Campus Engagement 2

    For my last campus engagement, I attended Taking up Space, which was a lecture about the bullying in middle school and how if affects young students. Now, I'll start by saying it was not what I expected it to be. I thought this was going to be something along the lines of hearing people's stories and feeling sympathy for them but it was an actual study. There were hypothesizes, experiments, results and reporting--sorta reminding me of what I do with my biology. This lecture leaned much more towards logical than emotion and I found it interesting.

    Now with that, the most emotional part of this even were the interviews with parents. I remember there was one women who was devastated by the way people were treating her daughter and she was willingly to do anything to make sure she was okay. And then there was the school officials who didn't seem interested in conducting the study and simply wanted to ignore the problem of bullying. The speaker, Pr. Santana, described how there is a tug of war between the schools and the parents. The schools say "well, if you're child is acting up at school, it's usually because of the situation at home" while parents believe schools are not taking care of the issues properly. I'll talk about something that I generally keep to myself. When I was in elementary school, I was severely bullied. And while I'm not going to go into details about it, let me just say, there was two years of my life that was pretty much a living hell. And this little tid bit into my life serves as a connection between school and home when it comes to bullying. There isn't one person to blame, it's a combination. When I was a kid, both school and home were the worse places to be. My school life was horrible and my home life was unstable. And what did the school officials and my parents do? They just kept blaming each other. I went to a school guidance council and after I told her my home situation, my mother got mad at me for telling the school about it. And then the guidance council would talk to students who had bullied me and that just made it worse. So much worse.

    This event, while interesting and very well conducted, did not sit very well with me. It brought back to many emotions, to many painful memories and thoughts of how I wish things had been done differently. I would join the Young Leaders Program if I had the time because I think I have a lot to offer to young people because I experienced bully first hand. It's hard, unnecessary, and can emotionally scar a person for the rest of their lives. And while my schools days are far behind me and what students called me doesn't necessarily hurt me anymore, there is that lingering bit of anger and injustice. An open wound that will never heal. I want something to be done about bully but at the same time I don't want to have to deal with the issues and emotions that come with reliving those memories.  

Bad picture of me LOL but I was there

Activism Log 2

Week of 04/4/2012

1. Activism:

This week on April 4^th, I tabled with other members of VOX. This was actually my first time meeting a lot of the members as I have a fairly busy schedule throughout the semester. I believe it was successful, in terms of letting people know what was going on and what VOX was. Next week, I might try passing out fliers but frankly, I'm too shy to attempt it.

2. Reflection: 

This week's activism for VOX, which want to help women , is very much in tuned with the chapter we are currently studying about violence against women. Gender violence is a very sensitive topic and it is not one that should be taken lightly. It can come in many forms: emotional, verbal, physical or sexual. Each of these acts can leave behind scars that traumatize women for the rest of their lives. On a marco level, I think interesting that it is probably one of the few topics that bring all “societies, socioeconomic classes, all races/ethnic groups” (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey, 257) together as it affects all women. Culture plays a huge role in trying to legitimatize the notion of gender violence with the idea that husband have the right to “discipline his wife” (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey, 266). This is a very old idea of course, but until 1993, rape in a marriage wasn't even considered a crime in the United States! And then in the workplace women find it“difficult to speak up about sexual harassment” (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey, 266) because of the power employers hold over employees; men's power over women. They don't want to make a fuss about anything and potentially lose their jobs. Another macro level explanations for gender violence also comes from legal systems, which have “inadequate laws and practices concerning violence against women” and is part of the reason why participial power influences women in their everyday lives.

This gets very frustrating to write about. But how can it not be? Working with VOX and reading this chapter has really changed a lot of my own personal views about feminism and gender violence. I'll be honest, I didn't have any opinion of it before this. And while I thought, yes this is an awful thing that happens to people,but it's never happened to me so why should I even bother thinking about it. And I am also not trying to blame everything on our society on men. There are those men out there, like the ones at MAC, who recognize the power and fear men hold over women sometimes. “When I walk on campus at night and a woman In front of me sees I'm a man walking behind her, her shoulders tense up and she starts walking more quickly” (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey, 286). For generations is seems like women have been taught to act in certain way in order to prevent violence. We have a check list, we don't wear provocative clothing and if we go out, we go with our friends let someone know when you are going out, and never leave your drink unattended. And yet even if we do all fo these things, it's not always preventable! Sometimes the unthinkable happens and it's completely out of our control. And yet sometimes, people still “blame the victim” (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey, 265) even if she did everything right. I think organizations like VOX would support ideas on ending violence against women and as for the community? It has to be something we are all willingly to change. We should word on providing more support for victims, to more of what VOX do by providing more public and professional education about violence against women and change political strategies when it comes to these issues. And the saddest part of this entire reflection is that this is even an issue to begin with.

