first review

I just started writing book reviews for the blog Feminist Review. You can find my first here. Enjoy! Feed back is always welcome and appreciated.

Cheers!

happy mlk day

I know I've done this before, but I truly feel strongly about celebrating this speech and the things Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did for our country. While the fight he started is far from complete, we're so much closer to 'ending the long nights' of oppression, discrimination, prejudice and hate.

Today isn't just about a much needed day off in mid January. Or about the individual man it celebrates and honors. It's about something bigger. It's about an idea. A hope. It's about working towards a dream.

Take a moment or two to remember that dream and renew our hope and resolve to make the dream a reality.

critique of the nyt magazine: august 23, 2009

Thursday I read Mandy Van Deven's review on Feminist Review of this week’s edition of The New York Times Magazine. The edition is devoted to ‘Saving the World’s Women’ and takes up the global condition and problems faced by women of the world, such as sex trafficking, abuse, microfinance, and lack of access to health/medical care and education. Since this was part of my area of focus in school, I was giddy and excited about it hitting the news stands. Yet, as I flipped through and read the various articles, I kept thinking the same thing: Why does this collection seem to only be highlighting disempowerment and oppression of women of the Third World? Why is there absolutely no mention of the issues faced by women in the Global North? By no means do I intend to discount the horrors that women of the Global South face, or imply that the issues of women in developed nations are higher in importance and relevance. In fact, I’m elated that the edition has provided such exposure and attention to these travesties. My problem with it is this: by ignoring the conditions and struggles for equality, justice and basic human rights faced by women in developed countries, the message is that women in places such as the US and Europe have already achieved equality and do not face many of the problems, violence, and discrimination that our sisters in Africa and Asia do. The problem is presented as something “over there” rather than a truly global phenomenon; one simultaneously occurring in our own backyards. 

Instead the role of women of the Global North is presented, and can be summed up, in Lisa Belkin’s article “The Power of the Purse”. The article discusses how women are increasingly using their economic power to help sisters in need. Wonderful. What about the Americans working in the field? Those dedicating their lives to non-profit work and long hours through heartwork and sacrifice? What about the women working in shelters or tirelessly on legislative and policy reform to make the donated money more effective in aid?

The theme of the edition is on the global condition and staunch human rights disparities that exist for women, yet the content and focus of the articles does not seem to adequately reflect the variety and multitude of conditions through its limited scope of Africa and Southeast Asia. What about the sex trafficking and sex tourism that goes on in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Bloc? What of women in Latin America? In the Caribbean? What about the compounding effects of environmental destruction and scarcity of water? Why doesn’t it discuss the modes of oppression the First World through economic exploitation or women of the Third? Why aren’t any of the articles written by women from the places discussed? Instead of presenting a wide view of the various conditions and proposed solutions, the articles focus disappointingly only on economic and capitalist short-term solutions: microfinance and microlending. The articles, while well intentioned and well written, failed to adequately address the underlying social structures that provide the framework to these issues.

On a whole, I’m happy that the NYT Magazine took the chance and did this publication, but I’m highly disappointed in the content and execution. I suppose I got my hopes up a bit too high when I heard about it, and thought that perhaps things would be presented in a radical and revolutionary way. I understand that in order to fully cover all the issues I’ve mentioned would take volumes and much more space than the NYT Magazine could provide. However, what limited space that was available could have explored or touched on so much more. Instead, what was presented was but a sliver of the tip of the iceberg.

employment

Wednesday I officially took a job with Peaceful Paths Domestic Abuse Network in Gainesville Florida.  My position is a Violence Prevention Advocate.  My duties are to facilitate teen groups/presentations on a weekly basis, adapt violence prevention curriculum as needed, conduct professional and community awareness presentations as requested, and serve as the right hand to the Director of Violence Prevention to establish and maintain connections.

I am so excited.  Not only is it a HUGE relief to have a job, but this one is something I feel passionate about and has some immediate impact on society.  I'm so happy about it; I've told pretty much everyone I've come into contact with.  I also gush about it upon inquiry.  I fear I'm slightly annoying... but honestly, I don't give a shit.  3 months and 45 resumes later, I'm employed with a kick ass organization doing something worth while.  P.S. I have yet to graduate.  I'm on cloud nine.  I can't wait for this new adventure to begin.

