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Critical Feminist Studies 2013
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Welcome to the on-line conversation for Critical Feminist Studies, an introductory-level course offered in the English Department and Gender and Sexuality Program @ Bryn Mawr College in Fall 2013. |
Who are you writing for? Primarily for yourself, and for others in our course. But also for the world. This is a "public" forum, so people anywhere on the web might look in. You're writing for yourself, for others in the class, AND for others you might or might not know. So, your thoughts in progress can contribute to the thoughts in progress of LOTS of people. The web is giving increasing reality to the idea that there can actually evolve a world community, and you're part of helping to bring that about. We're glad to have you along, and hope you come to both enjoy and value our shared explorations. Feel free to comment on any post below, or to POST YOUR THOUGHTS HERE.
![nia.pike's picture nia.pike's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1311.jpg)
Avatar name change
I just changed my avatar name because I felt my previous name was too identifiable as me. My new avatar name is my middle name and my mother's maiden name. So it is still me, but a distanced version of myself. Yet, despite the distance my words on this blog are my own. But the distance is necessary because I do not perform (see my web event below for more information on performing for society) the same for everyone because I am afraid of the conservative, close-minded society I come from. When writing my web event, I struck a chord deep within me that I do not reveal to everyone in my life. And thus because this blog is a public forum, I do not want my resignification (again see my web event) to be revealed preemptively. I am not ready to face the music if certain people happen upon this forum and figure out it is me, then read all my postings. Instead I would rather do it in my own way and in my own time, because I am not ready for that time yet. Thank y'all for understanding.
![nia.pike's picture nia.pike's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1311.jpg)
Web event #1 : A rebellion from the chains of society
"Put on a dress!"
"Don't sit like that, be more ladylike!"
"Look more ladylike."
"A woman must look nice to attract a man to look after her."
"All those gays are going to Hell!"
"Find yourself a nice man."
"Be more normal!"
![pialamode314's picture pialamode314's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1293.jpg)
Web Event 1: Self-Expression and Gender Identity on Facebook
The rise in popularity of social media networks such as Facebook in our generation has sparked a lot of discussion amongst people about its potential for breaking down barriers of self-expression, especially when it comes to gender identity and exploration. As one study quotes, “Online media was cast as a potential agent of social change with respect to gender oppression and discrimination on a number of levels” (Bailey et al. 4). People talk about having the freedom to customize their Facebook profiles to portray the person they believe themselves to be, or aspire to be. It also seems in many ways to be a great avenue in which to explore and express gender identity. I myself have found that I love using my Facebook profile to express my continuously changing gender identity. Though I identify as a woman and have never changed genders, over the past few years the way I express my gender identity has certainly altered. By uploading photos and making posts on my Facebook profile, I have found a way to proudly express my identity to my “friends” as it changes. I even have a good friend who transitioned to a gender-neutral identity over the summer, and they used Facebook as a way to make people aware by changing their name and pronouns on their profile, followed by an open statement about it in a post to clear up any confusion. With all of these positive experiences, it would seem that Facebook is an ideal playing field for social change.
![pialamode314's picture pialamode314's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1293.jpg)
Was my happy anti-self portrait invalid?
I had a really interesting and unexpected personal experience when presenting our anti-self portraits to the class. I really loved creating mine and I thought it showed a cute and happy little snippet of my private life and the things I love (yes, I do sit in my room naked playing the ukelele frequently). I was really excited to present it in class because I thought it represented the person I was very well. However, when I got to class and started looking around at all of the other anti-self portraits people made, I began to feel really insecure about my own. So many people had created these amazing, beautiful portraits that showed a deeper, sometimes darker part of who they were or the things they have experienced, and I felt like my happy little video was inadequate and superficial. I felt really self-concious about it and was really worried that I had messed up the assignment and should have done something to represent some deep dark part of me that no one knew about. Then at the end of the class when Laura Swanson mentioned mine as a happy anti-self portrait (in a way, validating it for me), I realized that I had chosen to do a happy portrait for a reason, though I may not have realized it at first. I am in general, a perpetually happy person down to the core no matter what, and though I don't often acknowledge that out loud, it is something I see in myself and I guess subconciously felt the need to represent in my portrait.
