TED Videos

We Are All Cyborgs
This video basically talked about how humans are adapting themselves to technology. We have modified our lives so much by the use of cell phones and the internet. An example that she used was that you could put anything you want into a cellphone or a laptop and it won't get heavier. We have became these so called cyborgs because we use technology to enhance our mental selves. She also talked about something called a second self. This is the person you are when you go on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. People are interacting with your page on the internet, not you directly, hence the second self. One thing that I found interesting was the technosocial wormhole. Technosocial wormhole is a term that describes how someone can say something in one part of the world and through technology it can be heard in another part.

Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders:
This video talked about how women aren't really at the top of any profession. I already knew that women struggled to hold powerful positions, but her statistic that only 15-16% of women hold cooperate jobs in the world was startling. She said that one of the causes for this is because many women drop out of the work force to care for children. She also said that women doubt themselves way more than men do. They don't push for higher positions because they don't think they would excel at them. Women don't have the confidence to push for what they deserve. Only 7% of women who were starting their first job out of college negotiated their pay with their employer. 56% of men did. Women need to realize they have just as much of a right to a high power position as a man does. They just need to have confidence in themselves.

Social Media And The End Of Gender
This video seemed a little too far fetched for me, but I still found it interesting. It was about how old media groups put people in demographics, or categories, based on age, income, and gender. However, with social media, it is difficult to find out a person's age, income and gender, so media companies are forced to group us together by our shared interests. This, in a sense, is getting rid of gender in social media. Also, she talked about how women dominated social media. She brought up the idea that our media landscape may become a feminist landscape, but then quickly shot down that idea. She said that many women involved with social media will help break down stereotypes.

MS Magazine Essay

The MS moment I chose was "Why Women Don't Like Their Bodies"

More women now than ever are uncomfortable with their bodies. Television and magazines portray the ideal women as super skinny and flawless. The images of these women are manipulated and photoshopped, but most women today still try to imitate what they see. These images are unrealistic to say the least and women are haunted by them everywhere they go; They appear on magazines in the grocery store, billboards on the highways, on the television, and all over the internet. We live in a time where getting plastic surgery is just as common as going to the grocery store. It is no longer just for the rich and famous. Many women harm their bodies with things like plastic surgery and eating disorders in hopes to become just like the women portrayed in the media. Instead of viewing things like acne, wrinkles, weight, and other imperfections in a negative insight, we should strive to view them as positive things that set us apart from everyone else.

About Cher Wang

Cher Wang is a very prominent figure in technology and when I was looking up powerful women in technology, I'm surprised I haven't heard of her. Wang founded HTC, which should sound familiar. HTC is a brand of smartphone that is very popular. HTC stands for high tech computers. Her company started in the 1980's making computers. However, HTC has grown with the times and their specialty is now smartphones. Wang was also voted one of Forbes Most Influential Women in Technology. Wang originally went to Berekley to study the piano, but then changed her mind and studied economics. When she first started, her laptops weren't successful. But she didn't give up, and in 2000 she got her first major break by working with Compaq to create a PDA. Ever since then, Wang's company has been evolving to fit the current time.

Women and the Occupy Movement

The article I chose to read was titled "We Are The Many, Not The Few". This article was about the Occupy Wall Street movement that happened at the end of last year and carried into this year. The article talked about the roles women played in the movement. According to one statistic, 44% of the people who participated in Occupy New York were female. This is almost half of the Occupy population. Women have been effected the most during the recession, many lost their jobs or were stuck staying home to take care of household duties because they couldn't find employment. During the recession, most of the job gains (97%) went to men.

The article also talks about feminist organizations who were involved with the Occupy movement. One of the most popular groups was called WOW, or Women Occupying Wall Street. These women were trying to bring equality and women's rights to the forefront of the movement. The believe that women do suffer the most, many struggling to provide for their children, pay their mortgages/rent on time, and even keep their jobs. They talked about the hardships they faced when trying to bring up their issues. Much of the problem was that when they held meetings, everyone had so much to say. People talked over one another and interrupted one another. So it was hard to get anything accomplished.

Sgt. Kevin Albanese and Trooper David Aresco Reaction

I was shocked to hear some of the stories Sgt. Albanese told our class about. It really opened my eyes to how important it is to watch what information you put on the internet because once it's put on the web, it's there forever and anyone can access it. The topic that affected me the most was when they were talking about child exploitation. It's so sad to think of an innocent child being used in that way. They have no voice and it's absolutely disgusting that someone would take advantage of a child. The story about the four month old still makes me cringe when I think about it. The people who do this should go to jail for a long time. I don't think the law is strict enough with this crime, these people deserve to be locked up for more than what the maximum sentence is currently. Having the officers come to visit brought to my attention that everything on the internet isn't always a good thing. A lot of bad people use the internet for disturbing things like child exploitation and luring children. When the officers talked about their unit, I believe they said they have 7 officers. I think they should put more officers into their unit so they can catch more internet predators and work on making the internet a safer place.