Activism Log # 10

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

26 April 2010

Activism Log 10

Activism:

Now the project has come to an end. My group just gave our presentation, summarizing our semester, to the class a few hours ago. It went well and I think we actually continued spreading the awareness. Yes, all the students within the class know about domestic-home violence and such; however, I believe most of them were not aware of Animal Safehouse of Brevard. It was great expressing to the class all the hard work my group and I put into this project. I was happy to share with them how much the organization affected me and how I am planning on helping them out will I finish the rest of the year in Florida. Even though our legit project was over, I thought sharing everything to the class was just as active as the past semester.

Reflection:

Looking back on this past semester I feel a great source of accomplishment. It seemed like everyday I was learning more and more from Animal Safehouse and the classroom. Since I have been active and trying to spread the awareness to everyone, I have been hoping that higher people might over hear us at one point and make the organization even more well know, “An increase in government funding and increasing professionalization of work involving violence against women may be seen as major success” (Kirk 270). I personally would see it as a huge step if Orlando’s government branched out to the group for support. Wishful thinking, but one will never know.

Reciprocity:

With everything at an end, I am extremely proud of everything my group has done for Animal Safehouse of Brevard. I personally feel like we all put in hard work to get the organization known to those around us. We wanted to have people know that they were helping poor animals, but also giving a violence victim a chance to recover. Seeing how people contributed to our donation drive event, and even small donations throughout the semester, I believe we completed a very successful project and helped out the poor domestic-home violent victims and their loving pets.

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 257-273.

Activism Log # 9

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

21 April 2010

Activism Log 9

Activism:

It has been a little over a week now since our donation drive at Louie and Maria’s Italian Restaurant. Animal Safehouse of Brevard’s director, Arielle, was amazed with all the donations we collected throughout the past months. Since our main focus on the project had come and gone, my activism slowed down a little, not to mention the schoolwork load has gotten really heavy with the semester ending. Even though the donation drive is over, I am still suggesting to others that Animal Safehouse could always use some extra supplies if anyone has extras that they no longer use. Knowing how much our donations meant to the program, I want to make sure to spread the awareness among my friends and relatives. I want to continuing spreading the importance of how Animal Safehouse helps women and families that suffer domestic violence.

Reflection:

Even though the event is still over, I think it is important I still spread the word of what exactly Animal Safehouse of Brevard does. In the past few months I informed a number of people, just in a few months. If I continue spreading the awareness just think of the amount of people who will know. The continuing of spreading of the awareness and having others contribute is similar to what Seeley is stated in her chapter ‘Catch A Wave’: “Most of all, we must recognize that we can join together in this movement- for its future and ours” (51). Hopefully our activism will lower the future statistics of domestic violence.

Reciprocity:

Overall, I still am proud of our group for being successful throughout the semester. We followed Seeley’s guidelines about how to spread activism and accomplished a lot. It was slow getting started but in the past month our awareness spread like a wild fire and the donations came soaring in. I feel as if a lot was accomplished by providing Animal Safehouse with many donations and spreading the awareness of domestic-home violence against women.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York and London: New York UP, 2007. Print.

Ecofeminism and Film

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

12 April 2010

The Real Secrets of NIMH

As educated adults, we may sometimes view cartoons in another aspect then when we were young, innocent children. Some animated films are made with a hidden message to adults, such as The Secret of NIMH. It seems as if the film wanted to make more individuals aware of the environment in which they live in.

The movie is about a widowed mouse, Mrs. Brisby; that is trying to help her son recover from ammonia before “moving day”, which is occurring because “plowing” season is near. She comes across a crow, Jeremy, who directs her to The Great Owl to obtain help for her son. The Great Owl’s advice is for her to seek for the rats of NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) in the rose bushes and ask for Nicodemus, the wise leader. When Mrs. Brisby arrives at the rose bush, the audience discovers that these rats are extremely intelligent due to past experiments and test that were performed on them when they were captives of NIMH. Their hidden world, which lies underground, is filled with beautiful lights that make one forget the evilness of the electricity, which they are stealing. Unfortunately, the rats became dependable on human electricity in order to survive. If one analyzes the rats of NIMH, they might notice that all of them appear to be male. Therefore this demonstrates the idea that males tend to be disconnected and harmful to nature “based on their analysis of the connections between masculinist social institutions and the destruction of the physical environment” (Kirk 539). Their use of electricity is somewhat destroying the natural world, in which they once lived in, and also demonstrating the need for dangerous human materialism.

Mrs. Brisby represents the feminine connection with nature; she still lives her life through the natural processes and does not rely on human electricity. Through actions and motivations Mrs. Brisby had during the movie demonstrates how women care about the environment they and their precious family members live in. She is worried about her families’ safety with the future journey of moving to avoid the plow. The plow may be gendered as masculine and is seen as a threat to the earth, which is gendered as feminine. One may view this as violence against women, the threatening plow harming Mother Nature. This may demonstrates that the nature within the movie is passive verses active. Many creatures among the farm do not plan to fight against it; instead they run from it and let it do its annual damage. However, Mrs. Brisby does become active in one part of the film when she risks her life to disconnect the fuel line of the plow. This was a minor act that represented nature fighting against destructive human machinery, but overall the nature in the film is passive.

