Course Description

At the core of the course is the question how feminism has become a demonized and ridiculed “F-word” in an age when issues of gender and sexuality are at the center of constant, often explosive political debates. These debates often connect media representation and political representation but tend to do so in simplistic ways that bypass or distort decades of sophisticated feminist theory and practice. We will trace back such representations through the decades around case studies that encompass film, video, television and new media practices. The case studies come from the United States and beyond, taking into full account the global interconnectedness of media production and consumption as well as the transnational travel of feminist ideas. The main goal of the course is to evaluate how useful feminist thinking is to understanding the relays between media and political representation; and to develop a lasting critical apparatus to analyzing the politics of gender and sexuality in the media.


Monday, September 30, 2013

Lesbian filmmaking

Just like many other students, I was confused in trying to figure out the meaning of the clips we watched on Monday. I found myself mainly distracted by the shocking and graphic lesbian scenes instead of being able to look past that and see its artistic qualities and meaning. However, by reading the article "Lesbian filmmaking: self birthing" by Barbara Hammer, I better understood her thought process and reasoning to each film she created. She explains that for her first film, although evident, sexuality was not the driving factor, but she wanted to portray the notion of sensuality that she feels with her lover and portray it in the most honest and realistic way to her viewers. She also explains that at a time of heightened powers and vulnerability, she wanted to incorporate humor to create this sense of discomfort. I then realized that maybe as an audience feeling out of place watching these films, lesbians during this time were constant outsiders just trying to fit in. Lastly, Hammer goes on to describe her personal experiences that led her to create each seperate film as a representation of her life and struggles
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