Weight a Minute?! What's the BIG deal?

Here is my final project, my educational video about breaking down the stigmas associated with fat.  Please enjoy! It's about 20 minutes long.  I'd appreciate any feedback that anyone has (just post comments).  I hope everyone can learn something from it...I know I did.- Stephanie

Women as victims of medical experimentation

Axelson's article reveals the poor state that African American women have historically recieved from American doctors. Black women were treated like animals because others thought of them as animals. Then to emphasize this, they were regarded as heroes for putting up with the surgeries as if they had a choice (as if they were technically forced to comply anyway) and as if they wanted the surgeries. It seems it would have profited them more to just deal with the uncomfortable illness.
Later on in the article, Axelson notes how the norm is being a European male. They said that everyone is equal in the constitution, but they still justified racism by claiming that anyone other than white males were lower level beings. In fact, women was considered a monstrous error. It makes you wonder how they could say such a thing when, without women there would be no men. Procreation would also be frustrating to figure out. This sentiment against women is also pretty amusing now that we know that being a boy is a deviation from how all babies start out. Females also seem the more sturdy sex between the two seeing as how more girls are born than boys (it is more likely that a couple will have a girl than a boy)and women tend to live longer than men in spite of the way paternalism negatively affects our health and wellness. If anything it would seem we are the ones with the biological advantages.
It is also interesting how they made it a point to ensure that the theories they were coming up with supported their biases. Such things go on today still as The Biology and Gender Group discovered. Science professional write books that support this male domination idea. For example, biology books often depict the fertilization process as a passive female and active male process. The male counterpart (the sperm) is depicted as a courageous soldier and it is inferred that the egg is a village, or even a woman, waiting to be surrendering to it.
The race issue is still big today as well I found out in class and as part of my activist practicum. Minority women are more likely to be targeted and pressured toward contraceptives. I also found out that minority women are more likely to be offered (and expected to accept) epidurals. While the Feminist Women’s Health Center exposed that, in general, the birth process is made convenient for the doctors (if a woman doesn’t dilate or deliver by a certain time, they give her drugs to do so just so they can get her out of the delivery room and free up the bed for other pregnant women) as opposed to the naturally varying process that it is for women.

Toxic Bodies

Berila makes many important observations here. She brings up the issue of clout… people with clout (money, power, authority, connections) are never the ones seen as toxic. It is the poor, the minorities, the homosexuals, the homeless, the ill (i.e. AIDS) that are seen as toxic. This article does forget to mention that the disabled and the overweight however. There are so many cultural and social institutions that continue to objectify women and make them second class citizens simply because they are women. This is regardless of social, political, and economic clout she has. In this case women have little social clout. This article is a good summary of the beef that America has had with second class citizens (listed above). This comes up in the end of the semester with reference to the Inuit people. Because they have no social or “insignificant” (in the eyes of American companies) economic clout, the plight of their mothers and babies is being pushed to the wayside.
Berile states that it is difficult to distinguish the out-group from the in-group sometimes. For example ACT UP members easily infiltrated a few sessions where they were not welcome. But then again they were middle- to upper-class white men. The qualities that qualified them for second-class-citizen-hood were not obvious. If a teenage, Latino or African American boy in baggy jeans and a jersey tried to do the same he would not have gotten past security.
One statement that Berila made was to show your patriotism by consuming. I am not sure what that means….

I Can Fix It!

Though this article may have been a bit harsh for some people, the reality that many people must face as minorities is harsh in itself. When I was first interviewing for jobs, I was nervous that many employers would first see my skin color before the saw my credentials. What many people of the majority race don't realize is that you can never fully understand the plight of a people unless you walk a mile in their shoes. One can try to get a sense of what that person may have to go through on a daily basis, but you can never completely sympathize unless you are in fact in that situation. The same idea goes for the disable. As an able-bodied person, I see the disabled and can only imagine the troubles that they may have but I can never know struggles because I am able-bodied. I feel that the article takes a very direct approach in getting people to understand that racism still exists and that these are the things minorities would like Whites to do so that they could understand our frustrations.

There have been many instances in my life when I wanted to tell a person of the majority race that somethings that they assume about my race are insensitive and that become racism doesn't exist for them doesn't mean that racism does not exist. Therefore, I understood where the author was coming from when she constructed this piece. Walking into a room and being first noticed as black and woman in a society where those two factors can count against me is an uncomfortable feeling, but I love my gender and my race. With the appreciation of other cultures comes understanding and that is what I think I gained most from this class.

power vs prosthesis

In Lorde’s article “Power vs. Prosthesis,” she brings up the very valuable idea of mastectomy as a cosmetic surgeries rather than a life or death surgery. Many women refuse the surgery because they don’t want t lose their “femininity” or “womanhood” because they, themselves, connect such ideas to their breasts. Others feel pressured by society or even their loved ones to refuse the surgery because society encourages such thinking. I had two personal experiences with this. My mother’s late boss lost a daughter to breast cancer because her husband didn’t want her to have a mastectomy. He didn’t want her to lose her woman-hood and her beauty. I also have an aunt right now hasn’t had herself checked for breast cancer in years and has had a painful lump (with other unpleasant and abnormal symptoms) for almost the same amount of time. She was afraid doctors might want to cut off her breast because of a little lump, and as a result, she might very well be dying from breast cancer.
In the video in class, a nurse said “What we are aiming for is to allow women to look decent in clothes…. The aim is for the patient to look normal and natural when she has clothes on her body.” WOW. Normal and natural according to who??? And even if you do look normal and natural with clothes on, what are you supposed to look like (and feel about how you look) when you take them off. This mindset encourages these courageous women feel ashamed even though they survived this life threatening disease. This goes back to what I said before about women’s issues having to be a private battle. Guy with eye patch, vs her with no prosthesis. Idea of invisibility and silence… is it a lie (to yourself) to wear prosthesis?
This is a good example of what Showalter called managing women’s minds. Although she is referring to how women with mental illness are treated, the same amount of control is put on women who are “sane.” Because the women in Showalter’s article were “deviant” (sexually open and honest, had children out of wedlock, didn’t have a Victorian zip on their lip) they were deemed crazy and thrown in an asylum. The breast cancer survivors are treated similarly when they disclose that they do not want prosthesis. Although these women are not thrown in an asylum, doctors and nurses eye them with apprehension and wonder if they are crazy. They are stigmatized, mistreated and pressured into getting one. The class issue is also similar here to. If a lower class woman were to go without prosthesis, she would be deemed ignorant and strange/crazy (not literally… or is it?). If an upper class woman were to go without a prosthesis, she would be more likely to be called courageous although they would still think her strange (and maybe crazy too).
In issues as sensitive as breast cancer, however, doctors should be extra sensitive to the patient's wishes. They should ask patients what they want and support it. Doctors are supposed to be liaisons and partners not commanders . As Alice Walker calls it, it should be seen as a warrior mark, not a deformity.

Selective abortion

I see a dilemma in Saxon’s article. Selective abortion is controversial in that actualizes eugenics. But then again how do you care for a child if you cannot guarantee it the most comfortable life possible. Suppose you do not have enough money and/or adequate access to other resources necessary to care for a disabled child? It is a difficult decision to make. I suppose my personal feelings on abortion are slightly contradictory as well. I don’t believe anyone should be deprived of the right to life. However, I do believe that people should not be born unless you can guarantee a certain amount of comfort for the child. This is not to say that any one child should be aborted because of one reason over another though. All children are extremely expensive and with the price of living going up, they are only becoming more so. Therefore, if a couple know that they cannot afford a differently abled child, they might want to fully assess if they can afford any child at all. I believe having a child is a privilege and an honor that people should carefully plan to ensure the greatest possible amount of comfort. I realize the controversy that can arise and that this can bring up questions like the following: Should people in the bottom of the socio-economic class have children. I am not suggesting that there should be a guideline detailing who should have children; I am only encouraging people to plan their children better to avoid bringing children up environments that will most likely be emotionally and or psychologically damaging. I realize that utopia is possible, but I am always an advocate for striving towards it…. Perhaps I am a bit naïve and/or idealistic that way…. Children deserve the greatest amount of love and support possible. And while people have to right to have children, I think people should also regard it as a privilege and an honor. That way, women, especially those who do not see or have abortion as an option, would take more precautions to avoid accidental pregnancies.
Similar to the discussion on eugenics in Puerto Rico mentioned in the video La Operacion. I mentioned a “proper environment” and circumstance to have kids. I admit, this is along the lines of the thought processes that caused the large number of women to be sterilized without their full informed consent. Americans claimed that they wanted to create a better living environment for the natives; however, as the documentary revealed, Americans wanted to control the population growth in order to make the island more comfortable and profitable for themselves. This is the big difference between what I believe and what Americans did. I think my beliefs are closer to planned parenthood while America exercised eugenics.
I AM NOT COMPLETELY convinced by this article. As I said before I feel like all the situational factors need to be considered. I still feel like it is a good idea to screen for these disabilities, especially if people feel like they would not be able to adequately care for the child.

