Thank you to the Turkish men who are wearing miniskirts to fight for women’s rights. You all are a perfect example of what the #HeforShe movement is all about.

We hear it time and time again: "girl found raped and killed because she was wearing a short skirt". What these horrible, false, and sexist headlines do is wrongly blame the victim for the attack. The reports make seem as if it was the victim's fault for being attacked, and that if they had chosen to wear a different outfit then this wouldn't have happened to them. That is absolute bullshit. I use the terms "their" and "they" because anyone of any gender can be raped or be a rapist. It is not a phenomenon that is limited to women even though the media coverage related to these cases often is. 

Let be clear about my position here: Short skirts DO NOT cause rape. Rapists cause rape, NOT the person who was raped. There is no way to "rationalize" a rape EVER.

 

Lately there has been a lot of attention in the media surrounding gender equality. On September 20, 2014 UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson spoke about the HeForShe campaign at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-iFl4qhBsE

In her speech Watson states, " feminism by definition is: “The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes” (Emma Watson). Furthermore she makes a great point that gender equality is an issue for men too. Men are also equally " imprisoned by gender stereotypes" (Watson). She urges " men to take up this mantle. So their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too—reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned and in doing so be a more true and complete version of themselves" ( Watson). For the full transcript of her speech look here: 

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/9/emma-watson-gender-equality-is-your-issue-too

Ozgecan Aslan isa 20-year-old student in Turkey who was murdered while trying to defend herself from being sexually assaulted by a minibus driver on Wednesday February 11th 2015 (Stampler). Her body was then mutilated and burned in an "attempt to hide DNA evidence" (Stampler). Even though there s evidence that places her murderer at the scene of the crime, there is a high chance that this vile person will be able walk away from this scotfree or with a mild penalty. This is because the Turkish penal codes " implicitly or explicitly accuses the victim of provoking her attacker" (Asquith).

On February 21st 2015 men all over Turkey and Azerbaijan protested violence against women in the region by wearing miniskirts. " On Wednesday, a group of men in Azerbaijan are believed to have started the hashtag  #ozgecanicinminietekgiy, which translates to 'wear a miniskirt for Ozgecan'. Since then, the hash tag has become viral." (Stampler). A male participant of this protest wrote on the Facebook page for this movement that, “If a miniskirt is responsible for everything, if [wearing] a miniskirt means immorality and unchastity, if a woman who wears a miniskirt is sending an invitation about what will happen to her, then we [the male protesters] are also sending an invitation!” (Stampler).

The men who are participating in this protest are a great example of what the #HeforShe movement and feminism is all about: solidarity, support, and equality for all genders. In Watson's words these men are " taking up this mantle" of equality. They went out of their ways to stand up for the belief that the women in their country shouldn't be hurt because of what they wear. They are standing up and saying that every woman should have the same right as they do to walk around during the day no matter how they are dressed and not suffer from harassment or violence.

So thank you men of Turkey. You have given me hope that there still are good people in this world.

Women’s Studies. What is it?

Women’s studies. To start what is it?

The simplest way to explain it would be to go to Wikipedia:

“Women’s studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field that explores politics, society, media, and history from women’s perspective according to feminist perspectives. Popular methodologies within the field of women’s studies includes standpoint theory, intersectionality, multiculturalism, transnational feminism, autoethnography, and reading practices associated with critical theory, post-structuralism, and queer theory. The field researches and critiques societal norms of gender, race, class, sexuality, and other social inequalities. It is closely related to the broader field of gender studies” (Gender Studies).

I am currently minoring in Women’s and Gender Studies at Kennesaw State University. I have been studying these topics in depth as part of both my minor and my English major. I have taken several courses and participated in multiple self-directed academic and non-academic projects in the field. Some of these courses include : Introduction to Women and Gender Studies, Feminist Theory, Gender Theory, Queer Theory, Gender Analysis of 20th century British literature, Gender Studies of North Native American literature and culture, and an internship in the field of feminist non-profits.  This semester I am taking the capstone course ” Research Methods and Publications in Women’s Studies”. The purpose of this course is :

Course Description:

“A study of research models of scholarship in interdisciplinary studies, combined with an opportunity for students to conduct a research project of their own. Students will read examples of outstanding research and survey discipline‐based scholarship focusing on interdisciplinary studies. Topics for studying methods could include debates regarding different methodologies, critiques of traditional research methodologies, integrating theory with scholarship, and ethical questions associated with producing research in interdisciplinary studies”.

