Visual Representations of Women in the Cold War:
From Housewife to Bombshell
Visual representations of women in the Cold War did important socio-cultural and political work, both domestically and on the international stage. The image of the American housewife contributed to the visual lexicon of a family- and consumer-oriented 1950s lifestyle, a reflection of staged privacy put on display for the world to see. In Europe, where post-war American military and free trade alliances sought to keep Communist tyranny in check, images of women were deployed by both sides, either as markers of capitalist glamor of socialist worker aesthetics.
Click here for an interactive media project with contributions by Ellen W. Gorsevski, Katherine Hampsten, and Elisabeth Ross.
Students in Stefka Hristova’s digital media class at Michigan Tech produced the collage of images and text.
……………………..peace……………..diplomacy……………..war………………domesticity……………..
Film as Pedagogy: Roth, J. (Producer) & Newell, M. (Director). (2003). Mona Lisa Smile [Motion Picture]. US: Revolution Studios/Columbia Pictures.
by Amani Hamdan, University of Ottawa
As teachers, we acknowledge that “schools are sites of cultural politics organized through modes of semiotic production… thought of in this way, schools are a set of social, textual and visual practices intended to provoke the production of meanings and desire that affect people’s sense of their future identities and possibilities” (Roger, 1992, p. 40). Thus, traditional schools’ ideologies, including those of Wellesley College in Mona Lisa Smile concerning women’s role in society, affect female students’ sense of their future identities and possibilities as well as women teachers’ view of their own role in affecting social change. Knowing the struggle of feminist teachers in literature throughout the past several decades teaches us to appreciate the current state of affairs and prepare strategies for the future. Using films such as Mona Lisa Smile in classrooms in higher education allows for reflection on the role of women in education and the personal cost paid by many women. Though the film is set in a 1950s America, it serves as a particularly powerful text with Arab students in my classes in higher education
More Film as Pedagogy. . .
Posted by clweber on Oct 04, 2011 at 4:00pm | No Comments
The Myra Sadker Foundation announced availability of applications for its 2012 funding awards are now available. The foundation has three funding priorities to promote gender equity:
Descriptions of each award as well as application requirements can be found at http://www.sadker.org/awards.html.
The Myra Sadker Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting equity in and beyond schools. By working to eliminate gender bias, the Foundation enhances the academic, psychological, economic and physical potential of America’s children. The foundation supports research, training and special programs for teachers, parents, children and all those whose work and interests touch the lives of children. You can email or call President David Sadker for more information at 520.297.2319 or dsadker@gmail.com.
Posted by clweber on Sep 20, 2011 at 3:45pm | No Comments
Sports Blog Review:
womenssportsnation.com
womentalksports.com
womenssportsinformation.com
Reviewed by Narissra Punyanunt-Carter and Stacy Carter, Texas Tech University
Richard Harris (2009) states that, “media sports are a part of everyone’s consciousness today, even those who have no interest in sports themselves” (p. 119). Sports are a big attraction for both male and female. A growing trend of sports fanatics is the use of sports blogs. Yet, research in this area has been somewhat limited. Blogs are a new and important communication medium for those who have an opinion about sports and provide a fascinating place to observe and consider gender tendencies in language use.
More Sports Blog Review. . .
Posted by clweber on Feb 05, 2011 at 4:34pm | No Comments
by Anita Taylor, December 27, 2010
Fine, Cordelia. Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference. NY: W. W. Norton & Co., 2010.
Jordan-Young, Rebecca. Brain Storm: The Flaws in the Science of Sex Differences. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 2010.
How does it happen that two such important publications appear almost simultaneously! Who cares? They are worth all the buzz we can create for them. Seek them out; time spent will be well rewarded. And, be sure your library orders them.
More on Brain Rhetoric. . .
Posted by clweber on Jan 03, 2011 at 4:08pm | No Comments
A grassroots effort to eliminate sexist portrayals in media is addressed by Kate Farrar in her blog at the AAUW Dailog Forum. Go to http://blog-aauw.org/author/katefarrar/ and go to her post on Calling Out Political Sexism One Candidate at a Time. The article includes several useful links.
Posted by clweber on Sep 22, 2010 at 10:25am | No Comments
