Map Showing Countries that Ban Physical Punishment of Children

Very interesting map I came across noting which countries ban hitting children as a form of punishment.

Thought it might interest some!

For more information, you can visit this site. Just know it's in Swedish! http://www.raddabarnen.se/barnaga/

A computer has passed the turing test!

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/computer-becomes-first-to-pass-turing-test-in-artificial-intelligence-milestone-but-academics-warn-of-dangerous-future-9508370.html

Letter about Safety on Campus

Hey everybody! Here's the letter I started to write for to possibly send to some place in administration from our class as a whole. The middle paragraph could definitely use some more help, so please comment with other important points you think should be included! It's be awesome if we could start a change as a class, what a great way to spend our last week. :)

To whom it may concern:

We are members of a course entitled COMM146: Feminism and Technology. In our final projects, we strove to create feminist maps, maps that describe surroundings in ways to make the invisible, visible. Three groups conducted maps featuring issues of violent crime on campus, including special notes of violent crime against women. Their findings spurred discussion where we as a class became concerned when we noticed things that we felt were not addressed enough as a campus trying to protect its students.

Firstly, the crimes that were documented by the class project studies were in a large part found to happen in broad places; not in the parking lots and remote places on campus as teachings and warnings suggest. As students, we had never been told of the possibility that you might be attacked in places you are most comfortable (for example, around Price Center or in front of Geisel Library). Secondly, out of the eleven emergency blue posts on this campus, we noticed that on the west side of campus there is a significant lack of posts compared to the other comprehensive sides of campus. Additionally, the knowledge of what to do with these emergency tools is lacking, and how long would it take for an emergency service to be you.

Overall, there is a lack of emergency assault awareness, and an overall lack of proper surveillance, or knowledge of surveillance on the UC San Diego campus. We are concerned, and believe it is of special importance to start a dialogue on how to better promote safety, and awareness of safety issues on campus.

Sincerely

SP’14 Class of Comm: 146 Feminism & Technology

Passage - Indie Game

This week's topics on video/computer games reminded me of a game I came across a few years ago, called Passage. It's a short game, 5 minutes long, and is of a fairly simple design, heavily pixelated. It basically is a character going through a maze....I think the game is better experienced without much more of an explanation!

Here's the download link:
http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/passage/
Watch a walkthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3o0HFXPfco

I've posted some of my own thoughts about it in a comment below. If you play it, let me know your thoughts!

Hashtag Feminism

http://www.hashtagfeminism.com

Wikipedia - Gypsy Robe

I thought my previous experience dabbling in HTML would help me out with the Wikipedia assignment, which didn't prove to be the case at all. I began by watching the videos that Wikipedia shows you when you sign up, which were rather confusing but somewhat helpful. I chose to edit the Gypsy Robe article because it's a subject that I felt knowledgeable in, and because I already felt the pressure on editing something on Wikipedia with such a large audience, this seemed the safe route for me.

I began by first copying Gyspy Robe wikicode and played with it on sandbox. Even though my work on sandbox was just for me, I found myself being very careful with the words I chose. After becoming a bit more familiar with wikicode, I then moved onto the actual Gypsy Robe wikipedia page to edit. The original page wasn't as detailed as I thought it could be, so I went over to the Actor's Equity Association website and did more research on the ritual, the rules, who's present, and the meaning on passing the robe and adding momentos to it.

With that information now at hand, I created a more structured page by creating a Ritual header, and explaining the ritual, and then going on to state the rules of the ritual. I pushed the original text that had the history to the bottom of the page, now with it's own header as well. 

The last thing I wanted to do was add an image of the gypsy robe at the top of the page, but that proved to be the most difficult task. Through trying to find out how I could upload an image, I learned that Wikipedia only accepts images from Wikimedia Commons, and that the image was able to be legally shared. I tried uploading an image, but I was instructed to choose what creative commons the image had, which I of course did not know. Even then I was tempted to upload it and see what happened, but I chose not to, since I'm intimidated by how large Wikipedia is, and what could have been the consequence. So next, I went to getty, wire images, and advanced search on google images to find an image of the gypsy robe that I could legally use. That proved to be a dead end as well. While I found many images, all of them asked for monetary compensation to use said images.

