Service Learning Proposal
For the effort to create a national women’s holiday.
Rachel Collins
Jessie Gerena
Adam Green
Enrique Irizarry
Kelly Quintero
2/3/10
Jeannina Perez
WST3015-001
Community Partner: The National Organization for Women, UCF Chapter
Contact: Jeannina Perez
Community Partner Mission Statement: According to their website, NOW’s mission is “…to take action to bring about equality for all women. Now works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control, and reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism, and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society.”
Political and/or Social Basis for Organization: NOW is formed on the basis of equality, freedom from sexism, racism, homophobia, and all other types of discrimination. Our view is that the utter lack of any holiday recognizing the fight for women’s rights is a form of discrimination, and as such, falls under the aims listed in NOW’s mission statement.
Memorandum
TO: Jeannina Perez
FROM: Rachel Collins
Jessie Gereno
Adam Green
Enrique Irizarry
Kelly Quintero
DATE: 2/3/10
RE: Proposal to Write a Feasibility Report for the effort to create a national women’s holiday.
This proposal aims to outline the needs, reasons, and feasibility for a service learning project with the intent to create a national holiday for a woman influential within the women’s right movement. Contained within is background on the needs for and benefits of a national women’s holiday, an outline of the work we plan to accomplish, justification for its inclusion in WST3015, and a proposed timeline. This proposal may need to be adjusted after we begin the project, and also needs to be flexible in order to meet the needs of both the project and our community partner.
Need for a national women’s holiday: This project does not have a community partner in the same way that others do. Our community partner is our professor, and our effort spans from student organizations to national organizations and politicians. However, the need for the proposed holiday is clear. There are holidays recognizing many historical and influential figures, such as Martin Luther King Day, yet there are no holidays recognizing women, particularly those who fought and died to secure basic rights of citizenship for women. Such a holiday would promote awareness of the heroic sacrifices of such women, and would demonstrate a movement of our society toward equality and equal recognition.
Plan Proposal: We propose that we will carry out our plan to create a national women’s holiday by formulating a letter detailing our rationale, and send it to student organizations, local, state, and national politicians, national organizations, etc. We will base the letter on legislation that created other similar holidays, such as MLK day. By doing this, we will raise awareness among the community of the need and lack of such a holiday recognizing women. This increased awareness will, we hope, lead to a grassroots effort to create this holiday.
Rationale for Women’s Studies: Women’s studies is concerned with both looking to and shaping the future of the struggle for equality, and honoring and recognizing the contributions and sacrifices that have been made in the past. The holidays recognizing public and historical figures that exist today inspire education because they make common the knowledge surrounding that figure. The fact that there is no such holiday recognizing women such as Alica Paul mean that far too many people in our society are utterly unaware of this crucial knowledge about the progression of women’s rights. Our efforts for the future must be based firmly on a critical understanding and full appreciation of the repercussions of past events.
Action: To begin, Rachel will write a letter detailing the rationale and necessity of this holiday. All other group members will then read and contribute to this letter, and then this letter will be read and finally edited by you, our professor. The rest of the group will be looking up national, state, and local governments, politicians, and student organizations. We will create a Facebook page to promote awareness of our cause. We will then collaborate to distribute our letter to all of these places. We can use the unlimited printing in the honors computer lab to print the letters that we need.
Timeline:
Meet with Nina to discuss the plan on 2/1.
Turn letter in to Nina on 2/5/10.
Create Facebook page – 2/5/10.
Establish definitive list of organizations to send letters to by 2/17/10, then email the ones that we can and send letters to those we can’t by 2/22.
Turn in completed reflection paper on 5/3/10.
Feb 18, 2010
Feb 17, 2010
Twilight
Jessiel Gerena
Jeanina Perez
February 16,2010
WST 3015
Twilight
It’s the lastest tween phenomenom all the teens of america going crazy over a pale vampires. This phenomenom is over the book series Twilight which focuses on the story of Bella Swan who moves to Washington from Arizona and meets Edward Cullen . She is mystified by this family of pale individual , she later finds out there are vampires and aspires to be one . When one originally watches the film you think oh its just another teen movie about vampires . when you watch the movie again and giving the themes discussed in class , it shows there are some sexist and racist undertones.
