Essay on Education and Affirmative Action - 1082 Words

What does equality mean? For many centuries, America has had a difficult time answering that question. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, African Americans were not equal: white Americans would call them their property, put them into iron shackles, and would mercilessly beat them. From the seventeen to the nineteen hundreds and a lot longer before then, women were forbidden to vote; instead, women were expected to act as homemakers or work long hours within small factories in filthy conditions. Yet today, the issues of equality have been challenged by affirmative action. Across the nation, the use of affirmative action in education has stirred significant controversy. Some people believe that instigating affirmative action in the†¦show more content†¦Paul Gaston, a university professor who has taught for more than 40 years, has witnessed the changes on campus after affirmative action was introduced and concluded that â€Å"before African American undergraduates ar rived on campus, white students used to feel they had permission to say just about anything that came to mind about race† (Clayton). The ethnic diversity of students has made a remarkable change on campuses today. Now, students not only gain knowledge from their professors, but from their fellow students as well. â€Å"It made people [be] more honest, think harder, learn more, and be more sensitive to others,† Professor Gaston commented (quoted in Clayton). A diverse college experience encourages students acclimate to being more tolerant of diversity, thus giving them an opportunity to learn and to live in harmony with people of different backgrounds. Besides the fact that Affirmative Action can create a diverse environment, it also helps increase the chance for minority groups to get accepted into higher education systems as well. Studies have shown that students from families where few people have pursued higher education are less likely to excel in high school. On average, African American students will be four years behind the typical white or Asian student by 12th grade (Thernstrom). Two of the à ©lite University of California campuses, Berkeley and UCLA, witnessed a dramatic decrease in African American and HispanicShow MoreRelatedAffirmative Action And Its Impact On Education985 Words   |  4 Pagesthe executive order of Affirmative Action, which first barred government employers from discriminating based on â€Å"race, creed, color, or national origin† (Kennedy, 1961). Overtime the use of affirmative action moved from jobs to the education system. Affirmative action in schools truly gained momentum following the Brown v. Board of Education as educational institutions began to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling to integrate schools. When the Supreme Court ruled on education President Johnson affirmedRead MoreAffirmative Action And Its Effect On Education2230 Words   |  9 PagesAffirmative Action(,/;?) Necessary or Detrimental to Education? Martin Luther King Jr. once proclaimed â€Å"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.† This quote is infamous, and has been adopted as the essential basis of the minority equality movement. However, minority equality supporters and activists also support a policy that directly contradicts Martin Luther KingRead MoreAffirmative Action And Its Impact On Education3441 Words   |  14 Pages Since its creation in 1965 affirmative action has been heralded by supporters as a landmark achievement and a means to erase the legacy of discrimination and raise the educational outcomes and benefits of America’s protected classes.1 Despite the support it has received, there are large numbers of people who have expressed their opposition to affirmative action in education, claiming that it is a form of discrimination, and questioning its effectiveness. As the debate rages, researchers have exhaustivelyRead MoreIs Affirmative Action in Higher Education Outdated?783 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿Is Affirmative Action in Higher Education Outdated? Affirmative action policies have been in place since 1957 (Rubio 144). Presidents Kennedy and Johnson signed executive orders in 1961 and 1964, respectively, requiring government agencies and their contractors to take affirmative steps to ensure minority participation. Johnsons order was modified two years later to include women. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discriminatory hiring, promotion, and retention practices in both the privateRead MoreEssay about Education and Affirmative Actions951 Words   |  4 Pageschallenged through affirmative action. Across the nation, the use of affirmative action in education has stirred controversy. Some people believe that instigating affirmative action in the college admissions process would create a diverse education. Nevertheless, some consider that it is merely a policy of reverse discrimination against white and Asian students. In 1961, the notion of affirmative first appeared when President Kennedy told government contractors to take â€Å"affirmative action to ensure thatRead MoreAffirmative Action Programs : Education And Employment Essay2090 Words   |  9 Pages Affirmative action (AA) programs began as a management tool designed to ensure equal opportunity both in education and employment in the United States for members of underrepresented racial groups. There are numerous amounts of evidence to support that affirmative action programs have done exactly what they were established to do, but like with â€Å"any government policy that gives a positive meaning to some non-class non economic group difference†(Steinberg : 270) there are critics, who fail toRead MoreGender And The Board Of Education And Affirmative Action2864 Words   |  12 PagesHistorically, certain groups have been underrepresented and unsuccessful in higher education. These groups include Hispanics, Latinos, African Amer icans, etc. Efforts have been made at the federal and institutional level to reverse this phenomenon, namely Brown vs. The Board of Education and Affirmative Action. Despite these efforts, African Americans, or Blacks, still lag behind in graduation rates relative to other races and Black males even more so. There has been a myriad of research done andRead MoreRace Based Affirmative Action On Higher Education Essay1445 Words   |  6 PagesRace-Based Affirmative Action in Higher Education In 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, which created the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, or CEEO. One purpose of the CEEO was to â€Å"recommend additional affirmative steps which should be taken by executive departments and agencies to realize more fully the national policy of nondiscrimination† (Kennedy). This executive order planted the seeds that grew into what is today known as â€Å"race-based affirmative action,† or theRead MoreEssay on The Negative Effects of Affirmative Action on Education1472 Words   |  6 PagesUniversity was required to select a set amount of minorities before them thanks to something knows as affirmative action. On the other hand, you may be a minority who simply can’t earn the feeling of equality because of educational and employed handicaps. Affirmative action in our education system it an unjust practice that we can do without if we can learn to live in a color-blind society. Affirmative action was first established in 1961 in order to ensure that minorities could secure a job based on theirRead MoreAffirmative Action : The Education System And Job Market1284 Words   |  6 Pagesprogram affirmative action was instilled into universities around the nation, it set different qualifications for minority applicants and assigned points based off race. With these new criteria instigated, people saw the program as alluding to the notion that if you came from a particular race, the bar was no longer set at a high standard and therefore no need to work as hard as before. Others saw it as a great step forward to helping those who needed the extra assistance. Affirmative action began

