SECTION III: GENDER & SEXUALITY, LAW & MARRIAGE

Paper #3: Gender & Race and Marriage & Citizenship

PROMPT AVAILABLE: Monday October 28th
PAPER DUE: Monday November 18th, 11:45am (or 9:35am)

Objective: synthesize and examine concepts surrounding "race," "gender," "sexuality," "marriage" and "citizenship" in the context of current and past legal regulation(s) in America.

In a typed, double-spaced 3-4 page (800-1250 word) essay, respond to the following prompt:

In this section of the course we are attempting to analogize race and gender as we examine the institution of marriage and its intersections with citizenship and sexuality in America in the past and the present. We will consider how the identifying traits of race, gender, citizenship and sexuality are constructed and will examine how marriage has been an important tool by which these identities are proscribed. In particular, by considering the issues surrounding the historical ban on interracial marriage, we will analyze similar issues surrounding the current ban on same-sex marriage. In addition, we will discuss the many conceptual meanings of marriage. These include, but are not limited to, marriage as an institution that links private and public spheres, marriage as a socially legitimizing force, marriage as an ultimate goal for disenfranchised groups, and marriage as a producer and a product of imbalanced power relations between genders.

Write an essay that critically examines how the historical ban on interracial marriage and the current ban on same-sex marriage participate in the construction of the race, gender and sexuality of contemporary "Americans."

You should consider, but not necessarily explicitly answer, the following questions as you write your essay.

How is the citizenship of a minority group affected by limitations on whom they can marry?
What are the ways in which marriage is used to delineate differences based on race, gender and sexuality?
What is the relationship between public regulations and private intimacy?

Your essay must have a clearly articulated thesis and be analytic, not merely descriptive.

Consider the language of the court rulings in Loving and Baehr (and others) to see how judges framed their arguments and how law enforces and reflects racial and gendered scripts (Wideman).  Your essay can include material such as: commentary on the desirability of marriage as a social institution, arguments which agree or disagree with judicial reasoning (in Loving, Baehr, Goodridge, Perry, Windsor et cetera), and analysis of the cultural and societal implications of same-sex marriage and interracial marriage. You should refer to at least one current event (occurring in the last year) that you analyze to reveal soci(et)al constructions of gender and/or sexuality in your essay.

REMINDERS
0) YOUR NAME SHOULD APPEAR NOWHERE ON YOUR PAPER UNTIL THE VERY LAST PAGE OF YOUR ESSAY.
1) NO LATE PAPERS OR ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL.
2) YOUR PAPER SHOULD BE DOUBLE SPACED, IN 12 POINT FONT WITH 1-INCH MARGINS AND INCLUDE A TITLE AND WORD COUNT.
3) YOUR PAPER SHOULD INCLUDE A THESIS STATEMENT (BOLD) WHICH DEMONSTRATES A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE CONCEPTS REFERENCED ABOVE  AND WHICH RESPONDS TO THE PROMPT. YOU SHOULD UNDERLINE MAIN BODY PARAGRAPH TOPIC SENTENCES.
4) YOUR PAPER SHOULD INCLUDE A "WORKS CITED" PAGE OF ANY ARTICLES YOU REFERENCE IN YOUR ESSAY. YOU MAY USE MLA OR APA CITATION STYLE.
5) A SUCCESSFUL PAPER WILL REFERENCE AT LEAST TWO OF THE COURT CASES THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THIS SECTION OF THE COURSE AS WELL AS AT LEAST ONE CURRENT LGBT HISTORICAL EVENT WHICH HAPPENED IN THE LAST TWELVE MONTHS.