Congratulations WSAC! We raised a total of $170 dollars participating in this past weekend’s 2011 DC Stop Modern Slavery Walk! We surpassed our $100 dollar goal, and helped contribute to the $67,326 raised by all the teams and partners.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for coming out on that cold, dreary Saturday morning(with smiles on your faces, no less)! We are so thrilled with the turnout, and even more thrilled that our team was so genuinely interested in making this cause known.

For me, it was incredibly powerful to be taking a stand with thousands of other people to raise awareness about human trafficking. I could not be more satisfied with my miniscule role in such an important matter. What better way to lend my voice than to speak for those who have been silenced by modern day slavery? I am both humbled and inspired by the courage of the survivors who led us in the walk. They shared their stories with a crowd of so many in an effort to prevent what happened to them from happening to others.

If you were there with us on Saturday morning, you already know the statistics. You already know that human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world. You already know that 27 million people are enslaved today, even here in Washington, DC. You already know the difference you can make, and the people you can help. But if you don’t know and are interested in learning more, please do your research… slavery is too important to ignore.

Here are a few pictures from Saturday. If you’d like to see all our pictures from the walk, you can view them on our facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.292192600799539.77240.223716904313776&type=3

Some of our amazing team members!

WSAC representing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial!

WSAC e-board L-R: Keesha Desormeaux, Lynn Blake, Morgan Carrillo, Victoria Turcios

The following post was written by guest blogger, Lynn Blake. Lynn is a freshman this year at Trinity and a Programmer for The Women’s Student Action Coalition.

Companies are always trying to come up with the next big thing. But, who would have guessed that sexism would have been on the list? Recently, Dr. Pepper launched a new ad campaign for their new flavor. Bold Dr. Pepper is promoted as being a healthier alternative to regular Dr. Pepper due to its lessened calorie count. Sure, that sounds all well and good, until you go to the Dr. Pepper marketing tactics. On commercials, they state that this new intensity isn’t fit for women, and it is something that only men can handle. However, their most prominent misdemeanor can be found on a social media page. A new Facebook application put out by Dr. Pepper Bold has the tagline “It’s not for women”. On the page, (that was until recently, not able to even be accessed by women), it has a “man grade” quiz (where your abilities in pursuits such as baseball, jump starting cars, and quoting movies are put to the test), a man video section (chock full of clips that contain things that “women don’t understand”, a manly shooting gallery (where the object is to destroy high heels, unicorns, and rainbows among other “feminine” items), and “man-cronyms” to promote their drink as well as misogyny (for example, men act nobly ladies yawn (M.A.N.L.Y.). How is this acceptable when half of Facebook users are women? Better yet, how are both Facebook and the Dr. Pepper Company allowing this application to even exist?

We, as ethical human beings, should stand up and protest this existence of this advertising campaign. Here is the link to a petition I started to stop the use of sexism as a sales pitch:
http://signon.org/sign/tell-dr-pepper-that-women?source=c.url&r_by=1439601

There are currently 27 Million people still enslaved today!

Join WSAC’s team for the 2011 Stop Modern Slavery Walk on Oct. 22nd, 2011, and help combat human trafficking! 

***We will meet at the 7:00 a.m. shuttle to get there and register by 8 a.m.*** This walk has a $5 student fee, but you get a t-shirt and it goes to a good cause!

**Make sure to bring your student I.D.**

Click here to register to walk with WSAC by Oct. 19: http://sms.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=482690&lis=1&kntae482690=1FB08C78F7B44B34A447669E408CADF8&team=4874518

On Thursday, the house passed H.R. 358, the Protect Life Act. Among the various items included in the bill, it claims to “prohibit federal funds from being used to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion services.” (FYI: This part of the bill doesn’t even make sense because the Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal funding of abortions since 1976) But the bill goes farther than that. Another fine-print clause of this bill permits hospitals to deny women an abortion, even if an abortion is medically necessary to save her life.

Many people who argue that abortion is wrong believe that abortion is murder. Seeing as the woman will most likely die without the procedure, can someone please explain to me how that’s not murder, too? The likely result of denying a woman a medically necessary abortion is that both she and the fetus will die. Isn’t saving one life better than none at all? Shouldn’t we want to protect the sanctity of ALL LIFE?

While this bill is unlikely to pass the senate, the fact that even one person voted on something so discriminatory and misogynistic is absolutely appalling. It has never been more apparent to me how little the life of a woman is valued in our patriarchal society. Once again, the Republicans are content to ignore every other important issue under the sun and instead focus on taking away the reproductive rights of women. This passing further exemplifies the fact that Republicans are willing to force their religious ideology into law, even if it means endangering human lives. There are many things that are debatable about abortions, but medically necessary ones shouldn’t be. This bill doesn’t protect lives at all, but if it were to become law, it would undeniably take them.

Come share your opinions and questions relating to feminism at our first FISHBOWL! This Monday Oct 3, 2011 at 3:45pm in the Rose Parlor. BE THERE!