Saturday, March 27, 2010
Activism log #5
Our project seems to be at a stand-still. We are still waiting for our final draft of our letter to send out to the various states and organizations. We continue to get fan support with our facebook. I do believe that we need to address our fans on our facebook page with greater insight of what we are actually aiming for because our goal seems clouded to some. The following things are left on our "to-do" list: petition, gathering up state university's, tabling at school for awareness. We do not seem to have much time left so we will continue to look foward and address our goals.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Activism Blog #4
We are still in the process of setting up our petition. There is still no progress on our letter, since it is still under review. Our group is somewhat at a standstill. We are still maintaining our facebook page and still informing our supporters about our goal and keeping them updated in regards to where we are and where we are going with this project. We will continue to plan our strategic ways that would be best to create a petition. Through personal or online vote/signature, we will spread the word in order to gain popularity.
Activism Blog #3
The facebook page has grown in fast numbers but has recently slowed in new members. Our group has decided to take the approach of redirecting our facebook page so that it represents our original plan of Alice Paul. What we wanted to do is create a page by letting people know and understand that Alice Paul is one of the biggest reasons why feminist are where they are today. She was the spark that lit the fire, especially in regards to gaining the right to vote in the year 1919, the 19th amendment. The people who did not show much respect for our page are not very prevalent since we stopped the quotes. Our next step will be do create a petition and send our letter to our activism leader to look over.
Activism Blog #2
After making details to our project, we were able to upload our proposal and sucessfully start our facebook page. Or facebook page is mainly geared to enhance our opportunity in addressing and spreading the word of our project, the first ever National Women's Holiday. We did have some trouble early on. We all became administrators in our projects in order to update our page and make it as diverse as possible, along with adding quotes. Early on our quotes that we enacted had the sole purpose of sparking discussion and awareness about our goal. Yet, after some controversial quotes, we stopped putting them up since we all felt that they were causing a distraction and chaos. Many people who were in support and especially those people against our purpose felt really distracted and hurt by some of the quotes. We decided to slow down the process of the qoutes and redirect our facebook page to a more positive image, Alice Paul, our original plan.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The Cost of Being a Mother
Enrique Irizarry
Jeanina Perez
March 17, 2010
WST 3015
Blog Entry #5:
Megan Seely in, “AT THE TABLE,” describes how many women have benefited from Title IX. Seely states, “Our work has not always been publicly recognized, valued, or paid. But our work has always contributed to the economic health of our families and our nations (99).” Also, Ann Crittenden had this to say about the view of women in America, “In…the United States, the official message is caveat mater, or ‘mothers beware’: you’re on your own.” Ultimately, what both these feminists are stating is true. Women have always worked hard to care for their families, while at the same time competing with men in order to have a stable, financial life, all with little or no support from their spouse. This leads me to the analysis of Lois in the sitcom Family Guy during season titled, “Go Stewie.” In this episode Lois is confronted by her husband, Peter, who states that, “She ain’t what she used to be…once you get these pants off its like two saggin’ pressed hams and a slice of pizza.” Her daughter, Meg, further says to her mom, “Look as you, your old, your nothing.” Lois has been bombarded in the episode by being fed negativity based on her age. Yet, the deeper meaning behind this situation of Lois and her age and beauty has to do with “The Cost of Being a Mother,” as stated by Crittenden (340). Crittenden notes that many women in the United States have to choose between being a mother and pursuing their careers in a competitive world where men are the majority in top position of most professions.
