Mar 17, 2010

Norah Walker :Matriach?

Jessiel Gerena
Jeanina Perez
March 17 2010
WST 3015


Brothers and Sisters : Season One Episode One

When I saw this is assignment I was happy because Brothers and Sisters is my favorite show. The show Brothers and Sisters centers around William Walker and his family . William is the owner of a produce company, which gets him into financial trouble and maritial trouble .The episode centers around Kitty (oldest daughter) returning home for her birthday across the country from New York to Los Angeles . In this episode there is some tension between Kitty and her mother Norah because Kitty urged her youngest brother Justin to join the military right after 9/11. This episode is called Patriarchy it is called this because one of the main plots of is the Patriarch William Walker and the family business (Patriachy).
This show has an interesting depiction of women that can only be seen if one watches more then one episode. In the show Norah Walker is the mother of the Walker children and wife to William Walker. Norah is depicted as a homemaker wife who decided to stay home and care for the children while her husband is working at his company Ojai Foods. She finds out that her husband had a affair and keeps strong and hides the fact that she knows the truth. This show depicts how wifes are suppose to be the homemaker and the husband is the one is suppose to be the breadwinner.
In the article “Mommy tax talks about the expenses of being a mother. Sally field is depicted as being a mother and homemaker. Norah walker was seen as the one who took care of the kids while her husband ran the company. This is shows the depiction of the perfect family but on the inside its not. The company took time away from William and his wife and took his interest in Holly Harper. Norah rejecting having a career to have children . This depiction shows the class disparity when it come to the Mommy Tacx. The Walkers afforded the luxury to have kids and stay at home and take care of them .Though they could afford a babysitter/nanny they didn’t . She chose to stay home (Patriachy).

I like to give my input because though she is seen as the homemaker she evolves during the show. She eventually comes to terms with her husbands infidelities and death and assumes controll of the husbands company . She become the matriarch and quickly fills in the role of the strong leader of the walker family. I think this show that motherhood has a weak and strong role at the same time . At times the mother is strong and is the leader but initially is the weak supportive homemaker.








Works cited
Crittenden,Ann The Mommy Tax
"Patriachy." Brothers and Sisters. Television.

Feb 28, 2010

week 2

Jessiel Gerena

WST 3015



Activism:This week I finished the political offices list and am working on compiling the west coast list of womens studies programs. . We have our letter done which was approved by our community partner Jeannina Perez which will be sent to Women Studies Departments in order for them to involve their students in our social movement. The letter decribes our purpose and will show why these women studies programs This week for the group I would like to have started emailing the letters to the various departments and finish a petition to be distributed through our facebook group.

Reflection:This has been difficult for Kelly as she was orginally delegated this task but it involves too much time so we divided this task into regions. I found a solution to this problem by searching womens studies programs on google and found website called artemisguide.com that list all or most programs in the United States.I will admit we have gotten a little behind in working on this project, I think this shows the trouble sometimes with service learning projects. I think the problem is individuals get caught up with other things in our daily lives and it keeps us from focusing on our project. think this would be a huge boost for our project as we need national attention to achieve our goal , this proceess would take along time.

Reciprocity:This project and researching the womens studies programs has opened my eyes to the lack of women studies programs , There are 5 states that have no universities with any type of program whatsoever. This reaching out with the educating of womens struggles to attain rights with our Alice Paul National holiday will help increase the need with Womens Studies programs across the country at the university level.The need for Womens Studies programs to get behind this because inorder for them to build their programs . These women studies must begin an interest in feminism from an early age by including womens history in early education , we will have built that interest by the time they reach college they would want to study it in depth. This relates to some of the lack of programs we have . They are some subjects that are merely talked about for 5 minutes or a day when were in school and we don’t get enough to become interested in it.This is one of the downfalls of Patriachy ,Patriachy is a society which is “male-centered and male dominated:”. You can’t learn about something that is suppressed therefore we get a patriachic education system .




Works cited
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Patriachy,the System." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. 73. Print.

Feb 21, 2010

Week One

Jessiel Gerena

WST 3015






Activism:My group service learning project is to create a movement for a National Womens Holiday with Nina Perez and NOW.The purpose of this holiday is to recognize the struggle and efforts by women who fought for equality. One of the women that exmplifys the struggle of the suffrage movement is Alice Paul.Alice Paul was a female American suggragist leader who split from The National American Womans Suffrage Association to advocate more aggressive for the right to vote. We met with our community partner Nina Perez to discuss our roles with the project and we assigned roles to our group members .
Reflection: I choose to do the political outreach because im a poltical science major and my expertise of the political system would greatly help the project. my assignment would be to compile a list of congressmen and congresswomen that would be sympathetic to our cause.This is one the most important parts because all the hard work could be done by collecting petitions and gardnering support through our facebook group but if we don’t support through our political system we may never see our goal accomplished. Doing this project helps me see how the poltical process works and how much the political systems is broken by trouble it takes to contact congress people. The prestige it takes for politicians to attach their name to this legislation.
Reciprocity: This project is helping our community partner Nina Perez because this is a project that she wanted to start and get a movement but like all civil rights and social movements , you need people to help you.This is also helping Nina Perez gardner support through outreaching through like minded organizations and political outreach.We created a facebook group so that we can make it easier to get the word out on a mass scale about our project.This creates the foundation for the eventual National Holiday honoring a woman. The education system makes”virtually no references to women.She suggested a textbook change but met a great deal of resistance”(Seely). This is what we are up against.

