Globalization - is it helping us or hurting us?

Globalization. What is this large, complex-sounding issue about? It is the process of integration between the variety of people, governments, and companies in our world, powered by trade and the exchanges of information technology. But the key reasons globalization is so important is because it is already changing our world, and we do not yet know what the long-term effects will be. Conflicts over resources, cultures or ideas can be resolved by a unified, global system, not to mention how much it develops the economy. Even though technologies like TV, internet, and entertainment are removing cultural boundaries and promoting the ‘ideal’ ordinary citizen, it is the conflicts between different cultures and nations that could start a world war. In short, globalization could solve many of the world’s issues, like bringing developing countries out of poverty and solving these problems may be a bigger priority to keeping the diverse cultures of today.

Globalization could boost the economy, consolidate politics, and promote unity between nations. Many of the world’s issues of today are based on differences between countries’ political, environmental, and social structures. According to the Global Policy Forum, “laws, economies, and social movements are forming at the international level”. What this means is countries are increasingly forming more alliances and connections, thereby creating a unified ideal value system that citizens from all over the world agree with. Countries are also allowing more trade and opportunities across borders, exposing various cultures to different people and giving nations a clear idea of what the rest of the world is doing. What these points add up to is an increase in economic and political potential, as nations can find new and better ways of running the world together, whether through money or politics. Some believe that globalization is only helping the developed, powerful countries in the world and creating a bigger wealth divide, but what they don’t realize is this divide is also allowing developing countries to be introduced to new economies. For example, after India was freed from the British, the effects they had on India forced India to close its borders to international trade. “In 1980 India had more of its population in urban centers than China did (23% versus 20% for China). But by 2005 China had 41% in cities, where wages are higher; India’s urbanites had grown to only 29%,” says Robyn Meredith and Suzanne Hoppough from Forbes, proving how internationalism can help national and local economies, as well as provide the basis for society to develop.

Globalization is removing cultural boundaries and promoting the ‘ideal’ ordinary citizen. As globalization allows for more circulation of ideas and values, we find ourselves drawn towards the glorified Western values and beliefs, as that is what worldwide entertainment promotes. But this kind of cultural undermining is not new at all, in fact, there are traces of it dating all the way back to the Roman Empire. Many European civilizations have attempted to conquer the world, and all have had the firm belief that their way of life is the only one, the best. Of course, in today’s world, this isn’t necessarily true of the West. But it has become “an idea, a lifestyle only accessed through that brand,” as stated in No Logo by Naomi Klein. While No Logo is about globalized branding, it rings true to how we idolize Western life and therefore classify it as the goal for any citizen, family, or community. Some may argue that the exposure and openness of cultures is slowly removing the diverse set of cultures we have, as people tend to migrate towards a globalized citizen lifestyle, but what actually happens is the more people don’t understand or accept a different lifestyle, the more conflicts and hostility there is.

Globalization could either help us or hurt us, depending on how we use it. While some may argue that globalization would hurt rather than help countries, what actually happens is it gives room to boost their GDP, resources, and spread a unified world. Our species is developing more and more technology, as well as spreading science and knowledge throughout the world. We may lose our cultural diversity, but that might as well be the price we have to pay for the spread of technology and information, for globalization.

Meredith, Robyn, and Suzanne Hoppough. "Why Globalization Is Good." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 30 Mar. 2007. Web. 12 June 2016.

Gemma, Will. "Impact Of Globalization: The Good, The Bad, The Inevitable." Udemy. Udemy Inc., 7 May 20114. Web. 9 June 2016.

Mishra, Pankaj. "The Dead End of Globalisation Looms before Our Youth | Pankaj Mishra." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 25 Aug. 2011. Web. 12 June 2016.

Trust, Scars, and Relationships

Everyone has something they’re not proud of. Everyone feels like their biggest flaws should be kept hidden away, where they can fester and die. In ‘Blue Gold’ by Elizabeth Stewart and ‘Speak’ by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main characters go through some difficult experiences. In ‘Speak’ a teenage girl Melinda gets raped at a summer party and calls the cops on her friends. She cuts off all communication, all her connections in school, for fear of letting her secret out. In ‘Blue Gold’, the three girls Sylvie, Fiona, and Laiping are connected through coltan, a material used to make cell phones. Each of them has a scar, a mark from their lives that they try to keep hidden from their family and friends. The two authors use a variety of different craft moves, to convey to their readers the same message. That when one mistrusts another in a relationship, that relationship becomes strained and difficult to keep, thereby making it harder to get through life together.

