Sunday, October 21, 2012

RU Women’s Studies Courses being offered in Spring 2013


COMS  457 Diversity in Communication TR 12:30 -01:45  Lisa E. Baker   

CRJU   365 Diversity Issues in the Criminal Justice System TR 03:30 -04:45  Pamela N. Hendrix  
CRJU   365 Diversity Issues in the Criminal Justice System MWF 03:00 -03:50     Lori A. Elis

HLTH  453 Human Sexuality     TR 09:30 -10:45  Melissa L. Grim            
HLTH  453 Human Sexuality     TR 11:00 -12:15  Melissa L. Grim          

HIST    306 History of Women (B,C)     MWF   02:00 -02:50      Suzanne E. Ament        

HUMD 300 Human Growth & Development: Birth through Adolescence TR 09:30 -10:45 Marilyn Lanier 
HUMD 300 Human Growth & Development: Birth through Adolescence TR 11:00 -12:15 Marilyn Lanier 
HUMD 300 Human Growth & Development: Birth through Adolescence M 05:00 -08:00 Marilyn Lanier
HUMD 300 Human Growth & Development: Birth through Adolescence W 01:00 -04:00  J. Van Horn 

PSYC   230 Lifespan Developmental Psychology MWF   01:00 -01:50  Jayne E. Bucy   
PSYC   230 Lifespan Developmental Psychology MWF   12:00 -12:50  Jayne E. Bucy        
PSYC   230 Lifespan Developmental Psychology W 06:00 -09:00  R. U. Staff        
PSYC   230 Lifespan Developmental Psychology TR       08:00 -09:15  R. U. Staff  
PSYC   343 Social Psychology (SS Core)            TR       11:00 -12:15  Charles A. Gorman             
PSYC   343 Social Psychology (SS Core)            TR       09:30 -10:45  R. U. Staff             
PSYC   343 Social Psychology (SS Core)            TR       08:00 -09:15  Charles A. Gorman  
PSYC   393 Psychology of Human Sexuality       TR       08:00 -09:15  Tracy J. Cohn  

SOCY  250 Social Inequality      TR       02:00 -03:15  Elizabeth C. Lyman            
SOCY  250 Social Inequality      TR       03:30 -04:45  Elizabeth C. Lyman  
SOCY  326 Men and Women in Society TR 12:30 -01:45  Carla Corroto  
SOCY  331 Race and Ethnic Relations T 06:00 -09:00  Kathryn K. Everard-Van Patten  (IN ROANOKE)

WMST 101 Scholar-Citizen: Introduction to Women's Studies MWF 11:00 -11:50  Michele D. Ren  
WMST 101 Scholar-Citizen: Introduction to Women's Studies MWF 12:00 -12:50  Michele D. Ren  
WMST 101 Women in the World: Introduction to Women's Studies W 05:00 -08:00  Moira P. Baker  

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Guest Post: Food for Ta-Tas at RU


October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.   In the United States in 2008, 210,023 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 40,859 women died from it. Except for skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women (CDC, 2012). No matter what class, race, or age all women are vulnerable to breast cancer. Some women have increased risk due to factors such as: a family history of breast cancer, menstruation before age twelve, and being overweight/ obese.  However, having certain risk factors doesn’t make cancer inevitable! Research has found that eating right and maintaining a healthy weight can reduce your risk of getting breast cancer.
Eating foods high in dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, can protect against some cancers. There seems to be a national consensus that eating healthy is expensive and just plain yucky. Before you roll your eyes, hear me out!  There are ways to eat healthy, yummy food, without breaking the bank. Cruciferous and dark, leafy green vegetables like: spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and collards are rich in vitamins. So are fruits like citrus, berries, and cherries. If you have a meal plan you can find these beauties at Wild Greens, or salad bars in Dalton or Muse. If you buy your own groceries you can certainly find these items at the produce section, but frozen and canned veggies and fruits are acceptable. If you would like to be more sustainable take advantage of our local Farmer’s Market. The one in Radford is open until late October.  While the Farmer’s Market in Blacksburg is open pretty much year round.
Another important food group is grains, most importantly whole-grains. It is recommended to make at least half your grains, whole. Some examples of whole grains are oats, barely, popcorn, breads (yes ladies we must eat carbs) whole grain pastas, breads, cereals. You can find these on campus in the Muse and Dalton dining halls. You find these off campus at local grocery stores offering these for very low prices. I just bought whole wheat linguini this past weekend for as a little as one dollar!
Legumes are also a great component of a eating right. Dried beans and peas, lentils, and soybeans are some examples of legumes.  Legumes are found on campus at the dining halls, and sometimes Olo Sushi offers edamame. These can also be found off campus at local grocery stores for cheap. Food companies like Boca and Morningstar Farms have constructed some very tasty soy products to mimic animal protein like bacon, corn dogs, and chicken patties.   Legumes can sometimes be found at Farmers Markets.         
Because weight is closely connected with breast cancer, participating in regular physical activity can help you maintain a healthy weight and lower your risk.  A good goal is to aim for 30 minutes or more of physical activity most days of the week.  On campus there are two gyms, one in Peters Hall, and another in the main level of the Muse Hall dormitory. If the gym is too intimidating try the aerobics classes offered at the gym in Peters Hall. They offer a variety of classes including Yoga, Zumba, and even a Hoop Aerobics class.  Lastly, if you are like me you need some accountability to follow through try these two things:
·      Buddy System-Set out a schedule with a friend(s) to go the gym or classes together. 
·      Register- Radford offers a Health 200 class that requires you to develop your own personal exercise routines.  There is a nothing like class credit to motivate you to workout.
No matter how you choose to work out or where to get your food leading a healthy lifestyle is the most important initiative. This month highlights an important issue to women and is the perfect time to start working toward habits to reduce your risk. While things like our genetic predisposition or hormonal status may not be in our control, we have the power to give ourselves a fighting chance against diseases.