3. Reciprocity:

I like to think that everything I get in return for volunteering is that I learn something. This week, while pretty much changing my whole opinion about certain aspects of violence against women, was more about interacting and educating people about different aspects of VOX and what they stand for. I However, that also depended who came to your table and who was interested in hearing your speech about your organization. And I have to say, there aren't many people willingly to take the time and listen anymore, which is unfortunate. I think if this week taught me anything about feminism, or any kind of activism (in my case, animal organizations), we have to find new ways to let our voices be heard. I know a lot of activists have been turning to new resources like social media websites and YouTube and have had some varying degrees of success. But still, it's not enough. For example, I volunteer with big cats at a place called Central Florida Animal Reverse and while we have all of these new flashy websites and YouTube channels and what not but hardly anyone knows who we are still. People are literally shock when I tell them there are tigers living only twenty minutes from their house. So, while I don't know what the answer is, I am sure in the future will give us many opportunities to spread the message.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Rey. Women's lives: multicultural perspectives. 3rd ed. Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print.

Activism Reflection 1

Week of 3/29/2012

1. Activism: 

This week I participated in two events. My classmate, Charlotte and I went around the city of Ovideo for VOX to ask for donations to their upcoming event. Then I helped with the LOL event here on UCF campus. Overall, I think asking for donations went okay. A lot of the places we went to were cooperation and they wanted us to go through their head quarters in order to set something up. We weren't asking for money, it was for miscellaneous items that we could use for prizes at the event (coupons, gift card, ect). We ended up getting a lot of contact information though. The LOL event was a little more successful even if all I did was type up some papers for them. I felt like I had accomplished at least something, even if it was very small task.

2. Reflection:

In class this week, we discussed many topics surrounding women and their home and work life. My volunteer work for VOX reflects this idea in several different ways. To start, in “Making a Home, Making a Living,” the main idea is focusing on the well being of women both financially and personally in their home and career life. Women in this country are sometimes expected to be like the somewhat empowering 1970's “super mom” (Kirk,Okazawa-Rey) who does everything: raise the children, have successful careers and be an outstanding homemaker. This ideal, however, is taxing for women and can make them emotionally drained. Women in this country have had to make sacrifices on what they wanted to do most. For instance, a women who has a successful career might not have children in order to gain a higher position. Another women in the same career, however, might choose to do the “mommy track,” (Kirk,Okazawa-Rey) which allows them to combine family time with work, by working “longer hours, taking little vacation time and doing whatever the work demanded” ( Kirk,Okazawa-Rey). This comes down to making choices and sacrifices that men would never have to make. In my work with VOX, however, I went around to many different businesses and found a surprising number of whom had women as their store mangers (some of them were major companies, such as Bed, Bath and Beyond and PetSmart). And while this isn't that uncommon today, there was a time in our country's history where women mangers were virtual unheard of. In order to be a manger of a store, people have to get some type of college education. So, to see this many women as mangers proves the point that many of them probably went to college and are breaking through the “glass ceiling” (an unseen barrier that prevents women from promotions into higher seats of power) (Kirk,Okazawa-Rey). On a macro level, this shift in power probably gives women a more equal playing field as men. They are going to college, getting an education and becoming a more powerful force in the workplace. At the same time, these women probably were also subjected to the discriminates that come with being a women in the workforce and had to learn to balance out their lives. As this is a personal reflection about what I personally experienced while working with VOX, I believe doing this was something of an eye-opening experience for me. I think that I was never really aware about just how many women there are in workforce today. And it made me think about how there needs to be more awareness about these issues with women in workforce such as still not getting paid as equally as men and treated in a negative light. I think there needs to be a lot more work done in this area as there are still many glass ceilings to breakthrough.

