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Understanding Sexuality and Gender Across Cultural Contexts

Lecture presentation for MNclusive – Pride Month Kick-Off on June 3, 2024 at 12:00 PM

6/3/2024 8:06:02 AM

pride-heart-ribbon_tcm1049-619694Understanding Sexuality and Gender Across Cultural Contexts
Lecture presentation for MNclusive – Pride Month Kick-Off
June 3, 2024
 
Description:
Although terms like “gay or lesbian,” “heterosexual,” “man,” and “woman” are taken-for-granted by most in our society today, the meanings of these terms can vary significantly from one culture to another, and many cultures have ways of understanding and talking about sexuality and gender that are completely distinct. Delivered in an accessible and interactive way, this presentation will give audience members a broad overview of how sexuality and gender have been understood and practiced in different cultural contexts across the globe, both historically and in the present day. From the aikane of precolonial Hawaii to kinnar people of contemporary India, this presentation will raise important questions for reflection and discussion, such as: To what extent are sexuality and gender innate or inborn aspects of who we are? In what ways do social arrangements and cultural practices shape sexuality and gender? And if both are at least partly social or cultural rather than purely biological, what does that mean for LGBTQ+ politics, which are so often based on “born this way” logics of inclusion? 
 
Presenter Biography: Aaron Hoy, Ph.D., is an award-winning scholar and teacher with expertise on sexuality, gender, and families. He is currently the director of the Center for Excellence in Scholarship and Research (CESR) and associate professor of sociology at Minnesota State University, Mankato. In 2018, he completed his Ph.D. at Syracuse University, where he conducted the first research study on same-sex divorce in the United States. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed studies, and his most recent books include The Social Science of Same-Sex Marriage: LGBT People and Their Relationships in the Era of Marriage Equality (Routledge, 2022) and The Sociology of Families Reader: Issues, Perspectives, and Debates (Cognella, 2024). 
 

 

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