No Remedy for the Inuit

I was very touched by the article and video we watched about the Inuit and the toxins that were unknowingly placed in their bodies. The passage at the beginning of the article that states "As we put our baby to our breasts, we feed them a noxious chemical cocktail that foreshadows neurological disorders, cancer, kidney failure, reproductive dysfunction" speaks clearly the frustrations of the Inuit people. Dioxins store in the fat of animals and humans, and because the Inuit have a diet that consists of animal fat they are more susceptible to the toxin. It is almost like a never ending cycle and that is why the title is so appropriate for the situation. Mothers must breast feed their babies and the Inuit must eat from the land, so the dioxins will continue to be passed down from generation to generation.

This reminded me so much of the Tuskegee experiment and our talks about the environment. Unlike the Tuskegee experiment, these people weren't tricked into their dangerous fates; however, in both cases a responsible party knew the consequences of their actions but did not take into account the pain and suffering they causes these people. We live in a society that cares so much about technology and advancement that we don't take the time to see if they will be harmful to both the environment and people. These Inuit people were not in direct contact with the pollutants but the choices that wer made by these companies to produce them has changed the lives of many people forever.

Reproductive Justice

The lecture with Mia Mingus and Cara Page was an eye-opening experience. From the talk about eugenics to the media's role in placing underlying messages of intolerance for certain groups, I learned a great deal about women and the environment. I never noticed how much blame is placed upon women for environmental issues and overpopulation. We as women as givers of life so we are blamed for environmental degradation, food shortages, and water shortages. The picture of the two girls getting water from the well highlighted the media bias against minorities and the blame that they place on them for things that they are not the cause of. The girls were only getting small gourds of water but were made to look like they were over consuming the water. Like one classmate pointed out, the article forgot to mention that large companies uses millions of gallons of water to produce their goods.

Up until that lecture, I had never heard about eugenics. I was fascinated to see that the government and many groups have take steps to ensure that dominant groups procreate more than non-dominant groups. It is there way of making sure that a certain group stays in power and that other groups are marginalized. The list that we made of who should or should not be reproduced depended on several factors: race, class, ability, education, sexuality, aesthetics, and gender. The are populations that some people want to control based on the aforementioned factors. The treatment of those who are considered by society as "inferior" continues to be a reoccurring theme in this class. We have seen that women, minorities, refugees, the intersexed, and the disabled have an unfair advantage.

My Activist Practicum and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

When working on my Activist Practicum about Refugee Family Services, I was constantly reminded of the Lee family's constant struggles in this country. I think of all the women and children that I have met as a volunteer at RFS and you can sense their fear but at the same time you can see that they want to learn and be considered American. However, they also want to hold on to their culture while learning more about American culture. The many things that we as American citizens take for granted such as our ability to speak English, our ability to easily find a job, etc. are things that these people aren't able to do as soon as they land on American soil. I remember that the Lee family didn't have access to an organization such as RFS, but I wonder if the outcome would have been different for Lia if an organization like RFS was in their community.

The biggest problem that refugees face are their concerns about whether are not the will be accepted into America society. Without fluency in English , they are left to either find low wage, low skill jobs or be employed. Like Foua Lee, many immigrants feel that they are stupid or unskilled because they don't know English. They are not able to communicate their thoughts with English speakers so they feel inadequate and alone. What I am most proud of about RFS, is that it provides free ESL classes and also provided childcare services to mothers who attend the classes. Language barriers are potentially the biggest barriers that hold people back from their full potential or from communicating important messages. The language barrier between the Lee family and their American doctors left a young girl without the ability to lead a normal life.

Poverty fuels medical crisis

The healthcare crisis among the poor in the United States is startling, especially since we live in the richest country in the world. This article really shed light on the problems that many poor people face in the US regarding their health and the way they view their situations. I was extremely disheartened by Jim Neely's pessimistic view of his life. It is sad that the only way these people see themselves being freed from their health and financial problems is by death. These people do not have access to great healthcare or even to healthy food choices because of their low incomes. This article completely falls in line with a lot of what we have talked about in class. These people in Kentucky are marginalized and completely ignored by the government because they aren't considered "human capital." Those in power clearly do not see these individuals' plight as important and something that needs to be addressed immediately. The poor in our country may be helped quite often by non-profit or community organizations, but these organizations can only do so much. It is up to our government to make sure that these people receive the health care they deserve.

There are many people in the United States who do not have health insurance, and without it many are left to suffer or even die because they could not receive treatment. With the upcoming election, many people are wondering if the next administration will make insurance accessible to ALL people regardless of their socioeconomic status. I do agree that every person is entitled to excellent health care at little or no cost. I feel that with all of the money that are government wastes on frivolous things, it should take on the responsibility of making sure that its citizens are healthy and not left to suffer because they can't afford their blood pressure medicine, etc.

Sexuality vs. Politics

Hey - another little tid bit of information for everyone. Since we discussed the binary categories of sexuality and gender in class in such depth, I thought it might be interesting for some of our feminist scientists to see how these categories are clashing with the political system. As we all know, same-sex marriages are illegal in the States everywhere except Massachusetts. However in Sunday's New York Times, there's an article entitled "Through Sickness, Health, and Sex Change" which describes how a couple, one half of which is transgendered, is challenging New Jersey marriage laws. Since I'm writing my final paper on Thomas Beatie, the transgendered pregnant man from Oregon, my ear has been finely tuned to these stories. I think the firmly established two-gender system that dominant society chooses to uphold is causing a lot of confusion where legal regulation of rights for couples are concerned.
Just an example from the article: "The New Jersey reference stems from a 1976 case in which an appellate court ruled that a man needed to pay support to his ex-wife, who was born male, essentially saying that sex is determined by current status, not DNA. But a 2004 Florida case took the opposite tack: a female-to-male transsexual who married a woman and then divorced lost custody of the children, as the marriage was declared invalid since both were born the same sex."
In any case, if anyone wants to check this out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/fashion/27trans.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin

More activities

Hey everyone - I hope you are all doing well as the semester winds down. I just wanted to inform you all of another wonderful event taking place at Charis Books, the bookstore where I did my activist practicum. Since this class has prepared us all to become more socially aware and active, it might also be of use to do go about this activism in a healthy and balanced way. Again, like Jackie in her post below, I know everyone has a lot on their minds with finals and everything, but I really do recommend a visit to the bookstore to take a look at the type of community it fosters and I think the event held there on May 1st seems like the perfect opportunity to do so. Here is a description of the event from the website:
7:30-9:00pm. Sonali Sadequee, founder of Sustainable Wellness, will facilitate a free interactive workshop for activists needing tools for regaining health and balance while experiencing "wholistic justice". As we go about the work of making the world a better place, we must be able to sustain and renew ourselves and promote wellness in each other as a community, according to Sonali's teachings. Come learn about the Sustainable Wellness philosophy, nutrition, and lifestyle practices that will make your own wellness a REAL ACTION ITEM for the long haul!
I think a lot of the types of activities we've all been involved in can take their toll on us, so this could be a really fascinating activity.

House of Integritea

Hey all-

I know I told you about it with my practicum, but I just got a call saying the open mic night at House of Integritea's last get-together is going to be tonight, unfortunately since I'm a poor time-management person, I'm working on three papers for tomorrow and won't be able to go. If anyone else is interested, just go down to the Inman Park station and make a left from Hurt onto Euclid, then a right onto Elizabeth and go past the traffic light, up the hill a bit; the HoI is on the right and its fenced, but the gate should be open. Keep in mind the performances start at 7 and end around 9, and I hope a least one person has the time to go and experience the atmosphere there, it's wonderful!

A Visit with Mrs. Carter

I thought I'd post a re-cap/reflection about the Carter Center since many people couldn't attend. We arrived at the center and met Mrs. Carter who told us about her work in the mental health field in which she works with people to improve mental health awareness and treatment globally. She told us about her recent travels to MANY countries (many of us almost had our mouths open because we couldn't believe she visited so many places in such a short period of time) in which she met people living with mental illnesses and learned about other systems throughout the world. One of the topics that came up was the use of language when discussing people with mental illnesses. It seems like there is a shifting now away from the "mentally ill" into people "experiencing" a mental illness. I thought that was interesting as it relates to our discussions about language and race, disability, and even weight (something that Marilyn Wann, a fat activists, strives to do is bring back the word "fat" into something positive as opposed to negative...she openly calls herself fat).

