Hello guys
While researching material for class I came across this slideshow on Feminist Film Theory which I found very intersting. While this is not something that we will cover in class, I thought it was interesting enough, and related to the themes we are covering within our class, so I am going to post it here and you can also look through it if you are interested.
a summary and extra study guide for the seriously interested -
Friday, 7 May 2010
Feminist, Counter-feminist and Counter counter Feminist Argument
The slides from class are now available in the Powerpoint Slides section on the left hand side!
Monday, 12 April 2010
Some thoughts from "Voices from Africa" supporting what we have been talking about in class
Reducing African Women’s Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS
by Salimata Niang
Every country in Africa is faced with HIV/AIDS, and the situation is all the more cause for concern because the main transmission route is heterosexual. The measures adopted to control the epidemic have not prevented its rapid spread.
The extreme vulnerability of women, particularly African women, to sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV/AIDS is well-known. In Senegal, as in other African countries, the ratio of the number of women infected to the number of men has changed rapidly: in 1986, one woman was infected for every six men (a ratio of six to one); in 1990, one woman was infected for every three men (three to one); in 1997, one woman was infected for every two men (two to one); and in 1999, between 12 and 13 women were infected for every ten men.
Also, the number of HIV-infected women is often underestimated. Although the virus reduces women’s fecundity by approximately 20%, pregnant women have always been used as a reference to measure the prevalence rate. So while the rate may be accurate for pregnant women, it does not reflect the situation of women in general.
For biological, socio-cultural and economic reasons, African women are most vulnerable to the disease. Biological vulnerability is common to all women; they carry a double handicap because they are the receptive sexual partner and have a large area of mucous membrane that is exposed during sexual relations. These factors put them at a considerable disadvantage, since the sperm of infected males has a far higher concentration of HIV than vaginal fluid. In addition, STIs such as trichomonosis and gonorrhoea may develop unnoticed or be poorly treated (or simply ignored). However, it has been demonstrated that the presence of STIs in women is responsible for a four-fold increase in the risk of HIV infection. Women’s biological vulnerability is exacerbated in adolescent girls, whose immature vaginal mucous membrane is damaged by sexual rites, and practices and violence such as rape, infibulation or forced marriage at a young age.
In the same connection African women frequently suffer from haemorrhagic complications during childbirth and require blood transfusions. In a situation of poverty where budgetary restrictions severely affect health and other social services, it is impossible to guarantee the screening of blood transfusions.
However, the decisive factor in the vulnerability of women is their social, cultural and economic condition. Rates of heterosexual HIV transmission in Africa are increased dramatically by the practice, lawful or otherwise, of taking several sexual partners. Some African women play an active role in this through official, clandestine or disguised prostitution, according to several researchers.
Associations aimed at mobilizing women in the response to AIDS have been set up across the continent. One example is the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), established in 1988 in Senegal by a group of African women concerned about the specific problems they faced as a result of the epidemic. SWAA is a pan-African organization with 30 national branches and provides a rallying point where women can be heard and address their own concerns about the disease. Besides education and care for women and children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, the society focuses on access to antiretroviral drugs, especially as a means of preventing mother-to-child transmission. It also attempts to persuade African decision makers to become more involved and improve women’s access to education, condoms, antimicrobial drugs, and care and support.
It is well-known that women are the victims of gender inequality including lowered access to education and paid work, as well as to social and health facilities. African men’s relative access to social and economic resources keeps them in a dominant social position and gives them the opportunity to impose their views and determine women’s behaviour, particularly sexual.
Analysis of the African social and cultural context shows that women as a rule are victims. According to some researchers, women at risk of HIV/AIDS in Africa share one thing: their lack of “empowerment.” Researchers describe married women as passive victims because they risk contracting STIs or HIV from their husbands. Epidemiological studies in Senegal and Rwanda undertaken in 1991 show that women became infected after sexual contact with their immigrant husbands. When questioned, husbands admitted to several sexual partners while wives stated they had been monogamous. Women living alone or away from their husbands are at greatest risk: often, men treat them as casual sexual partners while they themselves frequently change sexual partners.
The same social, cultural and economic environment is responsible for adolescent girls and young women marrying at an early age or having sexual relations with older men, who are more likely to carry the virus. An epidemiological study has confirmed that older men are the primary cause of infection among adolescent girls and young women.
To sum up, men exercise authentic power over women who are usually in no position to exert control over their sexuality or fecundity. They may be helpless to protect their health, whether by persuading men to use a condom or by insisting they be faithful.
The Consequences of Infection for Women
One of the main consequences facing infected women of childbearing age is the transmission of HIV to their children, which occurs in 20% to 35% of cases. In addition, infection of African women at an early age and inadequate treatment are often responsible for premature deaths and an increase in the orphan population. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), some 13.2 million children worldwide—90% of whom live in Africa—have lost their mother and sometimes their father because of AIDS.
