My name is Jillian Ryan and I am a junior with a Justice Studies major. Some of the main issues of justice that I enjoy learning about include; prison reform, immigration, racial issues, and issues that involve women and children. I am definitely all for equal rights for women, however, I do not consider myself to be a hardcore feminist.
I believe that women and men should have equal rights in the work-place but that employers should also accommodate and recognize the different physical needs of women and men within the work-place. I believe that many double standards concerning both men and women still exist today such as the idea that women should stay at home and take care of the family while men should work to support the family financially. While it has become more socially acceptable for these gender roles to be reversed, many people still find it strange when the man stays home while the woman works. I believe that society influences these types of gender roles, however I also believe that the source of these generalizations starts with the individual. I am a firm believer that life influences art, not the other way around, and that we as individuals cannot hold society or the media solely responsible for these defined gender roles. I have had many female friends admit that their life's goals are to find a wealthy man, have kids, and not work for the rest of their lives. Each person has a different idea of success or happiness, but I think it is this mentality that is damaging to women and causes women to be inferior to men. I also believe that men and women are held to different standards in work environments and that some standards are not only unfair for women but are also unfair for men, and these gender differences deserve to be acknowledged as well. For example, I think it is much easier for women to get away with sexual harassment in a work setting. So basically I decided to take this class to gain new perspectives on gender differences in the work setting and to develop a better understanding of how both genders view this topic.
The concept of justice is so huge that it is difficult to find words to define it. Justice is fairness, and treating all people to the same fundamental standards. Justice is what guarantees the individual their constitutional rights and holds our society together. Justice is doing what you believe is right and good and fair. Justice does not have a race, gender, or social class. Injustice still occurs frequently in modern day times, but I feel that as a whole, Americans have come a long way in correcting the major injustices that have occurred throughout history. It almost always takes the minority to prove to the majority how wrong something is, but it is because of these individuals that public eyes are opened to injustice. As society and its standards change, so does the meaning of justice.
