THIS IS MY FREEBIE!!!!!

Sorry school is too stressful right now, I'll be back in action next week! :)

Figuring out gender discrimination #LikeAGirl

In class this past week we've discussed gender discrimination and how it affected society many years ago through the writings of "Women's Brains" by Stephen Jay Gould and "Professions for Women" by Virginia Woolf. We also touched down on the similarities and differences of sexism back then, and now.

Most of us have seen the Procter and Gamble Super Bowl commercial campaigning gender equality. 

How do you view this commercial? Does it say something about gender discrimination today? Do you think gender discrimination is just as frequent as it was during Virginia Woolf's lifetime, does scientific research done today match that of Paul Broca's?

Today, sexism has been addressed, but it is still frequently occurring in our society.

The #LikeAGirl campaign is powerful, motivating, remarkable. It gives women a chance to become more than what society perceives them to be. Gender discrimination should not be an issue at hand today. It affects all aspects of life including the workplace, intelligence, and economic income.

A study found in an article I read, states that males applying for jobs are more likely to be hired than women AND that men make more money for the same job a woman has due to only his gender.

Should gender be the only factor we use to determine who gets a job and how much they make?

After reading the essays we did in class I realized that yes, some things have changed in sexism, but there is still too much to be fixed. It is sad to think innocent, hard-working, dedicated women are getting nothing for doing as much as they possibly can to make a living for themselves and their families.

Think about the society we discussed in class and think about it today, although it may not be as prominent, gender discrimination is still a problem.

Women deserve jobs and happiness just as African Americans did when they were being discriminated in the past, or how the jewish were in Germany. We are all humans and all deserve to be equal. 

Think about this quote and think about what society has come down to. Think about gender discrimination in the past and think about gender discrimination now. Think about equality.

"We've begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters."

-Gloria Steinem

Cross Country: The Most Uncommon Amazing Sport (PB)

Put yourself in my (running) shoes. You're at your cross country meet with your team preparing for the big race. Everything is great. It's a perfect, sunny day and you just finished your warmup with the team and you're changing into your spikes for the race.

"20 more minutes" coach says.

The team gets up and we all head over to the starting pit to prep ourselves. Lunges. Striders. High knees. Striders. Karaokes. Striders. Throughout the process your thoughts are going wild; everything else around you is shut out. Am I going to finish with a personal best? Can I keep a constant pace during the race? Is my breathing going to get out of control?

All of a sudden you're brought back to reality; "5 minutes". You get in a team huddle and instantly you remember the one and most important thing that you were told in church last week: "If you want to run fast, go alone. If you want to run far, go together."

The only thing that matters anymore is that you are with your team and with them, anything is able to be accomplished.

You say your team prayer and give a few words of encouragement. This circle, this bond, this family, is the strongest factor in the motivation to run the race. Together, we are unstoppable. Coach says good luck and we line up in our block. It's happening; breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out. The official puts his gun up.

This is it.

 "BANG"  the gun goes and after that, we go no where but up.

"Moath the Martyr": The Start of Something Sinister?

On December 24, 2014, a man by the name of Moath al-Kasasbeh, a citizen fighting for the Karak governate (a middle-eastern nation), was captured by ISIS after his fighter jet failed to continue and crashed on their grounds. He was held hostage by the terrible terrorist group up until recently when ISIS released a video of this innocent man being burned alive. This video holds explicit content of Moath being burned alive and it captures the exact situation in which the gruesome act took place. Fox News posted the video on Tuesday for all of the world to see. Is there a meaning behind the fact that this video is the one the news chooses to release? The bigger question though, is what are the Jordanians going to do to ISIS for taking away one of their citizens lives in an act of gore?

Since the video was released, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh has not stopped telling the world how great of a comeback his nation will make. After reading this article, I noticed how determined he is to take down ISIS and quite frankly, I admire it but fear it at the same time. The movement Judeh plans to carry out may be destructive, murderous, and VERY dirty. Could it be to the benefit of our nation?

Judeh sent out airstrikes on ISIS Thursday to start the rebellion. This is what is being referred to as "Moath the Martyr". He is claiming how there's nothing to hold back anymore and he will go to the greatest measures to put every man and weapon to the challenge of taking down ISIS. I think after Judeh saw the gory video of one of his own men being burned alive it set the alarm off and there was no going back.

Judeh is determined to take down ISIS and make the world know about the Jordanians. Armed forces said "This is just the beginning and you shall know who the Jordanians are". I believe this airstrike is more than just an angry counter-attack on a terrorist group, it is the change of war and the world as we know it.

There is two different perspectives that you can view Judeh's mentality as. The first one is inspiring. By having such a passion to take down a terrorist group that has fractured ours and many other nations he is able to convince others to join the rebellion and fight back. From this end of the spectrum, I believe something as great as the Civil Rights Movement by Martin Luther King Jr. can be made from this and is able to be compared to it as well. MLK had a dream and didn't give up which is the reason so many people joined his side and were able to change the world completely. If Judeh has the same passion that King did, in a complete other situation of course, he may be able to bring all nations affected by ISIS together as one and take them down for good. This would tremendously benefit us and everyone else in the world and it would show how anything can be accomplished with the right mindset. I can view Judeh's determination as motivation in my own life to conquer any negative situation put in front of me because as long as I have confidence, I can do anything.

This is where the other end of the spectrum comes in: destruction. Judeh is clearly thirsty for a war and is doing anything he can in his power to make it happen. Every bone in his body is sniffing for ISIS and he won't stop until he has destroyed every single one of their members. This scares me because if an unknown man like Judeh can suddenly bring his nation out on top and create a full on war with ISIS, what else can happen? This perspective contains a lot of "what if's" and worries people who don't want to see what the future holds. Think about the situation as a whole and what it could end up into. Normally, when one powerful figure like Judeh erupts to the world about a rebellion, people will face all costs to be a part of it. Yes, this will benefit us in the case of defeating ISIS, but what about after we take them down? Will the world's society come together and start taking down things that could put people of our own kind in great danger? Defeating a terrorist group is one story, but defeating humanity is another. 

It is hard to see these things on the news and not start focusing on the negative rather than the postitive. Take the Ferguson trials for example. It scares me how one little thing can trigger a bomb that erupts in rebellions everywhere and innocent people fighting against innocent people for what reason? Power? Confidence? Whatever it is, it's tearing our world apart and I think people need to stay grounded in these hard times and think about what really matters: peace between the people. So I leave you with this question, is "Moath the Martyr" the start of world peace once and for all, or is it the start of the end of the world as we know it?