FINAL ESSAYS
Respond to TWO of the questions below in a well-developed essay. Each response must consist of AT LEAST ONE FULL PAGE. Upload BOTH responses (in one document) to the Final Essay folder in Assignments. Outside of paper length, be sure to follow the Reflection Paper guidelines outlined on D2L.
Chapter 7: Becoming Gendered
Children tend to be socialized into strict gender roles. Gender expectations tend to be difficult for children who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or otherwise genderqueer. Describe TWO specific difficulties that queer kids may face growing up as well as a potential response to help ease each issue, explaining how the response would directly impact the issue.
Chapter 9: Gendered Close Relationships
Your textbook states that gendered orientations influence four dimensions of long-term love relationships: modes of expressing care, needs for autonomy and connection, responsibility for relational maintenance, and power. Discuss how heterosexual couples may differ from same-sex couples on TWO of the four dimensions.
Chapter 11: Gendered Media
Choose one film or television series that you believe presents fully developed characters who are female, people of color, an/or LGBTQA. Use the Bechdel (p. 221) or DuVerney test to support your opinion. You may apply the same standards to LGBTQA characters. Now choose a film or series that is NOT diverse, and use the same standards to support your claim. For your diverse film or series, are there characters who are portrayed in stereotypical ways? If you believe the film or series is NOT diverse, what specific suggestions do you have for making the series more diverse? For both examples, choose films or shows that you LIKE, with the understanding that even good media may fail to present diverse images.
Chapter 12: Gendered Power and Violence
Define gendered violence, and discuss the ways in which society normalizes gendered violence. As part of your essay, identify three specific social foundations or institutions that allow or encourage both women and men to regard certain kinds of gendered violence as normal or acceptable. You may include a discussion of the myths of rape culture. Include concrete examples.
Julia T. Wood and Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz, GENDERED LIVES: COMMUNICATION, GENDER, & CULTURE, …