I think the biggest challenge of this assignment might have been myself. Throughout this entire process, I couldn't help but be aware of the large audience that Wikipedia has, and I ended up second guessing the language I used, thinking it wasn't professional enough or how it would be received by wiki users. 

Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy_Robe

Wikipedia username: smthisisu

The original Gypsy Robe page

Editing the page

My edits live on the gypsy robe page

Ethnography Reflections

For my ethnography assignment I went to the Starbucks in the Costa Verde Plaza. I went in with the intention of observing how people interact with their technologies when they are around other people who are also interacting with technologies. This observation was inspired by events in my own life that showed me how connected to my technological devices I am, and how I have integrated the technologies into face to face communication. My roommate and I were sitting in our room together, maybe two feet apart, and we were chatting on Facebook. Then she suddenly breaks the silence in the room and asks "why are we talking to each other on Facebook when we're two feet apart?"

This made me think about just how much I interact with my cell phone and laptop, and what the technologies mean to me. To me, my technologies are communication devices, ways to express myself, and forms of protection. Of course I use my phone and laptop to keep in contact with people--through text messaging, Facebook, Twitter. Or I could turn to my friend and show her something I see on Facebook that I find funny or show her a picture of a dress that I like. But my devices are also ways for me to express myself--taking pictures with my phone and uploading them on Facebook, writing about things that I think are funny on Twitter, and more. These are all uses that are common. But I've come to discover that I also use these devices as a shield. If I see someone I recognize, but don't want to acknowledge them I hide myself behind my phone and act like I'm in the middle of a text or something extremely important, and usually it works.

I thought of how technology can help break awkward boundaries as well. In any other coffee shop I probably wouldn't approach a random stranger with as much ease as I do and have seen done at a Starbucks where many people are with their technology. People aren't afraid to sit next to people they don't know so long as there is a device that separates them. In a way, being on our laptops is like entering into a virtual world. Sitting next to someone I don't know isn't uncomfortable because it's like we aren't even next to each other. I saw a lot of this happening at Starbucks--people who don't know each other (I assumed) asking to sit down and essentially invade a person's personal space. Having the common ground of technology in a sense makes people bold. I also noticed a lot of people smiling at their devices, which I know I am also guilty of. It was just funny to see how someone could feel so connected to another person through a device that the device could actually make them smile or laugh.

Technology has become an extension of ourselves. It protects us but also puts us in danger. People think that we are on our phones and laptops too much these days, but these devices have become a part of our lifestyle and our language. This became very evident to me while observing people at Starbucks. Anyways, those are just a few musings I had post-ethnography.

