[Admin]

Topics for Essay #2 - Rough Draft due 5/13 and Final Draft due 5/18

Choose one of the following topics from the unit "True Women and Real Men: Myths of Gender in Rereading America" and write a detailed and persuasive essay. Please use textual evidence (quotes/paraphrase) to support your ideas and document these quotes properly by using MLA format.

1. Survey the ads in two magazines- one designed to appeal to a predominantly female audience and one aimed at a largely male audience. You should include a minimum of four ads: two from the women's magazine and two from the men's magazine. Do a close reading and interpretation of all of your ads. What differences, if any, do you see in the kinds of images and appeals advertisers use in the two magazines? How often do you see the kinds of "pornographic ads" Kilbourne discusses? Please staple your ads (or copies of your ads) to the back of your essay.

2. Vasquez writes that the "institutional and ideological reinforcements of homophobia are myriad and deeply woven into our culuture" (495). Over a period of days, keep track of all references to gays, lesbians, or homosexuality in casual conversation, news reports, television programs, and other media. To what extent do you agree with Vasquez that homophobia is deeply ingrained in our culture?

3. Sensational daytime talke shows and other "reality-based" programs in which participants essentially live their lives on camera have gained tremendous popularity in recent years. What is the appeal of such shows for audiences? Why are participants willing or even eager to share intimate and sometimes humiliating details of their lives with a television audience? Use specific quotes and examples from Faludi's essay and from the shows to support your ideas.
Hint: Try to focus on either talk shows or reality shows.

4. To what extent does Boatwright's experience support Carmen Vasquez's assertion that "the straigtjacket of gender roles suffocates many lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals, forcing them into closets without an exit and threatening our very existence when we tear the closet open" (493)? What resources finally enable Boatwright to survive and thrive despite the open hostility of her family and community?