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Essays on feminist theory criticisms
Strengths and limitations of feminist theory
Strengths and limitations of feminist theory
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Women and Minorities in Television and Movies Since this winter, I can't watch television or movies anymore without critiquing how women and minorities are portrayed. One unexpected thing that I have picked up from taking this class is a sense of wariness when I counter any piece of written material. I have learned to be suspicious, if not directly critical of any particular part of the media as I experience it; I have been inspired to read and be influenced by some prolific female thinkers. It's all coming together for me, what I want to do; I just have to figure out how. The most important discovery evolved from reading astute and diversified women. It sounds dramatic, but it is absolutely true. I have become incredibly angry about what I've been observing in my environment since my eyes were widened by the writers we have encountered, particularly bell hooks, Rich, Schell and the Blitz and Hurlbert book. I've also renewed interest in other writers during this class, like Mackinnon, Paglia, and Elizabeth Wurtzel.As a woman, I feel connected to the movement, and Iím sorry t...
Giving me opportunities I once lacked to realize. Similar to McIntosh, I notice how “women are disadvantaged” (31) and society doesn’t allow us to be seen as equals. Nevertheless, my gender has allowed me to become aware of the boundaries I must break, so I won’t be suppressed into a gender-specific career. I recognize the value of having a choice and the benefits of having the freedom to speak my mind. Additionally, my gender has taught me to find my voice and advocate for those who are unable to. The artifacts which my invisible backpack contains have enabled me to follow my dreams and become a teacher. For those reasons, I am sympathetic to those who have been neglected to recieve advantages I have been
Rosen, Ruth. The World Split Open: How the Modern Women's Movement Changed America. New York: Viking Penguin, 2000. 196.
Viola Davis made history at the Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 20. She won the Best Actress in a Drama Award at the 2015 Emmy Awards for her role as the tough, damaged lawyer and law school professor Annalise Keating on ABC's "How to Get Away With Murder."
This year has been an arduous examination of my goals, desires, strengths, and weaknesses. I saw much of myself, or who I am striving to be, in fictional character Julie Carson. Julie Carson is a career military woman in David Baldacci's novel “The Forgotten”. Carson dispenses orders, but her duty to following and executing commands from superiors is just as important to her. She respects the rules and obeys them, expecting others to commit themselves in the same manner. She is disappointed by those who do not, but it doesn't not affect her core values. I have always been a “by the book” person, which seems to be a minority viewpoint according to my experiences interning for local government. Prior to the internship, most of my jobs have been in the service industry. I never felt held back because of my gender, but then again the service industry in itself can be oppressive. The past few months I have seen women work more, for less, and everything I knew logically about equality but refused to accept was laid out before me.
It’s September, the kids are back in school, and it’s time for another new season of television. Another round of must see Felicity, Friends, and Frasier, with a side of ER and some Nash Bridges for dessert. Loads and loads of Caucasian males and females making us laugh, and cry. What you do not see are Black, Hispanic, or other minorities making us laugh, and cry. In this day and age, where everyone gets a fair shot at doing what they really love, the same can not be said for minorities in the film industry. More and more minorities are being turn away in favor of Caucasian actors. It’s not only actors that are feeling the pinch, its also writers, directors, producers, and network execs.
Films and Media Misrepresenting Race abstract: In many ways, technology makes access to academic work, research and employment easier and faster. However, I am concerned that technology is too often chosen over humanity. Historically, representations of African Americans in technological media tend to value "white" bodies at the expense of Black bodies (Stam and Spence, 1983). Further, recent studies show (Zickmund 2000), in fact, the ways in which some World Wide Web sites make it easier for hate groups to spread their misinformation, contributing to the devaluation of black bodies in technological media. Together, these media representations can be understood in terms of a digital divide between technological "haves" and "have-nots".
...h of the female voice is greatly ‘heard’ through the medium of writing and challenges typical views of a patriarchal society; and this in turn generates and ‘frees’ thought provoking ideas about the process of writing and issues within society.
The theme of the first semester of my senior year at Bryn Mawr College, although I have lacked any gender coursework in my first three years of semesters, unexpectedly heavily involves the collision of the science, literature, and politics of gender. As my most last minute, haphazard schedule of any semester ever, on the next to last day of the shopping week period, I found myself adding two gender studies classes to my schedule. One entitled Advanced Topics in Developmental Psychology for my Psychology minor, and the other entitled, Interdisciplinary Perspectives of Sex and Gender. Both classes, although very different in their methodology - (one placing a profound importance on precision, cautious and careful experiment design, and the other on "stories" both individual and collective, and their relation to society) - hoped to find the "real" gender problems, look at them with the attention they deserve, and encourage some kind of dialogue for change.
