Assignments & Grades
DO 2 OF THESE
1. Current Event Issue (Discussion Board)
Each week, you will be responsible for posting a “Current Event Issue” for class
discussion. This should be a political topic, a pop culture issue, or something that
has been debated in social media about gender and sexuality. It should somehow
link back to our course. The goal is to recognize how gender is omnipresent in our
lives. Make sure to (1) post a link to the news article and (2) write a minimum of
250 words to respond to the issue. Make sure to clearly explain how the current
event issue links to our class (course concepts and topics). Your written response
can be a short summary and include why you think the current event issue is
important for us to know about (a little argument/opinion here). These are due
EACH MONDAY of the week.
DO 3 of THESE
2. Reading Responses (reading and videos listed below)
do not have to read all nor reply to all
readings can pick 1 reading and one video
and see how they correlate, or see how 2
readings correlate or just review 1 reading)
This is a theoretically based course that includes a deep engagement of the reading
materials. You are responsible for writing weekly reading responses that critically
engage with the week’s readings. I am interested to learn how and what you are
thinking about. While I will pose questions to guide you, your response is not
limited to them. I encourage you to think “outside the box.” How are the ideas you
read applicable to your life? What issues resonated with you? What were some
concepts that you would like to challenge? Question, interrogate, argue, and reflect
upon what you have read. All responses must be posted under “Reading Responses”
in Blackboard. These responses should be a minimum of 500 words that
demonstrate you have (a) read the assigned weekly readings and (b) are able to
apply new concepts and vocabulary.
DO 3 of THESE
3. Images of Gender: Photographic Journal (Weekly)
For this assignment, you will be taking photos of what gender looks like and feels
like, as well as spaces where gender is contested. Each week, you will journal about
your understanding of gender visually. This will include both photos and written
work. Use the new topics each week, using course materials and discussions (e.g.,
gender discrimination, gender in the media, gendered violence), to assist you. Some
general questions to consider:
How can you visually articulate your experiences of gender? Where do you find
gender? In what moments or spaces are dominant understandings of gender
contested or solidified? Where do people learn about gendered roles? What do
gender and violence look and feel like? How do you understand gendered
experiences of labor/work?
Guidelines for photographs
For EACH journal entry have a minimum of one photograph (although you can have
multiple photographs if there is a theme). You can take photographs in public
spaces, but if you wish to take a photo of someone in a space considered private
(e.g., home), you must have written permission to use the photo. Beyond these
general parameters, I ask you to follow the ‘‘60 Minutes’’ rule of thumb—do not
turn in any photos that would not be permissible on the evening news.
Guidelines for written work
Narrate your photographs. Your writing can include but is not limited to quotes from
course readings, class dialogues, or other related inspirations. In your written entries,
explain why you took them, what they mean to you, and what you intend to convey
to others. Use course materials to engage in sensemaking about your visual images,
bringing in the objective to “use communication theory to understand gendered
experiences.”
Your written reflection should be one page in length (approximately 500 words).
4. Disrupting Gender Norm Paper
For this assignment, you will be “performing” outside your gender in some way. You
will write a formal paper about your experience.
Find a behavior (activity, body language, speech pattern, dress, etc.) that is clearly
marked as not something that someone of your gender should be doing. Then, do it!
You want to violate a gender norm. Assess how you felt while performing outside of
your gender. Observe the responses you get from others around you. Do not tell the
people you’ll be observing that this is a class project until after the project is over.
The purpose of this assignment is to better understand how strong gender norms are
in our society. Once you have completed your gender norm violation, write a paper
that is a minimum of 3 pages in length or approximately 1500 words (single spaced).
It should include:
1. A brief description of the gender norm violation you committed and the context in
which it occurred (dining hall, classroom, etc.) as well as a description of the
reactions of others to the violation. Don’t forget to include your observations.
2. A careful examination of the possible reasons for the existence of this particular
gender norm. Why does it exist? What, if any, function does it serve? Did it serve a
function historically?
3. A careful and honest examination of how you felt while you were committing the
gender norm violation. Were there self-imposed, internal social controls created by
your socialization (e.g., inside you felt awkward, silly, embarrassed, etc.)? That is,
for this particular norm violation, does society control you primarily as a result of
your socialization as a male/female or a result of external sanctions, or both?
4. What theories could you use to understand your gender norm violation? How do
these theories help or contradict your experiences? (I need to see a strong theoretical
analysis in your paper that establishes your understanding of the material in class).
