Service Learning Activism Log, Entry Five.

1) Not much to report, except that I cannot attend or even assist because I am supposed to work, and usually, I would get my shift covered in a heartbeat, but I am on sabbatical and MUST work once a month, lest I get separated (fancy corporate terminology that roughly means "fired without prejudice"), and the date I was scheduled is within the last week of that cycle. I don't know how this happened, but Schuyler and I were both under the impression it was on Thursday and it was written in my calendar as such, though to be fair, I have changed my calendars too many times to count, but when I looked back at the email, it was on Tuesday. I'm in touch with Rachel and Cristina and I'm going to do whatever they have planned on the days I'm available next week (I'm doing all of my homework now, so that I have afternoons and evenings free), but I can't work around this conflict.

2) VOX's plans for Men's Health week are working in cooperation with a number of other progressive campus organizations (NOW and I believe maybe Men Against Rape) and Bigger, Stronger, Faster* focuses on steroids and their implications for masculinities. The plot summary I found is as follows:

The documentary examines the steroid use of the director Christopher Bell and his two brothers, Mark and Mike Bell, who all grew up idolizing Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan, and Sylvester Stallone, and also features professional athletes, medical experts, fitness center members, and US Congressmen talking about the issue of anabolic steroids. Beyond the basic issue of anabolic steroid use, Bigger, Stronger, Faster* examines the lack of consistency in how America views drugs, cheating, and the lengths people go to achieve success.

From a feminist theory standpoint, the use of anabolic steroids is just symptomatic of a larger crisis for masculinity. We compensate our pro athletes better than our civil servants, and they often feel pressure to distinguish themselves from others in ways that we may deem unethical. The most valuable commentary we can make on this film is that masculinity is conditioned through the "Act-Like-a-Man" box outlined in Paul Kivel's article in Men's Lives, and it is completely plausible that men, specifically athletes, are even more socially constrained by gender roles than women are. Being under this cultural microscope causes men to overcompensate with toughness and aggressive, for fear of being called names (Kimmel and Messner 84). In addition to the movie night, as far as I know, though the communication is limited, I believe Rachel is still planning the HPV vaccination awareness events, which are pertinent to our understanding of a myriad of issues, specifically how safer sex practices can improve the lives of both partners. Usually, only female partners need to consider the repercussions of possibly contracting HPV, but a more egalitarian outlook will yield healthier lifestyles for both partners.

3) I'm gaining a sense of flexibility from these experiences. I am a classic only child and I hate when things don't go as planned and I don't counter unexpected changes well. Because Schuyler and I were both under the impression that the date had changed, I was, at first, a bit upset because I couldn't find any evidence that I had been notified. However, it was just a misunderstanding of dates, which makes sense, since this particular event has been rescheduled and conceived in many different ways over the past couple months. I'm sure it will all be worked out in due time.

Works Cited

Kivel, Paul. "The Act-Like-a-Man Box." Men's Lives. Ed. Michael S. Kimmel. 8th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2004. 83-85. Print.

Women and the Workforce.

I decided to focus on the Coen Brothers' 1996 film, Fargo, and one of its principle characters, the female cop, Marge Olmstead-Gunderson, played by Frances McDormand. She is an extraordinary paragon of female competence in the workforce, especially when juxtaposed with the bumbling efforts of both her coworkers and the criminals she is pursuing. Marge is seven months pregnant while doggedly pursuing two career criminals who have botched what should have been a routine hired kidnapping and kill many people in the process. She is never actively undermined, but it can't clearly be discerned how her male coworkers feel about her continual ability to outperform them. Her husband assumes rather nurturing qualities with respect to her pregnancy, cooking her breakfast and bringing her lunch at work to offset what would perhaps otherwise be an overwhelming load. It is, without a doubt, a very egalitarian relationship. Marge often uses her charm in a particularly feminine manner to gain information on her case, and the film, which is classified as a dark comedy, often plays on the stereotypes of the inherent niceness of Minnesotans to develop her character in a way that would not be believable elsewhere.

