A point was made in class today that all we’re being offered as consumers of media are the physical bodies of celebs and the skimpy outfits they wear. Specifically in reference to Beyoncé and her legs. In response to that, I believe we need to remember that the media functions under the male gaze mostly, and that this is the type of subject matter that sells. If an individual can’t get past the hypersexualized material that’s been put out for them, the only thing they have room to judge is the fact that the material is hypersexualized, not the artist, the artist’s values, the artist’s future, or anything else. Yes, this is concerning for younger children who consume this media, but the artist isn’t to blame. This is where the importance of education comes in so that kids don’t think the body shapes and outfits they see equals success. Further, I don’t believe it’s accurate to criticize the artist herself for the images/videos we see of her in mainstream media as if it’s the only representation of her out there. If one would like to criticize an artist as a whole, I believe all of that artist’s work has to be examined, not just the 2-5 songs heard in mainstream media in the past few months.

What’s been seen in mainstream music recently is Taylor Swift singing about her relationships with men, Beyoncé dancing seductively, or Miley Cyrus twerking or being naked on a wrecking ball. I think it would be a mistake to judge these artists solely based off of what’s been put in mainstream media. Each of these artists has their own range of music that depicts their experiences living in the world. And because they’re women, that essence is mixed in as well.  However, the labels that these artists are signed to often exploit one specific experience out of the range that the artist has to offer – that experience tends to be their sexual liberation.

One of the points I’m trying to make clear is that there is much more to the artists that have been deemed inappropriate or bad role models. In fact, if you were to explore their music you would see that they’re people with real stories that can be used to inspire deeper thought. But you would have to look past their outfit and their legs in order to focus on some of the meanings in their not-so famous songs.

Hi Friends!

Heres Sinead O’Connor’s letter to Miley Cyrus. Definitely worth the read.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/03/sinead-o-connor-open-letter-miley-cyrus

Here are my notes for the “Feminist Film Theory” article as well as the discussion questions for class:

Continue reading Feminist Film Theory Notes and Discussion Questions →

OK so this came up in one of my classes today, and I wanted to post something about it on the blog because it relates to our discussion on intersectionality from Monday. Here’s a quick BuzzFeed video about it, too!

Basically, for some background, the US is the only industrialized nation which does not provide paid maternity leave. Under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, companies with more than 50 employees are required to provide job security for employees who can take up to 12 weeks unpaid leave for things like the birth/adoption of a new child or care for a parent.

There are organizations which do provide paid maternity/paternity leave, which is great, but the underlying structure of our society is severely problematic. It affects anyone with any kind of relationship, though especially those who are members of multiple marginalized groups.

People who work at businesses with fewer than 50 people are already exempt from the federal law, and their employers are not required to give them paid or unpaid leave, nor are they required to guarantee that once they return from leave they will be in the same/similar position. Additionally, people who financially cannot afford to be without pay for 12 weeks are also essentially disqualified.  Women, especially women of color, are more likely to be poor or living near the poverty line, so they are effectively disqualified from being able to take advantage of this policy.

I think there are a lot of reasons that contribute to why the US is such an outlier on this issue. Maybe government-mandated paid paternal leave goes against our stereotypes about parenthood (wait, fathers can/should/want to stay home and care for baby?!), or maybe it’s too big-bad-government sounding (*gasp* I think that sounds like socialisim). I think a big part, however, is our culture’s tendency to be so individualistic – we have the mentality here that everyone should take care of themselves and everyone will be able to figure it out if they work hard enough. I think one of our country’s biggest flaws is our inability to see the ways in which different structures, and the interactions between them, are constantly in play and effecting the ways in which we live.

Hey guys. I’m sure some of you may have seen articles and posts floating around the internet about this issue, and I just wanted to bring it up for discussion. Here is a link about the situation if you don’t know about it. (it goes a little off tangent I from Crenshaw’s article but still remains relevant to the class)

http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/a-tale-of-two-breastfeeding-pictures-20141107-11i9y2.html

Like in Crenshaw’s article that we discussed in class, many times colour of skin is the source behind reactions to the same situations in society. In this case, both a black female student and a white female student breastfeed their child during their graduation.  Both receive positive and negative comments, yet the numbers of positive and negative vary greatly for each student. Apparently, the number of negative comments forced Karlesha to eventually delete the photo. On the other hand, other articles say Jacci has received lots of likes and support from other members of the internet, encouraging her to continue being a great mother.

