Activism Log 2

Nadean Richards
04/15/12
Mrs. Tweed
Activism Log

Activism:

This week at my community partner was very interesting because we had a nice turnout of girls and they all participated in the activities. The first activity we did was the game called connections and some of them were actually surprised they had something in common with another girl. That was the whole purpose of the activity to show them we all have commonalities with one another. The next activity we did was a questionnaire about things they like and dislike. We read the answers anonymously and some of the girls lost focus and we had to tell them to quite down. We explained how it is rude to talk when someone is speaking in front of a group. The last thing we did was the vision boards and everyone took one home.   They really enjoyed this activity because it gave them a chance to explore and want better things in the future.  Our success was reaching out to the few girls and interacting with them on a more personal level. Again our pitfall was advertisement because we were expecting a bigger turnout than we ended up with. To help solve our pitfall we handed out two flyers to each girl before they left and told them to hand it out to their friends.

Reflection:

The activism I have done this week relates to the class topic of identity because some of these girls are not sure who they are yet and it showed through the questionnaire activity we did with them. Identity on the macro level has to do with media, education, and the government. Society has an identity that people strive to be even though it is unobtainable.  Whether you’re considered normal or having the perfect beauty ideal, someone is constantly being judged all the time. This section of the class has made me more aware of feminine issues like the beauty ideal and identity. I knew there was a beauty ideal but I wasn’t aware that people were actually obsessing over it and it’s quite scary. Society is so worried about appearance it questions what other factors are important in one’s life. The girls that we had didn’t seem that concerned about their appearance and it was refreshing in a way because it was natural beauty they were ok with. Natural beauty is looked at as negative when it should be positive because it looks more real.

Reciprocity:

This SL project has made me want to be more involved in the community because I can see that there are young minds that need help. No one is perfect and sometimes people need inspiration into the right direction from someone else other than their parents. Teaching the young girls about commonalities and goals will hopefully inspire them to be different and make their dreams come true. From a feminist perspective this may be seen as activism because we are going out into the community and teaching students about worldwide issues. Activism is easy but it’s whether or not it’s effective enough to help someone. Learning from experience is one of the first steps to changing the world.    

Works Cited:

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives. N.p.: Frank Moritmer, n.d.
Print.

Environmental Assignment

Nadean Richards

Ms Tweed

Intro to Women’s Studies

06 April 2012

 

The women’s agency stresses the importance of the environment because it affects women and children the most. They cover many areas like food, water, and climate change. The ecological footprint refers to the amount of energy, land, water, minerals, and other natural resources required by varying lifestyles. It measures levels of consumption and then evaluates the changes so we can know whether to increase or decrease something in the environment. They relate the environment back to sexuality for example the “virgin forest” or “the rape of the earth”. They feminize the environment through imagery and things that can reproduce life. They also mention environmental justice which is the right that all citizens have access to clean water, healthy living, and clean working conditions.  The video and the footprint made an impact on me because I didn’t realize how much waste was going on in the world and how much I am contributing to it. In the video she mentions that 40% of our water is undrinkable and that number is too high considering our population. The environment needs to be taken more seriously and everyone needs to work together to keep it clean. The environment is part of a woman’s nurturing process because naturally we take it upon ourselves to take care of others and make sure others are aware of a specific issue. Even though this is considered a women's issue it is also a worldwide issue that needs to be addressed.

