issues in today's society by Miguel Ceja-Cantero

masculinity in boyhood

mceja023_ — 2023-11-28 05:33:43 UTC

Growing up in a low class community, I have attended a diverse school where the ratio of male and women was heavily weighed on male attendance. I put myself around males who would want to express their masculinity through clothes, sports, music, and much more. The boys in my school would always sexualize girls. There were also LGBTQ+ people attending my school as well and i would see how they would refer to boys who always hang out with girls and dress differently than other boys as a "f****t." Reading Orenstein's "The Miseducation of the American Boy" made me understand that there must be change in the school system to teach boys how to respect women and themselves. Orenstein's claims of fighting against sexism will bring good to teenage mindsets so there would be a better life for everyone because as they say, "The future starts with the children."

who can be the breadwinners?

mceja023_ — 2023-11-28 05:40:55 UTC

My dad has worked multiple jobs to keep my family under a roof. Undocumented, he wasn't able to work a secure good-paying job so he had to work heavy blue-collar jobs. He sacrificed his body to bring a better future for me and my siblings. Though, my mother has never worked a job and was a stay-at-home mom. My father was the breadwinner of the house as the social norm for many family households in the United States. If my mother were to have worked a job, we wouldn't have seen so many issues and would have probably lived a more stable life. Social norms have pushed for women to stay at home to raise their children and to please their spouse, ultimately making their lives dull without any sense of accomplishment. So that there is a huge pay-gap for women workers and male workers. Not only has social norms pushed this but culture as well. Growing up hispanic women should always stay at home to look after their children. An issue that has been rising in many households throughout the world "There are legal cases as well as social science research studies that show that just by the mere fact of being a mother, women’s advancement opportunities shrink, and just by being a father, men’s grow" (IWPR #C447)

different color, same parents: racism within communities

mceja023_ — 2023-11-28 05:41:48 UTC

There is an issue that needs to be resolved within diverse communities which is racism within the community. Growing up in a diverse community I have seen and heard people discriminate and shame their own race because of different shades of skin tone. In Hispanic communities when there is a darker toned hispanic within a household, they're given the nickname "negro." Highly racist comments heavily affect the lives of those impacted. They feel left out or they feel like they need to change something of their appearance to better fit in. This also impacts women as some wear different color tone makeup to make themselves appear "whiter." They fail to see that we all come from the same community and that we should unify to exterminate racism.

finding your identity

mceja023_ — 2023-11-28 05:42:34 UTC

My hispanic community has fought hard for many years here in the United States in order to bring an Idenity for themselves. Being one of the biggest growing communities here in the United States, being a second-generation hispanic has only pushed myself to help bring representation and recognition for the hispanic community here in the United States. A problem i have always faced with throughout my life was choosing a race in documents. There is a misrepresentation of the hispanic community in documents. For example when I had to choose my race, I would never find Mexican or hispanic nor latino it was always:

American Indian or Alaska Native.

Asian.
Black or African American.
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
White.

So i had no other choice but to choose American Indian because it was closest to Hispanic. Underrepresentation is one of the many issues the Hispanic communities have faced through the years. Myself along with my colleagues aim to bring representation and recognition for a better future for our community.

Sports is for everyone

mceja023_ — 2023-11-28 05:54:56 UTC

I have played sports all throughout my life. Soccer has always been my favorite sport and it is coined as "the beautiful game for everyone." Growing up I have played in soccer leagues where I have faced and even played with girls. Girls have always been faced with criticism for playing sports for many years. It is seen as "unfeminine" like for playing sports which is untrue. But really, they are the toughest competitors and all around great athletes I have seen. All genders should be allowed to play any sport because it unifies people. Society has suppressed women from having a role in manly positions. Now, women have come together to fight this social construct to bring a better future for their sex. Like The United States Women's Soccer team has fought for equal pay as their male colleagues. Because of their hard work The House of Representatives have passed the The Equal Pay for Team USA Act which requires all athletes representing the United States in global competition to receive equal pay and benefits in their sport, regardless of gender. These strong women have helped push against the "masculine identity within sports" (Messner; Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities) to further expand women participation in sports