Hi everyone,
And although I do want students to address readings since the last social media post, feel free to reach back into the entire course from which to craft your analysis. Remember that I want to see conflict concepts/ideas as the framing device for your analysis. Try and resist repeating what is in an article, video clip, or other social media artifacts!
The structure for these THREE assignments is the same, but this week we are focusing on issues of Gender (and LGBTQ+ Issues). What interests me is that we live in culture that does not consistently make the distinction between sex and gender. Sex is chromosomes evident at birth (male/female/intersex), but gender is the SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION of masculine and feminine roles, beliefs, etc. The confusion is highlighted in the so-called gender reveal parties–THE GENDER IS NOT REVEALED with a blue or pink, whatever. They should rightly be called sex reveal parties, but alas, many are not educated on this crucial difference. In scientific research, comparing outcomes on any two measures can be a sex difference (usually two categories of males and females), but studying gender differences in science means as assessment of the range of gender identities possible.
Remember that the purpose of this assignment is to use media representations of gender based conflicts, and these can be humorous or serious. Humor is one way that we deal with intense and/or uncomfortable conflicts. However, remember that humor CAN be offensive, so please choose carefully (see syllabus guidelines about posts). But if your choice of media makes others uncomfortable, discomfort is different than hate or aggression toward others. Don’t be nervous about posting issues that are difficult on the conflict level.
Thanks and email with questions!!
Larry