Most of the rats of NIMH come to realize that their dependency on electricity is not much of a fulfillment that they thought they wanted. It seems the effect of NIMH finally became an issue to them. Most of the rats come to the conclusion that a natural lifestyle may be healthier for them than an unnatural one filled of toxins “A commonly held belief is that natural substances are less toxic to the human body than synthetic ones” (Steingraber 554). The rats decide to help Mrs. Brisby and her family move safely to Thorn Valley to escape the plow and the toxic atmosphere of their humanized under world development.

Overall, The Secret of NIMH is a movie that helps demonstrate the view of nature from an ecofeminist’s point of view. The film shows how animal testing can cause a negative effect on the environment. Hopefully the depressing scene of animals in cages struck the children’s hearts. The movie did a great job creating NIMH to be a place of terror and cruelty. These rats became more intelligent; however, in most cases, many become infected with some sort of disorder or death. Since the film was created for an audience mainly composed of children, instead of death being the result, unhappiness with their life is shown. The film’s representation of destruction and harm caused by humans and their materials on the natural environment may be difficult to interpret, but with education and knowledge one may notice the awareness.

Work Cited:

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 535-549.

Steingraber, Sandra. “Rose Moon”. "Violence Against Women."Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives.5^th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 549-557.

Activism Log # 8

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

12 April 2010

Activism Log 8

Activism:

Finally, we had our “Donation Drive for Animal Safehouse of Brevard” event at Louie and Maria’s Italian Restaurant. The purpose was to collect donations to provide to foster parents and, more importantly, to encourage guests to become foster parents for the Animal Safehouse of Brevard. I brought all the donations I had collected through the past months so we could make sure they were all together. With the combination of everyone’s donations, we were able to see just how much our group has done for this program. We knew that obtaining foster parents would be a little challenging; however, I was impressed with the amount of supplies people donation to help. I feel pretty proud of our group for all the hard work that went into making this event possible and, of course, successful.

Reflection:

After the event, I seemed to connect more with what our class has talked about throughout the semester. The guidelines from Fight Like A Girl were definitely a helpful resource with planning it. Our event was successful; however, I would not say that it was the best attend thing. In Fight Like A Girl, it states that it doesn’t matter how large an event is only the impact: “No act is too small; you may never know the full extend of your impact. Activism is contagious. While you may be one person, your voice and actions can touch others, whose voices and actions can touch others, and so forth” (Seeley 16). This statement is very true. We spread our awareness to those who came to the drive and then they can help us by spreading it to others they know, like a domino affect.

Reciprocity:

The success at Louie and Maria’s Italian Restaurant demonstrated all the hard work the group has put into spreading the awareness of abused women and their loving pets. I could not help but feel some sort of accomplishment when I saw the amount of supplies we were able to give to Animal Safehouse of Brevard. As a group, we were able to spread the awareness of domestic-home violence against women. The award given to us in the end was a successful event that we worked very hard on.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York and London: New York UP, 2007. Print.

Baghdad Burning

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

5 April 2010

“Christmas in Baghdad…”

War can put a very large impact on one’s life. Everything can be affected, whether being major or minor. A woman named Riverbend Enloe created a blog about her daily life experience during the war in Iraq. She goes into great detail expressing everything that happens to share with the world how different life can be when your homeland becomes a war zone.

Christmas seems to have the same holiday idea throughout the world. In Islam, Riverbend grew up in a neighborhood with a number of Christian families. They would have plastic Christmas trees decorated and even the front gardens would have twinkling lights. Whether being Christian or Muslim, the Christmas spirit was through the air and among the people. The children even believed in the jolly man “Kids in Iraq also believe in Santa Claus, but people here call him 'Baba Noel' which means, "Father Noel". I asked the children what he looked like and they generally agreed that he was fat, cheerful, decked in red and had white hair” (Enloe). Under the living conditions in Iraq, Baba Noel does not go down chimneys and on top of that, he does not come in the middle of the night because that is considered “rude”. Baghdad’s annual tradition was pretty similar to most countries “The annual ritual around Christmas for many Christians in Baghdad used to be generally hanging out with family and friends on Christmas Eve, exchanging gifts and food… and the Armenian club” (Enloe). These traditions have some similarity and difference among other cultures.

This particular year was very different during the Christmas season. There were no lights outside because people did not want to attract any threats to their homes. The service that year was quite early with very little attendees because many did not feel safe to drive around Baghdad, plus, due to security situations many couldn’t spend time with their families. Riverbend just went over to a neighbor’s house and sat around without hardly any traditional rituals. The war had disrupted the traditions of the Christmas season and made it a hard time for most families.

This particular blog entry seemed to be a combination between a personal and educational form. Riverbend wrote the blog to educate people who are not in Iraq what happened through her personal experiences, “Her voice is clear, engaging, sarcastic, angry, fearful, and also generous, as she explains what many readers outside Iraq were not learning through mainstream media reporting” (Kirk 504). She tells us how the war had affected her family’s Christmas and at the same time; the reader learns how hard the times really were. She goes into depth about the traditional forms of Christmas every year and then explains how that certain year was different. One who is reading this blog is discovering how families were split apart through Riverbend’s personal experience. It would seem very difficult for one to imagine spending a Christmas during an event like this; however, Riverbend’s personal experience was very descriptive for the readers to learn. At one point in her blog she transcribes a complete phone conversation between two Iraqis people. Her translation helps the reader know exactly how big of a deal it is to hear from family members because many just have to have wishful thinking, hoping that their loved ones are alive. Like all her blogs about the war in Iraq, people are able to learn how the war affects those who are literally surrounded by it.

