Group Work: Sex and Culture

1. Have each member of the group share the object they brought in, and they're essay, for the second short essay assignment. Everyone in the group should actively listen: ask questions, add insights, take notes, and participate as each person shares.
2. As a group, decide which of the cultural objects has the most potential for a deep analysis. That will be the object you present and talk about to the class.
3. Then, as a group, think about what messages we can take about cultural attitudes to sex from that object. What messages do you get about whether it's good, bad, or neutral to have sex, when, under what conditions, and with whom. Do you get different messages if you're a man or a woman? Are there messages there about what kind of sex is deemed socially "good" and what's deemed "bad"? What messages do you get about what it means to be sexy, or what it means to be sexual? Are those different if you're a man or a woman? Are they different if you're heterosexual, homosexual, bi-sexual, asexual? What messages do you get about gender roles? What it is to be masculine or feminine?
   
4. On Tuesday you'll give your presentations. You'll show whatever you brought in to the class as a whole, and then discuss it in depth. If you've brought a film, you might want to give a brief introduction, show a whole clip, then talk about it a bit more at length. You will have about 10 minutes to present.