Ecofeminism and Film Assignment

Sarah Jackson

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

April 14, 2010

The Secret Life of the Ecofeminist...

"The Secret Life of Bees" is a film based on Sue Monk Kidd's novel of the same name. The movie follows Lily Owens, a young girl growing up in the American South during the 1960s. Lily, who is running away from her abusive father, ends up learning a great deal about womanhood, her mother, and life in general from her time spent with the Boatwright sisters. "The Secret Life Of Bees" supports ecofeminist ideology by the way it portrays Lily's life before and after she runs away from her father.

While Lily is living with her father, T-Ray, she is oppressed in many ways. T-Ray is abusive and the opposite of a nurturing parent. Since Lily's mother died when she was very young, she has been alone to deal with T-Ray's anger and abuse for the majority of her life. Because of a haunting memory Lily has, she believes that she is responsible for her mother's death. T-Ray does nothing to counter this idea of the guilt that Lily feels her entire life because of it. Lily often sneaks out of her house to go out to the family orchard. There, buried in the ground, she hides a box of things that belonged to her mother. Lily lays on the ground with the belongs surrounding her as a way to feel connected to her mother. In all of these ways, Lily shows that a connection between earthly things is similar to a connection with her own mother. She sees the orchard as a safe place to hide her most prized possessions and as a place where she can be free from the torment of her father. The "central insight of ecofeminism [is] the connection between the domination of women and the domination of nature," (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 539). T-Ray's control and abuse of Lily can be compared to the ecofeminist ideal that men are oppressive and abusive towards nature just as they are oppressive and abusive towards women. Ecofeminists do not believe men are capable of being as nurturing as women. In this film, inanimate objects that simply belonged to Lily's mother at one point are shown to be more nurturing than her own father.

After Lily runs away, her entire life changes. By living in a home full of women, she is introduced to many things that she has missed because she was raised without a mother. August Boatwright teachs Lily all about handling bees and collecting honey. Lily begins to feel a connection to the bees and with nature. It is here that Lily finally begins to feel happy for the first time in the film, showing the importance a connection with nature has on a girl's life and development. It has been said that today's feminists are working to "continue the work of the many brave and visionary women who have gone before us," (King 559). This emphasis on female lineage is a common factor discussed in ecofeminism. It is seen as the mother's job to teach her daughter how to nurture and love the earth. "The Secret Life of Bees" makes that apparent when Lily decides to stay with "all of her mothers" at the end of the film. While living with her father, Lily was left in the dark about her lineage when her father lied about her mother's death. She was also disconnected from nature because of her lack of a nurturing figure in her life. When she runs away to the Boatwright home she is surrounded by women and nature and it is here that she becomes enlightened about her past and she finally feels like a loved member of a family.

Works Cited:

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.

King, Ynestra. The Ecofeminist Imperative. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 1983. Print.

Activism Log 6

Sarah Jackson

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

April 9, 2010

Activism Log 6

Activism

Since the majority of our activism portion of our project is done, I thought my next few logs would just focus more on reflection.

Reflection

The Girl Scouts website says that "Girl Scouts of the USA is committed to ensuring that all girls have an opportunity to build extraordinary lives and join with those around them in making the world a better place," (Girl Scouts of the USA). This just made me think that, as a whole, the organization of the Girl Scouts is actively working to better the lives of girls across the country. With all of the troubles plaguing girls in our country today (teen pregnancy, poor body image, education rights, eating disorders, etc), it's nice to think that there are active organizations working to build girls up.

Reciprocity

Kilbourne made the observation that "adolescents are new and inexperiences consumers- and such prime targets. They are in the process of learning their values and roles and developing their self-concepts. Most teenagers are sensitive to peer pressure and find it difficult to resist or even to question the dominant cultural messages perpetuated and reinforced by the media," (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 231). Relating it back to the media again, it seems like girls these days need an overwhelming amount of help in order to be themselves. The Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. is amazing support system for girls. The organization works with girls as young as 5 all the way through high school. Girls who participate are surrounded by their peers and mentored by strong women. These girls are also taught life lessons that they probably would not learn in school. A good example of this is "The Penny Project." Much of what was taught in this seminar I remember thinking to myself that I wish I know learned these lessons before college! Things like making and managing your own budget and knowing the importance of saving for a life time are lessons that women today especially need to learn at a young age. As discussed in past entries, women today are much more vulnerable to financial issues than they have been in the past. I think one of things I respect most about the Girl Scouts is that they teach girls that it is a good thing to be a woman in America. This is a lesson most of these girls would probably never have learned on their own. Like Elise Matthesen argued: "[w]e have a right to take up space," (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 209). And I think the scouts is a perfect opportunity for these girls to feel like they matter and that they take up space.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.

Girl Scouts of America. Girl Scouts of Citrus Council. 2 February 2010 .

