April 8 - Media and Culture of Sex Roles

Each student brings in 3 items as examples of the Media's depiction of Traditional Sex Roles.   April 15 we approach Modern & Post-Modern Sex Roles - so for April 8 stick with traditional sex roles.

What is an "item"?  Your "items" may vary, but there must be three.  You will each submit one typed sheet (double spaced) with your name and the three items you bring as "offerings" to the discussion.

Locate each of the 3 "items" in time and space, e.g., China, 1990; USA, 1955; Afghanistan, 2010; New York, 1969 - and so forth.

Classify each of the 3 "items":  role expectations, education, work, sexual norms, descriptors, movie roles, movie awards, TV watching patterns, commercial bias (e.g., ads for women vs. ads for men), language ("bad" words, "good" words), stereotypical emotions - and so forth.

An "item" or an offering might be:

1. a link to some description or depiction - which you can bring up on the internet for all to see
2. a clip - which you can bring on a DVD or a thumb drive or with a link
3. a "prop" - e.g., a corset, high heels, a Playboy Magazine, a hammer, a spoon
4. a "fact" or "finding" which you document and are prepared to present, e.g., a graph of how men vs. women vote, how men vs. women are employed, something about language we use to describe, something about any pattern or "norm" for either or both sexes, e.g., women are emotional and men are rational; women multi-task and men focus.