Tags: bodies, gender, media, prejudice/discrimination, sex/sexuality, social construction, sports, 00 to 05 mins Year: 2006 Length: 4:46 Access: YouTube Summary: Shown by ChallengingMedia, this clip critically examines post-Title IX media by discussing the difference in the coverage of female vs. male athletes. While female athleticism challenges gender norms, female athletes continue to be depicted in traditional roles that reaffirm their femininity as wives, mothers, or sex objects. Yet, male athletes are shown in a heroic light illustrating their courage, strength, and endurance. Submitted By: Shinta Herwantoro Hernandez
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Tags: biology, bodies, children/youth, gender, lgbtq, sex/sexuality, clitorectomy, intersex, intersexuality, medical sociology, transgender, 11 to 20 mins Year: 2000 Length: 12:50 Access: YouTube; www.isna.org Summary: The promotional synopsis for this film notes that, "Clitorectomy and other forms of sexually mutilating genital surgery are a reality here and now for children born with a clitoris that doctors or parents think is 'too big.' In this short documentary, Kristi Bruce and Howard Devore, both born intersex, talk eloquently and straightforwardly about their experience of a medical model based upon shame, secrecy, and forced 'normalization. Physician Jorge Daaboul joins their call for an end to secrecy and mutilating genital surgery on intersex children." This film is incredibly informative and concise and would be a nice way of beginning a discussion about intersex identities. The clip might also serve as a means of beginning a discussion about how the rigid gender binary in the United States and elsewhere leads to physically and emotionally harmful institutionalized practices which affect a sizable population. Note that two other clips on The Sociological Cinema (here and here) explore the topic of intersexuality as it pertains to South African runner, Caster Semenya, and the media attention she received after her "true" sex was called into question in 2009. Submitted By: Lester Andrist Tags: bodies, health/medicine, political economy, health care, pre-existing conditions, political economy of health care, 11 to 20 mins Year: 2007 Length: 19:50 Access: YouTube (clip 1; clip 2) Summary: This clip from Michael Moore's Sicko tells the emotionally-charged stories of several Americans who have struggled to get adequate health care from private, for-profit health insurance. It weaves their stories with private interviews with former workers within the industry and official testimony from industry insiders who have spoken out against the industry. Before showing the clip in my Social Problems class, I facilitated a debate on whether health care is a privilege or right, then asked students to pretend they were a business executive for a for-profit health insurance company, asking them how they might maximize profits in their health insurance plans when health care is treated as a commodity. Finally, after showing the video, I asked the class: what techniques were used to increase profits? Does the problem stem from individuals working in the health care industry or from the health care system itself (linking it back to notions of health care as a right or privilege)? I put this in the context of the three health care models (national insurance, social insurance, private insurance) discussed in James Russell's (2006) "Social Policy in Health Care: Europe and the US" (excerpted in this Social Problems book). Submitted By: Paul Dean Tags: bodies, emotion/desire, gender, marketing/brands, media, race/ethnicity, violence, hegemonic masculinity, ideal beauty, rape, representation, sexual violence, 06 to 10 mins Year: 1999 Length: 7:03 Access: YouTube Summary: This clip, featuring Jackson Katz, examines popular media representations of men and masculinity in the United States. The excerpt is only the first 7 minutes of an 84 minute documentary (find more information about the film at mediaed.org). In it, Katz explores the harmful consequences associated with contemporary masculinity. Some students might perceive the examples used in "Tough Guise" to be outdated, but Katz's recent book, "The Macho Paradox," can be used effectively to update and supplement the film. Note that instructors might find this clip useful for introducing Connell's concept of hegemonic masculinity. Submitted By: Lester Andrist Tags: children/youth, discourse/language, emotion/desire, foucault, gender, lgbtq, marriage/family, religion, sex/sexuality, social construction, discipline, heteronormative, femininity, masculinity, norms, socialization, purity ball, virginity pledge, 00 to 05 mins Year: 2008 Length: 1:23 Access: YouTube Summary: This clip describes and visually portrays an example of a purity ball, a formal ritual/party in which girls take a purity pledge (a.k.a. "virginity pledge") in front of their family and friends and, most prominently, they make this pledge to their fathers. I use this clip when introducing Foucault to