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Activism Log #4

Activism:

This week with NOW I had the pleasure of planning and creating NOW’s first “Feminist Coming Out Day” of the semester. Sunday, I went to Kelly T’s house and we tie-dyed about 11 shirts, tie-dyed the NOW table cloth, made posters, attached ribbons and fliers to hand out on Thursday, I made two stencils for the shirts – one saying “FEMINIST” and on the back the feminist symbol with a twist – and finally Sunday we cut out photos for the “This is what a Feminist looks like” poster board. Wednesday night I went back to Kelly T’s to paint the shirts and utilize the stencils, to complete the posters, to draw and paint the “NOW” logo on the table cloth, and compiled the last of the supplies for Feminist Coming Out Day. Thursday was Feminist Coming Out Day! I tabled from 10-130 telling people about feminism, feminist theories, the differences of feminists and feminism and asking them what issues mattered to them on campus, what they thing feminism is and why they might identify as a feminist.

Reflection:

One of my favorite quotes, said by Ms. Gloria Steinem herself: “In my heart, I think a woman has two choices: Either she’s a feminist or a masochist”. This quote rings true for me because in this “white, racist, homophobic, patriarchal paradigm” that dominates society, personal choices like whether to identify and act as a feminist translate into macro level experiences. Whether or not one chooses to fight for gender equality or reproductive rights or even call themselves a feminist affects how they live their lives, how they perceive others and where they shop. Thus where they shop determines where their money is being funneled into and what companies get more funding than others. For example, Chic-fil-A is a well-known Christian affiliated restaurant chain that has explicit homophobic leanings demonstrated by their charities and organizations that recieve their money. The people who identify as GLBT or allies or feminists (who would not want rights being taken away from anyone at the hands of a large privatized corporation) would have the inclination to reject Chic-fil-A as somewhere where they would buy products from and thus would reject to give the establishment any money from the community that it suppresses. Overall, in order to change things in this globalized world or to alter large scale legislations and international relations, it starts at a micro level – identifiers, intersectionality, where you shop, what music you choose to listen to, what shows you watch…etc. It all fits into the bigger picture and how you see that larger narrative.

Reciprocity:

The turnout for Feminist Coming Out Day was amazing. Our tabling was completely awesome and it really called attention towards NOW which helped us reach our goal of bringing more awareness to NOW on campus. Furthermore, we had a lot of people come out as feminists and spread the “this is what a feminist looks like word” to help with our second goal for the semester: combat negative or generalized stereotypes of feminists. Overall, this semester has been an amazing experience and Feminist Coming Out Day was the culmination of every I hoped to accomplish this semester.

Activism Blog 3

Activism:  

This week, on behalf of NOW, I tabled from 10-12 on Wednesday before my class in an attempt to get more signatures for CEDAW (the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women). The petition sponsored by CEDAW is meant to get the United States to cooperate in its global feminist goals and to ratify the CEDAW treaty. There have been three Presidents that support CEDAW, the latest being George W. Bush who later changed his position from favorable of, to against the ratification. Essentially the main opposition for the ratification of CEDAW comes from conservative groups and the religious right wing. A prime example of their concerns comes from an organization called Concerned Women for America who expect that the ratification of the treaty will negate family law and dispute “traditional values” by redefining “family”, it will force the U.S. to pay men and women the same work and that will apparently “go against the free market system” and another huge dilemma for these ultra conservatives is the fear that the ratification will allow same-sex marriage, prostitution and negate parental rights by reinforcing the importance of gender equality.

