Gender Representation and Objectification in Advertising

Welcome to the class blog! The John Jay - Vera Fellows Program is a collaborative effort between John Jay College and the spin-off agencies of the Vera Institute of Justice, combining an internship and participation in a seminar taught by faculty from John Jay's Interdisciplinary Studies Program. (To see a video about the John Jay - Vera Fellows Program, click here.) Part of the seminar experience is weekly participation in the class blog, which keeps the conversation going from week to week and will be a place for you to share your thoughts and concerns about the materials discussed in seminar as well as the internship experience. The opinions expressed on this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of the Vera Institute of Justice or its spin-off organizations. While the blog is open to the public and anyone, theoretically, can comment, only class members and invited guests will be able to post. You can also look for us on our student and alumni page on Facebook.

Each student has been assigned one week to write the "post." Please post within 24 hours after class. Every week, each student must comment on the post (feel free to comment more than once). Please comment by Monday afternoon to allow time for further questions and responses and so that we can read all the entries before class.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Gender Representation and Objectification in Advertising

Hello Everyone,

I want to thank you for all for your participation and the great points you shared yesterday. Before the class ended, we were talking about how masculine images usually represent power, virility, and dominance whereas feminine images show beauty, cooperation, and submissiveness. O’Barr mentions that masculine and feminine attributes vary based on the culture. Having in mind O'Barr's idea, I want to ask you to answer the following questions: How and where did you learn gender roles. What are the gender roles in your culture how does this issue affect our own self-esteem and how we look at others? How can we fight against the objectification of gender?

12 comments:

Danyeli Rodriguez said...: I think I learned gender roles starting at home, but reinforced by different institutions like school, work place, the media, neighborhood, and community. Like any personal circumstance, gender roles begin in our ecosystem and are also influenced by outside contact with the "real world". First, gender roles are enforced in the nuclear household, expanding to distant family members, baby sitters, schools, parent's jobs, eventually, our own work place, and society as a whole through media, policies, laws, and double standards in our own government.

I come from a very Dominican household, but my grandmother lost her husband before I was born, but she had six girls and one boy. I barely had any contact with my uncle, but I was raised by a single mother and even after migration our closest family member is my aunt who is also a single mother (of three). I was not raised in the traditional household. There were barely (if any) men calling the shots. I cannot speak for my entire culture, but the women that raised me were strong, responsible, fighters. I was never exposed to the violence of women directly and my mother has never been what one can call "obedient". As a result, I think I grew up independent, refusing to "act" out traditional "womanly" roles, but feminism has taught me not to judge women that do. There is power in every role, as they keep society functioning.

One way that we can target objectification as a society is to have various representations of people in the media. However, individually? I am unsure how we can even start.; March 27, 2015 at 4:49 PM
Unknown said...: Arturo, great class. Thank you!
However, I still feel concerned about the issue of gender representation. I do not actually see the problem of gender representation. Again, it is my personal opinion and I do not encourage anybody to share my views.
I can not speak for my culture in general because I truly believe that every person is totally different. In my country, every person is different. Russia is huuuge. Every part of the country has its historical influences and its cultural signatures. In my region (North Caucasus), the majority of girls are raised to be support of their husband. And I not mean that we are raised to be submissive or to be less important. I mean that the roles of females in society is as important as the roles of males. On the other hand, I was raised to listen to opinion of the man even though I did not have father.
As a female, I do not feel disadvantaged when I let any man to make decisions for me as long as I agree with that. In my culture, the decisions are made by man with the support of woman. If there is no support, man has to reconsider that decision. Very wage concept. Clearly. However, even if the girl makes decisions, she can let her man to feel like a man.
Therefore, I do not find offensive the advertisement that demonstrates male dominance. At the end of the day, they are the one who suppose to bring money home.
I am not sharing money with my boy friend even considering the fact that we are living together. I pay for school myself and I enjoy being the boss of my own life. However, I do not want to live like that all the time. I do have a lot of leadership experience. In theory, I can continue that life. But, I do not want it. I enjoy living on my own. However, I do not consider having my own business. As female, I want to have a job from 9am to 5 pm and to come back to my family to take care about my household. I do not find it less important/dominant. I find it normal for a girl to take care about family.

Again, I am not asking anyone to agree with my opinion.

