Re: Power to the Women

When a blog has a title like "Power to the Women" I just have to reply to it. I agree 100% with what she is saying, and talking about. Ms. Trejo points out how the government in Texas is mostly ran by white males, and how we are not really as represented in our state because no only do we have different ideology than them, but we are not really being as payed attention to as Christians, or males. She did a good job sharing that "21% of the government is women" and that is just really sad, I believe. I feel like this just proves that even though we do have female representatives, they will most likely be ignored, and obviously outnumbered (unless they are Republican).  Especially in women's health issues you can see the neglect women representatives face, and how outnumbered they are. You have white men making laws for women, and there is something really messed up in that.
Ms.Trejo did a really good job pointing out things like that, but she only sprinkled on it and could've had some actual examples (like the abortion bills, or birth control restrictions), to back up the misrepresentation of women done by the men in the industry. She could've also used credible sources, besides herself (even though she did make herself credible because you can tell she knew what she was talking about). Quoting the percentage of women in our government with a reliable source could've also given her some credibility. She could've shared the reason WHY she believes women are so badly represented and not as involved as men, and I feel like that would've made her post a bit better. Besides her lack of sources, I think she had a good argument that would've triggered an interesting debate.

Same Sex Couples Are Now Allowed to Register for Benefits

Even if it's only in the National Guard, same sex couples have the opportunity to get benefits if their partner is on active duty. Texas originally was one of the 5 states (including Oklahoma, Georgia, Lousiana, and Mississippi), and they restricted them from signing up at the military bases, which was later decided to be violating the law. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same sex couples were entitled to federal benefits, last year and on November 1st, they ruled that all states comply with that decision. Texas has done so.

This is a giant step for same sex couples everywhere. Although they are not given national federal benefits, they are given the opportunity not only to be on duty, no matter what their sexual preference is, and they are given the opportunity to give their partners the benefits they should be granted as Americans. We should all have access to federal benefits, and our sexual preference should not be a factor that it should be based on.

I am 300% for same sex couple rights, and hearing this gives me hope of the future of their equality. You should not be kept from things like health care, adoption, marriage, benefits, just because the state you reside in, does not agree with who you love. You should not dismiss an American citizen from having access to this things because of that. They are still paying taxes, and contributing to the economy, so they should have every single right a heterosexual American does.

Especially living in Texas, you wouldn't expect to hear about a gay couple having LEGAL ACCESS to federal benefits. It just shows you that things are possible. Same sex couples, and heterosexual couples still deal with the same fights, bills, jobs, they both need to have retirement plans etc. The social issue of gay marriage is on the rise right now with people deciding on whether or not to allow gay marriage in their states (I really don't understand why this has to be a debate, if someone loves someone enough to take their last name and let the government know, let them), and I feel like giving active duty gays the right to federal benefits just adds to the issue. It will bring light to the issue, and even if people do not agree with it, they need to accept it, and let it happen, like Texas did.

Maybe, if the Supreme Court finally decided that gay marriage is legal, along with gay adoption, this country will become more open about homosexuality and learn to finally accept it. Texas, of all the states in the country, has accepted to the federal benefits, so maybe, they'll do the same with the upcoming rulings as well.

Re: Jaw Flappin'

I read Jennifer Gadush's post on how she feels about the Texas legislature. She goes into it talking about how she doesn't like how they decide to go at things. She uses capital punishment aka the death penalty as an example and how they are deciding to kill the criminals instead of dealing with it, and also talks about the health care issues we are having and how they aren't giving their resources to the ones that need it. She is basically saying that Texas, as a state, chooses to ignore their problems and act like we are this peachy happy state. 

I honestly agree with what Ms.Gadush is saying, but I feel like the things she states and talks about aren't credible because she doesn't have any sources or actual quotes to back up the claims. If she had a few newspaper articles, or a few quotes from Rick Perry that show the neglect of issues, it would've been a better written piece. I like how she asks a lot of questions, because it makes the reader feel involved and it really makes them think. I feel like she has a lot of good points, and she backs up her claim, which is Texas ignores it's problems and it's pride gets in the way, with enough examples. I like how she chooses to describe Texas (which is also very accurate). She uses words like "stubborn", "embarrassing Texas ways." 

Texas has a lot of social issues, and we are not dealing with these issues to the best of our abilities. Ms.Gadush really put a lot of things out in the open by pointing it out. Her post did a good job by bringing attention to this issue, because I personally didn't really notice how we neglect these social issues, and how we like to just push things under the rug. Her post was fairly good, and she needed was to have some credible sources so her post could've been credible. 

