This week we read two texts. The first was “Unwanted” from My Sisters’ Voices. In this text a fourteen year old girl, called Precious, describes her battles with depression and cutting. She talked about how unloved she felt by everyone and how her only comforting thought “was to cut on my arms when I returned home” (Angel 201). The young girl uses cutting as her form of escape from all the negativity she is feeling around her. In our second text “Marked for Life” from Body Outlaws we read about a woman and her experience and views of tattoos. She talks about how she used tattoos to help her cope with hard situations and how they served as a “reminder of my belief that I was going to make it through a difficult and painful time” (Talvi 212).

These two stories are connected in strange but meaningful ways. Both of these women have used some sort of body altering methods that cause physical pain to deal with their emotional pain, whether positively or negatively. It ties into this major theme that altering the body can alter one’s emotional state or that if you change this thing then you will be happy. These stories don’t necessarily confirm or negate that theme; they just relate to it. In “Unwanted” she harms her body to try to escape the pain of real life, but clearly this isn’t the answer to finding emotional healing. However, in “Marked for Life” the tattooing of her body serves to help her overcome her challenges and find this positive self-identity.

I’m not really sure what this says about the ideas that we are separate from our bodies or that we are our bodies. There has been a lot of talk about this idea lately and I personally am not completely sure which is the right idea. It is definitely something I would love to discuss more in class.

Works Cited

 

Talvi, Silja J.A.. "Marked for Life: Tattoos and the Redefinition of Self." Body Outlaws. Ed. Ophira Edut. 2nd ed., Expanded and Updated. Emeryville, California: Seal Press, 2003. 211-218. Print.

Angel, Precious. "Unwanted." My Sisters' Voices: Teenage Girls of Color Speak Out. Ed. Iris Jacob. New York, New York: Holt Paperbacks, 2002. 201-203. Print.

WST Engagement 1

On Saturday, September 15th I attended the Women's Health Panel at the Youth Organizing and Policy Institute on the UCF campus. The speakers were Jenna Tosh, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando, Scott Randolph, the Florida State Representative, and Dr. M.C. Santana, the director of the women's studies program at UCF. The panel was shorter than I expected. I think there were some time issues. So I would have liked to hear more, but overall it was pretty good. Scott Randolph talked about the affordable care act and the equality it can create in insurance payments. Dr. Santana was probably my favorite speaker, although I am probably biased because I know her, unlike the other two speakers.

Dr. Santana spoke on some of her personal experiences with reproductive health. She talked about the hard time she had getting her maternity leave from UCF when she had one of her children and how she had to be back within two weeks of having her baby. She talked about how she took her son and daughter to both get the HPV shot and how this brought about much reaction from the clinic staff. Everyone saw this to be a huge deal. Scott Randolph discussed how our Governor Rick Scott is one of the most disliked governors. He discussed the breakdown of how people voted and who voted and said that in the end it took less than 20% of the population to vote for Rick Scott for him to get elected.

I think Dr. Santana’s stories are a great example of how women’s health and sexual health affect us all in our everyday lives, and Scott Randolph’s discussion about Rick Scott shows the importance of getting involved and voting. Towards the end of the panel someone asked Dr. Santana what brought her to the movement? Or why she is involved like she is? Her answer was simple: “Because you have to!” She said, you can’t life and look the other way. This was something that really stuck with me. How can we ignore issues that are affecting all of us? How can we not vote and leave our futures and our vaginas futures up to representatives that we don’t even support. Anna Eskamani, a Planned Parenthood representative, ended off the panel in the perfect way. She said “if you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.” I completely agree. We have to stop ignoring and start being active.