Monthly Archives: May 2011

Raising a baby "genderless?"

Can Kathy Witterick and David Stocker manage to raise a "genderless" child? What resources will they need to succeed? Who else might be affected by their innovative and controversial decision? Read the original article published on May 21, 2011 (click here decision to go "genderless") and the subsequent article published on May 24, 2011 (click here reaction to raising baby genderless) in the Toronto Star reporter both written by reporter Jayme Poisson. 

One blogger at Feministing.com, JOS, makes an excellent clarification: letting a child choose a gender is not the same thing as being genderless. To read more click here: the secret gender that wasn't

And here is another thoughtful analysis by Julie Bindel published online in The Guardian on May 26, 2011: click here: time to end gender obsession (thank you to Christina W in May2011 class for sharing this link). 

What do you think? And how would you feel if you were asked to help raise a "genderless" child or keep the sex and/or gender secret?
_______________________________________________________________________
Photo: by Steve Russell see source 





The Gender Companion, copyright 2011 – Dr. Jessica Motherwell McFarlane, Ph.D. This blog is a companion site for the Psychology of Gender Online, UBC. Creative commons attribution, non-commercial sharing only (translation: feel free to quote me in context or use this entry but please always credit me for my work, thanks.)http://thegendercompanion.blogspot.com/ See also Psyc 320 course description: http://ctlt.ubc.ca/distance-learning/courses/psyc/psyc320/

video games for girls

Not a Psychology of Gender class goes by these days were I do not read at least one journal entry from a woman who LOVES video gaming but nevertheless struggles with the fact that her favourite games were designed by and for men, and, furthermore are played predominantly by men and boys. So here is an entry for our video gamers -- both women and men. Watch the following video and ask yourself if you feel video game researcher, Brenda Laurel, is on the right track as she designs video games for girls. Here is a short description of her 2009 TED talk:


A TED archive gem. At TED in 1998, Brenda Laurel asks: Why are all the top-selling videogames aimed at little boys? She spent two years researching the world of girls (and shares amazing interviews and photos) to create a game that girls would love.





_______________________________________________________________________
Link: Go to TEDtalks to read related material and commentary:
The Gender Companion, copyright 2011 – Dr. Jessica Motherwell McFarlane, Ph.D. This blog is a companion site for the Psychology of Gender Online, UBC. Creative commons attribution, non-commercial sharing only (translation: feel free to quote me in context or use this entry but please always credit me for my work, thanks.)http://thegendercompanion.blogspot.com/ See also Psyc 320 course description: http://ctlt.ubc.ca/distance-learning/courses/psyc/psyc320/

May2011 class bonus point

 Hello May2011 Class,

New Reply and Say "Hi" bonus point: Because verbal feedback and verbal messaging is so important to this course, I will give 1 point to every student who replies (within the specified time) to my verbal message (to be sent on Friday, 20 May 2011).

The rules: 1) Only replying with the WIMBA Voice Mail tool to my "Reply and Say Hi" message can earn a point. (Email replies will not qualify for a point)
2) You will only be able to earn this one point AFTER I send the "Reply and Say Hi" voice mail this Friday May 20, 2011 and BEFORE Wednesday, May 25 at noon. After 12:00-noon on that Wednesday (8 days from now) no more points will awarded.
3) You only need to state your name and say "Hi" but you are welcome to say more if you feel like chatting. I'd love to hear how you are doing so far in the course.

Note: You will only be able to reply if you have a working email in your PROFILE page. Everyone should pre-test their email (especially those who got notified of a problem last week). Simply choose: WIMBA Tools -Voice Email - Select the fourth option (choose from people in this course) and then Browse for your name and send yourself a test message. It's easy! Here is a tutorial showing you how:



If you have technical difficulties and do not receive an email with your test message, then contact the Helpdesk and ask for help. Keep working on it until you receive your test message in your email inbox.

I look forward to receiving a "hi" from everyone.

good luck with your pre-test messages
cheers
Jessica

What do "Real Men" eat? — that depends.













Researcher Dr Steven Heine (with Co-author Matthew Ruby) of the University of British Columbia, told Appetite journal that meat and men have always gone hand in hand.“Meat has been closely associated with power and privilege - a staple for gentry and a rare treat for the peasants,” he said.
I wanted to link you to this food news writer for Appetite who references UBC researchers' study about their subjects perception of men's choice to be vegetarian or not. Read the whole article here: men- vegetarian vs meat diet
Do these researchers conclusions match your experience? Are there any cultural or religious issues that have been overlooked? For example, how would these researchers conclusions apply to the 900 million Hindus, 376 million Buddhist, and 4.2 million Jains worldwide who practice vegetarianism as a religious choice. Would people in these cultures have the same or different expectation of what diet a "Real Man" might eat as compared with the expectations of the research subjects in this study?
Hmmmm, food for thought...
_____________________________________________________________
Credits and links Image: The image above can be found at http://www.matchingfoodandwine.com/




The Gender Companion, copyright 2011 – Dr. Jessica Motherwell McFarlane, Ph.D. This blog is a companion site for the Psychology of Gender Online, UBC. Creative commons attribution, non-commercial sharing only (translation: feel free to quote me in context or use this entry but please always credit me for my work, thanks.)http://thegendercompanion.blogspot.com/ See also Psyc 320 course description: http://ctlt.ubc.ca/distance-learning/courses/psyc/psyc320/