The Social Position of Women in the late 19th century Europe essays

The Social Position of Women in the late 19th century Europe essays During the latter years of the nineteenth century women, as always, women held an inferior position to men, which usually reflected their social status. Though laws were helping to improve the womans role in society, she was still confronted with legal, educational, and economic setbacks. By the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century improvements aided in giving women more rights, and educational and occupational opportunities. Earlier on in the century women lacked the rights to own their own property no matter their rank in society. Women were forced to give obedience to their husbands, and had minimal opportunity to be divorced from their without going through numerous explanations and trials in courts. Women usually had to prove more than one offense against their husbands to be granted a divorce. Even cases of rape and maltreatment worked more to the advantage of the husband. Women were encumbered with the fact that they had little chance to go beyond being a house wife. Men on the other had were the head of the family, obtained the property rights, had more educational opportunities, and much more legal rights. Society was not for the benefit of women. Many women were illiterate because they were denied any type of primary or secondary education other than care taking. Many colleges didnt begin to accept women until after the 1860s. When they did accept women the numbers were limited because women lacked the education to be prepared for any type of higher learning. They were too helplessly unqualified to be admitted to universities. Often, the reasons for men not wanting women to be admitted included the fact that the schools might become overcrowded and women might create too much change and challenge traditional ways of gender roles. Without access to higher learning institutions women had no chance of advancing their individual social or economic status. ...

Values In The Phaeacian Societ essays

Values In The Phaeacian Societ essays The Importance of Values In The Phaeacian Society The Phaeacian societys values are what the basis of what their civilized community is built on. In Robert Fagles translation of The Odyssey by Homer, there are numerous references made to what kind of values are held by the Phaeacian society. In book VI, as well as the rest of the books, there are examples of how the societies values provide structure, regulation, and rules for the culture to live by. It is evident in the writing, not only directly, but also indirectly, such as peoples responses and reactions to certain activities or words. One of the most important and easily recognizable values of the Phaeacian society is hospitality. Throughout the book, there are numerous examples of the importance of hospitality to the culture. The encounter between Odysseus and Nausicaa is a perfect display of what great extents one is expected to go to provide a guest, especially a stranger, with superb hospitality. Nausicaa is well trained in her manners, and very well she should be, the daughter of a king. She is representing her family, and reflects this when she tells her maidens, heres an unlucky wanderer strayed our way and we must tend him well.... So, quick, my girls, give our newfound friend some food and drink and bathe the him in the river(VI. 226-231). This is an unusual act in todays culture; to feed and bathe a complete stranger met on a waterfront. Nausicaa further extends her hospitality by inviting Odysseus to come to her residence later in the evening to meet her mother and father. The fact that a famil y of great importance, or even royalty, doesnt scrutinize a stranger, but makes sure his every need is taken care of before anything else, illustrates just how important the value of hospitality is to the Phaeacian society. It represents their level of civility and refinement in their culture. This level is something that...

