For 6th grade Rosh Hodesh this month, we looked at the Purim story and its #1 hero... Esther! We found that Esther was chosen as queen for her beauty, but saved the day for the Jews by using her brains and bravery. We used this story as inspiration when talking about the way women are judged on their looks today. Though we agreed that men can also be judged by their looks, we all felt that women are judged more harshly- just like Esther in the beauty contest for queen!
We created two group collages from pictures in magazines. One was a collection of positive representations of women. The other was a collection of negative representations of women. Our positive images included good role models (like Taylor Swift, chosen by several Rosh Hodesh members!), "unlikely" models (like women of color or women who were older than the typical model), women who were promoting healthy lifestyles, and women who weren't wearing lots of make up:
Our negative images included women who made big changes to their looks, women who were unhealthy, and women that were too provocative (including a 10 year old model!):
I found it really interesting that it was so much easier for the girls to find negative representations than positive ones! And we pointed out that even our positive representations often left a lot to be desired. This fascinating activity ended with a viewing of Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty video
Evolution (so good we watched it twice!).
