Bananas, body wash, and Ice cream

This week, the movie we watched on Friday really stood out to me. I feel like Free Trade affects 
every subject we touch on in Global Studies, and it inspires me to do more research. Free trade can really have a domino effect, affecting every aspect of a country. We learned about this earlier in the quarter, however going back to it now I see that it affects everything. Social structure, workers rights, politics, and economics are all affected. Right now I am in no way capable of traveling and changing the world, so what can I do? I can try to put my dollar in the right place. 





Why isn't this a bigger deal?
America is a country that focuses more on imports than exports. When we implement free trade, it increases something called our trade deficit. 

Trade deficit is an economic measure of a negative balance of trade in which a country's imports exceeds its exports. A trade deficit represents an outflow of domestic currency to foreign markets. 
-Google

Politicians and big businesses do not want an outflow of domestic currency. With America's Trade deficit higher, our GDP goes down, which makes us look bad. 

Bananaland
While every aspect of global studies affects me, bananaland had a different effect. When you're a poor college student like myself, it's hard to eat healthy and feel like you're also being a good person. When I go to the grocery store, I try to pick choices that best reflect my values and help support the world. I try to eat healthy and responsibly. One of my friends recently told me about the company Dole, and how they haven't been the greatest to their workers.

So I avoid Dole bananas.

But after watching Bananaland, I went home and realized that my bananas were Chiquita bananas. Bought from one of the companies Bananaland showed that abuses it's workers. This one really hit home. I was consuming, what one woman in the movie labeled, a fruit of violence.

So what do I do now?

Support workers
First, buy free trade. I talk about this a little more later on in this post.

Second, tell your friends. I had no idea the reality of this situation before actually doing research. Many ignorant people disagree with implementing more free trade policies because of the trade deficit. I would like to believe that if more people were aware, they would advocate for the well being of people around the world. I just told my mom to watch the movie bananaland. She called me after, incredibly upset about the situation, and told me that she was going to have all her friends watch it, too.

Third, if possible, donate. The La Isla Foundation directly supports the banana workers that were shown on bananaland


What products can I buy free trade?
I love bananas. I love my coconut scented body wash. I love coming home after a long week and eating ice cream. I love packing my chocolate granola bars in my backpack to snack on during class. And I love buying new clothes.

Where do I go to buy these products? Looking for the free trade label can help. A search on fairtradeamerica.org also brought up some brands that offer some free trade options/ingredients;

Trader Joes 
The co-op 
Lush
The Body Shop
Ben and Jerry's
Wild Harvest
Even starbucks (to an extent)

According to fairtradeamerica.org, there currently is fairtrade cotton however there is not fairtrade clothing available.

What now?
Now I need to hold myself accountable. Accountability is a word that a lot of people are afraid of. It's like a more adult version of responsibility. 


But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

I've always thought that I was an ethical consumer, but now I know my ignorance. Now I know what bananas to buy. I know that I should go to The Body Shop and buy free trade body wash. I know that I should pay an extra $3 for the free trade ice cream. Every decision I make may directly affect a child trying to go to school, or an oppressed city, or a poor family trying to feed several children. Now I can be a more informed citizen, hopefully impacting those around me to make better decisions for the people of the world. 

Education Around the World

Education around the world, to me, is overwhelmingly complicated. In America alone, the discrepancies from city to city, state to state, are outstanding. When we zoom out to look at the world as a whole, it makes things that much more dynamic.

Let's just look at America for a second. I personally have attended school in Ohio, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, and Washington. When we account for cities, I attended 7 different public schools prior to college. Each school I attended had vastly different standards and teaching styles. Concepts I learned in 5th grade science in Oregon, students in my 10th grade Biology class in Texas didn't know. Basic math shortcuts expected of me in Washington were never taught to me in Oregon, and I fell behind. My reading level in Colorado was at the top of my class, while my reading level in Texas was merely
average. Now don't even get me started about the standardized tests--from the WASL in Washington, to the TAKS test in Texas, absolutely nothing was the same.

Now, if the standards are different all over the United States, then we can't even expect American adults with a high school diploma to be held to the same standards. On a global scale, this means we cannot expect people around the world to be held to the same standards espacially if the aren't receiving the same education, or maybe even if they aren't receiving and education at all.

The obvious solution to this is equal education around the world. It's already acknowledged that education is a basic human right, and while huge barriers exist (including location, cultural barriers, local laws, government, women's rights, etc) we need to fight and strive for the equality that our globe needs. But what do individual communities need? Children need to be given a basic education, but they also need to be taught skills that will help them in their own reality. If they never go to school, they can't learn either of those.

We see documentaries like "Girl Rising" that we watched in class, or "Schooling the World," a documentary about the realities of what to teach children, and we see the obstacles faced by young men and women every day. Education, in some parts of the world, just isn't as simple as getting up and going to school, learning math and science. Delving into it more, we need to begin to understand the discrepancies across the world, and the complexities that lie in what needs to be taught and what will help these kids for the rest of their lives. They need to be exposed to and taught skills like respect, equality, love, compassion, teamwork, and so much more.

