This course is designed to give students an introduction to the classics of gender and sexuality theory, from medieval defenses of women to contemporary queer theories that question the boundaries between biological sex, gender, and sexuality. Well begin with proto-feminist works such as Christine de Pizan's Book of the City of Ladies and work our way through such watershed texts as Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women, John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Women, Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, Michele Foucault's A History of Sexuality, Judith Butler's Gender Trouble, and selections from theorists whose work has become indispensable to literary studies. Requirements will include response papers and two substantial essays.