Women's issues key in 2012 election

BY JILL WHALEN (STAFF WRITER)

Published: April 16, 2012

Whether spoken during election season or viewed on the local airwaves, its seems the past few months have been laden with women's issues.
Presidential candidates have discussed access to birth control and debated women's roles in the military as they travel around the United States on the campaign trail.
Even locally, women's issues are being spotlighted. Just this year, two made-for-women programs were launched by Hazleton television stations.
This isn't the first time that women's issues have received so much attention, said Eileen Morgan, English instructor at Penn State University's Hazleton campus. Candidates have incorporated women's topics into campaigns before.
"The issue that seems to be most discussed right now is women's health care and what should or should not be covered or required to be covered by employers based on those employers' religious affiliations," said Morgan, who also teaches a Women in the Arts and Humanities course at Penn State. "Lesbian women are also particularly concerned with gay marriage issues being discussed. The right to abortion is another issue that many women are concerned about as well."
She added that many women are "very concerned with the health care coverage issues and control over their own reproduction." And they're angered by the inflammatory comments conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh made about Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke after she testified before Congress about contraception for college students.
And while the issues are hitting a nerve, Morgan believes the 2008 presidential election saw more female influence.
"I think the last election featured a number of powerful women voicing concerns and having a major impact on what happened in the election - Sarah Palin, Hilary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and even Tina Fey's voice -were powerful and important. This election I see a lot of talk 'about' women but not actually 'by' women," she explained. "I think women had more say in the last election than this one.
"Congresswomen were walking out of the hearings after no women were allowed to speak in the health care hearing examining employers being required to provide coverage for contraception and full female health care. This election year is all about women, but without having powerful female voices in the forefront of the discussion."
"Whether they like it or not, yes, women's issues are being highlighted by candidates," said Dr. Thomas Baldino, political science professor at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre. "Rush Limbaugh managed to inject himself into the debate about contraception, and (presidential) candidates were then forced to discuss the issue for better or for worse."
A Gallup poll released earlier this month hints that women's issues are hurting Republican candidates because the issues are so divisive, he said.
Baldino said the "most visible" and "most controversial" issue, Baldino said, is contraception because of its ability to unite or divide. And while contraception is the hot button issue, women are also concerned about "the glass ceiling that they experience in the workplace" and provisions of the health care law introduced under President Barack Obama, he noted.
"They're interested in lifetime limits, caps on insurance, extending health care coverage to kids under 26," Baldino said. "These are issues that women see as important to families."
Presidential elections are no strangers to women's issues, however. Women's rights were discussed in the 1960s and 1970s, and 1992 was named "The Year of the Woman" after a number of female senators were elected, he recalled.
Debbie Lesante, host of "The Girls" on SSPTV Channel 13 in Hazleton, said she developed the idea of a women's talk show years ago. "The Girls" debuted in January - a time when "everything just fit into place," Lesante said.
"The concept of the show is women of different generations getting together to talk about what's on their minds," Lesante said. Viewers can easily relate to the topics, she said.
She and her three co-hosts discuss "light and refreshing" subjects ranging from holiday traditions to tattoos, to more serious topics like cosmetic surgery and hot flashes. They're the kind of topics she could picture discussing with her mother, aunts, female friends and cousins.
"When I was a girl, we lived in a row home, and our aunts and uncles lived nearby," she said. "All of the women would get together on the porch or in the kitchen and just talk. No one ever had to see a psychiatrist. Nobody was on pills because we had that support system."
"Women Today" began airing in February on WYLN-35 in Hazleton.
Liz Tolan, the show's producer and co-creator, said 15 shows were booked in a short period of time.
"So obviously it's something the area has been looking for for a while," she said.
"Women Today" focuses on topics like surviving abuse and breaking free; divorce and infidelity, aging and acceptance and permanent cosmetics. Experts from the community are brought in to discuss topics with Tolan and her three co-hosts.
"Everything is relevant to women," she said, noting that the show is produced in cooperation with the Greater Hazleton Health Alliance. "We try to bring in the best we can find. We stay true to the topic, and there is not a lot of chatter per se. When you watch the show it is very rich in info."
And the Penn State Hazleton campus recently wrapped up its Sixth Annual Symposium on Contemporary Women's Issues. The event is funded through an endowment by local businesswomen E. Lee Beard and is designed to engage women's interest in topics related to professional and personal development, said Tracey Morgan Chopick, chairwoman of the event's committee and assistant financial officer at Penn State.
Morgan Chopick said the symposium focuses on a different theme each year and all women are encouraged to support and attend the free event.
"Women face unique challenges in life. As women and educators, we need to pass our knowledge and expertise onto other women," Morgan Chopick said. "The Women's Symposium empowers women to be successful in both their personal and professional lives."