Reflection:

 I will get to my opinion of these ridiculous notions in “Reciprocity” because what I got out of learning about CEDAW and its opposition was a reignited sense of vigor and complete and utter anger at these ignorant people as well as a new perspective on my activism and what my purpose as a member of NOW is. For now, I will continue to connect my experiences with the text. So here we go: Essentially the two subjects we talked about in class this week were women in the workforce and rape. There are examples from each of these topics that facilitate female advancement and agency in a patriarchal society; however, the organization Concerned Women for America, a religious right wing conservative group, happen to be in opposition to each. This works out fine because these examples are also supported and recognized as positive advancements by global feminist organizations like CEDAW who also happen to have the honor of being rejected by CWA. Firstly, CWA as I mentioned earlier is against the equal pay for equal work between men and women and the advancement of women in the workforce. Most of the legitimations for CWA’s “pillars of truth” come from the New King James Version of the Bible. The NKJV also (if we use the same method of analysis as CWA in the passages presented on their website), sanctifies the hierarchy of men over women and female subordination which evidently permeates all aspects of life including economic institutions. The conversations we had about rape and rape culture in class today were aimed at a feminist perspective of regaining agency after being victimized and possibly revictimized by society. Organizations that are most prominently known for atrocities like victim blaming are usually right wing organizations and conservative media because the victim would have theoretically done something to “deserve it”. I’m not saying that CWA victim blames, I’m also not saying that based off of the information on the website that it is an organization free from judgment about anything involving sex, or the subservience of women. Organizations like CEDAW however are those who would support the notion of a rape survivor gaining agency over that experience and reclaiming his/her sexuality in order to reclaim his/her life in all its aspects. As Morales says “to shamelessly insist that our bodies are for our own delight and connection with others clearly defies the predatory appropriations of incestuous relatives and rapists” (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey, 284). This quote signifies the agency women gain from reclaiming their sexuality and by extension their lives- to no longer be a victim everywhere they go; to no longer have to hold onto your victimhood in everything you do. Organizations like CWA in denying females the ability to gain access to progress in everyday life without shame or guilt thus denies them the ability to step out of the shame perceived in being a rape victim and move on.

Reciprocity:

In my opinion, those against US participation in the globally progressive goals of CEDAW and mainly those who call themselves “traditionalists” are blindly lost in complacency. Furthermore, change in this country is apparently optional and non-beneficial for them because they value the “sovereignty of America” (as if same sex marriage is going to completely undermine our entire government – which was originated for white men only, by the way). It’s too bad that the women of color that identify as a part of these conservatives don’t think about the change that it took to move away from slavery, forced labor, Jim Crow laws and forced segregation. But clearly the “radical” idea that people of color are people too is not the same as the “radical” notion that women are people as well and deserve equality. This notion of gender equality however will send America spiraling out of control because of our menial little brains that will implode if we are exposed to too much information.

References:

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2010. N. pag. Print.

Concerned, Women For America. Biblical Support for CWA Core Issues. CWA, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. <http://www.cwfa.org/coreissues.asp>.

Film Analysis of "The Secretary" (2002)

               

                The film The Secretary casts both a dark and a light shadow on women in the workplace. For one, it enhances the notion of female subordination, gender typing in jobs and the helplessness of women to propel themselves. However, the other side of the coin is that the film actually has a sense of fulfillment for the main character – the secretary – in that she found her perfect match, her opposite while working for him and thus accessing her full erotic power at work literally and metaphorically.

                This film adheres to the gender stereotypes of women in the work force; Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a paralegal which has been gendered into a female occupation. It’s a subordinate position in the office and not only is it subordinate because the tasks are menial, but it’s subordinate because she is the masochist to his sadist and is continuously bent over the desk and spanked repeatedly when she makes a clerical error. Although most secretaries in the United States are not subject to this kind of humiliation, the social stigmas of being secretaries, nurses, maids or strippers, is perpetually humiliating in the way that these occupations are not as respected as predominantly male professions because they are considered weak and trivial, and relatively low brow. The social constructions of these occupations are less than appealing and the film facilitates this notion of women’s work having the sole purpose of serving the dominant male. Furthermore, women’s work is seen as less than productive when the female does not conform to the beauty ideal relevant to that job; most jobs that women fill may require the women “being on display and meeting dominant beauty standards” (Kirk &Okazawa-Rey, 305). A secretary in particular is on display for all of the clients and is the first thing one sees when walking through the door, so women are then constructed as a cookie-cutter for what the office’s standards are, as opposed to an employee. This places a lot of responsibility on looks and demeanor rather than individual professional performance. In the case of the film, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a mess when she first applies; she spills everything, she is scatter-brained, she is essentially pathetic and in need of saving. However, after her male boss starts to dominate her, ask her to perform obscure and outrageous tasks for the sole purpose of pleasing his whims she starts to take more of an interest in her looks and her demeanor because she is aroused and as the domination progresses, she becomes more beautiful. The implicit message of this correlation is rather blatant – the more a male boss dominates his female subordinate, the more effort she puts into her looks to compensate and thus the less access she has to progression in the work force. It is rather difficult to ignore this phenomenon, as we see it everywhere in our society and now once again perpetuated in popular culture.

