GENDER Level: High school Goals: * Students will learn to discuss gender issues with reference to their daily

lives. * Students will examine and critically analyze their own beliefs. Materials: * Video of the Talk discussing Catherine Kieu Becker (youtube), and projector/TV. Procedure WARM-UPS * Simon says ACTIVITIES * Strike a pose 1) Choose one or more girls from the class and one or more girls. 2) Ask the boy(s) to stand on one side, and the girl(s) on the other. 3) Ask the girl(s) to strike the most feminine pose possible. Ask the boy(s) to strike the most masculine pose possible. 4) Ask the class some questions about the poses: Why is the feminine pose considered feminine? Does it emphasize beauty, slimness, etc? Why is the masculine pose considered masculine? Does it emphasize strength, violence, etc? 5) Ask the students to sit back down. * Burning building 1) Give students a life and death scenario involving gender that is likely to cause cognitive dissonance. Start with the Titanic scenario (most people will say to save the women and children first.) Then move onto a burning building scenario with two individual people. 2) Are the answers different? If not, which gender do you value more? Is that sexist? If you chose different genders for the two scenarios, then why? How was the choice different when it was a group vs. individuals? * Women in the workplace In the US, women generally feel that they should act more masculine in the workplace. They are worried that the men will think of them as "women" and not as "colleagues". Is it the same in France? REFLECTION * One thing I learned/one question