Analysis Of I Don t Have A Mama - 1647 Words

1. See, I said, you don t have any family and neither do I. I ve got the preacher, of course. But I don t have a mama. I mean I have one, but I don t know where she is. She left when I was three years old. I can t hardly remember her. And I bet you don t remember your mama much either. So we re almost like orphans pg 21. Opal say this to Winn- Dixie when Opal takes him into their home and considers him a family member. The quote makes the image of her and Winn-Dixie’s lives very lonely and sad. This makes me think she has no one to talk to and that her father is just there. Why doesn’t she count her father as family? The image makes it look like her father is not emotionally connected to her and she need more love in her life. The reason why I can connect and relate to the book is because I only have a mother. I grew up in a single parent household. My father pasted away when I was Twelve years old. I didn’t even know my father that well even in those Twelve year s. I can relate with Opal not being able to recall anything about a parent. My mother doesn’t talk about my father so it is hard to know things and to know what and how she is thinking. Opal can relate to this because her father doesn’t talk much about her mother either. Whenever my mother does say something I will keep it in my memories forever because it’s the only things I have to hold on to about my father. Opal did the same thing when her father told her ten things about her mother. Opal and IShow MoreRelatedThe Roles Of Sexism And Dreams1377 Words   |  6 Pagessupporting roles just like their mother, Mama Lena. Debuted on Broadway in 1959, the dramatic work, A Raisin in the Sun, is composed by Lorraine Hansberry, who depicts the issues of sexism and dreams. Considering these themes, how can we explore the presence of dreams as well as the ideology of sexism that is registered in Black America? Through Walter’s quote, Hansberry’s screenplay challenges gender stereotypes through Walter and Beneatha while exploring Mama s domestic narrative; these three charactersRead MoreThe Heritage Of The Past1402 Words   |  6 Pageswriting. In â€Å"Everyday Use,† by Alice Walker, the mother narrates her perception of her two daughters, Dee and Maggie. Mama, the narrator, describes herself as a â€Å"big-boned† woman with hands that work like a man. She describes her daughters as opposite in personality. Dee is perceived as a pretty, independent, and fortunate college woman, whom later is identified as â€Å"Wangero.† Mama shared a dream that she had about Dee, as a TV show guest, that claims something special and beautiful about Dee. Mama’sRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of The House On Mango Street1163 Words   |  5 PagesEzra Collins English 9: Tetlak Literary Analysis: The House on Mango Street November 3, 2017 Remember Where Your From The House on Mango Street On average 40,093,000 people in the United States move annually. In the book The House on Mango Street the main character Esperanza and her family are included in this number. They Come very poor roots, and they don t have much money. They move often, one day dreaming to live in a real house, one they don t have to share, one with their own yard, withRead MoreAnalysis Of The House On Mango Street 1367 Words   |  6 Pagessocietal message and its understanding of the Latinx culture in the United States. I chose to write my review on this book due to the fact that as being a Latina in the United States, this book is something that I can relate to and understand in a more profound way since I have experienced some of the things that Esperanza experienced living on Mango Street. This essay will have a brief summary, character description, analysis of the central theme, and a review on the quality of writing and the impact onRead MoreDrag Queens : Lifestyle Or Disguise1397 Words   |à ‚  6 PagesDrag Queens: Lifestyle or Disguise Mama Ru (RuPaul Charles’ Drag Queen persona) gave her perspective on an episode of Drag Race with this quote: â€Å"If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?† the aspiration with this quote, it is to show the relevance that even with a different lifestyle, such as the â€Å"drag† life, self-love is respected in that controversial world. Over the centuries, men dressing as women has been going on since the dawn of the theatre, but whatRead MoreBiblical Names In Toni Morrisons Song Of Solomon1574 Words   |  7 Pagesare named after, or so that he or she may carry on the name of a beloved family member. Many names that are popular today are names from the Bible, since most of the biblical characters possess characteristics that parents would want their child to have. Names like Noah, Jacob, David, and Miriam, are names currently in the top 1000 child names in the world, and they are all biblical names. Names from the Bib le are also found in many works of literature, like Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, a comingRead MoreThe Life You Save May Be Your Own1506 Words   |  7 Pagesfixing the car, we see that he says that the trouble with the world was that nobody cared, or stopped and took any trou- ble. (Flannery O Connor, The Life You Save May Be Your Own) By the end of the story, Mr. Shiftlet had married the daughter of mama Lucynell Crater, who s name is also Lucynell Crater, and they eventually stop at a diner called The Hot Spot in which Mr. Shiftlet leaves her there. After he has abandoned the younger Lucynell Crater and he picked a boy hitchhik- er on his way toRead Moreevery day use3221 Words   |  13 Pages Date Paper draft (for example, Paper #1 Draft A or In-class Essay #2) On subsequent pages, in the upper right corner write: The paper s title Your name Page number Character analysis of the story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker 1) Pay attention to the character’s ethics. Does the character make just or unjust choices? Consider Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus does not make morally correctRead MoreToni Morrison s Beloved And The Bluest Eye2300 Words   |  10 PagesJada Warner Razor Ap Lit- 5 8 December 2016 Author/Work Literary Analysis Paper Toni Morrison s Beloved and The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison is known for her use of poetic language. In many of her writings Morrison captures the pursuit of African Americans identities(Parnell). Considering Morrison never experienced the horrific tragedies she writes about, she is a witness to many identities that were destroyed by society depiction of them. The themes that Toni Morrison illustrates in her worksRead MoreWillie Lynch Syndrome: Effect on the African American Community2273 Words   |  10 Pagesdisputed because of the language used. However, this writer feels that the methods describe are consistent with the way the African American community has been fractured in their treatment of one another, in his lifetime and history gives a brief analysis of the difference skin color has played in the African American community. Willie Lynch Syndrome: Its effect on the African American community, past and present. Reasonably account of the treatment of a race of people or hoax? Is this a reason

Censorship in Huck Finn Free Essays

Censorship and the Importance of Accurate Historical Sources Mark Twain’s classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been criticized since the day it was released. A library in Concord MA banned the book only a month after it was put into print and other libraries and schools have followed suit (Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not the only story to be widely banned, but it is one of the most controversial and well known. We will write a custom essay sample on Censorship in Huck Finn or any similar topic only for you Order Now Many people claim that the novel is racist due to the frequent use of racial slurs and the disrespect and mistreatment of the character Jim who is a runaway slave. Mark Twain’s famous novel is not a racist text because it is a historical account of the south during the 1840s, when racism was commonplace. The book’s purpose was to emphasize real life and mock the faults in human nature. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a young boy named Huckleberry Finn runs away from his life and travels down the Mississippi River with his friend Jim, a runaway slave. The story follows Huck’s moral growth and maturity throughout his many adventures and experiences. The major turning point of the book is when Huck realizes that Jim cares about him, and that he cares about Jim in return. As a child, Huck is taught that Jim isn’t a person because of his skin color and that he does not deserve respect, but Huck discovers that Jim is a person and deserves more respect than most people Huckleberry met on his journeys. He comes to this decision because Jim cares for him and treats Huck better than his own father. Huck says â€Å"All right, then, I’ll go to hell. when he decides to go against the racist teachings of his childhood and help Jim get his freedom (Twain 216-217). The book was written to show what life was like in the 1840s and successfully revealed the way people viewed each other and people of other races. In the beginning of the story, Huck treats Jim poorly because he is taught that Jim isn’t a real person and h e could get away with it. One of the many tricks Huckleberry plays on Jim was hiding a snake in the cave they were living in, but the snake bites Jim and Huck realizes how cruel his trick was and begins to feel sorry for how he treats Jim (Twain 55). Events like this are the reason people believe that Mark Twain’s book is racist, but without these examples the book’s purpose is muddled and the historical reliability is gone. The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered a controversial text because it contains derogatory language and examples of disrespectful behavior towards people of color. Speech and actions like the ones in the book were common in the setting of the book (Knab 1). People want to ban or edit the original text of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, because of these elements, but they still allow these remarks in other literary works. Fredric Douglass used the same language in his narrative that was published in 1845, forty years before Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but people don’t challenge his work because he was a slave and his story is a historical account of a slave’s life (Bowker). The two stories are based in the same time, are about the same topic, and both aim to be realistic portrayals of everyday life in the 1840s, yet one is constantly challenged while the other is allowed to be as it is. People today are concerned with being â€Å"politically correct† and â€Å"non-offensive†, but they have reached the point where they are willing to change history to protect the feelings of certain people (Kay). If these â€Å"racist† remarks and actions were removed from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the message of the book would not be evident, its historical accuracy destroyed, and the book would just be a meaningless children’s story. Censorship is useful to an extent, it allows people to keep mature information from children, but when it is used on history it takes away from the importance of knowing about and learning from the past. The reason racism is so important to avoid now is because of the negative effects it had in the past. If people don’t learn about these effects, then they can not understand the importance of equality now. When books are censored, their historical accuracy is lost and they are unable to educate people on the importance of the past to modern-day (Kay). Without learning about the good, bad, and ugly of the past, people wont be able to comprehend why the world is the way it is and how they can avoid the mistakes of the past. If the offensive content of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is removed, then people will not be able to see the severity of racism during the 1840s (Bosman). If the book is censored, then the point where Pap starts ranting about the â€Å"injustice† of a well educated black man being able to vote will not have the impact it should, representing the opinion of the average white male in the south (Twain 28). The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is seen as a masterpiece (Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) and a classic (Robert O’Meally) due to the original riting and arrangement. Without these elements, that people want to change, the book would not be as renowned or highly regarded. Although The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn may have some content that offends some people and they believe that it would be better to remove the offensive content, it would take away from the plot and meaning of the story. If the novel really offends someone, then they do not have to read it again or even finish reading it, but they do not have the right to change the words of someone else to suit their own ideals. The words of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were all carefully picked by Mark Twain to carry the message of his story and editing them would be defacing his hard work. Twain often complained about his proofreaders and editors changing his work (Kurutz). The book was written by Mark Twain and if he saw the need to add these controversial elements, then we should not interfere with his decision or his historical accuracy (Kay). Then novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not a racist text, nor is Mark Twain a racist himself. Mark Twain’s novel was written as a historical account of life in the 1840s and as a result, any content that could be considered offensive to some is all added to make the literary work more realistic and a more accurate portrayal of life in the setting. Without these elements, the story of Huckleberry’s moral growth would not be as developed and the message of the book will not be as prominent. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be censored because the way the book is written provides an accurate account of life in the 1840s and without the writing staying as it is, the whole integrity of the work will be diminished. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered a classic because of how it was written. Changing the text changes the whole book and since the book is so highly regarded as it is, it should remain the same. When people claim that a book is racist, they make this assumption based on the content of the book. What people need to note is when the book is set, its publication date, and the purpose of the offensive content. With The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the story takes place in the 1840s when racism was very common. It also was published in 1885 when people in the United States were struggling with racism after the Civil War. The offensive content of the book is used to portray what life was like in the 1840s and to mock the behavior of the people of that time. When the book was written, language like that used in the text was still common and not seen as offensive as it does now. Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not racist, it just contains racist content, and this content makes the story what it is and develops its meaning. To take away this major element of the literary work to protect the feelings of some individuals would ruin the story and would hurt more people than it would help. To censor The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would take away a valuable source of historical knowledge that allows us to see the importance of how our society has changed and developed. Without this knowledge, people will forget the importance of the progress humankind has made and will not be able to avoid the mistakes we have already made as a whole in the past. Because of these reasons, changing the great literary work of Mark Twain Is unnecessary because The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not a racist text and exposure to the harsh realities in the story will help the people of today to truly understand our past as a whole and improve our future. Works Cited Page Bosman, Julie. â€Å"Publisher Tinkers with Twain. † National Post. 4 Jan 2011. Print. Bowker, Gene. â€Å"Mark Twain, racism and Huckleberry Finn. † Examiner. com. Web. 9 Feb 2013 ;http://www. examiner. om/article/mark-twain-racism-and-huckleberry-finn; Kay, Barbara. â€Å"We Shouldn’t Censor History. † National Post. 10 Jan 2011. Print. Knab, Jakob. Racism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 2011. Print. Kurutz,, Steven. â€Å"A Twain Scholar Reacts to the New, Censored Version ‘Huckleberry Finn’. † National Post. 9 Jan 2011. Print. PBS. â€Å"Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. † Web. 9 Feb 2013 ;http: //www. pbs. org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/literature/huck. html; Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2003. Print. How to cite Censorship in Huck Finn, Essay examples

