Beginning to conclude

Haste suggests in Sexual Metaphors that feminism must work to re-inform the ideologies that shape our institutions in order to actually create change, and it is largely the input we get from various sources that shapes our ideologies--what we buy, who we vote for, what we believe. That makes it important to read/receive the best knowledge possible in order to allow for the ideal shaping of our ideologies. Now, when there is so much information in so many forms readily available, this can be an extremely challenging task.

When I started work on my independent study, I was challenged by the incredible number of resources out there, and the lack of helpful information when it came to selecting the best/most relevant. Part of this problem is that the best academic criticism is only really available in elite places--like inaccessible theory in databases and academic publications that can't benefit anyone without the time, discernment and support systems afforded only in specific situations (like being a college student). I could read on university websites or in JSTOR reviews and suggested lists about which books would be the most useful (which I did), but at the end of the day I had to order my books from somewhere else. On Amazon, the reviews and comments about all of these dense theoretical books and compilations of essays were spare and generally not very helpful.

Because of this, I greatly overshot on reading materials for the semester, and have had a hard time figuring out what comes first. I realized that there needed to be a space out there where someone really provided information on what theory/books to read and what movies to watch. One of the most meaningful ways to have my work this semester make an impact on the larger discipline of women's studies, especially since as an undergrad it is hard to get ones work into more traditional public (and academic) forums, was to post reviews of the sources I was consulting on very mainstream resources, like Amazon, imdb, and Netflix.

Originally I thought that the most important thing in electronic resources was to keep each topic focused on a separate weblog, but now I think that I need to have everything in one place, linked to my identity. So, I m rolling this site over into my larger, new Wordpress account. I am calling this site "Collection Plate." I am eventually going to ask the women's studies department, Reves Center, IR department, Monroe Scholars/Charles Center staff and maybe even the English department to link my site on their pages once I get it fully up and running. I would hope they would continue to keep it accessible at least while I am studying at Oxford next year where I think I'll be moving towards research in nonviolent methods for sustainable international development with a focus on women. I want to keep my new site live then and update regularly, and in the future work towards featuring sections on each of topics in which I am engaged along the course of my studies in and outside the classroom. I am planning to have several pages including freshman year; Kyoto, Japan: classwork and case study; mytwolips; my classwork in my masters program at Oxford; and my case study international peace work/research in Rwanda in 2009-2010.

I've got a lot to say...

and it would seem, not always enough time to say it. I have been thinking and talking a little bit more recently about some of the specifics of using blogs as a medium for independent study and education. I have noticed in the past few weeks that I've gotten really far astray from my initial project, and while I've certainly produced a lot of posts comparatively, they're all over the map. I think it's because I was allowing myself to be so influenced by everything else that was out there to link to and experience, but I am going to definitely try to do some reigning in this week so that I get back on the right page before the end of the month and the end of the semester.

I was thinking too, though, about my posting style and the difficulty I have had in posting rapidly and thoroughly about a lot of the things I'm experiencing and working with because, since I know they are "for class," I feel like they are supposed to be of a certain caliber and academic value. I was observing one of my friend's own process for blogging, and found that there is a distinct difference in the ways in which we post. I made a comment on his most recent post exploring some of these issues, but I'm not exactly sure where to go from there. I just know that I think this medium is really worthwhile, I just have to figure out how to keep it focused enough to always be relevant to its mission.

two recent poems

These poems aren't super recent, but they do both mention some of the issues I've been thinking about with my independent study, though in a bit of an indirect way. I still wanted to link them here so that you could explore them at your leisure.

Train to Brugge


night driving


Also, I posted links today on Fork... for people to hopefully follow. I would love to get more regular traffic because that would encourage me to actually post every day instead of only once in a while. I also finally posted some information about my first sources although its way back in the archives at this point. I have a lot of other notes to transcribe from my notebook, but it's sort of a slow process since they're a bit scattered.

Back from Break

So, I am back from spring break now, and did a good bit of reading and thinking over the course of the week but was away from the Internet. One of the things I have been having a hard time with is posting regularly and in a timely manner. With weblogs, one of the important things is to post when things are happening, not weeks and weeks later, but I sometimes feel like I need a bit longer to really let my thoughts stew before I'm prepared to post about them. Basically, this is why I never ended up posting about the Sex Workers Art Show and I Love Female Orgasm, both really important, relevant things going on on campus that I had a lot to say about. I realized in retrospect that it wasn't necessarily as important for me to say everything exactly right as it was just to say something and get it out there while people were still thinking and talking about the event, so in light of this and in light of my recent return to campus, I am going to make an effort to post at least three times a week for the rest of the semester. I have a couple of drafted posts that will hopefully go up soon, but in addition to these, I'm going to try to have intermittent posts that summarize everything that I've been doing by way of my project.

