#also the report fails to reflect that many women who compete are not girls | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jacques-review · 3 years

Text

“I Am Human”: The Spectacular Sha’Carri Richardson

Introducing the One and Only

Sha’Carri Richardson is the talk of the town, again. No, it’s not for her “10.72 seconds to win the 100 meters at the 2021 Miramar Invitational.” It’s not about missing the Olympics due to failing a drug test. Nor is it about the passing of her mother. No, this time it’s about her ninth-place finish at the 2021 Prefontaine Classic. This event was hyped up as being the ultimate showdown between Richardson and the Jamaican Olympic sprinting group led by Elaine Thompson-Herah.

In fact, I initially set out to write about Thompson-Herah. I wanted to say a few words about this amazing time in women’s sprinting history. Sure, there is Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner, also known as Flo-Jo, of 1980s fame. But she’s not someone that I can say I saw run although I was alive at the time. Besides Elaine, there is also the legendary Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who is holding on to second place in the world at the age of 34. These two Jamaicans have made women sprinting enjoyable and fans out of us all (well, most of us)! I’m hoping to continue to see Elaine remain a dominant force in the sport for the next 3 - 4 years.

The more I observe the Prefontaine post women’s 100m reactions, the more I felt obligated to shift my writing focus from Elaine to Sha’Carri (Henceforth, Carri). My initial focus on Elaine was also due to the amount of attention Carri was getting despite the fact that she wasn’t the winner of the race. In a sense, I felt like Elaine’s moment was being dwarfed by Carri. The fastest woman in the world at 100m wasn’t being talked about as much as the last-place finisher.

I wanted to contribute to shifting the focus from Carri to Elaine. But the noise on the digital street was too loud and demonizing.

Birth of a Shooting Star

In the beginning (at the start of the year, of course), the attention being given to women’s track and field by the public wasn’t noticeable. In my usual circles and in the corners of cyberspace that I frequent, “not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” The world, it seems, woked from its slumber to the tune of Carri running a 10.72 in April. Carri did it in dazzling fashion with long eyelashes and fingernails, and what I’ve come to refer to as fiery orange hair. From that point on Carri, as a U.S. track and field athlete, became the dominant talk of the world’s largest and most influential blowhorn, the U.S. media.

If that’s not true, it’s all I heard. Sure, other athletes were sprinkled in and match-ups were expected for the coming Olympics. But the U.S. media championed the image of the One that stood a chance of bringing Olympic gold in the women’s 100m. Her appearance played well with the cameras. She looked like a star, something special. Indeed, the legend continued as she ran a 10.86 to qualify for the Olympics in June. Thus, the superstar, the speeding comet, was expected to show up at the Olympics with at least a reasonable chance at winning some type of metal if not gold.

"I am an Olympian. No matter what is said ... I am an Olympian. A dream since I've been young. I'm pretty sure everybody's dream as a track athlete. "Being happy is an understatement. Being excited, nervous, all of those feelings. I'm highly blessed and grateful." -- Sha'Carri Richardson

I Get High

Well, that didn’t happen. The U.S. watched its prophesied chance at gold (or any other metal) in the women’s 100m come crashing down in all her fiery Orange hair glory. But not due to a loss. Stopping Carri from running because of weed was absurd to the public. African Americans weren’t interested in hearing that an athlete was stopped in a competition as grand as the Olympics for use of a product that they believe would not have contributed to her speed at all.

See the following articles for reference on race and black athletes.

The Olympics has a race problem. Athletes everywhere are calling out the sporting body for a history of banning Black women. - Yelena Dzhanova

The Olympics Continues to Prevent Top Black Athletes From Competing - Molly Sprayregen

The Weight On Black Women In Sports; Plus, 'We Are Lady Parts' - NPR

At this point, let me say that I agreed with those that argued for review of laws in order to determine if time had made them inapplicable. This is especially true considering the rapid legalization of weed across the U.S. “Cannabis is legal in 18 states, and allowed medically in 37 states.” However, I have to highlight that when it comes to weed, it is “outdated to joke about it as a party drug, writing off users as slow, pizza-munching losers when many successful people consume cannabis. Cannabis is a complicated substance with a nuanced role in fitness, performance, and society.” Keep the nuanced aspect in mind.

I have no doubt that it would not have made Carri into a faster runner. But, I think it’s important to keep the dualism that allows us to look at both what we as non-experts know of the impact of weed and the possibility that science may make discoveries later that can shock us. It is also important to consider that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) isn’t a sub-organization of the U.S. Therefore the demands being placed upon athletes must be seen as globally relevant (ideally speaking). This is true despite the fact that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, in a letter to Jamie Raskin and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, stated that it “has consistently put forward recommendations that the rules addressing cannabis and cannabinoids should be more flexible and fair.”

Left (Far)Behind

Despite missing the Olympics a resurgence of interest was generated when it was announced that Carri would “face all three Tokyo Olympic medalists in the women’s 100m.” And all the world wondered after Carri. Well, at least in terms of what will be the result of the showdown in this supposed clash of the titans. I must confess that I don’t recall hearing or seeing that Carri was going to best all the members of the golden three-headed Jamaican *Leviathan. At the Olympics, Elaine Thompson-Herah ran a 10:61, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran 10:74, and Shericka Jackson finishing at 10:76.

With Carri’s 10:72, she would have been competitive against Fraser-Pryce and Jackson if she was able to maintain that type of speed. This is theoretical, of course. What took place was a shock to the track and field world. It wasn’t that Carri was expected to win. She was expected to be better than ninth place. But that’s what happened. Carri finished at 11:14 while Elaine finished at 10:54. In other words, Elain ran faster than she did at the Olympics. This makes Elaine second only to Flo Jo’s 10:49 in 1988. Carri was a none factor. It appears that the star has fallen in dramatic of a fashion as she appeared.

Be Humble?

In response to the loss, Carri said to reporters:

"This is one race. I'm not done. You know what I'm capable of. Count me out if you want to. Talk all the s--t you want because I'm here to stay. I'm not done. I'm the sixth-fastest woman in this game, ever, and can't nobody ever take that away from me. Congratulations to the winners. Congratulations to the people that won, but they're not done seeing me yet -- period." -- Sha'Carri Richardson

A good deal of critique, anger, and disgust came in reaction to what Carri said. Some believed that she wasn’t humble after the loss. They were surprised at what she said. Others pointed out that her interview was the most played despite the fact that she wasn’t the winner. There were questions as to why was she being interviewed at all.

What Now?

At this juncture, I will offer some considerations. Carri experienced a number of significant occurrences around the time of her ascent to fame. Again, her mother died. That’s a significant event. But then she was ban from the Olympics, the ultimate event for any professional sprinter, because of one of the methods she chose to use for grieving. Those are heavy blows. And throughout out it all, she was determined to maintain the same type of energy.

That Same Ol' G

"Even though I got my own CD maybe even on t.v. There ain't no changing me I can only be me me me Even though I might be on t.v. 'cause I got my own CD All you will ever see (that) same ol' G" -- Ginuwine, Same Ol' G (1998)

In Ginuwine’s classic single Same Ol’ G, released in 1998 off of the Dr. Dolittle album, the singer reflects on being his authentic self despite being celebrated in the public sphere through compact disc and t.v. Carri wasn’t faking the funk. She was being real. She was being herself, that same ol’ g. It wasn’t a new persona that was on display because she was in front of all of the lights. Carri has been speaking with the same type of energy before her Olympic trials.

What does it look like being real for somebody Carri’s age and from where she comes from? Does being real look the same way across the board? Should you start acting differently because you lost or something else happens in your life?

The following are a few clips from her Twitter as evidence for how she has been speaking even prior to her Olympic qualifications.

You Wake Up, Flawless

"We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller We say to girls "You can have ambition, but not too much You should aim to be successful, but not too successful" -- Beyoncé, Flawless (2014)

What if what looks like confidence for you is misinterpreted as arrogance by someone else? In other words, do our definitions always function accurately across the board and at all times? Sure, we can cite lexical meanings for humility and arrogance and attempt to apply them across the board. Can we make the case that it is time to start critiquing how do definitions play on the ground? I’m only simply pushing forward the argument that we have already been critiquing does definitions and they have shown up in our music, our clothing, and yes, the way we talk.

You wake up, flawless, Post up, flawless Ridin' round in it, flawless, Flossin on that, flawless This diamond, flawless, My diamond, flawless This rock, flawless, My rock, flawless I woke up like this, I woke up like this

— Beyoncé, Flawless

How does Beyonce’s flawless look like in the real world? What does #blackgirlmagic look like?

“Self-esteem means knowing you are the dream.” – Oprah Winfrey

"I was built this way for a reason, so I’m going to use it." - Simone Biles

"You are your best thing." - Toni Morrison

"One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals." - Michelle Obama

These quotes of renowned black women sound great on their own, don’t they? What if what we are seeing from Carri is a version of what that looks like in real life? To what extent can we say definitively that we understand her enough to know that she is arrogant? What if Carri’s defense mechanism looms large at the forefront due to what she experienced in the distant and recent past?

It could very well be that Carri is indeed arrogant. The happenings in Carri’s life may very well be lessons needing to be learned for personal growth and development. The case being made here is that a more nuanced approach should be had. The same amount of consideration given to already established persons should be allocated towards those that we haven’t yet thought of as being on the same level. The same ones saying she is arrogant may themselves be exhibiting arrogance in speaking in absolutes concerning one that is unknown.

Dear Mama

"Lady, don't you know we love you? (Dear Mama) Sweet lady, place no one above you? (You are appreciated) Sweet lady, don't you know we love you? (Dear Mama)" -- 2 Pac, Dear Mama (1995)

How long does it take someone to recover from the passing of a parent? I can’t assume that we all have the same level of understanding concerning the complexity of loss. Carri lost a parent. How close was she to the mom? How close was she hoping to be to her mom one day? While the news was out that her mother died, it didn’t seem to play a factor in the assessments that were being made about her placing in the race. It should have been obvious right?

Here is a brief introduction to the complexities of grief.

Although grief is a universal experience that is shared by all human beings, the actual grief response in each individual is very unique, and the expression of grief can vary greatly from one person to another. Many factors, such as personality traits, the presence of concurrent stressors and previous losses, the nature of loss(es), and the social expectations that are present, have a great deal of influence in shaping the course of grief for an individual. (p. 26).

It is very important to remember that no individual’s grief experience will neatly fit into a single model, because there is much variation in how losses are perceived and also in how grief is expressed and worked through. (p. 34)

— Darcy L. Harris & Howard R. Winokuer, Principles and Practice of Grief Counseling (2015)

Epilogue

Carri has already said what she needed to say about herself. What we are witnessing now is simply a play out of a young women’s plight as she live out what it means to be who she is on a public stage.

*"Leviathan, Hebrew Livyatan, in Jewish mythology, a primordial sea serpent. Its source is in prebiblical Mesopotamian myth, especially that of the sea monster in the Ugaritic myth of Baal (see Yamm). In the Old Testament, Leviathan appears in Psalms 74:14 as a multiheaded sea serpent that is killed by God and given as food to the Hebrews in the wilderness. In Isaiah 27:1, Leviathan is a serpent and a symbol of Israel’s enemies, who will be slain by God. In Job 41, it is a sea monster and a symbol of God’s power of creation." -- Encyclopaedia Britannica

I'm always glad to hear from Readers. Please leave a comment below and signup for blog posts. Visit the Donation page if you would like to support original content.

#Sha'Carri Richardson #Women's 100 Meters #Women Sprinters #Track and Field

3 notes · View notes

my-ships-will-never-be-sank · 5 years

Text

All My Trials (lams)

Summary:

They haunted him. That shade of violet blue, so unique and mesmerizing. They had been the first thing John had noticed that night in the bar. The way the candle-light reflected off his eyes, igniting the flames within as he spoke. And the way they had contrasted with his hair. He can smiles sadly as he remembers how the soft sunlight would stream through his hair, pulling all the shades with it. That auburn, burnt orange, hair paired with those eyes had made his knees weak. And then Alexander had sent him that smile from across the room, just a quirk of his lips, his eyes half lidded.

So John had manned up and strode across to introduce himself under the guise of teasing Aaron. Laf and Herc had followed him over and the five had spent the night chatting away. Then burr had left and the conversation had gotten louder and Alexander had gotten more passionate, his eyes brighter…

John choked back a sob. What he wouldn’t give to see Alexander once more.

Hush little baby, don't you cry You know your mama was born to die All my trials, Lord, soon be over

Alex was ready. He had waited for so long for this chance. A chance to prove to himself and to everyone else that it didn’t matter where you came from. That your past didn’t matter, that if you worked and strived and yearned for something hard enough; you could make it come true.

He had wrote himself out of the trapped life he had feared would ensnare him as it had his mother. Nevis. In all it’s glory it had been tolerable at best. Little work to be found and multiple mouths to feed. Once his father had abandoned them and fucked off back to whoever the hell knows where things had only gotten progressively worse.

Then he’d gotten sick. He can’t remember how anymore but he does remember the day his mother had fallen ill while trying to heal him. He also remembers waking up in her stiff arms. The absence of her labored breathing.

And so his life had gotten even worse.

Then his cousin killed himself.

Alex hadn’t thought it could get worse. But then the hurricane hit. And everything was gone.

So he wrote. He had planned for it to be a short letter to his father, a plea for help, for him to return... Him and James were alone. His job was gone and James barely earned enough for himself with the carpentry. But once he had started writing he couldn’t stop. So he described everything, from the hurricanes coming and subsequent annihilation of everything in its path to the desolation and ruin it left behind. Then the community had given him the money. - someone had read the letter and word had spread that the child among them was nothing less than a genius. And he deserved a chance in the world.