                One the one hand, this film highlights the perceived, male-centered advantages of female subordination at work, but on the other hand the film simultaneously gives the main character a sense of agency over her own erotic existence. Audre Lorde discusses the power of the erotic in all aspects of life; not only in family and relationships but also at work. Lorde says “Our erotic knowledge empowers us, becomes  a lens through which we scrutinize all aspects of our existence, forcing us to evaluate those aspects honestly in terms of their relative meaning within our lives” (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey, 163). This statement places the responsibility on the individual to no longer settle for what was natural before the discovery of the erotic, and to now try and access their erotic power in all aspects of their life; the power by which they will no longer accept powerlessness. In the film, the main character who is initially fractured, finds this sense of the erotic when she begins being dominated in a predominantly sexual manner at work. Although the sadism-masochism attraction is based on sexual desires and arousal, the main character uses this power when she feels rejected by the man who once dominated her. She then no longer accepts powerlessness and proves to him that she loves him, not just his domination. When her boss told her to not move from his desk until he returns, she uses her own personal drive to do just that. Although this is yet another act of submission on her part, it is no longer submission due to helplessness or the need for sexual arousal, but submission facilitated by her own agency and individual drive. This progression from helpless to powerful is subtle in the movie, but creates a needed contrast to the constant male domination over a seemingly powerless female.

References:

Gyllenhaal, Maggie, and James Spader, perf. The Secretary. Dir. Steven Shainberg. 2002. DVD.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Uses of the Erotic." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. N.p.: n.p., 1984. 161-64. Print.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2010. N. pag. Print.

Activism Blog 2

Activism: 
 This week I got the opportunity to table with NOW twice to market our event “Take Back the Night” which was an event bringing awareness to the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault against all people. I tabled on Wednesday from 11am – 2pm and on Thursday from 1030-12. While we tabled, I advertised for “Take Back the Night” and VOX’s event “Let’s Talk about Sex, Baby”. I went to the free speech lawn for a few hours and handed out fliers, which actually turned out to be an educational experience because I learned what the best ways were to get people to stop avoiding me and to take my flier. I never knew how many ways and to what extent people would go to in order to avoid people with fliers. Furthermore, helped the VP of NOW, Kelly Q, set up for “Take Back the Night” and present a few speakers. In preparation for the event I went to Kelly Q’s apartment and made a few posters for the march which took about 4 hours. All in all, I’m really happy about the amount of work I was able to contribute to NOW this week.

Reflection:
While learning about women in the workplace this week, Veronica Chambers’ article “To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected: Successful Women, Family, and Responsibility (2003)” really stood out to me as a text with which I can relate the events of “Take Back the Night”. “Take Back the Night” was all about giving back to the community in bringing awareness of domestic and sexual violence. There were many volunteer speakers and performers from all different walks of life, some men, women, homosexual, heterosexual, victims and survivors. Chambers’ article relayed the idea that people should give back to their community in a way that suits them as individuals. Each individual whether in their performance or speech gave back to the audience and the community in a way that was pulled from their experiences and that is true to themselves. The event was not about over-exerting one’s financial means or completely draining their resources just to fulfill their responsibility to the community betterment. Furthermore, one crucial aspect of Chambers’ article is taking care of one’s self while giving back. The speakers at the event were people who knew of violence in their families or who have experienced it first hand – by participating in the event they were healing as well as helping.

