Alternative Assignment

     The beauty ideal as described in "Beauty Ideals Can Make You Sick" (208) is an idea that all women should be thin, lean, tall, young, white and heterosexual with flawless skin and perfect hair. As far as women of color they should be light skinned and have the same body type as previously mentioned. TV, the media, and the beauty industry all promote these beauty ideals that in term promotes a distorted image of what beauty truly is. This cycle perpetuates the body and beauty image issues that women are concern with. Therefore, and because of this nasty cycle consumerism runs rampant, enabling these companies to portray such images. These ideals for many are completely ludicrous and unattainable. 

     Unfortunately, eating healthy is on average more expensive than the unhealthy option. To fulfill the beauty ideal it is important to eat healthy nutritious foods. In low-income communities it is much easier to and economically safer to choose the unhealthier option. Women who work who would also make dinner for her family do not have extra time on their hands to prepare the healthiest option for their families. These same women are sometimes also not only caretakers for their own children, but in many cases care for other family members. They will prioritize their outward appearance and become the consumer of makeup, clothing, and hair products; instead of taking time to exercise. This motivates such industries to continue to popularize the beauty ideal standards.

         At the culmination of this viscous cycle is overeating. Because these women live busy, and stressful lives they lean to food for a source of comfort. Drugs and alcohol are an inappropriate source of comfort and eating seems to be the most acceptable way to deal with life.

    Beauty ideal standards are so difficult for women to achieve and are not a healthy representation of what women should be most proud of. These standards add more pressure to the adolescent stage of girlhood and continue through womanhood. It is important to remember that true beauty ideals are not cosmetic; they come from the inside.

References:

Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 4th ed. New York: Women’s Bodies, Women’s Health. McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Service Learning Proposal VOX

Serving Learning Proposal For VOX (Voices for Planned Parenthood)

By: Devorah W., Ashannie C., Chelsea D., Joel K., Zach P., Trinidy M.
September 27, 2012
Meredith Tweed
WST 3015

Community Partner Profile:

Community Partner: VOX, Voices For Planned Parenthood UCF
Contact: Megan Pabian - Leader of communications for Health Services and Anna V. Eskamani - Development Coordinator for Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando.

Community Partner Mission Statement: “VOX is the Latin word for "voice" and VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood is a nationwide program to energize and mobilize the new generation of pro-choice Americans. VOX aims to educate and inspire a new generation of young adults to advocate reproductive freedom.”

Political and/or Social Basis for Organization:
VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood is a sexual health and reproductive rights group. The UCF chapter focuses on education, access and community.  The mission of VOX UCF is to educate the university community about reproductive health and rights, to translate increased awareness into pro-choice activism on campus, and to serve as a coalition partner to state, national, and international reproductive rights efforts.
Community Partner Needs: VOX needs students to help organize public events, to help educate those who are unaware and give more knowledge to those who are already informed. Along with the needs that VOX already imposes we will be working closely with them to petition for free screening twice a month at the UCF campus, which will in turn help VOX reach out to individuals.

The Proposal:

According to the American Social Health Association more than half of the population will have a Sexually Transmitted Disease/Sexually Transmitted Infection by the age of 25.  Presently it is estimated that 65 million of the American population has a viral STD/STI and every year, there are at least "19 million new cases which some are curable."

HIV testing is readily available on the UCF campus weekly at a low cost although, tests for the other sexually transmitted diseases are offered free once or twice a year. If the screenings were offered more frequently, and information made more available on the prevention and cures of the STD/STI’s, unnecessary spreading would subside. 

Untreated STI’s in women can lead to infertility or cervical cancer such as the Human Papilloma Virus and Chlamydia, which often show no symptoms.  Other STI’s that cannot be “cured” such as Herpes can be managed if detected.  It is estimated that 90 percent of those infected with herpes do not know that they have it.  The CDC recommends that sexually active females 25 and under should be screened at least once a year for Chlamydia, even if no symptoms are present.

Because many young adults are sometimes embarrassed to ask questions and are unaware of STI's there is poor knowledge about the issue and should therefore be implemented any way possible. The reason why the term "young adult" was used is because we are working to create awareness and get these STI screenings on campus, which would be very convenient for individuals. However, STI screenings should not be limited to only young adults it should be conveniently accessible to individuals of all ages.