Mrs. Carter also told us a few stories that displayed the exact kind of negative stigma associated with having a mental illness and how we need to work on being more conscious about it and aware of what we can do to help.

For more info about the issue you can visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness:

http://www.nami.org/

Feminist Women Health Care Center

I really enjoyed our Tuesday's presentations, but I was interested to learn more about Women's Health Care Center. The opportunities which this organization provides to the women are great. From the statistics which we have there are more than 10,000 women and girls every year who receive their respectful health care services, community education and outreach education. This huge number of patients which entrust the services provided by their doctors shows the connection between doctor and patient. I think that this kind of relationship among people should be established in every medical center. For example, in "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down", the attitude which the Hmong people received from the doctors was unsatisfactory. They did not have an appropriate attitude to the family in general and may be that was the main problem why they could not heal Lia. That is why I am glad that the Women's Health Center in Atlanta makes their patients comfortable with the medical atmosphere giving them their best support.

I was also impressed by the fact that the Women Health Center serves those who have difficulties in obtaining care and information due to economics, race, ethnicity, and many other conditions. Their services are available to all kinds of women whether they are white, black, able, or disable. Through their work, people from the center strive to achieve reproductive justice for women everywhere, which can be made a reality through our generous support. I am glad that there are such organizations which provide the right medical quality of treatment which every women deserve.

Idea of personhood

While I was reading Mary's post on her last thoughts about "The Spirit...", one sentence caught my eyes especially. She mentioned that in Western medicine, the idea of "personhood" is still developing. I see it as completely opposite. The idea and the value of personhood is deteriorating in western culture and medicine. When we started to break continuum of human life into before and after birth, different price tag has been put on between the unborn and the born. When we start to make arbitrary distinction on human life, then what stops us from defining personhood by social and economic status, ethnicity and race, intelligence and any other thing that people put values on? As medical science advances, value of human being seems to diminish further and further. advancement of science along with deeply ingrained consumerism puts value on people according to their ability to spend. Therefore people who have no economic power becomes marginalized group with no proper health care and toxic waste that large company or rich countries through away. Also the fast pace of life, which have been brought up several times in class discussion, drive us to leave behind those who cannot follow the pace as quickly due to mental or physical illness. We in Western world, and any other parts of the world that are employing the western consumerism in their economy, are forgetting what personhood is and what are the things that used to make anyone a worthy human being.

Activism On Emory's Campus

I'm really glad Professor Bailey asked us the question in class today about activism on Emory's campus. Many of us had a lot to say about the issue, mainly expressing our concerns with our generation Q (as I believe Aimi called it).
It's certainly true. We are a quiet group. While I do feel that we have issues on our minds, we aren't the best, as a whole, at using those ideas to create much social change. There are though, people who do feel the need to get involved and help our communities, large or small.
I am not sure what the problem is with Emory specifically...why we are apathetic or inactive, or why we seem to hide our activism if we do, in fact, participate. Does it have something to do with our class? Gender? Race? Does activism vary between these groups? Or are we really a product of our internet and electronic generation that led us to this quiet/apathetic nature?
I am not sure of the cause, but I do know that Emory has a lot of opportunity that I KNOW many people on campus aren't aware of...
Let's take Volunteer Emory for example. I happen to work closely with VE, supervising all of the special events, service trips, and every staff member we have. Community service opportunities are probably the more widely known opportunities through campus. Someone mentioned the stress we place on community service (and I think it's an important one, but sometimes stressed for the wrong reasons), but there is a difference between volunteering and activism in many cases.
Right now we are in the middle of VE's Earth Week. We are trying to promote sustainable service and environmental habits through various activities (in fact I saw Diogo at 'Green on the Screen'...just thought I'd give her a shout out). People seem to sign up for the volunteering events, but don't want to write letters to Governor Perdue about decreasing the amount of coal-fired power plants in Georgia. I don't know if this is the best example, but it does show something about our behavior relating to activism.

Anyone have anymore thoughts about this?

I frequently get upset with Emory students for not caring, but as cheesy as it sounds, if I can convince just one person to do something...

The Food Crisis and Overpopulation

I want to refer to the two guest lecturers we had last Tuesday who related fertility to the environment. Recently, I was on the BBC website and and there was an article talking about the food crisis. The discussion last week related perfectly with what I found on the BBC site in that many of the comments on there seemed to relate the food crisis with rising population. I was extremely disappointed to find that the majority of comments to the article blamed the food crisis and rising food prices solely on overpopulation from the developing nations such as China and India. These comments seemed to stem from ignorance and racism. How can overpopulation be blamed when it is the industrialized nations with the highest energy and food consumption? Thinking about the comments on that site reminded me of the pictures the two guest lecturers showed us. While overpopulation does play a role in many of the issues that have been popping up recently, it is not the reason behind them.
I've recently become more aware of this global environmentalism, so reading the rest of the comments provided me with more insight into the issue. One of the commentators was from New Zealand:

"The prices of dairy products have doubled in the last nine months. The cost of bread, poultry and meat have also increased. Many households are experiencing difficulties in providing good and healthy food for the family table due to the increases in prices of fruit and vegetables. Finally fuel prices are spiralling adding to the already heavy burden. I think bad times are coming and it's up to ourselves to grow food in our gardens and learn to live in a more environmentally friendly way."
Robert Busnac, Waihi, New Zealand

The food and energy crisis and global warming all seemed to be the concern of many of the commentators on the website. I also related this to the "Story of Stuff" video and the main concern that we are producing and wasting as though we live on an infinitely available planet. Our wasteful economy needs to be curbed and we need to stop putting the blame on those outside the U.S. We talked about this in class and related it to the whole pace of life argument a couple weeks ago. In order to assuage today's problems, we need to completely revolutionize the current way we are living.

Yesterday's presentation about body image

I was impressed by our yesterday's presentation which touched one of the most important problems the world faces today-people's appearance. The points which were retouched in this particular presentation explained the main proof why our society suffers of this "invisible desease". I was glad to receive more information about this issue which is the main reason why people are changing their viewpoints about their bodies.

The first major argument which was presented to us in support of the whole idea about the appearance was the power of the mass media among the population. For example, all the newspapers. I think that we are forced to read them every day for one way or another and we are given a sinful view about our bodies. With all these super models presented on the magazines' covers and on TV shows, the mass media is trying to change our thoughts about how we should look like and what we have to refer as "perfect appearance". I think that a big percentage of the people do not think about one of the most significant question as a result of media's work:"Are these models real?", "Are the diets which they are put on healthy for them?", and etc. If we ask for an advice some of the medical specialists, they all will recommend us to forget about any diets, because the consequences which we will experience after that will damage our health and especially our inner organs. I think that if people stop thinking of the manipulations of the mass media or even forget about them, the cases of anorexia and the death-rates caused by it will decrease. In order to live healthy lives, we have to feel comfortable with our bodies instead of torturing them with unwholesome diets.

Fat on the Inside, Body Image, and Walt Whitman

Stephanie's clips assignment article, "Fat on the Inside" was really enlightening. I had no idea that skinny people could be so unhealthy. It's true that we normally assume that a good weight or good BMI means good health. The article says, "Without a clear warning signal -- like a rounder middle -- doctors worry that thin people may be lulled into falsely assuming that because they're not overweight, they're healthy." The problem is greater than this though. It isn't just thin people being lulled into believing that they are healthy, but others being lulled into believing that thin people are healthy. This concept is an issue as well when it comes to eating disorders. Someone at a normal weight or even overweight can have a severe case of bulimia. But because no one can see a difference in the person's size, others assume that they're alright. Meanwhile, their digestive systems are falling apart in addition to their mental and emotional well being. Outer images are much more deceiving than we realize in so very many ways. 

Body Acceptance Week at Emory is a great way to improve our acceptance of our bodies and others' bodies. Acceptance leads to understanding and respect. Through this reconciliation we can approach improved health in a healthier way. One of the ways that I become more accepting of myself, body and all is through poetry. 

I am an English major with a focus in poetry. One of the themes that we discuss is the authority of the poet in his message. I see enough authority in any poet to talk about body image because I feel like it is something that all of us deal with at one time or another. It takes a good poet though to convey his thoughts and views on something like body image in a way powerful enough to change how you approach life. Certain works of Walt Whitman do a great job at celebrating and accepting all bodies and people. The book "Whitman's Poetry of the Body: Sexuality, Politics and the Text" explores what Whitman has to say about the body and body image in his poetry. M. Jimmie quotes Whitman's line from "Enfans d'Adam 15", "Be not afraid of my body." He continues to say, "the poet urged women and men to accept their own bodies and to find in that acceptance an avenue by which to admit others into communion with them." Through poetry and open discourse we can urge each other to accept ourselves, thus improving the relationships we have. 

