Poltical Manifesto

I know people who believe being patriotic means listening to all the messages the media sends us.  It means embracing capitalism in its current form, enjoying steak and potatoes and apple pie and supporting any big business because after all, corporations are so American.

I know people that are afraid to say what they really want to say when it comes to politics because they fear the repercussions on their career, status and circle of friends.  I felt fooled into that role for a minute and then I remembered what it was to be an American in the light of this mass movement: Occupy Wall Street.

Being American means you have a right to an opinion, a voice and the right to protest your government when you believe they are wrong. 

I’m not going to pretend to be intimately involved with the movement.  I’m not and in fact, only recently have I begun to pay attention.  What’s so unique about this movement is that it’s not a movement based on a single issue, but rather on the greater discontent of society as a whole.  It’s a multi-generational movement and yet I can understand those Gen Yers out there the most.

I was born in 1984.  I came of age in a period of disillusionment.  I have few friends that didn’t owe at least 15 grand by the time they were 22 and shot into the “real world” without much cushioning and consistent calls from loan collectors.  I was born into a world of shifting powers and globalization all of which contributed to my worldview.

This however, does not hinder my vision of the world I’d like to live in.  I thought I would breathe some life into this vision and share it with you.  Rather than say what is wrong with society, which I think we have a tendency to do too often, I am going to write what I’d like to see.  Politicians – take note:

1.      .  I want the people we elect to office to look more like real Americans.  This means they have average American salaries (the real average, not the congressional average which is NINE TIMES that of an American).  This of course, means that there must be political reform as to how we run our elections which can cost up to millions of dollars in media buys, marketing and staffing.   I want our politicians not just to mirror Americans economically but also racially and by gender as well.  I want more parity in our elected officials because I don’t believe I can be represented by a 65 year old millionaire white male. 
2.         I want universal health care for all.  How do we do this from a budget standpoint?  Here’s a suggestion: invest in holistic health care practitioners that address the underlying problem rather than the symptoms.  All healthcare practitioners should prescribe as much preventative medicine as possible.  This however, cannot happen if people cannot afford to get regular check-ups.  We are the ONLY industrialized nation in the WORLD that does not have universal health care for its people.  What does that say about the priorities of one of the richest countries in the world if it can’t even invest in the health of its people?
3.         I want less spending on war and more investment in green technology, education and small businesses.  It becomes a huge problem when the military industrial complex becomes far more powerful than the citizens, something I fear has already happened in our country. 
4.         I want my future children (if I have them – still concerned about the world’s overpopulation issue – largest threat on earth to mother earth) to grow up in a better society where are differences are celebrated rather than similarities rewarded.  What I mean by that is for people to stop talking about diversity and to live it; this means more diverse individuals in positions of power as authors, politicians, business leaders etc.
5.          I want a lot less sexism in every single media outlet worldwide.
6.          I want a lot less sexism in every single boardroom worldwide.
7.          I want the farming industry to stop putting chemicals in the soil.
8.          I want any animal farmed for its flesh to live full lives where they roam free, see sun, and eat what they are intended to eat i.e. cows eating grass instead of being force-fed corn which they can’t digest, etc. and killed with compassion for their being.  I want the FDA to regulate HUMANE practices across the board.  As Gandhi said: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”  
9.           More than anything, I want my American peers to rise up and do something about what they see wrong in this world.  That is what inspires me the most about Occupy Wall Street.  People standing up for what they believe in is what our nation is built on.  It’s not shopping malls and mass consumerism; it’s not corn-fed cows and hormone injected chickens, it is democracy.  This nation is built on the belief that majority rules and that belief is being challenged by the tiny minority.  I don’t want to live in a country where everyone is too comfortable, stagnant and placated on their i-pads and playstations anymore.  I demand much more.

Thank you to the OWS movement for the inspiration!  Everyone else, do with this, what you will and take action – join a movement, go vegan, spend less time watching television and more time campaigning for issues close to your heart.  Donate time or money to what you believe in and leave this world better than when you came into it. 

Love,

Jen

A patriotic American Citizen

Engine Oil and Feminism

I had a dream that my car had run out of oil and I was left stranded on some highway with the engine fuming.  I remembered my dream when I started to smell a burning on Interstate 55.  I freaked out and jumped lanes getting off at the next exit and heading to the nearest gas station.

I walked into the gas station stylin’.  I had started to feel sick this morning and spent the majority of my day in bed reading and drinking tea.  I was wearing my 17 year old cousin’s red hoodie, black pajama pants and purple slippers.  I hadn’t even bothered to put on real shoes.  I picked out some motor oil and waited in line.  The gentleman in front of me started a conversation with me as he gave the numbers he wanted to play to the attendant.  I asked him what he was planning on doing if he won.  He replied he would come and find me and take me out some place nice.  I laughed gesturing at my slippers.  He then told me not to worry about what I was wearing, that he’d get me out of my clothes first.  It was then that I responded, still laughing at this dude’s nerve to say something like that to me, that this conversation was over.  I paid for my oil and went back to my car.

