March Madness

Warning: This post is NOT about basketball.

Last month I decided to give up something I love very dearly, soda. I know it is not the best for me, but I just love it. I have been drinking so much of it lately and one of the things on my 101 list is to give up soda (for 2 months, but I was going to see about 1 month first). I will be completely honest, I failed. On the bright side, I did not drink it everyday, which was great!

March Madness participants 

Failure can only lead to success! I was discussing with my roommates how I am going to try again in March and Alex graciously said she would participate as well. Then Erica decided to jump on board, however, Erica does not drink soda, so she decided desserts. Long story short, we made the big jump to all three of us giving up sweets, soda, and anything sugary in between. To make the story shorter, Alex was not happy; it was very hilarious to watch. But to make the story better, WE MADE A BET ON IT! We all put $20 in an envelope and whoever stays the strongest gets all the money, it will get split, or everyone will get their money back.

The list for March Madness consists of this:

• Soda
• cookies/cake/brownies/pie (except for pie day, we get 1 piece of pie)
• ice-cream
• chocolate 
• candy

We know this will be hard, but for the most part it feel like an adventure. Everyone thinks it is to lose weight, but that is not the case. We just want to control our sugar intake and such. Today I made these delicious chocolate chip muffins and I loved the batter so I think I will try it again but with craisins or carrots. I am going to try really hard this month to try healthier foods, including snacks. 

I am really grateful for roommates who are willing to do this with me. And who doesn't like a good bet? 

Senior Project Part II

I have been meaning to do this for awhile, but I have been extremely lazy and I was not sure how I wanted to present the work I have done. This week I finished my third public policy and so I figured I could do a short overview and what I learned from it. 

1. Female Genital Mutilation and Egypt: 

Female genital mutilation is a topic that not a lot of people know about, especially in western civilization. Female genital mutilation is pretty much what it sounds like and is defined by WHO as, "procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons."
I heard about this practice back in 2008, from none other then America's Next Top Model. During this cycle, there was a beautiful contestant from Somalia named Fatima, she was an amazing woman. Later in the season she would open up about her experience, but did not go into much detail. She did mention that another girl had died during that time from a loss of blood. I remember watching this episode and thinking, how can anyone ever want to do this to their child? You can 

argue that boys get circumcised, but not like this. Young girls are normally between the ages of 8-12 when this happens and depending on the area where they are from the procedure can be brutal and even cause extensive psychological issues; It is heartbreaking.
I picked Egypt because it is estimated that 91% of married women have gone through this procedure. And this past year has been a milestone in the Egyptian's judicial system; in 2013 there a 13 year old girl who died after her father insisted she go through FGM and a Dr. Fadl performed it. For while there was no one held accountable for these actions. However, both the doctor and the father have been convicted and face jail time. It isn't not a long sentence, but it is a step in the right direction.
This practice is banned in Egypt but is commonly practiced, claiming it is a religious practice, when religious leaders (Islam and Christian) have both come out to say that is against what God wants. A lot of families believe that the practice of FGM will allow their girls to be sexually pure, but it does the opposite. It makes sex pleasure and undesirable. I think the most distributing part I read through my research is that some of the men  who have wives that have been part of FGM, feel like it is their men obligation to not take their women to doctors to get cut open before sexual intercourse, but will penetrate to prove their manhood. I am someone who likes to think the best of people, but this is something no woman should ever do! 

To further understand here are some long-term consequences: 

·         recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections;
·         cysts;
·         infertility;
·         an increased risk of childbirth complications and newborn deaths;
·         the need for later surgeries. For example, the FGM procedure that seals or narrows a vaginal opening (type 3 above) needs to be cut open later to allow for sexual intercourse and childbirth. Sometimes it is stitched again several times, including after childbirth, hence the woman goes through repeated opening and closing procedures, further increasing and repeated both immediate and long-term risks.

