Is Women's Studies Still Relevant?
SInce the first wave of the women's movement feminists have come a long way. The problem is that now we are in a bit of a rut. This article about women's studies touches on the many issues that are slowing the feminist movement.
Many students see female senators and hear about courses such as Feminist Film Studies and they think the women's movement is done. So many students especially females are not getting as involved as past classes. I think students learn about the great things that the first and second wave feminists accomplished, and believe that their work is done. We are forgetting that there are still issues that we must fight for. This is why I believe that the introduction of new programs like "gender studies" and "sexuality studies" are crucial for the women's movement to continue. In this article they argue that by combining these its making women's studies less relevant, but that is exactly the opposite. It is opening up women's studies for new ideas, opinions, and people to get involved. I think many good things are to come by studying intersectionality and thinking of a larger picture, instead of just one thing like gender. So is women's studies still important? Of course, but now we have to look beyond just women and get more people involved.
Comments
I think these are good points. To add a little, I think that Women's Studies is still relevant because of the issues involved with the GLBTQA community that are still very abundant. Also, we have so much more to learn about gender and sexuality, that is why it is so important that we study masculinity as well. I am so happy that 'Women's Studies' at the U was changed to GWSS, for that reason.
Posted by: greta | December 10, 2007 04:29 PM