REIGNITE Mom Comes Forward About Sexual Assault
Why Men Need to Express Let’s Talk About This Pay Gap
Celebrities Who Are Making a Difference
March 2018
10Trends
Every Feminist is Jumping On
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5 TRENDS FEMINISTS ARE JUMPING ON Men shouldn’t be the only ones who don’t have to shave their armpits. Feminists are starting a new taboo of also dying their armpit hair vibrant colors!
Dating back to the 60s and 70s, feminists started wearing men’s clothes, like blazers. Still to this day, women are rocking pantsuits which are typically thought to only be worn by men.
Feminists also are starting to wear more baggier clothes. The typical ‘norm’ is wearing tight clothes that enhance the way their bodies look. Well feminists are saying, “screw that” and wearing whatever they want to wear. Men can go out shirtless every day, and not worry about people judging because of their nipples being out. Feminists are showing society that a woman’s nipples aren’t something they should have to hide. #FreeTheNipple. Something amazing that is happening in 2018, is that being a feminist is becoming a trend. More and more women, and even men, are starting the fight for equality. Fashion today, is now showing people that being a feminist is the way to be.
Contents
March 2018
4
6 Why Men Need
10 Trends Feminists Are Jumping On
to Express
9
11 Celebrities Who Are
Woman of the Month
Making a Difference
13
Let’s Talk About This Pay Gap
16
A Mom Comes Forward About Sexual Assualt
20
Iceland’s Pay Gap is No More
22
Women’s March Orlando 2018
24 What People Think
Feminism Is 5
Why Men Need to Express
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An explanation on why men in the U.S need to start expressing their emotions more and why society needs to accept that. By Kailey Kruid A baby boy is crying after first being brought in to this world. The dad says, “No, boys don’t cry,” and tries to calm him down. Now a toddler, the little boy doesn’t want to take a bath and begins to throw a fit, the mom tells him again, “Shh – boys don’t cry.” First day of kindergarten, the scariest day for a 5-year-old to experience since they’re not going to cling to their mother’s side all day. As tears start to roll down the child’s face, the mom repeats herself again and tells him, “No, boys don’t cry.” As a teenager, the boy’s soccer team wins a big game. As he runs to his father with tears full of joy, the only response he gets from his dad is, “Boys don’t cry.” After years of his parents and society telling him he can’t express how he feels because of his masculinity, eventually those emotions turned to anger. As he looks at her bruised face, kneeling on the floor in front of him with tears in her eyes, his are dry. There is no remorse, because boys don’t cry. Since the beginning, men have been told that their masculinity is the most important thing they have. When they talk about feelings or show any signs of empathy or emotion, they’re called ‘pansies’ or the biggest insult that a man can hear, a ‘girl.’ People wonder why the numbers of women being abused or killed by men are going up. Well, news flash, it’s because we have told men that they’re only men if they express how they feel through anger. What men and society need to realize is that men need to express emotions. Emotions are what make people human, without them, a person can never have an emotional connection with something or someone. Without a person acknowledging how they feel, they can never truly process the life changing events that happen in their life. If they lose a loved one, they can’t grieve properly and that can lead to problems later in life. It can also lead to them not being able to regret a mistake they have made (Brand 14). When a man and woman are upset, they tend to express their emotions differently. A woman tends to act in, while a man acts out. This is what can lead to abusive tendencies in men. “Women aged 15 to 44 worldwide are more likely to be killed or maimed because of male violence than because of war, cancer, malaria, and traffic accidents combined (Hughes 6).”
