how race and gender intersect with the theme of wealth and poverty

Many Americans would easily associate Blacks with poverty, but would just as easily
point to the income gains many Blacks have made and the growth in the Black middle
class in the past decade. And both assertions would be correct. But the problem is that
most poverty statistics don’t include asset poverty and wealth is different from income.
Wealth centers on asset holdings, such as homeownership, private pension plans, and
stock market investments. The Black middle class unfortunately is based more on income
than on assets.

Among some African Americans, there is a sad but true expression that
the difference between middle class and poor is one pay check. Middle class Black
households possess less than one-fifth of the wealth owned by white households and the
wealthiest Blacks have less than 30 percent of the level of wealth possessed by the richest
five percent of whites.

There is a preponderance of data that confirms the great disparity
in the net worth of black households at all points of the wealth distribution.
Despite the importance of wealth accumulation to the financial security of families, there
is very little analysis of wealth by gender and race. While there has been a great deal
written on the precarious financial situation of women, there has been relatively little
analytical work attempting to examine the factors that influence African American
women’s overall financial fitness and wealth attainment. Because wealth attainment
doesn’t occur all at once.

POVERTY MATTERS!!!

Ecuador's poverty benefit motivated by politics, not social welfare, claim critics

Government opponents say the expansion of a monthly cash scheme reflects growing poverty and a wooing of the poor vote

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María Fabiola Chaluisa of La Cocha, a Quechua-speaking, rural community in Ecuador, no longer has access to monthly benefit payments. Photograph: Irene Caselli

María Fabiola Chaluisa, 28, knows that $35 (£22) a month can make a difference. "At least it helps us buy a bit more food," says the newly single mother of three, who lives in a one-room hut in the Ecuadorean Andes.

Chaluisa resides in La Cocha, a Quechua-speaking, rural indigenous community at 4,000m (13,000 ft). The sprawling hamlet of slummy cement hovels lies just out of view of a main road that carries tourists through a picture-perfect landscape of steep, angular mountains covered in patchworks of crops.

Around 1.23 million people in the South American country of 14 million receive some benefit from the $35 monthly cash payment. Dubbed the Bono de Desarrollo Humano, or human development voucher, it was introduced in the middle of a financial crisis in 2000. It has more than doubled under the five-year-old leftwing government led by the economist Rafael Correa. Beneficiaries – households, rather than individuals – have increased by more than a third since 2007, making it a trademark instrument in Correa's efforts to temper poverty.

Yet the payment has also become highly politicised. In January, Chaluisa lost both her teaching job and the voucher. She believes she and others in La Cocha were cut off because of their support for opposition party Pachakutik.

Government critics say the expansion of the bono is indicative of stubbornly high poverty rates, and that it has been implemented to secure support from poor voters. The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) union called it the "misery voucher" during mass protests in March. "I fear that the reason it's $35 is because the governing party's list number is 35, and if this were the case, it would be a terrible example of populism," says Mauricio Rodas, a political scientist who has launched an opposition political movement that promises to overhaul the scheme. "In other countries, the amount varies according to family composition, which is logical."

The government, however, says the idea the voucher could end poverty is a misconception, arguing it is only part of a broad package of social spending. The voucher is "a free insurance policy whose coverage will be expanded to include 100% of poor seniors", or 700,000 people in total, says Doris Soliz, the social minister, on 17 May, almost exactly eight months before the next general election.

According to Soliz's ministry, the voucher achieves its goal of family assistance principally by making it easier to buy food. This translates into improved health and education, because one of the preconditions for receiving the cash payment is to provide proof of school attendance and medical check-ups. Such conditions are standard for comparable schemes worldwide, and have proved to be particularly successful in other Latin American countries, including Brazil and Mexico.

Some households "graduated" from the system because their incomes rose above the threshold. However, Chaluisa claims she was dispossessed of the voucher despite losing her $200 (£125) a month job as a temporary primary school teacher, which she says was barely enough to feed her family. "There's people with just one child and a car who do get it," she says. Chaluisa has not been able to resolve the issue because the regional office in Latacunga, the provincial capital, tells her she would have to travel to Quito, the capital, to discuss the matter in the ministry – a 12-hour round trip by bus.

The government will be encouraged by news that income-related poverty rates – which remained stubbornly high over the first half of the administration – dropped dramatically in 2010 and 2011. Close to 450,000 people crossed the $2.4 a day Latin American standard measurement of poverty (pdf) in each of the two years, according to the national statistics agency. At the end of last year, poverty had fallen to 28.6% from 33% in 2010, the steepest fall in almost a decade.