Mi Guia free essay sample

â€Å"Dale!† I heard through the whoosh of the city traffic. I jerked my head in the direction of the familiar salutation and instantly recognized her. I hadn’t seen her in almost three months, but with her oversized floppy straw hat draped over her head and the familiar, rich blue and yellow dress that clung to her tan shoulders, she still looked the same. â€Å"Carina!† I shouted back as we both moved closer for a hello hug. After three months I had been reunited with my group leader. She was a twenty-two year old native New Yorker who had led me and my group on a five week trip to Spain. Fresh from four years at Smith College, she studied Spanish, Economics and traveled the world. Though our trip was my first experience traveling and seeing the world, it was a eye opening one that has left me thirsty for more adventure. We will write a custom essay sample on Mi Guia or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Much of the change that the trip brought about in me came from Carina because she inspired me to push myself while in Spain. She urged me to speak more Spanish and try new foods; she introduced me to Spanish History in fact, when she passed along a book about the Inquisition and Re-Conquest, I spent many late nights of my home stay, with my head perched on my pillow and eyes plowing through the words on the page. Carina and I went to a rundown Spanish bar to play some sloppy but competitive games of billiards. We laughed and joked about our lack of skill as we fumbled through each shot blaming our misfortunes on the unfamiliar Spanish rules. After the game we sat at a small table directly across from an enormous leg of cured Serrano ham, eating some sort of smelly fried fish tapas. We discussed the rancor of the Catholics against the Jews and Muslims in the last decade of the fifteenth century and though I am not a history buff, I was engrossed by the topic and it helped me learn more about the rich Spanish culture that I had been thrown into. Now that we were reunited in New York, our conversation picked up again, this time it was crowded by our looming futures. Unfortunately, this meeting was less of a reunion and more of a goodbye. She had a one-way ticket to San Francisco on a flight leaving the next day; she was packing her life into a single box and two suitcases and moving to the other side of the country. â€Å"So do you have a job lined up yet or a place to stay?† I asked, eager to know more about her plan. â€Å"Well I can stay at my friend’s for a few days until I find an apartment, but I’m going to start looking for a job when I get there.† Although her decision struck me as terrifying, I understood why she was making it. The truth is, I too wanted more than anything to pack my bags and go somewhere new. Still her decision seemed so difficult to make. She already had a job, an apartment and friends in New York. â€Å"I am not staying here just because its the easier thing to do. Make sure that you do the same in your college endeavors,† she urged me. The truth of Carina’s words made me realize that the world is full of things to explore and now, as I reach adulthood, I’m ready to discover them. I’ve lived in a small New England town my whole life, and I’ve squeezed the last drops of adventure from its depths; so it’s time to leave and go somewhere I can do something remarkable. I see college as a chance to take a risk and discover new things. I want a school that introduces me to new cultures, beliefs, and ideals and that serves as a base of operations for me to travel the world, putting new knowledge to the test. Whether it’s helping people as a doctor, or performing research for a field study, I want to DO something. I simply want to be more like Carina and not cower in fear of trying something new. She introduced me to the world of bold and daring, and now that I’ve gotten a taste, I’m going to strive for more.

O-Town free essay sample

In the spring of 2000, MTV and Lou Pearlman (creator ofthe Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC) set out to create yet another boy band. Only thistime, instead of bringing them into the public eye out of nowhere, they wouldshow their lives before they became famous. The show was called Making theBand, and it was an instant hit. The band called themselves O-Town,after Orlando, Florida. Soon O-Town was making appearances on TRL, on which theirLiquid video premiered. Their album debuted at #21 on the BillboardHot 100 and their video was a success. It may well be thought that they wereaccepted into the already over-populated music world because of the show and nottheir music. O-Towns songs range from overemphasizing sex and physicalappearance to unrealistic romance. In Liquid, the guys name everycharacteristic they want in a woman. Here is where the obsession with physicalappearance comes into play; they describe their dream woman as a dominatrixsupermodel beauty queen. We will write a custom essay sample on O-Town or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The song The Sexiest Woman Alive needsno explanation. Lines like I like the way we touch in the night andYou know you got a lot in your Calvin Jeans are repulsive. Suddenly, though, they decide to change their outlook toward women and inSensitive explain how deep they are: See Ive given youeverything thats inside What can I say, girl, Im sensitive. It seemsthis band has a split personality when it comes to choosing material. Obviously O-Town is targeting teens, as do the other boy bands, but ifthey are going to keep their sex-obsessed image, they should target an olderaudience.

