Group Activism Blog: Week 2

Madison Zierk
Jeannina Perez
WST 3015 Sec. 0002
2/19/10

Group Activism Blog: Week 2

Activism

In the second week of our activism project the group and I met and shared with each other what we had done with regards to the tasks we assigned each other the previous week. Heidi had problems finding the exact wording but, with the help of Dominique, we were able to find the bill and who was sponsoring it. I found one article in particular that really stood out to me as to why The Healthy Teens Act needed to be brought back to life and needed all the support it can get. There was not only a health concern for young women when teaching comprehensive sex education but a social concern too. Abstinence-only programs not only give out false information regarding pregnancy, condoms, and contracting STIs, these programs also perpetuate stereotypes among men and women. Ryan and Cecily came to the meeting offering nothing in the form of group contact so we discussed possible school clubs and groups that we could get to support our cause. We considered VOX and NOW and since Cecily has ties with the sororities and fraternities on campus we considered getting their involvement too.

Reflection

I never thought much past the health aspects of the necessity to teach comprehensive sex education to young men and women as well as children until I did the research I did. I found that abstinence-only programs continually teach girls that they need to safe guard their virginity from boys because boys are, by nature, sexual beings. These curricula also condemn girls and women if they choose to be sexually active. They claim that these girls are no longer pure, unspoiled, or fresh because they choose to loose their virginity. These curricula at the same time don't mention why a boy should hold on to his virginity or how he will be perceived if he chooses to have sex before marriage. According to the article Women's Sexuality "This fundamental contradiction between encouraging men's sexuality and expecting women to be chaste results in the contradiction of two categories of women:"good" women and "bad" women, virgins and whores- the women men marry and the women they fool around with." (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 151) These abstinence-only curricula are only causing these girls the constant worrying about how they are being perceived by their peers and the rest of society.

Reciprocity

I'm really hoping this project goes somewhere. The more I learn about this subject the more I'm convinced that I want to be a sex educator to teens and young adults.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Women's Sexuality." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. 149-60. Print.