We the equals - by blogger Snehal

Achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and men, girls and boys. Its everyone’s responsibility - Ban Ki-moon

To all the misogynist men in the world I would like to put it straight. Feminism is not about hating men. It speaks of striving for gender equality that women have been deprived of for centuries together. March is Women’s History month; so I take the privilege of penning a few thoughts about Gender equality. The global scenario depicts that male dominance has been deep rooted in the society for centuries together. The emergence of the feminist era has broadened the social horizons thus paving way for the rising of women to their appropriate prominence. As a result the beautiful day will arrive when the whole world will recognize the harmony between man and woman.

Gender inequality refers to the difference in the status, prestige, power, opportunities, decision making rights and identities that the women are subjected to in comparison to men in a society. This is a global issue.  For instance: In some countries of the world women are restricted from driving cars while in others women do not have the basic right of education too.   Many a time’s women are paid less for the same work as men while in few countries house work is only vested with the women and not the men. Female infanticide and female foeticide are alarmingly rising in many countries. This is mainly because boys are considered to be the ones who shall carry forward the lineage of a clan. Women are deprived from inheriting the property too in various cultures and religions. These are only a few instances to name. The list is extremely long. Can a reasonable person recognize these instances as equality? We are women but we are humans too. We are not slaves or maids to receive such ill-treatment.  Why is this simple aspect forgotten?

I agree men are physically stronger and more aggressive by nature whereas women are construed to be the embodiment of inner dignity and subtleness.  In many cases this soft attitude is considered to be the weakness. In reality, subtle inner dignity is much stronger than the aggressive outbursts.  The true liberalization of both the sexes would be when both the sexes forget their respective egos and work in harmony for the betterment of mankind as a whole. Both the sexes should strive hard to bridge the gap of inequality.  Men should use their aggressive and dominant nature to good use whereas women should use the subtle nature not to portray weakness but power, motivation, understanding and intelligence.

Most of you may still pose the question, why this movement is still termed as Feminism and not Equalism or Humanism? Well, a simple answer to this is that we are still waiting for the beautiful day to arrive when women are considered equal in each and every field and in all walks of life.  That is when this long struggle of striving for equality shall end and then probably we can rephrase the term from Feminism to Equalism or Humanism.

Pasos Pequeños a Progreso Gigante por el blogger Emily

Desafortunadamente, tengo la habilidad atlética de un panda de bebé. Pero, cuando llega la hora del partido, encuentro el esfuerzo de un equipo de fútbol entero, luchando para ganar el último partido contra sus enemigos.



Me gusta pasar tiempo afuera jugando deportes, y me cría con dos hermanos, quien muchas veces me dijeron, “tires como chica.”




Cuando corrí a mi casa, sintiendo triste y faltando confianza en mi mismo, mi madre me dirigía a otra actividad más femenina, como jugar con muñecas.




Esta secuencia de eventos ocurre frecuentemente: una chica quiere hacer una actividad históricamente masculina, se pierde su confianza a causa de las palabras y actitudes de otros chicos u otras chicas, y se revierte a una actividad más clásicamente femenina.




Para obtener igualdad de sexo en la sociedad y encontrar un equilibrio entre los géneros, tenemos que quitarnos de nuestras vidas frases negativas como, “se tire como chica,” “ella probamente está menstruando,” o “se hace como chica.”




Yo sé que soy culpable de decir estas frases. Me había pedir disculpas para estar llena de emocionas, dando la culpa a mi sexo. Cuando un amigo o miembro de mi familia se está quejando le digo “eres tan como chica.”




Estas frases llegan de nuestras bocas tan frecuentemente que no pensamos en como se hacen daño. ¿Eres una chica? Este frase implique que la palabra “chica” y la palabra “irritante” o “débil” son los mismos. La frase, “ella probamente está menstruando” atribuye la expresión de emociones o pensamientos irracionales al género femenino.




Quizás no puedo tirar una pelota, pero este no significa que tiro como chica. Tengo tantas amigas quien pueden tirar perfectamente, y, al otro lado, tengo tantos amigos quien no pueden tirar.




El desequilibrio de género en nuestra sociedad es como una balanza con dos lados. Estas frases y actitudes, aún pequeños, son como piedras, pesando muchísimo juntos en un lado de la balanza. Tenemos que parar el uso común de ellas, porque aún parecen pequeñas, son poderosas juntas. Cuando las eliminamos de nuestras vidas, la balanza pueda encontrar equilibrio.

