Final Blog

This week our blog is supposed to reflect on the work we have done in Women’s studies 250 over the semester. Women’s studies was a great class and allowed us to learn about many different things we would not learn in other classes.

When I decided to take the course I thought it was going to be all about women’s rights and how we got to where we are today. The class was very different from what I imagined it to be. We discussed so much more then just women’s rights. We discussed how they are viewed in the media, and in society. In the film Still Killing Us Softly we learn about how the media changes the way we perceive women. They Photoshop women to look perfect and have changed our ideas about what is beautiful. In class we also discussed lesbian and gay rights and transgender problems. In the movie Boys Don’t Cry we get a better look at what it is like to be a transgendered person and how difficult it is. This class really opened my eyes to all the different struggles of minorities in our society.

 Over the semester I learned about many different art works and artists that I had never knew about before. Judy Chicago’s artwork really stood out to me. It was something so different and unusual and it sent out a very powerful message. Her piece The Dinner Party represented many women of different race, beliefs, ages and nationalities. It was to celebrate women and their bodies and their ideals. All the women represented had changed history in some way. The other artworks that stood out to me were the quilts from the Los Hilos De Vida.  These quilts were really interesting because they showed a story about immigration to the United States. I also never thought of quilts as artwork but they really are. They are amazing and women make them for their families to tell them the stories of their lives and what they have been through. In the beginning of the semester we also talked about the artwork of Leonardo Da Vinci. The picture of The Madonna and of The Whore really stood out to me. Its message is one that is still shown in today’s society. It puts women into two categories of being motherly and pure or being a whore and promiscuous. It limits women and expects us to be a certain way just like our media still does today.

Over all I learned a lot of new material in this class, which was extremely interesting to me. We discussed more then just Women’s rights. This class went beyond my expectations and was really enjoyable to me.

Blog 11

            This week we read the book Baghdad Burning written by Riverbend it is a collection of blogs written by a 24-year-old girl called Riverbend. She is faced with a constant fear with living in Iraq during the war. She blogs about her everyday experiences and what it is like to live in a country at war. Her country has changed drastically since the war has started and people everywhere are being devastated everyday. The American army has occupied Iraq and the people no longer feel save in their own homes. She refers to the government as the “puppet counsel” because they are all just figureheads. They have no real power and the Americans say and tell them what to do. This makes Riverbend extremely angry because everyday the counsel goes and makes announcements and pretend to have any sort of power at all to change what the current situation is, and it is all empty promises. Troops have raided the streets and have been breaking into people’s homes for no reason. They have taken innocent people to prison and Baghdad was being reduced to rubble. She is so angry as the “puppet counsel” sits there and lets all of this happen with no arguments or fights. They have no power and have not tried to help anyone. It is almost impossible to leave the home safely. Everyday they are in fear for their lives and for their family’s lives. She said once that she has been to more funerals this year then in her entire life. She hears all the time about people being abducted, beaten, and killed in jail and in the streets.

One thing that really stuck out to me was when the pictures from the Abu Ghraib jail is leaked to the media. In the prison Abu Ghraib in Baghdad American troops were sexually abusing, beating and killing many of the prisoners. The pictures had leaked and were all over the news and all over America’s news. President Bush made a statement saying this was not the face of the American Army and not the face of America. He wanted everyone to know this is not what we represent. Riverbend is furious with this apology because everyday troops are killing innocent people in the streets. The American army is bombing hospitals, schools, and mosques. They even bombed a wedding ceremony for no reason. Everyone living in Iraq knows this happens everyday that troops are abusing their powers but these pictures are the only things being shown and nothing is gong to change. Everyday innocent people are being raped, killed, beat in these prisons and she is furious that the government does nothing about any of it.

            Baghdad Burning really gave me a better view of what is going on in Iraq and the war. Living in America we don’t see any of the things that these people are faced with everyday. We are so unaware that we are even at war. This novel really opened my eyes to what is going on in the world and how our government really censors what we see. Our news is so biased towards America and our war that we never see the other side of it.