A social issue I want to discuss is climate change and global warming. The reason that I want to write about this is that it is an issue that is not taken seriously despite how serious it is. This is an issue that won’t majorly affect me in my lifetime but it still is something that I feel like we should work on. This is a topic that I was not that interested in until junior year of high school when I had to do a project on global warming in art class. In this assignment, I had to make a flyer on the issue of climate change and global warming. In this, the picture that I had chosen was one of what New York City would look like in a few decades. The picture had most of Manhattan underwater because the 2°C of global warming would lock in at least 20 feet of eventual sea-level rise, and an immediate transition to clean energy is needed to divert the world’s current trajectory towards a dire 4°C future. Seeing the picture of what I call home showed me truly how important it is that we work on this issue. I had done some more research and had found out the effect that global warming has on glaciers. I found out that the melting of glaciers, as well as ocean warming and expansion, lead to sea-level rise. Over the last 100 years, the global sea level has risen by about 10 to 25 cm based on analyses of tide gauge records. It is likely that much of the rise in sea level has been related to the concurrent rise in global temperature over the last 100 years. The world’s glaciers and ice caps have lost massive amounts of ice in the 20th century, with the process accelerating since 1988. All of this information that I had found out made me see that this issue is very serious, which is why I want to learn more about this topic.

The social issue that I’d like to work on for my essay is the inequality and struggles of the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S. While I myself am not apart of the LGBTQ+ community I recognize their struggles to this day around the world and would like to become more informed for myself and those close to me who are a part of it. They continue to suffer discrimination and are unable to express themselves like any other person just because of their sexual orientation and preferences. The idea of self identity and being able to form your own individual path in life is very important to me and I believe everyone is entitled to it in this life and its a shame that they suffer from trying to be themselves. There is a long history surrounding their struggles and fight for equality in the U.S and it continues to this day. I’d like to learn more about the history and the many issues that the LGBTQ+ community goes through in the U.S and how they are being handled. Learning as much information I can involving this social issue is important to me so I can become more informed on my views towards these issues and help spread knowledge on the topic as much as I can. The U.S is definitely one of the places with the most advocacy for change for the LGBTQ+ community so I’d like to focus on it and see the specifics of the situation here.

Police brutality is a social issue that interests me and it’s a very important social issue. It’s the unwarranted use of force by law enforcement where officers exercise excessive force against a person, to be more specific this happens more to people of color. it’s a very disturbing and extreme method that is not right. It includes beatings, racial abuse, unlawful killings, and torture by the police. The US police kill civilians at a much higher rate than any other country in the world. About 1000 people are killed each year by the police in the United States. The black lives matter movement brings attention to police brutality and what we tend to see in these protests is that people get shot/abused more than ever in these protests, even when we are trying to make a difference peacefully we still end up getting killed or shot at by the police. This is an issue that has been going on for a very long time. this topic interests me because it’s so significant and it affects people from all over the world. What’s really upsetting is that police brutality keeps increasing. There should be no reason why the people who were supposed to feel protected by are the ones that are making us feel unsafe. it has to come to a stop, it’s not right in any way.

Nativism and xenophobia are two societal issues that I’m interested in. The terms nativism and xenophobia relate to the preference for native-born individuals in a community and the dread of foreigners or “others” who are seen as outsiders due to their race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. This societal issue piqued my interest since it was something I had never heard of before, and as I went through the articles, I discovered that no one had brought it up. I’m curious as to how this became a public issue and what exactly the people were afraid about. I’d want to throw some light on this subject because I don’t think it’s something that’s commonly discussed. This is a very different subject matter from the usual hot button issues like global warming, racism, gender equality, and abortion. I’d like to know more about why nativists thought that Mainlanders were lowballing native-born labor in the United States, leading to hostility and restrictive laws. This is an important subject that must be addressed. These anxieties typically stem from cultural differences, and they have been there since the 1800s and well into the 1900s, when similar attacks were launched against immigrants from Arab and/or Muslim nations. I’d want to go more into the reasons behind the rivalry for employment and the resulting prejudice. Who benefits from anti-immigrant sentiment when it targets newcomers to a country as well as anyone (regardless of nationality or immigration status) who is seen as an outsider due to physical characteristics/appearance or cultural distinctiveness?

The social issue that most interests me is mental health in the black community. A lot of Black Americans don’t have access to get help, and it is unfair.  Since they don’t have this access, they often use other resorts that are not as beneficial to help. This topic interests me because it’s a cause that is often slept on and not brought to light like other social issues. I want to know more about what outlets they use to solve their cases since they don’t get help and the statistics rate against white people with mental health. I want to know if they are provided these resources for benefit how it will change the overall stigma of mental health and black Americans. I also want to know that if this stigma changes will more black people go and seek help and get the help they need. I’ve seen growing up people turning down support because they feel they won’t benefit from it because of how the system is set up. Black mental health is not taken seriously as white mental health. This is why I chose this topic. I hope in the future there will be an improvement in the resources and help that black Americans get because everyone deserves an equal opportunity.

