Passion Magazine: Gendered Confessions

Page 1

MA GA Z IN E VO LU ME

6 I S S UE 1

EDITOR’S NOTE Sarah Carratt Editor In Chief

For six years, Passion Magazine has been the embodiment of the LMU Mission Statement, encouraging all

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WATCH READ

CLICK PROTEST

NO

ENGAGE

GOOD  Magazine:  E-Waste  Learn  about  the  effects  of  e-waste  on  our  world http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl2j83LCHss Â

The  Immortal  Life  of  Henrietta  Lacks Her  name  was  Henrietta  Lacks,  but  scientists  know  her  as  HeLa.  She  was  a  poor  Southern  tobacco  farmer  who  worked  the  same  land  as  her  slave  ancestors,  yet  her  cells—taken  without  her  knowledge—became  one  of  the  most  important  tools  in  medicine. Â

Free  Rice   -  http://www.freerice.com/   For  each  answer  you  get  right,  Free  Rice  donates  10  grains  of  rice  through  the  World  Food  Programme  to  help  end  hunger Â

Unequal  distribution  of  the  world’s  food  resources  Go  to  the  Hunger  Banquet  on  Wednesday,  November  10th  from  XU XU QV ;\ :WJMZ\Âź[ )]LQ\WZQ]U \W M`XMZQMVKM ZMÆMK\ WV _WZTL hunger.

“Imagining  Equality:  Women’s  Art  &  Activismâ€?  Engage  in  the  dialogue  surrounding  this  year’s  theme  of  the  Bellarmine  .WZ]U" JMQVO PMTL 7K\WJMZ PMZM I\ 45=

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SUPPORT

Your  Canidate Vote  in  the  gubernatorial  elections  that  are  being  held  on  Tuesday,  November  2,  2010.  You  can  vote  on  campus.  Register  to  vote  by  going  to:  www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm

vol.  6  issue  1

E G N E L N CHAL

PASSIO

From inconsistent recycling of bottled water, to the carbon footprint left behind by its production, there are multiple ecological reasons for resorting to other options for water. Our challenge is for every LMU student to obtain a reusable plastic water bottle and use that water bottle rather than purchase disposable bottles.

WHAT TO PERSONAL BENEFIT DO INSTEAD On campus, the average price for a throw-­away

bottle of water is $2.05. Suppose you buy 4 bottles of water a week for an entire school year (around 28 weeks of classes); you’re spending $229.60. That’s about 75 gallons of gas, 18 movie tickets, 15 dinners out, or 4 concerts.

Buy a re-­usable water bottle: around $24 on campus, or ranging from $10 and upwards from places like Target.

REFILL BOTTLES ON CAMPUS IN. . .

The Lair and Roskis The Lion’s Den Malone and University Hall Ask the assistant of your department: most departments on campus have a break room with water stations and may be open to letting stu-­ dents use their water stations—it’s free, why wouldn’t they? Oct. 2010

Spotlight on: Gail Wronsky Director of the Creative Wrting and Syntext programs at LMU

G

ail Wronsky is a poet. She is also the director of this year’s Bellarmine Forum, and championed the event’s theme: Women’s Art and Activism. This will be the first year that the Forum puts women at center stage, e xpl o r i n g n o t o n ly a r t a n d a c t i vism concerning women’s issues, but also women activists working toward social justice for both genders. Wronsky believes that men and women will enjoy the event equally, with male moderators and panelists contributing to the weeklong discourse. For her, this Bellarmine Forum will explore “a new way of looking at equality;” one that celebrates rather than tolerates gender differences. This subject is not unfamiliar to Wronsky, who has worked with many female artists and activists throughout her long and successful career as a writer, including famed director Julie Taymor. When she was an undergraduate at t h e U n i ve r s i t y o f Virginia, Gail Wronsky’s favorite poet was Sylvia Plath. She was inspired by Plath’s “female strength and powerful voice.” Taking cues

from her inspiration, Wronsky’s poetry has been praised as “disobedient […] in search of transformation and transcendence.” She is a poet, novelist, and playwright known for her original, passionate and elegant voice. The Forum has much to offer in strong female voices, but Wronsky is most excited for this year’s keynote speaker, Caroline Forché, who has been her mentor for over thirty years. Forché is known for her “poetry of witness,’ which recognizes humanity’s atrocities and injustices through the lens of an activist. With a fitting keynote speaker and week’s worth of diverse events, this year’s Bellarmine Forum is sure to expand student’s hearts and minds, and it all began with the vision of Gail Wronsky.

vol. 6 issue 1

255 YEARS By David Azevedo

just left Tahe town of Sylmar couldn’t be any more different than the bluff we had n hour ago. It was barely nine in the morning, yet the heat we stepped

into from the car was searing. The haggard-looking mountains loomed over what I\ ÅZ[\ IXXMIZML \W JM I [KPWWT WZ I []UUMZ KIUX KWUXTM\M _Q\P TW_ WVM [\WZa brick buildings and a baseball diamond. And even though I did notice the barbed wire, the security cameras, the guards and the remote-locked doors, it wasn’t until I met Paul that it sunk in that this place was a prison. Sylmar Juvenile Hall is a temporary holding facility for juvenile detainees during their court proceedings. Approximately 700 detainees can be held there at once. There are two parts of the facility—one section devoted to those who are held there for a short period of time (anywhere from three weeks to six months); another section, called “the Compound”, are for those who stay longer. Those who stay longer are those charged with more serious offenses. One of those detainees is named Paul (not, out of respect for his identity, his real name). At the Sunday mass, the priest called Paul up to share his recent court ruling with fellow detainees. Just a few months shy of 18, he had been issued a 255-year life sentence by the State of California. All the sound rushed out of the room. Oct. 2010

