Sex and culture

Paper instructions:
Choose any two of the essays/articles/chapters below. Critically discuss the

authors’ arguments and evaluate each author’s analysis of the topic at hand,

comparing and contrasting different ways of approaching similar issues. Finally,

you will arrive at your own conclusion about which arguments are convincing,

and which are not, and tell me, in your opinion, why certain arguments “hold” and

others don’t when we are trying to analyze the role of sex, gender and sexuality in

society.

Your essay should answer all of the questions below that are relevant to your

argument:

How do these two articles/chapters compare in their approach to the issues at

hand? In what ways are they similar? In what ways are they different? What are

their main arguments? How do they present these arguments and what kind of

evidence do they present to support those arguments?

Is one article/chapter more convincing than the other in its approach to the

issue? If so, how? What evidence are you basing your judgment on?

If you are not convinced by one or any of the arguments, theses or explanations

presented by the author(s), why not? How would this chapter or article benefit

from better evidence or a different analysis? In your opinion, how could it be

explained differently?

If you are convinced by all of the theses, arguments or analyses presented by

the author(s), and do not see a significant difference between their approach, tell

me how they are similar to each other, and why they are so convincing that you

would not do anything differently if you were the author.

Presenting evidence means quoting and paraphrasing the texts appropriately.

Please use full citation every time you quote and paraphrase from the texts, and

attach a full bibliography at the end of your paper.

1) bell hooks. 1996. “is paris burning?” chapter 20 in Reel to Real: Race, Sex and Class

at the Movies, ONLYpp. 214-226

2) Patricia Hill Collins, 2004. “Why Black Sexual Politics?” in Black Sexual Politics:

African Americans, Gender and the New Racism, ONLY pp. 25-52