Celia, A Slave Essays - Celia, , Term Papers

Celia, A Slave Brad Brink Prof. Wheeler History 221 November 20, 2000 Moral Dilemmas of Celia, A Slave Melton McLaurin's book Celia, A Slave is the account of the trial, conviction, and execution of a female slave for the murder of her master in 1855. The author uses evidence compiled through studying documents from Callaway County, Missouri and the surrounding area during the middle of the Nineteenth Century. Although much of what we can determine about this event is merely speculation, we are able to guess the motives that contribute to the way in which many of the events unfold. Because of the details of the trial, many of the people involved probably faced several difficult decisions that led to the outcome of the trial. During the 1850s the United States was involved in a heated debate over the issue of slavery. Many of the residents of Missouri and nearby Kansas were fighting for or against the institution of slavery. The outcome of this trial was important because it could have a tremendous affect upon the way the legal system in Missouri viewed the rights of slaves, and the ways in which they would be forced to interpret the laws of the State in regard to how they where to apply to slaves. The first of the main characters we are introduced to is Celia's master, Robert Newsom. Mr. Newsom was a wealthy landowner in Callaway County. In 1850, after the death of his wife, Robert Newsom purchased a fourteen year old slave girl from nearby Audrain County. The purpose, as far as McLaurin can tell for her purchase was as a replacement for Robert Newsom's wife. From the time that Newsom first acquires Celia, he begins to rape her on a regular basis. Although it was generally accepted as being morally wrong for a slave master to sexually abuse a slave, Robert Newsom seems to view her as his property, to do with as he pleased rather than as a human being. So the first of many ethical decisions is made, as Robert Newsom begins an unauthorized sexual relationship with his slave which lasts five years until his death in the summer of 1855. There is no way to know much about the sexual history of Celia before she met Robert Newsom, in fact McLaurin states that really nothing is know about her before 1850. Due to her young age, there is a very good possibility that her first sexual experience was with Newsom. Regardless of whether or not she was a virgin, the constant series of rapes by her master was sure to have a tremendous psychological affect upon her. It was this trama, combined with pressure from her boyfriend, another of Newsom's slaves named George, that drove her to decide to forcefully resist Robert's sexual advances toward her. Now we see her predicament, either continue to suffer his violations and lose the man she loves, or fight back and risk losing her life. When she decides to attack him as he enters her cabin on the night of June 23, she ends up killing him. Now in an effort to save her own life, she disposes of the body by burning it in her fireplace, rather than confessing to her crime and facing her punishment. The next day, as the search begins for Robert Newsom, some of Robert's friends and family begin to interrogate George. George denies any knowledge of the fate of Newsom at first, but eventually hints that Celia may have killed Newsom. So he makes his decision between protecting Celia for committed a crime which he helped to provoke, or to protect himself. Unfortunately he chooses self-preservation over the woman he loves. Two of Robert Newsom's children, his daughters, Virginia Waynescott and Mary Newsom still resided in his home. Although there is no evidence to suggest that they knew about their father's affair with Celia, it is easy to assume that throughout the course of the five years while she resided there, they probably found out that Robert was molesting Celia. However there was probably little they could do to protect her from their father. Both women were financially dependent upon Robert, especially Virginia, who had children to care for. During the 1800s women

buy custom Question Answer Essay Example on Life and Death Issues

buy custom Question Answer Essay Example on Life and Death Issues Nursing Question Answer Essay Example on Life and Death Issues Question 1 What notable differences do you see between the first two autobiographical readings, and the next two reading selections? Answer 1 The first two autobiographical readings substantially differ from the next ones. To begin with, the first two readings concentrate on peoples subjective perceptions of their disabilities. These people do not try to make any generalizations in relation to others. They merely explain their own choices and personal position. The next two readings try to develop some universal approaches that may enable to solve the issues regarding euthanasia in an objective way. Second, the first two readings concentrate on the quality of life as the main criterion determining peoples willingness to continue living. The next two readings focus on religious, moral, and legal issues. They try to determine the objective basis for correct decisions in this sphere.

