The End of the Beginning

Hello all!
Literary Theory is all done now (and my right arm is paralyzed from all of that writing..kidding! :P)
but everything we have learned over the course of the year is not forgotten.
I hope everyone enjoyed the class as much as I did and did well on their exams.
Thanks to Scott Pound for a wonderful year of theory and an exam I felt well prepared for upon entry. Your attitude of "no surprises" is rare for a university professor (at least in my experiences) and it was well appreciated.
I am really going to miss lit theory and I hope to have classes with you all, and hopefully a class taught by Scott Pound, next year.
Congrats, we survived 10 critical papers, an exam and a school year of blogging!
We did it!

Krissy :)

Tying All The Loose Ends...

Hello all!
Wow, only 2 classes left. This year definitely zoomed by a lot faster than this year.
I wanted to start this blog off by mentioning how I enjoy when I find things that relate to our class dicussions. When I logged onto my email today, I saw an article on the hotmail homepage titled "sex, technology and relationships". I immediately thought of lit theory and read the article which interviews a sexuality educator, asking her about her opinions on technologies influence on everyday relationships.

This is the link to the article>> http://lifestyle.ca.msn.com/love-sex-relationships/rogers-article.aspx?cp-documentid=23510040

As I need to finish off my last paper for tomorrow I will cut this blog short and see you all tomorrow!

Cuz We are Living in a Digital World and I am a Digital Girl

Hello all!
I really enjoyed Thursdays lecture on media and its influence on society today.
First off I think it is crazy how much people take advantage of language and take it apart on a daily basis. Short forms are handy when sending a quick email or a brief text but they do not help language to develop at all. I know I have used the occasional netspeak but I found once I got a Blackberry with t9 it is actually easier and faster to type the full word rather than attempt to short form it.
Also when Scott Pound was going through his slide show I noticed he passed over a picture of the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa is a very recognizable and famous image that has been recreated thousands of times in different ways. In McDonalds they even used to have a picture of Mona Lisa eating french fries. Seeing all these images made me have a preconceived notion of what the painting actually looked like.
This past summer I actually visited Paris and had the opportunity to see the original Mona Lisa. The picture in this blog is my photo I took of the Mona Lisa thanks to my digital camera. Surprisingly it was much smaller in person than I had thought and technology had made me believe otherwise for so long. This shows the difference technology has on how we percieve things that are real or creates things that are actually false.
On another note, I think the last assignment we have to do is a lot different than the others and it should be interesting how they all turn out.
See you tomorrow!

"Your Mind Makes It Real"

Hello all!
I am pleased to say that I have watched the Matrix and have completed the paper.
In all honesty, I have never seen the Matrix before and had no interest in watching it at all. After watching it I began to see things a bit differently. Although I found myself scratching my head with confusion at times it linked very closely to Baudrillard's readings and the movie ended up being not too bad. I suppose I am a bit bias and tend to watch movies that are of a much different genre so this class has exposed me to a lot of things I may have not experienced before- like writing a blog for school.
Also, it is a great feeling to complete the paper! Can't wait for discussion on Tuesday!

And the sun is shining..

Hello all!
After Tuesday's class I can now say I have a greater and more complete understanding of Modernity, Modernism and Post Modernism.
I believe that everyone finds comfort in this recreated reality as the real doesn't cut it anymore. Like an example was stated in class, people would rather go to a hockey game and watch the screen above than watch the actual live game right in front of them.
Linking the Olympic gold medal game to this theory really helped it click in my head so kudos to Dr. Pound for that :)
Sadly, I missed Crosby's historic moment happen live, but thanks to YouTube I saw it a couple hours later. Was it the same? Not at all! But viewing it through the internet made it real for me.
And yes, after that game I did feel the Canadian pride a little more than usual.
This also makes sense because sometimes the imaginary can seem better than reality. I am sure that there are people in the world that are so caught up in their imaginary world that it seems real to them. Websites like the Sims and COD come to mind when I think of imaginary worlds. These websites are not only an escape from reality, but also a reality replacement. Which makes me wonder, what is considered real anymore?

Crunch Time

Hello all!
I havn't blogged in quite some time but I'm glad that I can get right back into the blogging habit for the next little while until school is done.
As there is only a month or so left it shows how time truly flies when your having fun!
In regards to Modernity, Modernism and Post Modernism I feel I am having a harder time understanding it than most of the other theories. Klages did an amazing job describing it but when it comes to class discussions I feel like I understand it but I also feel like I am missing important elements.
On a more positive note, I have never seen the Matrix so I am excited to write a paper on it for next week.
Well I am off to do my readings for class tomorrow.
See you soon!