Ethnography: Cat Power

       As an avid animal lover, I decided to take field notes while attending a pet show. On April 25, 2014 I went to the world’s largest pet expo and the OC Fairgrounds which featured all types of products and animals including dogs, birds, reptiles, fish, farm animals and cats. The main event that I intended to observe was the international cat show in which my mom, Diane, had entered our Toyger cat (Tango) in to compete. I do acknowledge that this gave me insider access as a co-exhibitor with my mom. However, this was the first cat show that I had physically been to myself while my mother and the cat have attended several shows before this that I had heard about.
       Within the cat show itself, I was interested in the power relationships between humans and animals. On the mico-level, I observed the interactions that visitors, exhibitors and judges had with the cats and recorded sensory observations between 12:18pm and 1:46pm.
       The use of tools and technology were present in most interactions that humans had with the cats. It was interesting to see how human used these tools to control the animal’s behavior, action and desired appearance. Observing the use of the tools also opened my eyes to greater connections within the human/animal binary.
       I sat in a chair in front of where Tango’s exhibit was set up which gave me a good view of our neighboring cats. To the right of our cage was a large setup of the “American Bob Cat” complete with a 4 foot educational poster atop the cage. Page one of my field notes depicts a sketch of what the cage looked like and my proximity to the bobcats and women exhibitors.
       Around 1pm I was observing visitors interact with the cats and exhibitors around me when I heard the male announcer over there loud speaker say, “ Cat 127 is needed in ring 6, cat 127 please come to ring 6.” At this point the Bobcat lady to my left frantically got up as she realized cat 127 was hers. This lady had short grey hair and glasses and was wearing a black shirt that said “bow wow” and black pants. She was thin with a slightly hunched over stance eluding that she was older in age. She stool up from the chair and proceeded to pull the bob cat out of the cage with one hand and pick up a grooming bag with the other. She placed the cat on the small table that was unfolded in front of her station and it sat there for a few seconds as she rummaged through her bag. The first item that she pulled out from the bag was a Q-tip which she used to clean out the gunk in the eyes of her cat. Her left had held the head of the cat still as she poked and prodded the cat’s eyes to her liking. The cat responded by wiggling it’s tail but did not try to escape or pull away from the lady’s hand or tool. After finishing with the Q-tip, the lady pulled a brush out of her bad and began fluffing the hair around the cat’s face and tail. Again, the cat did not even flinch when the brush went near the animal. At this point the lady was really close to the cat and hunched over with  only a few inches separating her face and the cat. I then noticed a tissue paper-like collar around the cat’s neck that was keeping its hair from “unfluffing”. This tool did not seem to bother the cat either as the cat did not try to rip the collar off or respond angrily. The lady pulled the tissue collar off and reached back into her bag one more time. She pulled out a bottle of baby powder and I honestly had no idea what she was going to use this for. Her left hand grabbed the cat’s tail and lifted it up and she used her right hand to squirt the baby powder onto the cat’s butt. A large cloud of powder dispersed into the air and the aroma of the cat show turned form smelling like a litter box to a baby’s nursery. Once again, the cat did not mind having powder thrown all over it and complied with the tools and human direction it was given.
       Within this context the lady (human) had control and power over the cat (animal). She exerted this power through the help of tools to groom and prep the cat the way that she wanted. The cat did not retaliate but instead  complied with what the lady wanted the cat to do and how the lady wanted the cat to respond to the tools. These observations have reinforced the power relationship of human over animal. I have concluded that animals learn to behave in the ways that people want them to behave.
       Further analysis of my field notes and observations have brought me to think about topics that we discussed in class during the first few weeks of lecture. In, “A Cyborg Manifesto” Donna Haraway discusses anthropomorphism in which human form or attributes are ascribed to something non-human. While observing the lady, I could not help but attribute grooming her cat to that of taking care of a baby. The same human tools that would be used to take care of a baby were used when addressing the cat. Both baby and the cat had the same smell of “baby powder” and the helpless reaction that the cat had to the lady’s actions were similar to those of a baby. To further solidify my connection, continued observation revealed the lady feeding her cat literal baby food with a spoon through the cage. 

Ethnography

          On Monday April 28, 2014 at 1:56pm I made my way to the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. While observing a woman and two men she was with and an older couple, I noticed that a museum filled with thousands of dollars worth of beautiful art work was not nearly as enticing to them as the ocean view was. I found it interesting to see them enjoy the ocean view in a space where people go to look art work.

When I walked into the first room, I noticed two men staring at a piece by William Powhida, How to Destroy LA. They both had their arms crossed, stood fairly close to the piece for a good three minutes reading the words and phrases and never exchanged any words with each other. They were dressed very casually wearing capri like shorts, sneakers, tank top, and one of them had a camera around his neck, although I never saw him use it. As they made their way to the next several pieces of art work, one of the guys walked over to the woman. They admired a piece by Ramiro Gomez, Yahaira with the Laundry Basket. She was dressed in jeans, black sweater, sneakers, a fanny pack around her waist, and a purse hanging from her shoulder. She pointed to something in the painting and started to speak in Spanish with the man. They continued to speak in Spanish as they made their way to the last few paintings in that room.

