HOPE—Semester B

Get physical.

  • Course Length: 18 weeks
  • Course Type: Basic
  • Category:
    • Health, Physical Education, and Counseling
    • High School

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In the first semester of our HOPE course, you learned all about fitness, nutrition, and mental/social health. You embarked on your fitness journey like a fledgling.

In the second semester of our Health Opportunities Through Physical Education course, aligned to Florida state standards, you'll take the fitness bull by the horns and start your very own fitness plan while learning about substance abuse, sex, first aid, and infectious diseases.

Through a series of health lessons, activities, and projects, you'll learn how to keep yourself safe while putting into practice the fitness concepts we've been focusing on. By the end of the course, you'll be able to

  • know the risks involved with drugs and alcohol.
  • understand the basics of the reproductive system, sex, and healthy relationships.
  • keep yourself physically healthy and safe.
  • meet your fitness goals and ride off into the sunset with your back pocket full of fitness knowledge.

This is the second semester of our HOPE course. Check out Semester A here.


Unit Breakdown

5 HOPE—Semester B - Substance Abuse

This unit covers all the nasty substances you can put into your body—and how they'll mess your health up, both physical, social, and mental. We'll cover drugs, alcohol, marijuana, the consequences of misusing them, and ways to get help.

6 HOPE—Semester B - Human Sexuality

This unit covers the big topics in human sexuality. We'll talk male and female reproductive systems, sex in the media, and healthy dating relationships and more.

7 HOPE—Semester B - Disease and Safety

In this unit, we'll cover the ins and outs of disease—including the big killers like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes—as well as how to keep yourself and others safe. We'll talk CPR, AEDs, and the Heimlich maneuver.


Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 6.03: Sex in Media and Advertising

Sex sells.

It's a cliché because it's true—nearly every advertisement out there touches on our ideas about sexuality or gender in one way or another.

See that ad for the bowling alley with the redhead looking seductively at you over a ten pound ball? That ad isn't just selling you bowling; it's selling you the idea that you'll either look like that woman or have sex with that woman if you bowl.

(Which we bowling nerds here at Shmoop know certainly isn't true.)

See that ad for men's deodorant with bro buddies sitting around watching "the game" on TV? Totally hitting on a stereotype of sexual masculinity.

And a pretty dumb one, at that.

Even something as inconspicuous as a yogurt ad or dandruff shampoo bottle is sneakily selling you traditional masculinity, femininity, and sexual norms—that everyone should look "sexy" and want to have sex, and you'll magically have that if you consume the product being advertised.

And let's not even get into sex in other forms of media—music lyrics, videos, films, television, and writing. There's so much!

It's safe to say that there's sex everywhere, but none of it is biological. It's all nurture, not nature, and it's meant to influence, manipulate, and shove a label onto you.

With no naked woman to grab our attention, these body wash bottles look almost...normal.
(Source)

The good part is, though, that once you're on to advertising's game, it's pretty easy to educate yourself and your peers. You can call out an ad while it's on TV, or even create awareness public forums.

So let's get revenge on every beer ad, chocolate company, and movie poster that's ever tried to manipulate us into buying their products by telling us what makes a "sexy" man or woman.

And here at Shmoop, we find the sweetest form of revenge is extensive internet research.


Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 6.6.03: Sex Sells...Or Does It?

We interrupt this Health Opportunities in Physical Education course for a commercial break. Literally. 

Historically, commercials and advertisements have been one of the biggest perpetuators of stereotypes about gender and sexuality, and just to be fair, we do understand why in a logical sense. After all, if a commercial or ad is designed to sell you a product you don't already have, the marketers have to convince you that you need that product—and the easiest way to do that is to imply that their product will help you become a better, more socially acceptable version of yourself. 

Since we've already established that our ideas about gender and sexuality are shaped by society, advertisers know that tapping into those gendered ideals is the fastest (dare we say, laziest) way to communicate the "You need this product" message. In other words, if an ad is targeted to a male audience, it conveys that the product will make him the man every other man wants to be and every woman wants to be with. (Yes, it's all very heteronormative.) 

For a while, these types of commercials worked. Think about some of the taglines from ads-gone-by—and the subliminal messages they're really conveying. 