Racial and ethnic diversity on television is not something that I have ever really noticed as a problem, but sitting down, and paying very close attention to the people, their roles in the show, I was able to see that there was a lack of diversity on TV. I chose a random TV channel, one that I probably would not watch, and studied the characters in the show and in the commercials for over two hours, I realized that I had never paid that much attention to the people in the show. I noticed after I was done that the largest group of people in the show and on the commercials, were white people, although there was some diversity, maybe one or two people of a different nationality, gender, or race, that overall the lack of diversity was minimal compared
There is much debate in feminist circles over the "best" way to liberate women through writing. Some argue that a female writer should, in an effort to recapture her stolen identity, attack her oppressive influences and embrace her femininity, simultaneously fostering dimorphic literary, linguistic, and social arenas. Others contend that the feminization of writing pigeonholes women into an artistic slave morality, a mindset that expends creative energy on battle and not production, and inefficiently overturns stereotypes and foments positive social change; rather, one should lose gender self-consciousness and write androgynously.
The 1990s saw surge of gay characters in both television and movies. From Ellen Degeneres and her character Ellen Morgan coming out under much scrutiny on the TV show ‘Ellen,’ to Julia Roberts and Rupert Everett comedically playing off each other in the motion picture ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding.’ Sure, gays and lesbians have been around forever, especially in Hollywood. But never has there been a time to be more out. With the popularity of shows like Will and Grace, which feature leading gay characters, as well as Dawson’s Creek and it’s supporting character of teenager Jack McPhee, we are slowly seeing gay and lesbian characters creeping into the mainstream media.
Women and gender studies contribute greatly to our understanding of the social and cultural world we inhabit. Studying the complex issues of this field has instituted many key insights. Two major insights that positively affected our society are the awareness through learning and through this awareness activism that can ensue.
One of my major personal essay influences included Solnit’s Men Explain Things To Me (2014), within which Solnit recalls a single experience of sexism before reflecting upon the wider issue of mansplaining and the dismissive treatment faced even by women experts of their field. Once the essay had been spoken aloud in the lecture, few spoke up (of which ironically Solnit discusses in her following works, The Mother of All Questions: Further Feminisms (2017), which dissects gender and silence). Yet consulting the women in the room afterwards, all of us could describe a similar encounter that had taken place in the company of our fathers, male colleagues, fellow students. My aim became to write a piece that could similarly resonate with so many, yet simultaneously feel like it had been written for the reader as an individual alone.
Women have made progress in the film industry in terms of the type of role they play in action films, although they are still portrayed as sex objects. The beginning of “a new type of female character” (Hirschman, 1993, pg. 41-47) in the world of action films began in 1976 with Sigourney Weaver, who played the leading role in the blockbuster film ‘Aliens’ as Lt. Ellen Ripley. She was the captain of her own spaceship, plus she was the one who gave out all the orders. Until then, men had always been the ones giving the orders; to see a woman in that type of role was outlandish. This was an astonishing change for the American industry of film. Sometime later, in 1984, Linda Hamilton starred in ‘The Terminator’, a film where she was not the leading character, but a strong female character as Sarah Connor. She had a combination of masculine and feminine qualities as “an androgynous superwoman, resourceful, competent and courageous, while at the same time caring, sensitive and intuitive” (Hirschman, 1993, pg. 41-47). These changes made in action films for female’s roles stirred up a lot of excitement in the “Western society” (Starlet, 2007). The demand for strong female characters in action films grew to a new high when Angelina Jolie starred in ‘Tomb Raider’ in 2001 and then in the sequel, ‘Tomb Raider II: The Cradle of Life’ in 2003 as Lara Croft. Her strong female character was not only masculine, but was also portrayed as a sex object. Most often, strong women in these types of films tend to fight without even gaining a mark. At the end of each fight, her hair and makeup would always be perfect. The female characters in these action films, whether their role was as the lead character or a supporting character, had similar aspects. I...
When choosing additional texts for my class I will do a thorough review of each to insure they are gender bias. If the texts I am required to use are biased I will confront the bias with my students. I will teach them the forms of bias from stereotyping to cosmetic bias. (Pg. 120)