Are You There God, It's Me Margaret Review Citations

Cabot , Meg. "Are You There God? Margaret's Not OK for Tweens ." Meg's Diary. Meg Cabot, 24 2010. Web. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. .

Marchino, Lois A. "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret." Masterplots II: Juvenile & Young Adult Fiction Series (1991): 1-2. MagillOnLiterature Plus. Web. 13 Nov. 2012

Weekly Activism Blog 3

Activism:
This week was the execution of our Body Appreciation workshop. The day had finally come to put our hard work to the test. We arrived on Sunday around noon to set up. We got things into place and sat down to begin discussing the day and all the specifics. However, we were interrupted when some of the Littles showed up thirty minutes early. So without any more prep, we were thrown into the project. We decided that we should start off with our paper chain activity (which wasn’t originally supposed to be the first activity) so the girls who arrived early would have something to begin doing. So already the day began with us being flexible. Slowly the rest of the girls began to arrive. We completed the paper chains with them and it took a bit longer than we thought it would. Then we went outside for our hula hoop icebreaker. After that we did our relay races, which were incredibly fun and the Littles seemed to have a great time participating in. We headed back upstairs for a snack and to complete our body part drawing activity. The Littles did a great job and with the help of our community partner Emily V. in the discussion aspect it went incredibly smoothly. Next we had a dance break and then went outside for some yoga led by Maddie. These were my two favorite activities by far. We ended off with some charades and then sent the Littles on their way. I personally had a blast!

Reflection:
This week was very eye opening for me. Not that these concepts are simple, or changing people’s views on matters of the body is simple either, but it did come as a surprise to me to see how easy it was to facilitate a conversation about the body with seventh grade girls and help them to understand the basics of these concepts we are trying to portray about health being more than just the physical. I don’t know how much it will stick with them, but it was especially cool to hear their thoughts.
Though the activity went well, listening to the Littles talk with each other, I won’t lie… was quite terrifying. Their conversations reminded me of Nancy from “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” when she says she wants to grow up and look like the girls in playboy (Blume 6). The Littles were talking about wanting to get older and get tattoos, go to parties, and so many other things. We were constantly shocked by the things they would say. I think that we underestimate girls a lot. While they are young and impressionable they are also brilliant. It’s quite a scary combination.

Reciprocity:
I’ve learned a lot this week about young girls. Despite previously being a part of YWLP it still fascinates me working with young girls. On the other hand though, it reminds me that working with young girls is probably not something I would want to do for my career. On my seemingly never ending path of trying to figure out what I want to do this project may have helped me cross one thing off the list. And I mean that in a good way. I have a very high respect for people like Emily V. who have chosen to do this for their careers or even just for a while. Even though, as females, we all have gone through this time of girlhood, and made it out alive, it is still hard to bring yourself back to that time and remember what it was like. I think this issue is incredibly important and I am happy we have people dedicated to it.

Works Cited
Blume, Judy. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. New York, NY: Random House, Inc, 1970. Print.

Weekly Activism Blog 2

Activism:
This week we had to submit our final draft to Emily V. We also had to have our weekly meeting and run through in the Women’s Studies office with Emily V. We got comments back from Emily V. about our final draft. She was concerned we were straying away from our goal of focusing on the body and having fun. There was quite a bit of confusion amongst the group because we believed we had changed our lesson plan to focus more on being active and having fun. We met on Friday for about an hour and a half. With Emily V.’s suggestions we changed some parts of the lesson plan. We took out our kickball game and replaced it with a series of races (wheel barrow race, three legged race, etc). We also added in a craft activity that would connect the race activities with thinking about the functionality of the body. It was a bit stressful because our project is taking place in two days. So there was definitely some frustration in room. We worked hard and completed the editing of the final draft and I believe we have a solid workshop now. Hopefully it will run smoothly and the girls will enjoy themselves.

Reflection:
This project has definitely allowed me to deepen my understanding of health more. While I believe I have always known, on some level, that health entails more than simply physical aspects. However, I think it is so easy for us to automatically think about health being physically based. These other factors like emotions and happiness play such a huge role. In our meeting today Grace mentioned how her personal definition of health barely considers physicality as a part of it. I thought this was incredibly interesting. It also shows that health looks differently for everyone. I think that is what Nomy was trying to portray in her article “Fishnets, Feather Boas, and Fat.” That we each have our own definition of health and what makes us happy and that is ok. Health doesn’t look the same for everyone.

Reciprocity:
I won’t lie, this project has been incredibly stressful. However, I have learned a lot. I have learned how vital everyone is to being a part of a team. There have been a lot of difficulties but I think this can only make us all more effective as individuals entering group projects from here on out. In our college careers many of us have had positive group experiences, but working together on the level we have had to for this project is not the norm. I think this is a benefit to us because we weren’t able to simply meet up once or twice, turn it in, and be done with it. We have been meeting almost every week since the beginning to mid semester. We have had our trials and difficulties but our first workshop was very successful and I think our workshop on Sunday will be as well. So overall, this project has helped me learn more about working in groups and being an effective member.

Lamm, Nomy. "Fishnets, Feather Boas, and Fat." Body Outlaws. Ophira Edut. 2nd ed. expanded and updated. Emeryville, CA: Seal Press, 2003. 219-224. Print.