3. Reciprocity:  This week's volunteer work really helped me see just how many women are in the management level of work and opened my eyes to new possibilities. While I live in a modern era where women have been able to work in many new and innovating fields, there is still a huge inequality gap, where women are still not getting as paid as much as men and many people view women bosses in a negative light. For me personally, I felt good about trying to get donations for organizations like VOX, who help promote women activism and education. And while VOX is main goal is in reproductive health, through them, I was able to learn something else about feminist ideas in the workplace.

 Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Rey. Women's lives: multicultural perspectives. 3rd ed. Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print.

 

Campus Engagement: A Reflection

 A Blue Planet

     Alexandra Cousteau, the granddaughter of world famous French explorer and filmmaker Jaxques-Yves Cousteau, came to UCF on March 28, 2012. Her main discussion was about preserving and sustaining a healthy environment through water management. She talked about her tour back in 2009, where for 100 days she visited many countries and and discovered places where water was unclean and too poor to even drink. She received comments from people all over the United States, praising her achievements and mentioning how these sort of problems didn't even exist in the US. These comments inspire her on another tour in 2010 for 140 days, within the U.S.A and Canada to prove the ignorance of these comments. She discovered that the water resources within are own boarders are unclean, rivers are being drained and how global warming seems to interacting with this whole process. However, the most sentimental evidence she brought to the table was the complete death of the Colorado river. She showed a video, which stated that the river had once crossed over 2 million acres but now couldn't even reach the sea, has been reduced to mud and has gone through desertification. And what little remains is being sectioned off between Mexico and the USA for famring and commerical reasons and with no water being able to return to the environment. She urged the audience to understand that if the rivers do not meet the oceans, estuaries (the widening channel of a river where it nears the sea, with a mixing of fresh water and salt water) will not be created and some of the most important nurseries for fish and plant life will not flourish. She believed that there needed to be a long term plan in order to fix what was happening. By the end of the presentation, she concluded that there needs to be a long term solution put into place if we are to save our fresh water supplies.

     Cousteau is an amazing women with a very interesting idea. When I first walked into her program, I was expecting really just another rant about how global warming is destroying everything (it gets a little tiresome as I have to hear it all the time in my biology classes) but instead, I found her position to be compelling. She is obviously a women who has broken through the glass ceiling and is very intelligent and has a become a powerful voice within the environmental community. I didn't even know who she was until I got there and now I wish I had done some extra research in order to prepare more questions. She is doing something that I hope to do in the future (but instead of water rights, you know, with giant tigers). I really enjoyed her program, much more than I thought I was going too. And while I am not interested in working with water management, I hope to follow in a similar pattern she has taken and be able to voice my opinion as well as she does.

I was here! :D 

My sister took this one...sorta blurry.

EC: The Business of Being Born vs. One born Every minute

 The Business of Being Born vs. One born Every minute

It is not surprising to see that Lifetime show , “One Born Every Minute” has a very different tone compared to the movie “Business of being Born”. It seems that Lifetime wanted to make a show that does everything: have births that are very scary, overly dramatic and very complicated. But at the same time, keep the mood light and airy by placing in a few very amusing moments. Whereas a “Business of Being Born” is a documentary, it a more factual representation about birthing in the home and hospitals. One of the major reasons for this huge difference in tone might just come from the fact these are really two entirely different entities. “One Born Every Minute” is television show, it needs to keep it's audience interested before a commercial break, so they have to put in a melodramatic performance. But in all honesty, it all this pointless parts really take away what the show is supposed suppose to focus on; the mother and the child. I found the documentary did a much better job in showing the very deep, emotional connection women have with their children. And while yes, the Lifetime show does have a few of these “bonding” moments, they always have to find a way to disturp it (ie, two grandmothers fighting the newborn baby when the mother had yet to see it(really? Wow, what jerks.)).

