Students gather in the Rhyolite room in the Lied Library to play the original board games they developed over the course of the semester. The games are the result of weeks of brainstorming and hands-on creation in the library's makerspace. 

In one game, they move around a board collecting gender-neutral garments for their character — anything from David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust boots to a day dress from the Victorian era — and compete in runway challenges, all while avoiding the fashion police.

In another, players roll a “gender die” to determine an identity for the round and choose a behavior card from their hand that best aligns with stereotypical expectations. Example behaviors include "attending parent-teacher conferences" or "picking a show for the group to watch." The winner is chosen based on the arguments each person gives for their card.

Another game reimagines the classic board game, Life. Rather than following the traditional game’s milestones like marriage and parenthood, players explore alternative life choices.

The games all vary, but they’re illustrative of the different ways gender norms influence our everyday decisions, behaviors, and assumptions.

The Course: Gender and Communication

Taught by communication studies associate professor Emma Frances Bloomfield, COM 407: Gender and Communication explores the interrelationship between the two concepts: how we communicate about gender and the ways in which gender influences our communication.

“Gender norms are invisible; they just become a part of the fabric of society," Bloomfield says. "You have to pay attention to them to reveal them and then work to change them.”

She shares an example of how workplace narratives on “merit” can be influenced by gender. “Maybe John comes into the office half an hour early each day, but Mary can't because she has to drop her kids off. Does John seem more worthy of a promotion, even if they’re both completing their tasks correctly?” 

Because gendered narratives and stereotypes permeate society, Bloomfield wants her students to be more critical of how they consume media, engage in conversations, and build relationships.

The professor 

Bloomfield’s research focus is on science and environmental communication but she’s noticed how that overlaps with gender communication.

“More and more, I’m seeing the role of gender emerge in my own research,” she says. “There aren't a lot of women in STEM careers, so the people who are talking about science might be a certain kind of person or might be assumed to be men. Community activists for the environment are oftentimes women. So there are a lot of ways that gender emerges in these topics.”

The class format 

“I felt gender is basically limitless,” says Bloomfield. So, she gave her students the agency to design their syllabus to cover topics they were most interested in.

This semester included the dichotomy of “tradwife” influencers: women who embrace being stay-at-home mothers and renounce careers while simultaneously earning income as social media personalities.

Students also reflect on their upbringing — where did they learn about gender messages? One student recalled not being allowed to help carry groceries because it was considered a job for her brother. Others drew connections from TV shows and their childhood conversations with friends.

Each week, the course covers a topic through a mixture of lecture, discussion, and activities, but the highlight is the semester-long board game project, which turns reflection into a gamification exercise.

As a bonus, students are challenged to think in ways that can’t be outsourced to AI.

“Gamification is an interesting, creative but effective way to demonstrate knowledge," Bloomfield says. "[I was] trying to do something that wasn't just an essay they could get ChatGPT to write,."

Something students might be surprised to learn

Students are often surprised to discover just how embedded gender is in everything.

“We had a class session a few weeks ago where we looked at how your resume contains coded gender information that you might not even realize,” says Bloomfield. A research article the class read found that even when anonymized, AI tools were able to accurately guess an applicant’s gender about 80% of the time based on content. “Things you think might be anonymous or help us to be more equitable don’t necessarily help because there's still so many ways that gender influences all of the things that we do,” she says.

The most exciting aspect of teaching the course

For Bloomfield, the most fulfilling part of teaching is seeing what she calls, “the click moment.” 

“I love when students reflect and bring their own experiences into class,” she says. “It really tells me that the course content is directly relevant to their lives.”

Something even lay people should know

Gender is everywhere, Bloofield says, but you’re never only your gender; gender always interacts with race, culture, class, sexuality — everything that makes you unique. Understanding the role that these identity markers play in how you are perceived is an important step in communicating more effectively.

The reading list

Bloomfield's recommendations for learning more about the relationship between gender and communication:

• Rage Becomes Her, a 2018 book by Soraya Chemaly
• The Iqra Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing access to education, especially for girls, in remote northern Pakistan.
• Disclosure, a Netflix documentary featuring trans creatives that reflects on how Hollywood depictions of transgender lives simultaneously mirrors and manufactures anxieties about gender.