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Laura Gougeon

Power and Imagination


February 6, 2015
Prof. Timbe
Research Journal #1
Ballenger Exercise 1.1: Building an Interest Inventory
Places:
Camas, WA
- Portland, OR
France
- Stott Center
Rocklin, CA - Nautalis
Controversies:
immigration
- abortion
taxes
- womens wages (equality)
gay marriage - gender roles
Jobs:
general practitioner - dentist
orthopedic surgeon - paramedic
physical therapist
- nurse
orthodontist
- physician assistant
Trends:
high waisted pants
- stopping the use of tobacco
trap music
- trying to be rich
raves
- remixes
no gender affiliation - bandwagoning for sports teams
Things:
cute dogs
- music
black ticonderoga pencils - ice cream
yellow paper legal pads
- foam roller
weights
- soccer ball
People:
Martin Luther King JR
Harriet Tubman
Rosa Parks
Malcolm X

-Hillary Clinton
- Barack Obama
- Jesus Christ
- Bernie Sanders

History:
Civil rights movement -French Revolution
World War I
- American Revolution
World War II
- Cold War

Cold War

Habits:
being even
same morning routine
soccer superstition
eating the same meals
temper
Hobbies:
soccer
- listening to music
working out - going on walks
eating
- reading
JESUS CHRIST:
Who knew Jesus Christ?
What time period did he live from?
What made him perfect?
How does he still have such a strong affect people in today's society?
Why did God pick him as his Son?
Why should you believe in him?
Is the Bible the truth or a myth?
Is heaven real?
If heaven is real, will you really be able to meet Jesus?
What would happen if the idea of Jesus and God were not real?
How would society be different without religion?
How would people be different without religion?
How would culture change without religion?
How was the Idea of God made?

How did Mary give birth to Jesus is she is a virgin?

Ballenger Exercise 1.2: The Myth of the Boring Topic


Object:
A blue pen
Questions:
How did they make blue ink?
Who thought of the design of the ben?
How does ink keep exploding on my hand?
Why was the pen invented?
Did the pen or the pencil come first?
Who thought of the idea of the pen?
When was the pen invented?
Question analysis:
For this this object, a blue pen, I believe the starting question would be Why the pen was
invented. This seems to be the most interesting question to start a research question with because
there are many perspectives on the idea. It is also a broad question, so once you start researching
this first question and finding information, more questions are bound to follow.

Ballenger Exercise 1.3: Finding the Questions


Topic: The Social Construction of Gender
Description:
Society and culture are what created social gender roles and these are the roles that are seen to be
ideal and what is appropriate for that gender. I decided on this topic because I never thought
much into the difference of sex and gender. It is becoming a growing controversy and i am very
interested on learning the different perspectives on the situation.
What I know:
It has become a growing formality to introduce yourself with your pronoun you affiliate
yourself with.
There are many more pronouns then just he/she.
Over the years, gender roles have kept social norms.
Gender roles is supposedly a reason for the problem of inequality.
Questions:
Where and when did people decide they didnt want gender?
Why dont people want the gender that is associated with their sex?
What is the purpose of socially constructed gender roles?
When were these gender roles created?
How did society create these gender roles?
What would happen if these gender roles didnt exist anymore?
What Power comes with these gender roles?
What power would be lost without gender roles?
Who would have power if gender didnt exist?
What power would be gained without gender roles?
Would it be possible to have complete equality without gender roles?
Who first thought about eliminating gender roles?
How would socialization change without gender roles?
How would life change without gender roles?
Suggested Questions:
Why is identifying your gender important? Is it even important?

Is gender necessary?
How does the acceptance of gender roles become less/more important due to
geographical location?
What are different cultural values/ beliefs about gender?

Ballenger Exercise 1.4: Formal Research Proposal


Inquiry question:
How do socially constructed gender roles allow us to view ourselves?
Primary Purpose:
How has it impacted society?
What kind of power come with the different gender roles?
What would happen if there were no more gender roles?
How would the power change if there were no more social roles?
Who Created gender roles?
Why are people against Gender roles?
When were gender roles created?
Why were gender roles created?

I would like to test the theory of the different perspectives on gender roles and how it has
affected people over the years. I would also like to look at how gender roles has altered
our view on life and ourselves.

My Perspective:
I never thought much about how gender roles affected people until coming to PSU. I understand
how there is a clear inequality still between men and women especially in the working world.
When I found out people did not want to be correlated with a gender I immediately was struck
because I did not understand why people did not want to have a gender. I am interested in the
different perspectives on the idea of socially constructed gender.