This isn't just teaching kids reading, math, and science. While those are important, and need to be taught, children need to be taught skills that will actually help them, too. That's one thing that didn't really stand out to me in class, but that I'm realizing more while doing outside research. Kids need to be taught more than just the basics, they need to be taught applicable skills. While here in America, we're given the option to pick electives that may help us to determine our life path, children in India or Haiti must also be exposed to things that will help them lead them on a productive journey.

If anything, we need to fight for the right for girls to go to school, education during emergencies, education throughout childhood, an inclusive classroom, and quality of schools and teachings. Ending this post on a positive note, here are some links to different organizations trying to help the education crisis our globe is facing. We see that people are out there to help, and have realized that this is a problem facing our globe, and once solved, will help communities more than we can ever imagine.
The Campaign for Education (The United States site)
Education International (A site showcasing news about reform and stories around the globe)
Global Education First (The UN Secretary General's Global Initiative on Education)

Gender in a Changing World

One of the problems brought up this week was that there is no real solution being discussed here. Should we continue how we are? Is it realistic to go gender neutral and have men fill the traditional more feminine roles, while women are filling more nontraditional roles?

Gender is such an important part to identity. When someone asks you to describe someone, often you start off with stating whether that person is a man or a woman. Gender is so important to who we are, in both a positive and negative way. Gender is so much more than just man and woman, and it's a term that is becoming increasingly more complex with each passing year. We need to keep in mind that each cultures defines gender expectations. We also need to recognize and respect that gender in America is vastly different from gender in India, Uganda, or China. Different cultures have different expectations, and while we should strive for equality, we must understand that not everyone has the same outlook as we do.

While differences exist among cultures, biologically and psychologically, men and women are also very different creatures. Facts out of my Social Psychology text book, titled as such and written by David Myers, state some of these differences:
The average female has 70 percent more fat, 40 percent less muscle, is 5 inches shorter, and weighs 40 lbs less than the average man.
The average male is slower to enter puberty, but earlier to die (by 4 years worldwide).
Males are three times likely to develop ADHD, and four times more likely to commit suicide.
The average woman is doubly vulnerable to anxiety disorders and depression compared to men.

Let's just think about the women who give up their lives in their native countries to work abroad, or when we learn about the demand of more feminine jobs such as nannying, becoming a sex worker, or working as a maid. These women are biologically more inclined to develop psychological disorders, and because of being smaller, less likely to be able to fight back. Because of their biological gender, these women have nature working against them.

Now lets think about the modern man. In the text, and through a personal story we heard in class, men are without a doubt feeling the burden of changing work demands. Because of their gender these men feel as if they should be the "bread winners" of their families. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. We see that around the world. Here in Bellingham, the man who is forced to act as "super dad" develops depression. In the video we watched in class, the man who's wife owned a business and made all their money resorted to alcoholism.

Many people wonder why we can't just homogenize gender. Why do certain roles have to be carried out by men, while certain roles carried out by women? Why can't everyone do everything?

Ideally, gender roles would not be an issue. However, it's a much more complex issue than meets the eye. We need to go back to the fact that gender helps define who we are. Take "super dad" from Bellingham. He seemed to try to step into a more feminine role, however it just didn't work. While he was good at it, his mental health suffered. Society paints this picture of what a man is supposed to be, and when he couldn't fill that role, he suffered. We see this again with women who work "double days" or "triple days." Take the women in Mexico for example, these women are working not only as farmers, but as mothers, and as businesswomen. The work is overwhelming, and when we take into account the fact that women are twice as likely to develop anxiety and depression, it is obvious that their mental state can't be too great either. While it's a great thing that they can provide for their families and take care of their responsibilities, it comes at a cost.

This issue of homogenizing gender is extremely important and often not looked at. We hear all the time about the world economy, or the state of education, but little about gender roles and the costs that come when one has to step up. We have this ideal vision of fairness, but we have to keep in mind reality. I believe that some day, we can achieve fairness while still keeping people safe and happy. Right now, we must respectfully keep in mind the consequences that remain in cultures and societies around the world. In 2016, when we take into account social stigma, stereotypes, norms and customs, laws, and perhaps most importantly biology and psychology, it is not realistic to say that men and women should be doing the same thing. There's consequences, such as mental health issues, laws, and human rights.

Ideally, people around the world would be happy and able to take care of their families. Men and women would both have jobs and be content with those jobs. People would stay local, and families wouldn't be split up. However, right now that is not the state of the world. We have pushed some countries to such extremes that they are forced to become migrant workers, take on multiple jobs, and work their selves to death. It is an unfortunate cycle that we can only fix with awareness, helpfulness and acceptance. Know where you get your clothes. Vote. Buy organic. We must remember to be creative, authentic and respectful in order for men and women around the globe to prosper.