Sadie Nash

I attended this amazing program during the summer called Sadie Nash Summer Institute and it inspired me and encouraged me to be more BOLDER in stating my opinions.. It was all girls and before you say Oh... like really,all girls? I want you to know those girls became my family after just 6 short weeks. They were motivating, trustworthy and will forever hold a place in my heart, and I miss them so much. I wish we had our own little high school, because if we did I would be excited to attend high school everyday. Those magnificent ladies and mentors unlocked a talent that i never knew i had, which is poetry, and I will forever be grateful to them. Below are summaries of and links to videos created by my fellow Nashers. Leave comments, but remember, only warm and fuzzies , no cold and pricklies  ( learned that from Sadie Nash).

“There are two ways of spreading light ...To be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.”
~ Edith Wharton ~

Our Forgotten Voices: From History to Herstory
Revealing Womyn's Stories Under A Police State
Growing media attention and activist work have been dedicated to the criminalization of men of color by the justice system and the NYPD’s policy of Stop and Frisk… We acknowledge and validate these experiences but would like to shed light on women’s perspectives because womyn are diversely affected by the culture of policing and surveillance by the NYPD, which has grown increasingly sexist, racist, classist, homophobic, and transphobic through the Stop and Frisk policy and abuse of power. We do not feel safe. Through this film we are calling allies and survivors of all identities to work together to enact change, not only in our cities but our justice system as a whole.
http://www.connecther.org/gitw/galleryview/id/52
Changing Politics: Women's Edition
This film explores the power of women to make change in our political system and the barriers we face to that leadership. I propose a 5-step solution for what girls can do RIGHT NOW to change the face of leadership in their communities
http://www.connecther.org/gitw/galleryview/id/60

What is Feminism?

Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. Intelligent women, do you consider yourselves feminists?Do you want to be seen as equal to men? Yes,of course we all do want to be equal to men in the workplace or in politics, but sometimes we are not.

There are three forms of feminism. The first form of feminism is liberal feminism, where women fight for both men and women to be treated equally both legally and politically. Radical feminists believe their is a sexist hierarchy is to blame for the way women are treated in society.

Social feminists believe women are being held back in the workplace. They believe men devalue women through marriage, prostitution and other things. Their main focus is changing society on the whole and not targeting one gender or institutions.

You didn’t know there were different forms of feminism ? Well, guess what, there are still more. So what kind of feminist are you? Or are you not a feminist? Leave your comments below and we’ll learn more about feminism in another post. I also found this website which talks about different types of feminism, so check it out. http://suite101.com/article/types-of-feminism-a51502

Abortion

Abortion, a topic greatly debated in the world of women and politics. Should it be allowed or not? Is it ethical? Are you really taking a human life? It all started with the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. A pregnant  woman challenged  a state law  forbidding the artificial termination of a pregnancy, saying that she “ had a fundamental right to privacy.” The court supported a woman’s right to choose, noting that the state’s “important and legitimate interest in protecting the potentiality of a human”, became compelling at the end of the first trimester, but that before then “the attending physician in consultation with his patient’s is free to determine , without regulation by the state, that the patients pregnancy should be terminated.”

I personally agree with the Supreme Court decision, but I have a few stipulations. I only agree with abortion in the first two weeks of pregnancy because a baby’s hear starts beating 22 days after conception.  Abortion is something one wishes to not be shunned for, but some people because of their religion, family, or walking to the abortion clinic and having signs shoved in their face saying your a murderer. Nobody wants to go through that and we have no right to judge. But who has abortions? Fifty percent of U.S. women obtaining abortion are younger than: twenty-five. Women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 17%.Thirty seven percent of abortions occur with black women, 34% with non-Hispanic white women, 22% to Hispanic women and 8% to women of other races, according to Womens Center.com. One third of all pregnancies worldwide are unplanned,One woman dies every 7 minutes around the world due to an unsafe illegal abortion.

Women who undergo illegal abortions are those who are very poor, and do not have access to family planning facilities for education and prevention of unwanted pregnancies. Fifty-four percent  of women having abortions had used a contraceptive method (usually the condom or the pill) during the month they became pregnant. Among those women, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users report having used their method inconsistently, while 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users report correct use. There is no contraceptive method that can prevent pregnancy 100% of the time also according to Womens Center.com. Abortion is a very difficult topic to discuss without being judgmental. You also have to look at the person’s reason for getting an abortion and not if you feel that it’s right. Leave your comments on abortion below.

Im Stressed

 

 

This week I feel so depressed and ambushed with deadlines galore. I’m happy and sad one second and the next I’m angry and volatile. I wake up, get ready for school, walk to the train station, take the train for 50 minutes, walk up the stairs at school, sit in class for 45 minutes for nine periods in a row, walk up the stairs to get to these classes. Then, I take the train home for another 50 minutes, get home, do homework, study.  Squeezing all of these things into one day is just stressful and annoying. I’m not going to just write from a perspective that this only happens to me, it doesn’t,  but all this in one day is just ridiculous. I swear I’m bipolar or something but I just needed an outlet to write down  my grievances and  say thanks to my amazing followers for       listening to me  Leave your own grievances  in the comment section;I know I’m not the only one who needs to vent once in awhile. Below is a  poem that reflects my bipolar mood.

