Name: Jason Whitesel
Profession: Professor
Department: Women’s and Gender Studies
How long have you been teaching at Pace? How did you know you wanted to teach?: “I fell into teaching while I was still a graduate student at Ohio State University, so teaching at the university level seemed like the logical next step, when I completed my doctoral studies in Sociology. I have taught for two academic years at Pace. Prior that, I taught undergraduate courses on Sociology and Human Sexuality for four years in Central Florida.”
What drew you to teaching Women’s and Gender Studies?: “It was almost by accident. While I was still a graduate student at Ohio State University, I was assigned to teach the Sociology of Sexuality course simply because when a full-time faculty who had been teaching it on a regular basis moved to another university, a hole was left, with no other faculty member who felt comfortable tackling the subject. I used to enjoy especially inviting people beyond the ivory tower to come to talk to the class. For instance, I invited members of the Gender Identity Focus Team (GIFT for short), which gave students opportunities to speak with people who were gender-nonconforming, transgender, and so on. I also invited representatives of a local nudist group, meeting whom made students reconsider their assumptions about such people being socially “deviant.” That was in 2004 and 2005, and looking back on my teaching that course then, I see it as pioneering in our profession. The class allowed me to treat such material as worthy of academic study, not to mention that the opportunity for students to interact with representatives of such stigmatized communities humanized these groups to students. Ten plus years later, here I am in Women’s and Gender Studies at Pace.”
What do you want students to take away from your courses or just from Women’s and Gender Studies courses in general?: “I want students to think about intersecting categories of oppression (class, race, gender, sexuality, and dis/ability); to garner critical perspectives on men and masculinities, and gain an appreciation for sexuality and queer studies. I am also very much interested in bringing the body and embodiment into the courses that I teach. With changes in US society over time, I also have watched myself trying to impress upon students the difference(s) between a liberal and a radical perspective with regard to feminism, critical race studies, and queer studies. For instance, it’s one thing to “reform” our racist criminal justice system, which is the “liberal” outlook; and it’s another, to conceive of the need to dismantle the broken racist (in)justice system, with mass incarceration having undeniable historic connections to slavery. And calling for such a revolutionary action would be the “radical” outlook.”
What, in your opinion, is the coolest part of being a teacher?: “One of the coolest parts about teaching in the areas that I do is that the material we discuss can be transformative in the students’ everyday lives; they can make real-life connections between the academic material and their own biographies. For instance, a student will reach out and ask me to elaborate on a lecture, which, unbeknownst to me, had a personal impact because it hit upon a subject with which they were grappling. Or it’s also rewarding that when I am grading, I am sincerely excited sometimes because I am drawn into a paper that demonstrates the student really got it!
I am not actively involved with organized religion, but I remember as a child a religious leader quoting a biblical scripture that congregants should be the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.” I think my colleagues in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at Pace do put out the call for students to take and lead effective action in the community – locally, nationwide, and abroad. Therefore, it is also “cool” to see students become activists, i.e., with a social justice “mission,” so to speak.”
I know you are also a sociologist as well as a professor. Does that influence the way you teach in the classroom?: “I like the idea of having guided some minds to question what they may have taken for granted about the social world and think in new ways. I often teach classes that deal with intense and controversial subject matter that challenges students to think outside their routine perceptions and to consider the complex theoretical and methodological underpinnings of social research. I often incorporate sociological ideas and concepts into my classes, hoping that students will appreciate acquiring a “sociological imagination” by the end of the course.”
You’ve mentioned that your area of research is in the field of body shape/size. What do you think of the word “fat”?: “My research on fat gay men is situated in the emerging field of Fat Studies. I intentionally use the word “fat,” a simply descriptive term, rather than “obese” or “overweight,” which are judgmental terms and carry negative connotations. Typically, people reconfigure fat as a disease or deviance, such as when doctors medicalize fat as “obesity” – or when people say someone is “overweight,” meaning she or he has deviated from some “ideal” measurement. My work offers a different perspective on fat than the medicalized angle, by studying how gay big men playfully reclaim their sullied identities. Other scholars in the field have analyzed the emancipatory possibilities for fat women who engage in burlesque performances, synchronized swimming, and dance troupes, among other activities. My study of big gay men has been significantly influenced by the fat activism and writings of Marilyn Wann. As Wann has remarked in an interview, “Performance is huge–it has the power to shift people’s feelings about looking at certain topics like fat people.” I too am interested on how people flip the script on thin/muscular privilege.”
What is the most interesting job you have had?: “There have been so many! At the age of 16, I began to work at a down-home Midwestern chain restaurant first working in the dish tank, later graduating to the positions of salad bar/buffet attendant, waiter, host, and managing the restaurant during the summer after my first year in college. I recruited all of my friends to work at this restaurant, and it will forever be my favorite job.
I later worked at the mall selling products related to the appreciation and enjoyment of nature and science. I became a pro at selling Enya CDs, geodes, and dolphin t-shirts! From there, I went on to be a picture framer, mounting and framing prints and photographs; I even gave occasional art lessons. I also provided art therapy at a state psychiatric institution in a Midwestern capital. Then for several years, I was a group home aide for older adults with intellectual and physical disabilities, later becoming a specialist in this field and assisting folks in supported community living homes. I could go on forever; I have done many kinds of work in my lifetime.
Perhaps the most unusual job I have ever had was being an undergraduate research associate in the mid-90s for the Department of Psychology at Butler University and the Indianapolis Zoo. I assisted with conducting ethological observations of elephant behavior and studied animal-human interactions under the direction of certified applied animal behaviorists. During the winter, the elephants spent a great deal of time in the barn, and when I would return to my dorm, my roommate would make me hang my jacket out the window sill to air out the smell of elephant dung!”
If you could create a drink at Starbucks inspired by your favorite TV show, what would it be called?: “I guess you could brew me up some mysterious Twin Peaks tea, though FBI Agent Cooper would prefer black coffee with his cherry pie. I watch enough TV to come up with a completely new Starbuck’s menu based on some of my favorite television shows, so I will stop here!”