This topic doesn't necessarily involved feminism but it is a very important topic to me. Recently many of the news outlets covered the Rescue of the "Invisible Children" of Uganda. For 23 years, a war in Uganda has been fueled by a man named Joseph Kony. Although much of Uganda is against his continued warfare, he is still gaining followers. Sadly his followers are gained using force and most if not all are kidnapped children, snatched from their bedrooms and homes at night and forced to be soldiers for his army. If they do not comply they are killed, if they comply they are practically slaves. Either way, it is a horrible vicious cycle and no child should have to live in fear, let alone be the cause of millions of others fears. The non-profit Organization Invisible Children fights to make peace with this army and to let the children be free. Their approach is simple. They are raising awareness in America, especially through our government officials in order to show how important it is that we no longer let this war go on. If America is supposed to help smaller countries escape humanitarian crimes, this is one thing we can not turn away from. These children need our help and personally, I would rather be sending our troops to help those in Uganda instead of our continued efforts in the middle east. Although Invisible Children is hoping for a peaceful agreements, Their leader is obviously not backing down anytime soon and other approaches will have to be made to see him taken down. At the moment, a way to get involved in invisible children is to help by lobbying to officials in Washington DC in June. Recently as in last weekend, the Rescue took place. At this event 100's of thousands of people gathered all over America, Europe, and Austrailia in support for the invisible. These citizens "abducted" themselves and gathered outside of a common place in their city and waited for a public figure or celebrity to "rescue" them. The event lasted for over a week and finally ended with the last city to be rescued in Chicago. Oprah was their rescuer. Through events like these, the awareness for Kony's horrible crimes become more apparent to Americans. On the website you are encouraged to watch the video documenting the founder's stay in Uganda and you also have the opportunity to contribute money.
Respond to the readings...
In the F-word the author discusses the friction between the 2nd and 3rd wave feminists. He outlines that many blame the 3rd wavers for the halt in continued change. Although the 3rd wave is described as lack of unity, the blame does not lie within this generation. The times have changed completely. It would be difficult to use the tactics of the 2nd generation to get things done now. There are so many things people are fighting for and we are definitely not united because we all have different beliefs of what feminism should stand for. Until we decide on a united definition of Feminism we will continue to have problems but if other generations had to deal with our problems too, the fight for equality would be just as complicated.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
The Eternal Feminine
From the play The Eternal Feminine, written by Rosario Castellanos, the scene that stuck out to me most was presented in Act Three. During the third act Lupita trys on different wigs with different labels. Each time Lupita puts on a wig she imagines herself becoming the person the wig portrays. When Lupita trys on the wig “At the Edge of the Storm” starts the scene that I believe is most interesting. This scene starts on page 349.
When Lupita puts on this wig she becomes the leader of a small female bourgeoisie student discussion group. I thought is was interesting how the author chose the actual play "The Eternal Feminine" as the main center point of hte discussion. I believe Castellanos did this to almost foreshadow that her play would become a topic of discussion among people after it was published. She was aware of the controversy it could unfold from her views even if the discussers hadn't even seen or read the play. It's almost if she is using this scene to prepare herself for possible backlash. To prove my point, an example of this can be found later on from a student who in fact admits to not seeing the play. Lupita: “Have you seen The Eternal Feminine?” Lady IV: “I don’t need to go to the theater to assimilate ideas- like some of my friends- or to think. I think on my own.” Lupita: “And you think the worst.” Lady IV: “Than as the proverb says, I get it right…”
The women even begin to delve into what sort of action they will take against the play Castellanos created. A suggestion is thrown out “to fight to be given the right to vote” but Lupita counteracts that by saying “We Mexican women have had the right to vote since January 18, 1946” in response a shocked sounding lady replies: “How come we never…” This is an important point because it shows that although women have at the right, they have a tendency to not use it. If you have the power to make a change, why didn't they do it? The discussion continues with a lady pointing out “with or without the vote, Mexican women continue being oppressed” and then another women says “by girdles and by bras- terribly oppressed.” This scene points out that although women were beginning to recognize that they need to change their current state of treatment, they just weren't exactly dead on about why they were supressed. This misconstrued notion that material items were the things that were keeping them supressed is way off. With them not recognizing that it was in fact their traditions that were keeping them from regaining respect, they were unable to find a plausable way to fix their current problem of supression.
Lupita takes it upon herself to create a list of changes for the women once they decide it is finally time to take action for themselves “these are various options. First defend traditions, modernizing them, of course, in order to up-date them.” The key part of the scenes is when they lady speaks up, “The third way has to reach the heart of the problem. It’s not enough to adapt to a society that changes superficially, while its roots remain the same. It’s not good enough to imitate the models proposed for us that are answers to circumstances other than our own. It isn’t even enough to discover who we are. We have to invent ourselves.” After that was state the women go literally crazy! Some start praying, some begin to rip off their bras, and others begin to cry out for random wants. This scene is a some what exaggerated example, and it could be a bit truthful, of when something you have believed in for so long is labeled as wrong, you don't know what to do. You don't know if you should rebel, freak-out, or continue to live in denial. It was probably extremely hard for women in the early 1900s to overcome their stereotype. The idea of the woman being only a figure of the home was something extremely hard to overcome, it's easy to see that women probably freaked out about when they discovered that times were changing. Change is scary.
