I took a class in computer programming. The class dealt with math done by the computer. We learned about mantissa, floating point, and exponents. It was math and it was hard.
In 1992 The Mattel corporation released a talking Barbie Doll that 270 phrases. One phrase was “Matt class is tough”. The corporation faced backlash from women’s groups and the doll was retooled so that the phrase Math class is tough was removed.
Math is often tough, but a Childs toy that is meat to inspire children should not reinforce how hard a school subject is. One stereotype that is not well deserving is that women are not as good at math as men. The toy that is marketed for women helped reinforce that stereotype.
I think we should make it a point especially during women’s history month to erase and not promote any negative stereotypes about women.
“I am going to watch it you should to.” A friend of mine made this suggestion to me yesterday concerning the movie, Amelia, a bio pic about Amelia Earhart. After a quick google search I realized that the movie was on Netflix and now the DVD is added to my queue (ha no it isn’t but remember when that was a thing?), I plan on streaming the movie this weekend on Netflix.
When Amelia Earhart fell in love with flying she could think of nothing else and she was told by almost everyone that women did not fly. That was a mans world. Amelia kept a scrap book as a child of women who did “man things” like, film directors and producers, lawyers, and mechanical engineers.
Amelia drew inspiration from the women in the images of her scrap book. I am sure that as the women were in film, law and engineering school they were treated not as well as the men, I am also sure that in their professions they were paid far less than the men. Today women are still treated poorly and paid less than their male counterparts and there are apologists who defend, maybe worse there are those who say it doesn’t exist! Sexism is still alive and well and women are still underpaid and treated poorly. Sexism like racism is still baked into the laws and culture of the United States. Defending sexism and hiding our heads in the sand only make things worse.
Amelia, the women in her scrapbook and women today face sexism in a major systematic way and it is through other woman breaking the glass ceiling and finding success that future generations find inspiration and inspiration is important. You may not think that being a successful attorney, producer, or engineer is a big deal but there could be a young woman out there clipping your picture and putting it in her scrap book.
There is a video making the rounds on the internet (what video doesn’t?), the video is from the NBA all star game and it is an introduction for two of the celebrities’ in attendance at courtside (I want seats like that). In the video Machine Gun Kelly is introduced and then the announcer says “and his wife Megan Fox”. First of they are not married and second why does she need a qualifier and he does not? I wanted to embed this video but I thing because it is a Tik Tok video you will have to follow the link (posted below this paragraph).
Marriage is a wonderful institution and should be a partnership but far to often it is not. Society has evolved and grown and unfortunately it seems that marriage is still catching up. The first recorded marriage was 4000 years ago in Mesopotamia and seems like it was a way of preserving the power for a ruling family. The marriage would result in children and the power of the empire would stay within the family. Here is a pretty good article outlining the history of marriage. Marriage has evolved and changed over time, however when I and my wife were married the minister asked her to love and obey me her husband. Just typing that line right there leaves a bad taste in my mouth. This vow has left a bad taste in others mouths as well and many churches are avoiding the vow altogether. Me and Shanna try everyday to be equal partners and I don’t think either of us intends on commanding or obeying the other.
Women and men truly are equal and neither women or men need qualifiers. Words are important and it is going to be really hard to change society if we continue to use unevolved and wrong words.
The United States Constitution is quite possibly the worlds most famous social contract. The contract was created to be a living document with the ability to adjust it as the nation grew. It is a good thing too because one of the most powerful social contracts created did not take into consideration women or black men and women.
In 1920 the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote in the United States. For democracy to do what it is intended to do Govern the consented. A vote is a form of consent. When you vote for a certain policy or a leader with policies you are consenting to that leaders will and policies. If that leader pulls a “180” you can wait till the next voting cycle and vote against that leader and for a leader that better aligns with your world view.
Part of the reason the United States constitution works as well as it does is the right to consent to government. The Constitution was signed and adopted in 1787 that means women were governed in an unconsented manner for 133 years! The women’s suffrage movement worked tirelessly to make the 19th amendment happen. You can read about some of the heroes of the suffrage movement here. I remember when the U.S. Mint struck a coin with the image of Susan B. Anthony on it. Seeing that image made me read more about the woman and the movement. This is why history is so important. Our children need to understand that a social contract only works when all of society is involved in the contract and there were and are brave women out there fighting to secure and protect rights of everyone.
