Group 6 - Extending the Runway: Feminism and Fashion

"The things that originally attracted me to feminism, as I understood it in my naive youth, are the same elements that influence what I wear. I’ve always been a rebel, a fan of freedom, of making my own choices. That should have made me a valuable member of the movement, a model of defiance, even."(Parks, 2008). This passage from Joy Parks is symbolic toward the way in which our newest generation of males and females has found feminism in a way unlike many before. Fashion is seen as a statement of self expression and a new way of expressing individualism.

We found an exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum that really shows female empowerment through fashion. Extending the Runway is an exhibit put together by Tatianna Sorokko and her collection consists of many different dresses she collected while walking the runway. Feminism and fashion have never truly been on the same wave length until recently when many women have found feminism through fashion. Joy Parks states "But mostly I need to be brave again, I need to take a stand" then goes on to say "I am fearless, I am feminist … and I am fabulously dressed." (Parks, 2008) Joy Parks has found feminism through fashion and she has a sense of empowerment when she talks about the way she is dressed. While clothes themselves cannot empower a person, their personal pride that they have in themselves and the way they are dressed are something that fashion can influence. Fashion has also lead to a much larger focus among many young feminists, individualism. Individualism is a concept that has become a big focal point of feminism. For example, "‘Girlie feminism’ is all about the reclamation of feminism as stylish and sexy and the representation of feminist politics as a set of individual lifestyle choices."(Groeneveld, 2008) "Girlie Feminism" is something that can serve as a bridge for many young girls struggling to find an identity with feminism and it has helped many women find feminism in their own way. Finding feminism is something that is very important, not just for women in the U.S., but for women around the world. It is important for women to understand their femininity and to be proud of it, something that fashion shows us is very possible. This exhibit makes it possible for women everywhere to understand that fashion is something they can embrace, and it is something that can be used to show others that they are not afraid to express their womanhood to others. By getting involved with the Phoenix Art Museum, it makes it possible for more artwork and exhibits make their way to Phoenix, making it possible for us to support many different artists and their varying passions. Bringing in more feminist artwork will only make it possible to further educate the public about the importance of female achievements and how they should be recognized just like those of men.

Groeneveld, E. (2009). 'Be a feminist or just dress like one': BUST, fashion and feminism as
lifestyle. Journal of Gender Studies, 18(2), 179-190. doi:10.1080/09589230902812471.

Parks, J. (2008). fashion STATEMENT. Herizons, 22(1), 36-39. Retrieved from Academic
Search Premier database.

Group 6 Judy Chicago

For our project we focused on Judy Chicago, who is a feminist artist who does have her artwork on display in Arizona from time to time. Judy Chicago is a feminist painter who has been very influential in the feminist art movement, and has devoted her life to her artwork and pursuit of feminist art education. The feminist art movement has given a way for many female artists to display their work and the impact that they have made on art as a whole. Judy Chicago started her organization Through the Flower, to help educate the public about the importance of art and how art can help portray women's achievements. Through the Flower has helped many scholars and teachers by providing artwork and information vital to the theme that feminist art is all about the woman's right to freedom of expression.

Feminist art goes beyond the painter and into a different realm of self expression and empowerment. Art is something that everyone interprets differently making it a very powerful medium in which someone is able to spread a message. When you think of art you think about Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, Andy Warhol, and other males who have traditionally been the figureheads of art throughout much of time, leaving one to wonder where are the women? Well for much of our "modern society" women have not been allowed to express themselves in ways they have wanted to leading to a much muted female population. Ann Heilmann states, "For many years their vision of self determined empowered female existence, they themselves suffered acutely from the old dichotomy which pitted the artist in them against women." (Heilmann, 1994) This is a testament to the culture that many women grew up in that told them even if they did hold feminist values; they still shouldn't be publicly expressing themselves through art because it was something that was meant for males.
While Judy Chicago was not the first female artist she has definitely lead the feminist art movement and everything it stands for. She is doing everything she can to try to educate both men and women about the importance of feminist art and how it can make an impact on people's lives whether they know it or not. Her work has been inspirational in the development of feminist art and has shown others that her artwork is an expression of herself as a woman. By getting involved with Through the Flower you are not only helping yourself, but also others who are not properly educated about feminist art and the empowering message of change and hope that it can send to women worldwide. Anna Chave says "these feminists envisioned the advent of an authentically different art, marked by women's experience." Judy Chicago is doing everything she can to make that vision a reality and create a world in which women are free to express themselves however they want but especially through art.