In the end, Castellanos created her work in order to make women think. She wanted them to question their current conditions and wonder what if? Although some women decided that change wasn't for them, her play probably sparked an idea in others to question their lifestyles. Without forewarding thinking people such as Castellos, the women's movement would have never taken off.
When Lupita puts on this wig she becomes the leader of a small female bourgeoisie student discussion group. I thought is was interesting how the author chose the actual play "The Eternal Feminine" as the main center point of hte discussion. I believe Castellanos did this to almost foreshadow that her play would become a topic of discussion among people after it was published. She was aware of the controversy it could unfold from her views even if the discussers hadn't even seen or read the play. It's almost if she is using this scene to prepare herself for possible backlash. To prove my point, an example of this can be found later on from a student who in fact admits to not seeing the play. Lupita: “Have you seen The Eternal Feminine?” Lady IV: “I don’t need to go to the theater to assimilate ideas- like some of my friends- or to think. I think on my own.” Lupita: “And you think the worst.” Lady IV: “Than as the proverb says, I get it right…”
The women even begin to delve into what sort of action they will take against the play Castellanos created. A suggestion is thrown out “to fight to be given the right to vote” but Lupita counteracts that by saying “We Mexican women have had the right to vote since January 18, 1946” in response a shocked sounding lady replies: “How come we never…” This is an important point because it shows that although women have at the right, they have a tendency to not use it. If you have the power to make a change, why didn't they do it? The discussion continues with a lady pointing out “with or without the vote, Mexican women continue being oppressed” and then another women says “by girdles and by bras- terribly oppressed.” This scene points out that although women were beginning to recognize that they need to change their current state of treatment, they just weren't exactly dead on about why they were supressed. This misconstrued notion that material items were the things that were keeping them supressed is way off. With them not recognizing that it was in fact their traditions that were keeping them from regaining respect, they were unable to find a plausable way to fix their current problem of supression.
Lupita takes it upon herself to create a list of changes for the women once they decide it is finally time to take action for themselves “these are various options. First defend traditions, modernizing them, of course, in order to up-date them.” The key part of the scenes is when they lady speaks up, “The third way has to reach the heart of the problem. It’s not enough to adapt to a society that changes superficially, while its roots remain the same. It’s not good enough to imitate the models proposed for us that are answers to circumstances other than our own. It isn’t even enough to discover who we are. We have to invent ourselves.” After that was state the women go literally crazy! Some start praying, some begin to rip off their bras, and others begin to cry out for random wants. This scene is a some what exaggerated example, and it could be a bit truthful, of when something you have believed in for so long is labeled as wrong, you don't know what to do. You don't know if you should rebel, freak-out, or continue to live in denial. It was probably extremely hard for women in the early 1900s to overcome their stereotype. The idea of the woman being only a figure of the home was something extremely hard to overcome, it's easy to see that women probably freaked out about when they discovered that times were changing. Change is scary.
In the end, Castellanos created her work in order to make women think. She wanted them to question their current conditions and wonder what if? Although some women decided that change wasn't for them, her play probably sparked an idea in others to question their lifestyles. Without forewarding thinking people such as Castellos, the women's movement would have never taken off.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Blog 9...
For the non-governmental organization I researched HumanTrafficking.org...This organization aims to bring Non-governmental organizations and governments in Asia together to fight to abolish human trafficking. They head up the "be smart, be aware" campaign, which aims to inform travelers from other countries about the dangers and risk they put themselves as they travel. This is not to scare them from traveling it is to just inform them to be aware of their surroundings at all times because they could fall into the trap set by traffickers. They really aim at informing women and children of their risk because they are the most sought after. The site also informs of rescues/ escapes, prosecution, protection and advocacy. This is a real threat in our world and this organization really is fighting to see its power be destroyed. It has many help lines set up for different countries. The site informs you of how to get involved. Whether it be recognizing the signs of a trafficked person or even discovering an area that is being disguised in order to not blow their cover as a trafficking organization. There are tips on the site that recognize these characteristics and their is also an option to give money in order to contribute to the fighting of this cause. DIrector and founder of Visayan Forum Foundation, another NGO, accredits the site for their help in the fighting and prevention. She said the best way to get involved is to be aware of your surroundings and if you see something that doesn't seem right, don't just let it continue, inform someone.
In response to the readings...
The FIFE chapter talked about feminism throughout the world...I think that we are extremely lucky to be living in America. Although it is not completely ideal at times, we have overcome a lot. Also in reference to much of the women's movement being controlled by upper class women, we need to change this. In order for us to succeed as a movement, we need to incorporate everyone. Everyone should have a chance to contribute their ideas into furthering our cause. Although our cause can be a bit muffled at times, I think the women's movement needs a bit of reconstructing. It's all too broad at the moment. We need to all agree in light of our differences. This doesn't seem like it will happen anytime soon....
In response to the readings...
The FIFE chapter talked about feminism throughout the world...I think that we are extremely lucky to be living in America. Although it is not completely ideal at times, we have overcome a lot. Also in reference to much of the women's movement being controlled by upper class women, we need to change this. In order for us to succeed as a movement, we need to incorporate everyone. Everyone should have a chance to contribute their ideas into furthering our cause. Although our cause can be a bit muffled at times, I think the women's movement needs a bit of reconstructing. It's all too broad at the moment. We need to all agree in light of our differences. This doesn't seem like it will happen anytime soon....
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