The Relevance of Feminist Media Studies
My final paper was entitled “Studying Gender and Identity Politics in Relation to Media and Feminist Activism.� As implied by the title, I addressed how alternative media could be used as a vehicle for feminist activism and as a means of reinvigorating feminism itself. I discussed the absence of representation of diverse identity positions in the mass media, as well as the lack of global issue coverage. In a world where we are increasingly relying on media and technology, it seems atrocious that the mass media still refuses to tell the stories of serious global issues such as AIDs epidemics and war that are facing people around the world. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to find non-stereotypical representations of individuals from diverse identity positions in the mass media.
I also addressed the apathy that seems to be found among today’s students toward feminism. There seems to be a growing lack of commitment and a reluctance to identify with feminism among young people and students. In fact, before I took this course, I myself was beginning to feel a discontentment within the feminist movement and stagnancy in GWSS department courses. However, exposure to alternative or independent films such as Water that use art to creatively address current local and global issues facing women and other marginalized groups, helped to renew my commitment and excitement toward feminism. In such a way this class helped make feminism sexy again, by exposing me to media that challenges essentialist, patriarchal, heteronormative notions of reality. This exposure, coupled with a new understanding of and respect for women and minority media creators, has allowed me to envision a new wave of global feminism that could use media and technology as a way to reinvigorate feminist activism. I attempted to explain with my paper how such a new wave of global feminism could unite students, educators, artists, activists and others who are committed to using media creations as a vehicle to raise awareness and generate social change around important issues facing women and other marginalized groups around the world.
I also state that in order to make a feminist activist art movement effective, it is imperative for activists to understand and challenge the disparity and inequality that faces women directors and artists both in Hollywood and the independent film industry. I cited the Guerrilla Girls as an example of feminist activist artists who have challenged the film industry’s sexist hiring and promotion practices. I also cited and discussed examples of films which have already been, or have the potential to become tools for global feminist activism. I cited Lourdes Portillo and Deepa Mehta as a few examples of directors who have used their work to bring awareness to important global issues facing women. Specifically, I discussed how Señorita Extraviada succeeded in moving audiences to political activism.
Another issue that I discussed is how alternative media makers have chosen protagonists for their films that give agency to the most marginalized individuals in patriarchal society. Specifically, I referenced The Watermelon Woman as a film in which director Cheryl Dunye uses herself as the protagonist in a way that serves to address the intersectionality of her unique identity categories as an African American, lesbian, female filmmaker. I also referenced Boys Don’t Cry as an example of a film that gives agency to the marginalized of society while simultaneously raising awareness of the very real issue of hate crimes.
I also addressed the importance for students to understand their role as critical spectators. I argue that it is through such spectatorship that we can not only resist and challenge mainstream media representations but also decide what feminist media means to us and create our own representations and meanings of reality.