Fall 2017 Gender, Identity, and Literature

When I read "Introduction" by Roxanne Gay it felt like someone had finally put on paper everything that I had been thinking and debating over the past few years. Am I really a feminist if I like wearing makeup and dressing promiscuously? Am I really a feminist if I enjoy traditionally "feminine" things? What if I want to have children? What if I do shave my legs and wear short dresses? All of these questions made me wrestle with my identity as a feminist and it is something that I have been exploring as time has past and I have developed my own voice. Roxanne Gay perfectly sums up what it means to be a feminist and how it's not always a perfect definition. One quote that really struck me was when she stated, "Feminism is a choice, and if a woman does not want to be a feminist, that is her right, but it is still my responsibility to fight for her rights." This ideology is something I completely agree with. Not everyone is going to have the same views ...

I've never been too intrigued by all the 50 Shades of Grey concept. As a social work major, reading the first book in the series and watching the first movie with my aunt (yes- my AUNT...), all I could think of when I was exposed to that plot was the lack of focus on Christian's real need and outcry for help. The novel flips the 'usual' narrative of the woman being the victim and her inability to retain a healthy relationship, and shows us a man who seeks domination and control, which- some argue- is what women *really* want. I will not be the first to argue that point. In "The Trouble With Prince Charming," Gay references 50 Shades and how the author uses a disgusting sense of erotica that we can't help but be turned on by, to romanticise the idea of pure abuse, submission, and toxicity in the text. I will commend the story on one thing: Christian is adamant about consent. Mostly because it could result in a MAJOR lawsuit against him if ever interprete...

In Gay's essay, "How to be Friends with Another Woman" she talks about the competitiveness between women. Almost anything is fair game when it comes to tearing one another down behind each other's backs. But why is this necessary? We're all in the same position when it comes down to it. In order to rise above our oppressors, we must stop judging other women so harshly, and start building them up. We are all guilty of passing judgement over other women who are dressed differently than us, or like the same guy as us. Everything has become such a competition, that we are unable to realize the benefits of helping one another become the best version of themselves.

Last Thursday, I was at our sorority event.  Imagine the loud, dark, perfume and vodka smelling bar, with hundreds of people dancing and singing and even the occasional couple making out on the dance floor... It's a night I usually enjoy, and last Thursday wasn't much different. It was a holiday themed event, so of COURSE Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" comes on a couple times... but what followed the occasional Christmas music banger?  "Bend Ova" by Lil Jon... Here are some of the lyrics:  "Bend ova, make your knees touch your elbows How fast can you shake it? Put it on a n**** 'til his a** can't take it Stop playing girl, shake that s**t.  Wiggle that a**, make it shake like Jell-O." Even when "Sexy Can I" came on, there was no way I could avoid listening to the specific words that were being boomed over the speakers with the echoes of girls' voices screaming the words. The title make...

I watched a video last week about women in comedy. Specifically, women IN comedy, and how challenging it can be sometimes to find things that can be humorous whilst also coming from a feminist perspective. Many of them have taken the Tosh-esque rape jokes and reflect them onto men, and not in the sense of men being raped, but more of raising awareness of the critical need for their jokes to come from a call-to-action perspective of changing the culture our society has come to thrive on of victim-blaming and shaming. As Gay discusses the depth of rape jokes and how they have progressed to the point where people are now using the term loosely, there is a similar call to action in her writing. When people say things to the effect of, "That exam just raped me," they then normalize the term "rape" and discredit the emotional, physical, mental (etc.) effects of both the word and the assault itself. Humor around sex and sex jokes can be made... but within reason. For exam...

"Just because you survive something does not mean you are strong." To be completely honest, this story was one that I could almost watch in my head. Perhaps part of that was because it was written vividly with strong imagery and diction; perhaps because I could see a reflection of myself in Gay's story. This year has been a transformative one for me, as I have learned to become more self-aware and acknowledging that there is immense power in naming our struggles. I am consistently told by my friends how "strong, courageous, and unfuckwithable" I am... which, I think, genuinely stems from my inability to be comfortable. I've survived too much. I've been exposed to and made it through too much... and apparently, the fact that I managed to make it "out" of those immediate situations is seen as strong. However, I am very thankful that Gay made the comment above. To me, I've always seen strength as how people cope with the long-term effects o...