References
CHAVE, A. (2009). "I OBJECT" HANNAH WILKE'S FEMINISM. Art in
America, 97(3), 104-159. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Heilmann, A. (1994). Masquerade, sisterhood and the dilemma of the feminist as
artist and woman in late.. Journal of Gender Studies, 3(2), 155. Retrieved from Academic
Search Premier database.

Group 1: Women Beyond Borders, S.E.E.D.S, V-DAY, Kyrsten Sinema

Group #1 Project Submission

Women Beyond Borders Profile Information:

Women Beyond Borders is a student based organization that works in solidarity with community based organizations to create equality and end violence against women throughout the world.  Run by women for women, this student based organization is dedicated to focusing their attention on women and children in need locally and globally.  WBB has currently partnered with the Women of Afghanistan to help donate money by selling handicrafts which all go to their proceeds.  Also working with the women of Juarez, they are determined to end violence in Mexico by providing the women with pepper spray, defense techniques and alternate travel roots.  And locally helping the Native American women by creating shelters, collecting toiletry and building libraries for them.  WBB has been a successful organization and has made a name for themselves.  Since starting in 2005, WBB has raised over $25,000 for the women they have worked with.  Still very active in the communities, WBB is only growing and will only change the lives of more people.

The women beyond borders members teaching the women and children

Perfume carrier made by women of Afghanistan, sold by Women Beyond Borders to help their proceeds

Women Beyond Borders

Our group chose this organization because of the direct personal involvement that anyone can take part in, also it is a local way for people to get involved in international activism. The organization is central to the ASU community making it easy for the students to access and become a feminist activist.  The organization of Women Beyond Borders states that “Women Beyond Borders is a student-organized women's human rights group that works in solidarity with community-based women's organizations worldwide to end violence against women and promote women's equality in all sectors” (www.wbeyondb.org 2010).  ASU students specifically can offer a lending hand in volunteering their free time to helping the organization get some of the human rights groups on their feet.  Also contributing to resources or specific items that can be useful to the people in need.

The organization’s purpose is considered, and categorized, as feminist for it’s main focus is to defend, and or fight for the rights of women while maintaining this balance locally and internationally.  They specialize in solidarity with community based female organizations as well as promoting the equality of females in all sectors possible. Organizing groups of people who all share a common interest so that when they decide to take apart in an activist movement, it has more support and becomes much more effective rather than just getting people to help.  Everyone is on the same page from the very beginning.  They partner with other well known organizations which are operated and run by women for women. These partnered organizations have very similar views and meet the same respected perspectives as the WBB community. Women Beyond Borders works with a wide range of women of different ethnicities, cultures, races, religious backgrounds, classes, etc. They are also known for their support in the Native American women’s issues.  The organization points out that one in three Native American women will be sexually assaulted, raped, or abused in their lifetime compared to one in five for American women.  Women Beyond Borders does a lot for Native Americans because it is more localized and easy to be involved in.  Among their international solidarity, the organization does not forget what is right in front of them.    

         This feminist activist group strives on the areas that are well known for having many issues involving any acts against the well being of women in today’s society. They support a variety of women from various backgrounds such as Native Americans, Afghans, and Latinas. Women Beyond Borders works in solidarity with RAWR, Revolutionary Association of Women of in Afghanistan, bringing them aid while supporting the women and children in need, staying closely involved with them by selling handicrafts and jewelry which all goes to their proceeds.  They partner with Casa Amiga in Juarex which is the only rape crisis center location, in efforts to stopping violence against women by providing them with pepper spray, defense techniques and alternate travel routes.  Also working with shelter locations for Native Americans, WBB has collected toiletry for the shelters and continues to put more effort into their movement by creating libraries for them to empower their literature and education.  Something as simple as toiletry is something that isn’t thought of.  If everyone can take one spung, toilet paper roll or even spray cleaner out of toiletry they are purchasing to donate, it could be provided to the best of use in places that could really use it.  Nothing is fully appreciated till its gone.  

