Post 11

Well, trying to find something for this assignment was difficult without getting out of my usual BBC and LINK TV but I did find something that gives an example of how absurd rhetoric is still accepted by people. Here's his recent rhetoric concerning the possible future of the country: Gingrich’s latest warning came this week at the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, and was picked up by Politico: “I have two grandchildren — Maggie is 11, Robert is 9,” he said. “I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they’re my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American.” OK, this is mindboggling to me. I really don't understand how even people who follow this guy and agree with his biggotry and fundamentalist views can not stop and question this statement. This is a sentence full of fear factors put together but it doesn't make any sense. I really question the intelligence of people sometimes, come on, a secular atheist country ruled by radical Islamists? I usually make fun of Gingrich and his speeches, however, absurdity is another thing. I'm imagining his followers picking up this concept and fearing the worst without even thinking that this idea is ridiculous! Either you have Islamist rule or you have secular rule or you have atheist rule, a combination of the three just doesn't fit in my head!

Posting 10

As a Latino woman in the United States, I believe that the political, legislative, and social reforms targeted by the Women's Rights Movement are still primarily for white, middle-class women and not all women. In my opinion, although much progress has been made; the simple fact that women from racial minorities still have limited access to education, employment, contraception and are, as studies have shown, more likely to experience violent attacks, demonstrates the need for much more to be done.

Yes, there are many more non-white many middle-class women today living fruitful and successful lives; however, in this country, representation is only accomplished through power and power is only accomplished with money. A Capitalist society will always be able to show false progress in social issues, it can show tokens such as Condoleezza Rice, or Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and will beat this horse to death in order to make believe that everyone in this country has the right to success. Furthermore, television and the media is still showing the Cosby Show like the example of what an African American family looks like in the United States. Well, the truth is very different, according to statistics, minority women are less likely to get into higher education, and, Affirmative Action or not, minority women are less likely of becoming CEO's or reach the glass ceiling. Furthermore, minority women have less access to contraception due to the lack of health insurance and because of the poverty in their neighborhoods and the unemployment rates, domestic violence has risen in the past few years.
As you can see it all revolves around money, poverty overall will keep affecting minority women more than it affects white women, therefore, in a Capitalist society, we will always be at a disadvantage.

For more detailed information about these disparities, please visit the United States Department of Labor website at http://www.bls.gov/cps/demographics.htm#race and http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/law_enforcement_courts_prisons/crimes_and_crime_rates.html report #309. These reports give you an idea of the reality we live today. Keep in mind while looking at these numbers that African Americans are only 13% of the population and that Hispanics are 15% of the population of the United States, therefore if we were equally affected by crime or lack of education, only these percentages of all crimes for example would affect minority women.

Post 9

As a feminist, I believe that there is a reason why society has developed the way it did. Factors such as gender bias, social perceptions, and political or economic interests may all have contributed to the lack of medical research targeted specifically for the female body. Putting women in second place when it comes to the important things in life – or death, as in this case – has a long history in our society. Fortunately, for women this situation is changing rapidly; however, as a society we need to know what went wrong in the past so that we do not make the same mistakes again. My personal interest in this topic arose from a simple family anecdote. One day at a family reunion, having recently had a mammogram, I commented on how modern technology had made these tests so much less painful. My 80 year-old mother wisely remarked that, in her opinion, had we been talking about testicular cancer, painful machines would have long been eradicated. This incisive comment, my academic interest in women’s health, and my Women’s Studies readings made me think about the differences in medical research when it comes to males vs. females.

At this time, I am still trying to connect this contemporary issue with two of the writers assigned. Hopefully if I continue to read their biographies, I will find the right ones. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.