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, November 25, 2013

FCKH8 Tee Shirts

While on the internet I ran into this FCKH8 ad that really left me puzzled. I've included the ad picture which states that "The most fake thing about Ken is not that he's plastic. It's that he's 'straight'." True, there have been many videos and jokes made throughout the years about Ken being gay. However, FCKH8 is supposed to support equality for everyone and on their website they describe themselves in this way: "FCKH8.com is a for-profit T-shirt company with an activist heart and a passionate social change mission: arming thousands of people with pro-LGBT equality T-shirts that act as “mini-billboards” for change."So, if they are promoting social change then why do they have a shirt like this forcing gender roles? Women should dress one way and men should dress another? The way that Ken dresses has always been a big deal and one of the reasons why people point to why he may in fact be a "gay" doll, but it seems like this ad is saying "if you dress a certain way, then you must be gay." In fact, even Disney seems to be reinforcing this thought as can be seen in the Toy Story scene in which Ken is trying on a bunch of costumes and acting them out as well. Here is the link to the Toy Story scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBWdp-ubspo
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownDecember 3, 2013 at 10:39 AM

    I could not agree more with that I am just as confused with this ad and the mission of the company. I don't know why a pro LGBT group is working off of that men and women need to dress in a specific manner. Social change should be more inclusive of all individuals that are within that community, instead of just pinpointing the feminine stereotypes. It's hard to really enjoy any toys when companies try and push certain ideals on the consumer and make you think one way. I am pretty sure I am just going to be giving my kids wooden blocks, because the subliminal messaging of all these different companies and the way it impacts consumers thoughts is just astounding.

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