Expectations for Service Learning

            Identify at least two expectations that you have about working with your organization.  Where do these expectations come from? Are they so far unfounded or supported? How?

            The first expectation that I had for working with LCHT was that I would have met with them already, and developed a plan about the work I will be doing for them.  We have been communicating via email, but I would like to see them in person so we can get to know each other and get started with logging my hours.  So far we have only exchanged schedules, and specified which project I would like to help them with.  The project I am most interested in is gathering research for them about human trafficking and slavery, describing what a traffic victim looks like, and how human trafficking is discussed in the media.  In class when the service organizations came to speak to us LCHT mentioned that they will be adding some material and revamping their website, I would like to help with that in whatever way that I can.  Helping them with their website could potentially be my “deliverable” that I can easily present at the end of the semester.  My first expectation has not been fulfilled yet but I am certain that it will happen soon.

            The second expectation that I have for the service learning I will be doing is that I will make an impact on someone that knows nothing about human trafficking.  I hope that my deliverable, whether it is a website or a pamphlet, allows the crime of human trafficking to get more attention from the public.  I believe it is a crime people rarely discuss.  The most common misconception human trafficking has is that it only happens in large cities, such as Seoul, New York City, Bangkok, and Prague.  But this crime is happening in Colorado, it happens everywhere in the world.  Human trafficking is a terrible crime that can create major psychological damage in its victims.  This is an important issue that needs to be addressed so more people can become aware of the problem and how they can help prevent it.  An extra expectation that I have is to develop a better understanding of what I (or anyone) can do to help prevent human trafficking.  Its easy to tell people not to get into cars with strangers, and don’t put yourself in an unsafe position, but that is common sense and most people do that anyway.  What I would like to learn is how to decrease the demand for human trafficking, and how to get victims of trafficking to reach out for help more often.

            I believe that my expectations have stemmed from my passion and interest in fighting against human trafficking. Ever since I have learned what human trafficking is I have been interested in learning about it on my own, and looking at what other people have done to try to stop it.  Over the summer I was reading the book “The Girl Who Played with Fire” by Stieg Larsson, which the plot deals with a lot of human trafficking in Sweden.  After reading that book my interest about human trafficking was re-sparked and I have been researching on my own time about the subject.  The last two expectations I have about this project have not been fulfilled because I haven’t started working at LCHT yet.  But I am sure that I will meet with them soon.

Which movement do you most identify with

            The women’s movement that I most identify with is the third movement.  This movement is my favorite because it is individually based, instead of generalizing all types of women as one group.  Some aspects that are important in this movement are: the recognition that women differ from each other in many ways, embracing aesthetics and consumerism, and building alliances and having good relationships with men.

            In the past women’s movements women grouped together and fought for specific causes and ideas.  This was great in the past when every woman agreed on the subjects they were fighting for like obtaining the rite to vote.  Now that women have the same rights as men, and the genders are considered equals in the United States, the political opportunities that are left for women to fight over are less agreeable.  For an example the one woman may be pro-choice where as another woman may be pro-life, because not everyone agrees on the same political agenda it is harder to fight for it together.  It is easier to fight for something when you have a “whole” group fighting for it together.

            Another great aspect of the third wave is the way women have begun to embrace aesthetics and consumerism.  Women have represented beauty, grace, and charm since humans have been able to document it.  I think it is important for women to welcome the beauty they represent instead of trying to fight it by “burning bras”, and not shaving their legs etc. When I take care of myself then I feel beautiful, and I feel good about myself.  It doesn’t mean that I am trying to please society or anyone else for that matter.  I do my makeup and wear what I want because it makes me feel good.  Women in modern days don’t have to worry about boycotting fashion and cosmetics to make a point about feminism.  That point was already made decades ago, so now women can feel comfortable enough to embrace their beauty and sexuality without reprimands.

            The next part of the third women’s movement wave that I believe to be important is having alliances with men.  Just because you are a feminist that doesn’t mean you have to hate men.  The whole idea of feminism began because men were treating women as inferior people, banning them from their right to vote and going as far as beating their wives.  In the past women were treated unfairly and ridiculed, therefore women in the future should not treat men unfairly or ridicule them. Women have fought so strongly to have equal rights for both genders.  So, if women were to treat men badly just because they have gained the power to do so, it would completely dishonor the meaning of femininity.