HIV/AIDS also undermines women’s traditional role as caregivers. Women are frequently responsible for young children or for their partner, who may also be infected. Even when they reach old age, women continue to care for children and ill relatives. With AIDS in Africa primarily affecting the 15-49 age group, grandmothers often find themselves caring for their grandchildren once their own children have died.
At the same time, the benefits of science have been slow in coming to Africa. For example, on the continent 90% people living with HIV or AIDS are not even aware they are infected. As a result, they take no precautions to prevent spreading HIV. Moreover, many countries lack a systematic referral system to provide HIV carriers with psychological and emotional support, and equally few have access to antiretroviral drugs. With lack of drugs and proper care, morbidity and mortality remain high among African patients. In contrast, in developed countries mortality has fallen by two-thirds due to new drugs, and care and support mechanisms.
In addition to the male condom, one form of protection that is available though not widespread is the female condom. It is a first step toward emancipating women and enabling them to protect themselves against both unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. It is also suitable for HIV-negative women who are pregnant or breastfeeding but want protection against HIV infection and eventual mother-to-child transmission of the virus. Not only does the female condom strengthen protection against infection, it empowers women. As one user has said, “I showed the female condom to my husband and talked to him at length to persuade him to accept it…in any case, I would have used it without his knowledge.”
Voices from Africa no. 10
by Salimata Niang
Every country in Africa is faced with HIV/AIDS, and the situation is all the more cause for concern because the main transmission route is heterosexual. The measures adopted to control the epidemic have not prevented its rapid spread.
The extreme vulnerability of women, particularly African women, to sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV/AIDS is well-known. In Senegal, as in other African countries, the ratio of the number of women infected to the number of men has changed rapidly: in 1986, one woman was infected for every six men (a ratio of six to one); in 1990, one woman was infected for every three men (three to one); in 1997, one woman was infected for every two men (two to one); and in 1999, between 12 and 13 women were infected for every ten men.
Also, the number of HIV-infected women is often underestimated. Although the virus reduces women’s fecundity by approximately 20%, pregnant women have always been used as a reference to measure the prevalence rate. So while the rate may be accurate for pregnant women, it does not reflect the situation of women in general.
For biological, socio-cultural and economic reasons, African women are most vulnerable to the disease. Biological vulnerability is common to all women; they carry a double handicap because they are the receptive sexual partner and have a large area of mucous membrane that is exposed during sexual relations. These factors put them at a considerable disadvantage, since the sperm of infected males has a far higher concentration of HIV than vaginal fluid. In addition, STIs such as trichomonosis and gonorrhoea may develop unnoticed or be poorly treated (or simply ignored). However, it has been demonstrated that the presence of STIs in women is responsible for a four-fold increase in the risk of HIV infection. Women’s biological vulnerability is exacerbated in adolescent girls, whose immature vaginal mucous membrane is damaged by sexual rites, and practices and violence such as rape, infibulation or forced marriage at a young age.
In the same connection African women frequently suffer from haemorrhagic complications during childbirth and require blood transfusions. In a situation of poverty where budgetary restrictions severely affect health and other social services, it is impossible to guarantee the screening of blood transfusions.
However, the decisive factor in the vulnerability of women is their social, cultural and economic condition. Rates of heterosexual HIV transmission in Africa are increased dramatically by the practice, lawful or otherwise, of taking several sexual partners. Some African women play an active role in this through official, clandestine or disguised prostitution, according to several researchers.
Associations aimed at mobilizing women in the response to AIDS have been set up across the continent. One example is the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), established in 1988 in Senegal by a group of African women concerned about the specific problems they faced as a result of the epidemic. SWAA is a pan-African organization with 30 national branches and provides a rallying point where women can be heard and address their own concerns about the disease. Besides education and care for women and children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, the society focuses on access to antiretroviral drugs, especially as a means of preventing mother-to-child transmission. It also attempts to persuade African decision makers to become more involved and improve women’s access to education, condoms, antimicrobial drugs, and care and support.
It is well-known that women are the victims of gender inequality including lowered access to education and paid work, as well as to social and health facilities. African men’s relative access to social and economic resources keeps them in a dominant social position and gives them the opportunity to impose their views and determine women’s behaviour, particularly sexual.
Analysis of the African social and cultural context shows that women as a rule are victims. According to some researchers, women at risk of HIV/AIDS in Africa share one thing: their lack of “empowerment.” Researchers describe married women as passive victims because they risk contracting STIs or HIV from their husbands. Epidemiological studies in Senegal and Rwanda undertaken in 1991 show that women became infected after sexual contact with their immigrant husbands. When questioned, husbands admitted to several sexual partners while wives stated they had been monogamous. Women living alone or away from their husbands are at greatest risk: often, men treat them as casual sexual partners while they themselves frequently change sexual partners.
The same social, cultural and economic environment is responsible for adolescent girls and young women marrying at an early age or having sexual relations with older men, who are more likely to carry the virus. An epidemiological study has confirmed that older men are the primary cause of infection among adolescent girls and young women.