A common craft move both authors utilize to its full potential is character development. This development is shown through physical or emotional symbols in the character’s past, which helps the reader understand the character’s actions. This becomes especially impactful for the audience’s understanding of how vital trust is in a relationship. Sylvie, from ‘Blue Gold’ and Melinda, from ‘Speak’ both have similar scars from a similar experience and go through the same aftermath of rape. The difference here is, Stewart describes Sylvie with a “long scar on her face - from above her right eyebrow, across the bridge of her nose to her left cheek.” This scar is out in the open, where everyone can see, where “there was no way to hide it.” Because of her scar, Sylvie tries to become invisible to her community, thus making her past invisible too. Anderson uses a different kind of scar in Melinda’s story. Instead of making her scar obvious, Anderson depicts Melinda with “thoughts, whispers in my mind,” as well as Melinda’s habit of biting her lip off. Throughout the book, Melinda becomes more silent and more hidden.These scars, these symbols are significant because despite how different their scars and surroundings are, both girls are affected in the same way. Some may argue that their scars are insignificant, and only a part of their past, but through the use of physical and emotional symbols, Stewart and Anderson make the characters more understandable and relatable, thus creating a strong connection between reader and character.

It is clear that both books are powerful and grip the reader’s attention, but while ‘Blue Gold’ uses a raw, journalistic tone, ‘Speak’ uses a descriptive, fragmented style of writing to convey the same message. In the scenes that most impact the reader, Stewart uses dialogue and some inner thinking to illustrate the character’s motivations. As an example, in the end of Laiping’s story, when she loses Kai, the reader has to infer from the text what she’s feeling, and how fast the story is moving. In lines like “Laiping dug her fingernails into her palms, willing [the bus] to go faster,” Stewart uses the phrase ‘dug her fingernails into her palms’ to illustrate Laiping’s anxiety towards getting her freedom, or in this scene, reaching Kai. “Kai turned his face, bloodied and cowed to the window. He saw her, too, and his eyes filled with hatred.” At this point in the scene, the readers are just as confused as Laiping is, and words like ‘hatred’ and ‘bloodied’ ramp up the intensity. When Laiping realizes “He blames me for this! He thinks I gave him away!” she, and the audience are held in a moment of clarity. All at once, Laiping realizes where she went wrong. The main point here is Stewart didn’t use more vivid sentences to paint the picture. She wrote the story as it was, and let the reader connect and empathize with Laiping to finally understand the real story.

In ‘Speak’, Anderson uses a vastly different style to convey the same message, as mentioned before. As in one scene, Anderson draws the reader into Melinda’s shoes by writing about something her teenage audience can relate to easily. “Homework is not an option. My bed is sending out serious nap rays. I can't help myself. The fluffy pillows and warm comforter are more powerful than I am. I have no choice but to snuggle under the covers.” Not only does Anderson makes Melinda relatable, but she also changes the way the reader might think about an aspect of life, in this case, a bed. Anderson puts what some teenagers feel into the right words, and this helps the audience follow Melinda’s thinking, even though they may not have gone through the same experiences.

A more vivid and critical example of this is in Melinda’s everyday thoughts. A particularly powerful one would be “When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time. You'd be shocked at how many adults are really dead inside - walking through their days with no idea who they are, just waiting for a heart attack or cancer or a Mack truck to come along and finish the job. It's the saddest thing I know.” By using a first person narrative here, Anderson further pulls the reader in by using the word ‘you’. It feels like Melinda is talking to the reader, instead of the reader reading Melinda’s thoughts. Throughout the story, Anderson keeps the audience nodding their heads at the text. She grips the subconscious part of their minds and brings what seems like unknown thoughts to their attention. Some argue that Anderson’s style of writing makes the story depressing or alienates the main character, but what they may not realize is how much it affects the real audience, the people who have gone through a scarring experience just like Melinda. While Anderson’s use of craft is different from that of Stewart’s, both authors have the same goal - to help the reader understand the true meaning of the story.