Today access to voting is being denied in the United States and the social contract is in danger again and there are women who are fighting for the right and opportunity to vote. When I think about the right to vote today in the United States I think about Stacey Abrams and her work to protect the vote. Stacey Abrams and her work to protect the vote in the United States is a Susan B. Anthony type of figure that we can point our children to and another role model to spotlight in March which is Women’s History Month.
On the website for International Women’s day the site asks the visitor to “Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated.”
As a exercise today I have really tried to imagine this new type of world. What does a world without bias, stereotype or discrimination look like? It is hard to imagine because we do not live in this world however I imagine that world would not be free of differences but celebrate the differences and work together to achieve good for all genders.
The bets way to imagine something is to practice doing it. It is small wins and steps that give us the skills to grow our imagination. Today work hard to celebrate, acknowledge and respect all genders and do as much good as you can for all people
It is day 7 of Women’s History month and it is also the 12th day of the Russian Invasion of the Ukraine. Russia an Ukraine are at war. The invading force is Russia and the defending force is the Ukraine. Russia is facing economic sanctions and here in the United States we are getting press coverage of the horrors of war, some have family members trapped overseas looking for refuge from the war.
There is a song that Keith Urban sings called Female. The initial lyrics are;
When you hear somebody say somebody hits like a girl
How does that hit you?
Is that such a bad thing?
When you hear a song that they play saying you run the world
Do you believe it?
Will you live to see it?
He goes on to sing about how equality can be and will be achieved but not unless woman believe in themselves and society works towards seeing them as true equals.
I grew up seeing photos of war and hearing stories about war. When I joined the U.S. Army women were prohibited from being in combat positions. Women were not allowed to serve in combat positions in the U.S. Army all the way up until 2015!
War is truly hell and I do not wish war on anyone ever anywhere, however to assume a woman cannot participate in battle is foolish and fly’s in the face of history. Here is a list of 16 women who were wartime heroes.
Men and woman are truly equals sharing the best and the bestial and no one should ever stand in the way of a woman or a man who wishes to fight for their country. Perhaps instead of stopping men and women from fighting efforts would be better spent on diplomacy that would cease the cause for the war in the first place .
It is day 4 of Women’s History Month and its seems appropriate to address the Matriarchy, or the lack thereof in the United States. A matriarchy is a system of government in which women women rule. Currently there are 6 functioning matriarchies today, in contrast there are 195 governments in the world and all but the 6 are in practice patriarchies. Some may take this moment to argue against the previous statement and if you are among the some than you are part of the problem.
See, I put the word in practice there and I would challenge you to show me one government that has equal representation for men and women. It doesn’t exist (if it does please comment on this post so that we can celebrate the steps forward).
When confronted with the reality of the patriarchy in the United States and how it has shaped the treatment of women I have to ask myself why and how. Why do we think a government that does not accurately represent women is ok and how did this happen in a nation where we hold fair democratic elections for office?
It happened because few women run for political office and few people vote for the women that run. Teach your daughters, and nieces that they are equals. Support your sisters and wives while they are trying to break through the glass ceiling and reject the gender stereo types. There is nothing wrong with a father who stays home with the children.
Teaching and voting is serious business and the United States of America is from form equal and definitely a practicing patriarchy. When you teach the children in your life girl or boy please teach them that gender does not determine what they do and how they do it. When we vote lets all make a conscious effort to vote for someone who will fight or true equality and if we can vote for a woman to balance out representation. If you are a woman in the United States consider running for office and enacting some real change!
There was a book I read and it was made into a series on Hulu. The book is The Handmaids tale. If you enjoy dystopian books about the future with just a hint of hope sprinkled in I suggest reading it. I liked the book and so did my daughter. My sister watched the Hulu series and loved it. The Handmaids tale is the diary of a handmaid in the city of Gilead in the distant kind of near distant future. Of course there was a war and the side that won is ultra religious draconian and a twist most of the women are infertile. So what does the ruling class do? The take the few fertile women and make them handmaids. The handmaids job is to bear the children for the ruling class.
The book was published in 1985 and the Hulu adaptation happened in 2017 and the fifth season is coming soon. The book left a lot to the imagination at the end and I have never seen the show (it is on my to watch list though). As soon as the show premiered it seemed like parallels were made between women’s reproductive health rights (access to safe abortions) and the show.
