Social Construction of Race, Ethnicity, and/or Gender Through Media

Abstract

The social construction of race, ethnicity, and gender are common topics in sociology classes and can be difficult for students to grasp on their own. This assignment has students look at the media and advertising displays of race, ethnicity, and/or gender and how those portrayals build upon and reinforce the concepts. Through examining and discussing...

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Race, Class and Gender

Resource Type(s):

Assignment

Class Level(s):

Any Level

Class Size(s):

Any

Usage Notes

Students will want to use YouTube and other video related resources for this project; however, this works to varying degrees of success. An issue that comes with video rather than picture files is the tendency for students to describe the video more than what the video represents. Additionally, students treat video files as more self-explanatory than...

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. 1. Be able to demonstrate and explain the social construction of race, ethnicity, and gender and build upon or operate within the ideas of racial/ethnic stereotypes and traditional gender roles through advertising and other media portrayals.

Goal Assessment(s):

1. In discussing each of the images chosen, explain how the image reflects upon the social construction of race, ethnicity, and/or gender and how stereotypical portrayals of race/ethnicity or gender reinforce ideas about race, ethnicity, and gender.
2. Through a conclusion page to the project, students will make connections across all of the images that they selected and describe how these media portrayals reinforce or demonstrate racist and sexist views and ideas.