Last response: two options

**Hard copies of all responses (including this one) are due by Monday, December 1.**

Option 1: Some of you prefer guidance for these responses, so if you fall into that category, then I'll ask you to respond to Susan Douglas and Meredith Michael's chapter, "The New Momism." They claim that motherhood is the site through which women are being defined by media imagery in new and damaging ways. What do you think about this claim? How might this imaging be damaging not just to moms, but also to childless women and men? Can you think of any examples from current pop culture that either support their argument or offer resistance to "momism"?

Option 2: For those of you who like more freedom in your responses, you can choose any text we've read in this half of the semester and write a response to what you find provocative or interesting. I am going to limit you to the readings; we've done a fairly good job of discussing the films in class, but there's been a lot that we've read that we haven't been able to adequately cover. Choose anything you've read that's made an impression and tell me what you think about it.

Let's Talk about Sex: due Friday, November 21

This week, we'll be talking a good bit about history: the history of sex on screen in Where the Girls Are, the history of reproductive politics from Rickie Solinger's book, and on Friday, we'll talk a bit about the historical treatment of mothers in popular culture. My question for you is: how much has changed? Choose one idea from any of the readings for this week and reflect on what, if anything, has changed about the messages in popular culture about sex, reproduction, and/or becoming a mother. Examples from current television or film might be a good way to illustrate your points.

Website Title

The Words group has been placed in charge of creating a title for our class project’s website. Our idea was to gather information from everyone in class in hopes of creating a title which conveys the message and ideals of both or class and our website. To do this we need your input, so please post any title ideas, suggestions, or merely cast your vote for a title you found particularly compelling. As the week goes on I will keep the blog updated with a list of all suggested titles, and the number of votes cast for each one. I am hoping to have a final title, or at least a few finalists by Friday. If it is split between one or more titles after Friday, we will attempt to conduct a quick vote on Monday to make a final decision. Thank you for taking the time to read, and respond to this blog.

The Website Words

From the Words Group:

The Words group is in charge of who we are (a description of our class), our mission statement (what the purpose of our website it and why it's important), and a title for the website. By Friday (21st), please brainstorm a little bit - like we did in in the beginning of the semester in class about guidelines for the class - about what you think we should include in these three important aspects of our website. On Friday (21st) we'll take everyone's ideas and develop them into what we think works well for everyone. We'll run them by you guys before Thanksgiving in class or on another blog to make sure everyone approves. Thanks guys!

Race, Gender, and the Romantic Comedy

For this response, I'd like for you to analyze the film Something New. You can focus on the representation of gender roles, or you can talk about the way that race and class figure into the representations of women (and men) in the film. In what ways is the film challenging stereotypical assumptions? In what ways might it be reinforcing them?

Music

Susan Douglas talks about the girl groups of the 60s, Joan Morgan talks about rap music in the 90s, but what about now? What is the defining music of your generation? For this response, I'd like for you to pick a musical genre (pop, rap, R&B, country, folk, punk, etc.) and discuss the role you think it's played in shaping you and others like you. Particularly, look at this music through the lens of gender: choose a particular artist or song within the genre you're describing, and read it for the gendered messages you find there. What do the lyrics, videos, or images of a particular artist tell us about femininity or masculinity?

Mamas, Genies, and Witches

For this week's response, I'd like for you to choose one, specific part of either chapter ("Mama Said" or "Genies and Witches") by Douglas to engage with. Any of her ideas are fair game, so pick what interests you. What is she saying? What do you think about what she's saying? Why? Due by Friday at class time.

Women on Television

Next week, when we return to media analysis, we'll be talking about the ways women, particularly on prime time network television shows, have been imaged historically. We'll read Susan Douglas's chapters that deal with this idea during the 50s and 60s, "Mama Said," and "Genies and Witches," but for this response, I'd like for you to pick a show that's on now, and read it for the way it depicts women. You can pick a particular episode, or a few segments from different ones, but you should use specific details from the show to tell us how the show is constructing feminine gender identity. This response is due this Friday, October 24.

Last response before midterm: choose your own adventure

At the close of the first half of the semester, I'd like to give you the opportunity to respond to an idea or a text that you've been thinking about, but maybe we haven't had time in class to cover. You can choose anything from any text, print or visual, or any topic we've touched on in class, just make sure that your idea is focused (don't try to talk about everything; zero in on something particular). You are welcome to draw from multiple texts, or you can focus on just one -- just make sure that you are illustrating your points with specific analysis from the readings or specific examples from the film or shows we've watched. I'd encourage you to start by thinking back over class discussions where you were thinking about saying something but didn't, or things you've noticed outside of class that connect to what we've been talking about. Remember to have a focused point to make or a focused question to raise, and then explore that narrow idea with strong critical thinking.

I'm interested in the ideas that have made you think so far, so I encourage you to find something that has sparked your interest. This response is due by class time on Monday; all hard copies of responses must be turned in by this date to receive a grade before midterm.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder?