Reciprocity:
Overall, I think I got a lot out of “Take Back the Night”. The march was the most empowering thing I think I’ve experienced in a long time and it was so exciting for me to be able to connect with so many different people – for a short time we all had one voice and one purpose. I met Leandra Preston, the closing speaker who is also going to be my Theories of Masculinity professor in the fall and talking to her was so empowering because I’ve heard she is such an amazing and powerful individual and hearing that she was just as excited about “Take Back the Night” as I was was inspirational. Speaking of inspirational, Michael Freeman, from the Office of Diversity Initiatives has always been a role model of mine, since I came to UCF and heard him speak in my sociology class. He is such a powerful speaker and he repeatedly said that he has committed himself to making UCF and our community a more accepting, safe place and I felt so inspired by his speech that I made a commitment of my own – I dedicate myself as a student and as an empowered person to make social change and to be someone who anyone can come to for help with demonstrations, change, petitions , anything I can do to help make our community a more accepting and safe place for people  to have a voice.

Activism Blog #1

Activism:

This week I tabled for NOW on Wednesday and Friday from 10-12pm. The experience was beneficial for me because a huge part of my service learning project was to increase awareness of NOW on campus and its mission statement as a student oriented affiliate. While tabling, we wanted to advertise more feminist literature like Bitch Magazine or Cunt: A Declaration of Independence and Full Frontal Feminism. In addition to tabling I also made two posters for NOW, advertising its presence on campus as well as associating its message to some quotes that may resonate with students and feminists on campus. Caitlin, Melissa and I met at Caitlin’s house to talk logistics over our core service learning project and if we wanted to do something along the lines of body image and beauty ideals on college campuses. We ultimately decided to focus on another topic but bring it to campus for maximum exposure to the NOW at UCF community. Lastly, NOW’s weekly meeting was held at the Pink Art II opening where we discussed the virtue of charity and supporting prevention and overcoming breast cancer as well as the significance of organizations like the YSC.

Reflection:

The Pink Art opening really reminded me of the Lorde article Uses of the Erotic; as we witness these women who have survived breast cancer or are still battling breast cancer we can realize that they are now looking at their lives through a new lens, a lens that will enable them to see everything from a new perspective and with that, Lorde says, comes responsibility. The responsibility is thus to always look at not only survival from breast cancer but every moment after survival as a moment that can be used to be completely in the moment and take everything out of that experience. This is the erotic power that comes out of survival. This power was also demonstrated through the art at the exhibit; the artists, through a variety of methods, used their erotic power to look at raising money for a cure for breast cancer through an artful lens and to truly take everything out of that situation. A quote that really stood out to me from Lorde was “In touch with the erotic, I become less willing to accept powerlessness or those other supplied states of being which are not native to me, such as resignation, despair, self-effacement, depression and self-denial.” This quote rang true especially because after hearing the leader of the YSC talk about her personal fight with breast cancer and not letting herself be in denial anymore about her infallibility and to not settle for the convenient notion of being “immune” to breast cancer because she was young and in great shape. These women who are survivors of breast cancer are those who are in touch with their erotic power, purely and truly.

Reciprocity:

By working with NOW I’ve been exposed to a lot of different people with varying feminist ideals. These different ideals have helped me to then think about my own feminist ideals from new perspectives. As Lorde touches on in her article, settling for convenience is to give in and to not fully embrace your erotic power; this includes the convenience of pre-established ideas and beliefs. I think it’s essential for continuous personal growth to constantly rethink and reevaluate ideals that are important to you and to really live them in every aspect of your life, which is what NOW is helping me do. 

