UofM Feminist

During Feminist Thought and Theory class today, we watched the film, "Halloween." On thursday, we will be doing a feminist analysis of the film, but I thought I would drop some of my feelings and issues about the film. The lighting for the film was pretty good, however the acting needed some work. During one scene, a couple walked into the house where a woman was just murdered and she says, "its cold and dark in here," which sounds funny to those of us watching nowadays, but its interesting to see what was scary in the 70's. The two women who were murdered in the film had similar characteristics. Neither were wearing much for clothing, both were cynical and weren't nervous or scared like Laurie. Both women had boyfriends, and had had sex. The virgin, Laurie, who did not have a boyfriend lived. What I find the most interesting, is the fact that teenage girls are the targeted victims. Those cheerleaders and high school seniors who babysit for money, smoke in their parents' cars, and walk home together. Laurie seems to be the odd one or the "other" of her friends and it is evident from the beginning of the film. Although Bob is murdered in the Film, he only killed because he is there, not because he was a planned victim.

Annie, Linda, and Bob, the three who were murdered, were not sober. Annie was high (if I am not mistaken from their drive) and Linda and Bob had been drinking beer. Laurie coughed when she smoked in the car and was not acting the same as Annie. I do not quite understand what substances have to do with those who were murdered, but I did find it interesting.

Throughout the film, you could not see Michael's face, the murderer. In fact, the only time he is unmasked is at the end before he is shot by the doctor. When he is attacking women, he is masked, but when the doctor tries to kill him, he becomes unmasked if only for a moment.

In one of the scenes, Michael is watching Annie take off her clothes in the kitchen after she has spilled butter all down her front. She then goes to do laundry in a separate building. Somehow, even though this is a horror film, a woman still manages to do some laundry and bend over backwards to go get her boyfriend who is grounded. While Laurie is babysitting, she wears an apron, even though she doesn't appear to be doing any cooking.

What I did not understand, was the significance of Judith Meyers, Michael's sister. His sister had sex with her boyfriend, but thats the only correlation I can find. Why would a young boy murder his sister? The fact that she had sex doesn't make sense to me. A boy who was in an asylum for 15 years and then decides to escape and murder two girls and a guy and then create a tomb on a bed with Annie's body just doesn't make sense. Anyone out there have any suggestions?

Posted by Jessica Englund at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I recently read a very interesting and fascinating article by Trinh T. Minh-ha. It was entitled "Grandma's Stories" from her book Woman, Native, Other. Minh-ha addresses the importance of repetition and the responsibility of storytelling. According to ancient cultures and even some that remain today, women are the libraries of society. They are the only ones who hold the "truth" and they have an immense power. A woman could tell a story and it changes and influences the people who heard it and it is irreversible. The consequences of such stories can be used for either good or bad and some may have both consequences. Her perception of truth is even more compelling. She believes that, "there was no such thing as 'a blind acceptance of the story as literally true' "(Minh-ha 121). She also states that, "Literature and history once were/still are stories: this does not necessarity mean that the space they form is undifferentiated, but that this space can articulate on a different set of principles, one which may be said to stand outside the hierarchical realm of facts" (Minh-ha 121). Minh-ha discusses truth in a very different sense than is utilized in societal language. Truth is very different from fact. For instance, "if we rely on history to tell us what happened at a specific time and place, we can rely on the story to tell us not only what might have happened, but also what is happening at an unspecified time and place" (Minh-ha 120). History can give you facts and "civilized" truth, but a story tells a truth that has been experienced and told many times over and is personalized to the teller and the listener. She thinks that, "perhaps the story has become just a story when i have become adept at consuming truth as fact. Imagination is thus equated with falsification" (Minh-ha 121). Stories, nowadays, have been relegated to the teaching of children through morals and the "civilized" truth. She encourages all women to tell their stories and to continue the stories of their mothers and grandmothers and to do so in whatever way possible. Minh-ha uses her resources as a writer, filmmaker and photographer to continue to tell her grandma's stories. So, girls, take hold of those stories, and use them to affect others and instigate change!

Posted by Jessica Englund at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I recently attended the Ani DiFranco concert in Madison, WI. What struck me the most was her attitude and her presence. I love love love her music and I love the way she stands up and does not take anyone's abuse. Sometimes, her music surprises me because it comes from the softer center that I don't see from her in person. Her performance was so awe-inspiring and so real; it was amazing.

I think that one of my favorite songs by her is Out of Range. You can read the lyrics here. What I love about this song is the personal relevance it has in my life. I recently was in an emotionally abusive relationship with a guy that broke my spirit for a long time. To me, this song reminds me of what I went through and how I dealt with it. Reading the lyrics and listening to the song has helped me heal and brought me closer to where I used to be.

Another song that reminds me of myself is Used to You. You can read the lyrics here. My friend, Carina and I both dated this guy and we both understand what the other went through and know how emotional abuse can in many ways is worse than physical abuse because not only does it affect you personally, but also on a physical level. It makes you so tired you don't know what to do and it makes you feel so awful that you find it difficult to talk to anyone other than you're significant other because you feel like you have nothing worthwhile to say.

