All images are reports on this group of blogs from Statcounter.com
Your final project will be due by Monday, August 10 at 9 pm.
Unlike the written assignments posted to your blogs, you'll have the option to work with as many of your classmates as you'd like.
If you choose this option, I'll need the names of the students working on each project during the final class on August 7th (due to the extended due date and the Records and Registration grade-deadline of Monday the 11th for Summer Session B, I need to know which blog posts will have written assignments so I can grade them on Friday :o).
The format will need to be in the form of a video (a slide show set to music would also work...but you'll need to be able to upload it in a format that is compatible with YouTube. Each group member will then post the project to his/her individual blogs using the instructions from YouTube (it's just a copy and paste maneuver).
You will need to narrow your scope of popular culture:
Choose a media format/genre (some examples):
* TV Program
* Radio Show
* Film
* Music Video
* Magazine
* Video Game
* (Aspect of) Athletic Event
* Fashion
* Public Education & Corporation
Choose a subject/audience:
For example, create a satirical cartoon, cable news program, reality show, televised sporting event, parenting magazine, a game show, children’s entertainment (from Scooby Doo to High School Musical), part of the fashion world (runway modeling or the next season’s "Look Book"); if corporate-edu-consumer-training is your interest, think of a revised Chanel One, corporate sponsored events, curriculum, or major capital project-funding , such as the construction of stadiums and theaters, perhaps target one of these areas in a Colbert-Styled "The WØrd" or a set of segments from The Soup.
If you choose to work within movies/films, a "trailer" would be the right length and format
for envisioning this assignment.
Based on your chosen genre/format:
* Give your production/publication a name— be original and creative!
* Identity the assumptions that underlie the messages you want to send.
* Specifically, identify the messages that you see being disseminated by an analogous/similar form of media that relate to gender, sexuality, race, class, etc. (i.e. current fashion magazines send the message that being female involves striving for ‘ideal’ physical beauty.)
* Create visual images and text (whether written or spoken) that accurately work off these assumptions. (What message(s) do you want to send about, sexuality, racism, sexism, and/or classism?)
Use images from other texts/videos/images/audio to create a commentary on a preexisting element of popular culture. Make sure you cite these external sources in your video in the "credits" using MLA citations at the end.
* Write, enact, portray (in the format suited for the genre you’ve chosen- video, image, etc) that address existing norms, ideals, and messages about gender, either directly or indirectly. (i.e. an article about males and eating disorders addresses gender directly while an article about the CEO of a Fortune 500 company who happens to be a woman addresses it indirectly.)
Remember that you need to make it clear that your production is a critique of gender (and other categories and biases too, where applicable) and ensure your project is inspired by a particular author's (or multiple authors) points. For example, a video montage of reality TV show-clips with text/voice-overs illustrating Ouellette and Hay's argument about Reality TV would clearly be linkable to their piece as the basis of your critique.
There is no write-up for this project; however, you must have a title and all group members must be cited in the credits along with all sources of information and inspiration.
Your final project will be due by Saturday at 5pm if you choose this option.
Unlike the written assignments posted to your blogs, you'll have the option to work with as many of your classmates as you'd like.
If you choose this option, I'll need the names of the students working on each project during the final class on August 7th (due to the extended due date and the Records and Registration grade-deadline of Monday the 11th for Summer Session B, I need to know which blog posts will have written assignments so I can grade them on Friday :o).
The format will need to be in the form of a video (a slide show set to music would also work...but you'll need to be able to upload it in a format that is compatible with YouTube. Each group member will then post the project to his/her individual blogs using the instructions from YouTube (it's just a copy and paste maneuver).
You will need to narrow your scope of popular culture:
Choose a media format/genre (some examples):
* TV Program
* Radio Show
* Film
* Music Video
* Magazine
* Video Game
* (Aspect of) Athletic Event
* Fashion
* Public Education & Corporation
Choose a subject/audience:
For example, create a satirical cartoon, cable news program, reality show, televised sporting event, parenting magazine, a game show, children’s entertainment (from Scooby Doo to High School Musical), part of the fashion world (runway modeling or the next season’s "Look Book"); if corporate-edu-consumer-training is your interest, think of a revised Chanel One, corporate sponsored events, curriculum, or major capital project-funding , such as the construction of stadiums and theaters, perhaps target one of these areas in a Colbert-Styled "The WØrd" or a set of segments from The Soup.
If you choose to work within movies/films, a "trailer" would be the right length and format
for envisioning this assignment.
Based on your chosen genre/format:
* Give your production/publication a name— be original and creative!
* Identity the assumptions that underlie the messages you want to send.
* Specifically, identify the messages that you see being disseminated by an analogous/similar form of media that relate to gender, sexuality, race, class, etc. (i.e. current fashion magazines send the message that being female involves striving for ‘ideal’ physical beauty.)
