Gender Neutral Bathrooms Essays - Gender, Identity, Transgender

Gender Neutral Restroom s Gender Neutral Restroom s It is no secret that the world is classified in a binary system. Everything is this or that, black or white, and more specifically male or female . Society has been shaped to only see two polar extremities of a spectrum that is complex and has infinite possibilities . Where the world aims to please a binary system, it leaves everyone in the grey areas out. A prime example of this is public restrooms where there are typically only male or female option s . What about people who feel as though they are neither a male nor a female? What about people who are transgender and fear harassment in the restroom? What about parents of different gendered children? What about waiting in line because one restroom is full but the other is no t an option to use? It is because of reasons like th e se that gender neutral restroom s should be the new standard for facility restrooms and through education and advocacy for said inclusi ve restrooms, changing the standards will be a revolutionary step forward in combatting the binary sanctions that society lives by. Anxiety is a naturally occurring feeling when an inner panic arises over something stressful. The average person is known to have anxiety about using public facilities like restrooms. Using the restroom is a very private thing that everyone must do and completing this task may be exceptionally hard for people who cannot concentrate with others around. People with health conditions find it even more challenging than those without. S imply going number one (urination) or number two (defecation) can be hard tasks for these affected people, not to mention the other obstacles that they may have to overcome as a result of further serious conditions ( Molotch Noren , 2010). Single stalled res t rooms are a great solution that allow for people to keep their privacy as well as their dignity . I n some extreme cases (diarrhea, vomiting, etc.), people feel especially embarrassed to do what they have to do even if tho se actions are out of their control. A beneficial movement towards easing this widespread anxiety over something that is natural and beyond control is the idea of gender non-specific , private restrooms ( Molotch Noren , 2010). Many people do not see the need to change up how the world does their restrooms, but this particular issue is more applicable than those people may realize. Most of them view this solution as only potentially solving one problem, but in educating them they will be able to see that the problem is not black or white and that this solution is able to solve multiple problems at once. Cavanagh (2010) discussed an interview in which people , from various different backgrounds, explained what the ideal rest room would look like to them. While most people agreed that gendering them was not a necessity, many people started off by describ ing the ir ideal restroom as personal and private rooms. S ingle stalled rest rooms that could include a chair or a small bench for people to take a rest quietly or for mothers to nurse in private would be ideal for one target group of the population . The people in the interview also agreed that baby changing stations would be important to include in each gender non-specific room in hopes of accommodating another portion of the population . One specific person, during the interview, pointed out that nobody would be watching to see which person goes into which restroom , but that everyone can just choose which ever one is available at th at given time (Cavanagh, 2010). Having restrooms like those will also cut down on waiting times unlike with gender-specific restrooms , someone may have to stand in a line for their correctly affiliated restroom . With gender neutral restrooms a ny person would then be able to enter any restroom that is not being occupied an d therefore would be able to rid themselves of their needs quicker , and with less anxiety over it . In 2015, over 28,000 transgender people , at least age

