Don't Mess With the Ladies

     "Morons and Oxymorons: Undermining Women in Leadership" by Nicholas Bray is about how people are undermining women when it comes to leadership. The article goes into detail about why people undermine women. Also what makes women question themselves.
     Nicholas Bray makes it clear that he believes that women should be treated equal. He starts by saying "Women leaders are trapped in an identity conflict created by stereotypes about how they should behave." Bray wants to show the reader how women are equally as good as men. "Adopting typically male attributes like grey suits in such an environment won’t resolve the contradictions, she says, and may actually worsen the inner conflict between leadership identity and gender identity." Because women try to show men that they are equal in the process they can build on top of the fact that there are stereotypes. A study shows that women are moving faster then men "According to OECD figures, 47 percent of women in OECD countries are now set to graduate from university, against only 32 percent of men." If this is true then why do women have to work harder to try to prove themselves?
     Stereotypes have been a part of society for a long time. "According to Karelaia, however, the causes lie much deeper, in stereotypical attitudes to gender and leadership that are deeply entrenched among both women and men." Women are also set back by "family obligations, including the bearing and raising of children, are often cited as the main explanation." Although this is not said aloud people still think it.
     This article makes me think about how women are treated in society. You see women being undermined everyday. Even kids do it, it may not be intentional but it still happens.

Social Activism; Gay Rights

     In the 1970's the gay community started making change. Although there were laws about how 

everyone was treated equal and all that, it wasn't always followed. Especially when it came to the gay community. People would harass people who were openly gay. Being gay back then was even 

classified as a illness. Many people back then were afraid to come out, because of how they saw other gays being treated. 

     Gay Activists began to change how things were running in the U.S. "The Gay Activist alliance and later the Nation Gay Task Forced lobbied for a city gay rights law. This didn't pass till 1986, but it still passed. Secondly, you would think that police officers would have to respect people being gay on duty, however there was "police harassment and homophobic[ness from them]." Gay Activist got news reporters to cover this. Lastly, doctors would classify being gay as a "mental disorder". In "1973 ... the American Psychiatric Association to stop classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder." Even though all of this took time the Gay Activist never gave up. 

     Going to the museum and reading about how gays were treated back then made me realize how unfair society is. What if being straight was wrong and being gay wasn't? Even today there are people who classify being gay as wrong. There are religions out there who say being homosexual is wrong too. When someone comes out they want to be treated the same, but if someone anti-gay then they'll probably shun that person even though in the inside the person is still the same as before. 

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

        13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher has many connections in it, whether it be to the real world or to characters. 13 Reasons Why is about a girl named Hannah Baker who commits suicide. She creates a series of tapes, each tape is about someone and why they “helped” Hannah decide to kill herself. The book is told by a teenager named Clay Jensen. 
The overall book definitely relates to the real world. The major relation being suicide. Another relation is rape. In the book a girl named Jessica Davis who gets raped at a party, obviously quite traumatizing. This plays a big factor in the book, even though from just reading the book it may not seem like it. If you spend a little more time thinking about Jessica’s rape you’ll see that Hannah didn’t do anything to get Jessica some help.   “I would have opened those doors ad stopped it. But I didn’t.” (page 227) Hannah didn’t tell anyone about Jessica’s rape, which plays a role in why Hannah committed suicide. 
Another relation to the real world is Hannah herself. Hannah like most teenage girls feel misplaced, misunderstood and like know one is listening to them. Hannah goes to the guidance counselor seeking help. But what did the counselor do after Hannah told him that she was “talking about... [her] life.” (page 279) and how she said she had to move on. Mr.Porter, the guidance counselor did nothing! He allowed her to leave and he didn’t go after her to get her help. 
Overall 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher has many real world connections. It explains how these issues can effect people.