Traditional gender roles

Published: Hailey McKeever

Article: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/20/is-this-family-gender-biased/

Recently, Target ended their use of gender based toy isle signs.  They do not want specific advertisements of toys to favor boys or girls more.  The article questions whether this will change anything and suggest to take action in our own homes to diminish gender bias.  While this is a small step towards lessened gender bias, Harvard’s Project Implicit Research showed that people mostly associate liberal arts and women and science and men.

The psychologists in the Making Caring Common Project, discovered that teenagers, preferred women in jobs such as child care or art directors and males in political roles.  I found this astounding in today's society that strives so hard to be equal.  I found it even more surprising that this came from teenagers of today's society that are so much more open to equality and change as ever.

The article says that we can break down society's view on gender by not forcing our children into chores or playing with toys that are what are expected of their gender.  We can rotate chores that would be more for boys and have girls take part in them and vice versa.  By doing this, we can allow for them to explore every option and not just the ones that are "cut out" for boys and girls.  The author discusses how she even had her sons with the power tools and not her daughter.  She comes to realize that she had been contributing to the gender bias without even realizing it.

The article states that gender bias is not innate and that it is learned from our environment and upbringing.  This brings up some questions: do men and women have different  natural tendencies or are they learned from our environment we grew up in?  Is it realistic to try to eliminate gender bias from homes?  How can we help reduce gender bias in society and even in our own homes?  Do stereotypical boy or girl toys limit children?

Racial Equality, has it been achieved yet?

Publisher: Nicholas Comeau

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/us/americans-see-racial-equality-as-a-work-in-progress-pew-poll-finds.html

Related information: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/half-of-us-says-racial-eq_0_n_3796223.html


Has racial equality been achieved yet?

           Most people would say no, to be exact, eighty percent of Americans would say no. A new study by the Pew Research Center says that we as a society have made great strides towards equality. They also said though, that much more still needed to be done. Many different groups of people were part of that conclusion. About forty four percent of whites, forty eight percent of hispanics, and seventy nine percent of blacks said that a lot more progress was needed. Their thoughts about how more work is needed to be done about racial equality aren't unfounded. Based on the reports by the Pew Research Center there are many aspects of life that present inequality in our society today.

          While gaps in High School success between different races is very small, success in college has a widening gap. The gap between white and black college graduates used to be six percent, now it has risen to about thirteen percent. Now that there are less black kids graduating from college they don't really have any jobs and have more opportunities to get in trouble and get incarcerated. Black men are about six times as likely to become incarcerated that a white person, hispanics are three times as likely.  

          Marriage and income are two other hot topics in the world of racial inequality. In regards to income, if you take two similar households (one white, one black) you would notice an income gap. Now I'm not taking about three hundred dollars of difference, I'm talking about $27,000 worth of income gap. This gap used to not be so wide, in the 60's the difference was $19,000, the gap between similar families has almost doubled. Being down so much money probably makes it hard for black people to consider starting a family, only about thirty one percent of black people eighteen and older are married. On the opposite side, having that extra money handy makes starting a family easier; more white people have marriages than black people, twenty percent more.

        So based on this research most people believe we need to do more to create equality in our society. Do you think they're right? Do you think these issues are simple trivial matters that distract us from other goals? What should we do to close the gaps between white lives and black lives? Do you believe we will ever have true equality?

Who are We Really Voting For?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/us/politics/kochs-plan-to-spend-900-million-on-2016-campaign.html?_r=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2RndpNElSM#action=share

On January 21, 2010 the Supreme Court ruled on the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee.  This ruling allows big businesses and labor unions to spend unlimited amounts of money financing political campaigns.  Prior to this ruling, businesses and unions were limited in the amount of money they are able to spend on campaigns.  In 2012, which was the first Presidential Election since the ruling, just over 1 billion dollars was spent by outside groups otherwise known as “super PACs.”  This was the highest ever; the previous high was only 338 million in 2008.  The Koch brothers and their group of investors are on pace to spend nearly 900 million dollars.  This alone almost sets the record for campaign spending.  What has happened to our right to vote?  Who are we truly voting for?  Are we just voting for rich people disguised as politicians?  

This is an outrage.  This year the Koch brothers invited all of the Republican candidates for the presidency to their mansion in order to question them, and also to give the candidates a chance to woo them for their money.  This is not right.  These politicians are getting controlled by two men.  What will the candidates owe the Koch brothers for investing in their campaign?  What is happening to our country?  Since the ruling came down on the Citizens United v. FEC, the government has rarely been able to function as a true democracy as our forefathers intended.   

Super PACs are the true reason why republicans say that climate change does not exist.  Republicans are smart enough to realize the dangers that are ahead but are worried that if they admit the truth, they will lose the money from the Koch brothers and investors like them.  If climate change is real, then the government has to come up with a way to stop it.  Any measure that looks to increase the use of renewable energy sources and thereby slow the effects of global warming will decrease the amount of money the Koch brothers will earn.  Republicans are hesitant to act on these issues because they are afraid of the repercussions.  This is true for so many other issues.  The Citizens United case has forced Congress into doing nothing.  It caused the government shutdown, slowed down everything in Congress, and has worsened the tensions between the Democrats and the Republicans.  Washington is turning into a billionaire's club, just like it was before the Great Depression.  Do we really want that to happen again? The government is starting to crumble.  The Democrats in the Senate tried to overturn this case by passing a constitutional amendment regulating campaign financing.  44 senators, all Democrats and Independents, voted for the amendment, whereas 56 senators voted against it, including every single Republican member of the Senate.  What is happening to our Democracy?  The preamble to the Constitution starts by saying “We the People,” but are we, the people of the United State, actually voting for true, honest politicians who care about making our country great, or are we just voting for politicians that only care about the billionaire class?  Should the preamble start by saying, “We the Billionaires of the United States?”