Work Cited:

Enloe, Riverbend. "Christmas in Baghdad." Web log post. Baghdad Burning. 26 Dec. 2003. Web. 3 Apr. 2010. .

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 493-509.

Activism Log # 7

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

4 April 2010

Activism Log 7

Activism:

After this past week the collection of donations I had increased. While I was home in Jacksonville, Florida, for Easter, I decided to table again in my neighborhood for more support. In Jacksonville, I took in mind that my goal was to collect donations instead of getting people to become foster parents. I was able to spread the awareness of the program the people in my neighborhood and

Reflection:

The more I spend time with Animal Safehouse of Brevard the more I become aware of exactly how many women are victims of domesticated violence from their intimate others. In the atmosphere I grew up in, I was generally unaware of most of these incidents I would rarely hear about it for a brief moment when the news was on; however, there are far more incidents that occur without being reported “Although violence between intimate partners is illegal in this country, it is seriously under-reported” (Kirk 263). I believe many people are blind to these facts and many would put effort in to help, like me, if they actually knew about all of it.

Reciprocity:

Most people believe that home is considered a safe zone and source of comfort “For many women and children, however, home is not a safe place but one where they experience emotional or physical violence” (260). I even believed that just from my experience of growing up with a loving, dear family. Alerting people maybe hard to do; however, it is extremely important for them to know that not everyone has the same lifestyle as them. It can be shocking to many that home maybe the last place someone might want to go, in fear that violence is the only thing that awaits for them. Hopefully through working with Animal Safehouse of Brevard and spreading the information around about how many families and their pets suffer, people will contribute more time into helping families obtain their normal, healthy lifestyle.

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 257-273.

Discussion Leading: Rose Moon

Seabury Stoneburner

WST 3015

Nina Perez

5 April 2010

Steingraber, Sandra. “Rose Moon”. "Violence Against Women."Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives.5^th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 549-557.

“Rose Moon” Sandra Steingraber

Steingraber’s story is generally about the development of a child within the womb. She believes that this concept is one of the most, interesting, important, and beautiful things of life. She addresses the fact that most books and magazines generally forget about the main part of pregnancy around the sixth month. Media is typically so focused on the first stage, such as morning sickness, and then the last few weeks when the woman is very hormonal and has false labor symptoms. She also finds it a quite interesting that none of these pregnancy based media have never gone into detail about environmental issues. They never mention anything about the fact that solvents or pesticides among our lifestyles can threat a child. With sharing this information to her husband, Jeff, she decides to go further in depth in the situation by research.

She states to the readers her two thoughts that have engaged her to look further into the environmental issues. One, “Why is there no public conversation about environmental threats to pregnancy?” and two “In ignorance, abstain. Why does abstinence in the face of uncertainty apply only to individual behavior? Why doesn’t it apply to equally to industry and agriculture?” (Steingraber 551). These two things she wants to figure out seem to do with the past theme of “Public verses Private”. Jeff states that pregnancy and motherhood are treated as private because they are not part of the public world. Their bodies look strange, they seem vulnerable, and people do not want to upset them. Basically, when people see a pregnant woman, they treat her differently. Steingraber goes against her husband as says at the same time many people attempt to tell them what to do, such as not to eat sushi or drink alcohol. Jeff’s response to this is that its private but the industries and agriculture effects on a woman’s pregnancy are public.

The public aspect of their conversation makes Steingraber very interested in how the industries and agricultures can indeed affect a pregnant woman and her fetus. She goes to “1997 Toxics Release Inventory”. She discovers that there are twenty known chemicals that cause harm to a human that are among our world. One specific chemical she goes into excessive detail is lead. Lead has been used in paint and gas for many years. In 1925 the government attempted to banned the element being used in products; however, industries fought against it trying to get their business back. Closer to the twenty-first century the products were finally banned again; although it was already a little too late because many of our buildings were painted with lead paint and the air was filled with gas fumes.

To Steingraber, the sixth month, “sin qua non”, is the most important because it is the time in which the fetal brain begins to develop. Harmful chemicals that may float through the air and breathed into our systems cause harm to any age. An adult female can have some personal health effects but greater effects on her fetus. For example, lead maybe carried to the fetus by the placenta when the fetus absorbs nutrition from the mother. During the sixth month this may be very harmful because it can alter the growth of the brain. This could lead to axons and dendrites not growing properly so the neurotransmitters are off “Neurotoxins can impede synapse formation, disrupt the release of neurotransmitters, or strip off the fatty layers wound around the axons” (553). This is just one out of many examples in which the poisonous toxins can effect the development of a child.

Steingraber comes to the conclusions that it is not just a private issue with bringing a healthy child into the world; the public has a huge impact. Yes, woman can make the choice about drinking alcohol or caffeine or not smoking; however, we cannot protect our child from the toxic fumes that come from car exhaust. The public needs to make one large movement together to improve the health problems in our country. Raising kids may be a private matter; however, it is the public environmental and industry problems that parents face in order to raise a healthy child.