Christianity in the later Roman Empire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Christianity in the later Roman Empire - Essay Example Christianity has its own struggles before it became the widely accepted and practiced religion in the world. Its history has its own share of historical significance that had made it become more meaningful to its followers. There had been too many stories to tell that eventually made the Christian faith even stronger and richer. Looking into the Christian faith today, it could be drawn from the mere observation of the society at present â€Å"that the most important basis for this development is to be found in the fact that the genuine Roman view concerning the general nature of the supernatural remained a national religiosity of peasantry and patrimonial strata.† (â€Å"The Sociology†) What Christianity offers its believers and followers is with a rich context of human religion that requires the least of his capabilities in honor of the god they now admire and respect. After Christianity had gone through various transitions and reformation; after it had confronted and overcome all the challenges that it had faced, what results is a polished, spiritually stimulating and that is more universally accepted and acclaimed. The Christian religion has not only taught the purest and sublimest code of morals ever known among men, but actually exhibited it in the life sufferings, and death of its founder and true followers. (â€Å"Literary Contest†)"Literary Contest") Religio from Superstitio In the Roman context, religio is defined as the "proper reasonable awe of the gods." ("Reclaiming") The primary characteristics of the Roman tradition were conserved virtually unchanged in ritual practices. Looking at its historical context, Roman religio was associated into two derivations such as "religare," which means to tie, "relegere," which is to consider, that is tied with tested cultic formulae and a consideration for "numina" or spirits - which are active everywhere. ("The Sociology") Every member of the Roman Empire is acquainted with his or her duty regarding the traditional rituals that constituted religio even if the nature of the gods whom they offer these rituals is vague. Romans in the ancient Rome had continued to perform rites and rituals in honor of the gods they have traditionally praised. "Religio meant fulfilling an understood contractual relationship with the gods. It involved acts, rather than beliefs; it centered on cult, instead of theology." ("Reclaiming") Life in the case of the Roman was spent under conditions of austere restraint, and, the nobler he was, the less he was a free man. All-powerful custom restricted him to a narrow range of thought and action; and to have led a serious and strict or, to use the characteristic Latin expressions, a sad and severe life, was his glory. No one had more and no one had less to do than to keep his household in good order and manfully bear his part of counsel and action in public affairs. But, while the individual had neither the wish nor the power to be aught else than a member of the community, the glory and the might of that community were felt by every individual burgess as a personal possession to be transmitted along with his name and his homestead to his posterity; and thus, as one generation after another was laid in the tomb and each in succession added its fresh contribution to the stock of ancient honors, the collective sense of dignity in the noble families of Rome swelled into that mighty civic pride, the like of which the earth has never seen again, and the traces of which, as strange as they are grand, seem to us, wherever we meet them, to belong as it were to another world. It was one of the characteristic peculiarities of this powerful sense of citizenship, that it was, while not suppressed, yet compelled by the rigid simplicity and equality that prevailed among the citizens to remain locked up within the breast during life, and was only allowed to find expression after death; but then it was displayed in the funeral rites of the

A Culture of Collaboration among the Community Members Case Study - 11

A Culture of Collaboration among the Community Members - Case Study Example There are five disciplines of learning in an organization. The first is the personal mastery this is individual learning; no organization can learn until the members start to learn. One must define what he or she is trying to achieve (Easterby 2001). In the case example, when Charlotte was 27 years old she had an idea for a weekly magazine. Being a journalist, she had the right knowledge on how to run the business. She defined what she was trying to achieve and provided the first discipline of learning to the organization she was going to form. By approaching the businesspersons, she had seen how close she was to her goal, which was to start a weekly magazine (Teri 2000). Anyone who came to work in the organization was young, and mostly just out of college. Under the leadership of Ifeoma and Charlotte, they became a hard-working group with everyone unleashing the creative energy in them. The group became a committed and hard working group that was determined to change what was called the â€Å"staid face† of journalism in their country (Teri 2000). The second discipline is the mental model. This is one’s way of examining the universe and must be accurate in the espoused theory and the theory that is in use. What one says should correspond with what the individual does (Easterby 2001). The controversial and thought-provoking stories that were run by the magazine; were run with the writers playing the devil’s advocate. These stories corresponded with the magazine's goals and objectives, which were to shape the social trends among the youth. Judging from the feedback, they got from these stories they had succeeded. The organization had aligned what they were working to achieve with what they did on a daily basis, and this created the foundation for tier success (Teri 2000).   For any team to be successful then it, the team must have several characteristics. The team must have a clear and elevating goal; the goal of the team in the case study was to shape the social trends among the youth (Easterby 2001). The team must have a result driven structure, in the case study the magazine depended on the responses that they got from running their stories in the form of the number of magazines that they sold.  

Are Human Activities Contributing to Climate Change Research Paper

Are Human Activities Contributing to Climate Change - Research Paper Example Since then, man has been moving forward in terms of technological advancement but overlooking the damages it is causing to the Earth’s atmosphere. The greenhouse gases, which occur naturally, absorb the thermal infrared and warm the Earth’s temperature by 63 degrees Fahrenheit. This whole process is known as the Greenhouse Effect. The main greenhouse gases that are present in the Earth’s atmosphere are carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane, nitrous oxide and the ozone. (Maslin, 2007) Carbon dioxide and other green house gases such as methane are added to the earth’s atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels. Previously, the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were in balance but today, human activities are releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at an increasingly high level. The earth’s vegetation has not been able to take in and absorb the excess of carbon dioxide and thus, the atmospheric level of CO2 has increased. Fossil fuels are burnt to create energy for humans in the form of heat, electricity and gas. Apart from making our lives easier, it has also emitted enough carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to cause climate changes. Through the Earth’s natural cycle, large amounts of carbon dioxide are released in and out of the atmosphere annually and so the CO2 levels remained in balance throughout. However; scientists have confirmed that human activities add around 7 billion tonnes of CO2 into the earth’s atmosphere which ends up upsetting the balance. According to research, the trees and the oceans only absorb half of the carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere. The remainder stays in our environment for as long as 100 years. Carbon dioxide is created from fossil fuels through the form of heat and gas. It is also released in natural processes like decay of organic matter. Apart from that, trees release CO2 into the atmosphere but due to deforestation, the absorption of this gas has

