Final+Reflection

REFLECTION This //Women in Literature// course has been an eye-opening, motivating but sometimes degrading, experience. I was able to analyze the social roles of women over different periods of time and culture as well as think ahead to the future, such as some of my Fourth Wave Feminism ideas mentioned in my project. This course has connected in so many ways to my AP Psychology class and my AP Government and Politics class. The roles of women have been influenced through different links in society, biology, history, and politics. It is amazing to see how far women have come but yet how far women can go. I was able to receive a hefty, but not full, understanding of women and society; my learning continues through different events in my own life as well as different events happening around the world.

Although there were many current events and pieces of literature that were incorporated in this course to give us a full understanding of women in society, it was not until a real, tangible person came in to talk to us that the issue of women in today’s society really hit me. In my opinion, one of the most influential lessons in this course was when Kathy Xian came to speak to our class about sexual slavery. This issue had never really occurred to me until someone so passionate like Kathy revealed to us the traumatizing, but real truth about prostitution happening in our own, local neighborhoods. This issue is real, and it is happening now. Women are crying out for help, and I learned that my generation is responsible for aiding this cry and providing a safer society for all women, and even men, to live in. To learn mor about Kathy and her organization PASS (Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery) visit this [|link].

Responsibility also links to my project and my future propositions. Through my project I was able to learn about bathing suits from the past and their link to women in society. Through different designers, such as Norma Kamali, I learned how swimsuits can both objectify and empower women. To learn more on how swimsuits do so visit this link to [|MORE]. Also, I learned that it is society as a whole that is responsible for choosing which path it wants to go down for the Fourth Wave of Feminism. I can help take part in society’s future by taking responsibility for making equality the new definition of society.



__**Video: Radical Women, Embracing Tradition**__

One thing I did recognize throughout this course was that tradition has created society's views on men and women's roles. Tradition can be seen to hold women back but the Women's Feminism Movement has incorporated tradition as a strength to move women forward. This video, with speaker Kavita Ramdas, truly incorporates the essence of tradition and women within society. Kavita talks about "Investing in tradtion to create change." She talks about her experiences with three different types of women and how they are examples of the threads to the quilt of society. Although this video is almost 20 minutes long it is deffinitley worth watching. It incorporates a different view and allows you to see that all around the world society is striving to create "Women's rights into human's rights."

"Women and girls using their own relegions, traditions, and practices and turning them into instruments of opposition and opportunity." media type="youtube" key="n9Z_pccScW0" height="315" width="560" align="center"

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