          WBB works hard to create awareness in the local communities along with internationally by stating the issues and even going as far as providing women with materials to help them in any possibly violent situation or give them more of an equal opportunity.  Some of the people that can be served by Women Beyond Borders would be anyone who identifies themselves as feminists.  Women locally and internationally can be all served by this organization to maintain equality throughout the world.  The main goal is to create the awareness that violence against women is still out there and can be prevented.  Women Beyond Borders is a growing organization that continues to be very active in the feminist movement not only in our nation but throughout the world. It is important to know about WBB because of it being local and everyone around us can get involved easily.  Spreading word of WBB will help inform women who could possibly be facing such unfair acts.  This is a good example of the Third Wave and preventing anyone from contradicting the fact that women are of "many colors, ethnicities, religions and cultural backgrounds.  The idea is to envision a world with less violence against women, create and maintain equality within the women of the world while captivating the overall awareness.

SEEDs & COK Profile Information:

An eight-year-old project of the Arizona-based National Advocacy and Training Network, the Support, Education, Empowerment & DirectionS Program uses its non-profit coffee shop, Cup O’ Karma: Community Café for a Cause (COK), to create awareness about the issue of domestic violence, provide an opportunity for SEEDs residents to gain work skills and experience, and continue working towards NATN’s mission of addressing the unmet needs of battered and sexually abused women. Whether one wants to simply support the cause or whole-heartedly become involved with the organization, there are many different ways and levels to contribute to the feminist activism of SEEDs.

how ASU students can get involved:

• Stop by COK & buy coffee, toddy, espresso, tea, smoothies or snacks to support the café & SEEDs
• MWF 7am-9pm; TTh 7am-6pm; Sun 9am-4pm
• Perform at or attend an open mic night on MWF nights & bring your friends to generate business
• Buy or sell feminist friendly artwork, jewelry or other items to help benefit COK
• Volunteer as a part-time barista for COK
• Donate your time, goods, or money to NATN, SEEDs or Cup O’ Karma Café directly

• website: http://natnaz.com/home/
• email: cupokarmacafe@gmail.com number:
• phone: 480-890-0579
• address: 1710 W. Southern Ave. Mesa, AZ 85202
• Directions: From the main Tempe campus, head south to Southern Avenue, turn east on Southern Avenue, continue east and pass Dobson Road; COK will be on the north side between the Dobson Plaza and Valley East Plaza Shopping Centers next to Cheba Hut with a green sign that reads “COFFEE”.

Inside COK Café

SEEDs volunteer and resident working at COK

SEEDs Logo

COK Logo

SEEDs & Cup O’ Karma Cafe: Community Café for a Cause

A project of the Arizona-based National Advocacy and Training Network (NATN), the Support, Education, Empowerment & DirectionS Program, simply referred to as SEEDs, offers myriad ways for the local community to become involved and help combat domestic violence. The nearly eight-year-old organization was established to “address the unmet needs of battered and sexually abused women” through a “community-based, safe, sober living environment committed to the physical, mental, and emotional healing of women whose lives have been affected by substance abuse and violence” (natn-az.com) Because of their dedication to true social change, SEEDs goes beyond simply offering help to women, and instead works in solidarity with them to create long-lasting structural change.

The program provides a temporary home to women from all backgrounds - different ages, races, social classes, relationships, and experiences. The program’s two residences, the Marilyn House in Phoenix and the Diane House in Mesa, offer residents a “near-independent living setting within a structured framework” that creates “a bridge from residential/institutional programs to independent living.” There, they are allowed to reside for up to two years while working to get back on their own feet and achieve independence, security, and stability, among other personal goals. SEEDs, with its partnered governmental and community programs, offers “individual advocacy as well as attend weekly house meetings, recovery and support groups; complete education and/or job training; regain custody of their children; and maintain sobriety and establish support networks.” Additionally, it works to “help strengthen self-esteem, self-direction and dignity” of all of the residents.

