It was interesting to go and visit the Urban Appalachia facility. I do see that they would benefit greatly if it is decided to give them funding for the BABE program. After all of our discussions, I still HAVE NOT AND WILL NOT change my mind in the decision that both agencies, Urban Appalachia and the Boys & Girls Club should receive 1/2 of the funds. They both are or will be conducting the same type of programs, the only difference is they will be targeting a different age group. I feel that this would be a good thing because just like our young people need to be educated about their bodies and body image, there are adults who have never been educated about this subject and they need help to.

The debates regarding the funding break-down got pretty heated. I think everybody had a different opinion on what should happen, but I think it is safe to say that the class respected both operations and if we had the ability to give each 4000, we would have. Nonetheless, I have come to realize that neither organization 'deserves' the money more than the other. They are both doing fine jobs in the community so I think it is great that we were able to help both. I agree with Tracie that both age groups need to be reached. This was a unique and interesting aspect of the class and am glad we got to participate in it.
Also, hopefully the papers are going well for everybody- gung ho yo!

I am posting my message in this week's post because i am not sure exactly which week we are on at the moment. I think Christina said we have this week and next week left to post...anyway, the essay titled "strip!" was so incredibly powerful and enlightening for me to read. since i am not familiar with transgender issues, having not read much about them before, this essay gave me a huge glance into the confusion and hardship that is encumbered in transsexual issues. the last scene, when she holds the seminar and takes her clothes off in from of almost a hundred people, was so moving. the language of this essay was amazing. i think that this essay and "The Chosen People" are the two tied for my favorites in this book.

i am with you jeni. i'm not sure where we are supposed to be posting, but i think this is right. anywho, as i'm taking a break from my thesis work to post here, i would just like to say this is the most enjoyable class. i have really learned alot and i wish my thesis could be in this class instead of the meditative philosophy of poetry and william bronk. yes i know, its so fascinating. the essay 'the story of my body' that we had to read for last class really touched me. i enjoyed it so much because it was something i can definitely relate to. moving from the northeast, where dark haired women are not an oddity to lily white, germanic louisville kentucky was an eye opening experience for me, even as a little girl. i noticed that suddenly i was the odd one, and i never quite got over the fact that i was the hairiest girl in my class. go ahead and laugh if you want, but it still traumatizes me that the hair on my arms is so dark. i spent plenty of pages in my journal talking about it. guys i know still make comments about it, and i'm 21 years old and yet it still shakes me. if there is one thing i could change about my body that would be it. its funny how environment changes your body image. i bet if i had grown up in the northeast where ethnic women are more plentiful in the population, i probably would not have a complex about my arms. who knows, but now that you all know my embarassing fact about my body... lets just keep that in this class.

Well...in comparison to what other people wrote I think I may be pretty off topic with this week's post but I guess I just wanted to comment on the readings that we had due for this coming Friday. First of all I really enjoyed them all I think they all, in a round about way, targeted major concerns with societal expectations and of course perceptions of the female gender. I really enjoyed reading some of the essays in Body Outlaws mainly because it gave me hope that yes some of these women within their struggles have failed but are willing to keep trying in an effort to make other women in society take notice of the fact that they do not have to except societal perceptions in order to feel like a true woman. After all, a true woman is defined in a variety of ways and it is a true woman who chooses for herself the way to her own self-worth.

I was really glad to get back to these readings, especially Body Outlaws. I was having a hard week and was feeling pretty down on myself and my body but after the readings I realized that I don't have to have a good body image everyday that it is able to fluctuate as long as I don't let others determine how I feel about my body. I really loved these readings and found special comfort in how open the writers were in their stories, especially "strip" and I hope that someday I have the courage to be as open about my body as they have been with theirs. I feel like I've learned alot from this class and will be sad to see it end.