The sexist undertones are displayed in the main character Bella Swan . Bella Swan is a teenage girl who leaves her home in Arizona to move with her dad in Washington . She becomes intrigued by The Cullens who are pale white vampires. When shes walking to her car she almost gets hit by a car but Edward uses his power and stops the car from hitting her(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrBQNiN8ifY). She becomes fascinated and falls in love with Edward. The character Bella Swan is protrayed as being clumsy and stubborn . during one scene she is at a birthday party at the cullen house and she cuts herself . She stutters and twitches during the hospital scene . This shows her the woman as being impcomptent. In the Patriarchy article, it talks about how we continue to perpetuate stereotypes and give in to the system. One of the ways we perpetuate stereotyoes is through media , one of the things we did in class was list what women stereotype are and on the list was the word weak and needing emotional support. She is shown to be distraught and needs help and emotional support , she moves to washington for emotional support from her father.(Patriarchy,The System)
The film also gives attention to beauty ideals and what is seen as attractive. The character Bella Swan goes after Edward Cullen . In the Film Edward is seen as the beauty ideal . He is portrayed as her protetctor because she is clumsly as scene in the crash scene and is “rescued”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrBQNiN8ifY . He is pale white, ice cold, and shines in the sunlight, though he is seen by as everyone as being different and exotic. He and his family are separate from the whole school and seen as this attractive cool kid group.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBoILMLrvNU) the problem with this is that it gives the image that being pale white is the beauty standard and whats hot. This is racist because it shows that not only being white is the beauty standard but pale white. This movie also gives an unrealistic goal to tweens who are watching this movie that pale is beauty. This does challenge the beauty standard but also gives the illusion that your “whiteness” is not enough . This is the essential of “The More you add the more you subtract” the more u add to the beauty standards the more you subtract
Works cited
Johnson,Allan “Patriachy,The System”
Kilbourne ,Jean “The More You Subtract,You Add”
Twilight-Car Crash Scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrBQNiN8ifY
Twilight twilight cafeteria scene, bella sees cullens for the first time.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBoILMLrvNU
Jeanina Perez
February 16,2010
WST 3015
Twilight
It’s the lastest tween phenomenom all the teens of america going crazy over a pale vampires. This phenomenom is over the book series Twilight which focuses on the story of Bella Swan who moves to Washington from Arizona and meets Edward Cullen . She is mystified by this family of pale individual , she later finds out there are vampires and aspires to be one . When one originally watches the film you think oh its just another teen movie about vampires . when you watch the movie again and giving the themes discussed in class , it shows there are some sexist and racist undertones.
The sexist undertones are displayed in the main character Bella Swan . Bella Swan is a teenage girl who leaves her home in Arizona to move with her dad in Washington . She becomes intrigued by The Cullens who are pale white vampires. When shes walking to her car she almost gets hit by a car but Edward uses his power and stops the car from hitting her(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrBQNiN8ifY). She becomes fascinated and falls in love with Edward. The character Bella Swan is protrayed as being clumsy and stubborn . during one scene she is at a birthday party at the cullen house and she cuts herself . She stutters and twitches during the hospital scene . This shows her the woman as being impcomptent. In the Patriarchy article, it talks about how we continue to perpetuate stereotypes and give in to the system. One of the ways we perpetuate stereotyoes is through media , one of the things we did in class was list what women stereotype are and on the list was the word weak and needing emotional support. She is shown to be distraught and needs help and emotional support , she moves to washington for emotional support from her father.(Patriarchy,The System)
The film also gives attention to beauty ideals and what is seen as attractive. The character Bella Swan goes after Edward Cullen . In the Film Edward is seen as the beauty ideal . He is portrayed as her protetctor because she is clumsly as scene in the crash scene and is “rescued”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrBQNiN8ifY . He is pale white, ice cold, and shines in the sunlight, though he is seen by as everyone as being different and exotic. He and his family are separate from the whole school and seen as this attractive cool kid group.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBoILMLrvNU) the problem with this is that it gives the image that being pale white is the beauty standard and whats hot. This is racist because it shows that not only being white is the beauty standard but pale white. This movie also gives an unrealistic goal to tweens who are watching this movie that pale is beauty. This does challenge the beauty standard but also gives the illusion that your “whiteness” is not enough . This is the essential of “The More you add the more you subtract” the more u add to the beauty standards the more you subtract
Works cited
Johnson,Allan “Patriachy,The System”
Kilbourne ,Jean “The More You Subtract,You Add”
Twilight-Car Crash Scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrBQNiN8ifY
Twilight twilight cafeteria scene, bella sees cullens for the first time.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBoILMLrvNU
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