Biography
Why does a person’s sex matter? By sex, I mean both sex category (that is, so-called “biological sex”) and sexuality (that is, having sex or uses of the body). Bodily composition doesn’t actually have to matter in the social world. Why is it such an important characteristic for social organization? When and where does it matter? Is there a place or thought or moment when sex is not made to matter? I haven’t found it. I’ve been a sociologist and feminist theorist since I was 5; I just didn’t know it until I was 29. I can remember bucking the gender system in elementary school (“Mom, why do I have to wear a shirt? Danny doesn’t have to.”), and debating feminist theory vs. Christian theology in biology class during middle school, which my science teacher considered very unruly. Perhaps she was correct. I’m interested in the unruly. As a social theorist and social psychologist, I am continually intrigued by the ways humans create order in our lives, especially how we order our identities--sameness and differences, and often inequalities -- into gendered, racialized, class-based, and sexuality-based experiences. I am fascinated by the ways these experiences organize the mind and embodiment and energized by a pedagogy that theorizes with students how social order organizes their own lives and performances of self. My substantive research interests center on feminist gender and sexualities theories, symbolic interactionism, social theory, and interpretive research methods. The central thread running through my research is a concern for how sex category creates social barriers for people and the ways in which people narrate, negotiate, and resist accountability to gendered and sexualized expectations. Most recently, I have become interested in the epistemological concerns of how knowing is affected by experiences with the body and “types” of socially recognizable bodies (such as, “women’s” bodies, “lesbian” or “butch” bodies, “transgendered” bodies). My particular research interests include non-normative performances of gender and the self (especially butch, femme and transgender identities), power relations in social movements (for example, sexism and racism among gay men and lesbians in political organizing), and the ways in which gender structures sport and sport structures women’s bodies. This work spans several subfields of Sociology and Women’s Studies drawing from various theorists including gender theory (West & Zimmerman; Butler), postmodernism/queer theory and the body (Foucault; Plummer; Sedgwick), symbolic interaction and social psychology (Mead, Schutz, Goffman), masculinities and sociology of sport (Kimmel; Messner), and a variety of forms of feminist theory (Hill Collins; Lorber, Dorothy Smith; Marilyn Frye). In addition to my scholarly commitment to Sociology, I retain strong ties to the field of Women’s Studies by regularly publishing in and reviewing for national and international journals in both Sociology and Women’s Studies. To date I have co-authored a book, Gendering Bodies (with Lara Foley and Connie Shehan, 2007, Rowman & Littlefield), and my research and writing has appeared in Gender & Society, Feminism and Psychology, Feminist Teacher, Hypatia, The Sociological Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Journal of Lesbian Studies, Cultural Studies/Critical Methodologies (a research annual edited by Norman K. Denzin), International Review for the Sociology of Sport, and Handbook of Constructionist Research.
courses
Classics in Feminist Theory
Queer Theory and LGBT Lives
Gender, Sport and the Body
Issues in Feminism
Queer Theory and LGBT Lives
Gender, Sport and the Body
Issues in Feminism
publications
Crawley, Sara L., Lara J. Foley and Constance L. Shehan. 2008. Gendering Bodies. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield Press.
Crawley, Sara L. 2011. "Visible Bodies, Vicarious Masculinity, and ‘The Gender Revolution’: Comment on Paula England." Gender & Society, 25:108-112.
Crawley, Sara L., Rebecca K. Willman, Leisa Clark, and Clare Walsh. 2009. "Making Women the Subjects of the Abortion Debate: A Class Exercise that Moves Beyond ‘Pro-Choice’ and ‘ProLife.’" Feminist Teacher, 19(3): 227-240.
Crawley, Sara L. 2009. "When Coming Out Is Redundant: On The Difficulties of Remaining Queer And a Theorist After Coming Out in the Classroom." Feminism and Psychology. 19(2): 210-215.
Crawley, Sara L, with Heather Curry*, Julie Dumois-Sands*, Chelsea Tanner*, and Cyrana Wyker*. 2008. "Full-Contact Pedagogy: Lecturing with Questions and Student-Centered Assignments as Methods for Inciting Self-Reflexivity for Faculty and Students." Feminist Teacher, 19(1): 13-30.
Crawley, Sara L., Jennifer E. Lewis, and Maralee Mayberry. 2008. "Introduction to Special Issue of Feminist Teacher." Feminist Teacher, 19(1): 1-12, special issue on "Feminist Pedagogies in Action: Teaching Beyond Disciplines," Sara L. Crawley, Jennifer E. Lewis, and Maralee Mayberry, guest editors.
