Critical Feminist Studies

I don't know if anyone from our class is still posting here but I saw this and thought of our class and the discussion of male feminists, and societal views of them as kind of awesomecoolwow look at you being a great person, compared to more negative views of female feminists http://amajor7.tumblr.com/post/31102777716/double-standards-are-weird-and-these-look-like

When I began this class I was just beginning to look at gender from a feminist lens. I had only ever discussed gender within the realm of literature and so this course was really like a window into a wider conversation about gender; one that took place in spaces other than a literary book. I think I am much more able to think critically about gender in a broader way because of this. I have been learning to pay attention to the classroom structure more, the ways in which certain classroom structures can be problematic or the ways in which is it useful for provoking discussion or creative learning.

I think there have been many classes where I spoke a lot and a couple classes where I sat back and did not say much at all. It took me time to adapt to the class structure after it changed mid-way through the semester. After a couple classes I became comfortable and began to participate regularly. I liked the idea of collaborative work both inside and outside the classroom. I love the use of serendip; I feel like it is very well integrated in the classroom, especially because we hear each person’s posts again and can discuss them. I felt as though I could have participated more online than I did.

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being “are you even registered in this class? do you know where you are? and 10 being “you are fully present, prepared and engaged”, I would say I was an average of a 6.5 being that some days I was about a 1 and most days I was a 7.5-8. That being said, I was an average of about a 4 in my “real life” this semester 1 being “you are stagnant, you might as well be dead” and 10 being “your life has self motivated forward momentum”.  So my participation and contribution was patchy at best, but you already know that. Though think I was more present in the small discussions than in the larger ones. Everything I did for class was “focused on my own learning” though I am not really sure what else it could have focused on…I was trying to contribute to the learning of others online. By this I mean that I was trying or hoping generally to engage with a discussion in my postings. I don’t think I have been thinking of how I might be contributing to others learning, in the sense that I don’t ever find myself wanting others to come to my point of view or position of understanding—I don’t consider myself a teacher within the classroom.

Critical Feminist Studies has been one of the most valuable classes I have taken so far at Bryn Mawr. When I entered the classroom, I was a self-declared feminist. Having grown up with a mother and aunt who are both very pro-choice and empowering, I saw feminism as something rather basic  – the act of fighting for the rights of women to be equal to those of men. However, I quickly learned that there are so many aspects of feminism that one has to learn about in order to be able to fight for each of those rights within the larger foundation of feminism. This really made my head ache once we started talking about all the various ways the direction of the class could grow. . . It was not at all as “basic” a viewpoint as I had thought. Everything my Mom had taught me had just been expanded to the utmost dimension. . .ahhh!

Over the past month or so I have been posting regularly about a new HBO program which provoked a lot of public attention, long before it even aired.  I was interested in the show, and I was even more interested in what people in our course thought about it. But my “call to discourse” fell flat, so I have decided to take up the project myself. Now my primary interest in the show was not actually the topic, but the fact that the creator/director/writer was a female, liberal arts college graduate and only four years older than I am.  Go Girls. I am not sure if it is widely understood how rare this is—look up any of your three favorite television programs, and chances are extremely high, regardless of the topic that the “creator/writer/director” of the pilot episode is male. And if you happen to watch a show conceived by a woman, chances are further likely that she has a male partner/co-creator. Shows about Girls, written by girls, created by girls, and directed by girls simply do not exist. The stories we watch and television every day are stories coming from a definitively male perspective. This is not meant as an inciting, insightful statement. It is nothing but and “is”.

   The military has been traditionally defined as a masculine institution; actually it may be the most prototypically masculine one of all social institutions. Therefore, whenever women soldiers appear in public, they seem to be standout since people tend to think that for women to participate, either the military has to be perceived as transform to make it more compatible with how women are, or women have to be perceived as changing in ways that make them more suited for military service. Many changes have occurred in the past several decades. This period has witnessed a mushrooming of attention to women’s contribution to the army. More and more women soldiers are allowed to actually fight on the frontline or engage in violent and dangerous tasks. It seems that society started to recognize female’s ability as protectors of their countries, giving them space to choose whatever they want, including stepping on battlefields. Many people perceive this phenomenon as a huge progress of feminism, while others cast doubts on it. Interested in this issue, I would like to focus on female soldiers, especially Chinese women soldiers, in my webevent.

Whist ruminating over my web events and the material and discussions of this class, I thought hard about how I have grown as a feminist.  This was my first class that had anything to do about feminism.  I wanted to know what feminism was about, how it was defined and just get a taste of it.  I think I had a naive notion in my mind that I could take one class of feminism and get a fuller understanding of it.  While I feel like I do have a better understanding as to what feminism is, I also think I've become more confused.  But what I've also gained from this class is the acceptance of this confusion.   (which always happens when you take the time to learn more about a subject).  At the beginning of the year, I felt like I didn't know enough to make any statements or say anything.  I felt I was talking more towards the end of the year.    I really appreciate that this class has made me bolder and not afraid to express my opinions.  As a learner, this helps me to explore ideas more since I am not as afraid to venture into different topics and vocalize my opinions.  

I guess I assumed there would be more theory reading because it’s an intro course, so when we just dove right into feminism, I was kind of taken back. The whole class was extremely different than any class I’ve taken. It really took discussion classes to the next level. I really hoped to become more knowledgeable of what feminism is and how other people have described it, but I got something really unique. I think instead of getting an introduction to Critical Feminism course, I got a feminist course, that is, a course that in its foundations is feminist. From the not raising hands, to the ambiguous nature of the discussions, to the whole idea that we should read who we feel is important, not who the teacher feels is important because everyone should have a say in this. From start to finish, it was an extremely feminist course and in that respect I think I did get something positive out of this course. Whether it was foundational feminist theory or not, it was something positive and it is something that I will try to keep in mind and spirit for my classes in the future.