* Create visual images and text (whether written or spoken) that accurately work off these assumptions. (What message(s) do you want to send about, sexuality, racism, sexism, and/or classism?)
Use images from other texts/videos/images/audio to create a commentary on a preexisting element of popular culture. Make sure you cite these external sources in your video in the "credits" using MLA citations at the end.
* Write, enact, portray (in the format suited for the genre you’ve chosen- video, image, etc) that address existing norms, ideals, and messages about gender, either directly or indirectly. (i.e. an article about males and eating disorders addresses gender directly while an article about the CEO of a Fortune 500 company who happens to be a woman addresses it indirectly.)
Remember that you need to make it clear that your production is a critique of gender (and other categories and biases too, where applicable) and ensure your project is inspired by a particular author's (or multiple authors) points. For example, a video montage of reality TV show-clips with text/voice-overs illustrating Ouellette and Hay's argument about Reality TV would clearly be linkable to their piece as the basis of your critique.
There is no write-up for this project; however, you must have a title and all group members must be cited in the credits along with all sources of information and inspiration.
Gender & Popular Culture
Summer 2009
Blog Post #1
(Counter)Hegemonic Representations of Femininity and Masculinity In an Aspect of Pop Culture
Choose a very narrow aspect of popular culture to analyze (an episode of a TV show/music video/etc). Analyze how your chosen piece of pop culture both (re)creates/enforces hegemonic representations and understandings of masculinity and femininity and how this same piece simultaneously disrupts these messages (counter-hegemonic representations).
Use at least 2 course readings (direct quotes) to support your argument that support your thesis (located in the last sentence of the first paragraph, aka your intro)
Avoid including too much narration of the show, instead write in a clear analytical manner that targets a aspect of pop culture, which both reinforces and disrupts hegemonic masculinity and femininity in US pop culture. Note: Most elements of popular culture do both reinforcement and disruption of these constructs; therefore, don’t focus on just hegemony or just counter-hegemony.
You may choose to focus on a specific character if your find yourself with too many examples from the show (in order to keep the length manageable and close to the equivalent of a 3 page paper).
Cite in text citations using MLA format and include a Works Cited List at the end of your post (also in MLA format). Avoid paraphrasing the texts you include and choose only the most relevant quotes to support your points (you may use more than 2 sources; however, I expect that you’ll need at least 2 short quotes from each of the 2 sources to adequately support your thesis).
Remember, your goal is to analyze this piece of pop culture (analysis and judgment are not the same and if anything, judgment in place of analysis is counterproductive).
Remember to look at both masculinity and femininity in both male and female-appearing characters
The post is due on Friday by 12 pm
Comments will be posted to your blog in the “comments” section by me
Grades (alpha-numeric) will be posted to the SOCS gradebook.
Assignment 1: Link-hunt for blogs analyzing gender/race/class/sexuality/etc in an area of interest of pop culture
Blog Post #2: Media Collage & Brief Written Component Due Thursday, May 21st by 9pm
Gender & Pop Culture
Summer 2009
For the assignment, you have two options to choose from (but you’ll need to determine your focus…and remember think narrow for the focus).
Collage Options
1. Conflict in media messages about gender— Look for conflicting messages sent by the images you find in the media you’ve chosen to create your collage. You can use any source of media for this collage (so think about using your favorite/love to hate magazine, TV show, music genre, video game, movie, sport, etc—it’s not necessary to use ads), in order to illustrate a few key strands of contradiction/conflict/paradoxical expectations. Think of the points made by Kilbourne (among others) regarding the conflicts with “be sexy, but not too sexy,” “be thin, but not too thin,” “be smart, but not too smart,” etc. Also consider using the Hesse-Biber material to look at the ideal in relation to the ideal taken to a dystopian-seeming extreme.
These “key strands” should help support an overall argument that is specific about the focus of the collage and illustrate the ways in which conflicting messages are powerful sources of information about hegemonic beliefs about gender and consumption, social ideals, and/or normative gendered behavior, actions, lifestyles, etc.
2. (Dis)embodied gendered objectification in images of masculinity and femininity—If “sex sells” is cliché and trite, so commonplace in the media that sexualized bodies appearing in advertisements barely merit notice, then it’s time to look at the concept and take notice of what it means when “sex” is “selling” something. How does this concept appear in the images of men and women when sex is being used to sell? It’ll help to remember that sex and related objectification is relevant for both men and women. Choose either the masculine or feminine to analyze specific representations in your collage. Directly analyze the ramifications of the one you chose (i.e. femininity or masculinity as it relates to ideas in the 2nd option). Additionally, sex is not always overtly sexual, so stay open to the many ways that a person can be commodified/objectified in the images you find while creating your collage.