While watching “One Born Every Minute” it was really not that hard for me to connect the dots and see what the documentary meant when they said hospitals act like an industry. I remember a specific incident with one of the doctor informing a mother she would need to receive a c-section when only eight hours into labor because she was not making “enough progress”. Last time I checked (and I just did:http://www.signs-of-pregnancy-week-by-week.com/labor-and-delivery.html ) an average labor was is about anywhere from 12-20 hours. I guess the baby was just going to slow for that doctor. There were also many instances were the women were taking piction, laying flat on the backs and in an anguish amount of pain. I remember in the movie, women who were giving home births able to walk around and to help adjust themselves to their contractions. But on the show, nope. If you were in pain, you got to visited by the anesthesiologist to make make you shut up in order to help your pain go away.

I also couldn't help but notice that most of the fathers seem not really interested in the mother during the show (expect if it is for a funny moment or when she is giving birth). It seemed like they were too focused on themselves at times when they sorta forgot they weren't the ones having the baby. In the “Business of Being Born” the fathers there seem to much more invested in their wives and wanted to create and emotional connection with her and the baby.

Childbirth is a very daunting task and I am apologize if anyone likes this show, but “One Born Every Minute” seems to be making a joke out of it. Doctors are in control of the entire process of childbirth and there is no time is ever invested in exploring the doctor/patient relationship. “The Business of Being Born”, while in my opinion not a prefect movie, at least gave their audience the decency to show that yes women have the power over their own and can decide how they want to give birth to their child. They portray it as a beautiful and emotional and genuine experience not only the mother, but the entirely family. And while I can see at times the mothers on “One Born Every Minute” do have a few genuine moments, a lot of it just seems like for show. I can say I much preferred “The Business of Being Born” portrayal of a home birth much more then the sterilize hospital setting of “One Born Every Minute”.

Ad

      I used Hugh Laurie from the popular television series, “House”, based off the idea he plays a very famous fictional doctor and he would be recognizable to almost anyone. The statement refers to how there is a lack of doctors in this country who are“not being trained to carry out” safe abortion procedures (Kirk,Okazawa-Rey). Back in 1973 when the Supreme court legalized abortion, doctors who were working in hospitals knew first hand the medical devastation that “women had suffered as a result of self-induced abortions or black market practitioners” (prochoice). Many women had turn to the so called “back alley” where they were treated with a variety of tools, such as “screw drivers and coat hangers.” Doctors then understood that safe and legal abortion requires a well-trained professionals. However, thanks to anti-choice activity with “intense campaigns of intimidation” (Duvall) a new generation of doctors seem to have forgotten this era of reproductive history and are turning a blind eye to it. In medical school, those trained in the procedure declined by 45% between 1985-1991. Students who advocate a more rigorous reproductive health program are a target for bullying and picketing (Duvall). In order to protect themselves and their families, many doctors have stopped preforming abortions all together (Kirk,Okazawa-Rey). This is wrong and unfair to women in so many ways, it's hard to know where to begin. It's wrong to say that pro-life supporters, wherever their motivation may come from, have a valid point. Who says people have the right to end a life? It's not an easy question to answer. But then again, abortion itself is not an easy decision to make. For most women, its is full of emotional turmoil: guilt, sadness, anxiety and sometimes even shame. It really depends on the situation. People who have been a victim of rape or cannot really compare to someone who doesn't want the baby for finical reason (plannedparenthood). But it doesn't matter. Women still have the right. They have the right to have an abortion. They have right to have doctors who know what the hell they're doing when it comes to their bodies.

 Works Cited

-Laws. "The Shortage of Physicians Trained and Willing to Perform Abortions in PA :: American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania." American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA). N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.aclupa.org/education/clarabellduvallreproductiv/duvallprojectresourcespubl/shortageofphysicians.htm>.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Rey. Women's lives: multicultural perspectives. 3rd ed. Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print.

"National Abortion Federation: Access to Abortion." National Abortion Federation (NAF). N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/facts/access_abortion.html>.

"Thinking About Abortion - Planned Parenthood." Sexual & Reproductive Health - Sex Education - Planned Parenthood. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/pregnancy/abortion-21519.htm>.

