Tag: women

Women Issues

elephantlover2035Leave a comment

Today in the United States, women make 82 cents to their male counterparts 1 dollar. Then this is broken down into different races and ethnicities. “Black and Hispanic women workers are paid only 65 cents and 58 cents on the dollar, “stated epi.org. “Compared with 81 cents for white, non- Hispanic women workers and 90 cents for Asian women.” Inequalities between different races and ethnicities between women are also so different. Women who are white and Asian get a step higher than those who are Hispanic and black. Women are treated like shit still to this day.

We can not leave our houses without protection- pepper spray, knives, tasers, and more. We fear our lives; wondering if we are going to be killed, sexually assaulted, or raped. We are scared of our shadow and men. When we say all men, we do not mean all men, but we do not know who will hurt us and who will not.

The Pink tax exists. Products that are geared towards women and females are marked up higher than products that are the same but are geared towards men. This makes feminine products more expensive and harder to buy. Menstrual products are expensive, and these products should be free. Every person who experiences menstruation should be able to have these products for free.

photo credit: Indy100

Media and Society pick women apart for their bodies, thus creating lots of body dysmorphia in women and teens today. If someone is not the perfect hourglass figure or what society deems as skinny, then they are considered fat or overweight. They could be healthy and still be deemed overweight, and this could cause lots of eating disorders and body dysmorphia. But if someone is too skinny, then society comments on their weight as well. Society and the media love commenting on women’s bodies.

Speaking on commenting on women’s bodies brings up the topic of abortions. Men love commenting about women and what they should do with their bodies. There are laws set in place against women having abortions, such as the gestation limits. This law states that “43 states prohibit abortions, generally except when necessary to protect the women’s life or health, after a specific point in pregnancy, ” (guttmacher.org). These laws are made by men who try and restrict women and their bodies.

Women all over the world experience inequality.

Bibliography

“An Overview of Abortion Laws.” Guttmacher Institute, 1 Mar. 2021, http://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/overview-abortion-laws#.

Gould, Report • By Elise. “What Is the Gender Pay Gap and Is It Real?: The Complete Guide to How Women Are Paid Less than Men and Why It Can’t Be Explained Away.” Economic Policy Institute, http://www.epi.org/publication/what-is-the-gender-pay-gap-and-is-it-real/.

Better to stand alone than in the standards of others

brachiosaurus15Leave a comment

Skin sunk around bones in protruding starvation is beauty.

Normalized with eyes melted into pits of blackened seas. Salted water burned pain into a sickening sensation of emptiness.

Body twisted into a sensual blur. Collar bones puppeteering her breasts.

Blossoming from spirited youth into the world of never ending expectations and misdirections.

Bones expected to be filled with feathers, skin expected to be tightly pulled against every crevice, face expected to be whipped with unreal and unnatural smoothness.

She mustn’t let the words of broken societies control her body, though she’s tempting to hurl herself into the vortex of self deprivation, rising above will unleash her true beauty wrapped in a pleasant blanket of happiness.

knife painting done by Pino

Objectified

mypetlobster1Leave a comment
ob·ject
noun
/ˈäbjekt/
1.
a material thing that can be seen and touched.

                                    …

Dear strong, capable, powerful, being,

you are not an object.

Nowadays, many people are objectified. Not just for sex, but for money, popularity, and much more.

Dear strong, capable, powerful, being,

your purpose is not just to fulfill the wants of others.

You are beautiful. You are intelligent. You are unique.

And you are here on this earth to do much more than to satisfy someone’s wants or desires and then to be put on the shelf until they want you again.

No person is single-use. No person is only good for one thing. No person is an object.

And no person deserves to be treated like one.

Photo credit: artsyrose.com

Because I’m a Woman

faithfulomnivoreLeave a comment

I watch a channel on YouTube called Yes Theory.

Their entire philosophy is based on the premise that when we start to say yes to things, we open ourselves to experiences that would never have been possible if we had said no. It encourages its followers to be spontaneous and preaches the idea that strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet.

To live out this philosophy, the main people involved are three 20-something, friendly, and fit guys who travel around the world and complete challenges based on the spontaneity and kindness of strangers.

In their latest video, one of the guys is abandoned alone in Slovakia with no money and no phone, where he must attempt to return to his friends in Budapest.