I found it very interesting just in the way the issues are talked about. If you want to find articles about Karlesha, you should type the following into Google:

“Breast-feeding mom’s college graduation photo stirs controversy”

however, if you want articles about Jacci, you should type something along the lines of:

“This Adorable Photo of a Graduating University Student Breastfeeding Wins/Goes Viral”

or

“Internet Cheers for Photo of Mom Breastfeeding at Graduation”

The way the media portrays similar stories to women of different racial or ethnic background is very distinct. Many people argue that Jacci seems to be breastfeeding in a private studio, whereas Karlesha looks like she is sitting among the students during the actual ceremony, and so that justifies why Karlesha is receiving such negative feedback for her photo. Others complain about breastfeeding being a private thing, and that it should not be posted on the internet. But there is so much worse out there, I wonder if there is nothing else behind this opinion, after all, it’s possible for breastfeeding to look “adorable”.

Well this couldn’t have come at more perfect time. This article is shocking.

http://damemagazine.com/2014/11/10/hbcu-president-slut-shames-female-students-%E2%80%A6-his-convocation-speech

Recently we have been talking, reading, watching different forms of feminist text and how the theory is shaped in different areas of the world. This has been a more contemporary setting, but during my Classical Mythology course we got into a Greek tragedy that had elements of feminism, and even today is considered a feminist text. The story is called Medea by Euripides that tells the tale of betrayal and revenge. In my Classical Mythology course we had a discussion about  how the character of Medea displayed feminist traits as well as how this is probably the only story that puts a woman in a strong dominant role and how she tries and accomplished the breaking of the patriarchal society.

I found this really interesting that even in really early forms there hints at feminist ideas. It’s also interesting to see how much variety there is in feminism. Or even things that we wouldn’t think of has a feminist texts can be viewed that way by different audiences. I think it would be interesting to talk about some different types of Cinema, books, plays, etc that hint or talk about feminism that aren’t contemporary. It would be a nice way to compare the past with the present and even the future. If you’re interested in the Medea story here’s the wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medea.

So I know at some points throughout the class we’ve talked about the sexualization of young girls in the media. The girls in this video are 13…

Not sure how the newspaper edited my piece, but this is my rough article on Vachon’s visit! Thought I’d post it:

Tuesday night in Oechsle met with acclaimed American film producer Christine Vachon. Vachon did not enter the room with a planned lecture on Producing 101. Although her success in the area is obvious – Vachon has produced acclaimed films such as “Boys Don’t Cry” and “One Hour Photo,” and has been running her successful company, Killer Films, for nearly two decades – she had no interest in showing off. She was in no way making a presentation on the what, when, why and how of her career path. Professor Andy Smith gave a quick run-down of her accomplishments at the beginning of the talk, and then the rest was up to the audience to dictate what topics Vachon would confront.

Vachon was everything you’d expect in a successful producer – quick and to the point. She did not answer a single question the way she thought it would like to be answered, but rather with the most honest answer she could give. When she spoke in my class the following morning, a student asked if she ever gets overly-invested in a project to the point where it is affecting how successfully she completes the project. Answer: “No.” As the classroom waited for an elaborate, heartfelt story on a particular film that stole Vachon’s heart, she quickly brought us back down to earth with a firm, “No. I do not get invested.” A passionate story about her love for a certain project would have been nice, yes, but it’s simply not the job description of a successful producer. She makes sure the film is done and done right.

A film producer’s job is to oversee all aspects of the creation and production of a film, beginning with the story that is trying to be told. The producer must take a chance on the filmmaker and believe that their vision has the potential to be expressed in an accurate and captivating way. Vachon is known for producing low-budget, cutting edge films that feature emerging performers and directors.

“Low-budget filmmaking is like childbirth. You have to suppress the horror or you’ll never do it again,” Vacchon said. While modestly underplaying the glamour and fame of being a well-known film producer, Vachon’s passion for what she does was something that was shown, not told. The more she talked about her work on a certain film, the clearer it became how seriously she takes her work and how rewarding it is for her to see a filmmaker’s vision play out.

For aspiring students looking to break into the industry, Vachon’s talk was discouraging in some ways and encouraging in others. Vachon had no idea what she wanted to do upon graduating college, and came from a university that was in no way the typical “film school.” She started working as a Production Assistant and worked her way up. Although it was encouraging to hear of someone who comes from a similar background as Lafayette students, it made it all the more clear how there is no “one way” to break in.

When she came to my class Wednesday morning, she touched on the concept of graduate film schools. Although these schools seem like the logical choice for aspiring film students, they are actually a subject Vachon was surprisingly unsure about. “It’s hard to teach about an industry that is constantly changing. These programs are incredibly expensive and I’m not entirely sure where they get you,” she said.

Vachon’s knowledge and expertise is rooted in one thing: experience, experience, experience. There are no formal degree programs in film production. The key is to learn about filmmaking as early as possible, and jump in. She answered the majority of people’s questions with a detailed story about a past project, not with a sentence that started with: “The number one thing I learned in film school was…” Finding her career in film was not a direct path, but more of an awkward stumble. Although Vachon’s talk was not a lecture in “How to Become a Film Producer,” there was not a single question she could not answer about the art of producing.