Food for Thought: A Call to Men

Men talking about manhood and women:

And, this:

Body Image Assignment

We live in a media inundated culture. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “The average American is exposed to about 3000 advertising messages a

day, and globally corporations spend over $620 billion each year to

make their products seem desirable and to get us to buy them.” The media participates within governing and dominant systems by constructing and cultivating our wants and desires, often by conflating them with needs.

To be media savvy and a critical consumer, then, becomes an act of resistance and crucial to intentionally participating in culture. Remember we can’t escape the system or unplug from the world but we can decide how we participate.

For our advertising assignment, we are going to use advertising for unintended purposes. In fact, we are going to do what Danielle did and create feminist flashcards:

Remake media in your image!

So, here are the rules for the assignment:

1.     Decide on a media image to remake. The image should include someone/something from advertising or Hollywood that is easily recognizable as part of mainstream media representations of the body (think beauty ideal).

2.     Remake the image. You may alter the intent of the actual image, change color and style, draw on it and upload it. Be creative. Or, you can leave the actual image alone and skip to step three.

3.     Create text to display on the image that addresses a macro level concern broached in the WST text relating to the body or health. It should include “Hey” somebody, like our examples. The idea is to be ironic, funny.

4.     Post your remake and the original image to your blog. Include a link (either by clicking on the image or as an actual link by text) to the original citing source. Link to any related news stories, essays, etc. that provide context.

5.     Post a 300 word artist’s statement explaining your decisions in remaking the image, justifying your choices, and making an macro level argument about women’s bodies (that means if you ad is targeted to men or some other population you need to spell out what this remake means for our understanding of women). Make sure to include an analysis (by analysis I mean you break it down: how do the colors, clothes, position of objects or people create the tone; is there a difference in the implicit and explicit meaning; what is the ad selling, how?) or the original ad and use our course text to back up your argument.

6.     Post your works cited, including the original picture.

Here is mine:

Here is thr rubric for the assignment:

Service Learning Blog

Elements of Weekly Activism Log for Service Learning

You may begin posting your weekly activism log entry this week. You will continue to have an opportunity to post each week throughout the course until you have met the requirements. See syllabus for exact dates/deadlines and the number of required posts. 

 Limit weekly entries to 500 words. 

 Divide your weekly log into three sections:

1. Activism: What happened this week? What kind of contact did you have with your community partner? What were your successes? What were your pitfalls? What do you think should be done next week to help you complete your project?

2. Reflection: How does the activism you’ve done this week relate to the chapter we are reading this week; to women's lives on macro level? How have the week’s events influenced way you view feminist activism and women’s issues? What do you believe is your community partner’s view of these issues? This is your opportunity to reflect on the impact your activism is making—on you and on the community. Connect what is happening to your growing academic knowledge in this course by incorporating the evidence from the text using MLA citation style.
* This is the part where you do service learning-- as opposed to volunteer work or philanthropy. To do so, you must use at least our course texts and possibly outside research you are doing. Remember critical reflection + service!

3. Reciprocity: Remember that Service Learning is not a one way street.You are not simply giving something to the community partner. Think about what you personally are getting in return. How might this be defined from a feminist perspective?

While your Weekly Activism Log is a way for you to document and reflect on your activism and progress, it is most definitely not an outlet for aggression. The writing and reflection you do in your log should be constructive, and though you should include problems and setbacks (if there are any) please do so in a productive fashion—this is not an opportunity to rant, but rather an opportunity to reflect. Reflection is what transforms experience into learning. Finally, this log is a good resource for developing your final reflection paper due at the end of this course.


*Make Sure to include a works cited!

Service Learning Proposal Assignent

I know some of you want to get started on your project, but you first have to submit your proposal. Then, after it is approved, you will begin the SL hours and SL Log. 

First, the proposal:

There are three sections, which you should label, to the SL Proposal:
1. Contact Information: Title of proposal, name of community partner, names of group members submitting the proposal (first name, last initial).

2. Community Partner Profile: Name, mission and goals of organization (incorporate evidence from their website or literature with MLA citations; include the website link when possible); political or social basis for organization and the needs of your community partner.

3. The proposal:
• Define the problem or need that your SL project will specifically address (this is both a macro level problem for women/girls and then the specific needs of your community partner). When defining the problem, consider your audiences: community partner, professor, and peers. This is where you provide a rationale for the project as part of your  course in Women's Studies (remember SL = experience + critical reflection). How does this project relate to our Women’s Studies class and women’s issues in general? Be specific and cite your textbook and other sources as necessary.

• Propose a plan that addresses the problem or need. This section of the proposal involves persuasive writing. You must persuade your audience that your solution is an effective response to the problem and manageable in the time allotted. Be very specific about what you will do, provide, or complete for the community partner, i.e. what your   finished product will be. 

