Extra Credit #3

I went to the luncheon in the WAGS lounge on December 9 and we had pizza for the lunch. I got to sit and talk with Yaisa and her husband and got to know them a little better. We talked about their dog and talked a little but about different dogs breeds. We also talked about something that we enjoyed in the class and I was telling Yaisa that my favorite thing was having the woman from the Womens Resource Center coming out and talking about women and abuse. I then got to meet the WAGS teacher who teachers a domestic violence class in the fall and we talked about issues surrounding domestic violence and I am going to take the class in the fall of next year. We talked about the different group projects that we had in class. It was cool to sit around and talk to people about WAGS.

Blog # 12

I took Gender and War last semester in the Spring and the class opened my eyes to so many things. The thing that really set me off was women being raped as a tool of war. We had to find a report that an organization has done and my report was over women being raped as a tool of war over in Rwanda. The report exposed so much of what was going on and young girls were being raped. There was a story of how the military made a father rape his own daughter. There were several reports of women being raped by multiple amounts of men at the same time. Our teacher was telling us that some of the soldiers would stick their gun up women and pull the trigger which would completely mutilate the women's genitals. Our teacher talked about how women over there do not get the help they need because they can only take a certain amount of women. One of the organizations that I find unbelievable is Amnesty International. Their motto is "Action for Human Rights. Hope for Humanity." They do everything in their power to help people who's human rights have been violated. I respect this organization because they do everything in their power to help those in need. Let's face it, people in other countries do not have the right to a lot of things and their voices are never heard. It's disheartening to me and I love reading the reports that Amnesty International posts because it exposes what it is going on in the world and opens our eyes to reality. I hope to one day work for Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch because my heart and passion is to help women who are being raped as a tool of war. This subject truly touches my heart and hits home. I would like to go over into Rwanda and help these women with their rights as humans and help them deal with the horrible issues that are over there. My passion is to help people and I'm so glad that I took Gender and War because it has opened my eyes to a world that's dark and I hope to shed some light on the situation. 

"OUR MISSION

We are people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights. Our purpose is to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. We investigate and expose abuses, educate and mobilize the public, and help transform societies to create a safer, more just world. We received the Nobel Peace Prize for our life-saving work.

With more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in over 150 countries, and complete independence from government, corporate or national interests, we work to protect human rights worldwide. Our vision is of a world in which every person - regardless of race, religion, gender, or ethnicity - enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

Founded in 1961, our organization has campaigned successfully in recent years for the International Criminal Court and a UN Torture Treaty. Through our research and action, governments have been persuaded to stop human rights violations and change their laws and practices. Death sentences have been commuted. Torturers have been brought to justice. And prisoners of conscience have been released. We ask you to join us - to take action and stop human rights abuses wherever they occur."

Extra Credit #2

I went to the launching of the Center for Social Justice last night and I wasn't able to arrive until 6:15 because I had practice until 6. I unfortunately didn't get to hear any of the speakers talk, but I got to sit and watch the video that they had playing in the background. The video was filled with quotes from different people and also had photos of women from all over the world. I picked up a few papers and I also signed a few petitions. I'm extremely interested in women being raped as a tool of war ever since I took Gender and War in the spring semester. It was a very eye opening class and my passion grew to somehow get involved and so I added WAGS as my minor. I'm so glad that the Center for Social Justice is opening because students at OU will be able to have access to what's going on around the world. I'm very excited to see it grow and prosper into a great part of OU. 

Extra Credit #1

I went to Professor Mann's body image class and spoke to her class about my experience with eating disorders. I used to binge eat and gained around 40 pounds and was going through an extremely rough time in my life. I talked about how it was easier for me to rely on food because it filled a void that I was feeling and it also kept me distracted from dealing with the issues that I needed to face. I talked about how I went through this alone, but my mom finally caught on. I talked about how none of my friends ever asked me if something was wrong and I just kept it all to myself. People asked me some questions about if I'm more open about it now with my friends and I told them that I was more open now with my friends about the situation and that I wish I had let them in at that point in my life because I was at an ultimate low. I was asked my thoughts on how I would've liked my friends to approach me about the situation and I told them that I really don't know what I would have preferred them to say. I decided to stay for the rest of the class because there was another speaker. It was a wonderful experience to be able to speak to other students about my experience and make them aware of eating experiences. 

