I have never taken a class in relation to feminism so this class really aided in my understanding of what feminism means to me and what it means to others as well. My favorite section was the section about family values because I thought the discussions were exciting in that everyone has different family values and the definition isn't as clear cut as one may think. I also really like the day we watched "Free to be you and me" because it showed a lot of issues within family values and it helped me look at family values from a feminist perspective. I found some of the papers to be rather difficult because there were so many different reading and perspective to take into account and it was somewhat overwhelming. I think that the papers helped me organize my thoughts and understanding of what was going on with the feminist issues being presented. For me, this class was difficult because I felt as though I needed the basics before I could critically analyze all of the specific issues presented in class. I would have been a lot more comfortable with the material if I had a class prior to this class to offer me a platform of knowledge of feminism to work with. I thought the blogging experience was very helpful because it helped me look at other people's opinions and insights, which helped me understand reading and certain issues. I think the blog allowed me to get a lot of different information, so if I didn't understand one person's comments or opinions I could read someone else's. The blog was a very good learning tool for me personally. Twitter was very difficult for me to follow, I think because I had never used it and really didn't get engaged as much as I did with the blog. I do think that twitter is a useful tool for educating large amounts of people about feminist issues. I would tell students thinking about entering this class to have a groundwork of feminist theory before entering, otherwise they may feel lost at times like I did. Also I would advice future students to read the reading critically and bring the reading to class as pages are referenced very often during conversation. All and all I really enjoyed this class and the insight it gave me in relation to feminism and feminist theory.
DE April 25
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I am like you Carly in that I have never taken a class in relation to feminism and really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I registered for this class. It was different that what I thought it would be as the course name was "Feminist Debates." I thought there would be heavy debates over feminist issues relating to equal rights or something. I was very unsure as to what this class would be like but I enjoyed the structure being open and free to discuss these issues instead of having structured debates. I enjoyed the labor unit and family values unit. That unit really opened my eyes to issues I had never really thought of relating to feminism. The papers I found difficult as well just because they were short and it seemed I needed more information to draw a connection between three readings but it was difficult with only 2 - 3 pages of writing. It was difficult to relate them all together in one paper as well so I struggled trying to pick 3 papers and connect them all.
I also struggled with some of the vocabulary since this was the first GWSS course I have taken. The blog and class discussions really helped me further understand but a prerequisite may have helped clear up some of the confusion although I do not think it is entirely necessary seeing that over half of the class is not GWSS majors and it seems everyone engaged just fine in the class. The mix of the experienced students and not experienced students I think really made this a great class. I thought the blog was great, I enjoyed the learning experience because I have never blogged before. Twitter was very hard to get used to. I would follow the class but that was my only experience with twitter and I never found it all that necessary with the blog. I don’t think I will continue using it after this class. Although the class had its difficulties, overall I really enjoyed all the insight I have learned. It was a great experience and I am so happy I could take it before I graduated. I learned so much valuable information that I do not receive in my other classes and I would recommend these courses to other students!