Campus Engagement

Campus Engagement

Date: April 16, 2012

UCF Event: Taking Up Space: "Taking Up Space: Middle School Girls' Responses to (Cyber) Bullying"

                This week for Campus Engagement I attended a presentation on the research project "Taking Up Space: Middle School Girls Responses to (Cyber) Bullying".  The presentation talked about the national trends on harassment and bullying in schools as it applies to middle school girls.  When I first heard about the opportunity to attend this presentation I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn about the information as it pertains to both this class and my major, Elementary Education.  Cyber Bullying has become a nationally recognized issues in schools more specifically at the middle and high school level.  Bullying has always been a problem among school age children but it has never gotten to the extreme that it is now.  With the development of social media and technology and how much it is used by school aged children there are far more methods for students to communicate with one another.  This also means that students also have more means to harass one another, social media nad electronic communication are monitored far less by both parents and administrators than actual conversation occurring in the classroom.  With issue making national headlines the Woman’s Studies Department at UCF decided to focus their research on it. 

                The presenter first introduced the presentation by speaking about the media and how movies and television portray bullying and harassment among girls in school.  After she showed up to video segments she explained that the messages being given to us by the mass media need to be looked at and that popular media has a major impact on our society.  I strongly agree with this statement, I think that it is important to see that we don’t live in a bubble and that as aggravating as the media can be at times it does have an overwhelming impact on our society especially young people and shouldn’t be ignored.   Then we got into the research that has been done and the findings.  I found it very interesting when we were shown the girls attitudes as they were measured in the pre-survey and how the local trends compare to those nationally.  When the presenter was sharing these findings with us she made sure to include the definitions of bullying and harassment as they were defined for the project and as they are defined by the school board and the law.  I knew that bullying was being taken seriously in schools but I was surprised to learn that if a child reports that they have been bullied that legal action can be taken.  Unfortunately we learned that in many instances parents feel that even when the instances are reported to the staff and administrators very little action is taken.  Overall I enjoyed the presentation and I felt that it was made to be very interested when sometimes presentations of research projects can be often dry.

Word Count: 474

Activism Log 2

Activism Log 2

Week 4/1/2012

1.       Activism

This week my project partner Sarah and I spoke during a Panhellenic Council meeting, on Wednesday the 4^th, about our projects and the opportunities available to each chapter through UCF Victim Services.  Prior to speaking we received very positive feedback about our proposal from both the Officer of Community Service and the Panhellenic President.  Both women were very excited to have us present our idea and super encouraging.  When we spoke in Pan about the speaking opportunities available to each chapter and our Underawareness drive we handed out flyers to each Panhellenic Delegate to take back to their chapters.  We made the flyers on Tuesday the 3^rd, the flyers were a picture of an undershirt and a pair of underwear with the due dates for the Underawareness drive along with the sizes and styles needed.  In  addition we put both of our contact information and encouraged them to share this information during their report in their chapter meetings.  The pitfall was that many chapters have their calendars booked a semester in advance or at the latest the first month into the semester, this being said many chapters were already so over programmed that they found it difficult to find the time to focus on what we were doing and the opportunities being presented. Next week hopefully we will have a strong response and a lot of woman will have brought in underwear to donate.

2.       Reflection

The readings for this week were “Violence Against Women”, “Radical Pleasure”, and “I Am Not a Rapist”

These readings relate directly to what we are doing with our service learning project this week.  This week we are advertising and making the woman of Panhellenic aware for our Underawareness drive and how it will benefit the community. The Underawareness drive collects underwear for victims of sexual assault who have chosen to report the assault.  This ties directly to these readings because they were about violence against woman and how it is fueled by society and how in many instances the victims were blamed.  Something that stood out most to me from our readings was this line referring to woman and their experiences with domestic violence.  It reads, “Most women […] a certain amount of what could be defined as sexual violence as part of daily life.  We experience hassles on the street, in parks, on public transit, or in cafes and bars. We put up with sexists comments from bosses or coworkers.  We sometimes make compromises as part of maintain intimate relationships” (p. 257)

3.       Reciprocity

What we have done this week has made me realize the importance of helping out your community.  Without donations from the community these centers wouldn’t be able to provide these victims with clean clothing to go home with.  In many instances victims are often blamed for the acts of violence and assault that have occurred against them, by provided these centers with donations we are supporting these victims in their time of need. 