For our project we have been tasked with:

Explaining  the process of conducting research in interdisciplinary studies and proposing, planing, and carrying out a research project. Writing a researched, analytical report on our findings.

I am very excited to start my project and I thought that it might be fun to document my progress here for future reference.

I have decided to focus on the  examination of possible solutions to the barriers that impoverished women face in getting access education due to their gender, economic status, and culture.  I think that there are many hurdles to this problem. First, you cannot go and tell someone to go to school when they do not first have the ability to provide for themselves. Second, in many places there are cultural and religious barriers that also prevent these women from having access to education.  I think that by combining education with microfinance opportunities we can help fight some of the barriers that women face today. Another point of concern is the role of the instructor. Traditional schooling may work for children, but it is not flexible enough for adults. I think that technology is the best way to allow these women to learn at their own speed. There are many free online programs, like Khan Academy, that provide a free, world-class education that is available any time for free online. By using a microfinance business as a jumping point not only are we helping these women help themselves we are also giving them power within their communities. They can start of by learning a trade or skill to help them survive. Through the jump start of a microfinance program they can earn enough money to buy a computer, support themselves, and they can have access to education. In my research paper, I will examine possible solutions to the barriers that impoverished women face in getting access education due to their gender, economic status, and culture.  I think that there are many hurdles to this problem. First, you cannot go and tell someone to go to school when they do not first have the ability to provide for themselves. Second, in many places there are cultural and religious barriers that also prevent these women from having access to education.  I think that by combining education with microfinance opportunities we can help fight some of the barriers that women face today. Another point of concern is the role of the instructor. Traditional schooling may work for children, but it is not flexible enough for adults. I think that technology is the best way to allow these women to learn at their own speed. There are many free online programs, like Khan Academy, that provide a free, world-class education that is available any time for free online. By using a microfinance business as a jumping point not only are we helping these women help themselves we are also giving them power within their communities. They can start of by learning a trade or skill to help them survive. Through the jump start of a microfinance program they can earn enough money to buy a computer, support themselves, and they can have access to education.

I will look into many disciplines to solve this problem including, but not limited to: Gender Studies, Economics, Ethics, Sociology, and Education

I hope that by the end of the semester I will be able to :

1) Present my research at an academic  conference

2) Have my work published in an academic journal.

I hope it all works out!

Works Cited

“Gender Studies.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 15 Feb. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_studies&gt;.

Sesame Crusted Seared Albacore Tuna Tataki

Sesame Crusted Seared Albacore Tuna Tataki

Ingredients:

- seasalt

- butter

- raw yellow fin tuna  

- raw untoasted sesame seeds

- 3 tablespoons of oil

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Directions:

1. Take sea salt and liberally cover both the top and bottom of a piece of rawfresh tuna with it. Leave the salt on the tuna for ½ hour to help season the salmon. After 30 minutes wash the salt off, pat dry the tuna, wrap it in saran wrap. You can either leave it to cure at room temperature for 30 minutes or you can freeze it and use it later. The salt coating helps to keep it fresh and to prevent it from having that fishy taste when you defrost it and use it a later.
2. After you rinse the salt off of the tuna, pat it dry with a paper towel.
3. Pour the raw untoasted sesame seeds into a pan and completely cover your tuna with the seeds. Press them on to the tuna gently using your hands so the seeds will stick to the surface of it.  The reason for using raw untoasted sesame seeds is because if you use toasted sesame seeds, when you cook the salmon you will be cooking the seeds a second time and then they will get burned. To prevent them from getting burned you need to use the raw sesame seeds. Note: Western stores use yellow fin tuna because it is a lean fish and the fat inside it will not break when you cook it.
4. After you cover it with the sesame seeds cover it with a little bit of sea salt and press it into the salmon so it will stick.
5. Add in 3 tablespoons of oil and evenly coat the pan. Turn on the heat at high and wait for the pan to heat up.
6.  Cut your salmon loin in half so it will fit inside your frying pan. If the pan is at the correct temperature the moment that you put your tuna in the pan you should hear a sizzle.
7. Flip over the tuna when the sesame seeds are golden brown. The meat should be ¼ cooked on one side. At the end our goal is to have a medium rare tuna filet.
8. Add more oil if the fish has absorbed it all, and turn the tuna onto its side on the pan so it will cook. Proceed to sear each side of the filet in the pan so they are browned a bit. Once all the sides are seared flip the tuna onto its back and sear that side last. After the back is seared take it out and put it to rest on top of a paper towel. This does two things: 1) it allows the oil to drain off of the fish and 2) it allows the fish to rest. If you try to slice the fish once it comes out of the pan the sesame seeds will fall off.
9. After the tuna has rested for 5 minutes you can plate and garnish it. To cut the loin, pull the knife towards you instead of pushing it forward. Make ¼ in slices. You can add in sliced fresh garlic.
10. You have a couple of plating options: When the risotto has relaxed it doesn’t hold it’s shape so it doesn’t matter what you with it . You can put it in a straight line, curve it, lay out the risotto and lay the tuna on top of it. You can also add thyme and pea sprouts as garnish. 

Asian risotto with lobster bisque

Asian risotto with lobster bisque:

Ingredients:

            - ½ yellow onion- score the onions

            - 4 tablespoons of olive oil

            - 2 teaspoons of dry Italian seasoning (Thyme, Basil) 

            - 1 piece of garlic

            - 1 cup precooked white rice

            - ½ cup Sauvignon Blanc white wine

            - note: do NOT add salt until the risotto is done cooking

            - 1/2 cup of miso soup stock

            - 1/8 teaspoon of diced fresh jalapeños

            - 1/2 cup of readymade lobster bisque

            - 2 tablespoons of butter (cut into four -½ tablespoon blocks)

            - 4 tablespoons of minced mushrooms

            - 1/8 teaspoon of Italian parsley or cilantro

            - Do NOT add in salt

Cooking time: 20 minutes

       
Note: This risotto does not use cheese; instead it uses a lobster bisque soup to hold the rice together.

Directions:

1. Score and dice ½ of a yellow onion.
2. Pour the 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 teaspoons of dry Italian seasoning (Thyme, Basil) in     a metal pan on high heat.
3. Once the pan starts to smoke add the onions to the pan with some smashed garlic, basil and other seasonings.
4. Add in 1 cup of precooked rice to the seasoning in the pan.
5.  Remove the pan from the stove and add about ½ cup of Sauvignon Blanc white wine and stir in. 
6. Once the wine begins to cook down and get soaked into the rice, slowly add in ½ cup of            miso soup stock while stirring the risotto mixture. Note: Do not add in too much miso or the      risotto will become too salty.  Allow the miso to simmer into the rice on medium heat.
7. Add in the diced jalapeños. And let it simmer for 2 minutes.
8. Add in 1/2 cup of readymade lobster bisque and fold into the risotto using a rubber spatula.        Mix until 30% of the liquid is absorbed. Then lower the heat from medium to low, so the rice      won’t burn.
9. Add in ½ tablespoon of butter at a time and mix in. If your heat is too high your butter will          break  ( meaning that the butter will separate from your risotto mixture and float to the top          creating a darker colored risotto) and that will make your risotto oily.
10. If you over cook the risotto you can just add in either more stock or more wine to rebalance it.   Stir it well.
11. Add in chopped mushroom and stir.
12. You many garnish your risotto with 1/8 teaspoon of Italian parsley or cilantro.
13. When you have left over risotto that you want to reheat, but it is a bit stiff the best thing to do    is to put it back in a pan on the heat, add in a little bit of wine, and stir until it is the right            consistency again. For a large batch of risotto add in a total of two cups of wine in stages          and stir in.  

