This class has truly broadened my worldview and taught me so much about a topic I had barely any prior knowledge of. I never paid much attention to comedy growing up, so most of the women we read/watched I had never seen or heard of. I thought I was somewhat familiar with the philosophy/ideology of feminism, but taking this class taught me that I really did not have much of a clue.
One of the first things we read was Frances Gray’s piece, Women and Laughter. This was one of the most insightful readings I read all class. She basically gave an overview with different specific insights to the history of women in comedy. Being a history major, this immediately sparked my interest. I was able to use her description of Marilyn Monroe’s comic genius in my final paper as well to show how far female comedy has come from.
My favorite selection was probably Tina Fey’s chapter in Bossypants titled, “All Girls Must Be Everything”. I thought this was such a powerful chapter because it both satirized, in a comic way, our sexist culture that objectifies women, but she also criticized this culture in a serious tone. She moved in and out of a serious and funny critique that made this both a really enjoyable and morally serious read. I will definitely be recommending this chapter to friends.
Not only have I learned a lot about feminism, but I hope I have become a better writer as well. I am not sure if I have ever written so much in a four week period of time. It was definitely a little stressful and high paced, but I think it challenged me as a writer, and hopefully helped me improve. Initially, I was a little skeptical of our writing textbook, but I gained many practical lessons from it that I had honestly never heard of.
All in all, I am extremely thankful I had the opportunity to take this class. Not only did I grow as a writer, but I think because of the subject matter, I grew as a person as well.
Glad you enjoyed it and learned some stuff. That's the goal!
ReplyDeleteYour paragraph on Tina Fey's Bossypants really stood out to me here as my major project was on a very similar subject but on the 2 Dope Queens podcast instead. Despite this you paragraph made me look back at the texts in class and realize how all of these authors use humor effectively.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad this class has broadened your worldview. I also feel like I learned a lot more about feminism from taking this class. I have even been a feminist for the past several years, but there was still a lot I learned from this class and a lot I still can learn. I agree with you on the writing textbook. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I've learned a lot of really helpful tips like remixing and revising. I definitely agree the class was a little stressful with how fast paced everything was, but we made it out alright! Yay!
ReplyDeleteChandler, I'm really glad that this class was able to introduce you to so many new things. I too was fairly unfamiliar with comedy, especially women comedians. So I too gained a great insight while taking this class. It's cool to hear what you've learned and gained from the class, even despite the fast-paced learning. I enjoyed reading through this post!
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