First, a big hello to everyone. I am so excited to be taking on this class online for the first time. I think it'll be a great fit as so much of what we will be discussing "lives" on the Web.
For me, my interest in girlhood studies has been evolving for years. I am the godmother of several sassy, amazing goddaughters who struggle daily with body image and popularity, I see young women in my freshman classes seem utterly lost behind a computer while their male counterparts seem at ease, and I see the "mean girl" culture every increasing in the wake of the Kardashians and Paris Hilton and other female media role models celebrated for being skinny and a little dumb. I think the big moment for me came at the NMSU pool last summer. Sitting on my own lounger, probably worrying about how I looking in my swimsuit, I noticed a group of 10 or so young girls probably age 8-12. It struck me that 7 or 8 of them were wearing t-shirts over their bathing suits. These girls were all different shapes and sizes and I just couldn't help but think how sad it was that not every little girl can feel comfortable in her own body. And that has to come from somewhere. It seems like a good place to start thinking about what we as a culture are telling our girls about bodies, intelligence, sexuality, career options, and what success looks like is the media and the technologies our culture has created and lives in and through.
I'm often asked: "Why girlhood? Why not boy studies? Why not just gender studies?" These are good, valid questions and I support boyhood studies courses too. The truth is that I think we are at an interesting cultural moment when we are telling girls especially that they can be anything - no longer held to gender stereotypes regarding careers or lifestyle choices - so long as they look and act in certain ways. We encourage people to escape the limitations of gender but not the gendered bodies and the ways it should be performed. I hope this class gives us a chance to apply some identity, gender, and writing theories to girlhood and that the experience will encourage us to take these lenses to other identities like boyhood and classed identities and ethnic identities, etc.
I've been thinking about your anecdote about the girls in their bathing suits. I think girls are looked at and judged more than boys--by both males and females. Is same-gender criticism the most severe? I think it is. Did wearing the t-shirts over their suits give them a safety zone? A way to ease the judgment?
ReplyDeleteI often wish I had a Victorian era swimsuit except that I would probably drown in it. ( :
I think culture tells women you can be anything you want, but you still have to be a body available for viewing.
Hi Jen--just wanted to go off on the Kim Kardashian point--I definitely don't understand the allure of why she is so popular. It seems that it's a slap in the face for hardworking women in a recession economy that she makes so much money off of doing appearances, a sham wedding, etc. I wonder what this is imparting to younger generations of girls when they see their parents slaving away each month to pay bills and she gets all this money out of seemingly doing nothing--can't wait to see how this class will help explore themes like this!
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