This piece asserts three theses about gender in the international relations classroom: that gender has an intensely personal resonance with the students; that there is a difference between teaching IR courses with a week on gender and IR courses from a gendered/feminist perspective, and that there are currently inadequate texts to truly mainstream gender in the IR classroom. It suggests ways forward from these dilemmas, and concludes with some practical advice for a less gendered classroom for the 21st century.