Activism log 10

Janet Audette

Prof. Nina Perez

WST 3015

4/25/10

Activism 10

Activism: This week we were preparing for the presentation in class. Luckily we had a step by step process that we were able to follow. We met up to go over how we would set up our timing and to synchronize our speeches. We compiled information and we all compared notes on our experiences in Animal Safehouse.

Reflection: Using Seely’s approach to activism she states that the last step of activism is to “listen to everyone’s feedback and follow up on any final detail…” (Seely 22). As a group we did this several times before our presentation and we related our experiences to what we have learned from the text throughout the semester.

Reciprocity: This was a very rewarding experience. We were able to collect many donations and make an impact on the organization. I am defiantly planning to stick with this program after the semester and continue to help with donations and the animals. I feel that our event was extremely successful and we were able to spread the world to fight against violence towards women and animals.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York and London: New York UP, 2007. Print.

Activism log 9

Janet Audette

Prof. Nina Perez

WST 3015

4/18/10

Activism 9

Activism:

The week after our event we were focused on getting our hour sheets taken care of and getting the rest of our donations to Arielle. I also had the responsibility of getting the show boards and adoption information boards to Arielle. This week went pretty smoothly, with the conclusion of our event and our service learning hours completed there really wasn’t much else to do.

Reflection:

I brought this week back to Seely’s text of “How to fight like a girl”. “Once the meeting is over, have a meeting to debrief on how it went” (Seely 22). We were also planning to use this topic as a way to organize our project for next class.

Reciprocity:

As we close up our service learning section project and reflect on what we have done so far I am very certain that I will remain working for this organization. I am starting to prepare for the project next week and I am enjoying reminiscing about all of the things we have done for this event.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York and London: New York University Press, 2007

Activism log 8

Janet Audette

Prof. Nina Perez

WST 3015

4/11/10

Activism 8

Activism:

This week was our event. It was very rewarding to see all of the donations we have collected and to see that the event we spent so long planning fell so nicely into place. We spent about 4 hours at the venue setting up collecting donations and finally helping Arielle bring most of the items to her car. We all made boards, boxes and other display items for the event, with the help of some of the Animal Safehouse items we were able to have a wonderful display. Overall our event was extremely successful.

Reflection:

When I got home, I began to analyze our project throughout the semester. I recalled one of the earlier articles we read by Seely. The “How to fight like a girl” section explains how to be a successful activist. She also goes on to give specific steps all of which we followed to a T. I feel that one of the most important pieces of information she gave was that “we can raise our voices to speak against injustice at every level—individually and institutionally” (Seely 16). By organizing this event and brining the attention to many individuals we hopefully empowered many people to speak against the violence against women and pets.

Reciprocity:

All of the donations we collected and the success we had in spreading the world about this organization I feel show the grandeur of our success as a service learning group. Arielle was very satisfied with the amount of items we were able to collect. We were also able to find a few people to sign up to be foster parents, all in all a very successful event.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York and London: New York University Press, 2007

Activism log 7

Janet Audette

Nina Perez

WST 3015

4/4/10

Activism log 7:

Activism:

Next week is our event so it was crucial to flyer as much as possible and do everything we can to get the word out. I spent a lot of time flyering my neighborhood and talking to people about the event. I also relied on the “friend network” of word of mouth and that actually seemed to generate a lot of interest. Never underestimate the power of contacts.

Reflection: As I thought about what was involved to get people to attend our event and acquire enough donations to make an impact I began to think about the article by Antrobus. The Global Woman’s Movement discusses the characteristics of the movement and what is involved to make something a movement. “A woman’s movement is a process, discontinuous, flexible, responding to specific conditions of perceived gender inequality or gender related injustice” (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey 631). Our own movement is much the same of process of Antrobus women’s movement.

Reciprocity:

This event is monumental to our group. It is pretty exciting to see what we can accomplish when we set our minds to something. I am really hoping that we get some people to foster and care for some animals. I am also hoping that we get enough donations to make a difference. I have collected a few things myself and am excited to pass the items along.

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "The Global Women’s Movement." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 629-636.

Eco feminism

Erin Brockovich is a movie about a young, out of work, single mother who lives in California. When Erin finds a job working with her lawyer she begins to investigate a local community because she notices the strange way their land being bought up by a giant oil corporation. She quickly finds that most of the people who are living on this land are extremely ill. It is made clear during the movie that this oil company (PG&E) was illegally dumping hazardous waste in the land and is buying it to cover up what they have done. As Erin fights to save the people and the land she represents many common stereotypes of women. She plays the role of hard working woman, single mother, and shows her attempts at a failed social/sex life.

