WST 320 Blog 3 (Althussar and Hooks)

OK. So I have to admit that last nights class threw me for a bit of a loop. I keep thinking about rap, (ah rap) and whether or not Fifty Cent IS in fact stepping outside of his repressed African American male ideology and re-appropriating power. While I don't buy the essentialist claim that we can understand invidivuals simply based on the characteristics of their "group", it is also a challenge to LIVE the idea of constantly questioning identity politics and refusing to shut myself off from any ideological group. While I don't want to limit my experiences or close my mind to new ideas or possibilities, it is also difficult to understant how to identify myself without falling into certain ideological groups.
Hook's concept of "shared sensibilities" through being empathetic toward one and other and trying to understand each other's lived experience is something that I would like to believe we could all live by. In the article she notes that it is not just a frame of mind, but also a way of life, that you need to "give critical attention to nurturing and cultivating our ties" in order to share knowledge. This can be done through engaging with popular culture and sharing various forms of art, literature, and cultural practices. Does this mean that I should open my ears and my heart to Fifty Cent as a way of living these "shared sensibilities?" I don't think it will be pleasant, but I guess I could try.

WST 320 Blog 2 (White, Horkheimer, Adorno)

This week I will focus on the concept of mass production in the culture industry as presented in the readings. As far as I understand, for Adorno and Horkheimer this means that everything produced by the culture industry is the same, and it serves to lull society into a false mindset so we will not question or resist them. Personally I do not support their claim that we participate in our own oppression through accepting what the culture industry tells us, or that we are all effected by it in the same way. Adorno and Horkheimer do not present the possibility of uneven development affected by changes in social patterns over time as presented by White. They seem to give no credit to the consumer of pop culture, and how their mindset or ability to question the industry as a result of their own personal experience within society. Though I participate in pop culture all the time, I do not consider my experiences to be constant repetitions of themselves over which I have no control.

However, I would agree that pop culture, as it is presented in North America is often repetitious in what it presents, and similar themes, plot lines, and celebrity faces appear again and again. It can be frustrating that these themes (such as ridiculously good looking doctors that all work at a hospital but secretly spend their time finding various ways to "get" with each other) are frequently presented in various packaging. This does not mean that I do not partake in any of these things from time to time, and I'm certain that we all have our pop culture guilty pleasures. Some of mine I think, may be too guilty to share.

Women's Studies 320 Blog 1

This blog will be a space for me to review and comment on discussions, readings, and activities in Women's Studies 320. It will also be a space to connect with my classmates in another dimension outside of the classroom, and to read their reactions and thoughts in a different environment. Reading their comments and reflecting on their blogs will also help to shape my blog, because learning other perspectives will help me to more fully appreciate what is discussed the the class. The use of the internet and the blog will help our class to work together, and to establish a kind of activism and a collective sense of feminism in a space outside of the classroom.
Learning about my classmates will also allow me to explore new perspectives on feminism, and will hopefully provide new avenues of learning by using parts of the blog like link lists.
Because the public will have access to these blogs, it may change the way that I write about feminism or my thoughts on the course. The internet is an unstable space because it allows me to write more freely because there is no immediate reaction or judgement from other people, but the ability of the public to see into that more private world also acts as a restriction. However, this public access may also contribute to any established activism regarding feminism, because it will allow me (and my classmates) to communicate our thoughts and ideas to feminists all over the world and from many different backgrounds in an open space.
The format of posting blogs (that each entry is dated) will contribute to my self understanding of feminism and what I gain from this class. It will allow me, and others, to view my own thought progression and growth regarding feminism and issues discussed in the class, and provides a record for our class and community.
I think that this blog will be a good learning experience for me as I think it provides an opportunity for me to grow as a feminist and as a computer user.... It took me a ridiculous amount of time to login (username issues...) and then to remember how to navigate to the post blogs section of the webpage. Hopefully if nothing else I emerge from this class a little more computer savvy.....