I thought LMU had prepared me for service like this. But this kind of thinking was the problem. For that morning, listening to Paul’s story and spending time with him after mass, I wasn’t doing service. I wasn’t building a house for a rural community in Tijuana. I wasn’t cleaning up the beach, mentoring kids in south-­ central LA, or making sandwiches for the homeless. In other words, I was powerless. Here I was, across a cold steel table from a detainee four years younger than me, who would live the rest of his life behind barbed wire. That’s all I did. That’s all I could do. Sit, and listen. In less than twelve hours, I’m taking the GRE, a test that’s supposed to help determine my future.Scattered on my desk are applications to grad programs and fellowships. But my mind is still in the barbed-­wire summer-­camp limbo that I entered six days ago, listening to a boy who I couldn’t help. LMU is famously obsessed with pushing its students to educate their whole persons, to commit their lives to living social justice. But what happens when service gives you this feeling of helplessness? What happens when the social problems you want to fix become so numbingly overwhelming, that you can’t even begin to comprehend how to fix them? What happens when you see yourself in Paul’s eyes—your 17-­year old self and your 17-­year old dreams and aspirations—and realize the person standing in front of you will be in prison for the rest of his life? In mass, Paul, with a grim, determined face, told the priest that although he had led the life of “a warrior of darkness”, he would be a

“warrior of light” for his new prison life. Leaving Paul, I watched through the prison windows as he buried his head back on the steel table, weeping. Was it the weight of the sentence? Or was it the overwhelmingness of his commitment to be this “warrior of light”, in such a dark, soulless place? If we want to lead a life committed to social justice, we need a 255 life sentence. We need to weep at what we did to earn it. We need to be overwhelmed by its consequences. We need to realize that despite our fear and despair and powerlessness, we can still, like Paul, be warriors of light. In other we “We need to realize words, can’t be the that despite our change we seek unless fear and despair we tr y to identify and powerlessness, with—and to feel the we can still, like try pain of—the Paul, be warriors people who are in most of light.” need of change. For information on juvenile restorative justice, log onto: www.archdiocese.la www.ojjdp.gov For social justice and service opportunities, stop by the Peg Dolan, RSHM Campus Ministry Center in Malone 210 or the center for service and action in Malone 360. vol. 6 issue 1

The

C H E M I S T R Y

of

GeNdEr N

By Bradley Neddenriep

ot just in recent times, but throughout the history of human civilization we as a species have seen repeated incidences of what is commonly termed gender confusion. And while this is a seemingly innocuous phrase, gender confusion actually contains implications and suggestions that raise one of the most significant questions facing the cause of social justice and human society as a whole. What exactly is gender? What makes up a person’s gender? Who decides a person’s gender? And what does that mean for how society should judge an individual? The answer to what gender consists of is a question too broad to be adequately addressed in any one attempt. However, despite the complexity of gender we can recognize that one critical element of the gender question is the unique nature of child-­ bearing, motherhood, and maternal instincts to the female sex. In relation to childbearing, and specifically the desire to be a mother, the feminine gender role is unique to females because no male can physically conceive and give birth to a child. Despite its unique nature, numerous patriarchal societies have scorned women for exhibiting maternal instincts and wanting to have children. As a result, these societies protected women as an excuse for simply being too weak to hold power, be it political or otherwise in nature. But in recent years science has begun to weigh in on this topic with surprising answers.

A hormone commonly known as melatonin has been studied in connection with maternal instincts in women as they age. Studies have found a strong correlation between high melatonin levels and women r e p o r t i n g a m at e r n a l instinct to bear children. This in and of itself isn’t s i g n i f i c a n t u n t i l yo u relate it with the connection between the age of a women when she gives birth and the l i ke l i h o o d o f m e n t a l / physical malformations in the child. Also the hormone itself, melatonin, i s a d e r i vat i ve o f t h e amino acid tryptophan. Calling it a derivative means more than just s ay i n g i t i s a s i m i l a r compound in appearance. The body produces hormones and many essential biochemicals from relatively innocuous ingredients such as protein in our food. In order for our body to produce a derivative of an amino acid we must have a specific enzyme designed in our DNA to produce that derivative. But where do we find the enzyme designed to c a t a l y z e tryptophan into melatonin? S c i e n c e a l r e a dy k n ow s that enzymes can be localized and selectively produced. The variety of d i g e s t i v e

enzymes in the digestive system is one example. In a similar way, the production of neurotransmitters from an amino acid is all localized to areas of the brain. Furthermore, we can tell that melatonin is indeed s o m e c l a s s o f neurotransmitter and serves a specific purpose in the brain. We k n o w m e l a t o n i n i s synthesized in the brain from its chemical similarities to serotonin, another known neurotransmitter produced in a similar area of the brain. With these pieces of information scientists have begun to see evidence that these melatonin levels may actually cause mater nal instincts. This is effectively saying that women don’t have a true c h o i c e i n t h e i r m at e r n a l instincts in the sense of what we previously thought of as true choice. Now we have evidence to suggest that women are chemically induced to want to bear children due to biological mechanisms. This means that science is having its say in the argument of gender. The evidence collected by science now clearly suggests that it is rooted in biology for women to wish for children. What this implies for the role of women as a whole is unclear and is up for debate. However, one implication is not unclear, which is that any judgment we weigh against women for childbearing or maternal instincts is inherently wrong and in conflict with the nature of humanity. READ! The Biological Clock: The Bodyguard of Temporal Homeostasis By Perreau-­Lenz S, Pévet P, Buijs RM, and Kalsbeek A.

