Tuesday, January 29 ~Implicit vs. Explicit Bias

Share our Journal 8: What questions dealing with gender and media studies would you like to explore? (Leave some space to add to this later.)

Journal 9: When did you first realize that people were treated differently based on a bias of dress, sex, age, race, status, etc...? 

EQ: What is the difference between implicit and explicit bias?

Journal 10: A Close up on Biases
First, define both Implicit and Explicit Biases from this video: Implicit vs. Explicit Bias
EQ: Where do you believe our implicit biases come from?

• Do you know of any biases you've been raised to believe? (Grounded or not.)

Journal 11: Advertisement Analysis

If our biases come from the way things have always been and the way our society organizes ideas and people, then our advertisements should be a mirror for us. Let's check some out from today and times past. 

Step 1: Old Ads ~ Go to this Duke University database and check out at least TEN old magazine ads. First, look on the left to choose a category dealing with travel so that it is a fairly gender neutral category. (For example, beauty won't due because men don't wear make-up, but all people travel, so that may be a better place to start.) Examine the ads with people in it. Let's make a pie chart for each of the first 3 categories.

• What percent have a woman serving a man?
• What percent show a woman holding some sort of responsibility or job outside the home?
• What percent of men vs. women are shown as an active part of a family life? 
• Are there any other trends you noticed? 
• What kind of implicit bias do you see in the early ads (1910-1960)?

Step 2: Current Ads ~ Now check out new ads by doing a Google Image search on "Advertising for travel." Create the same 3 pie graphs for these.

• Are there any other trends you noticed? 
• What kind of implicit bias do you see in the current ads?

For further interest: 

How do we asses our own biases?
How do we change our own biases?