What is interesting about Marge, and what makes her rather fantastical in terms of whether or not she could hypothetically represent a real person, is that she is not only in a highly dangerous position (she lives in Brainard, North Dakota, so mortal danger probably isn't a daily occurrence, but this movie represents a rather anomalous situation that she has the potential to be presented with at any given moment), but she is also pregnant while doing it, and the primary breadwinner in a time (late 80's) and place (the very conservative, backwoods Midwest) where that concept is either foreign or generally viewed without favor. There is only one other major female character in the film, the woman who is kidnapped, and she is a housewife who is portrayed as being rather annoying and doltish. Despite the aforementioned social constructs, her husband, Norm, is her gracious partner, accepting her dominance in the relationship power differential without any visible hesitation. I also find it a bit hard to believe that given her environment, Marge maintains her femininity so well and uses it to her advantage in ways that make her even more of an asset than her male counterparts. She cleverly plays on her pregnancy to force suspects to talk to her, always stating she is "carrying quite a load" before inviting herself to sit down and politely but pointedly question them. An article in Time from 1992 called "Are Women Better Cops?," relevant in terms of contextualizing attitudes of the previous decade, mentions specifically that "women tend to rely more on intellectual than physical prowess [and] from that standpoint, policing is a natural match for them" (Time). Again, I must harp on the idea of strength in difference, as I always do when gender issues are discussed. In essence, she offers a converse, if idyllic, prospective from the patriarchal assimilation that is so often cited as an early problem of women entering male-dominated professions. Marge, as a character, is so wonderful in part because all of the people around her are decidedly average, or worse, and I don't believe that that is how most women advance themselves in their chosen professions, but rather, by being equals to their male counterparts who may have preconceived notions about their ability or lack thereof. 

In terms of the interplay between her work and family life, her second shift will clearly be managed very well by having a husband who does not adhere to a gendered division of labor or assume male privilege, but many women are not offered this luxury. The film ends with them celebrating the impending birth of their child and that his wildlife art was chosen for a stamp, and again, this is a very subtle nod to their gendered role reversal (husband in an artistic, "soft" position, while wife pursues hardened criminals). In terms of audience perception, these cues are used with purpose to point out what an extraordinary pair we are witnessing, that their relationship is in no way common, perhaps not even normative, but something to which we should aspire. They are an entirely unassuming, average Midwestern couple, and yet, their relationship recalls Naomi Wolf's conceptions of "Radical Heterosexuality" in the ways in which they both repudiate gender privilege in their relationship. That is especially interesting, as it implies that the "traditional family values" mentioned with respect to the nuclear family can occur without a "father [as] provider [and] wife/mother [who] spends her days running the home" (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 303-304). This alone makes Marge a fictional role model for any ambitious woman.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Mcdowell, Jeanne, and Georgia Pabst. "Are Women Better Cops? - TIME." TIME.com. Time Inc., 17 Feb. 1992. Web. 08 Nov. 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974878,00.html>.

Naomi Wolf's Radical Heterosexuality (handout)

Service Learning Activism Log, Entry Four.

1) I was finally able to volunteer for VOX last Saturday. Cristina taught me how to phone-bank with PPGO's automated system, and we bounced between calling people on their c4 list about Alex Sink, Kelly Skidmore, and Amendments 5 and 6, and standing outside with the volunteers who were assisting in the clinic escort process. It was the last day of Forty Days of Life, so there was quite a bit of yelling. The primary refrain was that "abortion kills babies," but while their message was clear and very abrasive, I was very glad that at the very least, they didn't use any particularly gruesome images on their posters. However, one poster asked the passing cars to "honk for babies," and while I'm sure that most of the people knew that it was an anti-choice group picketing a clinic, there were nearly as many honkers as non-honkers, which really shocked me, as I naturally assumed that most people were either ambivalent to the issue or supportive, unless it was undermined by their religious beliefs. Regardless, I didn't think that a lack of support would be conflated with the belief that being pro-choice is somehow anti-baby, as this poster clearly implied. Beyond that rather presumptuous implication, we had a great day phone-banking. Cristina said it was her most successful day phone-banking ever, and while I had no prior experience to which I could compare it, I had an incredibly positive experience. Generally speaking, even though people on their lists signed up and chose to be able to be surveyed, often, they tell us that they have no interest in doing so, or that their politics are not in line with our mission, or worse. However, every person that agreed to speak with me told me they were going to vote for Alex Sink, and nearly all of them said they would vote in favor of the fair redistricting amendments that Planned Parenthood supported. Most were older women who were very happy that young people were getting involved in the political process, and quite a few had some choice words about how unfit Rick Scott was for the position. I left on Saturday feeling very hopeful for the future of my state, though as we're all aware by now, the outcome was less than favorable.