-Deletra Harmon, Nutrition& Dietetics Major


Sodexo, Student Ambassador
Southwestern Virginia Dietetic Association, Newsletter Editor &Technical Liaison
Radford University Dietetics Association, Historian
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, member

References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(2012) Breast Cancer.  Retrieved October 15, 2012.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

*Guest Post* Beauty: African American Women in Society




Women have always had a difficult time achieving equality within society. But women of color, such as African American women, have often been forgotten when striving for equality between race and gender. Today, in America, it is very difficult for an African American woman to fit into the mold of what is considered beautiful. When the color or tint of her skin does not fit into the mold of beauty she is usually chastised by society as a whole and by the one in which she lives. With the invention of Photoshop, fashion magazines will often lighten the skin of their black models, making it more obvious that lighter skin is better. When young girls look to fashion magazines to identify what society deems beautiful, they are often confronted with the illusion of beauty. An illusion black girls and women often notice is that the lighter the skin the more beautiful and desirable she appears. Often Black women have a difficult time presenting their beauty, even with darker skin, because beauty cosmetics do not have makeup foundations that match their skin color. Other than skin color, the hair of black women is often changed or modified to have more of an appearance of a white woman’s hair. This process includes time, money, and resources, which can be psychology damaging to the individual and how she feels about herself. How a woman feels about herself physically and psychology, in terms of beauty, depends on what she is introduced to in the real word and the illusionary world of fashion magazines; unfortunately, there is often confusion as to which is real or illusion.

When flipping through a fashion magazine I began to notice how very few of the models have darker skin or are in face black, and I became aware  that these “standards of beauty describe in precise terms the relationship that an individual will have to her own body” (Dworkin). By viewing this one magazine, a girl or woman would assert that in order to be beautiful one must be light skinned. With Photoshop becoming a widely used tool within the fashion industry, many black women are made to look like their skin is lighter. This only creates an illusion of what beauty should look like to the black woman. Many young African American girls and women have a difficult time viewing themselves as beautiful based on what they are presented with daily. This fiction has infiltrated the daily lives of many black women, and is now being praised within the black community as a form of beauty that must be achieved. Many young black girls and women go to great lengths in order to attain this unattainable form of beauty that they are often disappointed.

            One of the major disappointments for black women is how rare it is to find makeup that fits their skin tone. Because most cosmetics do not create numerous kinds of color tones for those individuals with darker skin tones, many of the fashion magazines display their makeup for light skinned or white women. White women take this for granted. If a white woman were to purchase makeup, there would be no issue as to whether it will match their skin “flesh” color (McIntosh). Makeup is not the only issue for black women. There various different types of beauty products that are supposed to be nude or skin color, such as the “perfect” push-up bra, but they seem to only favor women with light skin. When a black woman feels that she must look a certain way to be beautiful, yet all tools needed for this result are not available to her, she may feel that she is not a beautiful or desirable person. This is how what society allows to be displayed as beauty can affect an individual of color.


Another factor that many black women deal with in terms of beauty is hair. According to many fashion magazines and commercials, hair should be smooth, sleek, straight, order to be beautiful. In other words, “white”. Black women often deal with how their hair should look in order to achieve beautiful. The idea came about when magazines began publishing advertisements showing black women with, what can only be explained as, white women hair. The model is always shown with very smooth, shiny, straight hair. Many young black girls and women go to great lengths to have hair identical to a picture in a magazine, and sometimes the results of using chemicals can be devastating. Because genetics play a major role in how an individual’s hair will look, this is a very unnatural picture of what is beautiful. With numerous advertisements depicting this same type of beauty for black women, it is hard to avoid. This type of image influences black women and girls to think that in order to be beautiful they must look like that model, which often leaves them disappointed. This illusionary ideal beauty is quickly becoming a problem within the black community. This is also becoming a problem in how boys and men observe beauty in women. If young black men begin to believe that this form is the only form of beauty than young women will be pressured to fit the mold.
The constant pressure for beauty many black women live with is a form of oppression. They are being forced into a mold that does not exist in reality, but in the minds of others. As long as other individuals keep insisting that there is particular form of beauty, that must be achieved, black women will continue having a difficult time identifying the natural and normal forms of beauty. In “Oppression,” Marilyn Frye states that oppression happens when there are barriers restricting change. When there is a constant reminder to young black women and girls that there is only one kind of beauty, it prevents their ability to grasp other forms of beauty as beautiful. This creates the idea that if the ideal beautiful is not achieved, than ugly is the only other option. This oppression of the mind reduces young women to believe that if they do not fit into the mold, they must squeeze into the mold with makeup, hair products, etc. in order to be happy. It is only when escaping the mold does an individual realize that it is all an illusion. 

By: Amanda Lessard