Ecofeminism is very prevalent in this movie since Erin is constantly trying to justify her actions because she is a woman while she is trying to stand against a great treat to people and the environment. Erin tends to relate to the women and children in this community right away and gains their support from the beginning. As stated in out text “Environment crises affects men as well as women, of course, bit in terms of environmental health, woman and children show the effects of toxic pollution earlier than men do…” (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey). Erin instantly feels sympathy for these women who are too ill to take care of their ill children and decides that she will do everything in her power to seek redemption for these people.

Although it is initially only Erin who feels and understands the hardships people are enduring, she eventually convinces her boss that it is a case worth looking into. As soon as he sees the people and reads the case files he is also overcome with the desire to help. When they start to work together the people of the town begin to have hope that something will be done about the torture that they were forced to endure. While watching the movie I was reminded of the article “Rose Moon” we were asked to read in class. Throughout the article Steingraber explains the importance of taking action and not simply accepting that people should revel in their ignorance and accept the fate of toxic waste but they should act to do something about it. Erin Brockovich is a perfect example that environmental issues need to be taken out of the private and into the public.

In this case it was an organization on the public level that was affecting the town. However, they were attempting to make it a private issue by individually buying the land and ignoring the health issues of the town. Erin finally makes enough of a case to actively bring down the system involved with the dumping of the toxic waste in the town.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women and the Enviroment. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010

Steingraber, Sandra. Rose Moon. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 5 (2010)

Riverbend blog

The blog posting by Riverbend titled Baghdad Burning explains the difficulties and hardships of life in a wartime place. The focus of the blog was on a young girl, M, whose life was forever changed when her family (mother, and brothers) were captured, tortured, and jailed because of an anonymous tip that stated they were harboring money for the support of killing American troops. Naturally, her and her families’ lives were halted as they were all forced to spend time in jail as innocent people. M was released and began concentrating on locating and releasing her mother and brothers.

M continues to explain the difficulties she has had with finding a lawyer who is willing to represent her and her family since the government is so corrupt. Despite the many odds coming against her she was still admit about making things right and just with herself and her family. I feel that Riverbend feels such a connection to M because when they first meet each other M is hiding in the shadows much like Riverbend does while writing her blogs. As she stated in the Kirk, Okazawa-rey text she wouldn’t feel free to write about her life if people knew who she was. M also shares something like this stating that if she were to go to the media and make light of herself and her story her family would surely be tortured and all hope of them being released would probably be lost.

Riverbend takes a moment in this blog to talk about the ever worsening living situations of her community and the overwhelming power the troops seem to be embracing. She brings it to the attention of the reader that although most of the Iraq culture is suffering from some sort of hardship and forced globalization woman are quite frankly suffering the brunt of it. Since M’s father died her and her mother have been relying on the small checks from a local business and the ability of the brothers to work leaving the women with not much of a foot to stand on to protest. The text talks in detail about the effects of the war on woman and families because of deaths and culture changes and the normalization of violence. Although it still upsets Riverbend that she hears gun shots and sees the troops angrily invading homes, it no longer surprises her. As she asks M why she doesn’t go to the press or the media Riverbend is reminded of just how violent her world has gotten. M immediately reminds her that because of the violence and corruption that has taken such a common place and publicity of her situation would only ensure her families prolonged captivity.

It is hard to imagine from my privileged perspective that such a world can still exist. Although I may be ignorant to the explicit wartime details, I find it rather counter intuitive to “liberate” a peoples who simply have no desire for our presence.

Works Cited:

Baghdad Burning. Riverbend, 26 Dec. 2003. Web. 05 Apr. 2010. .

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women and the Military, War, and Peace, Women's Studies. Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 493-510.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women Living in a Globalizing World. Women's Studies. Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 371-391

Activism log 6

Janet Audette

Prof. Nina Perez

WST 3015

3/29/10

Activism log 6

Activism: The only thing major left to accomplish before our event is to flyer and raise awareness about our Animal Safehouse. I have spent a lot of time passing out flyers in my neighborhood and the local dog park. I have also been talking to my roommates grandparents who are the head of the event comity in their neighborhood. I figured since they all own homes and are older or with families (a 40+ neighborhood) it would be a perfect target group.

