My Reflection Of My Women's Studies Class

The sexualisation of women in advertising has become a very prominent and controversial issue in today’s society. Many brands, products and campaigns we are presented with portray women as being available and willing sexual objects, who exist to cater to the male gender. Gucci is one such brand that does this, focusing on emphasizing the sexual appeal of the female gender in order to sell their products, because as advertisers know: ‘sex sells.’ This new cultural shift can however, be seen as politically regressive for women, as the ideology it brings negatively impacts how women are viewed by society and how they view themselves.

This class has brought a lot of change to my views on the seemingly everlasting prevalence of sexism in America. Before taking women and writing this semester I had not realized how the stereotypes surrounding masculine identity have taken hold of much of the Greek life on college campuses, male-dominated/labor intensive jobs, as well as influencing a significant portion of the mainstream advertising and media that my peers and I consume on a daily basis. The readings that accompanied the course were clear, informative, and provided me with more insight to the challenges and inequality that women have had to confront in the past and continue to face in the present. This class taught me many things about the current

Throughout this course, I have read many articles that have left distinct imprints on how I view things. I used to think of gender, race and class as something natural and meaningful. However, after this course I am inclined to feel differently. It is truly upsetting that each social construct results in some type of disadvantage for some and empowerment for others.

I liked everything about this course. The seminars, study plans, and the weekly discussions help

Throughout the past twelve weeks of taking Women and Gender studies, I have learned extensive amounts of information and will be able to take all of the ideas and concepts learned into action outside of the classroom. Each class, we had various conversations about what was going on in the world around us and how that affects each and every one of us. With the knowledge that I now have, I feel as if I am a much better citizen in Canada since I acquire the knowledge of the history in Canada and the conditions of women’s lives, and also how factors such as race, class, and sexual orientation come into play in daily life. In class, we talked about oppression very often which is, unjust treatment of control. Oppression is a major issue in Canadian society and has many aspects to it. One of the most important pieces of information that I got from taking this course was how destructive power systems function to maintain their

One thing that I do not feel like I learned that much about was how “ordinary people” can make a difference. We heard from researchers, journalists, doctors, and many other people who weren’t directly involved in government but I don’t feel also it was expressly addressed how we can participate in this process as students or young adults. Overall, I am very glad I took this class and think it has broadened my understanding of our government and has supplemented my education for the Bridging Disciplines Program. This course fit in well with my certificate in Social Inequality, Health and Policy and will help me in the

This class has really opened up my eyes to many new views and opinions toward certain information and assumptions. Before taking this class I did not believe I was racist or had any downward views towards any people or cultural. This soon came to my attention that everyone has a little bit of racist in them no matter how hard you try not to be. I also thought that Columbus discovered America, I found it very interesting and almost common sense when we discussed this issue and how the school curriculum has been lying to students in a sense about the discovery of America. The finial bias I soon came to see was that no matter how much you think you will not face other cultures or other religions in schools that you are not familiar with your chances are very slim. No matter where you plan to teach at their will always be situations that you are unfamiliar with.

What I liked most about the class was hearing the “other side” of history. As we learn history is written by the victor, it is still very important to learn about both sides to make unbiased arguments and avoid intolerance of a people, culture, religion, etc. I also liked the scheme of 10 essays 10 points each. I actually liked it so much I credited the idea and suggested it to my English professor this semester. I also did like this project because we picked a topic of our choice and freely researched it. I also like the sense of community and critical thinking in the class . It was not like a regular college class where I do not even know the man to my left or the woman to my right, but instead a real community with less tension and less fear to attempt to think critically. What I disliked about the class was the reading. Although Zinn makes good arguments it is so blindingly obvious of his biases. It is important to question society and authority but I do not think Zinn goes about it the right way. Overall I liked the course. I feared it would be a liberally biased class, however, it was straight facts with no bashing of either side which allowed me to learn more and think