5. Make sure that you properly cite sources from class. Cite them in APA, MLA, or
Chicago Manual Style format. Make sure to have an attached References/Works
Cited/Bibliography page (not included in your word count).
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Wk
3
Day
Mon
May 20
Topic
MOTHERHOOD & REPRODUCTION
Readings
Norwood, K., & Turner, P. K. (2013). The breast is (always) for sex: Breastfeeding discourse in
response to May 21, 2012 Time Magazine cover. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication,
14(1), 79-86.
Buerkle, C. W. (2008). From women’s liberation to their obligation: The tensions between sexuality
and maternity in early birth control rhetoric. Women & Language, 31(1), 27-34.
Videos
Procter & Gamble Olympics Mother’s Day TV Ads (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdQrwBVRzEg
Saturday Night Live: The Day You Were Born
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRiGtHTJb0A
Maternity Leave and Why the United States is the Only Developed Nation Without It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umiljrgv66w
CURRENT EVENT ISSUE #2 DUE
Tues
May 21
WORK & FAMILY
Readings
DeFranscisco, V. P., & Palczewski, C. H. (2014). Work. In Gender in communication: A critical
introduction (2nd ed., pp. 185-196). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Hochschild, A. R., & Machung, A. (2004). The second shift: Working parents and the revolution at
home. In E. G. Friedman & J. D. Marschall (Eds.), Issues of gender (pp. 174-188). New York:
Pearson Longman.
Videos
Gender Stratification: Crash Course Sociology #32
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb1_4FPtzrI
The Big Question: “Why is There Still a Gender Pay Gap?”
https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/08/the-socialization-of-women/495200/
Wed
May 22
MEN & MASCULINITIES
Readings
Staples, B. (2004). Just walk on by: A Black man ponders his power to alter public space. In K. A.
Ackley (Ed.), Essays in contemporary culture (5th ed.) (pp. 184-187). Boston: Thomson Heinle.
McBride, M. C. (2009). Pressure to perform: The challenges and limitation of a masculine identity. In
E. A. Kirby & M. C. McBride (Eds.), Gender actualized: Cases in communicatively constructing
realities (pp. 35-41). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
Videos
TEDTalk: Justin Baldoni, “Why I’m Done Trying to Be ‘Man Enough’”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cetg4gu0oQQ
The Real Modern Family
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaXNKGIQimM
Gillette: “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0
Thurs
May 23
INTERSECTIONALITY (PART I)
Readings
Kang, M., Lessard, D., Heston, L., & Nordmarken, S. (2017). Intersectionality. In Introduction to
women, gender, sexuality studies (pp. 24-28). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Libraries.
https://press.rebus.community/introwgss/chapter/intersectionality/
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against
women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43, 1241-1252, 1262-1265.
McIntosh, P. (2009). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. In V. Taylor, N. Whittier, &
L. J. Rupp (Eds.), Feminist frontiers (8th ed., pp. 12-18). New York: McGraw Hill.
Videos
Kimberle Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViDtnfQ9FHc
What is Privilege?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD5f8GuNuGQ
Racial/Ethnic Prejudice & Discrimination: Crash Course Sociology #35
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSddUPkVD24
Fri
May 24
INTERSECTIONALITY (PART II)
Readings
Ortiz Cofer, J. (1995). The myth of the Latin woman: I just met a girl named Maria. In L. Z. Bloom
(Ed.), The essay connection (4th edition) (pp. 346-353). Lexington, MA: D.C. Health & Company.
Lopez, L. M., & Hasso, F. S. (2009). Frontlines and borders: Identity threshold for Latinas and Arab
American women. In V. Taylor, N. Whittier, & L. J. Rupp (Eds.), Feminist frontiers (8th ed., pp. 2033). New York: McGraw Hill.
Webster, L. (2017, August 3). The politics of being me. Buzzfeed.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/lucywebster/how-feminism-informed-my-identity-as-a-disabled-woman
PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNAL ENTRY #2 DUE
READING RESPONSE #3 DUE
Mon
May 27
NO ASSIGNED READINGS (MEMORIAL DAY)
CURRENT EVENT ISSUE #3 DUE
Tues
May 28
THE “F” WORD: FEMINISM (PART I)
Readings
Wood, J. (2011). The rhetorical shaping of gender: Women’s movements in the United States. In
Gendered lives: Communication, gender, and culture (11th ed.) (pp. 60-80). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
Anthony, S. B. (2007). Women’s right to vote. In M. Berndt & A. Muse (Eds.), Composing a civic
life: A rhetoric and readings for inquiry and action (pp. 125-129). New York: Pearson. (Original work
published in 1873).
