Brittney Brunson

Journal 7

1. The word "feminism" has been getting a lot of attention lately in popular
media: Beyonc posted the phrase "We Should All Be Feminists" at the VMAs
and TIME Magazine said that "feminist" is one of the words that should be
banned (read article here). What's the heat with the word, "feminism"?
Why does the word cause such an emotive reaction in audiences?
After watching Adichie's talk further about feminism in her TEDTalk,
analyze your own critical and emotional reaction to the word that
means "equality between the sexes."
The heat of the word feminism mostly comes from lack of understanding where
people believe it is a belief or life style where women hate men rather a belief and
movement that promotes equality. Adichies talk was enlightening, my reaction to
her definition of feminism as equality between the sexes I agree with her
definition although the word comes from the view point of women fem- but the
definition and ultimate goal is where the problem lies. I wasnt exposed to the term
feminist until my senior year and then its meaning was still unclear so Adichie
cleared up the meaning of the word feminism and what it means to be a
feminist.
2. After reading bell hooks selected readings and watching Adichie's TEDTalk,
both purport that patriarchy and sexism hurt both genders. Analyze both
their arguments: how do they reach their conclusion? What kind of
style of argument are they using? What is the context of their
arguments?
Adichie, We Should All Be Feminists expounds on how male and female can
benefit from the view point of feminism. Adichie reveals that the main problem is
how sex roles play a role in how people act and importantly how they think about
themselves and others of the same and opposite sex. The lack of understanding the
true definition of being a feminist has hurt both sexes. By weakening the women
species by placing the blame on the male species. With this division the road to
equality is all the more unclear and hard to reach but with Adichie solution of raising
our children with the mindset of equality for all sexes will in time increase equality
over time. Bell Hooks selected readings, expresses the role of sexes on how
interact, for instance love. Hook argues that pain is being caused to men from the
movement of feminism where the problem and blame should not be placed on
men.
3. Critically observe the word she uses, "think-feel." Analyze how we use that
word to deconstruct different concepts, like "gender" and "male vs. female"
and "woman vs. man" and "girl vs. boy." In the fiction excerpt you've read,
Marcom paints a story between two enigmatic and mythic-like lovers. What

are your responses to the fictional piece? To Marcom's concept of

"think-feel"? How does this tie to your notion of what is feminine vs.
what is masculine?

The interest in real leads us to experiencing things differently, Think-feel

expresses the entire real experience. Marcoms displays how one experiences life
through two means through the physical feeling sensations, the real is experienced
in the body and through the mind and emotions. This way of experiencing, we
think and react to things is illustrated in her piece on the relationship of the man
and woman. Where the expectations of the relationship and ultimately love was
different. Where feminism ties in is in how the relationship revolved around the okay
of the man and not of the shared views of them together. The roles of female and
male roles were defined by the surroundings and thats where they fell. My notion of
how masculine vs. feminine tie in how we think feel is now changed from how are
supposed to base on role, now I see how we are influenced to think and feel based
on our roles rather than for the fact we are equal, living human beings.