buy custom Organization Downsizing essay

buy custom Organization Downsizing essay Introduction With the issue of ineffective personnel being a critical issue in business environment, many organizations are resolving to a trim of their workforce. The following research focused on downsizing with regard to its advantages and disadvantages to both the employer and employees within an organization. During the study it was assumed that individuals who maintained their jobs after the downsizing had a conviction that their organizations were doing so in the best interest of all stakeholders. Organizational downsizing can be defined as an organizations strategy of permanently reducing the number of employees so as to improve on its efficiency or effectiveness. While layoffs are concerned with the analysis at individual level, downsizing deals with other levels of analysis other than at the individual level only. Whereas leadership is vital to any organization, it can be a great disappointment to employees if no good rapport is developed between all the stakeholders. The management may view it necessary to inspire subordinates to do more work with less labor. Downsized employees seldom find new jobs with a comparable pay. A study by Daft and Richard showed that average hourly wages in the United States fell from $11.37 in 1973 to $0.34 in 1991, while the annual working hours increased from 1,683 hours to 1,781 hours in 1973 and 1990 respectively. Research Materials and Methodology A five-point Likert survey instrument was used to examine data pertaining to downsizing and its implications to both the organizations and the laid-off individuals. A study by Weber in regard to business ethics showed that there are six major considerations that have to be given appropriate attention while downsizing. These include: a)Making of the critical decision to downsize. b)Communicating the criterion to be used for downsizing employees. c)Opportunities for transition and transfer within the organization. d)The process by which employees are laid off. e)Motivation of the remaining employees to ensure that production and performance of the organization are not compromised. f)General relations of the employees and the management after the downsizing. Methodology Question surveys among remaining employees and the downsized employees were used to investigate the degree of fairness during the process and also seek their views in regard to the fate of each stakeholder. The main objective of the survey was to obtain precise information on the impact of the downsizing process. Reasons for Downsizing Although organizations justify their cause of action by citing involuntary loss of resources, employees view it as an intentional move to take away their jobs. However, there are varieties of reasons as to why organizations may result to downsizing their employees. These include: To reduce expenses being incurred by the business organization so as to ensure that it remains competitive and in operation for a longer period of time. The management may consider it an informed decision to trim costs by getting rid of some jobs with an aim of maximizing their profits. Technology obsolescence leading to elimination of some of the products produced by the employees. This is an often excuse cited by many employers to terminate and reduce the number of employees. Incompetence of the employee in the evolved technology with the organizations claim of having eliminated the product being produced by a particular employee and consequently, eliminating their job. The organizations claim of running short of funds thus forcing it to lay-off some of its employees to avoid financial crises that would bring it down on its knees. Causes of Downsizing A report by Twentieth Century Fund (1995) indicated that the major cause of downsizing within organizations was as a result of short-term investments. Since corporatemanagers operate under pressure from financial markets, they are forced to focus more on quarterly profits rather than long term investment. An organization is made up of three pertinent stakeholders, namely: board directors, corporate managers and investors, all of whom give little priority to long term investments. Instead, they pay attention on how fast they meet their short term objectives of which are the basis used by others to judge their performance. Primarily, downsizing is attributed to the problem of an organizations budget especially in regard to personnel expenditure reduction. Therefore, with a great quest for maximizing profit by making significant budget changes, organizations result to firing personnel to reduce the cost incurred in paying out wages. Various discussions which have taken place indicate existence of three levels of organizational downsizing, namely: global, industrial and at individual level. At the global and industrial levels mergers and acquisitions characterize downsizing within an organization. Advantages of Downsizing It reduces expenses and costs incurred in paying out salaries and wages to a large number of employees within an organization thus maximizing on profits. For example, Oracle Corporation laid-off about 5,000 employees on acquisition of PeopleSoft Company. In addition, Jamaica Air also reduced its number of employees by 15 percent in an effort aimed at trimming the cost of operation. Improves in economic growth in the long term within organizations when overall job availability outweighs the lay-offs as argued by economists. As such, economists are always optimistic and criticize those opposed to the idea of downsizing. In addition, they suggest that employees who lose their jobs do so due to the effect of outsourced jobs. It gives laid-off employees the advantage to utilize their skills in other technological fields which are growing at a fast rate. Economists often argue that such moves enable organizations to maintain their competitiveness in a fast growing domestic and global economy. Disadvantages of Downsizing It disrupts an organizations ability to incorporate new ideas since it breaks down entrepreneurial networking within the organization. Due to loss of personnel, organizations end up losing the skills that had been gained by the employees during their stay at the company. Leads to disappearance of skills within the working environment thus compromising on the quality of the production process. Consequently, creativity diminishes as employees who are left out during the process of downsizing shift attention to meeting short term objectives in time to secure their jobs. This renders the products of a business organization to be at the risk of becoming obsolete with the fast growing technology. It creates lower team performance as employees begin to adapt to the new changes and diverse areas of work allocated to them to cater for the lost personnel. As such, the management finds itself engaged in many formal controls to ensure that quality is not compromised. Little control can have great implications on the future of the organization since the products may lose out to the competitors. At the individual level, it reduces an employees opportunity to implement his or her creative ideas and consumes a lot of time as the project is being developed. Production process would also consume a lot of time as individuals working together struggle to achieve integration and coordination between them. At the project level, an organization suffers from a shortage of information and ideas since a communication breakdown occurs between the project managers and members from other functional areas. Diversity of information is critical for any organization to realize its goals and objectives. With a downsized labor, information diversity and innovative ideas for improving on the organizations development process are often lost. Information greatly affects process performance and enhances team tenor thus improving on the efficiency of the production process. In addition, the organization loses many informal contacts which might provide it with the opportunity of learning from other organizations thus improve on the quality of its production process. Leads to loss of highly-skilled labor aand extra expenses being incurred in training new workers as well as the increase of overtime wages for workers since they are forced to perform more duties. An increase in the number of lawsuits filed in court by employees who feel aggrieved by the move to lay them off. This leads to loss of time by the organization while trying to defend their course of action. In addition, efficiency in production may take quite a long period of time as new employees adapt to new roles and responsibilities. Results Considerations while downsizing No. of respondents in % Decision making 60 Communication of criteria used 76 Possible transition and transfer 55 Process used to downsize 68 Motivating employees 70 Employer-employee relations 82 Interpretation of Results The survey sampled the response of 100 respondents, all of whom were employees drawn from different organizations and who still maintained their jobs and others who lost it after the downsizing process. The survey was based on the analysis of six considerations made in the process of downsizing as proposed by Ambrose and Delorese. From the table above, 60 percent of the interviewees argued that the decision to lay-off the organizations workforce was as a result of economic recess. In regard to communication criteria used, 76 percent of the respondents agreed that the reasons given to them to justify the organizations course of action were not convincing enough. When asked whether the laid-off employees would consider a possible move to other places of work within the organization, 55 percent of them said that it was almost impossible and not an option in the circumstances. Further still, 70 percent agreed that the organizations would suffer huge losses while motivating the remaining workforce. 82 percent doubted whether the normal employer-employee relationship would remain after the lay-offs. The above results from the survey indicate that employees are not in support of the downsizing trend growing up in many organizations today. Conclusion From the results of the survey its evident that many employees are not for the idea of downsizing as opposed to the management who think that the move is in the best interest of the company as well as the employee. Many of the employees appear to be of the fact that such moves cannot be justified and that they are only aimed at oppressing them financially. All in all, organizations continue suffering from loss of skills and innovative ideas and their reasons for lay-offs cannot be justified in the eyes of the employees. The reason behind this can be due to the fact that the management and other stakeholders put more focus on short-term returns other than the long-term investments. As such, they result to laying-off their personnel so as to achieve their goals and objectives. As organizations compete with each other and struggle with the issue of personnel reduction in an increasingly competitive world, cooperate managers, executives and investors should put more focus on long-term investment rather than shot-term solutions. Strategic planning should also be implemented so as to ensure that downsizing is the last alternative to the organization. Buy custom Organization Downsizing essay

Team Development Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Team Development - Coursework Example The duo proposed that a small group passes through five stages to get fully matured (Tuckman & Jensen, 2010). They proposed the paths to include; forming, storming, norming, performing and finally the adjourning stages. It is for this reason that any team leader should endeavor to know the characteristics of each stage so that he/she can find and adopt the necessary skills to deal with the members challenges. The following essay is about the stages passed through by the sales team formed by Barclays Bank to increase their market share by selling loans and other products to which I was a member. This stage was characterized by a lot of curiosity and excitement as many of us were not yet sure of the real purpose of the team. Most people at this stage did not know each other and their ability/skills. However, the team members were polite and receptive to each other. The team leader was very initiative and more result-oriented. He introduced us to major tasks in a bid to maximize friendly atmosphere to see tasks adopted and completed in time. He was very directive at this level and walked through the team giving directions. Here we had several disagreements and conflicts amongst ourselves as other members realized the tasks were quite challenging. Some colleagues became totally incorporative with each other, even questioning the authority of the team leader and his roles other thereby fuelling the conflicts. This, however, is expected at this stage according to (Eyre & Mind Tool Team, 2014). They suggest that the leader should be assertive and more positive to the main goal, skills that were absent in our team leader. They recommend that He/she should even consider training members on conflict resolution and explain to them that whatever was happening at that stage was normal (Eyre & Mind Tool Team, 2014). This was not the case with

