McKinley 1 Andrea McKinley Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 26 September 2013

Extended Inquiry Project Reflection Dear Malcolm, Writing this paper was interesting for me because the topic is one that I research a lot on my own, in my free time. Actually compiling some of it into one paper was a challenge because I had to tie all of it together into one thesis; which basically, was that sexism and patriarchal attitudes have a negative effect on how a woman views and values herself. I wanted to explore examples that are not always seen as sexist and try to put them in the most objective perspective possible, and also to point out the subtly that values of a culture can have, because the subtle ones are what many people overlook or accept. Because feminism is an extremely controversial topic at times, and a very complex one, I sometimes regretted choosing the topic for this project because there are so many aspects to sexism and different ways that it is seen everyday. It is hard to draw the line between many different scenarios of what is truly a reflection of our patriarchal culture and what is not. This project definitely presented me with a large ethical challenge in my efforts to avoid bias. However, the topic is very important to me. I am glad that I chose it because it kept my interest throughout the entire process. This process for me really meant asking myself How do I narrow down such a broad topic? and Which aspects of patriarchal culture do I include? How much can I cover without overwhelming myself if I try to incorporate too much? These were tough decisions, as there are many aspects that I wanted to include but

McKinley 2 simply would not have been able to research and tie all of them together. I ended up choosing to focus mainly on emphasis of physical beauty and weight, sexual objectification in marketing (as I plan to be a marketing major), the stereotype of the hysterical woman, and interests that men and women have been socialized into having and how that affects the assumptions made about womens knowledge and understanding of certain topics. I feel that a covered a good range of subtopics without going overboard, but I am not sure, because there is a passionate part of me that did not want to leave anything out. The research presentation was a little frustrating for me because it was actually difficult to find the kind of specific evidence that I was searching for. However, I was confident that it was out there, and it certainly was. The work we did in class helped me to organize my thoughts and to create the structure and outline for my EIP. The daybooks helped me to track my progress. The peer review meant having a third eye review my paper and give the perspective of what made sense, what needed to change, and what was written well and supported my argument. After the peer review, I realized I needed to better establish my thesis. I think that everyone has their own process for revising their writing. For me, I just read through things, constantly fixing things and asking myself if what I am saying has a point, and whether I have thoroughly proved that point. The group work in class was probably the most important because thats what engaged me and got me excited to discuss my topic with fellow students, maybe some of which were doing a similar topic or shared an interest in mine. Discussing my topic and sharing my passion for it helps to motivate me throughout my writing process. However, during my process of writing this, I often let my emotions get in the way of my writing. A strength that I have though is eventually looking past them, and producing an objective form of writing. Writing always presents its challenges, and different people face different challenges during their process. The biggest challenge that I faced

McKinley 3 often was simply finding the right way to explain things and why I feel the way I feel about them. The best way I found to approach such a challenge is to ask questions step by step; questions that ask to identify the problem, what its affects are, and what is the message that I want to get across. Moving forward, I will take with me the value of thinking for oneself and remembering that it is always important to be curious and ask questions to never lose desire for knowledge and to look at some things with doubt and question. Appreciating the process of inquiries is also important because the journey towards that discovery is just as significant because you may learn things that you did not expect to. The value of unique thought, expression, and understanding is what I will take with me after this semester comes to a close.