Group Activism Blog: Week 10

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
4/23/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 10


Activism

In our final week of our project we still haven't heard from Senator Aronberg or Representative Fitzgerald with regards to our interview questions pertaining to the Healthy Teens Act and HB 169. I'm beginning to think that we will never hear from them or that it will be too late to apply their answers to Heidi's article she has written with the hopes of getting it published. Because we are lacking this information we can't even send her paper to any magazines with the hopes of it being published. On the bright side though Dominique loved the piece that I sent to her for her service learning project that she has for one of her other classes. The collection of essays that she has gathered will be printed and distributed among those who contributed, and I'm hoping a select other people. Although this article won't be largly distributed due to a lack of funds I'm hoping that enough people will read this article and want to help make a change to the sex education system that Florida currently holds. Hopefully these new supporters will also e-mail and call Aronberg, Deutch, and Fitzgerald and stress the importance of this bill. If the supporters of this bill express their interest in the passing of the Healthy Teens Act these senators and representatives sponsoring this bill will have more of a drive to see that this act moves forward.

Reflection

All in all I wish I had seen this project go in a different direction than it did. I knew that when I signed up for this project that it wasn't going to be easy. I almost switched to the GLBSU group the day we were signing up for our groups but something called me to this particular project. I'm sure more would have been accomplished if we didn't lose one of our members after we wrote our proposal and had a game plan set. I'm happy with the article I wrote. I hope it will make a difference (if only the smallest bit) in seeing change to the state of our sex education programs in Florida

Reciprocity

This project has really reinforced my desire to become a sex educator. If I want to ever be a sex educator in this state though change must be made. While there are some counties in Florida that have decided to teach comprehensive sex education most of the counties don't. One of these counties is the county that I grew up in. I don't want to see any more teenagers and young adults suffer because they weren't given the proper education they needed.

Group Service Learning Blog: Week 9

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002

4/18/10

Group Service Learning Blog: Week 9


Activism

This week I sent Dominique the piece I wrote about sex education and the Healthy Teens Act for her service learning project. Going into writing this piece I wasn't sure how to write it informatively while being interesting at the same time. I considered entering a personal story but decided against it because I didn't want to make the piece too long. When I sent the piece though I asked Dominique for any feedback and asked if I should add my own personal story with how I was taught sex education as a teen. Dominique loved the idea so I went back and added my personal story in the piece. Our other article that Heidi has written though still seems to have no progress made yet because we still have yet to hear back from Senator Aronberg or Representative Fitzgerald. Without these interviews we can't get her article published.

Reflection

This project has proven to be a lot harder than any of us ever anticipated. Since we couldn't get in contact with any of the supporters of the bill while in Tallahassee we had to e-mail them. While e-mail isn't the greatest form of getting in contact with someone for an interview it's sometimes the only form that you can do when trying to contact busy government officials such Dave Aronberg and Kieth Fitzgerald. It would also have helped our cause if we were affiliated with a larger community or school group. Since there were only three of us our voice was most likely not remembered. While we only got a little progress done with the piece I wrote for Dominique's collection of writings that little progress is better than no progress at all.

Reciprocity

I had such a great feeling after writing my piece for Dominique's collection of writings. All I could think of was who was going to possibly be reading my article and want to help change the current situation of our sex education programs or even share what they learned in my article with their friends and family. Hearing Dominique's positive feedback convinced me that my article is great and educational. I really hope that I will enlighten at least one reader.

The Native American Saves Gaia, Er, I Mean Atreyu Saves The Empress

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
4/14/10

The Native American Saves Gaia, Er, I Mean Atreyu Saves The Empress

One common theme that has always been present in children's media is the means to temporarily escape from school, homework, bullies, parents, and other such "nuisances". Everytime a child reads a book, or watches a movie they are transformed into a different world than their own. Most of the time these stories are filled with fantasy and wildly fictional characters. "The NeverEnding Story" is one of the many movies that came out in the 80s that dealt with a child escaping their lives and mystically traveling to some fantasy land. While this story was made to be a fun, entertaining movie for kids, it holds some stereotypes as well as undertones of ecofeminism.

In "The NeverEnding Story" there is a story within a story. In the story that Bastien is reading there is a terrible "nothing" that is sweeping over the land of Fantasia and erasing every one and thing. In order to save this land the people call on Atreyu. While the one person that comes to save the land is a boy, not a girl, the boy is made to look very similar to a Native American. As discussed in class on Wednesday, April 7th, stereotypically all Native Americans are connected to the earth and care deeply about their environment (Perez 4/5/10). While his nationality isn't discussed, Atreyu is a medium-skinned boy with shoulder-length black hair who wears pants and a vest made from what appears to be an animal skin of some sorts. He is also only mentioned to the people of Fantasia as "a powerful warrior who hunts the purple buffalo".

