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;.