During these last thirteen weeks, I have discovered a lot about myself, not only as a student, but as a feminist. Before taking this class, I knew that I wanted to be a feminist. I believed that women should stand up and exercise their rights to be equal to men on every level. Be that as it may, I lacked the education required to develop my own sense of feminism--my feminist manifesto, if you will. When approaching the topic of feminism, every person needs to ask themselves a list of questions: Who am I? Who do I want to be? What has influenced me as a person? How can I help? These are the beckoning questions we, as developing and purposeful human beings, ask ourselves every day, and these are the questions that will lead each and every person

Gender Identities and Families is the first chapter I really enjoyed learning about. This chapter went into detail about the concept of Gender Identity. It helped me to realize that gender is more then the sex that has been assigned to us at birth. This chapter introduced to me what transsexual and transgender really meant. These identities come around when someone feels that they do not match their genitalia. This chapter also goes over how society can affect the gender roles through family, religion and education. However, gender identities are changing with more gender fluidity becoming apparent in the U.S. My favorite and most memorable moment in this class happens to be the discussion board that went with this chapter. In this discussion board, we had to watch half of a video about Jazz. Jazz was born with male parts, but she knows that she is meant to be female. I found this video to be very interesting and watched the whole video. I also enjoyed the questions that went with this video. It is a topic that was taken differently by every student, and I enjoyed reading everyone’s response. This was my

Throughout my years in the Women and Gender Studies program here at the University Of Toledo, I have enhanced my mental capacity in many ways. Being introduced to the program was a gift. Feminist concepts, ideals, methodologies, understanding myths, stereotypes was beneficial to my overall success at Toledo. Using the theories and critical thinking skills that were essential to the program in my professional and personal life helped shape me into the strong woman that I am. Intersectionality, body image, and privilege are three major themes that will be ingrained in me as I continue on my collegiate journey.

Annette Bair and Marilyn Friedman have opposing views on whether women have distinct moral perspectives. Like Friedman, I believe that women have no different moral perspectives than men. Some people, like Bair, think that women base their moral perspectives on merely trust and love and men base theirs on justice. Friedman points out that care and justice coincide . People use justice to decide what is appropriate in caring relationships and care is brought into account when determining what is just. Since these two moral perspectives correspond, gender does not distinguish different moral perspectives.

I have a very vivid memory of discussing my classes to my mother before this first semester began, and whenever I listed off my Women and Gender Studies class I remember my mother asking me, “What do you think you are going to learn about in there?” I recall opening my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I stopped, and looked at her and said, “You know, I’m not really sure. I guess we will find out!” I knew going in to this class I was excited, but for what I had no clue. However, looking back on my experiences, discussions, and the knowledge I have gained from this course, I know exactly why I was excited. There is an entire world out there that the media and politics had hidden from me, but now my eyes are opened. I can

For myself in this course I was here to receive an education, after taking this class and understanding things more I now can say I’ve been here to claim my education. When I first thought about taking this, my impression was it was going to be the history of things not on current events and topics that were discussed. This course has opened my eyes and mind to another aspect of the world. Asserting myself and being heard and not just seen is something I have been working on with my counselor. Finding my inner voice and making my wishes heard, not letting others speak and decide what is best for me. This course teaches on how it was and is through several readings and with each reading I was able to have that “click” moment where I connected with the topic and it made it more real to me. Feminism is not just a word anymore it now has meaning to me.

Before taking this class, I did not know a lot about women’s and gender studies. Reading the different books and looking at the different pieces of art helped me the most in this class. There were many pieces in this class that influenced me to learn more about these women’s and gender issues and reflect on my learning. I spent a lot of time taking notes while reading the stories and relating them to what I have experienced in my life. For example, the graphic memoir we did as a project showed how I related to women’s and gender issues. It showed my struggle as I played T-ball as the only girl on the team. This experience allowed me to compare it to the stories we read as part of the class.