But James… Alex still remembered coming back to the tent with the money clutched in his fist. They were willing to send him to America? To get an education? His brother had just hugged him. “I am not as smart as you little brother, I never had a head for numbers, or the hands to write, but you, you will be amazing. You write Alex. You never stop writing, and you will do us all proud”

And so Alex wrote. He wrote his way to America. He wrote his way to revolution. And he would write his way to freedom.

The river of Jordan is muddy and cold Well, it chills the body but not the soul All my trials, Lord, soon be over

The plan was simple in theory. All he, Captain Henry Lee and their men had to do was burn the mills and get away. A simple stealth like mission that the General himself had recommended him for. He sat up straighter on his horse. He would not fail the general.

But nothing in his life had ever been easy or gone to plan so he wasn’t 100% surprised when they were ambushed. Disappointed? Yes. Surprised? No.

There had been no warning. The rain had started softly. As it ran down his neck he was reminded of John.

John’s kisses against his neck, John’s fingers against his body, just his sweet Laurens who was still asleep when Alex had risen this morning. Lafayette had been awake (or should he say sneaking back in?) as Alex had dressed. His Pants were on inside out and his shirt was buttoned incorrectly. Alex had smirked as his friend across the tent and whispered:

“Won’t the General be disappointed with you for sneaking out so early?” Lafayette had just flushed crimson and stuck his tongue out at his before wishing him good luck on the mission. He looked down at john and swept a few stray curls off his face. “His fever broke late last night, he should be feeling better by tonight.” He had then given Laf strict orders to leave John alone, to let him sleep (“oui oui mon ami. Calm down!) before grabbing an apple, pressing a kiss to John forehead and slipping out of the tent.

But then the rain ha gotten harder. Soon it was pelting down full force. But there was no shelter so there was nothing to do but ride on. By the time they arrived at the mill all of the men were drenched. The rain had again slowed and the men were joking and laughing among themselves. Henry Lee reached into his satchel. “Well let’s hope these can still light after all that rain.”

The men had broken off into groups starting small fires as to light the torches. By the time Alex threw his the stores were alight and the men were relaxed, trying to dry their socks and telling each other about their families. One man was standing and talking so enthusiastically everyone couldn’t help but listen in. His daughter wanted to become a soldier, he had laughed along with the other men as he had told his story. “She is four years old and wants to be just like her pops when she grows up. Look here she is on my last visit home.” He shows an expertly drawn picture of a little girl being smothered by the uniform coat.

As the last of the fires were started and they were certain they had completed their mission, Alex had looked warily at the column of smoke rising but Lee had reassured him that it wouldn’t be spotted. “We are right on the riverside Alexander, it has been raining all day, if anyone sees it they should think it's fog rolling in. by the time they realise otherwise we will be long g-”

He is cut off by the sound of bullets. The man who had been talking so animatedly about his daughter is cut short by a bullet emerging from between his eyes. The picture that was in his hand falls, lands in the fire pit and immediately turns to ash.

Then the yelling started.

I’ve got a little book with pages three And every page spells liberty All my trials, Lord, soon be over

John had woken to a cold bed. He had reached out an arm to see if Alex had perhaps just rolled away from him when it became evident he was gone. He couldn’t help the sinking feeling in his chest. He knew Alex had that mission today but he wished he had said goodbye.

“He did not wish to wake you mon ami” John looked up to see Laf looking at him. “Are you okay John? Alex said your fever broke last night, do you need anything?”

“Alex” the word was out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Laf only laughed and helped him sit up. “Something i can get you right now this second that isn’t away on a mission for the general then?”

“Water would be great, thanks Laf.” Laf wandered off to fetch him he water and he leaned back. God he was pathetic. Getting sick the day before the mission. At least he could take comfort in the fact Henry Lee was actually competent at what he was doing. He would keep his Alexander safe. He was annoyed with himself if he was being honest. This was meant to be their mission.

When the General had approached them two days ago and told them he had a mission he wanted the pair to lead, they had been ecstatic. They had ended their day drinking with Laf who was annoyed he hadn’t been chosen. Not for lack of trying though. He had spent the night whispering in the general’s ear and the pair had ended up disappearing for half an hour. The general had returned with darkened eyes and a frown. Laf hadn’t returned at all. The whole camp had sensed the change in the atmosphere and the men started turning in for the night. Alex and John spent the night comforting Laf until John had lost it completely. Racing off into the night he returned with a very confused General in tow. Until he saw Laf's face. The two had returned to the generals tent and at last the pair could sleep. Until Alex woke up to the sound of John throwing up.

Lafayette returned with a cup of water and the general. John sat up a little straighter and made to get out of his bed before the general shook his head and motioned at him to stay seated. “I take you are feeling better lieutenant colonel?”

“Yes sir - I’ll be reporting to your tent tomorrow, bright and early.”

“Please don’t overly strain yourself John After all, i have another Aide-de-camps who will be more than happy to help with your work - right my dear Marquis?”

Laf flushed a deep red and just nodded his head. John felt like throwing up again. It was too early too see his friend and the general make heart eyes at each other.

The day dragged by. The rain came down in sheets and John had himself wrapped in as many blankets as he could. He sipped at the tea Laf dropped by and flicked through his journals. He had plans; Ending slavery at the top. He had list and lists of names and places he had to visit. Alex had helped him compile and shorten the lists. The two of them would be unstoppable, once they got the chance the two would change the world.

Freedom and equality for all men. He had seen men tortured in the most brutal of ways growing up for mistakes as small as spilling a glass of wine, seen them die as well. He had seen his father maim and destroy men. He had seen his cousins leering at women. He had seen the women flinch when they felt the eyes of his family gazing upon them.

He had tried to help. Stealing healing balms from his home and bringing them down to the women as a child and staying to help as he got older.

He remembered Caleb as well, the boy no older than John himself. The two had been secret friends, offering smiles as they saw each other, John bringing him food and Caleb crying because ‘one whole roll - just for me?’ He remembers as well the day his younger brother had asked him at dinner why he was friend with a slave. He remembers the deafening silence, he remembers the swift pain across his cheek…

And he remembers waking up to the screams of a mother, of walking downstairs and finding his best friend swinging from the Apple tree. He remembers how he had hardly recognised him, the blood seeping from open wounds on his back, some inches deep - whipped, the wounds on his wrist showed evidence of manacles, his stomach was carved up and his head was shaven.

“Suicide” his uncle said, shaking his head and walking back into the house. “What a pity.” His father and uncles had exchanged smirks. they hadn't even bothered to change their clothes, which still had fresh blood stains on them.

And John… he had been tasked by his father to collect the body and leave it in the forest for the animals. But he couldn’t. So instead hiding the body, he returned that night to give his friend the burial he deserved, making up his mind, at the age of 14 that this had to stop. That he had to stop it.

Because who else would stand against this barbaric treatment?

As soon as he had turned 16 he left a note for his father explaining he was leaving to join the revolution.

All the while planning his own.

Too late my brothers Too late, but never mind All my trials, Lord, soon be over

The hours passed. John paced.

They should be back. Even if the had stopped to rest for the night they should be back.

The General entered the tent and Laf jumped up. “Any news mon cher?”

He frowned. “They still haven’t returned?” John shook his head and resumed his pacing.

************************************************************************************

There was mass panic. They were outnumbered about 20:1. It was an ambush. Someone had told the Redcoats they were coming. He looked around for Hamilton seeing him hiding behind a cart and raced towards him. “Henry, it was an ambush, they knew-”

“I know Hamilton, keep your voice down” he hissed in reply.

Henry scanned their surroundings. There was no escape. They were trapped between the freezing lake, a fire that's burning out of control and Redcoats. At least they had completed their mission before they had arrived.

Hamilton scanned their surroundings, no doubt looking for an escape route. The man was a genius but nothing short of a miracle would get them out of this alive. More gunfire. He gritted his teeth as he heard his men dying, hating feeling so useless.

Suddenly the gunfire stopped. “Is that them all sir?”

He paled them all ?? 50 good men dead. His chest felt hollow. He saw Hamilton freeze and knew he was about to do something stupid and reckless. “Hamilton…” he warned.

“At my signal, run.” Henry froze turning to look at the young man beside him. “ What ?” he hissed.

“Someone has to make it back to the General. Tell him what happened. Tell him there is a spy i the camp. If not - how knows how many more groups will end up like this?”

Henry knew he was right. Someone had to warn the General. “Alexander, please be careful, stay safe.”

Alexander gave him a rueful smile. “Tell John i’m sorry. I don’t think i can help him keep his promise.” Henry went to grab Alex but it was too late. Two shots from his pistols and the redcoat commander and another soldier were dead.

“Come on you assholes? Really - all of them are dead? You don’t see me down yet - do you, you fucking assholes?”

Henry knew it was the signal. So slipping out quietly as Alexander held all their attention, he managed to get to a horse unseen. Leading the horse quietly along the tree line he slipped into the cover of the trees.

Then a spray of bullets sounded. Then a splash. And a cheer.

Henry felt sick knowing what had happened. Alexander was dead. He had failed all his men in every way.

If living were a thing that money could buy You know the rich would live And the poor would die All my trials, Lord, soon be over

When the sound of a racing horse filled the sound of the camp John was the first one to it. It was hard under the cover of darkness to see who it was. The head lifted and john nearly cried. It was a blood splattered Henry Lee.

He looked to the General first. “It was an ambush. They knew we were coming. We got the fires started but-” his voice broke.

“Dad?” a voice called out. John turned to see Charles Lee pushing his way through the crowd. Henry met his son halfway bringing him in for a hug.

“Where is Alexander? Where are the rest of the men?” a voice called out.

Henry scanned the crowd only to find John standing at the front. “I am sorry John Laurens. He told me to tell you that he was sorry and that he doesn’t think he can help you, and that he won’t be able to keep his promise.”

John took a step back and nearly collapsed to the ground, only stopped by Laf holding onto him. He doesn’t remember Laf following him.

“He sacrificed himself so that one of us could make it back to warn you, General of the fact that there is a spy in our midst. He didn’t give me a chance to come up with a less reckless plan he just ran with his pistols blazing and shot the commander.”

He took a deep breath as he said the words: “Alexander Hamilton is dead. He was shot by the British troops and i heard as he sunk beneath the water of the Schuylkill river as they celebrated”

John went numb. This was his fault - if he had gone instead of getting sick he would have stopped Alex. Would have knocked him out if needs be. But now…

Now he had to live knowing that while he was waiting around camp, his lover had been killed.

He pushed off Lafayette’s arms off of him with a start. And not looking back he staggered back to the tent by himself. It was fitting he supposed, by himself. He would now sleep by himself, work by himself. Laf had the general and Henry Lee had his son.

He didn’t have anyone.

He looked back through the plans he and Alex had spent so long planning, with tears streaming down his face. Turning over a new page he began to re-plan it all.

He had so much work to do.

Someone tried to interrupt him a few times but he just ignored them all. As the candle light faded he wrote. And when he couldn’t right anymore he went to his chest and took out the letters he had received from Alex. He sat on their shared bed wrapped in one of Alex’s nightshirts as he reread the letters, tracing the words softly.

“My dear Laurens…”

He fell asleep with them clutched to his chest.

There grows a tree in Paradise And the Pilgrims call it the tree of life All my trials, Lord, soon be over

When he awoke the camp was near silent. The were mourning for their friends. But also underlying it all was shock. He could hear the whispers of disbelief as people passed on the message to those who hadn’t heard last night.

“Hamilton is dead?”

“Bright young man…”

“...so much potential…”

“...could have changed the world…”

He tried to block out the words. His Alexander was dead. Nobody could interrupt his vigil. He didn’t speak. He didn’t eat. Had it only been 12 hours since Lee had arrived back? Why was the sun so bright? It didn’t deserve to shine on a day like this. It should be raining, thundering. He nearly wished for a hurricane.

Hurricane…

Someone had to write to James Hamilton. The pit in his stomach grew. How would he word that letter?

“Hi, You don’t know me but i’m your brother’s lover. Actually i was. Because he is dead. Alexander is dead. Hope you enjoy the rest of your life!”

He sank into the chair at his desk. That was an issue for another time.

The day passes and light turns to dark.

He is tempted to turn in early but looking at the empty bed turns his stomach.

He hears a commotion outside his tent. He wants to go tell whoever is out there to fuck off and let him mourn in peace. But he can’t he is just too tired. He is too emotionally drained.

He realises with a start if this is what life without Alexander is going to be - trying to fill the hole in his life with work - it's not a life he wants to lead. He looks across and sees his pistols by the tent flap. Sitting on his bed he contemplates his choices.

Too late my brothers Too late, but never mind

He was lucky he presumes. Lucky as hell. He has no idea how he managed to avoid being shredded by those bullets. Actually he realises, he has.

A second before they had opened fire he had tripped. He’d fallen backwards and as he hit the water he swam. He was good at holding his breath. A skill that had saved him during the hurricane and it had saved him again now. He came upon an abandoned boat that was flipped, swimming underneath he was hidden. He hears a couple of the soldiers cheering and start celebrating. A pain in his shoulder distracts him. Ah so not 100% lucky. He has no idea how he managed to swim the 50 meters to the boat. Knowing someone will come looking for a body Alex ducks out from the boat he scans his surroundings. Seeing one of his fellow soldiers he drags him into the water and wincing with the pain in his shoulder makes his way back to the boat. He pushes the body towards where he fell and disappears under the boat. Then he waits.

