Intro to "Gender + Culture" Reading List

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By some Christmas Miracle, my desperate need for summer employment was met with a quick and dirty offer to teach WMST 209: Intro to Gender & Culture (in Media/Technology) at the University of Northern BC starting next week and going until Mid August. WTF. So Awesome. I'm stoked. There's 25 ppl in the class and my only objectives are to 1. Make them Angry at Patriarchy and 2. Get them HOOKED on Twitter. There's so much to cover for a second year theoretical/content-based survey course. This is the full reading list I posted with my "extra" reading notes for me to present (which will OBV get added to) in my lectures. HELLARAD.

Feminist Theory re: Gender + Gender Performance

Feminist Media Theory by Wesley Rykalski on Prezi (http:// prezi.com/ovkrf6vpui4v/feminist- media-theory/)

VIDEO: Miss Representation (90 Minutes)

“Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Feminism But Were Afraid to Ask” in Bitch Media (http://bitchmagazine.org/article/everything-about-feminism)

There is No Opt-In; You cannot Opt-Out 
http://youareasplendidbutterfly.com/2013/05/25/there-is-no-opt-in-you-cannot-opt-out/ 

The Peeping Press: Understanding the Male Media Gaze by Jessica Valenti (http://www.thenation.com/blog/174874/peeping-press-understanding-male-media-gaze#axzz2XBOaBtvV )

The Oscars and the Bechdel Test on Feminist Frequencies: http://www.feministfrequency.com/2012/02/the-2012-oscars-and-the-bechdel-test/ 

Hey, Girl: Parody + Memes

Exploding Actress: http:// explodingactresses.tumblr.com/

Target Women Lady Friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=eZZzPzknX6Y

Target Women Hair http:// www.youtube.com/watch? v=4oydMNkQofw

Target Women Cleaning http:// www.youtube.com/watch? v=aKSjZ_72ZtQ

Privilege Denying Male Meme

http://knowyourmeme.com/ memes/privilege-denying-dude

VIDEO: 30 ROCK S05E16 “TGS Hates Women”

“The Funny Business of Being Tina Fey: Constructing a (feminist) comedy icon” by Martha Lauzen in Feminist Media Studies Published Online November 16, 2012

“The Feministing Five: Feminist Ryan Gosling” on Feministinghttp://feministing.com/2012/01/14/the-feministing-five-danielle-henderson/ 

“Satirical Fake News and/as American Political Discourse” by Ian Reilly in The Journal of American Culture (2012) 35, 3: 258-275.

“Girls Get Digital: A Critical View of Cyberfeminism” by Vera Hinsey, On Our Terms: The Undergraduate Journal of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College, 1, 1 (2013): 25-32 Download Link: http://onourterms.cdrs.columbia.edu/index.php/oot/article/view/8/18

Male on Male Gaze
Don’t Know the Difference Between Dubstep and Brostep? in The Tyeehttp://thetyee.ca/ArtsAndCulture/2011/12/08/Skrillex/

A Brief History of Bro Culture: Beer and babes, a timeline of bros gone wild in Time Magazine http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1997965,00.html

The Year in High-Bro Culture in GQ Magazine http://www.gq.com/entertainment/humor/201112/high-bro-year-in-culture 

Of ponies and men My Little Pony: Friendship is magic and the Brony fandom by Venetia Laura Delano Robertson, International Journal of Cultural Studies, January 3, 2013

“I love you, Brom Bones”: Beta Male Comedies and American Culture by David Greven in Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 30, 405-420, 2013

Intersectionality Theory + Analysis // Privilege + Class/ RACE
“Intersectionality & Feminism” by Anna Carasthathis on KickAction.cahttp://www.kickaction.ca/en/node/1499 

Re-Thinking Intersectionality by Jennifer C Nash In Feminist Review (2008) 89, 1-15: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/fr/journal/v89/n1/full/fr20084a.html 

“Patric Brazeau Suggests Theresa Spence Gained Weight During Protest” The Huffington Post Canada June 31, 2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/01/31/patrick-brazeau-theresa-spence_n_2589799.html

Jay-Z, Macklemore, A$AP Rocky Lead Gay-Rights Shift In Hip-Hop by Gil Kaufman on MTV.COM http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704448/gay-rights-hip-hop-jay-z-asap-rocky-macklemore.jhtml

“Hip Hop Feminism and Failure” by Michael P. Jeffries in Palimpsest: A Journal of Women, Gender, and the Black International 1, 2 (2012): 277-284

Fat! So?

