Women in Politics-March

In her essay, A Room of One's Own, author and feminist Virginia Woolf advocates for equality between men and women. She argues that poverty, a hostile society, and a domineering male sect is the reason for the disposition of women. Today, the area of politics is criticized for its lack of female representation, largely due to ambitious male politicians and the unwilling electorate. Yet, most Americans would agree that 2016 and its presidential election might see the most powerful surge of women in American political history.
Not since they were granted the right to vote in the early twentieth century have women held such a presence. The days of Alice Paul and Susan B. Anthony and their goals lost momentum following their right to vote and women held a more traditional and submissive role in both political and social realms. Today, powerful women titans such as former First Lady, New York Senator, Secretary of State, and likely Democratic-candidate Hillary Clinton, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Californian Senator Dianne Feinstein, former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, and Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen, hold a great amount of publicity and influence within the political spotlight as well as our nation's policies. Even abroad, legendary figures such as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazire Bhutto, and current German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have influence the global political, economic, and social landscape. If one is to succeed in the presidential race of 2016, I believe it will become a less controversial issue than previously thought. However, I do believe every action that she makes will be scrutinized and compared to her male predecessors'. But, if a woman does not win, I would except one to win the race within the next twenty years or so.

EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., No. 11-5110

Mariam and Laila are subject to the ancient, ultra-conservative laws of the Taliban during their period of control in Afghanistan in A Thousand Splendid Suns. Here, there are encouraged, rather coerced into following their regulations on how a female should properly dress. Covering themselves from head to toe in hijabs and burqas, Mariam and Laila suffer not only under the scorching Afghan sun, but from the beatings and violence from the Taliban themselves. However, in the West, prejudices and ignorant bigots, like those at Abercrombie & Fitch, deny and prohibit Islamic women, like Samantha Elauf, a job because their traditional hijab (a small veil that covers the head and neck, but leaves the face bare) does not comply with policy dress code.
In the United States, politicians, businessmen, and ordinary citizens boast and covet at our freedoms such as speech, press, assembly, and religion. Members of the company denied Ms. Elauf (who is being represented by the Equal Employment Oppurtunities Commission) the right to work their because of their assumption that she would wear the hijab to work everyday because of her religion. This, according to policy, violated their rule "requiring any employee should not wear articles that do not comply with the brands aesthetic" which includes head gear and anything black. Abercrombie & Fitch's lead counsel stated to Supreme Court Justices that her clothing "did not appeal to the Abercrombie "East Coast" style." Both liberal and conservative justices are expected to lean in favor of Ms. Elauf although historically, they have sided with the defendants who are being sued on the grounds that they have violated the First Amendment. For example, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Warren Burger reviewed the case of Goldman v. Weinberger, 475 U.S. 503 (1986) where they ruled a Jewish Air Force captain can be denied the right to wear his yarmulke with his uniform as the Free Exercise Clause pertains less strictly to military members. Yet, Abercrombie & Fitch's cologned-self-centered employees could use a little diversity and potentially expand their market towards Muslim-Americans especially as their populations continue to rise in the early twenty first century.

Cr(ISIS) in the Middle East

Cr(ISIS)

The Middle East. To most Americans it is just a common phrase heard on the news, by your relatives during holidays, or a far away place with sand in camels. To the international diplomatic community, it is an intense and constant area full of turmoil, instability, and distrust. To nations that promote democracy, republicanism, and liberty, it serves as a threat to those very institutions. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Miriam encounters the difficulties of a traditional, often unfair culture that dominates the Middle East. She is wed to a stranger at just fifteen years of age, her husband is a victim of war, and her family places a stigma on her because of the circumstances in which she was born.

However the Middle East is much more than a faraway land with odd customs. They provide the oil that fuel our cars, airplanes, and industries. Yet, civil war in Syria, worldwide dislike of Israel, a weak governments in Yemen and Iraq, a power transfer in America's close trade partners such as Saudi Arabia, a the nuclear state of Iran, all combined with the growing dominance of militant groups such as al-Queda and ISIS threaten the very foundations that this nation holds dear. Simultaneously, their constant threats against freedom, foreigners, school children, and humanity itself divert the world's attention and funds from other causes such as disaster relief and environmental issues. 

Unfortunately, I believe groups like ISIS and al-Queda cannot operate as a fair, civil, and just state and therefore action by military means is required at the expense of the international communities and the American taxpayer. Yet, after dictatorships are toppled such as the heinous one in Iraq, the America recalls its troops far too quickly in order to appease the electorate rather than performing and completing the moral task at hand of reconstruction these war-torn, impoverished, and violent nations.