Reflection:

Whenever I feel like I should take a break or stop raising awareness I realize that I am not doing this for myself. There are other people and other animals that are depending on me to help them through their day. Even if they don’t know who I am and I’ve never have and probably never will meet them I am still helping them. The reading "The Mommy Tax" caused me thought when taking it back to my activism. The places that I have been flyering all involved families of sorts with children. The mommy tax discusses all that woman have to give up in order to be a mom "The mommy tax is obviously highest for well-educated, high-income individuals... (Kirk Okazawa-Rey 339)." For me, this made my part in activism that much more important. Since women already have so much to lose, they shouldn't also have to worry about losing their best friend if they have to flee an abusive relationship.

Reciprocity:

Although the act of raising awareness is daunting and problematic you have to keep focused at the end result. For us, the upcoming event and the hope that we will find fosters for pets and many donations to help support the people who are struggling is our end result.

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "The Mommy Tax." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 337-344.

Activism log 5

Janet Audette

Prof. Nina Perez

WST3015

3/19/10

Activism log 5

Activism: This week was a lot of word of mouth activities. I use a lot of my connections to spread the word of our event taking place on April 11^th and let people know that we would be taking donations and supplies. I also printed quite a few flyers in the anticipation that I will be handing them out at today’s Green Waves Festival.

Reflection: Being able to get back into the active part of this process was very refreshing. Contacting all the people and simply getting the awareness out there felt rather rewarding. I feel as though if I bring one more person that would have not come that could be making all the difference. While at the greenwaves festival I noticed that many of the people who were in the booths said that they were doing whatever they were doing because it was their passion. This made me think of the "Uses of the Erotic" chapter in our woman's lives book. If your erotic "the personification of love in all its aspects" is something that can make a difference in the world, then there is no reason why you cant also be an activist (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey 162).

Reciprocity: Understanding that I am doing this for myself or even your own well being is enough to give me the push that is required to get the awareness out there. Of course, activism is all about taking action and what better inspiration is there than to take action for those who are incapable of doing it themselves.

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Uses of the Erotic." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 161-164.

Activism log 4

Janet Audette

Prof. Nina Perez

WST 3015

3/19/10

Activism log 4

Activism: This week was essentially a lull in the activeness part of Activism. It takes a special person to correctly balance the work loads of school, work and life and also participate in activism. I unfortunately have not yet acquired or adapted this skill. Hopefully I will find it soon enough.

Reflection: As always, my appreciation for the avid activist was yet again renewed. I feel as though I should have done more but we hit a niche in our abilities to be activist. We really just got as far as we could and were just awaiting the next step. The readings for this week included an essay by Seely which talked about the womans ability to fight back when she finds herself in certain situations. She discussed the topic of intimate partner abuse "The person who hurts us is the person who is supposed to love us" (Seely 187). This chapter when related to help needed for the women and animals of Animal Safehouse has, in essence, but a fire under my butt and caused me to want to become an avid activist and do everything in my power to make a difference.

Reciprocity: I feel that the feeling of not really knowing what to do next is somewhat frustrating. I want to make a difference and I want to get the word out, but when you’ve reached a certain point in the process there just comes a time when you have to realize that for this week, you’ve done all you can do.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York and London: New York University Press, 2007

Episode Blog

Janet Audette

Perez

03/17/10

WST 3015

Analyzing the female role using an episode of family guy presented itself to be a rather interesting endeavor. Anyone who is an avid family guy watcher is aware of all of the stereotypes represented and mocked throughout the episodes. The one presented in the blog is in no way different from the norm. A general synopsis of the episode is that Meg (the odd-ball daughter) has found herself a normal boyfriend who proclaims his found attractiveness for Louis (the mother). After Peters (the father) constant berating of Louis’s appearance she decides to cave into the feelings she has towards her daughter’s boyfriend that are developed simply from her own insecurities and attempt to seduce Megs boyfriend. She then confronts Peter and realizes that the only reason he was continuously diminishing her confidence was due to his backwards attempt to make himself feel better about his own appearance.

As portrayed in the episode, it is the general media portrayed belief that woman need the confirmation of men that they are desired and wanted. When Peter does not give Louis what she is looking for in the means of physical satisfaction or the verbal confirmation of her beauty, she is immediately seduced by the innocent complement of her daughters’ boyfriend. Since Louis has very little social interaction (as displayed by the previous episodes) as she is a homemaker and has very little friends or people to confide in, she relies on the words and feelings of her family to determine her actions (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 340).