VIDEO: Girls, S2 E5

“Why It’s OK To Be Fat” TedXMill River with Gold Poretskyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73SXX0w4eY8 

“Golda Poretsky’s TED Talk, ‘Why It’s Okay To Be Fat,’ Promotes Loving Yourself and Health at Every Size via the Huffington Posthttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/05/golda-poretskys-ted-talk-its-okay-to-be-fat_n_3389702.html READ THE COMMENTS!

“Sized Up” by Bitch Media http://bitchmagazine.org/article/sized-up-fat-feminist-queer-disability

“All the News That’s Fat to Print: The American ‘Obesity Epidemic’ and the Media” by Natalie Boero in Qualitative Sociology (2007) 30:41-60

“Literally the Best Thing Ever: Girls” by Tavi Gevinson in Rookie Mag 04/16/2012: http://rookiemag.com/2012/04/literally-the-best-thing-ever-girls/ 

“Lena Dunham Would Never Score with Patrick Wilson, But She Deserves Him” by Brian Moylan in Hollywood.com Feb 11, 2013http://www.hollywood.com/news/tv/55000799/lena-dunham-patrick-wilson-girls-romance?page=all 

“Lena Dunham analyzes three episodes of Girls” in LA Times June 6, 2013:http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-lena-dunham-girls-20130606,0,3395164.story 

Everybody is Gay!
“Reinventing Privilege: The New (Gay) Man in Contemporary Popular Media” in Critical Studies in Media Communication 20, 1 (2003): 67-91

“Lesbians who are married to men : identity, collective stories, and the Internet online community” by Margaret Cooper in LGBT indentity and online new media/ edited by Christopher Pullen and Margaret Cooper, NY: Routledge, 2010: 75-86

Lesbians who look like Justin Bieber http://lesbianswholooklikejustinbieber.tumblr.com/

Hannah Montana vs. Miley Cyrus: Girl Objectification and the Pre-Sexualization of the Adult Female

VIDEO: The Bling Ring

Pole-arized' discourse: An analysis of responses to Miley Cyrus's Teen Choice Awards pole dance
Feminism & Psychology May 1, 2013 23: 163-183

Beyond the `Sexualization of Culture' Thesis: An Intersectional Analysis of `Sixpacks',`Midriffs' and `Hot Lesbians' in Advertising by Rosalind Gill Sexualities April 2009 vol. 12 no. 2 137-160

Violence Against Women/The Other: Victimization and (Social) Media

Stop the Death of Women in Ads: http://www.stopfemaledeathinadvertising.com/

Exploding Actresses http://explodingactresses.tumblr.com/ 

Online Harassment TedXWomen with Feminist Frequencies: http://www.feministfrequency.com/2012/12/tedxwomen-talk-on-sexist-harassment-cyber-mobs/

Sexting as media production: Rethinking social media and sexuality New Media & Society June 1, 2013 15: 449-465

“Family relives Pitt Meadows rave nightmare” in The Globe and Mail, Feb 6, 2013: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/family-relives-pitt-meadows-rave-nightmare/article8321736/

Parenthood: Heteronormative Families, Lazy Dads, and Super Moms
“The Post-Nuclear Family and the Depolicization of Unplanned Pregnancy in Knocked Up, Juno, and Waitress” by Kristen Hoerl and Casey Ryan Kelly in Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 7, 4 (2010): 360-380

“Of Peerenting, Trophy Wives, and Effeminate Men: Modern Family’s Surpringly Conservative Remediation of the Family Sitcom Genre” by Christina M. LaVecchia in Harlot No. 6 (2011): http://harlotofthearts.com/index.php/harlot/article/view/85/65 

FANTASY
Damsel in Distress (Part 1): Tropes vs. Women http://www.feministfrequency.com/2013/03/damsel-in-distress-part-1/

Trekkie Feminist http://trekkiefeminist.tumblr.com/

Scott Pilgrim Vs Hegemony: Nostalgia, Remediation, and Heteronormativity by R. Lizardi in Journal of Graphic Novels and Comicshttp://www.personal.psu.edu/rel140/blogs/ryan_lizardi/Lizardi%20-%20Scott%20Pilgrim%20(JGNC).pdf

Today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women...