2) This exercise demonstrates yet again that Planned Parenthood and feminist politics in general extend far beyond pro-choice politics and activism, though that is a huge part of it, obviously. The amendments were much more concerned with making sure that politicians don't hold too much power in districting to gain reelection. While that can be linked directly to the support of progressive social positions, its most immediate goal is just political accountability and ethics. Additionally, I had never been to this particular clinic, Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando's westside office, and therefore was unaware of the area to which it catered. It's built in a very low-income neighborhood by Jones High School, and is considered a safe place by the nearby residents. The protestors tried to conflate its location and clientele with the existence of a "black genocide" by white people, but I highly doubt that the accessibility of free birth control or an option in a tough situation is perceived that way by the community. Women's Lives does, however, mention that because choice is only meaningful to those with resources, then "a pro-choice framework creates a hierarchy among women based on resources which are linked to race and class" (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 214). In this case, though, Planned Parenthood offers affordable options, possibly even free, depending on the circumstances, for women, regardless of their background.

3) The phone-banking was a very enjoyable experience. I hate talking on the phone, especially with strangers, but in time, it became comfortable and I was able to have some very interesting conversations with quite a few people. The entire experience, while jarring in terms of the kind of opinions I encountered, was rewarding. Being involved in any cause that raises awareness about issues I care about, in addition to contributing to the options granted to women in what could be the worst period of their life, is very personally empowering for me, and I'm excited to work at the clinic in the future.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Word Count: 727

Service Learning Activism Log, Entry Three.

1) I specifically skipped last week in my logs because I had neither the information to offer, nor the time or energy to fill a word count. However, I've made significant strides in my Planned Parenthood plans and hours since I last logged. Most immediately, I will be phone-banking for the election, in favor of pro-choice candidates, at the Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando office tomorrow morning/afternoon, so that will amount to just enough hours that I'm not terribly worried about coming up short with this project, after the other plans are implemented. As for my reproductive health movie night, it basically became more trouble than it was worth for everyone involved, as VOX's calendar of events is packed in the month of November, so I'm teaming up with Jackie and Schuyler for their movie night on masculinity, where they're playing "Bigger, Faster, Stronger," on Tuesday, the 16th. I'll be getting the movie, preparing snacks, and offering any support necessary to Jackie and Schuyler, though I'm not sure yet what that will look like yet, beyond discussion leading at the end. I spoke to Rachel on Wednesday night about Men's Health Week and she's still planning events for Men's Health week and she's very tied up with her internships, so I am basically just waiting to hear from her and I'll work from there.

2) As always, Planned Parenthood is vital to including a balanced approach to women's health in our political discourse. Finding Democratic politicians who will not err on the side of caution with progressivism is often very difficult, as we often find instead that what was meant to be "change" is really moderate pandering. For this reason, I am incredibly glad to be phone-banking and helping others find politicians whose views line up with their own, as wading through the often murky rhetoric of politics can sometimes be viewed by prospective voters as more trouble than it's worth. Apathy to the political process only leads to the disempowerment of women in the longrun, as many states are poised to ban abortion or re-criminalize it, given the opportunity (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 214). In Colorado this year, there is an amendment on the ballot, referred to as the Colorado Fetal Personhood Amendment, which endeavors to change the Colorado Constitution by "applying the term 'person' as used in those provisions of the Colorado Constitution relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice and due process of law, to every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being" (Ballotpedia). Talk about problematic. Even though it would never begin to effect me or anyone I know directly, I can only hope that it does not pass, as it would set a very disturbing precedent.

