Journals should be: (1) personal (written from your personal perspective and written in 1st person); (2) reflective (demonstrating deep thought on a topic for the purpose of better understanding and integrating knowledge into everyday life); and creative (demonstrate application of concepts and synthesis of ideas through creative expression). Your journal will demonstrate how you are grappling with some of the concepts that the assigned materials this week have covered. Of particular interest are areas that you struggle to integrate; theoretical conceptions that you disagree with (and can provide an informed but differing perspective); and questions that arise for you as a result of reflecting on the assigned content. Your journal entries are your big assignment each week, so much time and thought should be devoted to them.

To receive full credit for your journal entry, you should combine 500+ of your own words in written or audio/video format, with at least 2 non-prose contributions (drawings, images, poems, graphics, etc that you embed in your journal. (This means that the visuals display within the body of your journal, they are not just provided as a link.). These non-prose contributions can be your own, or anothers work. While I will accept others’ work, I much prefer that you use your own creative products in the journals! If the work is not your own, your writing/audio/video should explain why you selected the item and explain how it illustrates whatever concept you are choosing to highlight. Work that is not your own must include a url (or APA style reference if the source is not online) to the source. It is my sincere hope that creating your journal entries is a learning experience that is also meaningful and enjoyable. OneNote is an amazing app, enabling you to draw, create video and audio recordings, embed online material, and integrate it all with text in an extremely flexible and potentially creative way. Play around with OneNote– I think you’ll come to love its capabilities!

Some possible things you can do for this journal entry, to get your creative juices flowing:

create a concept map of a theory that resonates with you, or conversely, that you’re struggling with and wish to examine more throughout the course

create a matrix of theories and concepts to quickly compare/contrast theories

create a drawing that depicts your own intersectional identity

write a poem that immerses the reader in the experience of hostile, benevolent, or ambivalent sexism

 

 In this unit, you’ve read Chapters 1 -3 in your textbook. You’ve watched 3 videos: “Brown, Trans, Queer, Muslim, & Proud;” “Two-Spirit People;” and “White Privilege.” Through completing these reading/viewing assignments, you’ve been exposed to a number of topics. This is a short list of the concepts and theories that were covered: 

Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation 

Intersectional identity (race, ethnicity, culture, sex, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc., and how these different facets of identity intersect) 

Gender Essentialism 

Theories 

System justification theory (gender essentialism as a motivated belief system) 

Evolutionary Psychology (emphasis on biological differences) 

Cultural Theories focus on gender socialization 

Social Structural Theories focus on social roles, status/power differences, and competition/cooperation between groups 

Societies often assign different groups to particular roles that demand distinct traits and behaviors 

Refutes evolutionary psychology’s premise that differences are innate and inflexible. Rather, views sex differences from the perspective of a biological system that flexibly adapts to social roles 

Roles construct a social reality 

The development of patriarchy in human history: a recent construction 

Dominance and interdependence produce ambivalence 

Gender Exceptionalism 

Hostile, Benevolent, and Ambivalent Sexism 

Benevolent Sexism’s mechanisms 

Lends legitimacy to gender inequality 

“false promise” to placate women 

Diminishes women in close relationships 

Undermines women at work