I'm interested to your response to our discussions of female bodies and beauty. Using an image or an idea from one or more of the texts, either the readings or the television shows, analyze the messages our culture sends about what it means for women to be beautiful, what beauty means, and why we're supposed to want to be perceived as beautiful. You might think about the role advertising plays, about how we should go about decoding and countering the messages we see, about the potential dangers in such messages. For your analysis, I'd like for you to focus on one, specific passage or scene, and read it closely and carefully to make your points.

Are Princess Fairy Tales Good for Girls?

For this response, I'd like for you to figure out a way to answer this question, using your own analysis of the readings and/or movies we've discussed in class. Be specific and use particular details to prove and sustain your argument (which, of course, need not be a single yes/no answer). You might think about the role of play for kids and what it teaches them, how gender figures into childhood fantasy, what it means for little girls to want to be princesses, how your own experience matches up or veers from what we've read and talked about. Feel free to focus on a particular princess character or movie or on one main idea from any of the articles (including Douglas's chapter that you're reading for Friday). What I'm looking for: some deep, critical thinking about these issues, a focused point or question, and developed ideas that sustain that point or attempt to answer the question. Try to avoid: overly simplistic generalizations. You should aim for around 500 words.

*More specific guidelines about responses are posted in the links list on the class website.*

Response for Friday, Sept. 19

We've covered many concepts and terms talked about in the articles we've read, so I'd like for you to use this response to practice applying one of those concepts to a media source. Choose a concept or term from one of the readings, explain how you understand the concept to work (what it means), and then pick an example either from a popular text or from a literary one that illustrates that concept. This response will be two-part, your definition of the concept/term you're working with (and this is the place you'll refer to the reading), and an analysis of an image (created either using visuals or written text or both) using that concept. The kind of analysis we did in class of the People cover, using the concept of symbolic annihilation, is one example of how this might work.

A couple of caveats: if you use Google image search to find an image, you must identify the source for the image. Remember that context matters, so a picture of Brittney Spears published on a random website just for viewing is not the same thing as a picture that occurs within an advertisement, magazine or news article, or television show or film.

You might think of the response this way: identify the concept, identify the text, and then analyze: how does this text illustrate the concept you're talking about? This means you won't just tell us what you find in the image the text is creating, you'll tell us how what you see communicates particular messages (in other words, what does it mean?)

You can simply describe the image you're using (making sure to identify the source), but instead, if you'd like to include a link in your post to the image you're working with, here's how you do that:

1. Copy (ctrl-C is the keyboard shortcut) the URL from the address bar.
2. Where you want the link to appear in your post, type in the following html code, replacing the square brackets with angled ones: [a href=“http://Internet URL goes here”]Title the visitor sees.[/a]
3. Paste the URL inside the quotation marks. Type in the word or phrase you want to carry the link (what you want readers to click on) where it says "Title the visitor sees."

You can preview your post before you publish to make sure you did it correctly.

To get you started, here are some concepts that might make for fruitful analysis: symbolic annihilation, framing, biological determinism, reinforcing the status quo, dominant ideology, stereotyping, gendering, postfeminism, media literacy, intersectionality, social construction, priming.

Welcome and First Response (required!)

Welcome to the blog for English 2593-1. Here is where you will post your reading responses; consider this an out-of-class space for discussion. I encourage you in your responses to read what your classmates have already said, both so that you don't repeat one another, and also so that you have ideas to work off of -- feel free to agree, disagree, revise, respond to anything anyone else says, so long as you are respectful.

Which brings me to your first response assignment: on one of our first days of class, we talked about compiling a statement of respect, by which we will all agree to abide. What follows is a draft of the statement, based on your suggestions from that day in class. What I'd like for you to do in your response is to reflect on the statement as it is worded, making any suggestions for revision, additions, or deletions, and explain why you think such changes would help make our class a safe space for discussion. Additionally, based on our reading and discussion so far, I'd like for you to explain why establishing such guidelines might be important in a class like this one. Or, if you don't think guidelines are necessary, explain why not. As you're responding, you might think about the following questions: Why is it risky to talk about gender? What about images of women in popular culture might make people uncomfortable? What issues can you imagine coming up that might pose particular difficulties? This response is due by class time on Friday; bring a hard copy to turn in to me.

Here's the statement draft:
"A safe space is an environment where everyone can feel comfortable to express his or her opinions, to be able to be herself or himself without the fear of judgment. In order to achieve such an environment, we all agree to conduct our discussions respectfully by: listening carefully to others before responding; committing ourselves to learn from others who see things differently than we do, including the authors we read; being mindful that we all come from different backgrounds and experiences; thinking about how what we say might affect someone from a different background or experience; remaining open-minded by carefully considering all sides of an issue; pushing ourselves to think outside of what's familiar or safe; deeply and critically thinking about what we read and what we discuss; accepting others and supporting their opinions without compromising our own identities; letting everyone who wants to have a chance to speak (regardless of gender); being comfortable with disagreement; speaking openly and honestly; refraining from interrupting, insulting others' positions, or insisting that we're right; showing respect for others at all times, regardless of their gender, race, age, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or politics."

To post a response: click on comments, type your response (or paste it) into the box, choose Name/URL and type your first name and last initial into the Name box, complete the Word Verification, and hit "Publish Your Comment." I suggest that you type your response in a word processing program first and then copy and paste it into the comments box to make sure you don't lose it.