Why Still Inequality for Women?

In our society today we have many issues that need serious attention to help find a solution for them.  One of these issues that I am having a hard time dealing with is the issue surrounding the inequalities between men and and women.  I honestly have felt that that issue was a thing of the past, but in my class this week I was sadly mistaken.  Women still make only 75 percent of what a male does, and still many men believe that women are incapable of being able to perform adequately in some so called “male jobs”. 

            I do not understand how this is still happening today, because I have never been able to witness it first-hand.  I have never researched any of these statistics, because I was naïve enough to believe that this was not an issue.  I thought that just by seeing women in the workforce, women in leadership roles, and women in the military, that this issue was a thing of the past.  How can an employer pay a man 25 percent more than a woman who has the same experience and educational background?  This just disgusts me, woman are fully capable to handle any job a man can, and we need to put an end to this immediately. 

            What is really holding this back is the fact of sexism?  If women show any cleavage in her business attire she is considered a whore and should not be taken seriously.  What it really is is the face men are weak and look at women in an unprofessional way.  I honestly believe that it is the simple fact of fear and jealousy.  I believe men are scared that women will take over and men will be left in the dust.  This is absurd; women just want the equality that they deserve.  They are not fighting to take over the world; they just want the same opportunity that every man has.  Men need to stop being so insecure and accept the fact that women are equal to us.  Men need to embrace a future established on equality and stop holding this country back from that.  We need to show the world that this country can lead by example, so women everywhere can finally be looked at as a person not a gender.  My vote is for equality, my vote is for a better America, and my vote is to make a step forward for this country rather than just prolonging the inevitable.

Here is a video on the price gap at UT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwN6-Pe3o3w&feature=player_embedded

Curse of the "Standardized Tests"

This week in my Social Justice class we were discussing standardized testing in high schools. Government is constantly cutting funding for education, while expecting more from schools. If schools don’t meet certain criteria then their funding is cut off. I believe this is completely wrong and there are so many better options to fix these issues. Education is one of the most important parts in the success of this country and American citizens are allowing the government to ruin the educational system.

I believe the best way to go about achieving better graduation rates and improving grade point average of students is to stop the standardized testing. As crazy as that sounds just listen to what I have to say. I believe I am a rather intelligent person, but I have never been the best at test taking. Where I have excelled the most and had the most success is when tests weren’t the most crucial part of a class. I have taken a few courses in my educational career where the teacher doesn’t grade by testing, but by participation and through project based instruction. Not only have I received better grades, but I have retained the most knowledge after completing these courses.

My rationale behind this is that there can be a lot of anxiety when it comes to standardized testing. You have to be able to memorize terms and key terms, but you aren’t tested on the real meaning of the material. When I study for a multiple choice exam, for instance, I memorize what I have to and throw all other information that is not going to be on the test out. This is wrong, who is to say that that other material is not important? Also with all the stress and anxiety from the fear of failing the test, I feel that I hold the information for a matter of days after taking the test. With not being graded by testing but by participation I am able to engage the material from a different perspective. I enjoy learning the material and without the anxiety of test taking, I am able to retain the information longer. I am able to retain more information due to the fact that I am not focused on key terms, but rather the content and application of the information. Without having to memorize, I retain the meaning of the information and I am able to use the material well into the future.

We need to stop standardized testing as a solution to the education system. By making school relevant to the student I believe that the government would see vast improvements in the quality of learning in schools, lower dropout rates, and more benefits to students. Kids will start wanting to attend school and by God enjoy it. Learning is a beautiful aspect of life, why do we have to make it a scary burden? I believe that with this new method of teaching we will see a better graduation rate, more intelligent youth, better GPA’s, better job skills from students emerging into the workforce, and a stronger, better America.

                                                                                                                           

Wal-Mart, Societies Worst Bully!!

            Well yet again another surprise in my social justice class this week. My beloved Wal-Mart, the one stop shop, had some skeletons in its closet. After watching“Wal-Mart, the High Cost of Low Price”, I feel disgusted for even shopping there. When Wal-Mart came to my home town in Pinetop AZ, I was too young to realize what this store did to my town. I asked my parents recently what had happened when it came into town, and my fears were proven real. All the Mom and Pop shops went out of business and many families were left with no income. How can a corporation be ok with doing this to rural communities?

            A man from the movie was a manager trainer for Wal-Mart for many years, and he stated that they would go to these rural communities before a Wal-Mart was built. While in these communities they would drive by all the businesses estimating how long until they would go out of business. One of Wal-Mart’s main slogans is how much improvement their store will do for the community, when in all actuality it tears it apart. It shows that their main intention is to take over all the business in town, and they never had the intention to help the community in anyway. If an individual was hired by Wal-Mart they would receive unfair wages, and be offered way over priced health coverage. An employee has a choice; with the budget they receive, to decide whether to put food on the table or to have health coverage. They also would tell their employees to use welfare, food stamps, and many other city offered aids to survive, rather than offering their own coverage’s. How can a multi-billion dollar company not be able to afford to pay their employees a fair wage, and offer decent benefits for working there?

            Wal-Mart is a supreme example of a monopoly and they need to be reprimanded for the damage they have done to this country. If our country allows Wal-Mart to get away with these infractions, this country gives the green light for any other corporation to do the same. The brief issues that I listed in this blog are just a small fraction of all the horrible activities that Wal-Mart is involved in. Is America really this naive to just sit and not believe that this is really going on? These companies are getting away with murder, and America is just sitting back and allowing them to get away with it. We as a country need to take control back into our own hands, and stand up to these corporate giants. How many more rural communities are we going to allow to be subjected to this unfair business monopoly, how many more families are we going to watch lose their life work to a social bully, and how many lives have to be put into poverty before society finally says no more? How much more America, how much more?