Blog Post #4

There are so many people who influenced my life. Whether it was family, friends, teachers, etc. However, the one that stood out the most to me was my high school teacher Ms. Jacques. I remember first walking into her class freshman year nervous and scared. What was I scared of? Not being good enough. I never believed that I had any strengths, I've always looked down on myself believing I was just average. Nothing outstanding. However, Ms. Jacques believed in me for everything I did. I loved that class, I wrote stories that was so unique and interesting. I never thought I had such an imagination. The further I got into the class the further I enjoyed writing and reading. She never judged me for anything I did. I grew more confident because of this. She also became my sophomore teacher, and through these two years I grew content with myself. I used to hate reading so much, but with her I changed. I don't know how I just really enjoyed reading. I contemplated the minds of authors and I wonder how is it possible to have such a detailed imagination. Ms. Jacques taught me to think outside the box. 

Not only was she a teacher to me, but Ms Jacques was always there to talk with me. She listened and she was kind. I had a lot of problems my freshman and sophomore year socially. Through those years I became more open, and because of this, my junior and senior year was the time of my life. I made people laugh, I had my own group of friends. Everything. I got good grades. Now that I'm in college everything is starting all over again. I'm obviously a stronger and more confident person than I was four years ago, but I wish I had someone like her to talk to again. 

Justification

Like men, it is necessary for women to maintain equal rights. Although the solution proposed in this article may not solve the issue it will at least reduce it. The steps called forth in the solution asks for men and women to prioritize unequal pay, bring attention to the issue by shedding light over the matter, eliminate occupational segregation, and finally create policies to regulate unequal pay. In order to overcome unequal pay, advocators must attack the social structures that stereotypes women. Such as eliminating the mindset that women are only caretakers, and housewives.  Citizens may question why is it necessary to prioritize unequal pay. As I stated earlier, half of the United States' population is made up of women. That means that half of the citizens in the United States are being paid unfairly. This in return, affects many families throughout the country (e.g. poverty). So it is necessary to prioritize unequal pay.

After making unequal pay a priority, it is necessary to bring attention to the issue because of how much it affects families. Some women are not aware of how much money they are cheated out of. With the surfacing of the issue there will be more wide spread attention over this dilemma. Both the media and government will have to eventually address the situation. The media and government influences both social structures and social standards; therefore it is necessary to catch the attention of the government and media. Since the media and government influences social structures and standards, advocators must change the media's view on women as sexualized objects to people who are worth respect. With the government, it is necessary to attack occupational segregation in order to support women in higher positions. 

The idea of occupational segregation is what prevents the media and government from allowing women to achieve higher positions. For example, during Emma Watson's speech for the HeForShe campaign at the United Nation, hackers threatened to expose nudes of her as retaliation against her effort of gender equality. The media easily sexualized Watson. Now, because of occupational segregation, people view Watson not as a woman who is standing up for rights and equality, but as a woman who should stay as an actress and not deal with other matters. This is basically saying that she is not worthy of dealing with serious political/social matters. The media also sexualizes Watson's costar Daniel Radcliffe from Harry Potter.  According to the image below, Harry Potter fans says that it is weird to consider Radcliffe as a sex symbol because fans have seen him grow up through the Harry Potter film series. Radcliffe responds stating that: "The male population had no problem sexualizing Emma Watson immediately."

Fig. 1 Radcliffe on Sex Symbolism [2]

There is more respect given to Radcliffe because he is a man. If occupational segregation can be completely eliminated or reduced from both the government and media,  then women will be more respected; rather than be viewed as less significant when compared to men. With a change in social structures and the elimination or reduction of occupational segregation, women will be viewed as equal to men and then there would be no reason to compensate women less.

Finally, after prioritizing unequal pay, drawing attention to equal pay, and the change and elimination/reduction of social standards and occupational segregation. It is necessary to implement policies that will prevent employers from illegally compensating women for less. Employers are violating the Equal Pay Act of 1963; otherwise if employers did not then America would not be facing this issue. Advocators should call for tighter regulations from the government on equal pay. Allow audits to be done that analyze discrepancies between salaries. The reason for this step is to ensure solidarity. Women face discrimination today, and although it is not as direct as pre-1950's it is still evident through paychecks.

Check in 2

To: Mikayla Beaudrie, Instructor
From: Sabrina Khan, Student
Date: November 15, 2014
Re: Challenge Check in #2: Street Art

Every time I pass the Graffiti wall there is always something new. Graffiti is not only a creative form of art but I think it is unique because of the messages it tells. Sometimes it is political, other times it's music (like hip hop), and sometimes it is just personal messages. I think that it is so similar to hip hop because hip hop does the same thing, it can be personal messages, or political, and of course it is music. It is just a different medium one is drawings, and the other is audio. I'm drawn in by the colors, and I think that people who do play music, or simply write can easily find inspiration from this.

10 Solutions, Equal Pay

1) Self Audits -Self-analysis of employee's salaries to see if there is a discrepancy.

 2) Strengthen laws to enforce equal pay -The equal pay act of 1963 is a law, however many businesses and do not follow it. We should enforce this law to prevent unequal pay.

 3) Create laws stating that women are equal to men, the constitution does not out right say men and women are equal. If we state this in the Constitution then employers are OBLIGATED to pay women equally. After all, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.

 4) More effective protests (?) -No one listens to protests, people should come up with more effective ways to get their message out.

 5) Exposure and Attention to unequal pay -Expose people to the amount of money women are paid less, maybe more women and men will assist in the fight against the gender pay gap.

 6) Avoiding occupational segregation -Equal preference for women when it comes to obtaining a job/position to avoid occupational segregation.

