Page 65 - BB_Textbook

b. Flow: ___________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________ c. Self-understanding of intelligence:
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___________________________________________________ d. Perspective:
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Soiree: Bend It Like Beckham
Step One. Before you watch this film, look at this picture. This is an advertisement for the film Bend It Like Beckham. What do you see in the picture? What contrast is this picture showing? What might this picture say about
• identity?
• ethnicity?
• gender?
• something hidden behind
her back?
Bend It Like Beckham is about soccer or football; soccer being the name used in the United States, and football as the name used throughout most of the world. This film is also about gender, culture, and identity. This is a story about expectations. What is expected of a person based on ethnicity or gender?
Jasminder (Jess) is from a family with origins from India (Pujabi Sikh) who is living in India. So, she is immersed in questions about her ethnicity. How Indian is she? How British is she? Jess is 18 years old and is infatuated (enjoys very much) playing football and admires the professional player, David Beckham. Her parents forbid her to play because she is a girl. She plays anyway.
Jules is also an 18-year-old teenage girl who loves playing football. Though she is from a “typical” middle class family,
she too faces expectations for what she is able to do as female.
Step Two. Consider the collage below. Based on these pictures, ask “Is this typically male or typically female?” How do you know that something is typically male or female? Are there things you would like to do but don’t because you think boys or girls cannot do them?
Step Three. Fill out the chart after the collage with your thoughts, feelings and ideas.
Here is an example: A teenager girl might write:
“High-top sneakers typically male – I love wearing them. My mom thinks that they are boys’ shoes. But I don’t think so.”
“Smoking – not typically a female thing to do.”
Typically Female Typically Male Things I wish I could do but do not because of my gender
BENDING BAMBOO
IDENTITY | CHAPTER 1 65