Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Everyday Sexism

In the recent past, I've discovered a Twitter feed with the handle, "@EverydaySexism."  The feed
is fascinating for me as a male because I had no idea the kind of inappropriate and crappy behavior women have had to deal with.

I recommend checking out the sites and sharing responses with your students to get their interpretations.  Perhaps a pre-brief may be necessary as some of the content is quite graphic and the ideas may help long-held-in frustrations boil to the surface in class.  Still very worthwhile.

http://www.everydaysexism.com/

https://twitter.com/EverydaySexism

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/everyday%20sexism

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/everyday-sexism

http://www.policymic.com/articles/37157/everyday-sexism-project-launches-in-usa-to-give-women-a-voice

When it comes to giving young women a voice, we as sociology teachers must assist.  We also have an obligation to guide our young men into appropriate behavior.


The Teaching High School Sociology web site

2 comments:

  1. These stories are found on the popular U.K. blog Everyday Sexism, a free-for-all platform where women and girls can detail instances of sexism in their lives in a public but anonymous space. Laura Bates, the 26-year-old London-based founder, created the site nearly a year ago, after attempting to speak up about the sexism she faced and getting a maddening response.

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  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-kZ17LGhzg

    It's been a very, very long time since I've seen in-your-face blatant sexism. These days, it's mostly subtle. However, yesterday I was taken aback by a series of print ads from The Vitamin Shoppe, which are replicated here in the intro of a video. The men in the ad are presented with the words "success" and "skill." The women? They get "sassy" and "style." If the theme is s-words, how about "strength" or "stamina" instead? Only the men get power words? Nice. And it gets better. On into the video, men are focused, motivated, and driven. Women are ageless, beautiful, and empowered. The kicker? The ONE "positive" descriptor implies that they've been **granted** power from an outside source. "Empower" is a transitive verb.

    I feel like I was zapped 20 years back in time...

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