Shaun Wesley Y. Simbajon Mr. Moises P.
Jusoy
BSCOE 3-5 │ Feb. 28, 2022 GEED 20033 – Gender and Society
What I have learned throughout the course…
First of all, I just want to give recognition to our professor who shared a lot of his thoughts and
sentiments about our course. I enjoyed the way he shares his knowledge by discussing reading
assignments during synchronous class sessions. I also want to share that Perusall is a great website for
courses like this since the sole purpose of Perusall is to let students make reading a habit and encourage
students to engage in a group discussion about a certain topic. It allowed us to learn something as we
read those articles and eventually helped us to be more confident and engaged in discussion, I must say
that this helped us not just mentally but it also enabled us to grow emotionally throughout the whole
semester.
At first, I thought I was already knowledgeable enough about gender and society and how those
two things are connected and affect each other. I’m also not fond of reading lengthy text articles or
readings, especially if what’s written is already a thing I know about, that is why I didn’t enjoy reading
those assignments at first but as time goes on I learned to dedicate a few hours of someday in my week
to read about articles about sex, gender, and society. As it made me more open-minded and educated
about the history and present issues, conflicts, and stereotypes that we’re still battling up to this day.
As I read the “Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality” by Sigmund Freud, I must say that those
three essays talked about sexual aberrations, infantile sexuality, and the transformations of sexuality
during the puberty stage are truly extraordinary works in many ways. As it discusses sexuality in a way
that a reader like me can be struck by its conceptual density and fluid interplay of ideas considering the
different radical points of view.
In “Sex, Gender and Society” by Ann Oakley, I must say that this can be seen as a classic feminist
article that discusses social sex differences and how stereotypes are affecting both lives of the two
different sexes. Both sexes have their strengths and weaknesses in different fields but we must always
remember that helping each other to build up and function a society is a greater view for everyone no
matter how they identify themselves. It helped me to understand more about their perspective and point
of view of females in a stereotypical society.
Next is “Psychology of Sex” by Havelock Ellis, a comprehensive textbook of human sexual
biology, behavior, and attitudes. He studied homosexuality, masturbation, and the physiology of sexual
behavior in separate volumes. Ellis believed that sexual activity was a healthy and natural expression of
love, and he worked to dispel many people's fears and misunderstandings about human sexuality. His
efforts aided open discussion of sexual issues, and he became known as a supporter of women's rights
and sex education.
We also tackled the study of sexuality in the Philippines using keywords in Filipino in the study
made by Michael L. Tan - “Filipino Keywords Related to Sexuality”. This study on sexuality keywords
in Filipino has been useful in surfacing how Filipinos think of sex and sexuality. Also, it brought up the
influences or channels through which Filipino sexual cultures are developing. The keywords also show
the diverse influences that have shaped the way Filipinos think of sex and sexuality.
The ”Origin of the Family Private Property and State” by Frederick Engels is one of the
fundamental works of Marxism. It is about the scientific analysis of the history of human society in the
earlier phases of its development. It covered the process of the breakdown of the primitive community
and the formation of class society, based on private property. It also revealed the origin and essence of
the state and demonstrates the historic necessity of the withering away of the state with the final victory
of a classless, communist society.
And last but not the least, “Philosophical Trends in the Feminist Movement” by Anuradha
Ghandy where we tackled one of the most remarkable developments in the capitalist era which is the
emergence and growth of the women’s movement to empower and demand their rights, their place under
the sun. The emancipation of women from centuries of oppression became an urgent and immediate
question that led to the women’s movement.
I would like to add and share more knowledge I have read from Perusall, but these might be the
only ideas and knowledge I absorb because of their remarkable thoughts and things that surprised me. I
would recommend to anyone I can come across to read these if they are interested in learning about
gender and society.