Stress

By- Jody Mark

Stress is eating at me every minute and second of the day, how do I cope with the horrible effects and make it go away?

I feel so tired and run down and I don't sleep, I lie in bed at night and wonder why it runs so deep.

Everyone asks why do you look so sad, do I tell them that my stress is eating me up and that I feel really bad?

Does everyone notice how I walk around in a daze, and that I have deep black bags under my eyes nowadays?

I wake up every morning feeling so hopeless, like nothing ever goes right and wondering why my life has to be such a mess.

Stress is my one worst enemy, it’s taken over my mind and my whole life in every single degree.

White Skin Privilege

White Skin Privilege

Are you racist or simply privileged? Racism, everyone HATES that word. But what is racism? Prejudice or discrimination directed against someone of a different race is what Wikipedia defines as racism. Privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to one person or group of people.

In this blog post I will discuss the many ways in which white people are privileged but can be seen as racist  if you don’t acknowledge your privilege and reach out to make things better. A privilege that can lead to racism is in school seeing and learning that white people made the world what it is today. Now we know that’s not true, but you wouldn’t know what African Americans contributed to American society unless you looked it up yourself or, by word of mouth.  Remember this is my opinion and your opinion is always welcome. Just hit that comment button and you’re all set.

White-skin privilege is something I see almost every day. It’s present when I go to the store, and I never find shampoo for my coarse hair, but see millions of shampoo bottles for straight hair. I also see it when I’m in the train station and I see African -Americans or Hispanics being harassed more than Caucasian people. I remember one day I was with my mother buying food and repairmen who were African- American were fixing a door. A white police officer walked by and asked what they were doing and of course they said fixing the door, and the police officer said, “I thought you guys were breaking in.”

Now tell me, would that have happened if those guys were white? No, I don’t think so. What that police officer did was wrong and, you guessed it, racist.

Okay, so I found this really good explanation on the privileges of white people in this excerpt from White Anti-Racist Activism: A Personal Roadmap by Jennifer R. Holladay, M.S. (Crandall, Dostie & Douglass Books, Inc., 2000).

          

White people receive all kinds of perks as a function of their skin privilege. Consider the following:

White Privilege: The Perks

- When I cut my finger and go to my school or office’s first aid kit, the flesh-colored

band-aid generally matches my skin tone. 2

-When I run to the store to buy pantyhose at the last minute, the ‘nude’ color generally appears nude on my legs.

- When I buy hair care products in a grocery store or drugstore, my shampoos and conditioners are in the aisle and section labeled ‘hair care’ and not in a separate  section for ‘ethnic products.’

White Privilege: The Advantages

- My skin color does not work against me in terms of how people perceive my financial responsibility, style of dress, public speaking skills, or job performance.

- People do not assume that I got where I am professionally because of my race (or because of affirmative action programs)

- Store security personnel or law enforcement officers do not harass me, pull me over or follow me because of my race.

White Privilege: The World View

-When I am told about our national heritage or “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.

-Related, the schools that I attend or have attended use standard textbooks, which widely reflect people of my color and their contributions to the world.

- When I look at the national currency or see photographs of monuments on the

National Mall in Washington, D.C., I see people of my race widely represented and celebrated.

These are really interesting, right? So anyway these might be the privileges of white people but does it make them racist? No and yes. NO because you can’t help what you’re born with and YES because if you  have these privileges you should be helpful to people who are less fortunate than you.. Uhh!!!! The world would be so much better if everyone was one color…. Leave comments; this could be a really awesome discussion.

White Skin Privilege

FGM (Female Genital Mutilation)

“Ouch!!! Vagina cut,”! When you’re shaving your vulva and you get a cut, it’s the worst feeling in the world, right? What if I were to tell you that girls ranging from 5-16 are forced to have their vulvas cut?That’s horrible, right? Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is defined by the

World Health Organization (WHO) as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia,” according to Wikipedia.

    Just thinking about a knife or a pair of scissors  going anywhere near my vagina gives me chills, but this is an epidemic that we as women have to fight. Some young girls are not as lucky as we are.  FGM is  practiced in 28 countries in western, eastern, and northeastern Africa, in parts of the Middle East, and within some immigrant communities in Europe, North America and Australasia.  FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

    In some cultures FGM is considered a right of passage for girls.  FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl properly and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage. FGM is related to cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are “clean” and "beautiful" after removal of body parts that are considered  "unclean.”

Female genital mutilation is classified into four major types according to WHO:

• Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris

• Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina).
• Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.
• Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.

FGM is believed to reduce a woman's desire to have sex.  When  the vaginal opening is cut the fear of the pain of opening it, and the fear that this will be found out, is expected to discourage women from premarital sexual intercose.

FGM has a negative effect on girls’ bodies. It causes infertility, premature births, deaths, and the need for corrective surgeries in the future.  For example, the FGM procedure that seals or narrows a vaginal opening needs to be cut open later for sexual intercourse and childbirth.

         I’m really angry and just upset that this  is happening, but my anger won’t stop this. But you know what will?  Spreading the word: Not everyone might know about FGM but they will if you tell them.  

Until next week, my amazing followers.