Business of Being Born vs. One Born Every Minute

       

         While watching both “The Business of Being Born” and “One Born Every Minute” I noticed some immediate similarities in the attitudes of the mothers. In both instances, home births and hospital births, the mothers seem to be anticipating the labor and not completely knowing what to expect. The fathers initially seem less sympathetic at the hospital in “One Born Every Minute”.  The fathers were more interested in their own discomfort it seemed during the hospital birthing whereas in home birthing the fathers were more concerned with connecting with their partners and being an active part of the experience. I’m not quite sure whether it is a product of “show business” or whether the majority of hospital births are this dramatic, but it seems there are a lot more issues being displayed and complications during “One Born Every Minute”. However, in “The Business of Being Born” the home birthing was displayed as a serene and spiritual experience that had a fairly large success rate in the movie at least, which drastically differentiates it from the complex and dramatic hospital births in “One Born Every Minute”.

                In the show “One Born Every Minute”, birthing is seen as a process that is arduous and painful and somehow less emotionally enriching as it had been portrayed in “Business of Being Born”. One could definitely make the connections about a hospital being an industry just like any other one of the mothers arrives for a scheduled C-Section, her second C-Section to be accurate. It turns out that her first C-Section was due to “non-progression”, which can either mean the baby was not progressing and was considered to becoming “high-risk” or that the baby was not progressing as fast as the doctors would have liked, considering an average labor is supposed to be about 24 hours but the average hospital labor is around 8. Also, as seen in “The Business of Being Born” the mothers were allowed to move around and adjust their bodies with the contractions while the mothers in the hospital in “One Born Every Minute” were restricted to bed and were discussing pain medications and pitocin, which is a drug to speed up labor. One perfect example of the reverence of medicine over alternatives to alleviate pain was Carissa called the anesthesiologist “God” because he would take away her pain, pain probably intensified by the pitocin and her position laying flat on the bed.

                In “One Born Every Minute”, as opposed to the construction of the beauty of home birthing in “The Business of Being Born”, the doctors and nurses ran the show and hardly let the mothers’ bodies be in charge of their own labor. The most knowledgeable (doctors/nurses) were revered over the experience itself, when in actuality they have no investment or commitment to their patients. And like I mentioned earlier, childbirth was feared as an unrelenting difficult task that added pain and discomfort as a means to an end, while during home birthing labor was a special experience shared by the mother and her partner to connect with the child.

American Apparel Advertisement

In this image a young woman is leaned over a bowl of cereal, supposedly relaxing “the morning after”. One cannot help but notice the angle of the camera is conveniently placed to look up at her legs and bottom. For American Apparel (A.A.), a clothing company based in downtown Los Angeles, these types of provocative ads based on objectifying women’s bodies are not unusual. A.A. has been critiqued and scolded by numerous feminist based websites and organizations, mainly Jezebel.com, for printing overly sexual based advertisements. This ad in particular is overtly sexist in displaying a half naked female, in the kitchen, with the only part of her on display that will apparently grab the attention of the audience. It is clear this model has been selected based on the modern American beauty ideal: she has blonde, shoulder length hair, she is fairly skinny (probably a size 0/2) with a little extra (seemingly) on the hips and in the buttocks, not to mention she’s half naked and in the kitchen-where a misogynist might say she “belongs”. The most overtly sexist part of this advertisement is that her face is not shown because clearly her face is not what is going to sell A.A. clothing.

The text on the bottom says “Los Angeles. The morning after. Trying to put it back together.” The explicit meaning of this text is describing the context of the image: location – Los Angeles; date/time- the morning after (sex, most likely); action – trying to put “it” back together. Although it is not overtly clear what “it” entails, one could assume a number of things. Personally I would take that phrase as a reference to the date that this woman had last night was such an extravagant lover that he completely turned her world upside down and the only way she can “put it back together” would be to revert to comfortable routines like standing up half naked in the kitchen making herself the same bowl of cereal she has probably enjoyed since she was a child. However, the ad is clearly not trying to sell the cereal but instead how “hot” their underwear will make you look even at a time when your world is in shambles.

This advertisement places an extraordinary value on the female body as a tool, or object, used to sell clothing, considering she is the main and only prominent figure in the photograph. Our society values the half naked female form incredibly and scrutinizes it regularly until the concept of perfection loses all aesthetic meaning because it can never be reached. Generally speaking, men want to have sex with women who look like this and women want to look like this because the beauty ideal is revered and is perpetuated in popular music, commercial advertisements, actresses on television and in movies, and models on the pages of most popular magazines. If we look at society as a whole and how these ads perpetuate the way some men see women –as objects- these ads in no way help bring violence rates down and by no means appeal to the reasoning that women are people, not commodities.