Post-Partum Depression and Living With Cancer

Before today I had never really thought about the issue of postpartum depression. I had heard of it before, but I never took it very seriously. Today in class though, I tried to put myself in the shoes of the women experiencing depression. It would make life and motherhood so complicated. It's a good thing that we have psychologists and whole centers devoted to providing therapy to these women. Another thing that I think makes a large difference with cancer and postpartum depression, inescapable things that people live with, is the sharing of experiences. Although it may not help solve the problem, knowing that other people are experiencing what you are makes you feel less alone and less strange. Women can also then communicate what methods have been particularly useful for them in coping with disease and depression. I assume that Audre Lorde would agree that sometimes, advice is better received from someone who has been through what you have. Such people can understand you better and understand how to interact and communicate with you better than a doctor who has never personally dealt with the problem. Also, your contemporaries are more prone to see your situation as a whole experience, to listen in addition to suggesting solutions. This is something that Lorde did not find in her interactions with the doctors while she had cancer. Many of them acted like dictators saying, "If you do not do exactly what I tell you to do right now without questions you are going to die a horrible death," versus, "You have a serious condition going on in your body and whatever you do about it you must not ignore it..." giving the patient more personal power. Lorde saw more value in the "African way of perceiving life, as experience to be lived rather than as problem to be solved." I feel like this would be a very healthy way for women with postpartum to approach their situation. They are not a problem to be solved, an anomaly, they are human people experiencing life. And maybe through some communication and understanding we can figure out how to improve the quality of that experience.

Activist Practicum

I really enjoyed students' Activist Practicums which they shared with us in our class today. Everyone presented their own ideas which I find great. They all touched on very important and in the mean time interesting topics which our society faces nowadays. Problems like sexual assault, exploitation of children, physical health vs. appearance, and etc. are serious issues which influence not only mankind, but the whole world.

I was impressed by Caitie's presentation about children's sexual abuse. It was definitely disappointing for me to find out that so many children, especially in Atlanta, were victims of such exploitation. The statistics which she presented to us exceeded my worst expectations. I could not believe that even eight or ten-year-old girls were targeting and forcing to satisfy men's needs and this continues to develop. I was also surprised by the fact that this is happening even in America, because this is one of the countries or may be the only one with the flawless Law System. My expectations about the javelin delinquency were not justified. The sizes of children's pornography are insane and the Government should keep doing everything in the name of kids' care-free children hood. I really respect the support which different organizations give in order to remove children's exploitation. I think that if we want to overwhelm such problem, we have to establish more alliances like these.

Global Warming

We are on the verge of massive global climate change which will see a significant rise in sea levels, chaotic weather patterns, and catastrophic droughts all caused by small increase in global average temperature. The earth has been doing fine but now many countries are in the industrial age and are manufacturing things and releasing more greenhouse gasses. The earth is essentially being thrown out of its natural balance. We started doing harmful things and only now do we realize what we have done.

Global Warming needs to be stopped because it is infecting animals and sea life that we eat with parasites that come from the warmer sea temperatures. And it doesn’t stop there. Imagine that you are placed into the future. It is somewhere around 2050. You begin to live in this new world, but the planet is not the same any more. You hear about huge storms over much of the North America that cause severe damage. Many cities experience major flooding from the ocean level having risen so high. Thousands and thousands of people die each summer across the world as the temperature soars to 65° C for 2 weeks straight. No, this is not total fantasy. All of these events could really occur over less then half a century. All of them are results of one problem — Global Warming. It is a huge issue with many consequences. But even though we know that our future could lead to a global catastrophe, very often we change the subject and don’t want to talk and think about it. We all must be ashamed of it. In order to preserve the world clear and safer for our children we must take serious responsibilities for our acts. We must think first about our home, then about ourselves.

Another reaction to Reproductive Justice

I am really grateful that we were able to hear Mia Mingus and Cara Page speak about their work. It was really eye-opening to hear the precise differences between all the branches of Reproductive activism, and I really hadn’t been aware of exactly what the division was between reproductive rights and reproductive justice. Because so much of the debate surrounding this issue is, as Mia mentioned, abortion-centric, I think it’s really important to take time to listen to how complicated this issue is.
Also, I thought the Visual Images Project was a really important piece of work. I think it’s crucial to understand that the dominant conversation surrounding the availability of birth control and access to abortion clinics stifles the debate that women of color have initiated over how to change the circumstances that make it difficult to have and raise children. Furthermore, the images show that the conversations stemming from the dominant structure both make a spectacle of mothers and their children in less wealthy parts of the world, and also do so in order to present overpopulation as a problem that comes from those regions.

A Wrap-up...

I really enjoyed the activist practicum presentations today. It was really interesting to see how we, as college students, can make a difference in our community. I also found it remarkable of how many activist focused organizations there are on and off campus. Although the presence of such groups is great when trying to implement positive change, I feel that hearing and being active in such groups may be difficult. For instance, I probably would have never heard of the Atlanta Feminist Women's Health Center (the organization I observed for my activist practicum) had I not taken this class. When speaking about organizations that are found on campus, I believe that although we hear about the services that each group offers, we do not necessarily take part in them. I know for me at least, by having to research about different organizations, I was able to not only become more aware of what types of groups existed, but I now really want to become more active. On the other side, students may be aware of what different groups exist, but they're not necessarily sure how they can get involved to lend a helping hand.

Overall, I just wanted to express how much I enjoyed taking this class. I learned so much about issues that I had never really thought of. Furthermore, this class further emphasized how important it is for an individual to take a stand for a issue he/she truly believes in. Many of the issues that are being addressed today is because someone took it upon him/herself to implement positive change. This is vital if we ever want our community to excel; every little action does count in the end. I truly enjoyed meeting all of you girls and hearing what everyone had to say about the issues discussed in class! Thanks for listening!

Inconvenient Partnerships

So in the course of this class we have learned of two inconvenient partnerships that have and continue to have grave consequences in establishing as Cara Page put it “an equitable balance.” During Sanger’s era tying women’s reproductive rights to the eugenics movements brought gains in women’s rights for but at the consequence of reinforcing a way in which to control populations deemed inferior or incapable by the dominant population. The consequences of this partnership can still be felt today. A woman has the choice to get an abortion, but what good is that choice when the factors and conditions (health, income disparity, etc) that affect her decision are not assessed and addressed to see how the can be improved. As Mia Mingus pointed about in class, what is the value of having the freedom to choose when the options are limited and not as good?

Another inconvenient partnership I had never heard about until our class on Tuesday was that of certain environmental interest groups with family planning advocates. The thought that people having less children will help us preserve the earth may seem like common sense, but when we think more about it, having less people in the world does not make any difference if those who are left continue to exploit valuable resources and cause damage to lands and habitats. The “gains” made by such a partnership add further confusion to the matter of family planning and shifts the focus from making the decision to have children in a way that flows with other parts of a couple’s life to one that encourages/coerces certain individuals to have no or fewer babies through practices or sterilization or not having the adequate pre-post natal resources to ensure a successful pregnancy.

This is yet again another example of actions that may appear to bring about the desired short term, immediate result. But have long term effects which are sometimes unforeseen and not properly addressed. I found many parts of Mia and Cara’s presentation interesting, the most important point they made is that addressing the issue of women’s reproductive health and justice we must at look the conditions such as access to good health care, environmental safety, and actions of the systems of control to determine how best to improve the health and rights of women, especially those of marginalized populations

Reproductive Justice

I thoroughly enjoyed Cara Page and Mia Mingus' talk on Reproductive Rights, Health, and Justice.  I found it incredibly interesting how these terms signify different things when usually they are usually combined and thought of as only one idea.  Through SPARK, these women seemed to be primarily focused on Reproductive Justice where they look at the causes of the underlying problem and then proceed to search for a solution.  One of the most important concepts they brought up was Eugenics and the question of who determines who should reproduce and who is considered inferior or superior.  It was interesting to see a written down list of the institutions and other systems of control that would that would promote or prevent women from having children.  When we think about Eugenics as being controversial, we usually only consider the women who are fighting for the right to reproduce, usually minorities.  An interesting case that they brought up, is: what about the women who are encouraged to reproduce but want to prevent having children?  I had never thought about it like this because eugenics is usually thought of in terms of the women who are being persecuted through sterilization and other means of population control.  The media and politics constantly bring up the controversial point of abortion and whether it is actually killing a person, but it is never thought of in light of controlling the population. I never thought that by preventing abortion, the government would be ensuring that women who they want to reproduce continue to do so.  

The Spirit Catches You And You FAll Down

While I was reading Anne Fediman's book "The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down", I became interested to learn more and more about Hmong culture. These people had very rich history, a complex culture, a sufficient social system, and enviable family values. I think that Hmong people deserved the right to be treated with respect, but I found through the readings that they were not accepted very well from the American society.

