Tag Archives: inequality

Why Does Inequality Matter? By T. M. Scanlon Book Review

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Inequality is widely regarded as morally objectionable: T. M. Scanlon investigates why it matters to us. Demands for greater equality can seem puzzling, because it can be unclear what reason people have for objecting to the difference between what they have and what others have, as opposed simply to wanting to be better off. This book examines six such reasons. Inequality can be objectionable because it arises from a failure of some agent to give equal concern to the interests of different parties to whom it is obligated to provide some good. It can be objectionable because it involves or gives rise to objectionable inequalities in status. It can be objectionable because it gives the rich unacceptable forms of control over the lives of those who have less.

It can be objectionable because it interferes with the procedural fairness of economic institutions, or because it deprives some people of substantive opportunity to take part in those institutions. Inequality can be objectionable because it interferes with the fairness of political institutions. Finally, inequality in wealth and income can be objectionable because it is unfair: the institutional mechanisms that produce it cannot be justified in the relevant way. Scanlon’s aims is to provide a moral anatomy of these six reasons, and the ideas of equality that they involve. He also examines objections to the pursuit of equality on the ground that it involves objectionable interference with individual liberty, and argues that ideas of desert do not provide a basis either for justifying significant economic inequality or for objecting to it.

Why Does Inequality Matter? is an important book which asks the right questions. It is intelligent without being condescending and full of facts while still being entertaining.

Why Does Inequality Matter? By T. M. Scanlon is available here.

Patricia Clarkson Says ‘A white male actor should never complain’

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The Guardian particia clarkson interview white men should not moanPatricia Clarkson has hit out at people who complain about female-led movie. The 56-year-old actress has had an illustrious career spanning decades, but she has faced pay inequality and notes that there is still a backlash. She used the new Ghostbusters film as an example, which stars an all-female lead cast which includes Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy.

“There are still so many movies made starring 50 men and one woman! A white male actor should never be allowed to complain about anything. Shut up and sit in the corner. I mean, seriously!”  She told The Guardian

“The odds of us having films made which star women… Everyone still references one movie: Bridesmaids! Ghostbusters is a great thing and I love these actresses. I can’t wait to see it.”I think everyone has a right to a good moan, but her point about the Ghostbusters film is a good one.

She also said that female characters are usually “softened” or “some ridiculous caricature like a dominatrix or a one-dimensional boss with no life and bad hair.”

She went on: “When I was younger, of course I had people act inappropriately to me. I’ve had certain directors yell at me. But I didn’t stand for it and I didn’t let it go far enough for it to be in any way abusive to me. People didn’t speak up as much as they do now. Women have risen. But we’re still underpaid and we’re still a vast minority in this business.”

Actresses who have spoken out about inequality in the film industry have talked about a backlash, but the more strong people- both men and women- who fight for equality, the quicker we will get there.

What do you think?

 

If you are an actor then check out How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur. It is available in print and in all eBook formats on both Smashwords and Amazon.

 

 

Patricia Arquette’s Oscar Speech Is a Thing of Beauty | Watch Now

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Patricia Arquette , speech, feminism, oscar speech, equal pay, Winner of Best Actress In A Supporting Role Oscar 2015Patricia Arquette’s kick ass Oscar Speech took over the internet, and rightly so. While political statements are generally frowned upon at the Academy Awards, Arquette won the hearts of people all over the world with her demand for equal pay for women. The best reaction came from Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez, both of whom nearly fell off their seats with glee. Equal pay for women in Hollywood has been a widely debated topic since the Sony hacks. I hope that Arquette’s speech makes a difference, she has at least raised awareness to billions of people, and for that she is amazing.

She also said earlier this year that she paid her babysitter and dog walker more money than she made on Boyhood. She isn’t the only one to speak out. Hilary Swank said: “My male counterpart will get paid ten times more than me — ten times. Not double, but ten times for the same job. We only have this much left for the female actress. I mean, there’s two genders on this earth. Both are compelling, interesting, diverse, wonderful in all their own separate ways. And yet there’s an influx of male roles, and there’s just not for women.”

