Tag Archives: gender

Dec 16 2012

The No Good, Very Bad Outlook for the Working-Class American Man


The U.S. economy once worked like a finely meshed machine. Not anymore. The U.S. economy is still a powerful engine, but workers aren’t seeing the benefits, less-educated men are struggling, and the rich have disconnected from everyone else.

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

The problems with the economy are not universally spread throughout society.  Certain segments are impacted more than others by the current struggles, especially when with look at axes of identity, such as class, gender and ethnicity.  While planning on a blue-collar job in the 1950s could have been a solid career plan for a young man in the United States, not so in the 21st century.

Tags: labor, gender, class, industry, education.

See on nationaljournal.com

Sep 4 2012

Linguistic Geography: My Fair Lady

This is a most decidedly dated reference for pop culture, but a great movie for making explicit the idea that the way we speak is connected to where we’ve lived (also a good clip to show class differences as well as gender norms). The clip highlights many principles and patterns for understanding the geography of languages.

Tags: Language, class, gender, culture, historical, London, unit 3 culture and place.

See on www.youtube.com

Mar 27 2012

Sex and World Peace

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education

Sex and World Peace (9780231131827): Valerie M. Hudson, Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill, Mary Caprioli, Chad F. Emmett

I have not yet had the opportunity to read this book but feel that it touches on some of the core issues in geography today: gender, culture and political stability (plus, it’s just a great title).  The authors of Sex and World Peace explore the relationships between cultural norms regarding gender and political stability and war.  They show that security for women translates to security for the state. According to the authors, they “compare micro-level gender violence and macro-level state peacefulness in global settings…[and] mount a solid campaign against women’s systemic insecurity, which effectively unravels the security of all.”

Written by professors in geography, political science and psychology, Sex and World Peace is the synthesis of years of research produced by the WomanStats project.  For more about this ongoing project and the great database which they have produced (loaded with potential for student projects) see: http://womanstats.org/

Via www.amazon.com

Mar 14 2012

For Afghan Policewomen, Sex Abuse Is A Job Hazard

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education
The Afghan security forces now include hundreds of women, but they can face significant risks. In the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, policewomen say abuse is widespread and even includes rape by their male colleagues.  

Warning: this podcast is an uncomfortable listen, but truly highlights how different a world it can be for women in countries with rigid gender norms.  Gender norms and public space play a critical role in how many societies think about what is often considered “appropriate” behavior.

Discussion Points: what efforts should be encouraged in Afghanistan to prevent this sort of problem?  WHO should be sponsoring these efforts for them to be most successful? How might a ‘good plan on paper’ backfire if you don’t understand the cultural geography of the region?
Via www.npr.org