Language and entitlement

There's a really interesting point in this (among many!) where he talks about not assuming someone's gender pronoun. It takes practice. I saw a toddler dressed in non-gender-specific clothes that I thought was a boy but I didn't want to make a mistake and I had to dance around pronouns talking to his caregiver - it was very tricky. I still think we need a gender-neutral pronoun. Let's challenge the grammatical idea of a 'closed' word class! Mary Gentle in 'Golden Witchbreed' used 'ke' instead of he or she for children. What do you think? Back to the article, I also liked the careful use of adjectives and the prioritising of "gentle" to apply to men.

Jamie Utt | Change From Within

changefromwithin.org/author/jamieutt/

Using the conventions of other forms (witty video)

Look at how this video uses the conventions of the infomercial to get its point across:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6971993/genetics-the-secret-to-a-perfect-body

Useful article highlighting the effect of technology on LC

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/omg-dont-lol-but-the-fbi-has-decoded-digital-slang-20140619-zsf7a.html

Coursework advice from A2 students

Here are the comments from the coursework feedback questionnaire advising AS students about their approach to A2 coursework (comments are unedited):

Commit a lot of time and you will see the better results.

Do coursework parts little and often in order to keep on top of it

make sure you keep it up to date and constantly re-draft, it makes the job a lot easier and you don’t panic as much last minute. Little and often is key

do it

Start early

All information that your teacher puts down is essential to getting a good grade. Slight improvements here and there can make the differences between a D grade and a C grade.

Dont leave it to the last minute

Make sure you don’t leave it too late to start and get data that has enough good things to talk about to get a high grade

spend lots of time on coursework early so it isnt rushed towards the end

Do lots of research in the summer holidays so that you know exactly what to do.

Stick to deadlines and keep up to date.

Get it done early

Don’t leave it till the last minute and ask for help as soon as it’s needed

keep to the deadlines.

Get a clear idea of what you want your investigation to be able early so that you can start to prepare and map out what you want to find and gather evidence to analyse ASAP

Make sure you have enough style models before you start the course so you have a clear understanding of the coursework

use your time effectively, research well

start early and really get as many draft as possible and give them in

start collecting data as early as you can.

To try and ask more questions other than just using the blog

do more drafting on the media text and explore what can be included or edited within it

Know what you want do for your investigation before you come back from the summer holiday, it will put you at a stronger advantage.

Keep on top of it Don’t loose track Ask if you need help Don’t just use the internet – it’s not 100% trustworthy

make sure you meet the first draft deadline to get feedback

Be prepared to work hard and make sure you are organised and give in a draft on time.

Timing is key and to use teachers when they are at their least busy eg. before coursework drafts HAVE to be in

Redraft as much as possible, always use the feedback given by your teacher and make time for your coursework - Never leave it until the last minute.

Think hard about what you’re going to do your investigation on, as you don’t have the time to start again

Make sure you have enough data to evaluate qualitatively and start work early to make sure you are on top

Vocal creak/fry - accessible gender video

This woman's great on a number of topics and this is a really accessible, language-y video about the use of 'vocal fry' by females. Do you use it?

http://shows.howstuffworks.com/stuff-mom-never-told-you/smnty-why-do-girls-have-creaky-voices-video.htm

Some handy Language Change examples to learn

See if you can get ahead on the technical terms for the ways in which these words have changed meaning by googling. Use 'pejoration' to get you started (and you could link some of these to semantic derogation too). Try and learn some examples over the summer.

http://ideas.ted.com/2014/06/18/20-words-that-once-meant-something-very-different/

Gender constructions in Clarks shoes for kids adverts

An interesting piece of everyday sexism reported by The Daily Mail. Even more interesting was the whole page of comments I read with everyone agreeing that it was ridiculous to complain about something that was blatantly a wise marketing decision that reflected what boys and girls were actually like. I was shocked. Boys and girls are taught to be like that - adverts purport to reflect us but they shape us subconsciously, building the consumer (you will remember that phrase from Fairclough). I would have thought modern marketing companies would know better than to be so blatant about it. But then again the news story wasn't big enough for me to find any Guardian articles about it, so maybe not many people made an issue of it...



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2661975/Parents-attack-sexist-Clarks-shoe-ads-Posters-use-blue-tree-climbing-boys-pink-girls-love-comfort-style.html

Look at the lexical choices in the adverts. And in the comments. Why do you thnk gendered products and gendered marketing are done?