Campus Engagement 2

Nadean Richards

Ms Tweed

Intro to Women’s Studies

27 march 2012

The event I attended was called “Environment on Global Climate Change” and it was led by Alexandra Cousteau. She traveled all around the world evaluating water and climate change. She mentioned the global water crisis which is water sanitation, water resources all around the world, and the access to clean water. All of these things are meant to be interconnected and society hasn’t achieved this goal. Two questions that she asked were “Do we have quality of water?” and “Do we have quantity of water?”.  The answer to both of those questions are no because the quality of water is not as clean as it should be and the quantity of water is less than needed to obtain normal levels of water.  These are very important concerns that we as society need to be aware of because this is a world changing crisis. We need to be aware of where the water comes from and where it’s going once it leaves the community. I am a part of the community that needs to be more aware of global issues because it does affect me. Pollution is also an issue because that is the reason why the water is not clean along with bacteria and many other factors. Another issue includes sewage being backed up into our water system making our clean water unsafe. This issue has been around for years now and still occurs in today’s society all around the world.  An example of climate change that really put it in perspective for me was “when birds disappear it is a sign of a drought”. I thought that was very interesting because I never thought about it in that way and it does make sense. The climate change could possibly cause dryer droughts, colder winters, worse storms, and worse floods all around the world. This is a warning that people should take seriously and try to prevent. I believe as a society global climate change and the global water crisis can be prevented if we all work together. Activism is way to help solve this problem because it makes people aware of a serious issue. This was a learning experience for me because I didn’t know a lot about these issues and watching the exploration really help me understand. I hope these issues get resolved so we can live in a safer world and provide the best environment for our children.

Activism Log 1

Activism:

My group went to our community partner on March 3 2012 to do our service learning project. The turnout was good we had about 10 girls come to our event. The youngest girl was 5 years old and the oldest was about 12. We completed our project and everyone participated in the vision board activity. We also took pictures of the girls and gave them snacks about half way through the event. We also had a small talent show and the girls danced and singed. It was nice to see them show their talent because it showed confidence and enjoyment. Our pitfall was advertisement because we were expecting a bigger turnout then we ended up with. To help solve our pitfall we handed out two flyers to each girl before they left and told them to hand it out to their friends and invite others to the next one. Next time we should go there a few days before the event and handout flyers to young girls.   

Reflection:

The activism I have done so far relates to seely’s article “Fight like a girl”. It relates because we played a game called connections with the girls and the purpose of the game is to find commonalities with one another. In her article she talks about finding commonalities with one another so we all can a share a common goal of ending discrimination. We also displayed activism on the girls because we gave them flyers and told them to tell their friends about our program. In the article she talks about different ways to do activism and we used flyers and simply telling them to talk to their friends. This experience has changed the way I view feminism because my first impression was that it was mainly about women’s issues and the determination to get equal rights for women. Now that I have been learning different aspects of feminism my opinion has changed and I enjoy learning new things every day. Our community partner has views on girls developing into young women and teaching them self worth and having goals in their life. This is also why we decided to the activity with the vision board because it gives the girls a chance to dream and make them come true by accomplishing whatever is on their board.

Reciprocity:

This SL project is not just a project to me because I am actually being a positive influence to young girls. Teaching them about self esteem and commonalities makes me re think my personal decisions in life and what I could have done differently. These girls actually open up to me about certain things in their life and when I was their age I couldn’t even do that. The advice I give them I also make a mental note for myself because I am still growing into a young woman. From a feminist perspective this may be defined as activism because we are reaching out to the community and making them aware of certain issues. Activism is the first step in order to change the world and it can be as easy as talking to friends.

Works Cited

Frazier, Lyndora. Beautiful Butterflies. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.
<http://inspirebeautifulbutterflies.org/staff.html>.

Seely. Fight like a girl. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Advertisement project

I chose this picture of Jennifer Hudson because she is the perfect example of how beauty ideal affects the world. When she first became famous she was overweight but had an amazing voice as well.  I didn’t change the image because I thought it fit my point very well. Her mouth is open and that shows her fun side which is another reason why I chose this photo. Media has a way of changing how people look and society just accepts it. The point I wanted to prove in the picture is to let someone know society has an ideal that is unreachable and people still try to follow it anyway. My ad is directed towards women because many of them look up to her and would probably listen to her in real life. This helps me understand how other women think and it does affect my life as well. I want some of the features of the beauty ideal but I’m not too extreme with my goals. I believe health is very important and being overweight as a child really helped me keep my weight under control for awhile now.  In this photo she is wearing a tight fitted dress that shows some of her curves and promoting a book about how her weight has changed her life. Her skin in flawless and make up is done very well. She fits most of the characteristics of the perfect beauty ideal.  The color of her dress also compliments her skin color making it look lighter. There is a difference between implicit and explicit meaning because they are interpreted in two different ways. Implicit meaning is when something is meant to be implied and explicit is when the point is stated clearly in the text and gives no room for question.

