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What impact has the pandemic had on women’s rights in the developing world?
By Sitong Hui, IV Form
What impact has the pandemic had on women’s rights in the developing world?
Introduction
Throughout human history, movements advocating equal rights between men and women have made up humanities. Women who seek independence and equality have countless devotions on this arduous journey. From Africa to America, abolishing slavery, winning suffrage, and gaining political power are main aspects of female rights. While the feminist movements around the world have made tremendous progress in the past few decades, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges and resulted in major drawbacks to women’s status in many parts of the world.
The essay is aimed to provide information and analysis on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s rights in developing countries. It also explains some exemplary methods certain countries are using to soothe the situation faced by women. The essay will outline three major threats to women with detailed supporting evidence, and give out a final conclusion that incorporates a short analysis of prospective development.
COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on Women’s Rights
● Women’s Economic Rights in the Asymmetric Unemployment Shock
One of the most immediate impacts on women brought by the pandemic is the economic disadvantage. According to data released by the European Parliament (2021), about 84% of working women are facing the threat of being unemployed. The recession following the virus outbreak has caused considerable unemployment in many countries, but this effect was largely asymmetric across genders.
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Alternative Transformations in “Venus and Adonis”
By Tate Frederick, VI Form
Alternative Transformations in Venus and Adonis
The transformations within the story of Venus and Adonis represent multiple characters straying from traditional stereotypes. While traditional Ovidian transformations are included in the story, such as Adonis becoming a flower and Atalanta and Hippomenes morphing into lions, the most significant transformations occur when the characters deviate from the way their gender is typically perceived in Roman culture. Inclusion of these interesting character transformations also offers a new perspective on the division and dynamic of power within this story. These special kinds of transformations occur when Venus becomes a hunter and when Atalanta takes control of her own fate.
It is Adonis’ status as a hunter that convinces Venus to transform into a different version of herself so that she can spend as much time with him as possible; this metamorphosis turns Venus into a fierce hunter, which is antithetical to the Venus that the audience would expect. Since Venus is captivated by him, and more specifically his beauty, she knows she will have to sacrifice some of the practices and qualities she has grown accustomed to. For example, Venus is used to staying in the shade to avoid tan skin, which is considered less beautiful, as well as increasing and cultivating her own beauty, or maintaining a plumper figure, which is also considered the ideal image: “adsuetaque semper in umbra indulgere sibi formamque augere colendo” (10.534-5). Following her infatuation with Adonis caused by Cupid’s arrow, Venus is willing to change the location of her usual haunts and her appearance despite her previous values, such as traditional beauty, in order to best suit herself to be a hunter. This new persona best equips her to spend her days with Adonis. She prepares to have tanned skin and a slimmer, more athletic figure.
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Sexism in the Workplace Through a Critical Social Justice Lens
By Anu Akibu, V Form
Sexism in the Workplace Through a Critical Social Justice Lens
Writer’s Note:
This was an essay I wrote for the class Social Justice. We were tasked to “write an analytical essay that evaluates [a] resource through a critical social justice lens, applying the terms, ideas, and concepts we studied in this module.” The article analyzed in this essay is Boston Has Eliminated Sexism in the Workplace. Right?, so the issues presented focus on American society. I am still learning about critical social justice and challenging the way I view the world around me.
The Boston Magazine article explores the gender-wage gap in prestigious jobs at presumably equitable areas of the United States such as Boston. Highlighted within the article are the narratives of various women’s experiences with discrimination and microaggressions in their workplace. Although the companies have taken action against sexism in the workplace, there are still numerous ways for society’s cultural and ideological nature to align with its progressive efforts. (more…)
Serving Up Equality: The Quest in Women’s Tennis
By Tate Frederick, IV Form
Serving Up Equality: The Quest in Women’s Tennis
With the rampant gender inequality in professional sports, tennis could easily be considered one of the least sexist due to its recently equalized prize money. In fact, the World Economic Forum recently wrote that “the Women’s Tennis Association [is] pushing the women’s game and pioneering gender equality” (Edmond). Contrary to public perception, the professional tennis circuit still has to make significant improvements in order to achieve gender equality. The financial distribution still heavily favors men, some of the rules perpetuate sexist values, and unfair stereotyping of female players is frequent.
