Assignment 1: Portrayals of Men and Women in Social Media
Evaluate five social media posts. Try to pick posts that you encounter in your normal life (i.e., videos that appear in your feed, posts shared by friends or family). This can also include comments sections on social media posts. These posts can be serious, humorous, or anything in between (humor can be a great way to critique social norms). Please include screenshots or links for all the posts.
For each of the five posts, describe the post and discuss how gender is being portrayed. You should discuss overall themes that are being depicted and you should make connections between what you observe in the posts and the 5 themes in psychology of gender (see chapter 1). The parameters for this assignment are intentionally open-ended to allow room for creativity!
In your final paragraph, reflect briefly on the messages regarding gender that you tend to observe on social media. Do you think these messages have shaped your understanding of your own gender identity? Have these messages been helpful, harmful, or a mix of the two?