my students, and I ask them how Foucault might make sense of purity balls and virginity pledges as a social and cultural phenomenon. Submitted By: Valerie Chepp Tags: art/music, bodies, commodification, gender, inequality, intersectionality, media, race/ethnicity, sex/sexuality, social mvmts/social change/resistance, hip hop, masculinity, poetry, popular culture, sexism, 00 to 05 mins Year: 2002 Length: 3:16 Access: YouTube Summary: Spoken word artist, Sarah Jones, performs at Def Poetry Jam. Remixing Gil Scott Heron's famous piece, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," Jones asserts "your revolution will not happen between these thighs," drawing attention to the assertions around power and privilege that are made in hip hop lyrics at the expense of women. Jones points to what the "real" revolutionary potential of hip hop might entail. Submitted By: Valerie Chepp Tags: biology, bodies, children/youth, gender, lgbtq, marriage/family, sex/sexuality, social construction, sex reassignment surgery, socialization, subtitles/CC, 21 to 60 mins Year: 2001 Length: 24:00 Access: no online access Summary: This lighthearted and poignant documentary profiles three sisters, ages 6, 9 and 11, struggling to understand why and how their Uncle Bill is becoming a woman. These girls love their Uncle Bill, but will they feel the same way when he becomes their new Aunt Barbara? With just weeks until Bill's first visit as Barbara, the sisters navigate the complex territories of anatomy, sexuality, personality, gender and fashion. Their reactions are funny, touching, and distinctly different. This film offers a fresh perspective on a complex situation from a family that insists there are no dumb questions (description from the film's website). Submitted By: Valerie Chepp Dave Zirin discusses controversy surrounding Caster Semenya Tags: biology, bodies, foucault, gender, intersectionality, lgbtq, media, prejudice/discrimination, race/ethnicity, sex/sexuality, social construction, sports, caster semenya, norms, 00 to 05 mins Year: 2009 Length: 3:44 Access: YouTube Summary: Interview and commentary with Dave Zirin, sports writer for "The Nation." Zirin discusses the case of South African runner, Caster Semenya, whose gender was called into question after her victory at the 2009 World Championships. This clip is useful for talking about the social construction of sex and gender, and the pervasive discomfort around - indeed "disciplining" of - bodies that do not neatly "fit" into clear sex and gender categories. Submitted By: Valerie Chepp Isaiah Mustafa Tags: bodies, emotion/desire, gender, marketing/brands, media, social construction, hypermasculine, ideal beauty, sexism, hegemonic masculinity, manliness, subtitles/CC, 00 to 05 mins Year: 2010 Length: 0:33 Access: YouTube Summary: The caption below this YouTube ad reads "We're not saying this body wash will make your man smell into a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot, but we are insinuating it." In the span of about 30 seconds, the Old Spice model triumphs as a hypermasculine male. He has the body, the sexy voice, the self-confidence, the money, and the romance. Although the commercial appears to be poking fun at hypermasculinity, it is important to note that the commercial works because consumers broadly share a set of relatively narrow ideas about masculinity. In particular, the clip is useful for introducing R. W. Connell's concept of hegemonic masculinity, which draws attention to the way masculinity is constructed in relation to other subordinated masculinities and in relation to women. For Connell, the concept is "a social ascendancy achieved in a play of social forces that extends beyond contests of brute power into the organization of private life and cultural processes." In other words, Isaiah Mustafa embodies a masculinity in the ad that is hegemonic because it is favored and promoted throughout major social institutions, and among other places, it can be readily found mass media content. A point of discussion is whether the ad uses satire to challenge this hegemonic form of masculinity, or does it only succeed in reinforcing it? Note that the clip can also be analyzed for playing a role in the construction of feminine desire. While the audience is laughing about this tongue-in-cheek form of masculinity, they are likely taking it as a given that all women want this kind of man and the diamonds he holds. Submitted By: Lester Andrist Tags: art/music, bodies, children/youth, discourse/language, gender, lgbtq, social construction, poetry, 00 to 05 mins Year: 2009 Length: 2:45 Access: YouTube Summary: This poem from Brave New Voices is performed by two young women from Philadelphia. The poem is useful for introducing students to discussions of transgenderism, as well as for talking about the ways in which language constructs our social experiences (the term "hir" is the gender-neutral pronoun that replaces either "her" or "his"). Submitted By: Valerie Chepp |
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