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In order to fully grasp the wage gap predicament in the United States, one must first be able to accurately define the term wage gap. The gender wage gap refers to the difference in income earnings between men and women. This wage gap is only one of the many indicators of the presence of gender inequality within the labor force market participation. One has to be able to clearly differentiate between a gender wage gap and overall income inequality. There are numerous factors that produce a wage discrepancy but for it to be classified as a gender wage gap there must be clear evidence suggesting that there was direct influence by factors directly relating to a person’s gender. This paper talks about the progressive era in women’s rights that started in the 1970s and continues till today (Goldin, 2006). The paper does not only discuss changes in opportunities for women but also provides background into the different evolutionary stages women endured leading up to the revolution (Goldin, 2006). The Quiet Revolution stood apart from the previous 3 phases of change because change was created due to the introduction of dynamic decision making rather than making decisions based purely on statistics. This paper is extremely important because it illustrates that although conditions have improved for women; there is still a noticeable advantage in compensation favoring men (Goldin, 2006).
Get original essayGender inequality in the workforce has developed throughout history. In its early stages women weren’t even allowed to hold jobs. Men instead were seen as the providers of the household and women handled all the household motherly duties. This paper explains how the expectations and participation of women in the workforce has changed over the years (Goldin, 2006). The first evolutionary stage was known as “The Independent Female Worker stage”; this lasted between the late 19th century-1920s. “They were often piece workers in manufacturing or labored in the service sector as domestics and laundresses” (Goldin, pg.13). This stage mostly consisted of young and single women that worked in manufacturing and domestic positions due to the need for men to join the battlefield for World War I. A 15.5% increase of labor productivity from married women was a direct cause of this revolutionary phase. The third stage saw an increase of women in pink-collared positions such as secretaries, nurses, and librarians. A much more elastic labor supply was present in this phase causing the economy to be much more responsive to wage changes. Educational opportunities became more available for women during this phase, however, a great majority of women went to college seeking spouses rather than the primary goal of getting an education. “The Phase III decades were ones of great expansion of the female labor force and also immense strides in modern labor economics” (Goldin, pg.7).
Goldin’s main argument is that the development in women’s labor force participation is due to changes in various factors such as female horizons, identities, and average marrying age. In her own words, Goldin refers to the term “horizon” in the sense that it represents what a woman perceived her lifetime labor force involvement to be at the time and whether it would be for a short period of time or longer. “By expanded horizons, I mean that women more accurately anticipated their future work lives” (Goldin, pg.8). These three phases of revolutionary change preceded the main phase of evolution known as the “Quiet Revolution”. This revolution differentiated from the previous three phases because it was caused by the presence of dynamic decision making rather than making decisions based purely on statistics. New technology such as the introduction of contraceptive technology influenced the female labor participation rate. Birth control pills lowered the number of babies which allowed women to prioritize work and educational opportunities. According to the National Longitudinal Survey (NLS) as cited by Goldin (2006), women were optimistic about their opportunities during this phase. This revolution signaled the main push for equality in the work area for women. They were receiving education at almost the same rate as men and women’s rights was becoming an issue brought to the mainstream media.
Conditions in the workplace have improved for women but there still remains a disparity in wages between men and women. This paper will examine empirical data such as the U.S Department of Labor report that details the comparison in compensation for both men and women over the past 5-6 decades. This data will be analyzed to conclude whether new legislation and policies that have been introduced have benefited women within the work force. This report by the U.S Department of Labor analyzes the reasoning for the disparity in income between Men and Women within our country. The report utilizes data to not only directly analyze the income disparity but also to take a deep look into the factors that affect that disparity. Factors researched include the effects of child birth, the tendency of women to work more part-time positions than men, and women valuing more family friendlier workplaces than men. This report also takes into account the individual choices people tend to make and how it may have an effect on their raw wage.
In his book Rewriting the American Economy: An Agenda for growth and Shared Prosperity, Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz challenges readers with the question “Can the rules of America’s economy be changed to benefit everyone- not just the wealthy?” (Stiglitz, Pg.8). This question challenges the overall presence of pay inequality in the country; The top 1% of wage earners in the country make up 85% of the country’s income growth. Stiglitz answers the research question by stating there is a possibility of changing the rules to benefit everyone. He states “The current situation is a stark picture of a world gone wrong” (pg.4). He refers to failed policies and activities that have allowed the economy to reach this point, “We did not reach this low point overnight, instead it was a buildup of ineffective practices such as weak regulation and financial oversight, a focus on short-term vs long-term growth which rewarded shareholders more than the average household.” (pg.5). Although Stiglitz’s book is aimed towards the overall issue of income inequality, it still ties into the gender wage gap problem. Stiglitz refers to “the lack of wealth-building opportunities for females and in minority communities” (pg.5). One big aspect of the gender wage gap is the lack of opportunities for women.
Women only hold 14% of the country’s executive positions (pg.6). The biggest hindrance to women getting these positions is due in large to a domino effect problem. It starts at the bottom of the work chain and makes its way up to executive positions. Rita McGrath, a professor at Columbia Business School stated the reason for so few female business leaders is "If you don't have women in the pipeline, they are not going to get the top job," (Egan) which reinforces Stiglitz notion that women are not being provided with the same advancement opportunities such as promotions that men are being offered. The topic of gender wage gap can also be loosely compared to the concept of structural racism. Structural Racism is a term that refers to subjecting minorities to fewer opportunities for success in order to lower their chances of succeeding. Not providing females with the same advancement opportunities that men are receiving can also be seen as a structural form of discrimination. In conclusion the change that Stiglitz envisions for America’s economy in this book is realistically impossible. The desire for equal employment and lower costs on people without increased taxation is simply not doable (Rewriting the American Economy: An Agenda for growth and Shared Prosperity, pg.127)
“Early video game concepts date as far back as the 1950’s…”. When people play video games, there nervous system is able to remember better, faster, and easier while also being able to build a better and stronger muscle memory. Brains are constantly taking in the environment around them, building templates every time the brain sees something, new or the same it sees everyday, the brain updates it templates and saves it into its memory and builds onto its templates as they see things, anything. Brains are able to look at the word in video games and build a template of the game just like it does in real life situations. Playing video games has been a controversial topic with regards to its effects on human intelligence, but it is worth exploring the question, 'Does technology make us smarter?' in this essay.
Get original essayBrian's are able to exceed in spatial reasoning and use image manipulation to remember somethings and have an active imagination, as people grow up they tend to loss there active imagination. Some games require gamers to go negatively into the unknown, meaning gamers go further into new games unknowingly of the outcome, but since the gamers are game smart they can go finish the game with smart intentions. Brain’s are able to predict what would come next, so they are prepaired for what could enivently happen, weather it be in a video game or in real life. Playing video games could improve listening skills, communication skills, driving and surgery skills, surgery skills for surgeons to get some practice, depending if you play the game right and play to learn then you can learn from the game. There are games that you have to listen very carefully to, and to make the right choices, for example to save someone's life in the game or not to save them, to trust someone or not to trust them. There are driving simulation games, and surgery games, that anyone could play and learn from. Games could show us how to be healthier by playing a game that we take care of a character in the game, for example, The Sims in the game you take care of characters in the game by giving them there needs and helping them get there needs fulfilled. Games could help us engage faster and easier into things, in the game or engage into something in real life. Games could help with learning techniques to use for real life, for example in Detroit: becoming human it shows that robots can be kind, and how if you are kind to them they will be kind back, this could be used in real life by being kind to others. The biggest thing that video games help with is learning, they help with learning anything your heart desires and can connect what our brains learned from playing a game and put it into real life and the other way around. Games can have others work together and improve their leadership skills, improve team-building skills and communication skills. There are games of strategy that could help the world of humans build their strategy skills. The kids that play video games, are proven to be more intelligent than kids that play outside, the kids that play video games establish a hand- eye-correlation, faster than the kids that would grow up playing outside. Brains are always developing and growing all the time. Games can help brain’s practice technological literacy.
