English 104 Midterm Exam
Choose any ONE question to explore. Use any outline and notes you have prepared and make sure you do your best to answer the entire question:
1. This 1960’s advertisement for men’s hair grooming products relies on notions of gender to sell a product to consumers. How does it reflect and perpetuate constructions of what it means to be masculine and feminine before the women’s movement of the 1970’s? How does it rely on and perpetuate warrior masculinity? Do you think these constructions of men and women still surface today? Why? In what kinds of examples?
2. Check out the following comic by Barry Deutsch.How does Deutsch make the case that masculinity is socially constructed? Do you agree with this perspective? How does his comic reflect the ideas Palahniuk explores through his male characters in Fight Club? What do you think his comic and Tyler Durden have to do with male violence and school shootings, if anything?
3. In a recent New York Times opinion piece, comedian Michael Ian Black argues that:
“The past 50 years have redefined what it means to be female in America. Girls today are told that they can do anything, be anyone. They’ve absorbed the message: They’re outperforming boys in school at every level. But it isn’t just about performance. To be a girl today is to be the beneficiary of decades of conversation about the complexities of womanhood, its many forms and expressions. . .Men feel isolated, confused and conflicted about their natures. Many feel that the very qualities that used to define them — their strength, aggression and competitiveness — are no longer wanted or needed; many others never felt strong or aggressive or competitive to begin with. We don’t know how to be, and we’re terrified.”
How (and where in the novel and/or film) does Palahniuk also build this same perspective in Fight Club? Do you agree or disagree with both writer’s takes on how masculinity is socially constructed? What kinds of social constructions might help boys and men understand masculinity differently?
4. Check out this anti-suffragette poster of the early 1900’s below. How is it socially constructing female people? How did this piece of propaganda discourage and control women who might have wanted to advocate for equal voting rights? Use what you know about this part of American history and social construction theory to think about how social constructions can become social control over marginalized groups. Do we still see social control of women through advertisements today? If so, where and why?
5. Take a look at this Bud Light ad below. How do the makers of this beer and the ad agency they’ve hired construct a potential gay male consumer? In what ways is this ad empowering? How is it not? How do Ennis and Jack in Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain” influence ads like this one and how did they help challenge common popular culture representations of gay men? How are popular representations of gay men problematic? How are they empowering?
6. Take a few minutes to watch this short video:
What argument is artist, Eli Rezkallah attempting to make with her work? How are the original ads constructing femininity and masculinity during the 1950’s and 60’s? How are those constructions still dominant in our culture today? And how might art like Rezkallah’s change social constructions of men and women?
7. Think about what you’ve learned about advertising, social construction, and gender and embark on our future considerations of race as socially constructed. How does the below pancake mix advertisement from 1941 reflect and construct black women’s social role and value? Use what you know about this part of American history – pre-women’s movement and pre-civil rights act – and social construction theory to think about how social constructions can become social control over marginalized groups. Do we still see this kind of social control of women (and men) of color through advertisements today? If so, where and why? What examples can you think of in advertising, popular culture, and politics that perpetuate or challenge these long-standing constructions of black women (and men) as “help” for white people?
8. Relying on what you know about social construction theory and common constructions of female and male gender, how does this Ok Cupid ad address and construct a lesbian consumer? What assumptions about lesbian identity and female identity do these advertisers make and why do you think they make those assumptions? What other popular depictions of lesbian women help construct what our culture assumes about lesbians and how are these constructions empowering or disempowering?
9. Check out this short article on this photo essay reversing the roles of women of color and white women by photographer, Chris Buck: https://afropunk.com/2017/05/this-moving-photo-essay-flips-the-script-on-race-expectations/?fbclid=IwAR1I7ux6Bc2H2KcuCz4BS3LbYtO2-i7p8mUdHLhPJp6KOBV9hn26GYPdKe4
Use one or more of his photographs below to closely read and answer the following questions. What argument is Buck trying to make with this image or images? What social constructions of white women does he attempt to highlight? And what constructions of women of color is he making commentary on? How might art like Buck’s photo essay work to change social constructions of women and race?
10. Take a moment to watch this short video introducing a new line of dolls from Mattel, the makers of Barbie.
Closely reading these new dolls and how Mattel’s toymakers and designers explain their potential role in children’s lives, how do these dolls participate in socially constructing gender in ways that reflect larger cultural changes in our understandings and definitions of gender? The designers mention that these dolls might be met with challenge from certain populations. Why do you think they make that assertion? Do you agree or disagree and what evidence from our current cultural moment informs your perspectives?
English 104 