Activism Log 8

Sarah Jackson

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

April 23, 2010

Activism Log 8

Reflection

Although we did not expressly talk about any issues concerning sexuality, I believe this is another issue that is directly affecting the girls of our community. During the "Girls Night" I volunteered at, we had to find a way of entertaining the girls because the equipment for the movie was not working. Someone's lap top was hooked up to a speaker system and we started to play "Freeze Dance Party" with the girls which actually turned into a full fledged dance party eventually. The interesting part was when we were running out of songs to play, a number of the girls yelled out a request to hear "Tick-Tock." This song by Kesha is a song full of inappropriate material for young girls. The song has many references to drinking, stresses an importance of pedicure, phones, and clothing. At one point she sings "Ain't got a care in the world, but got plenty of beer..." Basically, we were shocked to hear such young girls even knowing that this song exists.

Reciprocity

The over-sexual influences girls see in the media greatly effect their development and self-esteem. This Kesha song is just one example of a media influence that puts so much emphasis on boys and drinking. Girls who listen to this enough start to believe that these are the only ways for them to feel like a part of the larger group. It has been found that "the cumulative effect of these images and words urging girls to express themselves only through their bodies and through products is serious and harmful," (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 236). The girls of this generation are exposed to so many overly-sexual influences in media, music, television, movies, etc. Their ideals end up being stars like Kesha, who's music is aimed more at an older audience. It's not surprising to me that girls of such a young age have heard and liked this song. Since it's on the radio and television, there are many opportunities for them to hear it. I only hope that someone is teaching them that songs like this are written with no regard for real life. Young girls need to understand the difference between reality and the media in order to separate themselves from such negative influences.

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

Discussion Leading Assignment

Sarah Jackson

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

April 19, 2010

Gaia Girls: Way of Water

Lee Welles

First Half (pg 1 - 190)

Lee Welles' second installment of the "Gaia Girls" book series is "Way of Water." This book follows Miho, a ten year old girl who is half Japanese, half American. Miho has been raised by her two marine life researching parents. For most of her life, she has been home schooled and traveled with her parents wherever their research took them. Miho loves the ocean and the work her parents do with whale recordings. Miho's life is changed dramatically when her parents are lost at sea and presumed dead. Miho, after being distracted by an otter on land, is not with her parents when they're lost. She feels guilt and sadness at this fact and mentions it a few times in the text that she wishes she could be with her parents, even if that means being at the bottom on the ocean with them wherever they are.

Miho is sent to live with her uncle in Nagoya, Japan. Her uncle, Ojisan, is a single, Japanese businessman. He is quite, distant, and straight forward to his niece that he has never met before this instance. Miho is automatically labeled as an outsider to the people of Japan. Since she is half-American, she is uncommonly tall. She also does not fully understand or speak Japanese. Ojisan is harsh with Miho when she first arrives. There is no sign of a loving relationship between the two of them from his side of the relationship. He often leaves Miho on her own and expects her to fend for herself in this new and foreign place. Miho has problems fulling understanding Japanese and is not used to living in a city. The city is the opposite of her life before. She is used to the open ocean and nature all around her. When she is sent to the large city of Nagoya, she misses the ocean and wonders if she'll ever be on a boat again.

Ojisan never really explains things to Miho. He is demanding and unemotional with Miho. He very simply tells her what he expects of her and what she is meant to do. He tells her suddenly that they will be going to the city of Goza the next day for the festival of O-bon. We come to find out that O-bon is the festival for the dead. Ojisan has a family home in Goza where he takes Miho to pay tribute to his parents who have passed away. Miho also takes this time to honor her dead parents. They place things their loved ones loved during their lives out in a room. They also set a table with four place settings to symbolize the four people they are missing to invite them back to their home. Later, they send out little boats with a cnadle in them into the ocean to send their loved ones back. Goza is a city by the sea. Miho is excited to be back in nature and by the water. It is here that she sees the same otter from her past.

She is introduced to Gaia in the form an otter. Gaia is explained to be "the whole of the earth." She is the earth, air, and sea. Gaia begins to teach Miho how to "listen." Miho listens and observes nature and the life in the ocean closer than she ever has before. Miho discovers that she is able to control water while she is washing dishes in her uncle's Nagoya apartment. Miho also discovers she has a connection with the sea through her lessons with Gaia. She is able to communicate with dolphins and travel with them through the ocean.

At the end of the first half of the book, Miho is working with an old man in the Goza city to learn about Japanese language and heritage. She calls him her Sensei, "teacher." She has also just discovered that she can talk to dolphins and understand their sonar waves. She is continuing to work with her Sensei and hopes to build a better relationship with uncle. Her uncle has become frustrated with her constant questions and her constant time spent missing because she is at the beach. He has given her and her Sensei an ultimatum. He has gone back to the city and when he returns in a week he will either take Miho with him to the city forever or leave her in Goza without him.

The first half of "Way of Water" brings up many interesting ecofeminist concepts. The idea of the home is greatly explored since Miho loses her parents and her only sense of family and home. She is then sent to a completely unique and strange country to her. She has a limited way of communicating with the people around her and her close concept of family has been replaced with an angry uncle who seems inconvenienced by her. Another concept concerns Miho's close connection to nature. Ojisan's city apartment is described as unitoned and smelling of smoke. It is unwelcoming and uncomfortable for the young girl. The house in Goza is close to the sea. It is the same home Miho's mother grew up in and is therefore has close family ties. Miho has more human connections in Goza than in the city as well. She is happy to be in the fresh air and with the ocean that reminds her of her lost parents.

Activism Log 7

Sarah Jackson

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

April 16, 2010

Activism Log 7

Reflection

Something interesting about this project has been how it has helped me relate more closely to the Third Wave of feminism. Being that my generation would be categorized as "Third wavers" it was interesting to get a closer relationship with the movement this way. By working with the young girls from the girl scout troop, I was able to better enrich their lives by teaching them things about how to be independent women when they are older.

Reciprocity

Third wavers work at "dispelling the myths of feminism, claiming feminism for a new generation, and embracing and incorporating our diversity as people in a movement to bring gender equity throughout the globe," (Seely 45). This diversity includes race, sex, gender, social class, sexual orientation, education level, etc. Of all the countless things that people are judged on, third wave feminists seek to gain equality for all regardless of the categories society places them in. This was seen in my Service Learning Project because there was such a mix of little girls in our Brownie Group that we worked with. There were girls from different ethnic groups and backgrounds. The girls were different ages (ranging from 6-8). The girls obviously came from different families with different religious backgrounds and different morals and life styles. Working with all of these girls and teaching them all the same things was very much in support of the third wave because everyone in our group understood that the lessons and messages we had to teach these girls were important for all of them to learn no matter what their background was.

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

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.