Gender pay gap is the smallest yet, but there's nothing to celebrate yet.

Publisher: Sergio Martinez

Gender pay gap is the smallest yet, but there's nothing to celebrate yet.

Article:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gender-pay-gap-is-the-smallest-yet-but-dont-rejoice/

Last Wednesday, September 16, 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau released information saying that women who work full-time make 21% less money than men with similar full-time jobs. This means that women only make 79 cents to every $1 dollar a man earns. Even if women's pay has increased in the past years, the difference remains abysmal. And its even more surprising when you find out why the gap has narrowed. The gap shortened because mens' pay has decreased in the last decade, and not necessarily because women's' pay has really increased.
The real question is why this gap still exists? Is it the women's' fault, is it the employers' fault, or the government's fault? If I was an employer and could find a women with the same education, qualifications, and experience that would work the same hours and do the exact same job, but for 21% less pay, then the smart thing to do would be to hire only women and not men.
Due to the competitiveness when finding a job, there is always someone willing to do the same job for less pay, but why women need to be the ones who suffer from this? This is unacceptable. Whenever people complete a task or do their job, they should get a reward. The reward should be relative to their capacity and effectiveness when completing a jog or getting work done. In this case, the reward would be money, so if we follow the pattern, then people, disregarding gender, should receive the exact same amount of money when they complete the same task under the same criteria.
The government says they are working on reducing the gap, but what they have been saying for decades doesn't reflect on what we see today. Women accept the jobs because they need the money, just as anybody, but its unjust to offer them less and expect the same. Yet, women, who are hardworking and passionate on their jobs, sometimes make better work that most of men who are getting paid much more. I know women who work all day long and still get paid less than a man that only worked for 8 hours a day. This is not fair, specially if they are doing the same job.
So hypothetically, imagine a world were this gap doesn't exist and everyone gets paid the same if they have completed the same job. Would there be chaos? No. Would there be revolts? No. Would people complaint? No. So then what is stopping us from that change? The truth is that the only ones that would be affected would be the employer, but outside of them, everything would be okay. Unfortunately, big companies run the world, and most of those companies are run by men, what a surprise.

Gender Equality in College

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/askme-14-queer-people-get-candid-about-day-to-day-life-in-college_55e8605de4b0c818f61ae1f4?utm_hp_ref=transgender

On June 26th, 2015 the supreme court rules in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide. Aside from marriage equality there is still work that needs to be done for those people who identify themselves under the gender umbrella to feel equal. Even though there are safe space stickers on doors of classrooms does not necessarily mean that students feel safe in those areas for those who consider themselves queer. Those investing in higher education already feel pressured to do well academically and socially. However college and university students who consider themselves as queer find it extremely difficult to adapt themselves to the college life. They have the weight of personal and social aspects to focus on that many other students do not have.

Should professors email by blind carbon copying (bcc) students prior to the first day of classes about their preferred names and pronouns? Similarly to how students who are diagnosed with learning disabilities have accommodations and must tell professors along with giving them the documented accommodations they have. Also should housing and bathroom accommodations be made for those who identify as queer and feel uncomfortable going in the bathroom of their sex they were assigned at birth? Would any of these suggestions or ideas give people who identify as queer equality? Or will more need to be done, and if so what more needs to improve for equality to be reached.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/30/politics/andy-parker-virginia-shooting-gun-control/

       In class we have been discussing the natural rights versus civil rights, and victim Alison Parker’s father explains how there should “sensible gun control legislation.” In class we looked through the Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights and somewhat came to the conclusion that we all have natural rights and civil rights that cannot be broken. Andy Parker however, believes that these natural and civil rights that we have been given should be strengthened and stricter. We have the right to bear arms, but Parker wants these rights to be tougher to uphold. I can’t help though, but to agree with his point. Even though I know that we all have rights and we can bear arms, we see these tragic incidents and shootings and nothing is ever done. We have the right to bear arms, but shouldn’t there be some sort of limit? That again takes us back to civil rights and natural rights. How can you limit rights to one person and not another? Rights are given to all humans, or “we the people,” they aren’t only given to the ones who the government sees fit. It’s a difficult situation and begs the question of whether or not we can have restrictions on our own rights. 

       The article also displayed a video about how Flanagan sent a 23 page suicide note to ABC news just two hours after the shooting. He said in his suicide note, that there were some comments made at the station that felt racist. One includes, “Where’s should I swing by for lunch?” Despite this phrase not displaying any racial remarks, Flanagan still interpreted it that way. While we haven’t discussed race in class, we have touched on equality. This incident created a situation in which the “race card” was used. This can undermine real racist situations because non-racist and non-derogatory remarks are made out to be racist. While I’m aware that racism is still prominent in our country, especially since the election of our first black President, I still believe many of the racist events that are popular in the media lack substance. Most of the media related racism is not the worst racism our country sees. 

       With both the equality and civil rights aspect, I thought this article would be perfect to discuss with classmates as it relates to most everything we are learning about now. Should we have stricter gun laws? Should mental illness be a more prominent factor in gun distribution? Was race a factor in the shooting? How and why have our racial tensions increased?