1. Duh Duh Duh!!!

2.  No, not intercourse!  Does it depend on the genitals?  Is it gonads?  Gonads are internal sex organs  Is it chromosomes?  What about just feeling male or female?  Well, it’s possible that they all do  But....

3.  Gender variance occurs when people find it difficult to associate with a specific gender  Reason is not important

4.  Imagine someone you know pretty well  Are they male or females?  How do you know?  The only real way to know is to check for genitals, gonads, or chromosomes  If you haven’t done this how do we know?  What are other cues we use to know one’s gender?

5.  But what about if a woman is wearing a pair of pants?  Or if a man wears a skirt?  Are these scenarios confusing at all?  When do we need to actually know someone’s biological sex?

6.  All societies have specific sex/gender determined roles  Some are physically defined, but most are arbitrary (no biological reason)  By following a role, people advertise what sex or gender they are to others  Other ways of advertising this are considered unacceptable in many societies

7.  four headings:  What females are expected to do  What females actually do  What males are expected to do  What males actually do

8.  How many of the following roles are determined by nature? How many have remained the same since the 1950s? How many are different in other cultures?  Childbearing  Childrearing  Wearing pants  Preparing meals  Going out to work  Cleaning the toilet  Working on the car  Fighting  Ski jumping

10.  Are certain behaviours really natural?  Are women different to men?  How do we eliminate gender inequality?  Is it fair to consistently treat and identify someone with the opposite sex?  How would you feel?

11.  People don’t conform to their appropriate roles?  The rules are broken?  How can they be broken?  Are some more serious than others?  If so which?  Why are some people more upset about this than others?

12.  Biology?  Friends and family?  What feels best inside?  Would you feel comfortable if you were the opposite sex?

13.  Was born an identical twin boy  After circumcision accident, underwent sexual reassignment surgery  Raised as a girl named Brenda  Did not identify with being female  At age of 13 became suicidal  At 14 took on male identity  Later married a woman and became step father  Eventually committed suicide

14.  The way in which we associate ourselves with one sex or the other  Some children may not learn about sexual differences until they are older  Genitals help us to determine out gender but is not always the case  What if our genitals are neither male or female?  Gender identity becomes more important when things are not in sync  What happens when our feelings are neither male or female?

17.  Transsexuals  Transgenders  Transvestite Males  Drag Queens

18.  If gender-crossing challenges what it means to be hetero- or homo- sexual, how is gender identity tied in to sexual orientation?  Transsexual people do not change roles simply to have sex in a more acceptable way  Some people may discover that they switch their orientation when they cross genders  Does the orientation change or direct the gender switch?  Transsexual people can have the same sexual orientation as anyone else

19.  How would you define ‘heterosexual’ or ‘homosexual’ if someone isn’t exactly male or female?  Do you base it on the genitals they had or the chromosomes in their cells?  What if those genitals are ambiguous?  Do you base it on whether they have had surgery yet?  Do you base it on their legal status?  How do you classify a transsexual woman partnered with a straight man?  Does the definition depend on whether the trans woman has had gender reassignment

20.  Imagine someone in your family or a friend told you that they were going to change their gender. Write a bit about the problems and challenges you think they would be likely to face and the ways in which people might be able to help them.  What sort of things would they need to change?  What prejudices would they encounter?  Once you think you’re finished share with someone around you and compare your ideas