Gender and Culture: Social Construction of Knowledge

1
Chapter 3

• Gender and Culture Social Construction of
  Knowledge

2
Please Note

• These slides are meant to help students think
  about the material. They are not meant to replace
  reading the material or taking notes. Using
  these slides as your only means of garnering
  information could harm your ability to understand
  the content of this class.

• Please turn off cell phones, MP3 players and
  other technology of which Im unaware.

3
Popular Culture

• 1) Definition beliefs, practices and objects
  that are part of everyday traditions at a
  particular time and cultural period.
• 2) Popular Culture helps create our
• Body of knowledge, identities about self and
  other, notions of right and wrong.

4
How is Popular Culture Spread?

• 1) Language
• Shapes identity by telling us what is possible,
  normal and desirable.
• What does language tell us about our popular
  notions of gender?
• Males are the norm
• Hey guys
• Oh boy!
• He is neutral?

5
How is Popular Culture Spread?

• Language continued.
• ii) Males have power
• Mr/Miss and Mrs.
• names cars after women?
• name-changing?
• cuss words ---
• powerful jobs perceived as masculine
• when women use powerful words, theyre perceived
  negatively
• feminist is a bad term!
• men interrupt more, gaze longer

6
How is Popular Culture Spread?

• Language Continued
• iii) Its important for us to see men and women
  as opposites
• opposite sex
• men from venus/women from mars
• Oppressed groups try to reclaim language.

7
How is Popular Culture Spread?

• Media
• Women as Objects of Media
• Women are sex objects to exist for men, thus,
  they must compete with each other
• Women are maternal
• People of Color are often excluded, except to be
  presented as other or secondary.

8
How is Popular Culture Spread?

• Media continued.
• Transgressors are dealt with in two ways
• Symbolic annihilation women portrayed in ways
  which trivializes or condemns them
• Cooptation (ideas of an oppressed group are
  adopted by the powerful but those ideas thus
  become meaningless)
• Women can do everything
• Youve come a long way baby!

9
Theories of Popular Culture

• Reflection thesis
• Role-Model thesis
• Post-Modern Theories Viewers are not passive.
• Marxists Theories Capitalists use media to
  maintain oppressive ideas. Reduce the media to a
  few owners so knowledge will be less varied.