2 2 2 By Vincent Patin

T

he light pierced the veil of sleep hanging over the Project Revitalizing Empowering Villages (R.E.V.) team. Vincent Patin, co-­founder of Project R.E.V., awoke to feel the rumbling of the train as it lurched forward on the rails and peaked out the window. What he beheld was like nothing he had ever known. Excited, he turned to see if the rest of the team was awake and found Phil Ebiner, co-­founder of Project R.E.V., and Diego Gonzalez, assistant director of R.E.V., also looking at the scene together, wondering what this strange foreign land had in store for them. The train came to a slow halt and the team stepped off into Jhabua, a little city in the heart of India. With

the assistance of Sahar Mansoor, junior political science major, these four friends were ready to embark on a journey of a lifetime, uncertain of what lay ahead of them. However, they were all fueled by a mutual passion to plant the seeds of change and immerse themselves in the Indian culture. With the generosity of a few donors and the support of the LMU community, Project R.E.V. was able to travel to Jhabua, India in Madhya Pradesh this past summer. During their time there, the team sought to combat malnutrition by working with the Real Medicine Foundation (RMF). The team stayed in rural India for nearly a month and, in that time, was able to do a stunning amount of work for the local community, all while documenting the experience: they refurbished a solar cooking oven, built six composting

units, broke ground on a kitchen garden at the local school, purchased over $1,000 dollars worth of medical supplies, began work on a new health center, worked with malnourished children and female prostitutes, and taught classes to the children of Bhil Academy. Walking into Jhabua was equivalent to taking a step back in time. The society was almost completely agrarian, subservient to the seasonal monsoon rains. Oxen tilled the soil; women and children alike harvested the crop and laid down the seed. In this world, diseases that were thought to be practically eradicated in the modern world still plagued people. In this world, many people were vegetarian: not by choice but because they simply could not afford meat. Thus, it should come as no surprise that malnutrition afflicted countless children and worse still, that women had to resort to the oldest profession in history: prostitution. Where to begin revitalizing this shattered community? Some have said that education is the single most powerful instrument any individual can ever utilize. However, in order to truly change this society, the education of women is of the utmost importance. It is as Greg Mortenson, the great American humanitarian and co-­founder of the Central Asia Institute once said, “You can hand out condoms, drop bombs, build roads, or put in electricity, but until the girls are educated a society won’t change.” These harsh realities were made

most clear to the Project R.E.V. team while working with female prostitutes. The idea of prostitution strikes many as wrong and exploitative and often you hear of people coming into a community such as Jhabua’s and trying to get the women to stop the practice. However, without an alter native means of income to sustain them outside of this profession, it’s unreasonable to expect them to trade poverty for dignity. These women need to be taught some other craft or trade that they could use. This is why education is so important. This point is made clearer by an African proverb that states quite poignantly how important education can be to women: “Educate a man you educate an individual. Educate a girl you educate a community.” Women often stay behind in these villages passing on practices to the future generations. When women are educated they are able to move societies. The female teachers of the Bhil Academy showcased this: one of the most rewarding moments was when the team worked with the teachers to teach the 3rd year students subtraction. Despite the linguistic barriers and the lack of training, the team was able to teach the girls the concept of subtraction. After class, one of the little girls came up to us and gave each of us a hug and said, “Thank you for teaching us.” That brief moment assured us that we had accomplished more than we had ever set out to do.

You can contact Project R.E.V. at projectbilidoj@gmail.com or visit the site at http://projectrev.org/

F

I hope to inspire.

rom the moment I arrived at LMU, I was inspired by students taking action around the Los Angeles area and beyond our borders. I joined Ignatians and saw how strong individuals could team up to create a true positive difference in the community. Some took it a step further: across the border into Mexico, down to Chile, and across time-zones to Tanzania. ;OL ZOVLZ 0 OHK [V ÄSS ZLLTLK ZV LUVYTV\Z )\[ [OLZL PUZWPYPUN PUKP]PK\HSZ made it clear that you don’t have to be an extraordinary person to do extraordinary things. Rather, with hard work and passion, ordinary people can do extraordinary acts. )LJH\ZL OVULZ[S` ILULH[O HSS [OL ZTHSS [HSR [OL NSVYPMPJH[PVU HUK WLKLZ[HS placing, the four of us (Vince Patin, Diego Gonzalez, Sahar Mansoor, and myself) are just a group of ordinary students at LMU. We are just like you: going to U-Hall for class, eating lunch at Ro ki’s, and hanging out at the party on Friday night. Nothing sets us apart from you. So what drives me to travel 42 hours to a village on the opposite side of the planet to help strangers whom I’ve never met?

;OL VUS` HUZ^LY 0 JHU ÄUK PZ SV]L

Oct. 2010

Love.

 L o v e  e n c o m p a s s e s  a l l  o f  t h e  inspiration,  the  service  projects  and  the  alternative  breaks.  Love  is  what  gets  us  through  the  hard  times  and,  in  the  good  times,  makes  life  miraculous.  And  love  is  what  I  b ring  b ack  f rom  a  m onth-  l ong  adventure  to  Jhabua,  India.  The  experiences  we  had  will  stay  with  us  forever.  The  kids  we  played  with  and  taught,  the  mothers  and  children  we  met,  and  the  fellow  volunteers  of  Real  Medicine  will  forever  be  with  me.  W e  c a n  proudly  say  that  we  did  a  little  bit  of  good  in  the  world.   W h i l e  in  I ndia,  w e  did  face  some  gender  issues.  Contrary  t o  w h a t  s o m e  m a y  t h i n k ,  most  of  the  women  there  did  all  of  the  work.  They  did  the  work  around  the  house,  they  cared  for  the  children,  and  they  even  worked  in  the  fields.  Many  of  the  men  could  be  seen  at  Chai  Wallahs  from  sunrise  to  sunset.  Obviously,  this  seemed  unfair  to  us.  Women  were  breaking  their  backs  to  raise  a  family  while  many  men  sat  around  drinking  tea.  Now  this  wasn’t  the  case  for  every  family,  but  just  something  we  noticed  in  the  village  of  Jhabua.  At  the  Nutrition  Rehabilitation  Center,  I  noticed  that  all  of  doctors  were  THSL )\[ [OL U\YZLZ ^OV ZLLTLK [V IL more  p rominent  a t  t he  c enter)  w ere  a ll  female.  When  talking  to  the  children  at  the  )OPS (JHKLT` H MYLL IVHYKPUN ZJOVVS MVY the  poorest  of  the  poor)  many  of  the  young Â

