Fairy Tale Project

Lab Task:
Read this short article: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130801-too-grimm-for-children
Then check out these websites: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimmtales.html

German: The Brother's Grimm
Danish: Hans Christian Andersen
French: Charles Perrault 
  • Choose a fairy tale that you want to work with (consider your favorites--or be unique and consider one that is not as well known)
  • Write a narrative or prose poem or a story or scene or an essay in which you explore gender and fairy tale themes.
HOMEWORK: Please read 9 Parts of Desire by Heather Raffo. 

Comments

jaymee said…
I found the article Gender Differences in the Brain really intriguing. I'd like to know more about the science of it and examine some different sources. Though there are obvious differences due to hormones and such, I think that labeling women and men as so different from each other only engraves gender roles deeper into society. I feel that the scientific ideas presented in the article could serve as excuses for negative male behaviors that are holding women down in modern society.
Unknown said…
I found this article very insightful and it has also taught me something about my behavior. I don't believe women are less aggressive emotionally but maybe they are dominantly. As I read this article and about the different brain structures I thought it was interesting to know the different reactions in a male brain and a female brain. Mostly everything in this article was factual and found it to be very helpful in a personal sense.
Unknown said…
This article makes a lot of sense. It explains why women tend to be more emotional and social than men are. Since I am taking psychology, it helped me get a better understanding of each of the brain parts. For instance, I never knew that the amygdala was larger in men than it is in women's. It makes sense because most men have the fight or flight signal, while women tend to try to solve the problem without conflict. The section about the hippocampus was extremely important because it shows that women are better at interpreting emotions than men are. I think that men and women should use their brains to the best of their ability. They could also teach the opposite gender on how to get better at the skill that they lack.
Unknown said…
This article was fascinating! I've never read anything before that deals with the actual differences between the female and the male brain, and how they impact our daily lives. I agree with the author in that there is great value in understanding our strengths and weaknesses because of the structure of our brains. It's interesting to think that these small differences make such a huge impact in society.
Austin Hammond said…
I agree with all of this as It is pretty true. I did notice at it takes a lot about brain chemistry, but for the most part ignores the human conscious which I feel is also a large part of how people see them world. For instance, in current society it shouldn't be more difficult for women to play the so called male role. In many households women are the people to bring how the bacon, and the men stay home and take care of the children. There is a certain degree to which your conscious can influence your action which I don't feel is represented in this article.
AJAllan said…
I agree with the passage to a certain extent, based on my own experience I didn't really adhere to what this passage is saying about the male condition and how testosterone affects their behavior. I remember myself being very passive and non-confrontational, I even vividly recall saying "I hate conflict." Though I was competitive.
Unknown said…
The article provided an interesting amount of insight as to what makes male and female brains so different. The contrasts in brain structures and composition were the major differences that stood out to me, as they gave a clear cut reason for the contrast in behavior. It made me wonder how the brain could be manipulated and enhanced if we could change those developments from an early stage. What would happen if we removed the amygdala? Wold we lose our sense of fear, or become hyper-aware of others emotions? It presents limitless opportunities as to how the brain can me modified and change every characteristic of human nature to make us more resilient, competent beings.
Unknown said…
Before reading this article, I didn't know that there were so many differences between the male and female brain. The contrasts between the two is much more intense then I believed, but it also makes sense. It is obvious that men and women think differently, with women being more rational and personal, while men are more competitive and aggressive. The most interesting part of the article I believe is the part about the differences in the brains of male and female infants and teenagers. I find it interesting that women start to remember faces and body language at such a young age, while it takes much longer for men to develop the same skills. It is strange to think that men and women are so different even that early in their lives.
Unknown said…
This article gave me a lot of knowledge on the brain and how it affects males and females differently however I didn't completely agree with the article entirely. I would say that the parts speaking on females being more emotional and males "seek to be respected" was very spot on, however the third paragraph of the article didn't apply to my life as a teenage girl. I felt it was very stereotypical to use the example of "they can be mean and use their language skills- to undermine rivals in their competition for the boys" because I've never fought over a boy or even felt the need to compete for a boyfriend or significant other. I felt like that statement had an undertone of male superiority and the idea of women having to need males in their lives. Also the statement surrounding "teenage boys want to be left alone" is not always necessarily true because I know many boys that will argue with their guy friends and then the next week they'll be fine again, and there are also cases with females that don't feel the need to have those connections and make up with friends after a fight. Obviously some actions can coincide with both genders but I felt this article seemed geared towards more stereotypical gender differences in my opinion.
Unknown said…
I don't think this article is entirely true. I agree with some parts and disagree with others. I think the beginning of the article is very interesting, and where it talks about how a baby girl looks at her mothers face 10 to 20 times, but a baby boy looks around the room to investigate the environment. I disagree with the part about boys where it says "He's not interested in conversation because steppingstone decreases his desire to socialize except in the pursuit of sex and sports." I don't think that'c completely true, at least maybe for most boys. I also don't agree with the "tend and befriend".
Unknown said…
before i read this article I had a very basic knowledge of such biological differences. I think that is very interesting that women have a brain better organized to connect its various parts, while men have more focus because their brain is more specifically organized. it's fascinating as well how men are driven to competition by the evolution that has placed them in the role of defenders and fighters, while women apparently have a brain that seeks community and therefore is logically programmed to defend it. the balance between the two genders is amazingly handled by the evolution process itself. each gender has skills that can be accounted for its class in the society more than its individual survival needs.so it looks like the two genders developed so that they could live together to create a well balanced community which would benefit both. I am not talking about sexual competition but simply about survival which has always been the first priority in the brain: to salvage itself and its owner. i think the female and male brain have changed their behavior patterns and adapted. i am very competing and i generally socialize more when involved in sports but I am certainly not a man. things have change and experiences help the brain adjust its functions so that should be accounted.
Unknown said…
This article was interesting to read because it stated facts that I've noticed but didn't really go into deep thought about. For example how when teenage girls go through puberty they mainly get stressed over relationships, and how they tend to be passive aggressive. I already have knowledge of this information simply because I am a teenage girl and I see how females act at school, home and on social media on a daily basis. But what I failed to realize was how testosterone affected teenage boys. During this time they want to be left alone and not engage in much conversation. Also the article stated how boys get stressed around challenges to their independence and authority and how they seek to be respected and find their place in the male pecking order through competition and conflict. I find this statement interesting because I think that society has somewhat of an affect on this because through time it became normal for males to compete with other males and to believe that they have to have authority over things and other people.
izzi said…
i liked how the article mentioned the gender that seems to be more curios when they are young. i think it is possibly true, only because of the fact that it is the males who like going and getting dirty; majority wise that is. the article made me question that if one part links two others, what happens when the link gets severely damaged? each gender helps compensate for the lack of skill.

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