He knows when they find the body. The shouts are spread and the men start laughing. “Fucking idiots. You’d think that lot would know by now they had spy in their midst.”

“How many groups has that been now Covey?”

“Eight, Sir. Eight in the last Five days.”

Alex felt sick to his stomach. Eight other missions. Countless men. How many had he known? How many would arrive back to cmap? Would any? He just hoped Henry did. The man had a family and lot more to live for.

What did he have?

John. He had John. His dear Laurens. The one good thing he had found, the one star in a black empty sky.

He also had Laf and Herc, along with Burr. But that was it.

Hercules… he hoped his mission regiment was safe. Out of the four of them Herc was the most level headed. He would be fine. He was sure of it.

They were still speaking: “where is he anyway? Doesn’t he want his payment?”

“He said he’ll meet up with Christoph tomorrow. Doesn’t want to be caught out here, too close to ‘the scene’”

The contempt was evident in the soldier's voice. It was obvious he wasn’t a fan of the traitor, whoever it was.

The hours went by. Alex was still in the freezing water. He was shivering and he was struggling to stop his teeth from chattering. The British redcoats had set up for the night. Using the field as a bed they relaxed.

Alex didn’t sleep. He saw the sun rise through a crack in the boat and heard the men grumbling about the trek back to base. His stomach growled. He couldn’t remember the last time he ate. When he was sure every last redcoat had left he waded to shore and collapsed.

Staring up at the sky he was tempted to fall asleep. But he couldn't. If any of them were to back track he’d be dead before he could open his eyes. Forcing himself to his feet, he ripped a part of shirt off and fashioned it into a makeshift sling.

He looked around. The sun was directly above him and he was getting a headache. He prayed that some of the horses were still around. He had no idea how he would get back if he didn’t. Thankfully lady luck was on his side because there, under the tree where he had left her was his horse. Forcing himself up, he stabilized himself before setting off on the trip back.

Six hours. It had taken six hours for him to get here. He was stopped at the front to the camp.”who are you? State your name and business.” Alex raised his head and glared at the sentry. “I have been shot at, almost killed and frozen. I am exhausted and extremely hungry and all i want to crash in my bed. But first i have to speak to the general.”

It must have been a new sentry because the kid only rolled his eyes. “What’s your name mister?”

It was the second sentry who took that moment to turn around. He dropped his gun and raced towards him. “HAMILTON?”

Alex looked down. “Oh hey Burr! Can i get in now?”

“Your alive?!?!” Alex was worried. Aaron looked like he was about to burst into tears.

“Sir, are you saying this is Alexander Hamilton …” the first Sentry hissed.

“Yes, yes it is. Now go open the gate, i need to talk to the lieutenant colonel for a minute.” The younger man ran off.

“Burr, what’s going on?”

“Everyone thinks you’re dead Alexander. Henry Lee came back saying you had run head first into a suicide mission. John is a mess, the camp is in uproar, Lee blames himself-”

“What do you mean John is a mess?” Alex interrupted.

“He won’t leave the tent, he hasn’t eaten, doubt he slept more than an hour or two last night…”

“I need to see him.”

“You need to talk to the general Alexander! He needs to know immed-”

“Aaron, please shut up” he suddenly felt very tired. All he wanted to do was curl up beside John and sleep.

Aaron paused and looked at his friend. He looked exhausted, drained and looking like he could kneel over any minute. He shook his head. “I’m not going to be able to change your mind am I?”

“I need to see John” is the only reply he gets, for the gate opens and Alexander has spurred the horse on.

The young soldier walks towards Burr as the gates close. “How is he still alive? You heard what Lee sai-”

“Alexander Hamilton is unstoppable. He works and fights and it will be a cold day in hell before he lets something as trivial as death, keep him from the man he loves”

All my trials, Lord, soon be over All my trials, Lord, soon be over

Alexander races through the camp. He lost his hat near the gate and his ponytail has come undone, his red hair, as bright as a flame catches everyone's attention as it streamed behind him. He can hear the whispers starting then the cheering. “Alive! He is Alive”

But he doesn’t slow. He isn’t here for them. He needs to see John. His John. His dear Laurens, who must be so worried. He pulls the horse to a stop. His clothes stick to him,saturated with water. His head was spinning but he only has eyes for the tent flap that has yet to open.

His Laurens. His love.

Alexander is still soaked. His shirt sticks to his body and his trousers are uncomfortable. His shoes are long gone, lost in the river.

He sneezes. And now he is sick. But sick and alive is better than dead.

Someone tries to get him to go see the medic but he ignores them, slowing his horse to a trot.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Henry Lee pushing his way through the crowd. He stops his horse and slides off, trying to keep any and all pressure off his shoulder.

Lee reaches him with tears in his eyes. “I’m so sorry Alexander. I shouldn’t have left you. We shou-”

“Stop Henry. It was my choice. Everything worked out well in the end anyway.”He flashed him a pained smile and saw Washington making his way through the crowd. “But if you want to make it up to me,hold off the General. I need to see John”

Not waiting for a reply, Alex slipped into the crowd and made his way to the tent he shared with Laf and John. He pushed open the flap of the tent with a grin on his face.

Which turned to horror when he saw John with the gun to his head.

*******************************************************************************************************

John had made up his mind. He couldn’t do it. There was no way to succeed in ending slavery without Alex. There was no light in his life without Alex. There was no escape and he couldn’t close his eyes for longer than a few seconds without seeing Alex’s eyes.

John choked back a sob. What he wouldn’t give to see Alexander once more.

He lifted the pistol to head, tears streaming down his face. “I’ll see you on the other side”

He pulled the trigger

***************************************************************************************************

The shot rang out and Alex screamed.

Johns body fell to the floor.

“No! No no no no no. John. John no nonnoonono.”

It took nearly five seconds for Alexander to realise that John was still alive, and that there was no blood. He ran to john and grabbed the gun out of his hand and opened the revolver. Out of the six slots, five were full.

He stared down at John who was just staring at the ground in shock. “John? Baby? Are you alright?”

John slowly lifted his head to stare at Alex. then he burst into tears. “You were dead. He said you were dead. And i couldn’t do it alone. I - i - can’t - i couldn’t function without you.”

“Shhh baby, shhh”

“I nearly ruined us, i’m so sorry.”

Lafayette came running in. “Mon dieu! I heard a gunshot what happened”

“Later Laf please.” Alexander begged as he cradled a sobbing John in his arms.

“I understand, mon petit lion, but the general will be here any seco-”

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON! Where are you? What in the dev-” the general barged into the tent. He stopped yelling when he saw Alex and John on the floor. “You must get your arm examined Alexander” John clasped onto him, his head not leaving Alex’s neck, his sobbing quieting to silent crying.

Laf whispered something in his ear and the general nodded. Laf fled the tent while the commander sat at the table.

“Son-”

“I’m not your son” Alex snapped. “I am a soldier. Soldiers get injured. It's war. It's life.” he moved John back and stared at his, ignoring the general, “John you can’t do that again. Promise me. Promise me if i die, don’t throw your life away. Fight. Don’t give up on life just because i’m not in it anymore.”

John just nodded his head. But Alex wasn’t satisfied. “I want to hear you say it Love. Promise me.”

“I - I promise.”

Laf re-entered the tent with a doctor, who immediately went to Alex’s side.

“You need to get this shirt off lieutenant colonel. I can’t begin to heal your wound until i can get a look at it.”

“Just cut the shirt off me” Alex rolled his eyes. “It’s already ruined anyway.”

As the doctor worked, Alex moved John’s head to his lap. He saw Laf and the General leave together and couldn’t stop the small smile that tugged at his lips. He was alive. John was alive. And for that moment, that was all that mattered.

#my writing #alexander hamilton x john laurens #lams #All my trials #also find me on AO3 #Jamilton and lams #one shot #angst #pain #suicide attempt #heartbreak #they boys are emotional messes #drowning #historically accurate alexander hamilton

9 notes · View notes

shadeecare · 4 years

Text

Hana Kimura, victim of cyberbulling

Another Celebrity has fallen. Hana Kimura, professional wrestler and star of Netflix’s ‘Terrace House’, a Japanese reality TV series, fell victim to suicide. She left behind messages indicating that cyberbullying is the cause of her death. Recently there has been a deluge of celebrities sharing their struggles about the hurtful comments posted by netizens. Cyberbullying or trolling is an increasing phenomenon where people harass or post hateful messages about another person online. Living a life that is constantly under public eye, where your every movement, action and word is being scrutinised by the public can be daunting even for the most self-assured celebrity. Some celebrities however, have found ways around it Get therapy

Jesy Nelson, rose to fame with the pop band Little Mix. The online abuse started when Little Mix was competing in The X Factor and winning the title only made it worst for Nelson. She received a barrage of name calling and hurtful comments which caused her to spiral into depression. Recently, Jesy released a personal documentary, revealing the impact of online trolls on her mental health and her journey of rehabilitation. The documentary by BBC titled, ‘Odd One Out’ won the 2020 Visionary Honours award for Nelson. Watch Odd One Out here Take a Social Media holiday

Lizzo, famous not only for her singing but for her stand on ‘plus-size’ body positivity has taken a hiatus from Twitter stating that there were just ‘too may trolls’. Lizzo was bombarded with criticism over her comments on Twitter that a Food-delivery person had stolen her food. The food-delivery person fought back and claimed that she had unsuccessfully tried to contact the celebrity. Lizzo reiterates: "I apologise for putting that girl on blast. I understand I have a large following and that there were so many variables that could’ve put her in danger. Imma really be more responsible with my use of social media and check my petty and my pride at the door". However, the apology failed to undo the damage and the food-delivery person is suing Lizzo for inflicting trauma. But Lizzo says her departure is not forever. She says: "I’ll be back when I feel like it". Many other celebrities have also stayed away from social media including Millie Bobby Brown and Marie Tran.

Fight Back

Taylor Swift, ‘Pop Titan’ and best-selling musician of all times, has battled trolls throughout her singing career. Yet even before she amassed countless awards and accolades, it was her indomitable spirit that allowed Swift to bounce back every time. Just write a song about the one who slimes you, has been her signature approach to nasty comments. Swift has clearly mastered the art of teasing trolls and Taylurking with their own comments including featuring snakes in her album and Easter Eggs on social media in retaliation. Swift kept low for a year because of the Kardashian/ West conflict but rose from the ashes again. In her recent release ‘You need to calm down’, some believe that Swift was once again addressing her trolls in her song. You need to calm down.

One wonders why people are still taking pot shots at this artist when the list of her philanthropic deeds is as many as her musical awards. Since 2008, Swift has donated millions and spoken up for victims of cancer, flood, online predators, sexual assault, discrimination, and most recently appeared in a concert to raise funds for the WHO Covid19 Solidarity Response Fund. She is also known to do sweet things for her fans. She would personally send flowers and gift to her fans, and have even showed up at a 96 year old’s home to sing for him. With 200 million fans online, Taylor Swift has all the muscle to speak her mind, shame the bullies and retaliate in the way she does. But I’m not Taylor Swift. So now what? You have trolls crawling out of your computer screen and you are not quite Taylor Swift! Here are some suggestions you can try:

Be careful who you befriend on social media. People may not be who they appear to be on these platforms. Do not post pictures and information that other people can use against you. Don’t respond to what the trolls say. Often, nasty comments are made to get a response from you and ignoring the bully will defeat their plans to get you down. Responding is also pointless if the bully hinds behind a false persona. Keep a record of the derogatory remarks so that you have evidence of what was said in case you need to raise the case to the authorities. Take a snapshot of the post with the name of the sender, date and social media platform visible. Change your social networking settings and block out the bully. Delete all information that was posted by the bully so that it does not create copycat behavior against you. Get help from forum moderators and report the abuse to the different Social Media site providers. Tell a more mature family member, friend or trusted adult and ask them to stand up for you. Upstanding Cyberbullying

Often, we wonder why in a busy public space like social media, where everyone is looking at everyone else’s pages and comments but nobody says anything when a vicious comment is posted. Bystanders do not take the initiative to help the victim for many reasons. Some fear retaliation and being bullied themselves Some may not know what to do to address the bullying. Some feel that it is not their business to intervene as they do not know the victim or what the real situation is about. Research has shown that often, the reason for bystander inaction is because everyone is waiting for someone else to make the first move to speak up against the bullying. Once someone starts to call out the bad behavior then other people will likely join in to do what is right. How can you upstand cyberbulling? Here are some suggestion. But remember to focus on the act and the behavior itself, not the person perpetrating it. Your response should focus at calling out bad behavior and supporting the victim rather than shaming the troll. It is totally pointless fighting bullying with more bullying.