The main quest that Atreyu is sent on is to find a cure for the empress's illness. It is said that if she dies Fantasia dies too. It is because of this claim that it can be said that The Empress is the "Gaia" of the land. Whenever the "nothing" takes over another part of Fantasia, the empress becomes more ill. While The Empress plays a big part of the story (in a way) she is never seen until the last 20 minutes of the film. The Empress is a young girl who is fraile in figure, fair-skinned, has blonde hair, and blue eyes. The media views a white girl with blonde hair and blue eyes as being the most pure and good person there is. The Empress is also shown as being a weak figure in the story. Even though she has all of this power and is so connected to the land she is of no help to Atreyu, and later Bastian, when Fantasia is hanging on by a thread. She is never once standing or moving about. The only time you ever see the empress is when she is sitting on her bed-like throne atop the Ivory Tower.

"The NeverEnding Story" unknowingly mixes a bit of the Gaia Theory with the Madea Theory. The one half of Fantasia is The Empress who's life depends on the state of Fantasia. Atreyu is sent off for a cure so that The Empress can save herself/Fantasia. The other half of Fantasia is the "nothing", created by those who lack an imagination. Since this world is based upon imagination it is, in a way, killing itself. Those who don't believe in Fantasia can be tied to humans on earth today with regards to their carbon footprint. Like in "Gaia Girls: Enter the Earth" those who lack the imagination to believe in Fantasia don't think of what their lack of imagination has done to this fantasy world. They are the 5th cell on their little toe that's going a little crazy (Welles 68). Luckily there was one boy who believed in Fantasia and saved The Empress and her land.

Works Cited

Perez, Jeaninna. "Ecofeminism." Introduction to Women's Studies: Ecofeminsim. University of Central Florida, Orlando. 5 Apr. 2010. Lecture.

"The NeverEnding Story". Dir. Wolfgang Petersen. Netflix.com. Web. 14 Apr. 2010.

Welles, Lee. Gaia Girls: Enter the Earth. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Company, 2006. Print.

Group Activisim Blog: Week 8

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
4/9/10

Group Activisim Blog: Week 8

Activism

After the not-so-successful day at Tallahassee a couple of weeks ago I decided to look into other projects that our group could do to strengthen our activism. Gryphyn still plans to work on getting her aritcle published in one of the markets that Ryan researched for her once she hears back from Senator Deutch. She's waiting to hear if she can possibly do a phone or e-mail interview with the Senator and ask him questions pertaining to the Healthy Teens Act. I, on the other hand, came across a great idea when Dominique promoted her own community activism project to the class earlier this week. I have decided to submit an article of my own about the horrors of abstinence-only sex education and The Healthy Teens Act to her project. By submitting this writing I will hopefully capture an audience of readers that will know of our cause and why it is so important. I'm also planning to add information in the article that will allow the readers to contact those who support the need for comprehensive sex education.

Reflection

I know that this article that I'll write for Dominique's project won't reach a widespread audience, but if only a handful of people read my article I will have informed that handful of people of the message that our group is trying to spread and what needs to be done to right this wrong in our education system. Environmental justice, which states that all citizens have a right to healthy living and working conditions (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 541), can be also used to convey the right to comprehensive sex education. Every child has a right to know how their bodies work and how to protect their bodies from unwanted pregnancy and STIs if they choose to have sex.

Reciprocity

I can't be more excited to write my article for Dominique's compilation. I've been wanting to see change made to the Florida sex education system for some time now. This project has only strengthened that desire. Our group's contribution to this change may only count to as one drop of water in the bucket. I will be happy to know that this change was made with my help. I've learned from this project that even the smallest bits of activism can help bring change.

Work Cited

"Women and the Environment." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 535-49. Print.

The War on Iraq: The New Cold War?

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
4/5/10

The War on Iraq: The New Cold War?

Riverbend's blog Baghdad Burning gives readers a first-hand look into life as an Iraqi during the American attack on Iraq. Her August 7, 2004 blog entitled Clashes and Churches... focuses on how the United States' government has made the war into a paranoid attack on the Islamic people. Clashes and Churches... is also a personal entry that gives readers a view into the Iraqi culture, with regards to religion, while at the same time busting the myth that Iraqi people don't respect other religions.

According to the essay Women and the Military, War, and Peace one of the four basic requirements for for human security is "People's fundamental human dignity, agency, and cultural identities must be honored." (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey 510) The middle section of this particular blog entry Riverbend discusses the collapse of the Christian culture in her neighborhood. At the time of this entry the churches near her were recently bombed. These bombings have affected her personally because they remind her of the good times she shared with the Christian people in her neighborhood. The Christians and the Muslims in her neighborhood, and Iraq, have lived together peacefully for centuries. Many of the Christians have now left in fear for their own lives. With the destruction of the churches the Iraqi cultural identities have, in a way, not been honored.

