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.

Group Activism Blog: Week 5

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
3/19/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 5

Activism

This week our group didn't do much other than sign up for the UCF Day at the Capitol. Dominique gave us the idea to go to this event so that we could possibly speak with Senator Deutch and Senator Aronberg. We all decided that this oppotunity would be a great way to turn our project around. Gryphyn informed Ryan and I that she has an article to write for her magazine writing class. She gave the idea that we could use that opportunity to write the article about the Healthy Teens Act and try to get it published in a magazine.

Reflection

Over the past two weeks I've been feeling at a loss for this project. This project is something that I'm very passionate about and to watch it fall apart before my eyes was a bit disheartening. This new shift or our group's activity though seems to be the shining beacon to our project's salvation. This upcoming day of rallying with UCF at the State Capitol brings up a great quote from the article "At The Table". This quote is, "If this system of ours is supposed to be 'of the people, by the people' then let's claim the system for ourselves." (Seely 94) When our group goes to rally for support for our cause we will be claiming the system for ourselves. The elected officials help inact laws and speak for all of the citizens. By speaking for our cause these officials will hear our voices and will hopefully act in favor of our causes.

Reciprocity

I'm so relieved to see that this project finally has some direction again. If this project goes well I believe it will look great on my resume when I try applying for careers that will help me realize my dream of becoming a sex educator. It's so great to know that my voice will speak for all of the children out there that need proper sex education free of false information and gender stereotypes.

Work Cited

Seely, Megan. "At The Table." Fight Like A Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. 93-121. Print.

Ready For A Throwdown?

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
3/17/10

Ready For A Throwdown?

The seventh episode of the newest hit show to enter Fox’s prime time line-up, named “Glee”, deals with issues of segregation, two pregnancies (one real and one fake), a rivalry between two teachers, and the continued love triangle of three of the fellow glee club members. In this episode we find that Mr. Schuester’s (the Glee instructor) wife Terri is currently trying to cover up a hysterical pregnancy that she created in order to save her marriage. Terri and her sister have schemed to keep Terri’s false pregnancy from Will (Mr. Schuester) by giving off the charade of being pregnant and then adopt Quinn’s (the captain of the Cheerios who is pregnant) baby. Terri has quit her job in order to “prepare for her baby”. Her quitting her job has resulted in her “mommy tax”. By not having a job she is sacrificing that much needed income in order to raise her child when he or she is “born”. According to the essay “The Mommy Tax”, “men who are primary caregivers also pay a heavy price: a ‘daddy tax’” (Crittenden 341). Will’s “daddy tax” has now become the primary caregiver of their growing family. With only one person bringing in the home income (who is only a high school Spanish teacher), Will takes on a second job in the second episode as a night shift janitor.

Quinn’s pregnancy has created her own “mommy tax”. Her “mommy tax” is not necessarily all monetary though. Her pregnancy has brought up not only the money costs that come with giving birth to a child, but also the social costs too. Quinn is portrayed on the show as the most popular girl in school. She’s the typical captain of the cheerleading team who’s dating the quarterback of the football team. She has convinced her boyfriend Finn that he is the father of her child, when in fact Finn’s best friend Puck is the father. By the end of the episode Quinn pays her social “mommy tax” when Sue Sylvester (the Cheerios coach) finds out about Quinn’s pregnancy. Sue kicks her off of the team. As a result of this Quinn quickly loses her popularity and a large part of who she feels she is. Her only place to turn to is her fellow members of the Glee Club.

One of the biggest themes in this episode though is when Sue and Will begin to share the role of co-operating the glee club. Sue, who is on a relentless path of glee-club-destruction, has now found a new way of splitting up the glee club. She finds a loop hole in the rule book in which she can divide the club up and rehearse her own songs. She quickly snatches up all of the minorities in the club in an effort to make them feel as if someone is listening to their needs and cares for them (which she states that Mr. Schuester doesn’t do so). At the same time though she gives them heartless nicknames (“gay kid”, “Aretha”, “Shaft”, “Asian Kid”, “Other Asian Kid”, and “Wheels”). The only kid that she doesn’t give a crude nickname to is the Latina girl who is one of her Cheerios. Sue is the kind of woman who is bent on achieving success and doesn’t care about who she hurts along the way. Her Cheerio cheerleader squad is more known than being great cheerleaders than being smart. In fact, most of the girls on the cheerleader squad are portrayed as being stupid (with the exception of Quinn). In this episode Will even states that on one of the Spanish tests he gave a member of the Cheerios “misspelled her name and drew pictures of sombreros for all of the answers” (“Throwdown” 16:15).

According to Seely’s article “At The Table” “Music, television, and movies set the tone for behavior, style, sexuality, and gender” (Seely 103). While “Glee” is a great show that tackles many different issues such as racism, sexism, able-bodiness, and homophobia, it tends to do it in a very stereotypical fashion. The cheerleaders are dumb, the football players are popular, and the “gleeks” are the outcasts.