Gamers brains become faster in resolving conflicts and processing situations. There has been many brain scans that show video games affect the parietal lobe, frontal lobe, and the anterior cingulate, in a good way. Video games are more than just an adrenaline rush, they help improve ranges of tasks. The better learners they are the faster paced action games they can play and understand. Latest research can now show that most parents are thankful that there children are addicted to video games and are excelling in school. Some mental facilities are now starting to develop some moderate gamers in their clinics to help people that they care for. A Harvard neurologist, named Howard Gardner, says that gamers can become picture smart. There are games that have player driven choices, which have consequences to the character and changes the ending of the story based on how the gamer plays. There are games that allow players to customize their character the way they want. There are games that have exercise, empathy, and ethics in them and gamers get to use these skills in real life.
Although, on the flip side there are many people that agree that playing video games make you smarter there are some people that disagree. Do not expect any improvement from playing video games, grades, concentration, driving and other cognitive abilities will not improve. Boot and two other colleges have found various flaws in other studies, and could not replicate there results. Ferguson has concluded that other researchers has concluded there studies before data was put in. Bavelier and Green says that there is no black and white answer. The recent findings has conflicted studies of others, weather it be positive or negative, researchers all agree that they are not done. “Don't sit down and play a game, go for a walk” (Kaczor).
There has been numerous of experiments done in the recent years that show improvement from other research taken in the past. Gaming will increase a brains function, improve problem solving, memory, reasoning, and attention span. A game that improves problem solving for example would be angry birds, while puzzles help improve Brain function. RPG stands for Role Playing Games and they help improve strategy, reasoning, problems solving, and logic. Brains are able to predict what will come next, in game and in real life. Brains learn from video games and games can help improve listening skills, driving skills, communication, and surgery skills. Video games create a challenging and puzzling environment for anyone to learn from. A survey was taken in Australia that agrees with others and says yes to playing video games. They got 12,004 students from 772 schools together online and played together online. The students they survived and got together score higher in math, science, and reading. While these students were getting higher scores, the kids that spent most of their time on social media scored had lower in these same topics (Anderton).
So in conclusion, the benefits out way the negative outcomes.
Does the American Dream still exists? After reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s famous Nickel and Dimed Adam Shepard was frustrated to accept the hopeless future of the working class of America. He wanted to prove that one can make something out of nothing and show that the American Dream is still achievable.
Get original essayTo prove that the American Dream still exist, he set a goal to get a car, live in a furnished home, and have $2,500 after one year without using any of his previous contacts and work history. All just to prove that hard work is a way out of poverty and America is a hopeful place for low-income, he decided to live as homeless. Naturally, at the end of the year, he was successful at meeting his version of the American Dream by owning a working automobile, a furnished apartment, and a total of $5,000 in cash.
Shepard takes advantage of every possible helps that he can take as no one. Throughout his book, he talks about how he was surprised to learn about services that are available for the homeless to get back on track. Shelters assigned homeless to caseworkers who helps and guides for them to restart their lives (Shepard 34). Caseworkers also supply clothing to exchange from Goodwill, towel and a bar of soap, vouchers, and a letter to give to the Department of Social Services to allow for food stamps (Shepard 34). They provide a place to stay, a place to clean, and a place to eat.
Shepard concludes that showing good attitude and setting a goal are the most critical factors to improve one’s state of life. After one of his caseworkers, Kazia, advised to him to set a goal and take initiative, Shepherd and his friend James think about a lady who was homeless, but found a way out of poverty by focusing on her goal (Shepard 90). With belief that he can also success at ending poverty, Shepard focus on finding a permanent job. Shepard first had troubles finding a permanent job because he was living in the shelter, and he wasn’t showing enough desperation to the interviewers. After his friend gave advice about showing more aggressive attitude, Shepard was able to put himself to the real world and finally able to found a permanent job (Shepard 93).
At the end, he was able to reach his goal, and proved that his version of the American Dream is possible. His dedication and sets of clear purpose with help of surroundings allowed him to achieve his goal of this project, which resultant of him, believing that America is still one of the hopeful countries for the working class.
Although Shepard starts off with only $25 and a blank resume, he had few advantages: a good health and no debt to repay. Not everyone starts in the same place. As Sophie Jaggie, a blogger for JOIN, a support group for those who are experiencing homelessness, explains people become homeless for many different reasons: mental or medical problems, result of a catastrophic event or sudden life change (Jaggi). The chances are one is either physically or mentally not able to work or one must be paying back their debts and interests rather than saving to start a new life. Shepard was healthy enough to work, and had no debt to repay.
For Shepard, this was nothing more than a project, a project to prove that one can get out of poverty if and only if they just work harder. He didn’t had to deal with family issues while trying to get away from poverty. But in reality, people have to take care of their surroundings, goes through the stress and hardship while taking care of their financial status. “35% of all homeless persons nationwide are families with children”. Taking care of oneself is a piece of cake compared to taking care of a family of four while trying to make sure they have a roof above their head. Of course, hard work is a key to a success. But it's not always so easy if one has to take care of more than him or herself.
Lastly, issue of attitude and working hard is an issue after one finds a place to work. Shepard was very lucky that he found a permanent job; however, finding a job is not a guarantee for every homeless. Even though one has a great personality and good attitude like Shepard do, many homeless face challenges and difficulties by the society. Many people still share opinion and prejudice toward homeless people. In chapter 4, Shepard talks about his experience with a baby-clothing-shop owner who took advantage of his work and made him feel like useless. At the end of the service time, she even checks his and his fellow homeless friends’ bags to check if they stole any of the baby clothings. Her being an example, society tends to outcasts and rejects homeless to be around. Society’s prejudice makes it very hard for the homeless to find a place to work.
As a manager of a hospitality business, what can I do for the employees? I thought a lot about this question while reading the book. What can I do for my former or current homeless employees and what can I do for my employees in general?
One thing for sure, I want our facility to be a place where my employees truly feel like they could and wants to return every morning. I want all of my employees to feel that they are welcomed in the facility. I want to make sure that each one of them feels they are appreciated to work with. I want them to say good morning and thank you for each others. There should be no discrimination based on their race, sex, age, and financial status. No one should feel they feel useless and taken advantage by our facility.
Secondly, I would set up personal meetings with my employees. These meetings will allow employees to set their future goals and share their concerns with me. I want our facility to help individuals’ life to be better even if they choose to leave our facility at some point. We could share their current situation, such as family issues, and their future concerns. Knowing the individuals would be a crucial for me as a manager. I want to be there when one of my employees is having a hard time. If they need help with their family, I should know and help them.
