Exam 2_Sexism Discrimination Unit Exam 2: Sexism
Name___________________ Period______
I. Vocabulary
Generalization
Stereotype
Discrimination
Sexism
1 Exam 2_Sexism Feminism
Gender
Sex
Othering
Empathy
2 Exam 2_Sexism 3 II. Kilbourne TED
What led to Jean Kilbourne becoming interested in studying sexist
advertising?
Why are altered/photoshopped images so dangerous to both women and men?
Although men and women are ‘dismembered’ in ads, why does Kilbourne say it
is worse for the women who are ‘dismembered’ in ads?
Kilbourne says creating a climate where women are objectified leads to what?
How does this relate to what we know about lack of identity/othering in
Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment?
Exam 2_Sexism III. Comic
What is happening in this comic? What is happening on the left side? On the
right side? Why is this image sexist?
4 Exam 2_Sexism 5 IV. Desiree’s Baby
That was the way all the Aubignys fell in love, as if struck by a pistol shot.
The wonder was that he had not loved her before; for he had known her since
his father brought him home from Paris, a boy of eight, after his mother died
there. The passion that awoke in him that day, when he saw her at the gate,
swept along like an avalanche, or like a prairie fire, or like anything that
drives headlong over all obstacles.
How is ‘love’ described in this passage?
Why might you suspect this is not love at all?
Monsieur Valmondé grew practical and wanted things well considered:
that is, the girl’s obscure origin. Armand looked into her eyes and did not
care.
Why might Monsieur Valmonde want to know Desiree’s background?
Why does Armand ‘not care’ about Desiree’s background? (Hint: consider the
way he ‘fell in love’ in the previous passage)
Exam 2_Sexism 6 Madame Valmondé had not seen Désirée and the baby for four weeks.
When she reached L’Abri she shuddered at the first sight of it, as she always
did. It was a sad looking place, which for many years had not known the
gentle presence of a mistress, old Monsieur Aubigny having married and
buried his wife in France, and she having loved her own land too well ever to
leave it. The roof came down steep and black like a cowl, reaching out beyond
the wide galleries that encircled the yellow stuccoed house. Big, solemn oaks
grew close to it, and their thick-leaved, far-reaching branches shadowed it
like a pall. Young Aubigny’s rule was a strict one, too, and under it his
negroes had forgotten how to be gay, as they had been during the old master’s
easy- going and indulgent lifetime.
What does the name ‘L’Abri’ mean?
Based on this passage, how would you describe the house L’Abri? What words
in the passage back up your description?
“This is not the baby!” she exclaimed, in startled tones. French was the
language spoken at Valmondé in those days.
“I knew you would be astonished,” laughed Désirée, “at the way he has
grown. The little cochon de lait! Look at his legs, mamma, and his hands and
finger-nails,—real finger-nails. Zandrine had to cut them this morning Is n’t
it true, Zandrine?”
The woman bowed her turbaned head majestically, “Mais si, Madame.”
“And the way he cries,” went on Désirée, “is deafening. Armand heard
him the other day as far away as La Blanche’s cabin.”
Why is Desiree’s mother shocked at the appearance of the baby?
Exam 2_Sexism 7 What is significant about Desiree’s words “Armand heard him the other day
as far away as La Blanche’s cabin”?
One of La Blanche’s little quadroon boys—half naked too— stood
fanning the child slowly with a fan of peacock feathers. Désirée’s eyes had
been fixed absently and sadly upon the baby, while she was striving to
penetrate the threatening mist that she felt closing about her. She looked
from her child to the boy who stood beside him, and back again; over and
over. “Ah!” It was a cry that she could not help; which she was not conscious
of having uttered. The blood turned like ice in her veins, and a clammy
moisture gathered upon her face.
What has Desiree realized in looking back and forth between her baby and La
Blanche’s boy?
“It means,” he answered lightly, “that the child is not white; it means that
you are not white.”
A quick conception of all that this accusation meant for her nerved her
with unwonted courage to deny it. “It is a lie; it is not true, I am white! Look
at my hair, it is brown; and my eyes are gray, Armand, you know they are
gray. And my skin is fair,” seizing his wrist. “Look at my hand; whiter than
yours, Armand,” she laughed hysterically.
“As white as La Blanche’s,” he returned cruelly; and went away
leaving her alone with their child.
What does Armand imply when he tells Desiree that her hand is “which as
La Blanche’s”?
Exam 2_Sexism 8 It was an October afternoon; the sun was just sinking. Out in the still
fields the negroes were picking cotton.
Desiree had not changed the thin white garment nor the slippers
which she wore. Her hair was uncovered and the sun’s rays brought a golden
gleam from its brown meshes. She did not take the broad, beaten road which
led to the far-off plantation of Valmondé. She walked across a deserted field,
where the stubble bruised her tender feet, so delicately shod, and tore her
thin gown to shreds.
She disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew thick along
the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou; and she did not come back again.
Why does Chopin specifically point out details like “October” and the sun
sinking as Desiree leaves the house? What are these images supposed to
represent?
What particular words or images in this passage suggest that Desiree dies?
Exam 2_Sexism 9 V. Mona Lisa Smile Questions
1. Write down 3-­‐5 words or phrases to describe the 1950s as presented in the film. 2. Describe Betty Warren’s (Kirsten Dunst) character. 3. Considering the way the 1950s is presented here, why might Betty be the way she is? How can we find empathy for her character? 4. Why is Amanda Armstrong, the school nurse, fired? 5. Why is Bill Dunbar, the Italian professor, not fired? How does this make sense when compared with the reasons for firing the school nurse, or when compared with the requirement in Katherine Watson’s new contract that she not date any other members of staff? Exam 2_Sexism 10 6. How would you describe Katherine Watson’s teaching style? Why are the headmasters of Wellesley unhappy with this way of teaching? 7. Describe the way Katherine Watson’s CA boyfriend proposes. What is awkward/odd about the proposal? How does this display the assumptions of the time period? How is this an example of sexism? 8. Italian professor Bill Dunbar calls Katherine ‘Mona Lisa.’ Betty also shows her mother the picture of Mona Lisa when she tells her she is filing for divorce. What link is the director trying to make between the painting and the claustrophobic lives of women in the 1950s? Exam 2_Sexism 11 VI. Mona Lisa Smile Quotes
For each quote, do the following:
• Choose 4 quotes to respond to • Identify the speaker(s) • Describe the situation/setting/part of the film • Explain the meaning of the quote, and why this quote matters or is important in the context of the film as a whole. 1. _____________”A few years from now your sole responsibility will be taking care of your husband and children. You may all be here for an easy A, but the grade that matters most is the one he gives you.” 2. __________________“If you were mine, I’d never have let you go.” _____________________“I wouldn’t have asked your permission.” 3. ___________________ “It says here you’re pre law. What law school are you going to go to?” ______________________“I hadn’t really thought about that. After I graduate I’ll be married.” “And then?” “And then I’ll be married.” Exam 2_Sexism 12 4. ____________________ “Don’t disregard our traditions just because you’re subversive. “ _______________________“Don’t disregard this class just because you’re married.” “Don’t disregard me just because you’re not.” “Are you threatening me?” “I’m educating you.” “I thought that was my job.” 5. _____________________“I thought I was headed to a place where they were turning out tomorrow’s leaders—not their wives.” 6. _____________________“What about Yale?” ________________________“Yale? Oh—you mean Joanie. How about that, huh? She is some girl. Just the fact that she got in. She will always have that…She’ll be in Philadelphia, with me. That’s an awful long commute to get dinner on the table by 5 o’clock.” 7. ______________________“You’re going to turn around, go home, fix your face, and wait for your husband. This is the bargain you made, Elizabeth. We all did. ________________________“You’re not going to let me stay in my own house?” “Spencer’s house is your house now.” Exam 2_Sexism 13 8. ________________________“It was my choice. Not to go. He would have supported it.” ___________________________“But you don’t have to choose.” “No, I have to. I want a home, I want a family—that’s not something I’ll sacrifice.” “No one’s asking you to sacrifice that, Joan—I just want you to understand that you can do both.” 9. ________________________“You stand in class and tell us to look beyond the image, but you don’t. To you, a housewife is someone who sold her soul for a center-­‐hall colonial. She has no depth, no intellect, no interests. You’re the one who said I could do anything I wanted. This is what I want.” 10. _________________________“Ironic isn’t it? Look at what we have done to the man who refused to conform his ideas to popular taste—who refused to compromise his integrity. We have put him in a tiny box and asked you to copy him. So, the choice is yours, ladies—you can conform to what other people expect. Or—“ “I know—we can be ourselves.” Exam 2_Sexism VII. Vintage Ads/Contemporary Ads
Analyze each ad. Use the following list to help you:
ü What is being advertised?
ü Who are the people in the ads?
ü What is happening in the ad?
ü What are the words implying?
ü Are there any secondary/underlying meanings or implications?
ü What is sexist about the ad?
1. 2. 3. 4. 14 Exam 2_Sexism 15 5. 6. VIII. Articles
In the article “If Our Sons Were Treated Like Our Daughters,” why does the
author reverse the son/daughter role? What point is she trying to make with
this article?
In the article “Guess what girls? Men are from Venus too!,” what is the basic
idea/conclusion/claim of the research of Professor Gina Rippon? What does
she have to say about male vs. female brains?
Exam 2_Sexism 16 IX. Putting it all together
After studying issues surrounding sexism & feminism for the past two weeks,
reflect below on the following:
• What did you learn that you did not know?
• How did your understanding of sexism and feminism change as this
unit!progressed?
• What will you remember from this unit (think about the sexist ads, the
commercials, the Kilbourne TED, the articles, ‘Desiree’s Baby,” “Mona
Lisa Smile,”class discussions, the comic, etc.)