So like alot of you I'm guessing, I had this blog completed on time but I forgot to push the publish button. Anyways I was going to talk about something else but I would rather think a little about the presentations that I have seen the past class periods. The one that stood out to me was the one about the "Barbie Doll". Molly made this one very interesting because all the facts that she included. One of which was that 2 barbies are sold every second and all the barbies ever made could circle the earth seven times. But more important is what all this means. Barbie is now being produced in foreign countries so that the companies can maximize profits. Looking at the price then and now it has barely went up three dollars. That is somewhere under 100% markup from the time it was created in the 1950's. Looking at gas prices in the 1950's it was around 23 cents a gallon, now it is about $3.70. Gas has multiplied its prices about 16 times than what it was then. So don't you think if Barbie was being made by people that are getting paid fairly should it not at least be about $15 a doll or more? These people are being taken advantage of in these countries, and Barbie's image is doing psychological damage to girls everywhere. Barbie's unrealistic proportions put pressure on girls to try to look like her.
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In Yemen women are forced to wear long black garments that cover practically everything from head to toe. This is mostly due to just the heritage and religious purposes but it seems that western culture is having an effect on the country. A bridal store has moved in and offers a variety of revealing dresses in alot of bright colors. This can pose alot of problems for people that do not believe in such dress, probably more so the men. Making the women wear long black garbs is also seen as a form of power that the men have over the women. Women should be able to dress as freely as men, no matter what race or country. Below is the article that I found about this situation it is quite interesting.
In a country where the only women most visitors see are silent, demure and almost universally cloaked in a long black robe, their faces hidden behind the niqab, the bridal shower was like a hothouse of blooming flowers. The niqab has become so ubiquitous in Sana, the capital, that some little girls wear training niqabs, just as little girls in America shuffle around in their mothers' high heels, pretending they're all grown up. But follow the voices and the click of heels beyond closed doors to a parallel reality without men, a brief, sweet moment to peel back layers and slip cultural trappings. At the shower, the disencumbered women split their time sneaking bites of chocolate cake with a shared fork, howling with laughter and dancing to loud music -- sequin-emblazoned hips and shoulders shimmying in time with mincing steps. When the music was over and the bridal plates were cleared, the re-bundling began. The niqab, with its unrelenting blackness broken only by a narrow slit for the eyes, has become a symbol for the lack of women's rights in the Islamic world, and in Yemen, it has become a point of contention between conservative sheiks and Yemeni politicians on the one hand, and westernized Yemenis and Yemeni women'In a country where the only women most visitors see are silent, demure and almost universally cloaked in a long black robe, their faces hidden behind the niqab, the bridal shower was like a hothouse of blooming flowers. The niqab has become so ubiquitous in Sana, the capital, that some little girls wear training niqabs, just as little girls in America shuffle around in their mothers' high heels, pretending they're all grown up. But follow the voices and the click of heels beyond closed doors to a parallel reality without men, a brief, sweet moment to peel back layers and slip cultural trappings. At the shower, the disencumbered women split their time sneaking bites of chocolate cake with a shared fork, howling with laughter and dancing to loud music -- sequin-emblazoned hips and shoulders shimmying in time with mincing steps. When the music was over and the bridal plates were cleared, the re-bundling began. The niqab, with its unrelenting blackness broken only by a narrow slit for the eyes, has become a symbol for the lack of women's rights in the Islamic world, and in Yemen, it has become a point of contention between conservative sheiks and Yemeni politicians on the one hand, and westernized Yemenis and Yemeni the other. After the in class discussion about the differences between the ways females and males bond with friends it has made me think alittle more in depth about the whole thing. The first thing I believe plays a major role in building relationships with friends is the environment in which one lives. Depending on where you live that could have a major impact on how you bond with people you care about. An example would be here in the United States men might sit down and watch some sports while women might go shopping. However in Africa it is totally different for people of primitive cultures. Another thing that plays a major role is expectations. Me being raised in a house full of guys I have learned that men are supposed to bond in more "manly ways". Thinking about it makes me laugh. Men in our culture are "expected" to keep more of your feelings to yourself and to not act weak around other males. This has caused us to become almost like robots because we are doing what others expects out of us instead of what we really want to do.