3) As mentioned above, I feel incredibly grateful to be doing anything I can to give a progressive voice to my community. As it turns out, this is probably my easiest set of projects out of all of my Service Learning community partners, but organizing it has been exceedingly stressful because everyone I'm reporting to is very busy and has decided to change their plans without notice, which at this point, is completely fine with me, and these projects I have now are basically just incredibly easy, but necessary ways of completing my hours. I have learned that I absolutely have to be flexible in terms of what I plan to do with any particular organization, unless their calendar is planned at the very beginning of the semester, and again, I'm fine with that, and it's good for me on a personal level.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

"Colorado Fetal Personhood, Amendment 62 (2010) - Ballotpedia." Ballotpedia. Mediawiki, 27 Oct. 2010. Web. 29 Oct. 2010. <http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Colorado_Fetal_Personhood,_Amendment_62_(2010)>.


Word Count: 629

Service Learning Activism Log, Entry Two.

1) This week has been rather uneventful. I talked to Anjella about room reservations for our reproductive health movie night, and to my surprise, because we would like a multimedia room, we need a faculty advisor who must be present at the time of the screening. Women's Studies, as we all know, is run by some of the busiest faculty members around, and there aren't many of them, so I'm still trying to figure that quagmire out. I was specifically hoping for an evening screening to get the best turnout, but obviously, that is the time in which I'm least likely to be able to find an available staff member. I left my number with Anjella and she's going to give it to Lindsay, so I can try to work out a time that she might be available. Otherwise, at Dr. Malaret's suggestion, I contacted Cristina and Rachel from VOX and I'm going to see if NOW can co-sponsor the event, as I'm not sure VOX is a RSO, and NOW most certainly is, in which case, I can have a room in the union and all of the multimedia equipment for free. Basically, details are getting ironed out, but nothing solid has happened yet, which really isn't a big deal, as I'll be tabling for Men's Health Week quite a bit. On that note, Men's Health Week has been scheduled for November 15-19, and I've been emailing Rachel about that as well.

2) As always, VOX is an incredibly vital aspect of UCF's progressive community, and greatly enhances our understanding of reproductive health. The immediacy of these issues is evident in our text, with the articles that analyze the consequences of allowing governmental intervention into the experience of childbearing, as noted in Harjo's essay (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 239-242). Being encouraged to have agency through choice has been denied to women through many means in the past century, and following the reproductive life timeline just because it seems safer and easier is not making an informed choice. Though I was initially reluctant to choose Juno, I feel it is a very sound choice now because I find so much problematic about how the conventional choice has been rebranded as "alternative." Of course, there is no easy choice concerning an unintended pregnancy, nor any "wrong" choice where anyone but the prospective parents are concerned, but I feel that delving into the cult of teen pregnancy as a perverse status symbol is vital to our understanding and encouragement of informed choice.

3) Planning all of this has given me lots of physical exercise, running between offices, and my formal email writing skills are improving by leaps and bounds. It's a lot of experience with practical conflict resolution skills as well. Such and such went wrong, so now I need to do ten more things and talk to a number of other people in order to set up what I at first believed would be a relatively painless project. Regardless, I'm still enjoying the brainstorming process, with respect to what I want to do with the Q&A portion, and depending on the turnout, I'm seriously considering bringing homemade snacks, so that would be a lot of fun.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Word Count: 546

Women and Health.

1) I chose domestic violence because I was really pleasantly surprised with our textbook's choice to include a reading which emphasizes the overlap between a healthy physical body and eradicating gender violence.  The following data is all collected from a fact sheet published by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. Less than one-fifth of victims reporting an injury from intimate partner violence sought medical treatment following the injury. 16,200 homicides occur annually, due to intimate partner violence. Additionally, Delaware, Montana, and South Carolina specifically exclude same-sex relationships in their domestic violence laws (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence). Additionally, 84% of spouse abuse victims were females, and 86% of victims of dating partner abuse were female (American Bar Association). Combining all of this troubling information creates a climate of awareness wherein we realize that something must be done on a macro level to change the way we confront these issues.