• Define your action steps for completion. Specify exactly how you will go about doing this project, including initial steps. What things will you need in order to complete this project? What are individual group members’ responsibilities and tasks? 
• Create a timeline (Include a schedule of activities and events to the best of your knowledge)

Your proposal should total somewhere between 700-1050 words; post your word count. Submit the proposal via your blog. Tips for writing effective proposals are at:http://www.io.com/~hcexres/textbook/models.html
Here is the rubric for the assignment:

Student Example

Service Learning Proposal For Equality Florida

By: Kenneth M.

January 24, 2008

Meredith Tweed

WST 3015-0001

Community Partner Profile:

Community Partner: Equality Florida, Students Advocating For Equality

Contact: Joe Saunders

Community Partner Mission Statement: “Equality Florida is our statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights organization working to change Florida law so that no-one suffers harassment or discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression” (Equality Florida).

Political and/or Social Basis for Organization: Currently, Equality Florida and SAFE have created an awareness campaign known as “Students 4 Fairness.” This campaign seeks to motivate college students to vote against the proposed, discriminatory marriage amendment, which states:

Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized (Fairness for All Families).

The amendment would implicitly nullify all civil unions, even among heterosexual couples, and serves to discriminate against same-sex individuals seeking the same privilege that heterosexuals receive in our society.

Community Partner Needs: SAFE needs student volunteers to enhance the awareness attempted by their numerous events throughout the semester. Among other events planned, SAFE will be encouraging students to sign a petition indicating that they will vote against the Marriage amendment. This petition will also be advertised at various other campus events in order to make students aware of the political concerns that must be addressed.

The Proposal:

The following is a proposal to outline the needs, rationale and feasibility for a service learning project to benefit Students Advocating For Equality and Equality Florida. The following proposal contains background on the need for and benefits of a Community Outreach project, an outline of the work I plan to do, the rationale for its inclusion in WST 3015, and a scheduled timeline. This proposal may need to be revised after beginning the project and must be flexible to meet the needs of the both the Service Learning project and the community partner.

Need for volunteers for the Community Outreach Program

Equality Florida and SAFE act to prevent individuals from suffering discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.” They currently focus on issues regarding upcoming elections, specifically the proposed Marriage amendment, as voting on these issues guarantees empowerment.

The proposed amendment seeks to define marriage within the state of Florida as only between one man and one woman. Not only would this blatantly impact same-sex couples and religious minorities who define marriage differently, but the amendment perpetuates the heterosexist ideal by granting the most rights and privileges to those whose lives endorse it.

Current laws in Florida directly forbid same-sex marriage while allowing the alternative of obtaining civil unions that provide a limited amount of the benefits obtained by marriage. The Marriage amendment would implicitly nullify past, present, and future civil unions obtained by all individuals, even for heterosexual couples. It therefore discriminates across a wide range of Floridians.

SAFE has initiated a “Students 4 Fairness” campaign as part of their Community Outreach program to encourage students to become more politically active in favor of equality. Through the program, students will be informed about the amendment itself and how it may impact them and their loved ones. They will then be asked to sign a petition to agree to vote against the Marriage amendment in upcoming elections.

Plan Proposal:

Throughout the remainder of the semester, SAFE will sponsor a table in front of the Student Union from which the organization’s volunteers will approach students and ask them to sign their petition. In doing so, SAFE hopes to initially create an open dialogue about the issue between students while remaining open to answer questions and address concerns. SAFE’s ultimate goal involves students committing to vote against the amendment in order to ensure the protection of Floridians’ freedoms.

SAFE will also be sponsoring various events in order to raise funds and awareness for their political issues. During one such event, they will serve food and monitor activities at Late Knights, a regular campus event that functions as an alcohol-free alternative to potentially dangerous behaviors. SAFE members will also host house parties to accomplish the same goal. During these events, volunteers will approach individuals about the Marriage amendment in a manner similar to the aforementioned table-sponsoring, but doing so in a less academic atmosphere will allow students to focus more attention on the issue without being distracted by daily academic concerns.

I will be part of a team of volunteers contributing their time towards each of these events throughout the semester. Each student has a choice to make when filling their ballot, and an uninformed decision can lead to grave consequences. Only by reaching out to students to educate and motivate them towards equality can I participate in empowering them to protect their rights as well as the rights of their friends, family, and  fellow Floridians as a whole.

Rationale for Women’s Studies:

By seeking to end discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, Equality Florida’s mission highly pertains to the field of Women’s Studies, specifically Third Wave Feminism. Second Wave Feminists focused on middle-class, white women, often alienating women of color and preventing them from feeling included in the feminist movement (Seely 46). Third Wave Feminism, however, seeks multicultural inclusion such that women of various social locations, including the dimension of sexual orientation, can benefit equally from the gains of the movement. Women should not be forced by the current patriarchical system to endorse heterosexism to obtain entitled legal benefits for  themselves and their partners.

Relating specifically to the mission of Equality Florida, feminist theory argues that heterosexual norms impact our choices by forcing us to “question our basic assumptions about body image, health care, sexuality, and work” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 18). As an example, stereotypes of one who identifies as a lesbian may wrongly conjure images of a masculine female, and by countering such pejorative labels, discrimination will become less powerfully justified. Advocates of same-sex marriage also argue that defying traditional gender roles may “provide a more equitable model of marriage in the wider society” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 295), again allowing for the questioning of these social structures. By removing institutional discrimination, we can also progress towards furthering social equality for all minorities—including women and regardless of sexual orientation.