Personal Narrative Blog Assignment

Sarah Jackson

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

April 5, 2010

Personal + Political = Educational

Riverbend is a female bloggers writing from Iraq during the 2000's. She mostly writes about her own life but also discusses politics and news of what is happening in Iraq during the American occupation after September 11, 2001. Riverbend uses her blog as a personal, political, and educational outlet while she attempts to separate the myths from reality about life in Iraq during the War on Terror.

Riverbend's blog can be characterized as many different types of a blog. In a personal way, Riverbend allows readers to learn about her day-to-day life. She opens up to her readers about her opinions and problems that she is facing. In several entries, including the Thursday, August 28, 2003 entry, Riverbend brings up her own family members when she is telling a story or making a point. In political terms, Riverbend makes a point to get her political opinion across in several of her postings as well. In the post "The Promise and the Treat," she makes a very compelling observation concerning the way that the rebuilding of Iraqi bridges was being handled. She shows her political opinion concerning the situation when she says: "...these dubious reconstruction projects are going to plunge the country into a national debt only comparable to that of America," (Riverbend). Political opinions such as this are frequent throughout her blog and give the reader the knowledge of Riverbend's political views. Her blog can also be seen as educational because she attempts to share with her readers things they may not have already known about life in Iraq. Many Americans believed that Iraq was an undeveloped country before the War on Terror that was in need of American assistance to better the people's quality of life. The writers of "Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives" make the observation that "[c]onstructing a continuum from 'undeveloped' to 'developed' suggests that this process is both linear and the best way for a nation to progress," (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 375). This idea that a country must be a "developed" country in order to be prosperous is a stereotypical American belief. Riverbend makes the argument however, that Iraq was a developed country long before American influences in a way of teaching her readers. In this way, Riverbend also attempts to separate myths from the truth in relation to facts about Iraqi life. She goes as far as to begin her August 28th entry by stating an Iraqi Myth concerning everyday life in Iraq. She then counters this with a Fact. By comparing Myths and Facts, Riverbend is able to inform her readers of a truth they may not of known making this blog educational.

Riverbend's blog allows readers an insight into the everyday life of a young woman in Iraq. She uses political opinions and personal experiences as tools for teaching her readers about the larger issues going on in Iraq that are not always addressed through regular media outlets. Riverbend is utilizing Third Wave Feminism media outlets to get her personal and political views out to as many people as possible. She address social, political, religious, and gender issues throughout her writings. Because "[t]he military shapes our notions of patriotism, heroism, honor, duty, adventure, and citizenship," (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 494), sometimes it is harder for Americans to see The War on Terror from an Iraqi perspective. The majority of Americans are much more easily able to believe that the U.S. is doing everything they can to help the people of Iraq no matter what. Riverbend's blog counters this idea with hard opinions and statements that make her American readers question this notion.

Works Cited:

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.

Riverbend. "The Promise and the Threat" Web log post. Baghdad Burning. Blogspot, 28 Aug. 2003. Web. 5 Apr. 2010.

Activism Log 5

Sarah Jackson

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

April 2, 2010

Activism Log 5

Activism

On March 26th I volunteered for an event sponsored by UCF's "MSC's Week of the Woman." It was a kind of "girl’s night" where the Girl Scouts were invited, along with UCF students, to have free food and watch a screening of Disney's The Princess and The Frog in a facility on campus. I helped hand out free popcorn and went to enjoy the movie myself since I had not seen it. Due to complications, the movie was unable to be shown. In order to keep the young girls entertained, a few of us played games and danced with them. There was also a short discussion on girl’s rights and well being in the community and the benefits of the Girl Scouts as a program.

Reflection

One funny thing that happened during this evening was during the little "dance party" we had since the movie wasn't working. I was surprised to see that most of the girls knew every word to some of today's more popular songs (Miley Cirus!). I was especially shocked to see that many of them knew every word to Ludacris' rap portion of Justin Bieber's song "Baby." This was surprising to me 1- because it was a room full of 7 year old girls raping along with Ludacris 2- that these girls had actually listened to this song enough times to memorize the words and 3- some of the words to the song. After we did our analysis of sexism in songs, it was interesting to be able to break down this song as well. The Ludacris rap is: "Luda, When I was 13 I had my first love, there was nobody that compared to my baby, and nobody came between us, no-one could ever come above, She had me going crazy, oh I was star-struck, she woke me up daily, don’t need no Starbucks. She made my heart pound, I skip a beat when I see her in the street and, at school on the playground but I really wanna see her on the weekend. She knows she got me dazing coz she was so amazing
and now my heart is breaking but I just keep on saying…." (lyricsmusicvideo.blogspot.com/2010/01/justin-bieber-ludacris-baby-lyrics.html) The idea that at 13 these girls should have a true love boyfriend that they obsess over is ridiculous. I would not think that this idea would contribute positively to the rising teen pregnancy numbers in America. The Starbucks commercial mid-song is just an added bonus.

