A Very Lucky Girl

Usually, as the semester draws to a close, I am giddy in anticipation of completing my courses.  This is mostly true for my Fall 2013 schedule, but there is one class in particular I am going to miss. It's become my favorite class, perhaps that I've ever taken.  Women and Film, taught at the University of Oklahoma by Professor Joanna Rapf, was the first film class for me. I didn't know what to expect. At first I was put off by the 90 minute long Tuesday/Thursday class times with an extra 2 hours on Tuesday nights for mandatory film viewing.  But under the direction of Joanna, I fell in love with the times I had in that third floor Gittinger classroom.  We watched movies dealing with the male gaze, female bonding, violence, lesbianism, and silence, to name just a few of our discussion topics. The patriarchy was the enemy and Joanna voiced her strong opinions, just as everyone else in the class did. Respectfully, of course. She sent her final thoughts on the course...

Last year I suffered through British Literature from Beowulf to Paradise Lost  and this semester I'm taking the infinitely more interesting second half of the course. This time period of British Literature includes the feminist movement and it has been really interesting to discuss the expectations of females then and now especially since I'm contemplating a Feminist Philosophy class and a Women and Film class for my fall semester. photo from images4.fanpop.com It seems as though from the beginning of time women are taught to equate success with marriage to a male counterpart. Disney movies and other romantic films teach young girls that brides are valuable and a worthy goal to strive for. 5 out of the 7 girls in my first grade class dressed up as brides for the Fall Festival one year. One of my old bosses used to ask me consistently if I had a boyfriend and would purse her lips disapprovingly when I answered negatively. Am I not complete with a boyfriend in my...

You could say I'm a little bit passionate about gender equality. In fact, people have labeled me a feminist in some respects in the past. So Sharbear wasn't surprised when I leaned over, harshly whispering in angst over the wording of a particular Life Church bullet point during the final installment of the series, "Strapped." Is that image big enough for ya? I went with extra-large photo sizing to encompass my extra large problem with this phrase. To be fair, the finale of the financial sermons was a Q&A wherein Craig Groeschel and money guru Dave Ramsey addressed concerns that had been sent in throughout the entire 5 week series. So I'm going to give Craig the benefit of the doubt here and assume that a masochistic jerk in the congregation sent in the loaded question.  I don't have a problem with the concept behind the querie. However, the phrasing can be much improved upon. For example, "What is the best way to correct your SPOUSE IF they spe...