Posts

Gender Studies Blog Post #4

In the movie “Mustang”, the girls’ grandmother goes surprisingly far out of her way to cover up their little trip to the soccer match. At the time, I was confused and thought I had missed a major plot as at every other point in the story she does her best to keep them in the house and we’ve seen her punish the girls when they disobey her. However, after revisiting my notes, it became clear to me that as harmful as some of her actions may be to her grandchildren, they seem to come from a genuine place of love. Her talk of how she went through the same ordeal as the girls and eventually grew to love her chosen partner as well as the obvious excitement she has for the marriages of each of her granddaughters suggests she truly believes her choices are the best course of action for the children. Because of this, I think she covers up the girls’ escapade as even she’s afraid of what their uncle will do to them if he sees them at the stadium. Looking back, her reasoning and motives seem obvio...
1 comment
Read more

Gender Studies Blog Post #3

My favorite moment of Gender Studies from the past few weeks is without a doubt the time we spent looking at those very “peculiar” ads in class. Aside from the enjoyment I got out of reading “MAN CARD REVOKED” in front of the class, I’d say the most fascinating part of the ads is just how blatant and seemingly uncalculated they are. The fact that ads like these had to go through and be approved at board meetings in these companies and not enough high ranking people thought “Well you know, there are prolly some lassies who’d buy a Dr. Pepper from us if we didn’t blatantly say in our new ad ‘It’s not for women’. Why are we just cutting off a big chunk of our customers like this?” to come up with a different advertisement baffles me. Even if it somehow did improve their sales short term, what the hell were they thinking when it came to PR? Who had enough confidence in this terrible ad to introduce it to their coworkers? Why am I still wasting my time trying to understand a terrible busi...
2 comments
Read more

Gender Studies Blog Post #2

  Chosen Prompt: Write about anything from Weeks 6-10 of Gender Studies (including the readings by Kobabe, Lester, and Plett; Disclosure or Paris Is Burning; the student-led discussions; or the Gender and Healthcare readings/presentations) that has struck you as especially interesting. What struck you? Expand on this idea. Out of all our recent classroom activities, Paris is Burning has undoubtedly stuck with me the most. I think the little uplifting moments and quotes scattered throughout the documentary were a big contributor in keeping me engaged. In particular, the quotes “At the ball, whatever you want to be, you be” and “There’s something here for everybody, it’s what keeps them coming.” really sold me on just how special and magical these balls were. Getting to see all sorts of struggling people going to these balls knowing that they could be themselves and let loose for a few hours was oddly inspiring and entertaining. Watching some of the contestants walk in with a happy a...
1 comment
Read more

Gender Studies Blog Post #1

  My favorite class reading so far has been Roxane Gay’s “Bad Feminist”. I like how Gay’s writing is snappy and to the point with her quick introduction of the problems she has faced with feminism and other’s perceptions of the movement. Even as someone who knows very little about the movement, her idea of feminism being a very flawed yet useful tool for people to find their voice and feel more comfortable with themselves is very uplifting and inspiring. I appreciate how grounded and realistic she is in her writing’s tone by bringing the idea of the feminist movement’s perfect “Pedestal Feminist” down to earth. She points out how none of these seemingly untouchable figures are held up high as a shining example for long and how they are treated as irrelevant as soon as they eventually screw something up, no matter how big or small their mistake may be. I think the idea of someone having to be a damn near god to be a recognized and valued member of the feminist movement is childish...
5 comments
Read more