Reading Masculinity on 9gag

This study is conducted to reveal the masculine qualities stereotyped on 9GAG by 9GAG users. There are two main theories used in analyzing this study, gender stereotype and denotation & connotation. (). First, the gender stereotype concepts used are from Brannon (2004) and Wood (2008). The first part of the study discusses 9GAG popular posts which content subtly contains of Alpha Male qualities. The result is the users show preferences on conventional masculine qualities. The second part of the study discusses 9GAG popular posts which content subtly contains of Beta Male qualities. The result is there are some specific feminine or Beta Male sides 9GAG users accept in men. In conclusion, 9GAG users still focus more on masculine qualities, especially masculine physical features, in men. Feminine qualities in men can be accepted by the community if men possess the conventional masculine physical features first

Deciding what to exhibit in museums : does it really matter?

Of all the abundant papers focusing on museum environments, few dismantle the decision making process which characterizes the planning of displays and site presentations, going beyond space restrictions and physical needs of ancient artefacts. Such an approach is essential to understand why these decisions matter. A natural question which is seldom asked is, why display to the public in the first place? The present paper will start with this question, discussing briefly the two main theoretical stances in current western discourse on the subject. Two local case-studies will follow, supplemented by examples of projects which revolve around archaeology and communities. In the conclusion, theory and case-studies will be brought together in order to explain the link between archaeologists and non-archaeologists vis-a-vis archaeological heritage presentation.peer-reviewe

Telling timber tales in higher education: a reflection on my journey with digital storytelling

The challenges of the Higher Education landscape are the result of massification and globalisation. The general lack of preparedness in students and lack of academic literacy means that plagiarism is increasingly a challenge in written assignments. In the South African context, this is amplified, as students may be studying in their third or fourth language. Relying on students' affinity for visual learning, digital storytelling was first used as an alternative assessment method (to a written assignment) in 2011. This paper is a reflection on a lecturer's journey with digital storytelling, beginning with the first project in the Industrial Design programme at a University of Technology in South Africa. The short movie clips, known as digital stories, were created with off-the-shelf equipment and techniques, and any open source software available to the students. By evaluating the project using the lens of Authentic Learning, some of the benefits and challenges of using this alternative means of assessment could be identified. The authentic learning, the polished end products, the engagement of students with the material, the decidedly independent learning, and the collaborative practice were recognised as key benefits. The students also saw the visual orientation of the project, the digital literacy-building, and freedom of creative expression as benefits, and revealed their resourcefulness during the student-led project. This paper also acknowledges the two models of digital storytelling, the growth of communities of practice and the possibilities for further research into this growing area of learning in Higher Education

Talk Me Home: Visibility in Shared Narrative

Cultural inclusion requires locations in which people can ‘discursively’ gather and reside. One method of creating a lesbian-specific location is through the reiterations and repetitions of narratives. Narrative structure is an effective heuristic in what could be called a naturalisation process. Using a well-known lesbian gossip column this paper demonstrates that a sense of cultural groupmemory is produced and shared through the narrative of gossip. The degree of assumed knowledge subsequently attained is textually inscribed in the trajectory of gossip over time. In this gossip column, celebrities, through their ongoing coming-out processes, are participants in the naturalisation process, informing and normalising a historical background for lesbian community. Inclusion operates through this narrativisation to produce a cultural memory that becomes an assumed aspect of social interactions. Visibility is the predominant experiential choice of the writer in all of the individual recount segments around which the narrative structures of gossip are built. In this way, the intimate details of a celebrity’s ‘visibility’ process become the basis of the ‘unfolding intimacies’ of this social group’s ‘main characters’ (Dunbar, 1995: 5). The ‘synchronic’ moment through reiteration in gossiped-about visibility creates a diachronic collective memory to support an inclusive culture. In the instances of a lesbian gossip column this is accomplished through the established and everyday paradigms of narrative structure which produces a shared and mutually understood experiential meaning