![nia.pike's picture nia.pike's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1311.jpg)
Anti-Self Portrait
I know a lot of people chose to truly put themselves out there with their anti-self portraits today. And I admire their choice. I would like to speak a few words on why I chose to address myself from a more general view. Because I did not put my name next my anti-self portrait, I shall tell y'all which one was mine. Mine was the one of a faceless person split into four parts surrounded by eyes and hands. My anti-self portrait addresses parts of who I am and parts of my life that I am still trying to figure out myself and reassociate myself with. I was not be as in depth as I wanted to be because I do not even understand who I am, so how can I attempt to portray it to others. But this experience of seeing many others' raw emotions and life experiences has inspired me to do this exercise again in the future, perhaps 6 months or a year from now, to see how I have or have not changed in how I chose to let others see me.
I wanted to share these thoughts with y'all via Serendip because I will admit I felt uneasy in the class with Haverford students because they had not shared in this jounrey we have been taking as a class this semester. I have a level of comfort with y'all as we support each other's explorations in sex, gender, feminism, and beyond.
![kwilkinson's picture kwilkinson's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1318.jpg)
M Carey Thomas/Serendip Throwback
Has anyone else ever seen this? I feel like I have seen it before. I wanted to post this not only because there is very interesting information about Bryn Mawr's racial discourse, but we are literally having this same conversation 10 years later surrounding Perry and other things.
Although some may think this history is not relevant today, it really still is. M Carey Thomas is one of the most celebrated President's of this college, but why do we glide over the fact of she had very strong convictions about racial hierarchy and eugenics? Many have told me that this isn't as relevant because it was the popular opinion of the time. Given that she actively challenged the societal norms and constructions by executing her vision of a highly-rigorous education for women, why is she allowed to get a pass on her prejudice?
/sci_cult/diversity/inclusion.html
![nia.pike's picture nia.pike's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1311.jpg)
Feminist Media Tumblr
So I was procrastinating doing my homework (not for this class though!) and wandered on to Tumblr, where my productivity screeched to a stand still. Then as a part of my meanderings I came across one Tumblr blog entitled Feminist Media: Taking back the media. Here it is! Several of the posts are about whether or not certain Disney movies could be considered feminist or not. The one that caught my eye was the one about Mulan. As a child, I always wanted to watch the movie Mulan as she became my childhood idol. I know all of the words to "I'll Make a Man Out of You!"
Before I entered this course, Mulan would have been my go-to suggestion of a femminist movie. Now, after learning about the different types of feminism, I understand that Mulan is only one type of feminism. Perhaps Mulan could be viewed through the lens of more than one type of feminism. It is true she portrayed herself as a man to enter the army in her father's place, like the members of the first wave of feminism. But when she ultimately saves China at the end of the film, she does it as a woman, like the second wave of feminism. By the end of the film, she knows who she is, and she knows she does not have to pretend any more. Her assumption is true; Shang, the Emperor, and the rest of China respect her as a powerful and inspirational woman.
![Anne Dalke's picture Anne Dalke's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-39.jpg)
since you're all thinking about self-representation this week
...i thought you might be interested in (inspired/put off by?) this
animated version of Janis Joplan's final interview, on creativity and rejection....
![vhiggins's picture vhiggins's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1341.jpg)
Love Italian Style
A friend recently showed me this article, and I thought to share it with you all. It is a review of the book "Love Italian Style: The Secrets of my Hot and Happy Marriage" written by Melissa Gorge (cast member of The Real Housewives of New Jersey). This review is featured on Jezebel so it has a strong feminist bias, but once you read it, you'll know why I couldn't find any reviews that were neutral.
http://jezebel.com/real-housewife-melissa-gorgas-new-book-advocates-mar-1371722729
Jezebel's main issue with the book is that Gorge advocates for marital rape, saying that a wife should be available for sex with her husband whenever he wants it, whether she wants to or not. Gorge includes other gems like "You can do just about anything for 10 minutes," and that strict gender rolls should apply within a marriage, the wife busy with housework while the husband works. She says, "When gender roles are confused, sexual roles are, too. If he's at the sink and then changing diapers, then who throws down in the bed?"