I continued to walk around the museum where I ran into the woman again. This time she is alone sitting on a beach in a room with a huge window that overlooks the ocean. She reached in her bag to grab a notebook/journal and starts writing. Her comportment seemed relaxed as her legs were crossed writing in her journal with an ocean view in front of her. She just sits there for eight minutes before one of the guys she is with comes over and sits next to her. I could not tell how close they were sitting from where I was standing. They sat on the bench and looked out of the window as they spoke in Spanish. I went around the museum again making sure I saw everything before heading outside. I walked back to see if they were still sitting there and they still were. It must have been about fifteen minutes since I left and came back to see them still talking to each other as they waited for the other man to join them.

I finally made my way outside to enjoy the scenery and sunshine myself  when I saw a older couple, old enough to be my grandparents, sitting on a beach in the shade looking out at the ocean and the construction men working down below. The older man was wearing glasses, a baseball cap, long gray sweatpants, and a jacket. The woman was wearing leggings and a red sweater. The older man sat on a padded cushion with his back hunched over. The woman’s comportment was upright sitting at the edge of the bench watching the men work down below. She got up a few times to watch what they were doing, and she seemed to come back and till the older man. They reach into the paper bag, which is in the middle of them, and eat a snack as they enjoy the view. As time passed by, the older man dozed off. The woman sat next to him peacefully with her legs crossed. At that moment, I started to think about my own grandparents and how they could just sit next to each other, not say a word, and just enjoy each other’s company and the space around them. I remember watching my grandpa fall asleep in his rocking chair in the middle of the afternoon on a peaceful day such as this one. The sound of the drill woke up the older man. It must have been a good thirty minutes from when I first came outside and watched them. As they got up to leave, the older woman held the bag and the cushion in one hand and held the door open for the older man in the other. She turned to him and said, “I don’t think this is the way we came in.” I sat outside for a few more minutes before I made my way back to the museum.

I enjoyed my time at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. I was not expecting to document people enjoying the ocean view and sitting peacefully admiring the view at a museum. I thought I would find myself looking at people gazing at the art work, taking photos, standing at different distances and angels, and admiring their facial expressions as they walk around. It was interesting watching these five people in this space enjoying and taking in something other than the art work.  

Updated Wikipedia Edit

Since I was having such a hard time creating a page for Lynn Randolph, I decided to go a different  route by adding Randolph to an existing page, Donna Haraway. In a couple of weeks, if it has not been removed, I will try to create a page for Lynn Randolph by the link on Haraway's page.
This is what I recently added to Haraway's page:  Haraway participated in a collaborative exchange with the eminent feminist theorist Lynn Randolph from 1990 to 1996. Their engagement with specific ideas relating to feminism, technoscience, political consciousness, and other social issues, formed the images and narrative of Haraway's book. ^[4] 

Wiki - Asian American Studies

Wikipedia username: jujuw (Juliana "Juju" Wong)

Hi Classmates!

I apologize for this post being a bit delayed, but it was because I was waiting to see if any flags or significant changes were going to be implemented on my post (which haven't happened yet). I chose to edit the "Asian American Studies" page because I wanted to choose a topic that I was interesting and relevant to my life, and this happened to pop up in my head. A lot of student activism work is being done by student leaders on the UCSD campus to establish an Asian American Studies minor on our campus. Our undergraduate student population is made up of approximately 50% Asian/American students, but we do not have a resource center or curriculum that educates students about the historical experiences, cultural politics, and social movements that have affected half of the student population. Within the Ethnic Studies department, there are only a few classes that address Asian American issues and there is a push to expand the availability of those courses and to recruit faculty to teach them.

For my entry, I decided to add more specific key concepts that topics that Asian American Studies overall addresses because the previous entry was very brief. I decided to keep my information general first, because I had to remember that not everybody who reads the article would have taken a Sociology or Ethnic Studies course. Here is what I added:

More general information about Asian American Studies.

Specific topics that the UCLA AAS department focuses on.

Prior to my entry, there were no citations at all for this Wikipedia entry. With my additions, I added a scholarly journal article and a link to the UCLA Asian American Studies Department website. Nothing has really happened yet for my entry, in terms of any conflicts or flags by others, so I'm just waiting to see if any activity will happen. In the meantime, I hope to add more information to the page, and see if anything will happen if I bring up more sensitive or critical issues about the topic. I'm glad I finally chose this topic because this really resonates with "the political is the personal" theme in our class, and it's an issue that is currently being debated and taking action upon on the UCSD campus, which affects the stories and experiences of many students, including myself.