The question requests to talk about my culture and that is what I feel. At the end of the day, every one of us sees structure of society, gender roles, ethnic roles, social roles, and ideals differently. That is why, we have to consider other points of view in order to get the ability to further pursue social justice in the society where every one is different.; March 28, 2015 at 2:02 AM
Unknown said...: Thanks for a great class, Arturo! As I wrote in my journal, my parents really didn't endorse gender roles in my household. If I wanted to wear my brother's clothes, that was completely fine. If my brother wanted to play with barbies and have his very own kitchen, that was fine too. However, although we were allowed to be "individuals" and choose our own clothing and toys, we still KNEW that a girl or a boy wasn't supposed to be doing this. How did we know these gender roles if we were not being raised in a gender conforming atmosphere? As Danyeli states in her post, the media and advertisements as well as our macro, meso, and micro systems elsewhere in our lives informed us that our behaviors, mine especially, were "wrong" or efeminite. The advertisements we would see when we were in a toy store showed us a girl playing with her dolly or a boy playing with his J.I. Joe. It was never the other way around. Therefore, I believe I learned my supposed "gender roles" through my interactions with fellow classmates in school as well as through advertisements and the media.

In my culture, it is imperative that a woman be able to cook and clean for her man, as "food is the way to any man's stomach" (direct quote from my grandmother). While my mom never endorsed these roles, my grandmother has lived upstairs from the time I was four and, therefore, had a very large impact on my development. She endorsed these gender roles in many ways, telling me that I neede to get married and have children. I am now constantly in a discourse with myself over my goals in life and the way I was raised. Do I have a child and cook for my husband or do I have a career? Can I do both? Society seems to tell us that a woman has to choose. However, I hope to prove society wrong by doing just that.

I think I look at women differently than men because of the way I was raised and the way my culture views the role of the woman in a family. However, my mother always instilled in me that a woman is capable of many things. I have a mix of both my traditional cultural view of women and my moms new outlook. I am thankful for both perspectives.

As for changing the traditional gendered roles of men and women, I think it would be great to start with advertising. Why not have a little boy and a little girl playing with a truck? I think little things like this could go a long way in changing our outlook on gender and the roles we are "supposed" to be in.; March 28, 2015 at 2:30 PM
bekah giacomantonio said...: I think that we can learn a lot about gender role assumptions in the US by looking at the way that toys are marketed for little kids. Pink, blue, trucks, barbies, the division is clear before humans can even speak. It begins with pink and blue and then develops into dominant and submissive. I think the most important thing to do when discussing gender representation in the US is to remove superlatives. With respect to gender there is no "good" or "bad" way to think, the nature of gender freedom precludes judgement.
I saw myself being shoved into mold of what a woman should be by my family and peers, not for any other reason than that all of them were trying to fit the normative behavior as defined by society. My mom was embarrassed by my leg hair, she thought it would reflect poorly on her and so she consistently scrutinized me for it. She's since given up, she hates it still, but I've been living on my own long enough now that I'm no longer her responsibility. She can't be penalized for my behavior. This is a person who hasn't thought much about why she thinks the things she does, and for the most part, doesn't want to. It was growing up in an environment where people, including my older sister, were constantly trying to impress/fit in/be respected etc that prompted my journey in exploring gender roles, representations and expectations. In watching my dad struggle to accept his sensitiveness, my mother fight to be the best host ever, and my sister shift in the slut/prude/bitch paradigm, I saw a series of unnecessary battles and came to understand that I did not need to wake up early to shave my legs if I did not want to.
Now, I feel free to express myself in whatever way I want to. I think to change representation in the media would have to first start with the way we sell toys, like what lauren said. Imagine an ad with a boy and a girl playing with orange and purple trucks and dolls together and without hesitation. That would start the turn to equilibrium.

I think that the mentions of feminism as Danyeli defined it and the ideas of Marina are important to this dialogue as well. We cannot just talk about "feminism" or "dominance" without understanding that, as I said, there is no right or wrong. Feminism is about agency, the ability to choose what you want. I prefer the term "gender freedom" because I think it covers all the bases and it also recognizes that men have roles to fight as well.; March 30, 2015 at 11:52 AM
Unknown said...: Great job Arturo!
I learned gender roles as did many of you at a very young age through television books and in school. Fortunatley at my school there wasnt much pressure to abiide by the "rules". There were "feminine" men and tomboys. It was a very accepting primary school as well as in my home life.
Latinas and Hispanics are stereotyped in various ways. The women on soap operas are suppose to be the gorgeous stay at home way. While the men work in the office or be a handyman. These roles do not really affect me since my ultimate goal is to stay happy with myself. I've learned that it takes too much energy to conform to something or to be forced into a category.

