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Male or female: Seems simple enough, but these categories which were assigned to us at birth carry with them a whole lot of social and cultural meanings and expectations. In this section, we look to unpack some of the media’s baggage around what it means to be a boy or girl, man or women.
Despite the fact that men are the most frequent protagonists in all forms of media, we sometimes have trouble defining what exactly makes a man. In this section, we explore how masculinity and maleness are constructed by the media.
Simone de Beauvoir said “One is not born a woman, but becomes one.” This section analyzes how various media contribute to creating an ideal femininity and how we buy into it.
This lesson introduces students to some of the myth-building techniques of television, by comparing real world (s)heroes with TV world (s)heroes and by looking at stereotypes in the world of TV (s)heroes.
In this lesson, students discuss television programming aimed at children and how girls and boys are portrayed in it. Students illustrate what they dislike about portrayals of girls or boys and then create their own TV character who will counter the illustrated negative portrayals.
These lessons are an adaptation of Grade 8 lessons from the Curriculum Healthy Relationships, by Men For Change, Halifax, Nova Scotia, a 53-activity, three-year curriculum designed for teens.
In this lesson, students identify stereotypical images of girls and women as represented by female action heroes.
In this lesson, students are introduced to the ways video games may impact their mental and physical health. Students start with a reflection on their use of video games, specifically the amount of time they play and the role of games in their lives. This is followed by a class activity based on several key questions relating to the positive and/or negative effects video games may have on our health. Finally, students will be given an opportunity to debate key claims on the health effects of video games.