We had a break last week for Thanksgiving, so our last class was two weeks ago. Fortunately it was such an interesting class, that I have little trouble remembering what we learned.
Truthfully, I can't remember the speaker much, but the movie we watched at the end of class was equal parts inspiring and horrifying. The film was called Miss Representation, and it was about how women are portrayed in the media, how they are sexualized and socialized from a young age to believe that their self worth comes from their bodies and looks as opposed to their intelligence, strength, or aspirations.
Now I can't stop seeing it in every aspect of the media, wether its magazines, TV, music, music videos, advertisements, or film. It seems like an uphill battle sometimes, I notice my friends don't seem to notice or care.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
What Being A Leader Means To Me
This week we were asked to create blog posts about what being a leader means to us, individually. This was a hard question to answer for me, as I believe that there are many kinds of leaders that are effective and important depending on the situation.
Nonetheless, the most important quality a leader can have (in all situations) is to be inspiring or to lead by example. Even a manager at a boring factory job can be a good leader if he works hard and appears to enjoy his work. As a student I strive to work harder if I can see that my teacher has spent time and energy on the lesson plan and is passionate about teaching or the subject material. Other important qualities are trustworthiness, firmness, and decisiveness (I could go on but I think these are the most vital).
Being a leader means making the choice to care about your job, or whatever you're doing, and making a commitment to it until you've achieved your goals.
Nonetheless, the most important quality a leader can have (in all situations) is to be inspiring or to lead by example. Even a manager at a boring factory job can be a good leader if he works hard and appears to enjoy his work. As a student I strive to work harder if I can see that my teacher has spent time and energy on the lesson plan and is passionate about teaching or the subject material. Other important qualities are trustworthiness, firmness, and decisiveness (I could go on but I think these are the most vital).
Being a leader means making the choice to care about your job, or whatever you're doing, and making a commitment to it until you've achieved your goals.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Common Book Convocation
Yesterday was the common book convocation, and Tom Piazza, author of City of Refuge, was at Otterbein to address the freshman class. I didn't particularly enjoy the book, I thought the characters were two dimensional, and it was too easy to tell which characters he prefered over the other. At certain points during the book, I felt that he was telling us too blatantly how to feel about events or people. The only character that had real, believable inner dialogue was Craig, whom he clearly identified with the most. Needless to say, I was not expecting to enjoy the convocation, but I found Tom Piazza to be interesting, comical and clever. I was pleasantly surprised when he became emotional while talking about Katrina and all the destruction it caused. I had never heard someone speak about the disaster the way he did-- enough time had passed that he could speak eloquently and concisely about it, but he still had close personal attachments to New Orleans in many ways. It was clear that he really loved New Orleans the way that Craig did, and I appreciated that.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Women In Leadership October, 26 2011
This week in class we focused on women in politics: the challenges, the rewards, and what women contribute as politicians and to the political community. Class was certainly more riveting this week, and we were in the company of some very important women serving on our panel. Their advice was useful, and I could see how I might use it if I were considering entering politics.
While I appreciated their valuable experience and insight, I couldn't help but notice the lack of diversity in their political beliefs. In short, they were all Republicans. Of course the root of the lesson was about women in politics, which is an issue for all women in any political party, so on the whole, their affiliations were not an important matter during the panel discussion. There were moments though, when I felt like they were too vocal about their affiliation, and too assumptive in the way they presented their beliefs, as though they were something we all agreed for, or an inside joke we were all partial to. I would have appreciated another view among them, to add some balance, and some perspective.
There were other moments during which I felt uncomfortable, one panel member told us to "think like a man, act like a lady, and look like a girl", this to me, is not a statement that empowers women, rather it perpetuates masogyny because it implies that women do not have valid thoughts or opinions to contribute, or at least not as important as their male counterparts.
In another part of the discussion, a panel member warned us against dressing like a "slut", a word that is, among other things, inherently demeaning to women. Of course every politician, business person, or anyone who holds a job, should dress professionally and appropriately for that job. Her statement made me wonder which of her coworkers, friends, or fellow women she had called this word. If I've learned anything in this course, I've learned that we must support and help our fellow women, not bring them down.