 7) Change the media's and society's view on women. (?) -Women are stereotyped as the being inferior due to being the mothers of the house. In the past they should not be in the working place. So if we change this maybe women would have a more fair chance.

 8) A more standard defined pay structure. -Instead of paying everyone based on how they want, there should be an approved standard on how men and women are paid.

 9) Prioritize Equal Pay -Make this a bigger deal, it's important to women they work just as hard and deserve it equal compensation.

 10) Ban the gagging rule -The gagging rule is used to prevent people of talking about how much they make in order for any discrepancies to show. If we ban this rule then maybe women can speak out more.

Rough Draft

Prior to the 1950's women were viewed as the caretaker of the domestic household, either as a stay at home mother, or as a house-wife. In order to break through this stereotypical boundary, women fought for their rights, which included the right to vote and the right to work. America in the 21st century claims that both men and women are equal, however, the group that is discriminated the most is women. Women are paid 77% less than men, even if they do not take leave for child-care. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 claims that people, regardless of age, gender, or background are entitled to equal pay. However, employers do not follow this standard. There is a pay gap in almost every occupation, and due to the economic crisis in the United States, families are incapable of keeping one income. It is not an option for women to stay home and take care of children. Some causes that lead to unequal pay are social structures and occupational segregation. Social structures are standards placed among people based off of their gender, age, orientation, etc. For example, women are viewed as the less dominant gender who must take care of the family instead of seeking work. From these social standards, stereotypes are formed which leads to a false assumption that women are less significant when compared to men. If women are considered less significant then it would make sense to an employer, based off of these social standards, that the work done by women is not as effective as the work done by men, and therefore women should not be compensated as an equal. Occupational segregation, is a distribution where specific demographic characteristics (such as gender) are more prominent in certain jobs. For example, high-end restaurants are more likely to hire male waiters, while diners and low-end restaurants are more likely to hire women. More thoroughly, occupational segregation can be derived from social structures because it is based on the idea that women are less significant compared to men, and therefore women are not capable of working higher positions. Male politicians will argue that men and women are paid equal, and that the reason for the discrepancy is because there is a high majority of women who are working in lower income fields when compared to that of men. The reason why the majority of women are working in lower income fields is because of occupational segregation. Preventing women from obtaining higher working positions and equal compensation because of gender is the same as oppression. Morally speaking, oppression is wrong and therefore this issue must be dealt with immediately. Additionally, Americans criticize other countries for oppressing women, yet Americans act as if they do not oppress women themselves. The consequences as a result do not just affect a specific group of people but the entire country. Women constitute half of the United States' population, this means that half of the citizens of the United States are paid unfairly, and are discriminated against. The consequences of unequal pay affects both men and women. As previously stated, due to the economic crisis families cannot afford one income, men are now pressured to provide a decent living for their family. Unfortunately, with an increase in house prices, mortgage, and insurance, families fall short on cash and are incapable of paying these fees/debt. So if men are advocating for women to stay home as housewives, they are adding unnecessary stress onto themselves. Furthermore, pension and social security are based off of a person's salary. With an unfair income, women are cheated out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Capital such as this could help pay for medical bills, or a child's education. The money women are cheated out of affects families who help run the United states, and that lack of money unfairly hinders a child's future. This gender pay gap is an issue that violates, moral and practical principles.

Hwk 11/11/2014

The article argues that hip-hop music and rap are factors that influences youths in having sex. This type of music is explicit and mainstreams ideas that are looked down upon in society. The program that is proposed uses this kind of music to teach the younger generation about the risks of unprotected sex. misogynous: Dislike of women pedagogue: Teacher pedantic: Overly concerned with minute details

Proposal Investigation

Palestine vs Israel, Unequal Pay, Improving our Economy, Standardized Testing, College students and depression, Research on cloning be discontinued, Should dying people be left on life support, Mandatory recycling, Raise minimum wage, Prevent teen pregnancy,

Library Sources

Martial Arts- A Complete Illustrated History -Since my essay is about the discrepancy between traditional martial arts and modern day martial arts I think this source could help me out because it outlines the history of martial arts. Which would start off as traditional. I think it may further my argument on how modern day karate is veers away from traditional. Martial Arts: Mind and Body -I definitely think this will help further my argument because i wrote in my essay how much more difficult traditional martial arts is compared to modern day martial arts. I think that a sound body plus a sound mind = a sound soul. So this source can address that saying but showing how both the mind and body must be in sync when one practices martial arts, and how this is highly emphasized in traditional martial arts.

Blog 3

Audrey Hepburn is a beautiful actress who rose to fame after the debut of her first major film "The Secret People". Her main reason for acting, modeling, and dancing is so that her mother didn't have to work such low jobs in order to support the family. Hepburn's mother and father divorced when she was at a very young to which she described as abandonment, since her father left. Throughout her films she eventually became the biggest attraction in Hollywood. I admire her because not only is she gorgeous and has great style but she was also a very caring person. She was a great contributor to UNICEF. Her style was so different and fantastic too. In comparison to Marilyn Monroe, who I also love, Audrey Hepburn seemed more sophisticated. She knew how she wanted to be viewed by her viewers. Audrey literally went from rags to riches and she never forgot that. Growing up in the time of WWII her family didn't have enough food to feed everyone, and as a result she suffered from anemia, malnutrition, etc. Audrey survived through all of this and eventually became successful. She always kept the people she loved close to her heart. I literally have a picture frame of Audrey Hepburn and shirts. No I am not obsessed. I really do admire her as someone I would like to be as well. I think what most people love about her wasn't her acting or modeling skills but as the person she really was.