Liz Grauerholz

Gender in Twentieth-Century Children’s Books Patterns of Disparity in Titles and Central Characters

Gender representations reproduce and legitimate gender systems. To examine this aspect of the gendered social order, we analyze the representation of males and females in the titles and central characters of 5,618 children’s books published throughout the twentieth century in the United States. Compared to females, males are represented nearly twice as often in titles and 1.6 times as often as central characters. By no measure in any book series (i.e., Caldecott award winners, Little Golden Books, and books listed in the Children’s Catalog) are females represented more frequently than males. We argue that these disparities are evidence of symbolic annihilation and have implications for children’s understandings of gender. Nevertheless, important differences in the extent of the disparity are evident by type of character (i.e., child or adult, human or animal), book series, and time period. Specifically, representations of child central characters are the most equitable and animals the most inequitable; Little Golden Books contain the most unequal representations; and the 1930s-1960s—the period between waves of feminist activism—exhibits greater disparities than earlier and later periods. Examining multiple types of books across a long time period shows that change toward gender equality is uneven, nonlinear, and tied to patterns of feminist activism and backlash throughout the century.

Infant-feeding consumerism in the age of intensive mothering and risk society

The ideologies of intensive mothering and risk society place increasing burden on mothers to make critical choices regarding infant feeding that are understood as having irreversible consequences for their childrens long-term health and emotional well-being. Although research has examined consequences of these ideologies on mothers’ decisions to breastfeed or formula-feed their infants, little has focused on consumer decisions regarding formulas, baby food and feeding-related items. This article examines symbolic meanings attached to infant food and feeding-related consumer items among first-time mothers in the United States. Results indicate broad categories of baby-oriented consumerism—qualities and characteristics mothers sought for their babies through feeding-related consumer behaviors—and mother-oriented consumerism—qualities and characteristics mothers sought for themselves through consumer behaviors. Baby-oriented consumerism included health, comfort, taste and development, and mother-oriented consumerism included knowledge/control, compliance, convenience, frugality, relationships and self-image.

Articulation of Goals and Means in Sociology Courses: What We Can Learn from Syllabi.

This paper examines the articulation of goals and means of sociological instruction in course syllabi. Three questions guide this inquiry. First, do sociology instructors articulate common learning goals? Second, what pedagogical means do instructors commonly employ to meet these goals? Third, to what extent have sociology instructors incorporated the recommendations presented in Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major (Eberts et al. 1990) and in its updated version (McKinney et al. 2004)? To answer these questions, we analyzed syllabi from 418 courses published by the American Sociological Associations Teaching Resource Center. We found that aside from coursespecific goals, most syllabi shared only a few general, abstract goals in common. The pedagogical methods or requirements of students tended to be fairly traditional (readings, writing, and exams). Requirements that required more active types of learning were less common. While these goals and means do seem to reflect what sociologists consider to be important, they do not correspond closely to the American Sociological Associations Taskforce on the Undergraduate Majors recommendations for the sociology major.

Cute Enough to Eat: The Transformation of Animals into Meat for Human Consumption in Commercialized Images

In order for a culture that generally likes, even loves, animals to eat them, and especially not to make the link between the two, it is necessary to construct the consumption of meat-eating in such a way that the connection is blurred or erased. In this paper, I suggest that one way this is done is by transforming animals, which are loved, into meats, which are eaten, so that the concepts of “animals” and “meats” seem distinct and unrelated. Using content analysis of commercialized images of animals, I find that this transformation involves two key processes, the representation of meat as something that no longer resembles any animal origins and the “cutification” (making objects appear cuter than they usually appear) of animals, that promote the consumption of their animal flesh. I argue that these types of objectification are similar to other forms of objectification of oppressed groups in society, including women and minorities, and serve to perpetuate the oppression of animals in contemporary society.

