My Lunch With Gloria Steinem

Campus Engagement #1

My Lunch with Gloria Steinem

It is very special that anyone gets to say that they got to each lunch in the same room as Gloria Steinem, and now I know why. Listening to Gloria Steinem was a very unique and amazing experience. As someone who believes they are new to feminism, she really broke down all of the key components of feminism and how to be an activist.

            Gloria Steinem spoke a lot on the upcoming election on which candidate the women’s vote should go to. Her words not only contained encouragement but also inspiration. Gloria really showed everyone how important one vote and one voice can really be. Another thing that Gloria emphasized on was how patriarchy is crippling our nation. Gloria used the example of the bird with two wings, and how to be a successful country both our men and women need to be equal and that if one is crippled then so is the entire “bird”.

            Some great points Gloria brought up were not only about reproductive rights, but also violence and oppression against women. From the text book we learned that “violence is not an isolated physical act or a discrete random event. It is a relation, process, and condition undermining, exploiting, and curtailing the well-being of the victim” (Kirk and Okazawa- Rey 265), Gloria goes on to define these acts of violence as a macro level problem. In the book Sex and World Peace, a book that Gloria references to many times within her speech, it shows an interesting link between violence on women and a country’s overall level of violence "The very best predictor of a state's peacefulness is not its level of wealth, its level of democracy, or its ethno-religious identity; the best predictor of a state's peacefulness is how well its women are treated. What's more, democracies with higher levels of violence against women are as insecure and unstable as nondemocracies." (Hudson, Ballif-Spanvill, Caprioli, and Emmett ).

                  After Gloria was done speaking with us she opened up the floor for discussion. Many people asked questions about her thoughts on the environment and how to stay motivated as an activist. I had a few questions to ask Gloria, but I was too shy because after all it was Gloria Steinem. If I could go back to the legislative lunch with Gloria I would ask her what she thinks about society’s outlook on feminism and also which issue she finds most important when it comes to reproductive justice.

          I was really glad I attended the event, after all it is not everyday you get invited to have lunch with Gloria Steinem, let alone get to ask her questions. If I could change anything about the event it would be that I would have gained enough courage to ask Gloria Steinem a question about how to progress my own forms of activism in my community.

Hudson, Valerie, Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill, Mary Caprioli, and Chad Emmett. Sex and World Peace. Print.

Kirk, Gwyn , and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives. 5th ed. New York, New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 207-210. Print.

Activism Log #1

1. Activisim: This week I was lucky enough to be trained for clinic escorting for Planned Parenthood VOX is a huge supporter of clinic escorting so while finding out about it during a meeting I decided to try it out. At first it was a very quiet morning with only two protestors on the corner reading their bibles, what had seemed like a quiet morning had turned into an all out brawl out by 10am. There were protestors from the organization "40 Days of Life" on the corner screaming at all of the patients, including all of the escorts. Some of my successes from this experience was that I was very patient with the protestors and refrained what was on my mind, which is very hard for me. Some of my pitfalls were that it was kind of hard for me to approach the patients at first because I am shy, but after a while I ended up being very comfortable with it. Next week I will know exactly what to expect. 

2. Reflection: The work I did this week relates directly to the chapter we are studying which is “Women’s Bodies and Women’s Health”. Planned Parenthood offers many vital resources for women who cannot afford health services such as; STI Testing, birth control, contraception, annual checkups, prenatal care, and abortions. “Women also want the freedom to bear children. To do this we need sex education that is accurate and culturally appropriate; safe, legal, affordable abortion; prenatal care and care through childbirth” (Kirk and Okazawa- Rey 211) By showing my support for Planned Parenthood I am showing my support for women’s health overall and the choice of every woman. By being a clinic escort I helped patients by reminding them that they are entitled to reproductive health, reproductive justice, and their own choice, which is something the “40 Days of Life”, campaign is trying to make them feel guilty about.

3. Reciprocity: This week I gave my time, but what I gained from this experience was of more value than I had come up with preconceived notions before arriving at the clinic and that this was going to be an easy job. After arriving at the clinic I realized how badly the clinic escort service is needed. The first time I realized this important detail was while I had approached a young girl who thought I was a protestor and seeing how scared she looked and the look of relief she had when she realized I was a volunteer. After she thanked me for my services I realized just how much of an impact clinic escorts have on the patients. Another thing I gained from my experience is knowing just how many people are still against women’s rights. Seeing people from the “40 Days of Life” campaign was shocking for me considering there arguments against women’s rights. It was also very shocking seeing how most of the protestors were women, this was an eye opening experience for me. I inferred from my experiences today that one of the worst factors against women’s rights are women who do not believe in their own rights.  

Kirk, Gwyn , and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives. 5th ed. New York, New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 207-210. Print.

Women and Advertising Project

            

At first when I saw this assignment I had no idea how I was going to add up to the original Ryan Gosling Ads, but then while looking through ads on FaceBook I found the perfect one. I chose The Walking Dead because of it’s relevance to current events and what we are talking about in class.

            I related this ad to the Walking Dead because of the whole idea of the zombie apocalypse. Generally, the zombie apocalypse has to do with zombies eating everyone’s brains. Taking the zombie apocalypse idea a step further, I decided to make a joke out of the zombie’s goals of eating brains and to say that they are the only species to support women for their brains. “Dominant U.S. culture often reduces women to bodies, valuing us only as sex objects or as bearers of children ” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 208).

            The ad I made relates to what we are talking about in class because it relates directly to the beauty ideal. The beauty ideal, which we talked about in last chapter, has to do with society’s expectations of what a woman should look like to be considered professional, beautiful, or successful. The beauty ideal is a huge problem in our society and should be treated as one, however the first step to this is awareness.

            Awareness of the beauty ideal should be taken a step further, there should be international campaigns showing just how ridiculous the beauty ideal is, and that was the goal of my project. If we take the beauty ideal, and make it seem like one big joke then people will treat it as one. Right now the beauty ideal is taken seriously and that the problem is people who are going against the expectations that society holds. In reality, the beauty ideal only fits one group of people while the rest of us suffer through the feeling of inadequacy, therefore it is the problem. 

Kirk, Gwyn , and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives. 5th ed. New York, New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 207-210. Print.

Stanley, T.L. Media Freak: The Walking Dead. 2010. Media FreakWeb. 16 Oct 2012. <http://www.mediafreakblog.com/2010/07/amc-betting-big-on-flesheating-zombies.html>.