Theresa Walle
Newsprint
Mercy HS
1st Place
Division 3, News Writing
Feature Columnist
“Generation for equality”
Though she worked on her dissertation from home for the first months after giving birth, Robin Hoecker returned to her studies as a full time PhD student at Northwestern University. Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires work areas to provide private rooms for breastfeeding mothers to pump, Hoecker thought she was covered. After investigating, however, she discovered the ACA only protects employees, not students. Past generations would make Hoecker choose between creating a family and pursuing a higher education, but we are a new generation. If we want equality, measures must be taken to better welcome women into the workforce—beginning with education.
Don’t get me wrong; I am grateful for my mom’s sacrifice to leave the architectural field and raise my four siblings and me. Yet, it bothers me that multiple friends have told me they plan to marry rich and become stay-at-home moms instead of succeeding in a career themselves. This is not the future young females should strive for. Not in this generation.
Progress in racial equality historically preceded progress in gender equality. African American men, most notably, legally gained the right to vote in 1865; women remained voiceless in government for another 55 years. This trend seems to have appeared again, as the pursuit of racial equality came to the forefront of our nation’s attention this fall. While it is vitally important to strive for equality among all races and I commend those peacefully fighting to do so, it is also important to work towards a society where the gender gap no longer exists.
Now, some may say I’m being melodramatic, that this is a better time to be a woman than ever before. We are voters in a democracy. We are members of the work force. We are scholars. We are Tweeters and Facebookers.
However, I draw the line at assuming we are equal. So long as the gender gap remains relevant, equality is yet to be reached. Years after entering the workforce, women still earn substantially less than men in numerous fields. Take doctors and surgeons. According to the New York Times, women earn 71 percent of men’s wages— after controlling for age, race, hours and education. For lawyers and judges, 82 percent. Worse off, women working as financial specialists make 66 percent compared to their male counterparts. While Mary T. Barra’s transition to CEO of General Motors is worth celebrating, women still only account for 4.8 percent of CEOs on the 2014 Fortune 500 list.
Stereotypes of gender roles remain all too prevalent. My friends, for instance, said they’d marry rich because the idea of earning a fortune through their own successful careers had not occurred to them. This is due to society’s continued perception of men as the main breadwinners.
Though many women are succeeding in the business world, their home duties have not disappeared. Most men return from work ready to put their feet up and relax, awaiting a home-cooked meal and folded laundry to appear before them. Working women may walk in the door equally exhausted, yet their day’s responsibilities are not over.
The U.S. made strong strides in recent decades, but what about the rest of the world? I forget the 223 Nigerian girls still missing. I forget the estimated 21 million victims currently trapped in human trafficking, of whom 55 percent are women, according to a May 2014 report by the International Labor Organization. I forget the areas of the world where women are still treated as property, serving solely to please their husbands after entering into an arranged marriage.
I forget the women shamed purely based on their sex, women whose faces remain hidden from the world behind fabric. I forget the millions of women still viewed as weak. While the U.S. may be drawing nearer to gender equality, parts of the world lag far behind.
As a woman, I am lucky. I had no say in the circumstances in which I was born; my freedom is a result of luck. I am lucky to receive a Mercy education. I am lucky to drive. I am lucky to have my own bank account. I am lucky to wear shorts in the summer. My freedom grants me the opportunity to be anyone I want to be. I am a thinker. I am a writer. I am a singer. I am a student. I am a leader. I am a voice in this world. I am a voice for women who do not speak up, whether they are unaware of the inequality that remains or silenced by an oppressive society. As members of a nation prided in freedom and opportunity, we as Americans share the responsibility to free these silenced voices. We are a new generation, and we are ready for equality.
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“Let better prevail”
There are some days that will be engrained in your memory forever, whether for better or for worse. For this particular memory, it is definitely for worse.
It was the first semester of freshman year. Having just successfully finished my third final of the morning, I was wearing a pretty giant grin as I waited with my carpool. As my friend looked up from her iPhone, though, my smile quickly dissipated. She asked me if I “had heard,” and her tone told me it was important. My stomach filled with knots. At that moment, I received a text from my mom to stay off of social media until she could talk with me. I began to panic. It had to be bad if my mom was going to this great of lengths to protect me. I was eating a gyro at Coney Island when my mom broke the news to me: my former classmate and his two sisters were parentless, and suicide was to blame.
The pit in my stomach recently returned Sept. 3 when the tragedy of suicide struck my church community for the fifth time since 2011 , greedily stealing away a mother from three teenagers. I tried convincing myself that it hadn’t affected me, but I soon learned that confronting my emotions was inevitable. Less than a week after this latest heartbreak, I was ironically sitting next to a friend from my church when a video on suicide prevention surprised us during advisor group. When the video ended, we looked at each other and cried. Mother, father, teacher, brother—never forgotten.
It is not only World Suicide Prevention Day on Sept. 10 that we recognize awareness of suicide prevention, but the entire month. However, a video lasting less than five minutes can only begin to address an issue that is the third leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 24 and the second leading cause of death of college students, according to the Screening for Mental Health.
Wealth and fame do not shield a person from depression, as the August death of talented comedian and actor Robin Williams reminded us. A student with a 4.0 GPA is as prone to suicide as one on academic probation or one with average grades.
So often, especially in this generation, we are too self focused to recognize that someone around us is struggling. How often do we hide behind our phones to avoid starting a conversation with those around us? Instead, smile in the hall; genuinely ask a friend how he or she feels.
If suicide has claimed the life of someone close to you, find strength and healing by turning to your faith for help. Tragedy often turns its victims away from God in their most desperate time of need, but simply offering one’s anguish to God in prayer can be powerful. Don’t give up hope, for “the Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
Utilize the spiritual wisdom gained from past loss to reach out to those currently struggling, keeping in mind that pain is not always visible at first glance; a laugh might be a cry for help on the inside. It is impossible to change the entire world at once. Just a few small changes, though, can trigger a far-reaching domino effect. Your life is forever altered by the loss of a loved one, but it is up to you to decide how you are affected: for better or for worse?