Ancient Olmec Trade and Economy

Ancient Olmec Trade and Economy The Olmec culture thrived in the humid lowlands of Mexicos Gulf coast during the Early and Middle Formative periods of Mesoamerica, from about 1200–400 BCE. They were great artists and talented engineers who had a complex religion and worldview. Although much information about the Olmecs has been lost to time, archaeologists have succeeded in learning much about their culture from excavations in and around the Olmec homeland. Among the interesting things they have learned is the fact that the Olmec were diligent traders who had many contacts with contemporary Mesoamerican civilizations. Mesoamerican Trade Before the Olmec By 1200 BCE, the people of Mesoamerica- present-day Mexico and Central America- were developing a series of complex societies. Trade with neighboring clans and tribes was common, but these societies did not have long-distance trade routes, a merchant class, or a universally accepted form of currency, so they were limited to a down-the-line sort of trade network. Prized items, such as Guatemalan jadeite or a sharp obsidian knife, might well wind up far from where it was mined or created, but only after it had passed through the hands of several isolated cultures, traded from one to the next. The Dawn of the Olmec One of the accomplishments of Olmec culture was the use of trade to enrich their society. Around 1200 BCE, the great Olmec city of San Lorenzo (its original name is unknown) began creating long-distance trade networks with other parts of Mesoamerica. The Olmec were skilled artisans, whose pottery, stone tools, statues, and figurines proved popular for commerce. The Olmecs, in turn, were interested in many things that were not native to their part of the world. Their merchants traded for many things, including raw stone material such as basalt, obsidian, serpentine and jadeite, commodities such as salt, and animal products such as pelts, bright feathers, and seashells. When San Lorenzo declined after 900 BCE, it was replaced in importance by La Venta, whose merchants used many of the same trade routes followed by their forebears. Olmec Economy The Olmec needed basic goods, such as food and pottery, and luxury items such as jadeite and feathers for making ornaments for rulers or religious rituals. Most common Olmec â€Å"citizens† were involved in food production, tending fields of basic crops such as maize, beans, and squash, or fishing the rivers that flowed through the Olmec homelands. There is no clear evidence that the Olmecs traded for food, as no remains of foodstuffs not native to the region have been found at Olmec sites. The exceptions to this are salt and cacao, which were possibly obtained through trade. There appears to have been a brisk trade in luxury items such as obsidian, serpentine and animal skins, however. The Gulf Coast Olmec blossomed at a time when there were at least four other islands of expanding civilization in Mesoamerica: the Soconusco, the Basin of Mexico, the Copan Valley, and the Valley of Oaxaca. The Olmec trading practices, traced through the movement of goods produced or mined elsewhere, are key to understanding the Early and Middle Formative histories of Mesoamerica. Characteristics of the Olmec trading network include: baby-faced figurines (essentially, portable versions of the Olmec stone heads);distinctive white-rimmed blackware pottery and Calzadas Carved wares;abstract iconography, especially that of the Olmec dragon; andEl Chayal obsidian, a translucent to transparent banded black volcanic stone. Olmec Trading Partners The Mokaya civilization of the Soconusco region (Pacific coast Chiapas state in present-day Mexico) was nearly as advanced as the Olmec. The Mokaya had developed Mesoamericas first known chiefdoms and established the first permanent villages. The Mokaya and Olmec cultures were not too far apart geographically and were not separated by any insurmountable obstacles (such as an extremely high mountain range), so they made natural trade partners. The Mokaya adopted Olmec artistic styles in sculpture and pottery. Olmec ornaments were popular in Mokaya towns. By trading with their Mokaya partners, the Olmec had access to cacao, salt, feathers, crocodile skins, jaguar pelts and desirable stones from Guatemala such as jadeite and serpentine. Olmec commerce extended well into present-day Central America: there is evidence of local societies having contact with the Olmec in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. In Guatemala, the excavated village of El Mezak yielded many Olmec-style pieces, including jadeite axes, pottery with Olmec designs and motifs and figurines with the distinctive ferocious Olmec baby-face. There is even a piece of pottery with an Olmec were-jaguar design. In El Salvador, many Olmec-style knick-knacks have been found and at least one local site erected a man-made pyramid mound similar to Complex C of La Venta. In the Copan valley of Honduras, the first settlers of what would become the great Maya city-state of Copn showed signs of Olmec influence in their pottery. In the basin of Mexico, the Tlatilco culture began to develop about the same time as the Olmec, in the area occupied by Mexico City today. The Olmec and Tlatilco cultures evidently were in contact with one another, most likely through some sort of trade, and the Tlatilco culture adopted many aspects of Olmec art and culture. This may have even included some of the Olmec gods, as images of the Olmec Dragon and Banded-eye God appear on Tlatilco objects. The ancient city of Chalcatzingo, in present-day Morelos of central Mexico, had extensive contact with La Venta-era Olmecs. Located in a hilly region in the Amatzinac River valley, Chalcatzingo may have been considered a sacred place by the Olmec. From about 700–500 BCE, Chalcatzingo was a developing, influential culture with connections with other cultures from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The raised mounds and platforms show Olmec influence, but the most important connection is in the 30 or so carvings that are found on the cliffs that surround the city. These show a distinct Olmec influence in style and content. Importance of Olmec Trade The Olmec were the most advanced civilization of their time, developing an early writing system, advanced stonework and complicated religious concepts before other contemporary societies. For this reason, the Olmec had a great influence on other developing Mesoamerican cultures with which they came into contact. One of the reasons the Olmec were so important and influential- some archaeologists, but not all, consider the Olmec the mother culture of Mesoamerica- was the fact that they had extensive trade contact with other civilizations from the valley of Mexico well into Central America. The significance of the trade is that the Olmec cities of San Lorenzo and La Venta were the epicenter of the trade: in other words, goods such as Guatemalan and Mexican obsidian came into Olmec centers but were not traded directly to other growing centers. While the Olmec declined between 900–400 BCE, its former trading partners dropped the Olmec characteristics and grew more powerful on their own. Olmec contact with other groups, even if they did not all embrace the Olmec culture, gave many disparate and widespread civilizations a common cultural reference and a first taste of what complex societies might offer. Sources Cheetham, David. Cultural Imperatives in Clay: Early Olmec Carved Pottery from San Lorenzo and Cantà ³n Corralito. Ancient Mesoamerica 21.1 (2010): 165–86. Print.Coe, Michael D, and Rex Koontz. Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. 6th Edition. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2008Diehl, Richard A. The Olmecs: Americas First Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson, 2004.Rosenswig, Robert M. Olmec Globalization: A Mesoamerican Archipelago of Complexity. The Routledge Handbook of Archaeology and Globalization. Ed. Hodos, Tamar: Taylor Francis, 2016. 177–193. Print.