While Amy Pascal has said that the problem is that women accept less money than men it is not as simple as that. Pascal herself said that there are less roles for women so women are more likely to work for less just to have a job. This is a sad state of affairs that must change. Arquette has started the battle call, we must all follow through.

 

 

Emma Watson Speech for HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10

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She used to just be that annoying character in Harry Potter but now Emma Watson has a brand new bag: standing up for gender equality as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. Here is her speech for HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 Program at the World Economic Forum 2015. It is another great speech and it will hopefully make a difference.


UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson, delivered another speech encouraging world and corporate leaders to take action for gender equality during the kickoff of a HeForShe program launch at the World Economic Forum at Davos on January 23rd, 2015.

Emma WatsonReady to take action? Make your commitment at www.HeForShe.org.

What do you think?

 

 

The Privileged Are Always One-Step Ahead, Right? By Josh Edwards

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We have been reminded in the press recently, that the privately educated and the rich seem to get a better deal than the rest of us – but why is this?  Perhaps it is to do with the social network they are able to build. The cliché, ‘it’s not what you know but who you know’ certainly has some truth to it.

Let me give you an example. Pretend for a moment that Beatrice’s father Edward has just floated his new tech company on the NASDAQ, and made a fortune. Beatrice bumps up from a comprehensive to a private school in Windsor, where she is surrounded by oil magnate heirs and the like. Overnight she has entered a network of potential contacts. Opportunities will arise, and it is probable that Beatrice will be in a better position than the rest of us.

We cannot blame the elite and the privileged for accessing the doors that are open to them for surely we all would, in a similar position. For the majority of us, however, who are on the other side of that white picket fence, how can we compete?

For me it was about using the opportunities that arose around me. For the people who know me, the past three years of my life has been a mixture of both University and Starbucks.

 

 While working for Starbucks I soon realised that customers from a multitude of backgrounds come into the store, in search of their caffeine fix. It became apparent to me that I could kill two birds with one stone, I could both work and network at the same time.

While some customers would rather order their coffee with a minimal amount of personal interaction, others would engage in conversation.

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I made an effort to remember names and in time found some to be genuinely interested in my plans, even offering me opportunities to enhance my C.V and further my career. Through networking with customers, I have been offered a number of open doors, including the opportunity to write for Frost, – the online magazine you are reading now – and I have become involved with the charity Words for the Wounded (W4W), and now help look after publicity and all social media.

 

 I have been able to talk about my work with Frost and W4W during a recent interview and it has definitely enhanced my application – and given me something different to talk about, not to mention improving my skill base and my understanding of how different organisations work.

So if you are in a similar position and work in an environment where you meet a variety of people,  have an open mind. I have found generosity from customers in spades. Are the rich and privileged one step ahead? Probably, but it doesn’t mean the rest of us are too far behind.

 

 

 

Sick Of Seeing Naked Women On HBO? So Are These Funny Women

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Sick of all of the gender inequality when it comes to nudity on HBO? So are these very funny ladies. We laughed all the way through this video.

What do you think?

Frost Mag is supporting Cosmopolitan magazine's F-Word campaign.

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COSMOPOLITAN Launches the ‘F-word’ campaign. Cosmopolitian is launching its campiagn on International Women’s Day, and Frost Magazine is supporting them.

This International Women’s Day (8th March) Cosmopolitan will be launching its ‘F Word’ campaign, a series of initiatives championing women – and men – to stand up and be counted and get what they deserve; equality in all aspects of their lives. The ‘F word’ has been created by Cosmopolitan to highlight the fact there has never been a more important time to be a feminist. The magazine has teamed up with some of the UK’s biggest stars who all support the campaign, including Annie Lennox, Jameela Jamil, Emma Bunton and Professor Green.