Despite the fact that prize money became equal in 2007, women still make far less than male players. On the Forbes’ list of top-earning athletes, Serena Williams only comes in 51st, behind five male players, even though she has won more grand slam titles than any player, regardless of gender, in history, and holds endorsements with companies such as Nike, Gatorade, and JPMorganChase (Wang). Williams has earned tens of millions of dollars less than Novak Djokovic even though she has won many more titles than he has (Macur), due to the overall amount of prize money. If Williams, arguably one of the greatest athletes of all time, can’t achieve equal pay in comparison to her less-winning counterparts, where is the hope for women in less acclaimed positions? By maintaining this inequality, the tennis circuit is discouraging and discrediting the achievements of women in the sport. (more…)
Gender Roles at Fenway Park: Analysis of “Rain Delay” by Michelle Von Euw
By Tate Frederick, Anni Zhang, Clara Hua, Tommy Flathers, Kartik Donepudi, and Elise Gobron, IV Form
Gender Roles at Fenway Park: Analysis of “Rain Delay” by Michelle Von Euw
Editor’s Note: All IV Form Writing & Literature classes embarked on a 30-20-30 Assessment (30 Minutes of Drafting; 20 Minutes of Peer Review; 30 Minutes of Revising & Editing) for a one-paragraph analysis of the short story “Rain Delay” by Michelle Von Euw. PROMPT: “What does “Rain Delay” have to say about gender? Focus your analysis on either Caroline or Kyle.”
Tate: The character Caroline in “Rain Delay” challenges the traditional gender roles used in literature because of her interest in sports and her boyfriend Kyle’s unreciprocated enthusiasm in their relationship.
Anni: Kyle acts as an embodiment for men in the society who are unaware of the other gender’s true feelings.
Clara: Caroline shows how females face more judgments and constraints in society than their male counterparts.
Tommy: By showing the difference between the reactions of boys and girls to their kiss, the way that “Rain Delay” is set up reveals the underlying role of gender that makes Caroline feel even more isolated than she already did.
Kartik: By giving insight into gender norms that guide Caroline’s actions, Michelle Von Euw uses Caroline’s situation in “Rain Delay” to highlight the expectation for high school girls to conform to societal standards when it comes to relationships.
Elise: By representing Caroline’s identity, the short story “Rain Delay” uses symbolism to communicate young women’s struggle of identity due to an underlying male superiority.
SCROLL DOWN FOR FULL PARAGRAPHS! (more…)
Taboo or Taking a Stand? Why Sexual Assault Needs More Attention
By Lucy Martinson, V Form
Taboo or Taking a Stand? Why Sexual Assault Needs More Attention
Editors’ Note: In Dr. Worrell’s Social Justice course, students identified an issue that they wanted to take a stand on and then researched to write an evidence-based editorial to demonstrate that they have built knowledge and skills. This assignment was modeled on The New York Times Learning Network Student Editorial Contest.
Image from CBC News
Sexual assault has always existed but became more visible recently with actresses such as Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie accusing acclaimed director Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. The outbreak of these allegations brought the nation’s attention to the issue of sexual assault and harassment. Following this, actress Alyssa Milano started the hashtag #MeToo on Twitter, encouraging women to speak out and share their stories. This movement gained rapid popularity and snowballed across various means of social media, with thousands of women (and men) replying with their experiences and/or their support. Yet, even with these recent high profile cases, there is still work to be done to raise awareness regarding the prevalence of sexual assault. (more…)
The Fight for Women’s Rights in Haiti
By Bannon Jones, III Form
The Fight for Women’s Rights in Haiti
Haiti has had a long, rigorous history starting in 1492 when the Spanish Inquisition conquered Haiti and ruled until 1697. After 1697 the French took control of Haiti, they brought enslaved people from Africa and also enslaved the native people of Haiti. France used them to produce sugar cane, soon making Haiti the richest colony in the world at the time. In 1790 there were 40,000 white French people, 30,000 freed slaves, and 450,000 enslaved people. The Haitian Slave Revolts began in 1791 and, due to how outnumbered the French were by the enslaved people, it became one of the few successful slave revolutions in history. Haiti soon after gained full independence in 1804. Throughout Haiti’s history, they have not had much time to focus on their own people, which may explain the reason why women’s rights in Haiti are gravely lacking. NGOs like USAID, Doctors Without Borders, MicroCredit, and WomenOne are slowly helping to change this through strengthening laws around women’s rights, increasing women’s healthcare, helping women to have small businesses, and increasing women’s education. (more…)
Creating an Online News Source in Writing Workshop
By Emma Viens, IV Form
Creating an Online News Source in Writing Workshop
Editor’s Note: For this assignment, students were tasked with creating an online news source format in a personalized genre/style/theme. It required seven articles, including an editorial, MLA citations, and sections. A title with a pun on their names was encouraged (hence Emma’s title!).
Click here or on any image to see the full News Source.
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