Government 2 Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Government 2 - Dissertation Example They are the ones that set the goals within the commission or the panel that is if it does not involve the public. If the commission involves the public, then they are in a better position to ask for redirection. The fact still remains that the members are the ones who handle that. The influence that controlling a government has is to possess more power and influence. However, an effective legislature is beneficial in different ways. This is because power calls for the completion of tasks thus assists only those who are powerful. An effective legislature allows quick response to some new developments that go to an extent of preventing terrorism. It is a system that allows rapid change that will benefit different people. This is different with the government power that only benefits those who are in power. They are also the system that forms laws; therefore, it is more important having an effective legislature. Without laws, the government power would be useless at any sense. Part tim e legislators mean that they have full time jobs and might not give their all in the practice. Looking at the long time legislators, we realize that they are those that practice those jobs as full time. They however incur much more costs than the work that they are engaged in. A smaller legislature body may be a way of opening up a more transparent legislature system.

Leadership-Article Critiques Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leadership- Critiques - Article Example These terms are used interchangeably to define the types of leadership. The article addresses several issues affecting leadership development. The contribution of literature based paper in defining the leadership issues is addressed in the article. Distributed leadership emerged in the education sector and has improved the performance of the students and the facilitators. It contrasts the team-based shared leadership literature. The article addresses gaps in the literature and illustrates the incompleteness of the study associated with shared or distributive leadership. In spite of the glaring difficulties of the study, it is evident that shared leadership is a complex process and a modern concept not understood by many leaders and managers. The article evaluates the assumption associated with traditional and shared leadership. Shared leadership is defined in the article as a simultaneous, ongoing and mutual influence process occurring within a team. Therefore, the work of shared lea dership is to develop the necessary interaction between the members of the team. The exploration of the fine grained dynamics of relationships within teams will produce very different research agendas based on the theory employed. In fact, the issues requiring articulation could not be addressed in the article because of the minimal literature present in the society. Critique The article is useful when addressing the leadership styles in the society. In fact, shared leadership has been used in the society to define then various issues associated with education, but the study of shared leadership has been minimal. The findings of the research are conclusive based on the number of participants and the nature of the leadership trends. I agree with the findings on shared leadership application. The role of the leaders in education is captured significantly in the process through the literature review presented. In illustration of shared leadership, the article evaluates the nature and a cceptability of shared leadership in other sectors of governance. Consequently, it addressed the application of shared leadership concept in business and organizational set-up. To illustrate change in leadership and management, the article addresses issues that affect management of teams and change of behavior. The impact of shared leadership in education is evident through the success achieved in the management of the teams. In spite of the challenges associated with the topic, the authors are able to develop a concise understanding of the leadership process and encourage the development of the necessary skills. The article is effective in describing the dynamics of relationships and the ontological debates of interest in the contemporary society. Therefore, leaders must be able to address the issues of shared leadership. Theorizing leadership should be undertaken based on extensive research carried out. Therefore, the article is vital in addressing shared leadership because it is conclusive and has diverse research work undertaken. Distributed and shared leadership articles are not less important for broader issues associated with human thinking and relationship. In conclusion, the article describes distributed and shared leadership conclusively. Article title: Exploring Distributed Leadership in the Small Business Context Article summary The article address

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Case Study

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Case Study Case Study: Anxiety Answer Sheet Diagnosing Tina Student Name: Robert Gianella Diagnosing Generalized Anxiety Disorder: 1a. Refer to the DSM-IV checklist for generalized anxiety disorder. Which of Tinas symptoms meet any of the criteria? (Be sure to match specific symptoms with specific criteria.) 1b. Based upon your review of Tinas symptoms and the diagnostic criteria, could Tina be diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder or not (and if not, why not)? Diagnosing Specific Phobia: 2a. Refer to the DSM-IV checklist for specific phobia. Which of Tina’s symptoms meet any of the criteria? (Be sure to match specific symptoms with specific criteria.) 2b. Does Tina have a specific phobia and if yes, what is the feared object? Diagnosing Panic Disorder: 3a. Refer to the DSM-IV checklist for panic disorder with agoraphobia and the checklist for panic disorder without agoraphobia. Which of Tina’s symptoms meet any of the criteria? (Be sure to match any specific symptoms with specific criteria.) 3b. Does Tina meet the diagnostic criteria for panic disorder with agoraphobia or panic disorder without agoraphobia or neither? Explain why you believe your choice is the most appropriate diagnosis. Understanding Tina’s Disorders: 1. How would the Socio-Cultural Perspective explain Tinas GAD? 2. Explain Tinas GAD from the Existential Perspective. 3. Explain Tina’s GAD from the Cognitive Perspective (please identify any basic irrational assumptions that Tina is making, even if they may be unspoken). 4. Explain Tina’s Phobia from a Behavioral Perspective (please use classical conditioning as a possible example). 5. Explain Tina’s Phobia from a Psychodynamic Perspective. 6. Considering the biological correlates or causes of Tinas panic disorder, what role does the neurotransmitter norepinephrine play in her panic disorder? 7. What does Tinas locus ceruleus have to do with her panic disorder? 8. What role might GABA play in her symptoms? Treating Tina 1. Which Psychodynamic technique has been found to be the most useful in the treatment of GAD? 2. Explain why a humanistic approach would be helpful in treating Tinas GAD. 3. How might you use Rational-Emotive Therapy to treat Tina’s GAD? 4. How would Systematic Desensitization be used to treat Tina’s phobia of bridges? 5. What medications have proven useful for treatment with panic disorder? 6. What role could cognitive therapy play in Tinas treatment for panic disorder? 7. Considering that Tina may be treated for comorbid disorders, how do you see the treatments for the various disorders complementing each other? 8. Is there any reason to think that any of the treatments would be contraindicated when utilized together? Explain why/how or why/how not.

Terrorism Essay -- essays research papers

A gunshot, an explosion, and screaming heard. That is what is generally thought of when one hears the word "Terrorism". In most cases it is true, but there are many other types of terrorism. Most terrorist incidents in the United States have been bombing attacks, involving explosive devices, tear gas and pipe bombs. (Collins, B. 1)The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) categorizes terrorism in the U.S. as either; domestic or international terrorism. Terrorism is the use of force or violence against persons or property in violation of the criminal laws of the United States for purposes of intimidation, coercion or ransom. Terrorists often use threats to create fear among the public, to try to convince citizens that their government is powerless to prevent terrorism, and to get major publicity for their causes. (Hancock, L. 1) Terrorism has been around for many years. A recent mass act of violent terror occurred during WWII. Terror was released on Germany and many neighboring countries because of one mans belief in how people should be and how they should live. Hitler was elected chairman for the National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) party in 1920. Adolf climbed his way to power over Germany. An Enabling Act passed by giving legislature, allowed him to "Nazify" the bureau, and replace all labor unions with one Nazi-controlled German labor front, and not allow any political parties except his ...

