The modern English word gender comes from the Middle English gender (also gendere, gendir gendyr, gendre), a loanword from Anglo-Norman and Middle French gendre. In the last two decades, the use of gender in academia has increased greatly, outnumbering uses of sex in the social sciences, as distinctions between biological categories and social constructions grow. The study of gender is not specifically a women’s issue, but the rhetoric grew out of the feminist movement.
Check out some of these resources, available through Ames, to catch up on the conversation.
Michael Kimmel: On Gender – We’ve heard again and again that men and women are engaged in a “battle of the sexes,” that we’re so differently wired and so foreign to each other that we might as well come from different planets. In this powerful new lecture, renowned speaker and bestselling author Michael Kimmel (The Gendered Society, Manhood in America) turns this conventional wisdom on its head. With clarity and humor, Kimmel moves beyond the popular inter-planetary notion that “men are from Mars and women are from Venus” to advance a decidedly more earth-bound and inter-connected view of the things men and 
women have in common. This is an accessible and entertaining introduction to gender politics and gender theory — as intellectually informative as it is inspiring, and suited for use across a range of disciplines and courses.
The Role of Gender – This lesson focuses on how all of us learn about gender from an early age, and explores some of the ways in which gender-based roles, expectations and assumptions are changing.
FtF: Female to Femme imagines a world in which the journey toward femme was understood to be as radical as journeys to claim and inhabit other queer bodies.Envisioning more than it documents, this documentary celebrates dyke femme identities, combining farce and seduction with analysis and personal history. For years, femmes have forged community and created space for themselves out of edgy performance and authentic parody. FtF recognizes these strategies and builds them into an unforgettable sexy, funny and moving film. Bursts of queer burlesque amplify the idea of a femme drag. A satire of a femme transition support group uses humor to disarm viewers (as it did its participants), finally stripping away layers of performance to arrive at a raw recognition of femme tactics of self-conceptualization. Interviews feature a host of fabulous femmes, including actress/ writer Guinivere Turner, novelist/activist Jewelle Gomez, poet Meliza Banales, rock stars Leslie Mah (Tribe8) and Bitch (Bitch & Animal), professors, activists, artists and dancers. The filmmakers ask these brilliant thinkers and performers to use the language of gender transition to talk about femme identity, opening up new possibilities for understanding femininity while reinforcing connections among gender warriors around the world. A wildly original extravaganza, FtF: Female to Femme presents a saucy, indelible portrait of a people and their politics central to the gender revolution.
Want a historical perspective? Consider this text, available to check out through Ames.