Activism Log #7

1.I was out of town all of last week. I know the other girls in the group had plans to visit Seminole county to find potential donations from local businesses. They also had plans to table in front of Walgreens. I have informed my friend of the new theme and he is currently drawing up logo designs. Once those are done, I will bring them in to be voted on. When the logo is finalized, I will then be able to start creating the T-shirt designs and fliers.

2.I haven't been in class, therefore I am not quite sure how our activism relates to what was discussed this week.

3. I can't wait to start designing the T-shirts and fliers. I'm really looking forward to that.

Activism Log #6

1. This week’s meeting was held Tuesday, November 9. We all met to discuss the possible logo options and the wish list of prizes we would like to try and get. Some of our ideas for logos are a gingerbread family jogging, gingerbread running shoes and a gingerbread knight. I will be discussing the ideas with my artist friend who will then sketch up some pictures to show the girls at our next meetings. We will vote on and finalize our logo then. Some of our ideas for prizes were gift cards to restaurants, movies, sporting events, sport stores and grocery stores. We are also hoping to score some tickets to local amusement parks. Our next meeting will be November 30 at 4:30.

2. Our project relates to what we are learning in class because we are trying to unite everyone for a common cause. By raising awareness of women’s studies, we are also raising awareness of the immediate need for equality. This week we are learning about globalization and if we can unite the community for a common cause it’s just one step closer to global equality.

3. I’m looking forward to creating the logos. I will be hearing back from my friend soon and he will be sending me sketches. He has been really busy so hopefully we can get this done soon. Once the t-shirts and flyers are done I will really start to feel like everything is coming together.

Women and the Workforce

In the movie “Sex and the City 2”, Miranda’s character quits her job at the law firm where she’s just become partner, something she’s been trying to accomplish since the series began. She quits because she becomes aware that her boss is treating her with disrespect. After realizing she is the only female partner, she understands that his disrespect stems from her being a woman. What’s more, once she quits, she manages to make it on time to her son’s science fair, something she would have never made it to. This example illustrates not only the sexist regime governing most of corporate America, but it also sheds light on the fact that many women are being forced to choose between being a career woman and being a mother.

The glass ceiling is something successful, career women are being forced to face. It marks the level of not only salary, but also of respect women deserve to reach yet never get the opportunity to. It is glass because it can be seen, but they can’t get through it. It is a physical barrier. Miranda seemed to have broken through the glass ceiling after making partner, yet once there, she didn’t receive the respect she deserved from her sexist boss. He continued to literally put his hand up every time she would offer an opinion and give her cases away to the other male lawyers. Once she opened her eyes and began witnessing this blatant gendered division of labor, she knew something had to be done. She, like many career women in our society, gave up almost everything to achieve success, but it wasn’t enough.

Miranda gave up being an attentive mother to be an attentive lawyer. In our society, motherhood itself isn’t necessarily oppressive; however, it has become constructed in such a way by society that makes it oppressive (Kirk and Rey, p. 307). After quitting, she got to see her son win the science fair, illustrating the many landmark events she had missed while she was working.

Unlike most women, Miranda has extra help at home. She has an attentive husband and hired help. Most women do not and they have to deal with the “second shift” of working all day and coming home to work all night as a mother. These are all sacrifices women in our society are forced to make. In order to avoid these obstacles, many modern women have chosen to pay the “ultimate mommy tax” and remain childless. A steady increase in the percentage of middle-aged, educated, American women who remain childless went from about 9 percent in the 1950's to 10 percent in the late 1970's, and in the 1990's about 17 percent (Kirk and Rey, p. 344). Women choose this route because it has been statistically proven that the longer a woman postpones family responsibilities, and the longer her 'pre-parental' phase lasts, the higher her lifetime earnings will be (Kirk and Rey, p.342). And ultimately, in our society, money equates to power.

Activism Log #5

1. Our last meeting was held Tuesday, Nov. 2. After an exhausting hour, we finalized a name for the 5k (with the help of Mrs. Tweed’s mother). The event will be called the Gingerbread Jog. It will be held the third week of January 2012 during the day. We ate up most of our time deciding a name, so we are bringing in our ideas for “wish list” prize options to our next meeting which will be held Tuesday, Nov. 9. I have begun thinking of possible logo ideas and I will be corresponding with my artist friend by email this week to let him know what the new theme is. He will hopefully then start brainstorming ideas as well and I should have a few options to present at the next meeting.

2. This week in class we are learning about women and the workforce and the many sacrifices and injustices women must face in order to be a part of the workforce. Through our event, we want to spread awareness and education of these injustices, and the countless others women silently endure in this society. In our chapter reading for this week, “Making a Home, Making a Living” (p 301-317), we learned of the gendered division of labor. And it is this permanent gendered division of labor that exists in the workforce that can no longer be tolerated. Through the awareness generated at our event, I want to at least form a crack in the glass ceiling. I want to get us moving in the right direction.

3. I am excited that we finalized our new name, although the task itself took a lot out of us. Personally, I am finding it challenging to be planning something so far in advance. My brain usually can’t see beyond a month or two from now. But I will be discussing logo ideas and designs with my friend this week and I am excited to see what we come up with.