Like Lois, many women opt to become mother and have children before setting in on a good career. Yet, even with a college degree, many women make significantly less than women who do not have children. As Crittenden stated after leaving the New York Times, “My annual income after leaving the paper has averaged roughly $15,000, from part-time freelance writing (338).” Crittenden left a great career where she made a year salary of approximately $50,000. This is a tough decision for many women like Lois. Like many mother, Lois decided to give up a great career to take care of her family. With that in mind, becoming a housewife is a tough job that requires much sacrifice, even of the physical self. Her husband Peter is ignorant of the fact that Lois may not have much time to fix herself up all the time. This episode pushes the envelope about mothers and aging. Lois is depicted as a mother who cheats on her husband with her daughter’s boyfriend because of the entire toll that comes with caring for a family and playing the motherly role. Although not all mother and wives may demonstrate this harsh behavior, I do believe that many women, who realize that financially they are not contributing as much and they are not getting any younger, may sometimes feel inclined to prove that they have still “got it.” In conclusion, the disparities between men and women in this country are great. Women, who take similar educated goals as some men, still earn less than their male counterparts and have the pressure of maintaining their physical self. For some women this task is too much to bear when presented with a family where, at times, she may be the only care giver, as is the case of Lois.
Works Cited:
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "The Mommy Tax(2001)." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. 337-45. Print.
Seely, Megan. Fight like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. Print.
Jeanina Perez
March 17, 2010
WST 3015
Blog Entry #5:
Megan Seely in, “AT THE TABLE,” describes how many women have benefited from Title IX. Seely states, “Our work has not always been publicly recognized, valued, or paid. But our work has always contributed to the economic health of our families and our nations (99).” Also, Ann Crittenden had this to say about the view of women in America, “In…the United States, the official message is caveat mater, or ‘mothers beware’: you’re on your own.” Ultimately, what both these feminists are stating is true. Women have always worked hard to care for their families, while at the same time competing with men in order to have a stable, financial life, all with little or no support from their spouse. This leads me to the analysis of Lois in the sitcom Family Guy during season titled, “Go Stewie.” In this episode Lois is confronted by her husband, Peter, who states that, “She ain’t what she used to be…once you get these pants off its like two saggin’ pressed hams and a slice of pizza.” Her daughter, Meg, further says to her mom, “Look as you, your old, your nothing.” Lois has been bombarded in the episode by being fed negativity based on her age. Yet, the deeper meaning behind this situation of Lois and her age and beauty has to do with “The Cost of Being a Mother,” as stated by Crittenden (340). Crittenden notes that many women in the United States have to choose between being a mother and pursuing their careers in a competitive world where men are the majority in top position of most professions.
Like Lois, many women opt to become mother and have children before setting in on a good career. Yet, even with a college degree, many women make significantly less than women who do not have children. As Crittenden stated after leaving the New York Times, “My annual income after leaving the paper has averaged roughly $15,000, from part-time freelance writing (338).” Crittenden left a great career where she made a year salary of approximately $50,000. This is a tough decision for many women like Lois. Like many mother, Lois decided to give up a great career to take care of her family. With that in mind, becoming a housewife is a tough job that requires much sacrifice, even of the physical self. Her husband Peter is ignorant of the fact that Lois may not have much time to fix herself up all the time. This episode pushes the envelope about mothers and aging. Lois is depicted as a mother who cheats on her husband with her daughter’s boyfriend because of the entire toll that comes with caring for a family and playing the motherly role. Although not all mother and wives may demonstrate this harsh behavior, I do believe that many women, who realize that financially they are not contributing as much and they are not getting any younger, may sometimes feel inclined to prove that they have still “got it.” In conclusion, the disparities between men and women in this country are great. Women, who take similar educated goals as some men, still earn less than their male counterparts and have the pressure of maintaining their physical self. For some women this task is too much to bear when presented with a family where, at times, she may be the only care giver, as is the case of Lois.
Works Cited:
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "The Mommy Tax(2001)." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. 337-45. Print.
