Assignment #4

The Story of the Class

The “story” of a class has to begin with a title. The title comes from multiple sources, most notably for this class, Testudo. The title for WMST250 is “Introduction to Women's Studies: Women, Art and Culture.” The title provides students with the initial reason to investigate what the class may teach them and what useful knowledge they main take away from the course. Nicely enough, a small description is provided on Testudo as well. This is the most general description possible allowing the student selecting the course to guess even more about the specifics of the class. So we enroll, whether out of interest or requirement, and find ourselves in Chapter 1 on the first day, beginning the story with an epilogue and table of contents for what to expect throughout the story. Much like the textbooks we use in other classes, the epilogue is the course description provided by the instructor about what they want the users to learn and what is expected of them throughout the course. We then come to the table of contents, the outline of what we would be doing each day in class until the last day of the semester. However, what we get from the outline is only another title, a heading that generalizes what we are to learn. We are unaware of what will be taught and what we will actually experience, but we know it will incorporate a specific reading or be on some topic that relates to an approaching assignment. The assignments are milestones of the class, each designed to piece together ideas and thoughts we have had in class until their due date in a creative yet well-defined format, including this one. And so as we wrote the story of the class, we arrive at the end, one last assignment that explains our story, and reflects on all we have learned.

So what is the story of the class? It is one of discovery, investigation, creative thinking, and above all change. The beginning of the class is all about the first three. We are all coming into an introductory class, so obviously we probably do not have much of a background with anything we are going to learn. The instructor provides us with insight about our books, the types of assignments we will encounter, and then we talk about ourselves as subjects in history. We try to think of major events that have affected who we are today and where we see ourselves in history. This turns out be a foresight of how we will connect art to art activism later on, and of how we will look at this class and how we fit into the story for this assignment. We discuss this and then all of a sudden, we’re set free. One whole week to ourselves without class to begin the adventure that was the first assignment. The first assignment and first few weeks of class really center around the themes of discovery and investigation mentioned earlier. We are sent to museums, two of which are chosen for us, appropriately so including the National Museum of Women and the Arts, and two of which we choose, and we are asked to examine the assumptions we had about art and feminism. This was an interesting way of getting us to think about how we think, as this was a skill we used a lot in the later teachings involving seeing ourselves and others everyday through our own and differing knowledge worlds. It also helped us to discover things about ourselves that we never knew affected the way we looked at the world and things in it that may seem as normal as art and museums.

As we completed assignment #1, the table of contents tells us we have moved on to a new topic entitled “But is it art? Billboards, Murals and Shadows Reshaping Possibilities.” Here continue to look at art, what defines it, and what has changed how we look at it. Most appropriately the books But is it art? by Cynthia Freeland and New Creative Community, the art of cultural development by Arlene Goldbard are used the most in discussion of this topic. Freeland discusses many of the influences that affect how we view art outside of our own personal “taste.” Institutions like the government, our religion, the economy, and our perception of experts in the art world have also shaped what we label as art and what type of art it is to us. The story of the class, as well as Goldbard, then start to discuss the uses of art in our society. Most notably I recall a discussion on subvertizing about graffiti on billboards. A link featured on the blog of the class shows how modifications to the advertising that takes place on billboards can change the message, and it is done through the use of art. The billboard in the first place was art, but the modification transformed the art into something that was trying to bring about change rather than sell something and I think that was important in seeing how we have to look through different eyes sometimes to see the influence art can make. At the same time, Goldbard is beginning the discussion on changing your community with art activism that will hold connection throughout the rest of the class as well.

In this particular section of the story we encounter assignment #2, a group project to organize an event that centers on our definition of feminism. Most important to the theme of this section is creating a group definition of feminism. This requires a discussion sharing many different views on feminism and what it should mean and what it means to us and even how we should word it because how we feel others would perceive the wording of our definition. This was an exercise of again, thinking about how we ourselves think, but also in looking at different viewpoints on ideas about a topic, whether it is art or the topic of much of the rest of the class, feminism. The group found itself coming to a consensus on one definition, but each person had their own contributions they would have liked to have seen included and I believe this is important for relating to art activism, a topic of discussion further along in the story, and how you may end up feeling about your own involvement.

Following assignment #2 is an analysis of everyday life and integrating women’s studies, feminism, art, and this recurring concept of knowledge worlds. This topic is the bulk of the story and appropriately so as it is the center of what the professor wanted us to walk away from this class being able to do in other classes and in our own lives. This part of the story takes place over a long period of time and so the connection from lecture to lecture seems more linear but creates a larger divide between the topics in the beginning and the end. There is much more literature incorporated into this section but a lot of art as well through the links found on the blog. We read a whole book, Kindred, over our spring break in order to add it to our discussions about literature and art, and how it is such a large proponent of opening up knowledge worlds that we may never have experienced if it were not for the reading. During this time we also do a lot of self reflection in the form of free writes. They are usually randomly thrown in to a lecture, but proved to be more useful in the assignment that ultimately ends this section.

