Janelle L’Hirondelle

Social Diversity Lesson Plan – Gender Stereotypes in the Media

Class: Grade 8 English Language Arts Date: TBD

Title: Gender Stereotypes in the Media Lesson Number 1 out of 3 Total in Unit

Objective of Lesson:
In this lesson series, students will understand the messages and impact of gender stereotypes in
the media. In this specific lesson, students will learn how advertisers use biased messages about
gender to sell products which consequently reinforce stereotypes, challenging their own
preconceived notions about gender. The messages portrayed by ads have implications as to how
we view ourselves and others, especially if we, or others, do not fit into those gender stereotypes.

Learner Outcomes (Program of Studies) Plan for Diversity

Students will experience print and other media
texts, experiment with language, use textual
cues, and understand techniques and elements
(see appendix A for further details).
For the activity portion of the lesson,
students will be asked to create an ad using
any medium. This can be in the form of
print, video, audio, etc. Students can choose
to use a program on laptops or iPads, or even
their phones if they are so inclined
(depending on the school’s technology
policy).

Prerequisite Knowledge, Skills, Strategies Preliminary Matters (Announcements,

and Attitudes etc.)

Students will use prior knowledge of gender The teacher will require 2 poster boards and
stereotypes. They will also use, and improve a few examples of ads which present gender
upon, their ability to critically read media text, bias (see appendix B for examples).
such as advertisements.

Time What the teacher What the Resources Assessment

does. student does.
Introduction 15 Ask students to define Listen and 2 poster AfL is used to
mins the word stereotype and respond when boards ensure that
(Link to previous
learning, introduction ask for some examples. prompted. students
of new concepts) Explain the lesson understand key
objective to students concepts and
vocabulary.
after a few minute The teacher
discussion about reinforces the
stereotypes. concept and
corrects any
On a poster, the teacher misperceptions
writes “act like a man” if necessary.
and asks students what
 it means to act like a
man. Then, the teacher
makes a heading on the
other poster for “act
like a girl” and poses
the same question.

The teacher will then

facilitate a classroom
discussion, posing such
questions as “where do
we learn these gender
roles?” “where else in
society do we find/hear
these messages?”

The teacher will then

show a few ads to the
class and ask students if
they reinforce gender
stereotypes. Examples
will start with
portrayals of typical
stereotypes, and move
to ads that portray more
subtle gender bias.

Activity The teacher

Sequence 25 The teacher will ask This is a will walk
mins students to create an group, in-class around the
May involve
Presentation, advertisement for an task. Students classroom
Explanation, Guided item in the classroom should observing
Practice, Independent
Practice and market it to a collaborate students’
specific gender. and consider work. The
OR
the ideas teacher may
Approaching, presented in ask: what
Encountering,
Noticing class in order function do
Internalizing to render a certain
Applying,
Refining creative and elements of
Personalizing, insightful ad. the ad serve?
Transforming,
Assessing
Closure Formative
(Summary of learning,
10 Students will then be Students share and
link to upcoming mins asked to share their ads their creations summative
learning) with the class (without with their assessment
them saying which peers. They from peers
gender the ad is geared also respond and the
toward, the rest of the thoughtfully to teacher is
 students have to their peers’ used to
guess!), which will lead work and reinforce
in to a class discussion engage in a lesson
about how gender formative objectives.
stereotypes were discussion The teacher
conveyed in the about the ads. will ask
students’ work. students:
what
In the next class, techniques
students will be effectively
learning about gender purported
stereotypes in different gender
forms of media (such as stereotypes
TV and music). and what
techniques
were more
covert?
Adapted from Alberta Education, Canada, 2008

Rationale

My lesson plan makes critical connections to “The Invisibility of Oppression” in Is

everyone really equal? An introduction to key concepts in social justice education. In the chapter,
sexism is examined as a form of oppression that has become normalized in our society. Its
prevalence renders it invisible to the majority of us, and we are not critically aware of its
manifestations. One such institution that perpetrates sexism is the media. I would like to note that
I drew inspiration for my lesson plan from MediaSmarts, which provides many resources which
pertain to teaching students about sexism in the media (2012).

This series of lessons aim to education students about representations of sexism in the
media and seeks to make visible the invisible. In the first lesson, students will answer the
following essential questions:

 What is a stereotype?
 What are some stereotypes for men and women?
 Where do we learn gender roles?
 Who/what reinforces these gender stereotypes?
 Do advertisers reinforce or challenge gender stereotypes?
 How do advertisers gender products?
 How can we view advertisements critically?
Firstly, Students will be asked about stereotypes and what kind of stereotypes are associated with
men and women. It is important to let students know that by them acknowledging the kinds of
stereotypes that exist, does not mean that they themselves believe those stereotypes to be true.
There will be two posters, one entitled “act like a man,” and the other titled “act like a woman”
(which will be saved for future lessons in the series). The teacher will write the stereotypes that
students call out on the posters and draw a box around them once they are finished. Students are
then asked “where do we learn these gender roles?” and “where else in society do we find/hear
these messages?”. Students will also be asked to think and respond to “how do we stereotype
men/women that fall outside of these stereotypical norms?” The answers to these questions are
written outside of the boxes with arrows drawn towards the box, in order to show how these
influences reinforce “the box” of stereotypes for men and women. The posters will then be saved
for subsequent lesson plans in the series.

Students are then shown various ads and asked whether the ads reinforce or deconstruct
the gender stereotypes that the class has identified. Examples will be obvious at first (eg. cleaning
products) and then more subtle (see appendix B). The point of presenting these ads is that
“virtually everything in advertising is gendered” (Sensoy, 2012, p. 86). Students are asked to
consider products that are immediately evident as being gendered, such as men and women’s
razors, hair products, etc. Student are then asked to consider products that are not immediately
evident as being gendered such as the types of food men and women eat. Salads and yogurt are
marketed towards women, while bacon and hamburgers are for men (Sensoy, 2012).

Students are then asked to make their own gendered ad for a product and share it with the
class. Every element of the ad should be considered, since even minute details may be presented
in order to appeal to a specific gender. The students may then share their work with their peers
and teacher at the end of the class which will generate more discussion about how various
techniques are used to create sexist messages. Students will also understand the ease of
purporting these types of message, It has become so normalized in our society and so we don’t
find messages difficult to recreate based on our prior knowledge. This lesson is important
because advertising is a multibillion dollar industry to which children are exposed at alarming
rates (Sensoy, 2012). Everything about an ad is purposeful, from the people featured in the ads, to
the colours and font styles. The rate at which we are exposed to these ads affects us immensely
and normalizes the messages and narratives portrayed by the ads, even if we only glance at them
for a moment.

This lesson plan is first in a series. In the second lesson, students will discuss discourses
of sexism in other forms of media such as movies and music videos, and focus on the
representation of men’s bodies and women’s bodies. The third lesson will focus on how the
media affects us as individuals and our roles in society, and why oppression is a covert force that
is hard to recognize. The final lesson will also tackle how students themselves can challenge
gender stereotypes.
 References

Alberta Learning. (2000). English Language Arts K-9. [Program of Studies]. Edmonton, Canada:
Alberta Learning.

MediaSmarts. (2012). “Exposing Gender Stereotypes”. Retrieved from

http://mediasmarts.ca/lessonplan/exposing-gender-stereotypes-lesson

Sensoy, Ö, DiAngelo, R. (2012). Is everyone really equal? An introduction to key concepts in

social justice education. New York : Teachers College Press.
 Appendix A

Grade 8 ELA learning objectives in the program of studies from Alberta Learning, 2002:

Experience various texts:

 experience oral, print and other media texts from a variety of cultural traditions and
genres, such as magazine articles, diaries, drama, poetry, Internet passages, fantasy,
nonfiction, advertisements and photographs

 explain connections between own interpretation and information in texts, and infer how
texts will influence others

Experiment with language:

 identify creative uses of language and visuals in popular culture, such as commercials,
rock videos and magazines; explain how imagery and figurative language, such as
hyperbole, create tone and mood

Use prior knowledge

 use strategies to supplement and extend prior knowledge and experiences when
interpreting new ideas and information

Use textual cues

 identify and use visual and textual cues in reference materials, such as catalogues,
databases, web sites, thesauri and writers’ handbooks, to access information effectively
and efficiently

 identify and use structural features of a variety of oral, print and other media texts, such as
newspapers, magazines, instruction booklets, advertisements and schedules, encountered
in everyday life to access ideas and information and to read with purpose

Understand techniques and elements

 summarize the content of media texts, and discuss the choices made in planning and
producing them
 Appendix B

Retrieved from http://www.foodfunfamily.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/swiffer.jpg

Retrieved from http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/663911/fullsize/ad-1022-(custom).jpg

 Retrieved from http://www.deonvsearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/unleash.jpeg

Retrieved from https://files1.coloribus.com/files/adsarchive/part_2094/20942255/dannon-light-n-

fit-yogurt-power-of-satisfaction-600-44639.jpg