Regarding the ads and gender roles, I do not believe that they are wrong since many of my friends want to be housewives and they are happy doing that. For others, like myself want other things. Each person is different.; March 30, 2015 at 6:02 PM
Unknown said...: Hi Arturo, really great class! The issues surrounding gender roles and advertising are endless! I feel that any discussion should be preceded by an establishment of the socioeconomic context of the society being discussed. I saw something on a TED talk that really intrigued me: the speaker said that in Cuba, women by and large do not body image issues the way women in America do and, that is because there isn't much (Western) advertising in Cuba. That might be a generalization of course, but that statement really resonated with me. That men and women in Cuba did not have body issues because they are not exposed to the highly airbrushed images we're bombarded with in the U.S, is a really interesting notion to me.; March 30, 2015 at 7:50 PM
Unknown said...: Great class!

A ton of the roles I learned really came from my extended family or community. I learned femininity from watching my aunts and uncles, cousins, other family members interact and the older generations passed on these traditional gender roles down to us.
My parents though gendered only really hold me to stereotypically "feminine" expectations when there are men whom are guest in the house such as my brothers/cousins. I really think these norms are heavily contextualized because I no longer have to impress my parents but I do have to hold a certain standard when others are around especially staying over as guests.
I only feel intimated and burned by these in the contexts when they are activated. I'm pretty reckless when it comes to gender-lines so I'm not concerned. I do think that gender is something we are constantly performing so even though I'm not concerned I am aware that is framing my interactions.
As has been said in seminar I really think that recognizing the value placed on gender and gender norms would really start to facilitate a change. It's not that 'gender' as a concept is inherently bad but its the weight placed on all the constraints that gender carries.; March 31, 2015 at 12:10 AM
Unknown said...: Hello All,

Good job on your class session Arturo. It was full of insightful discussions.
I came to be aware of gender role while growing up in the Congo (DRC). In my family household, we had one room where the guys slept together and another one just for women. Gender role came to my knowledge by noting how we were assigned household’s duty. The women’s role was to wake up ahead of time in the morning and clean the house, make breakfast and cook dinner. On the other hand, the guys were expected to work hard and provide for the family.

The fact that each gender has a role in my culture might be construed as a form of oppression against women. However, I do not consider it as a form of oppression. I view it more as a kind of mutual discipline between both genders, which contribute to the growth and sustainability of the whole organism, in this case the family.

In my opinion, the contributing agent in the process of objectification of women is the woman herself. There is almost no dress code in the way women carry their body. Nowadays, women dress in ways that show no respect for their body. For example, wearing yoga pants, leggings, and other kinds of clothing that stimulate women’s private parts. The media on the other hand, is not starting this process of dehumanization. Instead, the media are reproducing the same standards that women have set for themselves on what it implies to be a woman. With that being the case, the media easily sexualizes the image of women, particularly black women.; March 31, 2015 at 12:52 AM
Unknown said...: I think that the question itself ("Where did you learn gender roles") is very telling in two respects because it assumes that 1) gender is something that is learned and that 2) gender is performed ("roles", as Monica alluded to).

You prompt us to think about how we can combat the objectification of gender (in media/advertising)...I feel that a lot of that objectification is manifested in rape culture, wage gap, cultural stereotypes ("bossy", "bitchy" etc.) and drawing upon some of the ideas discussed in the readings, I would like to discuss the notion of how our consumer choices and the culture of commodification we live in, greatly eases the process of regarding and treating women as objects. Women have always been associated with beauty and seduction and temptation and in a culture of mass consumerism, "sex sells" becomes the mantra for ad companies who aim to boost sales...and that whole profit-making mechanism that exploits women and their inherent aesthetic value has so many ramifications for how we regard our women.; March 31, 2015 at 12:55 AM
Unknown said...: Kevin, I think you mean "other kinds of clothing that stimulate [MEN'S] private parts"...and therein lay the problem.; March 31, 2015 at 12:59 AM
Unknown said...: I think I learned what gender roles are supposed to be from the media and my racist, sexist grandmother. However, I definitely learned how to defy gender roles from my mother. She was completely okay with me being a tom boy and she encouraged me to be who I was. In the south gender roles I think may be more prevalent and important than many places up here. We have debutants balls and much of the focus is on manners and being "lady-like". Luckily my parents didnt buy in to all that. I grew-up with my Granny always saying that I was unlady like and that I should keep my opinions to myself. She was always more interested in the way I dressed and how clean my room was than how good my grades were or how hard I worked. I am lucky that my own parents didn't raise me that way.; March 31, 2015 at 9:40 PM
Unknown said...: Great discussion students! Please be conscious of contradiction in your arguments, it diminishes the power of your points. I know it can be difficult because gender is such a dynamic construct that has been taught to many of us as something that is fixed.

