This week’s readings were over Chapter 7 on Advocacy and Chapter 8 on Arts and Culture. Both of these topics were very interesting to me and sparked some of my own personal experience within these areas.
The chapter over advocacy within the nonprofit sector was particularly interesting when the progression of movements was discussed. It’s amazing to think that such large movements could start from such humble beginnings. The suffrage movement is a great example of this. Starting with abolitionist activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the suffrage movement was brought to the public’s attention which lead up to decades and decades of women fighting for their right to vote. More influential women hopped on board like Lucy Stone who organized the National Women’s Right Convention which in return brought another feminist household name, Susan B. Anthony. To me, this is remarkable to think about because these women started with no political power and through hard work and perseverance they prompted the fight that eventually led to a women’s vote in 1920. Within this example, many aspects of societal movements can be observed. The process of a few citizens recognizing a problem, organizing and holding conferences, and holding direct action protests all led up to getting the whole country to recognize and get behind their cause. This movement was a building block for the various nonprofit women’s groups and clubs founded afterwards and the later struggles for affirmative action and the fight for more rights for women within their jobs. Although it might seem a little farfetched, the suffrage movement greatly contributed to the underlying attitude regarding issues such as abortion where the pro-choice opinion stressed the importance for a women’s right to “choose”.
The book further explains this progression by describing how “Fundamental issues such as women’s rights and environmental threat were not going to disappear because they were no longer trendy”. I found this sentence particularly true as few women now identify directly with being a suffragist, but instead now identify as radical feminists who are battling how the media defines them and giving the green light to those who are breaking out of gender roles. These new ideas are trendy and are slowly progressing into societal norms which will eventually have to be implemented into legislation in order for our government to keep up with the attitude and beliefs of the people. Two hundred years ago women couldn’t even obtain legal rights to her family’s land if her husband died. Our culture has come a long way from that through movements that started with a few women and have progressed into what is now the current movement known as third-wave feminism.
In Chapter 8 the issue of Arts within the United State’s nonprofit sector and government sector was discussed. Several times the book brought up the issue of whether or not the government should fund more art-focused nonprofits. It is no secret that nonprofits always need more money for their projects but it is arguable if the money is worth the price the government holds on the creative outlet of our country. The government basically already owns what we hear on the news and the subjective opinion we have on the world, so it seems that art is the last remaining outlet and medium that citizens have to express themselves and their beliefs. I think this statistic that the book provides explains the self-regulating importance that art holds within in our country:
This statistic illustrates the power and opinion the consumer holds within their opinion of the importance of art within their culture despite the distinction between “art and entertainment”, because I believe that entertainment is a way to both showcase art and to help it continue through the vote of an individual that is represented by their dollar spent.
The chapter over advocacy within the nonprofit sector was particularly interesting when the progression of movements was discussed. It’s amazing to think that such large movements could start from such humble beginnings. The suffrage movement is a great example of this. Starting with abolitionist activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the suffrage movement was brought to the public’s attention which lead up to decades and decades of women fighting for their right to vote. More influential women hopped on board like Lucy Stone who organized the National Women’s Right Convention which in return brought another feminist household name, Susan B. Anthony. To me, this is remarkable to think about because these women started with no political power and through hard work and perseverance they prompted the fight that eventually led to a women’s vote in 1920. Within this example, many aspects of societal movements can be observed. The process of a few citizens recognizing a problem, organizing and holding conferences, and holding direct action protests all led up to getting the whole country to recognize and get behind their cause. This movement was a building block for the various nonprofit women’s groups and clubs founded afterwards and the later struggles for affirmative action and the fight for more rights for women within their jobs. Although it might seem a little farfetched, the suffrage movement greatly contributed to the underlying attitude regarding issues such as abortion where the pro-choice opinion stressed the importance for a women’s right to “choose”.
The book further explains this progression by describing how “Fundamental issues such as women’s rights and environmental threat were not going to disappear because they were no longer trendy”. I found this sentence particularly true as few women now identify directly with being a suffragist, but instead now identify as radical feminists who are battling how the media defines them and giving the green light to those who are breaking out of gender roles. These new ideas are trendy and are slowly progressing into societal norms which will eventually have to be implemented into legislation in order for our government to keep up with the attitude and beliefs of the people. Two hundred years ago women couldn’t even obtain legal rights to her family’s land if her husband died. Our culture has come a long way from that through movements that started with a few women and have progressed into what is now the current movement known as third-wave feminism.
In Chapter 8 the issue of Arts within the United State’s nonprofit sector and government sector was discussed. Several times the book brought up the issue of whether or not the government should fund more art-focused nonprofits. It is no secret that nonprofits always need more money for their projects but it is arguable if the money is worth the price the government holds on the creative outlet of our country. The government basically already owns what we hear on the news and the subjective opinion we have on the world, so it seems that art is the last remaining outlet and medium that citizens have to express themselves and their beliefs. I think this statistic that the book provides explains the self-regulating importance that art holds within in our country:
“A national study found that in 1999 consumers spent $10.2 billion on admissions to performing arts events, as compared with $8.2 billion on spectator sports and $7.4 billion on motion pictures.”
This statistic illustrates the power and opinion the consumer holds within their opinion of the importance of art within their culture despite the distinction between “art and entertainment”, because I believe that entertainment is a way to both showcase art and to help it continue through the vote of an individual that is represented by their dollar spent.
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