Seely, Megan. Fight like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. Print.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
97 Bonnie and Clyde
Enrique Irizarry
Jeanina Perez
March 8, 2010
WST 3015
Blog Number 4 Entry
The song titled, “97 Bonnie and Clyde,” by Eminem, creates graphic images of the artist killing his wife and his wife’s boyfriend and son. Eminem writes such lyrics as, “It’s just a little scratch-it don’t hurt, her was eatin dinner while you were sweepin and spilled ketchup on her shirts...,” while talking to his daughter who he names Hai-Hai in the song. With this song, Eminem perpetuates violence toward women who may have possibly cheated on their husband and who are trying to move on with their lives. Eminem and his wife were once intimate, but somewhere along the lines of their relationship they hit rock bottom. As mentioned in the textbook, “Women’s Lives,” “According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, ‘Every year, as many as 4 million American women are physically abused by men who promised to love them (260).” Eminem was perhaps who of those 4 million American men who promised to take care of and love his wife, but his wife did not feel that way so decided to move on without him.
With lyrics such as, “No more fighting with dad, nor more restraining order No more ste-da-da, nor more new brother…” are words that just strike terror among women who have been through similar situations or know of women who are in such problems. From my opinion, this song tends to stir up violence against many women who may not feel safe in their relationship and who may want a better situation for themselves and their family. Furthermore, according to professor of political science and women’s studies Jean Grossholtz, at the micro level of such problems, there stems “unhealthy relationships.” We can see in this song with words such as, “She’s takin a little nap in the trunk…” clearly depict that something was wrong in Eminem’s relationship also noted here when he stated that, “…mama was real real bad, she was bein mean to dad and made him real real mad, But I still feel sad that I put her on time- out…” I also believe that this song brings awareness of violence among women in heterosexual relationships. This song is controversial depending on where people are judging the song from.
From a women’s point of view, most women would agree that the lyrics and story created by the song are mostly true, that women do get beat by their husbands if they are caught with another man or are caught trying to run away from the relationship. Women, who fear, never come back easily. As Carlton Leftwich, an interviewee noted from a John Stoltenberg interview title, “I Am Not a Rapist,” he mentioned, “Your sense of security is gone, and once you lose your sense of security you’re never going to get it back.” Many women could agree with this when the level of violence is so high. Yet, many men could also say that even though these lyrics depict images that could be true, I believe that most men could argue that these lyrics cannot be generalized because not all men act in the same fashion with this particular situation.
Citation:
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Violence Against Women." Women's Life: Multicultural
Perspective. 5th ed. New York: McGrawHill, 2010. 257-75. Print.
Hedges, Warren, Andy Moose, Carlton Leftwich, and Erick Fink. "I Am Not a Rapist!" Interview by John Stoltenburg and Jason Schultz. Print.
Jeanina Perez
March 8, 2010
WST 3015
Blog Number 4 Entry
The song titled, “97 Bonnie and Clyde,” by Eminem, creates graphic images of the artist killing his wife and his wife’s boyfriend and son. Eminem writes such lyrics as, “It’s just a little scratch-it don’t hurt, her was eatin dinner while you were sweepin and spilled ketchup on her shirts...,” while talking to his daughter who he names Hai-Hai in the song. With this song, Eminem perpetuates violence toward women who may have possibly cheated on their husband and who are trying to move on with their lives. Eminem and his wife were once intimate, but somewhere along the lines of their relationship they hit rock bottom. As mentioned in the textbook, “Women’s Lives,” “According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, ‘Every year, as many as 4 million American women are physically abused by men who promised to love them (260).” Eminem was perhaps who of those 4 million American men who promised to take care of and love his wife, but his wife did not feel that way so decided to move on without him.
With lyrics such as, “No more fighting with dad, nor more restraining order No more ste-da-da, nor more new brother…” are words that just strike terror among women who have been through similar situations or know of women who are in such problems. From my opinion, this song tends to stir up violence against many women who may not feel safe in their relationship and who may want a better situation for themselves and their family. Furthermore, according to professor of political science and women’s studies Jean Grossholtz, at the micro level of such problems, there stems “unhealthy relationships.” We can see in this song with words such as, “She’s takin a little nap in the trunk…” clearly depict that something was wrong in Eminem’s relationship also noted here when he stated that, “…mama was real real bad, she was bein mean to dad and made him real real mad, But I still feel sad that I put her on time- out…” I also believe that this song brings awareness of violence among women in heterosexual relationships. This song is controversial depending on where people are judging the song from.
