Newhope4unme: A Male Name Makes a Difference

Newhope4unme: A Male Name Makes a Difference

A Male Name Makes a Difference

     According to Harding, (2009), this day in history, blog writer, James Cartrand, exposed to the world that he is actually female blog writer, Mary Elizabeth Williams. For many years, her career as a writer barely made ends meet. At the same time, crude remarks and condescending criticisms made her feel inferior. To adapt, she quit mentioning that she had children or worked from home. On a whim, she decided to submit with a male name.


     The whim paid off. It does matter in the business world what gender a person originates from. The quality of her writing did not change, only her name changed. No longer did she suffer haggling and disrespect. Now she gained fewer revisions, compliments, and a huge pay raise.

     Throughout history, female writers have used pseudonyms to achieve acceptance. In the early nineteenth century, it sounds like a necessary act. However, in today’s twenty-first century it is a horrific to even fathom.

     People think they need alter identities to protect themselves. Secrecy is the best way to save a person’s family from harm, as well as not subjecting themselves to sexual innuendo or even worse death threats.

     Nonetheless, Mary Elizabeth proves that just because the women’s Suffrage movement gained the rights for women to own property, join the military, vote in public elections, and work outside of the home for wages, things really have not changed as far as acceptance goes. Whether the bias is subconscious or not, a female writer still earns half the wages of her male counterpart (Harding, 2009).

     Many observers of American Western culture believe women are equal to men in this country. Sadly, this story points to the opposite. The battle long ago started by the Suffragette’s still continues. The young women of the twenty-first century think there are enough female representatives in the political realm. However, women do not even make for half of representation. Do they know the “Glass Ceiling” still exists? Is this our best representation to Other World countries?

     Should we educate our wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, nieces, and granddaughters about what issues they face besides global warming and violence, or should we just begin by naming them Samuel, Franklin, and George?

References

Harding. K. (2009). Write like a man. Retrieved December 14, 2009, from. http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/feature/2009/12/14/male_pseudonyms/print.html

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Newhope4unme: Thinking about plastic surgery? Think quickly!

Newhope4unme: Thinking about plastic surgery? Think quickly!

Thinking about plastic surgery? Think quickly!

The current health care reform bill causing such a debate in the United States Senate, calls for a “Bo-Tax” on optional plastic surgery. The people who choose to have such procedures, as Botox injections or breast augmentation will pay an extra five percent tax to help offset the cost of medically necessary health care for other people. Does this sound like a good idea?

According to National Organization for Women’s (NOW), president, Terry O’Neil, (2009), “Now they are going to put a tax on middle-aged women in a society that devalues them for being middle-aged?” This is the same organization in 1968 protested outside the Miss America Pageant demanding an end to unreasonable ridiculous good looks criteria. In today’s culture, it is a well-known fact that older people remain victims of discrimination. In order to fight for women in today’s culture, superficial looks become just as important as breast reconstruction is for mastectomy patients or burn victims skin reconstruction. Are those cosmetic procedures unnecessary?

American economy is suffering. Many women must enter or re-enter the workforce to supplement their families income or provide their families only income. In order for them to fight favoritism shown to younger job applicants, they must look the part so they only differentiating characteristic comes from their skills and resume. O’Neil (2009) also states, I know a lot of women whose earning power stalled out or kicked down as they entered into their 50s, unlike their male counterparts’, whose really went up.” The feminist movement must favor plastic surgery in order to fight this new form of added discrimination. Celebrity Gloria Steinman, a previous plastic surgery recipient, stated, “I’ve met women who’ve had to lie their ages down as much as 20 years to get or keep jobs as everything from waitresses to high-level consultants.” When a person recognizes the true reality of the American culture, it becomes depressing.

Women know that being valued on the merit of what is inside their bodies is a joke. Take for example Susan Boyle, this women, who possesses amazing singing ability, received the classification of joke as she stepped onto the stage to deliver her first performance.

When looks separate us from money feminism must stand up for the pop culture’s beauty. If a person needs to provide for their family as well as themselves and an eye lift helps them to achieve it, they should not have to pay extra for the help. Would a normal person opt for surgery or live in poverty?

References

Warner, J. (2009). Bo-Tax backlash. Retrieved December 9, 2009, from. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/judith-warner/

Mattie, P. (2006). Beauty trend archives. Retrieved December 9, 2009, from. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.piercemattie.com/blogs/plumping_parties_plastic_su.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.piercemattie.com/blogs/beauty_trends/&usg=__BLLwYd8A5irv8O6Q-0-vAkcI3Is=&h=354&w=470&sz=23&hl=en&start=4&sig2=qM4XHbPT9LKsphWFBKUiMg&um=1&tbnid=lDZDdLGNgYXmSM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dplastic%2Bsurgery%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=uUshS56KBIel8AbVvNWFAQ

For a Person's Own Good

Should weight affect a person’s ability to graduate? At Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University it does. One of the requirements for successful graduation at this university is a Body Mass Index (BMI) 30 or under 30. Otherwise, these students marked as clinically obese, must enroll in a remedial fitness class that meets at least three days a week. The directive began in 2006, when directors felt compelled to help students with their health (Harding, 2009).

According to Harding (2009), this entails blatant discrimination against the obese students. She believes if they insist on fitness for their students then the testing for the unfit should not just based on weight. In fact, prevented from enrolling in the fitness class are students who possess a BMI less than the measurement of 30.

When people first read the description of the class, it sounds fun. The activities include water aerobics and Tai Bo. If someone has ever taken classes, they know paying for education is much different from public education.

So, how would they feel if told they had to pay tuition to take the class? Along with the fact, that their fellow classmates who have less than 30 BMI have no such requirements. In fact, they receive their degrees even when they hold lower GPAs. “As Tiana Lewis said in an editorial for the school newspaper, "I came here to get an education which, as a three time honor student, is something I have been doing quite well, despite the fact that I have a slightly high Body Mass Index." Lewis tested out of the class but chose to take it anyway…”

It was not until Bill Clinton was president people realized that weight was a growing problem for the United States. Every adult knows that should not be overweight. Should the government take on the worry of the steadily increasing waist sizes of America for their own good? Does the American government have the right to take the choice out of the citizen’s hand? With the story fast becoming National News, which side of the debate should the popular culture group take?

References

Harding, K. (2009). You must be this thin to graduate. Retrieved December 4, 2009, from. http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/feature/2009/12/01/lincoln_university/index.html">http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/feature/2009/12/01/lincoln_university/index.html