2. Sex Trafficking and Major Sporting Events

The week  before this year's Super Bowl I came across an article about sex trafficking and how it increases during times of major sporting events. What intrigued me the most, was that when the 2014 Super Bowl was located at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey, the state government worked really hard to make sure they could crack down on trafficking laws, and from what I read they had a lot of success. They were able to rescue about 50 women, some can argue that these women choose this, but during the 2004 Olympics in Greece, there was a 95% increase in the number of human trafficking cases recorded during the event. If that does not prove anything I do not what would. The main argument I make in this pubic policy is that organizations like IOC, FIFA, and NFL should work with governments or NGOs to make sure their events promote safety. Sex trafficking occurs every day, but by bringing it into the light during big events like this, I feel like people can be made more aware of the issue and work with people to prevent it. 

3.  Dowry Laws and India 

Being a single woman in a Mormon Community, I feel like it would be easier if my parents married me off. However, I am lucky and have the choice to pick who I marry and there is not a cost. In India the dowry is illegal but a common practice. In India women are seen as less than men, they are a burden to the family because they cannot work as hard and they will not pass on the family name. The dowry has been explained by simple terms of being, “-payments from the bride's family to the groom or groom's family at the time of marriage-has a long history in India and other Asian societies. The modern Indian dowry system has its roots in the traditional upper-caste practices of kanyadhan (literal meaning: gift of the virgin bride), varadakshina (voluntary gifts given by the bride's father to the groom), and stridhan (voluntary gifts given by relatives and friends to the bride). Traditionally, although these gifts could be significant, they were often small tokens of good wishes. More recently, however, the dowry has come to involve a substantial transfer of wealth from the bride's family to the groom's, and has become a major factor in marriage negotiations.” 

Basically, whatever family has the most valuables and money will be able to marry off their daughters and could even be obligated to continue to pay the in-laws for the rest of their life. At times, putting the bride's family in massive debt. But its not just the money, a majority of these women are being beaten, abused, and even killed. As well as if they are not giving birth to sons, they are forced to kill their new born daughters or abused. The issue that India is facing with the dowry is that even though it is illegal, there is not much force behind it. And now women are being accused of abusing the law and that the husbands and their families are the victims in this case. Though I can understand that people can abuse laws, there is sufficient enough evidence to show that a majority of the brides are victims themselves. Women need safe places to go if they are being abused and they need the government protecting them. 

And there you have it; three different topics that affect women in developing nations and even could come here to the Untied States. I really hope that whoever reads this has a better understanding. Though these women are far away and I do not know their names or personally, I feel like we need to still acknowledge that these things occur, be educated, and even try to work towards helping at least one woman. 

Adventure Is Out There

Happy Valentines Day!

One of my biggest pet peeves (or annoyances, or whatever else you want to call it) is when people refer to Valentine's Day as "Single Awareness Day" or they decide to be "pathetic" on this day. It's one day, people. And if you are single on this one day, chances are you are single every other day. So treat yourself to something special today! Do not let "the man" bring you down. Go serve and show love. Go try out something new. DO SOMETHING. 

And today that is what I did. I tried something new. Today Erica, Alex, and I went snowshoeing in the Tetons and it was beautiful!! I got the idea by seeing it on the BYU-Idaho's website. It was through the Outdoors Activities and only $10! We met up at the stadium at 9:45 am and then traveled maybe a hour and a half to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. I love Wyoming!! It is so beautiful out there. It was perfect weather; not too cold and the sun was out. We snow-shoed about a hour and forty five minutes out and then back. We took a few detours, which coming back felt like death. We were so sore and we got a few blisters. However, it was such a fun experience! I think everyone should do it once in their lifetime! 

Being out in the snow and in nature, it made me even more trunky for Alaska! I thought about all these hikes and adventures I cannot wait to get back to in Alaska! I even thought about things I want to try when I get back to Washington! I want to be more adventurous and try new things. After we got back to Rexburg, Alex and I went to McDonalds because we were starving! Who would have thought snow-shoeing could make one so hungry! 

THROWBACK 2009

Now I am at the Evans' home babysitting little Hudson. And by babysitting, I am sitting in their living room since they out him to sleep before I got there. Have I ever mentioned how much I love them?! I offered to babysit for them last week, since I figured they would want to do something. On Tuesday, Nicole texted me and said that her and Jordan talked about it and if someone asked me out for Valentine's Day they did not want me to babysit for them, but to go out. Aren't they so sweet? However, I knew I would need to do some homework, which isn't

 getting done because I am so tired! I wanted just to share my fun Valentine's Day and how blessed I truly am! Oh and little special treat, that throwback picture is from the Valentine's Day dance we went to in 2009. Before Nicole and Jordan were married and we all were just little babies!

