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1. Detail three potential harmful side effects of Western culture’s obsession with beauty. (This can be on an individual basis or in relation to larger institutional or societal repercussions.) Provide statistics and/or specific quotes from authors.
2. Discuss the main points Audrey Bilger makes about the problematic use of the phrase “you guys.” Audrey Bilger’s “On Language: you guys” (5 pages) https://feministtalk.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/y…
3. Why does Jessica Valenti argue that virginity doesn’t exist? Jessica Valenti “The Cult of Virginity” (5 pages), https://rampages.us/univ200sp2015boaz/wp-content/u… , Jessica Valenti “The Purity Myth” (Youtube, 3:36 mins)The Purity Myth Official Trailer #1 (2011) HD
4. What is problematic, according to Valenti, with equating inaction (or the act of staying “pure” or “innocent” ascribed to virginity) with morality?
5. What is “enlightened sexism,” as defined by Susan J. Douglas? In what way does capitalism allow these “fantasies of power” to proliferate? Susan J. Douglas’ “Fantasies of Power” excerpt from Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism’s Work is Done (2010) (PDF, 9 pages) [PDFs are posted under “File”] 
6. Why do authors/theorist argue that it is necessary to analyze America’s cultural attitudes toward menstruation and the biological processes associated with being female? Use specific examples from assigned texts to support your answer.
7. What factors led Lara Owen  to conclude, “I began to realize that there was a wisdom inherent in the body itself and that my own culture didn’t necessarily have a very wise or useful attitude to the processes of being female”? 
8. What causes Lara Owen to state, “This was an experience that set me apart from the world of men, and the intellect, in a stark and thorough way”? What helps her to eventually love herself as a woman?  Lara Owen “Her Blood is Gold” (PDF – pages 43 – 49) and “The Wounded Woman” (PDF – pages 53 – 67) excerpt from Her Blood is Gold: Awakening to the Wisdom of Menstruation (2009) YOU CAN FIND READING IN FILES UNDER. 
9. Provide one example of a “sexual script” for women in contemporary American culture. How can a feminist perspective be applied to that particular sexual interaction?
10. Why do theorists argue that sex education in America needs to change in order to address rape culture? Use specific examples from assigned texts to support your answer