Stanford-Örebro
October 6, 2008
Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Marratech
First Video Conference
Activity: Learn Marratech, Explore Visual Rhetoric of Beauty and Gender Norms!
Meet in Globally-Distributed Teams
Time: 18.30-19.30 / 9:30-10:30 60 minutes
Icebreaker:
 Type your names and emails on the whiteboard.
 Get-to-know-you questions:
o What kinds of music do you like (bands, singers)?
o What is an activity you enjoy?
o What kinds of dolls or toys did you grow up with? Describe these.
Rhetorical Analysis of Beauty and Gender Norms:
As a team, discuss your responses to the topics below. When possible, bring up points
from the reading you did for today.
Note: Your group can pick ONE of the topics below or, your team can work through several topics.
Please look over the choices and then decide as a team!
All Videos available as links through http://ccr.stanford.edu/blog/
I.
Barbie and Batman – what do you think are the consequences?
John Riviello – if you have not had a chance yet, look at John Riviello’s flash animation of Barbie.
http://www.johnriviello.com/bodyimage/barbie.html Then, also look at his page on Batman toys:
http://www.johnriviello.com/bodyimage/dolls.html
Questions to get your discussion started (answer any/all that interest you):
 What are the implications of these dolls for girls and boys?
 How do you think they contribute to problems of body image that Dove sought to address in
their campaign for real beauty? What would Susie Orbach say about these dolls?
 What other cultural norms (about race, class, sexuality) are conveyed by these dolls?
 What do you now think it the consequence of these dolls as visual rhetoric for children?
 What kinds of toys or dolls do you see in your culture and how do these dolls try to persuade
children in similar or different ways?
II.
Fulla, Muslim Barbie – a Different Kind of Doll?
Look at a video ad for Fulla a “Muslim Barbie” doll created by NewBoy as a way to offer young
Muslim girls a different role model. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WqmCAzxUxI
Learn about Fulla here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulla_(doll) and here: http://www.fulla.us/
Questions to get your discussion started (answer any/all that interest you):
 How do you view the representation of beauty in the Fulla commericals?
 What do you learn about what is considered beautiful in different cultures? What do you
notice about standards of hair, dress, housing, and lifestyle from the video as visual rhetoric?
 Recall Toni Morrison’s chapter from The Bluest Eye, in which Claudia (the young African
American girl narrator) “destroyed white baby dolls” (22). How might you see her action as
a response to the visual rhetoric of dolls? How is the destruction a rhetorical statement? In
a similar way, how is Fulla a rhetorical statement in response to Barbie?
 What would a video for a religious doll be like for girls in Sweden or the United States?
III.
America’s Dove Campaign for Real Beauty versus Korea’s movie, 200 Pound Beauty
What are differences in Body Image and Body manipulation across the globe?
200 Pound Beauty (Movie Trailer in Korean): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj4ZGKanyJ4
Watch this trailer for a movie about a woman who has plastic surgery to be thin.
Dove Evolution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
Watch the op-ad video about how we alter “natural beauty” through make-up and photoshop
Questions to get your discussion started (answer any/all that interest you):
 What are the body image expectations in Europe and America?
 How do the beauty standards compare to Asia (as suggested by the video)?
 How might Susan McClelland comment on this video? Recall the points from her argument
“Distorted Images: Western Cultures Exporting Their Dangerous Obsession with Thinness”
 Are there any additional movies or videos you know that cover this theme?
 What would be your group’s idea to produce a video to counter the western export of body
images? Consider the 2004 Get Real Campaign in your reading packet. What op-ad can your
team create as a response to media-distorted body images?
Collaborative challenge! As a team, decide what kinds of visual rhetoric response you can
design for future generations.
This can be a new kind of doll or toy, or it can be a video ad, or it can be an op-ad (similar to the
2004 Get Real Campaign in your reading packet). Come up with a concept and create a name for
your new product. Consider developing a slogan. If you want to compose a visual rhetoric
montage on the whiteboard, please feel free to draw or cut and paste images from the web. You
will have a chance to share your group creation with the other teams!
Connect to T217 (Auditorium): All teams share ideas
Time: 19.30-19.40 / 10:30-10:40 10 minutes
Click on the Globe Icon and switch to T217 (http://emeeting.tech.oru.se:8000/index.jsp)
Each group has a chance to share their ideas for a new kind of toy or doll, or for a video
promoting a different relationship to the body. What kind of visual rhetoric (toy or video) did
you team create? Pick 2 speakers (1 from each side) to give a brief 1 minute explanation.
After the Video Conference
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Please write a 50-100 word reflection to this first videoconference as a comment on the CCR
Blog in response to the blog post entitled “Stanford-Sweden First Videoconference” at
http://ccr.stanford.edu/blog/ - consider responding to the posts of others!
Make friends and keep in touch on facebook!
October 6, 2008 CCR Marratech Connection