Murray Scholar's research resonates with MSU students

October 19, 2023 - Beth Brauer

James Madison College welcomed the third Stephen O. Murray Scholar in Residence earlier this month. Canton Winer, assistant professor of sociology and women, gender and sexuality studies at Northern Illinois University, visited campus and delivered his first public talk “Does Everyone Have a Gender? Examining the Intersection of Asexuality and Gender,” on October 5 to a full audience in Case Hall’s JMC Library.

Murray Scholar lectures have always been open to the public, but usually draw a mostly Madison crowd. This time, however, something about the topic resonated with students across campus. 

Grace Beem, a second-year student in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources majoring in crop and soil sciences, was intrigued after seeing the event promoted in a newsletter from the MSU Gender  and Sexuality Campus Center.

“I am asexual and consider myself detached from my gender,” Beem said. “I thought it was interesting that there was going to be a lecture on the intersection of these two factors of my identity, so I decided to check it out.”

One junior attendee in the  School of Social Work in the College of Social Sciences and who requested not to be identified by name, had multiple reasons for attending the event.

“Attending the event was presented to earn extra credit in my Sex, Gender and Sexuality class, but the true reason I attended is because my daughter told me recently, she may be asexual, and I am eager to learn all I can to support her,” said the student.

Winer explained that by pursuing an area of queer studies that is often overlooked, he gains more insight about the spectrum of sexuality and gender identity. “When we focus on the margins, we learn about the center,” Winer said.

Central to Winer’s research is the notion of categories as social constructs and whether these labels can be undone.

Winer’s study included 30 participants — all of whom identified as asexual. Three main themes emerged from the interviews that were conducted over Zoom or by email (as the study was conducted during the pandemic): Respondents reported complete detachment from gender, they were ambivalent about that detachment, and there was a clear connection between detachment and asexuality.

For several students in attendance, Winer’s research gives credence to their lived experiences.

“I have viewed my detachment so far as subconsciously being either nonbinary and in deep denial, or as being cis and wanting to feel special. I figured that I would eventually figure out a solid label for myself, so it meant a lot to know that I don't have to,” Beem said.

Among the various implications and questions that emerged, Winer acknowledges multiple paradoxes, and, while gender and sexuality are intertwined, gender detachment is not exclusive to asexuality.

Winer will return to James Madison for his second visit April 2-9, 2024; his final talk “A Very Queer Hetero: Exploring the Sexual Borderlands of Asexuality” is scheduled for 5 p.m., April 4. Additional details will be available during spring semester.

For more information about the Murray Scholar in Residence and the Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections, visit the JMC website and MSU Libraries.