By Hannahjane Arellano

A fierce battle over the future of reproductive rights is now being processed in Washington as congressional Republicans made the first move to slash funding for Planned Parenthood. While Trump was campaigning, he selected Tom Price to represent the Department of Health and Services. In starting to roll back the Affordable Care Act, the GOP (Grand Old Party) plans to target the country’s largest women’s health care provider. Planned Parenthood could lose most of their reimbursements from Medicaid and other funding as soon as this spring if the repeal advances.

The main reason is because one of the health care options for women is the right to an abortion. The abortion law ranges from state to state, but President Trump and other Conservatives who share the same viewpoint as him believe that terminating a pregnancy is unjust due to the fact that they believe a fetus is still a child. It falls into the same beliefs for many religions which is completely valid just like your right to choose.

Margaret Sanger, a Birth control activist and sex educator believes that,” No woman can call herself free who does not control her own body.”

Let us not forget that Planned Parenthood also supplies other medical attention like regular check ups and or test screenings. They provide other health care services not just abortion which truly raises problems to those who rely for their service.

The congressional bans on abortion funding prove a particular religious or moral viewpoint on those women who rely on government-funded health care. Providing funding for abortion does not encourage or compel women to have abortions, but denying funding compels many women to carry their pregnancies to term.

By Ashliana Rodriguez and Jhunior Pintor

• Cleopatra (69-30 B.C.): The last queen who reigned all of Egypt during her 21 year rule. She was also a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty and later became a sole ruler of the Egyptian empire after her father and brothers. The legacy of Cleopatra was remembered in movies and books that were inspired by her life in the history of Ancient Egypt.
• Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855): Best known for her novel Jane Eyre, she was an English author and poet. She made a point to write about the struggle of oppressed women in her literary work. She only wrote a little amount. Her writing has helped show modern feminism to those who have read her work.
• Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906): She was the women’s movement’s most powerful organizer of the nineteenth century. At the age of 17,, she collected anti-slavery petitions and became the New York agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. In 1878 she arranged a presentation for Congress about women’s right to vote, which was passed in 1920 as the nineteenth amendment to the U.S Constitution.
• Harriet Tubman (1820-1913): Was known as the first American abolitionist who was against slavery, a humanitarian, and an armed scout and spy for the Union army during the American Civil War. She went on 13 missions to free the enslaved families and friends escaped to freedom, and was known as the Underground Railroad.
• Marie Curie (1867-1934): A Polish and naturalized French physicist and chemist, she was the woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, twice. Was also the first woman to earn her doctorate in Europe. She achieved the development of the theory of radioactivity. Her work and developments are what earned her the two noble prizes in two different sciences.
• Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962): Known as the longest serving First Lady when her husband President Franklin Roosevelt was in office for four terms, she used her role as a platform to promote social activism. After that, the role of the First Lady was changed, Eleanor Roosevelt reshaped the role for future first ladies.

By Jen Luu

Let’s talk about feminism. At the very core of its meaning, feminism is the advocacy of equality for both sexes. Since we live in a fairly open-minded place in the Bay Area, it is safe to assume that most people are generally accepting. However, there are a still quite a few misconceptions lurking around. To counteract these misinterpretations, it is important to understand where they come from.

“I feel like a lot of the times, the reason why people may be against feminism, is because they don’t really understand what it is,” expresses senior Sarah Dao.

Ignorance may be the biggest reason some people may against feminist ideas. At first glance, the word feminism may imply just femininity for its cause. As a result, people may perceive the movement as one that fights to gain leverage for women over men instead of pure equality. Despite the misleading root of feminism, its goals are not one-sided. Quite the contrary, it feminism advocates for everyone.

Dating back to the origins of human nature, the default organization of social groups were split among male hunters and female gatherers. This patriarchal system stems from the need to make do with biological differences to maximize efficiency and survivability. Of course, society has greatly progressed since prior civilization does not rely on old tactics anymore. Gradually, but surely, women have proved themselves to be apt in response to their male counterparts. Those who still cling onto gender roles may struggle to acknowledge the shift from older to modern society.

Currently, feminism empowers women to strive for their goals and to break away from generalized molds. In contrast to the heavily male-run civilizations centuries ago, women today have achieved far more independence.

“Feminism allows females to have enough self-confidence. They can fight for themselves, and be their own warrior,” elaborates senior Aleisha Lew.

However, even with the current advancements, equality has not been fully reached.
“I think feminism is important because it’s still an issue in today’s society. Women and men don’t get treated the same; there is sexism,” claims English teacher Peggy Lee.

Traces of discrimination still permeate our surroundings. It may be the nuanced scoff in response to a girl’s ambitions of pursuing electrical engineering, or it may take the form of a national outcry.

