the antlerette // february 2017 // part 1

THE ANTLERETTE

Issue 6

the antlerette

february 2017 PART 1

IN THIS ISSUE

Breaking the Stereotype

by Sheralyn Laron, Staff

As we enter the New Year, there are still many things that we as a society are guilty of perpetrating. One topic that is still an issue is the concept of stereotypes.

Usually taught from a young age, stereotypes vary in whom they target, and how they affect people.

Stereotypes have existed for many years and will likely continue for many years due to the normalization of them. Although they are common throughout our society and seem to be tossed around lightly at times, there are still some people who fail to see all of the negative connotations and reactions to it. Some common stereotypes can target certain races and women with overused and old sexist jokes. These “jokes” are often told in work and school environments, intended with a lighthearted tone, even though they are actually the opposite. Stereotypes hurt people’s feelings more than they may seem to and worst of all, stereotypes further discriminate us all as individuals.

Continuing with these stereotypes as a part of our daily lives can lead to a very separated and closed off society. They discourage people from embracing who they are and from being whom they are because of a belief that likely stemmed from a joke.

They can also lead to very serious matters such as bullying and a loss of character.

Stereotypes can also interfere with someone’s comfort in a place that is generally supposed to feel safe and cause them to lack in certain areas, especially when it comes to school and work places where there are many expectations and standards.

For example, people are always expected to act a certain way or to fluently speak English even when it is not in their normal customs or their first language.

In order to combat these continuous stereotypes and all the negative effects that come with them, we as a society, whether it be in a classroom or in a public situation, must be willing and able to shoot down stereotypes when necessary. We must protect each other from these harsh words and continue to grow together in our thoughts, actions, and opinions.

Part 1: Who Are the Millennials?

We are entitled. We are rude, lazy, and narcissistic.

We are the Millennials. The group of people born from 1994 to present day, known as the Millennials, is characterized as the most problematic generation of our time. But why are the Millennials perceived this way?

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They Have Emotions Too People are often discriminated against by religion, by race, or even by social class. What about the group of people that are discriminated regardless of these categories? Those children and adults I’m referring to are those who have autism.

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Part 1: Who Are the Millennials?

by Kamran Fardanesh, Design Manager

We are entitled. We are rude, lazy, and narcissistic. We are the Millennials. The group of people born from 1994 to present day, known as the Millennials, is characterized as the most problematic generation of our time. But why are the Millennials perceived this way? Why do the Millennials have this stereotype of entitlement branded on our backs? Tom Bilyeu on Inside Quest interviews visionary thinker and public speaker Simon Sinek to explore what’s really behind the minds of the Millennials.

Simon Sinek has studied the minds of the Millennials and has broken down this generation to four simple characteristics: parenting, technology, impatience, and environment, two of which are discussed in this article. Within the parenting category lies the way in which the Millennials are raised as children. “Failed parenting skills” have contributed to the Millennials’ selfishness and entitlement. An example of

this is when a student receives an A in a class not because they earned the grade but rather because “the teacher did not want to deal with the parent.” This failed parenting skill and many others are why this generation lacks drive and competitiveness, simply because we know our parents will be there to take care of it for us.

Technology has undoubtedly taken over the lives of the Millennials. Nothing is ever real in the life of a Millennial because we have become so good at filtering our lives.

We as Millennials interact with people on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook more than we do in real life.

Millennials have perfected our social media accounts to prove that “life is amazing even though I am depressed.” We live for our phones to blow up with texts, likes, friend requests, and many other notifications. Why? Because it makes us feel good through the intoxication of the chemical Dopamine. This

chemical is released into our brains whenever we receive that text or friend request. In fact, Dopamine is the same chemical that makes us feel good when we drink, smoke, and gamble; hence, the good feeling we receive when he or she texts back. As explained by Sinek, the use of cell phones and social media platforms is “highly, highly addictive”.

What is ironic about this is that our country enforces age restrictions on illegal substances, alcohol, and gambling, but none on cell phone use. Our society is unaware of the mental harm accompanied with the overuse of cell phones, and Sinek demands that this be brought to our attention.