Written Component Requirements
(Your title is the post’s title & after the collage, three paragraphs and a works cited list at the end)
The written component is required and related to the option chosen for the collage.
Title of Blog Post
Make sure you entitle the blog post for your write-up and collage in a way that reflects the thesis/argument that you make via your collage.
Intro with Thesis (1st paragraph)
The thesis is going to be crucial here, because you will need to include it as a written component of the assignment. Your thesis should be as nuanced and analytically deep as you can find images and quotes to support.
2 Readings Cited in a 2 paragraph statement of your work as it relates to the course readings (1 reading per paragraph)
You will also need to cite the work of 2 course readings related to media, ‘the body,’ gender, and advertising (use the readings after the section used for the first assignment).
For most students, it may help to use the readings to find quotes to inspire the collage. Use the quotes to contextualize the collage(s) in relation to the point you are making.
Works Cited/List of References
Use the MLA!
Make sure you include the two readings (in the parenthetical references in your two paragraphs) and the sources of media that you used for the assignment in a separate “Works Cited” list at the end of the blog post.
Choose a very narrow aspect of popular culture to analyze (an episode of a TV show/music video/etc)
Analyze how your chosen piece of pop culture both (re)creates/enforces hegemonic representations and understandings of masculinity and femininity and how this same piece simultaneously disrupts these messages (counter-hegemonic representations).
Use at least 2 course readings (direct quotes) to support your argument that support your thesis (located in the last sentence of the first paragraph, aka your intro)
Avoid including too much narration of the show, instead write in a clear analytical manner that targets a aspect of pop culture, which both reinforces and disrupts hegemonic masculinity and femininity in US pop culture. Note: Most elements of popular culture do both reinforcement and disruption of these constructs; therefore, don’t focus on just hegemony or just counter-hegemony.
You may choose to focus on a specific character if your find yourself with too many examples from the show (in order to keep the length manageable and close to the equivalent of a 3 page paper).
Cite in text citations using MLA format and include a Works Cited List at the end of your post (also in MLA format). Avoid paraphrasing the texts you include and choose only the most relevant quotes to support your points (you may use more than 2 sources; however, I expect that you’ll need at least 2 short quotes from each of the 2 sources to adequately support your thesis).
Remember, your goal is to analyze this piece of pop culture (analysis and judgment are not the same and if anything, judgment in place of analysis is counterproductive).
Remember to look at both masculinity and femininity in both male and female-appearing characters
The post is due on Thursday by 9pm
Comments will be posted to your blog in the “comments” section by me
Grades (alpha-numeric) will be posted to the SOCS gradebook.
Gather Links on 5 of the topics you listed on your brainstorming sheet.
Include:
Title of blog post (which can be linked to the URL if desired)
URL of blog post
Author
Title of blog that the post originated from
Example:
HBO declares "Women's Studies" major
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2009/04/15/hbo_womens_studies/index.html
Judy Berman
Salon.com
Your final project will be due by Saturday at 5pm if you choose this option.
Unlike the written assignments posted to your blogs, you'll have the option to work with as many of your classmates as you'd like.
If you choose this option, I'll need the names of the students working on each project during the final class on August 7th (due to the extended due date and the Records and Registration grade-deadline of Monday the 11th for Summer Session B, I need to know which blog posts will have written assignments so I can grade them on Friday :o).
The format will need to be in the form of a video (a slide show set to music would also work...but you'll need to be able to upload it in a format that is compatible with YouTube. Each group member will then post the project to his/her individual blogs using the instructions from YouTube (it's just a copy and paste maneuver).
You will need to narrow your scope of popular culture:
Choose a media format/genre (some examples):
* TV Program
* Radio Show
* Film
* Music Video
* Magazine
* Video Game
* (Aspect of) Athletic Event
* Fashion
* Public Education & Corporation
Choose a subject/audience:
For example, create a satirical cartoon, cable news program, reality show, televised sporting event, parenting magazine, a game show, children’s entertainment (from Scooby Doo to High School Musical), part of the fashion world (runway modeling or the next season’s "Look Book"); if corporate-edu-consumer-training is your interest, think of a revised Chanel One, corporate sponsored events, curriculum, or major capital project-funding , such as the construction of stadiums and theaters, perhaps target one of these areas in a Colbert-Styled "The WØrd" or a set of segments from The Soup.
If you choose to work within movies/films, a "trailer" would be the right length and format
for envisioning this assignment.
Based on your chosen genre/format:
* Give your production/publication a name— be original and creative!
* Identity the assumptions that underlie the messages you want to send.
