Ethnic Studies Lesson (April Fool's)

Tough Guise Excerpt

As you watch the film, answer the following 6 questions.


1) What characteristics are boys taught to value and identify with? How does American culture define what it means to be a man?


2) How is homophobia used to force men to identify with the above characteristics?


3) How are latino and asian men often represented in movies?


4) What is one of the major consequences of the way the media represents what it means to be a man?


5) What percent of domestic violence is perpetrated by men? What about assaults, child abuse, and rape in prisons?


6) What percent of victims of male homicide are men?



After watching the video, answer these questions in writing (5 minutes) and then discuss.

1) How can men benefit from changing the way we think about what it means to be a man?



2) How do you think the way we define "manhood" should change?




Sexism in Disney

This film is about the subtle messages we receive from Disney films about masculinity, or what we think it means to be a man. As you watch the film, answer the following questions.

1) What are three characteristics that Disney films tend to value in men?



2) What messages do some Disney films send about the role of women in relation to men?





After watching the film, write brief answers to the following 4 questions.

(*Note: Patriarchy refers to a society in which men are given power over women through gender roles that are exclusively different and unequal for men and women.)

1) What are the characteristics assigned to men (how are men supposed to be)?

2) What are the roles assigned to men (what things are men supposed to do)?

3) What are the characteristics of women?

4) What are the roles assigned to women?

After writing answers to the above questions, write a response to and discuss the following question.

1) How do the roles and characteristics assigned to men and women in Disney films reflect a Patriarchal society?