Positive Offensive – Post positive comments about the victim, point out positive qualities or commendable actions by the victim. You can also defend the victim by saying ‘ You and I have lost it/messed up too, and that should be ok’. Delete the negative messages. - Do not forward the negative comments to other people. Gather more people to post nice comments about the victim. Change the topic or use Humour- Sometimes humour can lighten up a serious situation. But be careful that you are not poking fun at someone else as you do so. E.g ‘Whoa, someone is having a bad day to be saying such things’. Object to bullying – You could write: ‘ That’s not a nice thing to say. You wouldn’t want someone to say the same thing to you’ Reach out privately to the victim- Send the victim a private note sharing your displeasure about the bullying, express your concern and show understanding for how they feel. Provide help to raise the bullying to relevant authorities Unintentional vs Intentional Bullying

Sometimes written comments can be misconstrued, as it is hard to tell the motivation behind a comment when you can’t see the facial reaction or hear the tone of voice. Unintentional bullying can happen when people crack a bad joke not knowing that the recipient is sensitive to the statement. Many people also make remarks in a fly without explaining what they really mean. Some express comments that are really a reflection of their own fears and anxious thoughts. If you have unintentionally said something that hurt someone, Apologise! Forgive yourself! and Be more mindful next time. But if a person persistently causes hurt to someone else, it could be because they have unresolved issues in their own lives. Research has shown that some cyberbullies just don't know how to empathise with others. Some bullies are actually afraid of being bullied themselves as they may have been the target of bullies in the past. And of course there are those bully's who only know aggression as the way to solve problems. We do not want to validate bullying nor encourage behavior that is hurtful to others. But we do want people who resort to bullying as an outlet for their frustrations to get help for themselves. They should speak with professional counsellors, teachers, religious or community leaders about their struggles. Get help here:

A Different Perspective.

Lashana Lynch is most recently known for her role in the movie Captain Marvel, playing fighter pilot Maria Rambeau and best friend of Carol Danver a.k.a Captain Marvel. However, Lynch’s next big role in the James Bond movie ‘ No Time to Die’, was not well received by Bond fan’s. Many fans reacted negatively when it was revealed that Lynch would play the roll of 007, as they did not think an African American ‘Black’ women should be ascribed the role of 007. Lynch however, was unfazed with the comments and responded: "It doesn't dishearten me," she said. "It makes me feel quite sad for some people because their opinions, are not even from a mean place -- they're actually from a sad place. It's not about me. People are reacting to an idea, which has nothing to do with my life." Lynch went the extra mile and text some of them with a positive message causing a few to have a change of heart. She says their reply was like: "Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" She added: "But it's an interesting test because it reminds them that they definitely wouldn't say that to someone's face." Lynch demonstrates here that when you take a step back and look at negative comments with a clear head, you can be less emotionally affected. By identifying the reason behind the negative reaction of the Bond fans, Lynch recognized that the fans were actually disappointed because of the type casting of the 007 character which failed to meet with their own expectations.

Cyberbullying is a global problem and has claimed many casualties. However, for cyberbullying to stop, we need to recognize that everyone needs to play a part and take proactive steps to change the way we behave, react and communicate on cyber space. If you are a victim of cyberbullying, engaging in self-harm or having suicidal thoughts, please call for help now:

References: Englander, E.K, Muldowney, A.M. (2007). Just Turn the Darn Thing Off: Understanding Cyberbullying.. InMARC Publications.Paper 12. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/marc_pubs/12 Marano, H.E, (1995,2019) Psychology Today. Big Bad Bully- Bullies aim to inflict pain. But eventually, the one most hurt by the bullying is the bully himself. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/199509/big-bad-bully Steffgen, G., Konig, A., Pfetsch, J., & Melzer, A. (2011). Are Cyberbullies Less Empathic? Adolescents’ Cyberbullying Behavior and Empathic Responsiveness. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 14, 643-648. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2010.0445. Shultz, E., Heilman, R., & Hart, K. J. (2014). Cyber-bullying: An exploration of bystander behavior and motivation. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 8 (4), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2014-4-3 Image of Hana Kimura - Youtube: Word Association with Hana Kimura. Image/Video of Jesy Nelson - Odd One Out, BBC.com Image of Lashana Lynch - Captain Marvel Trailer, Marvel Entertainment. Image of Lizzo - Andy Witchger / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) Image of Taylor Swift - YouTube: The Best Outfits At The 2019 American Music Awards | Cosmopolitan UK] Read the full article

0 notes

yoloaxel · 7 years

Text

Putting an end to the taboo of menstruation

Impact on the competition, the recovery, the mental... Because they're women before being athletes, they have to deal with menstruation. A sensitive topic that has been silenced for too long but that athletes accept to talk about now. A first for France.

“I don't feel well, because of... you know...” How many times has this kind of words been heard in an athlete's mouth off the court, near a racetrack or near a swimming pool? Sometimes, we have to admit that we did not see it. Or we suppressed this thought. Sometimes, it is a coach who slipped in a little sentence that is a bit more explicit: “Well yeah, it happens once a month...” But above all, how many times an athlete who did not have a good performance did not dare to say this kind of enigmatic sentence? Or chose to hide behind a lie, like a gastroenteritis, as if it was less shameful? And yet, it has always been clear that the vast majority of athletes are of childbearing age and that potentially thousands of them have not been able to explain why they had failed at some point. What if we had to look back at the records on this matter again? The question then becomes abysmal.

In recent years, the society has fortunately been able to hear a few stars come out of the closet, but there is still another taboo left in sport: menstruation, the time of the month, period! Something a bit 'dirty' and so intimate that it would be necessary to silence it or hide it while, according to the study conducted by Insep [National Institute of Sport, expertise, and performance (Institut national du sport, de l'expertise et de la performance)] gynecologist, Carole Maitre (read the interview below), in 2008-2009, 37% of the athletes consider the pain of menstruation as a discomfort to their activity and require treatment, and 64% think that premenstrual syndrome significantly decreases their performance. In January 2015, our British colleagues had fallen out of their chair when tennis player Heather Watson, Great Britain's number one at that time, had dared to explain that her premature defeat at Australian Open had something to do with “a ladies’ thing”. Wow! We thought about this occurrence again when at the last Olympic Games Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui apologized for “dropping [her] partners” during the 4x100m (4th) to the mic of national channel CCTV: “It's because my menstruation arrived yesterday and I felt tired.” In a country where tampons are still culturally rarely used, Fu became a heroine.

After that, we thought that time has come for us to break the silence too. Not all the athletes we contacted accepted, but many did not hesitate, with a confusing and reassuring simplicity, because they had suffered, sometimes alone and without any reason, sometimes because of the lack of information. “It's a topic that must absolutely be discussed and that we should study more,” marathon record woman Paula Radcliffe immediately said. “Because this topic is related to all activities of an elite athlete, her training planning, the repercussions on the competitions, the recovery, the mindset. This reflection is essential to reach the highest level possible in her career.”

Radcliffe thus explains how her first world record (2:17:18″') was just a question of hours, in 2002 in Chicago. “I got my period on the morning of the race. It was not ideal but frankly, it was better than if they had started the next day.” First cliché destroyed. In general, athletes suffer more from premenstrual syndrome meaning symptoms occurring the week before (heavy legs, water retention, gastrointestinal problems and loss of energy for Radcliffe), than the pains felt at the start of menstruation, attenuated by the adrenaline during competition. “I had to get up in the morning while thinking that the day was going to be extremely complicated,” reported former international basketball player Emmeline Ndongue. “But you're focusing on something else when you get to the game and you don't feel the pain too much.”

Swimmer Charlotte Bonnet, for example, has sore upper legs, to the point that, she feels “a weight pulls her down” in the water

Through these testimonies, we could see how menstruation can make athletes' life hell with its procession of lack of energy, back pains, migraine, cramps, belly pain that can be terrible, lack of sleep, vomiting... Not to mention personal specifics: swimmer Charlotte Bonnet, for example, suffers from the upper legs, “at the insertion of the thighs”, to the point that in the water, she has the impression that “a weight pulls her down”. Gabriella Papadakis, Ice Dance World Champion, saw girls feeling so much pain that they were unable to skate, despite having swallowed ibuprofen: “After a while, we get used to it. But sometimes I think that if I were a guy and I never had my period, it would be really great!”

Since it is a natural process, we realized that women accept pain and learn how to deal with it... sometimes with a coach who does not take this into account. Or to whom they do not dare to speak to. "This summer, in WNBA (the female equivalent of NBA) in Los Angeles, a teammate suffered so much that, despite the pain-killing pills, she was on the floor and we tried to relieve her pain by putting warm towels on her stomach," remembered Sandrine Gruda, center of France basketball National Team. "Since the coach is a man, she didn't dare to tell him. Would it have been a throat infection, we would've naturally talked about it. This is why, in the staffs, there's usually a woman, a physiotherapist or an assistant coach."

Olivier Krumbholz, France women's handball National Team coach, confirmed: “Things are directly regulated with the doctor. They don't talk to me about it. It's medical. I never had a discussion about it with one of the girls. We try to have complicity with the players, but we have a limit, which is intimacy.” Official team doctor since 1995, Gérard Juin can tell the coach that a player is not well without saying why... And if it is rare that a player feels so bad that it could justify a stop, when it happens, it is he who discusses with the staff: "It's not necessarily spontaneously understood, but it's important because a peripheral disturbance is a source of injury.” The pain distracts the player who can misplace her pelvis for example. “This topic comes up regularly with the girls,” continued June. “But it's rarely disruptive in team sports.” Basketball players revealed how they would count on their teammates who knew they were diminished on these days.

In individual sports, the situation gets more complicated, particularly in sporting disciplines with weight categories. 2016 Karate World Champion in -55 kg category, Emily Thouy revealed: “It's just horrible! There was a time where I had to go running during the competition because I had gained 2 kg whereas, two days later, I was 3 kg below! Feeling like you're dying because of the hot flushes and because your body hurts during the warm-up is hell.” Almost all of them have worries about controlling their weight during this duration: not only because they gain weight, but also because they have more difficulty to lose it. Rio Olympic Games silver medalist in -63 kg category, judoka Clarisse Agbegnenou is one of them. Not those who are making the topic of menstruation with her coaches a taboo but “sometimes they get embarrassed, so I rub it in and add: 'My tampon has slid out, it hurts so I have to go to adjust it back.' They say: 'Yes, it's okay, just go, we don't need to know everything!' It makes me laugh! But I know that not everyone has the same facilities as I to talk about it.” And things can become very serious.

Boxer Sarah Ourahmoune, Rio Olympics silver medalist as well (in -51 kg category), has just retired at age 35 and told us how she endured many problems in a sport then new for women: “You have iron deficiency [which can lead to iron deficiency anemia], you recover less well than usual, you feel asphyxiated when you make lactic efforts, you make water retention and, in addition, in boxing, you take blows in the belly”, listed Ourahmoune. “I remember a France VS Italy where my period arrived earlier than expected. My loins hurt and I was throwing up everywhere during the weigh-in. Since I was fighting the main event, my coach told me that I could not not go.” Not surprising that one of her teammates in the national team was glad that she no longer had had her menstruation for a long time. “She said that she was more than fine with it. She wasn't worried because no one told her it was serious.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a gymnast reveals in a thin voice that at twenty, she has never menstruated

However, for Insep gynecologist Carole Maitre, these problems of absence of menstruation (called ‘amenorrhea’) that some athletes have, are in fact a medical concern. She treats them from six months on. Often observed in sports with weight or endurance categories, they are usually a sign of overwork and an alert as for the increased fragility of the body, with consequently stress fractures. The issue gets even trickier with gymnasts, who start competing at a young age, before their first menstruation. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of them reveals in a thin voice that at 20, she has never menstruated: “Since I was young, I'm under the care of an endocrinologist because I'm too short. I had three stress fractures. I only noticed it because I had pains. I took estrogen and progesterone. I don't know if it's related to gymnastics, but it's possible...”

Aware of the particular problem of her sport on this subject, the freshly retired gymnast Youna Dufournet is delighted that we and athletes speak out about it, convinced that girls are not sufficiently aware of this matter. She had her first menstruation three months before her 20th birthday, a week after London Olympic Games, and is convinced that psychology has played a key role. “The doctors told me that I overtrained and couldn't be relaxed enough to have my period. With the Olympics, I had achieved some of my goals. But after that, I went from feeling the need to have them because I was distressed to see that all my friends had them, to an ordeal because it was really painful.” Youna also remembered a competition where a girl who was younger than her was still lying in her bed one hour before the competition because of the pain and who had to take hot baths. “In addition, menstruation is really irregular for gymnasts and that makes another anxiety for us! Because of that, retiring is a relief.”

The vast majority of athletes we interviewed found an effective remedy to their struggle in the holy pill. Regularity of the cycles, less abundant losses, less pain... and the possibility of using two contraceptive pill packages in a row so this intimate enemy does not come to disturb their biggest competition of the season. “It's so great!” Charlotte Bonnet said. Except that taking the pill may come up against various obstacles. For example, parents do not see their twelve-year-old daughter leave to competitions with pills with in a favorable light. “We should also inform parents to demystify the pill because taking them doesn't necessarily mean that we're sleeping with someone,” Youna Dufournet added with a smile, for who taking the pill went with an important weight gain. It has come to the point that since three years, she chose progestin-only pills (mini-pills) not to have her menstruation. “I'll stop soon because I'm no longer training [she retired last season] and the pain will hinder me less than during my life as an athlete...”

To each woman her own particularity, to each sportsman her way to deal with menstruation. Paula Radcliffe barely used pills, “just for 10 or 15 days, to keep period away from the main goal” of her season, because she felt that pills made her “less aggressive, which is decisive in a race.” Gabriella Papadakis has recently chosen [contraceptive] implant due to her frequent trips and changes of time zones. She does not have “enough distance on the situation” to take pills every day. Skier Anne-Sophie Barthet explained that, on menstrual days, “her legs feel like cotton but she explodes her power scores” and decided to try without contraception and deal with mood swings and a more pronounced stomach ache.