Reciprocity

The media as a whole has such a negative influence on young girls and women today. This includes television, movies, advertising, as well as music. It has been shown that "advertising images can severely undermine girls' self-confidence and sense of agency, which can lead to serious physical and emotional health problems," (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 208). Girls should not have to compare themselves to such negative images through out their lives. By listening to songs such as "Baby," these girls are setting themselves up to fall into society's skewed expectations of them. This song reinforces the social stereotype that all young girls are boy-crazy and in search of long-term loving boyfriends. It completes leaves out the idea of homosexuality or an independent woman who is not seeking a man in her life.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.

Activism Log 4

Sarah Jackson

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

March 27, 2010

Activism Log 4

Activism

After our two main visits with the Brownie troop, group members worked to reinforce concepts learned by assisting with cookie sales around UCF campus and in the Central Florida area. Cookie sales are a time when the young girls become assertive and proactive. Adults are meant to act as advisors and observers only. Girl Scouts are meant to do all of the selling, discussion with customers, and the handling of money and cookies. While working with them on campus to help sell cookies, I assisted the girls with sales by holding on to the money and change. When a girl came up to state that she had made a sale, I would walk her through the math required to find the sales total and also confirm the change required for the customer. All of this helps the girls play an active role in their cookie sales so that they are responsible for achieving their troop’s sales goals.

Reflection

It's interesting to see how the Girl Scout troops of America work so hard to sell these cookies. I've never really noticed before but they have so many different locations and times for sales. They sells thousands of boxes, just as a small troop, going through boxes and boxes of shipments. All of this money earned for this Outreach troop went towards their goal of a sleep over at the Nickoloden hotel. It was fun to see the girls go into "Sales-woman" mode in front of all of the costumers. The younger girls seemed nervous to speak, but the older girls had a memorized list of facts to say whenever anyone asked one question. The older girls were also alittle better at the math than the younger girls. But all they all seemed to have to count on their fingers no matter what the problems were. I didn't know if I just don't remember if this is normal for girls this age (since I'm soooo old now) but I wondered if this had something to do with the fact that "girls don't do math as well as boys." I hope its just because they're so young and not because they are not getting the attention they need in school during math lessons.

Reciprocity

"A psychological explanation of poverty may argue that people are poor because they have low self-esteem, lack self-confidence, and take on self-defeating behaviors," (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 52). According to materials provided by the community partner, 90% of all women will be solely responsible for their financial self-sufficiency at some point in their lives, and 48% of single women ages 21 – 34 say they live from paycheck to paycheck (Girl Scouts of America). With numbers like this, it is also fair to say that a large percentage of women run the risk of dropping below the poverty line at some point in their lives. Because of these statistics, "The Penny Project" proved to be an important seminar for the young girls. Especially coming from lower-income families, the lessons taught to these young girls will better their chances of managing their finances to keep them out of poverty.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.

—. "The Penny Project: A Guide For Adults." New York: Girl Scouts of the USA, 2005.

Mothers and Wives Assignment

Sarah Jackson

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

March 17, 2010

GLEE!

"Glee" is a television show on the FOX network about a high school Glee club and their struggles. Seely makes the point that television, although "a powerful influence on our idea of reality" (Seely 102), is rarely accurate or a proper example of reality in terms of ethnicity, sexuality, and body type. "Glee", however, does a fine job of showcasing different races, sexual preferences, and body types on this Golden Globe winning show. Particularly on the topic of motherhood, "Glee" boldly displays non-traditional types of pregnancies and parenting situations that are rarely talked about in society, let alone shown on television.

Early on in the season, we discover that Finn's girlfriend Quinn is pregnant. In the episode "Throwdown," Quinn's fears and confusions about her pregnancy are shown more intensely. During a doctor visit, the two teenage parents-to-be are asked if they have given any thought to what will happen after the baby is born. As mentioned in "The Mommy Tax," a child can end up costing a couple "easily greater than $1 million..." (Crittenden 338) in lost earning wages alone. For an unwed teenage couple with no income, this is an unimaginable amount of money especially since Quinn can fear never fulfilling her professional goals due to her child. Since "[t]he pay gap between mothers and nonmothers...is now larger than the wage gap between young men and women," (Crittenden 338) there is a good chance that even if Quinn chooses to work after high school, if she keeps the baby she may never earn as much money as her childless co-workers. The topic of teenage pregnancy is rarely addressed in society as much as it should be and is almost never a topic on main stream television. By making such a controversial storyline, the show opens up discussion on many social issues concerning teen pregnancy.

