1. New social movements are defined as movements that address values, social identities, and improvements in the quality of life. If you had the ability to mobilize resources to create a new social movement to promote or oppose social change, what social change would your movement address? Why and how?
2. When it comes to our educational system, what do you think comes first- legal reform followed by education and social change? Or is it the reverse- do we first see social change and then the legal changes that respond to that?
3. In what ways is the Internet changing the face of social movements? Consider what happened in Egypt, Libya, Japan, and other places all in the past 2 years (just to name a few!) In just moments images and information was shared via facebook and twitter across the globe, mobilizing millions to action.In what ways do you think our communication technology will continue to shape other types of social movements?
4. There are some good documentaries that highlight this issue. Are there any in particular that you recommend? And if you were to make a film, what would you be sure to cover on this?
5. As of 2011, the United States has never had a female president. Nations throughout the world have had powerful queens and elected leaders. How might you explain the fact that the United States has never elected a woman to be president?
6. In what ways did your parents teach you/show you the gender norms of American culture? Without having to explicitly teach the lessons by verbalizing them, how did they convey the socializing messages about how to act and behave appropriately for your gender? How does this affect the likelihood of seeing prominent female leaders?
7. At what point do you think (or can remember) in your life you became aware of the fact that boys and girls were different and that "society" had different expectations for roles and behaviors?
8. What are some examples of "material culture" and "nonmaterial culture" that were part of your family and part of your upbringing and helped socialize you into norms about gender?