Assignment 4

Coming into Women’s Studies I didn’t know what to think. To say that I wasn’t nervous on the first day of class would be a lie. When I walked in on the first day of lecture I quickly scanned the room for the other men hoping that I had not somehow gotten myself into a class that would be full of male-hating women who were ready to attack the moment I opened my mouth. When I saw the first male walk in, I breathed a quick sigh of relief and breathed even deeper when I realized that not only was there a fair amount of a male presence, but that the class as a whole was accepting to my being there. When I received my copy of the syllabus I scanned it quickly for tests and papers; just as most college students do. What struck me next was soon realizing that this was not a typical three test and a paper type of class. Granted, there were no tests, which I was somewhat happy about, but I realized that this was a class that would require my use of creativity and talking about my “feelings.” Needless to say, these are two areas that I would not consider to be my strong points. However, I walked out of lecture that first day saying, “Keep an open mind and you will be better for it.” This mentality has allowed me to grow and accept the teachings of this course.
My “keeping an open mind” strategy was definitely put to the test when I was told that there would be no class, but instead I would be required to go to Washington, D.C. to look at art for the first week of class. I don’t do art. However, I swallowed my preconceived notions about art museums and went in for the day to four museums in D.C. I started my day at the National Museum of Women and the Arts. Looking back on this, I feel that I could have benefitted from attending this museum as the final leg of my trip. I feel my paper would have been stronger had I done this because I feel that instead of looking at the paintings and other artwork at the National Museum of Women and the Arts at face value, I would have compared these paintings to the “high art” I saw at the National Gallery of Art and the “weird art,” as I like to call it, that I experienced at the Hirshhorn Museum. While at the National Museum of Women and the Arts, I feel that I would have had a different eye for the art and would have taken better notes on what I was seeing.
Looking back, I feel that assignment one was the first leg in the flushing out of our assumptions, which I feel was a major theme of this course. Personally, I don’t feel that for assignment one I allowed my assumptions to be absent. This came through in my writing, which produced a fairly bland paper that merely included a list of “stuff” I saw at the museums. I feel this particularly came out in my discussion regarding the Hirshhorn Museum, which I previously referred to as “weird art.” When writing assignment one I completely wrote off the notion that this art could even be art. However, from what I have learned through this course, this decision such as many others cannot be left solely up to me. This course has taught me that there are a number of opinions and ways of thinking that exist, and those who feel that even “weird art” is truly art that I should seek to educate myself on their beliefs so I too can understand their ways of thinking.
In terms of art, I feel my understanding of it was enriched by the book, But is it Art?, by Cynthia Freeland. I was pleased with the way the syllabus chose to introduce this book because it required us to read just one chapter for the first assignment. Much of the syllabus was set up in this manner for the readings, which I feel points to a theme of trying to get the students interested in the subjects gradually in a building block style of teaching. I personally benefited from this style because I feel that if I were required to read the entire book in the time allotted that I would not have done so. However, when I was required to read just one chapter, I gradually educated myself on the subject, which in turn helped my learning process. For But is it Art?, I focused on the chapter titled “Money, markets, museums.” In this chapter there is a subsection titled “Taste and Privilege.” I found this particular part extremely interesting as this part discusses the various ways in which our class impacts our taste in the arts. The books suggests that in the United States we try to pretend that class doesn’t truly exist and uses the example of the film Pretty Woman to portray how even “The rich sophisticated hero teaches the crude, gum-chewing prostitute not only how to dress, speak, and walk, but also how to appreciate the finer things in life—like opera” (Freeland 94). In many ways, this particular passage not only depicts the American way of appreciating art, but it also suggests our ability to go from great disparity to prosperity in a moment’s notice, such as Julia Roberts does in this particular film. I would say much like Julia Roberts, I took on an appreciation for the finer things in life such as art. After attending the museums I realized that the world is not just what is happening in the here and now, but it is about coming to appreciate the work of others that has allowed you to experience an emotion or reaction to a particular piece of art, film, or music.
Moving on from art, I would like to discuss a point I brought up previously regarding our ability to have great privilege as Americans. Particularly in assignment three we were forced to evaluate the power structures seen in our lives and those around us. Understanding the Matrix of Domination and the associated marked and unmarked categories forced me to step back and see where I was privileged or oppressed from those around me. I soon realized that I was unmarked in all categories particular being a white, straight, Christian, male from a relatively high socio-economic status. After doing the Power Line activity in discussion I again noticed my particular privileges even compared to my own classmates. I feel assignment three was the true turning point for this course as it forced us to touch on all previous aspects of the course that we had previously covered.