As for Doctor Gérard Juin, he recalled that the endless collective sports calendar makes the idea of delaying menstruation obsolete. A fact that also applies to the very case apart that is tennis. In a sport where tournaments follow one after another for eleven months, the dates of menstruation necessarily coincide with days where they compete. At last season's Roland-Garros, Czech Petra Kvitova [ranking of world no. 10 at that moment] had strangely lost 6-0, 6-7, 6-0 against Shelby Rogers, ranking of world no. 108: “Simply because I had my period, that I couldn't sleep and that I had no energy.” A confession that is still rare two years after British tennis player Heather Watson's words.

Truth is, that over the testimonies we came to the conclusion that athletes have blended so much menstruation into their status as women that, as long as they are not in agony like one of their training partners, they often minimize the consequences on their performances. Former 200m Indoor World Champion Muriel Hurtis talked about how “lucky” she was not to have been too affected by menstruation during her career, but nevertheless mentioned a slight fatigue and a slight weight gain. In short, probably as many hundredths, sprint unit of measurement, gone up in smoke. Not to mention the issue about what she is wearing. “Is it obvious or not?” A stain, a tampon string... “Just thinking about that makes you completely lose focus on competition,” stated Marion Lotout, the current best French pole-vaulter. And yet, they all think of it. And it seems obvious that those old English gentlemen who once imposed white outfits at Wimbledon did not care.

In fencing too, athletes worry about whether they have unsightly stains on their beautiful white pants or not. According to fencer Ysaora Thibus, no girl can escape from it: “Sometimes we ask to each other to look at the other person's pants to see if there’s a stain or not. It already happened to me...” During her menstruation, her partner Anita Blaze admits she “doesn't make certain moves”: “There was a time where it was bleeding more than usual. My pants were dirty and my sister warned me about it. The problem was that I only had one, so I continued my competition this way. I told myself that I didn't want to have that happening to me anymore.” Emmeline Ndongue said something similar: “There's always that day when you play in white and you ask other people to warm you before entering the piste [fencing playing area] if you have a spot. It happened to a teammate once. She got up from the bench and we told her: 'Don’t! Sit down, please' ...”

Did you say embarrassing? The situation can get even worse! Karateka Emily Thouy said she saw a girl lose her sanitary pad during a battle: it fell on the fighting surface. “She clearly wasn't feeling well... We saw the scene, but then the two athletes were saying it belonged to the other... It was something hard to deal with.” To deal with the white outfit, Thouy has her technique: “I'm fully prepared, I wear at least two or three boxers, cycling pants... Everything to make sure nothing happens! I change it every thirty minutes, I'm always panicking...” But others cannot use this technique.

At the swimming pool, it is hell. Charlotte Bonnet: “We're wearing swimsuits so it's the first thing we see. Thinking about changing the tampon, knowing if it will sink or not, it's very tiresome. At the beginning, you're really terrified!” I already had to tell to friends many times: ‘We can see a little bit of the tampon string, there!’ It's really embarrassing. When I have my period, I check it non-stop, I'm a little paranoid.” In ice dance and figure skating, it is hell as well. Gabriella Papadakis: “The short white dresses, the legs up in the air where you see everything... I never had any major issues for the moment, but sometimes there are girls asking in panic in the locker room: 'Does someone has a tampon, please?’” And in gymnastic, it is still hell. Youna Dufournet: “You have to realize that we compete while wearing in leotards, that the French team's attire is white and that we often have legs spread... When you are a top athlete, we already have enough problems to deal with. And if you add period, it's a lot...”

Just when we thought we were done, Marion Lotout interrupted us. “I've been wondering about this for a long time... The coaches as well, and no one has the answers. There aren't enough scientific studies about it. I noticed that during the year where I stopped the pill, my period was delayed in case of important physical activity. Wouldn't it then be necessary to compensate?” According to her, the pill is the easiest solution for them, but it remains a drug which real function is not to regulate period. “So who knows what the body would gain by not using the pill?” As for Paula Radcliffe, this problem has been ignored or treated in a too empirically for years. She limited her dairy product consumption, others used acupuncture... “We are only a handful of elite athletes to think about the best way to deal with. Most sports physicians are men and don't really understand. We need more women and more scientific studies should be done on this matter.” It would be on this condition that we could one day consider this ridiculous taboo as something part of the past.

"Between 50 and 60% of women ask me to shift their menstruation to later"

Insep gynecologist Carole Maitre evoked the different perturbations that motivate the consultations of the athletes. And the risks associated with them, far from being trivial.

Is menstruation part of the concerns mentioned during your consultations?

Yes. Many athletes, even doctors, are not informed about menstruation. There is a two-hour module on female athletes in sports medicine training, but it is not compulsory ... For a long time, being a female coach was an exception, and men sometimes consider stomach ache as an alibi. Menstruation is a topic that we do not talk enough about.

What do athletes consult you for?

20% of them because they do not have their menstruation. Spontaneous amenorrhea [absence of menstruation in a woman of reproductive age] affects between 10 and 40% of women depending on the sport. They end up asking me questions because it is not in the standard. But the most frequent case, between 50 and 60% are the to ask me a one-time menstruation shift.

The absence of menstruation is often considered practical...

But the practical side is nothing compared to the short, medium and long-term risk. It leads to injury. The decrease in estrogen secretions, which are necessary for bones, has an impact on bone mineral density. Taking treatments does not necessarily mean a total recovery of estrogen secretions. I recently had a young woman who, at 22 years old, had suffered from two stress fractures. This is not acceptable! Estrogens are also involved in energy metabolism. They play an important role in the glucose uptake into muscle cells and then the storage of glycogen. In amenorrhea, fatigue is greater.

What is the cause of this amenorrhoea?

With such important amount of training, the nutritional intake does not bring enough calories compared to to the energy expenditure. When this reserve intervenes just to ensure the basic metabolism, the organism has a saving strategy. Inevitably, it does not put to rest the heart or the brain, but a non-vital organism: the ovarian stimulation system.

Is shifting your menstruation repeatedly a problem?

Not if it is for three or four months. In fact, it is not menstruation themselves that are a problem, but the week that precedes them because of the premenstrual syndrome. In the study we conducted on 363 sports at Insep in 2008-2009, 83% of women said that they already had premenstrual syndrome symptoms. During menstruation, estrogens can stimulate the water retention system and cause weight gain. There may also be some joint and ligament instability.

What other problems do athletes face?

Late menstruation or irregular ones. However, very long cycles have the same metabolic effects as amenorrhea. 75% of athletes told us their menstruations are irregular. And for sports started at a very young age, like the gym, there may be primary amenorrhea (the delay of the first menstruation) for the same reasons. Until 17 years, we do not intervene. Afterward, a treatment can be given. First menstruation appearing at 20 can cause a bone density problem. The moment of the end of a growth is delayed but not affected. Our study showed that the average age of first menstruation was 13 years and 2 months, which is very similar to the general population.

How to handle the pain of menstruation in competition?

Studies show that dysmenorrhea (painful menstrual periods) can affect training – it is the case for 65% of athletes in our study – but that pain tends to disappear during competition. The amount of beta-endorphins secreted is so high that the threshold of sensitivity to pain explodes.

Can their trigger be psychological?

Yes, sometimes the athlete is so stressed that her menstruation happens. If it can be blocked for psychological reasons, it can also be triggered for the same reason, when it was not expected, by somatization.

Can some treatments be assimilated to doping?

Nothing that I prescribe is prohibited. Hormonal treatments do not reach proportions that could disturb a biological passport. We might have to need a therapeutic use permit later on for an ovulation stimulation to get pregnant... But that is another topic.

#sports #women in sport #paula radcliffe #charlotte bonnet #gabriella papadakis #sandrine gruda #emily thouy #clarisse agbegnenou #sarah ourahmoune #youna dufournet #marion lotout #.... many sports there #translation

101 notes · View notes

aikungfu · 4 years

Link

Joe Biden’s decision to name California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate in the quest to unseat President Trump means that the next White House could be occupied not only by a Black woman — a historic milestone by any account — but also by someone who built a career in the tech industry’s front yard.

Born in Oakland, Harris served as San Francisco district attorney and later as the attorney general for California before being elected to the state’s Senate in 2016. And while the newly-named vice presidential nominee is likely to bring a deeper understanding of the tech industry to the race, her positions on how a Democratic administration should approach tech during an unprecedented moment of scrutiny isn’t exactly crystal clear.

Harris attracted considerable support from Silicon Valley executives in her bid for the Democratic nomination, outpacing other candidates in donations from employees from large tech companies early on. Notably, Harris was elected as California attorney general in 2010 and served two terms, overseeing the tech industry through a large portion of its most explosive growth — a measure that likely proves more meaningful in assessing her stance toward regulating the tech industry than the things she said along the campaign trail.

Still, those were arguably simpler times for Silicon Valley, and ones that predated current hot-button conversations around tech issues like election interference, misinformation wars and antitrust enforcement.

Playing it safe

As the primary developed and then-rival Elizabeth Warren carved out a posture critical of big tech, Harris seldom waded into thorny issues around regulating the tech industry. During an October debate, Harris avoided a question asking about concerns over second order effects if big tech companies were broken up, instead redirecting to the safer political territory of Trump’s Twitter account. Dodging meatier points about tech accountability, Harris called on Twitter to suspend the president’s account for violating its rules, calling the issue “a matter of safety and corporate accountability.”

Trump's tweets incite violence, threaten witnesses, and obstruct justice. We can't crack down on Facebook but turn a blind eye to Twitter. Big tech companies must be held accountable for how they allow him to abuse their platforms. #DemDebate

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 16, 2019

Earlier this year, in response to a straightforward question asking if companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon should be broken up, Harris again dodged, though signaled that she is concerned in how those companies handle user data.

“I believe that tech companies have got to be regulated in a way that we can ensure the American consumer can be certain that their privacy is not being compromised,” Harris said. Harris also expressed her concerns about user privacy in a 2018 Twitter thread.

“Millions of Americans have no idea how much data Facebook is collecting, from tracking their location and IP address, to following their activities on other websites,” she wrote.

“In the real world, this would be like someone watching what you do, where you go, for how long, and with whom you’re with every day. For most, it would feel like an invasion of privacy.”

A focus on Facebook

In other critiques of tech, Harris has mostly concentrated on Facebook, denouncing its role in spreading Russian disinformation during the 2016 presidential race and expressing worries over how the company handles the data it collects.

When given the chance to press Mark Zuckerberg in person, Harris zeroed in on the company’s handling of the Cambridge Analytica data misuse to its users. More recently, Harris co-authored a letter to Facebook along with Colorado Senator Michael Bennett after the audit’s largely unflattering results were published, pressing the company on election concerns.

Sen. Harris puts Zuckerberg between a rock and a hard place for not disclosing data misuse

“Although the company has shown a recent willingness to rein in disinformation with respect to COVID-19, it has not shown equal resolve to confront voter suppression and learn the lessons of the 2016 election,” the senators wrote. “We share the auditors’ concern that Facebook has failed to use the tools and resources at its disposal to more vigorously combat voter suppression and protect civil rights.”

In another letter to the company, Harris criticized Facebook’s fact-checking policies for climate-related misinformation in light of a New York Times report.

In spite of the harsh talk, Harris seems to be on fairly friendly terms with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who congratulated her on the nomination Tuesday. Back in 2013, Harris apparently contributed to the marketing effort around Sandberg’s now-ubiquitous book Lean In, sharing her own story. Harris also spoke at a cyberbullying event hosted at Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters in 2015 and the two were photographed on stage together.

View this post on Instagram

Today @kamalaharris became the first Black woman to be nominated for Vice President of the United States. This is a huge moment for Black women and girls all over the world – and for all of us. Our nation has a history of great women like Shirley Chisholm who have fought to lead and now, for the first time, we’ll see a Black woman on the ticket for the highest office in the land. In a world where there are still far too few Black women leaders in our companies and government, that really matters – because you can't be what you can't see. Research shows that women running for office face obstacles that men don’t. People are more likely to question their qualifications, criticize their looks, or simply dislike them. For women of color, this gender bias is compounded by racial bias. Black women candidates face double discrimination on the campaign trail, including criticisms of being “too ambitious” or “out for herself.” There’s no denying that Kamala Harris is ambitious – and that’s something we should be celebrating. Today, I am hopeful that many more Black women and girls will be inspired to run for office at every level. It’s only when everyone can compete and get a fair shot that we’ll get a government that truly represents all of us.

A post shared by Sheryl Sandberg (@sherylsandberg) on Aug 11, 2020 at 2:28pm PDT

Antitrust on the back burner?

While we have a handful of public statements from Harris about her views on tech, there’s plenty more that we don’t know. The way she positioned herself in relation to other candidates during the primary might not wholly reflect the kind of priorities she would bring to the vice presidency, and we’ll likely be learning more about those in the coming days.

Right now there are many, many crises on the table for the next administration. If regulating big tech looked like a huge campaign issue back in the pre-pandemic political landscape of 2020, conversations around police brutality and the devastating American failure to contain the coronavirus are now at the fore. Whether issues around antitrust regulation and reining in tech’s power will make it off the back burner remains to be seen, and there are plenty of national five-alarm fires to be put out in the meantime.

While her potential position as the nation’s next vice president doesn’t mean that Harris would be tasked with shaping tech policy or spearheading antitrust efforts, her deep connections to tech’s geographic hub could prove consequential in a Biden presidency and its priorities.

In spite of some question marks around her policy approaches, Harris is a known quantity for the tech industry — one who understands Silicon Valley and who, per her track record, doesn’t look keen to take on the industry’s biggest companies in spite of some recent tough talk. Whatever tech policies emerge out of a Biden/Harris campaign, the fresh vice presidential nominee is connected to tech in a more meaningful way than any other contender for the spot. That alone is something to watch.