Since its creation, Greek tragedy has created a pattern of particular events. Not just politically speaking, but also diving deep in themes that include divine thought and interaction of humans as brothers or enemies to death. Sophocles’ Ajax is no exception to that reasoning, treating themes like political hegemony and the truth behind one of the biggest “dark pages” in human history: Justice. But was it Ajax’s story is an example on how justice and forgiveness can make triumph during a human conflict? In this essay will be treated an analyzed every subject exposed in the play and using references from all over the world we will discover whether there exists (or existed, as we’d like to think) real justice in our time (or in Sophocles’).
Get original essayBeing performed in 445 B.Sc. the play represents the events occurred after Iliad and it can be said that it was made by Sophocles’ boiling humanism and his deep interest in “human drama”. This goes from the ideal possibility of oneself and putting the human being in the center of the action and developing, through him, all the events, as well as considering human emotion (fear, pain, love…) and its everlasting interaction with characters’ environment. This is given by the fact that even after Ajax’ death, he is still interacting with his comrades and enemies by the drama of his own sepulchre. In the same rough laws of the father (omois autois nómois patrós) needed is to tame it and make it similar to its true nature.
This is said by Ajax possessed by pain and insanity referring to his son. The mention of laws as an active formative element of oneself is one of Sophocles’ deepest themes and inspirations in the play. His interest became focused on the event that unlocked the protagonist’ craziness and the different perspectives on which the event was valued through time; the consequences that this process implied for Ajax, according to Sophocles’ vision of tragedy and the ideas that can be taken from this to the history of the city. The play gets in the action after the trial of Ajax against Odysseus in which the last one goes out victorious. Defeated Ajax has revenge desires inside him and so he goes to the Odysseus’ camp at night to take vengeance on his troops, which he means to kill while asleep, but the goddess Athena stop his enterprise by giving him a passenger craziness that makes him confuse humans and cows. After waking up from his insanity, and realizing the complexity of his situation (almost ridiculous) he decides to commit suicide. The drama is not ended with this, but with the conflict between the Atrids (which do not desire Ajax to be given a proper sepulchre as they consider him a traitor) and his half-brother that is willing to fight for the burial of the hero. The shocking intervention of Odysseus on favour of the deceased prevents the Atrids from dishonoring the corpse, achieves acceptance from Ajax’ half-brother and make Ajax’ right to a proper sepulchre prevail.
As said before, the play’s major theme is justice and its consequences on the life of the hero and afterwards, his death. It can be considered as a way of evoking the thought in people by Sophocles that ancient Greece really had a debt with justice. But this is not necessarily true. If we analyze in the play the figure of Odysseus (one of the most introverted characters) we can almost instantly see that Sophocles thinks of Odysseus as a much nobler character that other Homeric poets in their respective plays. With that said, we can really think that if Sophocles’ perception about Odysseus was true, then even with a manipulated trial were everyone judged as themselves and did not make an impartial judgment (the slaves judged as slaves, the goddesses also did the same thing) there was still a sense of justice. Both sides were equally right. Basically speaking there were two different types of heroism both valid. Also can be said that most of the subjects in the play have something to do with the struggle of a fallen hero that carries the weight of all the people around him in his own shoulders and still do not run away or is a victim of fear.
Many academics of the play focused in taking an accurate significance to the historical events that influenced the play, most of them related with the debates in Athens about the reforms made in the legislation of the city. We can also consider Ajax as a symbolic representation of Athens against Sparta and Argos and an allusion of what the future of Themistocles would be (a contemporary citizen of Athens). Ajax’ insanity can be considered also merely political because he understood that the distortion with which the world watched the hero was related with his extreme sense of moral and with his vision of external problems from a total self-sufficient and human perspective; this means, from a political perspective. In other way of seeing it, the tragic poet is sending a religious message since the beginning of the play when at the end of Ajax’s life we realize that is not human judgment that has made his tragic end. It was divine judgment that has doomed him.
The play exemplifies with great success the Golden Age of Athens by defining a story were democracy rules the set in every moment and the resources of the other allied empires are given (with or without previous approbation) to the city that holds on the weight of all of its inhabitants and supports their lives. Also adverting that Ajax was one of the most politically compromised plays of the author as a wake-up call on the problems of ethic fundamentals and socio-political structure in Athens, manifested through the failures of Ajax’s interests and Atrids’. Just being won by another point of view (Odysseus).
It all resumes in how enemies can be friends and how a political unfair judgment can find a way of being solved in ancient society. Not by laws or pompous procedures but as brothers. It is very clear for Sophocles; the only way of making peace is to understand each other’s pain.
Something we are all drawn to find out and question about: when will I find my soulmate? Is there one waiting for me or I’m really meant to meet my soulmate in this life? While questioning about it, many forget or don’t even realize we have many soulmates in this life, and the person doesn’t have to be our lover or spouse. It could be our best friend, our colleague or even someone who comes into our lives at a certain moment when we need them the most just to leave us after the help was offered. That’s the sign that their mission is over and we have to continue on separate ways.
Get original essayIt is believed that a soulmate is a person who is aligned with your soul and inner self, and comes to challenge you in becoming more connected with yourself and aware of who you are and what your purpose is in this life. If they succeed in this task, soulmates move on and usually they split ways physically. On the other hand, a life partner is a good friend, caring and loving person who supports you in your endeavors, and is definitely someone who you can trust and lean to receive help throughout this life. You share love and emotions for this person, have common visions and dreams, and are usually in perfect sync with each other's needs and wants. Seeing things from this perspective, one might want a life partner rather than a soulmate, although many of us think a soulmate is what we actually want.
While having your soulmate by your side it’s a great thing, it’s important to acknowledge they will leave at some point when the moment is right. You might not feel like it’s time to let go and create frustration and sadness when this happens, but know that this is happening with a reason and for your higher good. If you haven’t learned the lessons to be learned, then another soulmate might appear in your life to help you transcend to a higher level of consciousness, or you will repeat the relationship in another life in slightly similar circumstances.
People always wondered if there is a direct connection between the way we choose our partners and our past lives, and the way we choose to communicate our feelings and emotions. Wanting to know the answer to this question has brought me to Barbara Y. Martin’s book, Karma and Reincarnation: Unlocking Your 800 Lives to Enlightenment, in which she talks about the different ways we choose to return to a certain person when we reincarnate. It’s fascinating to see that reincarnation does exist and most of the time we choose to return in other body trying to pick up where we left in our previous life. We do so because we need to heal our karma and work towards a predefined goal, one we chose before our birth.
Most of the times, when we are asking for our soulmate to come into our lives, is actually waiting for a life partner to stay by and give us a helping hand when we need it. Soulmates really exist, but they are meant to come in our lives when we are ready to receive them and learn the lessons we need to learn, not to stay with us for the rest of our lives, as the fairy tales stories made us believe. A soulmate will uplift your soul and spirit, teach you why you were born in this world and help you connect with your higher self in a very profound way. With the help of your soulmate, you will come to discover who you really are and honor your true self, learning to follow your intuition and choose the best path in your life. It’s only up to you to decide if you are looking and wanting a soulmate, or are you rather wishing to have a life partner alongside.