Reading Journal: Ballenger Chapter 1&2


Reading the Curious Researcher by Bruce Ballenger I was able to learn a lot about how to
research. Some of the most important pieces of information I learned is that there is more and
more effective ways to research than just Google. Using Google is useful when searching for a
summary and background information on the topic but when it is time to find in depth
information on the research topic, using other resources will be more effective. The library is the
best source to find information because there are many different sources from real books to
eBooks to peer review journals. When writing a research paper you want to use multiple sources
from several different authors. This will allow you to be able to write a well-rounded and
detailed paper that is focused on the main thesis.
I learned about different techniques to be able to have a much focused research paper.
One of the most useful tools is to make an outline of what you want your paper to be about and
then find the key terms for the topic. This will allow you to find specific information on certain
key elements of the paper. Also, I learned before you start doing research you want to make sure
that your research question can be expanded so that you can use several perspectives and have at
least two sides to the question.

NOTES
Project: The Social Construction of Gender
Source: On Heterosexual Masculinity
First thoughts:
This article talks about how a key role of being affiliated with the gender role of a man is to be
homophobic. This is believed to be because men are supposed to be the strong bread winners and
not feminine. The term homophobia when broken down means the fear of gays. This term is not
used correctly because it is not fear that people have against gays it's the socially constructed
roles that has created this idea that it is not okay to be gay for several reasons including power.
Notes:
Both males and females probably hold roughly similar positions on general questions on
morality and civil liberties, but males are more homophobic in their emotional reactions to
homosexuality (3).
Heterosexuals negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men are consistently correlated with
traditional views of gender and family roles (3)
This pattern undoubtedly is related to widespread stereotypes that gay people violate the
demands of such roles; gay men commonly are perceived as effeminate and lesbian women are
masculine (3)
Variables such as race, class, gender and sexual orientation are human creations, based on
certain observable phenomena that come to be defined in certain ways through social interaction
over time (5)
The social constructionist position holds that what most people call reality in a consensus
worldview that develops through social interaction (5)
Second thoughts:

After reading this article, I got a better understanding of the male perspective on gender roles.
They are taught from a young age what a true man and how to be one. This is where they get
their toughness from. As different sexual orientations are present and social roles change, the
man tries to hold on to the views and roles that they were taught from a kid even if its not the
same anymore. There are many more factors than just gender roles such as race that are
constructed through socialization over times. The fact that these positions are created through
socialization means they can change over time.
Citation
Herek, G. M. (1986). On heterosexual masculinity: "some psychical consequences of the social
construction of gender and sexuality". The American Behavioral Scientist, 29(5), 563.
Link: http://search.proquest.com/docview/1306752311?accountid=13265
___________________________________________________________________________

Source: Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender


First thoughts:
This article is predominantly about how we are set into our gender class from when we are born.
By our names, the way we are dressed, and other gender markers. Parents subconsciously do this
because they do not want to be festered by the question of what the sex of their baby is. Gender
roles do change over time though. They were clear that for individuals gender means being the
same but for society gender means difference.
Notes:
Children learn to walk, talk, and gesture the way their social group says girls and boys should.
Ray Birdwhistell, in his analysis of body motion as human communication, calls these learned
gender displays tertiary sex characteristics and argues that they are needed to distinguish genders
because humans are a weakly dimorphic species-their only sex markers are genitalia (57).
And if other's responses shifted, so did my own. The more I was treated as woman, the more
woman I became. I adapted willy-nilly. If I was assumed to be incompetent at reversing cars, or
opening bottles, oddly incompetent I found myself becoming (59).
If men and women are doing the same tasks, they are usually spatially segregated to maintain
gender separation, and often the tasks are given different job titles as well, such as executive
secretary and administrative assistant (58).
Women recruits in the U, S. Marine Corps are required to wear makeup-at a minimum, lipstick
and eye shadow-and they have to take classes in makeup, hair care, poise, and etiquette. This
feminization is part of a deliberate policy of making them clearly distinguishable from men
Marines (58-59)
Second Thoughts:
After reading this article, I learned how gender roles are laced in every society and culture to
some extent. The one that stood out the most to me was how the women in the marines are

required to dress and present themselves as females to ensure there is a clear distinction between
men and women. The gender roles to this day, still cause segregation especially in the wok
world. Also, from when we are little we learn quickly in school that whatever sex you are that is
the gender you are supposed to affiliate yourself with and that is very clear with humans because
the only factor separating a man and women sexual is their genitalia.
Citations:
"'Night to His Day': The Social ComtLlction of Gender," in Paradoxes or Gender, pp. 54-63.
Copyright 1994. Reprinted by permission of Yale University Press.
Link:http://130.58.92.210/Students/phys29_2013/ElectronicReadings/Week%2012/Lorber.pdf

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