Reflection

From my research, it opened my eyes to the different ways that media can portray genders in disasters. In the beginning, I did not realize the central, emotional role that women had to play in families after a disaster. I just had the general view that women were helpless in disaster, especially during the Great Depression when the traditional roles of gender were more strictly reinforced. If I had more time on this project, I would have liked to look at all the pictures that were on the FSA’s website more closely and make counts on how often they took pictures of women, how often they were sitting down or standing up, how often they were portrayed with children, etc. Maybe then I could find other insights in portrayals of women through photography.

Not only have I learned a great deal from my research, but I have also learned a great deal from this class. One big takeaway for me is to analyze my own feelings when I watch how the media portrays disasters. Most of the time I do not feel very affected  by the disasters I see on the media, so then I do feel guilty about not feeling while my friends around me express their own usually sorrowful thoughts. From now on, I will try to stay detached and observe more of how the media is portraying the disaster in that I may discover things my friends may not be able to see..