Happy Halloween

Wishing all you bloggers a very Happy Halloween!!!!

 Caesar and Aphrodite

 Bad Dog 

 Bumble Dog

Loveeee

What were you for Halloween?

later dayssss,

Kristen

Rape Culture

What is Rape Culture?  Have you heard of this term?  Well, here is a little education on it.

Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture.  Rape culture is perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women’s rights and safety.

Examples of Rape Culture:

• Blaming the victim (“She asked for it!”)
• Trivializing sexual assault (“Boys will be boys!”)
• Sexually explicit jokes
• Tolerance of sexual harassment
• Inflating false rape report statistics
• Publicly scrutinizing a victim’s dress, mental state, motives, and history
• Gratuitous gendered violence in movies and television
• Defining “manhood” as dominant and sexually aggressive
• Defining “womanhood” as submissive and sexually passive
• Pressure on men to “score”
• Pressure on women to not appear “cold”
• Assuming only promiscuous women get raped
• Assuming that men don’t get raped or that only “weak” men get raped
• Refusing to take rape accusations seriously
• Teaching women to avoid getting raped instead of teaching men not to rape

Rape Culture affects every woman.  The rape of one woman is a degradation, terror, and limitation to all women. Most women and girls limit their behavior because of the existence of rape. Most women and girls live in fear of rape. Men, in general, do not. That’s how rape functions as a powerful means by which the whole female population is held in a subordinate position to the whole male population, even though many men don’t rape, and many women are never victims of rape.  This cycle of fear is the legacy of Rape Culture.

Now, don't get me wrong it's not just women that are degraded, men are too although, there is more women out there in ads, music, and pop culture that are being shown as just an object to men.  Also, there are some things that are worse than others.  I do not have a problem about sex in ads, music, or whatever....sex does sell and sex is sexy.  The problem lies in how women are portrayed as mere objects and nothing else.

Here are some ads I found:

 "Burger King's Super 7 Incher......It'll Blow Your Mind Away"

 "The Ultimate Attraction"

 "Keep Dreaming of a Better World"

 "Durex XXL Really Big"

 "Go Vegitarian"

 There are plenty more ads out there that are just as bad, or worse.  It's kind of sad that our society finds things like this OK.  Like I said, I'm all for sexual ads there is nothing wrong with sex.  We are all sexual beings.  It just comes down to how people are portrayed in them....These ads make it seem OK to hit a woman, to use a woman, to treat her with no respect.

So make a difference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

later dayssss,
Kristen

Sagano

Tonight I went out for my BFs' sister's birthday.  We went to a restaurant in downtown Brighton, MI.  It was called Sagano Japanese Bistro and Steakhouse.  We made reservations for the steakhouse.  I was soo excited for something new and nervous for something new.  We got to sit at a table around the grill to watch the cook prepare our food.

I was excited for this.  It was pretty fun to experience this!  We shared some AAC rolls, California Rolls, and Spicy Tuna Rolls.  I had the AAC which is avocado, asparagus, cucumber as well as I had the California which had veggies and crab in it.  They were all soo good.

Then for dinner I got the Steak and Chicken combo which comes with, soup, salad, shrimp noodle appeitizer, fried rice and the meat.  They also had these two dipping sauces for the meat that were amazing....totally worked with the chicken and steak.

I am even excited for work tomorrow so I can have my left overs =)

I love trying new things and places.  It's always fun!  I can't wait for my next Japanese Steakhouse experience.

later dayssss,
Kristen

My Helping Hand

It is official, I am a Domestic Violence Response Team Member at SafeHouse Center.  I finished my 40 hours of training this weekend.  I am so excited to get started.  I am also very nervous!!! 

Here's the pin I received congratulating me on my completing the training.

The Kiddies

This is my baby, Miss Bella Boo, aka Boo Boo

This is my parents/Bella's sister, Miss Lucie Loo, aka Woocie

later dayssss,
Kristen

Empowering Women

Feminist Therapy......what comes to mind when you read that?  For me, it's confusion, questions like what even is that, that doesn't make sense, etc....This came up while at my training and I needed to research it because I did not know what it was or what it even entails.  Here is a little Feminist Therapy 101.....

Feminist Therapy:  addresses the role of gender in psychological distress. Gender is a reality that shapes our behavior. Our world is organized through its influence. Feminist therapy recognizes that environmental pressures affect a woman's identity. Women live in a world dominated by males and masculine patterns of thought and behavior, or the patriarchy. Feminist therapy recognizes the central place relationship and connections hold in women's lives. It considers the nature of sex-bias in a male-dominated culture. It honors women's experiences as valid and unique. Focusing on the damaging effects of gender-role socialization, it seeks to address the inequalities in educational and career opportunities. Feminist therapy also helps women overcome barriers they experience in achieving their personal goals and assists them in recognizing and reaching their full potential. It specifically addresses such questions as family and marriage relationships, reproductive concerns, career issues, the role of violence and fear in their lives, physical and sexual abuse, body image and eating disorders, and self-esteem. Most of all, feminist therapy seeks to empower women in today's world.

To learn more check out this website:  http://www.goodtherapy.org/feminist-therapy.html

later daysss,

Kristen

Copy Cat.....

