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Momina Amjad

English A1: Language and Literature

Written Task 1

Unit Language and mass communication Text type Talk show transcript

Purpose To inform and persuade the audience about the different views and obstacles surrounding the feminist cause

Audience Mostly young people, intellectuals and activists

Context A discussion/debate about why feminism isnt supported by most young women these days

Word count Rationale Written Task Total

289 995 1284

Number Momina Amjad Written Task: Language and Mass Communication

2

Rationale:

Feminism is all about supporting womens rights and gender equality, yet many women

and girls these days dont consider it important or relevant. Throughout the history of

feminism, the media has played an important role in affecting the publics opinion via its

often subjective and rather negative portrayal of feminists.

In this written task, I will compose a live talk show script that discusses the question

Why most young women these days dont consider themselves feminists? The show is

based on Aljazeera Englishs The Stream which is a talk show as well an interactive social

media community that uses both of these elements to cover all sides of a story. As such,

it is objective on its own but because it mainly features other peoples opinions, it

becomes subjective. Its target audience is mostly young people, intellectuals and

activists that use social media frequently.

To include various viewpoints on this issue, one of the guests in the episode will be a

feminist and the other a more traditional woman who thinks that feminism has made

the lives of women much harder. Apart from the discussion with the guests, the script

will feature interactions with the online community via tweets and video chats with the

audience. This will demonstrate my knowledge of this unit; how tone, persuasion and

emotive words can be used in different ways to convey different meanings.

I chose this particular format because its a relatively new concept in the media. Its

interesting how the media itself has changed over the years and how technology has

made media more effective in informing and communicating with the public. Feminism

is an important ideology to me and hopefully this episode will manage to change some

of its opponents minds.

Number Momina Amjad Written Task: Language and Mass Communication

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Shireen: Hi! Im Shireen and youre in The Stream. We are discussing feminism and its

apparent lack of support from todays young generation. Tweet us your thoughts with

hash tag #AJStream or talk to us on Google+. Joining us in the studio is Andrea Johnson,

current chairperson of Feminists United, a global organization fighting for womens

rights since 1960. On Skype we are joined by Sarah Davis from Houston, author of the

blog netmoms.com. I welcome you both to The Stream.

Andrea: Thanks for inviting us.

Shireen: Let me start with a very basic question, why is feminism still important today?

Andrea: Why would feminism NOT be important today? Womens suffrage,

reproductive and socioeconomic rights, laws against sexual discrimination and sexual

abuse, all of that was possible because women stood up and demanded their rights and

it is a continuing struggle Just go to a right wing convention today and listen to the

men speak about controlling womens bodies; you will realize just how patriarchal and

misogynistic our society continues to be.

Shireen: What about the global issues?

Andrea: Yeah, thats the other thing. We cant limit ourselves to western society. I share

this struggle with my sisters in Saudi Arabia who cannot even drive, let alone have a job

and vote. I also share it with the women in Africa that are continuing to suffer from the

horrors of FGM or the thousands of brides that are murdered annually in India due to

the concept of honor killings.

Shireen: We have some responses to that on Google+; lets head over to Ashley,

speaking from Chicago.

Ashley: I just wanted to say that I believe in all those things, I, um, definitely believe that

women should be able to earn as much as men but I dont need a label to describe

what I do. I dont have to associate myself with a certain group.

Andrea: Why wouldnt you associate yourself with the movement if you believe in all its

objectives? Let me assure you, feminism is NOT a man-hating cult, it does NOT

comprise of women seeking world domination. Thats media misrepresentation for you.

Feminism is quite simply about the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.

Number Momina Amjad Written Task: Language and Mass Communication

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Allow me to quote Rebecca West, one of my favorite personalities from English

literatureI only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments

that differentiate me from a doormat.

Shireen: But over the years there are some negative connotations attached to the word

feminist. @Holocene tweets, What if the word feminist is changed to womanist, or

something more inclusive? Some feminist views are quite extreme to the rest of us.

Andrea: Changing the word wouldnt help; it would only show that were giving in... As

far as extreme radical feminists are concerned, they form a very tiny minority of all the

feminists.

Shireen: We head over to Skype. Sarah, how would you respond to Ashleys comments?

Sarah: I agree with the young lady, you can support womens rights without jumping on

the feminism bandwagon. I think people have started to realize that feminism and its

21st century form simply dont work I do respect the original suffragettes, but much of

so called feminism is a farce.

Feminism has become a battle within itself and it no longer represents a common

woman. Im a proud homemaker; I stay at home to provide the best possible care for my

children, yet the likes of Ms. Johnson would pressurize me into believing that I need a

real job, that Im gullible because I believe in culture and values

Andrea: When did I ever say housewives needed a real job? Raising children is one of

the hardest jobs in the world. I do, however, talk about gender roles. Why are women

expected to do something and men

Sarah: This is exactly what Im talking about, traditionally men work and women raise

the family. This is how its always been because were made that way; men and women

ARE different. Your struggle has made womens lives so much harder; because most of

us now do double the amount of work we did a century ago.

Andrea: Mrs. Davis, cultures evolve constantly. Yes, there are some physiological and

psychological differences between the sexes but that does NOT mean that we shouldnt

be equal. How can the suffragette struggle be over when women today only make 17%

of the Congress, and not 50%?

Number Momina Amjad Written Task: Language and Mass Communication

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Shireen: Lets discuss a little bit more about feminism and culture. Anagabo is joining us

on Google+ from Somalia.

Anagabo: How significant is culture in the feminist movement? As you would now, FGM

is a major problem in Somalia; I think the only way to tackle it properly is to do so with

cultural sensitivity.

Andrea: Ah thats an excellent point and I totally agree. Battle against FGM will be

much more effective if local women did it in a gradual and scientific manner. Culture is

quite closely tied to feminism; second-wave feminism and the civil rights movement

were linked to each other.

Shireen: We have a tweet from @Matata, she says I think the reason young people

dont know enough about feminism is the lack of feminist literature aimed at children

and teens.

Andrea: Touch, Matata. The consequence of having female protagonists like Bella from

the crap called Twilight is that you have thirteen year old girls believing they need to be

protected by men and other similar misogyny.

Shireen: What do you think about the idea of male feminists?

Andrea: Um, I suppose you could have male feminists, but I think they cant identify

with some aspects of the struggle. Certainly though, feminism is good for not only

women but for all humanity. It restores the balance in world.

Shireen: Theres so much more that needed to be discussed, but Im sorry were out

of time. Thank you for joining us today! After the break we discuss next weeks story

leads. Stay tuned.

(Title Theme)

Number Momina Amjad Written Task: Language and Mass Communication

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Stimulus Material:

http://thegloss.com/odds-and-ends/why-are-young-women-so-afraid-to-call-themselves-

feminists/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/07/feminists-international-womens-day

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/07/feminist-f-word-young-women

http://www.fanpop.com/spots/being-a-woman/articles/7532/title/constant-struggle-

feminism-womens-rights-modern-world

http://www.netmums.com/home/feminism

http://browncouncil.com/massaction/archives/316

http://www.ehow.com/how_5801612_write-talk-show-script.html

http://www.speech-therapy-information-and-resources.com/transcribing-conversation.html

http://stream.aljazeera.com/stories

All work is mine. Any reference to an actual person, username or organization is purely

coincidental.