As both books progress, the message of the story becomes more and more apparent to the reader. Fiona and Melinda are both living in the same world, with a similar kind of community. Both of them have been impacted by that one party, which changes everything for them. They each deal with the aftermath in different ways, but eventually pull through. After Melinda gets raped at the party, all of her friends shun her, and she never tried to get them back. Slowly, near the end of the book, Anderson hints at how Melinda might be able to pull through, using the bathroom wall as a step towards Melinda’s return to society. Another factor of Melinda’s life that Anderson points out is her friendship with David Petrakis. Some believe Petrakis is there as a proof for Melinda that not everyone in her school is terrible. While this may be true, it is also seen that really all Melinda needed was for one person to understand her, for her to recognize another person knows her silence. “He says a million things without saying a word. I make a note to study David Petrakis. I have never heard a more eloquent silence.” Anderson uses the word eloquent in this sentence to illustrate how Melinda feels like he has every good quality that she doesn’t have, but could. Taken as a whole, Anderson uses Petrakis to give Melinda something to work for, something that in the end, may drive her to speak the truth. Fiona, on the other hand, has her secret known by everyone in her school and community, which should have made it harder for her. But one thing Stewart hints at is her ever powerful friendship with Lacey and Rick. Even though many of her friends desert her, she eventually realizes that it’s her who can fight back. And on the first day of school, when her friends stay with her and protect her, it’s only then that Fiona realizes how important they always were. It is also in the end that she realizes she should have trusted Ryan more, instead of firmly believing only what she thought was right.

All the main characters in these two books go through a powerful, life-changing experience, and while they lose hope at first, they work around the problem and find a way through. Sylvie, Laiping, Fiona, and Melinda are all examples of how a person can live with a scar, no matter how bad it is. Each of them deals with their losses in a different way, but a key role in their lives that helps them through is trust. Trusting their peers, trusting their family, it helps them create a new skin to pull on and walk around in. But their stories also warn the audience of the people not to trust and not to forgive so easily. The main message a reader can take away from both books is even when you feel left out, pushed away, or hidden by society, trusting your instincts, the people closest to you, and remaining open to other people are the key ways to getting back on your feet. Now the question to ask yourself as a reader is, is society really the place that puts the worst into a person’s life, or is it how that person reacts to an obstacle in their way?

The Sexist Divide - What society teaches us from birth

“She’s a girl. She can’t play with us.” The voice echoed in the basketball player’s mind. She slumped down in the locker room, cradling her ball to her chest. The day’s events replayed in her head, from school to the bus ride, to basketball practice. She bent her head over, small, painful tears running down her face. Her face burned when she thought about practice. Hugging the ball so tight it hurt, she wondered how she was going to face school tomorrow.

This isn’t fiction. This athlete is only one of many facing sexism in their sports. Even in a school like UWCSEA (east), the sexist divide is still evident even in today’s world. The above example is a minor one, one of many that build up and damage an adolescent’s self-esteem.

A good example of sexism in early ages is a Toys”r”Us store, or most other toy stores. Looking at one from a distance, you can tell the difference in each half of the store. Pink and purple for girls, and every other color for boys. Kids grow up with this thinking, if one thing is used by girls, it can’t be used by boys.

Studies show that 90% of “girls’ toys” are colored pink and purple, while “boys’ toys” come in every color except pink. Some companies are starting to change, such as the Nerf “Rebelle” line, but there is still a long way to go before achieving actual equality.

Another part of this sexism is the kind of toys kids play with. Girls get to play with pink colored baking kits and makeup kits, while there are robot and train building sets for boys. What does this say about women’s role in life?

“Women are still remarkably underrepresented in the U.S. Congress, in science, math, engineering and technology—in any area that could remotely be identified as “the upper echelons of power”—well, it starts in the toy aisle” says Nancy Kaffer, from The Daily Beast. Toys should be neutralized, according to experts, because girls and boys should not have to conform their interests to what society thinks is best.

Fast forward a few years, into middle school. Where kids shift from playing tag to sipping drinks around tables. Similarly to how society picks toys for kids, it sets the standards for your behavior, from your clothes to your activities.