Action: 

I have already met with Jess Osborne, the UCF Campus Coordinator of Equality Florida and an officer for SAFE, to discuss volunteer opportunities available this semester. In addition to contacting her regularly, I will be attending SAFE meetings to discuss the status of new and current projects. The materials necessary to participate in each of the events will be provided for me through SAFE and its officers.

Timeline: 

I will deliver the completed project on approximately April 15th, 2008. Please note that this date may fluctuate according to additional activities that become available throughout the semester. Please also note that Table Sponsoring will proceed weekly throughout the remainder of the semester and that new projects may be developed.

1. Late Knights January 25
   
2. Primary Day of Action January 29
   
3. Table Sponsoring January 30
   
4. Write Preliminary Draft April 5th
   
5. Finalize Preliminary Draft April 13th
   
6. Deliver Preliminary Draft April 15th
   

Works Cited

Equality Florida. 2008. Equality Florida. 21 January 2008. .

Fairness for All Families. 2007. The Coalition. 21 January 2008.

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

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

word count: 1006

Campus Engagement

UCF Campus Engagement Requirement

As part of your engagement breakdown in a Women’s Studies course, you are going to participate in the intellectual and cultural community here at UCF. To that end, twice during the semester you will attend Women’s Studies approved events on campus (guest speakers, discussions, panels, art shows, film screenings) and the first class session after the event you will turn in your “WST Event Verification Form.” Then, within a week of attending the event you will turn in a 400-500 word reflection paper via your blog on the event.

The 400-500 word reflection paper should be submitted in MLA format. This paper is a reflection of your thoughts about the event you attended. Your paper may include questions about the event, arguments on the issue raised by the speaker or film, or some relevant points not covered. You may disagree with the topic or speaker and criticize a point of view—just stick to specifics. Remember to write about what was said, not just how you feel about having to attend the event.

*This list may be updated throughout the semester as new events become scheduled. However, there is no guarantee that new events will be added. Therefore, plan in advance!CIVIC ENGAGEMENT LIST of events:

1.     M.C. Santana, September 15, 2012, Women’s Health Panel, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is proud to announce the 2012 Youth Organizing and Policy Institutes (YOPI’s). The Southeast YOPI will be held here at UCF! Join us for 3 days of skills and issue based trainings, and learn to organize and advocate for sexual health and reproductive rights. Learn More: www.facebook.com/YOPISoutheast/ Register: www.regonline.com/yopi

2.    Successful Women Seminar Series – Dr. M.C. Santana. September 18, 2012. 3:00 – 4:00pm, Location TBD."What else do you do? The life of a woman professor: "Discovering the Community around you"

3.     M.C. Santana, Happy Hour, College of Education, “What a Photo Is Really Saying: Pedagogical Insight into Visual Literacy” Wed. September 26, 2012, 4:30-5:30, Teaching Academy Room, No pre-registration is necessary.

4.     M. C. Santana, Office of Diversity Initiatives, The Purity Myth (documentary and discussion), The Purity Myth:The Virginity Movement’s War Against Women. In the video, The Purity Myth, Jessica Valenti, the “poster girl for third-wave feminism,” explores the myth that the worth of a woman depends on what she does – or does not do – sexually.  Through facilitated discussion, this workshop examines Valenti’s assertions and arguments. September 27, 3:00-4:30, Location TBD.

5.     Women’s Studies faculty (Preston-Sidler, Tweed and Santana) Panel on “Good Boys and True” UCF Theater, Friday, October 5, 2012, 6:45 PM

6.     Meredith Tweed, M. C. Santana, Hispanic American Student Association, Panel on “Race, Gender and Identity” October 3, 2012 10:30-11:30, Location, Dr. Cecilia Milanes classroom.

7.     Anupama Rao, India and the Caste Question, September 13, 2012, 3:00-4:30 Pegasus Ballroom.

8.     Alison Thompson, Women and Leadership: A Global Perspective, October 30, 2012, 3:00-5:00 UCF Student Union, Cape Florida Ballroom.

9.     Corban Addison, A Walk Across the Sun: Abolishing Modern Slavery, November 1, 2012, 3:00-4:30, Student Union, Cape Florida Ballroom.
10. The Definition of Love: It Is Not Abuse; Presented by Safehouse of Seminole County
9/19/12 Student Union, Key West rm 218D 11am-12pm
11. Light Up the Knight: Recognize Victims and Survivors of Dating, Domestic, and Sexual Violence 10/1/12 Student Union, Pegasus Ballroom 6-8pm
Global Peace Film Festival: peacefilm.org

• Opening Our Eyes, September 22 and 23
• Granito: How to Nail a Dictatior, September 20 and 22
• The Uterati: Fighting Back in the War on Women, September 21 and 22