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.


Friday, October 18, 2013

How Social Feminism May "Force Independence"

The definition of feminism has continued to evole especially with the rise of social media in recent years. Social feminism can be seen in TV programs and magazines easily and the message they tend to give to women is: be independent and live your life!

But what is the definition of independence? According to dictionary, it is freedom from control, support, or the like, of others. There can be many different ways to live life 'independently.' However, today's social feminism that we see everyday portrays independence as "invidious insurgent patriarchalism which is hidden beneath the celebrations of female freedom" (McRobbie 11). Women who are shown as an independent character is usually someone who has a sufficient job, lives in a big city like New York, is sexually appealing, and pursuits free life style.
Because we have been exposed to these images for a while, many women have come to think that only by meeting those standards one can really become a "cool independent women." If you are not competent enough or daring enough, then automatically you do not meet that "independent women" standards.

Is this independence that social feminism is forming true independence?
It would be interesting to see how social feminism keeps on evolving in the future.
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