Writing for Social Change @socialchange4353 - Tumblr Blog

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This is Leslie, I can't get into my own old account. Is anyone interested in trying to gear up a chapter of the student nonviolent coordinating committee, civil rights era style? At Ucf? Send me a message if so!

Hey everybody! Passing this on from Leslie :)

icanparkouroffthat-deactivated2

Today in gym we were going to play a game which was basically a giant bouncy ball (seriously, its got like a 4 foot diameter) that you push, roll, bounce, kick, hit, etc. from side to side. When you hit the other team’s wall you get a point. A majority of the class played kickball in the other room, but about twenty of us played this game (big ball battle pushing)

When we walked into the activity room my gym teacher split us up girls and boys. It was a team or eight boys, and then 15 or so of us girls. The boys were playing four on four. But, we would have to share the court, so there would be a five minutes of play and then we would switch from girls to boys and vice versa.

This was complete bullshit. So I let him know that. I asked him why. Why. Why can’t we play with guys? He goes to tell me that it is because guys are aggressive and we could get hurt. So I yelled about how girls can be aggressive, and guys can be not aggressive. He said letting us play with boys could get him fired and that it was a liability. I can’t bite my tongue so I yelled “BULLSHIT. Is it not a liability for guys to get hurt? Do you not care about them? Why are we so fragile? Just tell me!” He says he is only doing it “for our safety”, and I should thank him.

That was when I completely lost my shit. I yelled about how he is not protecting us from anything. He is contributing to a culture where girls are seen as weak and fragile, and should be scared of guys who are strong and aggressive. A culture where we shouldn’t even be playing sports in gym but since we have to lets make it easy for them because they are girls. A culture where guys feel this need to be insanely manly, and if they aren’t they’re weak and gay- which is also an insult in this culture. He is contributing to a culture where women are subservient and weak to men, and we should thank him. I should thank him. I was screaming and yelling.

My gym teacher then said If i don’t want to play with just girls I can leave and play kickball in the other room. I said no, I’m going to stay and play. I knew if I left, probably some of the girls would leave with me and even some the guys (everyone was looking at me and hearing this conversation- I mean I was fucking screaming), but that would prove his point when I could prove mine.

While my teacher was in the other room getting the balls, I gathered up all the girls and got us all to decide we would play as hard and aggressive as we possibly could. So that is what we did.

We ended up all punching, pushing, yelling. kicking, body-slamming, shoving, insulting, and running as much and as hard as we could. It was great. We all, on both teams got sweaty and red. Whenever someone fell we would help them up or they would get up themselves.

Two girls had to go to the nurse, but they were smiling as they walked out. I got slammed on the floor twice and bruised my hip. One girl had to sit out because she got hit on the head. Another girl scraped her knee, and kept playing. The best part is not once did anyone complain, we all sucked up the pain and high fived each other and yelled “FUCK YEAH OVARIES!!”.

We all, especially me, would make really sassy and sarcastic remarks to the teacher. He would stop the game because we were being rough and not playing “ladylike” and we would say something along the lines of “oh how else will i attract someone get married and pop out babies, i must be ladylike or else I can’t fulfill my purpose on earth” “you’re right! i’m so weak, this hurts” and “wait, are we being too aggressive for you? I’m sorry” (my personal favorite was “oh my gosh, this hurts my uterus to act like a guy, I’m I’m I’m melting” in a wicked witch of the west voice).

A couple of the guys even jumped in to play with us and he stopped them but the guys would jump in and get beat up by these girls and just high five the girl who hit them. They would also accidentally hit the ball into the teacher while he reffed, and we all would try to *accidentally* get the teacher in the middle of the action so he could see the “aggression” head first.

After the games he complained about the violence and I asked “sorry, were we aggressive?” and he said the reason we got hurt was because we are girls.

No. We did not get hurt because we are girls. We got hurt because we were ferocious. Not because it just happens to be easier to hurt a girl. He would not accept the fact that we were aggressive. That girls are equal to guys in that aspect.

During the final goal, i realized I got what I wanted. All the guys were playing with us, despite him pushing them to the sidelines-they would just hop back in. When we won, we all cheered and celebrated; guys and girls, from both teams. In my gym class people never talk to each other outside of one or two of their friends and we were all united for the first time.