            This particular movement has impacted me greatly because it is how I live my everyday life.  I have always believed that individualism is better than grouping things and people together.  It allows more leeway for different people and their different kinds of circumstances.  I live my life by being a strong independent woman who has good relationships with people from the other sex, and keeping myself beautiful while still having a brain.  The third wave defines me pretty completely, there is only one thing that I do not like about this movement.  The lack of role model or organizational group is sad because the modern woman has no one to look up to.  But since this wave is focused on being individuals that means that there can be no center woman or organization.  Every woman is to aspire to be their own role model, and live up to whatever they believe an ideal woman should be.

Language Shapes Awareness

       In Chapter 5 our book talked about how "Language Shapes Awareness".  There are three main ideas in this section that are important: we give names to things that matter to us, language is not static, and we shape meanings of our culture.
       The first idea is that giving names to things gives them importance. Whatever we name, that word is given power that it would otherwise not have. When we name things we also shed light on a subject, so that when others who have had the same experience can share what happened to them. The word rape is fairly recently developed. In the middle ages, a lot of women were raped and didn't know exactly what to call it and therefore didn't know what had happened to them. If you are confused about what happened and how to describe it, then you might become doubtful that anything bad even happened. This might lead a woman to become embarrassed to talk about the rape and pretend like it never even happened, or that it wasn't a problem and trick themselves into thinking the sex was consensual. Now people are able to describe what rape is, and the different types of rape there are. Women everywhere in the nation are able to recognize rape and they have found ways to protect themselves and prevent it from happening to other women because they were able to connect by recognizing that they were "raped".
       The idea that language is not static, means that we reject words that we disagree on and find new terms to use. One example is male generics and using the word "mankind" to describe all people on earth, from both sexes (male and female). The word that is politically correct for such a description would be "human kind" or "man and woman kind" but the latter sounds weird.
       The last aspect included on this subject is that we shape our cultures meanings. What that means is that our culture changes constantly to fit the norms of our society at that time. An example of this would be how in the past women always took their husbands last name, so the male's name could be carried on.  In our culture now that is not always what happens, modern women have choices for what they can do with their last name when they get married. They can hyphenate their maiden name and their husbands name, that way a woman can allow both her marital and maiden name to be carried on through their children. Of course they can also choose to take their husbands last name or just keep their maiden name and not change anything. The point is that women have choices now, and our culture has changed to allow them/us to do so.

Earliest memory concerning your gender

A)   One interaction with your parents, the earliest you can remember, that communicated expectations for you gender.

       The earliest interaction that I can remember with my parents involving my gender was when I was about five years old.  I was playing with my cousin Leon, he is like a little brother to me and we loved to play together when we were little.  But sometimes he would play rough and hit me and make me cry.  I was a nice, shy, gentle, and sweet little girl so I never would hit him back.  Our parents however would step in and tell Leon that he's not allowed to "hit" anyone, but especially girls.
      They sat him down and tried to explain to him that boys don't treat girls like that.  They also said that girls and supposed to be princesses and boys need to treat them as such.  That is the first time I realized that there are different expectations of boys and girls.  It reminds me of the saying what are little boys and girls made of? Girls are supposed to be "sugar and spice and everything nice" and boys are "snakes and snails and puppy dog tails".


B)   The most recent interaction with someone who communicated expectations for your gender?

       The experience I had recently involving my gender was at my work actually.  I sell green tea hp at flat irons mall kiosk.  The way we make our money there is by pulling people over, giving them a sample, and try to get them to buy our product.  Most of the money i make is by commission, however I make minimum wage per hour as well as commission.
       The cooerperate office has asked my manager to tell her employees to start zeroing in on women.  Because apparently women are more likely to say yes to a question than men.  Because of this they are asking us to pull over more women and "pitch" to them, to see if it increases our sales.  I don't necessarily agree that women are more likely to say yes to a person than men.  From my experience of being a woman, I say no all the time when people try to sell me stuff.  And in fact I find myself selling to a lot more men than women at work.
        I feel that men are more likely to say yes to a woman, than a woman say yes to another woman.  Also, at my particular kiosk there are 9 women who work there and 1 man.  So for my kiosk, I doubt that our sales will go up from "pitching" to more women.  This is just my opinion and I have no study to back it up, but that is how I feel.