Precision Castparts Corp. (PCC) is a global manufacturer of multifaceted products and metal components that serves varied aerospace and general industrial needs. PCC is focused on producing investment casting for power generation and aerospace customers. Filtration is a key requirement for any operation confined within the manufacturing sector. This capstone project proposal seeks to address filtration crisis faced by PCC by designing an apparatus for evaluating the performance of casting filters.
Get original essayAccording to PCC Structurals, PPC produces industrial pumps for handling fluids for wide variety of target customers’ needs, along with after purchase services. Further, the company manufactures refiner plates, refiner rebuilds and screen cylinders for the paper and pulp industry. These production processes involves integration of numerous raw materials with substantial production of byproducts (PCC Structurals). These unwanted materials have to be separated from the desired inputs in order to guarantee a cost effective and quality product that will meet the industrial as well as market standards. Separation of these materials is aided by filters which are prone to reduced efficiency attributed to wear, tear and clogging (Li, 2010). Thus, it is critical to design an apparatus that will periodically evaluate the performance of castings filters in order to ensure that only desired materials are used in the manufacturing process.
Kuang et al. (2012) affirm that majority of manufacturing firms apply automated filter testers and component systems in ensuring that their operations complies with varied regulations and testing standards. These regulations are formulated by various stake-holders in the manufacturing industry and they serve to steward operations in the sector to ensure that they are consistent with the structural, mechanical and chemical properties required for their effective use. According to Furuuchi et al. (2010), the design of filter testing solutions should be such that the filtration efficiency of air filters and other media, including respiratory effects, very high efficiency filters, protective garments and cartridges is measured with ease. Li (2010) alludes that most of the apparatus used to determine the efficiency of castings use either monodisperse or sodium chloride aerosol which has a higher capacity of separating materials depending on the basis of particle size.
The project will entail the design of a reliable, durable and automated filter testing device with minimal maintenance requirement. The design of the apparatus will be such that it can be easily integrated into high volume production lines which are rampant in PCC Structurals. The project aims at achieving a 99.999-percent testing efficiency by integrating the hardware of the instrument with a properly coded program that will have the capacity of transforming the device into a stand-alone apparatus. The operation of the machine will depend on monodisperse particles whose function will be determining the most penetrating particle size (MPPS) in the range of 15-800 nm (Kuang et al., 2012). For effective determination of MPSS, the project aims at combining dual Condensation Particle Counter (CPCs) with an Electrostatic Classifier. The apparatus will feature a polydisperse oil aerosol generator a property that will make it a perfect choice for PCC Structurals since it have numerous high efficiency filters (Kulkarni, Baron, & Willeke, 2011).
The project will have a timeframe of 6 months to give the designer an ample time to design, detail and produce relevant drawings to aid in casting the apparatus. A significant amount of time will be dedicated to coding a program that will be consistent with the hardware specification in order to ensure that the project objectives are meet.
There is a myth of “domestic analogy” in idealism. Domestic analogy says that states are like a “society of individuals”, relations between individuals and relations between states are similar to each other. Therefore, a nation state is not just a political, but also a social space. If the state is organized in a good way, then it can organize its domestic social relations that moral progress can occur within. The good way addresses democracy for all states because it is the least oppresive and the most free way of ruling. Democracy is government by the people, so the voice of a democratic state is really the collective voice of its society. Idealism believes that states that are not run by democracy are the main reasons of violance in the World today. Democratic states are believed to have an influence over those bad governments and this process will end up with the creation of an international democratic society. So, democratic domestic dynamics will create a one big collective international society.
Get original essayCommunication is the key to create the international society. Communication between good people will show that there are common benefits from acting for the collective good.
On July 2nd, satellitewstationswnoticed anwinterferencewin theirwsystems and the scientists and militarywbelievewthat it iswcaused bywmeteors. Soonwtheywrealizewthat it isworiginated fromwthewMoonwbywa hugewspacecraft. No one knew the purpose of the alien force. The scientist David Levinsonwdiscoverswthat thewaliens arewpreparing thewinvasion of Earth, destroyingwthe humanwspecies, andwhe succeedswinwreporting to the President of the United States, Thomas J. Whitmore. Withwan inferiorw technology, Whitmore decide to give a chance to Levinson's plan of downloading a virus in the computer of the alien spacecraft as the last chance of Earth to survive.
Looking at its scenerio, Independence Day looks like a regular science-fiction movie. But there are several parts in the movie that is directly related to the concepts of idealism. The movie is has the right scenes for telling Charles Kegley’s idealist theory of international cooperation specifially in the post-Cold War era.
Starting from the opening scene, where there is a flag of United States on the moon, and moments laters the camera focuses on the signboard by US austranouts says ““We came in peace for all mankind.” The film shows many clues about Kegley’s theory even in the opening scene where there is emphasizes on the words “peace” and “all mankind”. Even from the opening scene, the movie makes references systematically to the idealist theory of “there is an international society.”
There are 4 main characters happened to be heroes of the movie: President Bill Whitmore, David, Steve and Russell. The president is a veteran fighter pilot from the Gulf War. He is young and liberal and he has a strong morality. President Whitmore represents the incorruptibility of communication, that can be understood from the scene where his wife says to him that “he is a bad liar” and advises him to “stick to the truth, that’s what you’re good at” during the chaos coming from the alien attacks. Second character is David, the scientist. He is divorced from the president’s assistant but he still has a strong commitment to her where we see him still wearing his wedding ring. David is the one who discovered the hidden alien signals. David is a morally good man, he goes to Washington to warn his ex wife and the president. Later in the movie, he will be sending a computer virus to alien ships to disable their communication to protect the World from the alien attack. Another hero in the movie is Russell, he is a drunk and locals laugh at him because he insists that 10 years earlier he was abducted by aliens. However, in the final scenes of the movie, the audience realizes that Russell was also a good man, was not lying about the aliens and were brave enough to sacrifice his life to save the World. The last hero of the movie is Steve, he is a pilot in US military who flies with David to alien craft to plant the virus to disable their defensive shields. Steve is a symbol for courage and adventure that Works for the goodness of purpose. The movie is a typical example for idealist theory because there are morally good humans who understand themselves through good communication. All characters we are introduced are all US citizens. Part of their ability to express their goodness is because they are in a democratic sovereign state by assuming that good people do good things under good organizations.
After the World find out the alien space craft attack, President Whitmore makes a speech on the issue where his ability to persuade people by his good communication. The aliens are not seen and treated as evil from the first place. Because the moral goodness of the people as it is assumed in idealism do not make bad presumptions. In his speech, the presidents says to the nation that “The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe has been answered. Although it is understandable that many of us feel a sense of hesitation or even fear, we must attempt to reserve judgment.” “To reserve judgment” means to not to assume the worst about the aliens but to assume the best about them until there is a clear evidence to the contrary. He also resists the advices for attacking the alien craft.
Another example of assuming the good until it is proved to be wrong comes from Steve, where he says to his wife he does not believe aliens to come to start a war from all distance.