Towards the end of the blog entry Riverbend discusses her disgust with how the war is being twisted in a means to gain support from the American people. Riverbend explains her belief that all of the bombings of the churches and other Christian establishments are an attempt to make the Islamic people look like the villains. The American people have been taught that their way of life is worth fighting and perhaps dying for (Kirk, Okazawa-Rey 493). With Christianity being the number one religion in America these bombings (according to Riverbend) have been twisted to look as a direct attack on the American people. Riverbend even goes on to describe the War on Iraq as being the "new Cold War".

Unlike the first Cold War, this war has seen it's fair share of casualties of both soldiers and civilians. Riverbend's blog Baghdad Burning clearly depicts the civilian casualties of the war. These were men and women who died not because they hated America or Americans in general, but because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The media has in turn described these men and women as being 'insurgents' (Riverbend 7 Aug 2004). In the views of Riverbend the Christians who have become her friends throughout her life have been chased from their homes out of fear in order to instill fear and support in the Americans. Whether this war is about protecting Christianity, fighting against terrorism, fighting for our national security, or fighting for oil, innocent Iraqis are being sacrificed for the pointless American cause. The American military has sacrificed Iraq's national security in an attempt to "protect" America's.

Works Cited

Riverbend. "Clashes and Churches..." Web log post. Baghdad Burning. Blogspot, 7 Aug. 2004. Web. 5 Apr. 2010.

"Women and the Military, War, and Peace." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 493-510. Print.

Group Activism Blog: Week 7

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
4/2/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 7

Activism

This week our group reflected on the experience in Tallahassee and how we could make up for the information we failed to find out that day. Without a proper interview from Senator Deutch or Senator Aronberg we don't see Gryphyn's article seeing a magazine publisher. Since Gryphyn's piece is a news piece about the progress of The Healthy Teens Act we can't get the article published without the proper news information. Because we need this information we decided to e-mail Senator Deutch since he is the main sponsor of this proposed Bill. The e-mail sent to him requested a phone or e-mail interview with the Senator with questions regarding The Healthy Teens Act and where it stands in activity now. Hopefully the Senator will agree to our inquiry of questioning him so that we can complete Gryphyn's article in time to get it published before the end of this semester.

Reflection

The movement of bringing comprehensive sex education to school systems is very much like the global women's movement. This movement that our group has taken a part of is moving in a spiral fashion. According to the article "The Global Women's Movement", "a spiral is open-ended, continuous, ever enlarging our understanding of events, our perspectives." (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 634) The movement of bringing comprehensive sex education is a global effort with many countries already teaching comprehensive sex education. With these countries adopting these teachings it has spiraled out to other countries. Here in the United States many states and counties within the states make it mandatory to teach medically-accurate comprehensive sex education to children. Our group has focused on one of the many tips of the larger spiral. It will be a large step if we see something change with the state of our sex education programs in Florida's schools.

Reciprocity

Despite the difficulty in getting things accomplished within this group, this experience has been an eye-opener and a learning experience. This group activism project has taught me just how hard it is to get a grassroots movement going. Hopefully when I enter the world of sex education I don't have to deal with the struggles of wanting to teach in a state that wishes to not have me.

Work Cited

Antrobus, Peggy. "The Global Women's Movement." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 629-36. Print.

Group Activism Blog: Week 6

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
3/26/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 6

Activism

This week Gryphyn, Ryan, and I went with a group from UCF to lobby in Tallahassee. Dominique told us of this event and that she was going. We decided that this would be a great opportunity to try to get into contact with Senator Deutch and Senator Aronberg. Before the trip to Tallahassee we assigned each other jobs for the day's efforts. Ryan was assigned the job of researching possible markets to get Gryphyn's article published. I was assigned the job of creating interview questions in case we had the chance to speak with either or both senators that day. Gryphyn had a book of publishing markets for Ryan to research the markets in. She also had a book with a chapter teaching the reader how to construct and carry out an interview. I read that chapter and was fully prepared to interview Deutch or Aronberg if the opportunity were to arise. Sadly though I was not given that chance. It happened to be that the Senators were going into session the night of the day we were there visiting the Capitol.

Reflection

The day at the Capitol didn't see any accomplishments on our group's behalf but I did notice progress with the larger group we were with. This brought me to the conclusion that if we had more than just three people trying to convey our cause we probably would have been able to speak to more representatives and senators. The closest our group got to either Aronberg or Deutch was towards the end of the day we passed Aronberg in the hallway. He was on his way to the Senate session so he didn't have any time to talk. All in all the day wasn't a success on our group's end but it was a learning experience that I was glad to partake in.

Reciprocity

The article "Women and the Military, War, and Peace" talks about how the military is often viewed as being homophobic, racist, and sexist. This is the same problem with abstinence-only sex education programs. I'm hoping that once I become a sex educator that I can eliminate these problems and bring about a sex education program that speaks to all young men and women from different walks of life.

Work Cited

"Women and the Military, War, and Peace." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 493-511. Print.