One of my close guy friends accused me of being too flirtatious and then getting angry when someone crossed the line even though I had provoked that sort of response (please read here for more background).  He said it as though I had somehow “asked” to be treated with less respect than I thought I deserved.   I disagreed with him and even felt angry that he would think that.

My experience earlier this evening isn’t so unique or even interesting other than I had an epiphany while pouring oil into my engine.  Human beings learn from each other.  We learn from interacting with different people from different walks of life and engaging them in conversations or discussions.  While this man started a conversation with me, I wanted to participate.  People play the lotto all the time – but why (aside from the obvious reasons)?  I wanted to engage this man, curious of what his dreams were.  I wanted to participate in dialogue with the community around me.

If a man had asked the same question to this guy maybe they would have realized that they both want to buy the Chicago White Sox team or that they both want to invest in lobster boats or maybe this guy would have told him that he has always wanted to live in the north of Spain or something.  Maybe there would have been dialogue, maybe there would have been a connection – not as a race, not as a sex, but just as humans.

Feminism isn’t about praising women as these creatures wiser and nobler than the other half of the world.  It is not about superiority or control.  It’s about being seen as a human being and not as a gender or sex.  It’s about equality and egalitarianism.  It’s about freedom: the freedom to engage new people in conversations, the freedom to learn about the world around you and the freedom to participate actively in it.

I'm not angry about what men say to me; I'm angry because I can't participate as fully as I'd like to  in society because of the limitations that my sex carries.

Let's Evolve (for our daughters)

I'm re-posting this from a previous blog because obviously the world isn't listening fast enough:

I’d been debating whether I should blog about this type of thing or not, but part of the reason I started my blog was so that I could have a voice in a capacity that I am not normally able in other aspects of my life.  I work within the business community in Chicago.  A great deal of the type of work that I do has to do with developing strong business relationships with business owners and other stakeholders within the Hispanic business community.  I also happen to be a young woman and I like to go out and have a good time by which I mean go out with friends, colleagues, etc. and have a couple of drinks while getting to know each other better or at an event etc. 

It has been more than once that certain men within this community have tried to leverage their position or the role they play within my current network as an excuse to be able to behave inappropriately towards me or towards other women.  It’s become increasingly frustrating for me to deal with and all the while I keep asking myself why I should have to deal with it. 

It’s a catch-22 situation with so many shades of gray.  There have been many many times when I’d like to tell the person exactly what I think porque "no tengo pelos en la lengua," however I’m increasingly cautious of the nature of business relationships and knowing the type of animal I am dealing with.  Most of the time these men that behave so inappropriately are so threatened by women’s power or by feminine energy that politely telling them to please never touch you again or to please fuck off is a direct threat to their masculinity. (Of course I wouldn't say it that way..but I'd want to)  Most of these men are dealing with so much insecurity that to threaten their masculinity in a public place among colleagues and friends would cause the type of reaction that can be explosive and incredibly mean.

As a young woman in business all I have is my reputation.  I need to be incredibly protective of it.  I am careful of the circles I am around and try and keep those circles tight.  Rejecting the advances of someone who is influential within this type of community and that has a strong voice within the organizations and corporations that I work with calling you a man-hating feminist or bitch generally doesn’t preserve your reputation.  Also, when so much in this world is based on perception and not reality; the smoke and mirrors of who you are becomes quite the ugly picture.  I would hate for all the amazing men that I know, that can call themselves feminists, that do their best for their sisters and daughters and wives to help advance other young women in business without having to play this game, to think of me as something so far from what I actually am.

So I sit back, biting my tongue, lumps forming in my throat out of anger, and smile sweetly laughing along to the disgusting conversation while sinking deeper into my chair.  What can I do?  If I ask them to please not speak to me in that manner in the nicest way, then I become the prude that everyone feels they need to be careful around to protect my feelings and that's not who I am.  I’m simply a rational human being that hates having to put up with other peoples’ issues or bullshit simply because I was born 26 years ago a woman.  I make sure they feel my icy reaction not encouraging their behavior, but am I condoning it by not saying anything?  Have I become part of the game that I hated?

I am so grateful to all the women that came before me in business for paving the way so that I could work within this world and feel around me an endless sea of possibilities.  We still have so much work to do but now it’s up to me and the intelligent women of my generation to do it.

I had had quite a few close calls with men in the past while traveling by myself in Mexico and in Spain.  They upset me at the time so much but they were “cultural differences” or “cultural misunderstandings.”  I was different; I came from a world where women could say what they want, could be free, could travel by themselves and have a great conversation with someone of the opposite sex and it not mean she was wanting anything more.  Now, I see this in my community and my own backyard and the issue is more complex than what I ever imagined.  It's imbedded in all societies in some capacity and it's going to be a long hard road to change it, but I've got my walking shoes on and I'm in it for the long haul.

