Service Learning week 1

During the week of March 26, I went around to different businesses in the Orlando area and asked if they would be willing to make some kind of donation to the “Let’s talk about sex, baby” event. The successes that I had were that all the businesses took the letters, and a few even seemed willing to donate. The pitfalls I faced were that many of the businesses I approached were chain corporations so they couldn’t really commit to making a donation before speaking to their corporate manager. I fixed this problem by going to smaller local businesses instead of such large chain businesses. The activism I did this week relates to women’s lives on a macro level because I saw first-hand how uncomfortable some of the business owners were when I explained what the event was, and that it was supported by Planned Parenthood. The week’s events have influenced the way I view feminist activism and women’s issues quite significantly. After reading the “Women’s Sexuality” chapter, I definitely saw a lot of truth behind how society oppresses women’s sexuality. However, after going to different businesses, my eyes were opened even more after an actual real life experience. When I would say the word sex and explain that the event would be informing the Orlando area about safe sex practices, I could feel customers in the store looking at me. Many of the women managers seemed to not be phased when I explained the event, yet male managers were definitely a lot more uncomfortable. I feel that my community partner would think the differing reactions enforce the oppression that women face. You would think that because the whole purpose of the “Let’s talk about sex, baby” event is to promote safe sex practices among society; everyone would be all in to help support this event. However, I could tell how uncomfortable many of the male managers were when even mentioning the word sex. Researcher Heather Boonstra, reviewed evidence that abstinence-only programs do not end or even delay teen sex (Kirk-Okazawa- Rey 153). So you would think that businesses and society as a whole would be willing to donate to a cause that would teach and encourage safe sex practices. However, this is not really the case. In our society today, images of celebrities such as Brittany Spears and Beyonce are everywhere and display stars reveling in their sexuality in public (Kirk-Okazawa-Rey 151). Sex is everywhere and I feel that it is better to openly talk about it and be informed than feel uncomfortable and be in denial. After this engagement, what I gained from this was a close and personal experience. We read in class about the accounts of discrimination faced by many different women. Well, I got to experience first-hand how different people react when sex is the topic of discussion and how uncomfortable this word can make people feel, especially when it is coming from me, a young female student.

works cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. NY:
McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.