I had conflicting ideas for
the outcome of my project. First and foremost, my ideal of successful feminism
is to valorize women, not necessarily equalize, which is why after all the
negativity, I include the positive reinforcement given by the maid character in
the The Help. Second, there is the
idea that people don’t know what feminism is so the project kind of became an
informative, didactic piece.
The elements of research
included in these outcomes include Lorber’s exposition on feminism. She
describes the waves of feminism, and to simplify I chose defining moments of
the first (suffrage) and second (abortion/rights to body) wave. The third wave
is tricky because it encompasses too many things. I’d like to further my
research and learn more so I can better represent it, instead of just having an
explosion. Because the third wave encompasses people who think that feminism is
no longer necessary; the causes have been won, and there are other things to
do. It involves rebellion feminism and reformist feminism. (Lorber)
I learned a lot about
post-feminism from the article we read in class and how women now objectify
themselves because they can. Post-feminism also claims that girls have power,
which makes the Spice Girls a perfect example because they talk about how there
is “strength and courage in a wonder bra,” and their feminist fore-mothers are
completely disregarded. Although, Janice from Mean Girls is not necessarily a
feminist she provides a stereotype of what people think feminists
are—man-hating lesbians who dress poorly. This clip also supports the ideas
present in Sibielski’s article “Nothing hurts the
‘cause more than that,” where this negative stereotype of feminists encourages
women to not identify with feminist ideals. Media has introduced the feelings
Douglas summarizes as “I’m not a feminist, but…” when, in fact, most people
should be saying “I’m a feminist, but…” because what has been done by feminists
and what some hope to still accomplish is reasonable and respectable.
I decided to
have Claire from Clueless present the topic because it’s ironic. She’s what
Johnson would call the “honourable skank,” much like Olive from Easy A, and one of those that could be
considered to hurt the cause of feminism because of how she portrays herself,
but here she is standing up for it and paying tribute.
Krasnow’s panel
discussion on whether or not the media has killed feminism describes how the
media sensationalizes and pits women against each other, which is the point
Tina Fey makes in the clip from Mean Girls. Media comes from men, but it makes
it seem like women are against other women. We must become aware in order to
stop.
I feel
hypocritical because the movies I included come from films I loved to watch
growing up, and because of the research I’ve done, I’ve learned the messages
they share perpetuate sexism. I use them
in hopes of helping others turn their opinions around: of feminism, of
themselves, and of other women. If we use media to demand respect and quash the
“oppressive patriarchal values of our society” as so beautifully stated by
Julia styles, then it will spill over to real life and change can happen.
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