girls  aspired  to  be  doctors,  engineers,  and  teachers.  While  India  isn’t  gender-equal  by  any  means,  it  is  on  its  way.  If  there’s  one  thing  from  hearing  our  story  that  we  hope  you  take,  it’s  that  you  can  THRL H KPăLYLUJL PU [OL ^VYSK (ZR WLVWSL for  h elp.  T his  m eans  e mailing,  m aking  phone  calls,  doing  research,  and  repeating  all  of  these  steps  multiple  times.  Look  for  scholarships  and  grants.  Ask  your  school  department  for  financial  support.  Talk  to  MYPLUKZ HUK MHTPS` .L[ [OL ^VYK V\[ ;OPZ TH` ZLLT SPRL H SV[ (UK P[ PZ 0 ^VUÂť[ SPL )\[ if  you  take  it  step  by  step,  y o u r  o w n  project  can  be  done.  P roject  REV  started  w i t h  a n  i n s p i r a t i o n ,  formed  into  an  idea,  shaped  u p  i n  a  proposal,  and  r a i s e d  t h e  needed  f unds  in  one  semester.  You  can  do  it  as  well.   Get  out  in  the  world  and  experience  other  cultures.  Get  to  know  those  around  you.  Love  freely  and  fully.  Don’t  fear  the  \URUV^U )LJH\ZL HSS ^L OH]L HUK RUV^ PZ this  moment,  right  now.  Don’t  let  it  pass  you  by  without  living  it  to  the  fullest  and  with  love.

For  more  information  on  genderrelated  issues  in  India,  check  out  www.indiatogether.org/women  and  find  out  ways  you  can  get  PU]VS]LK

vol.  6  issue  1

[ We can proudly say that we did [ Love freely and fully.

Oct. 2010

a little bit of good in the world. ]

Don’t fear the unknown.]

vol. 6 issue 1

Whispers India of

Sahar Mansoor

I

ndia is my homeland, it’s where I belong. India is where the wonderful variety of landscapes and cultures never fails to amaze me, where the Buddhist sites of Leh Ladhak, the Gonds of Orissa, the magical lake at Chilika reside; where you can rub shoulders with Syrian Christians, Indian Jews and Muslim boat-builders, who still ply the spice trade to the Gulf in their great wooden sailing boats. You can see the statue of Goddess Kali, hear the music of

nadeswaram and drums, you can smell the scent of ghee, lavender and incense, the tinkling church bells and the echo of the Azan from a neighboring mosque. There are eighteen official languages, about two thousand dialects and seven practicing (should it be “practicing” or “dominate”) religions in India. This is one of the most diverse countries in the world. This summer, my fellow Ignatian Service Organization members, seniors Phil Ebiner, Diego Gonzalez and senior, Vince Patin, from Sursum Corda Ser vice Organization, worked in India. I helped with

Project REV or Revitalizing and E m p o w e r i n g V i l l a g e s. P r o j e c t R E V partnered with Real Medical Foundation, in order to help the massive central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, where the number of malnourished children jumps to over 60%. Almost one half of the children of India under the age of 5 years are underweight. The inequality between affluent and impoverished people is quickly escalating. Project REV’s plan went through a complete evolution once we got the Jhabua. We reworked our plan to fit the needs of the community and set up a Solar Oven instead of a biomass gassifier at Bhil Academy. Bhil Acdemy was a free boarding school for children in preschool through ninth grade. We noticed the children needed vegetables in their diet and helped set up a kitchen garden at the school. We designed and installed Compost Tumblers in hopes that the school and the Nutrition Rehabilitation Center could start use their kitchen waste to supply nutrients for their kitchen gardens.

“Beyond their dreams, each of them had a powerful story to share.”

We spent much of our time interacting with the students at Bhi Academy and our neighborhood children. The Bhil Academy was opening up new realms of possibilities and opportunities for these children. They shared little stories about themselves and for me, most importantly, some of them shared their dreams. Sharmila wanted to be a teacher, Ganga wanted to move to Indore for higher education, Shivani wants to be a designer, a handful wanted to be engineers a n d d oz e n s d r e a m o f b e i n g d o c t o r s someday. As humans we all have something i n c o m m o n : we a l l h ave d r e a m s a n d aspirations. We wish upon a star, we daydream, we paint dreams, we follow dreams, we wrap our troubles in our dreams, sometimes we have unrealistic dreams but we hold onto them and keep dreaming and perhaps keep believing. Phil, Vince, Diego and I have dreams no different from these kids. Beyond their dreams, each of them had a powerful story to share. Putting a face to the stories of hardships I heard on the