Miquita Oliver:

“I’ve gone up and down in weight and I’ve never been very glamorous so I’ve always used what I have which is my personality. It would mean so much to me if there were girls who watched me on the telly and thought ‘Oh actually I can just be a funny cool person.’ It’s important to push your personality rather than wearing ‘the right’ skinny jeans.”

Emma Willis:

“People think of it as a dirty word but being a feminist doesn’t mean you’re loud and lairy. You can still be feminine and be a feminist.”

According to the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for equality between men and women, men are currently getting paid almost 15% more than females, rising to 55% in the banking sector. It has also revealed that this is likely to widen, due to public sector job cuts, which are historically female dominated.

Cosmopolitan, the magazine for smart spirited women, believes it is time to take action. It wants the government to get tough now on equal pay, by making it mandatory for companies who employ 250 people or more to carry out a public, annual equal-pay audit – this was due to become law under the last government, but was shelved in 2012 in favour of making these audits voluntary.

The magazine is calling all British women to fight for their right to an equal pay packet by signing the Cosmopolitan Equal Pay petition at www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/equalpay. Cosmo is hoping to gather 100,000 signatures and plans to present the petition to David Cameron later in the year.

Louise Court, Cosmopolitan, Editor, said: “When we heard that the pay gap looked likely to widen in 2012 we felt it was time to stand up and make a difference for women in the UK today. Many women don’t even realise that they could be doing exactly the same job as their male colleagues and not being paid the same wage – it’s time to highlight this unfairness and make positive changes!”

According to a poll of Cosmopolitan readers, 58% would not describe themselves as being a feminist. However, Cosmopolitan believes that there has never been a more important time to be a feminist with inequality between the sexes at an all time high. “It’s time to grab back the word ‘feminism’. It’s a perfectly good word. But we need to simplify it. It’s about equal rights; that’s all. It’s not about being enemies of men.” Says Annie Lennox of the Cosmopolitan F Word campaign.

What Price Feminism?

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Is feminism a dirty word? You would think so by how some people respond to the word.

Feminism is not an easy subject to write about. It has so many connotations. So many people have an opinion on it. It brings up images of women burning bras and hating men. Losing the entire point of it: equality.

What I started writing this article I put out a twitter and Facebook plea for comments about feminism. Tamsin Omond came up with a fabulous quote from J.Winterstone on lesbians: ‘they have a confidence about them that doesn’t depend on the male view. that is sexy and it is new.’

Then came the obvious,

Forbes KB: ‘Right after you finished the washing up and the ironing I hope!’ Luckily, I know he is joking.

Darren Errol Clarke did much better: ‘I dislike the word “Feminism”! It conjures up so many wrong images. Everything should be about sharing and equality, but the name doesn’t depict that!

A warrior from the Amazon once said that she was shocked that Western women were so …weak and that they were referred to as “Flowers”! She was upset that she couldn’t “See” the flowers that they were talking about. She said, “Flowers are strong, adapting, versatile and beyond the visual. A flower can be destroyed, yet come back as beautiful as before and more than before. The humans I see before more me represent nothing more than a shadow of their true potential.”

Whilst man has a lot to answer for in history, women have come through and stamped their individuality through out. I think that when women were striving to be better than the men that suppressed them they were irrepressible, but now they have joined in the drunken madness that is today’s civilization. I hope that the mantle isn’t totally buried, as it would be nice to see more women bring true equality to the world and not the fallacy that is the modern world.’ Good points there.

Lynn Burgess: ‘It’s not about pushing a female agenda. It’s about equality.’

Caroline Gold: ‘Look to the working class women and you will see there is still disparity and it’s about more than legislature. We are not a minority. Feminism is just humanism for all. Go girl!

