COLOR as a Whole

Like I have stated in a previous post, I am volunteering with COLOR Latina. COLOR stands for Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights. The main focus at COLOR is Latina women's rights. They want to help inform the Latina community about their rights as women, their reproductive rights and quality health care. They want to give support to young mothers, and give them access to health care services. COLOR also focuses on immigrant rights, economic justice and LGBTQ rights.

From the little bit that I have seen at COLOR, I think they are very passionate about what they are wanting to, and trying to do at their organization. However, just as an outsider looking in, I don't know that they are communicating who they are as a whole, to the community very well. Before now, I had never heard of COLOR. I think they are a small organization and they are slowly becoming larger. I think it is very clear where they stand and what they stand up for, I just think they could do a better job of reaching out to the community. I may have this view because I have not gotten the chance yet to put in a lot of hours at the organization, and I have not fully seen what they do, as far as the community goes.

However, I do know, every year they have a big event in March called Cafe Cultura. I think this is one awesome way that they are reaching out and having their voices heard. At the event, they have entertainment, games, photo ops, and also HIV testing. Anyone and everyone is invited to the event, which is a great way to show the community what they are all about. Like I said, I think I need to put some more hours in before I am able to see how exactly they are advertising themselves and this event.

Gender in the Classroom

This semester, I have 4 Communication classes, and one Journalism class. All of my professors happened to be women. In my whole 'college career', I have only had a handful of male professors. Until now, I hadn't realized that most of my professors have been women. In class on Thursday we did a debate on single-sex education. While doing research for the debate, I came across the fact that most elementary to high school teachers are female. It never crossed my mind that same may go for colleges as well. As far as the gender ratio for students goes, I feel like most of my classes until now have been about 50/50. Now that I am into all of my Communication classes, I notice there are mostly girls. That's not to say there aren't any guys who are Communication majors, I just notice more girls in my classes. It may have to do with the fact that, as our book states, for feminine people, talk is the essence of relationships.
Another point that came up during the debate was the fact that teachers tend to focus more on boys in Science and Math and focus more on the girls in classes like Reading. Looking back at my elementary and high school years, I may have to agree with that. However, I have not noticed that to be true in my college classes. I feel all of my professors have treated and talked to each student the same way, they are not gender biased. This has been true for my English and Communication classes, as well as my Math and Science classes.
I am curious to read other students blogs and see if they have noticed the same things I have or if their observations are completely different.

Expectations of Color Latina

Women from Color making a political stance.

This semester I will be working with Color Latina. COLOR stands for Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights. The representative I first spoke with was Lupe. When she came to the class, I had the opportunity to briefly speak with her. From her introduction, I learned that Color focused on the rights for Latina women. After doing a little research on my own, I learned a little more about the mission at COLOR.
COLOR is a sisterhood of Latinas dedicated to building a movement of Latinas, their families and allies through leadership development, organizing and advocacy to create opportunity and achieve reproductive justice. COLOR is led completely by young Latinas. The primary purpose it to educate other Latina women, and promote reproductive health. They do this by getting the women involved in the city. They are involved in civic participation, and leadership opportunities.
After speaking with Lupe, the first day, my expectations were just to first meet with the organization, and eventually help organize a big event they have coming up in March. Unfortunately, neither one of my expectations have been supported. After sending a few emails, and not getting a response, I finally called COLOR on Monday afternoon and told them I would be coming in along with my group members on Saturday for orientation. They excitedly agreed, so I am hoping to begin the journey very soon. Once this happens, I'm sure my expectations for beginning to work on the event for March, will soon come to pass as well.

