fandomhigh | Sexual Anthropology, Monday, 7/20, Period 3

"Today," Brennan said, as she passed out posterboard and markers to the students, "we're talking about gender roles, identity and stereotypes. Those are really big subjects; I can't do much more than glance at the stereotypes here in class today. If you're interested and want to keep reading, I can recommend some books after class."

"Gender roles are the set of perceived behavioral norms associated particularly with males or females, in a given social group or system. It can be a form of division of labor by gender, as in classic hunter/gatherer societies in which men go out to hunt and women watch children and gather fruits and grains, or in a modern single-income family in which the woman stays at home and the man acts as a breadwinner. Almost all societies, to a certain effect, have a gender/sex system, although the components and workings of this system vary markedly from society to society." She went on to briefly review current research into the establishment and reinforcement of gender roles in society.

"Gender identity, meanwhile, is how a person defines him or herself in terms of gender. While this usually matches physical gender, some people identify as transgendered -- a male brain in a female body, or the reverse -- or as neither male nor female. Someone who believes their mental gender does not match their physical gender may be said to have gender identity disorder."

"The last thing we want to talk about, and the basis of your exercise today, is gender stereotypes. Stereotypes are simplistic generalizations about the roles of individuals in groups that help to feed into traditional gender roles. A simple gender stereotype is 'boys don't cry' or 'women can't drive.'"

"What I would like for you to do today is, working in pairs, come up with lists of male and female stereotypes and what reinforces them. For example, if your stereotype is that women are bad drivers, you might write down that popular jokes give that message. At the end of class we'll ~~probably handwavily~~ compare the lists and see where they differ and where they overlap. I'm around if you have questions."

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Rose sighed, glancing down at herself. "Jack, I hate to tell you this." She smirked over at him. "Because I'm sure you haven't noticed, but gentlemen are really, really boring."

Jack smirked behind his hand. "You don't say."

"Good thing you aren't one?" she smirked back.

Jack's laugh of agreement was as much answer as Rose could hope for.

"So is one of our stereotypes that bad boys are more interesting?"

"That's not a stereotype," Rose teased. "But yes."

"I'm operating with an expanded definition of the term stereotype," Jack said loftily. "What about bad girls?"

"Look at you sounding all serious," she said, looking amused. "Maybe all bad girls were fast and unladylike. They have legs."

Jack gasped in mock shock, then let his eyes drop to her leg and run along it. "Is that what those are?" he asked.

Rose stretched her leg out slightly to encourage his look. "Terribly messy, I know."

Jack totally gave up his pretense at taking notes and just looked at her.

Stupid cabins.

"Are there any nights this week when you're free, Miss Hathaway?"

Rose liked his train of thought and was happy to subscribe to it.

Not that she wasn't going to tease.

"Would you be proposing a courting ritual, Mr. Priest?"

Astounding as it may seem, she even was listening in this class.

Jack let a slight smile creep along his face. "I'm saying I haven't had much to eat not cooked over a campfire in the last few weeks, and restaurant meals taste better when they're shared. Is that a courting ritual?"

"I think we could term that a date," Rose said thoughtfully. She gave him a mischievous glance. "Want me to ask the teacher if it's a courting ritual."

~~I dare you.~~

Jack glanced to the woman. "She might ask if you plan to wait for an exchange of valuable tokens before permitting intimacies," he warned.

"I think you're back in the Victorian Age again," Rose smirked, sliding out of her chair and heading over towards the teacher.

Jack folded his hands on the desk and watched the conversation with some interest, wishing he were better at reading lips.

"Yep," Rose said as she sat down again, still trying really hard not to blush at being stupid and misunderstanding and thankful she wasn't crazy-pale. "Courtship ritual."

"I see," Jack said, wondering what had happened to make her blush. "Well, she's the expert. Is tomorrow good, or is that too soon?"

"Tomorrow is excellent," Rose said quickly. "Should we go against gender stereotypes and I'll pick you up at your cabin?"

"I wouldn't turn that down," Jack agreed. "I'm in Peter & Peter."

Rose snickered. "I'll be there with bells on." She paused. "I dunno what that means. I don't think people actually do that."

A pause. "I've never seen it. It makes me think of cats."

"What, like the musical?"

Jack was looking at her like she had lost her mind. "Like the bells people put on their collars?"

Oh thank God. Rose wasn't sure she could make out with him anymore if he'd been here two months and was already referencing Cats.

"Okay, good," she said quickly. "Cause the other one shouldn't ever be talked about." ... "And I don't wanna turn into a cat."

Re: Pair Up + Discuss [7/20]

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