While I appreciated their valuable experience and insight, I couldn't help but notice the lack of diversity in their political beliefs. In short, they were all Republicans. Of course the root of the lesson was about women in politics, which is an issue for all women in any political party, so on the whole, their affiliations were not an important matter during the panel discussion. There were moments though, when I felt like they were too vocal about their affiliation, and too assumptive in the way they presented their beliefs, as though they were something we all agreed for, or an inside joke we were all partial to. I would have appreciated another view among them, to add some balance, and some perspective.
There were other moments during which I felt uncomfortable, one panel member told us to "think like a man, act like a lady, and look like a girl", this to me, is not a statement that empowers women, rather it perpetuates masogyny because it implies that women do not have valid thoughts or opinions to contribute, or at least not as important as their male counterparts.
In another part of the discussion, a panel member warned us against dressing like a "slut", a word that is, among other things, inherently demeaning to women. Of course every politician, business person, or anyone who holds a job, should dress professionally and appropriately for that job. Her statement made me wonder which of her coworkers, friends, or fellow women she had called this word. If I've learned anything in this course, I've learned that we must support and help our fellow women, not bring them down.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Women in Leadership Oct. 19, 2011
Last week's class was low on energy and participation. With just over a month left in the semester, it seems that many students (myself included) are starting to hit that wall. Due to our lack of sleep and inspiration, I imagine it appeared that we weren't interested. I myself was greatly interested, but struggling to stay awake and having intense day dreams about my comfy warm bed. It's a shame thinking of it now, as our last class contained a lot of great advice on starting our own businesses. Our panel was composed of three women who had all started and owned companies, and one woman in particular was very inspiring. Perhaps if I had had more coffee that night I would remember her name, but I don't. I remember her story though, she had moved to LA after graduating college to pursue a music career, and she experienced some success before ultimately returning home. At home, she had no plan and no money. Her dad told her about a product in demand (castors) and she immediately seized the opportunity, started selling castors out of her car. Today she owns a very successful castor manufacturing company.
Even in the midst of my crazy week, running on Otterbean coffee and mac and cheese, I am reminded why I love this class. I'm reminded that I don't need to know my future or my plan to know what my success will be.
On a side note, I finally got my book, Tina Fey's Bossypants, and it is amazing! I don't want to work on any of my other assigments...
Tina Fey is hilarious and reminds me to be myself regardless of how silly, socially awkard, or otherwise abnormal I may appear to others.
Even in the midst of my crazy week, running on Otterbean coffee and mac and cheese, I am reminded why I love this class. I'm reminded that I don't need to know my future or my plan to know what my success will be.
On a side note, I finally got my book, Tina Fey's Bossypants, and it is amazing! I don't want to work on any of my other assigments...
Tina Fey is hilarious and reminds me to be myself regardless of how silly, socially awkard, or otherwise abnormal I may appear to others.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Women in Leadership Oct. 5, 2011
Well we're all back from break, and two weeks have passed since our last class. I had a wonderful fall break in Chicago with my dad, we took architecture tours, visited the art institute and had some amazing meals.
At our last class, two weeks ago, we all gave speeches about the woman leader we've chosen to follow over the course of the semester. I was incredibly nervous as I waited to give my speech, and during I was shaking so hard I was sure everyone would be able to see. When I finished and finally looked at everyones faces, however, I knew I shouldn't have been nervous. All the women in this class are not only accomplished and ambitious, but they root for their classmates' success as well. It seems our positive panel members and lectures on 'networking' have had an influence. Rarely have I experienced an entirely female environment that contains so many driven young women who support eachother. I'm so happy to be part of it!
On another note: I'm picking up a double major in Women's studies! Yay!