Activism Log 1

Activism Log 1

Week of 3/25/2012

1.       Activism:

This week things really got underway with our service learning project.  It had been taking a while to hear back from the Panhellenic Council but after being contacted by Panhellenic’s Officer of Community Service we were able to move forward in contacting the Panhellenic sororities on campus.  Sarah, my partner in the project, and I emailed all of the chapter president’s explaining to them our project and the opportunities we were trying to make available.  We explained that we would like to create an open line of communication between Panhellenic and Victims Services.  This will create ample opportunities to present useful information to their chapters and open the floor for discussion on important issues relevant to their lives and the lives of their sisters.  In addition we informed them about the Underawarenss drive we are having.  We also emailed our contact at Victim Services to update her on our progress. The pitfall was that it has proven to be more than difficult to be the middleman between so many organizations.  It takes time for each party to get back to us and then for us to get back to them as well.  This is something we didn’t really anticipate.

                On Saturday we volunteered with Victim Services at the Vagina Monologues.  I didn’t know what to expect and wasn’t entirely too sure what the show was about.  Sarah and I were ushers for the event and it was overwhelming to see the positive response from viewers and the number of students, staff, and members of the community who came to see the event. We were able to watch some of the show and I found it to be very interesting.  The pitfall was that I felt there was a lot of time that we were there that was wasted.  When we got there no one knew exactly what we were supposed to do and we were given a break upon arriving.  However once the event began to get underway and guests started arriving we found a job and are time was better spent.

                Next week we will need speak at a Pan meeting or some other Panhellenic function to advertise our Underawareness drive and the speaking opportunities available.

2.       Reflection:

The issues presented in the Vagina Monologues tie directly with the issues being talked about in the class.  On monologue that stood out to me in particularly as relating to this week’s readings was the monologue about hair.  The woman speaking was talking about how uncomfortable, painful, and time consuming shaving, waxing, and other methods of hair removal are.  She explained that this became such an issue in her marriage that it came up in therapy and her therapists suggested that she compromise with her husband and continue to keep her vagina hairless. This stuck out to me because we are reading how woman are constantly asked to compromise when in reality this isn’t a compromise at all.

3.       Reciprocity

This week was a growing experience for me.  The Vagina Monologues is not something that I would’ve attended on my own.  The language, screaming, and topics of conversation made me uncomfortable and isn’t something I would particularly enjoy attending.  However by attending I was able to be opened to conversations that I wouldn’t normally participate in.  It allowed me to see issues at hand that are affecting a large majority of woman and to see these issues in a sense through the eyes of the woman experiencing them.

Women and Advertising Assignment

                Starting in the 1990’s and increasing in today’s day and age hip-hop music is often criticized for objectifying women as sex symbols and having a misogynist attitude.  “Video Vixen’s”, scantily clad models who appear in music videos often as a sex symbol, are a part of music videos in all genres of music.   However the use of females as a symbol for sex and power is in almost every hip hop video produced these days.  In a recent class discussion we talked about how women are objectified in advertising and used as a means to sell a product.  In the text I read that, “the advertising industry uses women’s bodies to sell shampoo, soft drinks, beer, tires, cars, fax machines, chain saws, and gun holsters as well as concepts of womanliness, manliness, and hereronormativity”(Kirk & Okazawa, p. 208).  This made me start to think about how this is done in the Hip-Hop industry with the lyrics and music videos as well.  I began looking at lyrics from one of my own favorite hip-hop artist, Lil’ Wayne.  A line from one of his songs stuck out to me in particular, “I don’t think you’re beautiful, I think you’re beyond it”.  I thought at first I could spin this in a positive light, but reading more of his well known lyrics outside of the context of the song, I couldn’t

Hey girl,

even find joy in the quote.  All of the other lyrics even some from the very same song were speaking about woman in a manner than was only speaking about them as a sex symbol.