In chapter 14 of Anne Fediman's book I was shocked to find that Hmong people were called "the most primitive refugee group in America". I do not think that this phrase was appropriate to be used toward them, because they fight as proxies for United States troops in the war in Laos. These people need to be respected even though only for the fact they helped Americans in the war. The other thing which disappointed me was the part where a woman was kicked in the thighs, face, and kidneys, purse, and her family's entire savings were stolen. I cannot believe that the attention which Hmong had from the other people was so cruel. Everyone knows that America is the country of humans' free rights and as such, it has to respect its citizens and give them the chance to experience their lives.

In this chapter I was also shocked of the detail about the refugees who had lived in the United States for more than eighteenth months and after that, they stopped receiving Refugee Cash Assistance. Many Hmong did not have jobs and prospects which was impossible for them to provide their families' welfare. We all know when Hmong came to America for the first time, they were not educated and had a lot of problems with the language. First, I think that these people should receive more understanding from the society, and second they also should be supported by the Government. In this particular chapter we became witnesses of the unethical attitude with which Hmong were welcomed to America. I think that these people deserved the right to live free and happy as American citizens. Today, the stance which international people experience in America is totally different than it was for Hmong.

Reproductive Justice

Today's class was quite engaging. The speakers, Cara Page and Mia Mingus captivated my interest by introducing new concepts and reinforcing old ones. I loved how they presented the information, which discussed the differences/similarities between reproductive justice and health. I never realized the distinction between the two. Their overall mission really moved me. I was happy to hear their support for pro-choice, but also their strive to promote equal birthing rights for all women regardless of race, disability, sexual orientation, etc. They have a goal, which represents all women and their rights.

I was surprised to see the link between reproduction and environmental degradation. It was interesting to see this connection through the images Cara was showing on PowerPoint. The one image of the Indian women with their babies crowded into a room really demonstrated this connection. The image portrays the overpopulation of Indian people and signifies that they are using the environment in a negative way because of their significant population.

Not only was the discussion informative, but it was also inspirational. Mia and Cara have been successful in supporting this movement and in fighting for what they believe in. I respect their passion and want to do the same in the future. If these two strong women can help other women of all different backgrounds, we can do the same by starting at a small scale by advocating and lobbying. These efforts create change and make life-changing differences.

Reproductive Justice

As some of us have already posted on the blog, I too though today's lecture was really great. The guest speakers Cara Page and Mia Mingus presented a lot of information that I had not been familiar with. However new this information was to me, I really understand and can see its role in our society today. I had never thought of how marginalized groups could be blamed for environmental degradation. However, after seeing the various clips portrayed by media, I really could understand how much influence these images can have. Moreover, what I find to be sad is that many people do not interpret such clips to be negative; they read the articles and flip through the various photos that in essence, blame, colored groups for these environmental problems without realizing how untruthful this portrayal is.



Another aspect of today's lecture that I had never really given though to was why women of color are fighting to have children. Although I was aware of the lack of services that are offered in areas in which there are a high number of minority women, I had never thought of why this was the case. The same goes for the schooling and other conditions that make it difficult to raise a child in such areas. The fact that these women do not have the choice that Caucasian women may have is unjust. It is not fair to restrict some groups of people from services that are offered to others for no apparent reason. Aren't we all supposed to be created equal? Is that not one of the founding ideas of the United States?

story of stuff and reproductive justice

Today's class discussion about power and control reminded me of the Story of Stuff video we all watched last week in addition to a course that I took my freshman year. Of what I took from today, one of the biggest points seemed to be that the marginalized or "other" in society do not in fact create the environment that they are subjected to. They are not stuck there because they haven't taken the initiative to rise above or because they created the situation for themselves. Rather, often their situation is a result of what the government, corporations, or those above them have enforced upon them. This is an issue that is presented broadly in the Story of Stuff video, and one that I studied a specific example of in my "Amazonian Rain Forest in Brazil" seminar that I took freshman year.
Like Annie Leonard describes in the video, people with power are destroying the environments of people in poorer countries. With this displacement they are forcing them to work in factories that pollute the world even more. This very thing is happening in the Amazon rain forest in Brazil. Corporations and wealthy upper class people are taking over the land of indigenous farmers and exploiting its resources. This wrecks the entire system of life of the indigenous people. The land that they work on and get food from is being taken over and they are being displaced from their homes into cities and slums. With none of their original farms and no access to traditional hunting and gathering, these people are forced to work for money. And from there, their only work opportunity, due to poverty and poor transportation, is to work for other corrupt corporations and factories. These factories only pollute the world and exploit its resources more. It is a seemingly hopeless situation.
Side note - this situation ties into modern slavery again. There are actual cases in which families will sell their children into slavery in order to have money to survive. Sometimes they will send them away to what they think are apprentice jobs or waitressing jobs, hoping they will send money home, and really, they are sending their kids to brothels and human trafficking chains.
Annie Leonard provides astounding statistics for this problem. One third of the planet's natural resources have been used in the past three decades. And globally, 200,000 people a day are being displaced and going to work in factories. Whole communities are being wasted. She even quotes that two thousand trees in the Amazon are being chopped down every minute. This misuse of resources and displacement of indigenous people is wrecking havoc on Brazil. And truly, as seen here, their situation is not the result of their own mishaps, rather it is all the result of powerful systems controlling their freedom.
Finally, it is important that we do not automatically label corporation's treatment of land as bad, and indigenous agriculture as good. The slash and burn agriculture of indigenous groups in the Amazon can be really bad for the soil. It strips the soil of its nutrients and isn't particularly sustainable in large amounts. Areas such as this are in need of a totally new and different system.

Poverty fuels medical crisis

In nowadays, poverty is taking bigger and bigger lenghts. It can be defined as one of the most important problems the world faces like Global Warming,cancer among the population,women's experimentation, and etc. We have to realize this "disease" in our society is a fact and we are the people who have to look around ourselves and try to give our best in order to overwhelm the problem!I think that everyone should be concerned about the lives other people lead and give them our assistance.

When I read the article "Poverty fuels medical crisis", I was shocked to find that there are so many people around the world who live in suffer. The examples which are given in it represent different cases of people's diseases and their helpless situation. The crisis in which Edna Saylor lives indicates the life of the old people and their insecurity. The data shows that this woman gets less than $8,500 a year which is intolerable toward her especially if she survives by her own. Edna Saylor has also some health problems with her heart, she has high blood pressure and poor circulation. Every intelligent person can conclude that this woman does not have enough funds to cover her medical expenses and live the life which people deserve. It is sad that a country like America which is really developed in medicine cannot secure, for example, the lives of its mothers and fathers.

I was also disappointed of the movie we watched in class about this man who lost two of his fingers. Obviously he did not have health insurance which was an obstacle for him, because he did not have enough money to pay for the surgery. I cannot understand how this country can make its citizens feel dependent with their health insurances. Don't you think that doctors should be more worried about their patients' health than their insurances? I think that doctors should give their best to save persons' lives and to think about their own goods after that.

La operacion

The movie called "La operacion" by Ana Maria Garcia which we watched in class made me think about the life which people in Puerto Rico had. During the movie I was trying to answer so many of my questions, for example: How did these women feel after the sterilization?; What did they think about this "medical method"?; Was it a Government exploitation?, etc.

This movie is a very good representation of women's exploitation in Puerto Rico. They were forced to be a part of a medical experimentation which was compulsory for all of them. The sterilization which almost every woman experienced was violation of their own rights. I cannot really understand how people can be manipulated like that and also be treated not as equal. For me, the worse part of the whole sterilization process was the lack of information which these Puerto Rican women had. I became a witness of a terrible attitude which doctors exercised among their patients.

One of the interesting questions for me was: "Why sterilization took place in Puerto Rico"? I think that this medical method was introduced there , because the majority of people were not educated and we all know that if people do not have the needed knowledge, they will have less doubts about sterilization like these women had. For me, the Government had the main responsibility of using sterilization among these poor people. It was trying to minimize the number of uneducated people and also to solve the problem with world's over-population. Even though, I do not agree with its brutal politic of sterilization, because the pain which these weak people suffered cannot be redempted. I know that over-population is one of the biggest and most complicated problems nowadays, but the method which the Government choose to overwhelm it has to be changed, because every human being deserves the right to live in peace.

Lesbian Bodies

I was really interested by Barbara Creed's article "Lesbian Bodies: Tribades, Tomboys, and Tarts". The author touched the idea of sexuality which can exist between women. In the past, lesbians were defined as "different" than other people and they were treated as breakers of the established social order. The Government considered, that lesbians can lead society to collapse, but through the years it decided to change its attitude toward these women.