I was looking through the news and came across a very interesting article about the women in Rwanda. I found that around 19 percent of representatives of parliaments around the world are women. However in Rwanda women constitute 56 percent of the representation. This is very impressive considering that the country is recovering from a massive genocide. The women of the country played a huge role in reestablishing order and new laws after countless people were murdered and raped for no reason. This makes a very strong statement because the women were the main victims of the genocide. Here is a part of the article that I found about the women of Rwanda.
With 56 percent representation, Rwandese women are sitting on top of the world rankings of women in national parliaments despite the 1994 genocide that left more than 800 000 people dead and countless women raped. Rwandan women achieved this impressive figure in parliament by taking an active role in the country’s reconstruction and lobbying heavily for a constitutional quota for women in the lower house of parliament. They were also able to push for the creation of a government ministry of women's affairs to promote policies in favour of women's interests. It came as no surprise then when Victoire Ingabire came back home in January 2010 after 16 years in exile in the Netherlands and immediately declared her interest in the country’s top political job. "My objective is to introduce Rwanda to the rule of law and a constitutional state where international democratic standards are respected, where nationalism will at last be the cornerstone for all public institutions," she told IPS. Ingabire, a Hutu, was born on 3 October 1968 in Kibilira in western Rwanda. She is the Chairperson of the Unified Democratic Forces (UDF) a coalition of Rwandan opposition parties with members in Rwanda, Europe, United States of America and in Canada. She has been elected by her party as the official candidate for the next presidential election in Rwanda come August 2010. With Rwanda’s recent history, having a female in the top leadership position may not seem such a strange idea to Rwandan voters. Not only do women dominate parliament, but there are several women heading key ministries in the current government. The country has had a female Prime Minister in the past. Agathe Uwilingiyimana headed a transitional government as caretaker leader for less than a year before her assassination in April 1994. However, Ingabire is of the view that despite the numbers, women in politics in her country are still far from making a political difference. Hey guys I have been researching my group topic here lately and I came across a very interesting news article. My topic for the group project is HIV in Sub Saharan African Women and how it affects them. The article has to do with women who have taken a drug called nevirapine. This drug is only used in women who have HIV because it is supposed to keep their infant from contracting this deadly virsus. However, after taking this drug to protect their infant it leaves the mother with failed treatment for their own HIV. So in short the drug that is supposed to help keep the virus from the baby inhibits the treatment that the mother is recieving by negating the anti-retroviral drugs. Well after doing my page on my woman leader, Robin Morgan, it really interested me as to how everyone can do little things to make big changes. What I mean by that is Morgan is just one of millions of women who has been involved with progressing woman movements and others as well. She gave up acting at a young age to begin writing and eventually became involved with all the major movements between the 1960's and 70's. This really impressed me because not many people would give up an already successful career to help others. It also proved to me how unselfish she was and how passionate her work is. My definition of passionate is doing something because you love to do it even if it brings no personal gain to you. She spread herself and her ideas mostly through her writings and poetry work but she also helped found many organizations that help people globally. The groups make it easy for people to take part in their work easily through their websites.
Hey guys just got home from work so I decided to do my next blog. What I would like to comment about is the movie that we just got done watching in class, "The Shape of Water". I really enjoyed watching the movie because it let me see a major issue from a different perspective. What I admired most was the courage that I seen in the women. The culture that practiced female genital mutilation really opened my eyes to alot of things. These women wanted change and they knew that the only way that they were going to get it was to take action. But to do this would be very tough because one would have to go against not only friends and possibly family, but also against everything that the ancestors and elders believed in. I think that kind of courage demands respect on many levels. The next issue was the people protesting the building of the dam. Their protests were not against their own culture like the first but rather against outsiders. These outsiders came in trying to literally take over their land. This would be very tough to do because they were standing up to people that were probably not afraid to kill whoever got in their way. This was a great movie because it opened my eyes to what really goes on in other parts of the world.
Today I was looking at different articles about the events that are taking place in Haiti right now. I thought about it most of the day after we had talked about the disaster in class. I agree that we have no idea what is going on over there, but there really is not anytime to be wasted. Thousands of children are being categorized as orphans because they are traveling the streets with no parents. Another major issue and one many people tend to forget about is the healthcare of pregnant women. Many hospitals have been destroyed in and around the capital city Port-au-Prince. These women are having to do without the most basic healthcare, emergency obstetric care is one of the most urgent needs. The UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund, is trying to deliver health kits to these areas that are unable to receive healthcare. Here is the link to the website to donate. God Bless! americansforunfpa.org
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April 2010
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