20

news was one of the most introspective moments of my life. This was the best part about project REV: listening to the children at Bhi Academy and other members of the community. Every life inspired a lesson I took back home with me. I learned that the world is filled with stories not lives. One of the boys dug a well for his family over the summer. One of the recently widowed women spent twelve hours on the field this harvest season to support her little children. While interacting to members of community we realized that women are the backbone of the society. The girls of the neighborhood went to school, cooked, cleaned and helped on the farms. As Greg Mortenson, the author of Three Cups of Te a s a i d , “ O n c e yo u educate the boys, they tend to leave the villages and go search for work in the cities, but the girls s t ay h o m e, b e c o m e leaders in the community, and pass on what they’ve lear ned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene a n d h e a l t h c a r e, a n d fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls.” The women are at the forefront of Mar. 2010

c o m mu n i t y e m p owe r m e n t i n J h a b u a . Millions of women in rural India are ready to explore and conquer new horizons. To accomplish this, they needed proper support and encouragement. REV provided them with this. The district of Jhabua was organized into a number of units - that consisted of certain villages. Each of these districts were headed by a locally educated women nutritionist. These women went door to door to educated the women of the household about balanced diets and maternity care. Additionally, bringing the malnourished children to the health center.

These women were excellent examples of women empower ment in India. These women are forerunners of change in rural temperament. They are not just giving training, but building a healthy community. They are leading a silent revolution. Spending time interacting with children in Jhabua, I realized that the i n e q u a l i t i e s o f i n c o m e, e d u c a t i o n , opportunities were much too wide for a child from Bhi Academy to even compete fairly with a student who went to a school like the one I studied at. I now know and believe that schools like the Bhi Academy is

the key to helping the dreams of little Shivani, Ganga, Sharmila and many more come true. Boundaries don’t keep other people out. They fence you in. Today we live in a world where we draw boundaries and build walls. That’s how we’re made. So most of the time, we waste our lives drawing lines. Project REV has ignited a spark in my heart; I lear ned not to fear the unknown, to embrace a new culture and to strive to become a global citizen by realistically making a difference in the world in small or big ways.

November 1-­4, 2010: Project REV will have a photo and art exhibit in the U-­Hall atrium where you can see beautiful faces from across the world. Art work inspired by the trip, facts, and recounts of the service trip will make up this multi-­medium exhibit. The week will culminate on November 4th with an Indian m e a l a t 8 p m f o l l o w e d b y t h e p r e m i e r screening of Project REV’s documentary. This ¿OP IROORZV WKH WHDP DV LW WUDYHUVHG WR UXUDO India. The photo exhibit will be moved to the basement so that you can eat and browse. Also, this night is an opportunity to buy handicrafts made by former female sex workers that Project REV met in Jhabua, India. There will also be an auction of photographs to raise funds to complete a project in Jhabua: the Bhil Academy kitchen garden. The garden was left with seeds needing to be planted and a boundary fence waiting to be built. All proceeds from the night will go back to this project. Invite friends and family, spread the word, and inspire others to do svol. ervice projects 5 issue 3 of their own.

NO More Silence

By Rhiannon Koehler

M

oldova is currently the poorest country in Europe. It has a population of 4.5 million, a 25% unemployment rate, and a booming export trade—in women. In fact, women are the country’s largest export. Human traffickers are easily able to take advantage of the 80% of the population that falls below the povertyline.AccordingtoaPBSreport and the International Organization for Migration, 200,000 Moldovan women have been trafficked into slavery in the recent past, though the number could be as high as 400,000. The Moldovan government relies mostly on Non-­Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to stop trafficking. According to the U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report of June 2009, the Moldovan government has strictly banned all human trafficking in both articles 165 and 206 of its criminal code. Yet the Moldovan government has ultimately been unable to prevent women from entering into what tend to be “job traps” that lead into years of sexual slavery abroad. Typically, a woman will answer a job ad or take advice from a friend, or even lover, to leave the poverty stricken country and seek her fortune abroad. After going to an interview or leaving the country,

the woman is sold to a pimp who will use drugs and physical coercion to force her into sexual slavery. Women who have been sold into sexual slavery in Moldova and abroad have been far from silent. One woman, Natasha, gave an interview to MSNBCreporterPrestonMendenhall describing her fate. Natasha’s boyfriend sold her after he suggested that they re-­locate to Italy, where the economy would be better suited to support a growing family. After crossing the border into Macedonia, Natasha was forcibly sold to a pimp named Meti, who was already wanted by the Macedonian police. Natasha, according to Mendenhall, was forced to sleep with roughly 1,000 different men over a nine-­month period. She had no choice but to follow orders. Natasha recalls, “Meti beat me if he heard I didn’t want to go with a client, or if I disobeyed him.” Natasha’s “clients” included the very people who should have been equipped to save her—soldiers from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) peacekeeping mission in Macedonia. Ultimately, Natasha was saved by a client (not associated with NATO) who felt bad for her and paid over $2,000 for her freedom. Not all women are as lucky as Natasha. According to a report by the BBC’s Angus Roxburgh, one Moldovan sex-­slave who “refused

to work was brutally murdered, her face and genitals carved up” so that she might be an example to other sex slaves and provide an incentive for them to work without making trouble. According to Roxburgh’s report, “The country is the source of much of Europe’s human trafficking. Billboards in the streets of the capital, Chisinau, depict a girl gripped in a huge clenched fist, being exchanged for dollars.” The warning isn’t lost on most Moldovan women, who still take high-­risk jobs to avoid Moldova’s crippling poverty rate. These risks show up clearly: recent estimates put the number of sex-­slaves sold from Moldova somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000 women per year. The international community is lucky to have powerful people on the other side of the sex trade-­-­ people like Stella Rotaru, an anti-­trafficker who works out of Chisinau, Moldova. Rotaru, interviewed by The New Yorker’s William Finnegan, is the

go-­to superwoman who will do everything in her power to help women escape their captors. From helping victims figure out what country they are in to getting them to “safe points” where an ally can escort the victim to safety, Rotaru is a hero to many Eastern European sex-­slaves. Though Rotaru is not alone, the problem still persists. Her work, along with that of other anti-­trafficking organizations like La Strada and the International Organization for Migration, provides hope to many that would otherwise be condemned to a life of misery. Yet the movement to free the thousands of Moldovan and other Eastern European women from sexual slavery will not be successful without the support of individuals who are willing to raise awareness about such issues, support anti-­ trafficking organizations, and write letters to their local officials. Make a difference: don’t be silent.