Activism Log # 6

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

28 March 2009

Activism Log 6

Activism:

This week was a little slow for me with being active with Animal Safehouse of Brevard. It has just been a busy week with school so I was unable to get out and collect donations. So far everything else is on track for our project. We are getting closer to our event at the Italian restaurant on April 11. I am excited for the outcome of that. This week I tried to spread the news of the event to my friends, in hopes that they show up. Unfortunately, school has been crazy this past week and will continue next week; however, I am hoping I can get some work done for our group next week and spread the awareness to others.

Reflection:

This past week, I feel as if I have not been stressing the awareness I should. In away this could be viewed as some women who remain silent about their abuse. Even though my case is completely different, many women are afraid to talk about the abuse they have experienced from their intimate partners “Although violence between intimate partners is illegal in this country, it is seriously under-reported because of confusion, shame, self-blame, loyalty to the abuser, lack of information, or income” (Kirk 262). Fortunately, Animal Safehouse is able to help those women who are strong enough to stand up for them; however, some of these women might have not vocal right after the incident.

Reciprocity:

The awareness of violence against women is important and should be treated very seriously. Animal Safehouse of Brevard has done a very good job making sure that the animals are assigned to safe homes. It is important that they are because the women can focus on their health and state of mind knowing that their beloved pet is safe. Animal Safehouse is a great organization because there are many women who are scared to leave their homes due to the love of their pets; some women may believe that that’s all they got. It’s a hard situation to leave a pet because it is more like leaving your own child. I will keep my motivation up to help make sure these pets that are rescued from violent homes will be kept safe till their mothers are in the state willing to care for them once again.

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 257-273.

Activism Log # 5

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

23 March 2010

Activism Log 5

Activism:

As the project goes on, I feel as if I am becoming more active with spreading the awareness of Animal Safehouse of Brevard’s goals. Last Friday, Janet, Katelyn, and I helped out Animal Safehouse at the Green Wave event on Memory Mall at UCF. We met at two o’clock and waited our community partner, Babette. The even itself did not start until three o’clock, however, we got there early to help Babette set up the tent and get things rolling. While I was there for a few hours, people came by the tent taking fliers and writing their email addresses down to get more information. The event went smoothly and it was a great opportunity for Animal Safehouse to share their concerns for abused women and their pets.

Reflection:

As I think about the point of Animal Safehouse of Brevard, which is to help women get out of their abusive homes and foster their pets in the mean time, I can’t help but connect it to Aurora Morales’ “Radical Pleasure: Sex and the End of Victimhood” story. I believe we are giving women a chance to go out and reclaim their sex. This is important because “it is part of aliveness” (284). Women who have been victimized need to reclaim their sexuality and try to regain their life back. This article really relates to the opportunities Animal Safehouse is trying to give to abuse women.

Reciprocity:

While working with Animal Safehouse of Brevard, I have become more aware with how real these stories of abused women are. I hear about them, but seeing legit facts and statistics makes the reality of the stories more real. It really opened my eyes when I was looking at these bracelets our tent had during the UCF event. Each bracelet had facts about families that were victims. I felt a huge hole in my heart when I saw that many of the ages were around mine or younger. My continuing activism with this project is teaching me everyday and I am feeling better that I am trying to make a change for women.

Morales, Aurora Levins. "Radical Pleasure: Sex and the End of Victimhood." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 283-284.

Activism Log # 4

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

20 March 2010

Activism Log 4

Activism:

Still cranking through this project and everything seems to be coming together quite well. We still have one venue guaranteed for our event and still waiting about a possible second venue. Fingers crossed that the second one works out because I personally believe the more opportunities for people to sign up to become a foster parent, the better. Last week I decided to collect donations while I was home for spring break in Jacksonville. I was able to collect a good number of supplies, such as collars, leashes, and toys. I cannot wait to get those items to Animal Safehouse for the future foster parents and their pets.

Reflection:

Every small contribution helps towards accomplishing a goal. My group members and I are doing all we can do to help Animal Safehouse collect donations and foster parents. While I am helping out the group, I seem to always come across new statistics and surprising facts about abused women. I feel terrible when I hear about some of the conditions of the victim-hood these women and their families are experiencing. “For many women and children, however, home is not a safe place but one where they experience emotional or physical violence” (260). I am glad to know that I am helping to encourage women to leave these horrible environments.

Reciprocity:

Working with Animal Safehouse has been a fulfilling experience. The times I have met up to help them at dog parks and such, makes me feel like I am actually getting more involved and understanding more and more about the program. The more I am around others who are involved, the more I learn and feel more comfortable telling others about the program. I am excited for future events with Animal Safehouse and helping out the women and their pets, who are in need.

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 257-273.

