~Final Thoughts~

We have finally come to the end of the semester and i can honestly say that I feel very insightful of the different critical theories that we have discussed this semester. I have to say, in the beginning of this course, I struggled quite a bit trying to comprehend the different theories such as Marxism and concepts such as communism. But as the semester progressed and with the help of the guest posts, I started becoming more comfortable with the readings and even applying what I learned to real life experiences.

One thing that really stood out to me this semester, that I enjoyed the most hands down, is our discussions on Derrida. The different concepts and the ways in which he looked at life amazed me. It made me think of things that I would have never considered to analyze before learning about him. His humor made it easier to want to listen to what he had to say, and then when you finally listened to him speak, you couldn't tear yourself away. He brought up so many insightful things like how the eyes and hands on a person are "sites of recognition" and that they are the parts of the body that do not age. He explained to us how it is hard to show emotion or personal things, but it easy to share facts. Differentiating between loving the "who" vs, the "what". Finally, the statement that I still remember 'til this day and have added as one of my personal favorite quotes is when he states: "To truly forgive is impossible (pure forgiveness). We can not forgive what is forgivable (too easy). Forgive the unforgivable which is to forgive the impossible". That's something that just has always stuck in my mind and his words and wisdom and something I know I will always take away from this class. 

Just like Jon from the Mexican menu article, I know there will be times when I see an ad in a paper or a commercial that held very little meaning to me, except for to remind me of my financial struggle, that will now give me deconstructive power over its true "meaning". It has been quite the experience. 

Signing off...

...Ladii

I am......a Feminist?

Define what a feminist is. Tell me exactly what the main ideals are in feminist theory. Can you? I sure can't. There are so many aspects and different theories that are thrown into this theory its hard to just give one simple and basic response to these type of questions.

Personally before  talking about it in class and reading the guest post, I thought of feminist and the concept of feminism as one sided. Being a female myself, I am most definitely down for women empowerment and having us viewed on an equilibrium to everyone else (men) in society. But, I wasn't too fond of the whole men vs. women concept and only focusing on the category of women when there are way more injustices out in the world. 

I've always agreed with the concept of knowing where you've been in order to know where you're going. Learning the history of anything pertaining to your identity is always crucial. Especially in trying to figure out how to fix the wrong doings of today. In feminist history, we evaluate our comparisons especially to men which usually confirm our position in society. "The false representations of women reaffirms women's subordinate position in culture" (Krouse). I do sort of agree with what Woolf said about how women writers have to "kill the angel in the house who tell them they can't write." Now in this case, the angel is being represented by masculinity and the male figure, but i think this concept can and should be applied to life in general. No one person or group of people should dictate to you what you are capable of doing or try to handicap our ability to voice our own opinions of anything. It goes beyond just gender, but is also present among races, cultures, and social classes. Not to necessarily associate this with feminism, but just the idea of learning how to listen to the voice within ourselves and learning to appreciate all types of theories, even if indifferent to what we believe, can be beneficial to every type of individual.