This video doesn’t get old. Students enjoy it and are eager to share their stories and reflect on the gender socialization they’ve experienced.
Category: Gender, Sex, & Sexuality
When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink
The article “When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?” from Smithsonian Magazine explores the history of gender-specific colors in children’s clothing. It’s a short and accessible reading that could be used to discuss various sociological topics.
Make your way as a Woman in 18th Century England
This is a great exercise to get students to think about the relevance of history, especially when thinking about social change. This exercise can also be used in discussions about methods and the dangers of presentism.
Discussion Board: What do you think of sexual relationships and same sex marriage?
Photo by Monstera Production
- Premise from the textbook
- In 1973, more than three-fourths of U.S. adults expressed the opinion that sexual relations between two people of the same sex was wrong.
- By about 1990, however, this attitude began to change.
- By 2014, such disapproval was expressed by just 44% of the population.
- This dramatic change in public opinion about same-sex relations is a key reason for rapid expansion of same-sex marriage, which now has the support of a majority of U.S. adults and became the law of many states from 2015.
- Discussion Board
State your opinion and share your groupmates’ opinions
- The Same Sex relationship should be considered as
- a personal choice: Freedom of choice and fundamental Human Right
- a larger social responsibility: Issues of morality and cultural norm.
- You may combine both views into your opinion
- The Same Sex Marriage (legal bonding) should be considered as
- an individual legal right- our legal system (government and court) should protect individual rights such as health insurance, pension, inheritance, and child custardy.
- an excessive legal burden and too high in social cost
- You may combine both views into your opinion
- Who are your groupmates and what are their opinions?
- Choose a group leader
- She/ He should present briefly about group discussion
- Any group member can chime in
- Write your discussion board forum individually (minimum 200 words)
Sociological Imagination Videos
Obesity in the US: Public Issue or Personal Trouble? — a good introduction to the concept of the sociological imagination using the example of obesity
The Women’s Kingdom — this brief introduction to China’s Mosuo people (a matriarchal society) is great for a discussion of ideas of love, marriage and family. It does a nice job illustrating the extent to which an individual’s norms and worldview are shaped by their particular social and historical context. This video is also good for gender, family and culture.
Gender Inequality Resources
Gender Inequality
We Should All Be Feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — This is a wonderful TED Talk (there is a transcript as well).
Miss Representation — Available on Kanopy; the extended trailer gives a good overview.
Huggies ad “Boys and Girls are Different” — good for showing the difference between sex and gender.
Women’s Unpaid Labor is Worth $10,900,000,000,000, by Gus Wezerek and Kristen R. Ghodsee (New York Times)
Gender Inequality Readings
“Coronavirus is a Disaster for Feminism,” by Helen Lewis — This is a good overview of the impact of COVID-19 on women, with reference to the second shift and gender pay gap.
The Second Shift (excerpt), by Arlie Hochschild — This is a classic sociological reading on gender inequality and can also be useful for talking about research methods.
