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Let's Go Shopping
Jan. 2nd, 2015 07:24 pm Aim
To help students identify the role gender plays in the marketing of products, and teach them that the gender roles and expectations imposed on them by mass media should not stop them from expressing their individuality.
Outline
Session will last one school period (about 50 minutes).
Participants will be students in the first year of middle school, currently attending Keio SFC middle school.
Number of participants will be one classroom of students (about 30 students).
The aim is to get the students to understand that the marketing of goods (in the case of this study, clothes) tend to be gender-specific and highly-targeted. To illustrate this point, we intend to divide the students into groups of 5, preferably with a mix of genders, and get them to make a collage using materials we provide, such as fashion magazines, large sheets of paper, glue, scissors, and marker pens.
The collage should contain what the students think are typical clothes for each gender as seen in magazines. Students will be given 20 minutes for this project.
At the end of the 20 minutes, we will have an open discussion regarding the message readers get regarding gender roles and expectations from reading the magazines. Sample discussion questions would include
Do the children see a trend or inclination for certain 'looks' for certain genders? (For example, 'cute', 'gothic', 'macho' etc.) What do these themes try to convey, and is knowing the meaning behind them important?
What would the children feel about a girl dressing like the male model, and a boy dressing like the female model? Do they think that is acceptable? Why, or why not?
Through this discussion and hearing the opinions of the children, we hope to make it clear that what they see in the fashion magazines are just a story about gender roles, and it is not a story that they should feel pressured to listen to and follow. By the end of the session, we hope that the children feel more confident in dressing according to their individual preference, rather than purposely dressing to suit their gender for fear of being 'different'.
We hope to measure the effectiveness of our exercise by getting the children to fill in the following questionnaire, which we will then analyse and compile the data to see if this method of education is effective for this topic at this age.
To help students identify the role gender plays in the marketing of products, and teach them that the gender roles and expectations imposed on them by mass media should not stop them from expressing their individuality.
Outline
Session will last one school period (about 50 minutes).
Participants will be students in the first year of middle school, currently attending Keio SFC middle school.
Number of participants will be one classroom of students (about 30 students).
The aim is to get the students to understand that the marketing of goods (in the case of this study, clothes) tend to be gender-specific and highly-targeted. To illustrate this point, we intend to divide the students into groups of 5, preferably with a mix of genders, and get them to make a collage using materials we provide, such as fashion magazines, large sheets of paper, glue, scissors, and marker pens.
The collage should contain what the students think are typical clothes for each gender as seen in magazines. Students will be given 20 minutes for this project.
At the end of the 20 minutes, we will have an open discussion regarding the message readers get regarding gender roles and expectations from reading the magazines. Sample discussion questions would include
Do the children see a trend or inclination for certain 'looks' for certain genders? (For example, 'cute', 'gothic', 'macho' etc.) What do these themes try to convey, and is knowing the meaning behind them important?
What would the children feel about a girl dressing like the male model, and a boy dressing like the female model? Do they think that is acceptable? Why, or why not?
Through this discussion and hearing the opinions of the children, we hope to make it clear that what they see in the fashion magazines are just a story about gender roles, and it is not a story that they should feel pressured to listen to and follow. By the end of the session, we hope that the children feel more confident in dressing according to their individual preference, rather than purposely dressing to suit their gender for fear of being 'different'.
We hope to measure the effectiveness of our exercise by getting the children to fill in the following questionnaire, which we will then analyse and compile the data to see if this method of education is effective for this topic at this age.
Let’s Go Shopping Questionnaire
Your Name: ______________________________________________________________
Assignment:
Review the assigned catalog and answer the questions on this sheet. Be specific and offer examples as much as
possible which could include pictures from the catalog. Reminder: You need to complete one questionnaire for
each company assigned.
1. Name of Company: _____________________________________________________________________________
2. What products do they sell? ______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What colors, patterns and designs were most often used for the boys’ products? ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What colors, patterns and designs were most often used for the girls’ products? ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
5. In looking at the models used to show the clothing or other products, describe any differences in how boys
and girls are shown or portrayed. (For example, what are they doing, how are they standing or sitting, facial
expressions, etc.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
6. What did you notice in terms of the physical appearance of the girls and boys models used? (For example,
racial, ethnic or other cultural diversity, hair length and/or styles, color of hair and eyes, etc.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Any other observations?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