How to Prepare Salmon for use in Your Kitchen

Ever look at a piece of fresh salmon at the store and wish you could take it home and eat it? Ever walk away from the counter because you are taken aback at having to deal with a piece of raw fish? Worry no more! Look here to see a few tips I learned about how to take care of the salmon that you bring home from the store! 

Some tips to keep in mind when preparing to cook a piece of salmon that I learned from my instructor in culinary class:

1. Apply salt to the surface of the salmon on both sides and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Then washed off the salt and towel dry the salmon before wrapping it twice and out it in the freezer until you wish to use it again.
2. If you are cutting up your own salmon, make sure that the scales are completely removed and the blood has been drained. Salt the surface after all the bone is removed.
3. If you got a fillet of salmon from the store, you may ask them to remove the scales and keep the skin on. If the salmon is already a fillet, but the scales are still on… then cancel the order and buy it elsewhere. The scales on the fish is very much like our fingernails. It gather much dirt and other germs or bacteria, it must be removed completely. If the store’s policy is to keep the scales on the fish and stacking them on top of each other, then you should not buy fish from that store and go some where else. And if you really can’t get fish in that condition, then you should clean it right away after you got the fish home. First wash then in cold water with some salt. Then salt your salmon for 30 min, towel dry then wrap for storage if you are not going to cook it. If you are cooking it, then skip the salting process. Be sure to cook it well.
4. I hope that these tips help you budding chefs out there!

How to Make Antique Paper Stationary

I have always loved the worn and antique look that old books and letters have. The darkened paper with it’s ragged edges are very romantic and beautiful to look at. While buying this paper pre-made is an option at many specialty stores, it is expensive. Especially if you are someone who writes  often.  I kept trying to think of a way of making my own stationary. Then I heard a friend of mine say that she used tea to dye her hair. I thought if tea is strong enough to color a person’s hair then it should also be able to dye paper as well! After a bit of trial and error this method was born! and “Viola!” cheap homemade antique paper

This is how the paper will look like when you are done!

                                                 
                                                     Gathering Supplies:  

All you need is :  plain white printer paper, 2 tea bags, a painting brush of some sort (I used a kitchen brush for sauces but you  can use a regular paint brush. Just make sure it is a flat brush with a straight edge so the tea will go on the paper smoothly), a clear tea cup ( so you can see the color of the tea), something you can boil water in (I have an electric teapot, but you can also just boil it on the stove), a large flat clean surface, and a hairdryer.

                                                   Preparing the dye:  

To make your tea-dye is the same process as making a cup of tea. The more tea  bags you use the darker your dye will be. You really don’t need that much water. The more water that you use the longer it will take your paper to dry.    This 8 ounce cup with two regular tea bags is enough to dye 9 sheets of printer paper. I did 18 sheets this time so I just made two “cups” of dye.  Leave the tea bag in the cup until the tea is very dark. Do NOT let the tea cool. It needs to be hot when you pour it on the paper so the color will absorbed by the paper. I usually dye my paper in batches because the process takes a while so it is better to do a lot at once. Once it is done it is just like regular paper and you do not have to worry about the tea rubbing off onto other surfaces.

Dyeing the paper: 

The next step now is to dye the paper. Find a large, flat,waterproof surface that is easily cleanable. I chose the granite counter top in my kitchen. Clean the surface before you start because you want to lay your paper directly on it so that way it will not wrinkle.

Start by just getting the edges of the paper wet with your brush. This is done so the paper will not warp and become   wrinkled. Once you start applying the tea go in one direction (for me it was left to right) and slightly overlap each stroke on the bottom so that way there will be no white space left over.


Keep overlapping the layers until you reach the bottom of the page.  Once you reach the bottom you can either stop there, or you can go back and add another layer of tea on top in order to get a darker page. Do not worry too much about the air/water bubbles that you see trapped underneath the page (the light spots). Once the paper drys you will not see them at all.