This activism that SEEDs works toward each day is not only for women and often done by women, but is also concretely feminist in nature. The grassroots group that has been organized by survivors of domestic violence, advocates, volunteers, and professionals which make up NATN, uses “education, public awareness, and direct services” as their type of action in order to tackle “safety, economic and social justice issues related to domestic violence, sexual assault, and substance abuse,” - all which tie in with feminism. According to Hines and Malley-Morrison (2005), Family Violence in the United States: Defining, Understanding, and Combating Abuse,

“Violence against women...continues to be an epidemic in the United States. Women are more likely to be murdered by intimates than by any other assailant. Homicide by an intimate partner is the seventh leading cause of premature death for women in general in the U.S. and is the leading cause of death for African-American women between the ages of 15 and 45 years...[Furthermore], American women are also more likely to be raped by men they know and often love than by strangers...In our culture, excuses are often made for men who hit their wives, thereby presumably reframing their violence as nonabusive...Violence against men is also an epidemic in the United States, [though in contrast], the majority of this violence is perpetrated by other males--most typically unrelated males” (p. 33).

It is apparent that violence and crime is a definite issue, however domestic violence and sexual assault are obviously more significant concerns for women than for men. This gendered difference in its occurrence is exactly what makes the work of SEEDs feminist. The many forms of domestic violence and its related problems are issues that feminism is trying to break through, and it can be seen clearly in a variety of different ways with SEEDs’s activism.

Beyond providing a safe, stable environment that offers multiple support networks and necessary resources for battered women in the SEEDs program, the umbrella organization, NATN, has recently launched an additional project: Cup O’ Karma: Community Café for a Cause (COK). In 2008, this non-profit coffee shop, located at Dobson Road and Southern Avenue across from MCC in Mesa, opened its doors to create awareness about the issue of domestic violence and benefit the services of the SEEDs program. In addition to generating monetary support for SEEDs, COK also creates an opportunity for SEEDs residents to gain skills and experience. They “operate the café while learning employable skills such as customer service, community relations, marketing and outreach, purchasing, and management” (natn-az.com). 

This approach to feminist activism is not only a unique method of helping victims of domestic violence, but is also a way to work in solidarity with battered women in order to fight the structural barriers that they may face in their situation. According to “An Integrative Review of Separation in the Context of Victimization Consequences and Implications for Women” (2004),

“Separation affects an individual’s life in three areas other than psychological adjustment to the actual separation itself: economic, social support, and other life changes...Gender differences in the economic consequences of separation are significant and well documented. It is clear that separation often significantly diminishes the economic standing of women while having less impact, or even a positive impact, on men’s income (Amato, 2000; Holden & Smock, 1991; McKeever & Wolfinger, 2001; Shapiro, 1996). For example, Kreider and Fields (2002) found that separation was followed by reductions in income, with 29% of women who were recently divorced living below poverty level compared with 12% of men.” (p. 148)

In the same way that violence against women is a gendered and therefore feminist issue, the consequences of leaving an abusive relationship have different and more severe repercussions for women than men. Battered women trying to take control back over their lives after an abusive relationship face structural barriers that make it difficult for them to adjust to society, gain true independence, and stay strong in their decision to not return to their abuser. By providing a home, support groups, advocates, education, and services, the SEEDs Program makes it easier for such women to get back on track with their own lives. By creating customer service, management and marketing jobs for the SEEDs residents, the Cup O’ Karma Café combats the structural barriers that could potentially put these women back into an abusive relationship, substance abuse or otherwise low-functioning way of life. Together, SEEDs and Cup O’ Karma exemplify true and efficient feminist activism that allows the entire community to get involved and fight the issue of domestic violence.

Krysten Sinema Profile Information:

Kyrsten Sinema is the current District 15 representative in the state of Arizona and is a part of the appropriation and judiciary committees She is assistant leader to the democratic caucus in the House of Representatives. House of Representatives 1700 W. Washington Room

Phoenix, AZ 85007

Kyrsten Sinema

Kyrsten Sinema

Kyrsten Sinema is currently a politician in Arizona that is also a feminist working on change in our area. She is the assistant leader to the democratic caucus in the House of Representatives. She is the District 15 representative in the Arizona legislature and is part of the appropriation and judiciary committees. By helping defeat proposition 107, a ban on affirmative action, it continued to show her work for equal rights for all. Also, she has helped defeat the only successful effort in the country to defeat a same-sex marriage ballot initiative.

