Find Your Greatness

                  The company Nike is a company that wants its buyers to “Just Do It”. Their very popular slogan conveys a motivational emotion in which they hope that whatever athletic event an individual wants to do that they should do it regardless of their situation. Nike strives to motivate people into running faster and harder. They sell athletic clothing, shoes, and accessories in order to equip their customers with the right kind of gear in order to perform better. It is one of the most successful athletic clothing brands in the world. Most, if not every, citizen of the Unite States knows who Nike is based on their slogan and their signature checkmark.

                  In 2012, Nike released a commercial showing a overweight and young man running on a rural dirt road. His name is Nathan and he is 12 years old. The narrator, who is Tom Hardy, is speaking and he is telling the viewer that greatness comes from within. Greatness can be achieved by anyone. even Nathan. He is from a small town in Ohio where not many people are considered “great” or even considered to be able to achieve “greatness”. Yet Nike wants its viewers to know this fact. The company wants to change the way that their customers and viewers think of themselves and the way they think about other people. Anyone, like Nathan, can become a marathon runner or a baseball player. No matter where you come from or who you are, you can achieve greatness.

                  When I first watched this video it made me cry. The reason why it made me cry is because of the young man in the video who is actually making an effort into becoming a healthier individual. Even though he is obese, life in a small town, with probably no support from anyone, Nathan is making a difference in his own life. Most adolescents like Nathan, who live and come from a small town, live a life of obesity. They don’t get educated on the effects the food, which they’re eating, has on them; which is why Nathan is in the situation that he is in. It made me feel emotional because Nathan is running on a lonely looking road by himself, which is why I believe that he doesn’t have support from anyone. It made me feel going for a run because if Nathan can get up in the morning and motivate himself enough to change his lifestyle, than I can too.

#LikeAGirl

Always is a brand that sells tampon, pads, liners, and other feminine products meant for a woman’s menstrual cycle. They have many commercials to sell their products including commercials that empower and inspire women. They show women playing sports, going on dates, and just living their lives as normal as possible. The company attempts to shatter stereotypes that are associated with women who are on their menstrual cycle. Instead of showing a women who is constantly laying in bed because she is on her period, Always shows women who can do anything at anytime regardless what time of the month it is. Their most recent commercial which was broadcasted during the SuperBowl asks girls and young adult women what its like to be a girl. Many of the young adult women are asked to run like a girl. They responded by running while flailing their hands and making comments about how their hair will get ruined. When the girls were asked to run like a girl they ran like any human being would run. They put all of their power into the run instead of portaying a stereotype that has been created for girls.

                    The brand, Always, strives to shatter the image that society holds for women. Society sees women as futile, weak, and emotional human beings and compared to men, we are seen as the weaker species of homo sapiens. Our anatomy makes us “weaker” solely because we have less testosterone and the anatomy between a man and a woman is different. Of course, men and women aren’t equal one has qualities that the other doesn’t have yet why does society put woman down for being who they are? Men have always been revered for their masculinity as is they are able to withstand anything the world throws at them. Women are seen as needing a man to provide for them and to protect them. All of these statements add to the social stigma that concerns women and young girls like the ones displayed in this commercial. Always strives to end the negative connotation that the phrase “like a girl” has.

                    Because this commercial was aired during the SuperBowl its intended audience was the entire country. They want men, women, and children to change the way they look and think about girls and what its like to be a girl. The perspective that men and women have on women needs to change. Women need to be seen as equal to men even if our anatomies don’t exactly match up. In order for the ad to carry on after its short stint, Always displayed a “tag” on their commercial. Whenever someone posts something with the “tag” #LikeAGirl on social media outlets like Twitter and Instagram, Always wants people to be aware that acting #LikeAGirl means a lot more than painting your nails and brushing your hair. Using that tag will remind people that girls are not frail beings but something more than the sterotypes that portray them.

