My #20 and last gender portfolio post is for the conclusion!!! It was an exciting project to undertake, and I was surprised by how many aspects of daily life have connections to gender and communication. Throughout this project, the concepts of patriarchy, gender roles, and intersectionality have reappeared, and I believe these are the key themes in my gender portfolio. I had expected to have these three as my key themes, and I also expected that these are the ones I would talk about more than once, even before I started the assignment. Patriarchy, gender roles, and intersectionality are all very basic concepts we covered in the class, but because they are basic, they have integrated into many parts of our lives. So, I think the reason these three concepts showed up multiple times is that they are some of the most common issues we face in this society, and they are intertwined with many different issues.
There are so many things I learned that I did not know before or was not aware of before. One thing that I did not know before that has stuck in my head is the male gaze. I have never even heard of the word “male gaze” before in my life, so I had no idea what it was about until I read the textbook. Even after the class, my understanding was not clear. Then, when we watched the video clip from Aladdin, it all made sense to me. At the same time, I was shocked that many movies and TV shows I love include and promote the male gaze, and I ignored that part until I learned about it. So learning about the concept was very eye-opening to me, but because of the lesson, I started paying way more attention to the male gaze when I watch movies or TV shows. Now that I know about the male gaze, I will keep paying attention to how it is incorporated in the movie, and I would like to mention it when I talk about movies/TV shows with my friend or family.
I do not have any questions that I can think of, but I wish we had learned more about talking back. It is a wonderful concept, and I think it is an essential strategy to know for people in today’s world, since there are so many problems impacting our lives, and we have more tools to raise our voice.
Overall, the gender and communication class was absolutely amazing, and everything I learned in the class will be so valuable in my life!! I am so glad I took this class with the wonderful professor and classmates!!













