The concept of gender stereotypes permeates the lives of youth in the United States. This article provides background information and rationale for incorporating gender stereotype analysis into family and consumer sciences (FCS) coursework. The critical analysis of gender stereotypes includes numerous activities and assessments that encourage…

Why might intelligent, assertive females overlook sweet, caring guys, choosing instead to date males whose traditional masculinity makes them popular with other powerful males but who treat females and "weaker" males poorly? This lesson provides a structure for, reflection on, and critique of contemporary gender stereotypes. Students…

The perception that engineers and scientists are intelligent Caucasian men who are socially inept and absent-minded people is prevalent among students of all levels, from elementary school to college. While the media may, by chance or choice, promote this image, the reality is that most engineers are men. These stereotypical images of engineers…

Attempts to dispel society's message that "real" boys should play sports, hunt, and fish, and not admit to liking flowers. The article states that a lesson in flower appreciation is useful in teaching many learning strategies, since flowers can be studied and experienced on a variety of different levels. Suggests many hands-on activities…

Raises questions about the representability of the trauma of rape and the purposes of its representation. Focuses on how the strategic enactment of a culturally dominant rape script can potentially open up a gap within which that script can be contested and the act of rape or death resisted. Discusses pedagogical challenges of teaching the…

This guide in English and Spanish provides information for teachers concerning the roles assigned to women in television, and the stereotypes on which these roles are based. The guide contains a pre-test and a post-test to measure the user's awareness of sexual stereotyping. Four object lessons examine: (1) the traditional role of women on…

Presents a classroom activity which shows gender differences in the acceptance of sports aggression. Includes the six scenarios as well as a number of discussion issues. (Author/JDH)

Suggests an extented exercise to help students interpret myths and discover sex-role stereotyping in them. (TJ)

Explores sexually oriented behaviors of children ages 3 to 5 to ascertain the range of children's sexually oriented behaviors, and reviews related studies to help parents and teachers address them. Finds that children's normal sexual behaviors comprise a broad spectrum. Provides a model for viewing children's sexuality and recommendations for…

Presents a lesson plan dealing with women and sport in U.S. history. Discusses the themes of physical capabilities, propriety, and femininity. Describes exercises and projects that can be used to integrate the lesson into different subjects. Includes a reading list, modified rules for women's basketball, and portions of the social debate on women…

Before the insights of feminist criticism altered the way many writers are examined, Jane Austen and George Eliot were usually considered to be upholders of the status quo. The explosion in criticism in the last two decades, however, has reshaped and reinterpreted the canon, and has changed the way one academic teaches these two novelists. Using…

This guide in English and Spanish provides teachers with methods for identifying textbook bias and stereotyping. A pre-test and post-test designed to measure awareness of textbook stereotypes are included. Four object lessons discuss the function of repetition, cumulative effect, omission, and distortion in reinforcing stereotypes, especially…

Discusses gender role enforcement as a way of disguising the ongoing pervasive presence of homophobia in modern society. Describes seven class activities intended to move students from simplistic notions of "boys do this and girls do that" to comfort with and acceptance of the deconstruction of traditional gender roles. (SR)

Presents two critical incidents about boys seated at the back of the classroom. Draws attention to how particular versions of masculinity influence how boys learn to relate and the possibilities for interrogating these kinds of masculinities in the English classroom. Explores what role already existing reading practices within English might play…

Explores how hypertext might be used in the composition classroom to explore the gendered nature of text production. Suggests that writing multivocal hypertexts can help make students more aware of the multiplicity of their subject positions and the ways in which academic contexts try to silence those positions. Concludes by recommending such a…