Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Reflections

I can't believe a month of blog posts has already gone by! For my last blog post, I want to reflect on my blog.

I started out this blog with the theme of "What happened today that made me know I am a woman?" My goal was to share my experiences as a woman in the hopes that other people, especially men, would see another side of everyday, seemingly insignificant encounters and experiences. I also hoped that my blog would address some bigger issues, like patriarchy and sexism, in addition to my individual experiences. While I had all these hopes and goals, I wasn't sure how many people I would realistically reach. Who is going to read my feminist rants? Why would anyone click on yet another one of my Facebook posts? What college student has time to read some random girl's blog?

Well. As of right now, my blog has 1369 page views on 9 posts. WHAAAT?! That's way more than I expected. After one of my first posts, I saw that over 150 people had viewed it, and I immediately sent a frantic and overenthusiastic email to my professor. I was definitely surprised to be reaching so many people!

So basically: thank you! My blog could have been something that only my class ever saw, and that would have had to be good enough. But because so many people read, commented on, and otherwise engaged with this blog, I am definitely calling it a success. Of course, I can't account for how this blog impacted others or if it made people rethink encounters in their own lives. But I can say for sure that writing this blog made me more aware. Throughout the month of October, I was constantly making mental notes of my encounters and considering blog post topics. I noticed that even some things I do as a woman that I think of as positive are formed in part by sexism. But my intent was not to bash these things or become angry or sad about them. Instead, I am glad to have simply become more aware and to make changes where I can. I think awareness is a first step to change, and change of any size is meaningful.

In my women's studies class for which I am writing this blog (WMST 350), we have talked a lot about art as a method of activism. Art allows people to engage with an issue by seeing someone else's perspective, yet also taking their own approach to interpreting and acting on that artwork, which can lead to all different types of activism. I definitely consider writing to be a form of art, and I hope that, even if in a small way, this blog has been effective as a form of artistic activism!

1 comment:

  1. It makes me such a proud father to have an activist daughter engaged in important issues the way you are. Way to go, Alban!

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