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.