Your Dad's a Feminist! Liza Donnelly

This lesson asks how humorous language can be used to change the way we look at women in society. Specifically, we will look at the cartoons of Liza Donnelly, who draws for the New Yorker, and listen to her talk about the effects that cartoons can have. We will deconstruct several cartoons in order to examine different kinds of humor, such as pun, irony, sarcasm and rhetorical questions.

Your dad's a feminist!
Liza Donnelly

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Cemetery of women

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Football women

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Magazines which are degrading to women

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Women should stay at home and raise their chilren

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Towards assessment

Written task 1- You could write a letter to Liza Donnelly to either commend or criticize her on her efforts to create awareness for gender issues through cartoons. In your letter you can refer to both her TED talk and the cartoons she presents.

Further oral activity -Using the five cartoons above, you can hold a presentation in which you explain how cartoons and humor can be used to promote gender equality. You will want to discuss how gender stereotypes are challenged, and which types of humor are used.