Feminist Inequality

                The feminist movement is all about securing equal rights for women. Well there are some who think that it’s actually causing more inequality among women. The feminist movement often focuses on women breaking the glass ceiling. That is, being hired in higher level executive positions. This focus marginalizes women who work in lower level everyday positions. Sheryl Sandberg, a female executive and chief operating officer at Facebook, thinks that the women should negotiate to get more or equal pay to their male counterparts. But most women who work within the five C’s (Caring, cashiering, catering, cleaning and clerical work) can’t really negotiate their minimum wage pay packets.  Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s chief executive, doesn’t view herself as a feminist. (She says she doesn’t have that militant drive). Mayer has received a lot of negative feedback over her decision to stop Yahoo employees from working at home. Yet, Mayer was able to build a nursery for her child right next to her office.  The Fawcett Society, a feminist campaign, says that they focus on all Women’s issues, not just those in the executive world.

                Overall this article discusses how a group that is meant to help the advancement of all women may be in fact neglecting a major population within its community.  I think that more efforts should be focused on women who work in the lower pay positions. Someone like Mayer can afford to build a nursery in their office, and has the means to do so. Most women struggle to find childcare. I do think the feminist movement as a whole is focused on all inequalities among women, but I can see how the “breaking the glass ceiling” approach gets more notice. Sandberg believes that women should learn to negotiate, but that’s not always feasible.  If one works a minimum wage job that only pays $8.00, most cannot negotiate more than a dollar more in pay.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/world/europe/10iht-letter10.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Blog 8 India Gender Inequality

In India there have been many cases of women being sexually assaulted, but these crimes go “unsolved’ and never make it to trial.  On June 28, 2012 a 15-year old girl was kidnapped and gang-raped repeatedly. This story did not gather much media attention, but a rape that took place on a moving bus months later sparked a media and political frenzy. The latter rape gained so much attention that it 5 men and a teenager were arrested almost immediately and are on trial in a fast-track court. Why the rape gained so much attention may be due to the fact that it happened in the open. More women began to take to the streets in protest, and let their voice and concerns be heard. The government has taken notice and has even discussed allotting money toward women’s security and empowerment in their budget. Many women’s right activist said that this progression has been in the works for decades.

Gender inequality can be seen throughout this article. Women’s rights didn’t matter much until one specific incident occurred. It is sad that it takes so many violent acts to occur before the problem gained any attention. I think you can see the gender inequality gap slowly closing with the women who were in the streets protesting. With such uncertainty about being protected it took a lot of courage for those women to place themselves in such a vulnerable and dangerous position. The government seems to be onboard with correcting the gender inequality issues as well. The fast-track court will help put an end to rapist never going on trial. It’s also a good idea that they place women’s empowerment as a part of the budget. If women become more educated on their rights maybe more can be done to help prevent future crimes against women.

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/where-is-indias-feminist-movement-headed/

Blog #7: College inequality

                This article focuses on high achieving, low income students and how they aren’t even applying to some of the nation’s best colleges. One factor the article touched on is that the students may not be applying due to lack of financial resources and information on financial aid. Also, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may have never been exposed to someone attending such a prestigious university. If these students don’t know anyone who has attended that college they are less likely to have heard of the institution in the first place. The article also mentions how low income students who choose a community college or a four-year university that is closer to home are more likely to not graduate. These low graduation rates also contribute to the low levels of upward social mobility. Depending upon a ruling based on The University of Texas, colleges may be pressured to begin recruiting students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds due to affirmative action programs.

                I think that this article holds a lot of truth. Many students choose colleges based on their financial means. I myself chose not to attend a college because I wasn’t sure how I would pay for it. Another deciding factor for me was did I know someone who attended the university. I would imagine that students also choose colleges that are closer to home for financial reasons as well. Out-of-state tuition is expensive and they may not have the financial funds to travel back and forth. This is an example of inequality because most of these students come from areas that lacked resources that could help them prepare to go to such an institution. This in turn creates a cycle of inequality. The student comes from a situation that lacks resources, they attend a mediocre college, potentially drop out, therefore returning back to the community that lacks resources. I think that considering SES as a part of the recruitment process for some universities and including SES in its definition of diversity will help to increase the number of low income students who apply to these colleges.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/education/scholarly-poor-often-overlook-better-colleges.html?hp

Blog 6: Children's Suffrage?

Voting rights for women and people of color has been granted in the United States. Now there is talk of a Children’s suffrage. According to the article giving children the right to vote will help put a stop to the growing inequalities.  This idea may seem absurd to most, Dr. Corak who supports this idea initially thought the same thing. The reasons behind giving children the right to vote is fairly simple. The current people who have the right to vote and are more likely to vote are the older population. Therefore they tend to vote for programs and spending that would be beneficial for them. This leaves the welfare and voice of children unheard. Their votes would be called “Demeny Vote” named after American Scholar Paul Demeny. Demeny first introduced the idea in the 1980’s concerned about the declining fertility rates in Europe. You may be wondering how they will get children out to the polls, their solution is to allow the mothers to vote for their children. After all, mothers have their child’s best interest at heart, right?