That assignment was the team project of investing power in everyday life. Many of us found that we had learned a lot from investigating the ideas of power and oppression and that ultimately we had to look through many different knowledge worlds in order to properly discuss it. Incorporating a creative element was important as well because it showed us where we had all come in our thinking of what art can show and do for many different types of people. The amount of thought and work put in to that assignment alone can mark it the conclusion, with the following classes and this final assignment becoming an epilogue, an addition to the story that further wraps up what we have learned and expresses how we feel.

And so that is where we find ourselves, having ended the story with a thought on art and power in our everyday life, we provide an epilogue on art activism, a concept that was constantly shown as an example of art but not specifically discussed. Discussions on political and social influence are further strengthened by learning about how art activism has developed through the different generations, specifically looking at feminism and the important role art played in the movement. We also continued to look at changing our communities through art and how art activism starts with us. The end of the class really wraps up everything we had been discussing and we see a lot of interlacing of ideas from day one until the end. The end of the class also provides the most definitive presentation of material that reflects the last important theme of the story, change. Discussion on social and political reform involves a lot of discussion on what change we need and how we can make that change happen. The change that needs to happen has been discussed throughout the whole class, but the end really wraps and explains how we can accomplish that and how art is such an important part of the effort. The story of the class is about our views, how they may change or could be changed through art, and how we can use art to bring about change. It is told sufficiently well through the readings, discussions, and assignments of the class.

My Story

Any great story has to have great characters and I played quite the role in this one. My characters name in this one - Mike “The Senior Guy” Walsh. That is really just a joke, a celebration of my status of graduating from this university, but I think it fits very well and describes part of what made fit into this story the way I did. Whether we took the course out of interest or requirement, the other characters and I all came in unaware of what we would experience throughout the semester. My initial thoughts to the first lecture and assignment were, almost literally, “Are you serious?” I was not prepared for the level of involvement that I was experiencing right off the get-go. The class was supposed to be and introduction, not immerse yourself in art and feminism and all that this class stands for. So I went to the museums, a trip I found myself enjoying more than I expected, and so I decided to approach the class like I did the trips – a requirement I just might enjoy. Much of the early discussion about art and what counted as art and who said it was art was much of what I expected. I was set on my ways and there was not much that was going to change the way I feel about art, but I will say the approach that the Freeland takes in But is it art? did give me more insight into why I feel the way I do and gave me some sense of why others view some things as art that I found particularly distasteful. It was summed up by my dislike for Piss Christ and how I could not disconnect from my background and values to possibly enjoy it.

So I continued to expose myself to the art in the class and then we began reading Goldbard and I started to connect a little more to something that wasn’t just liking or not liking a certain type of art. With New Creative Community I saw the beginnings of how we were going to be connecting art to feminism and change. I think I connected most with the idea of a cultural community change compared to the use of art in developing the culture in a community, but as the class progressed, I saw how art was could be one of the easier outlets to employ. At about the time assignment #2 was completed I prepared for a class about critical thinking and then there was a free write about about our project and I think it’s where my attitude towards the class changed. When looking at critical thinking there was a question that asked about polarization and if there were only two sides to a question and my immediate response was, “No way!” There are so many questions that require critical thinking, which I noted that this question was cleverly placed in the discussion, that it requires multiple minds working together to answer. This is the way I think about the problems I encounter in my engineering courses as well, and then when I was asked about my view of feminism and if this project had changed it, I said no. I said no because I always thought it was about proactive people who want change, and it requires a lot of critical thinking, which I am used to, partnered with outlets of reaching people. The event we planned was our outlet, but because of reading Freeland and the discussions in class, it clicked with me that art was an important outlet for feminism.

From that point on the class a bit more substance for me. I had been involved in discussions because I know the importance of sharing ideas and thoughts to help other people understand things or maybe gain some guidance, but I felt more like I enjoyed it after making that connection. When assignment #3 came along, however, art took a back seat to trying to grasp this idea of power in my life and all my privileges. It was tough, especially knowing that I was in such a privileged position, to analyze it and see how it affects others. It related a lot to the knowledge worlds concept and I realized that when looking at privilege in my own life, it is tough to even acknowledge those other worlds. I mentioned once in that paper that I could be using my privilege for good, and not until then end of class and during this assignment do I realize that art could even play a part in that. There are many ways I could reach out in my communities, for example the engineering community, to raise awareness in the low-level of women in the major and profession. Goldbard again gives me the best connection of how to do that and I think throughout the whole class it was the reading that I most closely connected to.

