The short stories is
"The Barbie Birthday" by Alison Townsend
The literary criticisms are attached (choose one from the attachments)
and The short story is
attached
as well
What you need to do:
The Author’s Biography (in the student’s own words, with appropriate parenthetical
references/documentation). 1-2 pages. Address the author’s literary works and genres, their contemporaries, as well as their influences and/or whom they influenced. What was the social and political environment in which they wrote?
find a literary criticism on their text from one of the library’s databases. Print it out. And type a one-page analysis of the criticism. Do you agree or disagree with it? What does the author get right? What do they get wrong?
You must have parenthetical citations after each paragraph of borrowed material for each of the three sections. Parenthetical citations are documentation within your text that are used to acknowledge borrowed material that is either directly quoted or paraphrased. The format is the author's last name and the page number, i.e. (Smith 235).
Works Cited (a complete list of all sources cited in the project) This list should not be numbered and must be in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. Be sure to cite your pictures as well, both within the caption as well as in the Works Cited page. Also, don’t forget to cite your short story (ironically, this is student’s most common mistake).
Barbie Against Superman: Gender Stereotypes and Gender Equity i Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies Vol.1, No.1, April 2005 Barbie Against Superman: Gender Stereotypes and Gender Equity in the Classroom Bengü AKSU Faculty of Science & Arts, Atılım University
[email protected] Abstract In this age of mass media, we are surrounded with images that promote certain gender roles. These hidden forces shape us and our world view, often without us being aware that they are doing so. Gender stereotypes occur when generic attributes, opinions or roles have been applied toward either gender and the results are apparent everywhere in our society. From the point of view of education, it is important to use and/or to refuse gender stereotypes in the classroom. Since education is a significant social area where gender segregation and the reproduction of gender stereotypes are generated, there is, without doubt, much can be done in this area to prevent this phenomenon. As gender equity, is prevalent part of our society, teachers must help their students identify where it exists in the classroom and school environment. Key Words: Gender stereotypes, gender equity, stereotyping, gender segregation, language teaching. Özet İçinde bulunduğumuz toplu iletişim araçları çağında, belli başlı cinsiyet rollerini vurgulayan imajlarla çevrelenmiş bulunmaktayız. Bu gizli güçler çoğunlukla biz farkında olmadan bizi ve dünya görüşümüzü şekillendirmektedirler. Cins sterotipleri, herbir cinse yönelik cinse ait davranışlar, fikirler veya roller uygulandığında ortaya çıkmakta ve toplumumuzda her yerde görülebilirler. Eğitim açısından bakıldığında, cins sterotiplerinin sınıf içinde kullanılması ve/veya kullanılmaması önemlidir. Eğitim, cins sterotiplerinin üretildiği ve cinsiyet ayrımının ortaya çıktığı en önemli sosyal alanlardan biri olduğu için, bu fenomenin engellenmesi için bu alanda çok şey yapılabileceği şüphesizdir. Cinsiyet eşitliğini sağlamada toplumun etkin bir kesimini oluşturan öğretmenlerin, öğrencilerinin sınıf içinde ve okul çevresinde bu eşitliği belirleyebilmeleri için yardımcı olmaları gerekmektedir. Bu çalışmada, ilk olarak bazı yaygın cins sterotipleri sıralanmış ve bunlar hakkında bazı gerçekler ortaya konulmuştur. Daha sonra, cins sterotiplerinin meydana gelmesindeki nedenler, sınıf içindeki durumları, öğretmenlerin ve ebeveynlerin bu konuda neler yapabileceği belirtilmiştir. Son olarak, cins sterotiplerinin kullanımıyla ilgili bazı öneriler ve örnek sınıf içi aktiviteleri sunulmuştur. Anahtar Kelimeler: Cinsiyet rolleri, cins sterotipleri, cins ayrımcılığı, sterotipleştirme, dil öğretimi. Introduction Nowadays, through the increasing power of mass media, it is a fact that images have a strong effect in the promotion of certain gender roles. These hidden forces shape us and our world view, often without us being aware that they are doing so. Gender stereotypes occur when generic roles have been applied toward either gender and the results are apparent everywhere in our society. The process of subtle gender shaping is all too present, even in children’s TV programmes. For example; the famous cartoon “The Simpsons” conspiciously reinforces gender-based stereotypes. The girl, Lisa, is portrayed as intelligent and well-behaved, but the boy, Bart, is portrayed as naughty and playful. Again, the mother, Marge, is the homemaker and the father, Homer, is the breadwinner. Since education is a significant social area, where gender segregation and the reproduction of gender stereotypes are generated, without doubt, much can be done in this area to prevent this phenomenon. As gender equity, is a prevalent part of our society, teachers must help their students identify where it exists in the classroom