Factors Considered in Facility Location

Factors Considered in Facility Location Facility Location is the right location for the manufacturing facility, it will have sufficient access to the customers, workers, transportation, etc. For commercial success, and competitive advantage following are the critical factors: Overall objective of an organization is to satisfy and delight customers with its product and services. Therefore, for an organization it becomes important to have strategy formulated around its manufacturing unit. A manufacturing unit is the place where all inputs such as raw material, equipment, skilled labors, etc. come together and manufacture products for customers. One of the most critical factors determining the success of the manufacturing unit is the location. Facility location is actually a term used in operation management, facility location or location analysis is done so that the better uses of the location can be understood. The company by understanding the materials and production process done nearby the location can save ample time in production process and also save a lot in terms of transportation cost. And also the company can find out optimum position for the location of the company so that all the factors that are needed will be not a long distance from the company. Facility location determination is a critical strategic decision. There are several factors, which determine the location of facility among them competition, cost and corresponding associated effects. Facility location is a scientific process utilizing various techniques. Location Selection Factors For a company which operates in a global environment; cost, available infrastructure, labor skill, government policies and environment are very important factors. A right location provides adequate access to customers, skilled labors, transportation, etc. A right location ensures success of the organization in current global competitive environment. Industrialization A geographic area becomes a focal point for various facility locations based on many factors, parameters and issues. These factors are can be divided into primary factors and secondary factors. A primary factor which leads to industrialization of a particular area for particular manufacturing of products is material, labor and presence of similar manufacturing facilities. Secondary factors are available of credit finance, communication infrastructure and insurance. Errors in Location Selection Facility location is critical for business continuity and success of the organization. So it is important to avoid mistakes while making selection for a location. Errors in selection can be divided into two broad categories behavioral and non-behavioral. Behavioral errors are decision made by executives of the company where personal factors are considered before success of location, for example, movement of personal establishment from hometown to new location facility. Non-behavioral errors include lack of proper investigative practice and analysis, ignoring critical factors and characteristics of the industry. Location Strategy The goal of an organization is customer delight for that it needs access to the customers at minimum possible cost. This is achieved by developing location strategy. Location strategy helps the company in determining product offering, market, demand forecast in different markets, best location to access customers and best manufacturing and service location. Factors Affecting Facility Location If the organization can configure the right location for the manufacturing facility, it will have sufficient access to the customers, workers, transportation, etc. For commercial success, and competitive advantage following are the critical factors: Customer Proximity: Facility locations are selected closer to the customer as to reduce transportation cost and decrease time in reaching the customer. Business Area: Presence of other similar manufacturing units around makes business area conducive for facility establishment. Availability of Skill Labor: Education, experience and skill of available labor are another important, which determines facility location. Free Trade Zone/Agreement: Free-trade zones promote the establishment of manufacturing facility by providing incentives in custom duties and levies. On another hand free trade agreement is among countries providing an incentive to establish business, in particular, country. Suppliers: Continuous and quality supply of the raw materials is another critical factor in determining the location of manufacturing facility. Environmental Policy: In current globalized world pollution, control is very important, therefore understanding of environmental policy for the facility location is another critical factor. Some of the benefits in location analysis include: You get a thorough knowledge of all the factors involved in the production, and ways through which the materials that are needed in the production can easily be accessed. When you do a proper location analysis for your facility you will also come across alternate substitute materials that are readily available and will cost less. You can save a lot on transportation cost for materials, labour, import and export. The materials will be available at a comparatively low cost. The best way to get a task done is by finding out ways through which the task can be done. Location analysis helps you in those aspects. Allows to you differentiate between practical positions to place your facility. Like for example, you cannot build a hazardous facility in a residential area. Gives you access to cheap labour, and needed raw materials like water electricity and many more. Helps in a smooth running of an organization, by seeing to that all that is possibly needed is readily and easily available. Also has very easy access to production, distribution and sale of the products. Allows you to outperform your competitors facilities Once you have found the optimal location then you will very easily overcome all the issues that you are likely to face and have a smooth running of an organization. When you plan accordingly, you will also be prepared to face some minor hindrances. FACILITY LAYOUT For an organization to have an effective and efficient manufacturing unit, it is important that special attention is given to facility layout. Facility layout is an arrangement of different aspects of manufacturing in an appropriate manner as to achieve desired production results. Facility layout considers available space, final product, safety of users and facility and convenience of operations. An effective facility layout ensures that there is a smooth and steady flow of production material, equipment and manpower at minimum cost. Facility layout looks at physical allocation of space for economic activity in the plant. Therefore, main objective of the facility layout planning is to design effective workflow as to make equipment and workers more productive. Facility Layout Objective A model facility layout should be able to provide an ideal relationship between raw material, equipment, manpower and final product at minimal cost under safe and comfortable environment. An efficient and effective facility layout can cover following objectives: To provide optimum space to organize equipment and facilitate movement of goods and to create safe and comfortable work environment. To promote order in production towards a single objective To reduce movement of workers, raw material and equipment To promote safety of plant as well as its workers To facilitate extension or change in the layout to accommodate new product line or technology upgradation To increase production capacity of the organization An organization can achieve the above-mentioned objective by ensuring the following: Better training of the workers and supervisors. Creating awareness about of health hazard and safety standards Optimum utilization of workforce and equipment Encouraging empowerment and reducing administrative and other indirect work Factors affecting Facility Layout Facility layout designing and implementation is influenced by various factors. These factors vary from industry to industry but influence facility layout. These factors are as follows: The design of the facility layout should consider overall objectives set by the organization. Optimum space needs to be allocated for process and technology. A proper safety measure as to avoid mishaps. Overall management policies and future direction of the organization Factors Influencing Location of Industries There are different kinds of industries and each one required different kinds of inputs. Further importance of different inputs varies due to their varying cost or they require in various proportions or ease/difficulty in availability of different inputs or various scale of industrial operation or any such reason. These factors cannot be distributed ubiquitously around the world. The value, bulk, life and care required for different types of produce vary considerably across different type of industries. Similarly different inputs required vary in cost as well as in proportion. Also with changing technology and peoples aspirations the relative importance of these location governing factors changes over time Thus they have different capacity to exert different pull to locate