Beauty and the Cultural Revolution - post is unfinished

Synopsis: Through a socratic discussion, students understand how the Cultural Revolution affected perceptions of beauty. Students apply their knowledge by creating a poster based on a magazine image of a woman.

Time Allotment: a 45-50 minute lesson

Supplies: pictures of women from fashion magazines

Questions for Socratic Discussion

Questions are numbered in the order they should be asked. Some questions have a follow-up question below them in case the main question does not produce the desired answer. These questions are labeled with a letter as well as a number. For example, if students can't give a good answer to question #3, try asking question 3a.

1. In America, what do we consider a beautiful woman?
2. If I ask different people, will I get different answers?
3. Why do you think we have so many different ideas about beauty in America?
3a. Do different cultures have different perceptions of beauty? How many cultures do we have in America?

*pause for explanation* During the Cultural Revolution, the government even made rules about what was

1. Which group of people were idolized during the Cultural Revolution?
1a. Which jobs did they have? What kind of work did they do?
ANSWER: Peasants, workers (mostly physical workers)

2. What kind of body did a peasant have?
ANSWERS: muscular, tough, thick