Sociology M167 Class Final Project:

Pro & Anti LGBT Websites Analyses and Students Discussions

Welcome to our Field Studies Group Project Webpage. This page is the work of mainly four students in the Sociology M167 (Contested Sexualities) Field Studies Class, and with the cooperation of their peers in the main Sociology M167 class. We are embarking on an experimental project of group learning and community service using web technology. At this site, you will find links to information about our group project, Soc. M167 background information, summaries of discussions on some class topics, our analyses of selected websites, our anonymous class evaluations, and a section describing briefly who are the students who created this webpage.

Our Group Project

Creating this resource webpage is our group project. This project is a requirement for students taking the "Field Studies" component of Sociology M167, "Contested Sexualities." Unlike the traditional field studies offered by the Center for Experiential Education and Service Learning, here, we are redefining the "field" to be the internet rather than service organizations or businesses. Hence, the "service" back to the field is this resource webpage. This project is also an experiment in using web technology to enhance group learning by creating a space for students to share ideas and collaborate on producing a resource webpage that traces students' collective learning process. This is achieved by having students post on the Resource Webpage the summaries of class discussions and analyses of selected websites.

For any one new to the studies of gays/lesbians/bisexuals/transgenders, this site serves as an introduction to a critical approach to studying "sexuality" by providing analyses of other relevant websites and reports of some contemporary gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender issues and readings. In additions, this page is a document of what the course is about from students' perspectives (students evaluations) to be shared with interested, future students. Instructors may also find the links to discussion topics that students have raised on the class discussion board useful in observing what concepts and ideas students are comprehending and what are difficult for students to grasp and would require instructors more time in preparation of teaching them to students.

The following sections are: information about the main class and our approach to "sexuality"; reports on class discussions; analyses of selected websites; student evaluations; and authors' profiles.

Soc. M167 Background Information

The Class Syllabus provides a brief description of our "critical approach" to sexualities and an outline of the readings throughout these ten weeks course. The class topics are basically broken down into:

A historical view of the rise of queer movements and emergence of queer subjects;
A critical perspective to viewing the politics of legitimating and deviantizing sexual minorities;
An introduction to classic sociological works on homosexuality, homosexual community development, and identity formation;
Diversity within the communities including issues of race, bisexuality and transgenderism; and,
A revisit to notions of queer resistance and politics and how to respond to the rights.

For beginners, the Queer Glossary link may be a good start to familiarize yourself with some of the queer terms used throughout this site. This Glossary link can also be found in the navigation bars located at the top and bottom of this page.

Summaries of Some ClassTopics

Here are some topics that our class has discussed either in class or on the class web discussion board. Each category of topics are links to the summaries of conversations students have on the discussion board or in class. The links below may not be up for a while given the limited amount of time and resources to do this. However, the link to the class discussion board is useful data of what students are comprehending and not understanding from the class based on the issues that they are raising, framing and debating on the discussion board.

Analyses of Selected Websites

We are living in an age that some would characterize as a time of information explosion or implosion. Given the increasing popularity of the internet as a forum for information gathering, we would like to investigate what kinds of information are out there in cyberspace regarding "sexualities." In coordination with the main class, "Contested Sexualities," we will specifically be examining the internet for websites that are pro-queer and anti-queer. We see these sites are involved in debates about the legitimation or delegitimation of certain types of sexualities. A critical analysis of some of these sites will be a way for us to begin to organize what voices are out there that are contesting over legitimate sexualities. Unlike the old days, where a research into what groups are saying about "sexuality" requires researchers to go to these groups and organizations and interview their members, the internet has provided us an easy way to access organizational positions on issues with just a click of the mouse.

Here is a collection of students' analyses of some of the pro-queer and anti-queer websites that they have found on the web. We have tried to include many of the major sites of main organizations and groups rather than of individuals. Our class analyses of selected websites are organized into the following categories:

Students' Evaluations of Soc. 199/M167

The last assignment that students have to do for this Soc.199/M167 class is to type up an anonymous evaluation of their involvement in this class and this resource webpage project. This is basically for students to say what they have learned from this Soc. 199/M167 class and to evaluate what exercises were useful and what needed improvement. There are links here to individual evaluations. The assessment will be anonymously collected from typed papers that students have dropped in the instructor's mailbox.