If anyone may be experiencing any type of relationship abuse, visit the Aurora Center in Boynton Health Services and they can point you in the right direction. You can also get more information at their website.

Posted by Jessica Englund at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Because women speak and write...from the margins of patriarchy, we who are conscious of this phenomenon have wrestled strenuously with the problem of using language against itself - the joint impossibility and necessity of speaking and writing" (Walker, Waldman 1).

"We can no longer ignore that voice within women that says: 'I want something more than my husband and my children and my home.' "(Friedan 32).

"Within feminist circles, silence is often seen as the sexist 'right speech of womanhood' - the sign of woman's submission to patriarchal authority" (hooks 207).
"[Black women's] struggle has not been to emerge from silence into speech but to change the nature and direction of our speech, to make a speech that compels listeners, one that is heard" (hooks 208).
"Moving from silence to speech is for the oppressed, the colonized, the exploited, and those who stand and struggle side by side a gesture of defiance that heals, that makes new life and new growth possible. It is that act of speech, of 'talking back,' that is no mere gesture of empty words, that is the expression of our movement from object to subject - the liberated voice" (hooks 211).

I am quoting from the GWSS 3307 course packet, Friedan's The Feminist Mystique, and bell hook's Talking back: Thinkng Feminist, Thinking Black.

Women have been silenced for so long, it is necessary for our voices to be heard and not ignored. According to Friedan, we can no longer ignore the voices of women who are seen as 'unfeminine' because they are unfulfilled in their role as housewives. Speech and writing allow for women to be heard and resist the silencing that has for so long been the 'feminine' course. bell hooks does an excellent job describing and claiming voice. According to hooks, Black women's voice is very different from other women's experiences. Black women are allowed to speak, yet their talk is silencing in itself. "Talking back" is the term that hooks uses to describe the type of speech that is needed from Black women, because their talk is ignored and pushed aside as background noise by men. Talking back is a way from women to get claim their voice and be heard. In her quote above, she says that most who are oppressed, are silent and must move from silence to speech, whereas Black women need to move from empty talk to "talking back" and claiming voice.

Friedan discusses the "problem that has no name." Housewives were being ignored and their 'problem' was not taken seriously in the public sphere. Feminine expectations were to get married, have a home, and have children. Many women were not satisfied with this life yet couldn't speak of the problem for lack of 'voice.' She also describes what the problem is not: poverty, age, sickness, hunger, cold. Nor is it material fulfillment, too much education, loss of femininity or fatigue as many psychologists had named the issue. The "housewife's fatigue" was the term that many professionals used in describing the problem that had no name. Friedan says, "it is no longer possible to ignore that voice, to dismiss the desperation of so many American women. This is not what being a woman means, no matter what the experts say. For human suffering there is a reason; perhaps the reason has not been found because the right questions have not been asked, or pressed far enough" (Friedan 26).

We need to stand up and start "talking back." Get our voices heard, because without voice or a language to describe our oppressions and the issues that suppress our words and feelings, we will but stuck in the patriarchal language and ignored.

"some chick says
thank you for saying all the things i never do
i say
the thanks i get is to take all the shit for you
it's nice that you listen
it'd be nicer if you joined in
as long as you play their game girl
you're never going to win"
- Ani DiFranco -
- Face up and Sing -

Posted by Jessica Englund at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In my Feminist Thought & Theory class, we discussed Judith Butler's ideas on gender performance and gender as a construction of identity. One of the most interesting ideas that Butler brings up is drag as gender performance. Everyday, people perform gender through physical and behavioral cues that fit within society's "accepted" gender roles.

Drag plays this gender performance in a very outrageous and loud way. The immitation of gender performance through drag was interesting because I had never thought that drag was the immitation of everyday activity. For as Butler argues, "In immitating gender, drag implicitly reveals the imitative structure of gender itself - as well as its contingency" (Butler 501). Butler refers to this performance as a parody of the notion of "original gender." What I got from her article was the nonexistence of natural or "original" gender. According to Butler, "Gender is, thus, a construction that regulartly conceals its genesis; the tacit collective agreement to perform, produce, and sustain discrete and polar genders as cultural fictions is obscured by the credibility of those productions - and the punishments that attend not agreeing to believe in them; the construction "compels" our belief in its necessity and naturalness" (Butler 502). I believe that what she is trying to say is that gender is a construction which tries to hide its unnaturalness based on social expectations. We then, perform within the gender binaries to be able to fit in society and thus reaffirms our beliefs that gender is a necessity and quite natural within these binaries. I admire Butler's ideas of drag and gender performance and construction. After observing my own gender cues and the way I behave, I found myself very consciously acting within the gender binary.

From "Gender Trouble", Judith Butler. Quoted from "Feminist Theory: A Reader" Second Edition, compiled by Wendy K. Kolmar and Frances Bartkowski.

Posted by Jessica Englund at 01:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)