Election Season a Starting Point for Activism

Just this week, the Indiana Republican Senate candidate made a very poor lapse in judgment with the statement during the debate, "I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." Since the statement, Mourdock has apologized for the misinterpretation of his statement, however it has very clearly gotten the country riled up. As it well should. Journalists at the Senate debate in Indiana, tried to clarify the statement by asking Mourdock if he thought that when women get pregnant by rape that God intends it. Whether Mourdock was having a slip-up for his words, or he actually truly thinks this, which most would agree he does, it is exciting to see the country getting riled up over this comment. This means things are changing!

Very possibly, the media coverage of this statement has much and everything to do with election day so close to our nose. Both Romney and Obama administrations were asked to take a stance on the ignorant comment made by Mourdock. His senatorial campaigning is also working avidly to gain back those women voters that he most likely lost from the comment. However, it saddens me to think that if it were not election season, would these comments go unnoticed? Earlier this summer, Missouri Republican nominee, Todd Akin, made an illogical and mindless statement that in rape, women have the power to shut their body off, and prevent pregnancy. Therefore, if pregnancy occurs, it is usually a illegitimate rape.

And this man was going to be nominated to run the country?!?!

Obviously, he is unaware of the way a female body works. I suggest he go back to a public school health classroom and find out..oh wait, that's only if he allows something other than abstinence-only sex education programs in the state. Maybe there is a reason he thinks this way...

Either way, the amount of publicity Akin received on his idiotic comment did not receive as much mainstream attention as Mourdock's did. Akin has since apologized for the way his statement was interpreted (...we seem to have a trend here?), yet has anyone gotten fired up about it?! I hope one day, there will be people in this country paying attention to things that affect them, even when it isn't election time. I guess we have to start somewhere though.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/10/24/mourdock-god-intended-for-babies-to-result-from-rape/

CEDAW

 

 

This is the Wiki Link to my CEDAW wiki.

 

https://sites.google.com/site/statesagainstdiscrimination/

Indonesian Victim

     So being involved in political culture and women's rights, I always enjoy reading different news sources outside of the United States. My focus in my major is international relations, and I love love love discussing the developing world and the human rights violations that may occur in these areas. This past week, I began following a case that to say the least grinded my gears.

     A school in Depok City, Indonesia recently expelled a female student of theirs because she was raped by a sex trafficking syndicate in the Depok City area. The reason she was expelled was because of the tarnished image that she purportedly placed on the school after the rape. She was fourteen years old. According to the Jakarta Post, she was kidnapped and gang-raped by this well-known syndicate.

 

Anybody else have a problem with this?!?!

 

Fortunately, as I followed the story, the teenage girl was allowed back to the school. After meetings with the school administration, the girl's family and the NCCP, which is the National Commission for Child Protection, the decision was revoked and she was able to go back to school. However, now the Education Minister of Indonesia is facing a lot of scrutiny about his comment, where he expressed that rape victims are sometimes at their own fault and that the girls, "do it for fun, and then allege to the rape". Hey buddy, not only do you have many livid Indonesian mothers and fathers angry at you for that comment, but a ton of feminists around the world, and the majority of sane, educated people around the globe siding with the complete lewdness and inappropriateness of that comment?

 

     All in all, the child is back in school. But has this really solved the problem? She is literally living in a society, where not only is she punished for being raped against her will, but being told it was her fault? Unfortunately, I can say that this is not the only case where this has happened. Most of the time it goes unnoticed, and the girl does not get to go back to school. The only thing I can really say about this is that advocacy and aid need to be proponents in this global world so that one day these horrific things will cease to exist.

So You Want to Change the World?

     

      "So You Want to Change the World?" by Michele Tracy Berger

 

      This article found in the Ms Magazine Issue of Fall 2012, discusses the impact of women's studies programs in colleges and universities around the world. The article begins with a listing of different professions of both men and women and reports the idea that all of these individuals had majored in women's studies at their respective college or university. Some such professions were a basketball player, a HIV/AIDS policy analyst, a civil rights lawayer and a coordinator of a breast cancer non-profit to name just a few. The article continues to discuss that beginning in 1970 with a plethora of social justice missions and overall want, a women's studies program was born in San Diego State, as the first ever. From this one program, the major has grown into being offered as both a major and minor in places all over the world, as well a graduate and doctoral programs in the area of study. It has made both men and women realize that the way they may have been looking at world may not be the most open and welcoming way to actually see. The major promotes critical thinking, creativity, and empowerment among women to not accept injustices in their lives. I definitely would not be the woman I am today without a women's studies program, and for that I am truly grateful.

"Women's studies teaches them that they can change the world-and they often do."

Half the Sky

 

     Earlier this week, the international broadcast of the documentary "Half the Sky" aired on PBS. The documentary was shown both Monday and Tuesday nights, October 1st and 2nd, showing the full four hour length documentary.

 

Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

 

This documentary was groundbreaking. It sprouted from Sheryl WuDunn's book titled "Half the Sky" as well as Nicholas Kristof's journalism excellence. The documetary was shot in ten different countries, all of different development levels, religions, ethnicities, economic status and geographic locations. It interviewed many different women in these countries that dealt with a mass amount of cultural and economic struggles. It was a beautiful portrayal of the world around us and how little you may know about this globalized world and the role fifty percent of society plays in it.

 

"When you educate a girl, you educate a village."

"You know what lasts longer than beauty? Being smart."

"The girl is an agent for change."

 

 

The website is a plethora of different resources branching off from the live streaming of the series, ways to get the book by WuDunn, different organizations you can volunteer for and how to simply ACT and help this worldwide cause. I highly suggest you don't walk, but SPRINT to this website and find out a little bit more about your role as women and the world you live in.

 

halftheskymovement.org

 

 

Careers in Technology

     I thought it was very interesting to have Sgt. Kevin Albanese and Trooper David Aresco to come in and speak with the class. It was amazing to see what a career in technology can do for this state. If you were to think of the amount of development and information that these men have the ability to find out through their database years ago, it would be unfathomable.

 

     I am a huge advocate of social media. I think it is one of the greatest tools of the century and has given people a way to connct on so many different levels. It is difficult to find any type of organization, job, or really any aspect of our everyday life that does not have a twitter, facebook, etc. This globalized world is learning how to reconnect. However, there can be some catastrophic dangers when participating in social media in an ignorant way. It is important to constantly know what you are putting out into the web. Just like our technology is developing, so is the technology of hackers, exploiters, and others who have the ability to invade the privacy of a person behind their computer desk. I think it can sometimes be difficult to take all of this in and it was extremely vital that Sgt. Albanese nd Trooper Aresco were able to show us just how invasive a pedophile can be.

 

     I truly appreciated the talk and think that it is vital for this type of class to be aware of the dangers, but also benefits of the power of the Internet.