Tag: society

Brother BAföG, Can You Spare a Dime?

Thursday, June 23, 2022. Gleeful anticipation. Finally, the German Federal Parliament announces what should be as sweet as honey in the ears of all students: The Federal Education and Training Assistance Act (in German: BAföG), which enables students to finance their education, is to be reformed and amended for the 27th time! But what does this mean?

In order to assist students in times of increasing inflation, monthly funding rates are now to rise from 427 to 452 euros. Additionally, rent subsidy for students living on their own will increase up to 360 euros. This means that the maximum funding rate a student possibly can receive jumps to a whopping 934 euros per month. But that’s not all – a one-off heating subsidy is also promised.

Well, that sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? The Federal Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, refers to the new reform as an “encouraging trend reversal”. So, does the reformation really deliver what it promises, namely helping particularly low-income students during times of increasing prices?  Spoiler alert: not really. At second glance, the so-called reformation turns out to be a real drop in the ocean.

It’s Not Enough!

First of all, one has to give credit to the government for recognizing the problems which many students are currently facing. However, what is the point of this putative help if it fails to keep its promise?  

A spike in food and fuel prices, as well as spiraling heating costs hit particularly students with very low monthly income with full force. With an inflation at almost 8 percent, students will hardly feel the impact of the increased BAföG rate. Eventually, it’s only a compensation, not an increase in funding.

In addition,  politicians seem to be oblivious to a severe problem, which affects students in big cities in particular: the massive surge in rental prices. Times are long gone where students had to pay little for a big room in a shared flat. Nowadays, we are talking about an average rent of 4 until 500, in Munich even 780 euros ! And it gets even worse: students who are no longer covered by family insurance and, therefore, have to come up for the student health insurance themselves will face a hefty surplus in their contribution rate in 2023. So, with all the numbers on the table, one can only realize that the calculation doesn’t add up.

Denial of Reality Par Excellence ?

It almost resembles a farce if one takes a closer look at the BAföG’s guiding principle: “a state social benefit designed to enable everyone, regardless of their social and economic situation, to pursue an education that matches their abilities and interests.”

This reads well on paper, however, an alarming study by the Joint Welfare Association1 revealed that 1/3 of all students are actually living in poverty! Fueled by inflation, with an average income of 800 euros, social participation becomes less and less possible and many students either fall into debt or see themselves forced to drop out of their studies due to financial reasons. This is the reality that we live in.

It seems, however, that the typical stereotype of students who have less money but a lot of spare time, lying back and relaxing is still manifested in our brains. We have to become aware that living in permanent existential fear doesn’t make for a good academic who contributes to society in the future.

When recapitulating this situation, one cannot help but notice clear parallels to the anthem of the Great Depression “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime” by Gorney and Harburg. The song reveals how Americans, who worked hard in order to pursue the American Dream, find themselves abandoned by their government. Deeply in despair, they feel the harsh consequences of the economic collapse. Back then, people were urged to find “honest work” in order to rebuild their nation – nowadays, we are told to go study and educate ourselves in order to contribute to society.

Certainly, our situation is not as drastic as back then – students don’t have to stand in line begging for a loaf of bread, thank God. But it still feels like having to beg for every penny in hope of receiving funding that actually helps in the current situation. So, I ask again with my hands held out: Dear BAföG, can you spare a dime?

1 source: https://www.der-paritaetische.de/alle-meldungen/armut-im-studium-30-prozent-aller-studierenden-leben-in-armut/

Author: Mariana Silva Lindner

The female gaze

In pop culture, the best compliment a male fictional character or celebrity could get last summer was to be “written by a woman”. Gen Z calls it the female gaze and is using it as a compliment for fictional characters or the image that the media portrays of public people.

The media calls it the female gaze and it describes the point of view of people other than cisgender men and how they perceive it. But the female gaze can also be a feminist approach according to Laura Mulvey’s theory and its counterpart, the male gaze. Through the female gaze, the focus lies on what is felt or how is something understood. In contrast, the male gaze focuses on what is shown. It shows the limited male view and how certain men perceive the world as their stage and movie at the same time.

 Judging between women

The male gaze shows the perspective of heterosexual men in arts and literature. Therefore, it is objectifying women and only focusing on their sex appeal. In short, they are objects of desire. For example, female characters in action movies have no depth in character, like Megan Fox in the Transformer movies. She plays the role of Mikaela Banks, a smart girl that knows a lot about cars. But instead of showing the character’s mechanic-like skills, the viewers only saw the actress in revealing clothes. Other examples can be found in certain video games, stereotypical action movies and music videos, such as Perra by J Balvin or Taste by Tyga as they use female bodies as props. Women are used to satisfy the male audience.

Growing up in a world that supports and fuels this perspective, women feel the need to look sexy all the time. They put themselves under pressure to look perfect, even when there are no men around. Some women feel accomplished if they are desired by men; this creates a subliminal competition between women.

 The rise of the pretty boys

Written by a man, means you as a woman are seen as super sexy by heterosexual males.

The female gaze is a new approach to portray characters, not only by women but also by people who are trans and/or nonbinary.

The female gaze was created to show the beauty in femininity and not focus on the body only.