Paper #2

I'm sorry that I'm just now posting this paper. I talked to Professor Mann about me having problems with being able to post it on here, but now I'm able to. Thanks!

Maile Naone

November 19, 2009

Intro to Womens Studies

 

                                                                                                            Kabul Beauty School

                  This movie opened my eyes to the beauty ideals and the idea of gender in Kabul City. Being a westerner, I never fully was able to understand what gender ideals meant to Muslim societies. In the Muslim societies, men are the ones in control and women fall into the background. The Kabul Beauty School allowed women to feel beautiful and to have a self identity. This film revealed the beauty ideals of Muslim women and how gender plays out in Muslim societies and it’s disheartening that these women rely so much on beauty to have an identity.

                  When the Taliban took over Kabul City, they closed salons and women had to secretly own salons without them finding out. The acceptable look for men was to wear turbans and have beard and women wear burkas to cover up their bodies. In the movie, I became fully aware that men were in complete control over the women and that is completely foreign to me. The women have no control of who they want to marry because the families of the women choose who they are going to marry. Nafisa was married to her first cousin because that’s who her family chose for her to marry. With the examples in the movie, women relied on beauty to have a self identity. While the school allowed for women to have a chance at being successful, it also showed how much women rely on beauty in Muslim societies.

                  Beauty has different concepts and ideals in different cultures all over the world. Women in Muslim societies don’t have an identity so they rely heavily on beauty. In the Muslim societies, women only wear makeup and do their hair for weddings and special events. Women are supposed to keep their bodies covered and there’s a sense of modesty. However, Muslim women wish that they could be free like us and wear what they want and be able to express themselves freely. The society is so restricted on allowing women to express themselves and it’s very disheartening to me to see that these women rely so much on beauty. The beauty school allowed for women to have a chance to make their place in society. However, men were still upset at the school because they want to be in control and not have women in control.

                  The relationship between gender is not very good and is completely different from what I am used to. I would not be able to live in a society where men have complete power and women don’t have a say at all. This movie portrayed men in a very negative way and I’m sure this caused many problems after the movie was released. I feel absolutely horrible for women in Muslim societies and I only hope that one day they will be able to have their own identity. Beauty can only take these women so far with self identity because they live in a world where makeup is not entirely accepted. Deborah Rodriguez wanted to make it known to other cultures what Muslim women face on a daily basis.

                  Beauty holds such a high importance in Muslim societies for women. Although this school helped some women, it only drew attention to the ongoing issues in Kabul City. Not all women feel pressured to always wear the burkas anymore, but there is a pressure on women to not rely so much on beauty because men have idealistic views of the women being extremely modest. Women in Muslim societies are trapped in a box of distorted images of what it is to be beautiful and only time will tell if they can break this ongoing cycle.

 

Blog #11

I chose to do the Sisterhood is Global Institute as my NGO. "The Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI), an international nonprofit NGO with Consultative Status to the United Nations, is creating a dynamic global communications network through which an umbrella of NGO interest, advice, contacts, and support can collectively be mobilized for greater, more cost-effective impact in connecting and empowering the global Women’s Movement, ensuring:

• An "always on" movement, enabling women and women's groups to contribute and participate, anytime, from anywhere;
• An opportunity for sustained cross-organizational communication and issue-based coalition-building;
• Grassroots empowerment resulting in a greater integration of local activism and global advocacy"

"It was founded by Robin Morgan, Simone de Beauvoir, and women from 80 different countries in 1984. The institution was created from the book  Sisterhood Is Global: The International Women's Movement Anthology. The Institute pioneered the first Urgent Acton Alerts regarding women’s rights; the first global campaign to make visible women's unpaid labor in national accounts; and the first women’s rights manuals (in 12 languages) specifically for Muslim societies."