I love everything about this channel and I hope someday I can live my life in a similar fashion.

But, I know this isn’t as realistic for me. Simply, because I’m a woman.

The thought of being dropped off in and exploring a random country sounds like a dream. The thought of being dropped off alone in a random country sounds terrifying.

I hate that just by being female, doing anything becomes more dangerous. I am a strong believer that a woman can do anything a man can. While that is true, it’s also true that women have to take a lot more precautions than men do.

I read a study that asked groups of men and women about the things they do in their everyday life to avoid being assaulted. The responses from women went on for pages. For men, there was one answer: “Nothing. I don’t think about it.”

Photo Credit: twitter.com

Words cannot express how much I wish this weren’t the case, how much I wish men and women were really, truly equal when it comes to things like this.

I wish that my mom didn’t have to worry about me going to the beach with my girl friends at 5 PM, even though she is fine with my older brother going to the same place with his guy friends at one in the morning.

I wish that women weren’t twice as likely as men to experience sexual assault or violent crimes.

I wish it weren’t like this, but it is. And let me tell you, it sucks.

To any men who are reading this, appreciate the fact that you don’t have to make sure you have your keys in your hand when you’re walking to your car at night. Be grateful that when you’re running by yourself and a truck drives behind you, you don’t have to stop to let it pass so that you can see what it is doing. Remember that there is a reason why girls always go to the bathroom in groups.

Tell this to your sons. Make them understand what it’s like. Teach them how to make women feel safer.

Maybe someday we’ll live in a world where a young woman can walk through a city alone, the only thing on her mind being how grateful she is to be there, and her biggest concern being what she will eat for dinner.

That’s all we want.

 

Why Can’t Boys Have Long Hair?

paris22Leave a comment

Photo Credit: Pinterest

If you read almost any dress code guideline, whether for school or for the workplace, an everlasting rule is that males must have short, groomed hair.

But why?

Obviously there are many double standards, both in the dress code and the real world. But many of these double standards apply to females, policing how much skin they can show or how much makeup they can wear, making sure they don’t “distract” others. These must be addressed, and they often are, even if no changes come from it.

But, many don’t address the fact that males aren’t allowed (whether in society, school, or work) to express themselves, and this goes much farther than just hair. It is considered outside of the societal norm for men to have long hair, earrings, wear “girly” clothing, or express themselves emotionally. If they present themselves in an effeminate way, they are considered inferior or mocked – called “girly” as though that’s an insult, or told that only females can only act certain ways and wear certain things, and vice versa. The reality is, both men and women have emotions and feelings, both want to express themselves, and they should be able to express and present themselves in any way they want. This something that society as a whole has to address and accept.

Women of Our Future

mariethearistocatLeave a comment

Following Trump’s win in last night’s presidential election, about half of the country is in complete distress. Now, most women, people of color, LGBTQIA, people with disabilities, and other oppressed people are starting to fear for themselves and their futures with the reality of a completely Republican-controlled government. But, those minorities didn’t take a complete step back. Five strong, capable women were voted into various positions, all of whom are hopefully the first of many.

California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Photo Credit:  www.latimes.com

Kamala Harris was elected as California’s Senate representative. Along with that, she has been Attorney General of her state since 2011. She is the second black woman to ever be in the US Senate and the first ever woman to be California’s Attorney General. This comes as a huge accomplishment, especially because both her parents were immigrants – originally from Jamaica and India.

Cortez Masto Reid.jpg
Photo Credit: latino.foxnews.com

Former Attorney General of Nevada, Catherine Cortez Masto became the United States’ first ever Latina Senator. She is representing Nevada in the Senate. This wasn’t a small feat: as the granddaughter of a Mexican immigrant, she had a tough battle defeating her opponent, Republican Joe Heck.

"Because I’m a mom, that makes me concerned for the future," Omar said. Photo by Conrad Zbikowski.
Photo Credit: http://www.tcdailyplanet.net

Ilhan Omar became the nation’s first Somali-American lawmaker, when she was elected as a State Representative for Minnesota. She is a fantastic role model for young East African girls, who she actively empowers, working as the director of Women Organizing Women Network. Her win is a bright sign for all her fellow refugees as she symbolizes hope for women who want to be in politics.