In general, the female gaze doesn’t represent hyper-masculinity to show attractive men. Softer-looking men are becoming popular. The alternative standard of aggressive men with sizzled bodies, like the actors in Magic Mike, for example, is slowly worn out. Softer and gender-nonconforming men are more popular among women. A reason for that could be that women tend to feel safer with innocent-looking guys and less threatening men are seen as more reliable than hypermasculine ones. This new hype is often not really understood by some people.

Effects on young people and our society

One should consider that many young people spend a lot of time reading books, watching movies and listening to music. They get inspired by and also learn from them, consciously as well as unconsciously. Because of that, they develop a perception of the world based on what they see and read. People tend to base their self-esteem on how well they fit the standards and their ultimate goal is to be desired by their preferred gender.

On this ground, both of these gazes can be pretty blunt and harsh dynamics and lead to hurt young people. For example, men don’t have to either be soft-looking or super masculine and women don’t have to act sexy to be seen.

In addition to that, there is no way to fit into both standards and it forces us to put people into boxes. Our whole existence turns into a performance for someone else’s perspective. 

Author: Lea Isler

Stolen years

The two definitions of “child marriage”

According to Wikipedia, this term is defined as a marriage or similar union, between a child and an adult or another child under a certain age. This formal approach creates a ‘’distance’’ from the problem. The vocabulary does not reflect the reality of this common practice.

Instead of this academic explanation, we could focus on real stories, narrated by the countless victims of this phenomenon. “I was supposed to be in school at the time I got married”, says a 12 years old girl; or “This man came to my house to ask my parents to marry me and they accepted”, says another one two years older. These testimonies transfer the desperation that these children experienced when they were forced to give up their childhood.

Which gender is mostly affected?

As UNICEF claims, child marriage is the result of a settled gender inequality, making girls excessively affected by this practice. Globally, only one sixth of boys get married as a child, which is extremely low compared to girls.

Causes

The factors which can lead to child marriage are several and diverse. A really common one is the patriarchal society, which is common in many countries (e.g. Yemen, India) and controls all the aspects of people’s lives. The leaders of these societies are always men, and their “target” are usually young girls. The value of the girls is determined by their virginity. There is also an unreasonable and extremely conservative dress code for them. They must follow a certain behavior and marry the man that was chosen for them.

Furthermore, an undoubtedly important cause of child marriage is poverty. If we take careful notice of the shocking percentages of child brides in the world’s poorest countries (e.g. Niger), we could easily understand why many families with daughters, or even the girls themselves, consider child marriage as a good option. According to their opinion, it seems like the best way to reduce family costs, while they gain financial security from their husband.

Another difficult circumstance that “helps ” to establish these customs is insecurity. It is well known that countries with numerous child marriages suffer from violence, outbreaks of diseases or hunger and conflicts (e.g. Somalia). Due to the typical absence of education, many families think that they can protect their daughters with a marriage.

Effects on each gender

Even though it’s generally accepted that the majority of the victims are girls, it would be rather unfair not to mention the negative effects of child marriage on boys. Scientists strongly believe that an early marriage, which is accompanied by adults’ responsibilities that a boy cannot take care of, could only add pressure and stress. Also, a marriage could prevent him from chasing higher education and better job opportunities.

A girl, on the other hand, is not only losing any access to education and the possibility of financial independence, but it can also create serious health problems. For example, there is a danger for sexually transmitted diseases, cervical cancer, malaria, death during childbirth and obstetric fistulas.

Ways to stop child marriage

These days many organizations like Girls Not Brides, CARE and Breakthrough fight to end the phenomenon. A combined effort from these organizations, along with the governments and people’s support, can deliver a drastic change.

Author: Chrysi Moysiadou

Language and Gender

How society changes language

Language plays an important role in our lives. It’s not just about communicating and interacting, but also about sending indirect messages through our chosen words. This can have challenging consequences in society regarding individual attitudes and lifestyles. In recent years there have been linguistic changes intended to make our language more inclusive. But why now?

The classic role allocation

Up to the 20th century there was a clear gender distinction in life. It was common that men provide for their families, go to work and manage the finances. Meanwhile the women stay at home to take care of the home and children. Back then, people didn’t think about changing common gendered expressions in the language they used. The words used just reflected the structure of society at the time. Terms like ‘manpower’ were clearly adequate to describe the workforce in that times, which consisted of male workers. But should we still stick to those expressions nowadays?

Language develops with culture

In modern society we’re more aware of these antiquated prejudices in general. Over the last century, awareness for equal rights of women and minorities has risen. Since our way of expression and communication reflects our mindsets and attitudes, it changes as our habits do. Why should we hold on to terms that exclude minorities, when we aim to include them in our society and fight for their equal rights? It wouldn’t make any sense to hold on to them because we don’t want to harm anybody’s feelings by using exclusive language. If we care about other people, we also have to choose our words wisely.

Cis men are still privileged

Regardless, there are still many situations where cis men are regarded as superior. The question is: does language change our society or does society change our language? We could say they influence each other. If people are not willing to adapt their attitudes towards modern movements, their language won’t either. But if we don’t become aware of the effect our way of speaking has on our habits, we won’t rethink how we’re living.

Make a change

We can see in political debates, that there are still problems and challenges in our efforts to be more inclusive. Raising awareness towards minorities and all the terms that could negatively affect others, seems very demanding and often difficult to realize. However, isn’t it better to try our hardest rather than to simply give up? Obviously, change doesn’t happen overnight, but if we keep trying we can improve our world one word at a time – for all of us.

Author: Leonie Kohl Xiques