Plan Proposal:

 As we have identified above the problem is unawareness. Our plan to fix the issue of STI’s on campus is to start with awareness. We will begin by educating UCF of how dangerous STI’s can be when untreated, as well as how UCF only offers two free screenings a semester for a select 150 students. This means that in a campus where we have over 60,000 students less than 1% of students are getting tested at the health clinic for free. As a student we are offered many services for the benefit of our heath, we are offered psychological counseling, certain medical treatments, and many other important benefits, STI screenings should be one of them.  In our proposal we plan to start a petition where we get UCF students and faculty members to sign off on a petition requesting free STI testing once a month at the UCF health clinic. By spreading awareness of this issue and getting signatures we will not only be spreading our mission of free STI testing but also spreading awareness of the importance of STI testing in general, thus more people on campus will be tested. The ultimate goal of our project is to not only raise awareness of how important testing is on our own campus, but how important it is that everyone get tested.

Rationale:

Voices For Planned Parenthood pertains to the subject of Women’s Studies based on the right for women to have autonomy over their bodies; specifically when it comes to reproductive rights. The reproductive rights battle is one that is ongoing and began centuries ago. This issue has caused controversy because of its ties to moral, ethical, religious, and political views.

The monumental trial of Roe v. Wade in Texas essentially legalized abortion and was a huge step forward in the women’s reproductive rights battle. The reaction from Roe V. Wade created a powerful pro-life movement, one that stifles the reproductive rights for women. Because of the trial women’s healthcare status was changed to include emotional, physical, psychological, and familial aspects of a women’s life.

Action:

 Presenting a petition demonstrating the need for comprehensive STI testing- testing that includes chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes types 1 and 2, HPV, and HIV- on campus at least once a month propels our plan into action. While it is true that the Health Center offers free STI testing twice a semester and Planned Parenthood offers testing at their health centers for an incredibly discounted rate, the reality is however, there are students who live on campus that do not have access to transportation; the reality is, there are students who have never heard of Planned Parenthood. When UCF offers testing only a few times a year, the reality is, students are not being given equal access to the comprehensive healthcare they so deserve. In order to complete our project, we will need pens, petitions, and passion. The individual group members responsibilies/tasks will be to reach a quota per week in the number of signatures in order to successfully manage our project.

We will start by creating the petition. After writing the petition we will go into highly populated areas around campus (the gym, student union, memorial mall, outside of classes, etc) and try and grab people’s attention so that we can get as many signatures as possible. After getting signatures we will present the petition to the administration. Even if our petition is unsuccessful it will raise awareness to the issue of STI testing on campus and the students will start to understand just how important it is that we have free testing available on campus.

Timeline:

October – December: The month of October is GYT: Get Yourself Tested month and in honor of this we will begin collecting petitions in order to reach the goal of getting free STI testing on campus twice a month. This is in partnership with MTV, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the CDC and Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and other national partners.

 Works Cited

American Social Health Association. (1998). Sexually transmitted diseases in America: How many cases and at what cost? Research Triangle Park, NC: American Social Health Association.

"It's Your Sex Life." About GYT. MTV Channel, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. <http://www.itsyoursexlife.com/gyt/about/>.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 4th ed. New York: Women’s Bodies, Women’s Health. McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Word Count: 1247

Introduction Post

Hi! 

      My name is Devorah I am a Junior at UCF majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies: Womens Studies Track, and I am from Palm Beach Gardens. I love reading, hanging out with my friends, watching mindless television, and traveling. After graduation I plan on going to nursing school, and one day becoming a midwife. I am interested in women's issues, specifically women's health. 

     Although this class is required for my major, I also think it is important to learn about the Feminist movement and what is truly stands for. Sometimes the term can be intimidating or carry heavy meaning, but it is clear how much we take Feminism for granted. Without the movement, women in America and all over the world would be in a very different place. Women's studies offer the opportunity to learn and have a complete understanding of the differences between women and men so relationships between them are fair and mature. But, there is much more to women's studies than just Feminism. I would like to learn about women's roles in society, and throughout history, and how it has changed. 

     I think activism is the only way that change can be made. Regardless of cause, activism and leadership changes the way things are done, and the way people think about certain things. Without outspoken advocates certain things like women's rights, marriage equality, and civil rights would not have progressed as far as they have today. 

      Gender roles, balance and equality are important aspects of life and serve a prominent role in how we conduct ourselves. In everyday life, gender is something that I may not be conscious of but affects everything I do. For example, I think that I feel slightly more casual and comfortable with someone who has more feminine characteristics. A gay man or a female counterpart are usually people I feel more comfortable around; an alpha male is someone who I would be easily intimidated by. For example, I naturally feel more comfortable around female professors, and are usually more professional around male professors. These are the small, but important aspects about gender that affect my everyday life. 
    I am not sure if there is one person who has influenced my opinion on men and women's behavior, but when I hear of women who break typical gender associating roles I am surprised and proud. Personally, I think that it is really great when I hear about or meet women who study or work in male dominated areas. Women engineers, scientists, mathematicians, and doctors have broken the mold of what we typically think of when it comes to those fields. 

   Have a great semester!