and school environment. Thus, a great necessity to do more research on this particular area exists in order to increase the awareness of both students and teachers. In this study, first common gender stereotypes will be listed and some facts about them will be presented. Then, the causes of gender inequality will be looked at and as an important part of educational process some recommendations for parents will be listed. Finally, problems and possible solutions in using gender stereotypes in the classroom will be discussed and some recommendations and a sample lesson plan including three classroom activites will be presented for teachers in order to help achieve gender equity in the classroom. Common Gender Stereotypes As it can be seen from the examples, there are many gender stereotypes used to define each sex. These roles are so popular that they can be easily seen in every part of life, even in some poems like: “ Sugar and spice and all things nice, That’s what little girls are made of. Slugs and snails and puppydog tails, That’s what little boys are made of. ” Common gender stereotypes associated with women are: - submissive - emotional - quiet - neat - clean - clumsy - artsy - housewife 13 - childrearing Common gender stereotypes associated with men are: - aggressive - no emotions - loud - messy - athletic - math and science oriented - money maker - naughty The Causes of Gender Inequality Gender differences are the result of natural forces but not the results of upbringing. So the roles of women and men in the society depend on biological differences between the sexes. However, the explanation of gender differences should not only be looked for in hormones and chromosomes, but also should be looked for in social norms which require men and women to behave in different ways. These social norms are also called stereotypes. At that point, such questions as “Why do we want to meet gender requirements and norms? Why is it necessary for us to justify gender expectations?” can be asked. First of all, we are subjected to normative pressure. We have to follow certain rules and justify society’s expectations. Secondly, we experience informational pressure. From infancy, our culture teaches what it means to be a boy or a girl. From the colour of our clothes to the toys we play with, the messages begin at a very early age. That is to say, before deciding what is right and what is wrong we try to find out what is right in other people’s opinions. We consider that we behave in a right way when we behave the same way as others. The strong influence of gender norms on our behaviour can be explained by the combination of informational pressure and normative pressure. On the one hand gender stereotypes simplify our life and reduce the number of apprehension processes. In our childhood we discover this and learn to follow them without thinking and without making any effort to change them. But on the other hand gender stereotypes limit the development of a human personality and lead to social inequality. What Parents Can Do Since gender stereotypes limit children to gender-based roles that often do not account for a child’s individual likes and abilities, conscious parents should do something to prevent this phenomenon. “The first step is for parents to be more thoughtful about gender roles and to consider what messages they want to send to their children”(K.Finello,2004) Parents should decide what values they want their son or daughter to have. Once they have a clear idea what message they want to send, they can make smaller , everyday decisions based on whether they support that message. Here are some simple recommendations for parents: 14 • Monitor your child’s media consumption. Be aware of what your kids are watching and listening to and the messages they are getting. • Worry less about what other people think. Focus more on your child’s individual abilities and needs and fret less about whether he’ll get teased for his choices. • Avoid making stereotypical statements. Saying things like, “Big boys don’t cry” or “Little girls shouldn’t get their pretty clothes dirty” may seem harmless but they may cause serious unhealthy gender stereotypes. • Make a conscious decission about what you want your child to play with. For example are dolls ok for boys? Toy cars fine for girls? What about guns for both? • Minimize emphasis on appearence and maximize emphasis on skills, abilities, and personality traits. Compliment not just on how something looks that your child has completed but on its content. • Try to seperate girls from the media’s messages about their bodies. Because of pervasive media messages, most women feel they are too fat, too skinny, etc. Most of the scientists say that there is nothing wrong with caring about your appearance but it should not be the most important factor in a girl’s life. Assure your daughter that she looks great just the way she is, but also emphasize how great she is on the inside as well. • Encourage girls to get involved in sports or musical performance. Boys tend to join these activities more than girls as they get older, so girls may be missing out on some of the benefits. Research shows that