a few quotes from my gender & women's studies readings that i really thought were worth posting...
**without emotional, heartfelt grappling with the source of our own oppression, without naming the enemy within ourselves and outside of us, no authentic, non-hierarchial connection among oppressed groups can take place...in order for men to create an authentic alliance with women, men must deal with the primary source of their own sense of oppression. (Cherrie Morago "Loving in the War Years.")
**only by uniting a personal and emotional introspection of our pain, pleasure, and loss with a historical, social, and political analysis can we begin to create a truly global and transformative change. (Raul Coronado "Bringing it Back Home")
we've been having some really interesting discussion in my class. mostly they have been about the double standard in being promiscuous within our society. females are considered slutty because of their sexual exploits, while men are given the hands up of success.
we also discussed the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among sex workers in bombay, india. the sex industry is a major economic income for india, but the infection rate is extremely high. in order to combat this problem, there has been education and awareness promotion including the use of condoms. the sex workers are being taught how to refuse customers who will not use condoms, as well as awareness of the disease. it may not be evident to some, but the use of condoms is a technological advancement in the area--before my gender & women's studies class i didn't think of it in that way, but it is a use of contraception as well as a protection against disease, thus a technology of sorts. since the programs for awareness and education have been implemented the rate of infection has slowed, however, there is still much that needs to be done.
sweeter dreams.
k
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2 comments:
Hey dude. For a year and a half I volunteered at the needle exchange in Rockford. One of the tasks they assigned me involved bagging new condoms for distribution to sex workers on the street. The time I spent there opened my eyes to so much. They also had me packaging clean needles and "crack kits" for drug addicts. From what I could tell, sometimes the sex workers and drug addicts were one in the same.
there was definitely a point made in discussion that a lot of the sex workers were only doing so in order to pay for their drug addictions. it's an ongoing cycle. :(
on another note, i'm embarrassed that i was completely unaware about the needle exchange...that's quite an interesting concept.
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