Pink Art

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

20 March 2010

Pink Art

The downtown Pink Art Exhibit was certainly an entertaining event. I was very impressed with all the talented work that artist put into their projects. Among the art submissions it seemed to be that the bras were the most popular, considering the fact that many were sold within the first thirty minutes. There were a few that stood out to me that I liked. I loved the “Thing 1” and “Thing 2” Dr. Suess bra; I personally thought it was a brilliant idea. The New York City bra definitely showed that the artist put a lot of effort into creating the design. I was very impressed with the wiring work they did for the skyline along the top of the bra. There was one particular bra that seemed to represent the idea of an activist. This bra had a green jungle background with two monkeys on one side and then a phrase on the other. The phrase stated: “WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.” In my opinion, this demonstrates how someone can make a difference or change with just a little bit of help. Besides the bras there were some photographs hanging along the walls. There were a few that I noticed that were photos of the chest area of a woman. She has one arm covering her breasts and there is a phrase written on the arm, one had “CONQUER” and the other had “STRENGTH”. They are words of encouragement to women everywhere. These pictures represent how strong and determine women are when they speak up for a cause. There was another photograph that I was unsure of; however, it popped out to me. This was a photo of a woman looking into a hand mirror while applying lipstick to her. The odd part of this photograph was that she applied it to her lips but then managed to continue down her face and neck. I am not a hundred percent sure why this woman is doing this; however, I found it quite interesting. The last art piece that I enjoyed observing was the balloon woman. She reminded me of Sleeping Beauty, wearing a pink dress and having blonde hair. The balloon woman was very impressive and seemed to be a cheerful piece of artwork. Overall the exhibit seemed to be a success. The room was packed and I could barely walk around to observe the art. Well done to all the artists, who submitted their work?

Behind the Media

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

17 March 2010

“Go Stewie Go”

Throughout the years, media has demonstrated how women are depicted as mothers and wives. Television shows have provided many examples of this through their version of the construction of female domesticity. Even though most Americans enjoy these shows, they might not realize how the program lowers the role and image of women. A well-known cartoon that seems to be favorites to many-called Family Guy is a perfect example of such a television program. The marriage represented among the main family demonstrates the typical marriage feminists are trying to avoid “Steeped in a patriarchal system that looks to ownership, property, and dominance of men over women as its basis” (Kirk 317). There is one particular episode called “Go Stewie Go” that provides examples of how this television shows the treatment of women by their family to the extreme.

Lois Griffin is a beautiful housewife, by choice, and a mother of three children. Throughout the series, she generally is very responsible and makes sure all is well for her family. Peter Griffin, the husband and father, is quite opposite than Lois. Peter Griffin is a typical fat and lazy man who is generally involved in some sort of drunken shenanigans, although he does play the gender role of being the main provider of the family. These two fit the stereotypical appearance of a media’s perspective of a husband and wife relationship. Within a few minutes of “Go Stewie Go”, Peter Griffin criticizes Lois about her “grey hairs” and makes her feel unattractive. He even lowers her self-esteem by telling his daughter, Meg, and her boyfriend, Anthony, that her sex appeal has faded. Peter’s hurtful comments and ignorance towards his wife causes Lois turn into a character that demonstrates a negative stereotype of women.

In this particular episode of Family Guy, Peter’s continuous insults cause Lois to become a disloyal wife. Anthony tells Lois that she is a beautiful woman for her age, which boost Lois’ confidence in her. After over analyzing Anthony’s comment Lois talks to her neighbor, Bonnie, about how she may be attracted to another man. Bonnie confesses that she has had an affair on her husband in the past and that it is normal to want to explore your sexuality. This moment can create a false image of housewives and a negative stereotype. It suggests that this is normal and quite all right for a married woman to have sexual relations with another man. This can be harmful to our society because sometimes people tend to start believing the media’s views “from the movies that reinforce a narrow stereotype of femininity to the indie films that show another image, the media create a definition of woman to which we often turn to find our own definition” (Seely 103-104). This particular episode definitely has Lois represent a negative stereotype of women.

Lois’ mistake in over analyzing Anthony’s comment also leads her to be a disrespectful mother to Meg. Lois becomes jealous of Meg for having an active relationship with Anthony. This becomes clear when Lois accidentally sees Meg and Anthony kissing on the sofa. At first, she quickly hides back up the stairs but then slowly peeks her head out to watch and proceeds in imagining herself kissing him. Lois then takes her jealousy a step too far in two ways. First, she gives Anthony Peter’s schedule of when he is out of the house and then lies to Meg to get her out of the house. Once Meg is gone Lois confronts Anthony and basically jumps him. Meg walks back into the house to discover her mother on top of her boyfriend, causing the mother daughter relationship to go up in flames. Lois presents a horrible stereotype for all mothers. She even goes beyond and basically tells her daughter that she is more attractive than her when she was attempting to apologize “I do know a few things Meg and clearly if I wanted him I could have him” (MacFarlane). In all aspects of this situation Lois is seen as a horrible mother, which adds more negativity to the woman stereotype she exposes.

The two roles of mother and wife go hand in hand in this episode, both being very negative. The one compliment turned her moral, respectful character into a horrible, untrustworthy monster. Overall the show takes the gender roles of husband and wife to the extreme but that might be one reason why the show is popular among viewers. Even though the Family Guy might offend some women, for the most part it is seen as humorous and pure entertainment.

Work Cited:

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 317-320.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York and London: New York University Press, 2007. 93-121.

MacFarlane, Seth. "Go Stewie Go." Family Guy. Fox. FOX, 14 Mar. 2010. Television.

Behind The Music

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

8 March 2010

“Gonna Beat My Wife”

People cannot go a day without hearing some sort of music, whether actually listening to the legit song or hearing it in the background of an ad. Media has used music for many years to influence people’s minds to all sorts of ideas. Some music can have great meaning behind them with great motivation; however, others are quite opposite. Unfortunately in our society today, there are songs that represent violence. Not just violence alone, but also strong violence against women.