Fuerza to all of my sisters!

I leave you with this poem I wrote when I was 19:

When I was younger I used to turn my turtle onto her shell just to watch her extend her neck and flip herself over.  Now I’m rolling out of someone else’s bed with the taste of vodka and cigarettes in my too-dry mouth remembering voices praying a thousand Santa Marias in the living room of my abuela’s house the day she died.  My parents used to carry wooden rosaries, my brother and I would carry thick fallen branches we’d find in the woods.  They always gave me splinters and made my hands feel dirty but it wasn’t as bad as the time I stood, just barely, pushed against a fence my hands forced over my head by a stronger hand, while the other wandered around my chest looking for what other secret places he could find next…my hamster used to dig into the wooden chips of his cage to try to escape, but he never did like I did, into this giant ant colony of a city and life is writing me Post-It notes:

• ·         Don’t forget to pay your rent
• ·         Remember how he loved you once?
• ·         And so Jen…who are you now?

this article just pissed me off

How are these jobs the 25 best paying jobs for women if the most a woman can make here is 86.6% of what men make?

It's fuckin ridiculous that we are in 2010 and that we still have these strong pay disparities. I guess women's lib didn't catch up with our paychecks. I've got to get back to work...

http://www.theworkbuzz.com/employment/best-paying-jobs-for-women/

25 best-paying jobs for women
By Kate Lorenz on May 4, 2010 in Employment, Featured, Salary
When you look at Forbes magazine’s most recent list of highest-paid CEO’s (chief executives of the 500 biggest companies in the United States), you won’t see a woman until No. 48: Irene B Rosenfeld, CEO of Kraft Foods. In a country where women make up 47 percent of the workforce, 3 percent of Fortune 500 CEO’s are female. In addition, women who worked full time earned an average of just 80 percent of what men earned in the same positions in 2008, according to the BLS.

But is salary disparity between genders the issue or is it something else?

In the Harvard Business Review blog, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox wrote: “Women represent one of the world’s biggest and most under-reported opportunities. The business world has been so focused on stories like the rise of China that it has not been invited to see that, much closer to home, business could be reaping the benefits of the rise of women. Companies — and their business school feeders — have been slow in adapting and profiting from this shift, and part of the reason is that media too often focus on small, sensational and misleading parts of the story, including aspects like the wage gap.”

Catalyst’s February 2010 Pipeline’s Broken Promise report examining high potential graduates from top business schools around the world found that, even after taking into account experience, industry and region, women start at lower levels than men, make on average $4,600 less in their initial jobs, and continue to be outpaced by men in rank and salary growth. Only when women begin their post-MBA career at mid-management or above do they achieve parity in position with men — a situation that accounted for only 10 percent of the women and 19 percent of the men surveyed.

Whatever the cause, the BLS reports there are only a handful of occupations where women’s earnings are equal to or exceed men’s including construction and extraction occupations; special education teachers; installation, maintenance and repair occupations; life, physical and social science technicians; and counselors.

We wanted to know, what jobs pay women the most money? Here are 25 jobs where women earn $1000 a week or more, according to the BLS, and how those wages compare to their male counterparts’.

Pharmacists
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,647
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,914
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 86.1%

Chief executives
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,603
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,999
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 80.2%

Lawyers
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,509
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,875
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 80.5%

Computer software engineers
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,351
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,555
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 86.9%

Computer and information systems managers
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,260
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,641
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 76.8%

Physicians and surgeons
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,230
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,911
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 64.4%

Management analysts
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,139
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,391
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 81.9%

Human resources managers
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,137
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,433
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 79.3%

Speech-language pathologists
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,124
Men – Median weekly earnings: *
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: **

Computer and mathematical occupations
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,088
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,320
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 82.4%

Computer scientists and systems analysts
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,082
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,240
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 87.3%

Physician assistants
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,077
Men – Median weekly earnings: **
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: **

Medical and health services managers
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,066
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,504
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 70.9%

Physical scientists, all other
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,061
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,535
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 69.1%

Postsecondary teachers
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,056
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,245
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 84.8%

Marketing and sales managers
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,024
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,601
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 64%

Physical therapists
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,019
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,329
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 76.7%

Occupational therapists
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,016
Men – Median weekly earnings: **
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: **

Registered nurses
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,011
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,168
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 86.6%

Managers, all other
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,010
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,359
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 74.3%

Psychologists
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,004
Men – Median weekly earnings: **
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: **

Computer programmers
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,003
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,261
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 79.5%

Architecture and engineering occupations
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,001
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,286
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 77.8%

Advertising and promotions managers
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,000
Men – Median weekly earnings: **
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: **

Education administrators
Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,000
Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,398
Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 71.5%

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Are males and females paid the same at your organization?
*No data or data that do not meet publication criteria.

** Data not shown where the male employment base is less than 50,000.