GRDG626: Language, Literacy, and Diversity Gender Construction and Literacy Dr. Gloria E. Jacobs

Agenda  Field trip ideas  Videos  Minilecture  Break  Discuss readings  Literature review presentations, last class, capstone night

Field Trip Ideas  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ◦ “Shifting Spaces: Identity, Literature and the Emergence of Stories”  Monday, April 4, 2011 at 8:00PM Webb Auditorium (Building 7A) ◦ A reading at Writers & Books  Monday, April 4, 2011 at 4:00PM 740 University Avenue  Major General Antonio Taguba (ret.) and Sonny Izon ◦ “The Filipino-American Experience“  5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, April 1, 2011  St. John Fisher College Basil Auditorium (Basil 135)  Baobab Cultural Center film Baobab Cultural Center film  Race to No Where film about Congo rape (Naz) Race to No Where film about Congo rape  Jonas Mekas film about immigration (Dryen Theater) Jonas Mekas film about immigration  Geva theater – “Black Girls Anthem” or “Radio Golf”“Black Girls Anthem” “Radio Golf”

 Turn to a partner and share something that got you thinking this week.  Share out to the whole group.

 Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter  Tough Guise Tough Guise  Beyond Beats & Rhyme Beyond Beats & Rhyme  Killing Us Softly Killing Us Softly  The Bechdel Test The Bechdel Test  Advice from Cartoon Princesses Advice from Cartoon Princesses

 Biology and Culture ◦ Sex ◦ Gender Identity ◦ Sexual preference  Identify your ideologies, then suspend them.

 Neuroscience ◦ Sex differences start out small but amplified by cultural influence  Gaps in intellectual performance, empathy, aggression are smaller than disparity in adult height.  Few large scale differences in brain structure or function  Boys have larger brains (and larger heads), girls brains finish growing earlier. Neither of these provide any insight into differences.

 The role of hormones ◦ Presence of testosterone triggers fidgetiness in the womb but…  Hormone levels are the same in girls and boys between birth and puberty yet…  Sex difference in activity widens ◦ Therefore, enculturation plays a bigger role that hormone differences

 The role of play ◦ Physical play (such as sports, trucks, blocks) increases spatial skills ◦ Role play (dolls, coloring books, dress-up) increases verbal, social, and fine motor skills

 Despite the surge in testosterone at puberty, boys do not suddenly become more aggressive ◦ Boys allowed to compete and fight ◦ Girls taught to be passive or collaborative. Aggression comes out in form of gossip, ostracism, etc.

 Women report being more empathetic, but in tests of identifying emotions on faces, the gender difference is small ◦ This difference is even smaller in children ◦ Boys taught to hide expressions of fear which leaves an imprint on the amygdala.

 Females outscore males on most measures of speaking, reading, writing and small but gaps are small and change with age. ◦ Girls start talking earlier than boys and by 12 th grade surpass boys in literacy skills, but ◦ During childhood girls tend to read more than boys, which builds reading skills. ◦ The gap shrinks in adulthood

 Spatial skills are needed for success in science and higher math  Sex differences in spatial skills are among the largest of the cognitive gaps. ◦ Difference is smaller in children than adults  Spatial skills can improve with training

 “Genes and hormones light the spark for most boy-girl differences, but he flame is strongly fanned by the essentially separate cultures in which boys and girls grow up. Appreciating how sex differences emerge can reduce dangerous stereotyping and give parents and teachers ideas for crosstraining boys’ and girls’ minds” (p. 29).

 Gender versus sex ◦ Sex (XX or XY) – but even that is problematic  Transsexuals are people with normal chromosomes who feel psychologically like the opposite sex

 The subjective feeling of “maleness” or femaleness.” ◦ Different from biological sex

 Who one is sexually attracted to ◦ Separate from biology ◦ Separate from gender identity  Transsexuals can be gay or straight

Break

Small Group Discussion  You choose your group

Group Discussion  Each group lead whole group discussion.

Next Week No Class next week Send your literature review to me as soon as you wish. Go on the field trip of your choice. April 14 Present your lit review Share your field trip experience Literature review due via Turnitin Compton Lilly Chapters 8 & 9 Karp (in Au)