Weekly Service Learning Log #4

1. This week was the second to last little sister meeting for YWLP. We began the meeting with the usual sharing of highs and lows for the week and from there moved on to the first activity. This activity was one we had practiced at the last big sister meeting where all the sisters sat in a circle and named at least one part of their bodies that they loved and explained why. Afterward, we discussed our feelings on what was said in the circle, and then the big sisters helped their littles create a “body map” that outlined what they thought was important about the ways they used each part of their bodies. We then broke up into pairs for one-on-one time with the sisters. When we came back from that, we had the little sisters do an activity where they looked at an advertisement from a magazine featuring a female model and find one thing they did and didn’t like about it, followed by a discussion.

2. The main link I found between this week’s meeting and the material we covered for class had to do with the final activity we did. In the short film “The Story of Stuff,” there is a big emphasis on the part consumerism plays in globalization, which is the primary reason advertisements even exists. The Peterson article states, “An ideology of consumption involves relentless subjection to media images, enticements, and directives, all aimed at promoting consumption as a positive, vital, pleasurable, identity-conferring and rewarding activity” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 433). Indeed, when the younger girls were discussing their advertisements, most of them were able to name more things they found visually pleasing about the advertisements than the other way around. The reason for this seemed to be because almost all of the women featured in the advertisements appeared to be incredibly happy and represented the beauty ideal—which appealed as positives to this group of girls.

3. From a feminist perspective, I thought the first activity we did this week was one that had a definite positive impact. Women in particular are conditioned from a young age by meso- and macro-level influences to find the flaws in our bodies, and this tends to be even stronger in girls of the age group with which YWLP works. So I think that for them to be sat down and encouraged to think about what they love about themselves by a supportive group of females goes a long way.

Word Count: 415

Works Cited
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Weekly Service Learning Log #3

1. This week in YWLP we met with our little sisters at the middle schools. We started the meeting by going around the room and sharing our highs and lows for the week. The little sisters were then given the phonebooks that their big sisters had decorated for them in a prior meeting, and their big sisters helped them come up with a list of adults with whom them felt comfortable discussing more sensitive issues. We then played the game “Cross the Line,” which the big sisters had practiced two meetings ago. Afterward, we discussed how the game made us feel and then broke up into pairs for sister time. The meeting was concluded with the members coming up with some general rules (or “ABCs”) for conflict solving and a light-hearted staring contest.

2. Because we are not allowed to discuss topics such as sex with our little sisters, I thought that this week would be another difficult one to connect to our readings. However, during my one-on-one time with my little sister, she admitted to me that sometimes she feels pressure to have a boyfriend because most of her friends do. I was immediately reminded of the section in the article “Violence Against Women” that stated that one in five high school girls have reported being physically or sexually abused because “young women are vulnerable to abuse because they may feel that involvement in a personal relationship is necessary to fit in” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 261). At thirteen years old, my little sister is obviously not an exception to this rule. In response, I did my best to assure her that she should only ever do something—not just dating, but anything—because it is 100% what she wants to do and not because she feels like her peers won’t like her otherwise. I also reminded her that if she needed to talk in depth about her feelings on these issues that she should never hesitate to call any of the names she listed in her phonebook or any other trusted adult.

3. From a feminist perspective, this week’s meeting was very important. I think it’s good for the younger girls to see and understand that even though they think they may know somebody, it’s important to be considerate because they never know what deeper issues that person may be dealing with. The discussion with my little sister also felt like an important act. More girls that age need positive female role models in their lives to tell them that being perceived as cool is never as important as staying true to oneself.

Word Count: 434

Works Cited
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.