I know, I am posting twice. I wasn't sure where I needed to post. Whoever said that they were glad that were reading Body Outlaws again, I agree with you. After discussions on Wednesday and today, I really did enjoy reading "the butt" essay. There were many that I enjoyed, but that one just sticks out (ha, ha) the most. I still laugh and as was stated, the author did an awesome job in putting the "butt" issue in perspective, of how the black community and society feels about the black woman booty issue of having a "butt", or, excuse the expression, the lack of a butt. On the other hand, I could not express my feelings in class today about the essay "Strip", because as you all know, I am a Christian and my views about the Bible and what is says is in conflict with comments made today. I think it was Whitney, who shared some of the comments or feeling that her former Pastor and present Pastor have, and I do not agree with the her present Pastor. I'm sorry I did not write down his name. Since this is not a theological course, my comments would not matter. I'm not going to get into any detail, it just goes to show, that just like society has some jacked up issues about sex, body image and gender/gender roles, so does the Christian community. I believe strongly in the Bible and try to live my accordingly, so I cannot and will not debate about what the Bible says, I let it speak for itself. I would suggest, however, that anyone wanting to know what the Word says about it, that they seek and ask God for His guidance and His understanding. I do not agree with any verbal or physical attacks whatsoever on any group becasue of their sexual preference. I will not or do not look down on or treat someone differently because of their lifestyle choice. I do not agree with the whole bisexual, lesbian, gay, transsexual lifestyle. I have a few friends who are gay, but that doesn't make me dislike them as a person, or mistreat them, I just don't agree with the lifestyle. Although the "Strip" essay gave a lot better understanding on transsexualism, I still don't like it. Well, that's my spill.

Edited by author 04-23-2004 12:00 PM
I appreciate your comments Tracie, and I am not sure which Pastor you are referring to. The first said that any homosexual action was wrong, and I disagree with him as well. But Pastor Jess has taught me how to come to terms with that and believe that God loves all people equally. I understand that you think I should ask God directly, and believe me, I have. But I also believe that God works through other people. And while, He can work through anyone He chooses, I believe God was working through Pastor Jess in showing me a new way of seeing the Bible. God and I talk, no doubt, but there are times when things can be made clearer by other people. As for the essays, I agree with everyone about returing to the "Body Outlaws". It is a wonderful collection, and as I have said before, I wish I was as bold as many of these women. I loved "Strip" as it was very insightful for me. But I haven't read many essays in these books that I haven't gotten something new and important from.

Strip! was a great essay becuase it helped in shedding some light on the complex topic of transgender. I think it is difficult to be either masculine or feminine. I was taught early on im my studies on gender that most people are on a continuum. In that, no one is ever really on the ends of the scale (no one is all masculine or all feminine). We all lie somewhere in between. Some people are more feminine or masculine and some people who are androgenous fall in the middle. Looking at gender as a spectrum rather than a determinant helps clear up some of the grey areas of transgender issues. However, the spectrum has no indications of sexual orientation. A person could be anywhere on the scale and it would not necessarily mean that they were going to be heterosexual or homosexual (or whatever else). I am not sure what to think on the issue of homosexuality as it relates to the nature vs. nurture argument. It seems logical that heterosexuality is the "natural" way because of the way our anatomy is constructed and the purposes of certain body parts and structures, but desire is not limited to body parts. It is just as much in our heads as it is in the rest of our body. I think transgender issues reflects on this complexity because gender and sexualtiy it is not a simplistic scheme that goes from a to b to c. Strip! was a wondrful essay revealing the world of transgender. I also loved the essay about butts. Tracie, Amber and I have had amusing conversations on that topic. And like most of the class has said in these postings I am glad to be back with Body Outlaws and its thought provoking and thoroughly enjoyable essays.

Like the rest of my classmates, I did learn a great deal from “Strip”. I appreciate the fact that it gave it gave me yet another unique perspective to the worlds of transsexual people. The fact that it has nothing to do with sexuality is so powerful. The author said herself that she was attracted to women. I also respected the essay because it showed the reader that being transsexual is just one aspect of a person’s life. It seems that society tries to fit homosexuals, transgender, and transsexual people into a little bubble, assuming that they are consumed by their sexualities. They speak of these people as if their sexual or gender preference is the only thing that matters in their lives. But they have o survive through everyday trials just the same as we all do. The author showed us more that just the trials that she had to overcome by her being transsexual but by her being handicap as well. I am not going to get into the homosexuality and God conversation that Whitney and Tracie started but I would like to say that I have been dealing with thee issues within myself. I am struggling with what I will tell my children but I think that if they ask me whether being gay is right or wrong I will say that it is God’s decision to make and not ours. That way that will understand that they have no place to judge and can still feel comfortable talking to me about it b/c I will not judge them. These topics, and body image as a whole, change faces completely when raising children becomes involved. What you say and believe becomes that much more important I must say that I have been confronted with a lot of different voices and points of view while being in this class and I have taken away so much even though I did not agree with everything that I\heard. Hopefully I have offered you all something as well. Meeting all of you has definitely been interesting and I think that I am much more prepared to have these conversations with my children even though I have a long time before I will have to do that