Hey Girl

.

 Did you know that society controls how our bodies look throughout our entire lives?  Beauty Ideal seems like just a myth because no one really looks like that actual Ideal. Resisting stereotypes is going to be a challenge for the world.  By the way girl I’m on this diet called weight watchers and it works great.

*I had a really hard time getting the words to be on the picture.

Works Cited

“Page 5.” Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. <http://www.google.com/‌search?q=jennifer+hudson+pictures+2012&hl=en&prmd=imvnsuo&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=c4hNT9ujOsTgtgeuqt2kCA&ved=0CCEQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=596>.

“Page 1.” Merriam Webster Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/‌dictionary/‌implicit>.

“Page 1.” Merriam Webster Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/‌dictionary/‌explicit>.

SL Proposal

Service Learning Proposal for Beautiful Butterflies Mentoring Program Inc.

By: Andrea Thompson, Latoya Rattery, Nadean Richards

February 16^th 2012

Meredith Tweed

WST 3015-001

Program information:

Beautiful Butterflies Mentoring Program, Inc.

Office Phone (321)-972-5862

Cell Phone (850)-443-3088

E-mail: beautifulbutterflies.empower@gmail.com 

Web address: www.inspirebeautifulbutterflies.org 

Address: Beautiful Butterflies Mentoring Program, Inc. 

PO BOX 2594 Eatonville, Florida 32751

Project  Details:

Unity between You and Me: Recognizing Commonalities and Enhancing Individuality

Time: 12:00pm-3:00pm

Location: NW Community Center

Facilitators:  Andrea Thompson, Latoya Rattery, Nadean Richards

Potential Event Dates:  Feb.18, Mar.3, Mar.17, Mar.31, Apr.14

Community Partner Profile:

Mission: This is a non-profit agency that provides mentors for girls’ ages 9-18. BBMP connects women in the community with young girls who desire to have a mentor. Our Volunteers and Mentors are dedicated women from diverse backgrounds and professions who are dedicated to working closely with girls to identify their needs. BBMP provides different services to clients such as Academic Support Programs, Life Skills Development Programs and Counseling Services. They also provide one to one mentoring, summer workshops for help with self esteem, and hands on education networking programs centered on community participation. 

http://www.inspirebeautifulbutterflies.org/organizationalbackground.html

Proposal:

The purpose behind this event is to illustrate to the girls how similar all women of color are despite our assumptions, while encouraging them to celebrate their individuality. Our action plan is incorporated into an event consisting of two main activities. The first activity involves an anonymous Question/Answer session with the girls after having refreshments and playing an ice breaker game. This first activity will involve the Facilitators introducing themselves and providing a brief history of their past and different obstacles they have overcome. Facilitators will then ask the girls to answer a list of questions on paper anonymously. The questions that will be asked are the following:1)Write down a positive and negative childhood experience, 2)What are your fears, strengths, weaknesses , 3)What do you like to do,  4)What do you dislike doing, 5)Who is your favorite singer/rapper,  6)What is your favorite movie, 7)What does your favorite meal consist of,  8)What do you want to be when you grow up,  9)What convicts you (we will explain this),  10)Who do you think is the least similar to you in the group and why,  and lastly, 11)Who do you think is the most similar to you in the group and why. After the girls complete their questions they will place them in a bag and the facilitators will read through them and comment on the responses. The goal behind this activity is to show the girls that we are all more alike than we think and to not judge anyone by their appearance because they may be similar.

         Our second activity will involve facilitators showing the girls their vision boards and explaining what each picture represents to them. Facilitators will then explain how to complete a vision board and the girls will work on them together. To conclude the event, everyone will present their vision board and explain why they chose the pictures on their vision board. Facilitators will then reflect on the concepts discussed during the event and explain to the girls how they can encourage each other and refrain from judging. Each girl will bring their vision board home and be assigned to place it somewhere in their room where they can see it every day.

