Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany

She is the first female Chancellor of Germany.  Forbes named her the world’s most powerful woman for the second year in a row as well as naming her the world’s fourth most powerful person, the highest ranking achieved by a woman.  She spent her early years as a physicist and chemist after earning her doctorate in 1978.  In 1990, she joined the Christian Democratic Union political party after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany.  she was quickly appointed to the cabinet as minister to women and youth.  She was later named Secretary-General of the CDU for 2 years and elected chairperson in 2000. She ran unsuccessfully for chancellor in 2002.  In 2005, she won the chancellorship against her opponent by just 3 seats.  In 2007, she became President of the European Council.  And she’s a woman.  She was pivotal in the negotiations for the  Treaty of Lisbon and the Berlin Declaration which amended the two treaties that make up the European Union constitution as well as celebrated the anniversary of the European Union’s predecessor.  She is integral in managing the European and international financial crisis.  She is also looking to achieve healthcare reform and energy conservation developments. 

She has made great achievements through her political platform, not only for Germany, but the world.  Her place in politics furthers women’s strength in government.

“Angela Merkel.” 2012. The Biography Channel website. Nov 28 2012, 05:17http://www.biography.com/people/angela-merkel-9406424.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel

Beyonce, UN “I Was Here” FREE on iTunes!

Just an fyi guys, you can download Beyonce’s video of her UN performance of “I Was Here” from iTunes for FREE! I’m not a Beyonce fan, but I was so touched that it’s actually the first song I ever spent money on from iTunes. Then I saw the video was free after I was prepared to buy that too. So happy!

This Is Personal

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This Is Personal

After today’s class, I got really riled up because although I didn’t really follow the presidential campaign, I knew I wasn’t about to vote for Romney for the sole reason of his view on women’s reproductive rights. This is a page I found on Facebook that I felt really relates to our discussions from the past two weeks. Hope you enjoy!

https://www.thisispersonal.org/

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If only!

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I saw this on Facebook and thought it was such perfect timing between the UN on Friday and menstruation tomorrow. And I totally agree with it.

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Human trafficking is terrible and dehumanizing business in this world.  It is so prominent in society, but not in a good way. These girls are sold into slavery as children as young as three. They are tortured, abused, and raped. They are unloved and unvalued by those exploiting them except for profit. There is no way this can be a justifiable business. Yet it persists. Even in America. I feel selfish for all that I am so lucky to have. In America, I’m valued as a woman and encouraged to pursue an education that is rightfully mine. Others respect me. These experiences are not felt by victims of the human sex trafficking trade, and that’s not right. No one should be forced into having sex for profit, especially not children. And I’m confused. These girls parents, own mothers, sell them into this bondage? For what? A little extra money that will last but maybe two months? It’s utterly detestable. This is slavery, and as Jada Pinkett Smith stated, slavery was abolished 150 years ago. How on earth has humanity allowed this to grow to such an extent? The third most lucrative type of organized crime in the world? Get educated. Grown men who probably have daughters of their own are really interested in having sex with a five year old? Eww. 

Unfortunately, I don’t believe we can solve it. At least not within the foreseeable future. We have a ways to go if there are really so many girls in the sex trafficking trade, meaning there are so many more men than that interested in these services. It’s a large business. And it’s a crime. It’s not like we can just regulate it with laws. We have to be able to find it, then plan on how to attack it best. That’s not easy. It starts with education. I for one am extremely disappointed that I didn’t learn more about the sex trafficking of young girls until my freshman year of college. I’m disappointed in our country that it isn’t part of the curriculum. I’m not saying spend three weeks on it each year of school, but seriously? Nothing? How is math more important than this injustice? I’ve discovered in my classes how much there still is to learn. There are cultural issues I was never introduced to until now and I’m utterly embarrassed for having been so ignorant for so long. We need to do something about educating people. Put these documentaries on TV instead of the garbage like Jersey Shore. This is a worldwide issue that can’t just be solved in one place. It is still affected by another. It’s going to take a huge effort to rally everyone together to make a change. And that’s saying we even know what to do. We girls need to be educated about issues like this sooner than the age of adulthood, obviously because three year olds are being kidnapped and forced into sex! We’re not old enough to understand? Then how do you think these little girls going through this feel? Like the world is out to get them and no one is helping or cares. They have no better understanding than we do! Just tell us so we can be aware and start to make a decision on what we can do.