The movie illustrates the goodness of humankind, for example, when aliens were destroying cities worldwide, everyone was focused on helping each other. A good cooperative behaviour is observed at all levels of society. Jasmine, wife of Steve, was the one who saved President’s wife and all others after the attacks of alien craft. Although Jasmine’s and President’s wife status were totally different from each other, that was not important during the helping process all over the country, where people choosed to stick together rather than panicking and coverng their own interest. It is believed to be possible according to idealist values that can be seen frequent?y in the movie.
Importance of communication for idealism was also mentioned in the movie. For example, US’s failure against the alien attack were connected to the fact that the communication between people and aliens were interfered and prevented to be a pure one, because the place Area 51 where studies on the issue were made, kept as a secret from the president. Communication was impairedwand badwthingswfollowedwfromwthat.
The president choosed to communicate with aliens before he takes an attempt against them. Therefore, he used telepathy which was the way of communication for aliens. After he used telepathy with an alien, he says to the alien that people want peace and a truce, and he believes that there can be many thinks that aliens and people can learn from each other. However, alien’s answer showed their bad intention and that they do not want peace with people. After that, the president choosed to defend the World because it was a pure communication, and now he has a right to defend his kind because aliens were morally bad and corrupted.
In addition, the president, as representative of good communication, fires the secretary of defense because he was the one who kept Area 51 as a secret and corrupted the good and püre communication that can be made before the alien attack. So, the secretary of defense believed to be an image of realism.
After the aliens’ bad nature turnes out to be true, the president chooses to attack to protect all people. To coordinate a worldwide counter attack against aliens, USA spreads the message for counterattack using the purest and the most universal language, which is the Morse code. The message of Indepence Day is that “ international cooperation for a just cause leads to peace.” Pure communication among societies enables states to unite around a just cause. And this just cause can be communicated because “there is an international society” according to idealism. Charles Kegley’s argument for domestic society becomes internationalized through cross border communication is assumed good and pure in the movie that symbolized as the Morse Code.
However, we can not say that the movie supports the myth “there is an international society.” Both “fear” and “US leadership” plays an important role. In the movie, fear functions to unite people. The question is “will people remain united after the fear of alien invasion is gone?”
Another issue is the US leadership. It is questionable if there is an international society really or it is just US hegemony. According to the movie, this hegemony is what the World wants as we see 2 British soldiers’ conversation, where they learn that US was coming for help, the reaction of a British soldier was “It is about bloody time”. This means that people from other countries were also waiting for US to took leadership and save the World. So, in Independence Day, it is not an international society but a global extension of US domestic society.
In the final scene of the movie where soldiers were preparing to attack the aliens, the presidents make a heroetic speech. In this speech, the president declares that US is a part of a wider community, it is the mankind. The president makes all decisions for the mankind in the movie. US army behaves on behalf of the all mankind. Instead of erasing all domestic boundaries, there is only one domestic boundary of US in the movie. So there is no international society in the movie but there appears to be an international society because US domestic society extended globally. In Independence Day, there is a combination of fear and US leadership but it is mistaken for an international society. In this movie, anarchy is replaced by hierarchy by USA.
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Get custom essayTo conclude, the movie Independence Day is a science-fiction about the aliens but there are many concepts that are hidden and directly related to idealism and what it supports. There is believed to be an international society in the movie, although it is controversial that the only leader is United States. Importance of pure and good communication and the goodness of people from nature are the main ideas that shaped the movie all along, which also are main objectives of idealism. As idealism suggests, governments acted regarding the collective good of the World against the common enemy, aliens, where at the end, these idealist policcies turned out to be the right one as thy beated the aliens together.
Jane Tompkins writes on how nineteenth century domestic novels characterise ‘a monumental effort to reorganize culture from the woman's point of view…in certain cases, it offers a critique of American society far more devastating than any delivered by better-known critics such as Hawthorne and Melville’ . Indeed, both Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Awakening seem to adhere to this tradition, though on differing tangents of realism and sentimentalism. I will be scrutinizing these texts as branches of the domestic tradition, and will be assessing their respective effectiveness in terms of social discourse. I will be investigating how affect theory applies to the use of emotion in female writing, and how that provided a new dimension to social criticism in American literature through its acknowledgment that emotions are vital to moral judgment.
Get original essayDue to its mass popularity and emotive style there have ever been connotations of domestic female writing with non-literary, indulgent, passive consumption. Tompkins corroborates this, speaking of how popularity is often equated with degradation, emotion with ineptitude and domesticity with insignificance . These female writers are thought to have used ‘false stereotypes, dishing out weak-minded pap to nourish the prejudices of an ill-educated and underemployed female readership’ . The idea of stereotyping is certainly true of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, yet such a claim is problematized with the example of the more elliptical writing style in The Awakening. This is where the tradition divides into realism and sentimentalism; though using different styles both use emotion and include the theme of the primacy of human connection and emotion in moral judgment, valorising the concept of affectional experience.
Certainly, the Deleuzian concept of affect distinguishes how such a tradition offers a new dimension to social criticism. Affects are states of mind and body related to feelings and emotions, made up of pleasure or joy, pain or sorrow and desire or appetite . This non-cognitive reaction arguably determines a certain moral coding. Thus, art that has this effect can discover new truths otherwise lost in rigid logic. Undeniably, social issues including slavery and female oppression can only truly be dealt with in relation to moral judgments determined by emotional experience. Shaun Nichols writes about emotivism, the idea of expressing rather than reporting one’s feelings . He claims that ‘sentimental accounts are supposed to give a more accurate rendering of moral judgment on the ground, as opposed to the disconnected, emaciated characterization of moral judgment promoted by some in the rationalist tradition’ . Indeed, this emotive reflection on human morals seems to bring additional degrees of empathy and therefore affect for the reader.
This affect is exploited in varied ways in the realist and sentimentalist traditions, being affecting to different readerships and effective in different ways. Uncle Tom’s Cabin deals with the ways in which women can be political actors through their capacity for expression and compassion; in fact, the writing of the book was a political act in itself. Meanwhile, The Awakening is about the self-expression and liberation of women on a personal level. To this extent, they are respectively apt for realism/sentimentalism as they act on different scales.
Contemporary reaction to The Awakening saw much critical hostility. Certainly, at a time when one could not openly express such deviances from the patriarchal structure and sexual inclinations, this naturalistic representation resonated deeply with its readers. Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that much of Edna’s story stems from Chopin’s own thoughts on female liberation and independence, as she read much feminist writing and wrote in her diaries of her resentment towards various social obligations she held as a woman . This is portrayed when Edna gets up in the middle of the night and ‘she could not have told why she was crying’ . The unembellished depiction of a woman’s unarticulated and unheard strife provides significant potential for affect in the reader, speaking to the supressed voice of women and giving them agency to express themselves by depicting how they are not alone, that Edna too ‘had all her life long been accustomed to harbour thoughts and emotions which never voiced themselves.’
Lawrence Thornton refers to the novel as a ‘political romance’ . Indeed, Chopin chapters Edna’s liberation not just socio-politically, on a literal level, but emotionally, on a sentimental level. In other words, the hybridity of realism and sentimentality creates a new category of social commentary; there is a move from observational realism to the realism of embodied desire. Being influenced by Darwinist thinking, Chopin uses The Awakening to portray the dominance of humans’ natural instincts, and thus providing a study of the fundamental truth that humans cannot repress their sexual desires, despite social constrictions. In the process, critiques of the institution of marriage, motherhood and Christianity are implicitly explored with this view of emotional liberation.
Sandra Gilbert writes that ‘Edna’s ‘awakenings’ become increasingly fantastic and poetic, stirrings of the imagination’s desire for ‘amplitude and awe’ rather than protests of the reason against unreasonable constraint’ . It is evident that such an emotive category of expression was needed during this period of oppression. She goes on to says that the passage in which Edna learns to swim is symbolic not just of her move towards liberation and independence, but of the novel itself from a realist text into ‘a distinctively female fantasy of paradisal fulfilment’ . Certainly, it is evident that the observational, literal and descriptive style of the novel changes to one of philosophical pondering, metaphorical imagery and erotic implications, marking Chopin’s rejection of the male-dominated style of realism and ultimately the male-dominated society. Notwithstanding the novel retains its naturalistic plot, thus preserving credibility and resonance.
The sentimental aspects, for instance when she refers to the night of her first ‘awakening’ as ‘like a night in a dream’ and goes on to remark that ‘there must be spirits abroad tonight’ , despite being dramatized, draws on realistic sentiment, making it therefore more naturalistic in its affect. The fantastical imagery provided of Edna’s dinner party and her feeling like a ‘regal woman, the one who rules’ seems adverse to the realistic tone of the novel, yet it touches on realistic emotion and the real fantasy of empowerment. Furthermore, when she asks how many years she slept in Madame Antoine’s bed, it provides almost a fairy tale image, but reflects feelings of passion that are the reality of female existence. Finally, the symbolism and ceremony of her martyrdom may seem theatricalised, but it is not unthinkable to consider such a situation to be true, and such suicidal sentiments are tangible to a subordinated audience.
Sentimental novels are often seen as being inherently false in sentiment, or as James Baldwin puts it, ‘fantasies, connecting nowhere with reality, sentimental’ . Yet this may be contested, as Beecher Stowe does draw on own experience of the loss of a child and personal feelings of attachment and empathy. She seems to appropriate such emotions to the large-scale issue of slavery; indeed, separation and loss were true factors of the slave trade, meaning the novel does not consist of ‘fantasies connecting nowhere with reality’, but with actual emotional ramifications of the industry.
Incidents and injustices in Uncle Tom’s Cabin are not exaggerated in themselves, but the superficial stock characters and situations are dramatised, which could be seen as inauthentic and potentially less sympathetic. Certainly, Baldwin remarks that sentimentalism adheres to ‘the formula created by the necessity to find a lie more palatable than the truth’ . The unnaturalistic portrayal does makes the story more palatable, yet it may also be viewed as more sympathetic to those who had not considered the humanity of the black characters, meaning exaggeration is needed in order to explicitly subvert dominant prejudices. In other words, it needs to be made palatable to a wide audience that would be adverse to such claims as the humanity of slaves; these theatrical clichés provide an accessible comprehension, universality and plausibility for mass readership. Dobson corroborates this, noting ‘an emphasis on accessible language, a clear prose style, and familiar lyric and narrative patterns defines an aesthetic whose primary quality of transparency is generated by a valorisation of connection, an impulse toward communication with as wide an audience as possible’ . For example the lack of subtlety that describes Eva’s death, and the clichéd gesture of the Senator and his wife giving away their dead child’s clothes easily and simply conveys the theme of empathy, denoting the striving for affect in the reader. This differs in The Awakening in which metaphors are more commonly used than direct narrative guidance.
Furthermore, the episode with the Senator and his wife depicts the effectiveness and resonance of sentimentalism. Mr. Bird’s decision to help is completely understandable to the reader as they have already established sympathy with Eliza and her child. Mrs. Bird unequivocally sums up the moral of this passage: ‘"Your heart is better than your head, in this case, John."’ Thus, she draws attention to the significance of emotion in political judgment. George Orwell corroborates the effects of this cliché/truth dichotomy, claiming that ‘it is an unintentionally ludicrous book, full of preposterous melodramatic incidents; it is also deeply moving and essentially true’ . Ultimately, because of the sub-human status of African-Americans during this time, it could be seen that such hyper-sentimentality and guided narrative is needed in order to forcibly provoke a new perspective.
Together these subgenres make up the domestic tradition, with Beecher Stowe looking at the institution of slavery from the domestic and emotional point of view, while Chopin explores female public standing from the private and psychological point of view. Indeed, contemporary women were placed in the domestic sphere by society, meaning domestic references and familial, emotional ties represent all they held in their agency to explore moral and social issues. These features were nonetheless poignant and effective in their own right. The use of domestic scenes, for instance the family home and dinner parties, are used as signifiers for the common, making such instances accessible to a wide audience (inclusive of male and female) and more personally affecting than institutional settings. Yet, communal issues have an effect on these domestic issues (for example, family separation in slavery and the oppression of women in marriage and society), thus this presentation of the domestic sheds light on the effects of the communal, depicting how this tradition brought a new way of critiquing society.
This new form of social criticism was met with fierce denunciation, with Willa Cather writing about such authors as ‘women of strong and fine intuitions, but without the faculty of observation, comparison, reasoning about things’ . This condemnation of the use of emotions rather than rationale to explore fundamental truths and moral issues may be contested with the argument that with realism in The Awakening Chopin observes, compares and reasons with female emotion as Edna begins to recognise ‘her position in the universe as a human being, and…her relation as an individual to the world within and about her’ , while Uncle Tom’s Cabin draws on true sentiment and judgment, although presented in a hyper-emotive style. Furthermore, Dobson claims that sentimental texts ‘do not wallow in excessive emotionality; rather, they represent an essential reality and must be treated with heightened feeling’ . Although true of both texts, Uncle Tom’s Cabin may be seen to ‘wallow’ in its emotion, but this merely denotes a need for even more heightened feeling, as it is dealing with an industrial issue rather than a personal one.
Ultimately, the use of domesticity and emotion shed a new light on the state of American society, being able to affect readers in a different way. As Dobson writes: ‘in a world of mortality, of absolute and certain loss…a body of literature giving primacy to affectional connections and responsibilities still reflects the dilemmas, anxieties, and tragedies of individual lives’ . To this extent, this tradition was able to appropriate such sentiments to national social issues, suggesting an adoption of emotional investment in the formation of moral judgment. Their respective positions in the canon of American literature proves their worth in terms of the development of the nation using the domestic style.
Bibliography:
Bakhtin, Mikhail, Mikhail Bakhtin: Creations of a Prosaics, ed.s Gary Saul Morson, Emerson, Cary, (California: Stanford University Press, 1990).
Baldwin, James, ‘Everybody’s Protest Novel’ in Collected Essays, (The Library of America, 1998).
Beecher Stowe, Harriet, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, (London: Wordsworth Classics, 1999).
Cather, Willa, Pittsburgh Leader, 8 July 1899, Margo Culley, ed., The Awakening, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994 [1899]), p. 170.
Chopin, Kate, The Awakening and Selected Stories, (New York and London: Penguin, 2003).