Walking into the H&M Men’s section is strange, but acceptable for a girl. For boys though, it’s a little stranger. Boys just can’t wear dresses. Why is it we have this judgment of what girls and boys should wear?

A possible explanation for this could be that in the past, men were viewed as superior to women. A woman wearing clothes from the Men’s section is unconsciously viewed as stepping up to a man’s level. On the other hand, choosing to wear a dress is stepping down a level for a man.

“Nice shoes, but aren’t they a bit boyish?” Asked a friend of a middle school student at UWCSEA. The shoes were colored red.

“We’d made progress in erasing arbitrary gender divisions….but we stopped” says Kaffer. Once upon a time, society became close to accepting a boy playing with a kitchen set, or a girl playing rugby. Except we didn’t get there.

In class, boys are often asked to help pick up heavy items, and generally expected to be louder and more active. Girls are expected to be more creative, or intelligent, and work harder than boys.

When playing sports, 3 out of every 5 girls feel they are underestimated, according to a study done in UWC. This affects many students, as it puts pressure on their self esteem.

“It does make me feel like I will never be taken seriously,” an anonymous source from UWC says. “People don’t take my love for science seriously, and that is quite discouraging”. It becomes more clear that underestimation or just not being taken seriously can affect a student’s passion for a sport, subject, or hobby.

Why is all of this important?

The reason is, all these minor things lead to as small, but much more impactful events in the future, such as discrimination against colleagues at work, or less opportunities for girls at college. “Subtler forms of sexism that women face can be even more difficult to handle than explicit discrimination,” says Jessica Valenti, writer for The Guardian. This evidence is significant because it demonstrates how hard it is to fix small but hurtful actions.

Men and women are not able to work, play and do everything in between without society choosing the rules. The small things that we see from an early age, like the choice between pink and blue, slowly build up over time, developing into standards for behavior, sport and intelligence. “For young women, there’s added pressure. Because once they get a decent job, they still have to contend with structural workplace discrimination, overtly sexist behavior and a weight of social expectations”, says Natalie Gil, also from The Guardian. Added onto previous evidence, this portrays what young women face in today’s world.

So the next time you go shopping, be aware of the number of small, insignificant forms of sexism that takes place. All of them are why we still believe men can’t wear dresses, or women are not as athletically capable as men. They are the reason girls feel discouraged when they proclaim their passion for science, or the reason boys feel insecure about their hobby of ballet or art. Our society needs to change this, and the small stuff is the starting point.

Or you could pick up a basketball and show them how it’s done.

By Rhea Goyal

Valenti, Jessica. "Everyday Slights Are Just as Harmful to Women as More Blatant Sexism." The Guardian. The Guardian News and Media Limited, 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

Kaffer, Nancy. "Sexism Begins in the Toy Aisle." The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 29 Nov. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.Gil, Natalie. "It's about to Be a Good Time for Young Working Women." The Guardian. The Guardian News and Media Limited, 23 Nov. 2015. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.

High School Students Under Pressure

High school can often be imagined as a group of friends racing to finish their latest assignments.

At around 10am on the 30th of September, Wednesday, a group of high schoolers could be seen in the library of UWCSEA East on their laptops, urgently discussing the homework, due to stress levels.

High schoolers are often seen discussing school and how it disrupts their lives. Many are visibly stressed about school, sports, relationships, and what they want to do in their lives, as well as what is preventing them from doing so.

“I’ve still got 160 words to go, and my citations are really messed up.” was one comment from the group in the library.

Stress is a big issue in high school, and UWC is one of the schools that try to relieve as much of this pressure as possible. But why are students still stressed?

A few problems arise when asked this question. As kids move into high school, many parents start pushing them to get better grades, and most students are not used to the kind of pressure high school puts on them. And this is only one part of the problem.

Many students have other hobbies they want to work on and perhaps build into a career. The problem is, with so many other subjects they need to excel at, it’s difficult to work on those hobbies, and they eventually fade away, leaving the kid with uncertainness about what they really want to do in the future.

Finally, most high schoolers just want to get through this phase of their life.

“I wish I could go back home.” is a recurring statement heard in high school. High levels of stress is a common factor of high school, and that needs to change.

By Rhea Anne Goyal