So what does my character name say about my place in the story? First off, as a senior, I am busy. And in being busy, I happened to miss some classes, get sick, and just be so strung that it was tough to keep up. There was a lot going on and the as I mentioned how I felt in the beginning about being involved in the class so much as to go to four museums, I felt like what I was missing was a bit much. But I at least kept up with the blog posting and readings and never got lost. I will say though that missing the small group discussion was more detrimental because I felt it was where I picked up the best on little things about the class. I was always sharing my ideas and for the most part I felt everyone listened and valued my opinion. But I always was willing to speak because I wanted to hear what other people thought, especially with the rest of them being women and most all freshmen. That provided me with some interesting questions to ask myself about the class and where I belonged in it. So I think I figured out that I am that “senior guy” that knows a lot from his experiences, but is still learning like the freshman females in the class. I enjoy the class and throughout the story learned a lot from the readings and the discussions.

The Readings

I have mentioned two of the readings that I connected with the most in the class – But is it art? and New Creative Community, the art of cultural development. In addition to these two, I found I gained the most from Kindred by Octavia Butler and Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks. In Freeland’s work, I found I learned most from her discussions on the art of different cultures throughout history and the chapter about money and museums. The museums chapter made the most sense to me because outside of what I see I museums, I never really think of anything else as what she called high art. The high art was all I knew, even if it was abstract, and I thought only the best of artists belonged in museums. I had never given thought to the fact that whoever runs the museum, whoever funds it, chooses the art and so we are restricted in a sense by their knowledge worlds of art. So again the class tied in to me making a connection with the reading that wasn’t necessarily the direct point being made. I also was able to connect Freeland and Goldbard through the cultural crossings chapter in But is it art? Freeland talks about how art takes many forms in different cultures and to one culture, the art of another may be exotic while to another it could be seen as primitive. She also talks about the inter-cultural connection that has been made throughout history and I think that ties in very well with what Goldbard believes in and what can promote cultural development within our own communities. The art of one culture can influence others and that influence can be a positive in building a culturally sound community.

The bell hooks reading was a much harder connection for me to make but it had the most influence over my connection with feminism in the class. I feel that she does an excellent job of discussing the problems that face feminist activists both externally and internally. Her discussion about internalized sexism made a lot of sense because I see it within men as well, so for her to see its existence within her movement is important. It is a hurdle that is tough to overcome and I think it relates to how we looked at power and oppression in our lives. When I notice my privilege but ignore the oppression of other groups, I am accepting my privilege as the norm. The same thing applies to those oppressed. Many have ignored the structures of oppression that influence how they can be agents of change, most specifically within the privileged white feminists bell hooks speaks about. She notes that many of them felt their feminist goals were the goals of all women. The issues of the working woman garnered less media attention because they were not being voiced by the privileged white feminist who concentrated more on the confinement to the household as a housewife. This is clearly not the problem for a single working mother who is makes two-thirds the amount of money as her equivalent male co-worker. So from bell hooks I was able to make the connections between structures, like patriarchal teachings in schools, with the power and oppression we had to consider in our own everyday life.

Kindred is a book that I enjoyed reading. I felt it was much less centered around any feminist or artistic ideas, but that its story could relate, especially in the sense of the oppression of women, even if it was 1819. Racism dominates the book with the difference between Dana’s time and Rufus’ being so significant. Slavery is in full swing when she travels to his time, but when she does get to return, its 1976, recently following the civil rights movement and long past slavery. Two things I noticed that connect to the class are how the women have accepted the structure of oppression of patriarchal dominance from the slave owners and within their own families as a way to keep a family and how the science-fiction style of story allows for using literalizations in Dana’s experience to express her feelings. In the first case, the slave women accept a man to run their life, and not only serve as a slave but to serve as the bearer of children. This makes them a valuable resource to their owner and allows them to stay together with their family. It is an unfortunate undertone of that time but it relates well to the structures of oppression that control our agencies for change. Literalizations were discussed as an artistic way of expressing feelings or some non-concrete idea in a physical way. The most obvious one is at the end where Dana loses her arm to the “other side.” When she loses it, she leaves behind a piece of herself, literally, and it changes how she will live forever. Using the severed arm provides for us to see how important what she did in Rufus’ time was to her, but how her time spent there took something from her should could never have back. It was just another way for me to understand different knowledge worlds in the arts, as I never really saw science-fiction as an artistic form of writing.

The last reading and the one that meant the most to me was Arlene Goldbard’s book. I mentioned earlier that it helped me realize the use of art as an agent of change. I also have gotten to look at the structures that hold back art from being such a successful way to bring about cultural development. I have many beliefs and causes that I get involved with by joining support groups or raising money for awareness, but I never had considered any artistic way of getting my message out. Goldbard describes cultural development so well that I feel like art could develop our communities in so many other ways, creating a double development. We could see cultural and spiritual development through church work, or cultural and economic development through partnering art work with events for fundraising. This is where I feel I make the biggest connection with the class as well. It won’t be feminism that I could employ art into change, but there are beliefs I can think about with new knowledge about arts power in fostering change. And by incorporating the idea of differing knowledge worlds, developing a solution can be life changing itself, fostering open discussion between so many people. Art reaches the masses and through this class and this reading, I really realized that.