You can find out more about the organization here.  To learn more about the Violence Prevention Program go to the first scroll bar, go to the last option and click.

sari soldiers

out of the ordinary

This past Sunday I was invited to facilitate a workshop at the University of Florida's Annual Women's Leadership Conference.  I've facilitated workshops there in the past, usually with LBG(TQ) as my partner in crime.  This year however, it was just me.  Flying solo was odd, but interesting and somewhat empowering knowing I could do it on my own.  And I learned quite a bit from my audience...  more than I originally expected.

I presented a workshop I designed and facilitated last November for an internship I was doing at the Civic Media Center.  The workshop, Feminism in Media, focused on popular forms of media and the importance of having a feminist voice included/present.  Since magazines, zines, phamphlets, and now blogs are some of the most popular and accessible outlets for generating dialogues around feminist issues and concerns, I felt it was important to explore and discuss what such a presence looks like.  The goals of the workshop included, but were not limited to: creating a working definition of feminist media, providing/exploring historical background on where it has been, and sought to present examples of feminist publications, blogs, and zines.

The last time I facilitated the workshop people had 1) heard of all or most of the publications I discussed, 2) majority were familiar generally familiar with feminism and or self-defined feminists, and 3) were willing to engage in a dialogue/debate.  I had brought in 30-40 copies of issues of bitch, BUST, off our backs, Venus, Adbusters, The Nation, Harpers, Mother Jones, and GOOD.  I had laid the items out all over the front table and encouraged people to come up and check them out.  People were hesitant at first, but either out of boredom or curiosity, eventually came up and took a look.  I spent the 10 minutes (which felt like hours) of the workshop pulling teeth to get people to talk.  I have a newfound respect and admiration for instructors and teachers who constantly speak to a room full of seemingly uninterested people who may or may not be staring blankly at you.  Highly nerve racking and frustrating experience.  But we soon found some common ground and people warmed up to the idea of talking.  Probably after I told them, "You know, this is going to suck if you all don't want to talk.  This is an informal chat, so there's no need to feel uncomfortable.  I'm not giving you a grade or anything and I'm no expert on this.  I'm just another student with a fascination and passion for sharing.  Honestly we'd be sitting in a circle if the chairs weren't connected, and I'd be in jeans and a t-shirt if they'd had let me."  That made them smile a bit and broke down the whole expert/passive information sponge dichotomy.  

Since the audience was more "mainstream" than my previous (the Civic Media Center is an alternative reading room and library for non-corporate press thus generally attracting the "alternative/hippie" crowd) I had intended on tying in bigger name publications such as Cosmo and Glamor and comparing them to bitch, BUST, and Venus.  But since the group had never heard about the majority of the above titles, we ended up discussing if Cosmo could be considered feminist in any capacity.  Which, was very interesting.  

We then discussed blogs and internet outlets.  Particularly a social networking site utilized by the Greek (not as in Greece, but as in Sorority/Fraternity) community at UF called JuicyCampus.  I had never heard of the site and immediately felt old and out of touch.  Apparently the site was something like twitter (or something of that nature) where you could post comments about Greek life and specific people.  The site was recently shut down because it was slanderous and downright horrible (people were discussing top 5 people to sleep with and who gave the best blow jobs).  While I'd never read or seen any of this, I jumped at the chance to discuss the whore/madonna labels and question why there wasn't more solidarity between sororities.  We started discussing how if members of sororities stopped tolerating the sort of treatment/stereotypes/behavior from their so called brothers, the brothers would be forced to change their ways... or at least question it.  If you don't accept being called a whore or slut, the term looses its power and sting.  The same reaction isn't presented, and the motivation behind someone calling another that is lost.  It was as if a hundred light-bulbs turned on at one time.  While not ever imagined to be an intended goal, I felt the talk was very productive.  We then discussed things like heteronormativity, body image, etc  and the role glamor magazines, media, and advertising in creating/reinforcing these constructions.

By the end of my 50 minutes, I felt we had all learned something... or at least entertained me to the fact that we had.  I also had 3 people come up and tell me how much they enjoyed the workshop and where could they find the publications I'd talked about?  Another informed me they were excited to explore the hand out and list of websites I'd provided.  

Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better response.  For such a rocky start, I'd say it was an overall success.  I'd might even venture to guess Oscar nominee... just kidding.  It also happened to be the self-esteem booster I'd been needing for some time.  I'd been feeling pretty crappy about my abilities to do anything right lately.  And a group of complete strangers did what my friends and family have been trying to do for years: assure me that I was good at something and what I had to say was valid.

a blip on my radar

So... many may remember last May when Bernie Bear decided to fuck with CLAS, CALS, and pretty much everything he deemed "unworthy" to save money due to budget crises. Well, below is an indicator that things will continue on the downward spiral and get nastier.  