From Soc.199/M167 students:
Evaluation 1, Evaluation 2, Evaluation 3, Evaluation 4, Evalulation 5.

Who Are the Students Who Created This Webpage?

In case the reader is curious, here are information about who are the creators of this webpage.

My name is Minnie and I am a second year undergraduate student at UCLA.

I was not aware that this school offered classes like Soc. 167, so when I found out about it, I HAD to see what it was like. I thought that this class could help me open up my mind to various sexualities and to see things from a different angle. Growing up in Korean and Christian society, I was never fully exposed to non-heterosexuals. I would hear jokes and stereotypes about gays and lesbians, but it didn't seem right to live upon those ideals. Ever since my high school research project about the effects of gay parents, I realized that people cannot live in denial and fear of homosexuals. So~ I decided to further my knowledge about the gay community by taking this course.

My main objective for participating in the Field Studies section of this course was to learn how to make a webpage and receive a couple of units at it. But I actually became quite interested in the analysis that I have chosen to publish on this webpage. I've heard enough about how Christians think homosexuality is a "sin", but I want to know what religious gays/lesbians have to say about that. I am seeking to broaden my perspective once again on homosexuality and religion.

My name is Jessica and I am a 3rd year sociology major. I took a class from Prof. Alice Echols last quarter and became interested in queer studies because she was very thought provoking. I have been fairly sheltered on the subject because I am heterosexual and never have had to think about what this type of discrimination feels like. When I study about the type of oppression marginalized groups face I feel almost a sense of guilt. The only type of discrimination I have experienced has been due to my gender and that in itself has been seldom. But for the most part I am never denied rights or basic freedoms because of who I am. And because I am fairly uneducated on this facet of discrimination does not mean that I have to remain ignorant. And that is my purpose in taking this class. To find out the reasons why stupid but complex discrimination based on sexual preference occurs, and the means by which equality might be attained.

My hopes for this website are that it brings a better understanding to the class due to the summaries and analyses posted. My self-interests in this 199 include a better understanding of computers and the web. I know the web is eventually going to be an essential in the workplace not just an option, and I feel like this is a good opportunity to break the ice.

Laura is a fourth year Sociology major @ UCLA, who is currently taking a Sociology M167 course titled, "Contested Sexualities." She took the course because the title was provocative, she is currently working on making a webpage for the class in the Field Studies component of the course. She expects to learn not only the technical skills required to make a webpage, but also learn more about the struggle of the Gay and Lesbian movement and its political as well as social implications.

Name: Sophia
Major: Psychology and Sociology
Year: 4th year... non-graduating senior :(

The reason I choose to work on the topic of hate crimes is because people need to be aware of the fact that hate crimes do exist. Hate crimes are not only targeted towards queers. The only "crime" that victims of hate crimes have committed is being of a certain race, gender, or sexual orientation. By studying hate crimes we are able to see the connections between all the struggles we face. These connections will hopefully allow people working to create a socially just world to be more sensitive and understanding towards others that are also in a struggle, because in the end we must all realize that we are fighting for the same cause.

Gina M. is the web instructor for this Soc. 199/Soc.M167 class. She is also a graduate student in the Sociology Department at UCLA. She is helping the above students on technical aspects as well as on some conceptual aspects of creating this webpage. She hopes the students will come out of this class with new computer skills and best of all if they could begin to view the world in a critical way rather than simply accepting social inequality as natural. Specifically for this class on contested sexualities, she hopes the students will begin to expand the line of questions from why or what are the causes of homosexuality to a line of questions on how social processes are reinforcing or challenging our structures of social inequality by marginalizing, repressing and deviantizing some people while legitmating and normalizing others.