an industry in their favour. Location of Indian Cement Industry Decisions regarding industrial location have a unique place in the fields of industrial management and regional planning because such decisions have long-term implications for the health and well-being of an economy and because they are almost irreversible. Most industries involve huge investments, which generate cash flows over a long period of time and the history testifies that the success of an industry depends significantly upon the appropriateness of its location. Factors Affecting Location Availability of Raw Material The various determinants of the optimum location of a particular industry play varying role in the location of different industries. In the cement industry, availability of raw material and fuel, and transport cost are more significant than the other factors because cement is a weight losing and bulky product. Its weight losing nature argues for location near raw materials while bulkiness favours location near the market. Since Webers (1929) material index (ratio of localized material to output) is more than 1.5 for cement, the net effect of these two factors favours nearness of raw-materials. As a result cement factories are, in fact, located in close proximity to the sources of raw materials. Most cement manufacturing units are established within a radius of 15 to 20 kilometers of limestone deposits. The raw materials required for cement are limestone, clay, and gypsum. Although limestone deposits and clay are available in fairly large quantities all over the country, proximity of railhead is essential for reducing the transportation cost. The availability of gypsum may not affect location for its requirement is only about four per cent. Cement, in most plants in India, is manufactured through the wet process and thus large quantities of water are needed. However, as water is available in good quantities throughout our country, this does not affect location. The only important consideration seems to be the availability of coal since diesel, the alternative source of fuel, is considerably more expensive. The availability of coal pulls the industry towards Bengal and Bihar and, to some extent, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. Regional Demand and Supply The region-wise demand for, and capacity and production of cement in India in 1971, the latest year for which data are available, are presented in Table 1. They indicate that demand is in excess of supply in the Eastern and the Northern regions, while quite the reverse is true for the Western and the Southern regions. An examination of the past data indicated that this trend has been prevailing for long. Thus, the market criterion alone would argue for expansion of cement industry in the Eastern and the Northern regions and for its contraction in Western and Southern regions. Managements Interest The choice of location of a new factory to a certain extent depends on the managements interest in a particular region. If the management has country-wide industrial interest, perhaps this factor would not merit attention in location studies. However, if the management has regional or local industrial interest this factor becomes a decisive one. Both these kinds of managements interest are found in the Indian cement industry. On the one hand, we have Associated Cement Companies Ltd. (ACC) and Dalmia Cement (India) Ltd., whose intersts are country-wide. On the other hand, there are cement firms run by state governments, such as Andhra Cement, Madras Cement, and Orissa Cement, whose interests are limited to its development within their own territories. Since South India possesses more regional entrepreneurs willing to float cement factories at present, the Southern region continues to have more cement factories than other regions. Government Policy For quarrying of limestone, the cement industry has necessarily to depend on the government for lease terms. Besides, encouragement and facilities or discouragement and hindrance from government do exert their influence on location. In the early days, the then princely states encouraged the expansion of the cement industry in their territories. Thus, out of eleven factories existing in 1936 at the time of formation of ACC, as many as five factories were in princely states and in case of one, viz., the Punjab, the Provincial Government was directly interested in capital and management. Recently, the governments have evinced keener interest in developing the cement industry in industrially Cotton Textile Industry Cotton textile industry is one of the oldest industry in the world. Since textiles are one of the basic needs of every person there is always sufficient demand for it. Cotton textile industry requires raw cotton, cheap and large labour pool(automation has reduced its importance in some areas), power, good transport, humid climate (large plant may maintains it artificially) capital, market, etc. Cotton is regarded as nearly pure raw material since it looses very little weight in processing and it is very easy to transport raw cotton and cotton textile with nearly similar cheap rates. Thus the pressure of raw material as seen in the case of iron and steel industry is absent here. Thus other locational factors particularly transport, labour, power and market become important. With good transport facility it can be established anywhere but where power supply present. Development of electricity has reduced its dependency on the source of power supply and automation has diluted the need of skilled large labour pool requirement. Now the considerations of market to link the industry effectively with the consumer and employment generating capacity of this industry are becoming more significant in locating this industry. Initially it was in the form of scattered small and cottage industry but latter with the development of spinning and weaving machinery in England it started getting importance as a large regular industry. Britain was first to had a quick enlargement in production pattern of cotton textile industry with home invented machinery. Due to durability, fineness, uniformity and above all cheapness of produce Britain got prominent position in cotton textile sector of the world by giving local small scale Industries very very tough competition. Iron and Steel Industry Iron and steel is one of the most basic industry since it is a close input to many other types of industries. But the pattern of demand and technological changeshas brought some interesting locational shift in this industry. In early days when the iron smelting technology started getting industrial importance in Europe the demand was low and mostly of local nature. At this juncture charcoal obtained from forest wood was used with lime to make sponge iron. Abundant forest was present everywhere and so small plants were located locally near the forest. This led to dispersion of this industry up to midi eighteenth century. During this time the use of coal in iron smelting gradually started maturing. Attraction to coalfield regions was also governed by then available technology and demand. Forest area started shrinking (about one acre of forest log required to smelt five tone iron) demand for iron increased considerably due to starting of heavy engineering works, required iron ore to coal ratio was 1/8, coal producing regions already had some iron work history and pool of labour required, at some places iron ore was found associated with coal and like factors, all resulted into the establishment and shift of iron industry in coalfield areas. The development of the Appalachian region of North America, Liege in Belgium, the South Wales and the Sheffield region of England, etc. are good examples of attraction of coalfield to iron and steel industry. Since late eighteenth to the end of nineteenth century Coal field enjoyed its position and witnessed heavy development of iron and steel and related industrial agglomeration. During this period it has developed sufficient industrial inertia at many places and thus survived successfully even in twentieth century. But not all coalfields witnessed similar developments Those located in remote areas, sparsely populated area and poorly developed area were remained engaged in exporting coal at cheaper rates. This helped in setting of industries also at coastal locations where iron made with imported raw materials are available for export. Japanese plants and to some extent Vishakhapatnam plant of India belong to this category. In last fifty to hundred years the role of market also become significant. A big market helped in setting large integrated steel plant and in providing scrap iron as raw material to reduce transportation cost. So they also attracted iron and steel plant near to them. Since iron and steel is regarded as one of the most basic industry as an indicator of industrial development of a region and so many region hitherto undeveloped and have some capacity are aspiring for it. Here government policies play very deciding role as seen in the case of the development of iron and steel industries in the Chotanagpur plateau of India which also has many other advantages. Thus location of iron and steel industry in the world has responded effectively to the changing nature of different factors of industrial locations.

