Course Description
This course is an intermediate/advanced-level course examining the intersections between media theory and the study of sexuality. In exploring issues including transgenderism, pornography, censorship, feminism, queer cinema, and representations of race and sexuality, this course focuses on compelling theoretical formulations and their interrelations with films and videos that provide students with specific understanding of the prevailing debates and defining theories of sexuality within media studies. Prerequisite: Intro to Media Studies or Language of Film. Students must be over 18 and must sign a consent form to enroll in this course.
 

Course Organization
Class activities include discussion of reading assignments, screenings, presentations, as well as individual and group assignments. Both works by students and examples of independent media works will be presented in class. Depending on funding and availability, guest speakers (film and video makers, media artists, programmers, scholars, etc.) will be invited to class, or to the Media Studies cinematheque series - be prepared to attend out-of-class screenings and lectures.

Please turn off all cell phones and pagers during class. These and other diversions are not acceptable during class time, and will lower your grade. 

Attendance
Attendance and participation of all classes is required. Do not miss class or arrive late! If you miss class 3 times without a proper excuse, (e.g. a doctor's note if you are sick) you fail the class. Absences must be cleared by one of us before or after (in case of emergencies only) the class you missed in order for it to not affect your final grade. Attendance is determined by when we take roll.

Class Participation
Your active, well-prepared participation in class discussions is essential to creating a dynamic (i.e. not boring!) learning environment. We will study sexually explicit, political, and otherwise challenging material in this course. These are not included for shock value, but are legitimate investigations of controversial subject matters in media. You are certainly encouraged to explore difficult and complex subject matters in your work, and you should be prepared to consider these issues intellectually and emotionally. Our class is a safe space in which students can express their beliefs and opinions. You always have a voice, but please be respectful of others as well. Abusive language and behavior are not be tolerated. Open-mindedness is encouraged!

Class Assignments & Written Responses
There are three assignments for the course, one per topic, with one topic off. Assignments are due one week after each section ends:

Written Responses - In addition, each student is responsible for 2 written responses per topic (a total of 8 responses for the semester). These will be posted on the Sakai site (sakai.claremont.edu) for the class during the section when said topic is discussed in class, and up to the due date for that section (one week after section has concluded). These posts can be public (visible to the entire class) or private (submitted to instructor only). They will not be graded, but will count towards the student's class participation grade. Substantial responses and discussion based on previous posts can be counted as a post.

Unless an extension is approved by us in advance of the due date, your grade will be reduced by one letter grade (i.e. B to C) per class day your assignment is late. You are encouraged to meet with us individually during our office hours to discuss your assignments, your grades, and your overall performance in class. We are always open to suggestions and feedback!

Reading & Viewing Assignments
For each section we will be reading approximately one book - three monographs and one reader, with supplementary articles. There will be weekly screenings outside of class-time that highlight films and videos addressed in that week’s reading assignment.

Required Readings

Jennifer Doyle, Sex Objects: Art and The Dialectics of Desire, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 2006.
Peter Lehman, ed. Pornography: Film and Culture, Rutgers University Press, NJ, 2006
Jose Esteban Munoz, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 1999.
Allucquère Rosanne Stone, The War of Desire and Technology at The Close of The Mechanical Age, MIT Press, MA, 1998.

Recommended Readings

Drucilla Cornell, ed., Feminism and Pornography, Oxford University Press, USA, 2000.
Donna J. Haraway, Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, Routledge, NY, 1991.
Darrell Hamamoto & Sandra Liu, eds., Countervisions: Asian American Film Criticism, Temple University Press, 2000.
Valerie Solanas, SCUM Manifesto, Verso Books, 2004.
Linda Williams, ed., Porn Studies, Duke University Press, Durham, 2004.

