Feminist ≠ Bra Burning

Are you a feminist?

If you answered no to that question then you are not alone. Only 20 percent of people identify themselves as feminists (23 percent of women and 16 percent of men). However, when asked if men and women should have equal rights, 82 percent believe that they should. The definition of feminism, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes." So my question is, why aren’t those two statistics I just mentioned identical?

This is because there is such a stigma to the word “feminist”. Considering only 26 percent of the population thinks of this word with a positive connotation, there must me some pretty powerful misconceptions about what it means to be a feminist. It’s no secret that celebrities hold a lot of weight in the minds of today’s society, so let’s take a look at why some famous females say they’re not feminists.

  

Lady Gaga: I'm not a feminist - I, I hail men, I love men. I celebrate American male culture, and beer, and bars and muscle cars....

Marissa Meyer: I don't think that I would consider myself a feminist. I don't, I think have, sort of, the militant drive and the sort of, the chip on the shoulder that sometimes comes with that

 

           Kelly Clarkson: No, I wouldn't say feminist — that's too strong. I think when people hear feminist, it's like, 'Get out of my way, I don't need anyone.' I love that I'm being taken care of.

          

         Geri Halliwell: For me feminism is bra-burning lesbianism. It's very unglamorous.

 

Just by looking at these four statements, being a feminist means not loving men, being “militant” and self-righteous, being all by yourself and never letting anyone take care of you, and being a bra-burning lesbian. I think it’s clear why so many people are hesitating to call themselves feminists: because they have absolutely no idea what this word means. To combat this ignorance, McGill University started a Feminist Campaign showing images of Americans saying they are feminists.

I think that this is a common problem in America, not wanted to be associated with something just because you don’t understand it or are afraid of the connotation. Just look at a few of the examples from the McGill Campaign, there's no one type of person who's a feminist. So next time you hear the word feminist, it doesn’t mean you have to go set your bra on fire just to be a part of this movement. And it’s also not saying that men should never hold the door for a woman because they want to be independent and can’t have help from anyone. Instead, whether you’re a man or a woman, whoever gets to the door first should hold it for the person behind them.

Shout-out to Izzy D and Trish for the chat about feminism today that inspired this blog post.

Don't Think You'll Get a Good Job? Better Drop Out

            When I was walking down the hallway the other day, a friend of mine was complaining that she was “so done with school”. I hear this type of complaint all the time, and if I’m being honest, I’m guilty of throwing this sort of sentiment around every now and then. This comment means anything from being stressed over an assignment to getting a bad grade on a test, but I’m of course never actually “done with school”.

            When I was thinking about it, I realized that I don’t personally know anyone who’s been actually done with school, meaning that they decided to drop out. Beyond that, other than Grease’s Beauty School Dropout scene I’ve never even really heard anyone discuss dropping out of school. That led me to wonder if this is because this isn’t as big of a pressing issue as it used to be or just because it’s not as common where I live.

            As it turns out, a student drops out of school ever 29 seconds in America. That’s more than 7,000 a day and over a million students a year. So why didn’t I know that this was such a huge problem in America?

            When looking into this, I learned that one of the main causes for students to drop out of high school is when they have lower occupation aspirations. In other words, students who have the perception that they will not have high-income jobs are more likely to drop out of school. However, by dropping out of school these students are significantly lowering their chances to eventually have a high paying job, since most of them require a diploma.

            I believe that this mentality is setting up students from low- income families for failure. These students are 10.5 times more likely to drop out of high school than high-income families and I think that it is due to their environments. If a child comes from a high-income family, they see adults who are successful in their fields and therefore have no reason to believe that they themselves cannot be successful. However, if a child comes from a low-income family, then they may not have the same role model as a child from a high-income family and may not be as likely to believe that they will be able to be financially successful in the future.            

            I think that in order to combat this divide then these students need role models of people who have created successful careers from less than ideal situations to show that it’s possible. People like Chris Gardner who rose all the way from being homeless to being one of the most successful businessmen in the world.  

Driving By Numbers

Being a teenager and only having my driver’s license for a short time, I’m only allowed to take a car when my parents let me. They have this right since they’re the ones who own the car and I’m still a kid, but the government shouldn’t have this right too.

In France the government is putting restrictions on when people can drive their own cars. Due to the rise in the pollution level in France, citizens are only allowed to drive their cars every other day. They’ve been monitoring this based on if your registration number ends with an even or odd number.

In my opinion, if people have the means to own a car, they should be able to use it. People don’t buy cars just to have them; they are necessary in today’s society for many people. Adults can’t just go to work or drive their children to school every other day. And yes, arrangements can be made in terms of carpooling or public transportation, but what about in cases of emergency? In France they had hundreds of police on the streets to make sure only the even and odd numbered cars were out on their designated days. So what happens if an odd car is on the way to the emergency room on an even day? Being pulled over is definitely not the ideal situation in such a scenario.

Beyond that, by controlling when citizens can drive their cars I think the government is intruding too far into the personal lives of the people. What’s next, telling people when they can turn on their lights or their televisions? There are other ways to combat global warming without compromising the rights of the people. If this were to happen in America, how would Americans react?

Swearing is F***ing Magical

            Why do we swear? Maybe out of frustration or to show your emotion or maybe even just because it slips out. The point is, people swear in all different type of scenarios and in my American Studies class the other day we decided that these words hold a sort of magical power. This is because in some cases there are no other words that can replace them and they hold a weight that most other words do not because they are “forbidden”. As it turns out, according to psychologist Neel BurtonM.D., swear words really are magical.

            In a study performed by Richard Stephens of Keele University in England, it was discovered that if two people put their hands in ice water and one swears and the other cannot, the one who is swearing can keep their hand in the frigid water for twice as long. This is because it gives you a serge of adrenaline which allows you better tolerate pain.

            Along with general pain management, swearing can lower your circulation, boost your self-confidence, elevate your endorphins, signal to others that you are open and honest, and give yourself and overall sense of being calm and in control.

            Now I’m not saying you should go scream the F-word down the hallways because it has certain health benefits, but I think it’s important to note the power words really have. I think that the fact that words with such negative connotations can have such a positive impact shows that words can really make a difference. If we string together the right words at the right time, we can take advantage of our Freedom of Speech to create a positive influence in the world around us.

Disaster or Tea Party?

            Civil Liberties are a huge focus for my American Studies class. Recently we’ve spent a lot of time talking about our freedoms and when, if ever, they should be limited. We’ve been thinking the amount of control the government has over the media and how that can effect what the public knows. I had never really realized before how huge this impact was until I stumbled across this story about what Russians are being told about Putin's military invasion of Ukraine.

            Instead of “Ukraine readies for an invasion by Russia” and “PM says Ukraine on the brink of disaster” (headlines from US and Western Europe), the Russian headlines read, “Tea, sandwiches, music, photos with self-defense forces mark peaceful Sunday in Simferopol”.

            The above image was accompanied by the live pro-Russia Rally being held in Simferopol, Ukraine. The media chose to focus solely on this one pro-Russia event instead of Putin's military intervention that took place in Crimea, Ukraine, not Simferopol. In showing this instead of the pictures of the burnings or of the wounded, Russia is morphing the situation into something that can only reassure the Russian people that the invasion is going well and is remaining peaceful.

I believe that in showing this only positive viewpoint the media is unfairly hiding this serious situation in Crimea. Although this is a perilous time, by highlighting the pro-Russia rally instead of the negative sides of the invasion, they are in no way protecting the Russian citizens and therefore they should be showing the negative aspects as well. There are two sides to every story, and shouldn’t the people of Russia be entitled to both?