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“YouTheare such a girl.” first time someone said it I

where female liberation is written about in te xtbooks and we have Women Studies in colleges and universities was fourteen, walking into French class around the world, do girls feel justified with a flower tucked behind my ear. And I in belittling others – and themselves – thought to myself, “Well yeah, I am a girl. for the very fact of being a woman? That’s true.” No one before had identified When did femininity become derogatory? my character with my sex, making a It seems to me that the problem stems blanket statement about my identity from our very efforts as women to prove through something as uncontrollable as that we deserve to be thought of as equal being female. Julie said it with such to men. blatant disapproval, as if showing In forcing gender equality, we archetypically feminine characteristics create a nor mative account of the somehow made me worth less – as if it differences between the sexes. Women were a flaw. Since then, many people have have been trying to prove that they are made similar comments: “Oh Sophia, you just as good as men by making the are so girly;” “You’re such a housewife;” masculine archetype the norm against “Where are you from, the 1950’s?”; which they compare themselves, and “You’ll make a great wife someday;” “You ultimately judging their collective self-­ are such a girl.” Almost exclusively these worth. To say that women are equal to comments are said with derision, with men, in that we can be the same as men, intent to hurt, and yet other girls also only ser ves to enshrine inequality. almost exclusively voice them. Seven Defining equality as sameness raises a years later I still wonder why, in a time

specific and narrow masculine ideal of flourishing as the human ideal of flourishing, and femininity becomes insufficient, something to be lamented or belittled. In trying to force the case of our inherent equality, women will consis-­ tently and continuously be disappointed, because we are setting ourselves up for failure. So rather than proving that we can be as good as men by shrugging off our identity, we should embrace and cele-­ brate the feminine archetype. Softness, kindness, empathy, emotional compe-­ tence, cuteness, caring – these are all such individually positive traits, that only when seen in the context of being a woman are judged as weaknesses, specifi-­ cally because they are empirically dissim-­ ilar to the traditionally male traits of

analytic rationality, physical strength, and ambition. And in trying to brush off our very natures to more closely mirror that of men, we allow and are complicit in the negative attitude towards stereotypi-­ cally feminine qualities. Equality must include and take seriously difference. The ideal of human flourishing transcends but includes both feminine and masculine identities, and does not reduce to one or the other. One sex does not have to assimilate to the other’s form. Rather, we should accept our differences, appreciate our varied characteristics, and realize that variety does not divide us. So now, if someone remarks on my rather blatant femininity, I’ll respond – “Thank you. It comes naturally to me.” And I’ll probably giggle, blush and dim-­ ple, because that’s just the way I am.

and the

Irrelevance of

Gender Roles %\ %UHQGDQ 0F1HUQH\

H

ow do you define a man? How would you go about differentiating that man from a woman? Most would start with anatomical and physiological differences and that would certainly be an accurate means of understanding that difference because those facts are definite and most certainly provable. Things get a bit muddled when trying to describe a man’s psyche or the ways in which this hypothetical man is supposed to act. Too often, society lumps its perceptions of the ideal man in with its physical definitions of the male form and uses the ill-­ defined word, masculinity, as a calling card for both. In terms of societal perceptions of masculinity beyond the surface comparisons of sex organs, it’s usually quite plain and often stereotypical how most people go about defining that concept. Masculinity means strong-­willed, self-­sufficient, athletic, bread-­winning, competitive, assertive – and it continues ad nauseum. Surely, there is a man out there who embodies all of these seemingly arbitrary traits but does that make him more masculine or essentially more of a man than anyone else? Oct. 2010

Unlikely is the verdict, given indulgence in them to even the psychologist Sandra Bem’s extensive slightest degree might lower one’s studies into gender differences masculinity, as if one could suddenly throughout the past half-­century. become a woman because they Known for her decisive Bem Sex Role became too effeminate. Inventory, which helps to rate the This distor ted view of a ways in which men and women align single spectrum on which to measure with the artificial societal constructs gender association is also addressed of their gender roles, she is one of by Bem’s studies. She contends quite the leading resources for gender adamantly that the two, masculinity studies. What the findings indicated from a varied pool of applicants is that not only are people all over the charts with their r atings but that those extreme outliers who ranked highly solely in masculinity or femininity were substantially less capable of living productively in modern society. Speaking to the benefits of androgynous compromise between the two, she states that androgynous individuals are “optimally equipped for behavioral flexibility and corresponding adaptability in varied, dynamic environments” which in laymen’s terms means that a per son balanced between both masculine and feminine traits is highly adaptive and more likely to literally and socially survive the trials of the world. If it is therefore more beneficial to be both “aggressive” and “nur turing,” why the societal pressure to adhere strictly to sex roles as the most narrow-­minded may perceive a n d f e m i n i n i t y, a r e m u t u a l l y them? For men, a great deal of this exclusive, having absolutely no effect need for acceptance into the category on each other whatsoever. In fact, a of hyper-­masculinity can be seen in h y p o t h e t i c a l p e r s o n r a n k e d the fear beneath all of the macho androgynous by Bem’s system could posturing that they aren’t really men. be more masculine that a person only This is of course a preposterous ranked highly on the masculinity belief because their own gender is scale, despite this person having just w r i t t e n i n t h e i r g e n e t i c s b u t as many feminine traits as masculine. insecurity by nature is a rather What then is the impetus to subjugate irrational creature in and of itself. yourself to generic gender roles? The general belief is that Perhaps the discussion hasn’t emotionality and caring and other really rung true because it hasn’t such sentimental pursuits are the gotten to what the average college s o l e p r o p e r t y o f w o m e n a n d student has on their mind: the