The concept of "Male Gaze" came up as useful during our class discussion. Male gaze is a term discussed by Laura Mulvey in her essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (1975) here is a link to the essay. It further explores and conceptualizes gender representation in the media:
http://imlportfolio.usc.edu/ctcs505/mulveyVisualPleasureNarrativeCinema.pdf. Male gaze is used to describe when the audience is put into the perspective of a (heterosexual) man. Female characters are sexualized, and the camera may zero in on female body parts considered sexual.; April 1, 2015 at 6:55 PM

ALUMNI VOICES

Apollonia Moriarty (JJ '14, Center for Victimization and Safety '13-'14) is living the dream: traveling around the world. Read her insightful blog about her adventures here.

Nico Montano, (JJ/CUNY BA '13, Common Justice '12-'13), is a Marshall scholar studying this year in London. He is also a fantastic photographer. Check out his blog to follow his gorgeous photos and his powerful reflections.

Robert Riggs has recently published an article, "From Punishment to Treatment: A Providers' Perspective on the Implementation of 2009 Rockefeller Drug Law Reforms in New York," that builds on research conducted during his internship with Vera and his work with his mentor, Jim Parsons. You can find it here.

News and Notes

Congratulations to Mentor of the Year Fred Patrick, Director of the Vera Institute's Center for Sentencing and Corrections. President Jeremy Travis presented the award.

Congratulations to Joe Deluca, JJ-Vera Fellow 2012-13. Joe was recently awarded a $3000 “Qualtrics Behavioral Research Grant” to study community attitudes toward people with mental illness and has been honored as a Dignity Recovery Center Fellow by the Mental Health Association of San Francisco and the California Mental Health Services Authority. He will be evaluating a community anti-stigma project. Way to go, Joe!

Congratulations to Nadiya Kostyuk, JJ-Vera Fellow 2010-11, a student in the Political Science/Public Policy PhD program at University of Michigan. Nadiya won a Diversity and Diplomacy Fellowship and will spend June in Europe. She has also been named as a Telluride Scholar. We are so proud of you, Nadiya!

Congratulations to Danyeli Rodriguez, JJ-Vera Fellow 2014-15, who won an Immigrant Justice Corps community fellowship. For the next two years, Danyeli will be working on a range of issues related to immigration justice. Congrats, Danyeli!

Congratulations to James Williams, JJ-Vera Fellow 2013-14, who will be an Urban Fellow starting in the fall. Way to go, James!

MAKE NEW FRIENDS...

The 2015-16 John Jay-Vera Fellows: Nancy Amin, John Fleurimond, Monnero Guervil, Jessica Jean, Marcus Johnson, Nicholas Lung, Gabriella Mungalsingh, Valfrie Plasencia, Jasmine Rasheed, and Andrene Wright. Welcome to the family!

BUT KEEP THE OLD...

This program thrives because of our fabulous mentors. Often the creativity and generosity that makes them excellent mentors facilitates their move to different jobs and projects. But once a mentor, always a mentor. Here's what some of our past mentors are up to now:

Tracy Barker [Esperanza] is now Special Assistant to the President and Executive Vice President of the Child Mind Institute.

Paula Calby [Safe Horizon] is currently a Special Advisor to Vulnerable Youth and Adults at the NYC department for Youth and Community Development.

Crystal Cotton [CJA] is the President of Crystal Clear Connextions, which runs workshops and seminars on human resources and staff development.

Trish Farley [Common Justice] is joining the mental health division as a clinician at the Division of Youth and Family Justice. She will be at the Crossroads juvenile detention facility in Brooklyn.

Thomas Giovanni [NDSH] is Executive Assistant for Government Policy for the Office of the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York.