“Women aged 15 to 44 worldwide are more likely to be killed or maimed because of male violence than because of war, cancer, malaria, and traffic accidents combined.” These numbers are ridiculously staggering, and they continue to go up. Majority of this rage that men have is because of having to suffer in silence. Most men don’t even feel comfortable talking to their romantic partners (Brand 7). However, we can try to change this, if society just changed their outlook on how they think men should act. The new norm could be men talking about what’s going on in their lives and not being afraid that their masculinity will be tainted if they shed a tear. This job mostly relies on the parents of the future generations. By the age of five, most boys have learned from their families what a ‘man’ is. “And in many instances, boys will have been socialized for violence by being taught that being a man means being tough, powerful, intimidating, and a stud (Hughes 21).” If a parent teaches their child that it’s okay to be upset, or to be angry, and to just have feelings, then they can also teach them how to properly express those feelings. There is clear evidence that neglect and emotional abuse on a young boy will eventually lead to violent behaviors. Bradley Cates is a man that realized that emotions don’t define a person’s masculinity. He became depressed and like most men, had no idea how to express these emotions. The best advice he can give out to other men who are struggling with a similar circumstance is, “If you are a man and someone sees you upset, do not try and hold it in (Cates 8).” Simple advice. To all the men out there, if someone asks if you’re okay, I promise it’s okay to tell them you’re not. If you see a man who looks like he needs someone, go and try to reach out to them. You never know what kind of impact you can have on that person’s life. It’s time that we show the world that a real man, shows emotion. A real man doesn’t keep everything inside and turn to a person with zombie emotions. They don’t act violently towards women and feel no regret. Showing emotions shows what confidence that person must have to be able to say that something is wrong, and they need support. We need more brave men in this world, and that starts by men actually ‘manning up’ and expressing their emotions.
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Woman of the Month Malala Yousafzai is a young activist that fights for equal rights when it comes to education for girls. She is an inspiration to many young girls who are denied the same rights that a man has. By Kailey Kruid Every day, many teenagers throughout the United States, wake up at 7 A.M dreading to go to school. Each step they take getting closer to walking in to school, in their mind, is another step in to hell. They walk in to class, and stare at the teacher lecturing thinking about what they’re going to eat for lunch, or what drama their missing on social media at that moment. They completely disregard the fact that they are the lucky ones. In the United States, one thing the nation provides is providing equal opportunity for every person from the age to five-to-eighteen a free education. The people of the U.S decided that being able to gain an education should be a right that no one should be able to take away. However, some countries don’t have the same thought process. Sadly, in Pakistan they believe that women do not deserve the right to have the same education as a male. Malala Yousafzai had to experience this unfairness at first hand. She grew up in Pakistan during the time of extremists, the Taliban, constantly roaming the streets and taking away people’s rights every day. When she was a young teenager, she was brave enough to start attending school. When Taliban began to deny girls an education, Malala
started to speak out. She began to the blog for the BBC of what life was like in Pakistan under a fake profile, but her name was eventually released (Malala Yousafzai Biography, 14). She won multiple prizes including the Children’s Peace Prize in 2011 and Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize (Malala Yousafzai Biography, 15). With the growing attention she kept receiving, she began to get death threats from the Taliban. On October 9, 2012, on her way home from school, an extremist boarded the bus and asked which girl Yousafzai was. With the looks from her peers towards her direction, the shooter shot her in the left side of her head and wounded two other girls. She was rushed to the nearby hospital and then flown to Birmingham, England. Fortunately, she survived without brain trauma. She then continued her education in Birmingham. She didn’t let this tragedy stop her from her fight to provide an education to not only herself, but for everyone. “I don’t want to be thought of as the ‘girl who was shot by the Taliban’ but the ‘girl who fought for education’ (GPE Secretariat, 4),” said Yousafzai. Still to this day, she is doing that. Many girls are told they don’t have the right to the same education as a man, however, Yousafzai proves those thoughts wrong every day. Keep it up Malala, you are an inspiration.
Women’s rights march march 24 washington dc. orlando, FL
Celebrities Who Are Making a Difference Beyonce is one of many celebrities who is using her fame to make a difference. She decided to make her 2018 tour about feminism and informing all of her fans what that means. “I put the definition of feminist in my song and on my tour, not for propaganda or to proclaim to the world that I’m a feminist, but to give clarity to the true meaning,” she said.
Emma Watson uses her voice every day as a feminist activist. Watson is a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador who helped launch the HeForShe campaign. The program aims to encourage both men and women to promote gender equality.
Jennifer Lawrence is another activist/celebrity who stands up for what she believes in. She doesn’t feel the need to watch what she says either. “I’m over trying to find the ‘adorable’ way to state my opinion and still be likable! F— that. I don’t think I’ve ever worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating what angle he should use to have his voice heard. It’s just heard,” Lawrence has said
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