When
I first signed up for Women’s Studies, I assumed that the class only focused on
women’s rights. However, throughout the semester, I have realized that the
course focuses on a variety of different aspects. Since Women’s studies
fulfills the diversity requirement, it makes sense that the class focuses on a
diverse range of topics. It's extremely important for Women's Studies to
address broader dimensions because inequality does not exist in our society
solely based on gender. By being exposed to many different works, I have come
to realize that there is more to this class than simply the male vs. female
perspective.
On
the first day of class, we were told that we were to compete a blog post each
week; these posts would be based on novels, movies, pieces of artwork,
articles, lectures etc. At first, I didn’t really understand the purpose of
these posts. However, as the weeks passed, I realized that these posts were
used to discuss important themes in the course and the significance of these
themes. These posts ultimately benefited me by contributing to my understanding
in this course.
After
analyzing my posts, I feel we have touched upon a variety of themes throughout
the course. However, I believe we mainly focused on sexuality and women’s
bodies, oppression and privilege, the link between politics and art and the
struggle for equality.
We
started off the semester by watching, “Killing us Softly 4.” This movie really
introduced us to the topic of women’s bodies. In advertisements, women are
cropped, photo-shopped, edited, altered etc, in order to look perfect. Women
are also portrayed as objects (such as a beer can) and they’re portrayed as
objects for male sexuality. A few weeks later, we analyzed the dances of the
Urban Bush Women. These women told stories through their dances; they displayed
their confidence in themselves and embraced their bodies. In the graphic novel,
“Fun Home,” Alison Bechdel challenged the notions of women’s sexuality.
We
then focused on the politics of art. Before this class, I never would’ve linked
politics and art. However, I quickly learned that funding agencies have the
ability to decide which art should receive public support. We focused on the
NEA Four and artwork that was considered inappropriate and offensive. We learned
that what isn’t offensive to some is offensive to others and in the end,
individuals that hold power positions (such as government officials) get to
decide what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate. We then took a trip to
the museum in DC to explore women’s art. Women’s art is rarely displayed so
this trip to the museum was a very interesting experience.
Oppression/Privilege
is a theme that can be applied to most of the pieces of work that we analyzed.
We learned that women are typically oppressed due to their gender, but women
are not the only individuals in society that are oppressed. We focused on the
oppression of the disabled, African Americans, immigrants, gays etc. In our
society, a white, straight, wealthy male is considered privileged.
Lastly,
we focused a lot on the struggles for equality. Even though this is a women’s
studies course, we focused on these struggles for other individuals as well. We
focused on the struggles against oppression such as abolitionism, disability
rights, anti-poverty, LGBTQ rights, civil rights etc.
Overall,
this course is a well-rounded course. We focused on a variety of topics, not
just women. It really opened my eyes to the extreme problems in our society and
the importance of being aware of and trying to change these issues. I highly
recommend taking this course because it’s a fun course that will ultimately
benefit one in the long run.
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