It is unfortunate that our society listens to such music that contains these horrible ideas about violence against females. A prime example of these types of songs is Dead Milkmen’s “Gonna Beat My Wife”. The title alone is terribly offensive to all women. In the song’s defense, when one listens to it, it seems like it was written for more ironic humor than actually attempting to influence someone to abuse his wife. Although, it is probably very rare that someone would actually listen to this song today because it is not available on Itunes nor, to my knowledge, has it been used in any media. It is not much of a shocker that a song with these lyrics would not be very popular among the crowd.

If one were to just read the lyrics to “Gonna Beat My Wife”, their negative emotions would sky rocket in disgust and rage. The musician clearly defines that men have dominant control over their wives by stating over and over again how he is “gonna beat” his wife. The musician even goes into detail on different methods for his success, such as hitting her with a lead pipe, hitting her with a truck, or even chasing her down with a lawn mower. Another idea one might consider after reading these lyrics is that these violent actions seem to be a repetitive, similar to the Megan Seely’s “Intimate-Partner Violence Cycle”. This cycle goes through serious of stages, including the “Honeymoon”, “Denial”, “Tension Building”, and finally “Explosion of Violence” (190). The period of this song seems to be taken place somewhere in between the “Tension Building” and “Explosion of Violence” stages. His anger or tension is rising and he is plotting out his method of violence. The musician is spitting out ways to hurt her and even states; “It happens”. The woman seems to have absolutely no power in the relationship and possibly in denial that this all occurs, once again demonstrating the Megan Seely’s “Intimate-Partner Violence Cycle” (189).

Some of the lines throughout the song could have more of an under lying meaning if so interpreted. The lyrics throughout the song somewhat demonstrate that the man is going to home and beat his wife. Unfortunately not all homes are considered safe; “For many women and children, however, home is not a safe place but one where they experience emotional or physical violence” (Kirk 260). Sadly his wife is taking the path of least resistance and continuing to live in a negative living environment. One might insinuate that the song has some sort of sexual abuse toward the woman because the phrase “finger lickin”. Although no clearly define sexual activity is stated in the song, this could be a settle hint. Another line that may have some minor meaning to it may be “at the shelter”. This could mean that these two characters are citizens of the lower class, which may suggest that abusive behavior towards an intimate partner occurs more within that class.

This song could be used for feminist to prove their point about violence against women. Clearly many men are not aware of the importance of this topic. If there are men out there who are willing to create such structure advertising the violence, then obviously they do not see a real issue. This is a problem in our society because there are many relationships that actually do exist like the one demonstrated throughout the lyrics. Dead Milkmen may not have had the intention of promoting a lot of angry women; however, more than likely this gave a rise to most feminists who are deeply involved with fighting against violent aggression towards women.

Work Cited:

Dead Milkmen. "Gonna Beat My Wife." Rec. 1 Jan. 1988. Beelzebubba. Grooveshark. Web. 27 Feb. 2010. .

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 257-271.

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

Activism Log # 3

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

6 March 2010

Activism Log 3

Activism:

This past week was a big step in our group. Katelyn and I were suppose to go Monday to talk to an Italian restaurant about possibly being our venue; however, do to family emergencies Katelyn wanted to go Wednesday. Wednesday was did not entirely work well for me but family definitely comes first. She had success on Wednesday and so FINALLY we have a venue. The discussion of Sweets By Holly being a possible venue came back into play because Andee finally got word that they were interested. Now we are possibly thinking of having two signing events for our project to make sure that everyone in the group can attend at least one, due to work schedules. After spring break we are all planning on having a meeting to discuss about it and if that becomes the plan then we will have to do a quick change to the fliers. Other than that, nothing else has really been going on. It was a little challenging for everyone to get involved in this project because this week was the week of midterms. I personally spent most of my week locked away in my room or in the library. I got a few fliers to make copies of so I can at least get donations while I am home in Jacksonville. I hope that maybe people I talk to know others around the area of Brevard that are willing to be foster parents and relay the information to them.

Reflection:

Establishing that have not one but two places interested in being a venue for our signing event has given me a small sense of relief. We were all putting our heads together to find somewhere and now I feel as though we are getting somewhere with out event. Having an event reminds me of Megan Seely’s Fight Like A Girl: How To Be A Fearless Feminist in the section about being active with your community. She talks about from step by step processes, which have worked out greatly for our group, to daily activity. She mentions to go out in the open and get people involved, which is simply what our signing event will do. We will stress the importance of this group and have those who want to contribute sign up for future contact. For daily activity she says; “No act is too small” (24). After being in this project and just simply talking to an acquaintance of mine I obtained a dog collar. Right there was proof that no act is too small. I simply mentioned why I was making photocopies of fliers and obtained a donation.

Reciprocity:

As a whole group, I believe we accomplished a lot this week. We still have another important discussion when we get back but now we have very good options. I honestly didn’t feel like I accomplished too much this week but there is more to be done that will get done. We have two venues that are in play, getting poster boards distributed to hang, and the fliers are almost completed. Once we get back together everything is going to work quite well. I believe the hardest steps are now behind us. This week we did talk a lot about what was happening, but the physical was not all there. Everything will soar when we return.