Service Learning Proposal

Service Learning Proposal for NOW

By: Melissa Colon, Caitlin Costa, Alexa Nelen

February 10^th, 2011

Alexa Nelen

WST 3015-0001

Community Partner Profile:

NOW UCF Campus Action Network

Kelly Thibert (President): k.thibert@gmail.com

Kelly Quintero (Vice President): kquintero@knights.ucf.edu

Mission Statement: NOW is a progressive organization dedicated to making legal, political, social and economic change in our society in order to achieve our goal, which is to eliminate sexism and end all oppression (NOW.org).

Key semester goals: Becoming more visible on campus and within the community, raising awareness about issues, more tabling, and to show the community WHO is a NOW member and WHAT is feminism.

NOW was established on June 30, 1966 in Washington, D.C., by those attending the Third National Conference of the Commission on the Status of Women. Among NOW's 28 founders was its first president, Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique (NOW.org).

In order to achieve the above goals, UCF’s NOW chapter is seeking not only funding but also “people power” to fully realize their mission statement on a community level.

The Proposal:

Most of NOW’s issues involve women’s rights and abortion laws, bringing awareness to the problem of domestic violence and rape, and equality among men and women in the work place and the community. In order to bring positive and progressive change in favor of both women and men, contributions and involvement by the community are crucial.

One dominant part of NOW’s goals is to bring awareness to the community and nation as to what being a feminist means and what feminists ideals can bring to movements aimed at evoking progressive thinking and change. In order to accomplish this, it is imperative that NOW UCF contributes to better establishing a working definition of feminism that will invite the community in and will not scare potential involvement away.

NOW aims to change these constructions and give more flexibility to women personally and in their communities by making large scale changes. In order to do this, NOW UCF needs, more than anything, the voice to call out to the UCF community to recruit people to help make these changes.

Plan Proposal:

In order to achieve more awareness for NOW around campus and in the community, and in order to help people in the community realize the power of feminism and what being a feminist means, we will be doing several different things for our Service Learning. All of the projects will bring awareness of NOW as a legitimate and progressive organization at UCF as well as attempt to persuade people in the community to join in and contribute. The most vital part of any movement is publicity and “people power”. Hopefully with the below contributions both of these components can be fulfilled.

A modern feminist is seen as someone to be suspicious of and most are hesitant to be labeled as such. Having an organization like NOW contribute to changing this stereotype will add to the progression of social movements that bring equality to women.

 Firstly, the most seemingly affective way to bring attention to NOW in the UCF community is to first set up a table at least once a week outside of the Student Union and advertise meeting times, set up an email list for information on events and meetings, bring attention to NOW UCF’s Facebook page and finally to clearly dictate NOW’s goals and the goals of many feminists to UCF students and faculty. Secondly, we plan to make and distribute NOW posters that would advertise dates and times of various events around campus and Orlando and meeting dates and times. Considering NOW UCF needs both funding and “people power” in order to achieve its goals, these two ideas would be incredibly affective in bringing these goals to fruition.

In order to contribute to the “people power” needed by NOW UCF, we will participate in planning events with NOW like an event for Feminist Coming Out Day. The tentative plan for an event like this would be to first set up a table outside of the Student Union in order to advertise the event at least a week prior. Then have the three of us and some other members located around campus and ask students if they consider themselves a feminist. If they say yes they will collect a ribbon, a sticker or some badge that will demonstrate their decision to “come out” as a feminist. The goal is to bring awareness to the day and the importance of feminist ideals. By wearing a badge like this, hopefully one’s friends or classmates will ask about it and that would spread the word of Feminist Coming Out Day orally and simultaneously bring attention to the amount of people that may share one’s ideals and have similar views about issues presented by NOW. By giving the proclaimed feminists a physical identifier, it would make others with the same ideals more comfortable with the idea if they knew their friends or peers felt the same, considering the “F” word is something that is skirted around most of the time. Lastly, the entire thing would be one big advertisement for NOW and hopefully recruit new members that have found their voice by “coming out” as a feminist, or one with feminist ideals.

