A new perspective

       While downtown this weekend, at one of my favorite bars, I noticed this poster on the wall. I'm sure I have looked at it before but up until then I had never REALLY looked at it and the message that it is sending. After seeing Jean Kilbourne's presentation I am much more aware of posters like this that people like myself may see every single weekend. The poster, to me, is saying that no matter how hard women try to please a man, look good for him, and buy all the right products to do so, men are still going to continue to disrespect them and believe that they are inferior.
       Images of women are so influential and simple messages like this at a bar do get to people, whether it be women or men. It's frustrating to think that most people would probably think this is just funny and   simply poking fun at women and stereotypes about them. It may seem harmless but with the constant bombardment of images like this into the minds of young people is what brings about women's issue and feeds into the never-ending battle to overcome inequality and oppression.
        I'm grateful for this class to keep my perspective changing and keep me aware of what's going on around me. I don't want to be a passive recipient of these messages and let them continue to infiltrate my thoughts and opinions. I really believe that the awareness this class brings me is one of the most valuable things that I can take away from it.
       In reading Kate's post it really saddens me to see the complete lack of knowledge from fellow college students about what a class like this means. Although it may not be important to some people I do believe that an awareness about it is still important to prevent this feminist stigma from spreading any more. It has gone on too long that feminism and women's studies are misunderstood because of stereotypes that are still being perpetuated.