Women’s Studies J111:  Women in Culture
Short Paper
Due 20 October 2000

This paper will give you an opportunity to begin applying a more focused way of thinking to our readings and course discussions so far. The paper should be between three to five double-spaced, typewritten pages (about 750-1250 words), and is due to be posted in the digital drop box by the end of the day, 20 October 2000. Please choose only one of the following options:

A Personal Consideration of Gender

Write an essay reflecting on the following questions: what was your experience growing up female or male? What messages did you receive from friends, teachers, parents, peers, that influenced your sense of yourself as gendered? Were these messages largely traditional, or was your upbringing one that went beyond such traditional expectations? Do you feel that your parents raised you and your siblings of the opposite sex in the same way? If not, how were their lessons or standards or expectations different? If you are a parent yourself, do you find that your awareness of your children's gender affects your parenting decisions? How do you think your upbringing might have shaped your sense of yourself as a woman or a man today? These are a range of questions designed to help you think about the topic, but you shouldn't attempt to answer each of these questions in your paper—they're a brainstorming help, not an organizing principle for your paper.

This question asks you to reflect personally on the readings we've had to date in the semester that discuss gender socialization--you don't have to make reference to those readings in this paper unless it seems appropriate. In a paper of this sort, you should attempt to avoid simply stating how you feel about this issue--you'll need to show plenty of evidence to back up your points. You may also find your paper will be stronger for using the techniques autobiographical or fictional writers use, for instance. Dialogue may very well be a compelling part of your paper. Perhaps you may choose to narrate one crucial episode in your life that embodies your feelings on the question of gender socialization. I've even had students respond to this question by writing speculative narratives about what their lives would be like if they woke up one morning as a member of the opposite sex (some very funny stuff there!). Regardless of your approach to the paper, do not simply state your opinion—back that up with evidence from your life or from other appropriate sources.

Great Women and Men in the News

Around the turn of the year, national news magazines frequently run features discussing the 25 most influential people of the year. A flurry of articles appeared in 1999 and early 2000 reviewing the most important people of the past century. One series in particular appeared that further broke this type of feature down and spent an entire issue discussing influential people within more narrow constraints—the most important women and men in politics, art, entertainment, etc. Using your local campus or public library, find an issue of Time or Newsweek that published such a feature (please choose from the time period of 1995-2000—you're most likely to find such a feature in the November-January issues). Please choose only one issue.

Spend some time analyzing the issue of the magazine you've selected, looking at the people these magazines have chosen to represent the most influential of our culture. How many of those are men? How many women? What races are represented in these listings of important people? What sorts of people are more often considered influential? Politicians? Entertainers? Do those groups appear to be populated more by men or women? If these people are the role models for our culture, what then does that say about who we are as a culture?

In your paper, discuss how gender is reflected in those listings. What conclusions can you draw about what sort of work men and women are typically associated with? Can you identify differences in the way women and men are depicted in our national media? Consider the language used to depict these figures—is this language different when describing women and men? How are photographs used to support these articles; are postures different? Do men or women more often make eye contact in these images? Are there differences in how props or backgrounds are used in the photographs? It will be important in your paper to discuss a range of public figures, but not to simply skim through discussions of many people. Your paper will be much stronger if you spend time closely discussing a few people, rather than attempting a broad coverage.

Be sure at some point in the text of your paper to identify which magazine you've used, and the date of publication. Cite pages numbers parenthetically (35), like so, whenever discussing specific language in the publication or referring to images.

And one final note

I'll be happy to comment on a draft of your papers through email (just attach the file to the email, or you can cut and paste the text into the email message itself—please don't use the drop box for drafts). However, I'd ask that you not wait until the last minute if you would like me to offer suggestions on your draft; there are nearly thirty students in this class, and I obviously am not going to be able to read and respond to every one of those papers the day before they're due. I appreciate your consideration in this matter.