Additional References (for further research):
Michele Aaron, New Queer Cinema: A Critical Reader, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, 2004.
Bad Object-Choices, eds, How Do I Look: Queer Film and Video, Bay Press, Seattle, 1991.
Fiona Carson & Claire Pajaczkowska, eds., Feminist Visual Culture, Routledge, New York, 2001.
Gina Dent, ed., Black Popular Culture, Bay Press, Seattle, WA, 1992.
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks, Grove Wiedenfeld, NY, 1967.
Marjorie Garber, Vested Interests; Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety, Routledge, NY, 1997.
Martha Gever, John Greyson, Pratibha Parmar, eds., Queer Looks: Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Film and Video, Routledge, NY, 1993.
Judith Halberstam, Female Masculinity, Duke University Press, Durham, 1998.
Ellis Hanson, ed., Out Takes: Essays on Queer Theory and Film, Duke University Press, Durham, 1999.
Amelia Jones, ed., The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader, Routledge, New York, 2003.
Alexandra Juhasz, ed., Women of Vision: Histories in Feminist Film and Video, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 2001.
Laura Kipnis, Bound and Gagged: Pornography and the Politics of Fantasy in America, Duke University Press, Durham, 1999.
Russell Leong, ed., Asian American Sexualities, Routledge, 1995. Also available as an issue of the Amerasia Journal: Dimensions of Desire, Vol. 20, NO. 1, 1994.
Laura U. Marks, The Skin of The Film: Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment, and the Senses, Duke University Press, Durham, 2000.
---, Touch: Sensuous Theory and Multisensory Media, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 2002.
Mandy Merck, In Your Face, New York University Press, New York, 2000.
Richard Meyer, Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art (Ideologies of Desire), Oxford University Press, 2002.
Cherrie Moraga & Gloria Anzaldua, eds., This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, Kitchen Table Press, NY, 1981.
Michael Renov & Erika Suderburg, eds., Resolutions: Contemporary Video Practices, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 1995.
Ruby Rich, Chick Flicks: Theories and Memories of The Feminist Film Movement, Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 1998.
Ella Shohat & Robert Stam, Unthinking Eurocentrism, Routledge Press, NY, 1994.
Linda Williams, Hard Core: Power, Pleasure, and The "Frenzy of The Visible, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1989.

Film/Video Titles: (List #1 Required):
THE ASIAN HEAT IN ME (1995) Dir. Kimberly SaRee Tomes
BEAU TRAVAIL (1999) Dir. Claire Denis
BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR (1972) Dir. Mitchell Brothers
BENDOVER BOYFRIEND (1998) Dir. Shar Rednour
BIKE BOY (1967) Dir. Andy Warhol
BILLY BUDD (1962) Dir. Peter Ustinov
CARMELITA TROPICANA (1993) Dir. Ela Troyano
CHINESE CHARACTERS (1986) Dir. Richard Fung
DEEP THROAT (1972) Dir. Gerard Damiano
EROTIC IN NATURE (1985) Dir. Cristen Lee Rothermund
FOREVER BOTTOM! (1999) Directed by Nguyen Tan Hoang
HARDLOVE/HOW TO FUCK IN HIGH HEELS (2000) Dir. Shar Redhour and Debbie Sundahl
HOT AND BOTHERED: FEMINIST PORNOGRAPHY (2003) Dir. Becky Goldberg
I, A MAN (1967) Dir. Paul Morrissey, Andy Warhol
I.K.U. (2000) Dir. Shu Lea Cheang
I SHOT ANDY WARHOL (1996) Dir. Mary Harron
INSIDE DEEP THROAT (2005) Dir. Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
JOHN WAYNE BOBBITT: UNCUT (1994) Dir. Ron Jeremy
THE KING (1968) Dir. Looney Bear
LOOKING FOR LANGSTON (1989) Dir. Issac Julien
MANDINGO (1975) Dir. Richard Fleischer
MASTERS OF THE PILLOW (2003) Directed by James Hou, 58 mins.
MY MOTHER'S PLACE (1991) Dir. Richard Fung
THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN (1975) Dir. Radley Metzger (AKA " Henry Paris")
PAM AND TOMMY LEE: HARDCORE AND UNCENSORED (1997) IEG
QUERELLE (1982) Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
SAN FRANCISCO LESBIANS
STAG FILMS (1920s - 1940s) Dir. various
SUBURBAN DYKES (1990) Dir. Debbie Sundahl
TOP SPOT (2004) Dir. Tracey Emin
THE WHITE TO BE ANGRY (YR.?) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis

Film/Video Titles: (List #2 Reference):
ASIAN PERUASION (1997) Dir. Josh Eliot
ASIAN PERUASION 2 (1998) Dir. Josh Eliot
BLOWJOB (1963) Dir. Andy Warhol
BOYS DON'T CRY (1999) Dir. Kimberly Peirce
THE BRANDON TEENA STORY (1998) Dir. Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir
CHOLO JOTO (1993) Dir. Augie Robles
CROSSING THE COLOR LINE (1999) Dir. Gino Colbert
DIAL "S" FOR SEX (1998) Dir. Chi Chi LaRue
DESIGNY LIVING (1995) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
DOT (1994) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
FORTUNE COOKIE (1998) Dir. Chi Chi LaRue
FISTS OF FURY (1972) Dir. Wei Lo
LET ME TELL YA 'BOUT WHITE CHICKS (1984) Dir. Dark Brothers
LINDA/LES (199?) Dir. Annie Sprinkle
MARGINAL EYES/MUJERIA FANTASY 1 (1996) Dir. Osa Hidalgo
MONA (1970) Dir. Bill Osco
MTV'S REAL WORLD (3rd Season) Episodes 1, 2, 8, 11, 13, 16, 19
MY FAIR LADY (1964) Dir. George Cukor
NOEMA (1998) Dir. Scott Stark
SAFER SEX SHORTS (1980s-1990s) produced by Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC)
THE SALT MINES (1990) Dir. Susana Aiken & Carlos Aparicio
SLANTED VISION (1995) Dir. Ming-Yuen S. Ma
THE TRANSFORMATION (1996) Dir. Susana Aiken & Carlos Aparicio
VOODOO WILLIAMSON - THE DONA OF DANCE (1995) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
WAY OF THE DRAGON (1972) Dir. Bruce Lee

Class participation: Although you will not receive a letter grade for class participation, it will figure into your final grade based on our observations.

Generally, outstanding ('A') students in this class have good attendance and completed all their assignments on time. They are consistently well prepared for class, and actively participate in and advance our discussions with pertinent information, questions, and observations. Their work demonstrate their awareness of the issues at hand, the historical context for the film and videos they are discussing, as well as their ability to articulate their observations and analyses in a clear and concise manner. Only letter grades are given out in this class.

Academic honesty - all work done for this course must be the original work of the student submitting it, and should have been undertaken exclusively for this course. No work done prior to this class maybe used to fulfill the class assignments. Plagiarism will result in the student receiving an F for the class grade.

Extra credit - Students are encouraged to attend screenings, conferences, lectures, exhibitions and web events related to this course. Write a two-page (typed and double-spaced) report of the event or activity. Incorporate the event's relevance to the class as well as your personal responses to it. Proof of attendance is required (keep your ticket stubs, programs, etc.) Students are allowed two extra credit papers. Announcements for events of interest to this class are done in the first 5 mins. of each class.

* We try our best to make our grading criteria as clear as possible, and you are welcome to come and discuss your grades and your class performance with us. However, we only consider legitimate concerns, and be aware that your grade is as likely to go down as it is to go up after we reassess your assignment. We do not tolerate haggling, bribing, threats, and any other pointless arguments. We consider all aspects of your performance before we assign a grade, please respect our assessment as we respect your efforts.

Course Schedule:

Week 1: Introduction, Sex Objects
Required Reading
Jennifer Doyle, Sex Objects
Tuesday 9/4 Introduction, go over syllabus, etc.
Thursday 9/6 Sex Objects, pp. xi-xxxi, 1-44
Suggested Reading,
Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Penguin Classics, 2002
Required Film/Video (Screening )
THE ASIAN HEAT IN ME (1995) Dir. Kimberly SaRee Tomes - in class
QUERELLE (1982) Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
BILLY BUDD (1962) Dir. Peter Ustinov
BEAU TRAVAIL (1999) Dir. Claire Denis
Suggested Viewing

Week 2: Sex Objects
Required Reading
Jennifer Doyle, Sex Objects
Valerie Solanas, SCUM Manifesto, Verso Books, 2004 (click here for entire manifesto)
Tuesday 9/11 Sex Objects pp. 45-70
Thursday 9/13 Sex Objects pp. 71-96, SCUM Manifesto, pp. 35-38, 69-80
Suggested Reading
SCUM Manifesto, pp. 39-68
Avital Ronell, Deviant Payback: The Aims of Valerie Solanas, in SCUM Manifesto, pp. 1-31
Required Film/Video (Screening )
I SHOT ANDY WARHOL (1996) Dir. Mary Harron
I, A MAN (1967) Dir. Paul Morrissey, Andy Warhol
BIKE BOY (1967) Dir. Andy Warhol
Suggested Viewing

Week 3: Sex Objects
Required Reading
Jennifer Doyle, Sex Objects
Tuesday 9/18 pp. 97-120
Thursday 9/20 pp. 121-140
Required Film/Video (Screening)
TOP SPOT (2004) Dir. Tracey Emin
VD as VB images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Performance
Suggested Viewing

Week 4: The Porn Classroom / Porn as Genre
Required Reading
Peter Lehman, Pornography
Linda Williams, Porn Studies
Tuesday 9/25 Pornography pp. 1-21, Porn Studies pp. 1-23
Thursday 9/27 pp. Pornography pp. 60-98, Due Date #1
Suggested Reading
Pornography pp.25-59, 168-188
Required Film/Video
THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN (1975) Dir. Radley Metzger (AKA " Henry Paris") - screening
HOT AND BOTHERED: FEMINIST PORNOGRAPHY (2003) Dir. Becky Goldberg
Suggested Viewing
MY FAIR LADY (1964) Dir. George Cukor

Week 5: Porn as Culture / History of Pornography - From Film to Video
Required Reading
Peter Lehman, Pornography
Linda Williams, Porn Studies
Tuesday 10/2 Pornography, pp. 99-129
Thursday 10/4 Porn Studies pp. 127-141, 370-400, Pornography, pp. 154-167
Suggested Reading
Porn Studies pp. 27-123, 335-369
Pornography pp. 133-153
Required Film/Video
JOHN WAYNE BOBBITT: UNCUT (1994) Dir. Ron Jeremy - screening
PAM AND TOMMY LEE: HARDCORE AND UNCENSORED (1997) IEG - in class
STAG FILMS (1920s - 1940s) Dir. various (GETTING HIS GOAT, SMART ALECK, BURIED TREASURE) - in class
Suggested Viewing

Week 6: The Gender / Sexual Politics of Porn
Required Reading
Drucilla Cornell, Feminism and Pornography
Peter Lehman, Pornography
Linda Williams, Porn Studies
Tuesday 10/9 Feminism and Pornography, pp. 19-38, 94-120, Pornography, pp. 244-257,
Thursday 10/11 Porn Studies pp. 167-220
Suggested Reading
Feminism and Pornography, pp. 39-93, 121-165
Pornography, pp. 133-153, 189-205
Porn Studies pp. 142-166, 401-460
Richard Dyer, "Male Gay Porn: Coming to Terms," in Jump Cut 30, pp. 27-29
Required Film/Video
DEEP THROAT (1972) Dir. Gerard Damiano - screening
BENDOVER BOYFRIEND (1998) Dir. Shar Rednour - screening
INSIDE DEEP THROAT (2005) Dir. Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato - in class
HARDLOVE/HOW TO FUCK IN HIGH HEELS (2000) Dir. Shar Redhour and Debbie Sundahl - in class
SAN FRANCISCO LESBIANS - in class
SUBURBAN DYKES (1990) Dir. Debbie Sundahl - in class
THE KING (1968) Dir. Looney Bear - in class
Suggested Viewing

Week 7: Racialized Pornographies
Required Reading
Darrell Hamamoto, Countervisions
Peter Lehman, Pornography
Linda Williams, Porn Studies
Tuesday 10/16 Pornography, pp. 220-243, Porn Studies, pp. 271-308
Thursday 10/18 pp. Pornography, pp. 206-219, Countervisions: pp. 59-89
Suggested Reading
Kobena Mercer, "Skin Head Sex Thing: Racial Difference and The Homoerotic Imaginary," in How Do I Look? pp. 169-222
Richard Fung, "Looking For My Penis: The Eroticized Asian in Gay Video Porn", in Asian American Sexualities, pp. 181-198, or in How Do I Look?, pp. 145-168.
Porn Studies, pp. 223-270
Required Film/Video
BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR (1972) Dir. Mitchell Brothers - in class
MANDINGO (1975) Dir. Richard Fleischer - in class
MASTERS OF THE PILLOW (2003) Directed by James Hou, 58 mins. - screening
FOREVER BOTTOM! (1999) Directed by Nguyen Tan Hoang, 4 min. - in class
Suggested Viewing
CROSSING THE COLOR LINE (1999) Dir. Gino Colbert
LET ME TELL YA 'BOUT WHITE CHICKS (1984) Dir. Dark Brothers
ASIAN PERUASION (1997) Dir. Josh Eliot
ASIAN PERUASION 2 (1998) Dir. Josh Eliot
FORTUNE COOKIE (1998) Dir. Chi Chi LaRue
DIAL "S" FOR SEX (1998) Dir. Chi Chi LaRue
FISTS OF FURY (1972) Dir. Wei Lo
WAY OF THE DRAGON (1972) Dir. Bruce Lee

Week 8: Fall Break and In-Class Event #1
Tuesday 10/23 Fall Break NO CLASS MEETING/SCREENING
Thursday 10/25 In-class event #1, Due Date #2

Week 9: Disidentification / Melancholia of Race / Autoethnographic Performance
Required Reading
Jose Esteban Munoz, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics
Tuesday 10/30 pp. 1-56
Thursday 11/1 pp. 57-92
Suggested Reading

Required Film/Video
LOOKING FOR LANGSTON (1989) Dir. Issac Julien - screening
CHINESE CHARACTERS (1986) Dir. Richard Fung - screening
Suggested Viewing
FLAMING CREATURES (1963) Dir. Jack Smith
TONGUES UNTIED (1990) Dir. Marlon Riggs
CHOLO JOTO (1993) Dir. Augie Robles
MARGINAL EYES/MUJERIA FANTASY 1 (1996) Dir. Osa Hidalgo
MY MOTHER'S PLACE (1991) Dir. Richard Fung

Week 10: The White to be Angry / Critical Cubania
Required Reading
Jose Esteban Munoz, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics
Tuesday 11/6 pp. 93-141
Thursday 11/8 pp. 143-200
Required Film/Video
THE WHITE TO BE ANGRY (1999) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis - screening
CARMELITA TROPICANA (1993) Dir. Ela Troyano - screening
Reality TV Disidentification Assignment - in class
Suggested Viewing
FLAMING CREATURES (1963) Dir. Jack Smith
THE SALT MINES (1990) Dir. Susana Aiken & Carlos Aparicio
THE TRANSFORMATION (1996) Dir. Susana Aiken & Carlos Aparicio
DOT (1994) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
VOODOO WILLIAMSON - THE DONA OF DANCE (1995) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
DESIGNY LIVING (1995) Dir./Perf. Vaginal Davis
MTV'S REAL WORLD (3rd Season) Episodes 1, 2, 8, 11, 13, 16, 19

Week 11: Cyborg Manifesto
Required Reading
Donna Haraway, Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature
Tuesday 11/13 Simians, Cyborgs, and Women, pp. 149-181
Thursday 11/15 In-class event #2, Due Date #3
Suggested Reading

Required Film/Video (Screening )
BLADERUNNER (1982) Dir. Ridley Scott
Suggested Viewing

Week 12: No Class This Week / Thanksgiving
No Screening This Week

Week 13: War of Desire and Technology
Required Reading
Allucquère Rosanne Stone, The War of Desire and Technology at The Close of The Mechanical Age
Tuesday 11/27 The War of Desire and Technology, pp. 1-44
Thursday 11/29 The War of Desire and Technology, pp. 45-81
Suggested Reading

Required Film/Video (Screening )
I.K.U. (2000) Dir. Shu Lea Cheang

Week 14: War of Desire and Technology
Projects presentations on both days this week. For your presentation, partner with another student in class, engage in and report on cyborgian representations of sex and sexuality, e.g. on-line dating, social networking, computer/video games, etc. Reports must engage with class readings by Haraway and/or Stone, and class discussions.
Required Reading
Allucquère Rosanne Stone, The War of Desire and Technology at The Close of The Mechanical Age
Tuesday 12/4 The War of Desire and Technology, pp. 82-121
Thursday 12/6 The War of Desire and Technology, pp. 123-183

Week 15: Body/Post-Body, In-Class Event #3

Tuesday 12/11 Guest Speaker Jessica Lawless, screening of The Gendercator in class
Thursday 12/13 In-class event #3, Due Date #4, FINAL CLASS MEETING
Required Film/Video
THE GENDERCATOR (2007) Dir. Catherine Crouch - in class
Suggested Viewing
BOYS DON'T CRY (1999) Dir. Kimberly Peirce
THE BRANDON TEENA STORY (1998) Dir. Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir
On-line discussion of controversy around THE GENDERCATOR and the trans community - URL TBA

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