  • "Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline." In other words, on the off-chance you weren't born looking like a literal supermodel, this $5.99 mousse foundation will make your face look more acceptable. 
  • "Men can take anything—except the taste of Diet Cola." If you don't have the superhuman ability to withstand a bowling ball being dropped on your head without expressing any emotion, maybe Pepsi Max will help you feel like a "real man."
  • "The Axe Effect." Want to make out with a rotating line of hot women in an elevator? Use Axe body spray. (We do actually believe that the stench of Axe would linger well after the first guy leaves; that stuff is Pungent with a capital P.) 
  • "Get Naked." Herbal Essences really dropped the subtlety here with a woman who appears to be so confident in herself after using their shampoo that she's walking down the street nearly nude, causing men to knock over fruit carts and women to pour coffee on their laptops in jealousy. 

Before anybody accuses us of "not getting the joke," we know some of these commercials are meant to be funny—and we doubt any of the advertisers blatantly set out to push stereotypes. Still, when we're bombarded with these types of ads day in and day out, commercials that might be harmless on their own start to add up and do real damage to our collective psyche. Young women start to believe that worth is dependent on beauty, while guys see that "real men" shouldn't be emotional and should treat women like trophies to collect. Meanwhile, anyone who doesn't identify with these very limited depictions of heteronormative, cisgender ideals is left wondering where they fit into society. 

After a while, advertisers wised up to the fact that maybe consumers didn't like being shamed into buying products and constantly being told they weren't good enough—and some companies started firing back, even making fun of those gender stereotypes. Check out the difference in tone between the ads we just looked at and these: 

  • "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like." Old Spice's legendary 2010 marketing campaign took a direct shot at those Axe commercials, with a commercial portraying the "ultimate man" as respectful, attentive, and mature while poking fun at the unattainable ideals showcased in so many other ads. The campaign was so successful that it increased sales of Old Spice 125% in a year and catapulted it to the #1 brand for men's body wash. I'm on a horse. 
  • "You are more beautiful than you think." Dove's Real Beauty Campaign in 2004 was one of the first to pull back the curtain on how media and societal beauty standards had impacted women's self-esteem. In this viral ad, they compared the results when a forensic artist sketched portraits of women according to their own descriptions, then according to the description of strangers. 
  • "Food, not boobs." The fast food chains Carl's Jr. and Hardee's had been one of the worst offenders in the "sexist ad" department, known for commercials with scantily clad models and celebrities taking bites of giant burgers. In 2017, they owned up to their sleazy reputation and set a new tone, with an ad where "Carl Hardee Sr." showed up to take the company back from his immature, frat-party-throwing son. 
  • "Real-life role models." Lingerie company Aerie made a bold decision in 2014 to stop airbrushing models in its ads, instead using un-retouched photos of women with all different body sizes, races, skin conditions, disabilities, etc. They've expanded their campaign over the years, introducing "real-life role models" like gymnast Aly Raisman, Paralympic snowboarder Brenna Huckaby, and scientist Keiana Cavé as the brand's ambassadors. 

So the big question here is, "What changed?" The answer is...well, we did. Millennials and Gen Z started connecting on social media with people who'd had different life experiences than their own—and everyone began to realize they weren't alone in feeling pressure to conform to unrealistic standards. 

When those generations started earning their own money, they didn't want to spend it on brands that promoted those stereotypes. While even some of those ads aren't perfect, they're way better than their predecessors, and the market for brands that push outdated ideas will continue to shrink as Gen Z gains even more spending power. Nobody does a viral brand takedown like the generation that grew up as digital natives.


Sample Lesson - Activity

  1. Which of the following factors do not make girls more likely to have menstrual cramps?

  2. Which of the following is a way advertising companies use sexuality and gender to stereotype girls in "Target Women"?

  3. Which of the following hormones make boys grow more hair?

  4. When we describe the way humans modify their gender and sexuality to make it the way everyone expects, we use the term "gender expression."

  5. What is the difference between gender identity and your sex?

  6. According to the hypermasculinity article in your readings, what describes the way men are most often sexualized in advertising?