Take for example the People vs. Brock Turner case. As a widely recognized crisis, thousands of people were outraged with the result of a brief sentence. Even though he was guilty of rape of an unconscious woman, Turner only received three months in jail instead of the district attorney requested standard of six years. These unjust decisions, made by a part of society that is supposed to be entrusted with law and order, only further emphasize the need for feminism.

In contrast to some people’s beliefs, feminism does not just benefit women. Equality can range over several aspects, including double standards. It has been an ongoing stereotype to portray men as solely masculine figures who will be shamed if they convey their feelings. As children, some of our peers may ridicule boys who cry “like a girl.” Not only does this imply that only girls have the right to express sadness, an innate human emotion, but it also suggests that crying is a sign of weakness. As an indicator of vulnerability, this expectation binds men to an unrealistic mold from an early age. This is where feminism comes in: men, who experience the same turmoil as everyone else does, need to have same freedom to express their emotions without fear of judgement. More importantly, sexual assault can happen to men as well. In cases of rape, some people may find this incredulous since usually it is the other way around, but gender does not invalidate the existence of these issues.

Although years and years of social progress have fostered a generation of  more tolerance, the movement still needs to continue. As an integral part of society, feminism breaks down the dichotomy that men and women are separate beings. It blends them together as simply just…people.

In its entirety, feminism isn’t just a declaration of women’s rights, but of human rights as well.

By Bernice Ou-Yang

Matriarchy is a system of society or government ruled by a woman or many women.  In the modern world, there are around six matriarchal societies that exist: the Mosuo, the Minangkabau, the Akan, the Bribri, the Garo and the Nagovisi.

The Mosuo, probably the most famous matriarchal society, live near the border of Tibet in the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.  The Mosuo women are the ones that handle business decisions, and the children take the mother’s name instead of the fathers.  They also have “walking marriages.”  It’s not really a marriage; the woman literally chooses her man by walking into his house.  The couple does not live together and the father has little to no involvement in childraising.  In fact, the children might not even know the identity of their father.

The largest known matriarchal society today is the Minangkabau of West Sumatra, Indonesia.  They strongly believe that the mother is the most important person in the society and even made tribal laws requiring all clan properties to be passed on from mother to daughter.  In this society, even though women ruled the domestic realm and men took the political and spiritual leadership roles, they both are on equal footing. After marriage, every woman gets her own room.  Although the husband may sleep with her, they have to leave early to have breakfast at his mother’s house.

The Akan are mainly located in Ghana.  Although men had originally held all the leadership roles, the females founded the clan.  Now, everything is passed on from mother to daughter and men are still expected to provide for the family.

The Bribri are located in the Talamanca canton in the Limón province of Costa Rica.  Just like the other matriarchal societies. Only women are allowed to inherit land and money.

For the Garo society, the youngest daughter gets the properties. Usually, the youngest daughter has an arranged marriage. For their marriage tradition, the guy runs from the girl, forcing the girl to catch him. This can go on forever until one side gives up.

The Nagovisi are located in South Bougainville. The society is divided into two matrilineal moieties. The women took the leadership roles, but they took the most pride in tending to the land they owned. In this society, if a man helps a woman with her garden, sleeps with her and is often seen together with her, those two are considered married.

By Justin Nguyen

The push for women’s rights can be dated back to the 19th century, when the Seneca Falls Convention was held in 1848. Convention organizer Elizabeth Cady Stanton befriended teacher Susan B. Anthony and the two sought to expand the 14th and 15th Amendments, which provide citizenship / equal protection and the right to vote, respectively, to include women.

The two later focused their goal on the latter and founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), while a similar organization known as the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was also created. The two groups often clashed with one another due to conflicting interests, but merged in 1890 to create the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Prior to the NAWSA’s formation, women’s suffrage was only allowed in the state of Wyoming allowed. Other western states later followed suit with support from the NAWSA; by 1920, Congress agreed to add the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, granting all women the right to vote.

The 1960s saw a period of change for civil rights, including those of women. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy hoped to suppress gender discrimination with the President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW), appointing Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman; two years later, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act to close the wage gap between men and women. Progress towards ending such prejudice in the workplace continued with the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s Title VII, which banned employing workers based on their race and sex, though it was expanded under Lyndon B. Johnson, whose Executive Order 11375 banned gender-based discrimination in particular.

In the military, women saw little to no participation in combat-based positions for decades, During the 2010s, they began to see involvement in such roles. In 2015, Kristen Griest and Shaye Haver became the first women to graduate from the Army Ranger School. A year later, the United States Armed Forces opened up all military-related jobs to women, provided they meet certain performance standards.