I'm not going to interpret or jump to any conclusions, but read carefully my friends this is an indicator that things will be getting very ugly. Perhaps if we had better heating/cooling/lighting systems instead of running all those in the middle of the night, this wouldn't be an issue... but what do I know. I'm just a number.

---

To: Faculty, staff and students  

From: President Bernie Machen  

Re: UF's Budget  

With the Legislature wrapping up its special session this week, I want to bring you up to date on our current budget situation and outline how we plan to proceed in developing the budget for the next year.  

As part of its mid-year budget plan to close a $2.3 billion shortfall, the Legislature made permanent the 4 percent hold-back from last July. We have already set aside these funds, so no more cuts for the current fiscal year will be required. In taking this action, the Legislature agreed to our request not to be cut beyond the 4 percent due to the difficulties of reducing budgets in the middle of an academic year. Next year, however, is problematic. 

Over the last two years, the state's budget has been reduced $7 billion and estimates are that next year's budget will be at least $3.4 billion less than this year. That is a huge deficit going forward and all sectors of the state will be affected. The anticipated size of the overall reduction is much discussed; we are preparing for an amount in the $72 million to $75 million range. Therefore, I am asking all units (academic and administrative) to prepare budget reduction proposals in the amount of 10 percent of their current budget. This process will involve faculty, staff and students but is led by the administrators who are responsible for fiscal matters. Provost Joe Glover and others are also developing a set of possible reductions that cut across units.  

We expect to have a list of possible reductions by mid-to-late March and have open discussion for 30 to 45 days so everyone has the opportunity for input. The legislative session ends on May 1, after which we will know the exact amount of our reduction. At that time, final recommendations will be made to the Board of Trustees.  

We will keep you informed with periodic updates over the next four months as we move through the budget-cutting process. The information will be posted on a new Web site dedicated to the budget that will be up and running in coming weeks. A link for the Web site will be available on UF's home page.  

Thank you for your support during this difficult time. We are a strong institution and will weather the difficult economic times ahead.

water partners

Break my butt... that wasn't much of a break, and to be honest, I don't feel revitalized or refreshed.  Alas, class will start again tomorrow and it's looking like I might be having another one of those terms.  On a brighter side of things, I've been doing some research on interesting NGOs and NPOs that I might try to work for in 8-9months.  Here's one that I found that could utilize my interests and knowledge in international water issues:

WaterPartners

WaterPartners International is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization committed to providing safe drinking water and sanitation to people in developing countries. Working in partnership with donors and local communities, we have helped thousands of people develop accessible, sustainable, community-level water supplies. WaterPartners not only offers traditional, grant-funded programs, but is also harnessing the power of micro-finance to address the world water crisis.

the world according to monsanto

Monsanto is the world leader in genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as well as one of the most controversial corporations in industrial history. This century-old empire has created some of the most toxic products ever sold, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the herbicide Agent Orange. Based on a painstaking investigation, The World According to Monsanto puts together the pieces of the company's history, calling on hitherto unpublished documents and numerous first-hand accounts. Today, Monsanto likes to style itself as a "life sciences" company. The leader in genetically modified seeds, engineered to resist its herbicide Roundup, claims it wants to solve world hunger while protecting the environment. In the light of its troubling past, can we really believe these noble intentions? Misleading reports, collusion, pressure tactics and attempts at corruption: the history of Monsanto is filled with disturbing episodes. Behind its clean, green image, Monsanto is tightening its grasp on the world seed market, striving for market supremacy to the detriment of food security and the global environment.

critique

This column ran in The Independent Florida Alligator (local Gainesville/UF rag) and enraged me enough to write the editor.  Below is the column, which ran Thursday, and my response which ran today:

Thursday, October 23, 2008 1:56 AM EDT

Halloween treats adults to more than just candy

By STEPHANIE DUNN, Alligator Writer

I'm convinced Halloween was created for the sole purpose of getting boned. No other holiday compares. When mischief and moonlight abound, someone is going to get laid. Throw in a chintzy costume, garish makeup and orange beer, and you're done for.