The reasons why children should have a vote are a good idea. Children are indeed the future, but adult votes pretty much decide what their future holds. I don’t think that their plan however will work. To give the mothers the right to vote for their children seems like a good idea, but only if the mother truly does have the child’s best interest at heart. What if the mother is uninvolved in the child’s life? Wouldn’t she then just have multiple votes that could potentially just benefit her?  Maybe they should look into lowering the voting age instead of just granting rights to all children. That way the child could actually be at least somewhat informed of their decision. Another problem would be parents influencing their child’s vote.  Parents tend to have a great influence over political views.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/world/americas/08iht-letter08.html?_r=0

Blog 4 Agang in South Africa

  South Africa has had it fair share of troubles, Apartheid being one of them. Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, a 65 year old woman has always been a political activist fight against apartheid. Dr. Ramphele has started a new political party to fight against the existing political party the African National Congress. Dr. Ramphele’s new political party is called “Agang” a word that means build.  The party is an effort to challenge the dominance that the African National Congress has held in national elections to 1994. Since the end of apartheid inequality has grown in South Africa.  In the past Dr. Ramphele even been exiled for her involvement in politics. Dr. Ramphele would like to help build the education that she currently feels is failing South Africa’s youth. Dr. Ramphele stated “The dream has faded for the many living in poverty and destitution in our increasingly unequal society…. We have failed you. We have failed to build for you an education and training system to prepare you for life in the 21st century.”

  This article discusses many of the inequalities that are happening in South Africa, such as the poor education system. The article even mentions how the current president spends a lot of money on his personal security, but fails to spend the money on the country. One thing that was shocking to me is that the person heading this new political party is a woman. It seems that in matters of inequality women tend to be a part of the group that is being oppressed. Mamphela Ramphele is a medical doctor and has held several “high” positons in South Africa. Ramphele plans to work along with Democratic Alliance which is the ANC’s main opposition party. Taking over political power will be avery difficult task especially since the ANC has been in control for almost the past 20 years.

Brazil Fumes over Pay Blog #3

                 In America we typically view government jobs as a great source of income and benefits. In Brazil the pay is extremely well and maybe even unfair. Highway department engineers are being paid $263,000 a year which is more than the nation’s president. Public employees in Sao Paulo like court auditors and parking valets are earning more than the city Mayor. These public employees earn anywhere from $11,500-$25,000 a month, while school teachers and police officers earn only $1000. Sao Paulo State Judges earn more in a month than Judges in New York state do in a year. Brazil finances itself through tax collection and issuing debt services. Out of 30 other developed countries Brazil was ranked last in the quality of services citizens receive for the taxes they pay. Law makers have been scrutinized for their spending habits. The freedom on information law is intended to expose practices such as legislators granting 18month salary to their selves in a year.

                It should not be a problem that government employees are earning a huge salary. The problem lies in who decides who gets which pay. I thought it was surprising that the even Police officers don’t get paid as much as valet parkers. You would think that police work, such a protecting the citizens of the city, would earn more than just $1000 a month. It seems that those who make the laws are being paid substantially more than other occupations. That seems to be no coincidence. The freedom of information law may just help expose the inequality of wages in Brazil.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/world/americas/brazil-seethes-over-public-officials-super-salaries.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&&pagewanted=print

Blog #2 ADB tackles inequality

Inequality rears its ugly head once again in east Asia.  The Asian Development Bank is now investing money into education and health to help deal with the growing inequalities. In east asia there are 830 Million people living on less than $1.25 a day and the gap in continues to grow. The Gini Coefficient, which measure inequality, shows a growth from .36% - .47% over the past 20 years.

The Asian Development Bank usually focuses on infrastructure projects, such as building transportation ways, dams, etc. The bank believed that improving these areas would help to decrease poverty and over all improve the quality of life. That was not the case. The bank plans to focus more on “inclusive growth” in their Strategy 2020.  In ADB’s 2011 annual report only 4% of the total loans went to education and health care while 69% of the bank loans went towards infrastructure:  energy, technology, etc.

Rajat Nag, ADB’s managing director general said “We will have to invest in health and education to make sure people are skilled enough and well enough to benefit from growth”.  He says that ADB is working social protection system, much like India. India started the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural employment guarantee in 2005. It promises 100 days of employment annually to adult members of rural households.

China’s voluntary “Rural Co-operative Medical Scheme” wants to provide 800 million people with health care in rural areas.  World Health organization says that the scheme appears to “have successfully provided some protection against the impoverishing effects of illness in rural China and to have reduced out-of-pocket health spending.”

Last but not least he bank is concerned about the effects of natural disasters. The bank has asked the government to “develop and implement comprehensive disaster risk financial resilience.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/feb/05/asian-development-bank-tackle-inequality

Blog #1: Leader's visit lifts a Village

Recently China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, visited the small town of Luotuowan, China. His visit brought a lot of attention to the severe poverty in that area.  Xi visited the small village of Hebei Province and many of its poor citizens. Mr. Tang, a man visited by Mr.Xi, was in such poverty that he shared his bed with five other family members.

The publicity from Xi’s visit started a great deal of help coming in . To help with their need, the government made arrangements for cooking oil, rice, and $160 cash to be brought to each household. I’m sure the rice was a special treat with corn products being one of the main and only dishes that they eat. After being touched by this story, a businessman drove over 500 miles with more cash and flat screen televisions in hand to give to the people of Hebei Province.

Xi and the Communist Party have promised to take a closer look in to the wealth gap. This gap is causing social instability, but what caused the gap? Income inequality

The article states that “Although official statistics released this month suggested that income inequality has eased in recent years, many outside analysts say it has actually gotten worse, making China among the world’s most unequal societies.”

Is there any hope that China’s Communist Party can help stop the inequality that these rural areas face? Mr. Tang has high hopes that they will. Mr. Tang and his wife honestly believe that under Mr. Xi’s power things will get better.  They believe that Xi will be much different from the previous men who have been in power.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/world/asia/chinas-xi-jinping-faces-problem-of-rural-poverty.html?pagewanted=all

Inequality

For my current events blog I would like to take a look at inequality. I chose this topic because I believe that inequality is very present in today's world. It happens to a variety of people for several different reasons. Issues of inequality show up in areas of sex, race, religion, and sexual orientation. It is my hope to uncover the reasons of inequality, and maybe even figure out ways to stop it from happening.