Service Learning Activism Log #3

1. VOX has decided to converge another movie night that was supposed to be held in November with ours. Having two movie nights in one month seemed excessive to Anjella. I found myself relieved that this was happening because I was beginning to stress about the dilemma of being able to rent a room/be provided with multimedia technological devices/have a supervisor, etc. The change of plans is an ultimate success, provided that our project isn't going to be as independent as we had initially hoped (which could be considered a pitfall if you look at the glass half empty)! Next week I plan on getting more information, relaying the event information to my friends, getting the DVD, and begin to think about food/drink that will be provided!

2. I feel adamant in my belief that VOX contibutes greatly to the progressive community in the aspect that it promotes and encourages safe sex and reproductive health, which is crucial to age bracket of students that attend UCF. Aside from the numerous reasons for why women become pregnant, although the experience is considered extremely personal it is also something that is highly concentrated on a macro level (Okazawa-Rey, and Kirk 211). It is apparent that VOX firmly supports the freedom for women to make decisions regarding the health of their child and themselves.

3. On a personal level, the experience of working with VOX has given me more insight to how hard the progressive community at UCF is working to make a breakthrough of undivided attention from peers as well as the community. Also, I have become more cognizant of the the fact that my future, in terms of reproductive health, is essentially in the hands of the progressive community.

Okazawa-Rey, Margo, and Gwyn Kirk . Women's Lives - Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth Edition. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2010. 211. Print.

Service Learning Activism Log #2

1. This week was a bit stagnant in terms of progress. However, Patricia and I did discuss the route of which we are going to go about things regarding renting a room on campus - so it's good that we have that under control. I also spread word about the event and told friends I would keep them updated when we got our exact date for the event. A success of mine was being informed and cordially invited to assist Patricia with her personal project tabling in fron to Publix to fundraise for Animal Safehouse and learning that the hours I spend fundraising with her can be counted as Service Learning hours. No pitfalls - hopefully there won't be any. Also, next week we plan to create a facebook group for our event.

2. Although the reading's this week were not very relevant to our service learning project, we watched the documentary The Business of Being Born. This documentary follows the lives of several women in their stages of pregnancy and portrays what women in the U.S. face in terms of the maternal and financial systems, midwives vs. hospitals. I was completely oblvious to this entire scam before I watched this documentary. I feel as though our reproductive service learning project is even more important now since it regards reproductive health. I think it would behoove us to relay the incredible statistics and information we learned from the film to the people that come to our event.

3. Since my mother gave birth to me by means of a midwive, I felt I should discuss with her about the documentary. Sure enough, she told me exactly what other women in the film discussed, "I had an incredible surge of power. I felt like I was connected with all the other women who went through this incredible and indescribable experience." Among hearing this, I decided that I definitely want to consider this approach if I ever get pregnant and I feel empowered just by being cognizant of the infant mortality rate in the United States in comparison to other medically advanced countries.

Women's Health Assignment

Waris Dirie - FGM victim and now a Somali model, actress, author, and human rights activist.

1. "An estimated 135 million girls and women have undergone genital mutilation, and two million girls a year are at risk- approximately 6,000 per day. Although it is predominantly practiced in twenty-eight North African countries, FGM is not inherent to any nation or religion ("Amnesty International USA"). The procedure of female genital mutilation is almost always done without antibiotics/anesthesia and it is common for the surgery to be done in a barbian-like form. For example, the medical instruments used consist of broken glass, tin can lids, blunt knives, scissors,  or razors ("Amnesty International USA"). There are different types of FGM procedures such as clitoridectomies, excisions, or infibulations. The  two major concerns of this procedure is the rising number of women who are suffering the "...physical, sexual, and mental" ("Amnesty International") consequences of the surgery and women who are being genitally mutilated against their will.

2. Key concepts that we've been discussing in class like that of patriarchy and "gender stratification ("Amnesty International USA")" are extremely influential to the core concepts of why FGM is practiced.  "In FGM-practicing societies it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a woman to marry if she has not undergone mutilation"("Amnesty International USA"). In societies where FGM is practiced, women find themselves succumbing to the discrimination because they have such little opportunities - they can't go to school or get jobs, which makes them extremely reliable on the men ("Amnesty International USA"). Because of this gender stratification and patriarchal structure of a society, women are forced to be considered "useful" for only two reasons: to bear children, and give men sexual satisfaction with no reciprocation ("Amnesty International USA").

3. I envision my Utopian egalitarian society to celebrate the rites of passage to womanhood with something comparable to a Bar-Mitzvah, a celebration. Women don't need to be degraded in such a violent form, especially when infection and disease comes into play. I think the ultimate goal to obtaining equal rights in this case (as in many others), would start with awareness. I honestly think a lot of women either A.) Think that we have equal rights, or B.) They are too scared to face the reality of the horrors that are taking place. And that's where feminists come into play, if we raise awareness we can make baby steps to creating a "prowoman" environment on a macro-level.

4. It is important to be informed and aware of the cultural aspect of FGM. Since FGM is a deepy rooted custom, you cannot stop it. Instead, a healthier and more positive way of promoting rites of passage to womanhood would be more effective in the longrun and essentially what this would do is give women back their rights ("Amnesty International").


Works Cited
"Women's Human Rights - Female Genital Mutilation." AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA. Amnesty International USA, 2010. Web. 14 Oct 2010. <http://www.amnestyusa.org/violence-against-women/female-genital-mutilation--fgm/page.do?id=1108439>.

Service Learning Activism Log #1

1.      Patricia met with the president of VOX - Cristina Calandruccio. Unfortunately, I could not accompany her because I had a class that interfered with their meeting. Patricia reported back to me however, and informed me that they discussed Men's Health Week and the HPV awareness event being produced by Rachel Collins. Patricia and Cristina also discussed the movie event we had planned to host and came to a mutual conclusion that the event should be held in an on-campus setting (renting a room). In order to get a larger turn-out, we would find it effective if you encouraged your students to attend by offering extra credit. Successes: I still ended up meeting Cristina when I went to meet Patricia at the library, which I was very content about. Aside from that however, a success was changing our setting to a more effective environment. Pitfalls: Not being able to go with Patricia to discuss the event. Next week we should get the ball rolling by renting the room on-campus and make a Facebook event and invite our friends to attend.

2.      Our Service Learning project directly correlates with the last reading we were assigned from the textbook Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives; “Women’s Health,” pp. 211-224 for the reasons that it discusses how reproductive health reflects on women’s perceptions of themselves. This topic is brought up numerous times; “Sexually transmitted infection can affect how a woman feels about her body and her partner and can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease or infertility” (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey 215). Our event will be effective because sex is a popular topic for almost everyone and raising awareness about healthier sex will only encourage people to be responsible with contraception and help maintain relationships with foundations on respect; “…factors that limit women’s ability to influence their ability to influence their partners to wear condoms…include the power dynamics between men and women, women’s assumptions about what it means to be a ‘good lover,’ and their ideals of giving and sharing” (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey 215).

3.      Reciprocity: This is the first time I’ve ever been able to actually label myself as an activist and part of the progressive community and it’s really refreshing to be able to surround myself with people who have similar viewpoints as me – makes me feel a little less cynical.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspective. 5th. New York, New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 211-218. Print.