Sips & Scholars: Hannah Leffingwell on “What is Gender?”

Join us for the first session of Sips & Scholars, a free lecture series in partnership with Brooklyn Institue of Social Research set in bars and restaurants all over Brooklyn. This session, entitled “What is Gender? Theorizing Sexual Difference from Simone de Beauvoir to Judith Butler” will be led by Professor Hannah Leffingwell.

At the heart of queer and feminist theory is the question of gender: who defines it, where it comes from, and whether it can be altered—or even escaped entirely. This talk explores the roots of contemporary gender theory with a deep dive into queer and feminist classics such as Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble, and Susan Stryker’s When Monsters Speak. Gender appears in these texts as a category of historical analysis, a technological quandary, a biological argument, a medical frontier, a political wedge, and a social construction. Asking what gender “is” and how it relates to the notion of sex, the talk will guide listeners through the foundational theories of second-wave feminism, the innovations of intersectional feminism and queer theory, and the birth of transgenders studies.

Everyone is welcome! Come ready to learn and open to discuss interesting questions together. Advanced reading is not required, but we encourage you to check out the suggested booklist.