From a women’s point of view, most women would agree that the lyrics and story created by the song are mostly true, that women do get beat by their husbands if they are caught with another man or are caught trying to run away from the relationship. Women, who fear, never come back easily. As Carlton Leftwich, an interviewee noted from a John Stoltenberg interview title, “I Am Not a Rapist,” he mentioned, “Your sense of security is gone, and once you lose your sense of security you’re never going to get it back.” Many women could agree with this when the level of violence is so high. Yet, many men could also say that even though these lyrics depict images that could be true, I believe that most men could argue that these lyrics cannot be generalized because not all men act in the same fashion with this particular situation.
Citation:
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Violence Against Women." Women's Life: Multicultural
Perspective. 5th ed. New York: McGrawHill, 2010. 257-75. Print.
Hedges, Warren, Andy Moose, Carlton Leftwich, and Erick Fink. "I Am Not a Rapist!" Interview by John Stoltenburg and Jason Schultz. Print.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Service Learning Proposal
Community Partner: The National Organization for Women, UCF Chapter
Contact: Jeannina Perez
Community Partner Mission Statement: According to their website, NOW’s mission is “…to take action to bring about equality for all women. Now works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control, and reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism, and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society.”
Political and/or Social Basis for Organization: NOW is formed on the basis of equality, freedom from sexism, racism, homophobia, and all other types of discrimination. Our view is that the utter lack of any holiday recognizing the fight for women’s rights is a form of discrimination, and as such, falls under the aims listed in NOW’s mission statement.
Memorandum
TO: Jeannina Perez
FROM: Rachel Collins
Jessie Gereno
Adam Green
Enrique Irizarry
Kelly Quintero
DATE: 2/3/10
RE: Proposal to Write a Feasibility Report for the effort to create a national women’s holiday.
This proposal aims to outline the needs, reasons, and feasibility for a service learning project with the intent to create a national holiday for a woman influential within the women’s right movement. Contained within is background on the needs for and benefits of a national women’s holiday, an outline of the work we plan to accomplish, justification for its inclusion in WST3015, and a proposed timeline. This proposal may need to be adjusted after we begin the project, and also needs to be flexible in order to meet the needs of both the project and our community partner.
Need for a national women’s holiday: This project does not have a community partner in the same way that others do. Our community partner is our professor, and our effort spans from student organizations to national organizations and politicians. However, the need for the proposed holiday is clear. There are holidays recognizing many historical and influential figures, such as Martin Luther King Day, yet there are no holidays recognizing women, particularly those who fought and died to secure basic rights of citizenship for women. Such a holiday would promote awareness of the heroic sacrifices of such women, and would demonstrate a movement of our society toward equality and equal recognition.
Plan Proposal: We propose that we will carry out our plan to create a national women’s holiday by formulating a letter detailing our rationale, and send it to student organizations, local, state, and national politicians, national organizations, etc. We will base the letter on legislation that created other similar holidays, such as MLK day. By doing this, we will raise awareness among the community of the need and lack of such a holiday recognizing women. This increased awareness will, we hope, lead to a grassroots effort to create this holiday.
Rationale for Women’s Studies: Women’s studies is concerned with both looking to and shaping the future of the struggle for equality, and honoring and recognizing the contributions and sacrifices that have been made in the past. The holidays recognizing public and historical figures that exist today inspire education because they make common the knowledge surrounding that figure. The fact that there is no such holiday recognizing women such as Alice Paul mean that far too many people in our society are utterly unaware of this crucial knowledge about the progression of women’s rights. Our efforts for the future must be based firmly on a critical understanding and full appreciation of the repercussions of past events.