Works Cited
Seely, Megan. "Catch A Wave." Fight like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. 27. Print.

Feb 18, 2010

Proposal

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 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

Feb 8, 2010

King James rescues Giselle Bundchen

When this assingment came up a recent magazaine cover immediately came to mind . I thought of the Vogue magazine cover featurig NBA basketball player Lebron James and Model Giselle Bunchen with the headline Shape Issue Secrets of The Best Body . When I saw this it entails many of the isms that come with society and studied in this course . The main points of this magazine cover is the racism,sexism ,and weightism .
The magazine cover shows a black male basketball player Lebron James clutching a white female model Giselle Bunchen by the waist . At first glance one just sees the sports world and celebrity world come together on a magazine cover but theres racial undertones . In the picture Lebron James is shown with a huge grinning holding Giselle , the add was compared to King Kong and shows Lebron being gorilla like. This also perpetuates the black man wanting white women. Its shows him being animal like and the white women being hopeless or attacked . This shows that being Black is “not a” and being animal like while being white is being”a” and normal or non animalike . (Womens Lives11-12)

This cover is also sexist , it shows the man being gorilla like and the women smiling being docile. When one ignores the race factor which is so hard it can show the blatant use of sexism in this ad. In the chapter on patriarchy it talks about we must recoginze that we participate in the system to fix the system . She is particpating by showing that she is enjoying being rescued by this big man . It shows that this women is helpless and needs to be rescued by the man . This was one of many choices and the other choices didn’t show the differences between them and focus on the both of them not the differences between the woman and the Man.(Patriarchy 65-73)

Last , the cover adresses the “secrets of the best body “ it features other athletes and models and their advice. This cover perpetuates the sterotype of what is beauty and how we must have this certain body image. This is what the article “Body Politic” talks about it talks about how this image of beauty is in the media. The women is slender ,tall, blonde and has blonde and flowing hair. The man is muscular ,tall and aggressive. This article also says “best body” meaning if ur not this you should strive to be this ideal . This is A which is the Best Body and if your’e not this you are not the Best Body so you are not a.(Womens Lives 11-12)

This magazine cover the many isms discuessed in class , sexism,racism and beautis. This cover clearly shows the undertones of the perpetuation of stereotypes and how one is “a” and not A . We must change this in the media such as it was discussed in class.

http://www.ideagrove.com/blog/uploaded_images/lebron-james-giselle-king-k-788885.jpg
Works cited
Patriarchy The System pg 65-73
Vogue Cover April 2008
Women Lives pg 11-12

Feb 1, 2010

Iron Jawed Angels vs Mary Poppins

 The Film Iron Jawed Angels is an HBO film depicting the events of the suffrage movement in the 1910’s in The United States . In the film it chronicles the involvement of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns and how theyd split from the National American Women Suffrage Association to create the National Women’s Party and the passage of the 19th amendment.
            Mary Poppins is a Disney film based on the childrens series that entails the life of the Banks Family as they they hire this magical and mysterious nanny called Mary Poppins in 1910 England . The mom Mrs. Banks who has a minor role is a suffragist and is part of  Emeline Pankhurst movement.
            Mary Poppins is a childrens movie so it  is very fanstastical and entertaining . It has little depiction of the suffrage movement though the mom is a suffragist . The movie paints the mom as incompetent and childish and cant take care of her kids , for this reason they must hire the nanny. They also show her too busy with the suffrage movement to be able to take care of her kids. This potrayal of her is sexist because it shows that women are the ones that are suppose to take care of the kids and are insubordinate to men. Its shows that women should be treated like children by portraying them as childlike . It portays that suffragist are too busy to deal with kids and taking care of them .           
            In Iron Jawed Angels , we see the differences between men and women and the stratification of class. In the film , the Senator wife is seen at home taking care of two children while her husband works . Even though she is seen as being privelaged the  husband treats her harsh as her only job is to take care of the kids like in Mary Poppins . The senator gets angered by the involvement of his wife into Alice Paul’s organization and the protest. This shows that class  has no barriers when it comes to sexism , the difference between senator’s wife and those factory workers. She initially doesn’t  join the suffragist because she is afraid that her husband would be mad . The husband takes the children away when he finds out that she is on the picket lines , again like Mary Poppins that perpetuates the sexist belief that they were unfit to take care of the children.The priavalage of having money and power is offset for being a woman .

            The film Mary Poppins shows a fantastical version of the suffragist in the way the mom is singing and dancing and Iron jawed Angels show the realistic portayal of women such as Alice Paul fighting for their rights.
            In conclusion, the films show how the suffragist participate in the system of  patriarchy. The NAWSA gave in the system by not wanting to push more harshly like Alice Paul because they were “reluctant to use such power” and didn’t want to protest a wartime president . In the films , Like in Mary Poppins and Iron jawed Angels the women gave into the system by being “good wives” by taking care of their kids even though there were privalged . (Johnson,Allan Patriachy)