Gender and Sexuality: Applications in Society

My name is FARAJA AMRI Gentil, from Goma/DR Congo, Central Africa.

It was a great pleasure to have embarked in this course where I have learned a lot about Gender, Sexuality and more importantly the Intersectionality and how this latter brings gender issues in all areas of life.

1. In science and technology, gender issues help develop and manufacture equipment that take into account the needs of minority groups such as people with disability and LGBTQ+. Intersectionality helps scientists as well to develop a good science knowledge with no unconscious bias so as to come up with inventions that take into account the needs of minority groups.

2. In Healthcare, Gender issues and more importantly Intersectionality allows the design and framing of gender-neutral facilities, care and treatment.

3. In Pop Culture and Art, Gender issues help promote more inclusive culture and gender-neutral representation of Gender Identity, Expression and Sexual Orientation.

4. In the Law and Human Rights Realm, Gender issues and more broadly Intersectionality allows break gender-discriminatory legal frameworks and promote more inclusive and gender-neutral laws and legal environments that take into account the needs of minority groups.

5. In Workplaces and other social environments, Gender issues and more broadly Intersectionality helps companies and other social environments break discriminatory policies and procedures that limit the rights and chances of minority groups such as women, disable people, etc. for instance during recruitment, performance reviews and promotions' appraisals; and help promote more inclusive and gender-neutral policies and procedures that make workplaces and other social spaces a better place for a living and equal-chance environments for all.

6. In Education and Family structures, Gender and Intersectionality help reshape the core educational curricula so as to take rid of historical bias and legacies of colonialism so as to integrate and consider a more inclusive and Gender-neutral Education Curricula that recognize, promote and integrate all human being groups without any discrimination of any kind.

This will also help onboard girls in all education fields such as STEM where in many countries it's considered as only men's stuff.

7. In sports, Gender issues and Intersectionality will allow have more inclusive sports and will open gates for minority groups to compete in all sports' curricula and have even a more diverse sports' teams in the very coming future.

8. In Politics, Gender-issues and Intersectionality will help nations promote ungendered speeches and discriminatory federal policies that will be more inclusive and will take advantage of more inclusive societies.

In conclusion, Gender-Sexuality and Intersectionality are the modern topics that will help build a better world suitable for the lives of all human being with no discrimination.

That's what I should say at this point but I've learned and lot and will be of greater importance in my community.

Thanks UBC for this opportunity and lease keep up the same momentum.

FARAJA AMRI Gentil

Some of the course content was offensive and excluded those who may be trying to understand but aren't as left leaning as others and this is coming from a fairly liberal person. There was a couple comments made that insinuated that all heterosexual relationships are violent. Many claims were not backed up by scientific data. I am all for people speaking their truth and telling stories, however, anecdotal evidence isn't sufficient evidence and would like to have seen some legitimate research being presented alongside the anecdotal evidence. This course is graded by your peers using a rubric. The rubric is as follows: 0 is below standards, 1 is meeting and 2 is exceeding standards. My first assignment I met the standards but when they change the rubric into percentages, I was at 50% and wasn't passing the course because to pass the course you need 60%. There's a loop hole in the course though as you can peer grade yourself which I did for my second assignment to make sure I was going to pass this course as I had done very well on the module review questions. I think they should not weight the peer graded assignments as much if they are going to let joe blow off the street grade you and put more weight on the review questions or have the instructor grade the assignments. When I signed up I did not realize this was peer graded and would not have purchased the certificate option had I have know this. When I reached out for support for grading, this company said I could not contact the instructor directly and that I would have to post publicly in a forum about how I thought the peer grading was unfair in a forum where my peers to read and reply which I am not comfortable with. Honestly, fairly disappointed in this course and how it was delivered, especially, when the topic of gender actually has quite a bit of interesting content to learn. There are so many amazing gender studies courses available. I recommend going somewhere else to learn better content and have a better educational experience.

The array of topics covered was super interesting and I definitely learned a ton. What was challenging for me was the fact that it was very video/interview-heavy, and as a visual learner, it was difficult to follow along with the discussions many times. When I tried to follow the transcript instead, it was even more difficult, since the discussions were somewhat informal, so without auditory context, even the transcripts were hard to follow. In a way, you were forced to follow the audio/video and not able to rely on the transcripts because the quizzes sometimes asked questions about definitions that would pop up in the video but not the transcript, and the definitions provided by the speakers for some terms were not clear, if you were only following the transcript. My biggest frustration, and the reason for the lower rating (when I originally would have rated the course a 4 or 5), was that deadlines for assignments were not clear, or were different depending on which page you were on. This caused myself, along with a handful of other students, a lot of confusion and frustration, as the assignment submission fields were closed before the deadlines I and other students were following, which were stated in the course outline, therefore leaving us unable to submit assignments and ultimately left without the certificates we PAID for and would have obtained by completing the course. Many of us reached out to the course admin/coordinators about the issue at least a week before the end of the course, attempting to resolve the issue, with absolutely no response from them. The course has been closed and we still have not received any answers. I started the course excited but ended it pretty upset by the experience.

