Overview
How do we talk about sex? Why do we talk about it? Why don’t we talk about it? How can we account for the attraction and repulsion that sex talk holds for us? Popular culture in the US is frequently described as being saturated with sex. Critics accuse popular media of shamelessly promoting sex, which is assumed to be the cause for a host of social and moral problems. But if sex is a part of who we are and what we do as humans, what makes it so shameful? What are acceptable and unacceptable ways to talk about sex? And what makes them so? These questions will drive our inquiry as we attempt to speak about the unspeakable.
Through a series of readings, writings, and discussions we will learn to understand better and interpret the complex web of language practices that comprise popular discourse on sex and sexuality. We will work from the assumption that sex and sexuality are simultaneously creations of biology, psychology, sociology and perhaps most importantly of language, and we will keep this assumption at the forefront of our inquiry as we uncover the links between bodies, behaviors, attitudes, mores, and language.
This course focuses on the intersections of language and materiality. You will learn to understand the ways that language is constructive as well as instructive and also that it performs according to purpose. In short, you will be exposed to the rhetorical principles of audience, purpose, and context and will apply these principles in your writing. These principles are genre and discipline independent. You can apply them to all reading and writing situations.