These two characteristics of the Millennials, along with many others, are reasons why our generation differs so much compared to other generations. Our generation has been brought up by entitlement and materialism, and there’s really no going back. Our world feeds off our short attention spans and daily posts on Instagram. As technology advances, our generation will only continue to practice bad habits.

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STD STATISTICS

51% Percentage of new STD’s are diagnosed in teen girls

49% Percentage of new STD’s are diagnosed in teen boys

20% Percentage of Americans living with an STD

50% Percentage of sexually active youths who will obtain an STD by the age of 25

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The Rise of STD’s

by Tess Sommer, Staff

STD’s, or Sexually Transmitted Diseases, are diseases that are easily spread from one person to another through oral, anal, or vaginal sex. Some examples include genital warts, HIV, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea. But have there been less treatments for STD’s ever since they were first discovered? In this case, I believe there is a lack in treatment for STD’s because of drug addiction, embarrassment, or the fact that there are not many resources and people educated on STD’s on how to treat them correctly because of the lack of sexual education, and because of the lack of effectiveness from the antibiotics to heal the disease.

One reason STD’s are less treated is because of the non-effectiveness from antibiotics. For instance, the health educational video, “Nightmare Bacteria” explains how antibiotics are starting to not work against new viruses. STD cures are not working because of the lack of the effectiveness from antibiotics fighting against new bacteria or viruses. If the antibiotics cannot fight against the viruses, then they are not able to cure or treat the disease people eventually get.

Another reason that there is a lack of treatment in STD’s is because of the ongoing problem, addiction. For instance, based on the facts from the videos “Nightmare Bacteria” and, “Addiction”, they each explain how the effect of antibiotics is decreasing and explains how people are taking too many painkillers and decreasing the effectiveness of the treatment. These two videos show there is a lack of treatment of STD’s because addicted pill users take too many antibiotics to take the pain away. This leads to the antibiotics having no effect on your body when it actually comes to a serious disease such as HIV. The second to last reason for a lack of treatment for STD’s is because of embarrassment. For instance, in the video, “Life's Greatest Miracle”, they explain how the most important thing in the world is bearing a child. This reason helped explain why STD’s have been getting less treatment because marrying your significant other someday is most people’s dream come true.

In effect, they might not be honest to their significant other about their disease because of their embarrassment and the worry of being judged because of their weaknesses.

Though, this is a problem because according

to Kidshealth.org, they say it is an important to tell someone about the disease because of the health risks to the other partner if you don’t tell them.

The last reason for a lack of treatment for STD’s is because most people have little to no education on this topic. For instance, in the article, Why is American Culture So Afraid of Talking About STDs?, an executive director and founder of the STD project named Jenelle Marie Davis, gave an idea on how this might be why much people don’t know much about STD’s. She says, “People are just afraid of talking about sex in general. The majority of American adults are sexually active; however, nobody actually wants to share that. And I don’t necessarily think that everybody has to go out and tell the public what they do in the bedroom, because that is intimate and personal and shared with partners, but sometimes I think it goes to the opposite extreme where we don’t even share with friends or family and we don’t talk about [our sexual health] because we are so afraid of being judged about our sexual activity.” Because of this, not many people talk about their personal problems to a medical doctor, even if it means ruining their reputation. However, wouldn’t you rather tell someone about it than to rather have to wake up one morning and be diagnosed with the disease?

In conclusion, addiction, embarrassment, and ineffective antibiotics are the few reasons why STDs are not curable. In fact, to this very day, according to, STDTESTEXPRESS.com, the average number of Americans living with STDs is 65 million! Moreover, 19 million people are diagnosed with new STD’s every year.

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Issue 6 women take sick days nearly 50% more often than men do.

This absence means that a woman is out of the work environment for an extended period of time, while men continue in the workforce earning their higher pay, which is a main cause of a lower wage for a woman. Many women who constantly force the mythical issue of the “gender wage gap” do not include factors such as occupation, position in the job, tenure, amount of education and the hours worked in the week. They gloss over such facts trying to enrage the female public in western society about a $.23 difference when countless factors go uncalculated and recognized, instead claiming that it is the “same” work.