VOX Proposal

Erika Saeb

Meredith Tweed

WST 3015-002

16 February 2012

Proposal for VOX

Contact information:
Title of proposal: VOX service learning community partners, spring 2012.
Name of community partner: VOX
Group members: Erika S, Lydia H, Scott V, Kelsey G
Community partner profile:
Name: VOX, Voices of Planned Parenthood
Contact: Alexa Nelen
Community partner mission statement:

“Vox: Voices for Planned Parenthood-UCF chapter exists to educate the University community about reproductive health and rights, to translate increased awareness into pro-choice activism on campus, and to serve as a coalition partner to state, national, and international reproductive rights efforts” (VOX UCF).
Political/and or social basis for organization:

VOX strives to obtain equal reproductive justice for women. VOX works with Planned Parenthood to help achieve this goal. Equal reproductive rights for women are being threatened by a number of political initiatives in which Planned Parenthood is opposed to. Some current concerns that will be addressed this semester are: birth control refusal under the affordable health care act, pro-life protests at the Planned Parenthood clinics, general access to sex education and contraception.
Community partner needs:

Many of Vox’s activities are reactions to things that are going on politically therefore, the organizations needs may not be known that far in advance. Some of the organizations immediate requests include:

• People to solicit donations for the “Lets Talk About Sex” event. This is a benefit event that has a lot of raffle prizes, games, and music. We have been asked to go to businesses and ask for donations for the event.
• Clinic escorting-We will be helping patients safely enter Planned Parenthood when protestors are present. Training is necessary for this and VOX will provide this later on in the semester.
• Tabling outside of the student union- A table is set up in which members of VOX inform students who approach the table about safe sex, current reproductive issues, any questions they may have. VOX also has condoms readily available for students.

Plan Proposal:

VOX, as Voices for Planned Parenthood (VOX), are primarily concerned with helping college-aged students know about their reproductive health and rights. One way they are planning to raise awareness for their cause is to do tabling outside the student union. Here volunteers would inform other students about issues concern reproductive health and issues that are threatening it. They will also promote safe sex and hand out condoms to students who feel they need it.

Another events for this semester include “clinic escorting,” where volunteers from VOX help patients safely enter into Planned Parenthood Facilities when protestors are present. This event not only helps patients receive their needs but it also raise awareness or pro-choice activism. And then, their largest event of the year, “Let's Talk about Sex, Baby!” is high energy fundraiser that is an effort to promote a woman’s right to her body. People donate money and participate in wild events, such as, the Wheel of Fornication and Vibrator-Racing challenge (VOX).

As part of my service learning, my fellow group members and I will devoted time to each of these events throughout the remainder of the semester. People should have the right to decide what to do with their own bodies and not let ignorance cloud their judgment. Groups like VOX help promote only pro-choice activism but also woman’s health and safe sex. Even if we do not see it every day, these issues are highly important in today's society and the more educated we are about sex, the better decisions we will make.

Rationale for Women’s Studies:

By trying to promote reproductive health and rights, VOX relates to Women's studies in a number of fields, but in particular women's rights to their bodies. Reproductive health is a very sensitive topic to people from all walks of life: feminists, religious organizations, government parties, and interest groups. In the past, women of the United States were treated as if they were the property of their husbands and had no rights to decide what they were allowed to do with their own bodies. Abortion, for example, became illegal in the 1820's after four months of pregnancy. Many feminists, such as Susan B. Anthony, wrote against women having abortion. She believed that if women were achieve freedom, there would be no need for it (Lewis). However by the 1900 the Comstock Law made abortion illegal unless if it was to save the life of the mother (Kirk-Okazawa-Rey 213). Later feminists defended safe and effective birth control as another way to prevent abortion (Lewis). And by 1965, all fifty states had banned abortion, only to allow it for extreme situations. Women who become desperate turned to illegal and unsafe options, such back alley abortion, which many women died from. And then in 1973, Roe vs. Wade made abortion legal under certain guidelines.( Kirk-Okazawa-Rey 213).
The history of reproductive health is long, complex and full of mixed emotions. Abortion in particular is a very difficult to go through. A woman's decision to choose to end the life of her child is not an easy one to make. But, in the end it is her decision to make. If the unthinkable were to happen, people have the right to know there are options out there. But for the past thirty-five years, well-funded anti-abortion groups have worked to undermine and overturn the right to abortion (Kirk-Okazawa-Rey 214). They tried to advocate non-effective programs such as abstinence and never relaying information about safe sex. Unfortunately, they have become a huge political force in recent years and might subjugate a new generation of women from not understanding their rights and the realities of safe sex. If this happens there might be a reactionary effect and women will be forced to go into unsafe and exterme options, like the back alley abortions. So, with a groups like VOX and Planned Parenthood, it gives women access to information they might not receive in their own environment. They have to know that even if they do not want to get an abortion, there are safe sex options, birth control pills and even adoption should a women choose not to keep her child. It is unfair for women to even have to question their decisions about what they do with their bodies and it should remain a private affair within the family.