After the game, I helped this guy put the big bouncy ball back. And whoops I let it slip and hit the teacher with it. And whoops I kinda did that twice. and said:

“im sorry

oops im sorry

you’re right

this is dangerous i shouldnt sport

i should go back to cooking and cleaning

like a true modern woman should”

Anyways, There is no one message to end this massive story with I just wanted to share. I’m also going to share with my principal Tuesday when I am back at school, I’ll update you guys on that later.

I also want to say to all the girls (and guys) out here. If you see shit going down that is ignorant, oppressive, or just flat out rude and against what you stand for- be it feminism or anything else- you have to stand up to make a change. It is little random acts of defiance from the bullshit standards we live under that change them.

Keep Fighting, Guys!!

Prove people wrong.

buffalowildstrangerwings-deacti

A+

iamnobird

I’m proud to have this as my 20,000th post.

10/10 a+ would bang shit up with you

velvetlovepocket

“If You Know Someone Who Doesn’t Believe Sexism Exists, Show Them This” Link here: [x]

eur0trash-blog

guys please reblog this so it spreads.

I’ve been sexually harassed by men ever since I was 12. My worst memories aside from a lot of verbal remarks are:

sitting on the bus with my school bag over my knees when i was 13 and having a middle aged man slowly slide his hand on my thigh. I didnt notice until it was right on my leg and lifted my bag and he took it off immediately and pretended nothing happened and I was too afraid to do or say anything because the bus was full of people and I didnt want to make a scene

I was running up a hill to catch up with my friend when I was about 14 and this guy took his penis out right in front of me and started violently masturbating while muttering vulgar things at me. I got so scared I started crying and ran for my life. My friend was literally meters away from me at the time but then ended up laughing about it like it wasn’t a big deal. I still judge her a lot for not taking it more seriously.

I’ve had my ass grabbed and spanked, my thighs touched and I’ve had guys pressing up against my boobs or deliberately brushing against them, all in broad daylight in public places.

Just yesterday while I was walking home I had a guy shout ‘I like your boobs’ to me across the street and although I shouted ‘go fuck yourself’ I still felt degraded and like my body was being sexualised for no reason.

It sickens me that men can’t control and discipline their sexual thoughts and find it acceptable to degrade women openly in our todays society. And I find it even more sickening that a lot of women accept this as ‘the norm’. Stop saying this is ok. Stop giving excuses that girls ‘ask for it’. STOP blaming the victims of this disgusting sexual harassment for what is clearly a gender particular issue. If you see anyone being sexually harassed CONFRONT THEM about it if it’s safe for you to do so. Don’t just walk away. LADIES SPEAK THE FUCK UP.

awkwardsituationist

shewhowandersthemoon

I know this obviously doesn’t seem to fit with the aesthetic of my tumblr, but I’m reblogging because what those men have done to these women is far beyond repulsive. This should not be happening. Ever.

If you’re seeing this, please reblog so others can be made aware that this kind of behavior still exists in the world. Common sense should tell them that it needs to be stopped.

Together, it will.

Hey guys, hoping everyone's summer is going great so far unless you have classes like I do starting tomorrow or in June. Anyways, I forgot to mention this on here but since class is over it should be considered as an important topic since it kind of goes with environmental issues and that is animal testing, mostly in the cosmetics area. This is important since last year, both branches of the Humane Society, international and national, have been setting up petitions to spread the word across that testing cosmetics on animals is cruel and so far it is working, since Europe has recently banned animal testing and any cosmetics that do test on animals and now HSUSA is now working on our shores since it is really big here. It came to light ever since last year when news of Urban Decay started selling in China and the thing is that once a cosmetics company sells there they must test on animals and Urban Decay is known for being cruelty free and now testing in order to get their market in China. I seen a lot of rant videos about this and can see how former users of the brand are upset now that one of their favorite companies is now joining others in China to do this, especially ones who are known for being cruelty free in the first place. I will link to one of the articles that explains the whole thing and suggest signing the petition if it is still on HSI and Humane Society's USA page because it would make a big difference, especially to show make up companies that there are other testing alternatives to testing these products before they head for the store and how that not all products are good for the same person (which is true, try using face products that break me out when I have sensitive skin.) This would be a good topic when this class is taught again since it looks into science and environmental subjects. I guess that is about it! -Marinela This is an updated article that PETA did in July, a month after Urban decay announced the China launch, but people wrote to them about it and caused them to not sell there anymore until China changes things and it does mention how PETA is working with China. Here is the link! http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2012/07/06/urban-decay-s-decaying-principles.aspx

Just in case you're looking for something to do on your Saturdays this summer...