I was reading Kate & Leigh's blog and came across Leigh's post and thought it was cute!  I'm a copy cat.  So here it is:

1.   Blogging is  becoming a staple in my life.

2.  A current fashion trend I wish I was brave enough to wear is skinny jeans.

3.  My greatest accomplishment in life thus far is  graduating college and becoming an advocate for others.

4.  If I had to choose between a mountain or a beach vacation I'd choose   maybe the mountains so my boyfriend could teach me to snowboard along with getting cozy next to the fire =).

5.  A talent I wish I had is    being more creative where I could have a hobby of crafting, sewing, or something of those sorts.

6.  A talent I do have is  laughing at almost everything & listening.

7.  This week  is going to make for a nice fat check =).

Hope you enjoyed & feel free to copy as well!

Thanks Leigh!!

later dayssss,

Kristen 

Pretty Pretty Pumpkin

I went a few weekends ago with my boyfriend and adorable cousin to pick pumpkins.  This is what I found.....

So, with such a large pumpkin I thought, "There are so many carvings I could get out of this."  Well, then I contemplated if I really wanted to carve it.  Carving is very tedious and I can get impatient very quickly.  I searched online for other ideas to do with my pumpkin this year.  I found lots of decorating ideas.  So, with my clean canvas I started with spraying it with red glitter.....

I then put Happy Halloween on it as well as some Halloween stickers....

Lastly, I added some decorative flowers....here is the final project.....

What did you do with your pumpkin this year?

later daysss,

Kristen

RAINN

A great website to check out is www.rainn.org.  It has lots of information on rape and abuse.  Here are some statistics I got from their website.

--1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.

--College aged women are 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted.

--1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.

--93% of juvenile sexual assault victims know their attacker.

--In 2007, there were 248,300 victims of sexual assault.

--Every 2 minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.

--60% of rapes/sexual assaults are not reported to the police.

--Approximately 73% of rape victims know their assailant.

--Only about 6% of rapists spend a day in jail.

Here are some Domestic Violence statistics also:

--One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.

--3 out of 4 (74%) of Americans personally know someone who is or has been a victim of domestic violence.

--On average, more than 3women and 1 man are murdered by their intimate partners in this country every day.

This is occurring way more than we may believe and these statistics really put it to perspective.  Please advocate for these men, women, and children who are affected!

later daysss,
Kristen

LGBTQI

So, while at my training for DVRT we were talking about the LGBTQI community.  Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with what the acronym stands for it's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex.  I was familiar with LGBT, but when did the Q and I come in?  Also, I question why the Q was added?  I was under the impression that the LGBTQI community looked at queer as a derogatory slang word towards them.  I understand all these terms can be used in a derogatory way that I am sure the LGBTQI community would or does not appreciate, but I was under the impression that they did not want to be categorized as queer.  I could be totally wrong in my ways of thinking.  I just want to be corrected and understand their community.  If someone has any thoughts or information on this topic please comment.

later dayssss,

Kristen

DVRT

This past weekend I started a new journey of volunteering.  While in college, I was apart of a service sorority.  I very much enjoyed lending a helping hand.  Now that I am back home I decided that I needed to get back out and continue helping.  I then began my search as to where I was going to help.  I have always been interested in social work and the many social services.  So, I googled woman's shelters/safe houses near my area.  I found a few near me and checked out all of their websites.  I then emailed them all to get more information about their services and ways that I can volunteer.  I received two emails back out of 4 places I emailed.  Only one of the two really stood out to me and made me feel welcome and wanted to their program.  That program is called SafeHouse Center and they service all of Washtenaw County.

After choosing a place to volunteer, I then needed to decided what service I was going to work in at SafeHouse Center.  I could help with in their shelter/helpline, the children and youth, the domestic violence response team (DVRT), or the sexual assault response team (SART).  I decided against children and youth because I work with children already and I did not really feel that I would learn too much.  I also did not choose the shelter and helpline because I did not know if I would like to answer the crisis line.  So, all I had left to choose from was DVRT or SART.  I honestly had a a hard time deciding, so I spoke with the volunteer coordinator to get more information on both services and decided which would be best for me.  In the end, I chose DVRT where I could learn and get experience.

Here we are on Monday morning after my first weekend of training to be a DVRT member.  It was a long weekend of training but I was educated on so much.  Now, it's one more long weekend of training and I can begin volunteering!

Here is the website of SafeHouse Center, please check it out.  http://www.safehousecenter.org/

Also, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so wear purple!  As well as it's Brest Cancer Awareness Month, so wear pink!

later dayssss,

Kristen

The Beginning

Hello Blog World,

First I would like to introduce myself, my name is Kristen and I am a graduate of Central Michigan University.  I graduated with a B.A.A. in Child Development with Early Childhood Concentration.  I graduated December 2009.  From there, I moved back home with my parents to the small town of Whitmore Lake, MI, my hometown.  I began nannying for a wonderful family in Northville, MI.  I absolutely loved them and am grateful to have met them.  Just this past August (2010) I interviewed at a Montessori School because the family I was working for would no longer need me full-time.  At my interview, I was offered an assistant teacher position in their Infant room.  I accepted and here I am now.  I now work for Go Like the Wind Montessori School and love my Infant room co-workers.  We all bonded quickly and I am glad that I have met them and beginning to create some great friends.  So, that is pretty much my quick background leading to my life today.

I am fairly new to the world of blogging, so please be patient with me as I learn the ropes as well as topics that are blog worthy.  

later dayssss, 

Kristen