Videos
Women in the 19th Century: Crash Course US History #16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM1czS_VYDI
Women’s Suffrage: Crash Course US History #31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGEMscZE5dY
Wed
May 29
THE “F” WORD: FEMINISM (PART II)
Readings
hooks, b. (2000). Introduction: Come closer to feminism. In Feminism is for everybody (pp.vii-6).
Cambridge, MA: South End Press.
Truth, S. (1997). Ain’t I a woman? In K. Conboy, N. Medina, & S. Stanbury (Eds.), Writing on the
body: Female embodiment and feminist theory (pp. 231-232). New York: Columbia University Press.
Lorde, A. (1984). The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. In Sister Outsider (pp.
110-113). Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press.
Videos
TEDTalk: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “We Should All Be Feminists”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWc
Thurs
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES (PART I)
May 30 Readings
Reddy, G., & Nanda, S. (2005). Hijras: An “alternative” sex/gender in India. In C. B. Brettell & C. F.
Sargent (Eds.), Gender in cross-cultural perspective (4th ed., pp. 278-285).Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.
Carcamo, C. (2018, June 25). At the border, mothers prepare to make an agonizing choice. Los
Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-asylum-seekers-prepare-to-cross20180625-story.html
Fri
May 31
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES (PART II)
Readings
Driver, A. (2016/2017). “We want to stay alive”: Ending feminicide in Juarez, Mexico. World Policy
Journal, 33(4), 40-47.
Reading/ Audio Podcast
Invisiblia, “Outside In” (focus on all-women Rwanda debate team which starts at 5:50 minutes)
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/07/29/487360094/invisibilia-no-one-thought-this-allwomans-debate-team-could-crush-it
PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNAL ENTRY #3 DUE
READING RESPONSE #4 DUE
5
Mon
June 3
GENDER & THE LAW
Audio Podcast
Radiolab Presents: More Perfect, “Sex Appeal”
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/sex-appeal
(**make sure to click on “Listen” or download the episode)
Chira, S. (2019, February 16). Do American women still need an equal rights amendment. The New
York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/16/sunday-review/women-equal-rightsamendment.html
(**you can also access the pdf on Blackboard)
Tues
June 4
CURRENT EVENT ISSUE #4 DUE
GENDER VIOLENCE (PART I)
Readings
Olson, L. N., & Mobley, S. K. (2009). “It can’t be domestic violence…we’re just dating.” In E. L.
Kirby & M. C. McBride (Eds.), Gender actualized: Cases in communicatively constructing realities
(pp. 71-77). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
Ivy, D. K. (2012). Power abuses in human relationships. In GenderSpeak: Personal effectiveness in
gender communication (pp. 275-303). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Videos
TEDTalk: Laura Bates, “Everyday Sexism”
https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_bates_everyday_sexism?language=en
Wed
June 5
GENDER VIOLENCE (PART II)
Reading
North, A. (2018, October 11). The #MeToo movement and its evolution, explained. Vox.
https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/10/9/17933746/me-too-movement-metoo-brett-kavanaughweinstein
Thurs
June 6
Videos
The Hunting Ground
• You can access a free copy of the documentary film at the Rice Library (on reserve), the
Evansville Public Library, and/or the following streaming services (for a fee): Amazon Prime,
YouTube, and iTunes
BEYOND LGBT: QUEERING GENDER & SEXUALITY
Reading
Lopez, G. (2018, November 14). Myth #10: Drag queens and kings are transgender. Vox.
https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/5/13/17938130/transgender-people-drag-queens-kings
Roschke, R. (2018, August 16). Sashay through the history of drag queen culture. PopSugar.
https://www.popsugar.com/news/History-Drag-Drag-Queen-Culture-44512387
Reading/Video
Meckler, L., Schmidt, S., & Sun, L. H. (2018, October 24). Trump administration considering
“different concepts” regarding transgender rights, with some pushing back internally. Washington
Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/trump-administration-considering-different-conceptsregarding-transgender-rights-with-some-pushing-back-internally/2018/10/22/0668f4da-d624-11e883a2-d1c3da28d6b6_story.html?utm_term=.52348edd762b
Video
Transgender Teen Jazz Jennings Begins New Chapter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA5n9YW4MVk
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