The government has shown the political will to increase social spending significantly, but the jury is still out on its efficiency, says Juan Ponce, economist at Flacso University in Quito. He says the real impact on poverty is the result of the channelling of domestic spending into public and private housing and other construction, helped by high oil prices: "In 2011, the construction sector grew almost 30% … [that] generates all kinds of employment." Economic growth translated into new jobs for unskilled workers has been the most significant contribution to the fall in poverty, he adds. Chaluisa agrees; rather than a subsidy, she says, her "biggest desire is to find a job again so that I can help out my children".

the contribution of the women

It is obvious that no society can achieve its maximum strength unless each individual
makes his or her maximum contribution. There is one group which exhibits feelings of
disenfranchisement in every region of the world—and that is women. Women all over the world
feel that they are second-rate and that only men can reach their full potential. This discrimination
begins while the baby is still in the womb, so that a female baby is often considered of less value
and the pregnancy terminated. This discrimination continues throughout the life of a woman.
This discrimination is confirmed by tradition, by educational institutions, by the legal system,
1
within the family, and, sadly, even by religion in many cases.
2
 As a result, women are often at a
disadvantage in terms of education,
3
 job opportunities, and economically.
Added to this, there are sufficient numbers of men who want to place women into sexual
slavery. This takes the form of rape,
4,5
 incest, involuntary marriages,
6
 selling daughters into
prostitution, and a variety of other forms of sexual slavery.
7,8
 In times of war, women are freely
raped. In this regard, at best, women are viewed as the spoils of war. At worst, women are the
means by which one group of men humiliate another. All of this is dehumanizing to women.
That we should have to enact a Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women is a sad commentary on our world. If we are ever going to have
healthy societies, we must give to women the dignity God gave them, and help to remove the
shackles that they feel. We men are a large part of the problem. It is we men as a group that
make women feel second-rate. Therefore, we men must take the initiative to change the way we
view women and treat them. There are several issues we must deal with.
First, what is men’s view of women? Women are viewed by men as beings who have
something that men want—generally, affection. At the same time, men are afraid that women
will not voluntarily give this precious gift and they, therefore, attempt to deprive women of their
right to voluntarily give this gift—or to withhold it. The irony is that it is the tenderness of
women that adds to our lives, and yet it is their tenderness that we abuse in insisting on our own
way. Moreover, we men have too often attempted to get our way with women by manipulation,
deceit and, regrettably, even physical force. The justifiable resentment on the part of women has
led to a gender war. This war between the genders is difficult to break down in the warmest of
male-female relationships. As a result, both men and women have scars that are passed down
from generation to generation.
Men blind themselves to the fact that women have many strengths. We men fail to see the
many beautiful characteristics that are unique to women. We fail to listen to the cry of their
hearts.
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 Instead, we are preoccupied with winning the gender war. Let me ask you two questions:
Can women reach their full potential in a male-dominated world? NO! This is obvious. However,
consider the second question: Can men reach their full potential in a male-dominated world?
NO! Men who insist on dominating women, thereby preventing women from
reaching their full potential, hurt their own selves. As a result, men live empty lives. Women
experience a second-rate existence. — How sad! Men live empty lives and women experience a
second-rate existence. Is this not blindness?
The second issue is: What is God’s vi

Ecuador: Poverty and Wealth

Lately, I’ve been talking to my sister about my country, Ecuador. She recently, finished college and is now a Social Worker. She wants to help out the poor in Ecuador and be able to construct some kind of shelter for them. Keeping this in mind, I want to know more about poverty in Ecuador. Ecuador is a poor country, most people don’t have enough income to support there families. Poverty in Ecuador has made it hard for people to survive that is why a lot of people migrate to the United States. The way government has run Ecuador is one of the main reasons to why Ecuador is a poor country. Ecuador has had a corrupt government and its economy is affected by it. People are paid very little and the government hasn’t really done anything to try to boost up the economy. Ecuadorians are not able to succeed even with a college degree because they are not able to find a job. For example, an Ecuadorian diploma is not accepted in the United States because Ecuadorian education is lower. There are many other reasons to why poverty exists in Ecuador which is making it difficult for the country prosper.

Looking at this map, I can see that there is a lot of poverty on the west side of the country.An article states that there is more poverty in the rural areas of the country. “Poverty is more pervasive in rural areas of Ecuador, affecting almost 70 percent of non-urban dwellers (2000).

COMBATING SEXISM

an interesting video..


When they are not under-represented or invisible, women are often represented in the media in roles
traditionally assigned by society, portrayed as passive and lesser beings, mothers or sexual objects. These
sexist stereotypes in the media perpetuate a simplistic, immutable and caricatured image of women and
men, legitimising everyday sexism and discriminatory practices and establishing a barrier to gender equality.
Emphasising the positive role that the media can play in promoting gender equality, the Parliamentary
Assembly should invite member states to promote training, education and awareness-raising action and to
strengthen women’s visibility in the media. It should invite national parliaments to reinforce their legislation on
combating sexist stereotypes and penalise sexist offences. Media should favour a more balanced and nonstereotyped representation of women and men in the media and promote the gender equality dimension in
their regulatory and self-regulatory authorities and training programmes.