Throughout the many episodes of family guy, especially the one required to view for the blog assignment women are portrayed as individuals who have no ability to do anything other than to be housewives or inferior beings to men. Although the cartoon Family Guy is meant to portray the utmost extreme of the stereotypes it is doing nothing to help in the fight for equality. In order to make a difference everyone must join the fight and do something to end the injustice against woman (Seely 113). The mere idea that Louis is so starved of attention and appreciation she has to seduce a young boy to quench her lust proves that woman has very little respect in the media. If the circumstances were reversed I have a feeling that very few people would find it humorous. Due to the inequality of woman it has become perfectly acceptable to exploit the sex in every possible means with little or no repercussions. The media and shows such as Family guy that sensationalize such inequality only add to the issues existing (Seely 102).

Although there have been many times where I have found myself laughing endlessly at the Family Guy sexist humor I realize that this in fact makes me part of the problem. If I as a woman am taken in to the media portrayal of the female stereotype and am not willing to object then I am doing nothing to end the injustice.

WORKS CITED

Woman's Sexuality." Woman's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York and London: New York University Press, 2007.

McFarland, Seth. "Go Stewie Go." Family Guy. 2010 Season 9. CastTV. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. .

Activism log 3

Janet Audette

Prof. Nina Perez

WST 3015

3/5/10

Activism log 3

Activism: This week was rather hectic. The other members of my group were actively searching for venues and we were all planning on how to get attention to our benefit. I scoped for places to potentially flyer and that was rather interesting. I also spoke to my parents and a few friends about rummaging up some supplies to donate in an attempt to get the ball rolling with the donations.

Reflection: I probably should have concentrated a little more on activism this week but is rather hard to balance with my exams and essay writing. It gave me new appreciation for the people who are involved in raising awareness full time and are also working full time jobs and attempt to have a social life. Our text "Violence Against Woman" discusses how important it is to raise awareness against woman violence and at times I seriously underestimate how much time I should dedicate to this. The reading defines violence as a "relation, process, or condition by which an individual or a group violates the physical, social and/or physical integrity of another person or group. (Kirk Okazawa-Rey 258). This is obviously exactly what we are working to prevent with our attempts to bring awareness to the situations that these women and animals are involved in.

Reciprocity: Although it is time consuming and I sometimes feel as though I should push it back for another time I know that everything we are doing is for the greater good. I know that if I just keep making an effort I could be saving the lives of people and animals who are suffering from domestic abuse.

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 257-273.

How do you hear a song?

Janet Audette

Perez

03/05/10

WST 3015

The song “Rape Me” by Nirvana gained popularity in the early 90’s. The song although rather short has a huge meaning behind it. The first verse “Rape me, Rape me My friend” allows the listener to know right off the bat that the person committing the crime is someone close to the victim. According Catalano 73% of women are raped by their partner or date. Intimate partner violence includes everything from mental to physical abuse and every year 4 million people are subjected to abuse (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 262).

This is exemplified in the second verse “I’m not the only one”. This is saying that although she is the victim and she has been raped, she is not alone. There are countless other survivors in the world and this person is aware that there is a support group and power in numbers.

The third and fifth verse is where most of the passion in this song shines through. “Hate me, Do it again… Waste me…” At this point in the song it appears that the person being raped is essentially giving up and giving in to what is happening. As if they are aware society will do nothing for her and that as a system we will “waste” the victim as the rapists is doing by their actions (Seely 195). However, by the fifth verse the victim is starting to become aware and surer of themselves. “My favorite inside source” is referring to the strength and power they are finding within themselves that is giving them strength to overcome their rape.

The repeat of the verse “I’m not the only one” is now referring to the idea that there are thousands survivors who are also finding the light within themselves. Although this song comes across as rather forward and when looked at superficially could be assumed as condoning rape, it is actually very powerful in the movement to stop rape.

As a popular source this song could be very beneficial towards the education of sexual abuse and violence. Having the media publicize this type of positive influence can change both the view points of survivors and the perpetrators. It can allow the survivors to know that they are not alone and that there are countless other people who have experience the same cruelty. It also shows to the rapist that their victims are not broken and left for death they have a web of people who are there to support them.

Although as a society there is still a habit to blame the women for their rapes (Seely 195), hopefully with songs such as these is will become easier for women and men to understand that rape occurs because of the Rapist not because of the victims.