It was brought to my attention as I was writing the assignment that many of my privileges are the reason for the oppression of others less fortunate than me, also known as marked individuals. This realization came to me when I looked down at the shirt I was wearing at the time, that I had received for free during Spring Break in Cancun, Mexico. Those receiving far less than minimum wage in the United States manufactured this particular shirt in Mexico. This shirt signified the ways in which we, as Americans, take advantage of the misfortune of those in other countries to exploit their country at a week at a time contributing very little to the overall betterment of their society. During the course we talked in great detail about the ways in which something as simple as our own clothing are the reasons for the oppression of those abroad. I feel that these discussions in both lecture and section allowed me to take a step back and see just how our power structures are placed in our own country. I feel that personally I was able to contribute very little to our section discussions about this particular point, but since completing assignment three I feel that I have been able to thoroughly evaluate my own impact on those around me and the ways in which I can use my privilege to help others placed in the marked categories.
Within assignment three and section discussion I focused particularly on a piece of art I found in the book titled, Chicana Art by Laura E. Perez. This piece of art titled La Guadalupana depicts a man of Hispanic descent placed in front of a jail cell with his tattooed back to the viewer. In this chapter the author speaks about “Altar Photography.” In this particular photo, the man placed in handcuffs quite obviously has what the author has deemed to be “a living altar, because he bears a sacred image on his flesh, and because his life is sacrificed for social redemption” (Perez 136). The reason why I particularly liked this chapter in Chicana Art is due to my interest in both law enforcement and corrections. In my criminal justice classes at the University of Maryland, we discuss the great disparity among minority incarceration rates. However, before reading this book these rates were merely numbers to me. After seeing this Hispanic man depicted it gave a personal feel to incarceration and the seemingly biased system we have in the United States. Seeing this man as a living altar allowed me to move away from the “Do the crime, do your time,” mentality to the mentality that there are structures in this country that oppress minorities in particular, often forcing them to commit crimes. In these situations, we must wonder if these individuals are inherently bad or if the system we have in place makes them do bad things. For this man who is “sacrificed for social redemption,” why would he go to such great lengths for redemption if he were truly bad? I feel that this type of thinking is what this class has truly taught me to do.
In Octavia Butler’s, Kindred, we again saw the many ways in which our system of power in the United States can at times force people to do bad things. The character Rufus in this book is a great example of an individual who, when given too much power, has the ability to go from the kind and innocent young boy we once knew to the powerful plantation owning rapist he becomes. On the other side, we see Dana who is both intelligent and represents an individual with great charisma who is defined only as one thing: black. With these two characters we were able to see what I feel are the two major themes of this course. The first being the structures of power in our society and the ways we can use them to both help and hurt those around us. The second, being the notion that we should strive for a sense of equality. In this book, we see the effects of inequality, but also see the movement toward equality as we are introduced to Dana who lives with her white husband Kevin. I feel this course forces us to see the problems in our society through forms such as this book so we can apply them to the inequalities going on around us today.
Prior to this class I had spoken in a discussion section about ten times throughout my three years of college. My mentality was that I need only to speak when spoken to. However, the style of this class’s particular section forced me to speak and speak freely. I feel that I was a helpful contributor to our discussion because I brought a person who was not afraid to often say the “conservative” viewpoint in what could be described as a very liberal class. My moderate conservative views on the issues presented, I feel allowed the class to see many sides of our particular issues and it also allowed me to reflect on my particular feelings on some issues such as affirmative action. Prior to the class I had very little knowledge of the true workings of affirmative action. However, I feel that without this class I would have merely stated an uneducated opinion that I would not have been able to back with facts for my opinion. When asked during my presentation of assignment three as to my feelings on the issue, I feel that I was able to firmly see how the class impacted me and my approach to such issues when I stated, “I really can’t give you an opinion because I am not educated on the issue.” This type of thinking will stay with me for some time and will allow me to form rational, fact-driven opinions on issues in the future.
After starting with my feelings from the first day of class, I feel it is only appropriate to end with my feelings after completing the class. Throughout this course I feel that I have grown from a little-cultured, often xenophobic Northern New England individual to an individual who has come to realize that there are great aspects of this country and world outside of the Greg Sanderson bubble. This is not to say that this class has been a life changing experience, but this class has educated me on the fundamentals of feminism and feminist thought by forcing me to take on a new style of thinking that seeks to drive out previous assumptions and find the ways in which we can create and enact change. It has been an invaluable experience to learn and grow over the course of one semester and seek ways in which I can particularly create change and motivate those around me to do the same. “I kept an open mind and now I am better for it.”