Photo Credit: http://www.glaad.org

Kate Brown made a wave of change as the United States’ first openly LGBT governor, when she became Oregon’s 38th Governor. She is an activist not only for LGBT rights, but she also wants to see reform in gun control, women’s rights, and clean energy. In a speech she made about a month ago, she opened up about why she was running. “If I can be a role model for one young person that decides that their life is worth living because there’s someone like them in the world, it’s worth it,” she said.

Tammy Duckworth, assistant secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs, at the World War II Memorial in Washington in 2010. Duckworth, now an Illinois congressional candidate, became a double amputee when her helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004.
Photo Credit: http://www.military.com

Last, but certainly not least, Tammy Duckworth, a veteran of the Iraq war, became Illinois’s new Senator. Born in Bangkok, this former Hawaiian resident defeated Republican Mark Kirk. Her choice to join the army was probably influenced by her former marine father, Frank Duckworth. Her win marks almost the 12th year since she lost both her legs in a plane crash when fighting in the Iraq war.

So, no matter how you feel about the outcome of this election, I think these women deserve some recognition. Their successes show that even when women are put down, ridiculed, or deemed weak and undeserving, we still prevail. I’m glad that these women (and other women) will be representing who I could be, if I work hard and believe in my capabilities. These women are the future of our nation.

Inspiration from: https://www.good.is/articles/women-elected-across-america

Women Who Have Changed Your Life

beetlejusLeave a comment

What does it take to make a change?  From Rosa Parks to Marie Curie to Sacagawea, there is no shortage of powerful women who have made their mark on history.  In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8th and Women’s History month for the entire month of March,  I am going to spotlight just a few of the women who changed your life. 

  1. Lucretia Mott

Mott was the pioneer of the women’s right movement.  She fought for equal rights among all people.  In 1833, she helped to form the Female Anti-Slavery Society and organized the Seneca Falls Convention, a landmark women’s rights gathering. 

Her words to live by:  “The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation, because in the degradation of woman, the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source.”

2. Maya Angelou

Angelou wrote seven autobiographical books, including her most well known I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.  She was an active voice during the American cilvil rights movement.  In addition to her writings, Angelou made many people rethink their ideas about sex workers bu writing about her own experience as a sex worker.

Her words to live by: “Be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud”

3. Ada Lovelace

Ada Lovelace was the only legitimate child of Lord Byron, one of England’s greatest poets.  Despite her father’s literary achievements, she is known for being the first computer programmer.

Her words to live by:  “That brain of mine is something more than merely mortal; as time will show.”

4. Madeleine Albright

Albright became the first female secretary of state in 1996, she paved the way for Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton.  She has never been afraid to speak her mind: She recently told CNN that the 2016 GOP primary race is “like children in a school yard calling each other names.”

Her words to live by:   “There is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women.”

 

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/sites/default/files/headers/collection/150210_header_womens_history_month.jpg?1423584365

The Gender Pay Gap

stayhappy123

You’ve heard the rumors about feminists, the “Man-Haters”.

But the worst is when anti-feminists begin to discredit real issues, for example, the pay gap.

According to the US Census Bureau women earn 78-cents to the white mans dollar, and this is just white women. It becomes less and less through the races.

In case you are having issues visualizing this, take a look at this data provided by salary research company pay scale.

Screen Shot 2015-10-20 at 3.22.29 PMScreen Shot 2015-10-20 at 3.22.53 PM

Let’s look at how this works out in some other cases.

wagegapbrokenupbyrace-011

This chart comes from the research organization AAUW.

Screen Shot 2015-10-20 at 8.06.57 PM

This is a graph from the US Bureau of Labor.

At this point you may think, “yeah, but like, women take maternity leave and don’t get into as many high paying industries.”

Even if all of these factors were taken away, women would still only make between 93-95% of what men would, according to CONSAD’s analysis. Sexism at its finest, folks.

So yeah, unless us “man haters” control the government and world-renowned research organizations, it’s a pretty real thing.

 

Super Scary (and Sexist) Halloween Costumes

mariethearistocat

When I was little, I’d play dress up. I’d put on my mother’s beige heels or my sister’s prom dress and strut around my room like it was a runway.

I’d wear a pink tutu and make a crown out of yellow construction paper and draw little jewels with magenta and green crayons.