Crawley, Sara, L. 2008. "The Clothes Make the Trans: Region and Geography in Experiences of the Body." Journal of Lesbian Studies, 12 (4): 365-79.
Myerson, Marilyn, Sara L. Crawley, Erica Anstey, Justine Kessler And Cara Okopny. 2007. "Who’s Zoomin’ Who?: A Feminist, Queer Content Analysis Of ‘Interdisciplinary’ Human Sexuality Textbooks." Hypatia, 22:92-113.
Broad, K.L., Sara L. Crawley and Lara Foley. 2004. "Doing ‘Real Family Values’: The Interpretive Practice of Families in the GLBT Movement." The Sociological Quarterly, 45:509-27.
Crawley, Sara L. and K.L. Broad. 2004. "’Be Your*Real Lesbian+self’: Mobilizing Sexual Formula Stories through Personal (and Political) Storytelling." Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 33: 39-71.
Crawley, Sara L. 2002. "Prioritizing Audiences: Exploring the Differences Between Stone Butch and Transgender Identifications." Journal of Lesbian Studies, 6:11-24.
Crawley, Sara L. 2002. "’They still don’t understand why I hate wearing dresses’: An Autoethnographic Rant on Dresses, Boats and Butchness." Cultural StudiesCritical Methodologies (a research annual edited by Norman K. Denzin), 2:69-92.
Crawley, Sara L. 2001. "Are Butch and Fem Working Class And Anti-Feminist?" Gender & Society, 15:175-196.
Crawley, Sara L. 1998. "Gender, Class and the Construction of Masculinity in Professional Sailing: A Case Study of the America3 Women's Team," International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 33:33-42.
Crawley, Sara L. 2011. "Visible Bodies, Vicarious Masculinity, and ‘The Gender Revolution’: Comment on Paula England." Gender & Society, 25:108-112.
Crawley, Sara L., Rebecca K. Willman, Leisa Clark, and Clare Walsh. 2009. "Making Women the Subjects of the Abortion Debate: A Class Exercise that Moves Beyond ‘Pro-Choice’ and ‘ProLife.’" Feminist Teacher, 19(3): 227-240.
Crawley, Sara L. 2009. "When Coming Out Is Redundant: On The Difficulties of Remaining Queer And a Theorist After Coming Out in the Classroom." Feminism and Psychology. 19(2): 210-215.
Crawley, Sara L, with Heather Curry*, Julie Dumois-Sands*, Chelsea Tanner*, and Cyrana Wyker*. 2008. "Full-Contact Pedagogy: Lecturing with Questions and Student-Centered Assignments as Methods for Inciting Self-Reflexivity for Faculty and Students." Feminist Teacher, 19(1): 13-30.
Crawley, Sara L., Jennifer E. Lewis, and Maralee Mayberry. 2008. "Introduction to Special Issue of Feminist Teacher." Feminist Teacher, 19(1): 1-12, special issue on "Feminist Pedagogies in Action: Teaching Beyond Disciplines," Sara L. Crawley, Jennifer E. Lewis, and Maralee Mayberry, guest editors.
Crawley, Sara, L. 2008. "The Clothes Make the Trans: Region and Geography in Experiences of the Body." Journal of Lesbian Studies, 12 (4): 365-79.
Myerson, Marilyn, Sara L. Crawley, Erica Anstey, Justine Kessler And Cara Okopny. 2007. "Who’s Zoomin’ Who?: A Feminist, Queer Content Analysis Of ‘Interdisciplinary’ Human Sexuality Textbooks." Hypatia, 22:92-113.
Broad, K.L., Sara L. Crawley and Lara Foley. 2004. "Doing ‘Real Family Values’: The Interpretive Practice of Families in the GLBT Movement." The Sociological Quarterly, 45:509-27.
Crawley, Sara L. and K.L. Broad. 2004. "’Be Your*Real Lesbian+self’: Mobilizing Sexual Formula Stories through Personal (and Political) Storytelling." Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 33: 39-71.
Crawley, Sara L. 2002. "Prioritizing Audiences: Exploring the Differences Between Stone Butch and Transgender Identifications." Journal of Lesbian Studies, 6:11-24.
Crawley, Sara L. 2002. "’They still don’t understand why I hate wearing dresses’: An Autoethnographic Rant on Dresses, Boats and Butchness." Cultural StudiesCritical Methodologies (a research annual edited by Norman K. Denzin), 2:69-92.
Crawley, Sara L. 2001. "Are Butch and Fem Working Class And Anti-Feminist?" Gender & Society, 15:175-196.
Crawley, Sara L. 1998. "Gender, Class and the Construction of Masculinity in Professional Sailing: A Case Study of the America3 Women's Team," International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 33:33-42.