Nowadays, the stance which mankind has toward lesbians is different, for example, such women can be married. Even though there are still some communities in the world which are more conservative and words like "lesbian" and "gay" are not appropriate for their cultures. I think that Barbara Creed tried to explain to the audience that even lesbians should be considered as "normal" human beings who deserve to exercise their sexual orientations. I think that these women should be accepted as the way they are and society should try to understand their emotions and preferences.

I have a friend who is a lesbian and she is a very kind and nice person. The relationship between her girlfriend and her is very strong and both of them enjoy it. I cannot really understand their feelings and experience, but I am pretty sure that they are one of the best couples I have ever seen. They both come from extremely pious families which is a problem for them to consume their love. This is a brief example of how religion stays between people's feelings. I am a pious person too, but as Shakespeare said:"Love is blind", I think that everyone should spend his or her life with the person they love in spite of all negative stance around them.

Thoughts on Today's Lecture--Reproductive Justice

I can't stop thinking about today's guest speakers and what they had to say about reproductive rights, population control, and eugenics. I have never heard of some of the ideas they discussed, and I think it's important to know about it...I'm glad I do now! The idea raised in class about blaming fertility as the root cause of social conditions and environment degradation was the most stunning to me. As someone else mentioned in class (I think it was Rosie), I also have never thought about the relations between population control, reproductive rights, and the environment. The best example was given through their media/visual presentation picture about what family planning can do to our environment. Many of us had different interpretations, which for me tells us what a complex and difficult issue this is. Looking at it from all of the angles we discussed in class, it seems like there are two main issues: either people aren't given their "reproductive right" and allowed to have a family due to discriminatory factors that come through politically and socially OR the questioning of who should and should not be reproduced based on the same political and social factors of discrimination. Both of these issues seem legitimate, but what is the other side arguing? What is keeping us from eliminating these issues? It stems directly from the same things we've been talking about in class about prejudices of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. How is it that we're already able to label someone before they have even entered into this world?

A Burst of Light: Living with Breast Cancer

In nowadays, the percentage of women who have or had breast cancer is too high. This is the second common type of cancer after lung cancer. From the data that we have during 2005 breast cancer caused 502,000 deaths world wide. While reading the articles about Lourde, I was surprised by the faith of this woman. She had the incredible ability to overwhelm her own tragedy. I am pretty sure that it was not an easy process for her, but nevertheless she succeed to preserve herself and be ready to fight for her survival.

Women's role in our society was and continues to be the role of the mother and the housewife. Most of the women were defined as sexual objects and only their appearance was valued. I think that this concept of admiring women only for their good looks continues through the centuries. Today, if a woman does not fall short of society's expectations, she will be ignored and outcasted from it. For example, the case of Lourde was the same and when she decided not to have a live biopsy she did not receive an understanding from her own doctor. This is really sad, because doctors should be the people who have to try comprehend their patients and give them confidence in order to endure their sickness. From this point of view we can conclude what will be society's opinion about the victims of breast cancer and their "horrible" consequences for it. Even all negativism which this woman went trough, she overcame her disease and society's views and continue to be loyal to her believes. I admire Lourde's strong spirit and the motivation which she had.

The Dark Side of Birth Control

When I read the article of Birth Control, I concluded that the sterilization methods which were used in order to control the birth-rate among people were extremely inhumane. I was shocked to realize that such experiments exist. The sterilization has its positive and negative sides, but for me it has more contrary ones. In my opinion, the Government has the main responsibility of birth control, which can be seen as the only good side of sterilization. It is trying to reduce the population growth which is the most developing component in our society. I also think that the Government has no right to exercise such method of sterilization and go against women free will. The sterilization is an irreversible proses and it does not give the opportunity to women creating their own offspring. This is a kind of punishment for them and may be the worse one.

Sterilization was used as one of the radical factors of birth control. It was mainly applied to people who were uneducated and that is why the Government was trying to take advantage of them. As we know, in the past, black people were the most common work labor and they were treated with no respect. This cruel attitude which masters exercised with their laborers continue to develop in nowadays. The only difference is that the fate of these poor people is controlled with the Government. For me, the Government gives them the wrong idea that they are free, but it also tries to control them indirectly. I think that its main goal is to create more intelligent and prosperous society. But even though, their method of sterilization which affects less intelligent people is not the right decision to control birth rates.

Positive Change...

I thought the article "No Remedy for the Inuit: Accountability for Environmental Harms under U.S. and International Law" by Anne E. Lucas really connected with what is going on in the United States today, especially considering that this week is the National Public Health Week. One of the major initiatives that is being addressed is the role of the change in climate on our nation's health. By highlighting how the climate can negatively affect our health, not only does this educate on how we can make healthier decisions for ourselves, but it also encourages us to be appreciative of our environment. It's a win-win situation. Here's the website for National Public Health Week:

http://www.nphw.org/nphw08/default.htm

I feel that there is a lot of potential for everyone to become more aware of how our actions negatively affect the environment, and in some cases, the health of other people. However, implementing such positive change is difficult. Although making recycling more accessible to everyone is a start, I do not believe that we're going to have much change until everyone begins to really pay attention to what is occurring with our environment. The only way that this can occur, however, is by everyone caring about the world around them. Like we mentioned in class, the pace of life in the United States is too fast. No one cares about anyone else, it's every man for himself. Once we slow down our lifestyle, then positive change will occur. I feel that our society today is just one big competition; in order to stay on top, you have to accomplish a great amount in a short period of time. Rather than always competing with someone else, I think we need to start focusing on what everyone can offer as a group. By doing so, not only will we be able to work more effectively as a unit, we'll begin to see some of the positive changes that our environment needs.

Linguistic Discrimination

In my Linguistics class, we had a lecture from a visiting professor from Stanford which I thought was very relevant to Women's Studies. His focus of research is how linguistic background determines success in school. Specifically in Northern California, he has studied how white students consistently perform better on standardized tests than black students. In 1996, there was a huge controversy in Oakland over the school-board's proposal to recognize the fact that many students in their schools spoke Ebonics. People were outraged, thinking that the school board wanted to teach a rule-less, slang language in schools. This was a misconception in several ways; firstly, Ebonics is just as rule-based as any other spoken language. Additionally, the school board wanted to recognize the fact that their students spoke Ebonics so that they could be taught more effectively, they did not want to teach Ebonics.
The findings indicate that when students' linguistic background is taken into account, they perform much better on standardized tests. This works in several ways. There are bilingual readers in which texts are written in Ebonics and translated into "Standard American English." Also, there are translation practices in which students translate to and from "Standard."
This lecture opened my eyes to a concept I'd never consciously thought about. It reminded me of the white-privilege knapsack. A part of the white-privilege is knowing that standardized tests will most likely be culturally biased in your favor. I realize that the fact that the English I spoke at home is "standard" has given me an advantage in academics.

A link to a blog posting about universal healthcare

I found out about a blog called "Stuff White People Like" through Professor Bailey.
One of the recent post deals with universal healthcare issue, so I thought I would post the link

Free Healthcare

No Other Option, Really??

The Story of Stuff ties in many of the topics we have been discussing in past few class sessions, healthcare, the environment, the plight of the lower and middle class individual, and control of the government. One of the things which stood out to me was the narrator’s statement that Dioxin is one of the most toxic manmade toxins that affects the environment and, as the readings also point out, people who live off the environment.
Another interesting point was how media narrows our vision and makes us thinks we have to keep up with the Joneses, the Joile-Pitts, and just about everybody else. Our compliance to the system is brought about by the fact that we work too much and have too little time for family, relaxation, and much less complaining or doing things to affect change that would require major time, effort, and investment. The work hard to spend lots of money mentality means the importance of capitalism is elevated over the right and health of the human to have a healthy environment. This shifting of values is similar to what we observed in out discussion about healthcare in the United States. Because there is so much focus on continuing production, lowering costs and increasing consumption, there is not enough attention placed on taking care of those who are involved in the production, distribution, and sell of the products. Workers are seen as replaceable either in the states or by exporting the labor to another country in which there are more lax work healthcare requirements and regulations.
Small businesses that would be instrumental in defeating the mindset of the linear system of from extraction to product cannot compete because in many cases, a great deal of the costs that goes into running a business is due to paying for employee healthcare.
So in making products that can be easily replaced and not made to the highest quality, wastes and pollution released affects areas that are not exactly the most affluent, so those in those neighborhoods get sick and possibly do not have the resources to address the small problems so the accumulate until it becomes something that requires major attention. In that instance, it becomes a toss up of whether or not they will be able to get the care. So then what do we do when those who should be limiting the ways people get sick are the same people who are taking actions that in fact much us sick? How are they to be held responsible, the article we are assigned to read touches on this subject using the example of Inuit women and Dioxin pollution is affecting their community/culture and the issues and pitfalls involved in taking the case to court. The article shows that how we can start to demand that government take action that is in the best interest of the greater majority of the population instead than catering to the small immensely wealthy minority population of big business and special interest groups.
I was talking with a friend about the domino effect of the issues we have been discussing and she pointed out to me that these matters seem big and beyond us but since each issue affects another issue and involves people in each process, one person’s action will affect the people they interact with and can lead to big waves of change.