At our last class, two weeks ago, we all gave speeches about the woman leader we've chosen to follow over the course of the semester. I was incredibly nervous as I waited to give my speech, and during I was shaking so hard I was sure everyone would be able to see. When I finished and finally looked at everyones faces, however, I knew I shouldn't have been nervous. All the women in this class are not only accomplished and ambitious, but they root for their classmates' success as well. It seems our positive panel members and lectures on 'networking' have had an influence. Rarely have I experienced an entirely female environment that contains so many driven young women who support eachother. I'm so happy to be part of it!
On another note: I'm picking up a double major in Women's studies! Yay!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
FYS Guest Speaker Presentation- Gender Bias/Perpetuation of Hetero Coupling in Romantic Comedies
Well that titles a mouthfull...
NOTE: I'm posting a bit late, but Hannah gave me the ok!
This week I was lucky enough to attend a presentation given by a professor at Ohio State (I've already forgotten her name-- I blame sleep deprivation). She spoke to us about romantic comedies and the imagery they use to impose certain social-cultural norms on the american public. She drew our attention first to the frequency with which these films are made, and the tremendous amount of money these films represent for Hollywood. Next we were shown clips of typical climactic scenes in these films, scenes featuring the leading man and woman. These films shared more in common than just the basic plots found in most rom coms, all of them featured only white, affluent, straight couples. It seems that Hollywood is reluctant to present gay/lesbian films to the public. The very few same sex films that have made it to the big screen are barely comparable with the stereotypical romantic comedy films we are familiar with. The same sex couples are rarely seen expressing intimacy, especially not of a sexual nature, and if they are shown kissing or being intimate with eachother, it is downplayed with undercurrents of comedy.
How does this all relate to gender bias?
During the guest lecture, we were shown many clips from romantic comedies made after 1990, and all of the films shared the same climactic scene. The scene featured climactic "make up" or kissing scenes, in which the reconciled couples were usually surrounded by a cheering crowd. Many of the women cried tears of joy, while the men comforted them and played the hero. Our guest speaker made it clear that there were many more instances of this in other movies. With the ecsatic spectators and the feeling that the woman is being saved, Hollywood is telling the audience (mostly female for rom coms), that you must be heterosexual, and you MUST have a husband or boyfriend to be happy, to be worth something. Everyone knows the formula. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. Marriage is implied, everything is perfect. But we never see boy meets girl, boy loses girl, girl goes on to cure cancer. No, that would defy traditional gender roles, which Hollywood can't seem to let go of.
NOTE: I'm posting a bit late, but Hannah gave me the ok!
This week I was lucky enough to attend a presentation given by a professor at Ohio State (I've already forgotten her name-- I blame sleep deprivation). She spoke to us about romantic comedies and the imagery they use to impose certain social-cultural norms on the american public. She drew our attention first to the frequency with which these films are made, and the tremendous amount of money these films represent for Hollywood. Next we were shown clips of typical climactic scenes in these films, scenes featuring the leading man and woman. These films shared more in common than just the basic plots found in most rom coms, all of them featured only white, affluent, straight couples. It seems that Hollywood is reluctant to present gay/lesbian films to the public. The very few same sex films that have made it to the big screen are barely comparable with the stereotypical romantic comedy films we are familiar with. The same sex couples are rarely seen expressing intimacy, especially not of a sexual nature, and if they are shown kissing or being intimate with eachother, it is downplayed with undercurrents of comedy.
How does this all relate to gender bias?
During the guest lecture, we were shown many clips from romantic comedies made after 1990, and all of the films shared the same climactic scene. The scene featured climactic "make up" or kissing scenes, in which the reconciled couples were usually surrounded by a cheering crowd. Many of the women cried tears of joy, while the men comforted them and played the hero. Our guest speaker made it clear that there were many more instances of this in other movies. With the ecsatic spectators and the feeling that the woman is being saved, Hollywood is telling the audience (mostly female for rom coms), that you must be heterosexual, and you MUST have a husband or boyfriend to be happy, to be worth something. Everyone knows the formula. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. Marriage is implied, everything is perfect. But we never see boy meets girl, boy loses girl, girl goes on to cure cancer. No, that would defy traditional gender roles, which Hollywood can't seem to let go of.
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