My Senior Project Part I

In my last semester here at BYU-Idaho, I have to do a "Senior Project". It sounds very juvenile and I feel like it is not enough time to do an adequate project. I also struggled with what I wanted to do exactly. What should I throw myself into for 140+ hours for the next 13 weeks? Well, I started looking into different things, gun control, voting, blah blah blah. But then Brother Lamoreaux reminded us that we should pick something we will enjoy doing. As I thought about it, what did I enjoy? First thing that came to my mind: Social Issues, specifically Women's Issues.

FALL 2008

Before I jump into more of project, let me give lay out the background. My first semester was fall 2008; I did not have a declared major. I was still trying to figure out what I want to do. I was sitting in the Clark building (a.k.a. the mommy major building). I had some foundations class and was sitting in the hall and I saw all these young pregnant girls and it freaked me out. I don't mean to offend anyone, I think motherhood and marriage are wonderful, but I have my concerns and if you knew me at 18 I had no desire to fulfill either of those commandments just yet. I wanted to be free, I just moved out of my parents' house! As I sat there, I thought I could not be in this building (ironically, my minor is Marriage and Family studies), so I thought about everything I liked. Well, I really liked my high school AP History, Government, and Washington State History class. What could I do with that? POLITICAL SCIENCE! I then went and changed my major.

MTC 2011

When I tell people what my major is, I get nervous. It sounds impressive, but it really is not. I am not very good at the theory behind it and reading the federalist/anti-federalist papers puts me to sleep. I however, love the social issues. I love learning about polices. I love the law and how we should look at issues from a law (not always moral) point of view. Being a political scientist, I have learned that I have an influence over issues. I love the methods and sociology behind it. I still did not know what I wanted to do. So....I took a "break" (a.k.a. a mission haha).

ALL GIRLS MATTER

On my mission, I came to understand, in a very simple way, about welfare programs, school laws, and other issues I had never thought about. I met amazing people, members and non members. I learned the government of the church and it was amazing! I love organization and following correct principles (call it bureaucracy, I call it fascinating). Coming home and starting with school was really hard. I had some struggles, but I took a state and local government class and I enjoyed it. I thought, if I want to be a mom one day, I want to be involved with local government. BECAUSE I would be able to influence my own community. I believe sometimes we focus too much on the federal government, but if we were involved in our local government we can see more change. The next semester I took a feminism class and I LOVED it. Before I was one of those people who thought feminists were man hating, bra burning, hippie, hairy women. But ITS NOT! Its so much more. To me, its not about equality but opportunity. I am the oldest and a girl in my family, and to think if I lived in a developing nation, my education would not be important. My health would not be important. My voice would not be important. I would not be important. I would be married off at the age of 16 to an older guy who was my distant cousin and I would be expected to birth sons and if I didn't, it would be my fault. There is so much more to the issue, but that is just a tiny synopsis.

#TRUTH

When feminism comes up around people, I try not to make it awkward because I know comments people make, its because they do not understand. But I am a feminist! I am a feminist because I believe in women-hood. I do not think women are better than man, but should be equals. I also believe that men should not have to fit a stereotype. My dream would be to work with a non profit helping women. I have so many strong examples of women in my life and I want to be that example to other women. I want to show women they can be more than a statistic or a stereotype. That they are beautiful and smart and capable. I want women to feel the love of a Heavenly Father.

Now what you all are waiting for: my senior project. I am writing eight different public policies on women's issues. Ranging from Female genital mutilation, sex trafficking, and abortion. And I really want to share what I learn here on my blog, because I want these issues to be known, I want people to understand that even though they live in the United States and "those" people live somewhere that it is acceptable, which is false. The things some of these women go through are terrible and should never go through. We need to be aware of social issues and not act like they do not matter. Hope you enjoy the ride!