Another rarely discussed issue brought up in this specific episode of "Glee" is the idea of father's rights. Although it is said that "in a patriarchal system that looks to ownership, property, and dominance of men over women as its basis, marriage long has been the focus of radical feminist revulsion," (Ettelbrick 317) Will and Terri Schuester's marriage seems to be the opposite of this. Terri is faking her pregnancy in the hopes of keeping her husband happy enough to stay with her. Will is shown to be a very nurturing and loving husband to Terri even though she is spoiled and selfish. Through of the course of her fake pregnancy, Terri is distant from Will which causes him to feel disconnected from his unborn child. He finally makes a point to demand that Terri take him to her next ultrasound appointment in order to involve him in the process that he has been so excluded from. Like Will, Finn feels powerless in his pregnancy situation. He makes the point that he experiences "all the stress and worry and none of the control" (Falchuk) when he refers to the fact that he has no say in Quinn's decision to give the baby up for adoption or to keep it. Quinn also blatantly states that Finn should not have an opinion on the subject even though it is (supposedly) his child.

All of these issues bring up many questions and concerns about how mothers and parenthood is perceived by society. The example of Qunn's pregnancy displays the fears and extreme measures that some teenagers go through in the attempts to conceal their pregnancy from their parents. Terri's fake pregnancy shows the very extreme measures some women may go through in the attempts to save their dying marriage because of their fears of being alone. And the examples of father's rights that are brought up in concern with Finn and Will give a broader look at different types of caregivers that exist in society.

Works Cited:

Crittenden, Ann. "The Mommy Tax." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. (2001): 337-345. Print.

Ettelbrick, Paula. "Since When Is Marriage a Path to Liberation?." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. (1989): 317-320. Print.

Falchuk, Brad. "Throwdown." Glee. FOX. 14 Oct. 2009. CastTV. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. .

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

Behind the Music Assignment

Sarah Jackson

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

March 3, 2010

She Didn't Want To, He Had His Way...

"Sublime" is a reggae/punk band that was popular in the early to mid-90's. Their song "Date Rape" was featured on their debut album "40 Oz. To Freedom" in 1992. The song tells the story of a woman being raped by a man she meets at a bar one night and the legal action she takes against him. Although the song "Date Rape" attempts to portray the female character as powerful against the violence she endured, it fails to grasp the major problems concerning rape and its portrayal in society today.

First of all, the song depicts an incident of "stranger rape" not date rape, like the title implies. Date rape is under the category of acquaintance rape. The situation presented in this song is not acquaintance rape. The rapist and woman do not know each other; they are strangers who meet in a bar. Stranger rape, although it is the "most recognized type of rape," it actually "only accounts of 20 percent of all rapes that occur" (Seely 193). As the song choose to focus on this type of rape and this certain situation, it failed to show that acquaintance rape makes up "75 to 80 percent of all rapes" (Seely 193), giving the false perception that stranger rape is more common.

The song goes on to depict the rape scene when the rapist says: "Come on babe it's your lucky day, Shut you mouth, we're gonna do it my way, Come on baby don't be afraid, If it wasn't for date rape I'd never get laid..." (Sublime). This line gives the impression that rape is about sex. Again, at the end of the song it is said: "The moral of the date rape story, it does not pay to be drunk and horny..." (Sublime). This goes back to the resurfacing "biological explanation of rape" that argues that "rape evolved historically as a form of male reproductive behavior," (Kirk, and Okazawa-Rey 264). This is misleading and false because "rape has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with power, control, and violence," (Seely 192). Rapists do not rape because they are horny and want to get laid. Blaming alcohol and biological "needs" only takes blame away from the rapist.

The female in the song is the protagonist and it is a happy ending at the end of the song when she fights back against her rapist and sues him. The song says: "The next day she went to her drawer, looked up her local attorney at law, Went to the phone and filed the police report and then she took the guy's ass to court, Well, the day he stood in front of the judge he screamed, "She lies that little slut!", The judge knew that he was full of shit and he gave him 25 years..." (Sublime). The good thing about this depiction of a court scene is that the judge is obviously unable to be swayed by the false allegations towards the woman's sexual history. This shows the important fact that "rape laws no longer require the corroboration of a victim's testimony...the sexual histories of rape victims are no longer a subject for cross-examination, unless shown to be relevant," (Kirk, and Okazawan-Rey 270). The bad thing about this depiction of the court scene is that it makes it all seem way too easy. The victim calling a lawyer "the next day" completely discounts the emotional trauma aspect of rape. A victim may not be able to report the rape at all, let alone the next day and would most likely be heavily questioned by police and fully investigated with the idea that she is lying. It is not nearly as simple as the song makes it seem.

Works Cited:

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.

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

Sublime, . "Sublime - Date Rape Lyrics." Lyrics007. 37 MAY 2008. Web. 3 Mar 2010. .