Shallow Thoughts: Global Gender Issues and Pop Culture

For my Global Gender Issues course this semester I created a page in our course management site with random thoughts of things that were on the news or things that reminded me of class, either directly or tangentially. I think it is important to make these connections to course work, even if some of these connections are really only happening in my mind. I don't think students really looked at this page much (it was somewhat hidden and the stuff here was not going to influence their grade). But I think for my next classes I want to do this more intentionally (even though it will likely still be occasional). I will dub these occasional posts "Shallow Thoughts," because it is a smorgasbord of things related to class in my mind, most with little thought beyond my first brain sparks that connect a thing to what we learned in class. This one is focused on pop culture, or culture that I end up consuming, not sure how popular it is...

• This break I read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. It is a historical fiction account of two sisters in Vichy France during World War II. 
• This break I also started reading The Lunar Chronicles, a re-imagining of fairy tale women characters. This is a YA Fiction series, and I am sure it will be a movie soon. It is fun reading with strong female characters. 
• Hannah Gadsby: Nanette. Netflix Comedy Special that was a major success in 2018.
• I just watched DeAnne Smith's Comedians of the World set on Netflix. Pretty funny, especially the parts related to gender identity.
• I talked about this briefly in class. Dave Chappelle and Intersectionality. In this article, the author mentions that Dave talks about  "the possibility that the only reason America cares about the life and feelings of trans people is because it’s an experience that can be had by white men, and if only women and people of color were transgender, no one would care." Here is a link to the article. You should check Chappelle's stand up on Netflix too.
• This article on Ted Bundy was popping on my feed this today (January 28, 2019). I don't agree with all the arguments the author is making, but if you connect her arguments with the comments, I think we can see some of the systemic ideas Manne (from the book Down Girl) is talking about regarding misogyny. Reading more abut Ted Bundy, I realize that some of the plot of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I just got done watching the series finale of this show (some of the perks of having a two month old at home, not much to do when rocking baby but watch TV!) and I recommend to all of you. There is a lot of subtle and not so subtle discussions that relate to Manne's book. 
• I just started listening to another podcast (that's what I do Tuesdays and Thursdays when I am taking care of "the baby") that connects to the podcast below. This one is about multi level marketing (MLM). The Dream is truly fascinating and has such a strong gendered component. While very critical of MLM, it acknowledges the non-monetary ways in which women find community and purpose in a gendered (i.e.: patriarchal) labor environment.
• I just listened to this podcast on NXIVM  that was fascinating. I am not sure if you heard about this. I saw a few things on newspapers because some actress (Allison Mack) was arrested. This podcast does a good job at talking about the case. As always, I try to find the gendered connection, and in this one, the more you hear about the group, the more you realize there is a lot of misogyny in its assumptions. The podcast is worth a listen. 

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