Gender News 9.26

• A look at hookup culture across US campuses (NPR)
• Korea made over 20,000 requests to Tumblr to delete posts related to porn; Tumblr said no to all of them (ZDNet)
• Muslim leader: Girls who wear shorts are cursed (Daily Mail)
• Will Governor Brown sign California's "Gender X" designation into law? (San Francisco Chronicle)
• "Mgtows" becoming a growing presence in Silicon Valley (New York Times)
• New research suggests a funny man is key to a great orgasm for a woman (Men's Health)

M1W6: 9.25-28

"... I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose
in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a
red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and
I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him
with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would
I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms
around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel
my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad
and yes I said yes I will Yes."

—James Joyce, Ulysses

Week 6: 9.25-28

Read: WHEN—“Women’s Liberation” – “Work and Children”

Class: Reading discussion; PowerPoint—“You’re in College Now: The New Rules of University Writing”

Due: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Upcoming:

Week 7: 10.2-5
Read: WHEN—“The 1980s—Having It All” – Epilogue
Class: Reading discussion; PowerPoints—“MLA Style 101” and “Citing Sources in MLA: The Basics”

Gender News 9.20

• This week, Star Trek debuts its first gay characters in franchise history (CBS News)
• Louisiana faces jail time for filming sexual acts in a library, Burger King (The Sun)
• CNN Anchor cuts off guest repeatedly who repeatedly brings up boobs (Buzzfeed)
• International study: Significant male and female support for raising kids without gender stereotypes (FastCompany)
• Did a Houston church bar a lesbian woman from volunteering to help hurricane victims? (Newsweek)
• How six different women wore the same dress to a wedding (HuffPost)

Autobiographical Essay: I Am What I Am—On Defining Your Own Sex and Gender

Though, we each come to define our sex and gender in our own way, there are often a variety of external factors that influence how we identify ourselves as a man or as a woman—or some combination of both. In fact, societal norms often play a large part in constructing the parameters of our sex and gender; sometimes we stay within these parameters, sometimes we do not. To what degree have you conformed to, or rejected, the expectations of your sex and gender? How has your version of masculinity or femininity evolved over the years? And how have you come to define your sex and gender at this particular point in your life? 

In a concise autobiographical essay, explore the evolution of your own sex and gender.

Requirements:

• MLA Style
• Approx. 750 words

Due:  Wed 9.27/Thu 9.28

M1W5: 9.18-21

"The old theory was: Marry an older man because they're more mature.

But the new theory is: Men don't mature, marry a younger one"

—Rita Rudner

M1W5: 9.18-21
Read: WHEN—“The Ice Cracks” – “The Decline of the Double Standard”
Class: Presentation assignments; PowerPoint—“Building a Better Multimedia Presentation: An Annotated Look”
Due: JOURNAL 2

Upcoming:

Week 6: 9.25-28

Read: WHEN—“Women’s Liberation” – “Work and Children”

Class: Reading discussion; PowerPoint—“You’re in College Now: The New Rules of University Writing”

Due: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Gender News 9.13

• How watching porn on your smartphone puts you at risk of hacking (Men's Health)
• Why are Evangelical leaders blaming gays for hurricanes? (Washington Post)
• A record number of openly-gay players will play college football this season (HuffPost)
• Seattle's mayor resigns amid new sexual abuse allegations (Slate)
• In annual study, female representation on television remains stagnant (Variety)
• Meet Samantha, the sex bot that can be seduced by humans (Sun)

Journal 2: Isn't it Bromantic?—Male Intimacy in the Era of Bromances

One interesting phenomenon over the past decade has been the rise of so-called "bromances," intimate, but non-sexual, relationships between American men. Affectionate male bonding has a centuries-long tradition around the world, yet American society has generally drawn rigid lines between two males who are friends—or at least we are lead to believe. Bromances are said to break down many of traditional gender barriers, allowing a man to be more expressive of both his own feelings and his feelings toward his friend. Just why American male friendships are seemingly more open these days is up to debate. Some argue these bonds have been shaped by everything from feminist mothers raising more emotionally-open sons to the gay rights movement to younger generations of men simply breaking from old societal taboos. If you are a man, have you experienced a bromance? Does it feel any different than any other male friendship? How does it stand out? And if you are a female, what do theses relationships look like from the outside looking in? Has a bromance ever made you feel excluded, even jealous?

Include at least two of the following pieces in your discussion:

• "The Case for Hugging Your Bros" (GQ)
• "Why I Love Guys Who Hug Other Guys" (New York Magazine)
• "Bromances: A Challenge to Hyper Masculinity" (Broke&Basic)
• "The Joys of Bromance" (HuffPost)
• "'Bromances' are Good for Men's Health Says Science, So Maybe it's Time We Stop Being Weird about Men Having Close Friendships" (Bustle)
• "Don’t Apologize for Wanting to Embrace Bromance and Intimacy" (TheGoodMenProject)

Required:

• MLA Style
• 2 pages in length
• Works cited page 

Due: Tue 9.19/Wed 9.20

M1W4: 9.11-14

“Dude, I don’t want to talk about Lacey’s prom shoes.
And I’ll tell you why: I have this thing that makes me
really uninterested in prom shoes. It’s called a penis.”

―John Green, Paper Towns

M1W4: 9.11-14
Read: WHEN—“Repudiating Rosie” – “Housework”
Class: Reading discussion; Watch: “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” from Mad Men (2007); PowerPoint: “Crafting the Essay: Writing as a Process”

Upcoming:

M1W5: 9.18-21
Read: WHEN—“The Ice Cracks” – “The Decline of the Double Standard”
Class: Presentation assignments; PowerPoint—“Building a Better Multimedia Presentation: An Annotated Look”
Due: JOURNAL 2

Gender News 9.6.17

• Fifteen-year-old boy, seen lighting firecrackers in the woods, is prime suspect behind massive wildfire in Oregon and Washington (Columbian)
• Why are women in their 20s so worried about wrinkles? (New York Post)
• Sri Lankan Wonder Woman cosplayers, mocked online for their thin frames, gain powerful allies in Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins (Yahoo! News) 
• Reese Witherspoon's advice to women: "Run away from men who can't handle your ambition" (HuffPost)
• Because girls are less disruptive, ADHD may be under diagnosed in them (Daily Mail)
• How Illinois and Oregon are tackling sexist school dress code policies (HuffPost)

M1W3: 9.4-7

"A man's face is his autobiography. 

A woman's face is her work of fiction." 

—Oscar Wilde 

MIW3: 9.4-7*
Class: DIAGNOSTIC ESSAY**
Due: JOURNAL 1***

*No class: Mon 9.4 (Labor Day) and Thu 9.7
**In-class essay to take place on Tues/Wed
***Due Tue/Wed

Upcoming:

M1W4: 9.11-14
Read: WHEN—“Repudiating Rosie” – “Housework”
Class: Reading discussion; Watch: “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” from Mad Men (2007); PowerPoint: “Crafting the Essay: Writing as a Process”