Overview of Corn-Pone Opinions by Mark Twain

Overview of Corn-Pone Opinions by Mark Twain In an essay not published until several years after his death, humorist Mark Twain examines the effects of social pressures on our thoughts and beliefs. Corn-Pone Opinions is presented as an argument, says Davidson College English professor Ann M. Fox, not a sermon. Rhetorical questions, elevated language, and short clipped declarations . . . are part of this strategy. (The Mark Twain Encyclopedia, 1993) Corn-Pone Opinions by Mark Twain Fifty years ago, when I was a boy of fifteen and helping to inhabit a Missourian village on the banks of the Mississippi, I had a friend whose society was very dear to me because I was forbidden by my mother to partake of it. He was a gay and impudent and satirical and delightful young black mana slavewho daily preached sermons from the top of his masters woodpile, with me for sole audience. He imitated the pulpit style of the several clergymen of the village and did it well, and with fine passion and energy. To me, he was a wonder. I believed he was the greatest orator in the United States and would some day be heard from. But it did not happen; in the distribution of rewards, he was overlooked. It is the way, in this world. He interrupted his preaching, now and then, to saw a stick of wood; but the sawing was a pretensehe did it with his mouth; exactly imitating the sound the bucksaw makes in shrieking its way through the wood. But it served its purpose; it kept his master from coming out to see how the work was getting along. I listened to the sermons from the open window of a lumber room at the back of the house. One of his texts was this: You tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en Ill tell you what his pinions is. I can never forget it. It was deeply impressed upon me. By my mother. Not upon my memory, but elsewhere. She had slipped in upon me while I was absorbed and not watching. The black philosophers idea was that a man is not independent, and cannot afford views which might interfere with his bread and butter. If he would prosper, he must train with the majority; in matters of large moment, like politics and religion, he must think and feel with the bulk of his neighbors or suffer damage in his social standing and in his business prosperities. He must restrict himself to corn-pone opinionsat least on the surface. He must get his opinions from other people; he must reason out none for himself; he must have no first-hand views. I think Jerry was right, in the main, but I think he did not go far enough. It was his idea that a man conforms to the majority view of his locality by calculation and intention.This happens, but I think it is not the rule.It was his idea that there is such a thing as a first-hand opinion; an original opinion; an opinion which is coldly reasoned out in a mans head, by a searching analysis of the facts involved, with the heart unconsulted, and the jury room closed against outside influences. It may be that such an opinion has been born somewhere, at some time or other, but I suppose it got away before they could catch it and stuff it and put it in the museum. I am persuaded that a coldly-thought-out and independent verdict upon a fashion in clothes, or manners, or literature, or politics, or religion, or any other matter that is projected into the field of our notice and interest, is a most rare thingif it has indeed ever existed. A new thing in costume appearsthe flaring hoopskirt, for exampleand the passers-by are shocked, and the irreverent laugh. Six months later everybody is reconciled; the fashion has established itself; it is admired, now, and no one laughs. Public opinion resented it before, public opinion accepts it now and is happy in it. Why? Was the resentment reasoned out? Was the acceptance reasoned out? No. The instinct that moves to conformity did the work. It is our nature to conform; it is a force which not many can successfully resist. What is its seat? The inborn requirement of self-approval. We all have to bow to that; there are no exceptions. Even the woman who refuses from first to last to wear the hoopskirt comes under that law and is its slave; she could not wear the skirt and have her own approval; and that she must have, she cannot help herself. But as a rule, our self-approval has its source in but one place and not elsewherethe approval of other people. A person of vast consequence s can introduce any kind of novelty in dress and the general world will presently adopt itmoved to do it, in the first place, by the natural instinct to passively yield to that vague something recognized as authority, and in the second place by the human instinct to train with the multitude and have its approval. An empress introduced the hoopskirt, and we know the result. A nobody introduced the bloomer, and we know the result. If Eve should come again, in her ripe renown, and reintroduce her quaint styleswell, we know what would happen. And we should be cruelly embarrassed, along at first. The hoopskirt runs its course and disappears. Nobody reasons about it. One woman abandons the fashion; her neighbor notices this and follows her lead; this influences the next woman; and so on and so on, and presently the skirt has vanished out of the world, no one knows how nor why, nor cares, for that matter. It will come again, by and by and in due course will go again. Twenty-five years ago, in England, six or eight wine glasses stood grouped by each persons plate at a dinner party, and they were used, not left idle and empty; today there are but three or four in the group, and the average guest sparingly uses about two of them. We have not adopted this new fashion yet, but we shall do it presently. We shall not think it out; we shall merely conform, and let it