A Judgment in Stone, by Ruth Rendell Essay -- Literary Analysis, Ruth

As human beings, our personalities determine our actions. In the novel, â€Å"A Judgment in Stone† by Ruth Rendell, Eunice Parchman and Joan Smith both possess two distinct personalities that fuel their hatred of the Coverdale family. Because of Eunice’s illiteracy and Joan’s insanity, they develop a mutual friendship that proves to be fatal for the Coverdale family. Eunice Parchman’s illiteracy drives her to kill the Coverdale family and leads to the discovery of her crime. Eunice is accused by Rendell of killing the Coverdale family because she cannot read or write (1). Because of the war, Eunice never learned to read, and as a result, she has shut herself out of the world. Rendell states at the opening of the novel, â€Å"Literacy is one of the cornerstones of civilization. To be illiterate is to be deformed. And the derision that was once directed at the physical freak may, perhaps more justly, descend upon the illiterate† (1). Eunice’s feeling of embarrassment in regards to her illiteracy causes her to misjudge the Coverdale famil. She insensitively prejudges their gestures of friendliness towards her as mockery of her illiteracy. Not only does her inability to read cause her to misjudge her victims’ sociability, but it also causes her to have a very limited imagination and little regard for others. Rendell states , â€Å"Illiteracy had dried up her sympathy and atrophied her imagination. That, along with what psychologists call affect, the ability to care about the feelings of others, had no place in her make-up† (42), in reference to Eunice’s heartlessness. Eunice’s hatred for literacy intensifies throughout the novel as she is faced with several tasks that require literacy, the ability that she does not possess. Rendell describes suc... ...ed of the upper class society and by extension the Coverdale family causes them to form a mutual bond which they both benefit from. Rendell describes their relationship, â€Å"Without letting on Eunice thought Joan brilliantly clever, to be relied on for help whenever she might be confronted by reading matter†¦ Without letting on, Joan saw Eunice eminently respectable, a possible bodyguard too if Norman (her husband) should ever attempt to carry out his feeble threat of beating her up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (87). Fate is what brings Eunice and Joan together, and fate is what ultimately brings about the deaths of the Coverdale family. Works Cited Rendell, Ruth. A Judgement in Stone. Vintage; January 4, 2000

Gender Roles in Sports Essay

Gender Roles in Sports Ever since the beginning of the Olympics Games in Greece in 776 B. C. , women have always been put on the back burner when it comes to sports. To this day there are very noticeable differences in women’s sports compared the nature of men’s sports. Women and men alike experience their inequalities in sports. For example, of you were to ask a group of people what they would rather watch: women’s basketball or men’s basketball; generally speaking the majority of the group would favor watching men’s basketball. On the contrary, most individuals would rather watch women’s synchronized swimming as opposed to men’s synchronized swimming. Sports and all things involved are a business. Men playing professional sports get paid drastically more than women playing professional sports. It would be highly unlikely for a woman to get paid a 60 million dollar contract over six years like a man in professional sports would. According to www. therichest. org, soccer player David Beckham is currently worth 219 million dollars. He made 40 million dollars last year. If you compare that to the highest paid women’s athlete, Maria Sharapova, who made over 25 million dollars, this fact proclaims that fans pay drastically more to see males to play professional sports. According to www. therichest. org, the ten highest paid professional women’s athlete made 113 million dollars over the past twelve months, up only one percent from the year 2010. The ten highest paid, professional male sports athletes collectively made 449 million dollars. The reason they set up the Olympics Games like they did in 776 B. C. , by not allowing to participate or even watch, is because the spectators wanted to only have the strongest, fastest, and most durable to play and even witness the games. The games were a tribute to the Greek God Zeus. The people of Greece wanted to show Zeus the best of the best in their society. People don’t want to watch women play sports just like they don’t want to watch dumb people play chess or jeopardy. It’s logic, not sexism. When you watch the WNBA the most exciting thing you see is a backwards layup or a no look pass. When you watch the NBA, you see a man doing three hundred sixty degree slam dunks and all kinds of other cool tricks that naturally appease the like of their fans. The dynamic presence of men doing what women can’t inevitably draw’s a bigger crowd. Contact sports especially have a really addictive and enticing nature about them that women’s sports simply don’t have. All these aspects of contact driven sports are masculine, testosterone driven traits that are unlike the nature of women. This is the main reason their participation is absent and