Gender Observation Project Paper. This project allows you to study “real life” versions of what you are learning about through readings and class discussion. For example, you can concentrate on gender stereotyping in preschools by visiting kindergarten and elementary classes and report on differences, if any, in how teachers treat boys and girls. One student replicated the research by Tavris and Baumgartner (Chapter 3, GL) and found the results of the 1982 study still held true more than a decade later with respect to how boys and girls think about the other sex. Other investigations that are reported in Gendered Lives could also be replicated.
An essay paper (5-6 pages) is due for this project.
Some possible topics could be:
Shopping Styles for Gender: Consumer culture plays a central role in the construction of gender. Choose a few stores to visit and observe. Make a list of what you would like to observe and take notes of your findings in the location.
Exploring Trans Identity: Watch some films related to trans identity and discuss the imagination of what it would have been like to be the character(s) in the film, their parents, friends, or neighbors. Here are two possible films: Ma Vie En Rose (My Life in Pink) about a boy who hopes and thinks he will grow up to be a girl; Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She, explores similar issues and includes commentary on gender in many different cultures.