opposite sex. Surely a large amount o f t h e p r e s s u r e t o b e s t r i c t ly masculine is because of the perception that women are interested solely in the opposite of their psychological makeup. Indeed, there is even an idiom dedicated directly to this assumption: “Opposites attract.” But is there any truth to this? Given this stipulation of passing the immediate physical barrier of attraction, ask any women whether they would feel completely off-­put by a man who was any of the following: affectionate, warm, tender, gentle. The answer is likely not a yes, perhaps even a resounding no. The fact of the matter is that tr aditionally submissive characteristics are designated for women and dominance, for men but this holds no bearing on individual people who very often wish to indulge in both. Is it wrong for a man to be shy or a woman to be confident? In truth, most people would find a persistently domineering man or an unwaveringly dependent woman unattractive, if not immediately, than certainly in the long run. A t t h i s p o i n t , yo u might be asking “What’s the point?” I’m glad we’re on the same page because I’m asking the same thing. What’s the point of these ridiculous gender roles that attempt to adhere to everyone and actually define no one? So, the next time someone asks you about your masculinity or femininity, tell them the only proof they need is in your pants. You’ll probably get a laugh and, as Bem points out in her list of gender characteristics, the trait of “humorous” is androgynous. Curious about your own masculinity or femininity rating? Check out Bem’s official Sex Role Inventory questionnaire now at http://faculty.sunydutchess.edu/ andrews/bem_sex.htm. Just keep in mind that it doesn’t matter at all.

vol. 6 issue 1

Basic

n a m u Rights H

By Elsa Dieter

A

s we take a closer look at the world we live in today, we see a general lack of equality throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In these areas of the world, the basic human rights of women are diminished on a daily basis. The effects of this discrimination extend far beyond the women themselves: this suppression creates restrictions for men as well. Contrary to many citizens’ beliefs, some governments directly support inequality by subjecting women to gender-­specific laws that violate intrinsic human rights. In comparison to their male counterparts, women are impacted by citizenship, penal, and family laws that not only deny them equality in government and society, but also in personal relationships and family matters. In Iran, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, the law treats women as legal minors. The position of “head of the household” is reserved for the men of the family and the concept of family decision-­making is, in fact, male decision making. Not only do these unjust laws dictate inequality among family members but they also encourage domestic violence. Although there are countless expressions of this inequality throughout the world, the examples below represent some of the worst; not only are they still practiced but far too often are also state-­sanctioned. -­Driving Laws: In Saudi Arabia, the kingdom issued laws denying women the right to drive cars or ride bicycles and men are not allowed to drive women un-­ less they are closely related.

-­Divorce Laws: In many countries, women have lim-­ ited rights after marrying. For example, in Lebanon, women who have been abused cannot file for divorce unless there is testimony from an eyewitness.

-­Education Laws: In Afghanistan, culture dictates that girls are removed from schools once they reach puberty.

-­Custody Laws: In Bahrain, if family law does not specify, a judge has the power to deny women cus-­ tody of their children for any reason.

-­Citizenship Laws: In a number of countries, fathers are only able to pass citizenship on to their children. Any woman married to a man who is not a citizen will be denied this fundamental right.

-­Sexual Subjection Laws: In Morocco, the rape of a virgin is considered an assault. The punishment administered to those found guilty is based entirely on how sexually experienced the victim is.

-­Female Infanticide Laws: In China, the “one child policy” has lead to abortions, neglect, abandonment, and infanticide involving female infants. As a result, the ratio of male to female babies is 114:100. Similar-­ ly, in India, there is a significant difference between the birth and survival rates of baby girls versus boys. That disparity is a direct result of the large number of aborted female fetuses and abandoned baby girls.

-­Travel Laws: In Egypt and Bahrain, husbands are allowed to file an official complaint at the airport for-­ bidding their wives from leaving the country. These complaints can be on the basis of any number of invented reasons. In Syria, wives can also be prevent-­ ed from leaving the country upon their husband’s request. In Iraq, Libya, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, and Yemen, wives must have their husbands’ written per-­ mission if they wish to travel and, once again, may be prevented from doing so by their husband for any reason.

