Greeting Card Analysis: Gendered Constructions of Love and Parenthood

Abstract

This class activity uses greeting cards to illustrate how our understandings of both love and parenthood are shaped by gender, in particular dominant ideas about masculinity and femininity. To address constructions of love, students are asked to bring Valentine’s Day cards to class. To address parenthood, they bring in Mother’s and/or Father’s Day cards....

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Family

Resource Type(s):

Class Activity

Class Level(s):

Any Level

Class Size(s):

Any

Usage Notes

Several days prior, students are asked to bring cards (paper version or e-copies) on the day of the activity (either Valentine’s Day or Mother’s/Father’s Day, depending on instructor’s choice). The in-class activities will take approximately 30 minutes to complete, depending on length of small group and class discussions. In larger classes, additional...

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. Identify and critically examine dominant ideas about masculinity and femininity in our gendered social relationships, as reflected in greeting cards.
2. Identify and critically examine norms about the expression of emotion in gendered social relationships, as reflected in greeting cards.
3. Identify and critically examine heteronormative biases, as reflected in greeting cards

Goal Assessment(s):

1. Students will describe various dimensions or types of masculinity and femininity reflected in the cards, including making observations about their relative frequencies. Students will also develop sociological explanations for the observed patterns.
2. Students will describe gendered norms regarding emotional expression in relationships reflected in the cards, including making observations about variation in these norms. Students also will develop sociological explanations for the observed patterns.
3. Students will describe the extent to which heteronormativity is reflected in the cards. Students will also develop sociological explanations for the observed patterns.