Ignoring Global Warming

Last year I wrote a paper concerning the sociological aspects which keep people from acting when it comes to global warming. I notice that specifically in the United States society, there seem to be major concerns when it comes to changing the way we live in order to protect the environment. Class today reminded me of some of the concepts which I discussed in the paper, and reinforced in my mind what exactly the issues are.
I believe the first issue is that it is simply easier to continue living in the way we are accustomed. Making change, on a global level, will require a lot of work. Even on a smaller level, it is easier to throw away trash than to sort it and find appropriate recycling facilities. I find myself making excuses for not recycling certain things, when I know I should, because of convenience. Often, I find myself thinking, "This one little thing is not going to make a difference." If each person feels that their individual actions cannot effect the world on a large scale, it builds up.
Furthermore, I found a sociological study in which a woman monitored people's reactions when global warming was mentioned, and found that most of the time the topic of conversation was changed rather quickly. People may have negative emotional reactions when they think about the issue, such as guilt or hopelessness. In order to avoid those negative feelings, they avoid speaking about the issue all together.
Often when asked what should be done about global warming, people talk about raising "awareness" on the topic. However, I think that at this point, most people are very aware that it is happening. Like the movie which we watched in class about disability in the workplace, it is not enough just to talk about such issues. Awareness has been raised, and now something must be done. We cannot ignore global warming; in fact, it is our generation's job to change it.

No remedy for the Inuit

It truly is a disgrace how the Inuit are being ignored. The situation represents a vulnerable population housing an even more vulnerable population and the big, bad U.S. slowly but surely killing them.This at first seems like a strong statement, but it doesn't seem like such a huge leap when we keep in mind that present generations of Inuit are being affected by the air, land and water pollution that is destroying their land, homes, food, and health. Former Vice President Gore states in his documentary An Inconvenient Truth that the icy regions are melting and throwing off the delicate balance of nature. Among other things, animals are dying because of lack of appropriate food and shelter, vegetation is blooming and hibernating/dying too early, and foreign species are moving in, filling in, and overpopulating the spaces left. The Inuit people live in tune with nature; therefore if the natural balance is upset, the livelihood of the Inuit is also in danger.
This article relates to the recurring theme of the mistreatment and marginalization of populations. For example, the film, La Operacion, shows Puerto Rican women being used as guinea pigs to test contraceptives. Many experienced short term and lang term negative health consequences as a result. Americans encouraging these birth control tactics didn't show much concern since the ultimate goal -curbing the Latino population -was being acheived anyway. Here as in the Inuit reading, the health and wellness of a minority is outshadowed by the majority's perception of a greater good. While positive outcomes do result from both interventions (even though it is difficult to see the positivity of the Inuit's situation through all the pollution, they do still exist... the biggest issue is the Inuits don't see much of the benefits), the primary issues of consent, health, individual sovereignty, and human rights/justice bubble up slowly. As with the eugenic movement in Puerto Rico, however and unfortunately, America won't stop muscling the Inuit people around and hiding behind bureacracy until someone paints them as self-centered murderers.

The Healthcare Crisis

Poverty Fuels Medical Crisis and Dismantling Toxic Racism both address what is quickly developing into our nation’s biggest problem, healthcare. As both of these articles pointed out there are many factors that contribute to a person’s overall health and even more factors that contribute to whether or not a person has healthcare. Poverty and race are the two main factors that the articles addressed concerning healthcare. These two elements are also linked together in the issue of healthcare. The bottom line is that without health insurance, no one can afford healthcare. However, health insurance premiums are so high that unless one has a good income one can’t afford to pay the premiums. This leads to all sorts of issues like lack of preventative measures so that the diseases and issues that the doctors do see are always very severe. It is a travesty that in such a rich country we have over 47 million uninsured.
While, these articles do a powerful job illustrating the injustices that the poor and marginalized groups of society are dealing with another interesting take on the healthcare crisis is Michael Moore’s documentary Sicko. This film chooses to focus on the problems of people with healthcare insurance. This is an interesting, but extremely effective tactic because the vast majority of people covered by healthcare insurance are becoming extremely dissatisfied with their coverage. Also, a recent trend is that employers, especially smaller employers, are unable to afford to offer employees healthcare coverage. Since, the middle classes are now being affected by the healthcare insurance coverage I feel like these issues will now come to a head. Yes, the healthcare injustices that the poor and minority groups are dealing with are horrific and should stir this nation into action, but realistically I feel that since the middle classes are now starting to be affected that this issue is going to gain a lot more attention, especially in the upcoming presidential election. While this is the first time that we have focused specifically on healthcare we have addressed a similar issue when we discussed disabled individuals. When discussing disabled individuals we mentioned how our society is designed for an able-bodied, young man. We discussed the societal responsibility of ensuring that these members of society have the same ability to move around as able-bodied members of society. This idea correlates with the concept of social responsibility concerning adequate healthcare for all.

Final Thoughts On The Spirit Catches You

 Even though we finished our discussion of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down a few weeks ago there are still parts of the book that are reverberating. One of the issues that the book raised that I’m still processing is the concept of personhood and what that means. Once Lia was declared brain dead by her doctors this was the turning point of her treatment. At this point Western medicine took more of a maintenance attitude towards Lia; everyone in the Western medical profession at this point viewed Lia as dead and so were taking the approach of just trying to make Lia comfortable. Basically all of Lia’s doctors were waiting for her to die. However, on the Hmong side Lia’s parents still viewed Lia as their child. They didn’t view her as dead, and this raises the issue of the soul. The soul is a concept that doesn’t exist in Western medicine, but it is a concept of the most crucial importance in the Hmong culture. We have already seen the power the soul holds in Hmong culture, especially concerning Lia’s epilepsy. The soul defines the person in Hmong culture.

We have seen these concepts of personhood and quality of life throughout the semester. The quality of life issue was an integral part of our discussion on disabled individuals. The doctors viewed Lia as dead and therefore her quality of life was automatically assumed to be horrible. However, because of the outstanding care that Lia’s parents gave her everyone noticed how wonderful Lia looked. Despite, Lia’s outward healthy appearance the doctors still viewed her as essentially a vegetable. The issue of personhood has come up while discussing disabled individuals, specifically whether or not having a disability makes one less of a contributing member of society. Personhood is a concept that is still being developed in Western medicine. With new technologies like advanced respirators and feeding tubes, doctors are able to stabilize and keep people alive much longer than they used to. The issue of medicine as prolonging life has come into direct conflict with a person’s quality of life. In 1976 these issues received their first court ruling. Karen Quinlan had been in a persistent vegetative state for months and her parents reached the difficult decision to remove her respirator. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that her parents had the right to do this. This is an important case because it set the precedent for other similar cases, but I also think that it is interesting especially when viewed compared to Lia’s case. In the Western view a person ceases to be that person when they stop having directed responses to outside stimuli. When a person can longer engage with others and take part in the surrounding world then we no longer consider them to be a person. Furthermore, we also view them as a nonperson because we would not want to be in their situation. The level of care that Lia’s parents provided her with surprised the doctors because of these views. Lia’s parents did not view her as dead, she was still their child; Western medicine on the other hand viewed Lia as dead.

Ecofeminist

I was really interested in the article “No Remedy for the Inuit: Accountability for Environmental Harms under U.S. and International Law” by Anne E. Lucas. The most interesting thing about the article is how much it relates to works we have previously read. For example, it discusses marginalized groups, in this case the Inuit people. Also, throughout the semester, we have studied the challenges that marginalized people, such as African Americans, transgender, and disabled people, have faced. The article also discusses the dangers of dichotomies inherent in Western law.
Trying to categorize sexualities and genders into dichotomies has been a running theme through articles such as “Sex, Gender, and Science” and “Body Matters: Cultural Inscriptions.” Another theme in the article is the influence of capitalism. This is also a running theme in our discussions: how capitalism affects healthcare, body image, accessibility for disable people, etc. All of these similarities have made me realize that there are definable common problems.
Another interesting component of the article was its connection of feminist and ecofeminist. I had never heard the term ecofeminist before. However, it makes a lot of sense that the environment would be tied to the standard of living, particularly females. This has nothing to do with the fact that women are more “tied” to nature. Rather, it relates the quality of life of a specific group of people with nature.