![EP's picture EP's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1308.jpg)
Thoughts on staring
After watching the short clip of Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, I started to think about the nature of staring as type of reinforcement of the social norms of our society. People stare what is unfamiliar to them, and those who are considered outside of the what is considered the norm are constantly the objects of staring. While the intention of the starer is probably not to be unkind or rude, the person being stared at can feel that they fall outside of what is considered "normal," thus feeling othered. Through the act of staring (whether it is intentional or not), the norms of society are reinforced through a subtle act. The person being stared at feels as if they do not belong because they do not fit the criteria of what is considered "normal."
![sschurtz's picture sschurtz's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1321.jpg)
Accessibility in feminist literature
Last week we talked about accessibility in regards to literature and if books should be less accessible to be effective. I think that it’s interesting to compare Persepolis with The Doll's House in this regard. For Persepolis I watched the movie and read the book and I found it very accessible in both formats. When I read The Doll's House, it wasn’t until class when we discussed it that I began to understand some of the deeper meaning. I’m not sure if I agree that feminist literature should be less accessible. I think that it has to have meaning below the surface and it should not be dumbed down but it’s also important that it can reach people. I believe both are feminist works but I’m not sure if having one be less accessible makes it more of a feminist work. Are there negatives to having a piece of work be too accessible? Does it somehow make it less powerful? Is accessibility a feminist value?
![ari_hall's picture ari_hall's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1322.jpg)
Sarah Bartman and stares at the black female body
Sarah Bartman was an African women taken from Cape Town and brought to London to be put on display for her "freakish" body image. Bartman had a large buttox, genitals and breast, as compared to European women. This made her a spectacle of scientific research which distinguished her and all black women as racially inferior and hyper-sexualized. Even after her death her brain and genitals were put on display. Today, the black female body is still put on display, in music videos, in the political arena, in health care and in daily life. Stared at, pocked and prodded. From our hair to our thighs to our buttox, to skin complexion the black woman is often made a spectale of. The black female body is still devalued.
![Fdaniel's picture Fdaniel's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1320.jpg)
Ecofeminism? Multicultural feminism ?
After our class on Monday i was so interested in learning about the different types of feminism. I was actually suprised about how many different types of feminism there was but the ones that stricked me the most was ecofemnism and multicultural feminism. Multicultural feminism " says that femininity and the struggles of women should not be defined by a specific group. Feminism needs to embrace all types of women, and this may mean creating a broader and vaguer definition of what feminism is." ( http://conflictintervention.blogspot.com/2010/10/multicultural-feminism.html). I completely agree with multicultural feminism. I believe that all women are different and we can't exclude them from our definiton of feminism. Many different things effect a woman's view on feminism, we have to consider her background, where she grew up, religion, etc. Not all women are the same, we are complex. While ecofeminism which striked me as well puts emphasis on our relationship with nature and creating equality amoung all including animals and plants. I do respect this view but I didnt quite understand it much. Could we really be equal to nature? If we are not vegetrian than are we excluded from ecofeminism. It seems to me that ecofeminism is quite exclusive. Feminism shouldnt exclude any woman and be the source of their oppression instead of their liberation. All in all, I believe that all types of feminism have a basic message that makes feminism a whole and not seperate theroies.
![Maya's picture Maya's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1304.jpg)
One picture is worth a thousand words
When I read Barthes's take on photography it reminded me how powerful (or not so powerful) pictures can be. Pictures are useful when they arrest the imagination and make the viewer question certain aspects of life that had not been discussed. As Barthes says, "Photography is subversive not when it frightens, repels, or even stigmatizes, but when it is pensive, when it thinks." Small parts of the photo: a dirty hand; a person walking in the background can expand, devlop new meaning, and take over the entire photo's meaning for one person and do nothing for another person. These small pieces of the photo can strike a chord in some people and can change their ideas about major issues. Sometimes a person can only understand the photograph after they walk away from it. If a photo sticks with somebody, even if they do not know why, they could more completely understand the photo after they let it sit with them for a while.
