Final Examination

Final Examination
Open-course-book Final Examination: Wednesday December 16th 19:00- 22:00, room HCC2245.

An Ironic Presentation of High Fidelity's Representation of Feminism

In Nick Hornby's High Fidelity (as in Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary) Feminism is presented as a hostile, anti-male attack system which seeks to force men to change their behavior according female norms and standards.

Here is an ironic reversal of that view: "The gender wars are over: and men won."

On the Social Inferiority of Males

Ahead of today's lecture on Nick Hornby's representation of failed masculinity and female superiority, read, via the indispensible Arts & Letters Daily, "The Puzzle of Boys." Discuss with your assigned Group, and prepare a five minute analytical reflection.

Rob, Barry, Dick: Sexual Selection in action

What does science have to say about why ugly men survive if, as Darwin declares, women chose which men get to reproduce?

A new study explains why we aren't all born with Brad Pitt’s perfectly chiseled features or Angelina Jolie’s pouty lips.... [M]en with greater genetic diversity in areas of the genome relating to disease defense were also rated as more attractive by women. So because these males with greater mutation rates are more likely to mate, they will pass that higher rate on to their offspring, allowing sexual selection to propagate variation through the population, a finding that likely applies to all
organisms.
This propagation means that peacocks’ tail feathers will
vary in length and that some of us definitely won’t be America’s next top model.

And some of us will be Rob, Barry & Dick....

"Championship Vinyl" in Vancouver

Ideally, we would do a class field trip to the Vancouver branch of "Championship Vinyl," which goes by the name Zulu Records. I myself have almost certainly met Dick there ....