Elizabeth Warren, big tech’s sworn foe, drops out of 2020 race

from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/3fQi2zN via A.I .Kung Fu

#Blogger

0 notes

yeskhanzadame11 · 4 years

Text

Is Affirmative Action Still Needed?

In a current society, packed with women and men in workforce from Hispanic, African, Asian, European, Pacific and white races, is some thing along with Affirmative Action nevertheless important? While exposing public opinion may additionally demonstrate a warm, welcoming social environment, records can also display some thing absolutely one-of-a-kind by means of indicating gaps leading to discriminating mindsets.

Defining Points

To offer a fundamental information and foundation for Affirmative Action, a working definition provided via employment relation's specialists Bennett and Alexander has been supplied as, "... The company taking steps to make certain activity opportunities to historically excluded groups... " This is accomplished by, "bringing certified women and minorities or other statutorily mandated organizations right into a place of business from which it's been determined that they are excluded."

Thus, Affirmative Action, a part of Title VII within the Civil Rights Act, is in region to inspire employers to take the stairs had to encompass minority agencies and girls into their body of workers in roles which they are normally excluded from in employment choices (together with hiring and merchandising). To meet this, an enterprise can take the subsequent movements: • Expand outreach companies the organisation has now not usually made an attempt to reach • Recruitment of companies the business enterprise commonly has now not made an try to recruit • Mentoring, control schooling, and development • Hiring, education and different tries to deliver into the administrative center agencies which have tended to be left out of the employment technique Current Views

Looking outside of this definition, Keisha Miles, a Georgia State student writer, says, "According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, Affirmative Action is an lively effort to enhance the employment or training possibilities of members of minority agencies and women. The time period originated within the '60s beneath Kennedy's presidency from goals of fostering and developing a racially diverse labor environment.

On the assisting aspect of Affirmative Action, supporters see it as an financial necessity as racism is slowly moving inside the superb (declining) direction. The continual development, although gradual, is needed to lessen bias and injustice in America. Race has now not best been a first-rate aspect in employment, however it has additionally been a element in loss of believe and productivity due to ideals that blacks are lazy, slackers or thieves.

There is a lingering belief that Affirmative Action is an act of blacks reaping benefit over whites. Those who oppose Affirmative Action hold the thoughts body that the entire Alexander law group idea is a shape of reverse discrimination and hypocrisy that is reaping benefits many blacks on the basis to meet repute quo. There is a conceptual framework retaining the argument that blacks nowadays are beneath assimilation extra than previous generations and that it is time to remove race-aware regulations to rather move closer to a super of a colorblind society. Another facet of the opposing standpoint is round advantage. The rationale is presented inside the Miles article that instructional and statistical records usually factors to differences in color.

In reviewing the object referenced above, a short assumption is that employers ought to meet a quota to develop a numerous personnel in areas of under representation. After all, under representation can mean a numerical value to be met. However, Bennett and Alexander explain that, "... Quotas are expressly forbidden." Remedies to situations of under representation are not to be harassed with quotas. Quotas can only be permitted whilst there is no other form of recourse.

When reviewing different viewpoints, the Urban Institute presents multiple factors from Harry Holder. His first factor is that there's a prime barrier to minorities and, at a lesser volume, ladies. Over time, he explains evidently, "... It is most powerful with regard to African Americans."

Holder explains similarly that research suggests that there are discrimination issues in opposition to African Americans in both hard work and housing. Housing markets have high ranges of residential segregation. There also are research and various publications of literature surrounding the stereotypes and stigmas, at the side of diminished expectancy, of African Americans. When comparing to other minority companies, the tale isn't always so excessive.

A second factor offered by Holder is illustrated as, "We understand that affirmative motion is set winners and losers... We realize the complete factor of affirmative movement is to redistribute the goodies, in universities and exertions markets, faraway from white males, closer to minorities and girls... It does that, and the statistics are pretty clear on that." Then, as Holder explains, redistribution is smaller than many human beings accept as true with it to be. When searching at labor markets, which include federal contractor sectors (which might be covered by means of Affirmative Action), in assessment to non-contractor sectors, the redistribution only money owed for more than one percent points away from whites toward minorities and women.

Under Affirmative Action, Executive Order 11246 says that, "... Contractors who've under-representation of ladies and minorities of their place of work conform to take the stairs to make certain good enough representation." Thus contractors face a piece greater stringent expectation than the ones outdoor of government contracts. Returning to the lack of redistribution above, Affirmative Action can really be visible as notably ineffective.

When handling under representation in contracting, if gender and race are fairly much less than predicted, a contractor ought to establish a placement intention that "... Reflects reasonable availability of girls and/or minorities within the geographic vicinity." These 'placement goals' are in vicinity to measure development while thinking about same possibility and won't be rigid. When managing affirmative action, quotas are expressly forbidden.

If contractors retain to perform with out efforts to accurate the under representation, they will be required to increase an action program where they ought to: • Develop and implement auditing systems • Require internal reporting • Review reviews with management • Advise pinnacle management of effectiveness If the company nonetheless fails to comply, there are various penalties from publishing statistics to termination of contracts.

In Talk of the Nation broadcasting, posted in text from NPR, a debate among Bryce Watkins from Syracuse University and Linda Chavez from the Center for Equal Opportunity revealed conflicting viewpoints with strong arguments.

Chavez explained that even as Affirmative Action changed into implemented half of a century in the past, it started out at a time when, "... Discrimination, not simply non-public discrimination, but country-backed discrimination, become pervasive." The aim become now not best to put off the discrimination, but also to try to provide possibilities to the ones agencies who had suffered from beyond discrimination and have been limited to possibilities to gain abilities and training to compete with an same footing.

Watkins explained the broader objective became now not handiest the elimination of discrimination however to genuinely put off racial inequality - a product of discrimination - on account that racial inequality can nevertheless realistically arise whilst, "there aren't any racists in the constructing."

Chavez returned by explaining that Affirmative Action were derailed early on due to an attempt to "replace one kind of racism with any other." Watkins defined that a four hundred-yr history of discrimination has left the USA a -tiered society. She then accompanied up with, "If you look at first-class-of-existence elements such as training, financial equality, mass incarceration, and others, you see that human beings of color nonetheless stay a very different truth from humans whose ancestors have been no longer difficulty to discrimination."

But, to remedy this, as Chavez explains, the space must be addressed. There is a recognizable competencies and education gap in America. There is an unlucky fact that African Americans, Latinos and poor white youngsters go to faculties that fail to sufficiently prepare them to be successful within the global.

The cease all of this argument is presented whilst Chavez says, "... Granting desire on the basis of pores and skin coloration, irrespective of whether or not that person infant has suffered from the effect of discrimination, makes no sense to me."

In contemporary settings, Affirmative Action spans throughout all industries. An example of any such situation, from Ethane Quinn within the Journal of American History, explains that the EEOC had determined gross under utilization of women and minority employees and recruiting systems in the movie industry in Hollywood, California.

With this kind of finding, the most defining turned into the focus on African Americans. The rates for African Americans have been, "... Very [high] fees of exclusion from film jobs and the specific civil rights import of the Title VII for black Americans."

Furthermore, the uncooked numbers for the minority employees have been typically the lowest-paying, lowest-skill jobs. Many of the studios' black personnel have been janitors and messengers. Even in Walt Disney studios, there was no African American supervisor, authentic or technician following the Civil Rights Act. In 1969, an alternate among the EEOC and Disney's employees manager ran as follows: • EEOC: How many officers and managers do you've got at Walt Disney now? • Disney: A general of 238. • EEOC: Of that quantity, how many are black? • Disney: We have no black employees.

When reviewing Affirmative Action thru records, Philip Rubin (2012) explains inside the American Historical Review, that the last many years have seen will increase in massive historical studies on Affirmative Action. These research have been book-duration at the same time as attention has been given to debates on this difficulty. The issue has no longer just been a subject of public coverage packed with irony, but has additionally come to be a war that demanding situations white supremacy.

Assessment

Affirmative Action changed into, possibly, a need at the time when the Civil Rights Act passed into regulation to inspire attention in employment and promotion selections among st minorities and ladies. However, the abilities gaps stated above are statistically undeniable.

According to the Institute of Education Statistics, associate's stages in 1999-2000 had been awarded to 73.Sixty seven% white students and 10.Eighty five% black college students. 60.Three% of the overall group changed into females. Bachelor's levels for the identical length had been presented to seventy seven.5% whites and 9.01% of blacks. 57.5% of this organization turned into girls. Master degree stages were offered to seventy nine.89% of whites and sixteen.37% of blacks. 60% of this organization was woman. Doctoral level tiers had been provided to 77.Ninety two% of whites and 6.64% of blacks. 47% of this organization changed into woman. A decade later, in all groups, the African American population visible an increase among st Associates of two.Eight%, Bachelor's of one.Three%, Master's of three.5% and a Doctoral growth of 0.Eight%. Since the African American population is the maximum analyzed, these information would help the distance previously mentioned. Additionally, with the lower in girl under representation, facts indicate the consistency of women to their white male opposite numbers.

There are two obvious views to Affirmative Action. The first view is that minority businesses are underrepresented, while the second one is that under representation is beside the point with the aid of manner of the dimensions of the certified minority.

When thinking about low-professional positions, Affirmative Action is arguably big. A extra representative value of individuals will represent the lesser professional demographic of minority agencies. Thus, a few sort of consultant cost ought to be taken into consideration in employing a body of workers that carefully reflects the demographic of the neighborhood hard work marketplace.

However, in terms of knowledgeable and pretty professional positions, Affirmative Action begins to lose its relevance due to the splendid schooling gap. Equal consideration need to be granted always for truthful consideration, regardless of race. However, any additionally implied metric or proposal to recruitment must be made inappropriate by means of the shortage of assisting proof of any identical competitiveness among race corporations. Considering 5 African American candidates to 5 white applicants would, statistically, yield a long way fewer qualified black candidates than white applicants. Thus, in reality hiring the maximum certified applicant whom of which additionally interviews best for the location would be a extensively general practice for recruitment.

Future Research and Consideration

To maintain recruiting practices which can be as impartial as viable, departments and recruiting managers have to broaden a recruiting panel that is racially various in addition to educationally diverse. These diverse tiers and minority businesses may want to offer precious remarks for attention of candidates that fine match the need of the organization Alexander law group, the dynamics of the applicable crew and the competencies needed for the position at hand. By which include these more than one regions of consideration, the personnel can continue to be impartial to gender and minority selection even as remaining aggressive to appoint the maximum qualified individuals that in shape the enterprise's method, lifestyle and assignment.

0 notes

mredwinsmith · 5 years

Text

Gender Equity and SotG: A Report from Mexico

Our story begins in the 2017 Panamerican Ultimate Club Championships (PAUCC) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where our Mexico City club Cóndor Ultimate, competed in its first international tournament. At the tournament, my teammate Dani and I attended a particularly eye-opening conference about gender equity in mixed ultimate. At this conference, we realized the Mexican scene seemed so far behind compared to the international representations we witnessed at PAUCC. This stirred a feeling of urgency in us and made us more determined to work seriously on the issue, which led to a profound exploration of Spirit of the Game and a vanguard endeavour for gender equity in Mexican Ultimate.

Dani and I had the opportunity to get to know each other better as we wandered the picturesque streets of Buenos Aires and debriefed on the frustrating experience we had competing at PAUCC with our mixed team. Questions like “What did you think of the tournament? What would you like to change within our team? How would you compare mixed to men’s and women’s divisions? Where do you think the Mexican ultimate scene is going?” These became natural conversation starters throughout the remainder of the trip. We realized we saw eye to eye on many of these topics. The confluence of ideas, as well as the fervor of our frustrations, was too deep to remain as mere bystanders.

Shortly after we got back home to Mexico, Dani proposed that she and I become Spirit captains for the upcoming mixed season with the explicit objective of addressing gender issues and striving for equity from that position. We were beginning to play with the idea that SotG could be leveraged as a tool for social transformation and we felt it worthy to apply it to the gender narratives we had lived in ultimate, so I was very glad to accept Dani’s proposal.

Deeply inspired by the global movement being lead by the likes of GUM and EMU, we started holding conversations with Cóndor about equity in the mixed division. During these sessions we addressed questions like, “What is gender? What is equity? What does gender equity look like in ultimate? What actions can we take to work towards equity in our own team?”

One of the primary insights we reached in these team conversations is one that Dani and I had already chatted about: Gender oppression (namely, the patriarchy) is not unique or intrinsic to Cóndor’s culture. Rather, we are merely a subset within a broader social environment that already has established culture, norms, and practices. Machismo runs deep in our ultimate scene because it runs deep in our society and vice versa.

Sports in Mexico are not only male-dominated in general, they are a breeding ground for toxic masculinity narratives. While some communities in other parts of the Ultimate World were already leading inspiring ventures of empowerment, our team was still using phrases like “don’t throw like a girl” or “grow some balls” in time-out team huddles at tournaments. Building a healthy and successful mixed team in this noxious cultural context can be incredibly challenging. Several toxic macho behaviors become more highlighted, normalized, and even excused by the pressure of competition, making ultimate a space where the dynamics of oppression not only get played out, but actually get further perpetuated. These mutually reinforcing patterns create a system of self-replicating harm — a vicious cycle that can seem impossible to break out of.

If Dani and I wanted to see a structural change in our environment, we needed to take it further than just talking inside our team and had to start working with the Mexican ultimate scene at large. So the next natural step was taking the conversation to tournaments for the Mexican ultimate community to address its gender issues.