men dominate the sports fan’s wants. Gender inequality in sports has always been a growing problem up until June 23, 1973 when President Nixon signed Title IX. This law was a huge victory for women in the fight for equality in sports. â€Å"The law prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity within any institution any type of Federal financial assistance,† according to Duffy. This was women’s first chance to gain legal equality in sports. Women didn’t just get equality from this law, but they also got opportunity for equality. This law addressed the historical discrimination women have faced ever since the beginning of the Olympics first came about in 776 B. C. There is no women’s professional football team or any kind of football league for women. Men are not interested in watching women play the types of sports that men are always going to be better at. The only exception is women’s football where they play wearing lingerie; it’s sick how society works like that. The NBA is in a lock out as this paper is being typed. You can see the progress on the news every day. If the WNBA were to be in a lockout, the chances of it being on the news every day is highly unlikely. There are in fact sports that women are becoming more popular in like golf, gymnastics, figure skating, volleyball, and tennis. These sports complement the shape of a woman’s body. Also, figure skating, volleyball, and gymnastics are sports the women are especially better at due to their elegant figures and different bone structure. The stars of these sports are portrayed as sexy, curvy, graceful, and radiant. Men who are famous with sports like basketball, football, baseball, and soccer are known to be strong, dominant, and masculine. â€Å"The thought was that if women participated in strenuous activity that they would damage their reproductive organs, which would ultimately not fulfill an absurd belief that the primary role of women in society was to have children and care for the men,† heard from the thoughts of Murphy. Women in society in general are the face of modeling and sexy images. Commercials, advertisements, and every day television programs have sexy women posing with whatever it is they are trying to sell. This works the same way with them in sports. Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition has a whole lot of sexy women posing in skimpy swimwear. That goes the same for the sports they’re involved in that are popular. For these reasons, women dominate those sports which lead to their popularity when it came to people watching them. There’s always the stereotype that women are lesbians or dikes for playing sports that require adequate physical strength and endurance. For instance, bodybuilding has always been a man’s sport. Women are always thought to be feminine and when you see a woman who is at least twice your size; judgments go through the roof not only with the judges, but with the audience as well. In Jennifer Banas topic of Women Athletes in Male Dominated Sports, she speaks her mind when saying, â€Å"Now, the contestants should be judged on muscle tone of the body right. Wrong. In order to define which women has the best and most well defined body, the judges feel compelled to define â€Å"body† in relation to â€Å"women. Recalling a time there was a girl at my old high school that graduated and went on to join a volleyball team at a college. After her first visit home, she was utterly disappointed to find her peers had started a rumor about her that she was a lesbian and that’s why she joined the team in the first place. It broke her heart to get that type of support, or lack thereof, from the people she grew up with who fully knew she was never a lesbian. Football is another example of this. If a woman decides she wants to become a football player, she should not have to worry about what her peers are going to say or think about her. She shouldn’t have to worry about being called those names like lesbian and dike if she wants to be a football player. When it comes to being in these competitions with lady football players, the judgments are a bit skewed and distorted due to the fact that men are typically associated with strong and large muscles. So when spectators have to look at a female figure, that has the typical aspects of a male’s figure, it can be a little confusing. The assumptions and discrimination still goes on to this day even if there is a law prohibiting it. It has been an issue since sports were first celebrated on a large scale in Greece 776 B. C. Although society is slowly but surely progressing towards a more open-minded view when it comes to sports, there is always going to be a gap when it comes to overall crowd appeal. Men’s sports are more interesting to watch simply due to the fact that they are better, faster, stronger, and intense. It all boils down to the money, and men’s sports generate more money. For these reasons gender inequality will always be a persisting problem in sports. Work Citied Page Duffy, Felice M. (2000). Twenty-seven years post title ix. http://heinonline. org/ http://serendip. brynmawr. edu/local/scisoc/sports02/papers/emurphy. html http://www. therichest. org/sports/forbes-highest-paid-female-athletes/   http://serendip. brynmawr. edu/local/scisoc/sports02/papers/jbanas. html