Health Care in the United States...

The health care system in the United States is a plan that works magnificently for some people and horribly for others. After our discussion in class on Tuesday, it is apparent that many reforms can be made to improve the system to benefit the majority of people in the United States. Even though the US may be seen as the most advanced technologically in terms of medical treatment, the overall health care system is not as exceptional. Working in a pharmacy, I see how expensive medications are without insurance. Even with some form of coverage, certain drugs can be extremely costly. I had never really given thought to how expensive it could be, however, to someone without insurance if they needed treatment in a hospital or from a medical specialist. I was shocked after watching the various clips from "Sicko." I was appalled to see how "unhuman-like" people can be. Can someone's life really be compared to a set, non-negotiable price? Is the money more important than the value of a person?

I know that these clips were meant to demonstrate the negative aspects of our health care system. I am also aware that there are many people in the health care "industry" who are not this way. For instance, I shadowed an orthopedic surgeon for several months, and he himself took care of the costs of medical procedures of several patients that did not have insurance. But then again, such an occurrence is rare. Improving the health care system in the United States will definitely be a task, but it needs to be done. By avoiding the problem, we are only making the situation worse! No one deserves to be dropped off on the side of the street, no matter what condition he/she is in economically. This should be a priority.

Where can our "stuffs" go?

While I was reading the articles on environmental justice, and watching the environmental justice video, I was asking this question: waste we make HAVE TO go somewhere, at some point. Within U.S. toxic wastes end up in lower income, minority communities. People who live in these areas do not want toxic waste plants to be built in their neighbor, and for right reasons: it brings fatal effects to them and their children. When I was growing up in South Korea, I heard the same news over and over. People protest against nuclear power plant that is proposed to be built in their town. People protest against waste managing facilities in their town. These things are never built in Seoul, with is the capital city of South Korea, and the richest city in the Korean Peninsula. It is clearly a power struggle. NO ONE wants bad things in their neighborhood. But ones with lesser power get stuck with them. If no one in a country wants wastes in their town, where do they go? They have to go "somewhere"?

Both Annie Leonard and Anne Lucas make it clear that the "somewhere" in the global scale are the countries with no economic or political power. When I did research on environmental justice for class discussion, I learned that many of the old computer we "recycle" end up in China or India. Then people in those countries inhale toxic smoke for hours in order to extract small amount of gold or metal within those computer parts. As we discussed in class, people and environment in every parts of this world are interconnected. There are warning signs in the media all the time these days, telling us that because of this interconnection, wastes we make and dump to any parts of the world would eventually come back to us. I came to a conclusion that there is no "somewhere" where we can safely dump our stuff. As Annie Leonard said, solution is to make less stuff, and waste less. Another important solution is to recognize the interconnectivity between everyone in this world, and that power and money does not give someone or some country more worth than the others. The later concept hasn't been acknowledge for very very long time, perhaps since countries or tribes were started to be formed. But it really doesn't mean that it's too late for me to really reiterate it to myself.

Women and the Environment

I have always read about the environment being toxic to humans in literature and the news, like Chernobyl--the threat always seemed distant and unreal to me. While I knew that environmental toxicity was affecting animals and other organisms, I never really truly considered the disastrous effects pollutions could have on something as seemingly harmless as breast milk.
I think the most surprising thing about the article was learning that these Inuit women were getting contaminated by dioxins produced from factories in midwestern American, thousands of miles away. It's scary to think that these waste products affect people who pretty much have no real connection to the issue, especially when the effects (i.e. cancer) are so terrible. Another thing that brings the issue closer to home is the fact that somehow we are putting human rights and something as basic as a healthy lifestyle below that of the "First World Polluters"--so it is terrible to see that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) "has not explicitly linked linked the right to life and the right to a healthy environment." Why does death or some other extreme have to occur in order to procure this right? Why aren't environmental toxins produced by factories better controlled? The article mentions, and I agree, that marginalized populations are the most harmed in this. This article points out issues that we have discussed before--the unfortunate circumstances of minority women in terms of reproduction.
It seems as though this type of environmental toxicity is growing more prevalent with the growth of multiple industrialized societies. The harmful effects on human reproduction, not including the already dwindling numbers of numerous species of animals due to the same problem, has become a growing concern. I mentioned before Chernobyl--many children have grown up deformed because their mothers were affected by the nuclear meltdown. And these toxic elements often take hundreds to thousands of years to degrade to innocuous levels. We need to be more aware of how our society's waste products are not going to disappear. I think many people take the same view I had taken, that the issue is too distant to really consider.
I like how the author breaks down the issue in terms of feminist theory. I never realized how important it is to consider reports concerning "acceptable levels" of toxins. When I read that my plastic water bottle is leaking harmful chemicals and may affect my ability to reproduce, how do I know that the studies concerning "safe levels" can pertain to my situation?
Like one of the past articles, we talked about the linkage of environmental degradation and human oppression. This article brings in the element of Western, white, male ideologies, and how this contributes to the "othering" phenomenon, subsequently harming those that take on that minority identity (women, children, different ethnicities). This relationship is interesting because I can see how easy it is to get lost and complacent in the information we are given and how we react to it.
Another issue the author raises is the elevation of capitalism over environmentalism and how marginalized groups (including animals) and nature are turned into resources to be used for profit. With the "othering" that seems so intrinsically embedded in the way we think, it seems as though this is unavoidable. Feminist theory really allows us to get to the root of many of these societal ills that are facing us today. Can we use this to defend the plight of the Inuit? By deconstructing the issue, a greater emphasis and importance is placed on this population's problem, rather than that of the corporation/industries causing the problems. It's not the severity of the problem that should be looked at when considering the cure, but the fact that the problems, the bodily and environmental ills, are taking place at all. I agree with the way the author concludes the article. If we were truly concerned with the situation of the Inuit women, we would be going to the source--our consumption and energy use and the power we give to First World corporations.

Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?

I had to read an article for my art history class that dealt with women and art. I had to write a response paper about the article and I thought I would share it with the class:

Linda Nochlin, the author of Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists, opened my eyes to a question that unfortunately never crossed my mind. Why have there been no great women artists? This question can be applied to many other disciplines besides art, and feminist critiques are vital to a society that is able to view male and females as equals. Nochlin gives various examples of why women artists have not received the same recognition as men and how women are not as encouraged to pursue careers in art as their male counterparts. Nochlin also points out the possible differences in the painting styles of men and women that have been asserted by those who dominate the arts—white males. Women are traditionally thought to paint domestic scenes or scenes of delicate precious moments; however, there are women artists who paint scenes that would be considered those of “masculine” influence. While women artists have not been given the credit that they deserve as equals to their male counterparts, I also believe that Nochlin makes a good argument in showing that any successful artist needs three things: the availability to great schools of art, strong and encouraging relationships with a dominant artist and/or patron, and the ability to express oneself artistically without social hindrances.

The first of the three things needed for the success of a great artist—the availability to great schools of arts—is by far the most important. Without strenuous training from experts in the field, even the most talented young artist could possibly not live up to his or her full potential. I think that as a college student, I have learned which career I am suited for based upon the education that I have received. As Nochlin states, the prejudice that women artists have received and the lack of objects they could use—including the fact that the male and female nude where excluded from their study—has hindered them from developing their skills further. I think if the same experiences that male students receive were given to women artists; they would receive more recognition and possibly achieve the same level of greatness as the men in their fields.

Strong and encouraging relationships with a dominant artist and/or patron are keys to whether the artist thrives or fails. I realized through this article that many of the women who did gain some type of success either had artist fathers or close ties with a popular male artist. Great male artists also share the same characteristics, but how is it that they gained more success than women artists? This can only be concluded by the lack of the other two factors needed for the success of an artist. Though encouragement and guidance is needed, there must also be the same accessibility to great schools and a society that encourages young women to pursue the same careers as men.

Society has placed a great deal of pressure among both males and females about the way they should conduct themselves and live their lives. I noticed that this article makes a great deal of mention to the way that women were viewed as artists especially in the nineteenth century. The “lady painter” only painted to make her more-well rounded and not as a way of developing a skill that she could use as an occupation. The lady painter’s main goal was to keep her place as a woman which meant to stay at home and raise a family. I agree totally that the lack of social hindrances also leads to the success of an artist.

Although it seems—given the many centuries that art has influenced human life—that at least one great woman artist should have emerged, but one must also take into consideration that the three aforementioned factors needed for an artist’s success were usually not afforded to women. Linda Nochlin, though strongly convinced of the past discrimination that women artists have received, also points out that contemporary women artists must now take the steps their predecessors were not able to take given the time period. That “leap into the unknown” could change the course of history and break a barrier that has been keeping many women from achieving greatness.