In contrast to Rich's piece on how women should be treated and on how they should manage their lives, Susan Douglas investigates the influence that the media has on women and their development and outlook on the world. Douglas argues that the viewer and the observer of these women who represent certain lifestyles that may seem crude or incorrect actually holds more power. They are the ones who are able to gather information from this experience and do with it what they want. Last class, we discussed how perception is very important when discussing feminism. The way one interprets the world will determine their actions and reactions towards society around them.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Claiming an Education & Fantasies of Power 9/2/10
In "Claiming an Education", Adrienne Rich addresses her main arguments through a persuasive, forceful tone. She is most concerned with unequal treatment of women in comparison to men in academics and daily life, the lack of courage that women possess in relation to being different, the dearth of responsibility that women take for themselves, and the mutual seriousness that people do not share in regards to women and what they believe in and represent. On the first page of this passage, Rich says "The first thing I want to say to you who are students, is that you cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education: you will do much better to think of being here to claim one." She believes that women must be proactive with a loud voice and that they can't wait for opportunities to come to them. I completely agree with this point of view because nobody should live their life afraid to speak up. I also think it's interesting that women are excluded in the academic environment. I didn't think this was a very prominent situation on most college campuses, but I have come to see that in just my four classes, three out of four professors are men. Rich refers to career access in her reading, which is a topic that we discussed in class. It is not fair to judge someone's abilities based or influenced by their gender or race.
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I think your point that women ought to be proactive if change is to take place is very important for the feminist movement. Like Rich says, women need to "claim" for themselves all that patriarchy takes away. This includes education and a voice as equals in society. Without strong action, women cannot hope to change the institutions and ideologies that function to keep them oppressed.
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