       All of the legislation and policies that Ms. Sinema lobbies and works towards a change for woman. She does relate to being a feminist and she is definitely working towards a change for women. She is working toward equal rights and women respond well to that. One would think that women look for women for support, and will vote more liberally when looking towards women voters. Even if the Republican candidate is a woman more women will vote for the Democrat who is a male. Most women lean towards the Democratic candidate. Though this idea may be prevalent in past elections it changed in the most recent elections. Women who voted earlier this year voted more conservatively then in past years. In the recent elections Democrats only had 48% of the women voters. When in past years the Democrats had 55% of the women voters. One woman said she voted Republican because she wasn’t happy with the progress that had been made in the years since Obama has been in office.

       Anyone who lives in the diverse district 15, the state, women, and feminist are all impacted by what Kyrsten Sinema does. She is a strong voice here in our state. We are lucky to have someone who is able to work so closely with our national government to help us work towards social change. This is hard in a currently Republican state and even a strongly Republican country, even though we have a Democratic president. Women’s issues aren’t the first to be brought up in the government. Though by having Kyrsten Sinema being so involved in many different women’s organizations we can look to her for support of women’s issues. Kyrsten Sinema is a part of Girls for a Change, League of Women Voters, and the National Organization of Women just to name a few. Since she works so closely with these organizations she will work towards changing how women vote and how women’s issues are viewed.

       With more women having respect for Kyrsten Sinema and then going out and voting for the issues she is lobbying for it will start making our government more feminist. If one wants more women’s issues to come to the fore front of our government this is what is going to be what we need to do. Kyrsten Sinema is a representative in our area that we need to rely on to get our message and goals about feminism and social change to the higher powers of our government.

ASU V-Day Profile Information:

An ASU organization which works to end violence against women through its annual production of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues – a play that celebrates female sexuality through real women's stories of intimacy, vulnerability, and sexual self- discovery. Run almost entirely by students and community members, the weekend performance generates about $10,000-$15,000 each year which is donated to various beneficiaries that support V-Day’s cause.

website: http://asuvday.com/

email: ASUvday@gmail.com

2011 producer: Rachel Dixon

How ASU students can get involved:

• Be a part of the production!
• Act, produce, direct or sponsor
• Buy a ticket online or V-Day merchandise
• 10% of profits support ASU HomeSafe (a campus rape & violence resource)
• 10% of profits support National V-Day, which works to end violence globally
• The remaining profits are donated to a different beneficiary each year that works toward ending violence against women
• Attend the show on campus!
• Become more aware of women's issues and the V-Day mission

ASU V-Day: The Vagina Monologues

The ASU V-Day chapter is a unique form of feminist activism and an easily accessible way to get involved with the national V-Day organization, a group whose ultimate goal is to end violence against women. Their annual production of The Vagina Monologues is the ultimate conclusion to their goal of actively raising awareness about the V-Day Initiative on campus and within the community.

The Vagina Monologues, first written and performed by women’s rights activist, Eve Ensler, is a collection of monologues which express a multitude of women’s issues. The characters in the play represent women of many different ages, nationalities, classes, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and a variety of other identifications. The experiences and emotions that they share allow the audience to connect with the characters, learn about various women’s issues that they may have been unaware of, and become more invested in the main goal of ending violence against all women.

When you purchase a ticket for The Vagina Monologues a portion of the proceeds goes to the National V-Day organization. Another portion of the proceeds benefits the organizations chosen by the cast and crew. These organizations could be anything from shelters or domestic violence organizations. Furthermore, the money earned from sold merchandise and the silent auction also goes to these foundations. As a member of the cast of The Vagina Monologues you get the opportunity to gain a better understand of what women’s issues are effecting our women today. Also, as a performer you get to show the audience and make them aware of these same issues. This in itself is a great form of activism.

