Week 7: Gender in America

Girls can wear jeans
And cut their hair short
Wear shirts and boots
'Cause it's OK to be a boy
But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading
'Cause you think that being a girl is degrading
But secretly you'd love to know what it's like
Wouldn't you
What it feels like for a girl

—Madonna, "What It Feels Like For a Girl" 

Tu 10.5

Read: CR—“What Girls Want” by Caitlin Flanagan, “Tight Jeans and Chiana Chorris” by Sonia Shah, “What Women Want (Maybe)” by Andy Newman; GUY—p. 169-216; eR—“I Enjoy Being a Girl, Sort of” from This American Life (1998)
In-Class: Lecture—“Gender on Film”

Th 10.7
Read: CR—“Pushing Away the Plate” by Min Jin Lee, “The men We Carry in Our Minds” by Scott Russell Sanders, “Are You in a Bromance? (Or is it Just a Man Crush)” by Simon Dumenico, “Faking It” by Michael Chabon, “The Problem with Boys” by Tom Chiarella; GUY—p. 217-265
In-Class: Reading discussion; Preview—Expository essay
Due: Journal 4 
Note: This class should be attended by men only. Women should email me their journals by noon.


UPCOMING:

WEEK 8: GENDER IN AMERICA 

Tu 10.12
Read: CR—“Pushing Away the Plate” by Min Jin Lee, “Being a Man” by Paul Theroux, “Faking It” by Michael Chabon, “The Problem with Boys” by Tom Chiarella; GUY—p. 217-265
In-Class: Reading discussion; Preview—Expository essay
Note: This class should be attended by women only. 

Th 10.14
In-Class: Watch—Transamerica (2008)