Resources for Teachers - Gender Representation

Comic Book Characters

In this lesson, students learn how shapes are used in character design in comics and animation and look at how male and female characters are depicted in comic books. Using a Comic Book Analysis sheet, students will record the attributes of male and female comic book characters. As a class, students will record common patterns and discuss what messages about men and women are communicated. Students then design a comic book character that uses shapes to communicate what they think a real hero is.

Help! Someone shared a photo of me without my consent! – Tip Sheet

1. You can start by asking the person who shared it to take it down or stop sharing it. Kids report that this works more often than not!
2. Ask the service or platform where it was shared to take it down. If you’re under 18, they may be required by law to take it down, and most also have a policy of taking down any photos that were shared without the subject’s permission.
   Cell Phones and Texting, Cyberbullying, Digital Citizenship, Gender Representation, Sexting, Sexual Exploitation, Social Networking

Marketing to Teens: Gender Roles in Advertising - Lesson

In this lesson students explore gender roles in advertising by taking an ad campaign they have seen which is specifically directed to one gender, and redesigning the campaign to target the opposite gender.

Avatars and body image

In this lesson students are introduced to the concept of "avatars" and share their experiences creating and playing avatars in video games and virtual worlds. They then create avatars using a program that is intentionally limited in terms of available body types and gender markers, first creating an avatar of their own gender and then of the opposite gender, and then discuss the program and relate it to representations of gender and body image in games and virtual worlds and in other media. Students then create avatars using a much more flexible version of the program and compare that experience to the more limited version. Finally, students use the more versatile program to create avatars that represent how they see themselves and how they would like others to see them online and reflect on the choices that went into creating them.

Sex in Advertising - Lesson

To introduce students to the use and prevalence of sexuality in advertising.