Little Steps Toward Big Progress by blogger Emily

I was unfortunately blessed with the athleticism of a baby panda bear. But, when it’s game time, I muster up the heart of an entire underdog high school football team and try my best.




I like to spend time outside playing sports and grew up with all brothers, often finding myself benched because I “threw like a girl.” Even some of the neighborhood girls who were more athletic than me would chime in on the ridicule.




When I ran back into the house, feeling discouraged and left out, my mom would comfort me and reroute me to a more gender-suitable activity like playing with Barbie dolls.




The aforementioned sequence of events is a common occurrence: a girl attempts to partake in a traditionally male activity, is discouraged by her male or female peers and then falls back on a more traditionally female activity.




In order to stand up for equal rights and garner a more gender-balanced society, we have to start small, ridding our lives of negative nuances like “she throws like a girl,” “she’s probably PMSing,” or “quit being such a girl.”




I’ll admit that I’m guilty of saying phrases like this. I’ve apologized for being emotional, blaming my gender for it. When a friend or family member complains about something, I’ve told him or her to “quit being such a girl.”




These phrases shoot out of our mouths so frequently that we don’t think about how they tear women down. Quit being such a girl? This phrase directly correlates annoying or weak behavior with the female gender so that “girl” becomes synonymous with “weak.” The phrase, “I’m probably just PMSing,” assumes that irrational thought processes or emotions are something unique to those with a uterus—which, believe me, are not.




I may throw poorly, but that does not mean I throw like a girl. I have plenty of female friends with incredible arms and on the other hand, I know plenty of men who throw poorly as well.




Picture the social gender imbalance like an old fashioned scale with two sides. These little comments and phrases are like rocks, weighing down one side of the scale. We have to stop saying them and stop passively agreeing with them. While they may seem trivial or passing, they are small pieces that add weight to the male side of the scale, creating an imbalance for women. By eliminating these phrases from our lives, we slowly start to level this out. As my dad always said, “Inch by inch, it’s a cinch. Yard by yard, it’s hard.” Little efforts like avoiding these phrases will have big long-term effects on the social gender imbalance.

“Girls get competitive, as though there’s only one spot in the world for everything, but that’s not true.” –Zooey Deschanel by blogger Rhaina

With this sentence, Ms. Deschanel perfectly summed up the struggle of young women today. We constantly pit ourselves against the next woman, aiming to be better; smarter; stronger. And if we can’t, we tear her down until we’re convinced we’re above her. When we do this, not only do we hurt ourselves by weighing ourselves down with negative thoughts, but we also contribute to a culture that consistently claims women are weak because they cannot rise above personal feelings to focus on more important matters. Each time we tear another woman down instead of building her up, we play into a divisive social structure.

Maybe it’s because for every five famous men we learn about in history and literature and science, we only learn about one woman. Maybe it’s because the few women we see in legislature rarely work together towards any end, while the men continue to make cohesive decisions regarding women’s issues. Maybe it’s because of films like The Duff or Clueless that claim a woman’s priority is her rank on the scales of likeability and attractiveness. Whatever it is that makes women feel that we can’t appreciate and uplift each other, it has to change.

As a woman, it’s often difficult to remember the truth in Deschanel’s statement—that there is more than one spot in the world for everything, and there is not one type of girl who fits into that spot. We think of words like smart, pretty, and successful as locks, and ourselves as the keys that must fit neatly into them. But the truth is, inside these words, these categories we use to define ourselves, there is room for everyone. This idea may not be reinforced by the media or taught in our schools, but it’s valid. It’s real. And if we could just stop playing into these ideas and stereotypes about ourselves, we could all see that. Then we could begin to change.

Making Our Currency Representative by blogger Ryan Flynn

I ran across an interesting 501c3 nonprofit the other day called Women on 20s, which aims to create a people’s mandate to get a woman on the twenty dollar bill by 2020, which would be the 100^th anniversary of the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote. The organization is spreading awareness on every major social media platform and is encouraging website visitors to vote on who they would like to see on the twenty dollar bill.

So why the twenty dollar bill? The reason this bill was chosen is interesting. First off, everyone uses twenty dollar bills, which means there will actually be usage of currency that has a woman’s face on it (referring to the Susan B. Anthony dollar and Sacagawea coin of recent years). The second reason is that among any current currency face holder, Andrew Jackson is the most controversial. Jackson has been cited recently as having been a fierce opponent of the central banking system, instead favoring gold and silver coin to paper currency. Also, Jackson was a key player politically in the horrendous Trail of Tears, which resulted in the death of thousands of Native Americans.