Rationale:

NOW is a progressive organization that has continued to strive for a change in socially constructed gender roles. As Judith Lorber said, “everyone ‘does gender’ without thinking about it” because these roles are so inscribed in our daily lives and how we are raised (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, 64). Most young girls and women are complacent in their rigid gender roles and do not know any alternative. By bringing awareness to programs and institutions like NOW, the goal is this complacency will turn into contemplation and change.

All women should be educated and encouraged to define themselves by what makes them happy. NOW helps women do just this; by encouraging progression and development of gender equality in social, political, personal and economic practices. Lorber further states “gender is one of the major ways people identify themselves”, and it is important to help create positive and equal gender roles (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, 65). Re-inscribing these roles however can be intimidating considering they are such a natural part of our lives. But in order to make progress, it is imperative to denaturalize and examine such constructions that have encroached on our inalienable right to equality.

Action:

I have met with both the President and Vice President of NOW at UCF along with the other members to discuss our tentative plans and goals for the semester. I will be attending meetings regularly and tabling in front of the Student Union to bring attention to NOW and its events. I will discuss further plans with the members of NOW to create a cohesive vision for carrying out NOW’s mission statement.

Timeline

We are working with the other members of NOW to increase visibility on campus so that we may raise awareness on key issues. The following dates are subject to minor changes. Tabling events in front of the union will occur no less frequently than on a bimonthly basis.

1.      Abortion Discussion Panel Hosted by the College Republicans- February 21

2.      Feminist Coming Out Day- March 2

3.      Green Waves Festival Interactive Tent- March 20

4.      Take Back the Night March and Rally- March 24

Works Cited

National Organization for Women (NOW). Web. 08 Feb. 2011. http://www.now.org/.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Word Count: 964

Introduction Letter

My name is Alexa Nelen, I am a junior at UCF majoring in History with a minor in Women's Studies. I'm from Maitland Florida and still live here in Maitland while commuting to UCF daily. The reason I'm taking Intro to Women's Studies besides it being a requirement for my minor is because I'm very interested in learning about the history of feminism, the three waves in history and how they may relate to my life today. I'd also like to gain some experience in the community with the Service Learning because one of my main goals is to become more active in the community with organizations that make an impact every day. One reason why I've really developed an interest in not only women's studies but gender studies is because I have always experienced both advantages and disadvantages of societal constructed gender roles if not with my immediate family then with classmates and peers. I am the only female of my generation in my family and that has been a downfall for me because my family expects very different things from men and women and essentially my life goals SHOULD be to be a paralegal or a steno typist if anything at all; I should be content with being a wife and mother and to never speak back to the man of the house; I should own no opinions of my own and "yes" is always the only answer when asked anything. It's needless to say that this is not the reality in which I'm actually living but it's nevertheless forced on me every day. I feel a certain connection to this subject and to it's past.

I want to learn more about the three waves of feminism, notable feminists and their particular advancements that impacted their generation and what difficulties and controversies these women (or men) faced. After all, the majority of notable men and women in history are noted because of the controversies they overcame; the things that challenged their beliefs and presented them with difficult decisions in balancing personal beliefs and moral responsibilities; much like those facing people every day but magnified and exploded by media attention. I’d also like to learn about the different goals of feminists during the three waves and how they planned on accomplishing them. Furthermore, I’d like to construct more complete and well-rounded views about what feminism means to me through the personal anecdotes and scholarly segments presented in the text. This class and its collaborative learning technique, I feel will also be valuable to me when looking to draw upon personal experiences and other perspectives on feminism and the roles of gender in everyday life.

I have read and fully understand the terms of the academic policy and the syllabus for this course and the terms of blogging procedures.