#glc59

In this video, Jimmy Kimmel has a segment where he has 4 children on his show to talk about how they feel about potentially having a female president. Now despite the overall lighthearted nature of the segment, there is nothing funny about the answers the 2 young boys give. Now in today’s world many people believe that each generation is becoming more and more accepting of one another. However this isn’t as prominent as one would hope. These 2 little boys in the segment believe that women are not capable of being president because they are “too girly” and not as good as boys. The little girls get mad because they believe that girls can do anything and would make great presidents. This just goes to show that we are no where near the end of the fight for gender equality. These young children are influenced by what they see on TV and hear from their parents so if we want to make a change for the future regarding women’s leadership, we have to make sure we are changing the minds of the future generations. They are the ones who are going to have to continue to fight. 

I came across this TV commercial and immediately thought of this class. For all of those who have never seen it I encourage you to click on the video and watch a couple ads for Duluth Trading’s women’s clothing. Unlike most cliche commercials for women’s clothing, the first ad focuses on the shirts performance, not how women look in their shirts. Duluth’s flannel shirts are designed for the working women, not the stereotypical idea of how a woman should look: “pretty blue eyes, shiny blonde hair, and cute little everything”. So many times women’s clothing compromises function for style and ends up not performing as well as a mans shirt. Just because we are women does not mean that we laborers are any less hard working as men. As depicted in Duluth’s cartoon commercials, they show the flaws in typical women’s clothing (ie being to short, too tight, and not made of breathable material). Then the commercial goes on to show how they have created solutions for these problems (ie extending the shirt 2 inches, making the flannel more mobile, and using breathable fabric). Duluth does not succumb to traditional methods of advertising such as using sexy men and women in revealing clothes to get people’s attention. I hate it when people think women cannot work laborious jobs, like farming and ranching, because they think they women are too weak. Don’t judge our strength simply based on our gender. To make sure that the clothing always performs as it should, Duluth hired a panel of real women with hard jobs to wear their clothing and provide feedback on what needs to be changed. Similar to how the women in science want to be known for their work rather than their clothes, these women too want to know that the clothes they wear can match those of men. Working women want clothes that will perform as well as they do. 

Last night I had the privileged of attending Douglass’s timeless tradition of the Yule Log ceremony. Just as the excitement of final exams, papers and projects starts to consume the holiday season, it was a wonderful experience to sit back, relax and get into the holiday spirit. I thought the program did an amazing job of combining both the old fashioned traditions with new and diverse cultures while all focusing on the one common theme of light. In a time of great change it was nice to get to experience and listen to carols and tales of other people’s religions. Light unified the religions together. For example, for Christians it is the star of Bethlehem, Jews the light in the temple, Hindus the light in the lamp of Diwali and African Americans the light from the flames of the Kinara. While listening to each culture’s stories I noticed that the background behind them were very similar; the only difference was in the names. For example, they each had one a central story with people wanting to do good in their land and keep the faith. Similarly, all cultures revolve around togetherness and the importance of community. When we all take a step back and open our eyes, we realize that although people may not look the same, we are not that different after all. As the glow from the Yule Log grew burning in the fireplace, so to did my appreciation for the DRC’s traditions. Opening their doors to more people than just the students, the Yule Log created a sense of unity that each religion talks about. Sitting in that darkened chapel with the glow of the candles lighting the center isle, I appreciated being able to be apart of the tradition. So as finals quickly approach, I hope that I can keep the Yule Log’s spirit of “Sparks of Unity Illuminating the World” alive and be a source of light during these dark winter days. 

On Wednesday we had the pleasure of listening to Pam Fessler, a National Public Radio Correspondent talk about poverty in America. She brought up the unique idea that poverty in America is not as it was 20 years ago. Although people might have cell phones and laptops, one can still be in poverty. We cannot prematurely judge people based on what they have or do not have. Therefore Pam showed that NPR is a great resource for expanding our narrow view of poverty in that it is complicated and there is not one common “look” for poor people. NPR challenges their listeners to see people as real human beings and treat them as such rather than just lump everyone under one umbrella of “poverty”. Just as Pam described “water-man Dave”, a man who drove around and distributed water out of his car to homeless people, so too should other people reach out and help those in need. Whether it is donating food to a local soup kitchen, donating clothes to the salvation army, or simply just giving a couple dollars to the homeless on the street, everyone has the power to make a difference. Every person can step up and be a leader. If society starts praising the little acts of kindness that everyday people do, I believe that more and more people will want to make a difference. 

In walking into Wendy’s speech this past Wednesday, I did not know what to expect. I thought it was going to be a traditional, run of the mill speech. But what Wendy said was very inspiring. Although she did provide funny and relatable personal stories, they did not move me as much as her one sentence lines. Wendy was very good with repeatedly repeating the same message to drive it into our heads. I was able to walk away with new perspectives and outlooks on the future because of her talk. First I learned that it is okay not to know what you want to for the rest of your life at this present moment. I feel like now there is so much stress on the future and knowing exactly what you want to do every day for the rest of your life. For me that is scary. I have an idea of a plan but it is nowhere near a full plan, and Wendy confirmed that I do not need to figure it out now. Second I learned that you have to “get to the table”. No matter how you get there, you better make it. Think about why you are there once you are there, do not waste the time before hand. Also the last thing I walked away with was kind of opposite to one of Wendy’s stories. In talking about how her father was disappointed in her taking the award, I was mad sitting in my seat. I was thinking that if you win an award than you should be able to receive that award! If you put in the hard work and effort, there is nothing wrong with some recognition. Now you can’t go and get a big head about it, but I believe that you should be able to be proud for your accomplishments. 

For one of our last class readings, we read “Hand to Mouth” by Linda Tirado which basically described the hardships that poor people have to endure in their day to day lives. What really resonated with me was the idea that service workers might be “sullen” or “rude” not because they do not want to help you, but because they have had a really rough day already. So my take away from the whole article is that I believe everyone in life needs a cheerleader. Everyone needs someone in their corner pushing them everyday letting them know that they can do it. One of Linda’s core themes that she kept coming back to was that people look down on the poor and treat them harshly because they think the poor is inferior. But with someone supporting the poor, not necessarily sugar coating their situation, but just rooting for them, then I believe they would have more motivation to pick themselves up by their bootstraps and make more of their day and actually find pleasure in their lives. So I’ve created a challenge for myself and hope you will join with me; the next time you go to Walmart, McDonald’s, Target, Stop and Shop etc, I encourage you to ask at least one worker genuinely how their day has been, and be as nice and sincere as humanly possible. You never know, that little conversation might change that person’s life. 

It is 2015. I believe that all women should have choices regarding their own health. If we as a society take this choice away from women, who is to say that other choices will be gone as well? Women are smart, passionate, strong and powerful and capable of making their own decisions. We as a society should be empowering women and not taking away their voice.