Voter Ignorance and the War in Iraq essays

Voter Ignorance and the War in Iraq essays The war in Iraq is viewed as being one of the most controversial decisions of the US foreign policy of the last decade. There have been numerous discussions over the morality of the intervention on a sovereign territory, without the agreement of the United Nations and, in the end, without a plausible reason for attack. Nonetheless, by 2003, the US led coalition had entered Iraq under the argument of the existence of the weapons of mass destruction. Still, to this day, it is a rather questionable issue the actual existence of the weapons; therefore, there is no full legitimacy of the intervention in a sovereign country. In relation to the military reason invoked by the proponents of the war in Iraq, the terrorist threat was also a disturbing aspect that had to be dealt with at the time. Therefore, the quest against the Al Qaeda network became the centerpiece of the military and political endeavors since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Nonetheless, in the American democratic system, the approval of the public opinion is essential for accepting a certain policy. In the matter of the Iraqi war however, it can be argued that the public opinion was somewhat mislead and there was a limited accuracy in the presentation of the actual facts related to terrorism in general and to Al Qaeda in particular. An important part was played by the voter ignorance which allowed politicians to use the public opinion to their own advantage. Thus, it can be said that the general agreement of the war in Iraq presented a distorted image of a public opinion ill informed and misled caught in the middle of a political battle betwe en the Democrats and the Republicans. In order to have a proper understanding of the way in which the public opinion and especially the low interest in politics from the American voters was used in the wider equation of justifying the war in Iraq and the fight against Al Qaeda, it is important to take into account several issues that play...

