Statement-Hi guys, this is my final project. I chose to create a visual representation of all of the body positive campaigns there are on social media. In my statement (which I have attached in pdf form), I discuss the various campaign hashtags I see on instagram, tik tok, twitter and snapchat. I also discuss the correlation between idealizing womens bodies on social media and the development of eating disorders among women of all ages. This painting has letters that spell “LOVE U FIRST” hidden in it. The representation of the women that I have put in the center of the “O” has the word “first” written in her stomach. I chose to write the word “first” in the women’s body because a women should focus on self love and constantly tell herself to “love yourself first”. She is in the center of the letter “O” because it looks like a loop and this women is in the loop of poor body image and the never ending cycle any type of eating disorder can feel like. She looks like she is purging and her hair is attached to the eating disorder symbol because she will always have an eating disorder whether she is recovered or not. I chose to make the background white because it represents perfection and that is what idealizing women’s bodies causes them to want. Steps-for-idendependent-study-project-1
During this semester I have learned a great amount about feminism, society, and gender/ race roles. There was so much material that was discussed and almost every reading left an impact on me in some way. I do not doubt that the knowledge I have gained in this class with guide me through future experiences in life. My favorite of the course was blog post 3, the riot grrrls, and disidentifications. For blog post 3, we all discussed how the future would look if we opened our eyes. The riot grrrl movement was something I really enjoyed learning about. Women in music inspire me. When I go to concerts I notice that some bands have the women come to the front of the mosh during the last song and I learned that this started from riot grrrl!! I also really enjoyed the reading on disidentifications. I think many people at times feel out of place in areas of their life (me included) and this is a great work to put to that feeling. Many women in the class had similar struggles. These struggles definitely caused a connection to be formed. Despite the circumstances, we all still contributed our opinions on the readings and responded to other people’s opinions. I think this was a great idea and gave students the opportunity to have their voice heard.
The Toni Morrison book I have chosen for this week is called “Tar Baby”. The book is a love story. Jadine and Son are two lovers who become romantically involved fate has brought them together. They met by chance. Son is a young black man and he is from Florida. He goes on a yacht and floats away. He foes to an island called Isle des Chevaliers. He finds a refuge within the Street family home that is a secret and hidden. This is where he meets Jadine Childs who is the niece of two of the Street’s in-house servants. Jadine and Son’s life experiences differed tremendously even though they are both African American. Tar Baby is set in the late 1970s, which was a time period that can be seen as a peak in the social progressive values. Jadine grew up rejecting the fact that she is black and hung out more with white people because she was surrounded by white people. Son was represented as a black man who is proud of his skin color and wears it with honor. Jadine and Son end up getting to know each and living on a carefree journey of love. When Son takes Jadine to his hometown, she realizes the differences between them. Jadine then leaves Son and the relationship. In the beginning of the novel, Jadine can be seen as the “tar baby” because she tries to please everyone and hold every relationship together. She tries to be someone she is not to be happy with Son. She also held together the Street’s marriage which should have ended a while ago. By the end of the novel Jadine becomes a new person. She stops trying to please everyone and stops trying to fit in to the gender and race roles society has constructed for her.
Material feminism is defined as talking about gender as an expectation put in place by society. Also, along with society, culture, technology, and everything that surrounds and affects humans everyday of their lives. Material feminism breads down the idea that social roles are normal and brings up the idea to become equal and free.
Judith Butler is talking about how humans are defined by their gender and their gender roles. An individuals’ culture plays a large role in the way gender roles are defined and how gender is assigned. Humans in a way “perform” their roles throughout life and carry that performance around with them. An example of this is the conversations I have with my grandma every single day. In my Russian jewish culture the role of a women is to get married, have many babies, and cook dinner every night. What my grandma does not know is how much gender roles have changed over the years.
Culture wars are when people in their own cultures split up due to their differences. Differing ideas about certain topics, issues, or goals can cause cultural wars. Culture wars set feminists back and everyone fighting for women’s rights. Women of color are being set back even further because they are in the third wave of feminism. They already have to work through drawbacks while white feminists are the second waves and are drawn back less. In Leslie Heywood’s, “Third Waves Agenda” she states, “White U.S. feminism has a long history of borrowing from, allying with, and betraying African American liberation movements, and a consciously multicultural third wave feminism must continuously work with and through these tensions.” (Page 10). The roots of white feminism come from privilege. This can undermine the advances that those of color have made within the feminist movement. People of color have to work harder to to fight for their goals. There is constantly lack of allies of “tensions” as mentioned in the reading. Feminism will be able to move forward as soon as people of color are recognized for their struggles and are supported.
Pg.3- “In this parodic rendering of pre-stonewall stereotypes of lesbians, she performs her disidentificatory desire for this one topic representation.” What I think the author means by this quote in the context of the passage is that she she dissociating and moving away from her old homosexual self. In my opinion, this is also what disidentification means. To move away from something that one once identified with, believed in, or who one was as a person in general. I have experienced disidentification before. I used to identify as a shy girl who was afraid to talk during class and raise my hand. This was something I disidentified with when I moved away from home to college and started a new life. I told myself that I must change my identity and be a more social individual.
“Sometimes in the face of my own/our own limitations, in the face of such world-wide suffering, I doubt even the significance of books.”
This quote from the passage is relevant to the larger text because it discusses a very important issue which that words cannot always be used as weapons. Women have suffered for years because of their color, race, and just because of their gender. Writing is a great way to reach out to the public and make a platform for yourself, but when writing about opinions and politics controversy emerges. This quote is relevant to the larger text mainly because it states that our opinions can be used against us. This can be considered a limitation when making a movement or can be considered a strength. I guess it depends on the situation.
To use Hypothesis the first step is to join the private class group. The link is on the class site. Second, you must create an account so that you can annotate our class texts. Third, to annotate, select the assigned reading and click “Visit Annotation in Context”. Fourth, highlight the text that you want to annotate and click the “annotate” button. Fifth, select our group (WGS 1001 Spring 2020) from the section in the top left corner of the annotation tool bar. Last, click “post to WGS 1001 Spring 2020” once you have written your annotation. Those are the steps to using hypothesis!
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