A lot of feminists loved the book that this organization was based on and the institution itself is doing a lot for women all over the world and especially for the Muslim culture. The women that are on the board of this organization are women that seem extremely admirable and some celebrities are on the board such as : Jane Fonda and Margaret Cho. This organization has accomplished a lot and are always on the move to enable women and women's group to contribute anytime and anywhere. This organization unites women all over the world no matter what their ethnicity or religion is. While looking at the website, I just felt a sense of togetherness for women. This organization allows women in other countries to be heard and to have a voice. I know in Muslim societies, the voices of women are not heard because men dominate. This organization has allowed Muslim women to feel like they are wanted and to make them feel like they are truly appreciated as a woman. I believe that people should donate to this organization because they are doing everything in their power to unite women across the universe. Even if it's not for this organization, there are other ones out there that have the same mission. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I_t79na8Yk

This is video contain an interview with someone from SIGI

Blog #10

One of the benefits of men putting "tough guise" is that men are seen as the caretaker of their wives and women can feel protected and safe. Putting on this "tough guise" allows men and boys to be ready for a society that puts pressure on men to be strong and masculine. It can be dangerous though because it leads to a negative image of violence for men unfortunately. Gender issues can actually run synonymously with women's issues to an extent. When dealing with gender issues, gender roles also need to be mentioned. Men are expected to be the provider and the strong one and women are supposed to be the child bearers and women need to be soft and gentle. Male bashing does not help men at all because it can lead to violence and because men are expected to be tough, male bashing can ruin a man and then he takes that anger out through violence. When seeing an ad for men of color, they tend to be very muscular and seem extremely tough. These ads do not help the stereotype that men of color are violent. Men and even boys of all races see these images and want to be just like the person who is pictured. There is already enough pressure on men to look tough and be masculine and these images of men of color could make men feel like they are not tough enough. I believe that white men see men of color and being superior when it comes to being tough because the images out there show these men of color as big, tough individuals. Good examples would be of Adrian Peterson or any other pro football player who's of color. There is nothing wrong with putting images out there that show men of color having large muscles, but there are going to be negative consequences and it's like that with every kind of ad. 

Blog #9

After doing some research on Belkins essay, I found that people are pretty split in regards to their response. The two sides to the argument are whether moms should work when they have a job or if they should stay at home with their kids and not work. Those who choose not to work are opting out. Those who choose to stay at home with their kids want to experience every moment with their kids and not let those moments be shared with some daycare worker or baby sitter. When I was growing up, my mom took me to a daycare, but my mom also worked at the daycare. My mom also worked for the school system so she was always out of school when I was out of school for holidays. It was nice to have my mom there because I wouldn't want to look back and remember being only taken care of a day care worker or a babysitter. I have nothing against mothers who choose to keep working with kids because I have babysat and I have worked in a daycare. I will personally choose to stay with my kids during my leave of absence and then probably send them to a daycare or something because I want my kids to be able to socialize with other kids. My dream job is to be a stay at home mom, but I also am feeling the pressure to have to work when I do have kids. I would leave my kids with a very good daycare and a well known daycare because I would want my kids taken care of. I personally don't eat very well now because I don't have the time to eat healthy with classes keeping me busy, but when I do have kids I will cook very nutritious meals and maybe even buy organic foods. 