Deleuze, Gilles, ‘Part III, Proposition 56: Spinoza, Benedictus de’, Ethics. Trans. by W.H. White and A.H. Stirling, (London: Wordsworth, 2001 [1677]).
Dobson, Joanne, ‘Reclaiming Sentimental Literature’ in American Literature, volume 69, Number 2, (Duke University Press, June 1997).
Gilbert, Sandra M., ‘Introduction: The Second Coming of Aphrodite’ in The Awakening and Selected Stories, ed. Sandra M. Gilbert, (New York and London: Penguin, 2003).
Nichols, Shaun, ‘Sentimentalism Naturalised’ in The Psychology and Biology of Morality ed. W. Sinnott-Armstrong, (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004).
Orwell, George, ‘Good Bad Books’ in Tribune, (London, November 1945).
Thornton, Lawrence, ‘The Awakening: A Political Romance’ in American Literature, (Montana: Duke University Press, 1980).
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Get custom essayTompkins, Jane, "Sentimental Power: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Politics of Literary History" in Sensational Designs: The Cultural Work of American Fiction, 1790-1860, (New York: Oxford U P, 1985).
Domestic violence (DV) is a significant medical, public health, and societal concern worldwide. Total annual healthcare costs related to domestic violence run into the billions in the USA. An understanding of the relationship between physical violence during pregnancy, its adverse effects on fetal and maternal conditions, and birth outcomes are very important. Its early diagnosis, measures, and interventions can reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Get original essayUnderstanding the causes of domestic violence is substantially more difficult than studying a disease. The disease usually has a biological basis and occurs within a social context but domestic violence is entirely a product of social context. Consequently understanding the causes of such violence requires research in many social contexts. Most diseases can be investigated with various objective measures, but the measurement of intimate partner violence has posed a challenge. Furthermore, measurement of social conditions thought to be risk factors, such as the status of women, gender norms and socioeconomic status poses difficulties, especially cross-culture. Although a consensus has emerged on the need to explore male and female factors and aspects of the dynamics of relationships, this has been done in very few studies.
Many researchers have discussed domestic violence as a learned social behavior for both men and women. The intergenerational cycling of violence has been documented in many settings. The sons of women who are beaten are more likely to beat their wives and in some settings, the daughters of women who are beaten are more likely to be beaten as adults. Women who are beaten in childhood by their parents are more likely to be abused by their intimate partners as adults.
Experience of violence in the home in childhood teaches children that violence is normal in certain settings. In this way, men learn to use violence and women learn to tolerate it or at least tolerate aggressive behavior. Cross-cultural studies of domestic violence suggest that it is much more frequent in societies where violence is usually in conflict situations and political struggles. An example of this is South Africa, hare not only is there a history of violent state repression and community insurrection but also violence is deplored frequently in many situations including disputes between neighbors and colleagues at work. Verbal and physical violence between staff and patients in health settings also vary common and contributes to violence being accepted as a social norm.
Many cultures Condon the use of physical violence by men against women in certain circumstances and within certain boundaries of severity. In these settings so long as boundaries are not crossed, the social cost of physical violence is low. The tolerance may result from families or communities emphasizing the importance of maintenance of the male, and female union at all costs, police trivializing reports of domestic strife, or lack of legislation to protect women. Violence against women is a demonstration of male power juxtaposed with the lesser power of women. Where women have low status they often lack the necessary perception of self-efficacy and the social and economic ability to leave a relationship and return to their family or live alone and thus are severely curtailed in their ability to act against an abuser. Women might also have no legal access to divorce or redress for abuse. Conversely, at higher levels, the empowerment of women protects against violence. Domestic violence is increased in settings where sanction against abusers is often also low. Childhood experiences of violence in the home reinforce for both men and women the normative nature of violence, thus increasing the likelihood of male perpetration and women’s acceptance of abuse.
Only recently recognized as a major woman's health issue, domestic violence has a long, dark past and is firmly entrenched in many societies. DV is identified as a global human right issue against women.
The percentage of women who were physically victimized by their partner or husband in Barbados is 30 percent. In the USA 25 percent of women are sufferers of violence by their intimate partner every year. Domestic violence prevalence in Canada is 29 percent, New Zealand 35%, Switzerland 21%, Egypt 34%, Tanzania 41%, South Africa 42%, Australia 15%and in Spain it is 32%. Some surveys in specific places report figures as high 50-70% of women who were ever physically assaulted by an intimate partner. In Mbeya, more than 56% of women are victims of domestic abuse by their partners. In Ethiopia, the prevalence is 71%.
There are cases of bride burning occurs after every two hours in India due to a small dowry or so that their husband can remarry. In Bangladesh, beating is common and often justifiable and it is up to 76%. In the Pakistani male dominant society, the prevalence is as high as 90 percent. Four women daily are killed due to dowry-related issues by their husbands or in-laws in Pakistan and there are a number of cases which are under reported(HRCP). Stove burning is a popular form of domestic violence in Pakistan. Pakistan is home to the possessed stove which burns only young housewives (Progressive woman Association). Other frequent form of domestic violence are assault/battering, acid throwing, Vani, Swara, child marriages, incest, illegal confinement, and murder. Another common form of violence against women in Pakistan is acid burning. Fifteen thousand cases of acid burns in the last ten years in Pakistan.
There are many dangerous effects that domestic violence can produce upon the physical, mental, and social life of women. Domestic violence during pregnancy can be missed by medical professionals because it is often present in a non-specific way. Research conducted in a number of countries to statistically calculate domestic violence in pregnant women shows a number of presentations such as delay in seeking care for injuries, late booking, self-discharge, frequent attendance, vague problems, and aggressive or over solicitous. Partner, burns, pain, tenderness, injuries, vaginal tears, bleeding, STDs and miscarriage. The prevalence of domestic violence in pregnant women in the UK is 3.4%, in USA 3.2-33.7% in Ireland 12.5%. Studies conducted in the Arab countries show that about. One out of three women is beaten by her husband. Domestic violence can also affect the fetus and subsequent child. Physical violence is associated with neonatal death.
The experience of violence and abuse during pregnancy deserves special attention. In spite of the prevalence of violence experienced by women, and its damaging impact on women's health and mental health, few studies have attempted to identify the factors associated with violence during pregnancy. Minimal research on mental health outcomes of DV from a reproductive health perspective in Pakistan. Feedback to healthcare personnel to screen DV and Stress during antenatal visits. Evidence-based information for reviewing policies and implementing policies related to DV
Research on the psychological effects of domestic violence on women extensively documented the harm such violence causes. Battered women experience increased levels of depression, low self-esteem, and higher levels of psychological distress when compared with nonbattered women.
Herman focused on the traumatizing aspects of violence and trauma symptoms exhibited by battered women. She theorized that many battered women suffer from a complex traumatic syndrome that is similar to the diagnosis of PTSD(APA) but includes additional symptoms, including anxiety, depression, idealization of the perpetrator, and dissociation due to the chronic nature of trauma. Thus, this conceptualizing of trauma argues for a much broader understanding of traumatic symptoms than the DSM-IV suggesting that all aspects of psychological distress seen in trauma survivors are part of a trauma syndrome.