Wren Longno [HSI] is the Director of Member Services for the Supportive Housing Network of New York. The Network provides public education, research and policy analysis, advocacy, training and technical assistance to the supportive housing community, government and the public at large.

Jessica Penaranda [Safe Horizon ATP] is starting at the Urban Justice Center, which provides direct legal service, advocacy, community education and political organizing to NYC's most vulnerable residents.

John Jay - Vera Alumni Association

See below to learn about where they are now and what they are doing. Fellows and Alums should feel free to contact one another about agencies, job opportunities, questions about grad school, or the fellowship itself. Alums please send information and updates to Professor Caroline Reitz at creitz@jjay.cuny.edu.

Sally Abdelghafar (VF '12-13, CUNY BA '13) [Safe Horizon] is a NYC Teaching Fellow, completing her Master's and teaching at Harvest Collegiate in NYC, where she is also serving as Interim Assistant Principal. Sally is the John Jay - Vera Fellow Alumni President.

Ruby Aguirre (VF '11-12, JJ '12) [JobPath] worked as a full-time support specialist at JobPath from 2012-15, where she interned as a Fellow. She is now a child advocacy coordinator at New York Presbyterian.

Gary Amores (VF '11-12, JJ '12) [CJA] is a ROR Interviewer for the New York Criminal Justice Agency, where he interned as a Fellow. He plans to get a Master's Degree in International Affairs.

Elizabeth Antola (VF '08-09, JJ '10) [CEO] is pursuing a Master's in Criminal Justice at John Jay.

Amanda Aponte Moses (VF '09-10, JJ '11) [Wildcat] interned at Thomson Reuters and the New York "Daily News." She is currently a staff reporter for the "Spring Creek Sun," a community newspaper in Brooklyn.

Kerry Ann Bailey (VF '08-09, JJ '10) [NDSH, Vera] will attend Hofstra law school in the fall of 2015.

Popy Begum (VF '11-12) [CASES] received her Master of Science degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice Research Methods at Oxford University in the U. K. with distinction! Her research focused on human trafficking and forced marriages. She has recently started at job with the Osborne Association as a Re-Entry Specialist, working at Rikers.

Ridhi Berry (VF '08-09, JJ '10) [CJA, CEO].

Jamie Bridgewater (VF '10-11, JJ '12) [Safe Horizon] was a Steamboat Scholar during the summer of 2011 and was the winner of the Outstanding Graduate in English Award in 2012.

Katiria Casilla (VF '09-10, JJ '10) [Safe Horizon] graduated from Brooklyn College with a Master's in Political Science, Urban Policy and Public Administration. She is also working at Columbia University at the School of Nursing and Research.

Roberto Celestin (VF '11-12, JJ '12) [Common Justice] continued his work for Common Justice during the summer of 2012. He is currently attending Baruch College's MPA program with a focus on Public Policy and is an Assistant Supervisor for training in the office of Personnel Services for the Administration of Children Services.

Lisa Chan (VF '09-10, JJ '10) [HSI] is working as a counselor at the Lower East Side Service Center, a methadone-maintenance clinic. She plans to apply to law school.

Danielle D'antuono (VF '09-10, JJ BA/MA '10) [CEO] is Director of Consulting at Yurgorsky Consulting, which focuses on systems and analytics to make NPOs more efficient. She previously worked at CEO for several years after graduating from John Jay.

Joseph Deluca (VF '12-13) [Vera Institute of Justice] received his Master's Degree in Forensic Psychology at John Jay, and has been working as an Assistant Coordinator or the Peer Counseling Center. He is now a PhD candidate at John Jay.

Joseph Dunnigan (VF '10-11) [HSI] has accepted a position with the Criminal Justice Agency as an ROR interviewer.

Timothy Fowler (VF '11-12, JJ '13) [CEO].

Bekah Giacomantonio (VF '14-15) [DV-LEAP] is having a think about what's next, contemplating the Peace Corps or teaching English abroad.

Lauren Giles (VF '14-15, JJ '16) [CJA] is finishing her senior year at John Jay and serving as a Senior Peer in the Peer Counseling Program, as well as the President of Phi Eta Sigma. She was also recently named a Presidential Intern for 2015-16.

Christina Gonzales (VF '10-11, JJ '11) [CEO] is an activist in the campaign against Stop and Frisk and spent a semester of organizing protestors at Occupy Wall Street.