People of color in European art history

Hi everyone,

I recently ran into this blog that made me think of the "recovered histories" bit of the Feminism 101 slide. Though this is more focused on people of color in general rather than just women, I thought it was really interesting and I wanted to share. I think the blog is all run by just one person, but they do a great job highlighting just how much the presence of POCs in European history has been erased. I personally always had the impression that there were very few POCs in Europe before the 1800s or so for some reason, but it turns out that many were actually portrayed in many works of art. I think we all know at this point that POCs and women are often erased from history, but it's sort of jarring to think that art history might also have a role in that. The blog runner also engages in a lot of interesting discussion on their tumblr.

Here is the link:
http://medievalpoc.tumblr.com/

If you'd like to see just the artwork:
http://medievalpoc.org/

Time's 100 most influential people issue

41 women 59 men
 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-beyonce-time-100-most-influential-20140424,0,1383902.story?track=rss#axzz2zsKknHYt

Gender Discrimination on Wikipedia

I had taken a 100 series class with Professor Cartwright a few quarters ago, and recall us listen to a guest speaker. She was an avid editor on Wikipedia and discussed to the class how she began editing with a pseudonym that did not reveal her gender; however, once her name was revealed, she began being more harshly critiqued for her work. When we were given this Wikipedia assignment in Comm 146, I remembered that previous discussion and wanted to hopefully write about that issue on a wiki page.

At first, I had trouble deciding which article would fit best with this topic. The articles on pseudonym, systemic bias, discrimination, and glass ceiling were the four articles I was deciding on. I decided to edit the "Discrimination" page because it had a section on sexual discrimination, and had touched a bit on work related gender conflicts.

Before:

During: After completing my paragraph, I realized that I had missed a citation, and had cited my sources in an incorrect format. 

After:

Username: an108

Before hearing the guest speaker, and learning about feminist IT, I was not aware of the issues that women face in online workplace settings. I assumed that Wikipedia had a fairly equal representation of all sexes and genders. However, by doing my own research and editing this article, I was able to see gender stereotypes (i.e. the broom when I did my citation incorrectly) and bias that works amonst Wikipedia. 

Wiki

For the Wiki Project, I tried to look at the different projects that are available that I can be a part of. I thought it was really hard because when I open the page I was like...omg html. Although I have dealt with html before, it is different when looking at a blank page and starting it yourself rather than actually looking at someone else that already started on it and try fixing that. I looked at Vietnamese articles that needed to be edited but there wasn't any.

I find it the more up to date or relevant subjects has more details or information, while things that aren't are not. Which makes total sense because of course, they would want to update the article more. First priority while the others are back burners. I was looking up Vietnamese Pop (V-Pop and I notice some of the entertainment, although  I believe are very well known does not have links to their own wiki page. Realizing that although it might be popular in my culture/perspective, in the more general media, it might not be. So instead, I decided to edit some of the page just grammar wise.

It is amazing how before anybody can edit Wikipedia and at anytime. Now there are lots of rules and restrictions and even when you post it up, it might get taken down right away. I think it is a good idea because than then information is more legitimatized but, it is also bad because some information might not make it to the page because it is viewed as not important, relevant, or truthful right away without more investigations.

"The Voices of Women in the Super Smash Brothers Community"

On Tuesday we discuss the idea of femininity and also the virtual world, especially regarding video games. Although I myself was never really a gamer I have friends that do. Some are very into it but, very rarely do you find female as extreme gamers, competitively. Is it because it is a "men's" sport or is it just because we are under represented? Especially because a lot of time women are hiding their true identity because of the remarks that they often get in the virtual world.

This was an article a friend of my posted on the different statistic that women has to face just in the game  Super Smash Brothers alone. Although things are changing and more female are getting involved in the gaming community, the issues is still prominent. Like a lot of the quotes on the data, the virtual world is a way that, like in the olden days when women use a pseudo name in order to get their works publish, a lot of female gamers hide their identities to be well respected. I wonder, whenever you play games online or anywhere have you heard the phrase, "Oh I was going easy on you because you were a girl," after you won a game? Why can't we win because we are actually good?