Lenin had a greater impact on Russia’s economy and society than any other Ruler. How far do you agree with this view of the period from 1855 to 1964? Essay

Lenin had a greater impact on Russia’s economy and society than any other Ruler. How far do you agree with this view of the period from 1855 to 1964? Over the period from 1855 to 1964, Russia saw various reforms and policies under the Tsars and the Communist leaders that had great impacts on its economy and society both positive and negative. Lenin definitely implanted polices that changed society and the economy for example with war communism. However whether his policies had the greatest impact is debatable and in this essay I will be assessing the view whether Lenin had the greatest impact on Russia’s economy and society than any other ruler between the period from 1855-1964. The Russia economy in terms of industry fluctuated over the period from 1855-1964. It is key to note that under all the leaders, industrialisation and modernisation was always seen as an essential economic aim. Under Alexander II, with Reutern as his Minister of finance who adopted an approach t hat revolved around continued railway construction, attraction of foreign expertise and foreign investment capital. As a result modernisation and expansion occurred within the staples as well as newer industries which show the impact that alexander II made on industry. Reutern achieved a sevenfold increase in the amount of railway and the capacity of railway to carry break bulk at speed increased which gave a major boost to industrial output Russia seemed to be finally moving towards industrialisation and keeping up with the West. This approach was similar under Nicolas II who also managed to have a great impact on Russia’s industrial economy. This was through the work of Sergei Witte whom at the time of his appointment the Russian economy still resolved predominantly around agricultural production further showing that under Alexander II impacts was limited. Witte continued the idea of foreign expertise as well as taking out foreign loans, raising taxes and interest rates to boost available capital for investment in industry. Another major development was the placement of the rouble on the gold standard in 1897. The impacts of Witte’s policies were great. Coal production doubled and that of iron and steel increased sevenfold while the total amount of railway track opened rose from 29,183 km to 52,612 km in 1901. Much of this stimulated the stupendous growth in capital abroad. There was an indication that income started to even catch up with other industrialised nations seen and income  earned from industry rose from 42 million to 161 roubles by 1897. This period of industrial success has even been named the ‘Great Spurt’ and the increase in industrial production of 7.5% far exceeded Russian achievement for any comparable period before 1914 which shows that Nicholas II had the greatest impact on the industrial economy than any other Tsar. This focus on heavy industry was continued under Stalin who implanted his five year plans; industrialisation was to be stimulated through the settin g production targets. The effects were great increase in industrial output which hard to state specifically as much of the production figures were falsified. Khrushchev mostly continued Stain’s centralisation with greater diversion as he wanted to produce more consumer goods. There was however a slowdown in growth under Khrushchev but it wasn’t a huge impact and illustrates a negative impact. This however didn’t compare to negative impacts seen under Lenin. By November 1917 Lenin stated implemented War Communism by introducing state capitalism. This involved the state taking complete control over the economy until it could ‘safely’ be handed over to the proletariat. Nationalisation by itself did nothing to increase production; military needs were given priority so that resources to those industries not considered essential were denied. The situation was made more serious by the factories being deprived of manpower as a result of conscription. The problem for industry was deepened by hyperinflation. The government’s policy on continuing to print currency notes effectively destroyed the value of money and by the end of 1920 the rouble had fallen to 1 per cent of its worthin1917. Although Lenin’s NEP started to impact industry positively and indeed industrial output increased rapidly it only ever reached the level of output in 1914. Overall, the greatest positive impact on industry arguably is under Nicholas II. Industrial output over doubled under him, railway construction expanded rapidly and his policies impacted the people as well people saw living standards increase unlike under Stalin that despite growth living standards actuall y deteriorated and Russia could have seen to be on its way to true industrialisation. Whilst under Lenin it is clear that he had the greatest negative impact on the industrial economy. There was no industrial growth and Lenin only benefited through tighter control of Russia through the economy. As well as impacts on industry it is also important to consider impacts on agriculture. The issue of land ownership can be seen to  be handled differently under each leader. Alexander II, Lenin and Stalin all pursued that effectively had negative impacts on agriculture. With the emancipation of the serfs in 1861 the peasants were ‘free’ and no longer tied to the land. The impacts however were reversal. Peasants were allocated poor quality land and received less on average than they had been farming before emancipation. Furthermore peasants were forced to pay redemption dues that were higher than what they could achieve. In the end, the impacts on the peasants were they were worse off and able peasants had no incentive to produce surpluses and were reluctant to improve the land as decisions about what was to be produces and how crops were to be cultivated were decided by the village Mir, which resulted in a slight fall in grain overall. These effects however were more severe under Lenin and Stalin as they sought to increase grain production by coercion. While Lenin under War communism used grain requisitioning to forcefully collect peasant surpluses from them Stalin used collectivisation to force peasants to collaborate to produce as much food as possible. Similarly in both cases the peasants refused to conform; knowing that any surplus would be confiscated the peasant produced the barest minimum to feed themselves and their family and even less food was available for Russia. One of the greatest imp acts were the famines that occurred in 1921 under Lenin where the grain harvest produced less than half the amount gathered in 1931 and Russia had international help from countries such as the USA. However these impacts were the greatest under Stalin. The amount of bread produced fell from 250.4 (kilograms per head) in 1928 to 214.6 in 1932. The impacts of collectivisation were at its worst in 1932-32 when occurred what many people describe as a self-made national famine. Stalin’s ‘’official silence’’ of the situation meant it wasn’t addressed and thus collectivisation killed between 10-15 million peasants and failed to increase agricultural output. Though a similar devastating famine occurred under Alexander III in which he adopted the Peasant land banks to try and alleviate the impacts and encourage farming again and in fact famines occurred over Russian history its severity was the worst under Stalin. Alexander II’s attempt to pacify the peasants to increase agricultural levels was similarly adopted under Nicholas II through the reforms of Stolypin and further under Khrushchev. Stolypin’s ‘wager on the strong’ saw that in that period peasants were paying increasingly higher taxes a sign  that their new farming was producing higher profits. The provision of land backs, abolition of redemption dues and being urged to replace inefficient strip system created a wealthier group of peasants later labelled the kulaks by communist leaders signifying that Nicholas II enjoyed higher agricultural profits. The schemes for larger-scale voluntary resettlement of peasants are a continuation under Khrushchev whos e Virgin Land Campaigns encouraged the increase in the amount of land being cultivated. In 1950, 96 million acres of land were given over to the production of wheat and by 1964 this increased to 165 million acres. His policies seem to have even impacted citizens as urban dwellers started to feel that their food requirements were at last being adequately met. Thus Khrushchev can be seen to have the greatest positive impact on agriculture as the Russian people had finally felt that the food was enough for them and the amount of land and grain cultivated increased. While the greatest negative impact was prominently under Stalin, his collectivisation was met by peasant unrest and grain and livestock destruction that lead to a damning national famine. Both the Tsars and the Communist leaders had their impacts on the Russian society. Religion and the idea that the Tsar was Gods own appointed continued under all three Tsars, so there was no real impact by any on the tsars on religion as they sought to keep this religious through the aid of the Russian Orthodox Church; the Russian people truly believed that the Tsar was appointed by God and referred to him as their ‘little father’. Despite Lenin coming into power and issuing the’ decree on the separation of the church and state’ which meant that the church was no longer to have central organisation with authority over local organisations, religious teachings in schools being forbidden and the attempt to eradicate religion Peasants continued to pray and worship as their forebears had but they could no longer risk doing it so publicly. Hence showing the Tsars had a greater impact in terms of religion than the communist leaders as all their efforts to eradicate religion and enforce atheism effectively failed. Both the Tsars and the communist attempted to expand the provision of education at all levels. Alexander II is seen to make attempts that increased the number of Russians in education. In 1864 Alexander II introduced a major education reform. This had an immediate impact in the number of available school places, especially in more isolate places and raised the quality and variety of provision which  improved. Such continuation can be seen under Khrushchev who scrapped school fees and the creation of specialist academies and the spread of correspondence courses sought to increase the quality of education in Russia. Nicholas II and Stalin’s educational policies can be seen as similar in that they both impacted society similarly by raising the number of students attending school. The number of primary schools rose from 79 thousand in 1896 to 81 thousand in 1914 under Nicholas II ( work of the fourth duma) while in 1929 only 8 million pupils were attending primary school and in 1930 this rose to 18 million pupils. Furthermore under Stalin emerged the cult of personality that aimed to control all aspects of Russian life. Censorship and propaganda increased drastically under Stalin; however whether Stalin truly had an impact on the culture and the way of thinking is debatable. The applause that greeted his every appearance in public is more likely to have been a matter of prudence than o f real affection. In comparison to the leaders already mention Alexander III sought to limit university autonomy. Under him elections to the university councils were scrapped and placed by an appointment system but nevertheless universities continued to flourish. Overall although Alexander II can be seen to have stimulated educational growth participation the greatest impacts were seen under Nicholas II and Stalin which participation increased immensely. Although the Communist leaders tried to eradicate the church from society many of the Russian population remained orthodox but secretly illustrating the strong impacts the Tars had over religion. In conclusion, it can be seen that different rulers had various impacts on many parts of the economy and society. Industrially Lenin did have the greatest negative impact as the Russia didn’t see any real economic growth and saw a great famine. However under Nicholas II Russia enjoyed the great Spurt which arguably could have seen to have a greater positive impact as it even filtered to the Russian citizens that enjoyed better standards of living and many historians express that Russia was well on its way to industrialisation. Lenin again had a great negative impact on agriculture but that of Stalin was more severe and was worse on agricultural produce. Overall, though Lenin had great impacts of different aspects of life other rulers can be seen to have had a greater impact whether positive or negative and Lenin never truly managed to have a true impact on Russian society and culture though attempted.