Feminist Research in the Public Domain Risks and Recommendations

This article offers a feminist perspective on public sociology that suggests that the potential risks of going public with feminist sociological research are more pervasive and serious than proponents of public sociologies have previously acknowledged. At the same time, the promise of public sociologies for furthering feminist goals has been largely untapped. Here, the authors recount their own experience with widely publicized research that, while neither unique nor typical, serves to highlight potential risks of making feminist sociological research public. Feminist scholars must be made aware of these risks as feminist research, which challenges existing gender inequalities and arrangements, is especially likely to encounter negative public reaction. The authors recommend collective and conscientious attention to both the medium and the message. The perspective on public sociologies presented here can help further the goals of public sociology and holds special promise for feminist sociologists who seek effective ways to promote social change.

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Teaching Sociology: 1973–2009

This article updates and extends research by Baker and Chin, who tracked changes in studies published in Teaching Sociology from 1973 to 1983 (Baker) and 1984 to 1999 (Chin). The current study traces manuscripts published in Teaching Sociology from 2000 to 2009. We examine both who publishes in the journal and what gets published. In particular, we explore change in the systematic assessment of teaching methods and techniques since Baker’s and Chin’s studies and the extent to which publications in Teaching Sociology reflect improved assessment. We find that while there has been improvement, not all articles reflect the growing scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) movement. While the mission of Teaching Sociology is to publish materials that would be “helpful to the discipline’s teachers” (see the journal’s mission statement at http://asanet.org/journals/ts/index.cfm), the most useful information is arguably that which is supported by the kind of systematic assessment that SoTL requires. We also discuss implications for assessment and sociological SoTL.

Teaching about Consumption The “Not Buying It” Project

This study presents an experiential exercise designed to heighten students’ awareness of overconsumption in the United States and allow them to see how their own consumption habits are linked to larger social factors. Students engaged in the “Not Buying It” project—which involved refraining from purchasing all but essentials for a set number of days—as part of a broader lesson on consumerism. Qualitative and quantitative data, gathered from students enrolled in three sections of Introductory Sociology, suggest that the exercise was effective in enhancing students’ sociological imaginations by helping students see how their own consumption habits are shaped by larger social forces and how they, along with most Americans, tend toward overconsumption. To a more limited extent, it may help enhance cognitive understanding of consumption. Teaching about consumption in general, and the Not Buying It project in particular, offers instructors an excellent pedagogical means by which students can acquire a sociological imagination, reinforces key sociological principles, and links to broader goals within the discipline.

Alternative Food Movements

We review several alternative food movements (AFMs) that have emerged in response to changing food production during the twentieth century. The shift from small-scale, family-owned operations to massive, corporatized factories has resulted in concerns about human health, environmental degradation, and animal welfare; and it is around these issues that AFMs have emerged. The rise in AFMs seems to signal a growing desire for more personal connections between consumers and producers, and between producers and their products. Here, we discuss some of the established AFMs as well as newly emerging ones.

Writing in the Sociology Curriculum What Types and How Much Writing Do We Assign

We analyzed undergraduate sociology course syllabi to determine how prevalent writing is, the types of writing used, and whether assignment of writing and specific types of writing vary by type of course goals, gender of instructor, institutional type, or type of course. Almost all courses represented in these syllabi incorporate writing, with traditional (transactional) writing being the most common. Writing is more likely in courses that seek to enhance students’ critical thinking; transactional writing is used in courses stating critical thinking and sociological imagination/thinking as goals; and expressive writing is used more often in courses specifying critical thinking as a goal. Female instructors incorporate more writing, especially expressive types, than their male counterparts. Implications for disciplinary writing practices are discussed.

Attraction in the Field: What We Need to Acknowledge and Implications for Research and Teaching

Physical or sexual attraction plays an important role in shaping a wide range of relationships and in myriad ways. Our primary interest here is in how attraction shapes the qualitative research experience. Close examination of popular sociological ethnographies found that attractiveness is used as a descriptor, and almost always in a distancing fashion, but never considered in a reflexive manner. We explore implications of this silence surrounding attraction and urge greater candidness among sociologists conducting field research and teachers of qualitative methods.