As I get older, I find that I get more emotional on December 6th. It's kind of like I've been attending these events since I was a child, sometimes organizing them as an adult, and always, always participating. I feel like I'm growing up, but this is just staying the same. There's still so much violence and hatred towards women and sometimes it feels like it's not getting any better and there's no end in sight.

Two things really get to me about December 6th. The first is my enormous rage, anger, and sadness about violence against women. This year, especially, feels like a banner year for violence against women and girls. I feel like everywhere you can turn and see some Canadian media you are consuming a recent report about violence against a girl or woman. None of these reports analyze the role of gender and say that this was gendered violence, when it is.

Here's a short list of what happened SO FAR this year, and what about it is shaking me to the core:

1. Last winter Canadian news was scandalized with the arrest of Col. Russell Williams. Details aside, he was charged with two first degree murder charges (and later he faced a total of 88 charges) and within the first 24 hours of his arrest, the media and his "supporters" reported that "he's such a great guy", a "community leader", and an "upstanding gentleman". The court case began and raged on and this man has been put to jail and an arduous court case for the murder of two (young) women. The majority of the news around his case focused on his sexual deviance, rather than the fact that our society continues to allow these mother fucking men to rise to positions of power in our institutions. There needs to be better screening to ensure that men are aware of their role as possible misogynists and violence makers, and institutions need to give men the space to have a different take on women (rather than to just continue with the traditional patriarchy). Of course Williams was in the wrong and did terrible terrible things, but why can't we also hold the institution that encourages patriarchal behaviour to also be responsible? huh?

2. The spring brought us the death of Kimberly Proctor. 18 year old high schooler from Victoria who's burned remains were found adjacent to the Victoria regional trail, the gallopping goose. Was it intentional? Was it a homicide? Was it a random act of violence? no one knew! And then in the early fall the real truth began to be heard in the news. An ex boyfriend and a friend fucking LURED her to their house where they killed her, put her body in a fucking duffel bag, put some gasoline in the duffel bag, CARRIED HER BODY ON THE CITY BUS, and took her to the trail where they burned her.

This one is probably the most jarring for me from this year. First, people in Proctor's family and community IMMEDIATELY realized she was missing (that made the news within a day). She had deviated from her regular routine, she was last seen at a bus stop, etc. People cared that she went missing; responsible adults knew her routine and were concerned when it became different. And they should've been. These boys (16 and 17 at the time of the death) obviously did not have responsible adults in their lives (or the accomplice's lives). Who's house did they take her to? Was one of these boys living outside of his parent's house? So, if he had his own house, was MCFD involved? HOW COME NO ONE HEARD ANY OF THIS GOING ON WHEN IT WAS HAPPENING? Also, we obviously live in a fucked up world if these boys are using facebook and email to carry out this detailed and meditated plan to murder this young woman. Planning it for a year? And, they took her body on the city bus? There was probably a good 36 hour period where these boys weren't interrupted. Where are responsible adults (teacher? why the fuck weren't they in school? why weren't the teachers calling the house looking for the kids? why didn't the bus driver question the large bag? and why wasn't kimberly proctor told never to trust any boy EVER?)

3. Oh September! The leaves slowly begin to change, the sun sets earlier in the day, and kids go back to school, and have parties where they gang rape their classmates, take pictures and put them on facebook. I'm not sure how many ways we can say this isn't cool, it's unacceptable, and it's RIDICULOUS that these young men are allowed to have this sort of social behaviour without getting immediately blacklisted from school, their communities, and the earth. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THEIR WORLDS THAT IS TELLING THEM THAT THIS BEHAVIOUR IS A-OK? If you know someone in high school (or are in high school) you need to immediately tell them about this happening and tell them why it is wrong. a) you never hurt ANYONE like this for any reason, b) use social media responsibly!, c) respect women/girls and other marginalized and oppressed peoples! JERKS!

4. Most recently a number of young women have been murdered in our old stomping grounds, Prince George. And even more recently the murder of a 15 year old girl in Fort St James. I'm still not emotionally mature enough to deal with, or even begin to theorize and work towards dealing with the death of women in the north. So, I have nothing angry or helpful to say, except FUCK YOU PATRIARCHY.

Now I'm tired, worked up, etc. I have all these rants and suggestions for Capital F Feminism for making December 6th more effective, but I don't think I can get there right now (too much stuff to doooooooooo). Maybe next year? Or, just find a copy of my thesis :) XO