Abortion

Abortion seems to be one of the biggest issues in Texas right now, and it's hard for me to not talk about it since I'm very open about being pro-choice. I ran into a video on thetexastribune.org that you can find  here (Seriously watch it if you want), that follows a couple that was about to undergo an abortion procedure, but with the new abortions laws, their appointment was cancelled and they could not go through with it. In the video, they are explaining why they made this choice, that being they aren't financially stable enough, and an unplanned pregnancy is not that what they need right now, and how Marni, the expecting mother, feels like as if her rights are being violated. And as you scroll down you read all these comments from people basically saying everything anyone always says. "You are a murderer", "A real man believes in life", "We are talking about a human life here", "Stop making unborn babies suffer because you can't deal with the consequences of your actions" etc etc.

People get so caught up in protecting a fetus, cells, that is not theirs to begin with, and that they don't have to carry, deal with or provide for. If you are not the one carrying the fetus, you should not be allowed to make decisions on what to do with it. It is the carrier's choice. It is the couple's choice. The people who made it. Not the government, and not the citizens of a conservative state that think a fetus has more rights than a woman. Why is it that a group of cells need to have the right to be carried to full term, yet woman aren't taken into consideration and they have to give the rights of choosing what to do with their bodies, up for election? People protest for a fetus to get carried to full term under any circumstances, whether it's rape, unplanned, the mother and father are too young, the mother and father are too poor, the mother and father don't want kids, yet no one protests for woman to get paid the same as men or for woman to be able to choose and do what ever it is they want to do with their bodies?

Marni mentioned how there are only 2 doctors in the city of Austin, that are able to do the procedure even with the new laws. But, this only means chaos for both the doctors and everyone in the state that is looking to abort. She mentioned that 80,000 abortion procedures happen in a year. How are these doctors going to preform a safe procedure for all of these people, if there are only 2 of them? Woman's rights are not the only thing that is going to be affected, but their safety with be as well. Women go to doctors and clinics for safe procedures. But if they do not have the access to them, and they want one bad enough, they will get one under any circumstances and that could lead to serious health issues for them. All because people want to make a safe procedure so hard to undergo because a fetus has more rights than a woman in Texas.

People, but more specifically, [most] Texans are so judgemental when it comes to abortion issues. Maybe it's the Christianity and Catholicism, and the Republican that runs in most of their veins. It is one thing to not agree with an issue at all, and another to deny people the right to have a choice about that issue. It is not about choosing what's right, and what's wrong because that always depends on the person. It's about letting woman have the constitutional right to do what they please with their bodies. It should not be anyone's business, other than the people involved and the doctor. And it should definitely not be up for election, or voted on and discussed by white males.

"Know Your Place, We're in Charge"

Although the editorial I chose to write about is from June 28, I thought I'd criticize it because not only is it a big issue in Texas, but also a big issue for women. We are all aware about Wendy Davis' 11-hour filibuster that took place back in the summer, and we are aware of how it ruled. Alberta Phillips, from the Austin American Statement wrote "Filibuster Shifts Abortion Debate to Women's Rights" talking about how unfair it was to make women who undergo and want to undergo an abortion in Texas. She makes points about how it doesn't make sense that men are the ones making this choice, and how things like ultrasounds are unfair to go through. 

Phillips' audience is everyone. She doesn't target just a gender, or a political party. She is talking to a general audience. She shares her feelings and perspective of the issues that are going on. She talks about how she feels like woman aren't taken as seriously in politics and in legal issues that consern women. She's very open of how she feels about woman in politics sharing that men have "employed bogus procedural tactics to gag and block women from fully engaging in the democratic process[es]." 
She is a very credible writer because she is using facts, taking responsibility for opinions and her commentary. She is an editor in a very popular newspaper, and doesn't bash in a distasteful and disrespectful way. Her claim was that men feel the need to control woman's issues. She has proof from issues to back up this claim, and you would be blind not to see it. She shares "But forcing women to undergo an invasive medical procedure without their say goes too far." This shows the unfairness for woman who decide to go through with abortion because they are taking psychological and emotional dabs at them to get them to change their mind, when the legislators and government officials aren't the ones that have to go through the pregnancy.  Not only is abortion a woman's issue, but also equal pay. Phillips talks about how Governor Perry vetoed a law that would end discrimination pay, which is another example of the disrespect woman have in politics. 
I understand why Phillips is so upset over what was going on, and continues to go on (probably because I am a woman too), so it's fairly obvious that I agree with the neglect she speaks of. I feel like she makes a lot of good points, and doesn't state anything disrespectful towards men and politics. She just picks things that actually happened and connects them to the issue that she has. It's a very good editorial piece, with a lot of facts, feelings and sense, so over all it's a good piece.