This past week I led a service trip of a small group of W&M students and most of the reading material I took with me involved my independent study. Because of that, I ended up getting a chance to discuss a lot of the things I've been reading about and thinking about which was really wonderful for me. I've realized that I do actually have a lot to teach people when it comes to women's bodies and sexuality, especially since these are really sensitive topics and I am really comfortable discussing them, so hopefully I'll be able to continue formulating a conversation from my studies long after I'm done with the official independent study part of things. I know I'm already planning to maintain this weblog through my graduate work.

I've been watching at least two films every week on the broad theme of women's sexuality and bodies, and I have a lot of these I haven't written on yet and I've also been reading some poetry and a few books on the topic, so look for responses to these soon. Also, I would really like for my webpage to show up in searches, but I don't really even know how to go about getting it to show up on search engines, so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

Initial Sources

I first started listening to Edward Fischer's lecture series from The Great Courses series entitled Peoples and Cultures of the World. There were lectures on family and marriage and after listening I felt like I had a much more open mind about various notions of marriage and family. I know these things and some examples Fischer uses will come up as I proceed along with my research.

After this, I headed with a group of my friends to Europe. I carried with me a copy of Ann Lamott's Bird by Bird. This book , on the art and craft of writing, detailed a contemporary woman's perspective on writing and new millennium life. Her reflections helped me think a lot about my experiences last semester taking class with the fiction author David L. Robbins. I had really struggled to navigate the path between how I write and how Professor Robbins wanted us to write. I was actively examining gender and sexuality in several of my stories (Behind the Bathroom Door and Sonata in C Sharp), but I wasn't always feeling like I was supported in some of my decisions about subject matter.

Once the new year began, I traveled to Paris where I participated in a writer's workshop at the legendary Shakespeare and Company bookstore and went to the Musee Dorsay where I saw, among other things, the Ferdinand Hodler exhibition, one of the special collections. His women were so strong and powerful and the sexuality was so frank I was almost shocked to find out that he was painting in the 19th century. I lost my friend in the museum, so I picked up a book in the library to read while I was waiting called Art, Women and Society. I am still in the process of reading it as I'm getting ready for the beginning of school.

Film Comments

Part of my independent study is dedicated to watching films, both documentary and fictional, that are able to contribute to my understanding of gender, the body, and sexuality. Originally, I had thought that my comments would be restricted to observations I would make either on this blog or in formal writing, but last night I started thinking about the whole point of my study. I'm interested in how contemporary women are working to remap the body and redefine female sexuality, but I am not completely sure whether I am content to sit on the side, watching and reporting what other women are doing. I am maintaining this blog in the attempt to reach people who are interested in similar issues, shooting my thoughts out into cyberspace where they may be helpful or useful to people searching for answers regarding any number of topics I may explore through my studies. I realized that if I am watching a film to find answers and am committed to reacting to it in writing, I might as well make sure that other people see those thoughts and comments. So, rather than only posting movie reviews and reflections here, I am also planning on contributing to various other forums including Amazon, IMDB, and maybe Netflix. I'm not really sure which of these spaces I will find to be the easiest to navigate, but I will play around with them a little bit until I really a routine that works. I will probably put the same comments in each place, but I know that there will be different formats and whatnot. So, stay tuned for updates on what I decide and the things I've been posting.

Intro Part I.

This blog, My Two Lips, was created as a reservoir for all of the written pieces and ideas produced as a part of my Spring 2008 independent study within the women's studies department at the College of William & Mary under the supervision of Professor Christy Burns.

I have recently been watching a lot of films, including Yesterday and Venus Boyz, and reading some books and poetry that are directly or indirectly related to the things I'm seeking to explore in my independent study and I realized that a lot of my initial thoughts were becoming lost as I sought time to sit down and write a more formal analysis.

I have still been toying with my ideas about the final product I want to result from my work, and while I still think that a scrapbook that contains formal work, images, reflections, and a significantly annotated bibliography is going to be extremely important, I wanted to ensure that I had a space in which to think "out loud" about my ongoing readings and projects wherever I was and regardless of what I was doing. To this end, I decided to create this blog as both an extension of my independent study as well as a resource from which I may later be able to pull ideas, information and even entire bits of text for my scrapbook.

The Internet has become such an important way through which to collect, link, and disseminate information and web logs are one of the quickest and easiest ways to produce a website where information and personal thoughts can be shared that this seemed like the right solution. All of the original work presented here is the sole and individual work of myself, Ashley Slaff, and is protected by copyright laws as such.

Thank you, again, for reading, participating and thinking. Please feel free to comment at your leisure. I'll be sure to keep you updated.