C. Wider Reading

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This activity can be started at the beginning of the unit and continue through to the end. See Resources for books which deal with changing gender roles.


1. Reading

* Ask students to choose a book to read that has some bearing on gender roles. They might read them individually or in pairs, or you might pick a book to read with a group of students.

When students are asked to read on their own, they sometimes have difficulty finding a book they are interested in, and may not have strongly developed skills in picking interesting things to read. In my experience they may pick a book almost at random, and then are often reluctant to give it up once they have picked it, even though it is clear they are not reading it because it is boring or too difficult. I have several strategies to help students find books they will finish, and jettison ones they are stuck in.

First, I model my own healthy disrespect for the written word. I talk about my aversion to boredom. It doesn't matter if I am bored because I can't understand it, or because the writing is bad, or because I am not interested in the subject. If the book is boring, I give it up. I refuse to be bored. There are lots of interesting books, and not enough time to read them all. (Of course, a book can be hard to read and interesting at the same time; it can be interesting to one person and not to another. It is the boredom factor that matters, for whatever cause.)

Then I get a book of very easy-to-read short pieces, a magazine of student writing, for example. Starting at the first page, I ask someone to read the title out loud, and we look at any pictures or headings and the biography of the writer if there is one. I ask someone else to read the first sentence, and then ask if anyone is interested in reading the story. If someone says yes, we read it. If no one says yes, we go on to the next story. Usually in an hour a group can do about twenty pieces in this way, and everyone gets lots of practice in saying, "No, this doesn't look like something I'd want to read."

When it comes to asking students to choose a book for individual reading, I prepare an exercise for them to do before they choose. I select a few books that I think people in the group will be Interested in, about twice as many books as there are students, trying to make sure there is something for everybody. In working with this theme, for example, I would use the books from the Resources list, and add others as necessary to make sure there was something suitable for everyone.

I put all the books in the middle of a table, and give students a list of questions that they can answer by a cursory examination of the books, particularly the copy on the back cover, or by looking at the illustrations. Some sample questions:

  • Which book is about a single mom?
  • Which book is about a truck driver?
  • Which book shows pictures of women working?

I write questions that require them to pick up each book and look at it, and encourage them to work together and talk about the books as they answer the questions.

Then I ask each person to pick a book that s/he might like to read, and we do a quick round where everyone holds up a book and tells why s/he chose it. If there is someone who hasn't found an interesting book by this process, we go on a further search.

2. Reporting

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If you are working with a group of students, an interesting display of such reports can be made. When a second student reads the same book, the second report can be added to the same page. Displaying the pages encourages students to do a careful edit of their writing before it goes up on the board, gives other students reading practice and may introduce an interesting book to another student.

A student working with a tutor may want to keep a collection of the pages as a reminder of the books read.

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When this chapter was field tested, "Wider Reading" was the favorite activity. The following activity, "Who Is Changing?" was the second favorite.


* Ask students to report orally on the reading they have done. You might give them the following questions to help them get ready:

  • What is the book about?
  • What does the book have to say about changing gender roles?
  • What are the results, both good and bad, when one of the characters tries to step outside the appropriate gender role?

* Make a photocopy of the cover of the book in the upper left hand corner of a large sheet of paper. Ask the student who read the book to write a few sentences, repeating or summarizing the oral report.

3. Guided discussion

There is lots of room for interesting discussion about changing gender roles when these books are read and reported on.

  • Who gets points for changing roles?
  • Is it easier for men or women to step outside their gender roles?
  • Do people admire women who do men's work more than men who do women's work? Why?
  • Who else has to change when someone steps outside their gender role?

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