Gender Analysis

In today’s information age we are bombarded with visual images relating all kinds of messages. Advertisers, entertainment groups, media corporations, advocacy groups, the gov- ernment, and others create visual messages to make a point, to sell a product, and/or to illuminate an issue. Analyzing these images allows us to develop our critical thinking and analytical skills as well as enhance our media literacy, which is our ability to understand the ideas and implications of the various forms of media in our culture. adopt the role of an image analyst for a large media outlet. Your job is to analyze one client’s visual message in order to answer the question: “How does this visual’s message(s) about gender challenge or complicate society’s gender expectations?” write an approximately 1200-word memo to your supervising editor that 1) identifies the image’s audience and purpose; 2) explains how the image’s message about gender is conveyed through its design features; and 3) explains how this message challenges or complicates social expectations. The selection of your visual image will be an important step for this process. Many visuals present images that support social expectations of gender, so you will need to closely examine a number of visuals to identify one that works against social expectations or one that presents a more complicated message than the stereotypes. You will need to choose a contemporary American ad, one that was created within the last twenty years. To do so, we strongly encourage that you do not simply do a Google search for ads. When you find ads on Google, they are often stripped of their publication date and venue, making it difficult to know if your ad meets the criteria of this assignment. Once you have chosen an appropriate visual, you’ll need to develop your analysis effectively. Masculinity and parenting Femininity and sports Masculinity/femininity and aging, youth, or childhood Masculinity/femininity and relationships Rationale The gender analysis assignment meets all of the English 100 objectives, but, more specifically, it works to help students learn to better “analyze and respond to a wide range of texts such as advertisements, websites, informative essays, editorials, and speeches.” It is also important because it asks you to meet one of the most significant objectives in English 100: to “demonstrate critical thinking when examining and analyzing human difference.” In order to fulfill these particular objectives, you will: Analyze how authors and designers represent human difference. Identify how culture and society impact the ways human beings are represented. Analyze how human difference is represented in a visual argument.