Short Films To Use In The Classroom That Explore Gender Roles and Gender Representation
Hi everyone!
This seems like a really interesting group, and I appreciate its focus towards important issues of gender, sexuality and physical body representation. I see these areas as inherently linked and accessible for in-depth class discussion when approached in supplement to one another. I wonder if anyone has feedback concerning whether Todd Haynes' 1987 "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" might incorporate well into a high school curriculum? Though I watched this film in an undergraduate cinema course, I think it would be very appropriate to introduce into the high school classroom in accordance to a variety of curricula. These could include a health curriculum (specifically relevant to eating disorders), social studies (specifically gender studies, gender representation and the industry of "gender consumerism") and within organizational psychology, of social development issues. The film is relatively short (43 minutes) and could be shown either in clips at a time with pause for discussion (as we witnessed within "The 6th Day" curriculum led by Napoleon Knight -- here is an overview of his collaborative work on this curriculum wr... or could be shown in its entirety, and then followed by discussion breakdown.
I think this film would be particularly brilliant for classroom teaching in areas of gender, body and sexuality representation through examining Haynes' usage of the “cookie cutter” Barbie figures to represent human figures. This use of "human plasticine" can elevate the discussion of these often sensitive areas (especially in developing adolescence) to a discussion concerning the commercialization of gendered identities. These identities can be probed in asking questions of, what makes the female Barbie “female”? How does the Barbie doll represent Karen’s character? How do Barbie and Ken treat each other? Why does Karen become "sick"?
Other social organizations that focus to physical appearance (and judgments of it) might be analyzed such as Miss America or Miss Universe Pageants. Teachers and students could problematize issues of acceptable norms of physical appearance, relationships of humans to their bodies, and expected performances of socially gendered identity. This film in particular augers the fatality of eating disorders, which can be explored with students as the manifestation of such social pressures. Eating disorders can be discussed with students as examples of socially manifested disease, and can probe those societal norms which define the community of relationships between men and women to themselves and others.
Dina
This seems like a really interesting group, and I appreciate its focus towards important issues of gender, sexuality and physical body representation. I see these areas as inherently linked and accessible for in-depth class discussion when approached in supplement to one another. I wonder if anyone has feedback concerning whether Todd Haynes' 1987 "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" might incorporate well into a high school curriculum? Though I watched this film in an undergraduate cinema course, I think it would be very appropriate to introduce into the high school classroom in accordance to a variety of curricula. These could include a health curriculum (specifically relevant to eating disorders), social studies (specifically gender studies, gender representation and the industry of "gender consumerism") and within organizational psychology, of social development issues. The film is relatively short (43 minutes) and could be shown either in clips at a time with pause for discussion (as we witnessed within "The 6th Day" curriculum led by Napoleon Knight -- here is an overview of his collaborative work on this curriculum wr... or could be shown in its entirety, and then followed by discussion breakdown.
I think this film would be particularly brilliant for classroom teaching in areas of gender, body and sexuality representation through examining Haynes' usage of the “cookie cutter” Barbie figures to represent human figures. This use of "human plasticine" can elevate the discussion of these often sensitive areas (especially in developing adolescence) to a discussion concerning the commercialization of gendered identities. These identities can be probed in asking questions of, what makes the female Barbie “female”? How does the Barbie doll represent Karen’s character? How do Barbie and Ken treat each other? Why does Karen become "sick"?
Other social organizations that focus to physical appearance (and judgments of it) might be analyzed such as Miss America or Miss Universe Pageants. Teachers and students could problematize issues of acceptable norms of physical appearance, relationships of humans to their bodies, and expected performances of socially gendered identity. This film in particular augers the fatality of eating disorders, which can be explored with students as the manifestation of such social pressures. Eating disorders can be discussed with students as examples of socially manifested disease, and can probe those societal norms which define the community of relationships between men and women to themselves and others.
Dina
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