In the matter of equal rights, discrimination is by no means restricted to gender. Any type of discrimination – gender, racial, sexual, cultural, or religious – undermines society and human relations as a whole. As individuals, we are not defined by our gender or race nor should we be by governments or laws. For more information, check out www.globalissues.org & www.unicef.org For service information, stop by the Center for Service & Action At LMU in Malone Room 360

Promoting Peace

A

uthor and humanitarian Greg Mortenson once said, “If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls.” It is a sentiment and concept that has increasingly taken hold of our society, which is evident in the success of organizations like Kiva and books like ‘Half the Sky.” Specifically at LMU where we pride ourselves on our Jesuit foundation and organizations promoting service and social justice, the important role that women play in solving the world’s problems is no secret, and yet at times it feels that we have little ability to help them. What many of us don’t realize however, is that aiding women in seeking an education doesn’t require a month in Cambodia, or even a monthly donation, but can be as small as the purchase of a product that provides women with a fair and living wage. Della, a new fashion company based in here in Los Angeles, does just that. Oct. 2010

By Molly Burns Founded by former costume designer Tina Tangalakis after a trip to Ghana where she volunteered as a teacher at Happy Kids orphanage, Della employs women in the town of Hohoe where one-­third of the population lives below the poverty line and there is a very small job market. Tangalakis explained her approach as, “We want to make story-­based retail more of the norm instead of the exception.” To her this means being aware of the connection between what we buy, how it is made, and the change we can impart by using our economic power for good. In addition to producing hobo-­style bags, the line includes clutches, wallets, messenger bags, and even laptop covers, all made of completely vegan, sustainable materials. Each product is made with authentic West African textiles, and is carefully handcrafted by women working in Hohoe. One of these seamstresses is Beatrice Agabe, who mentors the younger women

“Every dollar earned

at Della not only goes toward providing employment,butalso provides education and financial stability for poverty stricken women in Ghana.”

According to Agabe “There are very few jobs around here, especially for young girls. Usually, they are left with nothing to do but wander the streets and get involved with prostitution, drugs or become pregnant. I want to teach the young girls and show them that there are other options.” To combat these harsh realities, Della’s mission goes beyond simply paying women fairly for their work (a concept companies who manufacture clothing in sweatshops have failed to grasp). Rather every dollar earned at Della not only goes toward providing employment, but also provides education and financial stability for poverty stricken women in Ghana. Tangalakis provides education in micro financing, savings, entrepreneurship and ways to get out of poverty to her Ghanaian employees, in hopes they will one day be able to take the opportunities Della has provided them with and turn them into a lasting, better way of life.

To learn more about Della you can visit their website at www.DellaLA.com

vol. 6 issue 1

The

Working

Minimum and Low-‐Wage Workers After watching the documentary Waging a Living (Weisberg: 2005) in my sociology class, I was i ntrigued a nd provoked. In brief, the f ilm highlights the lives of four low-wage workers, and their constant struggle for living a decent life in the United States. This issue of the working poor is one that affects men, women, children and people from all types of gender classifications and sexual orientations alike. Like many middle-class Americans, I once thought the American Dream was obtainable to all. W hen I passed by homeless bums and beggars, I was quick to judge and label them as lazy and unmotivated. Why don t they get a job? Why don t they get an education? Why don t they check into a homeless shelter? As a nation, the United States has an overarching ideology that anyone can make it here regardless of income, race, geographic location, education, occupation, cultural capitol and generational wealth. Young and naïve, it wasn t until I started my college education here at Loyola Marymount University and added sociology as an additional major to my the hardest out of every working American, and yet remain static and unstable in their individual lives. A myriad of factors contribute to this, and by no means does every American start on the Why is this? Even government-sponsored programs aimed at helping the poor such as food stamps, and section eight rental assistance-which aims to provide affordable housing options for Oct. 2010

low-income families, to name a few, often keep the working poor barely afloat, giving them enough assistance to just scarcely make it day to day. Some may think that those in low-wage jobs could get a higher paying job elsewhere. This is sometimes true, but the reality is many cannot sacrifice a day s pay of work to travel and interview at another job elsewhere when they have children to feed and bills to pay. Single mothers receiving little to no child support who continue to work full-time low-wage jobs often money is left over to pay for everything else. Why don t they get an education? Those in low-wage earning jobs who try to receive an education at a community college or elsewhere that they simply do not have the extra money to pay for an education, have the time to work, come home to f ind household and familial duties to care to, study, and repeat. It is nearly impossible if not completely impossible. What could the government do to help the working poor? There are numerous possibilities. Instead of offering food stamps and section eight rental assistance, which is often a steady and constant cost, doesn t do much to improve the situation of low-wage workers, and is quite expensive in the long run, the government could offer to subsidize, or help pay the monetary cost, of child-care and education costs. T his would allow for low-wage workers to earn more money in time with the completion of an associate s,

Poor:

in the United States

By: Monique Mansour

bachelor s, or advanced degree. Minimum wage could be raised to a living wage, which is an hourly sum calculated to allow a worker and his/ her family to live comfortably. Employers of lowwage earners could offer pay for a certain number of sick days. Bus passes and transportation costs could be subsidized. Complete medical coverage could be offered to help lower costs in the longt e r m a n d p r eve n t A m e r i c a n s f r o m f i l i n g bankruptcy due to inability to pay health-care bills. Why should we help? T he fact of the matter is, when one of us suffers, we all suffer. If we were ever placed in an unfortunate situation, most of us would appreciate sympathy and a helping hand. As college students of a university rooted in ideals of social justice, we can support the proper policies and laws to help better the lives of these low-wage workers. Support paid sick days for low-wage workers in California by logging onto www.paidsickdaysca.org. Often times, low-wage workers have to leave their illchildren home alone or force an older sibling to miss school and care for the sick child because they can t afford to miss a day s pay. We can volunteer our services and donate to charities and food banks geared toward helping the working poor. Volunteer, donate, or read about the Los A ngeles Regional Food Bank at www. lafoodbank.org. Offer gifts to children of lowwage workers around the holiday season; check o u t w w w. t oy s f o r t o t s - s o c a l . o r g f o r m o r e information. On campus, the Center for Service

and Action is a great resource to utilize. Log onto to www.lmu.edu/csa to f ind information about volunteer opportunities in and around the Los Angeles region. Most importantly, as college students, we can educate others around us about the welfare of the working poor, because knowledge is always and forever, power.

vol. 6 issue 1

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