Activism Log #5

Jennifer Smith
Nina Perez
3/20/10
WST 3015


Activism:
I don’t really have much activism to report in this blog. We came back from spring break this week and, unfortunately, I didn’t jump right back into our service-learning project. I didn’t have any contact with my community partner, Rebecca, since she was out of town. I wish I had tried to get in touch with her and found out this little bit of information early this week, since I showed up bright and early Wednesday morning, thinking I was going to enjoy a few hours of activism, only to sit and wait while no one showed up.

Reflection:
The importance of politics and political activism was discussed this week in Seeley’s reading “At The Table.” First Wave feminists fought for and won the right for women to vote and we need to start using that right and use it wisely. Seely encourages people to “elect leaders, of any gender, who support and fight for equality for all”(96). In past chapters we’ve discussed how the fight for equality hasn’t yet been won. The fact that my group and I have discovered the need to include people who don’t fit gender “norms” to a policy that prohibits discrimination proves that. Seely stresses the need to pass a constitutional amendment for gender equality “to ensure that women, men, and GLBTQQI in the United States are afforded full equality under the law” (98). Right now we’re still just trying to protect everyone on our own campus but, hopefully, people will take notice of our cause and we can continue to fight for gender identity and equality.

Reciprocity:
This week I realized that I need to stop being so passive in my activism. If my group isn’t tabling together, then I should get off my butt and collect signatures for our petition on my own. I also learned how important it is to keep contact with my community partner, so I don’t end up uninformed and out of the loop. I’m responsible for my own activism and I think in the past I’ve just waited around for Rebecca to tell me what to do. That definitely changes now. I believe in this cause and I need to start showing it.


Works Cited:

Seely, Megan. "At The Table." Fight like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. 93-121. Print.