Female Rights

According to Google, the definition of feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. The feminist movement has come to rise in the past 50 years due to more women going to college, chasing careers instead of chasing men. Women are becoming more aware of wage gaps, high leadership positions, and rights over abortion. 100 years ago women were fighting for the right to vote, which was a right only men had. So, its hard to imagine that in the year 2016 women have positions in political leadership or let alone get paid the same amount as men.

Wage gaps between men and women are quite staggering as women only make 78 cents to the dollar that men make. Its outrageous that because of your anatomy and genitalia and by doing the same jobs you would get paid less than a man. Even if a man and a woman have the same educational background and work experience it doesn’t entirely close the gap. There have been achievements in women gaining more education over the past 50 years. There are now more women than men in college at the moment. The reason why so many women are in college and graduating is because of access to birth control and pushing off marriage. Birth control has given women the ability to push off having children so that they can focus on their careers instead. Abortion has allowed women who didn’t plan on getting pregnant by terminating the unwanted pregnancy. Abortion and birth control have given women the freedom to have sex, enjoy it, and live their lives as they have planned.

Another reason as to why there is such a large wage gap between men and women is that women aren’t picked for higher leadership position that women are. The argument as to why women shouldn’t be in leadership positions is that they are too emotional and cannot make rational decisions when they are on their period. It’s true that women are more “emotional” during their menses but it doesn’t mean that they cannot separate their work lives and personal lives. The only reason women are seen as more emotional is because its socially acceptable for women to show their emotions as opposed to men. Men are supposed to be macho and masculine; they are to be tough and invincible. Women are seen as the weaker species.

Gender Roles

Gender roles are something that has been constant for thousands of years. Women are supposed to stay at home, clean the house, cook the food, and care for the children. Men are supposed to do yard work and go to work. From the moment you are born, you begin learning what gender role you fit into. This is a concept known as gender typing, where a child finds out what their gender is and what they’re values and attributes their gender holds. Most if not all children get assigned to a gender role. It’s a practice that has never been questioned until the past 10 years. Because gender has nothing to do with the physical anatomy of an individual people are starting to question why someone has to be put into girl or boy. There is a wide array of gender roles, which are being brought to the nation’s attention. There are people who are transgender, woman, or man. Then there are androgynous men and women, and ambiguous men and women.  Challenging norms, like gender roles, is something humans seem to love to do.

In the past 150 years, gender roles have changed dramatically. In 1850, it was the woman’s job to stay home and make a thousand babies with her husband. Her role is to please her husband and keep up with the housework. It was odd to have a woman work outside of the home and it wasn’t just odd but it was a rare sight to see. Men were the breadwinners of the family in every household. The only women who were the head of their household were single mothers, even then they would go and live with their parents if they were alive or they would remarry immediately. Slowly but surely, the gender roles in the family changed. More and more women were attending colleges and focusing on their careers instead of focusing on raising a family. “On a national scale, public universities had the most even division between male and female students, with a male-female ratio of 43.6–56.4.” (Borzelleca). Women are now becoming equally matched with men when it comes to what roles they take. Instead of the women being solely responsible for housework, its become known among my peers and me that men should share the responsibilities. In my household, my husband helps me when I ask and shares the chores with me. My husband does work a lot more than I do so I make sure that the amount of chores he has doesn’t overwhelm him. In my head, I think whoever works more hours and has longer days shouldn’t have the same amount of chores that a homemaker does. It wouldn’t be fair for my husband to come home from an 8-hour workday and see the house a mess while I didn’t have school or work that day. Some people believe that no matter what, the chores should be divided equally with their partner. I believe that whatever works for you and your partner are acceptable.