Body Appreciation Workshop Rationale

Kelsey Paul
WST 4022
Professor Tweed
November 8, 2012
Word Count: 512

Body Appreciation Workshop Rationale

After much discussion we came to an agreement that the goal of our body appreciation workshop would be for the YWLP Littles to recognize that health is composed of many factors such as physical, mental, emotional, etc. As stated in the Body Project, “many young girls worry about the contours of their bodies--- especially shape, size and muscle tone--- because they believe that the body is the ultimate expression of self (97). Just as girls see themselves and their identities as bodies, girls also tend to see themselves and their health as only related to the body. We want the Littles to recognize that health is comprised of more than just the physical and all of these emotional, mental, etc. factors are important when taking care of self and keeping oneself healthy.

Many young girls equate being healthy with being skinny or having a certain figure. Many girls begin to watch their weight and appetite at the age of nine or ten (119). This shows how much importance is placed on physical appearance. Being healthy does not mean to diet or exercise constantly. Being healthy doesn’t have one mold that everyone needs to fit.

For our workshop we originally thought of a lot of applicable ideals, but honestly, they were really boring. We switched up our workshop to gear it towards what seventh grade girls might actually enjoy doing. We simplified it and decided to stop trying to teach the girls or show them these concepts about health, but rather let them experience it. We want to be guides not lecturers. We also want the girls to have a fun time and not feel like they are sitting in a classroom.

We decided the best way to accomplish our goal and have lots of fun would be through a variety of activities. We will be going outside and playing a friendly game of kickball. We will be using our creativity and craftiness to create paper chains that promote positive thinking about their bodies. We will be playing emotional charades in order to highlight the importance of emotions and feelings in regards to health. Also, we will be participating in yoga facilitated by Maddie.

At the end of it all we will have a brief discussion to connect our activities back to health. I think this is an issue that needs to be talked about. So often health is incorrectly defined and this can have negative consequences for all, but especially young girls. In “Fishnets, Feather Boas, and Fat” Nomy Lamm talks about her comfortability with her weight. She ways that “good health is not about being thin; it’s about doing things that are good for your body. You can be fat and healthy” (81). She makes an excellent point. We want these young girls to be healthy, but we don’t want them to automatically think of “skinny” every time someone mentions health. The two words are not synonymous. If we can help the girls to recognize that being healthy isn’t solely about physicality then I believe we will have accomplished our goal.

Works Cited

Lamm, Nomy. "Fishnets, Feather Boas, and Fat." Body Outlaws. Ophira Edut. 2nd ed. expanded and updated. Emeryville, CA: Seal Press, 2003. 219-224. Print.

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. New York: Random House, 1997. Print.

Weekly Activism Log 1

This week I worked with members from our group on various occasions. On Monday I met via phone conference with our group. I could not be at the meeting to debrief about UCF day, so I called in while I was in the office at work. I had to listen on and off since I would sometimes need to help someone who came in the office, but overall I was able to listen in and get a general understanding of everyone’s thoughts on UCF day and thoughts for our Body Appreciation Workshop. On Wednesday I met up with Maddie and Alexa at Panera Bread. We discussed what we thought our objective should be and talked about some possible activities that were related to our new objective. On Friday I met with Emily, Ann, Catherine, and Grace in the library for or usual weekly meeting. At this meeting we looked over the feedback from Emily V. on our Body Appreciation Workshop second draft. There were many concerns addressed from Emily. We decided to take a step back and reevaluate our thoughts for the project. We realized our draft wasn’t very fun and decided we shouldn’t focus so much on teaching the girls to appreciate their bodies, but rather let them do activities that will allow them to appreciate their bodies.

At my meeting with Alexa and Maddie we had a lot of discussion about the ominous mind body divide. We talked about it in connection to health as we were talking about our project. We wanted to help the girls recognize that there is more to being healthy than just eating habits and physical activity, but rather that emotions and relationships heavily affect your health. This got us talking about the mind body divide. I still have a lot of hesitancies with fully accepting this idea of the mind and body all being one. In Torres article “At Home in My Body” she says “Separating mind from the body in the appropriate context, in my case, has led to a better union between the two” (223). Though I am definitely aware that the mind and body are intricately connected, I also can see the strength that can be gained from separating the two. This project has allowed me to think about this concept a lot.

This service learning project is definitely a growing experience. We have obviously had many frustrations as a group but have been really trying to work together and make our project successful. This project has taught me a lot about myself. I sometimes feel fearful or worried about joining groups or working for causes because I feel that I am unworthy in a sense. For instance, I am passionate about LGBTQ rights. However, sometimes I will refrain from working with a group for that cause because I feel that there are so many activists that know more about the cause than I do and I don’t feel I have enough to bring to the table. This project has helped me to see that I don’t have to know everything to be a beneficial part of the group. In many of our meetings I feel that I am helping to keep the group focused or make specific and tangible goals for our meetings. I may not know everything about girls and the body or the mind body divide, but I can still help our group to complete its overall goal and that is nice to realize.

Works Cited
Torres , Allison. "At Home In My Body." Trans. ArrayBody Outlaws. Ophira Edut. 2nd ed. expanded and updated. Emeryville, CA: Seal Press, 2003. 219-224. Print.