Works Cited

"Woman's Sexuality." Woman's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 149-60.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York University Press, 2007. Print.

Nirvana, . "Nirvana – Rape Me Lyrics." Lyrics007. 37 MAY 2008. Web. 3 Mar 2010.

Activism log 2

Janet Audette

Prof. Nina Perez

WST 3015

2/19

Activism Log 2

Activism: For the second week of our service learning we spent a little more hands on time. I spent a few hours completing the flyers which turned out to be somewhat frustrating in the formatting department. I feel that it was worth it however since this will be the main information piece that people have regarding our community partner project.

Reflection: Although it was sort of a headache to get all the flyers formatted, situated and essentially put together it was refreshing to accomplish it. I feel that by putting the effort into the information and publications of our project it will hopefully bring in more people. Just like the many readings in our text, activism is all about awareness and flyers are the perfect way to bring that about. This especially reminded me of the essay by Joy Harjo. In it she states that it was nearly impossible for her to learn about her body and reproductive rights since she was kept so far in the dark about things. I feel this is relate-able to our activism because we are shining a light on people who need help to escape from domestic violence.

Reciprocity: I recently visited my parents who have two shelter animals that came from pretty rough situations. They are now happy, healthy and loving animals. Being able to experience firsthand all the difference a kind person can make to the life of an animal gives me even more inspiration to get our voice heard in this activism project.

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Three generations of Native American Women's Birth Experience." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 239-242.

The Pride and Prejudice of Woman Sexuality

Janet Audette

Perez

02/17/10

WST 3015

In this weeks’ blog we were asked to analyze the role that woman play in a particular movie. For the movie I chose Pride and Prejudice. During this time period women were generally looked down upon in every aspect of life. They were simply expected to get married and then take care of the husband and his wishes. The most interesting part of this movie is the character Elizabeth. Although a product of the time era, she refuses to settle for anything less than what she thinks she deserves. Even though I find her to be the most interesting character of the movie, for the purposes of this posting I will be focusing on the role of the Mother throughout various parts of the film.

Right away the viewer understands that the only concern of the mother is to marry off her five daughters. Their happiness and compatibility with their suitors is not something that is readily considered. The mothers’ primary focus is to find them a husband so that they can be respectable women and begin their families.

The father although present, plays little role in the hunt for the daughters mate. The mother essentially takes charge of all situations that involve matchmaking. She constantly warns the girls that they should behave in a lady like manner or else they will be ruined and no man would want them. As pointed out by Kirk and Okazawa-Rey in our text women are expected to be modest and virtuous, look beautiful and remain a virgin until marriage (150).

There is a point in the film when one of the girls runs off to be with a man and the mother essentially loses all grips on life because she feels that the daughter will be viewed as a ruined woman and now all men will want nothing to do with any of the daughters. She feels that because of this her whole life is over since all she lives for is to find suitable spouses for her children.

Throughout the film the mother displays that her only identity is accomplished through the successful courting of her children. She fails to have a secure sense of self and therefore often times push her children away from her overly intense mothering and dramatic outbursts when things do not go according to plan.

When it becomes clear that two of her daughters are to marry some of the wealthiest men in the country she becomes overwhelmed with emotion. The idea that her daughters are now able to move up in class and are now wealth has essentially completed her life. By her daughters acquiring a new class she is basically elevating herself to a new social location or as explained by Kirk and Okazawa-Rey in our text she is expressing the core of her existence in the social and political world (100). Time and time again the mother of this film confirmed the ideals of the time era in that woman were not whole or accepted in the community unless they were betrothed to a man and by helping her daughters complete this stage in their lives she recognizes herself as a successful mother.

Works Cited

"Woman's Sexuality." Woman's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 149-60.

"Identities and Social Locations: Who am I? Who are my people?" Woman's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 91-103

Pride and Prejudice. Dir. Joe Wright. Perf. Simon Woods, Keira Knightly. 2005. DVD

Discussion Leading

Janet Audette

WST 3015

Perez

02/16/2010

Discussion leading

This reading discussed the sexual orientation of a woman, Surina A. Khan, from Pakistan. She narrated the experiences of her life from the view point of a lesbian South Asian. She explained the hardships of being someone who was viewed as different when she moved to America at the age of seven. Khan was made fun of because of her darker skin color, different clothes, and even the smell of her mothers’ cooking. Due to the constant ridicule of her classmates she assimilated to the American culture very quickly and drew further away from her own.

