Women on 20's

Recently, there has been a big controversy in politics. Feminists across the nation have been heading a movement to put a woman on a dollar bill. However, there is more to the debate than you might realize, and there are several underlying issues that have come to the light as a result of this movement. Looking over all American dollar bills, it quickly becomes clear that there is not a single female face. From George Washington to Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin to Alexander Hamilton, all the figures immortalized on paper currency are men. And a spark was lit. The flames quickly grew, with feminists jumping to action. “Girls are just as important as boys!” one kindergartner protested. From young girls to grown women, many were outraged by this blatant show of sexism. One such change-maker wrote a letter to President Obama. Nine-year-old Sofia explains that there should be more women on American currency due to the important things that they have done. Another group of pioneers got together and created Women on 20’s. The group has been gaining popularity rapidly. The nonprofit organization hopes to convince president Obama to put a woman’s face on American paper currency. Pointing to examples from other countries, they state that “A woman’s place is on the money.” But Women on 20’s faced a tough decision. Which iconic founding father should be booted off his bill? They decided on Andrew Jackson. He was a slave owner and he passed the Indian Removal Act, which lead to the death of over 4,000 Native Americans. Another question was who to replace him with. Which woman deserved to be on the twenty dollar bill? Women on 20’s set up an online poll to answer this. Options included Sojourner Truth, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harriet Tubman, and many others. With one hundred eighteen thousand, three hundred and twenty eight votes, Harriet Tubman emerged as the top choice of America. Second runner up was Eleanor Roosevelt, seven thousand votes behind. Harriet Tubman was an inspirational and courageous woman that risked her life to guide thousands of runaway slaves to freedom. The people she helped called her Moses, because she led her people out of slavery just as Moses did in the bible. She truly was god-gifted. Perhaps more influentially, the government is sending a message as well. If they put Tubman on the twenty dollar bill, they are saying, “America isn’t sexist. Look at this woman on the dollar bill! By the way, we aren’t racist either.” But if you dig down, you can see what this would really show about our country. So we have a woman on a dollar bill. Big whoop. The only reason she’s on there is because she’s a woman. When looking to get rid of the scandalous Jackson, only women were considered. What if there were other men that could have taken Jackson’s place? The fact of the matter is that Harriet Tubman is going to be on the twenty dollar bill because she is a woman. It’s only a move of pity. They thought that the only way a woman could be on the dollar bill was if only women were considered. Similarly, WHY do we have a best actress award? Why do we have to put women in a separate category for acting? Because that’s the only way they could win an Oscar? Taking a step back from these particular examples, I would like to clear up some misconceptions about feminism. Feminism is simply a belief in the equality of genders. It’s called feminism because it is focused towards raising the status of women to be on par with those of men. In today’s world, feminism has become an excuse for sexism. Women who look down on men are not feminists; they’re sexists. Feminists simply want women to have the same opportunities and rights as men. The goal is to level the playing the playing field, so that women can be successful alongside men. The idea is not to give women an unfair advantage. Feminists hope that women will not be discriminated against, treated differently, or underestimated just because of gender. The bottom line is that women have goals and dreams, too. They are tired of being pushed around and demeaned, and denied what they want. They would like to be appreciated and treated fairly. They want the world to accept that a woman is capable of working hard and achieving great things. Really, the country should focus on bringing people together. I feel that putting a woman on the dollar bill is not doing that. By putting a WOMAN on the dollar bill, they’re dividing people. Rather than bringing everyone together, they’re clearly splitting men and women. At the end of the day, I look up to the courageous women that have worked so hard to make their dream a reality. But I feel that putting a woman on the dollar bill is simply going to drive our country apart. If people believe a woman should be on the dollar bill, that’s great! But she should be on there because she is a great person, not because she is great woman. Feminism is not a shortcut for women to get what they want. It’s a movement to give them the opportunities they need.