Tags: gender, sex/sexuality, social construction, comedy, social interaction, stereotypes, 00 to 05 mins Year: 2010 Length: 4:09 (Boys will be Girls) and 3:35 (Girls will be Boys) Access: YouTube: Boys will be Girls and Girls will be Boys Summary: These two sketch comedy clips by the "Harvard Sailing Team" can be used in tandem for highlighting the stereotypes we harbor around men and women's intra-gender group interaction. While the stereotypes are familiar, these clips are particularly useful for exploring how well our stereotypes map onto actual interactions. The fact that these stereotypical interactions are being performed by the "wrong" gender group accentuates the absurdity of the stereotypes. Instructors can ask students whether these are accurate portrayals of how they interact within their own groups of friends. If not, then why are these stereotypes so familiar to all of us? How do they perpetuate despite deviating from actual everyday group interaction? Further, what are the implications of this "mismatch" between perception and actuality? These two clips also demonstrate the use of comedy in teaching sociological concepts. Submitted By: Michelle Smirnova
2 Comments
Tags: gender, media, sex/sexuality, social construction, representation, sexism, sexual objectification, stereotypes, visual literacy, subtitles/CC, 21 to 60 mins Year: 2010 Length: 45:00 Access: no online access, YouTube preview Summary: Jean Kilbourne opens this latest installment of the "Killing Us Softly" series by boldly pronouncing that things have gotten worse. The caption below the YouTube preview for this film reads, "Jean Kilbourne takes a fresh look at how advertising traffics in distorted and destructive ideals of femininity. The film marshals a range of new print and television advertisements to lay bare a stunning pattern of damaging gender stereotypes." The film also explores the increasing objectification of men in the media and the damaging implications of such objectifications. The film is a useful means of entering a conversation about the kinds of gendered representations propagated by the media, the pervasiveness of those representations and just how deeply those representations penetrate our understandings of each other. Submitted By: Lester Andrist Tags: class, gender, media, race/ethnicity, sex/sexuality, class consciousness, meritocracy, representation, stereotypes, subtitles/CC, 61+ mins Year: 2005 Length: 62:00 Access: YouTube (preview; part 1; part 2; part 3; part 4; part 5; part 6; part 7; part 8) Summary: This documentary provides a great historical and contemporary analysis of the presentation of various marginalized groups on television. The film demonstrates how members of the working class are often depicted negatively in the media in the service of preventing the development of a class consciousness. Negative media depictions of African Americans, gay men and women are also explored. The film is great for stimulating conversation about stereotypes perpetuated by prime time television. Questions that follow from viewing the film include: is it the media's responsibility to depict the world as it really is or is it simply entertainment? Do people recognize that the images on television are unrealistic stereotypes or do they believe there is some truth to these depictions? What is the function of the "American Dream" in our culture, and does this ideal do more harm than good? Submitted By: Michelle Smirnova Tags: biology, discourse/language, nature vs. nurture, symbolic interactionism, socialization, ethics, 21 to 60 mins Year: 1994 Length: 56:00 Access: YouTube (part 1; part 2; part 3; part 4; part 5; part 6) Summary: Film describes the story of a young girl named 'Genie' who suffered extreme social isolation during the first decade of her life while she was strapped to a potty chair. Rescued by authorities, the film focuses on her subsequent treatment by psychologists and health experts and her resulting advancement in linguistic development. The film highlights the importance of social interaction in the acquisition and development of language - a key principle of symbolic interactionism. Other themes include the role of ethics in social research and the 'nature versus nurture' debate in the social sciences. PBS also hosts this site with classroom activities and ideas for teachers using this film. Submitted By: Christopher K. Andrews Tags: consumption/consumerism, gender, marketing/brands, organizations/occupations/work, housework, 00 to 05 mins Year: 2009 Length: 0:31 Access: YouTube Summary: In this clip, women are ushered into the Clorox 2 Stain Research Facility to observe the power of Clorox. The most obvious message in this commercial is that laundry is women's work. A second, complimentary message is that science is men's work. With the exception of a brief and fleeting appearence of a woman scientist at about 19 seconds, the serious and purposeful work of science is all performed by men. Notice too how even the dummies in the research facility are blatently gendered. The commercial works well for encouraging students to contemplate the ubiquity of gender stereotypes in the media. This is now the second commercial from The Clorox Company posted on The Sociological Cinema, which can be used to illuminate the way advertisements often reinforce gender stereotypes. The first Clorox ad was posted here. Thanks to Sociological Images for suggesting this clip. Submitted By: Lester Andrist Tags: crime/law/deviance, gender, organizations/occupations/work, violence, war/military, masculinity, 00 to 05 mins Year: 2010 Length: 4:57 Access: YouTube Summary: In this interrogation tape, Spc. Adam Winfield tells an Army investigator about a series of premeditated murders of innocent Afghan civilians by fellow platoon members. Speaking of the “ringleader” of the misconduct, Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, Winfield says, “He likes to kill things. He is pretty much evil incarnate.” While Winfield attributes “evil” to Gibbs’ predilection for killing and violence, Cynthia Enloe’s essay “Wielding Masculinity Inside Abu Ghraib” offers an alternative explanation. Contrary to arguments about a few “bad” (or “evil”) apples, Enloe points to the systematic masculinized culture of the US military. This culture (characterized by violence, assumptions around American/Western superiority, and the subjugation of femininity) goes unaccounted for in most military scandal investigations. Enloe argues men and women are pressured to endorse and participate in this culture of masculinity. Responding to how Gibbs might have reacted to Winfield’s refusal to take part in the killing, Winfield says, “I think -- one, he wouldn't have kept me in the loop on things and, if they had thought I had ratted, they would have come after me.” After the killing Winfield said Gibbs told him “he was part of the group.” The investigator asks, “Did he ever hold against you that you killed a man?” Winfield replies, “No, he told me I was a made man after that.” Coupled with Enloe's essay, this clip is useful for showing students how organizations are gendered, and the ways in which patriarchy functions as a system (and is not the product of "a few bad apples"). Submitted By: Valerie Chepp Tags: prejudice/discrimination, race/ethnicity, color blindness, colorblind racism, comedy, diversity, post-racial America, racism, 06 to 10 mins Year: 2008 Length: 7:30 Access: The Colbert Report Summary: This clip from the Colbert Report, filmed two weeks after Obama was elected president, includes Colbert's claim that "race is over" and shows Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Tubman in party hats, and a flashing banner that says "Racism: 1776-2008." In addition to being a useful starting point to ask if racism and racial inequalities are truly "over" after Obama's election, it offers a way of talking about colorblind-ness and racial diversity. In the second half of the clip, Colbert interviews Newark mayor Cory Booker, where Booker emphasizes celebrating, rather than ignoring, racial diversity. At one point, Colbert states "I don't see you as black and I hope you don't see me as white," which evokes laughter from the audience, which could be analyzed in discussion as to why people find that funny. Submitted By: Margaret Austin Smith Bill Clinton describes global society in functionalist terms Tags: durkheim, theory, globalization, interdependence, structural functionalism, 00 to 05 mins Year: 2009 Length: 3:25 Access: YouTube Summary: Durkheim saw society as functioning like an organism with many inter-dependent parts, and he often referred to biological organisms as a metaphor for the functioning of society. This is demonstrated here with Bill Clinton's interview on Larry King Live, where Clinton defines global society by its "interdependence" and our commonalities. He even links human society to our similarity in DNA: "we don't have time to obsess about our differences any more...genetically we are all about 99.9% the same...from a political and social point of view that doesn't amount to a hill of beans." Note that the entire clip is 4:50, but the relevant section on interdependence ends at 3:25. Submitted By: Margaret Austin Smith Tags: children/youth, gender, culture, rape, sexual assault, 00 to 05 mins Year: 2010 Length: 1:43 Access: Jezebel.com Summary: This clip is taken from a local news report about a group of boys and men who drugged and raped a 16-year-old girl in a field nearby a party they were attending. Some time later, pictures of the rape were posted on Facebook, and according to reports, each time the pictures were taken down by Facebook, they were reposted. Note in the clip that against the victim's own claim of being raped and despite reports that she was given a date rape drug, the students who were interviewed by the news station assert their belief that consensual sex occurred, not rape. At about 40 seconds into the clip, the teens go further by suggesting that the victim was at fault. I see this clip as working well to facilitate two sorts of discussions. The first is a discussion of the concept of rape culture, which is articulated well in the book Transforming a Rape Culture: "A rape culture is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women." Feminist blogger, Melissa McEwan, has also posted an influential essay on the topic. A second more thorough discussion from this clip might draw from Elizabeth Armstrong's article, "Sexual Assault on Campus," to explore how rape is often the result of cultural factors working in tandem with organizational arrangements. Submitted By: Lester Andrist Tags: goffman, theory, identity, institutionalization, resocialization, total institution, 00 to 05 mins Year: 1994 Length: 3:00 Access: YouTube Summary: In this clip is from Frank Darabont's "The Shawshank Redemption" Brooks Hatlen, the prison librarian and one of the oldest inmates at Shawshank, reacts violently upon learning that he has been approved for release by the parole board. Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding subsequently engages in a discussion of what it means to be institutionalized. Drawing from this clip, students can be asked to discuss the characteristics of total institutions and how this leads to the concept of institutionalization as a dysfunction. Note that this clip can be successfully used in tandem with two additional clips. The first short clip, which is from "Full Metal Jacket" (here), depicts Marine recruits getting their heads shaved as a symbolic act meant to strip them of their former identities. In the second clip, also from "Full Metal Jacket" (here), the recruits' drill sergeant debases the recruits thereby further stripping them of their former identities. Submitted By: James Noon |
Tags
All
.
Got any videos?
Are you finding useful videos for your classes? Do you have good videos you use in your own classes? Please consider submitting your videos here and helping us build our database!
|