Free Essays on Edgar Allen Poe

In Edgar Allan Poe’s poems he writes about death and darkness. Throughout his poems, â€Å"The Raven† and â€Å"The Bells†, Poe writes of death, darkness, and evil. Many say he writes about this because of his childhood problems. (Slovey p. 15) As you continue to read, it will show how others feel about his writings and his desire to write about death. In Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, The Bells, Poe tells how bells can play a part throughout death and this causes readers to dislike the poem but it also has a positive effect on readers when Poe tells of bells being used as symbols of love. For example, some feel that Poe’s desire for death makes the poem less interesting. W.M. Auden tells how the Bells was less interesting but was more successful because the subject is nothing but an excuse for onomatopoeic efforts. Also, some feel that Poe writes about death and darkness because of his drinking problems he had. (Slovey p. 22) Anthony Caputi feels that thi s poem marks the high tide of Poe’s ineffectuality and also bears testimony to his immense gift for poetic conception and thereby confronts us with the peculiar problem of Poe. (Poetry Criticism). In addition, some feel this poem has a sense of good and beauty to it. Floyd Stovall writes how Poe defined poetry as music combined with a pleasurable idea and the poets truth is an excitement of the soul and it is the product of the contemplation of beauty. So in Poe’s poem, The Bells, he writes of death and evil but also of good and love that leaves a positive and a negative effect on readers. In Edgar Allen Poe’s ,The Raven, Poe uses a sense of darkness and evil throughout the poem by using the black bird as a symbol of evil. Some readers cannot understand how this poem has became so popular considering the evil that was used throughout the poem. Allen Tate says he can add very little to criticism of The Raven written in many passages that are wonders how it can be a great poem and how... Free Essays on Edgar Allen Poe Free Essays on Edgar Allen Poe Edgar Allen Poe Edgar Allen Poe, a great 19th-century American author, was born on Jan 19, 1809, in Boston, Mass. Both his parents died when he was two years old, and he was taken into the home of John Allan, a wealthy tobacco exporter of Richmond, Va. Although Poe was never legally adopted, he used his foster father's name as his middle name. After several years in a Richmond academy, Poe was sent to the University of Virginia. After a year, John Allan refused to give him more money, possibly because of Poe's losses at gambling. Poe then had to leave the university. In 1827 he published, in Boston, Tamerlane and Other Poems. This was the first volume of his poems, and was published anonymously. The book made no money, and next Poe enlisted in the United States Army under an assumed name. After he served two years, his foster father arranged for him to be honorably discharged and to enter the United States Military Academy, also known as West Point. But, within six months, Poe was dismissed because of neglect of duty. Poe then began to write stories for magazines. In 1831, he published Poems by Edgar A. Poe, which he dedicated to the cadets of the U.S. Military Academy. In 1833, he won a cash prize for the story MS. Found in a Bottle. In 1835, he jointed the staff of the Richmond Magazine, Southern Literary Messenger. Within a year, the circulation of the magazine increased seven times thanks to the popularity of Poe's stories. Soon, however, Poe lost his job with the magazine because of his drinking. In 1836, he married beautiful Virginia Clemm, the 13-year-old daughter of his aunt. The following year he lived in New York City and the next year he drifted to Philadelphia. There he became associate editor of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. He contributed literary criticism, reviews, poems, and some of his most famous stories to this magazine. In 1840, Poe published Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, a two-volume set of his stories.... Free Essays on Edgar Allen Poe Poe is unquestionably one of the great American writers of all time. He was far ahead of his time with his vision of a special area of human experience the "inner world" of dream, hallucination, and imagination. There is a distinct connection between Poe's nightmarish life and his works. His fictional works resemble a distressed individual who has a pattern of dreams night after night with the same repeating tone of terror. Critics interpret his works as being a search going deep into himself and arriving at the unplumbed mystery of his innerself. He has accomplished himself with that search and characterized the twentieth century with his art. Few poets followed their own theories more completely than Poe. His popularity is due to his consistency in producing a universal appealing effect. "A Poe setting, atmosphere, or situation is instantly recognizable." All of his poetry is based on carefully thought out principles of artistic creativity, and his biggest concern as a poet was the effect he could produce on the reader with those principles.Poe's poetry covered these themes in a way that they all compliment each other. The theme most revolved around by the others is ideal beauty. In using marshalling verse, imagery, rythym, rhyme, and subject matter a poet tries to capture the impression of beauty. Poe's simple definition for beauty was this: "The pleasurable excitement of the soul as it reaches for a perfection beyond this earth." When attaining the unattainable, supernatural beauty a poet cannot use ordinary logic or reason, he must grasp it only aesthetically, not rationally. Poe felt that for a poet to seek appropriate images for ideal beauty he should avoid concrete, ordinary objects of everyday life. Realms of dream, fantasy, the subconscious, and glimpses of life after death are more appropriate images. Poe's simple task in poetry was to induce a state ... Free Essays on Edgar Allen Poe Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and lived in six Eastern cities. Edgar went to the University of Virginia. The student life of the University was more social than academic. The young men drank too much, gambled too much, fought for the sheer enjoyment of violence, and rampaged over the campus at all hours. This was the worst possible environment for young Poe with his emotionally unstable temperament. He was unusually susceptible to alcohol; one mild drink sent him into a state of wild excitement. He gambled recklessly, incurring debts he could not begin to pay. He went to Boston, where he managed to publish a collection of his poems in pamphlet form, Tamerlane and Other Poems. Desperate for money, he joined the army under the name of Edgar A. Perry. In 1833 The Saturday Visitor of Baltimore announced a literary contest with prizes of fifty dollars for the best short story, and twenty-five dollars for the best poem. Poe submitted a gr! oup of stories. One of the stories, MS. Found in a Bottle, won the story prize, and his poem would have won the poetry prize except that the judges decided not to award both prizes to the same contestant. John P. Kennedy, took an interest in Poe and befriended him by helping him sell a story to the new Southern Literary Messenger of Richmond. Poe joined the editorial staff of the magazine and soon became its editor. He has many problems with drinking and therefore his job was on and off. Soon after moving to New York, his poem, The Raven, was published in the New York Evening Mirror. It was reprinted in a number of magazines, and at once became extremely popular. The Raven is not by any means Poe's best poem. The best of his poetry is pure magic.... Free Essays on Edgar Allen Poe Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and lived in six Eastern cities. His father was David Poe, a Baltimore actor. His actress mother, Elizabeth came to the United States as a kid. The parents were not that talented; they played small roles in rather third-rate theatrical companies. Because they both had small parts they barely managed to make a living. Edgar was the second of their three children. When the third child was born, the father died, or disappeared, and Mrs. Poe went to Richmond with the two youngest children. The oldest boy, William Henry, had already been left with relatives in Baltimore. Mrs. Poe was in the last stages of tuberculosis. Weakened by the disease and worn out with the struggle to support her children, she died. Edgar, two years old, and the infant, Rosalie, were left as orphans. It was pure luck that Mrs. Frances Allan, the wife of a merchant in Richmond learned about the Poe babies. She had no children of her own and liked ha ndsome little Edgar a lot more than his sister. She took him home with her, and another family took his little sister Rosalie. Mrs. Allan would have liked to adopt Edgar, but her husband was unwilling to commit himself. At that time people thought acting was immoral. John Allan could not help regarding the little son of actor parents as a questionable person to inherit his name and the fortune he was busy accumulating. He was willing however, to support the child, and in time came to be proud of Edgar's good looks and intelligence. When Edgar was six years old, Mr. Allen's business took him to Scotland, the country from which he had come originally. The family stayed in Scotland and England for five years. Edgar was eleven when the Allans returned to Richmond. Richmond in back then in the 1820's was a good place for a boy to live. It was still a small enough town for the fields, swamps, and woods to be close by. Boys swam in the river and in the little creek... Free Essays on Edgar Allen Poe Poe: The Darkness Edgar Allen Poe is the most well-known author of his time. Edgar Poe’s ancestors were agriculturists and artisans on one side, and actors on the other. Poe was born on Jan. 19, 1809, in Boston ( Encyclopedia Americana Pg. 274). Edgar’s future mother was performing in Virginia, where she was being observed by a young man by the name of David Poe. Soon Eliza Arnold, a young actress, fell in love with David, and he with her. Only six months after the death of her first husband, Eliza and David were married. Edgar’s father joined Eliza’s acting troupe and was greatly criticized by an 1806 notice. â€Å"The lady is young and pretty, and is blessed with both singing and acting talents. Her husband is literally nothing.† This was not the only time that David was badly criticized. (Soon enough, the same types of criticism would plague Edgar later during his first literary disputes) (Meyers Pg.3). Edgar was born in a humble lodging house near Carver Street, south of Boston Common, on January 19,1809. On the back of a watercolor sketch which Poe treasured, his mother wrote: â€Å"For my little son Edgar, who should ever love Boston, the place of his birth, and where his mother found her best, and most sympathetic friends.† Later in adulthood however, Poe had a strong dislike for the city. He hated its ruling literary class-their stuffy morality, vague transcendental philosophy, abolitionist movement, and sterile domination of the American literary scene. After becoming extremely poor, the Poe’s left five week old Edgar in Baltimore with his paternal grandparents, David and Elizabeth continued their theatrical jobs. David Poe made his last stage appearance in October 1809. By July 1811-when Edgar was two and a half years old, his dad deserted the family, and was neither seen nor heard from ever again. After being deserted, Eliza was left with overwhelming demands from her job, constantly having to move, taking car... Free Essays on Edgar Allen Poe In Edgar Allan Poe’s poems he writes about death and darkness. Throughout his poems, â€Å"The Raven† and â€Å"The Bells†, Poe writes of death, darkness, and evil. Many say he writes about this because of his childhood problems. (Slovey p. 15) As you continue to read, it will show how others feel about his writings and his desire to write about death. In Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, The Bells, Poe tells how bells can play a part throughout death and this causes readers to dislike the poem but it also has a positive effect on readers when Poe tells of bells being used as symbols of love. For example, some feel that Poe’s desire for death makes the poem less interesting. W.M. Auden tells how the Bells was less interesting but was more successful because the subject is nothing but an excuse for onomatopoeic efforts. Also, some feel that Poe writes about death and darkness because of his drinking problems he had. (Slovey p. 22) Anthony Caputi feels that thi s poem marks the high tide of Poe’s ineffectuality and also bears testimony to his immense gift for poetic conception and thereby confronts us with the peculiar problem of Poe. (Poetry Criticism). In addition, some feel this poem has a sense of good and beauty to it. Floyd Stovall writes how Poe defined poetry as music combined with a pleasurable idea and the poets truth is an excitement of the soul and it is the product of the contemplation of beauty. So in Poe’s poem, The Bells, he writes of death and evil but also of good and love that leaves a positive and a negative effect on readers. In Edgar Allen Poe’s ,The Raven, Poe uses a sense of darkness and evil throughout the poem by using the black bird as a symbol of evil. Some readers cannot understand how this poem has became so popular considering the evil that was used throughout the poem. Allen Tate says he can add very little to criticism of The Raven written in many passages that are wonders how it can be a great poem and how... Free Essays on Edgar Allen Poe Best known for his poems and short fiction, Edgar Allan Poe deserves more credit than any other writer for the transformation of the short story from anecdote to art. He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller. He also produced some of the most influential literary criticism of his timeimportant theoretical statements on poetry and the short storyand has had a worldwide influence on literature. Poe's parents were touring actors; both died before he was 3 years old, and he was taken into the home of John Allan, a prosperous merchant in Richmond, Va., and baptized Edgar Allan Poe. His childhood was uneventful, although he studied (1815-20) for 5 years in England. In 1826 he entered the University of Virginia but stayed for only a year. Although a good student, he ran up large gambling debts that Allan refused to pay. Allan prevented his return to the university and broke off Poe's engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster, his Richmond sweetheart. Lacking any means of support, Poe enlisted in the army. He had, however, already written and printed (at his own expense) his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), verses written in the manner of Byron. Temporarily reconciled, Allan secured Poe's release from the army and his appointment to West Point but refused to provide financial support. After 6 months Poe apparently contrived to be dismissed from West Point for disobedience of orders. His fellow cadets, however, contributed the funds for the publication of Poems by Edgar A. Poe...Second Edition (1831), actually a third editionafter Tamerlane and Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems (1829). This volume contained the famous To Helen and Israfel, poems that show the restraint and the calculated musical effects of language that were to characterize his poetry. Poe next took up residence in Baltimore with his widowed aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia, and turned to fiction a...

