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.


Saturday, November 30, 2013

Consumerism and Feminism Teaching Project

Hi guys! Hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving :).

Below are our required (brief, we promise!) readings for our teaching project!

Article on Tina Fey:
http://www.blogher.com/tina-fey-fallen-feminist-icon-or-just-what-we-need?from=bottom

Article on Miley and Lily Allen:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/leave-miley-and-lily-alone-the-shock-new-faces-of-feminism-8944619.html

We may update this with more suggested readings and questions to ponder before our presentation.

Also, if you have time on the plane, train, or automobile, check out the documentary "Miss. Representation" available on Netlifx (and possibly iTunes and Amazon), which is a very interesting perspective on consumerism and women in the media, particularly regarding pop culture icons and politicians.

Thanks!
Leilani and Natalie
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1 comment:

  1. ChelseaDecember 3, 2013 at 8:23 PM

    Hey - thanks for suggesting "Miss Representation"! I couldn't sleep last night and decided to look it up on Netflix. About a quarter of the way through I realized my roommate was standing behind the couch watching it as well - she'd walked by on her way to bed and was just as fascinated as I was.

    One point that stood out to me in particular as a classic movie fan was the expressed belief that there were more types of female characters available back in those days. I never thought about it much, but that is SO true. We tend to think all women in movies back then were pathetic or "only" homemakers - and to an extent, many of them were, and many films from that era ARE sexist - but is that any better than the state we find ourselves in now? Women led a LOT of movies then, playing diverse types. They were considered just as bankable as male actors.

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