Who in the class likes football?? Well football is a MAN’S sport. Typically boys are more interested in sports. Society tells young boys that to be a man they need to be involved in and understand sports.
Who likes to cook?? Don't WOMEN generally belong in the kitchen? Society has told young girls that to become desirable women they must be able to cook and to take care of a home. Women typically look after domestic responsibilities while men go out and earn a living. This is yet another gender role to which society conforms.
What drives society to conform to these social norms and created ideas of gender roles?
Most often it is the power of the media. We are consumers that are constantly influenced by the output of the media that influences what we buy, what we wear, how we look, and what style we adopt. As individuals we have the freedom to make choices on our own and be whoever we want to be. However, all too often there is pressure to fit into a pre prescribed notion of how to act, dress, and overall who to be. This is controlled by the power that the media has over us as individuals and how we will best fit into society. We are exposed to images everyday that present expectations that we subconsciously and sometimes consciously try to become.
As artists we want to explore how the power of the media has shaped our everyday lives, and the social norms we comfortably conform to. When we see these things everyday we overlook them. Through this project I want each one of us to deeply examine these preconceived norms. By gathering images and text that we have access to so readily in the media, we will be creating a mixed media collage painting to specifically examine gender roles and expectations set on individuals within a society.
To introduce this lesson to students we will begin with a formal critique of the work "Snow white without the Dwarves" by Ghada Amer. We will encourage students to explore first the work itself. Identifying images, techniques used and media that was incorporated. When the different media are identified, we will point out that they have a deeper meaning and will pause for deeper thought on the relationship of the media. If students hesitate on the relationship we will remind students to think into the past of art making. Clarifying that this project deals significantly with gender and roles of men and women. By asking questions about the subject of the work we will encourage students to begin relating it to the idea of power.