The topic I decided to go with is mental health. The reason I chose this issue is because it is a challenge that several people go through including myself. It always seems to be an endless struggle between the mind and the emotions. Where both never seem to be on the same page, often causing severe problems for the person. Mental health problems come in various shapes and forms. It’s not something that can be confined into one category, neither does it have one “face”. It is an invisible pain, which many keep to themselves out of fear of becoming a “burden” to others. Mental health is something very complicated, you never know who is going through what. I was interested in this topic because I have personally witnessed the struggles my best friend, and certain family members faced because of it. It’s not something to be taken lightly, the affects of mental health can be detrimental and devastating. Often cases, people don’t know how to respond when someone opens up about their situation, especially parents. Most parents aren’t exactly open minded and often blame the child for their mental health problems. Most parents tend to be the root of their problems or can even make the situation worse. But by educating oneself on the topic, as well as others, it can help spread awareness about the topic and how to help those facing these challenges. Through this we can learn how to lend support to those who need it.

A social issue that both sparks my interest and involves me is gender inequality. This social issue interests me the most mainly because I am also affected by this and probably my future daughter too. Gender inequality is something that has been going on for generations and needs to be stopped. The textbook definition of gender inequality is “social process by which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society.”

Gender inequality is something that has affected many females from a young age. According to a study, many girls receive less support than boys to pursue the studies they choose and “Discriminatory teaching practices and education materials also produce gender gaps in learning and skills development. As a result, nearly 1 in 4 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are neither employed nor in education or training – compared to 1 in 10 boys.” Whether it was during school when teachers would purposefully say “I need some strong boys to help me” or at the workplace where we are paid less then our male coworkers, women experience inequality regularly. What makes this matter even worse is the fact that gender inequality occurs all over the world. According to another case study, “All over the world men tend to earn more than women. Women are often underrepresented in senior positions within firms. Women are often over-represented in low-paying jobs. In many countries men are more likely to own land and control productive assets than women.”

The social issue that interests me the most is LGBTQ+ inequality. More specifically, Transgender inequality. The issue is how in a patriarchal society, transgender individuals must be deemed “passing” (cis enough) in another’s perspective to be worth of one’s respect. Furthermore, based on the concept of binaries, it limits an individual’s self expression because of gender based roles. This social issue interests me because of how resilient people are towards the discrimination, stereotypes as well as prejudice they face everyday just for being themselves. Besides, there is a lot of history prevailing because the LGBTQ+ community are fighting for their basic human rights despite many biased opinions towards them. Historical erasure and systemic oppression creates a barrier for those who need to define themselves by who they are, rather than what they are not. I want to know more about the history and current events about the LGBTQ+ community while being an ally as well as a member myself. To know more about these, I would have to educate myself more with this social issue as well as do more research while writing about this topic, therefore, proudly support the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, to live equal and safe lives.  

A social issue that resonates with me most is teenage mental health. Mental health in all ages is a serious and important topic to discuss but younger ages around 10-19, nowadays are going through a lot more than teenagers a couple of years ago. Teenage mental health is a personal issue that is close to my heart because I have seen people close to me struggle with it. One of my closest friends was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and it has been very difficult for her and her family. She has been switching medications, going to different therapists trying to find the one that suits her best but it’s been trying on her. A few of my friends have been diagnosed with depression and have all been struggling with the burden of dealing with depression and trying to have a normal life. It may have been because of the pandemic or because teens are under a lot more stress. Most mental health issues start as young as 14 and so many people have similar symptoms they hardly realize that they are depressed or have anxiety, etc. Feeling anxiety and hopelessness have increased by over 70% in the last couple of years. Teenagers being in the unknown can lead to many more physical and mental problems as adults. I want to go more in-depth with the statistics and the most common mental health issues in teens. I also what to figure out the cause of why mental health has spiked so much in the last couple of years, what has changed to change the mental health of so many teenagers?

Texas Abortion Ban

In a majority decision, members of the Texas House of Representatives voted to pass the Texas Heartbeat Act. This act would ban abortions if a heartbeat is detected. A fetal heartbeat can be detected as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, at this point many women do not even know they are pregnant yet. This law does not exclude rape or incest victims which has also caused an uproar in protests. This act contributes to the ongoing conflict between pro choice and pro life protestors. This act will make it difficult for women to have a long enough time period to even decide whether they would want to move forward with an abortion or not.

As a woman, I feel it is vital to have the ability to decide what I choose to do with my body. Donna Howard, a member of the Texas House of Representatives stated, “we’re the ones that carry the babies. We’re the ones that raise those babies… this legislative should not dictating what we do with our bodies.” I absolutely agree with this. If a pregnant women does not feel that her financial and emotional state or living situation can provide a healthy environment for a child, abortion should be an available option. Another thing to consider are mothers who are pregnant with a fetus with severe birth effects. This is both an emotional and financial toll on the mother especially if there is a short life expectancy for the child. Abortion is not seen as a consistent form of birth control, it is an option for women to make if they feel it is best for both their life and the life of the fetus.

I want to know how will banning abortion effect the rates women who seek illegal and dangerous abortions to avoid this issue? Who is protecting victims of rape and incest? If women are forced to keep children they do not have the means to care for, will this increase the number of children entering the foster care system?