AOC Advocates for $15 minimum wage

 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is well known for her stance on raising the minimum wage. While there have been conversations for years about raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, AOC believes that is still not a livable wage. Instead, she is pushing for $24 an hour by 2025. At one point, she said, “when you take the minimum wage from several decades ago and you actually account for inflation and productivity gains to today, it should really be $24 an hour.” Some economists were alarmed by the hike in price and did not support her views. However, in a tweet by AOC on March 2, she reiterates that paying people enough to live off of should be the absolute bare minimum, and should not be up for debate. She also noted how in foreign countries, McDonald's workers are paid $22 an hour and they also receive 6 weeks of paid vacation throughout the year. We are told that America is the best country on earth, however many Americans live on or below the poverty line because the minimum wage is barely over $7 an hour. 

Congresswoman Marie Newman

 Congresswoman Marie Newman

Earlier this week, Congresswoman Marie Newman had a Facebook post removed of her posed next to a transgender flag that was in support of transgender Americans and the Equality Act. The video was removed from Facebook due to the post "going against community standards on hate speech and inferiority." Meanwhile, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green posted a video to her Facebook page the same day in complete opposition to Newman. She put up a sign that read "There are TWO genders: male and female," and also claimed in her caption that the Equality Act would destroy women's rights and religious freedom. Interestingly, Congresswoman Marjorie Green's transphobic post was not banned on Facebook, while Congresswoman Marie Newman's supportive message was labeled as "hate speech." Supporting transgender Americans is not hate speech, and I believe the wrong post was flagged. 

Missouri's First Black Congresswoman

Cori Bush

In January 2021 Cori Bush, Missouri's first black congresswoman, made history in our nation. Not only is Bush involved in politics, but she is also a nurse, a mother, an activist, as well as an ordained pastor in her city. She first gained major attention as an activist for Michael Brown, who was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri. In the last election, Bush ran on a platform of economic justice, which included advocating for a $15 minimum wage. She also believes everyone has the right to an education, so she has made it her mission to help eliminate college student debt. 

Marjorie Taylor Greene

 Marjorie Taylor Greene 

Earlier this week, Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene came under fire for comments she made before the presidential election regarding conspiracy theories about the government, as well as seemingly endorsing violence against some of her current coworkers and some celebrities. These allegations surfaced after her personal social media accounts revealed comments she made about sensitive topics such as the QAnon conspiracy theory, the Parkland shooting, and her own constituents. As a result, the House of Representatives voted to limit the committees that Greene can work on. The idea is to limit her influence in the government due to the extremist ideals she perpetuates. 

Women in the United States Congress

 Women in Congress 

2020 was a year full of craziness. With riots all over the country, COVID taking the lives of hundreds of thousands in America, and catastrophic wildfires to name just a few instances, many Americans saw no promise for the future. Out of all these negative things happening, there was a major positive change. In our society, our government has been predominantly run by men. Men wrote the Constitution, elected each other for office, and ran our country without the direct input of women for centuries. It wasn't until the 19th amendment was passed in 1920 that women were able to vote. That's 144 years! Up until a few decades ago, women did not hold positions of power in politics. But now according to Rutgers, 143 women hold seats in the United States Congress. This is an increase of 17 women total in just one year. Hopefully this trend continues so we can have not just equal representation between states, but between genders as well. 

On Wednesdays We Wear Purple

 

    On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, President Elect Joe Biden was sworn in as the next president of the United States. Sworn in next to him was his running mate and new Vice President, Kamala Harris. This election made history due to the turn of events that occurred. Donald Trump became the 10th president in history to lose a re-election, red states turned into blue states, and most importantly, the United States gained its first female VP. Women everywhere celebrated this huge victory of the "glass ceiling" being shattered, especially the women who attended the Inauguration. To pay homage to the women who laid the framework to allow a woman in office, many of the female attendees wore purple, the color of the women's suffrage movement. It has also been said that the color purple symbolizes bipartisanship because the colors red and blue combined makes purple. The photo above shows political figures Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and Michelle Obama following the trend at the Inauguration. 

Mass Media, Politics, and the Portrayal of Women

Hi everyone! My name is Madison Cummings and I am a senior MENT major. When I first started college I was a political science major, however over time I changed it to Media and Entertainment to better suit my future career goals. I have always had a good foundation of politics, so studying media effects within my major showed me just how closely the two topics are related. My course work has heavily focused on gender and media effects, so this blog will be centered around how women are portrayed in politics.