                The picture I chose was from a recent ad campaign run by the clothing line Ed Hardy.  This photo was accompanied by one other photo featuring Lil’ Wayne’s mentor and “father” in the Hip-Hop business standing beside him while he sits on a throne.  There are two scantily clad females in the photo with them, just as this photo neither male is paying much attention to the beautiful woman that are hanging all over them.  I think advertisements such as this one along with the persona and lyrics of the male icon whose the center of the advertisement are portraying women as an object designed to be submissive too and sexually pleasing to men.  The male icon in this photo is dead center, he is sitting down without a shirt wearing only the clothing companies pants and hat, neither of which you can see.  The women are slender, physically fit, in small tank tops and bathing suits that clearly state the clothing line’s brand name.  They are the ones who are wearing and clearly representing the purpose of the ad, to sell this companies brand and clothing, yet there faces aren’t even shown……just their bodies.  This sends a message that these women are a symbol of beauty.  These woman who are in reality carrying the quintessential purpose of an advertisement, to showcase a brands name and logo, are placed of to the side with a man in the center and don’t even have their faces shown.  But ladies not to worry the main star of the ad “doesn’t think you’re beautiful”, he thinks “you’re beyond it”. 

Work Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspective. Fifth ed. New York:    McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print

Photo:

http://highbridnation.com/2008/01/17/first-look-lil-wayne-babys-ed-hardy-ads/

I think your body’s beautiful but I don’t see much be.

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Service Learning Proposal

Proposal

1. Contact information:

Title: “Sisters Supporting Sisters”

Community Service Partner: UCF Victims Services and Panhellenic counsel.

Group Members: Sarah C. and Chelsea L.

2. Community Partner Profile:

For our Service Learning project Sarah and I have chosen to work with the Victim Services Center and the Panhellenic Council on the campus of the University of Central Florida.

The mission statement of UCF Victim Services is, “To collaborate with and empower organizations and individuals to eliminate violence in our communities through advocacy, education and training.”  The goals of the Victims Services Center are to educate students about relationship violence, inform victims of their right, and advocate on behalf of victims.  Their website is, http://victimservices.ucf.edu/Services.html, they also have information on their Facebook page entitled UCF Victim Services.

The mission statement of the UCF Panhellenic Council is “To provide a positive environment for the Panhellenic community and to better communications between Panhellenic and its chapters.”  Their goal or vision is, “To promote a unified and knowledgeable Greek community while providing opportunities for growth and development among Panhellenic women within their fraternity and campus.”  They have a website where all of this information can be located.  The web address is, http://www.panhellenicucf.com. 

3. The Proposal

Define the problem:

            The problem we are focusing on that is specific to this University is the lack of communication between the Victim Services Center and the Panhellenic Council on this campus.  All of the information and topics that Victim Services educates students on is all relevant to the women involved in the Greek organizations on campus.  As the woman who hold positions change each year and more often than not are graduating soon after they finish their time in office it is hard to keep the relationship going year after year. The solution to this problem is to establish a line of communication between not only Victim Services and the Panhellenic Officers but also their advising staff which will continue to be working with Panhellenic woman after the current officers finish their terms and graduate from the University.  Victim Services is often in need of volunteers and students to help them spread information about the center and the events they hold, by working with Panhellenic the center will have a larger volunteer base and can market to and give information to hundreds of woman. 

            The larger problem is that many women are not often exposed to important information on topics such as and that surround relationship violence.  More specifically in today’s day and age with so many forms of communication via technology and social media it is much harder for young people to establish and maintain necessary boundaries in their relationships.  More often than not young people in my age group including myself don’t realize the need to set boundaries in our relationships, not just romantic relationships but also friendships/roommates/etc., which can cause problems in the future.  It is important for students to be educated on how to establish boundaries in their relationships and how to handle the situation safely and appropriately if they are crossed.

            Something that stood out to me in our text, Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives was this line referring to woman and their experiences with domestic violence.  It reads, “Most women –heterosexual, queer, lesbian, or transgender—experience a certain amount of what could be defined as secual violence as part of daily life.  We experience hassles on the street, in parks, on public transit, or in cafes and bars. We put up with sexists comments from bosses or coworkers.  We sometimes make compromises as part of maintain intimate relationships” (p. 257) This being said I think that it is vitally important for the woman on this campus to be provided with information regarding domestic and relationship violence, how to prevent it, and what to do once it has occurred.