Works Cited

Dawidowicz, Matthew. "History shows women don’t vote their gender." US Times 17 Nov 2010, Print.

Gold, Metea, and Jordan Steffen. "Women voters shifted Republican in midterm election." Los Angles Times 09 Nov 2010, Print.

Ferree, Myra Marx., and Aili Mari. Tripp. Global Feminism: Transnational Women's Activism, Organizing, and Human Rights. New York: New York UP, 2006. Print

Hines, Denise A., and Kathleen Malley-Morrison. Family Violence in the United States: Defining, Understanding, and Combating Abuse. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2005. 33. Print.

Kensinger, Loretta. "Critical Reflections of U.S. Feminism, Internet Activism, and Solidarity with Women in Afghanistan." Journal of Internation Studies 5.1 (2003): 1-28. Web. Nov. 2010. <http://www.iiav.nl/ezines/web/journalofinternationalwomensstudies/2003/vol5nr1/bridgew/praxis%20kensinger.pdf>.

Walker, Robert, Carol E. Jordan, Jacquelyn C. Campbell, and Tk Logan. "An Integrative Review of Separation in the Context of Victimization Consequences and Implications for Women." Trauma, Violence, Abuse 143-193 5.2 (2004): 148. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. 

The Sojourner Center

Sojourner Center             

            The Sojourner Center is the largest domestic violence shelter in the nation. Connie Phillips is a director of the shelter and in an interview posted on the sojourner website, they have so many people coming to seek help, they have to turn people away. They have been helping victims of domestic violence since they opened in 1977. There are a few different ways to contact the shelter firstly their website www.sojournercenter.org, they have phone lines and there is an email for those interested in the Vanguard Program. The Vanguard program is their volunteer program. Once a vanguard there are multiple different networks that you can join to become active. They have a meet the needs network which helps collect items needed for the shelter. They have a development outreach network, which helps take care of the paperwork. 

            Domestic violence is a normalized, often gendered form of control. It strikes fear into those that have to deal with it and seeks to empower the abuser while devaluing the abused. The Sojourner Center (though we don’t have a lot of information on them yet) seeks to empower women, taking them out of their current abusive situation, and offering them a place and resources to stop the abuse and get on with a better, healthier life. We feel as though with their experiences, the things they have gone through and seen, the ASU community needs to get involved with a  center like this through volunteering. Not only for the experience of working with people who have been essentially disenfranchised by abused, but also to hear and learn from their stories. Stories that need to be told, but are often silenced in forums that aren’t a Lifetime movie. While there is a domestic violence month, the media doesn’t focus attention on it and memorial or public events are scattered far between. This is a problem, and the main reason why we feel as though through the Sojourner center, a change could be made with the right volunteering and publicity where this issue can be made into a broader forum rather than just on Women Studies conferences and Lifetime Movies, where yes, it’s good that they are getting at least this publicity… But it isn’t enough. We need programs and places like the Sojourner center, places that allow for tours and other such opportunities to get the public involved. ”Social services designed to assist victims of domestic violence provide a wide range of services at the community level. The first emergency shelters were founded in the 1970s in response to a growing grassroots movement focused on the rights and needs of battered women and their children, primarily their immediate safety (Schechter, 1982). Over the past 40 years, the movement has grown and evolved to a professionalized, institutionalized system supported in part by public funding (Reinelt, 1995). The goal of the movement has also evolved, from a focus on coaching women to leave relationships to a goal of empowerment (Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2000). Empowerment service models aim to provide the necessary support, encouragement, and resources to enable a woman to make her own choices and decisions about herself and her life. Thus, many agencies have vastly expanded their services to include longer-term housing along with nonresidential services as well as support groups aimed at different subpopulations and financial literacy programs (Sullivan and Gillum, 2001).”

