Teaching Language and Gender Issues to Teens

The following discussion took place on WMST-L in January 1997.  For additional
WMST-L files now available on the Web, see the WMST-L File List.

Dear WMST List Members:
 
I will soon be teaching a two hour class to a teen group on language and
gender.  I haven't presented this type of material to that age group yet
and was hoping for some suggestions.  I'm thinking that an interactive
session in which they negotiate some joint decision making and afterward
"debrief" gender performance would appeal to their energy level.  Does
anyone have such an activity that they've tried?  What were the results?
Also, I am considering bringing some advertisements in and asking them to
critique the representation of gender in them.  I'd appreciate any
feedback on what others have done.  My goal is to make them more aware of
how they "do" gender and how doing gender often means subordinating women.
 
Many thanks,
Maureen Phillips
University of Washington

I have several times used Robert Baker's article, "Pricks and Chicks:
A Plea for Persons" as an inspiration to lead a brainstorming activity
in which people provide non-obscene slang terms used to refer to the
opposite sex:  e.g. chick, broad, fox, doll, baby, stud-muffin, etc.
Then I introduce the idea of 'metaphorical connotation' of terms,
following Baker. I use Baker's example of the racist use of 'boy' and
'girl' to refer to adult African-Americans.  These words carried
metaphorical connotations, even though their users usually claimed that
'they didn't mean anything by it.' Just as white Americans had a duty
to cease using such language, Baker's argument goes, men have a duty to
cease using words with demeaning metaphorical connotations to refer to
women. The women in the class are always shocked to discover that
'broad' originally meant 'pregnant cow,' and that many of the most
popular animal terms used to refer to women are the names of prey or
domesticated animals.  This is a hot topic and never fails to generate
discussion and insight, and often several male students volunteer that
they will never use that kind of language again. The article was
published in _Philosophy and Sex_, edited by Robert Baker and Frederick
Elliston (N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1984). I have only had this
discussion with college students, but I feel confident that teens could
relate to it. I don't feel comfortable tackling the more explicit parts
of Baker's article in a class discussion.
 
Jean Chambers
Philosophy Department
SUNY-Oswego

>  The women in the class are always shocked to discover that
> 'broad' originally meant 'pregnant cow,' and that many of the most
> popular animal terms used to refer to women are the names of prey or
> domesticated animals.  This is a hot topic and never fails to generate
> discussion and insight, and often several male students volunteer that
> they will never use that kind of language again. The article was
 
Along the same lines ... an Associated Press article (printed in our local
paper on Dec 22, 1996) reported that there are several Native American
groups that are petitioning the state of Wisconsin to remove the term
"squaw" from the geographical names of places in the state of Wisconsin.
("Squaw Valley", "Squaw Creek", etc.) Apparently the term "squaw" was a
slang term (used by the early Europeans who had contact with the indigenous
peoples of the area) referring to female genitalia.  (Male) European
traders, etc. referred to all indigenous women as "squaws" in the same way
that some sexist contemporary men might refer to all women as "cunts."  The
groups that are petitioning the state to remove the term "Squaw" from all
geographical place-names in Wisconsin (apparently there are 24 of them)
contend that the use of this term is demeaning to all Native Americans and
to all women.
 
I distributed this article in my Intro WS class, and (no surprise) almost
everybody in the class was shocked and dismayed, and many spontaneously
expressed an interest in enlisting the support of their friends, political
groups and churches (etc.) to convince the State to make these changes.  I
don't know how many of them actually are taking any action on this (probably
fewer than said they would) but still, it was a very eye-opening experience
for many of them.  It also provided a good illustration of contemporary
grass roots Native American feminist activism.
 
Ruth
ginzberg@beloit.edu

A fun activity if you are interested in looking at gender in sexuality:
 
Divide your students into teams of approx. 4 students each. This activity
works better with single sex teams. (I have found that it the genders are
mixed, students will be shy about saying all the words they know.)
 
Call out a word, and have the teams work together to brainstorm as many
synonyms for that word as possible. Have them list the synonyms on
newsprint.
 
This works better as a contest than as a cooperative activity, because if
it is not a contest students are often too shy to say all the words they
know.
 
Use the following words: "penis, vagina, clitoris, masturbation,
intercourse." Call out a word, and give the teams 3 minutes to list all
synonyms. Then call out the next word.
 
In the discussion afterwards, you can help students notice that:
    -the synonyms for vagina are much more negative than the synonyms
for penis
    -there are no synonyms for clitoris, which is the center of
female sexual pleasure
    -the synonyms for masturbation and intercourse all focus on male
sexuality
 
This can then lead to a discussion of societal views of male/female
sexuality.
 
***********************
Chris Saad, PhD
saad@dolphin.upenn.edu
saad@alumni.upenn.edu
***********************

Another effective discussion working off of Baker's article is to ask them
to think of any insulting terms (excluding genital references) which
directly insult men as men.  In other words, gender-neutral terms aren't
included and terms which really insult other people (like SOB) aren't
included.  Always fascinating.  One non-traditional student suggested
"geezer."  They can all readily think of terms insulting women that fit
these criteria.  We can then go on to ask why there is such a difference
here.
 