I really enjoyed this course as it gave me the opportunity to not only listen to but consider/contemplate perspectives outside of my own as well as learn about some of the positive structural changes taking place in companies + organizations that are affirming and practicing inclusivity of marginalized folks.

The module on Art + Pop Culture was especially interesting + a stark reminder to shine a critical eye on the media we are fed, e.g. Bechdel Test + the Vito Russo Test. It was disheartening to learn about the many factors affecting POC (especially black women) + the lack of good health care they receive compared to their white counterparts.

Through this course, you learn how the history of sexuality + gender bias have affected policy + practice + how there exists an unmet need for institutional change in who is hired, how they are trained + what biases must be overcome when caring for marginalized populations.

The prevailing power structure has always dictated how history has been told but there are good folks working to include those that have been left out (POC, women, the working class, the poor, the physically disabled, the intellectually disabled, LGBTQ2S - identified people, et al) + for them, I am grateful + encouraged to continue disrupting my own way of thinking as well as those I come in contact with.

Thank you.

This is one of the best courses that I have ever taken.

The course lasts 6 weeks, looking at gender and sexuality from an intersectional lens, and exploring it through different dimensions such as historical narratives, representation in pop culture, health equity, legal rights, and creating an inclusive environment. The videos are well-made and the instructors introduced the concepts very well. One of the marvelous things about the course is that course participants actually have to create action plans so that course participants can link the concepts they have learned to the real changes that they want to implement.

Overall, I would recommend this course as a perfect introduction to anyone who want to learn about gender and sexuality and who wants to be a good ally.

Nice introduction to the subject, although the course presumes all students are liberal and enlightened, which is not true. Could use some more basic explanations and definitions at the beginning of the course (For example is a trans woman partnered to another woman considered a lesbian? Can you be both trans and a lesbian? These are just two of many questions still turning around in my mind....) Also the class contains very few references to and no good overview of academic research on the subject. This is a major flaw in an academic course offered by a reputable university. Academic research is at least as important as pop culture, for example, to which an entire week is devoted. I would also have appreciated an explanation and history of Gender Studies as an academic subject (did it evolve out of women's studies? Can you get a degree in this? If so what do you do with it? How does gender studies relate to/interact with other academic disciplines? Is it a true subject in and of itself or more a forum for multidisciplinary interaction? ) Having said all that the course is a fine and enlightening intro to this very timely and important subject and I appreciated the opportunity.

This course has been very interesting. It is a good introduction to the topics of sex, gender and sexuality and how they are applied in society. The only thing I missed was more references of academic origin. While I understand that the course aims are to reach as many people as possible, as a scholar I believe it is important to provide several key academic references to support the ideas offered in the course. This is because this course challenges the very air we breathe. Sex, gender and sexuality are thought of as a given, as things that always work the same way and those who take this course are sadly a minority: most people do not know the implications of these topics because of the way society and the media treat them. I advocate for accesibility of academic knowledge to people outside the university and so I not only ask for more academic references to debunk biologicist ideas that are so prevalent in our right leaning societies, for example, but also references that are of academic origin but easy to read for anyone.

Great course- gave me some really helpful insights into how best to apply pressure for social justice in a complex world stacked against the whole range of minority groups- especially those at their intersections. Nicely engaging and entertaining whilst being informative with lots of video talks from interesting speakers and regular explanations of key issues from Janice.

The discussion boards, with their respectful and informative contributions from learners from across the globe and with regular input from the course tutors, were a particular highlight for me! Far more fun than Facebook!

Many thanks to those who thoughtfully put this course together, to the presenters of the talks and especially to those enthusiastic participants who generously shared their own lived experience.

I have been in school for the last 22 years of my life, and as a human being in a human society, this is the most important course/subject I've ever studied. Dr. Janice Stewart came across as such a gentle, wise and understanding personality throughout the course. She helped me make sense of things that plague our society in terms of discrimination towards persons belonging to any identities that do not fit within the typical cisgender, heteronormative, white-washed frame. I really appreciated how inclusive this course was in terms of addressing so many issues arising in the arenas of race, health, religion, genders, sexualities, sex work, histories etc. I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to broaden their horizons, not just about genders and sexualities but about what it means to be a good person, someone who is cognisant of the troubles and challenges other people face only because they are slightly different.

It was a great course, with lots of resources and interesting things to learn! It gave a nice wide-opened reflection on how gender, sex and sexuality influences people's lives and practices and of course, societies and governments at a more extended level. I really likes the fact that there were given many aspects around the topic and that we had the chance to quiz ourselves and think more profoundly about things through assignments and activities.

However, I did not have the chance to start the course when it did started so I was behind the rest of my group and unfortunately, I could not participate actively to the reviewed questions of modules 1,2,3 neither to complete the last assignment in module 6. Apart from that, I feel very happy to have the chance to learn through this course and to really sit down and think about how gendered can our society be leaving out many people who are identified out of the norms.