Propose a plan that addresses the problem or need:

For our service learning experience we have chosen to bring together the victims services center with the Greek community on campus. Both of the organizations have already been well established, therefore working together would be beneficial to both parties.  The problem of domestic violence does not exist only in certain realms, it is prevalent in the lives of all women.  We will provide the Panhellenic community with the opportunity to have Victim Services come into their chapters to give informative presentations.  We feel that since we ourselves are active members of the Panhellenic community that if we express how we found the information pertinent and important in our lives the woman we are speaking to will be interested to learn more.  By creating an open line of communication between Victim Services and Panhellenic we will be provided the Panhellenic community with information and resources as well as provided Victim Services a much larger volunteer base.

Action steps:

         Establish a relationship with victim services

         Meet with pan executives to see what they are open to

         Create an open line of communications between the Victim Services Center and Panhellenic Council.

·         Create a competition and prize incentive for which sorority donates the most underwear for “Underawareness”.

         Speak at a PAN meeting market the opportunity to have Victim Services speak to their chapters and the “Underawareness” Fundraiser.  Inform chapters about the volunteer and community service opportunities with Victim Services.

         Visit chapters with Victim Services speaker.

Timeline:

·          WEDNESDAY 2/15 3:00 PM: meeting with Christine Mouton

o   5:00 PM: call PAN risk management chair to explain our project

·         MONDAY      2/20

o   12pm: Meeting with PAN Risk Management Chair to give proposal and further explain our timeline.

o   11:00pm: Receive feedback from PAN officers and Advisors.

·         WEDNESDAY 2/29

o   3:00pm: Present opportunity for speaker and our the “Underawareness” fundraising competition.

·         SUNDAYS March and April (Dates scheduled due to chapters availability)

o   7:00 PM:  Victim Services give presentation on boundaries.  Remind chapters about the “Underawareness” Fundraiser.

·         WEDNESDAY 4/18 3:00 PM: Collect for “Underawareness” Fundraiser.

Word Count:

992

Introduction

Hello!

         

          My name is Chelsea Leitz, I am in my third year at UCF as an Elementary Education major.  I was born and raised in Melbourne, Florida, a small town about an hour east of here.  I started my education at UCF as a freshman and have been in love with the school ever since.   I am currently employed as the Youth Activities Coordinator at a country club in Winter Park.  There my duties include running the child care programs and supervising activities during family nights.   In addition to working part time I also volunteer in the community and am involved in a Greek organization on campus.  As part of my major I have had multiple courses with a Service Learning Requirement.  Through my Service Learning Experience I was able to build a relationship with a Kindergarten teacher at an Orange County Elementary School and continue to volunteer in her classroom.  Through my Service Learning Experiences I realized that becoming a classroom teacher isn’t the career  I’d like to have after graduating school.  I have decided to finish my degree and apply to graduate school for a masters in Occupational Therapy.  With this decision I began volunteering at Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital where I help with the “Art Cart”. 

                

               I decided to take Introduction to Women’s Studies after hearing about it from a friend of mine who took the course last semester.  I was a bit skeptical about enrolling in the course seeing as it doesn’t directly correlate to my major.  After talking about it more with my friend she said that the class was a good experience and seeing as teaching is a career largely dominated by women the information learned in the class could be more linked to my major than I had previously thought.  I have always enjoyed taking history courses but have never learned a lot in the way of the history of women’s rights.   While contemplating registering for the course, I thought that especially as a woman that I should be more well-versed in the not only the history of women’s rights but also what is going on with women’s rights today and the ongoing struggles modern day women are facing.

                

              Prior to the first day of class where we discussed the “F-Word” I was never clear on the actual definition of feminism.  I have always associated the word feminism with pride, being proud to either be a woman or proud of women and believing in their ability to accomplish their goals and be successful in the same fields as men.  This term differs from Women’s Studies because I see Women’s Studies as exploring the history of how the role of the female has changed in society throughout history and the effects that these changes have on us now.  In addition I have always associated Women’s Studies as focusing on the facts and learning about gender roles in society and in different parts of the world where as I have always associated feminism with activism.  When I think of activism several big movements come to mind.  The first is civil rights, specifically historical figures such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.  The next is the Women’s rights movement and the iconic pictures of women marching for their right to vote.   I don’t have a lot of background knowledge on this movement and will be very interested to learn more about this and the other topics related to women’s studies.

I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course and blogging protocols outlined in the syllabus.

-Chelsea Leitz