Lets see up until about 1880 abortions were legal in most of the United States and not considered a sin by the Catholic church, if they were performed before the quickening, the Baptists in the United States did not consider abortion a sin until about 1979. Abortion was made illegal in the United States because of how dangerous it was in 1880 for the woman. In 1973 Abortion was decriminalized in the United States. Currently states are finding ways to restrict women from having abortions and seem to be working to once again criminalize abortion. The reason for the criminalization of abortion is not to protect the women’s health but to protect the right of the unborn or the fetus to become born or alive.
What does it mean to be alive? That is a question that religious scholars have and are still arguing over now. Is it as black and white as someone is alive when they are born? The people arguing against women’s rights do not think so.
I was a young child and me and my sisters had a hamster 2 hamsters. The hamsters were male and female and had a litter of pups. There were four kids in the house the hamster family and I think we had a cat and a dog too. (not sure about the cat) The mother hamster ate all her pups! I was traumatized and for the longest time never understood what happened. Hamsters do not always eat their young but when they do it is usually because they are either stressed, under feed, feel that there young are unsafe, or the scent of the young has changed.
If you have a hamster and it has pups.. Be sure to increase the hamsters diet remove any stress to the animal, keep its habitat clean, and avoid handling the cute little pups, otherwise your child could be traumatized.
I was born because my mother choose to bare me. Yeah I feel a little sick thinking about it but its true. If my mother choose not to be a mom I would not be here. No matter what we think a woman should have the right to decide if she is a mother or not full stop.
Women’ s rights are human rights and no matter what your or my religious leaders tell me this year about when life begins it will always be wrong to tell a woman whether she should be a mother or not.
Instead of working to limit women’s rights this March why not help women who are mothers? Donate time and money to charities that are working to keep women safe, clean, and healthy. Dedicate your time to protecting the living.
Yesterday was the first day of Women’s History Month and it came and went without a mention of it on my blog. Shame on me!
Women’s History Month is all about celebrating the role women have played in the history of American History. Throughout the history of the United States of America women have had and continue to have fewer rights and opportunities than men. Even though women, as Ruth Bader Ginsburg put it, have had the foot of men on their necks, they have risen and done great things for the United States of America as well as the world.
I ASK NO FAVOR FOR MY SEX. ALL I ASK OF OUR BRETHREN IS THAT THEY TAKE THEIR FEET OFF OUR NECKS.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Imagine what women could do if men work to encourage and support them! Climate change solved! Social injustice addressed. Inflation gone.
Some men maybe reading this and thinking “of course I support women, but do you really? Prove it show me what you have done to prove that you support women.
That is what I am doing now with my own self talk. Every time I make a statement I am a good person or I support women I am going to prove it to myself through action and there seems to be no better time to prove this to ourselves than women’s history month.
Do you support women? Prove it. Donate to a woman’s charity today. Treat your daughters the same way you treat your sons, nieces the same way you treat your nephew. Is you son your little prince?
In 2016 Hilary Clinton ran for president of the United States and she won the popular vote by 2.9 million votes. The majority of the United States that voted for president proved that they support women with their vote! That is awesome! Joe Biden just announced that he is picking Ketanji Brown Jackson to be a justice on the supreme court. Have you done any hiring? Did you consider how women are represented in your organization at all levels? You should. Women represent 51 % of the population of the United States.
It is easy to fall back into the historic role of putting our foot on women’s neck so we must prove to ourselves over and over again that we support women. Ask and prove this to yourself often and at least once a day this month
I was involved in implementing a plan to reduce the cost of printing at a rather large institution. No one was happy to see me when I was involved in this plan. I represented a change in the way things were being done. The change was taking place because of the cost associated with the levels of printing that were going on at the institution.
I heard all of the reasons to not implement and to implement the printing plan. Ultimately the plan was implemented and I think the institution has adjusted well.
Personally I believe that the plan was the right call. Stewardship means taking care of something carefully and responsibly. I have rarely seen stewardship employed when it comes to a resource that seems plentiful.
When I consider stewardship I always think of the Cedars of Lebanon. The Mountains of Lebanon were once full of trees Cedar trees. Over time without stewardship the trees were forested and now there are only a handful of these trees that remain. It is truly heart breaking.
The real cost of deforestation did not seem to weigh in on the calculations when the deforestation was happening in Lebanon. The trees seemed to be plentiful until they were not.
I love cutting loose and being impetuous as the next guy but, I want to be able to cut loose and live free as long as I can and I want my kids to see a real live Long leaf pine however because of a lack of stewardship this may not happen….
The Corrigan Encore 