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My original project idea was to focus on the modern day connections to the earlier texts

we read. However, as I was doing this, all of my modern connections could not fit onto the

poster, so I decided to make two collages to incorporate everything that I wanted to. I was really

inspired by this one image of an interpretation of ​The Yellow Wallpaper,​ so I made this image the

entire background for the first side of the poster. This image inspired the theme of this side of the

poster, which is oppression. The women in the image is being suffocated by this tight corset with

over the top cleavage and she grasps the bars in a way that shows her trying to escape. She

represents the oppressed women discussed in the collage.

We discussed the oppression of women a lot in class, so I did my best to find examples of

things we did not discuss as deeply. My poster does have a lot going on, so I tried to make the

connection from the text clearer by putting the earlier text in white and the modern day

connection in pink. To make my connections, I used “Working Girls of New York,” ​Herland,​

The Awakening,​ ​ The Ugly-Girl Papers ​and ​Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.​ I used outside

sources, included in a Works Cited page, to expand on my ideas of the modern day connections.

One text that I was surprised to find a meaningful connection to was​ Incidents in the Life of a

Slave Girl​, due to the content of the text being so extreme. I connected this with blackfishing, not

nearly extreme as slavery, but still detrimental to the black race.

The theme of the other side of my poster is empowerment. The women we read in this

course were truly ahead of their time and are extremely inspirational today. I included quotes

from some of the writers we read in this collage, along with images and quotes I felt are really

powerful to the Feminist movement. It was much easier to find empowering quotes in the works
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we read, than it was to find quotes that displayed oppression. The texts that inspired this collage

were ​We Should All be Feminists,​ ​Life Among the Piutes​ and ​Hospital Sketches​.

The final part of my project was a questionnaire that related to topics on my poster. The

questionnaire included the following questions: What is your definition of a feminist? Do you

consider yourself a feminist? What are your thoughts on the following statement? "It is a

woman's business to be beautiful." If you are a female rate your self esteem on a scale of 1-10. If

you are a male rate your self esteem on a scale of 1-10. What is your gender/age?

The questionnaire turned out to be even more valuable than I expected. Nine people answered

the questionnaire and for the most part everyone had answers that I was hoping for, except on the

self esteem question. Many people answered very low on this question, but that supports the

information on my poster. However, one participant of the questionnaire had repulsive answers,

as his definition of Feminism was “Someone that stands up for women’s rights more than men’s

rights.” I was surprised to get an answer like this but it emphasizes the importance of the women

writers we read and why it is still essential to read Feminist texts.

This project was really fun for me to do. The most difficult part for me was reeling in my

ideas, as I had a lot I wanted to include, since we discussed so much in this course. My project

represents aspects of the course, with the inclusion of many of the texts and ideas. This course

has given me the knowledge to be an activist, as I had always considered myself a feminist, but

now I feel I can act in ways for feminism. For example, I feel confident in explaining why

feminist is not a negative word, as many people to this day believe that, as shown by my

questionnaire.
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Works Cited
Chung, Maya. “What Is 'Blackfishing'? How Some Influencers Can Insinuate They Are Black
When They Aren't.” ​Inside Edition,​ Inside Edition, 4 Dec. 2018, www.insideedition.com/
what-blackfishing-how-some-influencers-can-insinuate-they-are-black-when-they-arent-4
8928.
Robehmed, Natalie. “How Kathy Ireland Built A $420 Million Fortune.” ​Forbes,​ Forbes
Magazine, 24 Mar. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2015/05/27 /how
-kathy-ireland-built-a-420-million-fortune/#7d8bcfe17c5a.
Shipman, Katty Kay and Claire. “The Confidence Gap.” ​The Atlantic​, Atlantic Media Company,
26 Aug. 2015, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/05/the-confidence-gap
n/359815/.
Winston, Ali. “Illegal” Injection Leads to Death, and a Manslaughter Charge.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 3 Jan. 2019,https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/
nyregion /silicone -injection -death-nyc.html