AQUATICS ASSISTANT COACHES NEEDED We have an immediate need for volunteers to serve as assistant coaches during our 2013 Aquatics Season. The season runs May-October. Oviedo Saturdays from 11am-1pm 5-8 volunteers needed weekly Contact Cathy Tagliareni at [email protected] or 407-263-8043 Paperwork Needed Class A Volunteer Registration Paperwork Protective Behaviors Online Quiz Paperwork is good for 3 years from approval More Details More details, including season schedule, are available online and will be updated throughout the season: http://specialolympicsseminolecounty.org/sports/aquatics

We would love for you to join us in our practices and competitions!

Hope to see you all next fall!

#ML #UCF #ENC 4353 #social change #special olympics #oviedo

Took the words right out of my mouth..

kaitrokowski

“Steve Carell, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert: How men would look if they had to pose in ads the way women are expected to.”

thisisdefinitelyaneatblogpromis

Bring on equality, I could get used to this.

nypd-vandalsquad

Yes, yes. This. I’ll pose just like that if we can get more…

Hey guys! As promised! Here's the time and day that my panel will be at KnightroKon and if anyone is in Tampa in July, we will be there for MetroCon so if you missed it at Knightro there is always Metro! And about the new holiday convention, The Enchanted Holiday, it's pushed to next year due to the hotel breaching contract so it will be in 2014 for its first year. So, for KnightroKon, Slayers: The Blind Experience will be Sunday, June 2nd at 12:30 pm in room 220. I will post a link of the series that we are showing for this one and Metro edition afterwards so you could see what we are showing at each. With MetroCon, the Fairy Tail one for The Blind Experience is going tobe Friday, July the 26th at 8 PM in Panel Room 19 and if you're interested, the next day, Saturday the 27th at 5 pm will be True Tips and Tricks of Fan Fiction that me and one of my other co-hosts from Blind EXP will be doing. The Fan Fiction panel will be for anyone itnerested in writing fan fiction and what tips to follow. And where the con will be in Tampa is over at the Tampa Convention Center. Me and my fiance will be running all over the place due to press and I will be in a photoshoot the first day of the con, but if you catch us anywhere, say "hey!" And for links for anime: This is from season 4, Revolution, it has one of the guests that is going to be at KnightroKon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSOmASDxHZE And now with Fairy Tail, if anyone is familiar with a series called RaveMaster, aka Groove Adventure Rave in Japan, this series is by the creator but still on-going.and I am cosplaying as one of the characters from it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAxbI5FoWbk Also another fact, if you guys remember the key necklace I wore the past few weeks? It came from this series. So, enjoy and hope to see you there!-Marinela

It's only Friday, a mere four days after our last class, and I miss you guys so much! I love our class picture and I'll definitely be watching over tumblr for you guys. I concur with everyone else, BEST CLASS EVER.

earth-song

That is the nature “adapting” to human destruction.

amysaurusrex

I find it adorably interesting and sad at the same time. At least they’re reusing and recycling!

savedmyselffromthedragon-deacti

“I raped that test in math cla–” No.

“I raped that game earli–” Stop.

“The other team totally raped us tod–” Shut the fuck up.

Do you see what you’re doing?

YOU ARE MAKING RAPE SOUND LIKE A POSITIVE ACTION. YOU ARE EQUATING SEXUAL VIOLENCE WITH...

socialchange4353

If you click the top link, it'll show a comment about this post. I thought it was interesting and related to our cultural relativity talks!

Ran across this when a friend from Malawi posted an article from it. Seems to be a news startup with the goal of covering things that aren't covered by mainstream "First world" media.

#global voices #news startup #blogging #Africa news

Fabulous group of people AKA the inaugural Writing for Social Change class. ;)

#UCF #one of the best classes I have had the privilege of taking

Class Picture (so I can see all of your beautiful faces)

So where is the class pic? I'm so anxious to see it and I know it is finals week. I just love seeing all of your beautiful faces!

#ML #gummyducky #ENC 4353 #sorry for being annoying #love ya's

truecornsquares

BIkers Against Child Abuse Helps Make Abused Children Feel Safe Again

“A biker’s power and intimidating image can even the playing field for a little kid who has been hurt. If the man who hurt this little girl calls or drives by, or even if she is just scared, another nightmare, the bikers will ride over and stand guard all night.

If she is afraid to go to school, they will take her and watch until she’s safely inside.

And if she has to testify against her abuser in court, they will go, too, walking with her to the witness stand and taking over the first row of seats.”