Work Cited:

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

Activism Log # 2

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

20 February 2010

Activism Log # 2

Activism:

With two weeks into our project, I would say my group and I are on the right path in our service-learning project. We have all kept in touch with brainstorming for possible places to hold our “signing” event. There have been many good ideas. On Monday, Katelyn and I are planning on swinging by some of these possible places to ask if they would be interested in us hosting a small event at their place. Also, we are going to ask for permission to hang fliers in the windows of different locations and businesses to advertise the event. On Sunday I am meeting Andee at the dog park in Winter Park to bring the awareness of Animal Safehouse to the people who bring their own pets there. I feel like I am doing a pretty good job being active with this group while being a full time student. The more involved I am with this group, the more determined I am to continue pointing out exactly how important this program is to suffering women and their pets.

Reflection:

This past week has been pretty similar to the first week. Even though we mapped out a plan last week, we still had to go through and determine what would actually be possible and scratch out ideas that were more than likely not going to happen. Once again, through this process the “Twelve Step Method”, from Fight Like A Girl (Seely 19), was used to help us complete our organization. Through communication through emails and a few in-person meetings, the whole group still seems to be on the same page with what our main goals is.

Reciprocity:

As I help out Animal Safehouse I feel a small sort of accomplishment. Even though a few things I have done have pretty much been talking to a small amount of people at dogs parks, I still feel as though I have opened a few eyes to the importance of this program. Getting people to become aware of the situation is important and needs to be stressed to many more. If people are educated about what Animal Safehouse actually does, I feel as though more would be involve and support it. I am looking forward to going to the dog park on Sunday in attempts to tell more people and get support. I want to help these women who are suffering and let them know it is okay to leave their pets because they will most certainly be in the care of loving hands.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York and London: New York UP, 2007. Print.

Body/Sexuality Blog

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

17 February 2010

WST 3015

Never Judge a Book By Its Cover

Feminism is represented all over the media today, whether it is through advertising a product or in a movie or television show. Movies do a decent job demonstrating how women can be manipulated because of their gender. Legally Blonde is a prime example of people judging the main character, Elle Woods, by her outside appearance. This movie also demonstrates various stereotypes.

Throughout the film, audiences can pinpoint a diverse range of stereotypes. “Stereotyping involves making a simple generalization about a group and claiming that all members of the group conform to it. Stereotypes are behavioral and psychological attributes, they are commonly help beliefs about groups rather than individual beliefs about individuals; and they persist in spire of contradictory evidence” (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey 96). To state the obvious, there is the “dumb blonde” stereotype presented by Elle Woods. Elle Woods represents the typical blonde, sorority girl who is all about looks and designer fashion. Elle’s main reason for attending Harvard Law is to convince her boyfriend, Warner, to get back together with her. It is not until later that Elle Woods actually fights the stereotype to prove she is professional, wise, and completely opposite of the stereotype herself. Another stereotype, within the film, is the one represented by Enid. She is a law student as well who comes off as a bra-burning lesbian or feminist. Throughout the movie, she despises Elle because of her “dumb blonde” actions and appearance. The last example to be highlighted in Legally Blonde is presented by Brooke Windham. She is the character being accused for murdering her husband, who is an older and wealthier man. It seems to be that many people, the jury included, are convinced that Brooke is a “gold digger” settling for such an older man. These were just a few typical stereotypes that are distributed throughout the film.

At the start of the film it seems that all the women are interested in romance, however, as the movie progresses the goal in romance dwindles down and fades. The only reason Elle Woods applies to Harvard Law is because Warner wants to be with a woman who is intelligent and serious. In hopes to prove that she is worthy enough to marry Warner, Elle attends Harvard. Many of the students at Harvard Law have a nasty habit of judging a book by its cover. So many people are convinced that Elle is weak and that she will eventually drop out. Warner seems to turn into some sort of prize to win between Elle and Vivian, his fiancé.

The phrase “never judge a book by its cover” definitely relates to Elle Woods. Behind that Barbie-doll appearance, Elle is a wonderful role model for women. Although her priorities in the beginning of the film were not entirely straight, she became a good example of what a woman can accomplish if their heart is set on it. A main turning point for Elle in the film is when Professor Callahan disrespects her. He gives the impression that she has only made it so far because of her physical appearance. Unfortunately, Vivian witnesses Professor Callahan’s move towards Elle and also believes that she has just slept her way through law school instead of hard work. It seems that this misrepresentation that is being distributed caused Elle to prove all of Harvard Law wrong and show how she is just as smart and important, “the importance of self-definition and self-naming” (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey 159). With her determined mind, intelligence, and winning a great court case, she was able to present herself as a great, educated lawyer. The end of the film expresses that she will have success in her future and that she even got to have the final ‘no’ to Warner and start a new romance with a better man.

Work Cited:

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Identities and Social Locations: Who Am I? Who Are My People?". Women's Lives: Multicultural Presepectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 96. Print.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Women's Sexuality". Women's Lives: Multicultural Presepectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 159. Print.