Brenda Gonzalez (VF '14-15, JJ '15) [Fedcap] will be attending the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, with a focus on Organizational Management and Leadership. She will also be working at Safe Horizon as a Case Manager.

David Guadeloupe (VF '12-13, JJ '13) [Esperanza] graduated from John Jay as a Political Science major. He is in his first year of law school at Western New England.

Elias Guevara (VF '09, JJ '11) [CEO], after a medical discharge from the U. S. Marines, finished his BA in Criminal Justice and Public Administration. He is working on his Master's in Public Administration at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Chad Infante (VF'10-11, CUNY BA '11) [CASES] worked at the Black Male Initiative at John Jay after graduation and is now on a full scholarship at Northwestern, pursuing a Ph. D. in literature.

Amanda Ingle (VF '08-09, JJ '09) [Project Renewal, HSI] received her MSW from Hunter. She is now working at the Legal Aid Society's Criminal Defense Practice flagship Manhattan office as a Forensic Social Worker.

Simonne Isaac (VF '13-14, JJ '15) [DV-LEAP] finished her English major at John Jay. She will attend Hofstra law school this fall.

Andre Jackson (VF '12-13) [HSI].

Nadiya Kostyuk (VF '10-11, JJ '11) [NDSH, LEAP] will be leaving her job as the Program Coordinator for the EastWest Institute's Cybersecurity Program, to pursue her PhD at the University of Michigan. It is a joint program in Political Science and Public Policy, with a focus on Cybersecurity. After graduating from John Jay, Nadiya got an MA in Political Science at New York University. Nadiya has recently won a Diversity and Diplomacy Fellowship and will spend the summer in Europe. She has also been named a Telluride Scholar at the U of Michigan.

Marina Kumskova (VF '14-15, JJ '15) [Vera/SUMH] will attend Columbia University in the Human Rights Studies Program.

Sylvie Lamah (VF '12-13, JJ '13) [CEO] graduated as the Outstanding Graduate of History this spring. She will start begin Columbia's MA program in East Asian Regional Studies in the fall.

Minerva Leonardo (VF '12-13, JJ '13) [LEAP] graduated as the Outstanding Graduate from Interdisciplinary Studies from John Jay and is hoping to work in the Dominican Republic.

Christine Leu (VF '11-12, JJ '13) [Esperanza].

Lenecia Lewis (VF '10-11, JJ '12) [Esperanza, Common Justice] will be attending the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, working on a dual M. A. in International Economics and Regional Studies (Middle Eastern concentration). She is also a Charles B. Rangel Fellow, which includes full tuition and stipend courtesy of the U.S. State Department. By the fall of 2015, Lenecia will be a U.S. diplomat.

Emile Lokenauth (VF '10, JJ'10) [The Guardianship Project] is planning to apply to graduate school.

Simon Lou (VF '11-'12, JJ '12) [Safe Horizon] is a graduate student in the PhD Program in Criminology at U of Maryland.

Greta Luback (VF '08-09, JJ '10) [Job Path, Project Renewal] won a Humanities and Justice award from Justice Studies. She is applying to graduate programs in Philosophy.

Kevin Lwango (VF '14-15, JJ '16) [Common Justice] will be a senior at John Jay and applying to grad school.

Dani Marr (VF '11-12, JJ '12) [HSI] graduated from Columbia University's School of Social Work this past spring.

Vaughn Mason (VF '09-10, JJ '10) [NDSH] received the Scholar-Athlete award from the Department of Health and Physical Education.

Nico Montano (VF '12-13, CUNY BA '13) [Common Justice] is a Marshall Scholar. He will be completing a Master's Degree at the University of Liverpool this spring and will then get a second Master's at the London School of Economics in 2014-15.

Marling Montenegro (VF '09-10, JJ MA '12) [CJA] received her Master's in Criminal Justice at John Jay. She is working in security at George Mason University.

Gina Moreno (VF '14-15, JJ '16) [Vera/Pathways] is interning this summer in the office of Council Member Mark Levine. Next year she will be a Tow Policy Advocacy Fellow.

Apollonia Moriarty (VF '13-14, JJ '14) [Center for Victimization and Safety] is exploring the world and thinking about grad school. Oh, and dismantling patriarchy. Go Apple!

