Description

Overview: In the essay “Identity: Skin, Blood, Heart,” from the
Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives, author
Minnie Bruce Pratt describes her changing thoughts on issues of
racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism and other forms of
discrimination, while also connecting these to her own
experiences in the world.
For your Critical Autobiography assignment, you are asked to write
a similar (but much shorter) essay focusing on your own
development as a critical thinker/intellectual studying issues in
Gender and Sexuality Studies, including some reflection on how
your social location (i.e., gender, race, class etc.) has influenced
your personal history in these areas and connecting/contrasting
specific concepts and passages from at least three of the essays
assigned in this course with your own experiences of privilege and
oppression.
Use the essays/readings we have examined to look at your own life. This task involves thinking
about the role of social class, race, gender, sexuality in your own life. The course texts can be
models for the critical autobiographical piece that you will write. You can focus on your family,
neighborhood, and educational histories. Perhaps you have key experiences that push issues into
the foreground for you, like moving from one community to another or going to a different school.
Maybe you did not question your background until you got to college. The goal is to write as
critically as you can about your own biography using our readings as touchstones. This assignment
will help you understand the links between social structural issues and your personal biography.
The readings are important in helping you grasp the balance between “the story,” that is the
description of your experience, and your sociological analysis that makes an autobiography critical.
An individual does not develop in a vacuum. Individuals are social beings and our bodies and their
places in the social world are important in shaping our experiences. You might want to focus on
your family, memberships in a social group, peers, schools, or another institution as key to your
development as an individual. You can also think about the role of media in shaping your thinking
about yourself. You are to write about your awareness and understanding of your social location.
You must address some of the following: race, ethnicity, social class, gender, sexuality, religion,
language, and any other critical dimension you think is important.
Requirements:
• 750-1000 words (3-4 pages double-spaced)
• Integrates specific concepts/experiences from at least three of our course readings,
including at least one passage/quote from each of the three readings that are discussed
in the essay and cited in a scholarly format (MLA/APA/CMS).
• Includes some discussion of your own social location and how you are thinking about the
concepts in the readings in relation to yourself, your privilege and oppression.
• Includes a clear introduction and conclusion

Get Homework Help Now