![Polly's picture Polly's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1319.jpg)
My thoughts on Ecofeminism
When Anne read some information about ecofeminism and speciesism, I found myself immediately rejecting and judging those ideas. I couldn't accept that the next step in equality and inclusion was animals. It sounded ridiculous to me. Why and how would we extend rights to animals? And as Christina said, plants are living too. Including certain non human species in equal rights but not others is just another line to draw. After I left class, I remembered learning about the waves of feminism in my women in history class at high school, and the critiques they received. In the first wave, when women wanted to be able to participate in the public sphere, they were accused of trying to wreck the entire structure of the American family, and therefore the country. I think that every new branch or type of feminism is going to have a counter argument. Sometimes other types of feminists are the ones arguing. I don't want to think of myself as acting/being against a group of feminists, like ecofeminists, but I their ideas don't follow what my feminism is. I hadn't heard any categories besides first, second, and third wave until class on Thursday, and I guess the idea of there being new groups still forming confuses me. Feminism as an ongoing movement seems so different from what we read about in history, and I am having a hard time placing myself. I dont want to be in a box for my type of feminism.
![nia.pike's picture nia.pike's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1311.jpg)
"Don't stare, its rude" or so we are told
As children we are frequently told not to stare because it is rude. However, the brief 4 minute video clip by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, a professor at Emory I watched for next week's class confirmed my suspicion that staring is a natural desire. This instinct reflects the desire our brains have to absorb as much of a novel stimuli as possible. No matter how natural it may be, if an action does not conform to society's pre-determined norms, then we are told when we are young and malleable that it is not appropriate. Unfortunately in many cases this fact is true for other things as well, including the discussion of sex, gender, sexuality, etc. Although this conversation takes place relatively openly at Bryn Mawr, this occurrence is not common outside of the Bryn Mawr bubble. I repeatedly realize this statement each time I go home for winter or summer break. Where I come from the conversation does not flow freely. The conversation does not flow freely because society has deemed that it is an inappropriate topic. Soceity restricts itself, even though the origins of these restrictions were "to keep people safe." This statement ironically makes the assumption that we are not safe from ourselves: our own thoughts and our own actions. As a scientist I find it strange that humans, who are at the top of almost every ecosystem food or energy chain, are our own worst enemies.
![Anne Dalke's picture Anne Dalke's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-39.jpg)
Barbie Liberation
One of the questions we played w/ yesterday was whether we are the dolls of the endless, or whether they they are ours (cf. Rose's musing, p. 222, "we're just dolls," with Morpheus' telling Desire, p. 226, "We of the endless are the servants of the living...we are their toys. Their dolls....").
In this context, I thought this story about the Barbie Liberation Organization (just uncovered by my co-teacher in Play in the City, Mark Lord) might amuse/interest/enbolden you. A number of activist-artists attained possession of Barbie and G.I. Joe Dolls, switched their voiceboxes, then re-boxed and returned them to store shelves. So some little girls got Barbie Dolls who talked like men about war and fighting, and some boys got "fighting man" dolls who would say (in a prissy girl voice), "Math is harrrd." Dolls have agency, too!
Here's film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMHMf9y-27w
![iskierka's picture iskierka's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-1315.jpg)
final thoughts on Sandman
I'm still trying to figure out where I stand on this book regarding what it means overall to our main topic. Persepolis, while first and foremost an autobiography, definitely included a gender-based narrative as Marjane grew older. For my part, I couldn't see the same in The Doll's House. Certainly there was a discussion of identity - how the boarders in Rose's home presented themselves to the world versus how they dreamed themselves, in particular. And of course there were the very gendered scenarios, like the story of Dream as told by the tribesmen in the beginning (leaving me wondering how the women's half of the story in their unique language would be told), or like Rose's would-be assault at the hotel. To compare Bornstein and Gaiman, the biggest similarity would be Desire, the genderless 'sister-brother' of Dream who appears in the last few pages. And from what little I know of Desire, this agenderism could be the basis of its own discussion. Why is Desire genderless - perhaps to prove that any gender could seek the same things for whatever motive? Actually, I wonder more if Desire is every gender at once. Dream called Desire 'sister-brother' instead of 'siblings', implied a dual truth in both terms. After Desire, the next most notable example would be Ken and Barbie and their stiffly-gendered dreams. In waking life, they appear almost as a single entity, sharing thoughts and finishing sentences, but in dreams, Ken becomes aggressive and violent (stereotypically male), and Barbie enters an extravagant fairy tale world.