Thursday, March 31, 2016

Lots of Feminism

I’ve found myself collecting a few links over the past couple of weeks so here are a few different articles covering different topics but all relating to Gender Studies:

This one is my favorite because I think it is such a beautiful act that really made a bigger point than anyone could ever make just by talking. It was in the news a couple of weeks ago. The airline Royal Brunei introduces an all-female flight crew last month and they shared a picture of that crew after a flight to Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive. It is really miraculous that, although the women there are not believed to be able to properly operate a car, they are more than capable of landing a plane. Maybe they’ve made enough of a statement to get some things changed or fire some people up.

After we watched the poem “Feminism” towards the beginning of the semester, I’ve realized that poetry can make a great point. I like this poem by Blythe Baird called “Pocket-Sized Feminism.” I didn’t get to go to the UnSlut screening, but from out discussion today, I think this may cover some of the same points. It talks about how people stay silent about sexual assault, even feminists and victims. I know that I have been guilty of not speaking up outside of the Women and Gender Studies classroom, but maybe that’s not okay. She points out everything we do to prevent rape, like inventing nail polish that changes color in a drink that had been drugs. I know that when I left for college, my mother told me I need to take a self-defense class and never put my drink down and never walk alone at night and just be careful and be aware. She will never have to tell my brother that.

Finally, I have a piece of satire. It’s kinda lighthearted but it’s kinda not. What I mean by that is, although it is ridiculous and clearly satirical, it’s not all that far from reality. Texans seem to be strongly against women in general. They claim they are protecting women, but they are actually hurting women by not taking good care of their sexual health. The article also references Wendy Davis’ filibuster and pretty much sums up some people’s reactions to it. I reminded me of the Texas Monthly "Bum Steer Award" cover with Wendy Davis.
Anyway, here it is: http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/texas-weighs-ban-on-women?intcid=mod-most-popular

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing these Caitlin! I have enjoyed going through them. I especially liked the post about "Pocket Sized Feminism," which as you said does tie into the documentary very well. It is sad that we live in a rape culture. I am happy to see TCU making small steps to change that including offering self defense classes to men as well as women, offering bystander prevention workshops, and changing the language on the crime reports.

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