As Khan grew up she noticed that when her sisters would act out or rebel her parents would “fix” them by sending them back to Pakistan or the “mother land” as she called it to help the children readopt their native culture. Noticing this, she decided to wait until she was financially independent to tell her parents that she was a lesbian. By this time she had completely distanced herself from her family and their faith and only identified herself as an American lesbian. The country and the culture that she was from equated homosexuals to something that should be feared and punished with physical and emotion abuse. Not wanting to subject herself to the harsh prosecutions of the Middle Eastern ways Khan refused to visit Pakistan or associate herself with any of the people who still identified with it. Also, the culture she rejected that so harshly prosecutes homosexuals had temples displaying carvings and images of homosexuals including several pictures of woman caressing each other. However, homosexual woman are still expected to suppress their true sexuality to fit into the culture which in turn causes many South Asian woman to reject that culture.

As her life continued on, she was beginning to acknowledge that she was feeling an immense void from not being able to fully identify with the American culture and also not being able to identify with the Pakistani culture because of her sexual orientation. By accepting this she became determined to find other homosexual South Asians and form an alliance to make bonds within her own life. In creating this network of homosexual South Asians she has enable herself and others to reconnect to the culture in a way that they haven’t be able to do before. Khan hopes that some day she will be able to return to Pakistan and not feel uncomfortable because of who she is.

The question I have for the class pertaining to the reading is to find out what some of the challenges are for homosexuals acknowledging their sexuality in different cultures.

Works Cited:

Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives Multicultural Perspectives 5^th ed. New York, McGraw-Hill, 2010

Activism log 1

Janet Audette

Prof. Nina Perez

WST 3015

3/15/10

Activism Log 1

Activism: This was the first week of our service learning project. Although activism was limited we did have a great deal of contact with our community partner. We discussed what need to be done in terms of awareness and publicity. We assigned projects to the group members and Krysten and I began to work on the design of the flyers that we will be passing out at future group events.

Reflection: This week was all about organization and communication with one another. The communication part of it could reflect on the article we read about the Native American birth rights and the sterilization forms (WLMP 239). It just shows that regardless of the situation communication is vital. From a feminist perspective our actions this week of organizing projects and undertaking tasks reflects the leaps and bounds we have made as a sex to take control of something, set forth and accomplish goals.

Reciprocity: Working directly with this organization has shown me that it takes a lot of work to even begin to make a difference. It requires a huge network of support and countless individuals to make a difference. Understanding the work that goes into raising awareness for animals in need gives me profound appreciation for the effort that goes into the feminist movement. So far this project has taught me that activism isn’t just something that you do and then forget, it’s something that you have to work on and incorporate in your everyday life if you wish to make a difference.

Service Learning Proposal

Service Learning Proposal

For Animal Safehouse of Brevard

Janet Audette

Michael Farmer

Andrea Ondina

Krysten Sanders

Seabury Stoneburner

Katelyn Temple

February 2, 2010

Jeannina Perez

WST 3015

Community Partner: Animal Safe House of Brevard

Address: animalsafehouse@gmail.com

Contact: Arielle Schwartz

954-401-4901

Community Partner Profile:

Animal Safehouse of Brevard was formed in summer 2008 as a network of individuals committed to helping both women and pets who are victims of domestic violence. Animal Safehouse recently became a registered Florida non-profit agency which relies heavily on donations and volunteers and is in need of assistance to help as many women and pets possible.

Community Partner Mission Statement:

Animal Safehouse of Brevard is a not-for-profit effort geared towards providing temporary safe placement of pets that, like their owners, need to flee from domestic violence situations. The mission of Animal Safehouse Campus Action Network is a commitment to encouraging women to escape domestic violence by fostering and providing for their pets while they are in shelters; to raise community awareness about domestic violence and about the links between domestic violence and animal abuse.

Political and/or Social Basis for Organization:

Animal Safehouse of Brevard appeals to the desperate need for a safe place for pets who are subjected to abuse while their owners seek shelter and rehabilitation. Domestic violence can sometimes also involve animal abuse; both of these violate women’s rights and animal rights.

Community Partner Needs:

In order to be productive and to continue helping animals, this organization needs constant help from the community. Transporters, foster parents, volunteers, and vets are needed. Animal Safehouse of Brevard relies heavily on donations to keep our program running. Items needed are unopened food, collars, leashes, bowls, flea treatment, heartworm treatment, veterinary care, crates, pillows, toys, and blankets.