I could spend hours and hours just frolicking around my room; trying on this shirt or pretending to be that Disney princess.

Even though my dress up days have passed, there is still one occasion where I can relive one of my favorite elementary school pastimes.

Halloween – It’s the day where the ghosts, ghouls, and zombies come out to play. Where you can be whoever you want to be, without judgement. It’s a time to live in a fantasy for a day.

When I was little I’d jump for joy knowing I could wear my princess or witch costume to school, and the incoming candy overstock I’d have after trick-or-treating.

Now that I’m older, I’m just excited for the excuse to dress up for a day. I’ve noticed that it’s becoming harder and harder to find a costume I like, and for one big reason: women’s Halloween costumes are hypersexualized.

Now, this may not come as a surprise to some of you. You’ve been through the struggle of picking out a costume. Whether it be you couldn’t choose just what you wanted to be or you couldn’t find the perfect costume for who you wanted to be.

For women, finding an appropriate costume takes another ounce of effort. I’ve found that once you grow out of child sizes and into teenage or adult sizes, that the dresses don’t really grow much longer.

If you go onto any major costume store, such as Party City, you can see just how true this is. There are very few costumes for women that don’t contain one of the following: little tutus, corsets, skin-tight body suits, or above mid-thigh skirts.

Now, some women like wearing these costumes, and I see nothing wrong with that. But, the problem is for the women who don’t want to show much skin on Halloween.

Bustle, an online news blog, did an article about the difference between men’s and women’s costumes, which you can see here: http://www.bustle.com/articles/7907-15-mens-and-womens-halloween-costumes-reveal-some-scary-sexism .

They bring an air of comedy to just how sexualized women’s costumes can be. For example, a man’s costume for an owl is a full-body suit while a woman’s costume is a short dress with little feathers all over it.

And that’s not even the worst of them.

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The problem with this inherent sexism is that it gives women boundaries for this fun holiday. If a woman isn’t particularly confident in her body, or doesn’t want to show it off, then her costumes are very, very limited.

Even teenage girl’s costumes are becoming more and more skimpy. In fact, most costumes that would fit me I can’t even wear to school, because they don’t follow school dress code.

Some would say that it would be easier just to make a costume at home, but why should I, and many other women, have to?

Instead of telling me what I should do to help my costume-less state, tell manufacturers to create more women’s costumes that are less provocative.

Lacrosse

rangerthecat1 Comment

Out of my 4 years at the Ojai Valley School, I have played lacrosse for 3. At first, it wasn’t my favorite thing to do, but it has grown on me and I have truly began to love it.

I’m not an extremely athletic person, and when I first played lacrosse, it was hard for me to keep up with some of the drills and especially hard for me to play a game without becoming exhausted. But I started to love the game and build my skills. It became so much fun for me, and when it ended, I was already looking ahead and couldn’t wait for next year’s season.

The next year, unfortunately, we didn’t have enough girls to make a team. It was really upsetting at first, but we still practiced as a team and scrimmaged against each other, which gave me an opportunity to improve my skills a lot, along with some of my other team mates. I thought it would be a great way to really prepare myself for this year’s season.

But of course, as it always seems to happen, another issue arose, and after weeks of practices, followed by a small complication in numbers, we were unable to have a lacrosse team again this year. It really puts me off to know we physically had the number of girls that we needed, and that we had already scheduled all of our games with other schools.

I was extremely excited the first day of practice, knowing it was my senior year and that the team could really make this year a good one for the ladies lacrosse. We had a bunch of new players along with some returning, experienced players that would really be able to lead the team. As captain, I was determined to teach the girls to love the game like I once learned to. By the 2nd week, a lot of them were improving a great amount and I could tell that they were really enjoying themselves out there on the field.

There’s nothing that we can do to revive our team now. All of our games have been cancelled, and since it has, we have broken up as a team and filtered into other sports commitments. It really disappoints me to know that we could have had a really solid team and been tough competition if we had practiced hard and kept the team together. But unfortunately, it looks like I’m going to have to finish out my senior year on weak note, all of my effort for lacrosse being wasted away. That’s just life, I guess, but I really do wish there was something I could do to change this reality.

So long, lacrosse. It’s been a blast while it’s lasted.