Poverty in America

In America, we see poverty everywhere. However, in my sociology class, I learned that the stigma about it being mostly men in poverty is incorrect. Men make up 49% of the population and 44% of the people in poverty are men. Women make up 51% of the population and 56% of them are in poverty. Even though women have 2% more people in the population then men, women still make up the vast majority of poverty. We learned that even more surprising, most of these women run a single household, meaning they are the only people supporting their family and have children. This creates a new generation, the children of the mothers in poverty, that are also in poverty. 

Antifeminist and Sexist Man Speaks to a Woman About What She Would Be Happier Doing

This video shocked me to the point where I almost have no words to describe it. The first man speaks about politics while the second man jumps in about his personal opinions on women. This has to be one of the most upfront examples of sexism I have ever seen. He explains to the woman that apparently "she is miserable and would be happier being at home with kids where she belongs." As this woman attempts to speak up for himself he continues to bash her and shoot her down with what she should be doing. While his comments are EXTREMELY arrogant what upsets me even more are the comments under the video. For one, the video was posted under an antifeminist youtube channel, which explains the comments made. In one section of the video when she is explaining why she chose the job she did and how she doesn't need or want a family at the moment a caption came across the screen saying that just means no one will love her because she is a bitch. Comments agreeing with the man take this video from being annoying to unwatchable.

Must Be Adorable to Get Positive Attention

Jennifer Lawrence is one of my favorite actresses and I believe this has to be one of my favorite quotes from her. It reflects the everyday struggle women face with how to pose problems they have and/ or how to assert their opinions. This reminds me of one class discussion we had about women as bosses in the work place. If a woman is too assertive (or too much like a man) in a boss like position she is considered a bitch. Jennifer Lawrence points to this injustice by proclaiming that she is not going to try to find the nicest way to say an opinion in order to make people like her.

Celebrity Feminists

"Humanity requires both men and women, and we are equally important and need one another. So why are we viewed as less than equal? These old attitudes are drilled into us from the very beginning. We have to teach our boys the rules of equality and respect, so that as they grow up, gender equality becomes a natural way of life. And we have to teach our girls that they can reach as high as humanly possible." -Beyonce

http://www.mtv.com/news/1822259/celebritiy-feminists-pharrell/

MTV posted a link with celebrities who are not afraid to call themselves feminists. I find this to be super productive in ridding the world of the negative stereotype that goes along with the word feminist. On the list, arguably the most powerful and well known person is Beyonce. While I have always known Beyonce to support women's rights, when she goes as far to say she is a feminist she brings light to a word many chose to try to ignore.

Not only are some of the most influential women part of the list, MTV did not exclude men from being apart of the feminist movement. They include Patrick Stewart, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Legend, Ashton Kutcher, Joss Whedon and Dustin Hoffman. On a list of 16 celebrities who call themselves feminists, 6 of them are male. While that may not seem like a lot, that is almost half who are men who see the issues that go along with women's inequality. I hope to see more in the future, but I believe it shows how we have truly progressed.

Defund Planned Parenthood

"President Donald Trump privately signed a bill on Thursday that allows states to withhold federal money from organizations that provide abortion services, including Planned Parenthood, a group frequently targeted by Republicans."

As we recently discussed in the book "Pushed" women's rights are often ignored and the rights of a fetus are put above the mothers. We learned that federal funding can not go towards abortions. When people argue to defund planned parenthood they are not defunding abortions they are defunding healthcare for women. Just because a business performs procedures you may not agree with, when your money does not go towards the procedure, you do not have a right to take money away from other health procedures that women need. Abortion, in my opinion, is used as an excuse used by men to be able to defund an organization that they will never need. Before Trump defunds Planned Parenthood, he should realize that millions of people will be out health care, causing more federal problems and poverty.

Gender and Jobs

It is no secret that men get paid more than women in jobs where both genders are doing the same thing. However, a typically ignored problem involving jobs and gender is the ability for both genders to get a job in the first place. I discovered this problem most recently between me and my brother. At the age of 15 I was never offered a job. My brother, however, recently 15 and a white male has been offered two jobs for this summer alone. I have applied to countless places and interviewed at multiple jobs in hopes that one would accept me. while my brother has been offered jobs in two different businesses. I asked my mom why she believed this was. Her response to me was simple and without question "because he is a boy and companies may need things to be lifted, and you couldn't do that." I don't blame my mom for her response, she has worked her whole life and sees differences in her pay versus that of a man but it really resonated with me. Because I am a woman I will never be payed the same as a man, but beyond that unless I choose jobs that stereotypically are done by women I may never get accepted at all.