Another thing about the virtual world in gaming is sex still sell. A friend of mine who plays League of Legends showed me a space where people can watch other people play the game. A lot of time, girls allowed this to happen so that they can gain points or prizes to help them in the game itself. For me, I find it uncomfortable if people watch me play in person let alone online. Who know what they are doing. These women is using there sexuality, or looks, to gain power in the game. Yet, are these women using their sexuality to gain control and power for themselves and for women or are we going backwards again, exploiting ourselves even more by doing so? A questions often ask when dealing with femininity and ways that women use it.

Nikki S. Lee

In class, I remember Prof Cartwright mentioned the contemporary artist Nikki. S. Lee as we talked about Lynn Hershman Leeson. I took great interest in her work and decided to look more into her work on the Internet. From what I remember, she is a successor of Leeson’s work and is a famous contemporary artist. However, I had trouble finding more information on her. Since she is supposedly a renowned contemporary female artist and has had solo exhibitions in major institutions and museums such as LACMA and the Guggenheim, I was surprised that there is very limited information about her on her Wikipedia page. The only two sections that existed on her page were “education” and “career.” Therefore, I decided to make some changes. First, I changed the title “career” to “work” because I thought that was more professional in a sense. I looked at the Wikipedia pages of Cindy Sherman, Lynn Hershman Leeson, and Adrian Piper, and they had a section under “work.” In addition, I added more descriptions to her works.  

Pre-edit

Post-edit

 

Similar to the little amount of information of Nikki S. Lee on Wikipedia, there was limited information of her on the Internet in general. Therefore, adding more detailed information to the page was a challenge. However, I hope the edits I made to the page will help the readers understand this contemporary artist in a more in depth sence.

Peggy Rajski Wikipedia page and Trevor movie update

So, I decided to face my HTML fears and go for it with the Peggy Rajski page. To my surprise, it was not as bad as I thought it would be and I found it rather exciting (it took me back to the days of MySpace page layouts). Anyways, I used sandbox to put together the information that I had gathered on Rajski, making sure to use as many secondary sources I could find and reference, including a New York Times article containing a wedding announcement for Peggy in 1983 (information that can be used for a potential "Personal Life" section). I was also able to internally link to plenty of different Wiki sites (NYU, Tisch School of Arts, Academy Awards, Trevor [movie], and the Trevor Project). Once I put together everything that I had had about Peggy on Sandbox, I submitted the article for review.

During my research of Peggy, I stumbled upon an article written about her discussing the inspiration for her most successful movie, Trevor, came from a NPR broadcast about teen suicide. I thought this information was highly relevant to the Trevor Wikipedia page, so I decided to add that information on the Trevor movie wiki, as well as a link/reference to the article that I found the information on.

Sierra Demulder Wikipedia Article

For my Wikistorming project, I decided to create a wikipedia page for my favorite spoken word poet. As you can see, it is currently a little threadbare because I did have trouble finding facts about her that I could attribute to a "credible" source. Also, I noticed that with Wikipedia, you have to take baby steps. With this page, I wasn't allowed to have a picture uploaded to the wikipedia database because there wasn't a page for her yet. I hope I have enough here that those in charge will be willing to keep it up. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone was willing to help me with research for it, even if you haven't heard of her yet. She is currently on of the most highly decorated performance poet and I think that deserves a little pat on the back. I think she is particularly relevant for this class because many of her poems are feministic and she is a self-proclaimed feminist that has received most of her acclaim over the internet and Youtube. Even if spoken word isn't your think, I suggest you check out one of her most recent poems, Today Means Amen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV-gqLaipW4). Its just one of those videos that will seriously brighten your day if you're not feeling your best.