NARAL Pro.Choice Arizona

Naral Pro-Choice Arizona

            http://www.prochoicearizona.org/

Naral Pro-Choice Arizona is a part of a larger national organization. The acronym Naral stands for National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. It is a political organization that wants to guarantee all women the freedom of reproductive choice from access to birth control to abortion services. Their website www.prochoicearizona.org is how we became active in the group. The website is very interactive and gives a breakdown of the issues they are currently fighting for and educates visitors on Arizona legislation and about our legislators. They offer a couple ways of getting involved, firstly you can become a member of the organization. Another way to get involved is to give monetary donations to the group. Lastly you can donate your time and volunteer to help the organization. Bell hooks in her book Feminism is for Everybody said “Losing ground on the issue of legal safe inexpensive abortion means that women lose ground on all reproductive issues. The anti-choice movement is fundamentally anti-feminist”(29).

Critical Questions, Prevalent Issues

Pro-Choice Arizona. They ask critical questions about abortion and women’s body rights. They watch legislation and also try to improve conditions. They are also involved in the sexual education debate. Comprehensive sexual education vs. Abstinence only. We feel as though this group would be perfect for us because it has to do with youth rights as well as women’s issues with youth sexuality and sexual protection and other relevant issues. People should get involved with them if they want to eventually move onto a career dealing with global women’s reproductive rights, or just reproductive rights in general. Not only that, but also sexual reproductive health and other programs this group offers. This is clearly feminist activism  because they are dealing directly with a HUGE issue facing women in today’s society. “All individuals are entitled to the protection of, and respect for, their human rights by healthcare providers. In terms of service provision, survivors of domestic violence, rape, and other forms of sexual abuse have a right to receive good quality health services, including reproductive health care to manage the physical and psychological consequences of the violence and to prevent and manage pregnancy and STIs. Health providers should ensure they do not in any way “revictimize” women, force them to have any examination against their will, or take away their agency and decision-making. All patients need to be treated with respect, be given the information they need to make decisions, and have their privacy and the confidentiality of their health records guaranteed.”

Women who have rights to their body and what they do with their pregnancy and who has a say in what she does and who doesn’t. Women are constantly entangled in a battle over their bodies and rights of their body and this group brings the main challenge they face to the frontline, while – at the same time, making it accessible to everyone.

Works Cited

García-Moreno, Claudia, and Heidi Stöckl. "Protection of sexual and reproductive health rights: Addressing violence against women." International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics 106.2 (2009): 144-147. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 9 Dec. 2010.

PFLAG Phoenix

PFLAG Phoenix

            PFLAG Phoenix is a support group for parents, friends and allies of LGBT individuals. They hold weekly meetings and participate in various volunteer and human right’s campaigns. ASU students can get involved by visiting their website at: http://www.pflagphoenix.org/

You can find links to educational information, resources, volunteering opportunities, a meeting group, and other various ways to get involved with the group. They have a calendar of monthly events as well as a phone number where the group can be reached. They post news clips from national sources that have to do with LGBTQQIA rights, and are strongly networked with similar groups.

            PFLAG Phoenix has meeting groups at various locations throughout Tempe, Downtown Phoenix, Mesa, and Gilbert. They have meeting groups for not only members of the LGBTQ community, but mostly for parents and allies of LGBTQ youth. I think that this is an important group to get involved with because, possibly even more so than 1n10, this group is the group with political sway, a strong voice, and the power/opportunity to bring about changes in schools and politics more so than the youth empowerment group. In addition to them being allies of the LGBT community, working to better understand issues faced by LGBT youth and family members/friends, they also advocate for rights and arrange marches and protests and large scale writing campaigns. This they show their power in the political forum, and the fact that they potentially have kids that are a part of the LGBT community, adds to their power and influence.

            We also feel as though intersectionality plays a huge part in their power, influence, and overall functionality of group. The fact that is a multiple people, of different educational backgrounds, different jobs, races, religions, positions in life. All of these people coming together and creating a community to help and support a related community. All of these experiences and pieces of them crossing each other to form a community of support and understanding and learning. Eventually, as this group hopefully grows, more people will join to make a larger network of education and understanding. Then we will start to see massive social change. Outside of the gay community and their allies, and onward onto the intolerant and ignorant.

            This group counts as a massive catalyst for social change because of the events they throw and participate in. The way the group presents themselves, and the fact that they are attempting not to just hide hatred and gain rights, but is trying to educate people so they can educate their friends and children, and those people can educate their friends and children. This network they are creating is a network of activism and social change.