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, December 6, 2013

If A Man Asks What Women Have Been Asking For Centuries, Will Men Finally Listen?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlb4Pu23kqw

I've provided a link to a video in which a man recites a poem calling action to other men. The issue at hand is the rape and mens participation in it. The poem touches on a couple key issues: 1) that women are so often blamed for being the victims of rape, "what was she wearing? Was she walking alone?" 2) that gender violence is not only a woman's issue, it is also a mans issue 3) that when rape is mentioned it is so often received with a response of silence 4) our silence can in turn perpetrate rape culture, as we are not doing anything to stop it 5) men can do something to stop it.

What was disappointing to me was reading the YouTube comments under the video in which some comments read "this is a feminist issue" or "rape is not my issue" or even hinting that the man reciting the poem must be gay since he is tackling a "woman's issue." So can a man urging other men to take action really be a catalyst for change? Will men really listen? It seems like on an issue like rape, it's so hard to get men to take action. Many people have made the argument that we shouldn't teach our daughters not to get raped, we should teach our sons not to rape. I think this video speaks on the issue well, but the problem will always be that as long as men think rape is a "woman's issue" that it will be hard to get them to take any action on it.
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