Proposal Plan:

It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students. Bullying has become an epidemic in our society today and we want to minimize that. We want to impact, influence, and change lives in the community by inclusive workshops that will build a community within Beautiful Butterflies and create a stronger bond for the girls among their peers. In doing so we will have workshops, discussions, and exercises such as the human knot as an icebreaker and introduce the girls to the term we have been discussing in class which is commonalities. We believe that this activity will help them in identifying, influencing, and inspiring each other to be aware of individual stories.  We understand the significance in numbers so we want them to know that they are stronger together. We will introduce “My Sister’s Keeper” which will encourage the girls that they are a family in Beautiful Butterflies. It will help them to realize they are not alone in this world and that they have extended family like each other that they can call on .Our ultimate goal is to resolve conflicts to create solutions to end bullying in schools and other negative influences that might be in their lives . As we shape the girls to have confidence within themselves they can encourage others about Beautiful Butterflies so they can all fly against all odds.

Supplies:

Supplies that we would need in order to host this event will be poster Boards, crayons/markers/colored pencils, paper, magazines, scissors, tape, snacks, drinks, and name tags. During our event, we will all be involved in each activity and provide feedback equally.  We are taking on the event as a group so we have not designated any particular jobs to each other. We will all come together to fund snacks and posters for the event.

TimeLine:

We would like to facilitate 5 individual events for five Saturdays. The five Saturdays we will be attending the group will be Feburary18th, March.3th, March.17th, March.31st, April 14th. Our goal is to work with different girls each Saturday because we will be having the same activities for the event each time.

Rationale:

The problems that BBMP addresses include self worth, conflicts between young girls, getting good grades in school, and having a healthy relationship as well as being physically healthy. They address all of these issues in the mentoring program because these girls need someone positive in their life to help them become successful women. Everyone has a past and these mentors want to help these girls heal and move in the right direction for their future. Self worth is very important to this organization because they believe every girl or woman needs this in their life to get respect from others and to have respect for themselves. This project relates to my women’s studies class because the course is about bringing women together for a specific cause and so is this project. Women need to stick together instead of going different ways and disrespecting one another. In order to produce change someone or a group of people have to address it. We are going to teach these girls to stand up for themselves and make sure there voice is heard from anyone they talk to.

word count 1,102

Campus Engagement

Nadean Richards

Ms Tweed

Intro to Women’s Studies

07 February 2012

Campus Engagement 1

The event I attended was called “Black women in feminism” and it was very interesting because the teacher talked about different challenges African American women had to overcome and different feminists that changed the movement.  Some names that were mentioned include Alice Walker, Bell Hooks, and Michelle Obama. Bell hooks talked about feminism in a pop culture way which made her books approachable for people to read.  One of the questions the teacher asked was “What steps can we take to educate people about black feminism?” .  I think we should start by putting information about black feminism in textbooks and having them accessible to everyone.  It all starts with education and unless students have access to the information they won’t know the facts. The three challenges that were discussed include proof that feminism is not just for white women, demand to share power with white women, and fight the hate towards men. People stereotype this movement because of what they have either seen or heard from someone else. Feminism is not just for white women and men can also be included in this change. We all need to work together in order to achieve one goal which equality for all sexes. Michelle Obama was called an angry black woman because she is an active member of feminism. This is morally wrong because this stereotype is not true and still manages to be in the media. Even though women have a right to be angry it does not mean that they are and it should not matter what their race is either.  We also talked about what people think is beautiful for a woman as in means of appearance, for example lightly colored skin, thin body, long hair, etc. I think the media has such a major role on how they think people should look and think, it seems like everyone is trying to look the same and seem normal. Being normal is very important to people because they don’t want t seem weird or different. Woman are pressured into looking beautiful everyday because of these assumptions and some women get called ugly or get told they look like a boy because they don’t have long hair. This needs to change because women are more than just an appearance to others; they have a voice as well. From this event I learned that feminism still has a long way to go in society and that women need to step up and voice their opinions.