@article{Pittman_2021, place={Washington DC: American Sociological Association.}, title={Marvel Comics Gender Socialization Activity}, url={https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/marvel-comics-gender-socialization-activity}, abstractNote={In this activity, small groups of students will analyze photos of Marvel characters (both in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in their comic book form) to consider what messages are to be gained from popular media about gender and socialization. Once they complete the character analysis portion, in their groups, they will characterize the characters’ appearances, masculinity, femininity, and how the character appearances relate to the cultural expectations of men and women. Finally, individually, students complete a reflection focused on the media they consumed when they were growing up and how the messages they received helped to socialize them. The activity ends with a debrief and a discussion of their characterizations, as well as a discussion of the social construction of gender, norms, and deviance (particularly deviating from gender norms). This activity can be used when discussing gender, social construction of reality, or deviance. It can be adapted to other popular media examples (like Star Wars), and it can be adapted to be completed online if necessary.}, journal={TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology}, author={Pittman, Meagan}, year={2021}, month={Sep.} }