Free Essays on Sexuality In Medieval Literature

, people don’t seem to give the female enough credit because it is the different aspects of sexuality of the female that makes the world go around, while men are the silent characters. In medieval society, the man is the dominant figure, but medieval literature portrays women as having different and versatile roles, which allows them to be the center of the conflict or plot, while the men have limited roles set in stone making them merely puppets in a woman’s world. Sexuality is not only about the sexual nature of both men and women, but it is also about the roles of men and women according to society. A plain and simple way to put men and women in their specific role is to say that a man is masculine and a woman is feminine. They both are supposed to follow their sexuality traits according to those guidelines. The men are very masculine and chivalrous. The man will stay in the boundaries of masculinity because a man will for the fear that he will be viewed by society as weak, but these silly guidelines never control the woman. The woman uses her sexuality for her benefit to get what she wants the way that she wants it. When these men and women deviate from these roles that are considered specifically feminine or masculine, then an interesting and new character is then created. By reading medieval literature one can conclude that... Free Essays on Sexuality In Medieval Literature Free Essays on Sexuality In Medieval Literature Sexuality in Medieval literature Rules of medieval society clearly depict that it is a man’s world, but medieval literature seems to reverse this notion. In medieval text, fiction or non-fiction, the reader can expect the foundations of the characteristics of the main character to be the same. You can expect him to be noble along with a few of his own personality traits, but the character of the woman cannot be predicted. Sexuality in medieval literature restricts the male character, but allows the female character the freedom that is not recognized in real medieval society. In other words, people don’t seem to give the female enough credit because it is the different aspects of sexuality of the female that makes the world go around, while men are the silent characters. In medieval society, the man is the dominant figure, but medieval literature portrays women as having different and versatile roles, which allows them to be the center of the conflict or plot, while the men have limited roles set in stone making them merely puppets in a woman’s world. Sexuality is not only about the sexual nature of both men and women, but it is also about the roles of men and women according to society. A plain and simple way to put men and women in their specific role is to say that a man is masculine and a woman is feminine. They both are supposed to follow their sexuality traits according to those guidelines. The men are very masculine and chivalrous. The man will stay in the boundaries of masculinity because a man will for the fear that he will be viewed by society as weak, but these silly guidelines never control the woman. The woman uses her sexuality for her benefit to get what she wants the way that she wants it. When these men and women deviate from these roles that are considered specifically feminine or masculine, then an interesting and new character is then created. By reading medieval literature one can conclude that...

The relationship between religious traditions and design in Essay

The relationship between religious traditions and design in architecture - Essay Example The dead were buried inside the walls of the Catacombs – the walls were dug and the dead placed inside after which that space was closed and the name of the person buried was written on the cap closing that space. The Catacombs had great significance to the Christians because they acted as their safe haven where they Christians could practice their religious rites without obstruction. They can as well be compared to Egypt at the time when King Herod went ahead to kills all the new born and Jesus was flown to Egypt to escape being killed since he was a newborn then. Inside the Catacombs were inscribed artworks. These artworks enhanced the faith of the Christians who came to worship in the catacombs. The fact that Martyrs were buried in the Catacombs also acted as a sense of connection to heaven through the martyrs. The Catacombs despite being underground in darkness were a great inspiration to the Christian faithful. This might Gothic structure was constructed by King Louis IX. He was quite devoted to Christianity and decided to build a huge chapel that could house precious relics. The King went about buying holy relics, for instance the crown of thorns among others, to be housed in this chapel. The King also wanted his Kingdom to be landmark for western Christendom. The structural supports are very few on the inside. This was done to create more space for the stained glass. The result is that the internal appearance is greatly beautiful and well lit. Looking up on the roof from the inside reveal the great beauty of the internal structures. The art drawn on the stained glass add to this beauty. The height of this structure is of significance as it is an indication of pointing heavenwards. The relics contained inside also have great significance to the Christian faith. The lower chapel in this structure was dedicated to Virgin Mary the mother of Jesus. She is a significant figure in the Christian faith particularly the Catholics. The

THE AMERICAN EDUCATION SYSTEM Vs. THE EUROPEAN EDUCATION SYSTEM Pre-K Essay

THE AMERICAN EDUCATION SYSTEM Vs. THE EUROPEAN EDUCATION SYSTEM Pre-K to 12 GRADE ONLY - Essay Example Contrast to this, the American education system has a division between the elementary school and secondary school. The elementary school involves nine years of study while secondary school involves four years of study (Well, 2010). Another difference comes in the number of days of schooling. In Europe, it is required that students attend 237 school days while in America; schooling days are required to be 170. The hours that students spend in class in a day also differs. In Belgium, students spend an average of eight hours in school while in America students spend a whole day in school (Emily, 2014). Additionally, the education system of Europe and America differs in the time that one goes to college. In German, students have to choose between vocational training schools and academic preparatory and a tender age of ten. However, this is not the case with America because students do not have to choose between the two schools. The education system of America gives an opportunity for anyone who has finished high school to either join college or the university depending on their performance in high school (Well, 2010). The ways in which private schools are handled in both continents differ. In Europe, most of the private schools that have been put in place are religious while in America, private schools belong to individuals, practitioners, institution or to an organization (Emily, 2014). In addition, the government is involved in the payment of private schools in Europe which is not the case in America. In Europe, the government helps in paying a larger part of fees for students in private schools depending on the location. The government pays 80% in Austria and Denmark, 85% in Norway and 70% in Hungary. However, this is not the case in America because parents of students are the ones who pay for all the fees if their children are in private schools. The number of students who attend higher education also differs