Blog #7

I am a Hawaiian female and I relate to being more white than I am Hawaiian because I was raised in a white community and my mom is white. When I go to the store, I don't get followed by the store manager thinking that I'm going to steal something, especially if I'm walking in with my mom. When I have my windows rolled down, I know that I won't get pulled over the color of my skin because I have Hawaiian stickers all over my car. If I were a white male, I wouldn't have to worry about not getting a job based on my color or if I will require maternity leave when I decide to have children. I wouldn't have to worry about coming back and my job being replaced by someone else. I wouldn't have to worry about being in the minority group and would always have a feeling of superiority. I wouldn't have to worry about my voice not being heard. I am a middle/upper class female who doesn't have to worry about going poor or not having my college tuition paid for. I have my own car and I have designer purses. I am able to attend college and I am able to do things that other women cannot do. As a young, able-bodied woman, I don't have to worry about being turned away from a job because of my age. I am able to go out and party and not have to worry about work the next day or worry about kids. I am able to play sports without feeling to much pain and I'm able to perform tasks for older people. I am able to be in The Pride of Oklahoma and I'm able to dress like I'm 21 and not be judged. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Xe1kX7Wsc

This is a video talking about white privilege and the speaker is Tim Wise

Blog #5

1. Stupid Girls- This song goes against all the stereotypical girl and Pink always makes awesome songs. Pink really is one of those women who just really doesn't care what other people think and she does what she wants and this song sends such a positive and powerful message to girls.

2. Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend- I chose this song because it's one of the most feminine songs I know because the title says it all.

3. If I Were A Boy- This song is wonderful because Beyonce lists all the stereotypes of men and it's such a great song and empowers women in a way. I could honestly listen to this song over and over again because it has such powerful lyrics. I love that Beyonce takes the song and sings it as if she were a boy and it just really shows how women feel and the music video is even more powerful.

4. Single Ladies- This song is awesome because it's saying not to settle for anything less than good. It promotes self worth as well and it's such a good song.

5. I'm just a girl- I chose this song because No Doubt is saying that she doesn't want to be a girl because people think that we're delicate creatures and that we can't do certain things.

6. Unpretty- I chose this song because it promotes good body image because TLC is pretty much saying to love yourself as a woman and embrace your beauty. Body image is an issue of women's studies and so I chose thing song.

7. Can't Hold Us Down- This song is the ultimate empowerment song for women. Once you listen to it, you just want to celebrate being a woman and standing up for womens rights.

I honestly don't think my change in music has changed throughout the years. I've always been someone who listens to all kinds of genres and I'm still that way. I do go through phases sometimes where I want to listen to country more or I want to listen to pop songs more. I can't find one type of genre that I just absolutely love over the other. I truly listen to it all and I'm sure that I will always remain this way. I also listen to songs from when I was younger sometimes.

Gender Realization- Paper #1

Gender Realization

            When I was a child, I never was fully aware of gender differences. I always knew that girls played with Barbies and boys always played with Legos. I did pageants when I was younger and there were boys who also did pageants, but I never thought that was weird since I was raised around that. When I was in second grade, I entered cheerleading and knew that boys always played football. It wasn’t until I got into 9^th grade that I had my first big experience with gender.

            I was in band in junior high and there were some boys who played clarinet that you could tell were gay, but I never really thought about gender into detail until I joined the colorguard. When we tried out, I didn’t even think twice to question why there were no boys trying out because I thought of colorguard being something only girls did. It also didn’t cross my mind that our guard instructor was a gay man. When we went to our first contest, I remember sitting in the stands watching another high school perform and they had a boy in their guard. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him because he moved so gracefully and honestly was the best member of the guard. I became extremely confused because I began to wonder why we don’t have guys in our guard. It didn’t make sense to not have a guy because every guy that I watched that day at the contest was absolutely wonderful and the way they moved was breathtaking.

            I remember asking one of the older girls in our guard why we didn’t have any guys in our guard and she told me that our guard instructor didn’t want any guys in our guard. If a guy had tried out for our colorguard, he wouldn’t of made it simply because he was a guy. To me, our guard instructor contradicted himself since he was our guard instructor and had done guard for many years. I couldn’t imagine why in the world he wouldn’t want to make our guard look even better. In the four years that I was in guard in high school, a boy never tried out for guard. There were some guys in band who expressed interest in trying out for guard, but they knew they wouldn’t have made it. To this day, I still don’t know why our guard instructor didn’t allow guys on our guard. When I got to OU and tried out for The Pride, there were no guys at tryouts. I think that if a boy tried out for our guard, they would make it because I haven’t heard any differently.

