Gender

Parenting the French way

A fascinating article about cross-cultural differences in parenting.  It would make a great resource for discussing the question of ‘child-centred’ families.

Media and Image

This is a fantastic commentary of the images of women portrayed by the media, commenting on how they project an impossibly flawless ideal.  Jean Kilbourne argues, not just that this image leads to increasing eating disorders and mental health issues among teenage girls, but that the objectification of women’s bodies contributes to a growth in violence against women.

Watch the video and see if you agree.

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Feminism and Technology

This year’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show) has caused some controversy, with companies employing ‘booth babes’ to help promote their products.  You can watch a news clip here, featuring interviews with attendees and ‘babes’.

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Contraception

Useful article about the impact of the introduction of the contraceptive pill.

Gender and educational achievement

An interesting link I came across recently which explores the issue of boys underachievement at GCSE in more depth.  There is a chapter you can download, along with a presentation, both of which contain useful information that could be adapted for use with sixth-former, or potentially GCSE students.

African-Caribbean underachievement

Interesting and baldly stated article about reasons for underachievement by black boys.  A good starting point for a lesson.

Gender and education

Following the departure of Sky Sports’ broadcaster Richard Keys and Andy Gray for sexist remarks, the question of gender is a pertinent one for discussion.  Is Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson right to suggest that the row is ‘baffling and worrying’?  Or, should we be more concerned that the gender pay gap for full-time employees is 10.2% (2009, ONS)?

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Glass Ceiling , Gender and Pay

An interesting article on gender and the glass ceiliing here in The Independent today.

Gender, Family and Happiness

Research into well-being (or more crudely, ‘happiness’ ) is all the fashion in psychology. Now sociologists have got in on the act and some new research has just been published by sociologists from the University of Cambridge in a new book titled, Gender Equality in the 21st Century, suggesting that men and women associate personal happiness with the happiness of their families, although they do so in different ways.The Cambridge study was carried out by Professor Jacqueline Scott, Dr. Anke Plagnol and Dr. Jane Nolan and appears in a new book, Gender Inequalities In The 21st Century, published by Edward Elgar.

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Women in the DRC

This - The World’s Most Dangerous Place for Women -  is simply one of the best documentaries I have watched in a long time. OK, its long for teachers who want to fit it into a lesson, but I’d say its definately worth it and you can always use the 37 minute preview so that you can get some discussion in before the end of the lesson.  I watched this with my 13 year old daughter. She hadn’t been watching it, but the film is so powerful that it caught her attention and she was, I think it is fair to say, gripped by it.  This is the sort of thing teachers need to grab with both hands and use. And as I pointed out to my daughter, this is not just TV; this is geography, politics, sociology and psychology. Sometimes we focus so much on the concepts and the syllabus that we miss out the context and the real stories about real people and places. And those are the things which people find so interesting.

Gender and Educational Attainment

Gender can come up a fair bit - but you can use the basic input/school factors approach I outlined the other day to tackle them – simply add relevant studies. Here are a few pointers.  Tomorrow - ethnicity and educational attainment.

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