The Social Constructor of Gender
OPTION 1: We are learning this section on how gender is a social construction, meaning it is not intrinsic, fixed, or based on sexual characteristics. We “do” gender as individuals and society. We will be exploring how media, movies, and advertising are instrumental in constructing stereotypes about men and women. We will also be exploring how people do gender differently depending on different social settings and expectations of the social setting. After reading through all material your assignment is to find an advertisement (via the internet) that is gendered, sexist, hypersexualizing, and/or you see gender is being “done.” YOU MUST POST A PICTURE OR VIDEO IN THE DISCUSSION FORUM FOR THIS OPTION. It is important you review all class material before starting your discussion post. Please take the time to insert your digital media, properly sized, and positioned. Gender-and-Advertising-Photo.jpg I have provided an example that clearly depicts gendered stereotypes about men and women. Women are taught they are judged on their beauty, while men are taught that worth is all about smarts. Your job is to find an advertisement and analyze it by answering the following questions: How does the media, advertising, etc. have an impact on how people view and “do” gender? What other information can you find on this? (good place for outside credible sources!) Analyze you advertisement. How is your advertisement gendered, sexist, hypersexual, and/or depicts “doing” gender? Or all of the above? How does this ad feed into dominant cultural stereotypes of men and women? What is the message of your advertisement about gender? Who do you think is the intended audience? OPTION 2: After reading through all course material and focusing on Sociological Perspectives: Chapter 8: Gender and the Informal Control of Alcohol Use choose a group, social setting, subculture, etc. (much like I did in Sociological Perspectives) where gender is being “done.” You can choose any social setting you find particularly interesting, one you have experience with, or one you would choose to study. Once you have chosen a setting, describe your setting. This might be a good place for outside credible sources and doing some research on your chosen setting. For example, there is a plethora of research on how gender is “done” in the college party scene (the scene that I studied). Using terms/concepts from readings and lectures, how is gender being “done” in your chosen setting? Are people following dominant cultural gender norms of masculinity and femininity? Are people transgressing dominant cultural gender norms? Why or why not? Are people treated differently in this setting based on their gender? Are people policed in this setting for not conforming to gender norms? If so, how? Please use the following links as sources to write this paper. These are the documents my professor is sharing with the class to help us write the paper so please use information from these sources and cite them accordingly. http://creativesociology.blogspot.com/2011/08/doing-gender.html https://youtu.be/Hl3yrO-ykgk https://youtu.be/aL4sOAM8rgg Chapter 8: Sociological Perspectives on Substance Use and College Life (Patrick O’Brien)