To sum up, men exercise authentic power over women who are usually in no position to exert control over their sexuality or fecundity. They may be helpless to protect their health, whether by persuading men to use a condom or by insisting they be faithful.
The Consequences of Infection for Women
One of the main consequences facing infected women of childbearing age is the transmission of HIV to their children, which occurs in 20% to 35% of cases. In addition, infection of African women at an early age and inadequate treatment are often responsible for premature deaths and an increase in the orphan population. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), some 13.2 million children worldwide—90% of whom live in Africa—have lost their mother and sometimes their father because of AIDS.
HIV/AIDS also undermines women’s traditional role as caregivers. Women are frequently responsible for young children or for their partner, who may also be infected. Even when they reach old age, women continue to care for children and ill relatives. With AIDS in Africa primarily affecting the 15-49 age group, grandmothers often find themselves caring for their grandchildren once their own children have died.
At the same time, the benefits of science have been slow in coming to Africa. For example, on the continent 90% people living with HIV or AIDS are not even aware they are infected. As a result, they take no precautions to prevent spreading HIV. Moreover, many countries lack a systematic referral system to provide HIV carriers with psychological and emotional support, and equally few have access to antiretroviral drugs. With lack of drugs and proper care, morbidity and mortality remain high among African patients. In contrast, in developed countries mortality has fallen by two-thirds due to new drugs, and care and support mechanisms.
In addition to the male condom, one form of protection that is available though not widespread is the female condom. It is a first step toward emancipating women and enabling them to protect themselves against both unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. It is also suitable for HIV-negative women who are pregnant or breastfeeding but want protection against HIV infection and eventual mother-to-child transmission of the virus. Not only does the female condom strengthen protection against infection, it empowers women. As one user has said, “I showed the female condom to my husband and talked to him at length to persuade him to accept it…in any case, I would have used it without his knowledge.”
Voices from Africa no. 10
Friday, 9 April 2010
PROJECT DEADLINE EXTENSION
Hello Everyone
Please be advised that I am allowing an extension for submission of the project. You have until Friday the 16th of April 2010 to submit.
regards
Mrs Austin
Please be advised that I am allowing an extension for submission of the project. You have until Friday the 16th of April 2010 to submit.
regards
Mrs Austin
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
HELLO GUYS AND WOW WOW WOW!
I have been reading your comments and emails and listening to all the great ideas that you have to come to consult with me about. I AM SO VERY PROUD OF YOU!!!! You are such a wonderful class to teach, and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to work with you. The ideas that you have come up with for the project are simply the best ones that I have seen in my entire 10 years of teaching.
WELL DONE.
Thank you also for being so diligent, and so willing to learn. Always remember that you are the only person who can change things for yourself, only you have the power to become the best that you can possibly be. I promise you that if you keep going the way that you have been, if you keep trying, if you are not afraid to make mistakes and learn from them, you will be great!
Once again - I would like to say I am so impressed with how hard you have worked. Keep up this fantastic spirit of yours.
WELL DONE.
Thank you also for being so diligent, and so willing to learn. Always remember that you are the only person who can change things for yourself, only you have the power to become the best that you can possibly be. I promise you that if you keep going the way that you have been, if you keep trying, if you are not afraid to make mistakes and learn from them, you will be great!
Once again - I would like to say I am so impressed with how hard you have worked. Keep up this fantastic spirit of yours.
Saturday, 20 March 2010
MOVIEMAKER - how to use!
How To Use Movie Maker
View more presentations from mjhasley.
Windows Movie Maker Tutorial 1: How to Make a Picture Slideshow with Music - The best bloopers are here
Windows Movie Maker Effects the Basics - The best video clips are right here
How to Use Windows Movie Maker - More Advanced - Click here for funny video clips
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Hey guys - some presentation help
Perhaps you want to make a PowerPoint show to along with your project but you dont really know how to do this. In this post, I am putting in a few links to places where you can go to learn about how to use PowerPoint - the first link is how to use Powerpoint version 97 to 2003. The second link is how to use PowerPoint 2007. If you dont know what version of PowerPoint you have - these pictures might help - PowerPoint 97 - 2003 looks like this picture on the right. The menu and tool bars are quite small and narrow and there is still a text menu
On the other hand - PowerPoint 2007 looks like this picture on the left. Notice that there are a lot more "visual" guides.
There are some great video tutorials on the net - In them you can learn how to do just about anything on PowerPoint. I would like to encourage you guys to visit, learn and then to practise your PowerPoint skills - it is a vital skill for anyone, but more especially for those doing Public relations or Communication studies.
But anyway, back to the links: The first link is for those people who have never used or made a presentation onf PowerPoint before. Click on the links below next to the PowerPoint opening picture. There are video and the transcripts from the videos.
The second set of links is for PowerPoint 2007 - click on the link to go to what you want to learn. These are not video tutorials, but they do have screenshots
I hope that this information helps a few people who want to be a little more creative. Stay tuned for tomorrow's installment - how to make simple movies on Windows MovieMaker!!!
Mrs Austin
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