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.


Thursday, December 5, 2013

Lilly Allen and Miley CyrusL opposite approaches to feminism


Below is an article comparing Miley Cyrus and Lily Allen, both who identify as feminists and who go about it in extremely different ways. As the group on Monday pointed out, I think the main issue is that no one knows what exactly being a feminist means, so isn’t everyone or no one a feminist? There is no right or wrong here so it seems each individual gives the word it’s own meaning. Personally, I believe Miley knows exactly what she is doing. However, as the article explains, each celebrities approach is problematic. Lilly allens video “hard out there” mocks Robin Thickes video and the way women are treated in videos. Miley takes the opposite approach as we’ve all seen and calls its “liberating.” However, in my opinion boths approaches are problematic. While miley think it’s freeing to do whatever she wants, society doesn’t work that way. Standards are in place for a reason. She is focusing everyone on her sexuality and absuridity and encouraging women to be sexualized if they want, which I don’t think is a good message. While women shouldn’t be afraid to express their sexuality, there is a time and a place (same goes for men). On the other hand, Allen tries to encourage women to not feel pressure about their bodies and not objectify themselves, but she shames everyone who does. Putting other people down for their choices won’t help either. Obivously this is a big debate and won’t be solved easily. I don’t know if it’s bette to not define yourself as a feminist if you don’t understand it or call yourself a feminist and be pro woman as you want. Maybe their intentions are in the right place? I’m not sure, I just know we have a long way to go.

http://theweek.com/article/index/252883/why-you-should-pay-attention-to-the-lily-allen-miley-cyrus-feminist-feud
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