Read more: http://standardspeaker.com/news/women-s-issues-key-in-2012-election-1.1300610#ixzz1sDb6G3Nq

Women of Arab Spring

In a way, the surprise didn't matter. Westerners may have been astonished at the sight of women protesting alongside men during the Arab Spring uprisings, taking part equally in the battles, absorbing the blows and forcing the issue. But the women themselves had a different view.

"It wasn't a surprise for women to see themselves out there," says Rania Al Malky, editor-in-chief at Daily News Egypt. "It was only natural, since women have been a part of all major struggles in Egypt, and so not new for them to be there in a key moment in Egyptian history."

Women at the forefront of the struggles that started in Tunisia and fast carried over into Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria have spoken of the protests as reawakening a sense of equality that had long been buried under layers of corruption, repression and social conservatism.

The problem now is of a retreat to the past, and already we're seeing a claw-back. Women were underrepresented in the recently held Egyptian elections, while that same nation has witnessed brutal repression and humiliation of some women at the hands of security forces, guided by a transitional military council that to some observers seems intent on crushing the aims and spirit of the revolution.

Dr Laleh Khalili, a senior lecturer in Middle East politics at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, says that revolutions are often "fought over the terrain of women's bodies" because that's what ends up being a defining issue. "It tends to be the issue that is polarising in all contexts. It forces the different sides to clarify a position and is a distraction from other points of contention, because it's so emotive."

But Khalili also points out that, once women have tasted the power and the equality of a revolutionary time, there is no going back to old roles - it's a transformative experience. That's something reiterated by the activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman - dubbed the "Mother of Yemen's Revolution" - who says: "Women know and have practised something different now, so they will never go back. Past revolutions around the world have ignored women, but no - not this time."

http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/women-of-the-arab-spring-give-voice-to-their-hopes-and-aspirations

Chapter 24 Part 1

The main overall topic of this chapter was globalization. I was kind of interested reading over this part because of how recent it was. I thought it was kind of funny how the used Barbie and Ken dolls to relate to current times. Thats how you could tell that we are nearing the end of history stuff. In our book, I mean. Anyways, accelerating global interaction, which was the title of the chapter, became really busy in the 1900s! Around the mid-1900s, countries interacting with each other for trade and stuff could not be helped and we started to think of the world market kind of as a whole thing. Not like separate countries had their own interactions just with each other anymore. Everyone was kind of in everyone else's business and that helped trade and globalization. I'm interested to learn more about what exactly the reglobalization period was.

MLK and Gandhi

Gandhi: "A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."


I think that these two quotes go hand in hand because the first one talk about how a small group of people who have faith in a certain cause can really make a difference. And the second quote talks about what exactly faith is. If some people believe that they can do something, both Gandhi and MLK believe that they can make a change in the world; the thought of that is very inspiring. 

Chapter 23 Part 1

This chapter is about independence in European and other countries. It really focuses on India and South Africa. And of course, they talk about Gandhi. I like to hear about Gandhi because of the peaceful actions that he took part in. He is one of the main people to thank for India gaining their independence. I always think it's crazy that we have people like Gandhi and Mother Theresa. And then we also have people like Hitler and KKK members.