After the first layer of tea has air dried a bit, about 10 minutes later, feel free to go back and add another layer of tea. Just be sure not to dump too much water on your paper or it could rip while you are spreading out the dye. Something else that tends to happen is that the water “bubbles” underneath the page will begin to leak out of the sides. It is okay don’t worry! Just dry it up by gently patting a paper towel on top of the spot to help “push” it out from underneath the page, then drying it up. The loss of “tea” will not effect your color.

To speed up the drying process I used a blow dryer on high heat. Just move the blow-dryer across the page back and forth until the page drys up to the touch. Do NOT completely dry it out. You want it to remain a bit damp so it  will still be flexible enough to “press” flat between two books.

                         

                         

       

Another thing that you can do to get a darker color it is rip open the tea bag and spread out the tea directly onto the paper.  This allows the “tea” to soak directly onto the page. Once again this is best done while the tea is hot. It is best just to give the paper a layer or two the traditional way first, then spread the grounds on top of the paper for layer three.

Once the paper has completely dried you can just use a dry paper towel to wipe the grounds off. It comes off fairly easily once it is wiped.  There is no need to press hard if the paper is dry enough the grounds will come right off.

After I had allowed my paper to air dry for about two hours after I had removed the tea grinds I placed them in the middle of a stack of large heavy books overnight in order to completely flatten my pages.

When I removed the paper from between the books the next day I had a pristine stack of antiqued paper that is ready to use for crafting!  The variations in tone are based on how many layers of tea I put on and whether or not I used the tea grinds. The darker pages are the ones that had the tea grinds on top of them.

So that is all of the steps it takes to create antique paper! Stay tuned until next time and I will show you how to make a card out of this paper! Thanks everyone! Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions!

– Mariam

Pan Roasted Salmon atop Udon Noodle Pesto and Salmon Caviar

Ingredients: seasalt, 4 tablespoons of butter, a fresh piece of skinless salmon filet, 1 package of Japanese Udon Noodles, premade pesto sauce,Italian seasoning, teriyaki sauce

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Directions:

1. Take your fresh or thawed piece of salmon and pat it dry. Get out a frying pan and put in the butter. Set the stove to high and sear all the sides of the salmon filet. Make sure to sear one of the large sides of the salmon more heavily than the rest of the edges.
2. Flip the salmon over on the side that is opposite of the most seared side ( the side that is seared less. Cover the pan and turn off the heat. The reason for flipping the fish is because the side that is seared the least will then cook and you will have an evenly cooked piece of salmon. In this span of four minutes do not uncover the pan to check on the fish. The purpose of covering it is so that the steam in the pan will circulate and cook the rest of the fish. This way you will get a nice, tender, and moist fish.
3. While the fish is cooking in the steam it is time to prepare the noodles. Bring water and salt to the pasta water to help flavor it. Bring the water to a boil in a pot on high heat and toss the udon noodles in. The noodles will cook vey quickly- in about 3 minutes. Do not over cook the noodles. Once 3 minutes have passed turn off the heat and drain the water immediately.
4. The next step is to prepare the pesto sauce. There is one golden rule of pesto: DO NOT put it on heat because it will melt and turn into a greasy mess. Just take it out of the jar and stir it around to make sure that the oils in it are evenly distributed.
5. Mix the drained slightly cooled udon noodles with the pesto sauce. Toss in a bit of Italian seasoning and sea salt to taste. Stir it into the pasta, and put it to the side for now.
6. At this point you can go back to the salmon and uncover it. At this point the steam from the pan should have cooked it. Check and make sure that it is cooked, but still soft to the touch. You can add in some teriyaki sauce and the salmon just coat the salmon with it in the pan and make sure that the sauce gets heated up.
7. To plate first place the pasta in the plate and spin it with a fork. Place the salmon on top of the pasta in the center for classic plating. You may add a dark colored sprout as a garnish to create a dark contrast. You may also add salmon caviar on top as well.