Brittany Taylor
WNST250
Section 0101
May 13, 2008
FINAL ASSIGNMENT
What is feminism? Wikipedia defines feminism as the comprises a number of movements, theories and philosophies that are concerned with issues of gender difference, that advocate equality for women, and that campaign for women's rights and interests. When I first started taking this Women’s Studies course, I didn’t think that is what feminism meant. I had many mixed emotions on the subject of feminism. I thought it had to deal with lesbians and things of a very radical manner. When I pictured feminists in my mind I thought of bra burners and crazy women who not only wanted to be equal to men but better. I felt that the women’s movement began to put women above men. When women wanted to be “equal” they lost many privileges like chivalry. To feminists this was demeaning to women, but it also ruined it for the rest of us who would love to have car doors held open for us.
This women’s studies course has taught me to look at things with a different perspective. There were many assignments through out the semester that made me think and evaluate how I felt on certain issues. The first assignment asked us to make assumptions about what we thought feminism meant and explore those assumptions at the art museums in our nation’s capital. When I first began to collect my assumptions, I realized that they all are based on stereotypes of feminism. I assumed that the paintings that were considered feminist would contain only women, that they would be gentle and delicate looking (not manly), that a lot of the paintings would have lesbians in them or references to homosexuals, that the art would show radical women, and that I wouldn’t find the art every interesting. Almost all of these assumptions were incorrect. The paintings all could have been painted by a man or a woman. They showed men, women, radical images, and normal likeable images. Some paintings did portray women with manly features but most did not. I actually found most of the paintings to be very enjoyable. I went to these museums with two of my closest guys friends and I feel that we all got a little out of our adventures that day. I learned that art can be anything from a painting to an inkless tattoo to a sculpture made out of metal clothes hangers. The first assignment helped to open up my feelings towards feminism.
I enjoyed coming to lecture. Women’s studies lectures were not like any other lecture I have had in college. It has more of a liberal arts feeling to it. On most days we would open up with music, a video or a poem. These extra aspects helped to link our readings and assignments to what is going on with the feminist movement in the world today. We learned about many forms of activism, such as drawings on the sidewalks, to seminars, to revolutionary authors, and feminist events. Besides lecture we had to attend our discussion. Discussion was very informative, but I didn’t quite feel that it was one hundred percent connected to lecture. I felt that discussion was about random things that in some way sometimes related to what we were talking about in lecture. I wish that discussion would have gone off of lecture entirely so that it would have made the connection between the two clearer. I did enjoy discussion as well as my two TAs. They are well informed in the area of women’s studies and activism.
During the course of the semester we were asked to read many books related to feminism. Three of these books were Fight Like a Girl by Megan Seely, Feminism is for Everybody by Bell Hooks, and Kindred by Octavia Butler. The first book Fight Like a Girl, serves as a blueprint on how to become a feminist. This book gives readers many ideas on how to actively get involved with the women’s movement. To me the most intriguing part of this book was that it was geared towards my generation. It was almost like it was coming from my point of view. The resources and ways of getting involved in the book are awesome because they car tangible. There is a quote that explains how I feel about politics, women’s rights, and rights in general and it says, “I never saw politics relevant in my life until I started to see that the rights that I have taken for granted for my entire life can be taken away just as quickly as a vote can be taken in Congress. I am registered to vote and I use my vote willingly” (Seely, 96). The book makes you realize that things can be done when it comes to obtaining rights but once you have those rights they can be taken for granted. I am registered to vote, but I don’t really see it as a privilege. To me, it’s more of a duty that I have to take care of because I am a citizen. I guess it will mean more to me once I am older and the issues in
Next we were asked to read Feminism is For Everybody by Bell Hooks. This book was a great read because it basically introduced me into what feminism is. It helped to clarify some of the misconceptions I had about feminism. It was interesting to read, because coming into this course I basically knew nothing about feminism, and what I did know was based off of popular stereotypes our culture has bestowed on feminism. Before reading this book, I only considered the white upper-class side of feminism. This book shows how the intersectionality of race, gender, class, and sexuality all play a role in our day-to-day lives. Changing one part of the matrix of domination can change everything in a person’s life. It’s not about being white; it’s about being a middle-class white woman that lives in
One of the last books we had to read was Kindred, by Octavia Butler. Kindred is about a girl named Dana who goes back and forth into the past. This book deals with things such as slavery, rape, and how to get through the tough parts in life. This science fiction novel explores abuses of power, issues with gender roles, and racial conflicts. I like how this book has a modern outlook on slavery, since the author herself was not a slave. This book was an easy read, and it was very interesting. It was a great way to link other issues to feminism. It was not a book about feminism alone, but the racial abuses, and gender abuses, help define feminism in a whole new way. It made me realize how grateful I am to live in a time where slavery doesn’t exist as much as it did two hundred years ago. This novel helped to bring the other books to life by telling a story that incorporated all of the aspects of the matrix of domination.
Women’s Studies has taught me a lot this semester. One of the main things it has taught me is that nothing is what it seems until you get to know all of its aspects. Once you examine all of its parts then you can make a judgment, but until then any judgment is selfish. Feminism is not about crazy women who want to be considered better than men, but it is a movement that wants to ensure that women are not degraded because of our sex. Even today, after the women’s movement began one hundred and sixty years ago, women are treated poorly solely based on the fact that we are women. Women are degraded because men feel that they can use their sexuality to get ahead. This class has taught me that there are still women’s rights issues going on today. It has also taught me that if you want something done, you have to get a group together and put effort into it. By doing those things anything can be achieved. I learned a lot about myself from this class; it definitely opened me up to a lot of new things. Women’s Studies opened some new doors in my future.
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