Memorandum

TO: Jeannina Perez

FROM:J. Audette, M. Farmer, A. Ondina, K. Sanders, S. Stoneburner, K. Temple

DATE: February 2, 2010

RE: Proposal to Write a Feasibility Report for a Service Learning Project

This is a proposal for the services needed for the benefit of the Animal Safehouse of Brevard County. We outline the services we plan to provide to the benefit of this community partner in this proposal. We will also include the connection between the goals of the Animal Safehouse and Women’s Studies.

Need for materials, time and volunteers to assist in raising money, awareness and donations to assist Animal Safe House of Brevard

The mission of the Animal Safehouse is to provide foster care to pets of women who need to leave abusive situations. Many women will not leave because they either have children or pets at home that they do not wish to abandon. By providing the foster care, the pets will be taken care of and the women can feel more confident in leaving.

Plan Proposal

We plan to provide services for our partner by partaking in the activities of the Animal Safehouse. It will benefit their cause and also provide them with extra help. We also are aiming to raise awareness. As a group, we will make flyers, table at local businesses and plan a “signing day” where interested persons will be able to sign up to foster an animal in need. We plan to table with a constant schedule with the hopes that we will also be able to collect donations.

Rationale for women’s studies

This project is relevant to women’s studies because it presents the problem with domestic violence toward women and animals.

Action

We plan to get as much information from the Animal Safehouse as possible before planning any action. We will need to record information of known families and pets in need of the Animal Safehouse’s services. Then we will take this information and use it to create flyers and any other means of spreading the word to people. We also plan to organize a “signing party”.

Timeline

Below is a schedule of events, activities and/or deadlines for our project:

1. Research/interviews – through February 13

2. Begin creating materials to use for spreading the word–through February 20

3. Organize “signing party” for Animal Safehouse – through March 6

4. Flyer – through March 13

5. Finalize “signing day” (event will also be around this date) – through March 25

6. Send thank you letters– April 2

Works cited

Animal Safehouse of Brevard. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .

Janet Audette

Sexist Ad

02/08/2010

Sexism is something that is evident in every aspect of life. Much like racism and homophobia it is overlook by those who are perpetrating the act. Sexism as defined by the text is rooted in social institutions, such as the family, education, religion, government, law and the media (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 15). When something is this rooted within our system it becomes very difficult to not participate in it throughout a daily basis. Although most of this is unconscious and meant with no outward harm, there are those who delve into sexism as a means to be remembered, get noticed, or simply to pry on emotions to sell a product. This tactic is exemplified time and time again through the media.

This ad supplied by the Imedeen skin care line is knowingly using a sexist image and text as a means to be remembered for their product line. “My secret to beautiful skin? I swallow.” This is quite obviously a reference to oral sex. Not only is this just unnecessarily disgusting, it’s belittling. According to Imedeen’s home page their product is a pill that is taken orally. However, the word choice and ad image leaves very little room for it to be interpreted any other way. Only the top fourth of the model is shown in this ad and the focal point is the words that are conveniently situated next to the models breasts not her face. The girl is passively lying on a bed with her eyes looking away from the camera, in a flesh colored night gown, with her mouth slightly open. The skin care products Imedeen is selling has nothing to do with beds or sleeping for that matter so there is no apparent valid reason for the location of this ad, not to mention the woman’s rather passive stance. She is lying on the bed with her eyes away from the camera suggesting that she is not powerful enough to make eye contact with the viewers. Her slightly open mouth and open arms suggest to the viewer that she is lying in wait of something, something to swallow perhaps? Also, the act of swallowing (in this interpretation) shows that she is not capable of perceiving herself as beautiful unless she receives something from a man. As she lies in wait for her all powerful skin renewing man liquid the ad implies that she is venerable, unbeautiful and incapable of changing her circumstances on her own.

Women are constantly subjectified to beauty norms and ideals that are supplied by the western view point. Essentially every aspect of the female mind and body is critiqued to mesh with the assumed social standards of the time period, as Kirk and Okazawa-Rey point out women are often reduced to nothing but bodies used for selling products or bearing children (208). There are many companies that have made the effort to use ‘real’ women in their marketing but the effort has almost gone unnoticed. The majority of firms use airbrushed, surgically altered females that appear to be incomplete without their male counterpart as the advertisement above so clearly demonstrates.

Works cited

Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives Multicultural Perspectives 5^th ed. New York, McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Imedeen. 5 Feb. 2010. < http://www.imedeen.us/>.

