Popular Resource file

WMST 2010-001, Fall 2000

 

The Joy Luck Club

The movie, The Joy Luck Club, portrays women as strong and independent. Four mothers came to America to give their children better opportunities in life. They would like their daughters to not suffer through what they endured growing up in China. The four mothers’ lives in China were filled with pain and sorrow; however, they triumphed over their tribulations and are now happy and prosperous in America. These women were strong enough to overcome the obstacles that faced them, become independent, and rely on themselves instead of others. On the contrary, their daughters have grown up in America and do not have the same values and thoughts as their mothers. They also have trials and obstacles that they must face in life. As their mothers unfold their horrible pasts to their daughters, the daughters become strong and find their own inner self worth. This is a very good movie that portrays women as strong, vibrant, and honorable. It teaches us that no matter where you come from, what you have done, or what has been done to you, that we, as women, can overcome and triumph over any tribulation.

    Sheila Cartwright

I Dreamed of Africa

I chose to review the movie I Dreamed of Africa. This movie is inspired by the true story of Kuki Gallmann. She is a courageous woman who moved from her comfortable life in Italy to start anew in the wilds of Africa with her son and new husband. She is a writer and internationally respected conservationist. She also founded the Gallmann Memorial Foundation dedicated to the memory of her late son and husband. This foundation is devoted to the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature.

Kuki Gallmann is portrayed in this movie as a zealous and strong-willed woman. She demonstrates great courage to move from her home to a different country that has a fierce reputation. She endures the horrible reality of losing a son and a husband to the untamed Africa and yet she still persists in her work to protect the animals of the land. She is an amazing woman in my opinion to have lived through so much loss and still want to live in the land that claimed the two members of her family.

This movie is a great depiction of a strong woman in an even stronger world. She has made so many contributions to the protection of our wildlife and the coexistence of man and nature.

    D. S.

 

Dirt Rider magazine

I looked at advertising in a Dirt Rider magazine to see if women were promoting products in a magazine that is designed for the dirt bike rider which is usually men. I was not surprised to find that women were used to sell products, even though, the products were not something used by the majority of women and the clothing (bathing suits, short jean shorts, tight T-shirts, etc.) they wore was not typical dirt bike clothing. The producers of the magazine appealed to men as potential subscribers to the magazine. The angle from which the photographs of women was taken was different from the angle photographs of men was taken. The women photographs were from an upward angle and full body. The photographs of men were from a front angle and not always full body. The angle used to photograph the women made the viewer start at the bottom of the picture and move their eyes upward. I believe the producers are using sex and women to sell their products because not very often do females actually ride motorcross. This is not a new idea to sell products because I found similar advertising's in a 1981 Motorcross magazine that my husband had.

    Joy Shepard

 

Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart’s magazines (Living) and her television shows are directed towards home improvement, decorating, and much, much more. She is a great person with extreme talents and creativity. I am inspired by her tenacity and desire to share her "know how" with the rest of us. She has so many great ideas and I can hardly wait to get a house of my own to decorate or have a wedding to plan or a garden to tend to!

Many liberals would argue that her shows and magazines focus only on domestic things and considering that the audience and readers are predominantly females that this is wrong. Many people think that this is yet another way of keeping women at home, cooking and cleaning for their husbands. That it is stereotypical to direct these things towards women and not towards both sexes.

I would argue, that a majority (in my opinion) of women enjoy these things. I think that many women are willing to accept all the help they can get to assist in doing these things better and to have a little more fun in the process. Martha’s ideas are very useful in every day life to parties and reunions. She provides ideas for everything from picnics, to berry picking, to wallpapering, and many more things that men or women would find useful.

The advertisements in the magazine are not all about makeup, fashion, and female medical problems, but they offer a wide range of advertisements for things such as: hardware stores, pet food, and even investment banks. The advertisements are not seductive or vulgar like many we see in other "ladies" magazines, but rather very tasteful and appropriate for both sexes.

Martha should be a person whom every female in the world looks up to. She is a successful, single woman. She has pride in what she does and she does it well.

    Melanie Frerichs

Marie Claire

Marie Claire is a monthly magazine that is geared toward women. This magazine has a few useful articles that discuss important women’s issues. Although the magazine has these useful articles I feel that it exploits women. This magazine is made up of mostly advertisements that have women selling a product in very degrading ways. These women are all supermodel material and they do not represent what most women look like. I also think that there were not enough articles in this magazine to interest me in paying another three dollars for it again.

    Amber Woodward

 

Goodbye Earl

Goodbye Earl is a very popular Dixie Chicks, country song. When it first came out, radio stations were very reluctant to play it. The song is about Mary Ann, Wanda, and Earl. Wanda and Mary Ann are friends. Wanda goes to find a bright, new world and Wanda marries Earl. She is abused, files for divorce, and then is put into intensive care at the hand of her ex. Wanda flies in and she and Mary Ann decide that Earl has to die. They poison him, wrap him up in a tarp, and throw him in a river. The girls buy some land and start their own business; no one misses Earl. The story line sounds horrible writing it down like that, but the song is very up beat. It is odd that such a serious topic can be displayed in a fun way. Hundreds of women die every year from being abused by their husbands. Sure, we could get into the issue of whether murder is ever the right thing to do, but I do not feel like the Dixie Chicks are trying to say that murder is o.k. The Dixie Chicks put a blurb at the end of this song on the album: "We don’t believe in murder, we just believe in getting even." I think the girls are just trying to relay the message that women in the year 2000 are not to be messed with. We are no longer going to ignore things like physical abuse. We are going to do something about it. I feel this song portrays women as strong individuals who can and will do whatever it takes to survive. The first thing I thought of when I heard this song was, "We sure have came a long way from Stand by Your Man." Ironically, when the Dixie Chicks put out Goodbye Earl, they put Stand by Your Man as the other song on the single. I think that they chose that song, to not only be funny, but also to point out how very different things are now.

    Melinda Benavides

 

Teen People

I found a short article in Teen People entitled the "Trendspotter of the month." It tells about a girl, Annie Colombini, who found out that abuse among teenagers is growing. She decided to do something about it and founded a program called STAR (Students Teminating Abusive Relationships). The students who joined Annie pass out cards that have warning signs of abusive relationships. The group also gathers donations to give to shelters for battered women. Annie hopes this organization will become a national organization. I think this was a good article because this young girl is stepping up and taking a leadership role in fighting against abuse. It shows that even young girls can be leaders in the community and stand up for what they believe in.

    Erin Boyes

 

Daria

I chose the program called "Daria" as a positive influence for women in popular culture. For those unfamiliar with the show, it is an animated comedy that airs on MTV for half an hour. The plot revolves around Daria, an extremely bright teenager who does not buy into the idea of becoming what others want you to be but rather your own person. For this reason, the show is positive for women, especially those still in high school. I remember that so many shows I watched while in high school focused around the popular kids who played sports and were beautiful. Daria is not popular and is an extreme introvert but does not let that bother her. She has a sister Quinn who is obsessed with being in the "in-crowd" (she spends her time outside of class at meetings for the Fashion Club) and comes off as a very two-dimensional character. The show does stereotype the popular students as being more vacant and unintellectual. But this stereotype does help women realize that just because you are popular does not mean your life will be perfect. Daria understands her flaws and does not care what others think about her but what she thinks about herself. I think that many women would value from this lesson.

    Romilly Robinson

 

 

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