* Specifically, identify the messages that you see being disseminated by an analogous/similar form of media that relate to gender, sexuality, race, class, etc. (i.e. current fashion magazines send the message that being female involves striving for ‘ideal’ physical beauty.)
* Create visual images and text (whether written or spoken) that accurately work off these assumptions. (What message(s) do you want to send about, sexuality, racism, sexism, and/or classism?)
Use images from other texts/videos/images/audio to create a commentary on a preexisting element of popular culture. Make sure you cite these external sources in your video in the "credits" using MLA citations at the end.
* Write, enact, portray (in the format suited for the genre you’ve chosen- video, image, etc) that address existing norms, ideals, and messages about gender, either directly or indirectly. (i.e. an article about males and eating disorders addresses gender directly while an article about the CEO of a Fortune 500 company who happens to be a woman addresses it indirectly.)
Remember that you need to make it clear that your production is a critique of gender (and other categories and biases too, where applicable) and ensure your project is inspired by a particular author's (or multiple authors) points. For example, a video montage of reality TV show-clips with text/voice-overs illustrating Ouellette and Hay's argument about Reality TV would clearly be linkable to their piece as the basis of your critique.
There is no write-up for this project; however, you must have a title and all group members must be cited in the credits along with all sources of information and inspiration.
Class Notes- Blogging In College: The Gender & Pop Culture Blog Project: Maymester 2008 Extra Credit Instructions
Please click the title of this post or the link above to go to the instructions for the extra credit.
"Maymester" Bloggers: Summer 2008
Extending the principles and ideas discussed in their Gender and Popular Culture class, the students created a banner that questions and redefines the beauty myth.
Based on the Graffiti Women book by Nicholas Ganz, the banner began with a Victoria's Secret print advertisement with items on the side pointing to parts of a naked women's body that could be improved with those products.
To change the advertisement, the students of the class took items that could be purchased and tiled them across the naked women's body to uncover the beauty myth in a way that the class felt appropriate.
The project title was then chosen as “P.S. Problem Solved?: Beauty Myth (Un)Covered,” in order to show the ways in which the beauty industry tries to define the perfect women and the costs it takes to live up to that standard. The class hopes that it will be kept as a constant reminder of the chilling effects of the beauty industry and the imposing views that it places on the minds of US society.
In early April Professor Gamble approached her Gender and Pop Culture class with the option of designing a collaborative student-led project, based upon the book Graffiti Women: Street Art from Five Continents by Nicholas Ganz. In an effort to apply this text, and the information studied concerning gender representation in advertising, the class developed a project in which they challenged the negative messages sent about women through a popular Axe Body Spray advertisement.
The Axe Body Spray advertisement objectified women by isolating their body parts and writing sexist remarks in relation to each of them, based on a chauvinistic perspective. The purpose of the ad was to make men think that the spray is linked to a man’s ability to attract women. The students developed a response to this ad by creating new remarks for each woman. For example, in the place of the remark, “Looks like it’s been a while,” is the remark, “Looks like it’s been a while since I’ve met a decent man.” The project began with the students developing their own idea for the project. As a class they worked together in teams to decide on everything from the design, to supplies, to college relations, to how the project would be managed. The students came together to create the final product of a banner displaying their reinvention of the original Axe Body Spray Ad. Now, the banner is on display in the Brower Student Center.
The class intends for the banner to inspire students and staff to think critically about gender representations in advertising that we unconsciously accept on a daily basis. The students of this Gender and Pop Culture class hope that the community will appreciate this reinvention as much as they enjoyed creating it.
Photos and write-up by:
Rachel Fetterman, Casey Eriksen, Christine Luettchau
So, this past spring, I didn't have my Gender & Pop Culture class blogging...primarily because I had two sections of them and there was no way I'd make it through the semester reading 58 blogs (I would have been in a land of "Help!!! I have no eyesight!!!).
However, the Spring 2008 students did create some outstanding work! There were awesome and insightful papers (but, I won't be posting those), a killer graffiti project (well, two of them...and I'll post the article :o) as well as some very creative and clever final projects!
As I get to them, I'll keep posting :o)
You will need to narrow your scope of popular culture:
Choose a media format/genre (some examples):
Choose a subject/audience:
For example, create a satirical cartoon, cable news program, reality show, televised sporting event, parenting magazine, a game show, children’s entertainment (from Scooby Doo to High School Musical), part of the fashion world (runway modeling or the next season’s "Look Book"); if corporate-edu-consumer-training is your interest, think of a revised Chanel One, corporate sponsored events, curriculum, or major capital project-funding , such as the construction of stadiums and theaters, perhaps target one of these areas in a Colbert-Styled "The WØrd" or a set of segments from The Soup.
If you choose to work within movies/films, a "trailer" would be the right length and format
for envisioning this assignment.
Based on your chosen genre/format:
