CARLA
Gender by Advice: Normative Behaviors for Men and Women in Russian Advice Literature 
Lesson 3: Russian Gender Beyond the Stereotypes

Submitted by Olga Livshin

Objectives:

Content:
Students will...

  • familiarize themselves with practices among Russian men that correspond to stereotypical Russian masculinity, for example, hobbies such as hunting
  • familiarize themselves with several common practices among Russian men that diverge from the stereotypical Russian masculinity, such as men’s fashion
  • identify the normative qualities that diverge from the stereotypical Russian masculinity in a text on the qualities of "a real man" from a Russian website
  • familiarize themselves with normative qualities among Russian men that diverge from the stereotypical Russian masculinity, such as the willingness to take care of children in a variety of ways
  • develop initial knowledge of the differences between the behaviors of Russian straight women and the behaviors of one social group in Russia whose behavior diverges from the gender stereotype for women, the "butch" lesbians
  • develop initial awareness of the social and psychological difficulties faced by butch women in Russia
  • develop initial knowledge of the ways of coping with psychological difficulties available to butch women in Russia (i.e., working in professions where individuals are expected to dress and act "creatively" and preparing oneself psychologically for "being a butch," as suggested by Russian butch women)
  • develop an initial awareness of the differences between the behaviors (including language) with which Russian butch women define themselves and  stereotypical femininity

Cultural:
Students will...

  • develop the initial knowledge that some social behaviors among Russians (i.e. Russians' practices) do not correspond to the Russian gender stereotypes (i.e. some of the beliefs of the Russian culture)
  • compare the American modes of diverging from gender stereotypes (by diversity of social group) with the Russian modes of diverging from gender stereotypes (various practices among the general male population)
  • develop an initial awareness of the differences between the unity of behavior in a Russian social group (the butch lesbian women) and their varying character traits
  • compare the ways in which Russian butch lesbians define themselves to the ways in which American butch lesbians and other homosexual persons in the U.S. define themselves

 

Language: Content Obligatory
Students will...

  • use the noun "внешность" (appearance; recycled from Lesson 1) in the nominative case, singular, to articulate in written and spoken form whether appearance has significance for the Russian man according to an advice Website, in order to familiarize themselves with several common practices among Russian men that diverge from the stereotypical Russian masculinity
  • use the adjective "мужественный" (masculine; recycled from Lesson 1) in the nominative case, feminine, to articulate in written and spoken form whether winter 2004/2005 season fashion for men is masculine or contains elements of femininity, in order to familiarize themselves with several common practices among Russian men that diverge from the stereotypical Russian masculinity
  • use the noun "женственность" (femininity; recycled from Lesson 1) in the genitive case, singular, to articulate in written and spoken form whether winter 2004/2005 season fashion is masculine or contains elements of femininity, in order to familiarize themselves with several common practices among Russian men that diverge from the stereotypical Russian masculinity
  • use the expressions “стереотипно женские качества” (stereotypically feminine qualities; recycled from Lesson 1) and “стереотипнo мужские качества" (stereotypically male qualities; recycled from Lesson 1) to identify those qualities that diverge from stereotypical Russian masculinity in a list of qualities of the "real man" on a Russian website in order to learn more about the normative qualities that diverge from the stereotypical Russian masculinity in an authentic context
  • use the word "гомофоб" (a homophobic person) in the genitive case, plural, in order to predict whether there are many openly homophobic people in Russia in order to develop initial awareness of the social and psychological difficulties faced by butch women in Russia
  • use the word "бучефоб" (a person who dislikes) in the genitive case, plural, in order to predict whether there are many openly homophobic people in Russia in order to develop initial awareness of the social and psychological difficulties faced by butch women in Russia
  • use the expressions "натурал" and "натуралка" (colloq. straight [masculine and feminine]) in the nominative case, plural, in order to express their point of view on the question of whether gays and lesbians should dress and act like straight (heterosexual) people at work, in order to develop initial awareness of the difficulties faced by butch women in Russia
  • use the expression "натуралка" (straight/feminine) in the genitive case, singular, in order to say what kinds of behavior distinguish butch women and straight women, according to the article that they have read, in order to develop initial knowledge of the differences between the behaviors of Russian straight women and those of Russian butch women
  • use the expression "гендерные нормы" (gender norms; recycled from Lesson 1) to name the gender norms at various workplaces in order to develop initial knowledge of the social milieus where the appearance and behavior of Russian butch lesbian women are accepted

Language: Content Compatible
Students will...

  • use the expression "иметь значение" (to have significance; recycled from prior knowledge) in the third person singular, present tense, to articulate in written and spoken form whether appearance has significance for the Russian man according to an advice Website, in order to familiarize themselves with several common practices among Russian men that diverge from the stereotypical Russian masculinity
  • use the construction, "noun or pronoun in the dative case + предлагается" (it is proposed to), + the infinitive of a verb" to name the behaviors proposed to men and women on American websites in order to compare those American behaviors deviating from the gender stereotypes to the Russian behaviors diverging from gender stereotypes
  • use the expression "психологический груз" (psychological burden) in the nominative case, singular, to predict whether Russian butch women face emotional difficulties in order to develop initial awareness of the difficulties faced by butch women in Russia
  • use the expression "тогда как" (whereas) to compare the behavioral qualities of a Russian stereotypical woman to those of the Russian butch woman
  • use the construction, "noun or pronoun in the dative case + предлагается" (it is proposed to), + the infinitive of a verb" to say what is proposed to the butch woman readers by the butch women quoted in an article in order to develop initial knowledge of the mechanisms of coping with psychological difficulties among butch women in Russia
  • use the expression "тогда как" (whereas) to contrast the behaviors with which butch women define themselves with the behaviors and qualities of stereotypical Russian women in order to develop an initial awareness of the differences between the behaviors (including language) with which Russian butch women define themselves and  stereotypical femininity
  • use the construction, "определять себя как (define oneself as) + noun/pronoun in the genitive case" (recycled from priod learning) in order to say whether American gay and lesbian individuals openly define themselves as homosexuals, in order to compare the ways in which Russian butch lesbians define themselves to the ways in which American butch lesbians and other homosexual persons in the U.S. define themselves

Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Students will...

  • work cooperatively in pairs to find factual information on websites for the Webquest
  • develop their presentational ability by reporting to the rest of the class about their responses to the questions about websites
  • work cooperatively in small groups to identify the behaviors with which Russian butch women define themselves
  • work cooperatively on the K, W, P (Know, Want to Know, Predict) activity to share ideas and identify potential topics for the final presentation

Time Frame:

2 50-minute periods

Materials Needed:

Day 1

  • Access to the Internet for half the number of students in class on Day 1 (for example, in a computer lab). Two students will be asked to sit at the same computer and team up on viewing the sites.  Direct each computer's browser to the Website for the unit before students arrive, and make sure that the character encoding turned on Cyrillic for Windows (open the menu View, select Encoding, select Cyrillic (Windows). 
  • Worksheet with questions for the Webquest
  • Homework for Day 2

Day 2

  • Comparison/Contrast Chart
  • Homework handout for Lesson 4, Day 1
  • Access to the Internet for all students at home (to complete the homework assignment)

Description of Assessment (Performance Project):

Day 1

Pre-Task

In their homework, students complete a worksheet on two American websites: one in which the suggested, described or advertised behavior of men does not fully correspond to the gender stereotype for men, and another, in which such behavior of women does not fully correspond to the gender stereotype for women.

In class, begin class by debriefing the students about their answers (about 12 minutes for the debriefing). Teach students the construction for, "It is proposed that men/ women do X": "(noun or pronoun in the dative case) + предлагается" (it is proposed to), + the infinitive of a verb"; for example, "мужчинам / женщинам предлагается готовить испанскую еду" (men / women are proposed to cook Spanish food).

Ask students to offer their responses in the form, "Mужчинам / женщинам предлагается + the infinitive of a verb". Ideally, each student should contribute the behaviors for either a site for men or a site for women. Ask each student about the social group for which the website is intended. Point out the different social groups present. Point out the diversity of behaviors in different social group; teach students the word разнообразие (diversity).

Tell students that "предлагается" is a word that they can use in their final presentation, when speaking about what a particular text on a website proposed women or men to do.

Let the students know that in this class, we will turn to the ways in which Russian men's behaviors may differ from the gender stereotypes. Ask students to name from memory some qualities of men, according to the stereotype. Write them on the board.

Task

Ask students to sit at the computers and team up in pairs, one per computer. Students are asked to look the Website for the unit and click on the link, "Вебквест: российская мужественность" ("Webquest: Russian Masculinity"); thus they will go to the Webquest. Briefly explain the assignment, which is spelled out in detail on the webquest. (The Webquest elicits knowledge about qualities, behaviors and typical activities in different social contexts and different social groups of Russian men, e.g., "typical" men, as well as gay men). Hand out a sheet with questions on the Webquest; questions are also provided on the Webquest, but on the sheet space is provided to respond to the questions. Ask students to work cooperatively as they search for the factual information requested, using Russian as much as possible.  (20-25 minutes)

Post-Task

Students are debriefed about their findings. Each pair should be able to present on at least one response to the question (there are 5 questions total). Ask students about, and note down on the board, the social groups to which the Russian men belong. If these are general recommendations, write down "Все российские мужчины" (All Russian men). At the end, point out not that there is not so much diversity of the social groups here -- unlike in the American culture -- as there is a diversity of behaviors among "all Russian men." So, many behaviors "normal" that we have identified in Russian society differ from gender stereotypes. Despite the fact that stereotypes remain, behaviors are separate from behaviors.

At the end of the class, ask students to turn their worksheets with the responses.

Homework for Lesson 3:
Pass out the homework for Lesson 4, Group Work Day and Day 1 with any explanations needed. (See Lesson 4 for Attachments and Pre-task explanations)

Day 2

Pre-Task

At home, students are asked to read a short text about a particular kind of lesbian woman, the "butch" lesbian, and complete pre-reading and reading questions.

In class, begin by ask a student to read off his or her responses to the homework Post-Reading question 1, "What types of behavior distinguish butch [women] from straight [women]?" ("Какие виды поведения отличают бучей от натуралок?") Students will use various verbs with the noun буч (butch [woman]) in the plural.

Remind students that we have moved from gender stereotypes to discussing masculinity and femininity in the contexts of real behaviors among Russians. Tell students that we are about to look in further depth into the differences (различия) in qualities between stereotypical femininity and the femininity/masculinity of butch women.

Before embarking on this task, it is important to set some ground rules. Ask the students, on the basis of what they know now, what qualities of a butch woman we can discuss as those that most butch women have, and what qualities we cannot discuss:

  • What can we discuss about butch women's differences from stereotypical femininity? ("Что мы можем обсуждать, когда говорим о различиях бучей и стереотипной женственности?")
  • Can we discuss the qualities of behavior? ("Мы можем обсуждать качества поведения?")
  • The qualities of appearance? ("Качества внешности?")
  • Can we discuss character traits? ("Мы можем обсуждать качества характера?")
    • Why or why not? ("Почему?")

One good point that students can make is that not all butch women have the same character traits. For example, butch women are not necessarily unemotional. To guide students to this point, bring the students' attention to how the butch women speak about themselves in the article. The article begins ("It is a great psychological burden to be a butch"), and one of the butch women in the reading says that it is extremely difficult to be a "butch" and that she suffers from it. Other women say that they don't care if they are regarded badly as butch women, and so are not as emotionally vulnerable. Ask students if they can conclude very much about butch women's character; then ask them if we can make conclusions about the qualities butch women's behavior and appearance.

To look in further depth into butch women and stereotypical masculinity/femininity, we also need to stock up on vocabulary. An expression that will be useful to us to make statements of constrast is  "тогда как…" ("whеreas..."). Let the students know that this is an expression that is used for comparing or contrasting two objects or phenomena (для сравнения двух предметов или явлений). This two-word expression is used the same way the one-word expression whereas is used in English. The only difference is that the English whereas can be put either in the beginning or the middle of the sentence, but the Russian тогда как must be put in the middle of the sentence as a connector between two simple sentences. That is, when a statement about one object is made, we append whereas and a contrasting statement about another object. Note that a comma precedes тогда как. Tell students that тогда как is used in formal writing and presentations. Tell students that they may recall that that they will be using тогда как in their final presentations in order to contrast the two websites that they have researched. They are required to use this expression at least twice in their final presentations (this is in the description for their final project).

Let the students know that whereas sentences with the "a" connector are usually built as syntactic parallel constructions (same kind of word order in both simple sentences separated by "a), sentences built with тогда как ("whereas") can be more varied in structure--different word order. Give the students an example (put it on the board):

  • Мягкость - кaчество стереотипной женщины, тогда как качество буча - aвторитетность. (Gentleness is a quality of a stereotypical woman, whereas а quality of a butch is аssertiveness).

Ask students to refer back to the list of qualities of the stereotypical woman and the stereotypical, made during the Lesson 1, in class. Ask students to give some examples of the qualities of a stereotypical woman, and then come up with a quality of a butch, and report the two together, using the model above. Field as many qualities as possible. If students point out qualities of character (rather than character), stop and ask the rest of the class, "Do you agree?" ("Вы согласны?"). If students disagree, ask them why.