Men's and Women's Movements

In the beginning of chapter three, I had a hard time identifying with the feminism movements. I have never considered myself to be a feminist but as I read on, I realized I am very thankful for the movements that occurred in our history, otherwise I would not be the woman I am today.I think the women's movement that I identify the most with is the Women's Rights Movement. This movement had one of the biggest impacts on our history. Like the textbook says, the women's rights movement engaged in activism aimed at enlarging women's political rights. The first big even in this movement was the demand of voting rights for women. When I stop and think about it, I cannot believe at one point, women did not have that right.I have had the opportunity to vote for presidency once, and I felt so proud to have done that. If the same laws were in place today, that were back in the day, I would be so offended and would feel less as an American. Because of the women, and few men who stood up for our rights, I can be even more proud, not only to be an American, and have that right, but also to be a woman and have that right. Not only did this movement focus on voting for women, it also focused on exclusion from  most forms of higher education, restrictions on employment, and property rights upon marriage. Again, if it weren't for this movement, I would not be where I am today. I would probably be at home raising six kids by now, instead of studying something I am so interested in and working at job I love.
Before reading chapter four, I didn't realize there were even such things as men's movements. As a women, its hard to say I identify with any of the men's movements, but if I had to choose one, I think it would be the Promise Keepers Movement. As a kid, I remember my dad and a few of his friends attending these meetings, and he would come back and seem a little changed. My dad was always an amazing husband to my mom, and great father to my brother and I but he would come back a stronger Christian, and I loved that. As the book states, Promise Keepers makes seven promises; 1. To honor Jesus Christ through worship, prayer, and obedience to God's word through the power of the Holy Spirit. 2. To pursue vital relationships with other men, understanding that they need brothers to help them keep their promises. 3. To practice spiritual, moral, ethical, and sexual purity. 4. To build strong marriages and families through love, protection, and biblical values. 5. To support the mission of his church by honoring and praying for his pastor and by actively giving his time and resources. 6. To reach beyond any racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of biblical unity. 7. To influence his world for good, being obedient to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Some people have a problem with this movement because it talks about men being the head of the household. I don't see this as most people do. My parents were always very equal when it came to decisions in the household, but I can see why this movement pushes that a little more. I believe as a Christian, the husband should be the spiritual leader of the household. I don't believe this means the woman of the house is any less than he, but he should take charge when it comes to leading his family in the right direction. Because of this I feel when looking at the man I will someday marry, I want him to hold these values, as my own father did.

Language Shaping Awareness

As we discussed in class this week, language shapes awareness more than we realize. One way that language shapes awareness is how we give names to things that matter to us, more in the way of naming things brings more power to it. The example the book gives is a perfect one. Before we named sexual harassment, it was not visible. It was simply described as being pushy or out of line. Once we put a name to it, there was more awareness and people realized it was not okay. The same goes for date rape. Before it was named as actual rape, girls let it go without getting help. Again, once a name was attached to the act, people became more aware and realized they could do something about it. It is interesting to me to see how these two simple things go hand in hand. Another topic we discussed in class was how we shape meaning of our culture. The example we talked about in class was how as time progresses, our language needs to be modified, which shows that language is not static. As new things are invented, we have to be clear and define our language. As humans, we create meaning through symbols. Again, it was so interesting and such an eye opener when we discussed how this is what makes us human. I love seeing that correlation between language, naming and symbols.

Gender Reflection

According to our textbook, gender is not innate nor necessarily stable. It is defined by society and is learned. Gender can change over time. We are born male or female, but we learn to act in masculine and/or feminine ways. Often times, our gender is influenced by our parents and peers. 

Growing up in a 'religious' household, made me aware from a young age, of my gender. The church I grew up in always made it very clear the distinction between boys and girls and what was expected of them. The religion has some standards, one of them being girls wear only skirts. It is a sign of modesty and femininity. My earliest memory of an interaction with my parents that communicated expectations of being a girl, was when I was five, I wanted to wear a pair of pants but was told 'girls wear skirts, not pants'. I know some people may look at this and think to themselves, how awful. Although as an adult I have strayed from that religion, I am thankful for what it instilled in me. I love being a girl, I love being feminine and wearing skirts. I know wearing skirts doesn't make me a woman, but I love how I feel when I do wear them.


The most recent interaction I can think of that communicated expectations for my gender was in class just the other day. We were doing class introductions, and one of the questions we were prompted to answer was, what is a stereotype that people assume by just looking at you. A male classmate said his would be that people think hes mad when hes really just tired. He said it in a comical way explaining that his girlfriend is especially the one who thinks hes angry when hes just tired and it always starts a fight. Another student (a female) asked him why he doesn't just tell her hes tired, instead of letting it turn into an argument. He then said, you know how girls are, then they'll ask why you're tired and the conversation will just keep going and going, a few other guys in the class agreed and the girls just laughed. Again, it was said in a humorous way so in no way was it offending but it also showed how guys look at girls. What I thought when he said that was, how very true. I'm a girl, and I know I do the same thing with my boyfriend. The whole interaction was light and fun but it did point out expectations of being a female.