Proposal
Jessica, Amanda, Erin
We are completing our final project on Gender and Generation Roles. As we continue further research on this topic, we know that gender and generation roles is a conflicting topic within our society as well as outside of the United States. In this case, Nigeria. In some ways it has lightened up a bit. Even though we are all brought up differently, we all still face similar gender roles. And these roles are affected by future generation and social roles as well.
Let’s start with generation roles. We definitely see generation roles in Nigeria and the United States. In Nigeria, there is more structured parenting, meaning children can’t be disrespectful in any way. And they are more likely to listen to what their parents ask of them. If they disobey, the children get physical punishment. In the United States, parents are more lenient with their children. This isn’t necessarily a good thing because children then become rebellious. On the other hand, children are more allowed to have their own ideas/dreams despite what their parents want for them.
Now onto gender roles. Keep in mind, gender roles are “the role or behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms” (Lumen Learning). For example, in Nigeria, women are “expected to plan office parties because it’s a ‘woman’s job’…..As a woman, I am expected to make my own meals…”(Samiha Nettikkara). In America, women are “nurturing, caring, social, emotional” (Treleaven 1). They were also caretakers . Men were considered “aggressive, instinctual, private, promiscuous”(Treleaven 1). They were also the breadwinners of the family.
With all of this being said, for our group project we are going to use the scene from chapter 5 of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah. In this scene, we can see gender roles from when Ifemelu was shocked when she found out that Aunty Uju didn’t have her own money because the General refused to let her handle the money. This also shows generation roles because men are considered responsible for going out to work and handling money. For the visual aspect of this project, we are doing a storyboard comic. We thought this would be a great way to show the chosen scene from Americanah because we thought it would be a fun way to show visual representation of the gender/generation roles from the Nigerian aspect, specifically in Aunty Uju’s case.
“Gender Roles in the U.S.” Lumen Learning. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/cochise-sociology-os/chapter/gender-roles-in-the-u-s/
Treleaven, Christina. “Gender, Generation, and Jobs: Differences in Gender Role Ideologies by Age and Occupation”, 2015. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=sociology_masrp
Nettikkara, Samiha. “What it Means to be Female in Nigeria”. BBC News, 1Jul, 2015. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-33239356
I think your pitch has a good concept. I believe the subject is an issue still and many countries and needs to be discussed. Great outside research. My only suggestion is stating the medium you will be using for this project.
This is a great topic to analyze and “remix.” I would consider too maybe picking another chapter or scene in the book where immigration is a factor in generation and gender roles, maybe when Ifemelu comes over to America and with her several relationships with men in her life.
This is a good idea for the project. One suggestion that I could make is make your storyboard really come to lift and make it really detailed about how the roles make a difference.
Ideas are clear and consciese. However, I would suggest picking either gender roles or generation roles. It might help slim down the amount of research/work required for your group.
I think it is important to discuss the generation and gender roles in the United States and Nigeria. My suggestion is that it might be hard to incorporate both generation and gender roles in this project, so your group should either choose one or try to link both a gender role and a generation role into one story.
I think the topics chosen for the final are great and the issues are something individuals still face in the U.S. however, it might be difficult to include both generational roles and gender roles in one. A suggestion is to pick one of the issue that is mainly shown in the scene the group is conveying through the storyboard. It seems to be that gender role is the prevailing issue in the scene and should be the main focus.
I think this is a great topic to discuss. Issues facing gender and generational roles are still very much present today and I think you have a lot of research backing up your topic. My only suggestion is to narrow down the topic because I think gender and generational roles are really broad topics to discuss, so I think narrowing it down will help you achieve your goal.
I think this topic is so important and is still faced today. Maybe in the storyboard you could add a “flashback” of the general telling Aunty Uju the she could not handle money.
I like this idea! This is a big issue today and some personal experiences should be added in. Personally, I believe that you should make this into a podcasts so that you can hear the emotions rather than viewing it because it’s a hot topic. We usually see this on tv, images and videos but we don’t just hear the voices for it.
Love this topic! I feel there is a lot to explore with this. My only suggestion is to add more research behind statements for back up in case it may be questioned. I love the visual idea I feel like you all will definitely tell a story with it. I also think this could definitely be a podcast if you were interested. I would love to hear the facts, emotion, and experience behind this topic because today there are so many views on it.
Gender roles is a topic of debate that we see around the world. Persoanlly, I found reading Americanah a refreshing experience to see from another perspective. I’m very curious to see how your storyboard comes together. If I had to make one suggestion, it would be to narrow down your subject topic. Both gender roles and generation roles can be hard to summarize in a storyboard. I’d reccomend choosing one or the other and focus on the effect they had on the characters involved.
The topic of your pitch is very important. Gender roles are very prevalent in both cultures. I would add more statistics or instances of people experiencing this in the U.S. in order to show people how common this situation is.