Long gone are the days when you relentlessly sought the creepiest costume, the one that would really make your Nana piss her granny panties when you popped up from behind the couch spewing fake blood and guts. We college students still take our costume hunting seriously, but in a decidedly naughtier direction. That angelic little girl who, a decade ago, was happy with a wand, glitter and plastic pumpkin for trick–or–treating has morphed into a ravenous, raunchy little hooker – but just for Oct. 31. Unless you go to FSU, then it's a year–round ordeal.

This is apparently the formula: Take any character or profession and whorify it beyond recognition. Really slut it up – underwear will suffice. Oh, you're a Victoria's Secret Angel for Halloween? How clever. You can be a sexy nun, a sexy soccer mom, a sexy sex slave. It doesn't matter, as long as it's transparent, shows butt cheek or cleavage, and comes equipped with an accessory that can double as a sex toy later on – fishnets or a whip will do. Since when are Disney princesses cock–mongering whores? Since now. Guys are minimalists. If they put any effort into their costumes at all, which is a rarity, they go for the funny costumes or at least ones they think are funny. Dead celebrities, political parodies, cross–dressing, the usual. But I think that deep down, they want to be sexy for Halloween, too. Whether they're 12 or 22, guys fantasize about being Batman, Superman, anything ending in "man." They can fulfill their boyish fantasies for a night, even if they'll ultimately be disappointed in how they look in a bat suit, and I get that. What I don't buy is the guy who starts hitting the gym in September, oils up his abs and quads, and slaps on a four–inch long loincloth thing because "King Leonidas kicked ass in '300'!" 

Couples should just pick each other's costumes because it's a free pass to hand–select who they want to take home at the end of the night. It's like cheating without the guilt. Any other night of the year, if you dress up for sex you're either kinky beyond belief or your relationship has gotten so boring that dressing up is a last resort. Not so on All Hallows Eve. The one thing that hasn't changed since we were kids is that Halloween is all about indulgence. If you have a fetish, tonight you can go all–out. A fetish doesn't necessarily have to do with feet or body fluids I'd frankly rather not mention. It can be as simple as a "thing," and everyone has a thing. You're bound to find at least three people from your fantasies parading drunk down the street, so why not take advantage?

I know that not everyone gets all skanked up for Halloween and that some of us have an ounce of originality left. I daresay it would be more fun if we still dressed up in scary costumes. But somewhere along the line, it clicked that fear and sex go together in a sick Freudian way (hence the adrenaline–filled horror movie sex scenes). Eventually, we decided to leave out the unpleasant fear component and just go with pure sex. So, in honor of Slut–o–ween, treat yourself to a trick and leave the candy for the kids.

Friday, October 24, 2008 1:11 AM EDT

Halloween sex column lacked substance

By Liz Martin, 4LS

I was bothered enough to feel compelled to write about Stephanie Dunn’s Thursday article “Halloween treats adults to more than candy” in this week’s edition of Sex on the Avenue.

I’m impressed that the Alligator has the gall to run a seemingly sex–positive column; in fact I applaud it whole–heartedly. However, this writer has continually missed the mark and simply enraged me this week.

I do not approve of the way in which Dunn presented her case against scandalously clad women on Halloween. Is Halloween really the one holiday “created for the sole purpose of getting boned”?   What about New Year’s Eve? Or Valentine’s Day?

The way in which Dunn discussed women’s costume choices both degraded and reinforced the objectification of women and their bodies.  By calling women “sluts” and “whores,” Dunn recreated the image that women are objects asking to be ravaged, exploited and “boned.”  It’s highly degrading to construct women as inferior beings who don’t seem to have enough sense not to dress up like “raunchy little hookers.”

Then Dunn moved on to men. Why are men continually painted as brutish, lazy and sex–crazed? These stereotypes hurt men just as much as they do women. They encourage men to act in a hyper–masculine manner and send the message that something is wrong with them if they don’t behave this way.

There were many other things that bothered me about Dunn’s work, but what was most frustrating was the lack of any real critique or content.  I would rather see the space used to actually discuss these constructions and people’s seemingly sex–driven Halloween choices than some crap about how women are all sluts on Halloween, how dressing up is an excuse for people to play out their “kinky beyond belief” fantasies or pretend their partners are someone else because on this one night, it is socially excusable.

peace day

Sunday, September 21, was peace day.  The image is completely unaltered and is something I happened to get leaning on a Vietnam Veteran's memorial which the Vet's for Peace were set up right next to.  I was doing work with the Civic Media Center (CMC) where I'm currently doing an internship.