SYG 2000

SYG 2000

Please do one (1) of the following:

 

Option 1

This is a “gender norm” assignment and it will require you to step outside the box a little bit.

 

*Your task is to identify 2 significant characteristics of the opposite gender (not sex).  Adopt these in various settings (public settings, private settings among people you know, etc.) over the course of a few days.  Describe your own experience and the responses you get.

 

*Your write-up should include the following main parts:

  1. What specific gender norms do you intend to break?
  2. What reaction do you expect to receive once you have broken these norms; i.e., how or to what extent will you be policed, or ‘put in your place’?
  3. A brief description of your actual norm violations.
  4. What reaction you actually receive- did it match your expectations?
  5. A short summarizing section

 

*Keep in mind, you should choose norm violations that are uncomfortable to you, not something you do in your everyday life.

 

*Your goal is to attempt to decode some of the meanings associated with particular gendered acts.  How do these expectations constrain our thoughts and behavior?

 

The paper should be a minimum of 500 words of text with a word count listed at the bottom.

 

Points will be deducted for papers that are sloppily written and for those that are less than the required length.

 

OR

Option 2

Research mainstream magazines such as US Weekly, People, Vogue, Elle, Maxim, and The New Yorker.  Examine the messages about whites and non-whites.  Are whites and non-whites portrayed similarly?  What are the values communicated?  What are the standards of beauty? Then examine “ethnic” magazines and newspapers such as Latina, Essence, Hyphen, Native Peoples, Ebony, Vibe, Hispanic Magazine, Indian Country Today and Asianweek.  Do these ethic magazines reinforce dominant-culture values and standards of beauty or challenge them?

 

The paper should be a minimum of 500 words of text with a word count listed at the bottom.

 

Points will be deducted for papers that are sloppily written and for those that are less than the required length.