The End? Or just the Beginning?

Well, this is it. Not only am I tasked with writing the last Shout Out post of the semester, but also the last of my career as a regular writer/editor of the blog. Naturally, I wanted to reflect about my time with Shout Out, and what this experience meant to me.

First off, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who spent time reading my posts. Blogging is a difficult art form. Really successful bloggers are able to write in a way that is conversational—you actually feel as though you are engaging in a dialogue as you read their work. Unfortunately, this style of writing isn’t typically taught in school. As such, writing for Shout Out! is a trial by fire. I feel that I’ve become a better writer and blogger over time, and I hope those who have read my posts agree. Either way, thank you for sticking it out with me.

When I started writing for Shout Out!, I was armed with an introductory course in Women’s and Gender Studies and my own opinions. What I’ve enjoyed most about this experience is that I’ve had the opportunity to engage in consciousness raising and the ability to work through various issues. My posts have included a variety of subjects—from everyday inequality to major news stories. This past semester, I wanted to write about movies. Films reflect underlying cultural attitudes and speak to where we are as a society. Though movies may seem trivial in comparison to the major events of the week, the subliminal messages and subtle (or not so subtle) images in the media shape our world just as much as legislation, rhetoric, and action.

The past few weeks, I’ve posted on a few issues that I just couldn’t ignore. The fact that I simply can’t overlook these events shows why feminism is important to me. Do abortion regulations, segregated proms, sodomy laws, idiotic politicians, and bad music directly affect me as a white, college educated male? It depends. While the inherent balance of inequality does not fall against me, that aspect is irrelevant. It is simply that there is inequality that matters.

I started writing for Shout Out! because I wanted to help to change the perception of feminism. I have (and still do believe) that the overarching goal of feminism is something that all rational people will agree with. Equality should be our goal as human beings. Individuals should not be deemed lesser because of elements of sex, ethnicity, and gender.

While writing for Shout Out! may be “just a blog,” I hope that I have done something positive. I also hope that all of our readers feel that the blog is something positive in general. In a society in which there is such an overflow of information, it is easy to miss various stories. I personally believe this blog does a great job of not only giving greater exposure to events, but also of giving readers a different kind of feminist analysis.

As I write this post, I feel sad that my time with Shout Out! is coming to an end. However, I will continue to read the blog, and I hope our regular readers do too. In fact, (shameless plug alert) if you haven’t bookmarked the site, do it now! I have been really lucky to work with such great, kind, intelligent, and passionate student posters and facilitating professors throughout my time on the blog. I know that with the help of returning bloggers, new bloggers, and some great professors, Shout Out! will continue to grow. Of course, it is not enough to just have writers. Our readers are the ones that get us to do this work in the first place!

What I really want to say in the midst of my rambling last post is, thank you. Thank you to everyone who has anything to do with Shout Out! Though I may no longer be a regular writer for the blog, my work as a feminist will continue throughout the rest of my life!