Works Cited


Crittenden, Ann. "The Mommy Tax." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 337-45. Print.

Falchuk, Brad, Ryan Murphy, and Ian Brennan. "Throwdown." Glee. Dir. Ryan Murphy. Fox. 14 Oct. 2009. Mega Video. Web. 18 Mar. 2010.

Seely, Megan. "At The Table." Fight Like A Girl. New York: New York UP, 2009. 93-121. Print.

Did Earl Really Have To Die?

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
March 8, 2010

Did Earl Really Have To Die?

"Goodbye Earl" by The Dixie Chicks tells the tale of two best friends that scheme to end the life of one of the girl's husband because of his abusive ways. The one best friend, Mary Anne, escaped the town after high school graduation. In the song they never mention where she went but one can assume that she was off earning an education. The other girl, Wanda, stayed in the town and ended up with Earl. After marrying Earl she began being abused by him. This is when Wanda enters what Megan Seely describes in her essay "Fighting Back" as a cycle of domestic violence.

Their cycle started at the Honeymoon stage. As portrayed in the music video, Wanda enters Earl's car wearing her wedding gown and a wide grin on her face. Shortly after that moment the cycle of violence is put into motion. When Wanda enters the denial stage she chooses to cover up her reminders of her daily abuse ("She put on dark glasses and long sleeved blouses and make-up to cover a bruise") (The Dixie Chicks). This denial stage of the cycle led into the Tension Building stage. This is the stage in which Wanda decides that she's had enough of the abuse and of Earl and files for divorce, along with a restraining order against Earl. Earl fights back by abusing Wanda to the point of landing her in intensive care. Wanda's friend Mary Anne, who never seemed to be to present in Wanda's post-marriage life, magically shows up at her friend's bedside. They both then scheme to end Earl's life. Earl's final abuse against Wanda and Wanda and Mary Anne's murder plot against Earl are both to be described as the fourth stage of the domestic violence cycle as the "Explosion of Violence" stage.

Seely's article states that this cycle goes on until the woman leaves the relationship or dies (Seely 189). In this case however, Wanda left the relationship by killing Earl. Both Wanda and Mary Anne discussed that the only way out of Wanda's relationship was for them to poison and kill Earl. In the article "Violence Against Women" it is stated that "Occasionally women kill abusive partners, seemingly the only way out of situations in which they believe they would be killed if they did not defend themselves" (Kirk 258).

While the subject of being in an abusive relationship and seeing no way out of it other than ending the life of the one who is abusing you is one of very morbid tones, The Dixie Chicks make the subject into an upbeat song that screams "Girl Power!" By the end of the music video the whole town (including the zombie Earl) is dancing in the streets celebrating the death of Earl. "Goodbye Earl" gives an almost positive message to women that killing your abusive spouse is an accepted and okay way to leave a relationship infected with domestic violence. Many women (sadly including myself) love this song too. Why does it seem that the only songs that women have to look to that embody women empowerment also deal with violent matters such as this? Does the proverbial Earl in every domestic violence relationship have to be murdered in order for these battered women (and sometimes men) to escape their horrible situation they were dealt with? If only women today had more positive female power songs to look up to.

Works Cited

The Dixie Chicks. "Goodbye Earl." Fly. Monument Records, 1999. MP3.

Seely, Megan. "Fighting Back." Fight Like A Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. 185-217. Print.

"Violence Against Women." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 257-73. Print.

Group Activism Blog: Week 4

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
3/5/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 4

Activism

This week our group was still caught in a slump with finding out where to go with our project. After class on Monday Gryphyn and I discussed possible ways to convince parents why their children need comprehensive sex education. We came up with possibly creating a mock comprehensive sex education class for parents to attend so they could see what their children were going to be taught if The Healthy Teens Act is ever brought back into session again and was passed. That way the parents who attended would be involved in their childrens' possible education and be allowed to ask questions. In order to do such a task though I would want to find a professional sex education teacher and a proper venue to hold this event in. The idea never progressed into anything more because I think we realized how hard it would be to take on such a task without an organization to back us up and the fact that we are now short a member of our group.

Reflection

This idea would have been fantastic if we had the needed support to carry out the plan. It would have also been a learning experience for us. I think it would have been great to see how a proper comprehensive sex education class will be taught if The Healthy Teens Act is ever passed. Maybe the three of us would have been able to pull off this event on our own if we didn't have other responsibilities taking up our schedules. While I was reading Seely's chapter "Fighting Back" I was reading the short list of rape myths she listed. Three of them really caught my attention. These three are "Rape is a part of men's biological nature"; "Men cannot control their sexual desires/arousal"; and "Women provoke rape by the clothes they wear, their make-up, the way they act." (Seely 192) These same myths are often carried over into abstinence-only sex education courses except of these myths pertaining to rape they pertain to sex in general.

Reciprocity

This project and the class in general strengthens my desire to become a sex educator. Hopefully my dream will someday be realized.


Work Cited

Seely, Megan. "Fighting Back." Fight Like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. 185-217. Print.