Some gender theorists claim that women are more relational than men. Whether we accept this idea or not, classes interested in gender can engage in lively discussion about how gender conditions human relationships.
Heterosexual relationships are, for many students, rich sources of discussion about gender construction. By exploring how men and women interact, students can come to a clearer understanding about the cultural forces that shape gender identities. For instance, students could investigate heterosexual monogamy by critically reviewing the site, Unfaithfulness: Why Married Couples Cheat, by C. Parker Thomas (http://www.midcry.org/sxm10.htm).
Another powerful relationship that has defined gender is parent and child. Listing the differences between cultural expectation of mothers on one side of a page and father's on the other and then sharing this seemingly obvious information helps students begin to understand the forces of culture as defining. Then students can explore alternatives through such a site as http://www.parenting-qa.com, which offers advice for mothers on how to be a good mother, while maintaining the person they were and want to continue to be after having children.
Women's relationship with their own bodies is another fruitful area through which to discover how gender is constructed. One site that treats this relationship between a subject and her body is The Real Women Project, http://www.realwomenproject.com/. As the website mission statement says, this project "is an innovative and multi-sensory approach to women's health issues as they relate to a narrow definition of beauty. Using sculpture, poetry, music, video and storytelling as springboards for dialogue and education, the Real Women Project promotes self-acceptance as the foundation for mind, body and spirit health." For more of the same mission, look at http://www.bodycelebration.com/pages/therapy.html. Other sites about the relationship between a woman and her body emphasize not an individualist perspective, but instead look at larger social forces as powerful determiners. For instance, http://www.about-face.org/ looks at women's bodies as they are (mis)used in advertising and then suggests ways of combating these images. Also see such activist sites as http://www.girlsinc.org/. A careful and critical look at these sites shows the difference between an individualist and a constructivist prospective.
This exercise was contributed by Victoria Boynton.