EXTRA CREDIT: Do Pink Fingernails Make You Gay/Transgender?

This ad appeared in the most recent J Crew catalog

This advertisement shows a mother painting her son's toenails pink. It stirred up a lot of controversy in the media. Read this article about it:

ABC News

What do you think about this advertisement? Do you think it could do damage to a growing child's sense of gender roles? Are people making a big deal out of nothing? What does the controversy surrounding this advertisement say about us as a culture? For extra credit in the form of a half a letter grade boost to your paper on SU, write THREE WELL-FORMED paragraphs discussing this issue. DUE MONDAY by NOON.

Toys & Gender

This word cloud was made from listening to tv commercials for boy toys and girl toys. Can you guess which word cloud goes with which gender? Bet you can. The size of the word indicates how frequently it was used. The bigger the word, the more often it was used.

We often think that by buying boy toys for boys and girl toys for girls that we are just helping them "become normal" in a social sense. Watch this video about what is normal in advertising for children.

What do you think about the idea that there should be no advertising directed at children? Do you think that gendered toys and advertising change children's ideas about what is possible for them professionally? Check out this article about the effect of gendered toys on children's education:
Playing Fair?
Do you think it's possible that the lack of technology, science, and building-based toys effects how girls perform in school? Do you think that boy's toys limit their potential? What would happen if the messages sent to boys and girls via toys and advertising were mixed up? Find out by playing this game:
Gendered Advertising Remixer
What is your intuitive response to mixing up these advertisements? Do you find them ridiculous or enlightening?
THE ASSIGNMENT
As a comment below, write TWO paragraphs about what you think about gendered toys. This comment is DUE at the start time of your next class with me. Please make sure to include your name as it appears on the roll.

NO CLASS

There's a tree down in my hood, and no power. No class today. Review your drafts and presentations.

MLA Citation

As discussed in class, you will need to know how to use MLA citation. Not just for this class or paper, but generally, for all English papers.
Here is a handbook:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/search.php
AS A COMMENT:
1. Write the citation format for College, The Easy Way as you would cite it in a bibliography.
2. Write the citation format for In Praise of the F Word as you would cite it in a bibliography.
3. Use a quote from either article in a sentence, and use MLA in-text citation format.
YOUR COLLEGE ATTITUDES RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT, whether you are writing a paper or doing a group presentation, is due this week. If you are writing a paper, you must bring your rough draft on Monday/Tuesday, groups you will be practicing. Papers and final projects are due Wednesday/Thursday. There will be no make ups for group presentations. None. No exceptions. If your group tells me that you didn't pull your weight, you will receive an automatic F.