Analyse the early works of feminism in literature and today’s. For example, compare Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre to Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, Talk about the way women are depicted in these novels, why they’re feminist, and what message both novels are trying to give to women.
This is an amazing topic. Many people today believe in feminism so much that its getting to the point of woman over man instead of woman and man. Too many novels are using feminism to the point to where younger girls automatically think that they are better than boys, just because a book made them think that. – KayD46568 years ago
I agree with Kay on this matter, as a senior in Digital Media one point that we study is how media has shifted and how many people today make characters more for the purpose of expressing feminism rather than just making the character. Even Joss Whedon, creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is still asked why he writes strong female characters to which he responds he just wrote what he believed a female character as if an instinct and not for the purpose of making a female look strong. The problem is that these days people actually TRY to make women look strong-willed, but what they are actually doing is downplaying male character to make the female character look better. The point of equality is to not "try" and make it but to see it there as if it is a part of our natural law or our instinct. Once people understand those aspects of what it truly means to be equal, it is more likely that we will see more accurate depictions of feminism like that of Jane Eyre, Little Women, and other strong-willed females without the need for a person to actual try to create one. – Kevin Mohammed8 years ago
Consider feminism from the philosophical point of view. Use existential works. Simone de Beauvoir's "The second sex" for instance. – kimletaon8 years ago
Discuss and analyse the rise of makeup culture, particularly among millennials and within the past decade, through a feminist lens. Women at this time can be daring or unconventional with their cosmetics or embrace a natural, "no makeup" look, but both fall under a new movement of body positivity. This new makeup culture rejects the idea of covering up in favor of flattering the wearer and experimenting with standards of beauty. Have women reclaimed cosmetics that were designed to make them "look more beautiful" and re-positioned the industry to celebrate their ability to manipulate beauty and the ways in which society perceives them?
I think something you should absolutely mention is the insane popularity and mass amounts of "beauty gurus" on YouTube, and how that effects how makeup is almost idolized and thought of as a necessity-- a bare face is seen as negative and these companies benefit. – madistyle948 years ago
Additionally, there are add campaigns that sell make-up that ironically, is suppose to make you look like you are not wearing make-up. These predatory industries will use whatever tactic they can to sell their chemicals. This could be another avenue to include in the article. – Venus Echos8 years ago
Something else to consider is the psychological effect the makeup fads, advertising, and the pressure from social media has on girls, young ladies, and women. How often do we check our reflections? What standards are we trying to live up to? Who set those standards? You could also compare and contrast the "I need makeup to make me look beautiful" vs. "I use makeup as a form of self-expression" mentalities. – Megan Finsel8 years ago
It would probably be worth it to mention the movements push back from people with opposing viewpoints. Also, if going in the YouTube beauty guru direction, mention the hate/bullying comments that some of those channels receive. – Austin Bender8 years ago
There's an Instagram star Essene O'Neill (age 20) who blasted social media for making her appearance-obsessed and shut down her IG despite it making her thousands every month. This development is recent (past week or so). Her Instagram is gone, but there have been many news stories on the subject. Also, there's a trend of celebrities going "bare faced." Demi Lovato did a cover of Vanity Fair recently. Personally, I found that depressing rather than liberating. Lovato is young and has flawless skin. – cleopold8 years ago
The recent short story collection, "Bad Feminist", was a gigantic success and put feminism in the media spotlight again. And to me, this was an important step in mending the image crisis of feminism. The author doesn’t pretend she has the answer for every feminist quandary, such as not wanting the guy to pay for dinner but still being a little disappointed when he doesn’t. I think it’d be fascinating to analyze the rise of these Bad Feminist who, while not knowing the solutions to every problem, still recognize there is one and want to help change it.
Roxane Gay's book was a great way to talk about feminism without bringing up the perception of feminists as militant man-haters, as so often happens in the media. I think it could be great to give a brief history or feminism, like the differences in first-wave, second-wave, etc. and talk about how "Bad Feminist" fits in. – Marcie Waters9 years ago
I think you should also touch on the term "Nazi Feminist." That label is thrown around so much and I think it relates because people use this term to call someone a "bad feminist." – OrchideousFleur9 years ago