go at that. We get our notions and habits and opinions from outside influences; we do not have to study them out. Our table manners, and company manners, and street manners change from time to time, but the changes are not reasoned out; we merely notice and conform. We are creatures of outside influences; as a  rule, we do not think, we only imitate. We cannot invent standards that will stick; what we mistake for standards are only fashions, and perishable. We may continue to admire them, but we drop the use of them. We notice this in literature. Shakespeare is a standard, and fifty years ago we used to write tragedies which we couldnt tell fromfrom somebody elses; but we dont do it  any more, now. Our  prose  standard,  three quarters  of a century ago, was ornate and diffuse; some authority or other changed it in the direction of compactness and simplicity, and conformity followed, without argument. The historical novel starts up  suddenly and sweeps the land. Everybody writes one, and the nation is glad. We had historical novels before; but nobody read them, and the rest of us  conformedwithout reasoning it out. We are conforming in the other way, now, because it is another case of everybody. The outside influences are always pouring in upon us, and we are always obeying their orders and accepting their verdicts. The Smiths like the new play; the Joneses go to see it, and they copy the Smith verdict. Morals, religions, politics, get their following from surrounding influences and atmospheres, almost entirely; not from study, not from thinking. A man must and will have his own approval first of all, in each and every moment and circumstance of his lifeeven if he must repent of a self-approved act the moment after its commission, in order to get his self-approval again: but, speaking in general terms, a mans self-approval in the large concerns of life has its source in the approval of the peoples about him, and not in a searching personal examination of the matter. Mohammedans are Mohammedans because they are born and reared among that sect, not because they have thought it out and can furnish sound reasons for being Mohammedans; we know why Catholics are Catholics; why Pre sbyterians are Presbyterians; why Baptists are Baptists; why Mormons are Mormons; why thieves are thieves; why monarchists are monarchists; why Republicans are Republicans and Democrats, Democrats. We know it is a matter of association and sympathy, not reasoning and examination; that hardly a man in the world has an opinion upon morals, politics, or religion which he got otherwise than through his associations and sympathies. Broadly speaking, there are none but corn-pone opinions. And broadly speaking, corn-pone stands for self-approval. Self-approval is acquired mainly from the approval of other people. The result is conformity. Sometimes conformity has a sordid business interestthe bread-and-butter interestbut not in most cases, I think. I think that in the majority of cases it is unconscious and not calculated; that it is born of the human beings natural yearning to stand well with his fellows and have their inspiring approval and praisea yearning which is commonly so strong and so insistent that it cannot be effectually resisted, and must have its way. A political emergency brings out the corn-pone opinion in fine force in its two chief varietiesthe pocketbook variety, which has its origin in self-interest, and the bigger variety, the sentimental varietythe one which cant bear to be outside the pale; cant bear to be in disfavor; cant endure the averted face and the cold shoulder; wants to stand well with his friends, wants to be smiled upon, wants to be welcome, wants to hear the precious words, Hes on the right track! Uttered, perhaps by an ass, but still an ass of high degree, an ass whose approval is gold and diamonds to a smaller ass, and confers glory and honor and happiness, and membership in the herd. For these  gauds, many a man will dump his lifelong principles into the street, and his conscience along with them. We have seen it happen. In some millions of instances. Men think they think upon great political questions, and they do; but they think with their party, not independently; they read its literature, but not that of the other side; they arrive at convictions, but they are drawn from a partial view of the matter in hand and are of no particular value. They swarm with their party, they feel with their party, they are happy in their partys approval; and where the party leads they will follow, whether for right and  honor or through blood and dirt and a mush of mutilated morals. In our late canvass half of the nation passionately believed that in silver lay salvation, the other half as passionately believed that that way lay destruction. Do you believe that a tenth part of the people, on either side, had any rational excuse for having an opinion about the matter at all? I studied that mighty question to the bottomand came out empty. Half of our people passionately believe in high tariff, the other half believe otherwise. Does this mean study and examination, or only feeling? The latter, I think. I have deeply studied that question, tooand didnt arrive. We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking. And out of  it, we  get an aggregation which we consider a Boon. Its name is Public Opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles everything. Some think it the Voice of God.  Praps. I suppose that in more cases than we should like to admit, we have two sets of opinions: one private, the other public; one secret and sincere, the other corn-pone, and more or less tainted. Written in 1901, Mark Twains Corn-Pone Opinions was first published in 1923 in Europe and Elsewhere, edited by Albert Bigelow Paine (Harper Brothers).

