Gender-Neutral Language is Official

In a world where everyone is equal, would it no longer be necessary to distinguish gender in converstaions, which has for centuries been used to keep men on top of our hierarchies.

A new pronoun, hen, has entered the Swedish National Encyclopedia which can be used in place of "hon" which means "she" in Swedish, or "han" which means "he."

Imagine discussing a possible promotion for an employee and using the word "hen" when the gender is unknown. It would be kind of like having musicians audition behind curtains.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/swedish-gender-neutral-pronoun-hen-national-encyclopedia_n_3063293.html

India's Prime Minister - Hold Boys Accountable to Curb Rape

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that with the rising cases of rape, he urged parents to treat their daughters and sons the same. 

"Every parent who has a 10 year old girl at home, ask them where are they going, when will they come back and tell them to call back home after reaching their place.”

“But have you ever asked as to where your sons are going? why they are going? and who are they making friends with? After all, the person committing the crime is the son of someone.”

Modi said that rape makes ‘our heads hang in shame’ and asked parents to take responsibility for their son’s actions and put the same restrictions on them as they put on their daughters.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/15-Aug-2014/modi-asks-parents-to-put-check-on-sons-to-curb-rape

Whatever it Takes to Stay Clueless

A Republican congressman from Alabama, Mo Brooks, now claims that Democrats are engaged in a "war on whites." He says that it is part of the strategy of the Democrats, implemented by Barack Obama in 2008 and continued in 2012, to divide people by race, gender, creed, envy, and class warfare, "all those kinds of things."

People at the top, like Mr. Brooks, believe they represent everyone, and that as long as they prosper, there is no reason that we should change the situation. They don't see that it is their hierarchical privilege that brings them their advantage, so to them there is no productive need to discuss why other people unlike themselves aren't in the same position. In other words, discussions of race, gender, creed, and class can do nothing but divide us from  accepting a wonderful country where everyone, if they worked hard enough and were clever enough, could have what the top has.

Clueless through and through.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/04/mo-brooks-war-on-whites_n_5647967.html

Ivy League - Perpetuates Hierarchies

In an interesting article concerning how setting children up to be accepted into an Ivy League college makes them conform to the status quo, William Deresiewicz states that the system is exacerbating inequality, retarding social mobility, perpetuating privilege, and creating an elite that is isolated from the society that it’s supposed to lead. In addition to describing in detail the decisions made as to who will be accepted, he gives us this paragraph toward the end of this informative piece:

"It’s partly because of the students that I’d warn kids away from the Ivies and their ilk. Kids at less prestigious schools are apt to be more interesting, more curious, more open, and far less entitled and competitive."

In other words, people at the top continue to be predictable and clueless.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118747/ivy-league-schools-are-overrated-send-your-kids-elsewhere

Topism – Time to Discuss Openly

We all acknowledge racism, sexism, homophobia, and discrimination against people with disabilities exists.

Topism - the attitudes and behaviors that cause all of the above isms. Now it is time to break our programming to not hold the top accountable and openly and boldly call top-of-the-hierarchy attitudes and behaviors just what they are.

Any and all of us exhibit topism, in small and large ways. But if we want to see prime examples, just look at the white, male, heterosexual, tall, able-bodied Christian men in Congress who vote to further the advantages of the haves in our society, and you will see the effects of being clueless to the advantages given to those on top while ignoring the contributions and rights of the masses who actually generate the wealth and well-being of our nation.

MEN'S WORLD CUP - let's specify the gender

In hierarchies, the top group is supposed to represent everyone. And if we talk about a lower group, we specify that group as separate. Of course that assumes a lower group even ranks a mention.

THE WORLD CUP - you assume it is a men's tournament, right? If we talk about the women's WORLD CUP, we have to say WOMEN'S WORLD CUP. Just like the NCAA Final Four is about men, and if you want to talk about the women's game, you have to specify it.

As the article says, "Why do people consistently claim that Mike Krzyzewski is the winningest coach in college basketball when he is still 115 wins behind Pat Summit, with a significantly lower win percentage (his .763 to her .841)?"

And:  "The male position is not the neutral position. It has a point of view, the male point of view, which not everyone shares, and which is not always superior."

Next time you hear that Landon Donovan is the all-time leading goal scorer for the U.S., remember there are seven U.S. women higher on the list than he.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/valerie-alexander/lets-stop-neutralizing-men_b_5558581.html?fb_action_ids=837301679613204&fb_action_types=og.likes

Hierarchy Conservators Showcase Again - SCOTUS

The conservative majority of the Supreme Court of the United States has again highlighted the problems of hierarchies for all of the world to see. In ruling that the Hobby Lobby does not have to fund contraceptives for women in their health insurance, they are allowing hierarchical religions to dictate the rights of people who do not adhere to their religion. People who put themselves on the top of a "morality" hierarchy that they create dictate "morality" for every other view which, of course, they view to be inferior to theirs.

Of course we will never buy products from Hobby Lobby, but for a list of other companies fighting legally to deny women the control over their own bodies, see the link below:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/hobby-lobby-retirement-plan-invested-emergency-contraception-and-abortion-drug-makers