Activism Log # 1

Seabury Stoneburner

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

15 February 2010

Activism Log # 1

Activism:

One week is down in our service-learning project. Since it was the first week and our proposal was still being accepted, the activism part of the project was a little limited. We were able to establish a great contact with our community partner. She informed us what exactly the program was and what needed to be done. She stressed the importance of getting people to become foster parents of animals and any sort of donations. Once we were aware of all that needed to be done, we quickly jumped on the case and passed out jobs among the group. Katelyn and I met up in the library on Wednesday to get the ball rolling with possible places for venues. We also thought of where we could hang fliers, table, and meet up with our group members. Since our schedules are not working well with overlapping, we decided to make some sort of “chat” email so everyone can keep up to speed and throw out ideas. On Saturday, I volunteered to table outside the dog park on the corner of Dean and Colonial with Animal Safehouse. We were there for a little bit due to weather conditions but at least I was involved. Thus far, everything seems to be coming together rather nicely. I have faith in our group that we can keep the teamwork up!

Reflection:

The first week of the project was really about organizing and getting everyone on the same page. As I was trying to think of ideas and how exactly our group should approach the problem, I kind of related it to the “Steps To Taking Action” section from Fight Like A Girl (Seely 19). This article contains a twelve-step method, which became quite useful when discussing about exactly what we want to accomplish this semester. Through teamwork I believe the accomplishments will be met at the end of the semester if we stick to our plan.

Reciprocity:

Even though it has only been one week into our projects, I have already learned how much commitment one must have to make a difference. One must feel strong passion for the awareness to stress the problem greatly to the public. Through helping out Animal Safehouse, I was able to talk to a few girls who worked with the program and I was amazed with the dedication they had to the program. Listening to them talk to park visitors really opened my eyes to the true meaning of the program and has inspired me to give it my all to help these women and animals. I am willing to incorporate this in my daily life and make it aware to family and friends how much help this program needs.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York and London: New York UP, 2007. Print.

Service Learning Proposal

Service Learning Proposal

For Animal Safehouse of Brevard

Janet Audette

Michael Farmer

Andrea Ondina

Krysten Sanders

Seabury Stoneburner

Katelyn Temple

February 2, 2010

Jeannina Perez

WST 3015

Community Partner: Animal Safe House of Brevard

Address: animalsafehouse@gmail.com

Contact: Arielle Schwartz

954-401-4901

Community Partner Profile:

Animal Safehouse of Brevard was formed in summer 2008 as a network of individuals committed to helping both women and pets who are victims of domestic violence. Animal Safehouse recently became a registered Floridanon-profit agency which relies heavily on donations and volunteers and is in need of assistance to help as many women and pets possible.

Community Partner Mission Statement:

Animal Safehouse of Brevard is a not-for-profit effort geared towards providing temporary safe placement of pets that, like their owners, need to flee from domestic violence situations. The mission of Animal Safehouse Campus Action Network is a commitment to encouraging women to escape domestic violence by fostering and providing for their pets while they are in shelters; to raise community awareness about domestic violence and about the links between domestic violence and animal abuse.

Political and/or Social Basis for Organization:

Animal Safehouse of Brevard appeals to the desperate need for a safe place for pets who are subjected to abuse while their owners seek shelter and rehabilitation. Domestic violence can sometimes also involve animal abuse; both of these violate women’s rights and animal rights.

Community Partner Needs:

In order to be productive and to continue helping animals, this organization needs constant help from the community. Transporters, foster parents, volunteers, and vets are needed. Animal Safehouse of Brevard relies heavily on donations to keep our program running. Items needed are unopened food, collars, leashes, bowls, flea treatment, heartworm treatment, veterinary care, crates, pillows, toys, and blankets.

Memorandum

TO: Jeannina Perez

FROM:J. Audette, M. Farmer, A. Ondina, K. Sanders, S. Stoneburner, K. Temple

DATE: February 2, 2010

RE: Proposal to Write a Feasibility Report for a Service Learning Project

This is a proposal for the services needed for the benefit of the Animal Safehouse of Brevard County. We outline the services we plan to provide to the benefit of this community partner in this proposal. We will also include the connection between the goals of the Animal Safehouse and Women’s Studies.

Need for materials, time and volunteers to assist in raising money, awareness and donations to assist Animal Safe House of Brevard

The mission of the Animal Safehouse is to provide foster care to pets of women who need to leave abusive situations. Many women will not leave because they either have children or pets at home that they do not wish to abandon. By providing the foster care, the pets will be taken care of and the women can feel more confident in leaving.

Plan Proposal

We plan to provide services for our partner by partaking in the activities of the Animal Safehouse. It will benefit their cause and also provide them with extra help. We also are aiming to raise awareness. As a group, we will make flyers, table at local businesses and plan a “signing day” where interested persons will be able to sign up to foster an animal in need. We plan to table with a constant schedule with the hopes that we will also be able to collect donations.

Rationale for women’s studies

This project is relevant to women’s studies because it presents the problem with domestic violence toward women and animals.

Action

We plan to get as much information from the Animal Safehouse as possible before planning any action. We will need to record information of known families and pets in need of the Animal Safehouse’s services. Then we will take this information and use it to create flyers and any other means of spreading the word to people. We also plan to organize a “signing party”.

Timeline

Below is a schedule of events, activities and/or deadlines for our project:

1. Research/interviews – through February 13

2. Begin creating materials to use for spreading the word–through February 20

3. Organize “signing party” for Animal Safehouse – through March 6

4. Flyer – through March 13

5. Finalize “signing day” (event will also be around this date) – through March 25

6. Send thank you letters– April 2

Works cited

Animal Safehouse of Brevard. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .