http://joliver5.uniblogs.org/2006/10/05/some-key-questions-for-feminist-theory/ A Professional Community for Discussion about Secondary School English Instruction Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:51:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.2.5 http://joliver5.uniblogs.org/2006/10/05/some-key-questions-for-feminist-theory/#comment-34 Ed Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:08:27 +0000 http://joliver5.uniblogs.org/2006/10/05/some-key-questions-for-feminist-theory/#comment-34 Jim- I think that the manner woman are presented in “great literature” of the past matters little, but I believe that the way they are presented in contemporary literature, film, and mass media is tremendously important. In brief, this is because our horizons of possibility are derived from the narratives we encounter. We like to think that our imaginations are boundless, but in truth we have to be shown that something is possible before we can conceive it as a possibility. If women are only portrayed in very narrowly defined roles, they are likely to overlook real possibilities. Unfortunately, while many persons understand this, the commercial media, driven by the “almighty dollar,” continues to feed us mostly stereotyped images of women. Unless an attempt is made to curb this “freedom of expression,” I think the situation will only worsen. Jim-
I think that the manner woman are presented in “great literature” of the past matters little, but I believe that the way they are presented in contemporary literature, film, and mass media is tremendously important. In brief, this is because our horizons of possibility are derived from the narratives we encounter. We like to think that our imaginations are boundless, but in truth we have to be shown that something is possible before we can conceive it as a possibility. If women are only portrayed in very narrowly defined roles, they are likely to overlook real possibilities. Unfortunately, while many persons understand this, the commercial media, driven by the “almighty dollar,” continues to feed us mostly stereotyped images of women. Unless an attempt is made to curb this “freedom of expression,” I think the situation will only worsen.

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