2) Unhealthy conditioning of constructed masculinities is arguably the greatest single factor in this epidemic. If masculinity is conditioned to be aggressive, violent, and insatiable, it will be learned and reiterated as such. Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence). This is very troubling, but it also puts the burden of responsibility on the entire society to discourage these behaviors when children are young, so they can understand that controlling and physically abusing intimate partners is in no way healthy or functional.

3) As far as the healthcare is concerned, women should not be denied access to domestic violence shelters on the basis of sexual orientation. No domestic violence services should incorporate any level of discrimination, as it only encourages women to return to their abusers in their desperation. There should be nothing discouraging women from seeking the help they need, least of all financial shortcomings. All police officers should avoid blaming the women for their passive role in the cycle of violence, even if returning to an abusive relationship seems irrational when viewed from the outside.

4) If children witness reported domestic violence, beyond just therapy (mental health treatment) and care of any bodily injuries (physical health treatment), there should be a mandatory class on healthy expressions of anger, conditioning them that what they have witnessed is not functional on either end, though women caught in the cycle of abuse are in no way to blame for their fear to break free. However, it is possible to treat the problem preventatively and greatly reduce the frequency of this problem's occurrence. This would be a much more effective strategy than waiting until the cycle continues and giving it an anger management band-aid for what is already a deeply engrained and manifesting behavior.

Works Cited

"Survey of Recent Statistics ." American Bar Association. American Bar Assocation. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. <http://new.abanet.org/domesticviolence/Pages/Statistics.aspx#same-sex>.

"Domestic Violence Facts." National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. <www.ncadv.org/files/DomesticViolenceFactSheet(National).pdf>.

Service Learning Activism Log, Entry One.

1) I met with Cristina Calandruccio, president of VOX, about Men's Health Week, specifically the HPV awareness event that Rachel Collins is planning, and our reproductive health movie night, which we mutually decided should be moved to an on-campus classroom setting, as it will encourage more academic discourse. We would love if you would promote our movie night in your other classes, and even offer it as an extra credit opportunity for your students, whenever we work out the particulars as far as date, time, and location are concerned, as this will obviously give us a much larger turnout, and we'll also promote in our other classes, as we would like to encourage discourse beyond the progressive community. I've also been in contact with Rachel, regarding ideas for Men's Health Week. Successes: It was great to meet Cristina, though Kara could not accompany me. Pitfalls: I still don't know exact particulars, and will publish these details as they become abundantly clear to us. In the next week, I will work to get approval for a date and renting a room, create a Facebook event to raise awareness, sans the arduous process of making physical posters or flyers, et cetera, and speak further with Cristina and Rachel about plans for our project.

2) In terms of everything we've learned in class, obviously, men's sexual health is directly proportional to women's health, especially in terms of awareness about STIs/STDs. Men's Health Week will have a particular emphasis on proliferating information about the accessibility of Gardasil for men. Though the worst possible symptom men can expect to develop from having HPV is genital warts, and most of the time they will be entirely asymptomatic, there is still the risk of passing the virus on to female partners. In this case, it can be a much more serious problem, as HPV, if not caught by what should be a routine pap smear, can lead to cervical cancer, infertility, and even death. This is a huge problem, as STIs in women "may not be noticeable or may be difficult to diagnose as women often do not have any symptoms or, if they do, the symptoms are mistaken for something else" (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 215). In addition, educating about the many routes women take in understanding their options with respect to their reproductive health and making a choice, as we are planning to do with our movie night, reduces the stigma inherent to the often shameful experience of an unwanted pregnancy. In creating a dialogue, we hope to create a community where the process of shaming women for their reproductive choices becomes unacceptable behavior.

3) As far as reciprocity is concerned, I'm beginning to find that service learning is an excellent opportunity for networking within the progressive community. I'm receiving a wealth of knowledge just from surrounding myself with other people in the community, and all of my projects for Service Learning are informing each other very well. In fact, while I will not be working with VOX at Pride, it is very likely that I will still be around their table because I've designated it as a day to work for Animal Safehouse, but they don't have a table, so we're teaming up with VOX for resources. Though that won't count towards my hours, it obviously gives me an opportunity to become more intimately acquainted with the VOX's future plans and inner workings.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.


Word Count: 581