WGST 115 Gender, Representation, and Culture (Spring 2019)

After spending two semesters at Longwood and taking a variety of classes, I can say this had to be one of my favorites. This class reassured me when it came to deciding to add a women’s and gender studies minor. I learned so much from this class. I look at so many things differently now. I can’t watch any movie now without analyzing it through the lens this class has provided me.

In addition, to learning about gender representation through film, media, literature, etc., I learned a lot about myself as a person. I was able to give a 15-minute presentation at the end of the course without notecards or panicking. I never thought I would be able to do that! I learned if I make my presentation enjoyable for me then I do a lot better in front of people. Additionally, that if you just stop thinking about what others think of you while you are giving a presentation then the nerves go away. My final presentation was on a film of our choice and we had to describe how it discusses gender, sex, sexuality, or anything we had discussed in class. I did mine on the movie Mamma Mia. This is one of my favorite movies so making the presentation itself was fun. I enjoyed looking at this film in such a unique light.

We did not have a written final exam, but instead, we had a “final experience”. Unfortunately, Dr. Magill hurt his back the day before the final exam period so we had to submit our presentions through Canvas. This presentation had to be 3-5 minutes long and it could literally be anything. We could bring in an object, make a playlist, write poetry, analyze a quote, etc.  Also, during our presentation, we had to describe what we brought in a use two of the film presentions as support, and use two pieces of literature we had read in class as support too. I decided to make a collage of sticky notes with adjectives and phrases on them. I went around and asked a variety of people what word came to mind when I said the words masculine and feminine. They then had to write the words on different colored sticky notes. As I collected these, I made the collage. I stacked them over each other with no pattern in mind. This was supposed to show that there was no divide between what was masculine or feminine. A picture of the poster is linked below. 

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