Photo by Austin Carey for The Lafayette

Sociology professor Rebecca Kissane hopes to offer a new perspective on gender in her class.

Are pink dresses for girls and blue pants for boys? Are men angry because of their testosterone? “Sociology of Sex and Gender,” an anthropology and sociology course, seeks to explore how cultures assign gender roles and how those roles have evolved.

“We examine both theoretical and empirical approaches to the sociology of sex and gender, focusing primarily on women’s and men’s experiences in contemporary U.S. society,” said Rebecca Kissane, the course’s professor. “We explore how gender-related inequalities intersect with those related to race and ethnicity, social class and sexuality.”

According to Meredith Forman ’24, a student in the class and a women, gender and sexuality studies major, “Sociology of Sex and Gender” offers a perspective other classes in the major do not. 

“I haven’t really learned that much about gendered education and gendered parenting,” Forman said.

The class asks students to question the world and their experiences to gain a better understanding of their own experiences as well as those of others.

“Through understanding gender at the individual, interactional and macro levels students can better understand how gendered dynamics are reproduced and contested over time,”  Kissane said.

In the class, Kissane cautions her students against common societal influences that contribute to gender roles in both positive and negative ways. 

The class “pay[s] special attention to how major institutions in society such as education, the media, the economy and the family are pivotal sites for gender performances and for contesting, maintaining and reproducing gender and gender-related inequalities,” she said.

The course is teaching students to be more self-aware and independent thinkers, according to Forman.

“All it’s doing is making Lafayette more inclusive, making students more open-minded, pulling back the sheet on all of these things that are happening on campus,” Forman said. “I’m leaving the college … a better human than I was when I got here.”

Kissane promotes these types of classes that challenge conventional thinking because she believes they enhance the Lafayette community through an increased understanding of people and the world as a whole.

“I think any course that asks students to think critically about the world and provides a space to discuss important social issues makes the campus a better place,” she said.

Kissane’s students agree with these sentiments.

“I do think there are things that are taught in that class that everyone, in general, should just know because I feel like it would lead to a lot less problems in the world,” said Tim Jarkow ‘27, a student in the class.

“I couldn’t speak more highly about it,” said Alana Kipnis ‘26, another student in the class. “I would recommend the class to everyone because I think everyone has something that they can learn about sociology of sex and gender.”