womans studies

Short Essay #2: “Re-Vision: Un-Learning ‘the Mythical Norm’”

50 points
600-750 words, double-spaced

GENERAL FRAME:

The point of this paper is:

To demonstrate—with a particular topic in mind—how the mythical norm has shaped our dominant perspectives as a society.
To re-vision/re-imagine alternative images of what could be considered natural/normal/ideal, if we were freed of that image of the mythical norm.
To analyze dominant media images through the lens of a) privilege and oppression, and b) intersectionality.
SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS:

I’d like you to “think outside the box” of the mythical norm, and to re-vision what could be considered natural/normal/ideal with regard to any of the following topics:

Topic Options:

dominant media images of beauty
dominant media images of individual’s receiving government assistance, social services, and/or welfare
dominant media images of individuals seeking birth control services or abortion services (reproductive rights)
dominant media images of drug addiction and drug addicts
dominant media images of sex workers

Below is a list of questions to guide you through your paper:

What is the dominant social image/stereotype of the topic you’ve selected? What/who does this dominant image/stereotype look like?
Tell me how you “learned” this stereotype/dominant image or where it came from.
In other words, support this argument with concrete examples. It is not enough to simply describe the stereotype.
Which identity categories does this dominant social image/stereotype include or exclude, privilege or oppress? Justify your answer with examples
How do you re-vision this dominant image to include all or some of the identity categories which are currently excluded?
*** Do not format your paper as a bullet-pointed list of each question above. Format this paper as an essay with distinct paragraphs.

A “A” paper will contain:

1. SUPPORT FOR ARGUMENTS: Support your arguments with concrete examples or “proof” Such examples/proof could be:
• detailed examples from your own life
• media examples
• textual support from either course texts or external sources

2. DEFINITIONS: Explicitly define and accurately integrate the following concepts:
• Privilege, oppression, mythical norm
• 5 points extra credit for accurately defining intersectionality and using it to
analyze your topic.
** Definitions do not count toward textual support

3. TEXTUAL SUPPORT: Include at least 3 pieces of textual support in the essay
• At least 2 pieces of textual support must come from our Threshold Concept’s textbook and/or course lecture notes from the Threshold Concept’s unit. Textual support should always include a page number reference. The purpose of incorporating textual support is to display to your reader that you have read and understand the textbook, and that you are in conversation with the textbook.
• You may use outside sources for this essay, but they must be cited.
◦ Turnitin.com will flag any similar or copied internet content.
◦ If borrowing from or paraphrasing someone else’s work, you must always reference the author, and paraphrase or use direct quotes.
◦ Include works cited page listing any outside sources.
• If you have not yet completed English 101 or are confused by the concept of
textual support, I highly recommend visiting this webpage, reading it and
completing their exercises on textual support before writing and submitting your essay: Link

CONTENT HINTS/REMINDERS:
• Identity categories refers to demographic categories like race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, etc.

• In Chapter 3 on “Privilege and Oppression”, we learned about the composite trope of the mythical norm. More specifically, we learned the following things about the mythical norm:

a) How the mythical norm creates a false equivalence between privileged identity categories and what society considers to be average/normal/ideal (in other words, we learned that the mythical norm creates a false understanding of privileged identity categories—that is, whiteness, middle-class, Christianity, heterosexuality, able-bodied, thin-bodied, etc—as average/normal/ideal).

b) How the privileged identity categories of the mythical norm are frequently
embedded within the dominant or stereotypical images that we see in the mass media (in other words, we learned that the main characters and protagonists of the mainstream media that watch usually embody most or all of the characteristics of the mythical norm).

c) How individual members of society internalize the mythical norm, which then affects how—each of as individuals, and society as a whole—consider what is “natural”, “normal” and even “ideal”—and by contrast, what is considered “unnatural”, ”abnormal”, and “undesirable.”Feminism is about developing a heightened consciousness of how the mythical norm shapes our perspectives, and also about questioning those perspectives by asking: Who is privileged by this image? Who is hindered/held back by these images? What are alternative images that could be circulated and what might be the beneficial effect of those alternate images?

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