Stupid UC System + Male Empowerment?
Maybe, JUST maybe its me, but lately it seems like there are tons of groups dedicated to woman empowerment and especially latina empowerment. This is cool and I have no problem with it (believe me, I support latinas ;D) but what about male empowerment? Or latino (male) empowerment?
Before I get started on my rant, lemme give you a little background:
Tuesday nights from 7pm-10pm I have class that meets only once a week. In other words, to drop this class you better be there at 7pm on tuesday or else you're out of luck. Well I showed up one tuesday to drop the class and of course the professor decided to be sick. No worries, right? just wait till next week?
WRONG
The deadline was that friday for any schedule changes, I needed his signature ASAP even though I wouldn't see him till the following week. Ok, so begins my adventures with the stupid bureaucracies of the UC system. I go to the head of the Politcal Science Department and talk to Dr. Pratacca (Prattaca?) BIG MISTAKE, he thought I was just another student slacking off and dropping the class because I failed the midterm. He goes on and on about how I had 3 weeks to drop the class. I remind him that I still have one more week until the deadline and it's really not my fault the professor was sick. I did my part to follow the rules and was on time. This just ticks him off even more. It did not end well and he didn't give me a signature. Rude, right?
Ok, no problem. If he won't help me then I'll go to the head of the Social Science Department and have Dr. Ceraseres sign my add/drop card. Walk across the freakin campus (should've taken the shuttle) and go up 4 floors just to read a sign that says "Dr. Ceraseres on Sabbatical this quarter. Researching in Mexico."
:|
WHAT?! Ok, relax. relax. I'll go talk to the vice-head or whoever is in command after Ceraseres is gone. Her name was Nancy something (I know, kinda rude I forgot her name. But realize that at this point I was getting angry.) Walk across the halway and knock on Nancy's door.
-Hi, is Nancy here? I need her to sign an add/drop card because my professor is gone and Dr. Petracca won't sign it.
-I'm sorry, Nancy is out this week.
-What? will she be here on friday or be back before the deadline to change schedules?
-No, sorry.
>:|
I sit down outside. Start thinking, what can I do? what can I do? I remember that I know the Dean of Undergraduate Education very well. Dr. Salinger play bassoon in the orchestra with me and we have gotten to know each other fairly well (she even says I can call her Sharon, instead of Dr. Salinger) I go to her office and tell her about my issue.
As I'm waiting there for Dr. Salinger, the receptionist and her friend (both latino) begin to strike up a conversation with me.
-What do you need Dr. Salinger for?
-(I explain the whole story and my run-around)
-Wow, thats pretty crazy. I'm sure Dr. Salinger will help you out though.
-yeah, I hope so.
-Hey, can you fill out a survery for me and Pablo (I'm calling her friend Pablo, but could be Pedro. I also forgot his name, but I know it was spanish and started with a P)
-Sorry, I really don't have time. I just need Sharon to sign this card for me so I can get going to class. I'm already late from running around
-Well, you can take the survey with you. We really need your feedback, theren't many like you left?
-Like me? What are you guys talking about, both of you are latino. I know there aren't many latinos here but there are certainly enough for you to get feedback from others.
-Yeah, but MALE latinos is what we need. We are doing UROP (undergraduate research opportunity program) on latino males in college. Most latinos that end up in college are female. In fact, most other latinos we've seen around were recruited here for the soccer team.
-Really?! (thought about this. Never crossed my mind before) Well, now that you mention it. I used to live in Casa Cesar Chavez and out of the 36 latinos, only about 10 were male. Wow, ok.
-Yeah, your like a double minority. Pablo and I only have about 60 responses so far and we are trying to find more. We didn't think it would be this hard.
I take the survery before I go see Dr. Salinger. Thank them for the little info and go about my way.
This made me think.
If what they said is true: latino males (minority males, in general) go to college substantialy less than women. Why aren't there any Latino Male Empowerment seminars or help groups? I began to google search the keywords ad came up empty handed. I google searched latina seminars and there were TONS (and I mean TONS) of self-helf groups, support groups, grants, scholarships. I thought to myself, if latino males need more help then why aren't there as many seminars to help the men as there are for women? I then broaden my search and take out the word "latino" and "latina."
The trend was similar: tons of results for female empowerment and not that many (If any) for men.
I did, however, come across and interesting article.
"The End of Men"
The article states that woman now lead in men in the workplace. Men have become the minority. Pretty much made me feel bad for being a guy
"Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are now women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same."
Is it possible that society (at least in the US) has reached a point in which MEN now need the empowerment? I'm all for woman empowerment as a means to reach equality between men and women, but are we at a point in which we now need to focus on the male?
I let this idea simmer on the back of my head and brought it up with some friends. One even said:
"well that sounds sexist. Making a program that empowers only a man. Do you know about the glass ceiling?"
I didn't bother bringing up the article I had read. Just nodded politely
Returning to the subject of LATINA empowerment. I recently saw that LATISM (Latinos in Social Media) was hosting an event called BlogHer designed to empower women in social media and give "blogueras" a chance to rise up. I'm hoping now to maybe get the idea through to create one for males aswell
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