I'm going to write about the topic that we had planned to talk about today in class. When the song Female Kieth Urban first came out I really liked it. After I saw an article writing how the song had stirred up controversy and negative responses I was intrigued as to what people hadn't liked about the song. It also prompted me to look at the song more critically. Personally I normally do not look at things through a women and gender study lens or if I do it's very slight lens. Compared to when I am in class and have a very women and gender studies lens on. So in the blog post I am going to analyze "Female" through a heavy women and gender studies lens. So a little background on the song. It was released relatively recently in 2017 after the Harvey Weinstein allegations came forward. The intent of the song, I believe was show the need to repeat women. The song goes through many of the roles women play throughout their lives during the chorus and into more specifi...

In "Bad Feminist: Take One," Gay opens up about her inner quarrels regarding her identification as a feminist. This is something I, too struggled with. At the time, the term was gaining a less than popular connotation, with a minority of the movement taking it upon themselves to spread their isolated belief that women rise above the equilibrium of society; they are superior to men and all men are inherently awful. It is easy to understand, then, why a young girl that does not share these extreme views and stereotypes may not want to be a placed beneath a spot light during such a tense situation, and would subsequently ditch the term. Ditching the term, for me at least, did not mean that I lost my way and would slowly evolve into the submissive, modest, and good woman deemed to be the ideal. Although, ditching the term is controversial and some may see it as a betrayal to the movement executed by a ‘ bad ’ woman. If the individuals remains true to their beliefs and conti...

A couple of weeks ago I was scrolling through different social media sites when I stumbled upon something that was very shocking to me. I read the one of the members of one of my favorite bands had been accused of and admitted to sexually harassing an underage girl nearly 10 years ago. I was upset and couldn't figure out what I should do upon hearing this information. Was I supposed to stop supporting the band? Could I still listen to their music? This is an argument that I'd been having with myself since finding out the news, but then I read Gay's essay entitled "Dear Young Ladies Who Love Chris Brown So Much They Would Let Him Beat Them". What stuck out the most to me was when Gay said, "His brilliance cannot be overlooked. That's what I tell myself, but then I imagine all the hurt he caused and how rarely that hurt is discussed. That may be the saddest thing of all." This helped me realize that by continuing to support the band or by listening to ...

In this piece, Gay makes the point that women cannot attack one another, "Don't tear other women down, because even if they're not your friends, they are women and this is just as important." After reading this I began to think about myself critically and the way that I have treated other women in the past. This point is one of the ways in which I would consider myself to be a bad feminist and know that it is something that I need to work on. It also got me thinking as to why this is such a common thing for women to do to one another. Every female is guilty of gossiping with another friend about what that girl was wearing or what some other girl did to her hair, but why do we do this? Women are put in constant competition with one other because of society. We are taught that we must always be competing to have the best clothes, the best hair, the best shoes, etc. Therefore we tear other women down to feel as if we have achieved this when in reality it is unachievable....

Music has such a huge influence on the world today, whether that be the new generations or the older generations. However, in the past decade, there have been more and more songs put out that objectify women. Somehow, they always make it to the top of the charts too. I think one of the worst of these is the song Blurred Lines by by Robin Thicke. Practically every single lyric in the song is disrespecting women. He refers to the woman as “an animal” and tells her to let him “liberate her”. Another one that you wouldn’t necessarily expect is the song Hotline Bling by Drake. In this song, he is basically slut shaming the girl for going out more when he left. He says “you got a reputation for yourself now, you started wearing less and going out more…hanging with some girls I’ve never seen before”. Why can’t she go out more? Why does that have to make her seem less desirable? For a man that’s going through a breakup, it would be expected and encouraged for him to go out...

I find the term “bad feminist” to be a particularly interesting term, one that I can very much relate to in my life. To give a little background, I am the epitome of privileged and like Deidre says in her blog post, I was absolutely blind to it up until a few years ago. My entire life, I have been given everything I could possibly want. My parents put me through private, catholic education. For high school, I went to an all girls school that held feminism to the highest degree. And by that I mean feminism was practically the bible. I was once called ignorant by one of my classmates by saying that I wouldn’t be offended if my date held the door open for me. In my mind, I always saw that as feminism: the desire to do everything yourself, to shame men for doing nice things for me, to take control of situations and be bitchy just to prove that I could, to say that women are better and superior to men. Now, I know that isn’t what feminism is. By coming to college, I’ve realized that but th...