Girls have power

Things like film have such a huge, profound effect on girls and yet, as Chapter 4 of Girls Make Media touches upon, girls and women simply are not prevalent in the filmmaking field. I found it interesting that even though video equipment is expensive for girls and boys, boys outnumbered girls 10 to 1 when polled on owning a video camera. I personally agree with Andrea Richards in her belief that part of the reason for this is that many girls don’t even think it is possible for them to film or become directors and that the thought has not even been put into their heads due to inherent societal sexism (192, Kearney). I was really interested to read that part of this may be because of the idea that directing is considered masculine because of the amount of control, leadership and sometimes aggression a director may possess. Although these ideas are still entirely sexist as is the notion that a woman cannot garner the same sort of leadership skills, it was interesting that this may be the source of the disparity between men and women in the film industry. On page 202 when other film related industries are discussed, it’s noted that guitar shops are male terrain, and that females are rarely hired. This struck home with me and I can absolutely attest to this. When I was purchasing and learning to play guitar in middle school, every single time I went into a guitar or music shop it was almost as if the employees acted like I shouldn’t be there. It made me feel terrible, and discouraged my entire learning process. Even know, when I go into music shops with my boyfriend, employees automatically direct their attention towards him as if he has to be the reason we’re both there! On page 230 Kearney discusses the fact that although there are women creating films, much of the ones discussed are indeed created by white women. Race becomes a problem in other avenues of feminism, so it only makes sense that it would be a problem here as well. Can feminism really be a movement for equality if certain races and ethnicities are left out? I personally feel this is a really interesting issue to explore. As far as the conclusion of the book goes, I enjoyed that it was optimistic yet still realistic about girls. Although Kearney mentions that boys still dominate so much of our lives, girls have power and it should not be underestimated.

I really enjoyed the blog about the South African girls blogging about AIDS as well. Reading excerpts from the blogs the girls write was so powerful, and I think it is so amazing that girls half a world away are using blogs as a means to teach people, especially since they are so adamant to have other people learn from them. It was amazing to read about how the girls actually benefited from their blog writing as well (174). As Lungile said, it can be easier to talk about things like AIDS on a blog than it is in person, and the blogs allowed them to share their feelings without fear of being judged or scolded. I really just loved the idea of how much the blogs helped them and how eager they were to help others. Finally, the Jammer Girls article was so interesting as well, and I think the notion can have another option besides “good” and “bad” girls is wonderful. I really agreed with the article in saying that the internet is more active and allows girls to interact and negotiate the world while magazines don’t do much other than provide girls with preconceived notions of what they “should” be. I thought the article was the perfect ending to our class, since it really brought home the fact that girls have the option to do things that are outside of what they are expected to do.