Monica Cristina Murillo Parra (VF '14-15, JJ '16) [CASES] is working on her senior thesis at John Jay and thinking about grad school.

Cynthia Navarette (VF '11-12) [LEAP] will be joining the Marines and pursuing her law degree, with the intention of becoming an attorney or judge advocate with the Marines.

Alexander Nechayev (VF '10-11, JJ '11) [CJA].

Anthony Ortiz (VF '13-14, JJ '15) [CJA] will continue his studies at John Jay and his work at CJA.

Ana Paredes (VF '13-14, JJ'15/MA'15) [Esperanza] will be finishing her BA/MA in Forensic Psychology at John Jay this year.

Manuel Patino (VF '09-10, JJ '10) [Esperanza] won the prize for best Justice Studies thesis and worked full time as an education specialist for Esperanza until 2015. Manny is now a Case Manager in the Alternative Sentencing Department of the Queen's District Attorney's Office. He runs the Youth Diversion Program.

Renee Petrucelli (VF '08-09, JJ '09) [Wildcat, LEAP] is a graduate student in the Master's Program in Applied Community and Economic Development at Illinois State University.

Darakshan Raja (VF '08-'09, JJ '10) [Safe Horizon] is joining the Washington Peace Center as Program Manager/Organizing Fellow. She will continue her work with the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. on forced marriage and will serve on their advisory board.

Robert Riggs (VF '11-12, CUNY BA '12) [Vera Institute of Justice] is a McCracken Scholar in the NYU PhD Program in Sociology. As a McCracken Scholar, Robert is fully funded for his graduate work. Robert also won a three-year National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, with a $30,000 annual stipend. See "Alumni Voices" above for a link to his recent publication!

Jessica Rivera (VF '10-11, JJ '11) [Job Path] received her M. S. Ed in Higher Education Administration and now has a full time job at Bronx Community College as Assistant Registrar. She is considering law school, with a specialization in education and human rights.

Danyeli Rodriguez (VF '14-15, JJ '15) [Safe Horizon/Immigration Law Project] won an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellowship through 2017.

Ana Rojas (VF '09-10, JJ '10) [LEAP] won a Humanities and Justice award from the Justice Studies Department. Ana graduated from St. John's law school, passed the bar exams and is now an Assistant District Attorney in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

Michael Segnan (VF '13-14, JJ '14) [CEO] is thinking about graduate school in social policy research.

Katie Spoerer (VF '10-11, JJ '11) [Esperanza] left Senator Gillibrand's DC office in December and joined the office of her hometown representative Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline.

Neethu Suresh (VF '09-10, JJ '10) [CASES] is studying to become a Registered Dietician.

Imtashal Tariq (VF '13-14, JJ'14) [Fedcap] continued her work at Fedcap this past summer and also worked as a research intern at Amnesty International. She is currently attend Cambridge University in England in the fall.

Jaraed Thomas (VF '13-14, JJ '15) [CASES] finished his Forensic Psychology degree at John Jay in 2015. He is now working as an Admissions and Communications Coordinator at the non-profit organization Boys Hope Girls Hope.

Michelle Tsang (VF '12-13, JJ '13) [Wildcat/Fedcap] worked after graduation as a Job Readiness Coordinator for Wildcat/Fedcap, where she interned while a Vera Fellow. She now attends Western New England School of Law and will begin a joint program with Social Work. She will graduate in 2018 with a JD and an MSW.

Arturo Urena (VF '14-15, JJ '16) [CEO] will be at John Jay, part of the CUNY Service Corps and a Senior Representative for Student Council.

Spencer Washington (VF '13-14, JJ '15) [Common Justice/CASES] finished up his Public Administration major at John Jay while serving as a Pinkerton fellow for 2014-15. Spencer will start as an Assistant Teacher at the Success Academy Charter School in the fall while also pursuing a Masters at Touro College.

Leena Widdi (VF '13-14, JJ '15) [Safe Horizon, Anti-Trafficking Program] will be finishing up at John Jay next year and preparing her application to law school.

James Williams (VF '13-14, JJ '15) [Vera Institute of Justice] finished his Public Administration degree at John Jay this year and will be an Urban Fellow for 2015-16.

Sydney Wood (VF '14-15, JJ '16) [JobPath] will continue working at JobPath while doing her Honors Thesis and working as a lead RA in Professor Kovera's lab.

John Jay - Vera Fellows Seminar

Friday, March 27, 2015