Herman also describes the dynamics of the abusive situation. While suggesting that battered women suffer character logical changes in personality which leave them vulnerable to repeat harm. She emphasized the perpetrator’s action rather than the women’s pre-morbid psychological functioning as the reason for these changes. She argued that typically the perpetrator gains control over the women’s body through deprivation of sleep, food, or shelter. He then becomes the potential source of solace when he grants small indulgences. Herman reported that this dynamic greatly diminishes the women's ability to initiate action. The women‘s traumatic reaction to the physical and psychological abuse may be the mechanism through which many aspects of the battered women‘s functioning may become impaired. Herman argues that strong social support can protect women’s functioning in traumatic situations. She also argued that a history of abuse from childhood makes women more psychologically vulnerable.
Several studies have demonstrated the relationship between violence and mental health among women in general. For example, Kumar et al. (2005) reported that physically violent behaviors (e.g., ‘slap,’ ‘hit,’ ‘kick,’ or ‘beat’) doubled the relative risk of poorer mental health of abused women compared with women who had not reported any IPV. As in earlier studies (McCauley et al., 1995; Flanzer, 1993), Kumar et al. also observed that women who (a) experienced dowry harassment or harsh physical punishment during childhood, (b) witnessed their father beating their mother, (c) whose husbands regularly consumed alcohol, and (d) experienced physical violence at home were at increased risk of poor mental health. High school education for both the woman and husband and more social support served as protective factors. An earlier study from India has also reported that women faced with enormous social, physical, and economic stressors in association with IPV were more likely to have higher levels of depression in the postpartum period.
Few studies have assessed the relationship between IPV and depression during pregnancy. Smith et al. (2004) reported on psychiatric morbidity among women attending prenatal clinics and found that women with a lifetime history of IPV were more likely to present with a psychiatric disorder. Leung, et al., (2002) described an association between IPV and postnatal “blues”/depression in China. Patel et al. (1999)conducted a community study in India and found that domestic violence was a strong predictor of antenatal and postnatal depression. Mezey et al. (2005) assessed 200 women receiving postnatal or antenatal care at a South London maternity service, and reported that 121 (60.5%) women reported at least one traumatic event, two-thirds of these had experienced multiple traumatic events and, of the latter, 23.5% had experienced domestic violence. They also found that physical and sexual abuse co-occurred: 13 (10.7%) women with a trauma history had current PTSD. Severe PTSD symptoms were associated with physical and sexual abuse histories and repeat victimization.
The evidence suggests an association between IPV violence and adverse mental health outcomes and a relationship between pregnancy and IPV, as well as some suggestions that culture might influence IPV. That is, pregnant women in traditional societies — where gender inequalities are evident — might be even more vulnerable to IPV. Research is needed to clarify the relationship between the different forms of IPV (i.e., psychological, physical, and sexual violence) and mental health outcomes, especially in the developing world where relatively little research is available. Therefore, this study provides evidence regarding (a) the prevalence of IPV during pregnancy, and (b) the relationship between IPV and mental health outcomes (i.e., depressive, somatic, and PTSD symptoms) in a sample of pregnant Indian women.
Physical violence during pregnancy is the second leading cause of trauma during pregnancy, after motor vehicle accidents.
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Get custom essayDomestic violence during pregnancy can be missed by medical professionals because it often presents in non-specific ways. A number of countries have been statistically analyzed to calculate the prevalence of this phenomenon. From a public health perspective, an important question is that of risk. If being pregnant increases the risk for violent victimization, then certain interventions are warranted. For the most part, however, the majority of the researchers examining pregnancy-related violence use small samples of either postpartum women or women attending a prenatal clinic without a comparison group of women who are not pregnant.
For every second of this speech, there are 3 people worldwide that are victims to domestic violence.
Get original essayGood morning/afternoon, youth delegates, invited politicians, and activists. I stand before you today representing Australia as the Australian youth delegate at the UN Youth conference of 2019. Today I am the voice for all of the young people of my country to inform you of a problem that confronts not just Australia but the world today and in our foreseeable future.
In order to create change, one thing we must all start accepting is that domestic violence is not just physical abuse, it’s mental abuse, it’s social abuse, it’s sexual abuse, it takes so many more forms than what we once believed. In fact, in Australia alone, 1 in 4 women experience intimate partner violence of ALL shapes and forms. This leads me to wonder what goes on beneath each and every one of your noses. All the men and women that are meant to be your voice, and serve as your representative in parliament do nothing. Because if you turn a blind eye, you don’t need to spend government money on resources, if you turn a blind eye, it doesn’t really happen. Does it? Our law system claims to support those who are victims, but when it happens, and it constantly does, a blind eye is turned. Violence against men and women is such a significant health and social problem that affects all societies but often goes unrecognized and unreported in countries as it is still accepted as a part of normal behavior. There are 650 million women and girls in the world today who were married before 18. In the west and central Africa over 2 out of 5 young girls were married off before they were 18, putting them into harmful situations of social isolation. Her self-worth is no longer validated. She is no longer a person, merely an object, barely a family member. Consider the violence against these women. How would you feel if that were your daughter? If that were you?
According to the Declaration of human rights, article 5, “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” So, I ask you once again, why is this still a problem?
One common factor that affects the ability to prosecute the abuser, to incriminate them. Is when they flip the situation and make the victim come across as the perpetrator when the police are called. There are multiple cases where this has led to the victim losing custody of their children, losing their family, and becoming homeless. In Australia, The Legal Service of Victoria reports that Victorian police are constantly mistaking the victim as the perpetrators. This leads to a new issue at hand. It allows orders and laws which are enforced to protect the victim to be made a mockery of, as they serve no purpose in the eye of the abuser. The incompetence of our law enforcement makes domestic violence the single largest reason for homelessness among women. Domestic Violence reports result in an emergency call for the police on average to occur once every two minutes across Australia. In 2017, 87,000 Women were killed worldwide, and more than half of those were cases of domestic violence. 137 innocent women across the world become victims to something we could easily diminish every day. If we had enough support.
But domestic violence is not just a problem seen within women, gendered stereotypes mean that men of our society do not receive the same support a woman does. When boys grow up they are taught to ‘man up’ to ‘tough it out’ – masculinity has taught men that dealing with their issues is weak and vulnerable. This allows you to understand why men don’t speak out, it goes so unnoticed that many don’t know the facts. Studies have shown that 1 in 3 victims of domestic violence are male. But because they are silenced, who knows how many more there could be. Women have always been considered the weaker of the genders, but in this dangerous situation, they have their own ways of inflicting pain on whomever they please. Throughout our history government policies have only ever really assumed that the perpetrators are men and the victims are women, which is undeniably an old-fashioned view. As a community, we need to push past our outdated gender stereotypes to reduce all cases of domestic violence. Otherwise, there is no justice for everyone equally. It’s all our human right to feel safe and not worried for the safety of ourselves and our children.
Why does this still happen? This is a health problem of epidemic proportions and worldwide we are not doing enough. We are not protecting our men and woman. We are not protecting our children or our future generations. It’s not something to be taken lightly – how many should be mentally scared, tortured, and even murdered under the hand of someone they call family, and it remains okay. Why should we worry about tarnishing the name of the abuser when they have no problem in inflicting this sort of unspeakable pain to someone they are meant to love? Why are we still protecting the guilty?