One of the best came from film director Richard Wright: ‘Ultimately its not about pushing a female agenda or pushing a male agenda its about pushing an agenda of tolerance and understanding no matter who it is. It’s about equality across the board not the positive discrimination of one over another, that doesn’t work because it’s still discrimination. The argument should be about how we, together as a society, create a better tomorrow and where we all fit in no matter who we are.’

Amen to that.

The London Underground is never a nice place at rush hour. A few million Londoners trying to get home means stress is high and manners non- existent. Spending a 20 minute journey with your face in some strangers armpit is common. This did not prepare me for being shoved out of the way by a man so he could sit in the last seat however. That’s right: actually pushed out out the way. Not only are manners dead, but so is chivalry.

This got me thinking about equality. I always offer to pay on dates. While discussing this with a male friend he mentioned that he thought women should always pay for themselves, after all, wasn’t that what feminism was all about? What we were fighting for all these years? Well, no. It’s not. We seem to have got the worst of both worlds. No chivalry and no equality either.

I recently read an article by James Delingpole in which he claimed, because times are tough, that only boys should be sent to public school, because his daughter could just marry a rich man. Which was more funny than offensive until I read Mary Dudley’s response that she would be sending her daughter to public school instead…so she could marry a rich man. Apparently Kate Middleton wouldn’t have had a look in if she had not been to Marlborough. Doors to manual indeed. What century is this? How Jane Austen.

We were fighting for equal pay: which we haven’t got. To have any career we want without hitting a glass ceiling. To not be though of as the weaker sex. Not better than men, just equal. With different strengths. This is all low rumbling compared to some countries. Although there is a female Prime Minister in Australia and female president in Finland, in Britain we have 126 female MPs, out of 646 members of British Parliament. Where have all the women gone?

Then there is the other thing that is holding us back: other women. I have lost count of how many times I have had another actress try and sabotage me or overheard a women bitching about me. On a set recently an older actress came up to me and said; ‘You will be just like me one day. You will lose your beauty, you will have nothing left. It all goes.’

Can we really reach our true potential if we are wasting energy stabbing each other in the back? I have an amazing group of female friends now, but it took years to find them.

Then comes all of the depressing statistics. 1 in 4 women have experienced rape or attempted rape, 95% of cases are never reported, 23% of reported cases are ‘no crimed, ‘ or thrown out, by the police. Over 66% of reported cases never make it to court and the conviction rate is a depressing 6.5% for reported cases. It seems rape is the easiest crime to get away with.

In Afghanistan the female soldiers were more afraid of their colleagues than the front line. 30 percent of female US soldiers have been raped, 71% sexually assaulted and 90% sexually harassed. Four out of five cases go unreported. Helen Benedict, author of ‘The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of women serving in Iraq’, believe rapes occur not because the soldiers are sex starved, but because they enjoy humiliating female colleagues. ‘A lot of men think women shouldn’t be in the military and feel threatened. I think a lot of sexual predators sign up because of the power they’ll wield.’ Helen goes on to say that, ‘There is a culture of sexism on the military and women are seen as sex objects.’

Then there is gendercide. 100 Million girls have disappeared. In China and Northern India 120 being born for every 100 girls. Most girls are aborted. In Iraq they stone women to death and have to be covered from head to toe. They cannot even leave the house without their male relatives. Even if they are younger than them.

So am I a feminist? I don’t care about what people think of the word, or of me for using it, as long as women are stoned to death, sold into slavery or aborted just because of their gender, the answer is yes. My name is Catherine Balavage and I am a feminist.

Facts and Figures.

3 Million women and girls are slaves in the sex trade.

An estimates 18,000 women (some as young as 14) are working as sex slaves in the UK.

Women aged 15-44 are more likely to be killed by men than cancer, malaria, car crashes and war combined.

130 million women worldwide have had their genitals mutilated.

In the past 50 years, more women have been killed because of their gender than all the men in all the wars of the 20th century.

And a beautiful quote.

Mao Zedong said “women hold up half the sky.” So don’t let it come crashing down.

http://www.unwomen.org/