Danish Week

To start I really enjoyed the Dogma 55 film, the actual plot was kind of confusing and while I was not completely satisfied with the ending, it was an interesting movie to watch and definitely different from anything I have seen before.

Now on to Wenche's visit. I really enjoyed this. She was my favorite speaker by far and I found myself thinking about everything that she had said even after I had left the class. From healthy care to diversity to women's rights she left us with so much to think about.

For me, I know I left really thinking about the women's rights issues that we discussed. I have recently been discussing them in some other classes as well and have recently seen parts of a documentary called Miss Representation. There are a lot of facts included in this documentary that actually are really shocking. Women make up 51% of the population but only 17% of Congress is comprised of women. The US is 90th in the world in terms of women's legislation and there are less women in the US government than in Cuba, China, Iraq and Afghanistan. We are choosing our current nationl leaders from only 6% of the population. Just some interesting facts that were included in the documentary that give a lot to think about.

Comparing Denmark and the U.S.

I think a good point that was brought up on Wednesday was the contradiction between the existence of so many taboos in U.S. society and the idea that freedom of speech and expression is supposedly a key characteristic of American culture. There are so many things that we can't discuss, because we are afraid of offending others, and also there is a lot of intolerance towards people who are just trying to be themselves and just want to be able to have the freedom to express themselves without being discriminated against. For example, people are much less likely to be discriminated against based on sexual orientation in the Scandinavian countries, and there seems to be, in general, a feeling of greater acceptance and openness.  I think Wenche brought up several things about U.S. society that I might have known about, but had never really given enough thought to. When you really look at these aspects of American society, you begin to realize how ridiculous these things are.

Danish Week!

Firstly, the movie we watched in class, Mifune, was easily one of the weirdest movies I have seen. And I do not mean that negatively, because I did enjoy some parts of it. I enjoyed the fact that it wasn't your average movie and it was very modern for its time with its rather explicit scenes. Overall, I did like it, even though there were a few moments were I was left in confusion, the movie was well made. One somewhat little thing that I thought stood out in a good way was that they didn't use loud music to play up the emotions of the scene.

Secondly, the guest speaker, Wenche, was very interesting. She made some very good points about our government and overall way of life. I do believe that Denmark and the Danish people as a whole have some great qualities that everyone can learn from; however, just like a few people mentioned already, the U.S. is not as bad as she made it seem. Yes, we do have room to improve but it could definitely be worse. The main thing that I took from her talk was the questions that she brought up. She mentioned our bi-partisan governing style and a few other things that are clearly not working for our country and she said that these things needed to change. I really haven't given it that much thought before, so it was rather eye-opening.

Wenche's talk

I really thought Wenche gave a great lecture. She definitely made me think about things in the US in a different light. While many things she said were true, and she did reassure us that many things she said were generalizations, I had mixed feelings on what she said. Denmark is a great model for issues such as the environment, sustainability, and education. However, there are those in Denmark who are unhappy about the healthcare system, and America is not AS bad as she made it out to be. Every country has their respective flaws, and she did a very good job of pointing them out. I was very impressed with her knowledge on such a wide array of subjects, and was just overall really happy we got to hear her speak to our class about happiness, and about differences in our respective countries.

Gender Equality and Activism

Wenche offered a great number of (very true) insights on American culture and how this country is run, but the one that stuck with me the most was when she asked why women aren't vocalizing their opinions on the wage gap more publicly.  Granted I'm only 20 years old, but I feel like large public protests like Occupy Wall Street have been missing from the US mainstream since the Vietnam War era.  I think the mentality is that because there are so many differing opinions in this country (some of which are held by corporations/politicians/rich people with greater influence,) that it's becoming too difficult to be heard as an individual.  And even if your opinions do reach the ears of the powers that be, forget about anything being done about it.

This is kind of a side note, but I also feel like when people take action and organize they're immediately labeled "radical" in the US.  Every Occupy Wall Street protester is a dirty hippie that's looking for a handout from the rich. And every feminist in the 60s was a man-hating, bra burning lesbian.  Instead of embracing the fact that these people are passionate enough about their cause to accelerate public discussion, change, and improvement, the media and a good chunk of mainstream America can't get over the disruption of the status quo.