my speech...
ok, so here's my speech so far. I don't like it but it's what I have. I still have a lot of work to do though. But tell me what you think. I think I'm going to take out the sports part, but I don't know what to change it to. Any ideas?
I was sitting around with a group of friends the other day and a couple of guys started to tell some jokes. One says to me “How many men does it take to vacuum a room?” I shrug waiting for the punch line. Then he says “None. It’s a woman’s job.” Another one asks, “Have you heard the one about the smart woman?” I just stared at him. He laughs then says, “Neither did I.” Another guy speaks up and says, “I’ve got a good one. What do you tell a woman with two black eyes? Nothing, you done told her twice.” Hahaha... Why aren’t you laughing? Not funny? I didn’t think so. Why are jokes like this still being told? They’re not funny. They’re shallow and disrespectful. If people are still telling jokes like this, thing obviously need to be done about it. I can’t lie. Women have come a long way. I am living proof of this. If things hadn’t changed I definitely wouldn’t be standing here in front of you today, but even though we have traveled far, the journey to equality is far from over. Less attention is given to women in sports. In the work world, women are still earning less than men and aren’t given the jobs they want and deserve. Internationally, women are given very few rights, if any at all, and are treated with little or no respect.
I went to a public charter school before I came to American Heritage. Their sports program didn’t have nearly as much funding as the sports program here. Never the less, we had boys and girls football. I was stoked. I don’t play, but I love to watch and I was so excited because I just knew that the girls’ football at American Heritage would be great; that is, until I got here and found out there was no girls’ football. So instead, I settled for girls’ soccer, only to be disappointed when I went to the game. The commentator had no enthusiasm and the only spectators were a couple of parents, siblings, and myself. I was appalled. Surely, girls’ basketball had to be better. I was disappointed yet again. Cheerleaders only go to male sporting events and the crowd at female sporting events is never more than a handful of people. I just couldn’t understand why a school with so much money invested in sports wasn’t reaping in crowds at ALL sporting events. When I asked why, people just told me they weren’t interested. But why weren’t people interested? Because no one is stressing the importance of female sports.
Most of us can say that both of our parents work. Our moms have pretty stable jobs. Important jobs. Most of our moms make less money than our dads, even though their jobs are of equal significance. Haven’t you ever wondered why? We’ve always heard the phrase “Bringing home the bacon.” That’s the dad’s job, right? The only reason it’s his job is because he’s getting paid more. The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics says that in 2004 the median weekly earnings for women was $573 while the median weekly earnings for men was $713. That’s a $140 difference. Let’s break it down into some occupations. The average weekly earnings for a female lawyer is $1255 and $1710 for male lawyers. That’s a $455 difference. The average weekly earnings for a female teacher is $866 and $1162 for male teachers. That’s nearly a $300 difference. The most shocking to me were the statistics for doctors. You would think that the gender of a doctor wouldn’t matter because these are the people that save lives. The average weekly earnings for female physicians and surgeons is $978 and $1874 for males. That’s nearly a $900 difference. That one was unbelievable but get this…maid work and house keeping is supposedly a woman’s job, right? Even here men are making more money. Women make an average weekly of $324 while men make and average of $402, a difference of about $80. I looked at hundreds of jobs and in all of them men were making more money than women. I tried to think of any reason for this finding other than inequality in the work place.
I was sitting around with a group of friends the other day and a couple of guys started to tell some jokes. One says to me “How many men does it take to vacuum a room?” I shrug waiting for the punch line. Then he says “None. It’s a woman’s job.” Another one asks, “Have you heard the one about the smart woman?” I just stared at him. He laughs then says, “Neither did I.” Another guy speaks up and says, “I’ve got a good one. What do you tell a woman with two black eyes? Nothing, you done told her twice.” Hahaha... Why aren’t you laughing? Not funny? I didn’t think so. Why are jokes like this still being told? They’re not funny. They’re shallow and disrespectful. If people are still telling jokes like this, thing obviously need to be done about it. I can’t lie. Women have come a long way. I am living proof of this. If things hadn’t changed I definitely wouldn’t be standing here in front of you today, but even though we have traveled far, the journey to equality is far from over. Less attention is given to women in sports. In the work world, women are still earning less than men and aren’t given the jobs they want and deserve. Internationally, women are given very few rights, if any at all, and are treated with little or no respect.
I went to a public charter school before I came to American Heritage. Their sports program didn’t have nearly as much funding as the sports program here. Never the less, we had boys and girls football. I was stoked. I don’t play, but I love to watch and I was so excited because I just knew that the girls’ football at American Heritage would be great; that is, until I got here and found out there was no girls’ football. So instead, I settled for girls’ soccer, only to be disappointed when I went to the game. The commentator had no enthusiasm and the only spectators were a couple of parents, siblings, and myself. I was appalled. Surely, girls’ basketball had to be better. I was disappointed yet again. Cheerleaders only go to male sporting events and the crowd at female sporting events is never more than a handful of people. I just couldn’t understand why a school with so much money invested in sports wasn’t reaping in crowds at ALL sporting events. When I asked why, people just told me they weren’t interested. But why weren’t people interested? Because no one is stressing the importance of female sports.
Most of us can say that both of our parents work. Our moms have pretty stable jobs. Important jobs. Most of our moms make less money than our dads, even though their jobs are of equal significance. Haven’t you ever wondered why? We’ve always heard the phrase “Bringing home the bacon.” That’s the dad’s job, right? The only reason it’s his job is because he’s getting paid more. The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics says that in 2004 the median weekly earnings for women was $573 while the median weekly earnings for men was $713. That’s a $140 difference. Let’s break it down into some occupations. The average weekly earnings for a female lawyer is $1255 and $1710 for male lawyers. That’s a $455 difference. The average weekly earnings for a female teacher is $866 and $1162 for male teachers. That’s nearly a $300 difference. The most shocking to me were the statistics for doctors. You would think that the gender of a doctor wouldn’t matter because these are the people that save lives. The average weekly earnings for female physicians and surgeons is $978 and $1874 for males. That’s nearly a $900 difference. That one was unbelievable but get this…maid work and house keeping is supposedly a woman’s job, right? Even here men are making more money. Women make an average weekly of $324 while men make and average of $402, a difference of about $80. I looked at hundreds of jobs and in all of them men were making more money than women. I tried to think of any reason for this finding other than inequality in the work place.