Chapter 22 Part 1

This chapter is focusing on the rise and fall of communism. Some people accused Barack Obama of being a communist. On a very reliable website called "commieblaster.com" they boast this slogan: PROGRESSIVES = SOCIALISTS = COMMUNISTS = LEFT-WING RADICALS = ANTI-CAPITALISTS = UNAMERICAN. They have also apparently confirmed that Obama is marxist. This is frustrating because when people do not like something they begin to search for excuses. Which can be extremely ridiculous. Communism is a socialist movement that strives to make everyone equal for the most part. This is one by eliminating social classes and such. It sounds like a good idea... in theory. But it has never really worked out. The Soviet Union and China are the most popular communist countries that I know of. Russia went through a revolution which resulted in the Cold War! And then look at China, bad stuff happened under their dictator, Mao Zedong, and millions of people died in the search for social perfection.

Chapter 20 Part 1

The focus of the beginning of this chapter is all about colonialism! As it says in the book, there were two different kinds of waves of European conquest. The first place that they went to was America. This is the story that most people now about Europe colonizing America. But the second place that they invaded was Asia and Africa. And people kind of know the story about this, but it is not as broadcasted as their trip to Americas. The major countries that were into colonialism were France, Britain, Italy, Germany, Portuguese, and Russia. Lots of people, besides the rich, disliked the colonies however because the rulers took many things from the people that they invaded including land and money.

Chapter 18 Part 1

The beginning of this chapter is all about industrialization! The chapter asks first, "Why Europe?" And then goes on to ask more specifically, "Why Britain?" This was something that I was always wondering and what I actually realized was that there were a lot of other countries that flourished in technological advances before Europe caught wind of the whole thing. When Europe began to pick up the pace industrially, other places like India and China were beginning to slow down. And I think history books need to emphasize other countries more often and stop kind of being so Eurocentric.

Chapter 17 Part 2

This part in the chapter highlighted, mainly, the Haitian Revolution! This is what I was most excited to hear about since I learned a little about it in high school but I don't really remember that much. I thought that it was kind of weird that there were so many different people in Haiti rather than just Haitians. They were slaves but there were also white people and other people that were just of mixed background. I think I found this interesting because I feel like back then, countries just weren't all mixed. But then I guess that also makes sense because Europe was kind of in every country back then..

Chapter 17 Part 1

The title of this chapter is very representative of what is going to be happening throughout this part of the book. It is called The Atlantic Revolutions and Their Echoes. The Atlantic Revolutions include the American, Haitian, French, and Spanish American revolution. Their echoes have to do with what occurred after and because of these revolutions. I am most eager to learn about everything but the American revolution. I feel like I know the most about the American Revolution and their struggle with Europe and I would prefer to expand my knowledge to learn about the other revolutions since they are just as important. Also, I think its kind of cool how one country inspired another to make changes for themselves and revolt!

Pages 491-497

This was mostly an introduction to the nineteenth century. The nineteenth century means that we will be learning the 1800s! It continues to talk about the evolution of England and how they were a main focus during this time. Instead of the scientific revolution, we get to learn about modernism! I'm interested to see what is considered to be modern. Or what modernism is exactly.  

Kant: What is Enlightenment?

This article was a pretty tough read but I found that it was much easier if I kind broke it down by paragraph and then by sentence. Because that kind of took a really long time, I probably didn't spend as much time on this as I should have. But what I got from this reading is that there is no real freedom. Kant believes that there is always someone telling you what to do. Which may kind of be a good thing.. But I don't know. Kant tries to encourage people to think for themselves and to not just blindly follow what people tell to you to believe. He wants people to free themselves from tutelage, which is doing something because you have the help of someone else. He wants people to be more independent.

Chapter 16 Part 2

While the first part of the chapter was mainly about religion, this part of the chapter focused on the scientific revolution that began in Europe. I didn't know that Arabs were the first and most scholarly. I always thought that it was the Europeans who started the trend of thinking outside the box. Perhaps because our history books are so Eurocentric, we never get to really hear much else besides what Europe and America were up to. Anyways, the scientific revolution began and it collide head on with the Catholic church. The church was not fond of these new ideas and theories that were becoming popular because they felt as if they were losing control. The revolution was necessary though because without it, who knows how much longer it would have take for people to stand up for free thinking. Aristotle was like a celebrity back in the day with all his cool new ideas that were totally out there.  But people began to realize that they liked to be able to think for themselves rather than just be told what to believe in. I kind of feel like our society has sort of taken a few steps backward since then, as sad as it may be.

