Group Paper, Laura Ann

I completely forgot to print this out- I will print it out and bring it to you!!

Group Presentation Paper

Throughout this semester our group has been working on a presentation that centers on the advertisement world. We decided to take an in-depth look at how women are portrayed through advertisements spanning from the late 1950’s to today.

We wanted to see how our topic related to our class and ended up finding out more than we thought we would. There were several similarities that we found. Wilson page 75 describes motherhood as one of the hardest and least (money wise) rewarding job. This is something that we found of interest because most of the older commercials that we found were portraying women as homemakers rather than businesswomen. It would have been a sin for a woman to work rather than to be a mother. In our class we have learned what hardships women like, Alice Paul went through to advance women to the point that they could be considered equal to men; and these commercials show women solely as homemakers- chipping away at everything the women before them had done.

The sexual nature that advertisements uses create a false image that causes women to feel like they aren’t good enough. “’Companies rush to create emotional relationships… centered on idealized notions of how their bodies should look and what they should buy.’” (Wilson, 123) This shines through the whole presentation spanning from the late 1950’s until today.

We have also included advancements in advertisements, for example Dove- the soap company is working hard to make sure that women of all ages love their bodies for what they are- not what society tells them it should look like. “The Dove Self-Esteem Fund was developed to help free the next generation from self-limiting beauty stereotypes.” (Campaignforrealbeauty.com)

I have learned a lot about myself and a lot about leadership through this project. I have learned that if you see a problem, you should work to fix it. There are so many different ways that we can help get the word out about this ongoing epidemic, and we hope that this presentation will bring light to this subject and help our peers see the unequal treatment that women have in advertisements.

Blog Posting, Laura Ann

There isn't any reading due for today and I was sick last week so I missed the speakers. I suppose that I will just blog on the class and what it has taught me.

I have really enjoyed this class because it has taught me how far women have come and how far women still need to go in respect to equal treatment. I think that since the class was opened up with the movie Iron Jawed Angels it really put the class into the feminist mindset. The film was eye opening because I had never realized how much those women went through to help us get where we are today. This class has helped me to recognize oppression and to try and do something about it. Our group project has also helped me see how women are used to sell products. It never occurred to me before that women were used to sell things- through advertisements. In our project there are different advertisements and commercials going back through history that show how women were told what they were supposed to do (be homemakers) and use sex appeal to sell products. The project really helped me to put into action what we have been learning this whole semester. I have really also enjoyed all of the guest speakers- I am really sad that I missed the last one. They have all taught me something about leadership and the advancement of women. The common theme that they all passed on was passion. If you dont have a passion for what you are doing, then why are you doing it? I really have enjoyed this class and I hope that you continue to offer it so that other students (maybe even a guy or two) can learn from it what we have.

Helen Samhan (Katie LN)

As Shannon said, Helen Samhan did not really discuss leadership directly. However, she did discuss an issue, which affects leaders and really anyone on a basic day-to-day level. It is important to talk about who we are and how we impact the people around us and how they impact us, which seemed to me was a large part of her discussion. Also, it is beneficial, to everyone, when we learn about cultures and beliefs other our own. From the very involved discussion we had in class, I think people were learning from this and definitely benefiting from.
It was interesting to hear the different statistics she gave about what American’s want & value versus what Arab speaking person’s want & value. While I was not surprised by the information, I can see how many it would surprise so many people. Finally, watching the film was really interesting. It was good to see the different the perspectives the women had.

She was by far my favorite speaker. It was really interesting to hear the history of how the Arabs migrated to this country. I did not realize that the earliest immigrants likely had an easier time adjusting to the American lifestyle, compared to later immigrants. One would think that with more knowledge about other countries and better means to communicate, it would have been the other way around. However, it made sense considering a majority of the earlier immigrants were not Muslim.

Last Post: Helen Samhan (Shannon)

As you all know, from my previous reflections on our guest speakers, I have really enjoyed listening to how these influential women first became interested in their own leadership potential. When Helen Samhan spoke to us though, I noticed a distinct difference between her and our other guest speakers because she didn’t really speak of anything specific (an experience or a person) that triggered her interest in her own leadership. She did mention something about her mother’s upbringing that might have contributed to how she was later brought up and the kind of confidence that was instilled in her at a very young age. Samhan talked about how her mother was one of five daughters growing up in the 1920s and how her father encouraged all of them to go out and get an education. This is very interesting to think about considering the time that her mother and her aunts were growing up and how most women were raised primarily to fill the role of wives and mothers. I am sure that this did affect how Samhan was raised and it is probably what made an impact on how she views herself both as a leader and as a woman...

Presentation

Well, I cant send the presentation over email because it is too large... any ideas?

I am trying to send the updated version of the power point out. I think that it might be too big for the mason email... i am sending it from my earthlink. let me know if you didnt get it!

Final section of Exploring Leadership

Although this book was long, and difficult at times to get through, I absolutely loved it and plan on keeping it (rather than selling it) to use as a reference tool in my future leadership roles!
For the last few chapters of the book, I'd like to place most of my focus on the Chapter 14, as I feel that caring for one's own inner-environment is one of the most important aspects of leadership.
The section on Leadership Development as Renewal seems to me not only a great framework for leadership, but definitely a wonderful framework for life as well. I feel so excited by Covey's idea of the 'Principle Centered Leader': "They are continually learning. They are service-oriented. They radiate positive energy. They believe in themselves and in other people. They lead balanced lives. They see life as an adventure. They are synergistic. They exercise for self-renewal." (pp.33-39, 424.)
To take these qualities a step deeper, I think that it would be fair to say that a whole book could be written on how to further cultivate this kind of life style. Currently I'm really exploring within myself, how to be fully who I am, and how that fits in with my relationship to the outside world. I have felt somewhat different from most based on a lot of the questions that I've been asking myself, and feel such a great sense of reaffirmation upon reading (especially) the last section of this book.
A very strong personal belief of mine has always been, that the way we treat ourselves will be directly affected in the way that we treat others. I think that this idea is magnified especially in close-knit group situations. So to pull this idea back into the text, (for me) means that the most important thing I can do to really cultivate the Principle Centered Leader within myself is to first turn all of these ideas inward in the hopes of striving towards increased integration (integrity) which seems to be the foundation of successful leadership.