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

GoldieBlox and The Beastie Boys

As a girl who attended an all-girls middle school with a large emphasis on math and engineering, I am thrilled to see products like “GoldieBlox” breaking into the market.  GoldieBlox is a product created by Debbie Sterling that hopes to “invade the pink aisle” at toy stores and inspire little girls to play with toys that challenge them to be thinkers and builders, rather than just princesses and ballerinas.  The toys are pastel colored and not flaming pink like many products typically marketed to girls ages 5-12.  They are designed as engineering challenges and building materials. 

Their most recent ad “Girls” has been viewed over 8 million times and is in the running to air during the Superbowl as part of an online contest.  The ad parodies The Beastie Boys’ “Girls” by saying things like “We deserve a range, cuz all our toys look just the same, and we deserve to use our brains.”  The song is incredibly catchy, but it is also now the subject of copyright infringement.  According to reports, The Beastie Boys agree with the message of the video, but did not approve the songs’ use for the video, nor do they approve its use to sell a product.  Interestingly, GoldieBlox is now suing the band for “fair use.”  True, one could call their use of the song a parody, much like Weird Al has parodied pop music for decades without the permission of the songwriters.  However, some argue that Weird Al changes the music in addition to the lyrics, something that does not seem to be happening here (according to critics). 

Below are links to the video as well as an article summarizing the conflict.  Do you think this constitutes plagiarism or is it a clever parody?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFpe3Up9T_g


http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/11/25/beastie-boys-goldieblox-open-letter/3699397/
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