Gender roles don’t only pertain to adults and their personal lives but it also pertains to children. When a child is born with a penis he is considered a boy and when a child is born with a vagina she is a girl. Girl and boy are genders, which are related, but it doesn’t determine your sex. Your sex is determined by the anatomical genitalia that you are born with. Many argue that just because you’re born with a penis doesn’t mean that you have to be a boy. One could be androgynous which means that you have both male and female characteristics. There are parents who don’t want their children to feel pressured into falling into a specific gender role so they allow their children to play with “boy” and “girl” toys. They feel like there is no such thing as a “girl” toy and a “boy” toy because a toy is just a toy. It’s an item that a child can play with whether it be a Lego set or a Barbie doll. Target, one of the largest and most successful retailers in America, “has announced that that it will remove gendered labeling from many of its aisles.” (Cunha). It’s a bold move for Target because they are removing gender labels that have existed for hundreds of years. It’s a great decision because now children don’t have to be pressured into something that is so very important to them. One of the biggest influencers in what kind of toys a child plays with isn’t a toy label in a Target store but it has more to do with the environment that they grew up in and who they’re being raised by. There are many “traditional” parents who believe that boys are boys and can only play with “boy” toys like Legos, cars, and guns. It’s a strict doctrine that is enforced upon that child so he or she has no choice but to do as told. Although, our world is becoming more and more tolerant it doesn’t mean that every single individual will be tolerant of different gender roles. It’s an institution that will take decades to change.

 Borzecella, Daniel. "The Male-Female Ratio In College." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 16 Feb. 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.

Cunha, Darlena. "Target's Decision to Remove Gender-Based Signs Is Just the Start." Time. Time, 10 Aug. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2016. 

Free College

The current President of the United States, Barack Obama, has brought up a new proposition for the people of the United States; he has declared that he would like to make community college free. “As the president’s “America’s College Promise Act” — which would increase federal funding to cover the bulk of the average community college tuition — sits in Congress, many states are already working on their own free college programs”, (Dickler, 1). How would that even be a possibility? Nothing in this world is free. Even if you go shopping and a sign says “free this” or “free that”, there is always some kind of stipulation that entails whether it be getting the free item means that you actually have to buy something or that you have to enter some kind of sweepstakes. Free college actually means free college for you. Someone has to pay for the facilities, professors, and staff. Although free college sounds like the best thing in the world its not as easy of a solution as it sounds. There are many solutions that have to be created and combined in order to give the entire country a chance at a free college education.

            The people who are going to have to pay for the free college are taxpayers. They are going to be the ones who will have to pay because the money has to come from somewhere and that somewhere is the working class. Raising the taxes would mean that where would more income so that the government could afford to pay the community colleges so that they can stay open. Although taxes may rise, many parents would be relieved to know that their child will have an opportunity in higher education. As I wrote in my previous blog post, a college education is an invaluable gift to give.

            Of course, with free college there also come problems. Many students may take advantage of free college without actually intending to graduate. It’s important that community colleges keep their standards high when it comes to who can receive a free college education. A student should have to keep a specific GPA in order to continue their education at a community college. There are many students here at GCC who attend classes because they don’t have anything else to or they feel like they should be here and they end up not putting in any effort towards their classes. Those students may be here on financial aid, which they are squandering away. Its important that the educational institution makes sure that their students are there for a reason and have goals they would like to achieve regarding their education.

            Another way that we can create a solution for a free college education is that community colleges offer scholarships for students who excel in the classroom. Colleges can offer scholarships to those who don’t qualify for financial aid so that they are still able to afford college. They may be able to require a certain GPA or write an essay as to why they should receive a scholarship. Many schools already offer scholarships but they should definitely make it so that it’s available only to those who don’t qualify for financial aid.

            There won’t always be a simple solution to issues like free college. It takes a lot of brains and willpower to implement something like this. The government can make this possible and if maybe 100% free college isn’t the solution than maybe we can work to lower tuition rates. Making college affordable is the best decision that our country can make. Educated individuals make for outstanding, taxpaying, law-abiding citizens.

Works Cited

Dickler, Jessica. "Free College Programs Could Be around the Corner." USA TODAY College. 2016. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.