Best,
Cameron

Bridesmaids

After much browsing, I decided to edit the page of the film, "Bridesmaids" for my Wikipedia assignment. I have a lot of interest in the film and television industry, and thought editing a page on a groundbreaking show/film with women would be perfect for this assignment. Kristen Wiig is one of the most successful comedic actresses today, and the success of the film, "Bridesmaids" reflected the first (of hopefully many more to come) all-female cast to generate a huge box-office hit. It brought to attention that an all-female comedy can produce revenue for the studio, while pleasing audiences and critics alike. It was truly a big deal for women in comedy.

The "Bridesmaids" page was already appropriately filled in most of its aspects, but I thought it lacked emphasis on the significance of its success. They already had a "Critical Reception" section so I decided to edit and contribute to this portion of the page. Along with editing and slightly reformatting the existing section, I added a few more reviews on the film that highlighted the magnitude of its success. I wanted to specifically make it known that the film was one of the first of its kind, and how important it was to not only women in comedy, but the film industry as a whole. With the right qualities, female-driven comedies are more than capable of succeeding, just like their male counterparts. Women can be funny, and despite their minority presence in the industry, can write just as well.

Before:

Edits:

After:

Editor name: esyim

In doing these edits, I found that despite doing this for a class assignment, it was rewarding to have ownership over something that could be seen by a countless number of people. I don’t suspect too many edits on my own edits, unless there were complications with citations. I think I emphasized information that was well known and thought of, which aligned with the flow of what was already there. Assuming that my edits won't be taken down, I had a sense of pride knowing that people are becoming more aware of the significance of this film because of my edits. I hope my contributions to this page promoted a positive image of women in the film industry, their capabilities, and the triumphs they will continue to achieve.

Wiki Assignment Planned Parenthood v. Casey

Wiki Assignment COMM 146

This wiki assignment proved to be a little more challenging than the one I did in COMM 100B. This assignment had an extra component to it, relating it back to feminism and technology. I am particularly interested in law so I wanted to do this assignment on a law case. At first, I wanted to edit the wiki article on Roe v. Wade. Unfortunately, the article was locked and you had to request access to edit it. I am assuming that because of the large amounts of controversy behind it, Wikipedia has taken extra precautions in who can edit the article. So I decided to edit Planned Parenthood v. Casey, another controversial case, tied in with Roe v. Wade. This is kind of the overlooked abortion case and has greater precedent than Roe v. Wade.

The law is a very interesting thing. A lot of people think that it is neutral in all aspects of life. However, a closer analysis of the law shows that it is patriarchal. The Supreme Court has had four female justices in its existence, which means that most of the opinion writing is based on male perspective. Especially with abortion, there is a lot of male perspective. After reading the Wikipedia article on Planned Parenthood v. Casey, I realized that women are not really mentioned in the article. The law treats women as a commodity, something that can be bartered. I sought to change that discourse with my two edits. The first in adding the first paragraph above and then second adding the second sentence in the paragraph talking about the Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision. I wanted to add these two edits because I feel that it brought out a different perspective on this case, that it is not just about whether an abortion is constitutional, but about women, treating them with respect and not an object. The liberty of women is rarely mentioned in this Wikipedia article, if not at all, and I wanted to bring that out.  

Wikistorming - Joanna Coles

Hi everyone, so I created a page for Joanna Coles, since I recognized her name when I went down Wikipedia's list of recommended people who should have their own page but do not. She is a magazine editor, who's the current editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine. I want to be a magazine editor someday, and even though I don't read Cosmopolitan myself, I know her as a public figure. She's pretty well known since she was a celebrity judge on Project Runway: All Stars and had cameos on a reality TV show for Marie Claire when she worked there, so I was surprised that she didn't already have her own Wiki page, especially when other prominent women magazine editors do. When I started doing research on her, I was surprised by the amount she's spoken out about feminism. It made me feel that this was even more fitting for our class, as she brings up interesting/perhaps controversial points. This is what her page looked like before I added anything:

Echoing what everyone else said, this assignment was a lot harder than I expected. It was definitely a bit difficult to get familiar with how to edit on Wikipedia (since this was my first time), and then having to find legitimate research and citing properly was pretty tedious. But it definitely feels good to now have the finished product! Here's what I contributed:

My username: kianala
The URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kianala/Joanna_Coles (my submission is waiting to be reviewed for approval)