Chapter 16 Part 1

The beginning of this chapter began by talking about religion and how it played a role in early society. Christianity was the dominating religion of the time and was not to be messed around with. When Martin Luther did decide to mess around with it, he was excommunicated and hated by many. He was also seen as a hero, though, to some. He was not the only one who believed that the church had some major kinks that needed to be straightened out. Instead of believing that one could slowly buy their way into Heaven with the indulgences that the church was selling, he believed that faith was the only real thing that could guarantee a place in Heaven. I went to a Lutheran elementary school and was educated a great deal about Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. This is why I consider myself to be more spiritual than religious. While I believe in God, I don't really believe that there are strict rules that I must follow in order to pay him a visit after I die. I know that he knows my heart and that is enough.

Chapter 15 Part 2

This part of the chapter is about the Atlantic slave trade!! Whenever I think about slavery, I always kind of wonder why they picked Africans to be their slaves. I mean, I know that it was because of their color... but in the book I read that "largely through a process of elimination, Africa became the primary source of slave labor." So there were actually no more Slavic or Native American slaves because they were either dead or unavailable (thanks to Europeans). And also, Europeans and Christians were apparently exempt by God from being slaves because they're just so cool. So they thought, "Hey! Let's enslave Africa! Plus they're a different color than us so they're weird!" And then Americans proceeded to kickstart a racial feud that would really last forever. Even today, people are accused of pulling "race cards" and other stuff like that. Because African Americans were enslaved by white men, there is still tension that exists today, whether we realize it or not.

Chapter 15 Part 1

The beginning of this chapter focused on the trading of different goods between different countries. This is when people began to want things that they did not make. America wanted spices from India and England wanted sugar from America. The main things that were being traded that the book highlighted were silver and fur. I find it interesting that these were such specific things that other countries wanted. I found it interesting that Russia relied on Siberia for fur when the Russians probably could have just hunted by themselves. I guess we kind of do the same thing now though in terms of purchasing stuff from other countries. We know we are capable of making clothing and yet we have garments from Indonesia and Thailand because it is cheaper.

Sweet Nexus, Sugar and The Origins of the Modern World

A long time ago, when the Americas were being brutally taken over by Christopher Columbus, sugar was a really big deal. Europeans didn't have much sugar because it takes a lot of hard work to produce it. Because Europeans didn't really produce sugar, Americans saw it as a way to make profit. Black people became slaves to white people and were forced to do the job that they did not want to. This frustrates me because of the treatment that the slaves endured. Also, the fact that people were well aware of what was occurring and yet did nothing to try to put an end to it is just really sad. Slavery in America is another check on the list of mistakes that we have made.

Chapter 14 Part 2

The last section of the chapter fourteen focuses on the expansion of the Russian and Chinese empire in contrast to the English Empire. In Strayer's book, Geoffrey Hosking states "the British had an empire; Russia was an empire." This statement illustrates the differences and similarities between the two empires. There actually weren't too many really similar similarities between the England and Russia actually. Or China, for that matter. Russia slowly took over countries that were near them that they were familiar with. While the British attempted to overtake a foreign land, the Russians attempted to overtake the neighbors. They demanded that the newcomers to their empire take an oath that praised their monarch! Rude. On the up side, the Chinese and Russians didn't really make their people slaves. But I think that submitting to a foreign religion, belief, etc. can be considered a form of slavery for some.

Chapter 14 Part 1

Reading about how the English came to the Americas and took what wasn't really theirs frustrated me. I have sympathy for the Native Americans and I just feel bad for them! Columbus and his crew came to America and believed that it was their manifest destiny to control the country and anyone who stood in their way. When the diseases that the English brought over began to kill off the Native Americans, they also believed that it was all happening because of God's will. Because God was a vengeful guy who wanted to practically kill off one human race so another could succeed. That Columbus was so cocky and rude towards the hospitable Native Americans is why he is now viewed as a pillaging pirate.