Action:

We have met with Alexa Nelen, the president of VOX at UCF. She is aware that we are available for service learning and has made some requests in regards to getting donations for “Lets Talk About Sex.” We will continue to attend meetings throughout the semester and respond to needs as they become apparent.

Timeline:

Again, new needs will arise as the semester progresses, so a full timeline is not possible at this time. Some presently known events include:

• “40 Days of Life,” a 40-day sustained nationwide protest targeting Planned Parenthood clinics, will last from February 22nd through April 1st. There will be a recurring need for clinic escorting throughout this event.
• A training session for clinic escorting will occur “in the coming weeks,” according to meeting notes from VOX’s Facebook group.
• “Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby,” which will happen “sometime in March” according to VOX’s website.
• Tabling will occur throughout the semester.

Works Cited

" 40 Days for Life." 40 Days for Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.40daysforlife.com>.

"Events - VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood at UCF." VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood at UCF - About. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://www.VOXUCF.org/events.html>.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's lives: multicultural perspectives. 3rd ed. Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print.

Lewis,  Jone Johnson. "Abortion - History of Abortion in the United States." Women's History - Comprehensive Women's History Research Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/abortionuslegal/a/abortion.htm>.

"VOX UCF." Facebook. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.facebook.com/groups/2200915873/>.

Introduction Letter

     I am a writer. I love to write fiction, non-fiction, essays, poems, plays- anything you can think of. However, I have always had issues writing about myself. So, I guess I should begin with the most obvious part. My name is Erika Saeb and I have lived in Florida since 1997. I am majoring in Biology and hope to do research on predatory animals, mainly big cats, and further people's understanding of them.

What types of activism do you do now? How do you feel about activism? Why?

     In 2005, I started volunteering with animals. Because of this, I have become a huge advocate for animal rights. I started with the Brevard Zoo, where I would just basically hold animals such as lizards, snakes or small rodents, and show them to the public. I also worked at the Florida Animal Hospital and helped take care of local animals that were sick or injured. I now dedicate most of my time to CFAR (Central Florida Animal Reserve) where I actually work with big cats. I get to feed them, give them medicine and, of course, clean their cages. Getting the chance to be exposed to so many different kinds of animals has allowed me to understand them in a way most people do not. Being an activist is important because it helps spread your message and raise awareness. But when it comes to animal rights, the most effective technique is to educate people about them. Whether I am talking about why we should have strict regulations on the exotic pet trade or trying to save an endangered species, the hope is that they will walk away with a better understanding.

Why do you find gender important—or not—in your life?

   
  I do not find gender to be a huge issue in my life. I come from a Middle Eastern family and just because of this, I am already plagued with this stereotype of being submissive and letting the men run the household. I am not speaking for every person who has grown up in a Middle Eastern culture, but for my family, this simply is not the case. I was expected to go to college, earn a decent degree and eventually find a good job. So, just because I am a woman, my family expectations of me are no different than they are for men

What do you think feminism is? How is it different than women’s studies?

     I have always thought that feminism was more of a movement to raise awareness and gain women’s rights. For this reason, I always considered myself a feminist. What I did not realize was just how philosophical the movement is and how many negative connotations surround it. In other words, I did not realize I would face negative consequences for labeling myself as one. I have always thought it was empowering and my own contribution to those in the past who fought for women's rights. There are extremists in every group out there and it is not right to believe that all feminists are bra-burning or man-hating I suppose the difference between feminism and women's studies is simple. Feminism is a movement and women's studies is an academic tool used to understand and explain what feminism truly is.


I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course and blogging protocols outlined in the syllabus.