“Imedeen ad”. 5 Feb, 2010 .

Poppins vs Iron

The purpose of this blog is to compare and contrast the use of suffragists in the movies Marry Poppins and Iron Jawed Angles. Although these movies are entirely different in reference to their audience they both address the women’s movement of the early 1900’s. Albeit Marry Poppins is rather more subtle with its usage, they both share viewpoints that were prevalent at that time.

The actual word suffrage was used rather differently between the two films. The meaning of the word varies in each film depending on the people who are speaking it. In Iron Jawed angles the women activists use it as a word of passion, strength and awareness. Whereas the men in this movie use it as almost a vulgar, insulting term as if to describe to woman to identify to the word as something undesirable and impure. In the movie Marry Poppins, the term as used as an empowerment word by the women. However, the men of the movie use it in almost a mocking manner, as if to view the movement as something akin to gardening clubs that women attend in their free time.

The activeness of the women in each movie also varied. In the movie Marry Poppins the only woman portrayed as directly active in the movement is the mother. She commonly attends rallies and meetings while the house keepers (women) and nanny (woman) take care of the household and watch the children. This part of the film somewhat bends from reality, in that the mother is active in the movement, yet she still expects other women to behave in a manner of non-complaint and actively take care of “womanly” duties to appease her husband while she is off supposedly fighting for the rights of woman. The women directly showed in the movie Iron Jawed Angles are all active for the most part, although, some were more voiced and flamboyant in their actions (Paul compared to the senators’ wife) all helped the cause in some way or another.

The biggest difference that was reflected in the films was the roles of the men. In Iron Jawed Angles men showed typically an overall hatred towards the women who were fighting for the suffragist cause, whereas Marry Poppins men essentially tolerated the women’s activity in the movement. In essence the film Iron Jawed Angles captured the true nature of the Feminist movement. Looking at it simply from the Marry Poppins perspective woman were expected to fight for the cause after their husbands went to work, then rely on female house keepers to care for their children as you went running through the streets happily cheering for the rights of women. As long as you were home before your husband was to greet him when he walked through the door. Iron Jawed Angles showed that the fight for women rights goes beyond vocal protest; it shows that feminism is not only about equality but according to Megan Seely it is also about empowerment, strength, self-determination, and self-definition. It is an assertion that all women and girls can have not just equality in their lives but also quality of life (Seely 2)”. Although both films indicate the importance of activism in that time, Iron Jawed Angles more accurately depicts the hardships and struggle that women endured to make our voices heard.

Letter of Introduction

Janet Audette

WST 3015

Jan. 12, 2010

Jeannina Perez

Welcome all to my blog.

Starting with the basics: My name is Janet and I am in my third year at UCF. When I first arrived here my heart was set on getting my degree in Marketing and working my way to becoming a successful business woman. I very quickly realized that this path was not for me. I found new thriving passion in Anthropology and that's where I have excitedly been ever since. I was born in Massachusetts and moved to Florida about six years ago. Although I have established myself here and have made many friends, my heart will forever remain in New England. I grew up around history and I love to learn about it. I'm pretty excited about the part of this course that focuses on how woman have interacted with the world throughout human time.

I have many hobbies. I love to cook, sew, paint, build things, fix cars, read, you name it. I get bored rather quickly so I find that I am always discovering something new that I love doing. I am very active in the green movement. We only have one earth (as far as we know) and I believe that we (as a species) should do everything in our power to protect it. I am also a firm believer of finding your passion regardless of how obscure you think it may be. All to often I have discovered that there are certain occupations or tasks that are limited to a particular person depending on their sex or perceived gender.

Like most people, I believe that my idea of gender roles were portrayed by my parents at an early age. I can safely say that my parents regularly break the commonly perceived gender roles. I have found that many of the people that I am close with or become close to are not rigidly defined by any sort of gender stereotype. I cherish that I have been instilled with the idea that I am able to overcome obstacles that have been culturally put in place because of my sex and/or my assumed gender.

Culture fascinates me and my favorite part about learning different aspects of a new culture is being able understand enough about it to appreciate it on its own terms. So, I think that my favorite part of this class is going to be able to learn about the female culture from a perspective that I haven't yet taken into consideration and incorporating that into my own world frame.

Best,

Janet A.

Also,

I have read and comprehended all materials regarding the proper use of the blog and the terms of the syllabus.