Action: To begin, Rachel will write a letter detailing the rationale and necessity of this holiday. All other group members will then read and contribute to this letter, and then this letter will be read and finally edited by you, our professor. The rest of the group will be looking up national, state, and local governments, politicians, and student organizations. We will create a Facebook page to promote awareness of our cause. We will then collaborate to distribute our letter to all of these places. We can use the unlimited printing in the honors computer lab to print the letters that we need.
Timeline:
Meet with Nina to discuss the plan on 2/1.
Turn letter in to Nina on 2/5/10.
Create Facebook page – 2/5/10.
Establish definitive list of organizations to send letters to by 2/17/10, then email the ones that we can and send letters to those we can’t by 2/22.
Turn in completed reflection paper on 5/3/10.
Contact: Jeannina Perez
Community Partner Mission Statement: According to their website, NOW’s mission is “…to take action to bring about equality for all women. Now works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control, and reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism, and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society.”
Political and/or Social Basis for Organization: NOW is formed on the basis of equality, freedom from sexism, racism, homophobia, and all other types of discrimination. Our view is that the utter lack of any holiday recognizing the fight for women’s rights is a form of discrimination, and as such, falls under the aims listed in NOW’s mission statement.
Memorandum
TO: Jeannina Perez
FROM: Rachel Collins
Jessie Gereno
Adam Green
Enrique Irizarry
Kelly Quintero
DATE: 2/3/10
RE: Proposal to Write a Feasibility Report for the effort to create a national women’s holiday.
This proposal aims to outline the needs, reasons, and feasibility for a service learning project with the intent to create a national holiday for a woman influential within the women’s right movement. Contained within is background on the needs for and benefits of a national women’s holiday, an outline of the work we plan to accomplish, justification for its inclusion in WST3015, and a proposed timeline. This proposal may need to be adjusted after we begin the project, and also needs to be flexible in order to meet the needs of both the project and our community partner.
Need for a national women’s holiday: This project does not have a community partner in the same way that others do. Our community partner is our professor, and our effort spans from student organizations to national organizations and politicians. However, the need for the proposed holiday is clear. There are holidays recognizing many historical and influential figures, such as Martin Luther King Day, yet there are no holidays recognizing women, particularly those who fought and died to secure basic rights of citizenship for women. Such a holiday would promote awareness of the heroic sacrifices of such women, and would demonstrate a movement of our society toward equality and equal recognition.
Plan Proposal: We propose that we will carry out our plan to create a national women’s holiday by formulating a letter detailing our rationale, and send it to student organizations, local, state, and national politicians, national organizations, etc. We will base the letter on legislation that created other similar holidays, such as MLK day. By doing this, we will raise awareness among the community of the need and lack of such a holiday recognizing women. This increased awareness will, we hope, lead to a grassroots effort to create this holiday.
Rationale for Women’s Studies: Women’s studies is concerned with both looking to and shaping the future of the struggle for equality, and honoring and recognizing the contributions and sacrifices that have been made in the past. The holidays recognizing public and historical figures that exist today inspire education because they make common the knowledge surrounding that figure. The fact that there is no such holiday recognizing women such as Alice Paul mean that far too many people in our society are utterly unaware of this crucial knowledge about the progression of women’s rights. Our efforts for the future must be based firmly on a critical understanding and full appreciation of the repercussions of past events.
Action: To begin, Rachel will write a letter detailing the rationale and necessity of this holiday. All other group members will then read and contribute to this letter, and then this letter will be read and finally edited by you, our professor. The rest of the group will be looking up national, state, and local governments, politicians, and student organizations. We will create a Facebook page to promote awareness of our cause. We will then collaborate to distribute our letter to all of these places. We can use the unlimited printing in the honors computer lab to print the letters that we need.
Timeline:
Meet with Nina to discuss the plan on 2/1.
Turn letter in to Nina on 2/5/10.
Create Facebook page – 2/5/10.
Establish definitive list of organizations to send letters to by 2/17/10, then email the ones that we can and send letters to those we can’t by 2/22.
Turn in completed reflection paper on 5/3/10.
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