Social Oppression

by Anna Serpa, Editor

Throughout history women have not had the same rights and protections as the men in many societies. Yet a rising number of Feminazis focus on diminishing and oppressing men and their rights. This group of radicals try to condemn men with their allegations of sexism and “eye” rape. All the while rape and molestation allegations made by a man are seen as unreal and even laughable. Rape, which is something seen as terrible and traumatic for a woman, seen as a victory for a man. The simple truth is that with society’s rules only one gender can have precedence over another. In today’s world women claim things are unfair because of their sex like the “pink tax,” the “wage gap,” and the “oppression” women face at the hands of men. However, there is one simple fact that Americans need to face, specifically American Women. We do NOT need feminism in our first world country.

While the feminists and Feminazis in the United States focus on getting paid a lower wage than a man, thousands of women in second and third world countries do not have access to education. The wage gap can be explained simply. You aren’t being paid less because you are a woman.

Women take more time off from work, like maternity leave and “sick days”, more frequently than a male counterpart.

Time.com reports that in a recent study

Feminism 101

by Mauriana Raye, Editor-in-Chief

The fight for gender equality started in the late 19th century and it has evolved into feminism. Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. Feminism is a new concept and it is changing our society. We are no longer dominated by a patriarchal society and we are getting used to the idea of having gender equality has been beneficial. Women are now thriving in colleges and in the work force, but small micro-aggressions are holding us back from gender equality. For example, words such as “Feminazi” are used to undermine the feminist movement and to silence

The “pink tax” is another mythical outcry of women claiming that we pay more for the same products men buy. This is simply untrue because women’s products contain MORE chemicals; therefore, it logically costs MORE. In fact, if you care for anatomy, women’s skin and men’s skin are two completely different organs. Women’s skin is softer and therefore more sensitive to the elements, while men’s skin is tougher and more equipped to handle the elements and physical labor. The collagen bonds between a man and women are COMPLETELY different, so you can’t expect them to use the same products to achieve societies desired “standards”. Different products with different product in them are going to be priced differently; it’s blatant common sense.

women. The whole idea of a Feminazi is a desperate attempt to demonize women. A Nazi is an evil person who wants to use power to control and harm other people especially because of their race, religion, etc.

A Feminazi is a woman who is an angry, man-hater who wants women to be in power while men are powerless. Not only is this term politically incorrect is it insensitive to the horrors of the Holocaust.

How could someone compare a woman fighting for equal rights to a murderer? “Feminazism” is sexist and antiSemitic all in one swoop. It is used to invalidate and silence an opinion just because it goes against the patriarchal society.

Women are not Nazis; we do not have a plan to wipe out men because we want more power. We just want equal rights and

Finally, the so called “oppression” women face today in America is utter nonsense. We actually have MORE rights than a man in this “male dominated” country. Unlike that of men, women are not obligated to sign up for the draft; it is completely optional. As well as the “motherly” role women are socially pressured to assume upon having children, we have 3 ways of completely eliminating this social pressure all without the consent of the biological father. As women, we have the right to abort the pregnancy without legal consent of the father without even telling him. However, the biological father cannot completely terminate his rights to the child without gaining the consent of the biological mother. These are a mere two examples of possibly hundreds of rights women have that men do not, yet we still are playing the damsel in distress. For years, women wanted a strong female princess or other strong feminine role model, only to finally have accomplished such feats, then suddenly cry victim as though we are the boy... excuse me... girl that cried wolf.

American feminists cry over issues that don’t exist simply to manipulate modern civilizations into giving women more rights they don’t need. As a female growing up in this ever-evolving world, I am offended by the lack of common sense and decency we have for our male counterparts, crying out for “equality”, when we would rather have dominance. It is time to end the falsehoods and try to regain a respect and functionality in our society.

opportunities, which are basic components of our constitutional rights. When a woman calls out a sexist remark, she is attacked for it by hordes of ignorant men and women who believe that men will always be better. For some reason, some people still think that women actually do not deserve to have equality and that everything is fine the way it is. Nevertheless, we will continue to be marginalized and attacked if no one brings attention to the importance of gender equality.