            In 2007, we went to the Big XII Championship and played Missouri and their colorguard had a guy in it. Some of our fans who were male and students at OU began yelling obscene things at this poor guy and calling him a fag. What they didn’t see was that he was probably the best one out there on the field. I was embarrassed because our fans were so close minded about there being a guy in Missouri’s guard and you could tell that they guy in the guard was hurt by what our fans were saying to him. To me, it doesn’t matter if you are male or female and decide to be in colorguard because 99% of the time, the guys are absolutely phenomenal. One of the most famous Drum Corps International bands only allows guys in their guard and has no girls in their entire band and their colorguard is the most amazing thing to watch.

            I understand that it looks weird when there’s a guy in colorguard because they are perceived to be gay and feminine. Our society has built the male image to be manly and that males should play sports. Women are supposed to be the girly ones and be in things such as colorguard or cheerleading. It doesn’t seem to bother our fans when they see our male cheerleaders on game days. My experience with gender really opened my eyes to what society expects of gender. Even when I was in high school, there were band members who would make fun of other guard because they had guys in it. I became aware that there is a thick line when it comes to gender sometimes. I wish there would be a guy that would try out for our guard because I never got to experience that. Two years after I graduated, my high school got a new guard instructor and also two male members in the guard. I was enlightened by the change because those two guys were the best ones.  I think that everyone just needs to open his or her minds to gender because it honestly doesn’t bother me.            

            I am more aware of gender now more than I used to be. Like I said, it never phased me when I saw boys competing in pageants or if I saw a boy who seemed girly. Gender never bothered me until I joined colorguard because I realized the close mindedness of people. I will be happy when I see a male in the OU colorguard because that means that change is coming because we are kind of set in our ways. I will be happy when the day comes that our fans aren’t harassing males who decide to be in colorguard. Change is coming and I will be waiting patiently for it to arrive.

           

            

Blog #4

When I graduate college, I really want to go over to Africa and work with a nonprofit organization like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch and help women and children over there who are being raped as a tool of war or work in a refugee came there. However, I really don't think that I could be away from my family for that long or be away from them at all. I would love to work as a school counselor because I love kids and helping people. I have also thought about working as a counselor in an abused women's shelter or maybe even working as a patient advocate. I think W S 3220 Domestic Violence and the Law would help me a little bit with traveling over to Africa to work for a non profit organization. W S 3233 Women Creating Social Change would be a very interesting class to take and help me understand how women are involved with social change because I'm currently taking social change right now. W S 3453 Women's Psychosocial Development would help me a lot as well. W S 3563 Women and World Politics would be good just in case I do decide to travel with a nonprofit organization so that I can better understand politics and women around the world. W S 3810 Gender, Law, and Human Rights would also help me a lot and it's also good because my major is actually human relations. The classes that I listed above would really help me in any of my jobs that I choose to do. If I decide to work for a nonprofit organization and go to Africa, gender would play a huge role in my line of work. Not only would I deal with women and their physical needs, I would have to deal with understanding why men are raping these women as a tool of war. If I decided to work as a school counselor, I would have to deal with gender issues with counseling and deal with the psychological needs of both boys and girls. I would have to deal with women's issues when working for an abused women's shelter and would have to deal with both if I decided to become a patient advocate. I have dealt with gender needs of both men and women and boys and girls with my work history. I worked in a daycare and had to attend to the needs of three year old boys and girls. While all the children were similar, boys and girls need different things. I worked in a veterinarian office and mostly dealt with animals, but I also had to deal with owners sometimes and I found that the women were more worried about their animal than men generally were. After that, I worked at a place called Dustee's and dealt with all kinds of people. I've always had a job where I've had to deal with all kinds of people throughout my work history. I don't know that there's any job that doesn't deal with gender somehow and we face challenges with gender in everyday situations and issues.