"Tess" Tessier (ltessier@cc.ysu.edu)

Recently I came across an article that dealt with derogatory terms for women
(generated, if I remeber correctly by teens).  I think the article was in a
recent book titled, Gender Articulated: Language and the Socially Constructed
Self.  The editors are Kira Hall & Mary Bucholtz, but I don't remember the
author of the specific article, and have since returned the book to the
library.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Katherine Side
klside@YorkU.ca

One activity for teaching gender issues to teens is a "fishbowl"
activity:  have girls in the inner circle, with boys sitting on the
outside, and girls discuss a question such as:  what would it be like
being a boy for a day?  Then switch.  I think this is usually done
with the boys first.  What happens is it becomes very clear that
there are many more negative characteristics associated with females
than males....
 
Another activity is to have students do a guided meditation,
imagining that they were the other gender for the day.  Discussion
follows.  Similar result.
 
Another one (variation on the first) is to have students for a girls
and a boys group, then groups brainstorm and write on large paper:
what are the good things about being a boy? a girl?  and then compare
lists and discuss.
 
Hope these help,
 
Adena Cohen-Bearak
Boston, MA

Many thanks to the WMST list members who replied to my request for tools
for teaching teens about language and gender.  The activities I used
sparked a discussion that was quite revealing though: the girls in the
group (ranging in age from 10 to 14 as it turned out) claimed not to
experience any problems with stereotyping.  A few moms were present and
said that their daughters played ball, took out the trash, did well in
science and math, and that their sons washed dishes, cried and wore
earrings.
 
I left that evening feeling a bit shaken.  I couldn't remember why I was
invited to speak!  Only one girl in the group hinted at any problems, she
said that her math teacher ignored her and she felt that he paid more
attention to the boys in the class.  When I attempted to pursue that
point, I was met with numerous counter examples.  Because I haven't taught
this age group before I figure I must be missing the point.  This is a
group of kids from a very conservative farming community where one would
think gender roles were strictly defined, it was also a church group!
Instead I found a very enlightened group (or perhaps a group in collective
denial?).  A friend who speaks to African American youth had a similar
experience when he wanted to talk about racial injustice.  Perhaps we're
both just old hippies?  I wonder what others think.
 
Maureen Phillips
University of Washington

A good many of my students,here and elsewhere, tell me in large groups that
there is no gender discrimination and no racial discrimination any more.
These are old problems, that people used to have, but things have changed.
On a one-to-one basis, however, women students (and non-students) either
reveal sorry instances of these things or admit to the uneasy feeling that
something is wrong.  There seems to be a general trend in this country (am I
generalizing too much?) to avoid making the personal political in public.
 
 
Linda S. Bergmann
Associate Professor of English and Director of Writing Across the Curriculum
University of Missouri-Rolla
Rolla, MO  65409
 
(573) 341-4685
 
bergmann@umr.edu

I think it's important to remember that much research has shown that ways
in which different socialization by gender takes place are really, truly
unconscious.  For example, in problem-solving exercises, both mothers and
fathers gently encourage boys more than girls to try to find the answer for
themselves, whereas with girls mothers become bossy and tell them what to do,
and fathers treat the whole thing as a game in which the outcome isn't very
important.  The mothers and fathers don't notice that they're doing this --
only the researchers see that there are systematic differences.  But perhaps
not surprisingly, boys become more confident of their ability to solve
problems independently.
 
Because differences like this are unconscious, they couldn't be elicited in a
discussion.  But they are very real.

If you read Peggy Orenstein's _Schoolgirls_ you see tons of examples of sexist
language directed toward girls (8th graders) both by their classmates and
teachers.  Both the observer (Orenstein) and the girls seemed pretty conscious
that they were being "disrespected" to use their term.
 
The girls she interviewed, who came largely from a variety of backgrounds,
seemed pretty conscious of the ways in which they were treated differently from
their male classmates.  Perhaps in some situations you have to earn their trust
to loosen their tongues.  I find my students generally at first mouth what they
have heard, but when they start probing their own experiences, when they feel
it is safe enough to do that, they tell a very different story.
 
If you ask girls have they experienced sexist language uses in school they
might say know. If you ask them if anything really horrible has ever happened
to them in school, you often get very different results.
 
Laurie Finke
finkel@kenyon.edu

On Wed, 29 Jan 1997, Maureen Phillips wrote:
 
>  The activities I used
> sparked a discussion that was quite revealing though: the girls in the
> group (ranging in age from 10 to 14 as it turned out) claimed not to
> experience any problems with stereotyping.  A few moms were present and
> said that their daughters played ball, took out the trash, did well in
> science and math, and that their sons washed dishes, cried and wore
> earrings.
 
It could be (as another subscriber has noted) that you had an especially
"progressive" group. Doubt it, however, for two reasons. First, the
examples the moms provided reflect a few of the most obvious changes
that are pretty superficial (especially in single-parent homes). Boys'
wearing earrings is a fashion trend (or fad) rather than an indicator
or egalitarian behavior. I'd like to add some other items to the list--
e.g., who does most of the babsitting for younger siblings? are the
curfews the same? who is usually asked to do errands for aging Aunt
Tillie? who is allowed to have a messier bedroom? who uses the computer
more for homework? are both sexes punished equally for using
inappropriate/obscene language? who is more likely to be reprimanded for
clothing that isn't "pretty?" Second, we get into the more subtle stuff.
Sure, for example, the daughters are doing well in science and math, but
are they encouraged to pursue scientific occupations equally by both
parents? Or, in terms of college plans, are the parents providing
resources (present and future) equally for sons and daughters?
 
niki Benokraitis, Soc Prof, U of Baltimore
nbenokraitis@ubmail.ubalt.edu