Feminism is not about women wanting complete power. We just want the same treatment that men receive. It’s a fact that women are not paid fairly for the work that they do compared to men. (It’s not because of sick leave or maternity leave because those are paid leave.” It’s because of

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their gender. A man and a woman can have the same exact resume and the man would still be paid more than a woman. Studies such as, The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap, highlight the differences in wages between men and women. In California, we have passed the California Fair Pay Act, which was created to close the “16 cents for every dollar” wage gap between men and women. It states that employers must pay employees of the opposite sex the same wage for their substantially similar work. This law ensures that women, as well as people of

5 color, will not be discriminated against by being paid less because of their gender or race. Unfortunately, many states are not as progressive as California. For example, in Wyoming, women working full time make $36,064 compared to $55,965 while in California women make $43,335 compared to $50,562. Even in California, we see wage disparities. Natalie Portman recently admitted that she was paid three times less than Ashton Kutcher for acting in the same movie, “No Strings Attached”, in 2011.

Natalie Portman has 28 awards for her role in the 2010 film, “Black Swan”, two of them

They Have Emotions Too

by Hannah Faith Villareal, Editor

People are often discriminated against by religion, by race, or even by social class. What about the group of people that are discriminated regardless of these categories? Those children and adults I’m referring to are those who have autism.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that causes social, communication, and behavioral difficulties.

Some don’t even look like they have this mental disability. Some are able to talk, some aren’t. ASD is different for each person with the disability; no two cases are exactly alike. Compared to the 1900s when autism was still rare, there is a rapid increase in children developing autism in the 21st century. But at least now in modern times, there are more programs created to help these children and adults. Although there is more help, there are still many challenges they and their families face or will face. For example, many people are 24/7 caretakers of the family member with autism because they may need assistance or guidance in even the smallest matters such as brushing teeth.

Even if there is a “babysitter,” not many are qualified enough to be left completely alone to care for the person with ASD. My family knows this all too well.

However, there is one challenge that many families may fear or face especially in school; it is the mistreatment of kids or adults with autism without one of the family members around. It is also one fear that haunts me, as a sister who will graduate the same year that my own autistic little brother enters high school. It is especially difficult since bullying can come from both non-autistic students and the school staff themselves.

One father was concerned because the teachers had reported his son to be giving them a hard time. Mr. Chaifetz put a wire on his son Akian, and recorded staff in his class at Horace Mann Elementary School in Cherry Hill.

He found out that day, the teachers were calling the child "a bastard," talking about vomiting that morning due to a hangover, and bullied the child to the point where he had a "halfhour meltdown." The Associated Press has found at least nine similar cases across the U.S. since 2003. Parents of special needs students had secretly recorded teachers using insults like "bastard.” They would never have found out how badly their children were mistreated had they not

being Golden Globes. Ashton Kutcher has 10 Teen Choice Awards, one for his role in “No Strings Attached.” It is not hard to tell which actor is more qualified, but because she is a woman, Natalie Portman was paid considerably less than her male co-star. The feminist movement encourages social change and equality. It is not selfish to want equality and to be paid the correct amount for the work that you do.

resorted to measures such as wiring.

Provoking those with autism, such as what happened to Akian, triggers them enough to cause a meltdown. Situations like can also cause behaviors that will hinder their chances of progressing.

And if anything, they are not “bastards”. The only “bastard” would be the person or persons bullying them. A bastard is a person that is deserving of hatred and contempt and good-for-nothing. Those who have autism didn’t choose to have autism.

And some of them prove to be savants, intellectuals despite their disability. One such example would be Jacob Barnett who has an IQ of 170, higher than that of Albert Einstein.

Another example would be Temple Grandin who is an associate professor at Colorado State University and also a professional designer of the humane livestock facilities.

Many people are still ignorant about autism; most don’t even care because “it’s not their problem.” Perhaps that is why there is a lack of understanding and support from the public because they do not know what these families go through. Yes, those with autism have emotion, regardless of what others say. They only have a hard time stating it and express it with action instead of words. Perhaps if ignorant people knew more, the next time a person sees someone with autism, he or she won’t look at them with a look of disdain and criticism but rather understanding. They, like any other human, need love and care. People can even learn from them, especially the family. Patience, perhaps, is one of the most significant lessons.