September 30, 2010
2:20pm
This past weekend I went to Camp Whispering Oaks in Julian to facilitate the challenge course for the Camp Pendleton Service Unit. I always find it interesting to work at encampments with all military dependent campers. The dynamic between the girls and the leaders is different and the entire way the encampment is run is different. Usually the military service units are very well organized and everything is very structured. It is obvious that come from military families because of the way they dress and the way they speak and run activities. One particular incident I want to share is when I was with the girls at the challenge course. The most outspoken one in the troop who served as their sort of leader was goofing off over and over. I asked her repeatedly to pay attention but after asking her too many times, I stopped what I was doing, put on a straight face and a stern voice and told her that she needed to stop goofing around and take this seriously because it is a potentially dangerous place and I did not want anyone getting hurt. She immediately stopped, looked me in the eye and said "yes mam". I think the organization of families is interesting in this case. If I was at any other service unit, the girl would probably look down and say something along the lines of "sorry" or "ok" but because this particular girl comes from a military family, she knew that when an adult gets serious, they mean business and her way of acknowledging that was looking in my eyes and saying "yes mam". I think this is an interesting perspective on family background and organization and how it makes children react.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Week Three
September 15, 2010 7:30pm
Even though we have not finished the film "Iron Jawed Angels" yet, I left class today feeling really inspired and empowered. I feel like I have a great deal to thank Alice Paul and Lucy Burns for. I decided to look up more about the history of the two women because I wanted to see how accurately they were portrayed in the film and I was surprised by two things. One, both women are highly educated, more so than I thought. And two, the movie told the story of these women and the NWP with incredible accuracy.
One thing that I really noticed while watching the film is the symbolism of the hat. The hat was one of the first images on the screen and it was an argument between the two women who would get it. Lucy got it at first, but ultimately it went to Alice. It became Alice's favorite hat, something that she always wore in public. It became the distinction between when she was working and wearing that "political" persona and when she was not wearing the hat at home, relaxing, or by herself. It is interesting because Ben kept saying he wanted her to take the hat off. Once she finally did, she let him into her world. She spent the day with him, seemingly enjoying herself, but as he tried to kiss her, she realized that this was not something she could do. She later made a statement to Lucy about needing to be alone because you did not have to answer to anyone when you were alone. The next time she saw Ben, she was not wearing the hat, and he said "I liked you better with the hat on". This exemplifies the fact that Ben supports her beliefs and ambitions about suffrage. Her hat is lost and she is scattered to find it, again, exemplifying that she needs it to go out because of its symbolism of being "her" hat, the one she is always wearing. I think the hat makes just as much of a journey in this film as Alice does and I am curious to see where it ends up.
Even though we have not finished the film "Iron Jawed Angels" yet, I left class today feeling really inspired and empowered. I feel like I have a great deal to thank Alice Paul and Lucy Burns for. I decided to look up more about the history of the two women because I wanted to see how accurately they were portrayed in the film and I was surprised by two things. One, both women are highly educated, more so than I thought. And two, the movie told the story of these women and the NWP with incredible accuracy.
One thing that I really noticed while watching the film is the symbolism of the hat. The hat was one of the first images on the screen and it was an argument between the two women who would get it. Lucy got it at first, but ultimately it went to Alice. It became Alice's favorite hat, something that she always wore in public. It became the distinction between when she was working and wearing that "political" persona and when she was not wearing the hat at home, relaxing, or by herself. It is interesting because Ben kept saying he wanted her to take the hat off. Once she finally did, she let him into her world. She spent the day with him, seemingly enjoying herself, but as he tried to kiss her, she realized that this was not something she could do. She later made a statement to Lucy about needing to be alone because you did not have to answer to anyone when you were alone. The next time she saw Ben, she was not wearing the hat, and he said "I liked you better with the hat on". This exemplifies the fact that Ben supports her beliefs and ambitions about suffrage. Her hat is lost and she is scattered to find it, again, exemplifying that she needs it to go out because of its symbolism of being "her" hat, the one she is always wearing. I think the hat makes just as much of a journey in this film as Alice does and I am curious to see where it ends up.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Week Two
September 10, 2010; 12:12 pm
Reflecting back on our second week of class, the one thing that sticks out most in my mind is Anthony's story about being the "token male". My experience in the field of communication has always been that it is female dominated. As an undergrad, there were always far more females in the class than males and even thinking about ethnography, Chris was the only male. It is interesting because Chris did not become the "token male" the way Anthony has. This fact is somewhat obvious to be truth because this is a class about gender. I find that men join gender or women's studies classes for one of two reasons: to meet women or to start a ruckus. There is a difference in gender classes from women's studies in the fact that there are TWO genders: both male and female. Oftentimes, I feel that gender studies is perceived to be an all women's field full of man hating lesbians, which is something that Anthony brought up in his writing. I think that if the male gender was more equally represented in gender study classes, it would become less "man bashing" and provide more understanding and meaning. I think part of the problem is the perception men have of the topic of gender. It is sort of like a "which came first the chicken or the egg" type of problem, but I think until men feel comfortable in gender study courses, they will not be as rich as they could be if men were part of the discussion rather than just another topic to discuss.
Reflecting back on our second week of class, the one thing that sticks out most in my mind is Anthony's story about being the "token male". My experience in the field of communication has always been that it is female dominated. As an undergrad, there were always far more females in the class than males and even thinking about ethnography, Chris was the only male. It is interesting because Chris did not become the "token male" the way Anthony has. This fact is somewhat obvious to be truth because this is a class about gender. I find that men join gender or women's studies classes for one of two reasons: to meet women or to start a ruckus. There is a difference in gender classes from women's studies in the fact that there are TWO genders: both male and female. Oftentimes, I feel that gender studies is perceived to be an all women's field full of man hating lesbians, which is something that Anthony brought up in his writing. I think that if the male gender was more equally represented in gender study classes, it would become less "man bashing" and provide more understanding and meaning. I think part of the problem is the perception men have of the topic of gender. It is sort of like a "which came first the chicken or the egg" type of problem, but I think until men feel comfortable in gender study courses, they will not be as rich as they could be if men were part of the discussion rather than just another topic to discuss.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Toughts on day one
September 1, 2010 8pm
I am really glad we watched Mad Men today in class. I read Entertainment Weekly cover to cover and keep up to date on the media because I hope to one day work in television. Man Men gets a lot of space in EW and is highly regarded by critics. I think it was interesting to read so much about this show, and then actually watch it through a gendered lens because there is very little mention about how stereotypical and sexist it is. Instead, the media writes about how it is a clever show, new idea, and praises Don Draper, but where is the love for the women?
In general, I love how this class is going to take advantage of media because it is defiantly one of my passions. I minored in Visual Arts: Film and Video when I was an undergrad and took all of my communication electives in the communication and media category. It is something that is of great interest to me and I am excited to see how the rest of the films will be unpacked through this class.
I am really glad we watched Mad Men today in class. I read Entertainment Weekly cover to cover and keep up to date on the media because I hope to one day work in television. Man Men gets a lot of space in EW and is highly regarded by critics. I think it was interesting to read so much about this show, and then actually watch it through a gendered lens because there is very little mention about how stereotypical and sexist it is. Instead, the media writes about how it is a clever show, new idea, and praises Don Draper, but where is the love for the women?
In general, I love how this class is going to take advantage of media because it is defiantly one of my passions. I minored in Visual Arts: Film and Video when I was an undergrad and took all of my communication electives in the communication and media category. It is something that is of great interest to me and I am excited to see how the rest of the films will be unpacked through this class.
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