Gender & Sexuality: A Transnational Anthology from 1690 to 1990 is a collaborative project created by the students of Dr. Yarfitz’s class, Gender and Sexuality in World History, in fall 2019 at Wake Forest University. This book is the cumulative product of a semester of research where students selected a specific primary source and situated that source within its historical context. Our hope is that future students in this class will continue to expand on the sources in this volume.

While the class is centered around world history, our sources are primarily from the United States due to accessibility, however we have included a few global sources, and hope that the global scope of this project can be expanded upon in later editions. Our sources range from the late 1600s to the 21st century. The book is divided into five main topics: power, gender roles, gender stereotypes, reproductive rights, and education.

The first section focuses on power and explores the historic power dynamics in gender formations. The second section on gender roles presents roles throughout history using the analytical tools established during our time in this class. The third section on gender stereotypes observes stereotypes in multiple facets, including portrayal and the movements that fought against them. Section four explores the reproductive rights revolution and its pioneers, and the last section engages with the approaches that educational institutions take in the context of gender and sexuality, and how that places students in precarity, requiring forms of self advocacy.

Signed,

Amelia Baker
Karly Bruder
Collin Cheung
Kate Citron
River Cook
Jackie DeQuattro
Mai Dolan
Caroline Fahringer
Charlotte Fanning
Miranda Fiore
Catelin Magel
Francesca Milito
Hailey Morrison
Bailey Pellissier
Carla Peña-Vega
Mariana Rocha-Goldberg
Rebecca Rodrigues
Lindsay Rucker
Bella Scott
Mikayla Thomas
Olivia Thonson
Carly Warren
Sahara Willis

Cover art by Bailey Pellissier and Rebecca Rodrigues, copyright 2019.