             
With women’s rights continually gaining traction, especially with support of President Obama and his administration, this idea of putting a woman on currency has a real chance of happening. A country’s currency says what we value as a nation, and right now it is saying we value the accomplishments of white men who came before us more than any other class of people.

            
Currently, a movement just north of us in Canada is trying to do the same thing. In 2011, the Bank of Canada cancelled plans to display images of famous women activists on their $50 bill. Right now, a petition calling for this again has 48,000 signatures on it, including the signature of famous author Margaret Atwood. A website, womenonbanknotes.ca allows you to add images of famous Canadian women to bank notes and post them to social media, thus furthering awareness for the issue.

If we are going to continually saying that women are equal to men in this country, it is time that they are treated as such. Even though we can’t agree to pay women the same as men, or cover birth control on health insurance the same way as Viagra is, we can take this very small step of putting one woman on our paper currency. That is not very much to ask for. To quote famous American feminist and journalist Gloria Steinem, “Women have always been an equal part of the past. They just haven’t been part of history.”

Standing Together by Saint Louis University blogger Abigail

Before I delve into my beliefs on the power of everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, age, socioeconomic status, religion, and more, standing together, I would like to note that I understand that not everyone identifies as a man or a woman. This blog makes some generalizations but for the sake of saving my words, I digress.

I’ve always been a guys’ girl. My whole life, it’s been easier for me to be friends with boys than girls and as I’ve gotten older that has become increasingly true. I have found myself with more male friends than female friends and closer friendships at that. I’m not sure why this is, but this sentiment has taught me about the power in a true male-female balance, and has shown me that when men and women work together, great things can happen.

There are generalizations about both men and women that seem to be relatively true. A Psychology Today article entitled “Brain Differences Between Genders” points out several of these differences. The most notable is that it is part of a woman’s nature to be concerned about the feelings of the people around her, due in part to a larger hippocampus, much more so than it is part of a man’s nature. Women are also able to, according to the article, move from task to task more quickly and multitask more effectively than men, whereas men thrive in focusing on one specific task. The combination of specialized thought and lack of concern for others might explain why men are more likely to fight to the top of the corporate ladder than women. However, a world that lacks emotional attachment and deep, contemplative thought is lacking, and that is where we really, really need female leaders. Women know that they can be powerful, incredible leaders. They are aware they possess the skills and insight to move the world forward. Now, we need men to join us.

While the number of female Fortune 500 CEOs is up to 24, the highest it has ever been, 95.2% of these companies are still run by men. That’s 476 men that have a huge global impact that could look to women for a more balanced work force. If those men made the push for equal pay for women, children and families would live in a better world. If these men, and all men, stood beside women, we can make big steps forward in other areas by combining our skills, perspectives and brain-power. A world where men and women stand together instead of against each other is a world where we can make great progress.

A Woman's Confidence Is True Beauty by blogger Karly Sacco

       It all comes down to jealously. When women let other women tear them down based on looks, achievements, or anything in between, it will always come back to how they wish they could be more like someone else. Well, no one ever said that you have to dress, act, or be a certain way in order to gain success. The only way to truly to be happy and have control of your life is to be yourself. 

          

      Do not compare yourself to anyone else because there’s only one you. In today’s society there is so much pressure to be something that we are not, especially for us young women. The ads shown in magazines and all over the media have unrealistic models (most likely Photo Shopped) to sell their brands. These images are ones that women aspire to be, but the reality of it is, no one looks like that, not even the models in the pictures. These images that are fed to us just adds to insecurities that women already have every day. Even going to work can become a best-dressed competition.

      I feel that the best way to push all of the confidence issues aside is to become more positive when it comes to other women. Do not let the little things get to you. Instead of letting the negative thoughts bottle up in your mind about how you wish you could fit into that dress, or how you wish you could be more personable, speak up in a positive way. Next time you see a woman in a nice outfit, compliment her sincerely on it to show her your confident. You will feel good about yourself and you can feel good about others that may have made you upset if you let them get to you. A woman's most beautiful attribute is her confident. Without having a sense of self worth and independence, you will become weak and that is when others can get you when you're down.

      Be proud of who you are and where you came from. We all have our own story, and chances are you have worked really hard to make it to where you are now. So why waste your time letting others get you down? Women have already come so far within the work place, and we should be proud of each other, not jealous. We need to continue to send a positive message to the youth, and motivate them to continue the path of gender equality. Whenever you feel yourself start to stray, remember to not compare yourself to others, and be comfortable in your own skin.