Class Pulse

Question: Tell me what you think about me
I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings
Only ring your celly when I'm feelin' lonely
When it's all over, please get up and leave

Question: Tell me how you feel about this
Try to control me, boy, you get dismissed
Pay my own car note and I pay my own bills
Always 50/50 in relationships

Although there are tons of Destiny’s Child songs I could reference when speaking of this class, the song Independent Women comes to mind when I think of the concept of feminism and gender roles in society. Like many of my classes within the Media Studies department, this class has proven to be interesting and thought provoking. Even allowing us to use lyrics from a song of our own choice in itself is exciting but also shows how gender and sexuality concepts are present in ways outside of books and academic articles.   

At times difficult to understand (I’ve had my wth moments), the readings are important to the course because they introduce the concepts and topics of discussions. While some may be difficult to dissect, the readings are interesting because they introduce alternative ideas to thinking that may otherwise get ignored due to the hegemonic ideologies of heterosexual males; or in simpler words, they introduce ideas about sexuality and gender that society STILL ignores or glosses over. I think this is where the incorporation of the blog and twitter serves as a bonus because it has allowed me to gain insight on what my peers are thinking. The blog and twitter are helpful additions to the course because there have been instances when concepts that I missed while reading on my own were brought to my attention.

Although I consider myself to be an open minded individual (I guess we all do), this class has not only introduced different notions of gender and sexuality, but has allowed me to question the dominant ideologies regarding gender and sexuality we are taught through media and within society. Prior to this class, I would have never considered a movie like Fight Club as one that could be read queerly, or even knew what reading queerly meant; but this class has given me a new perspective on sexuality which has allowed me to analyze the media differently. For that reason, the Brookey and Westerfelhaus article has been the most engaging for me. The word homosexuality is one of familiarity, however, prior to this class the concept of the homosocial  experience has never been introduced. Even as I write this blog post, my computer marks the word with a red line, indicating that it too has no familiarity with the term.

The most difficult reading so far would have to be Judith Butler. Because of her writing style, her concept was difficult to understand, however, after reading Gauntlett and the video explained using cats, it became less confusing. 

So far, I am enjoying the class and I am excited about the topics to come. Professor Fuqua's passion and knowledge of the course reflects in her teaching, which makes for an interesting course.