Task

Sure, we know that butch women are different than straight women. But what does that mean when we speak about these differences (различия, a word from Lesson 1)? Is it just the clothes and gestures? Or something deeper? How do people define (oпределять, a word from Lesson 1) themselves as butch?

Ask students to get into groups of four or five. Hand out оne copy of the Compare/ Contrast Chart to each group. Ask each group to brainstorm on what butch women do to define themselves as butch ("Устройте мозговой штурм. Подумайте о том, что делают бучи, чтобы определить себя как бучей"). Then contrast it to the notion of stereotypical femininity. Refer to the article. The cells on the Compare/Contrast chart ask students to identify the following:

  • How they dress: according to what beliefs or cultural ideas?
  • How butch women speak about themselves: what language do they use to define themselves?
  • Other behaviors noted

Ask students to present their findings according to the model (on the handout),

  • Стереотипная русская женщина...., тогда как русские бучи.... (Stereotypical Russian women... whereas Russian butch women...)

Then ask one representative from each group to present on only one contrast/cell (rotate). After each presentation, ask the other groups if they agree, and if they have anything to add.

Students may note the following in the reading:

  • The stereotypical Russian woman dresses in a feminine way, because this is what women are supposed to do--whereas butch women say that they have to dress according to "how they really are," so they don't believe in biodeterminism.
  • The stereotypical women speak about themselves in the feminine (grammatical gender), and coquettishly, whereas some butch women (like the butch woman with the nickname Takkata Jim, quoted in the article) speak about themselves in the masculine gender: "Надо быть уверенным..."
  • Many Russian women speak about themselves with feminine nouns (i.e., "красавица" [beauty], "умница" [smartiepants]), whereas the noun "butch" is masculine.

Remind the students that for their final presentations, one of the requirements is to use both "тогда как" (at least twice) and the connector "a" (at least once). Explain to the students that this requirement is designed to encourage them to vary the language that they use. Thus, they should try not to use several contrast sentences made with "тогда как" in a row, but try to alternate between "тогда как" sentences and "a" sentences.

Post-Task

Ask students what they know about how some American gay and lesbian individuals define themselves as different from other people of their sex. Given the cultural differences between the way Russia and America handles gender stereotypes, are there differences in the behaviors? Ask students to jot down a few notes for a minute and then ask them. To stimulate students to point out more differences, ask them:

  • Do American gays and lesbians openly define themselves as different from other people of their sex? ("Aмериканские геи и лесбиянки открыто определяют себя как отличающихся от людей их пола?")
  • "What events take place in the U.S. in which some Americans define themselves as gays and lesbians?" ("Какие фестивали, дни и т.д. проходят в США, при которые некоторые американцы определяют себя как геев и лесбиянок?")

After the discussion, ask a student who volunteers to summarize the differences between how Russian and American gays and lesbians define themselves, using тогда как (whereas).

In Preparation for the Final Presentation (at the end of the period)

In the Homework completed for Day 1, the instructor asked students to identify two choices of websites (two constrasting websites in each choice) on which they would like to work. Before the Lesson 2 (at home), the instructor pairs students up according to their interests, as much as possible (if students' interests do not coincide perfectly, pair them up by similar interest). The instructor's pairing of the students allows for students to work with people from the class with whom they may have not previously interacted and develop working cooperative relationships with these people.

At the end of Day 2, announce the pairs. Ask the partners in each pair to get together as a group for the last 10 minutes of the period. The last part of the homework for Day 2 was a K,W,P graphic organizer. Ask students to share their ideas of what they have learned in the unit thus far with their partner and exchange ideas for what they hope to learn in the future, with some idea of what they will learn. This activity is designed to help partners compare ideas that they have had for their project and finalize their selection of sites and potential topic by Lesson 4 Day 1.

Homework:
Pass out the homework for Lesson 4, Day 1 with any explanations needed. (See Lesson 4, Pre-tasks)

Assessment:

  1. Homework is graded credit/no credit, with errors corrected.
  2. Throughout the lesson, the teacher informally assesses student participation (including work in small groups) and monitors comprehension and accurate, meaningful language use.

References and Resources:

Attachments:

NOTE: some attachments are in PDF form (get Acrobat Reader)

A Lesson from the CoBaLTT Project
/cobaltt
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
University of Minnesota