LENGUAJE MACHISTA

I do not think that language, whatever it is, may be considered sexist or not. It is the use people make of the language than it is. The meaning of the words has given the culture and / or society to which they belong. Therefore we should change society that would make these meanings of language quedasen obsolete. I also think that we should not take too literally the meaning, or at least stay with that. And vindicate more important things such as abuse, inequality in salaries. 


Today, it is society that is sexist, well in my opinion ... It's like a double standard there, man is celebrating both our cultures to be a flirt, a womanizer and winnowed, that when these adjectives hang them women, for poor loser .... And it's not worth anything! As when a man marries a woman under to him, as all good, is a Machazo, a scrubber! and when a woman marries a younger man, he is criticized can not forgive that a woman ... In this game of words loses macho women is that men can not stand the woman awakens from the trance and then bothering them and then hang these little words, but there are also women who like to hang with other adjectives like these ... and again we have to change society.


 Here some of the famous words:

Zorro: Héroe justiciero

Zorra: Puta

Perro: Mejor amigo del hombre

Perra:Puta

Aventurero: Osado, valiente, arriesgado.

Aventurera: Puta

Ambicioso: Visionario, Enérgico, con metas a seguir.

Ambiciosa: Puta

Cualquier: Fulano, Mengano, Zultano

Cualquiera: Puta

Regalado: Participio del verbo regalar

Regalada: Puta

Callejero: De la calle,urbano.

Callejera: Puta

Hombrezuelo: Hombrecillo, mínimo, pequeño

Mujerzuela: Puta

Hombre público: Personaje prominente.Funcionario público.

Mujer pública:Puta

Hombre de la vida: Hombre de gran experiencia.

Mujer de la vida: Puta

Rápido: Inteligente,despierto.

Rápida: Puta

Puto: Que tiene muchas Novias

Puta: Puta

Women Confronting Poverty

The dramatic entry of women into paid labor force is both good news and bad news. clearly, it is a great of progress that women are striving towards economic and social independence. although impressive gains have been made, there is still a long way to go, in both the third world and the more industrialized nations as well.

but in part, the rise of women in the paid labor force is born of necessity due to changes in marriage, divorce, the rise of the single-mother family, and, i would add, changes in the labor market.

it is the necessity side of the equation that i want to address. despite the patriarchal norms of a prior age, poor women have always had to work in the paid labor force, and they have been stigmatized for that work.

let alone all that they have been through for so be strong and keep going forward. are women who deserve the maximum respect and recognition for what they do to survive and keep their children alive and proud. know that they think first of their children and long after them is extraordinary and we should be able to appreciate this effort and those that make you feel like every day, that motivation laying up and leave the world to conquer it, is unique and admirable.

THE COLOR PURPLE

The color purple stands for independence and liberation of one’s mind and feelings. It plays an important role in Celie’s and Shug’s life. When Celie can choose a dress for the first time in her life, she chooses a purple one. In her house Celie has a purple room. When Shug explains to Celie how important freedom is, she says: “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.”

The Color Purple, a fascinating and interesting book. However, I didn’t realise what terrible things happened in Southern United States in the beginning of the 20th century. Soon I realised there was a lot of racial discrimination and in that time people found that woman were worth nothing. I was very shocked when I read this and the book made me almost cry. It is a touching novel.

The events are conveyed in the form of letters which this makes the novel very realistic. I find it very interesting to read about the terrible things which happened in Southern United States. I learned a lot about this book and it has given me a different look at the world. The events makes you think about that period and makes you aware of the terrible situation.

The language of Celie is very important. It makes the book more realistic, because you can tell that she is very poorly educated. I’ll give an example of Celie’s language: when she is pregnant, she says she is big. This makes the book more interesting, although in the beginning it was very hard to read, later it became a bit more easy. The style which A. Walker uses makes you feel sorry for Celie and makes you think about the book and the situation in that period. 

All the characters of the book have a relationship with each other. It makes the book interesting, but I found it very difficult. Many times I had to search and think about who that character was and what his relation was with that person. Another thing I don’t like about the book is that it was hard to get a good idea of what the characters look like, because A. Walker doesn’t describe the looks of the characters very well. At the end when Celie and Mr__ become friends I was very surprised, I didn’t expect that at all, I really like that part. But I also dislike the ending, It’s a bit too beautiful, it makes the end unrealistic. If I was the writer I would give the book a totally different ending. I wouldn’t bring Nettie and Shug back to Celie.