Speechless

So I just finished watching Boys Dont Cry and all I can say is....wow.
I do not want to say too much to spoil anything for those who havn't watched it yet, but it was not what I expected at all. Then again, I am not really sure what I expected it to be.
It is just crazy to think about all the hate crimes towards gays, bisexuals, lesbians, and transgenders that happen and no one even knows about it.
It is horrifying that some people will go to tremendous lengths to cause pain, suffering and sadness upon those who are seen as different, or not of the 'norm'.

Well, I am off to bed! Can't wait to hear everyone else's opinions and reactions on the film!

Queer Eye for the Literary Theory Student

First off my writer's block is gone thanks to today's class! I found the class today to be one of my favourite and most enjoyable classes thus far. Instead of debates there were solid, interesting discussions that had the class laughing for the whole hour & 15 minutes.
Some of what we said in class I already knew, like the difference between sex and gender.
Sexuality is a whole other topic.
After today's class I got to thinking about sexuality, what is taboo and what isn't.
I feel in society, especially the media, that though more people are accepting homosexuality it is lesbians that are more accepted than gays.
For example, at the 2003 MTV VMA's there was the infamous kiss between Britney Spears and Madonna during the show's opening performance. Neither women have admitted to being homosexual, or even bisexual, but admitted in interviews that it was a "spur of the moment decision". It caused a lot of uproar but also was seen as one of the hottest girl on girl makeouts of the decade.
Bending the barriers of sexuality is something that celebrities like to do to grab attention, for the pure shock value. Others just do it because it is part of who they are.
It is odd that it is more common to see 2 girls kissing than 2 boys. Females pushing the sexual borders is more acceptable than for males to do it.
Any thoughts on why that is?

To Blog or Not to Blog...

For the first time since the beginning of this course I am having a writer's block and do not know what to say in this blog.
So I guess I will just say that the assignments are zooming by and we only have 3 left to do before the year is done!
Also, I am looking forward to a fresh topic of discussion this week.
See you all Tuesday!

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack

Inspiration comes at the oddest times. Just as I was contemplating on how to start off this blog I was flicking through the channels on tv and stopped on the comedy network. I went back to the computer, letting the tv play in the background when a few words caught my attention: "Now it is time for the black clip of the week" The clip showed a large Caucasian woman dancing in a loose manner, which I suppose could be interpreted as "black" dancing.
If my mind was not in the "Racism blog" mindset that it was in I may have not caught on to that sublte bit of racism.
Racism is something that is too natural these days. But I think like stated in class, people are hailed and interpolated by racist ideals.
Everyone is guilty for saying a racist comment or laughing at a racist joke at one point in time.

The title of my blog comes from an article I read in my Womens studies course last year. The article talks about the privileges that come with being a "white" person that one is not even aware of. It is a privilege that many are not aware of and most likely do not take advantage of.

On another note, I am not sure if it is just me or other people feel the same way but I think the papers are getting harder, not easier as time goes on!

Any thoughts?

******PS: The picture I have for this blog is not used to condone racism in any way, it simply depicts the ignorance of some people. I do not support racism either. Thanks!******

"you know you love me, xoxo"

Just a Small Town Girl, Living in a Patriarchal World

Hello all.
So the theory of discussion this week was feminism.
I have learned about feminism a lot in my university career thus far, beginning with a Womens Studies Class in my first year. Feminism was also carried into other courses like Intro Sociology, Family Sociology, Intro to Thinking Philosophy and even other English courses.
By now one would assume I should be a feminism expert, or even a feminist myself, but I still find I learn new things each time this particular topic arises.
As a woman, I am suppressed frequently in this patriarchal society we live in, and most of the time I am completely unaware of it even happening because it has always been part of my life.
Feminism includes things like sexism, and with deep thought I have realized that sexism and gender are deeply embedded in my life.
First off, I am a dancer, which stereotypically is a "girl thing". Over the course of my dancing career thus far (16 years) I have only ever had one boy or two in my classes.
Second, I have worked a few different jobs in my life. My first job was at a hotel in banquets (which I still work at). For a dinner you need waitresses and bartenders. I am a waitress, and all the other waitresses are female as well. All of our bartenders are male. And I don't think that is just a coincidence. I used to work at a Tim Hortons as well and the counter staff there are most commonly females as well. At the one I worked at all the staff was girls except for one male who worked in the back as a baker.
I find it so wierd that jobs that don't seem gender specific have specific genders working them anyways. Perhaps my employers only chose to hire people of those specific genders. Or maybe even the potential employees applied for the specific job because they felt they were the proper gender for it. Maybe its both.
Feminism and patriarchy are battles that I think will always be fought because the ideals of patriarchy are so engrained in our society. Change is happening but there is still room for more. There is always room for more.

"you know you love me, xoxo"

Welcome 2010!

Hello all!
So now that our theory class is in less than 12 hours I just wanted to get back into the blogging habit.
I had a pretty good break, filled with work, family, friends and good times!
Looking forward to seeing everyone bright and squirelley tomorrow!

"you know you love me, xoxo"