The Impact of Semi-Passive RFID Tags on the UK Warehouse Operations Essay

The Impact of Semi-Passive RFID Tags on the UK Warehouse Operations Performance - Essay Example ight be used in warehousing and, when they are used, what benefits have resulted from their use in both the warehouse situation and allied industries. The challenges to be overcome in the use of BAP tags and the solutions offered will also be studied. Thereafter the principal objective will be - through an in depth survey of the industry - to attempt to understand the concerns of non-users, asses the reactions of current users and their future intentions, and offer suggestions for greater application of, and improvements in, BAP tags for the warehousing industry. RFID technology was developed in World War II in order to distinguish between enemy and allied aircraft and to prevent â€Å"friendly fire† incidents (Mital & Ives, 2003; Weis, 2009). Refined in 1948 for ‘civilian’ use (Roberts, 2006) the system consists of â€Å"two basic components – a transponder [the tag itself] and a transceiver [the reader]. The tag comprises an antenna and an integrated circuit which requires a power input (Mital & Ives, 2003). This comes from the transceiver [reader] through a tiny antenna. The transponder gathers energy from the magnetic field, processes the information and passes it back to the reader for processing (Mital & Ives, 2003). There are three types of tag: (a) passive - draws energy from the transponder (b) active, containing a small battery and (c) semi-passive - battery powered but requires signal from the transponder for activation [i.e. conserves energy when dormant] (Angeles, 2005). Ambient vibration energy was s uccessfully used to boost BAP battery power (Lai et al., 2005). The performance of the tags depends on their type and the frequencies used. They may be divided roughly into three groups: (a) low [100-500 kHz] - tags are mostly passive and the reading distance is short [0-3.5 m]; (b) intermediate [10-15 MHz] - reading range of 0-10 m; (c) high [850-950 MHz and 2.4-5.8 GHz] - the reading distance is commonly 50-100 m with, under favourable

Companies from emerging markets are better equipped to conduct Essay

Companies from emerging markets are better equipped to conduct business in other emerging markets - Essay Example Emerging markets could be referred to the low income generation economies, or could be the developing markets or the economies currently in the growth stage. The emerging markets have shown more growth in the recent years, as compared to the more developed markets and economies. In such economies every opportunity is exploited to its fullest and such markets are important strategic factors to be considered by the companies willing to grow in emerging economies. In these economies the higher growth leads to higher returns and higher demand for investment and capital which further leads to favorable movement in the flow of capital and currency alignments. The growth in incomes and products are also seen in these economies which are important detriments of patterns of demand and pricing of products. These days the most significant strategic choice faced by the global companies is investing in the right emerging market. (JAIN. 2006) It is estimated that till 2050 the BRIC (Brazil, Russia , India, China) economies will become large forces in economy of the world. According to these projections based on growth in GDPs, income per capita and currency movements, if everything goes right these emerging economies will become greater than G6 in US dollars terms. ... tion and high level of risks faced by these countries, there are chances that these projections could go wrong due to policy change or any other factor that can affect the economy adversely. (JAIN. 2006) EMERGING ECONOMIES AND MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS: Due to such enormous effect of BRICs on world’s economy and the impact it would have in future years, it has become increasingly important for the Multinational Corporations (MNCs) all around the world to realize the importance of these emerging markets and the benefits the investment in these can provide. The major characteristics that attract the investors in these markets are increasing demand and group of wealthy people, educated work force and opportunities for low cost production. Many large MNCs such as P&G, IKEA, Coca Cola, HP etc have realized the importance of these markets and have expanded tremendously in these markets. (VAN DE KUIL. 2008) Out of BRICs, India and China are the strongest in the race of these emergin g markets. It is estimated that in next 20 years these both countries will become more than the size of mature countries like UK or Japan. Today’s advances markets and nations will lose their position and a drastic shift in spending would provide opportunities to global markets. China and India both have world’s largest population which together holds 37% population of the world. The population living in the mid-income segment of these both countries is constantly growing which means a demand of products and services is growing rapidly. (VAN DE KUIL. 2008) REASONS TO ENTER EMERGING ECONOMIES: Many MNCs have strategically planned to enter these emerging markets due to various reasons. Firstly it has become hard for the companies to grow in the mature markets; therefore the companies are now

Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What Personal Statement

Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you - Personal Statement Example Oftentimes, when given the opportunity, I will take my horse out into the desert and just enjoy the peace and solitude that such an environment can provide. Whereas many individuals might see the desert as a formidable and barren landscape, the fact of the matter is that to me it is tranquil, serene and quite lovely. I find myself experiencing feelings of complete contendeness when I am in such an environment and free to let my thoughts wander about on many different topics. For everyone there is a place or a situation in which they feel most content; for me, it is the time I spend alone on my horse in the wilds of the desert. It should not be understood that the only calm and contented times that I spend are in solitude. Rather, my friends and family often accompany me as I embark on either a short few-hour trip or a long over-the-weekend ride. Sharing the experience in being able to be outdoors and away from all of the concerns and worries of work or school allows for this to be the single most contented time that I have spent during my life. Another reason that the time spent in horseback riding is oftentimes the most contented has to do with the fact that I am able to forget about my other concerns in life. Whereas driving somewhere is of course possible and sometimes easier, it does not allow me to quietly observe all different types of wildlife that I get to see while horseback riding. As compared to the drone of the engine in a car, the quiet gait of the horse has the ability to free my nerves, and therefore allows for a much more observant and natural means to behold available wildlife. The ability to rapidly learn the skills of horseback riding and master them in a relatively short period of time is perhaps one of the greatest reasons why this has become one of the activities in which I have been the most content. Further, as with any experience, the experience that the reader may have can vary

Joan Alexandra Molinsky Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Joan Alexandra Molinsky - Essay Example In 1987, however, Rivers life began to spiral downward when her husband, Edgar Rosenberg, committed suicide. This event, combined with a declining career, was the onset of a deep depression for Rivers, as well as the beginnings of bulimia. Rivers states how a devastating loss affects hunger in two ways - erasing it or launch it to new heights. "For me the suicide inspired a gastronomic space program." she claims (Rivers, 1997, p.98). She describes the beginnings of a binge - overeating rich foods until she felt bloated and her clothes became too small - at which point she reached the solution of self-induced vomiting. Occasional purges soon evolved into weekly then twice a day rituals. Rivers timed her purges to happen roughly a half hour after a meal; she realized she must admit the problem to her therapist when she pulled over to vomit in a rest area bathroom. When she finally admitted her bulimia to her therapist Dr. Michael Greenstein, his observation reflects the general state of her life: out of control. Because of this, one of the few things she has been able to control is her bodily intake and output, which has manifested itself in the form of bulimia. Eating disorders are actually psychological disorders and can frequently be triggered by traumatizing events. The proper name of bulimia is Bulimia Nervosa (BN), which translates as "ox hunger", and refers specifically to a binge and purge cycle happening at least twice a week for at least six months. Purging methods include self-induced vomiting, or the abuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas. Bulimics may also resort to fasting or exhibit obsessive compulsions to exercise. Sufferers often share similar personality traits: they tend towards perfectionism, while retaining a sense of low self-esteem despite their accomplishments. Depression is a frequent contributor to the disorder's development as well. Unfortunately, since the psychology of bulimia is often related to larger emotional issues, both the condition and the original problems complement and augment each other, resulting in a worsening of all symptoms (Eating Disorders, 2005). There are several Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment (CB) methods for BN: such as various behavior, psychodynamic, family, or experiential therapies, or a Twelve-Step program using the disorder as an addiction. CBT is a process by which the patient comes to recognizes the true psychological issues, learn more constructive coping mechanisms in relation to these, and then modify their behavior to return to more acceptable eating patterns while preventing relapses. Anti-depressants frequently help, as they curb the appetite while inhibiting the root depression; different anti-depressants seem to work equally well (Wilson and Pike, 2001). With Dr. Greenstein, Joan Rivers learned to identify her grief of her husband's suicide and was able to return to host a daytime talk show through the years 1989-1993 (Wikkipedia, 2006), the ending of which coincided with the death of her therapist and her returning to live in New York. Her depression was growing worse. The combination of her husband's los s, her talk show ending, a brief Broadway show collapsing and the failure of her jewelry venture