Rough draft #2

November 24, 2012

Dear Rupert Murdoch:

It is in human nature to want a governing force with the interests of all citizens in mind to create a more utopian society, and this notion of catering to specific demographic is outdated and oppressive. There have been numerous circumstances throughout history of tyrants and greedy men in power who have blatantly used their influence to benefit their personal gains with no regard to the well-being of the people they claim rule over.  Inequality is a common enemy to all the human race and anything that can be done to combat it should be considered admirable. Discouraging education, healthcare, women’s rights and the staples of life to women and minorities is in itself the war every human is fighting. This is a balancing act between allowing those who deserve opportunities a chance to make a difference while maintaining a centralized government with those in power acting responsibly. Masculinity in society is a powerful tool used by those in control to retain the status quo of the culture and reap the benefits that come with oppressing the less fortunate.

The working class has been dominated by men until recent history, and while this is considered a social norm we can never see true equality at home. The culture of the world is changing with new jobs in new fields being created every year we have a need for a diverse work force with a variety of different skills that do not necessarily cater towards men and their masculinity. Rather than having the men be the main bread earners there should be an equal balance between the sexes as to what their individual responsibilities truly are. Already we are seeing women snatching a vast number of jobs as they become available because they are qualified and have the need to make a name for themselves on their own. According to the “Educational Attainment in the United States:2010” 36 percent of women ages 25 to 30 hold bachelor’s degrees or higher while men hold only 28 percent, this alone proves that women are preparing for a work force shift that men are not ready for. They are getting educated, motivated and properly equipped to not only enter the workforce, but take control of it. The notion of a stay at home mom is disappearing as well with numbers of employed women holding more jobs in the United States than men. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women now hold 51.4 percent of managerial and professional jobs—up from 26.1 percent in 1980. So, with women getting more prepared to work and taking more available jobs we see how it is imperative for men to stop fighting this clearly evident movement of women in the workforce and learn to relinquish power when it is in the best interests of those capable and prove to get results.

Greed and power seem to coincide in every culture and those that suffer for it are the lower and middle class when their needs are not being met by a masculine driven ruling class. Rather than having one demographic making decisions for an entire populace it should be more equally dispersed to reduce the overwhelming odds for or against a bias cause. The recent depression was caused by greedy men spending frivolously with no consequences which resulted in the majority of the working class paying for it. Having more women and minorities in power would reduce this unchecked greed and provide more equality for a vast demographic. We have seen instances of women in power throughout Europe and Asia and the apparent good they have done for their countries. Iceland is called the most feminine place in the world and after the bank crash in 2008 they had to go into crisis mode. After firing a number of male administrators and replacing them with women along with not bailing out 3 of their biggest banks, Iceland fared much better than other European nations. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, as of 2012 Rwanda, Andorra and Cuba all have a majority of women that are occupying lower house seats and many others that are approaching very quickly. With the world moving towards a fresh look at women in power we see results and attitudes shifting towards the better for equality and general well-being.

How women are perceived is a mixture of a self-perpetuation by individuals who see an easy road to what they want and how that is all tailored to what men want because they hold all the prizes. Masculinity thrives on these pretenses by allowing women to make their own rules as to who is on top through the lens of a male perspective. Ultimately it is causing self-inflicted wounds to women as a whole thus holding back entire nations. Masculinity views these women as objects to a man’s needs for success in the eyes of other men, a completely natural cycle to show who is dominant. The byproduct of this nature vs. nurture approach is an increase to men’s entitlement to women and power which seemingly separates all classes and walks of life at a fundamental level. This movement of women as equal citizens cannot possibly come to fruition if there are those still trying to claw their way up the social ladder, both genders are susceptible to this easy path of playing off the advantages you have as opposed to working hard and showing moral fiber.

As a competitive race, we have always enjoyed sports and idolizing certain skills and abilities. This in itself doesn’t aid in the separation of equality but does outline masculine traits that help define cultures. In the United States American football is vastly popular and in some cases can be perceived as a religion which results in many families integrating masculine competition into their daily lives. Approaching life from a competitive stand point not only gives people a one sided and ignorant view on how to approach problems but how to approach people, particularly women.

This idea of sports playing a role in masculinity is dwarfed by the obvious employment of video games, movies and music in society. All media seems to revolve around bettering yourself through material goods, drugs, strength, power, money; essentially everything you truly don’t need in life is being advertised at every corner. This constant bombardment of simply wrong undertones has given people of all ages wrong impressions of what they need out of life. Saying men need to be stronger, more independent and have everything under their control and women need to be sexier, younger, able bodied and also more independent shows who is really running this garbage and what their end goal truly is. Everything you see in the advertising world is run by those in charge, those who seek to control and influence for their own personal gains which is drastically spreading inequality in solidifying what they believe masculine and feminine means and how they can use that definition to their advantage.

Men have the opportunity to change the face of this planet and the future of the entire human race, and all that is required of them is to relinquish power that they have proven incapable of handling on their own. As the geography of the planet changes, the human race must adapt in order to survive. The same can be said for this new generation of workers and a new era of equality. Learning from our mistakes is one of the most valuable tools we have been given and to squander that gift is committing to ideals that will limit us. Masculinity is what we make it to be, our living standards are what we make them to be and if our goal is to make a better society for all humans our definition of masculinity must coincide with that of equality and understanding.

Sincerely,

Ethan Ahlstrom