MIT: Beyond the Third Wave (2010)
This course incorporates two important movements, the feminist and media literacy movements, and juxtapose them for analyzing, interpreting, and developing a representational anthology of women and the media today.
The Feminist Movement
The first wave of the feminist movement had women stand up for social and cultural inequalities, such as property rights and ownership, and found their voice through a right to vote in the political system. Gaining their voice, the second wave was a power struggle between the sexes with women empowered to step out of their role as the homemaker to voicing their demands for equal representation, equal rights and equal participation in the workforce. During this second wave of the feminist movement, a bonding sisterhood was created and women worked together to make their voices heard even more. However, a backlash for universality sparked the third wave of feminism, which focused on personalization of feminism for each woman.
Almost twenty years later, we must ask the question… Is there a formal feminist movement anymore? And, does there need to be?
The Media Literacy Movement
In our generation, the public has become increasingly influence by media. It has helped shape, transmit, establish, and perpetuate the norms of society. Media literacy originally focused on educating and protecting people from what many perceived to be mass media's ill effects. We were victims of what we consumed, they argued. Media was something to avoid. But Thoman and Jolls asked five key questions about our use of media in order to empower the user to be more critical of the media it consumed. These questions encouraged people to analyze the media critically, and to arrive at the realization that each person can interpret and use media differently.
The new media literacy movement resulted from our increasing access to the Internet. Media has evolved from a consumer culture to of engagement by a participatory culture. Today, we have endless possibilities for taking media into our own hands to connect with others in meaningful ways. We have new ways of working together to develop knowledge, use media to shape how we present ourselves to others, and expand our opportunities to connect and collaborate with each other to produce and circulate information.
This movement spurred women to think of themselves as creators of media, which raised its own questions… How do women portray themselves in media? And how do women want to be portrayed by others?
The Feminist Movement
The first wave of the feminist movement had women stand up for social and cultural inequalities, such as property rights and ownership, and found their voice through a right to vote in the political system. Gaining their voice, the second wave was a power struggle between the sexes with women empowered to step out of their role as the homemaker to voicing their demands for equal representation, equal rights and equal participation in the workforce. During this second wave of the feminist movement, a bonding sisterhood was created and women worked together to make their voices heard even more. However, a backlash for universality sparked the third wave of feminism, which focused on personalization of feminism for each woman.
Almost twenty years later, we must ask the question… Is there a formal feminist movement anymore? And, does there need to be?
The Media Literacy Movement
In our generation, the public has become increasingly influence by media. It has helped shape, transmit, establish, and perpetuate the norms of society. Media literacy originally focused on educating and protecting people from what many perceived to be mass media's ill effects. We were victims of what we consumed, they argued. Media was something to avoid. But Thoman and Jolls asked five key questions about our use of media in order to empower the user to be more critical of the media it consumed. These questions encouraged people to analyze the media critically, and to arrive at the realization that each person can interpret and use media differently.
The new media literacy movement resulted from our increasing access to the Internet. Media has evolved from a consumer culture to of engagement by a participatory culture. Today, we have endless possibilities for taking media into our own hands to connect with others in meaningful ways. We have new ways of working together to develop knowledge, use media to shape how we present ourselves to others, and expand our opportunities to connect and collaborate with each other to produce and circulate information.
This movement spurred women to think of themselves as creators of media, which raised its own questions… How do women portray themselves in media? And how do women want to be portrayed by others?
