#apb109

[drcknowledgeandpower]

PLEN: Women and Public Leadership

I had the chance to attend the PLEN panel discussion with NJ State Senator, Diane Allen and Council President of the Newark Municipal Council, Mildred Crump. More of their past achievements is listed above in the photo. Sadly, Martha McKenna was not at the final panel discussion.

This panel really focused a lot on how these two accomplished women politicians got to where they are today and how they have dealt with the inequalities against them. In terms of how they got to where they are today, they both said it was by taking the opportunities they were given and making the best of them. They attribute their success to giving everything 100%. When asked about being women in politics, and the negativity they have faced, Mrs. Allen was quick to say “I just ignore it, and when I really can’t ignore it then I say something.” Mrs. Crump agreed with this sentiment and said that you can face the negativity by trying harder and showing those people wrong. I also found the dynamic of the women interesting. Mrs. Allen is a republican and Mrs. Crump is a Democrat and while they may have certain political views they both agreed that women need to build up other women in politics.

The women both discussed women in media who report the news. Mrs. Allen reflected back when she did the news and when she was fired since “her age exceed her bra size.” Mrs. Crump as an avid news watcher also agreed that there needed to be older aged woman representation in the media, rather than younger educated women.

I really found both of these women influential and they are proof that women can accomplish anything. As someone going into a future in either a law or political career these women have not only given me inspiration but the motivation to work my hardest.

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Film: Intersexion

I really did not know much about intersex before watching this documentary and only knew from what I had read in class. However, after this documentary, I really had a new understand what it means to be intersex. I think the most surprising thing to me was that these people looked like any other normal person and if I was to see them walking down the street I would never question that they were intersex.

The saddest thing though was how as children they really had no choice since all decisions about their sex was chosen by their parents and doctors.I really respect the parents that let their child grow up normally and decide who they wanted to be, rather than enforcing a certain gender on them.  

With the all the new resources out there about being intersex, I think the acceptance and education of being intersex will increase. I think the main way to allow people to understand intersex better would be education and getting the message out there.

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Formation

As a celebrity or anyone who has followers, they have the ability to influence others. By using a media outlet, an individual can give more knowledge and share specific views to people across the world. Your celebrity status can be used to fight for what is right and hopefully educate and show others more about a certain social issue. Being a celebrity is much like being a politician. People look to you to hear your views in order make their ideas and figure out what they believe in. As a celeb, you have the ability to  communicate to large groups of people and influence how they perceive issues and activism.

Beyoncé (aka the literal Queen) is a prime example of a celeb using her status to influence and educate others. She is not one to shy away from making a statement. First, displaying Feminist behind her as she sang at the 2014 VMAs and now with her most recent Super Bowl performance. Beyonce literally encompasses what it means to be a social justice activist as a celebrity. Due to her huge fan base and popularity, she has every outlet from social media to concerts to make a statement about the current state of our country. Not only is her current song, performance and Formation tour sparking a debate among individuals but she is also getting the message out there. She is making people listen to her. To be honest, I’m 100% sure, QueenB does not care if someone is critiquing her actions because she is doing what she thinks is right and what needs to be done.

Attached is an article discussing how Beyoncé along with her husband Jay Z are donating tons of money, water, and other resources to help the people of Flint. #BeyGood  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/beyonce-flint-formation-tour_us_56ba00cce4b04f9b57db1a47

Also, Jay Z’s TIDAL is donating money to the Black Lives Matter Movement

http://theybf.com/2016/02/08/down-for-the-cause-beyonce-joins-in-to-help-flint-water-crisis-jay-z%E2%80%99s-tidal-plans-to

[drcknowledgeandpower]

Racial Caucus Reflection

This activity was truly an eye-opening experience and it was interesting to hear what everyone had to say about their specific race. As a member of the white caucus, it was a great experience becoming more knowledgeable and education about other races and the views of others. I think it was also great that all groups got to share about specific memories or experiences in their day to day lives about how race, in general, has effect them. 

[drcknowledgeandpower]

A Day Without Feminism

In Baumgardner’s essay, a lot of important topics stood out to me. To start, the topic of education was a really large focus of this essay. For example, it is startling to read how the educational opportunities for women were so severely limited compared to those that men could take advantage of. I also found the idea of marriage, and sex before marriage to be an important topic that Baumgardner highlighted and how overall women were supposed to be pure objects for men. Something that I would add to this essay, however, is how women were represented in media in the 1970s. Baumgardner does touch upon the topic of media, but only how the topics in articles and books are catered specifically to women vs. men. I think it would be an interesting topic to bring up in order to see how women were displayed in the past compared to now. The topic of how women are displayed in media is also an issue we are still focusing fo fix. This is due to the high use of oversexualized adds still being produced today.