At the time it occurred to us that to start conversations at tournaments we could add gender equity as a sixth pillar to be evaluated in the Spirit scoring sheets, since it is common practice to discuss scores in Spirit circles here in Mexico. We thought that evaluating the other team’s gender dynamics would detonate an exercise of observation, reflection, dialogue and perhaps eventually action on the matter. This experiment was the main idea we invested our time and effort in for the entirety of the mixed season, and we persisted developing and refining the proposal throughout the following months.

For the first tournament of the year, we included in the tournament’s manual a set of examples for every grade (0-4) in the gender equity pillar following WFDF’s format for the 5 original pillars. We also wrote and printed out a complementary text to introduce the experiment, including a brief definition of gender equity. It offered a general overview of the proposal and its objectives, encouraging players to take it seriously while also stressing the experimental nature of it and openly inviting feedback. We tried to go over these materials to clear doubts in a poorly attended Spirit Captains meeting at the start of the tournament. Those who received the add-on to the scoring sheet later were pretty confused about its origin and purpose. Some would easily trivialize it saying “it’s too complex to score.” We made it far too easy for people to dismiss it.

We tried to step up our game for the second tournament of the year, this one to be held out of state. We tried to emphasize the grassroots nature of the experiment and invited players to actively participate in the creation of this proposal appealing to the fact that it focuses on an issue that concerns our community as a whole. We shared all the materials with event participants and published on social media. We also scheduled a time slot during the tournament to hold a feedback conversation and improve the proposal. At first, only one person sitting nearby participated. After talking in circles for a little while, we encouraged a young team to join. As more and more players from other teams joined, participant interventions grew in variety and intensity until it became a challenge to keep the group focused on the experience with the scoring sheet. Despite Dani and my efforts that afternoon and later on social media, the apparent glimmer of interest evaporated shortly after everyone rode their bus back home. It was hard to ensure a follow-up to these tiny bursts of interest.

The National Championships came around and we wanted to end the season delivering a more polished, finalized product. With the help of Flor Aldatz, who is a member of WFDF’s Women in Sports Commission and a player in Argentina’s Actitud Pizza, Dani became inspired to divide the Gender Equity pillar into 4 categories that were more clearly defined: Players could no longer appeal to vagueness as a cop-out. Ultimate México (the governing body for the sport in the country) kindly granted financial support to have printed and laminated copies of all the materials for each competing team. We tried to be extra diligent about starting the conversation on social media in advance, checking in with the involved volunteers throughout the tournament, and seriously focusing on the topic during Spirit circles.

During certain Spirit circles, we had to remind the other team about the gender equity score, and we still had trouble ensuring all teams received handouts promptly throughout the tournament. At the end of the day, the community did not seem to take ownership of the proposal — the materials, the idea, or even the gender problem in itself. After genuine attempts to make the proposal clear, open, and accessible, it was largely met with indifference. This was also made explicit to us in the lowly responded evaluation survey we sent out afterwards.

It was a disappointment that the experiment didn’t lead to more concrete action on the matter. It did not end machismo in ultimate, sports, or anywhere else. After failing to transform Mexican ultimate, we were ready to drop the dream of “the 6th pillar” and stop insisting with the rubric.

***

Despite our disappointment, I do see some value in the possibility that the experiment catalyzed some important dialogues and deep reflections. We started many conversations that wouldn’t have taken place otherwise. Some conversations even lead to discomfort among players and teams, with several people trying to skip the rubric and evade the topic. I think this is an indicator of how urgent it is for us to address this collective problem. I hope some of that tension has been harvested and transformed, if not into action, then at least into some type of awareness by the Mexican ultimate community. After all, Spirit of the Game has been defined as, “mindful behavior by players before, during, and after a game of ultimate.”

Another silver lining that I like to highlight from this experience, is that it got me and Dani to reflect on Spirit and gender more thoroughly and constantly. I am certain that the experiment greatly shaped how I see gender, ultimate and Spirit of the Game. The experience with the rubric proposal triggered a series of profound revelations that have been snowballing in my head ever since. I’ve come to see Spirit of the Game as a praxis: a guiding philosophy and a set of actions or practices. Many of the tools of SotG (e.g. scoring, circles, captains, timeouts, etc.) seem to carry an implicit dialectic of action-reflection-action. We play, we talk about it, we play, and so on. These iterative feedback cycles serve to make us aware of what we need to improve on in a peer-to-peer fashion. When done well, these constant evaluations orient us to work on our challenges and deficiencies. These continuous feedback processes act as a self-regulation mechanism to keep our behavior in check and change it if necessary.

Additionally, I’ve come to realize that Spirit is an intrinsically social phenomenon. We apishly mirror our opponents’ kindness with more kindness. When we see another team do the right thing, we become inspired to cultivate that to flourish as well. Spirit seems to spread like spores with these feedback loops. Perhaps we can use these self-replicating cycles to out-power the toxic patterns of machismo we see in sports, media and culture in general. I believe that if Spirit were embodied in more spaces of our daily lives, we would have powerful tools to counter these vicious cycles with our very own virtuous ones.

The broad yet powerful definition of Spirit of the Game as “mindful behavior” and the fact that it is so wildly contagious makes me think of it as some type of collective consciousness — an emergent phenomenon that is as abstract as it is relatable, as simple as it is powerful. I like to think of social movements as emergent phenomena of that type as well: a collective paradigm shift with no one person instructing others, rather many individuals acting in a decentralized yet coordinated form to make a necessary change in their environment. These phenomena often grow and spiral beyond their original scope, causing a ripple effect that transforms their surrounding. I hope that the correlation I see is not merely coincidental and that it inspires many of us to keep working hard for profound systemic transformation.

***

We didn’t catalyze a radical revolution in Mexican ultimate with the “6th pillar” of Spirit of the Game, but the exploration of Gender Equity through SotG and Ultimate was far from finished. After nationals, we figured WUCC 2018 would be a great place to showcase our experiment. We were pleasantly surprised with how many people at the tournament were interested in hearing our story and wanted to see the materials we had created for the proposal.

We were honored to be featured among the finalists for the Ultimate Peace Global Spirit of the Game award due to our efforts for equity in the Mexican mixed division. Hearing other people’s stories and experiences on how they incorporate ultimate and Spirit into their daily lives and work for social justice was deeply inspiring. This reaffirmed our desire to stick with the idea of SotG as a powerful and necessary tool for social transformation, particularly focused on gender.

While we did not win the prestigious award, we did become ambassadors for Ultimate Peace. We want to honor this title by continuing our work towards equity in mixed ultimate, no longer just through scoring, rather developing a new project that is more structured. We want to grow our core team and hold spirit clinics, workshops, and other activities around gender in sports and ultimate specifically. We would especially love to work with young people, since a new generation of players is rising in Mexico, and we believe youth to be the motor for change in any community. We will make sure to pass on the discs that were kindly gifted to us by Ultimate Peace with the hopes of spreading them as spores of change.

At the end of the day, our experiment didn’t cause the massive ripple effect we dreamt of, but it helped plant a seed in our minds and in our ultimate community. A new way of understanding Spirit and an exciting new ultimate project are brewing in Mexico City.

The post Gender Equity and SotG: A Report from Mexico appeared first on Skyd Magazine.

from Skyd Magazine http://bit.ly/2RM25Ta

0 notes

djgblogger-blog · 6 years

Text

Nassar's abuse reflects more than 50 years of men's power over female athletes

http://bit.ly/2DPHjfr

“You’ve got a lucky boyfriend.” These were the words the physician’s assistant conducting my gynecological exam in 1998 uttered as he suggestively smiled down at me over my paper gown. I lay on the exam table, 20 years old, wondering what to say back. Feeling angry, embarrassed and violated, I called my mom afterward. We both reported him. Whether he still works there, I don’t know.

That experience disgusted me then and now, from my current perspective as a historian who studies gender and American political culture. But I recognized that I was fortunate in several ways. My mother believed me. It was an inappropriate comment perhaps perversely meant as flirtation, however predatory, rather than an assault. And I never had to see him again.

America’s elite female gymnasts had far more devastating experiences under recently convicted sports medicine doctor Larry Nassar. On Jan. 24, the court sentenced Nassar to 40 to 175 years for his sexual abuse of more than 150 young female athletes, in the biggest sexual abuse crisis in American sport history. In the context of #MeToo, Nassar is perhaps the only sexual predator more monstrous in the public eye than Harvey Weinstein.

But a look at the history of women athletes in America shows that Nassar’s abuse represents a historical pattern of sexual violation of young females by male power brokers in sport. After World War II, millions of women streamed into sport, where men had increasing access to, and control over, young female athletes.

Most sport leaders have supported athletes rather than abused them, and postwar federal laws like Title IX and the Amateur Sports Act aimed to empower athletes across gender. But since educational institutions, Olympic authorities and the federal government have not strictly enforced these laws, they’ve ironically created opportunities for abuse.

Female control, feminine education

In the early 20th century, very few men associated with young female athletes. Men disdained women’s competitive sport, and women physical education teachers insisted on control of girls, lest male coaches “masculinize” the female sex or harm them in any way.

With girls securely under their control, and to avoid suspicion that female administrators were turning students into lesbians, phys ed teachers front-loaded femininity by emphasizing ladylike fitness and decorum, rather than the exhilarating experience of competition. Academic administrators also barred “respectable” – meaning white Protestant – girls from interscholastic contests.

Nations gather at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Wikimedia

Most men didn’t come into contact with these female athletes until the Cold War began. Then the Soviet Union racked up medals in women’s events at its first Olympiad in 1952, rattling Americans by placing second. U.S. politicians, diplomats and male coaches decided to take women’s sport seriously to score national wins in glamorous international competitions.

Female athletes of color, as well as religious and ethnic club athletes, had long dominated American women’s “mannish” competitive sports, like track and field. But the 1950s now saw white Protestant teens competing in “acceptably” feminine sports like figure skating, gymnastics and swimming, in order to further cultural diplomatic wins for U.S. capitalist democracy.

Federal sex equality in law

During this time, no law existed to protect young athletes from men’s sexual abuse in educational institutions. For example, in 1964, when 14-year-old swimmer Diana Nyad’s elite coach began a three-year pattern of sexually assaulting her, her high school principal was not legally bound to investigate suspicious rumors about the coach.

Then, in 1972, the U.S. passed Title IX, a law mandating equal treatment for the sexes in educational institutions receiving federal funding. In a massive score for gender equity improvement, female athletes flooded into competitive sport.

At the same time, Title IX increased men’s access to female athletes. Even during “women’s liberation” of the 1970s, endemic sexism prevented women from achieving at least partial parity in leadership positions. As the NCAA grew increasingly eager to control women’s sport and Americans saw female athletes as legitimate, schools and private organizations increasingly hired men for authority positions that women had often previously held, like coaching, management and athletic directorship.

As in most national industries, men commanded higher salaries and prestige than females. Today, in college sports, just 40 percent of women’s coaches and 22.4 percent of athletic directors are women.

Men also continued to dominate sports medicine. Though increasing numbers of women became medical doctors after Title IX mandated their acceptance in graduate programs, men still hold the majority of sports medicine jobs in prestigious power roles, like Nassar’s at USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee and Michigan State.

Larry Nassar during his sentencing hearing on Jan. 24, 2018. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

Men disproportionately specialize in orthopedics – and, because so many elite athletes suffer bone or muscle injuries, they often see these specialists.

As Aly Raisman emphasized in her testimony against Nassar, other adults pointed to his orthopedic expertise as a reason the girls had to continue to be treated by him. Nassar’s patients started reporting his abusive behavior in the 1990s. Had any of the adult authority figures to whom they reported actually followed up on the students’ Title IX complaints, two decades of abuse could have been avoided.

No consequences, more abuse

The 1978 Amateur Sports Act, which chartered the U.S. Olympic Committee, and the 1998 Ted Stevens Act, which modernized it after the Cold War, are other examples of federal law intending but failing to protect girls and women.

These laws direct the U.S. Olympic Committee to appoint separate national governing bodies, like USA Gymnastics, to autonomously govern their sports under the U.S. Olympic Committee umbrella. But that federal approach does not, according to the charter, absolve the U.S. Olympic Committee of its ultimate responsibility to athletes. Instead, the law also chartered the U.S. Olympic Committee to ethically support athletes’ medical and sports safety and to provide “amateur athletic opportunities for women.”

But neither USA Gymnastics not the U.S. Olympic Committee acted to protect female athletes under Nassar. They failed to follow up on many reports of abuse or pass claims along to law enforcement. In sheltering Nassar and other male perpetrators at the expense of female athletes’ health, the U.S. Olympic Committee failed every girl and woman whom Nassar examined under the authority of USA Gymnastics.

This failure isn’t unique to gymnastics. When Yasmin Brown’s Taekwondo coach began abusing her in 2010, neither USA Taekwondo nor the U.S. Olympic Committee took concrete steps to remove the coach, leading to his continued abuse of Brown and other girls.

In the cases of both Title IX and the Ted Stevens Act, had the adults in charge of these predatory men taken female athletes’ need for protection seriously, athlete abuse could have been curtailed.

For predators, this lax oversight created increasing opportunities to assault young women, even as those laws gave females initial access to sport. Because the federal government has historically enforced Title IX weakly at best, schools don’t feel pressured to act on reports of abuse. No educational institution has ever lost its Title IX funding.

