(6), 588–610.
Louie, K., & Edwards, L. (1994). Chinese Masculinity: Theorizing Wen and Wu. East Asian History, 8, 135-148.
West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987). Doing Gender. Gender and Society, 1(2), 125–151.
Xin, L., & Li, M. (2024, November 22). In China, a New Paid Period Leave Policy Revives an Old Debate. Sixth Tone. [Magazine article]
Offer Semester | Lecture Day | Lecture Time | Venue | Credits awarded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1st semester | 6 |