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Warriors, Hunters, and Bruce Lee Facilitation Questions
- In the article, foreign films like Rambo and Bruce Lee movies influenced younger Waorani men because it helps envision the "fantasy" of masculine power. How has media as a whole impacted gender roles or norms within our society and culture? Can you think of any examples that influence femininity?
- "Waorani men express their gendered agency in relation to previous generations and kowari (outsiders/foreigners) people and images. It is perhaps for this reason that emerging masculinities are not predicated on gendered antagonisms and seldom lead to male violence against women." What do you think about these statements from the article? Do you agree with the idea that these statements are suggesting? How do men within our culture express their gendered agency?
- How has globalization affected the Waorani people? In what ways has it changed how masculinity is expressed and viewed by the Waorani community?
- Younger Waorani generations tend to look at older generations for ideas about masculinity, often citing their hunts and warfare with other groups. However less and less of the newer generations actually practice and participate in these violent activities. Is it possible for these old ideas of masculinity to disappear completely as time goes on? Why do you think these thoughts and ideas behind masculinity within the Waorani people have stuck around for so long in this ever-changing world?
- Do you think with the rise of technology and social media can ideas on gender roles and norms change? How can social media or technology change gender roles or even enforce them? Feel free to provide some examples.
1. I do think that the media has influenced gender norms simply in that they reaffirm gender stereotypes. I think media encourages or shapes young people to believe they have to act a certain way in order to fully be recognized as either gender. One instance, where I think I have seen the media portray femininity is with Mattel's Barbie dolls. At one point in time, young girls were very much influenced by this doll because her looks were deemed in the media as at of the ideal women.
ReplyDelete2. I think that I do agree with this quote because I do think that in our society men's masculinity is often expected to be asserted mainly by them exhibiting how tough and dominant they are to everyone else around them all the time which could be a result of why there is more violence from men exhibited towards women in our society. However, I think that the overall social structure of the Waorani community is the main reason why there is little to no violence between the genders since both genders are treated equally.
3. I think that for the Waorani community globalization has deeply affected them because now their people must conform to the expectations of outsiders since this the dominant force that essentially dictates the majority of their life practices and lifestyle. Also, the outsider men have different expectations of masculinity then do the Waorani men so this poses a major conflict in how the Waorani men care to represent their own masculinity.
4. I think that the older generations practices over time will fallout eventually as younger generations no longer engage in them. However, the main reason I think the Waorani men cling to these older generational practices is because they want to keep their history alive and ultimately do not want the new world that they live in to completely take away the good that came from their old world practices.
5. I think that social media can change gender roles and norms simply because it allows for a wider set of the population to have access to a platform that allows them to showcase themselves to the rest of the world and therefore allowing for more representation and demonstrating diversity. I think social media can actually break up gender stereotypes and allows people to see more then just the gender binary.