Nassar’s sexual abuse of girl athletes represents decades of male-dominant institutions, such as elite sport organizations and athletic departments, whose policies and actions protected perpetrators rather than athletes. When these groups refuse to act, they choose to win at the expense of athletes’ safety and well-being.

Anne Blaschke does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

0 notes

viralhottopics · 7 years

Text

Whats next for the womens movement?

After the success of the Womens March, its International Womens Day on Wednesday 8 March. Here, 15 influential women, from Lena Dunham and Nicola Sturgeon to Susie Orbach, nominate a crucial next step towards equality

Lena Dunham: keep on protesting

I think the activism and organisation thats happening now is showing protest matters, calling your representatives matters, becoming involved in community organisations matters, sending your donations every month matters. It has never mattered more to show up with your money, with your body, with your time and with your voice than it does right now. Lots of people had valid criticisms of the Womens March, but it was the largest global protest weve seen and thats because every single person made the choice to take time off work, to give of themselves, to give their bodies and fill space and show they wanted to say no. That scares people and even if right now were not seeing the result we want, the government has been warned. They understand they are not supported. They are fighting an uphill battle against women and allies of equality in all of its forms. Lena Dunham is an actor, writer, producer and director

Nicola Sturgeon: great childcare is where it starts

Its a source of frustration that, decades on from legislation that was supposed to pave the way for equality of the sexes, too many gaps remain. I have made equality a key feature of my government, with a gender-balanced cabinet, one of very few in the developed world.

However, if there is one specific policy area which can permanently advance the cause of gender equality, I believe the answer lies not in the workplace itself, but in the early years. Delivering high quality childcare as widely as possible is, I believe, fundamental to achieving the kind of equal society that empowers women.

It is a simple fact that, for many women, the barrier to career advancement comes when they are faced with juggling the competing demands of a job and raising a family. And in too many cases, the lack of adequate childcare becomes a decisive factor in preventing women from continuing their careers.

Improving access and affordability in childcare is not an easy challenge and of itself will not solve all gender equality issues. But it is a challenge which must be met if we are to deliver a society which truly has equality of opportunity for men and women. Nicola Sturgeon MSP is First Minister of Scotland

Signs of the times: protesters on the Womens March in London take a breather. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Naheed Farid: introduce bottom to top economic development

I represent women in the Afghanistan parliament, in a country that is one of the worst places to live as a woman. We suffer from violence, insecurity and lack of access to basic rights, such as education and health. We tried many things, such as investing in civil society organisations, education and democratic processes, but still Afghanistan stays the same. My analysis is that in order to ensure womens rights and equality in Afghanistan, and generally all around the world, we need to involve women in the production process, empowering women economically. We also need policies to make sure that the process of development is bottom to top, completely the opposite of what is practised right now. Womens inclusion in political, economic and social aspects of development can stabilise society by consistently empowering women and involving them in high-level decision-making processes. Naheed Farid was elected MP in 2010 at the age of 27

Nomboniso Gasa: civil action to defend our freedom from misogynistic world leaders

As I watched Donald Trumps inauguration, I noticed something familiar in the body language between him and Melania. My mind flipped back to President Jacob Zumas inauguration in 2009. He didnt even look back to see whether his wife was comfortable. She trotted behind, with shoes that were too big for her. She could have tripped and he would not have noticed.

People have written about Trump and Zumas disdain for the judiciary, the constitution, media and civil liberties. But they are similar in other ways, including their public devaluing of women. Trumps tape about women throwing themselves at you, if you are famous, reminded me of Zumas statement when accused of rape. I am not afraid of women. They are attracted to me. Why would I rape? Zuma must be envying Trump, though. He is unable to reverse the Constitutional Court decision enabling women to make choices about reproductive rights, bodily integrity and freedom of choice. His ANC is unlikely to garner enough votes to change the Bill of Rights.

Contesting these men requires a careful unmasking of their devious narratives, combined with civic action in defence of our freedoms. This must be a well-planned and sustained struggle against misogynistic bullies. Nomboniso Gasa is a South African researcher, writer and analyst on land, politics, gender and cultural issues

Laura Bates: sex and relationships education for all schoolchildren

There is a single, clear action that experts agree could make a substantial difference. For the past decade, campaigners, teachers, parents and pupils alike have urged successive governments to implement compulsory sex and relationships education (SRE) for all young people, including topics such as consent, healthy relationships, pornography, gender stereotypes and LGBT rights and relationships. Schools are currently only obliged to teach the biological basics of reproduction by the age of 15, with no compulsory coverage of issues, such as consent.

This would help protect vulnerable children who may already be experiencing sexual abuse. It would create change for the many girls who report unwanted sexual touching a form of sexual assault. And, by educating young people about their rights and responsibilities, it could have an impact on the broader problem of sexual violence. With 85,000 women raped annually and two women per week killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales, this is an urgent priority.

We know that young people today face a bombardment of influences, from sexting to pornography. If we teach children how to read maps so they can find their way, and how to do maths so they can work out their change in a shop, why do we leave them shockingly ill-equipped to navigate sexual relationships, a similarly universal life experience? With 43% of young people reporting they dont receive any SRE at all, we are failing them and letting wider society down as well. Laura Bates is founder of the Everyday Sexism Project

Join the gang: women hold hands and share personal stories during the Dress Like A Woman rally and march, held to support womens rights and to protest against Donald Trump, in Seattle. Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

Anne-Marie Imafidon: more women in science and tech jobs reflected in TV soaps

Ive always watched a lot of TV and when I was younger watched EastEnders. As an east Londoner it felt close enough to reality that I would get excited when they filmed on location trying to point out landmarks and guess the road. Soaps dont fully reflect reality, but they do try to stay current. These days most characters have a mobile phone and technology sometimes features in storylines.

In the battle for gender equality Id like to see the soaps embrace some new careers for their characters particularly the female ones.

Wheres Dot?

Oh, shes just taking air quality measurements in the square for her PhD thesis, shell meet us at the Queen Vic.

Normalising science and tech-related careers can start with a female character or two deciding to leave work at the chippy for a job at a digital start-up. Someone in Hollyoaks might strike up an affair with someone theyve met on an evening coding course (affairs happen all the time on soaps). Seeing these characters have breakfast, and fight with family while enjoying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) careers will work against the one-sided portrayals of Stem characters that we see in films and on TV. The small screen can do what Hollywood is beginning to do with films, like Hidden Figures the story of African-American women who helped Nasa. Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE campaigns to get women into science, technology, engineering and maths

Li Maizi: create an international force against the censoring of womens voices

The answer for me is chasing gender equality in China. It has become my daily life, making noises against all the discrimination. And when we meet the backlash, we have to stand together and fight back. As a woman, I have no country: my country is the whole world. So I will also criticise Donald Trump, who is a straight man cancer.

In China, the space for civil movement is becoming more narrow. One of the most powerful Weibo [Chinas Twitter] accounts, Feminism Voice, has been blocked for publishing an article about the planned womens strike against Trump in the US. Thus, no single issue belongs to one country, we must fight together against the censoring of womens voices. Li Maizi is one of Chinas feminist five, detained for more than a month in 2015 for organising a protest against sexual harassment on buses and subways

Catherine Mayer: champion more shared parenting

Theres no single fix because the mechanisms keeping women down are intertwined. However, one of the seven core objectives of the Womens Equality Party equal parenting and caregiving is capable on its own of creating huge change. If we can shake the idea that childcare is primarily a mothers responsibility, if we learn to value the unpaid labour now primarily undertaken by women, then we also unpick some of the causes of the gender pay gap. There are also ways to speed the process. In 1975, when 90% of Icelandic women left jobs and homes for the day, their male compatriots learned just how much women do. Iceland now ranks as the worlds most gender-equal country. Im helping to organise a Womens Day Off in the UK next year. Catherine Mayer is the co-founder of the Womens Equality Party and author of Attack of the Fifty Foot Women: How Gender Equality Can Save the World!

Magic circle: protesters chant against gender-based violence at their camp on La Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, Spain. Photograph: EPA

Stella Creasy: dont be a click-avist, get stuck in

The change we need to make is mobilisation. We have to sound the alarm. The worst thing we can do is despair. My message is, dont stand aside, get stuck in. Dont be a click-avist. Keep asking: What next? If you go on a march and think: Thats the job done, they win. A backlash is a reaction, so we have to keep taking action. I keep saying to people, I adore Martin Luther King, but he was wrong when he said: The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards progress. It doesnt, unless you fight for it. Stella Creasy is MP for Walthamstow. Join her Feminist Action Network ([email protected])

Liv Little: economic autonomy for women of colour

The face of feminism Im surrounded by is young and fresh. Feminism has the potential to be a bright, vibrant movement. But its difficult. There are so many pressing issues for women. Whats really important is economic empowerment. I think as a woman of colour its important that we are running our own businesses, able to support each other and generating our own income to support other young women of colour who are coming up in the world. As a black female graduate youre likely to earn a lot less than your white male counterparts. Youre increasingly seeing women of colour in positions of power, but there are still not enough of us in prominent positions. Liv Little is editor-in-chief at gal-dem

Caitlin Moran: embrace our weakness and silliness

You know what make us strong? All the things you think are a hindrance. Our strength is our weakness. Our love of silly things to wear. Our love of jokes. On the Womens March, there were millions of weak women with buggies, with elderly relatives women who are disabled, or from minority groups wearing pink hats and holding placards. And our strength is, you cant send armed police into a crowd like that. Theres no way to spin that footage. You cant pretend its violent, radical extremists. Theres no excuse to break it up. The weaker, sillier and funnier we are, the more impossible it is to demonise us, or stop us, as so many protests have been stopped and demonised before. As things go backwards, we think: We cant fight this, and the answer is we mustnt fight it.

Fighting is how its always been done before. They know how to stop fighters. But these old, white, straight, angry men? They dont know how to stop joy, humour, knitted pink hats and buggies. We are the force theyve never seen before. They have nothing in their box to counter this. This is our strength. And we have it in endless amounts. We are the 52%. And we can knit and joke the fuck out of the revolution. Caitlin Moran is an author and columnist

Stepping up: women on the march in Montevideo, Uruguay. Photograph: Raul Martinez/EPA

Susie Orbach: defeat the merchants of body hatred

In a time of threat, the places we might be able to call home, our bodies, are being ripped apart by commercial pressures. They bear down on labias (too messy), faces (too tired), lips (too small), eyes (too hooded), breasts (too small, droopy or large) For each of these crazy designations, there are surgeries sold as empowering, sold as safe, sold as solutions. But whats the problem and who is generating it? Control girls and womens bodies whether by the purveyors of beauty, the cultural enforcers of female genital cutting, the anti-choice gang in the White House and insecurity is induced. Give girls as young as three cosmetic surgery games that divert their dreaming and imaginative energy into pursuits that hurt what it means to be a girl, and you ensure big profits and big body preoccupations for a lifetime. Its time to dare to feel OK in our bodies as they age and change. Susie Orbach is a psychotherapist, analyst and writer

Paris Lees: real feminism excludes nobody

If your push for social justice excludes women of colour or disabled women, trans women, sex workers, Muslims, Jews, poor people you dont want equality, you want privilege. Promoting women of the same class and colour while ignoring and speaking over women less privileged than yourself isnt feminism. Its supremacism. I come from a mixed-race family. I like to think I know a little bit about racism. But Im not black. So I listen. I follow feminists from minority backgrounds on social media: Reni Eddo-Lodge, Nesrine Malik, Janet Mock, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, Fatima Manji, Roxane Gay. Most women voted for Hillary in the US election, but a significant proportion white women without a college degree voted for Trump. In the end, their votes swung it. This is what can happen when women dont pull together. So lets pull together. Fascism is back. Women are leading the resistance, but if we really want decency to prevail, its time to revive another idea from the mists of time: solidarity. Paris Lees is a journalist and transgender rights activist

Getting the message: a wall of signs outside the White House in Washington. Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

Mariella Frostrup: include boys in the conversation

Ive been a feminist since my lungs first filled with air, but Im weary of war and eager for a coalition. In my small corner of the western world its hard to find a man who doesnt believe his daughter, his wife, his sister, his mother or his colleagues to be his equal, yet we continue to mark out our battle lines on a gendered basis. No social revolution in the history of mankind has succeeded without the participation of both sexes so its time to invite the guys aboard. Instead of car ads that accept a woman can control a vehicle (doh!) Im more hopeful for one that entices a man to try a vacuum cleaner. Our ability to participate in a mans world is beyond dispute, but the jurys still out on our success in enticing men into what was once our domain. The proportion of women doing the worlds unpaid work has barely changed. The only difference is that most women today are holding down two jobs. It is stress levels, not our incomes, that are rising. Expectations of both sexes have changed beyond measure and the conversation needs to stop being so one-sided, which is why weve set up Great Men, opening conversations with boys in secondary schools exploring masculinity and gender issues. If we want to eradicate misogyny, we need to make sure boys are given the support and emotional investment they need. Mariella Frostrup is a broadcaster, columnist and co-founder of the Great Initiative

Lisa Randall: end the fear women feel

An issue for women throughout the world that is implicitly played down by lack of adequate attention is fear. The topic is broad and the specifics are difficult to address through existing systems, but whether it is physical violence, online stalking, harassment, or unwanted encounters at work or in schools, women are prevented from living their best possible lives and from contributing in the most significant ways. Current systems address only very explicit danger. Even when the attacks are merely upsetting, the resultant loss of diverse voices online and elsewhere because of womens reluctance to be subject to insults or insinuations, is a loss to us all. Lisa Randall is professor of science at Harvard University