Nisa essays

Nisa essays In this paper I am going to discuss the book Nisa The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman, by Marjorie Shostak. In doing this I will describe the culture of the !Kung people, a small hunter-gatherer tribe in Africa. Then I will go on with telling about their sociocultural systems that I have read about in this book. To rap things up I will tell my prediction where the !Kung population is headed into the future. I will use explanations from the book to help me describe my prediction. !Kung culture is a very simple culture. The norms in this society are hard to define; norms are shared rules that define how people are supposed to behave under certain circumstances. Take marriage for example In the book Nisa explains how a women can marry more than once in her lifetime, a !Kung girl is actually married several times before she stays with one man. These appeared to me as trial marriages, the women are too young to want the marriage and usually are the ones to end it. Even after long marriage involving children things such as death and divorce/ separation occur and a woman finds a new husband. So as you can see the norms in the !Kung culture are much different than that of our own norms. Even when marriage is involved the idea of having lovers was not shunned. Although some women do not engage in this act, it is a very common thing among the !Kung. The norm here is to have a lover to keep that young playful and loving attraction alive with someone, even after things have began to settle with your husband. Nisa explains, Even my mother had lovers. Id be with her when she met them. But my father, if he had them, I didnt know... She recalls many situations like this, as do most !Kung children. I remember, when I was still small, seeing my mother with one man. He met her, took her, and made love to her. I sat nearby and waited. When she came back carrying firewood, I thought, I am going to tell! The...

Understanding Practical Business and Organizational Research Assignment

Understanding Practical Business and Organizational Research - Assignment Example The study elucidates the huge problem of poor performance, accountability, and transparency in the government institutions such as municipalities. The Americans have expressed their dissatisfaction of the delivery of services in the government institutions. On the other hand, the purpose of the study was to evaluate the contribution of performance measure to the sustainable improvement, accountability, and transparency of the government organization (Sanger, 2012). The research hypothesized that cities that had sophisticated performance measurement systems would have a high likelihood of using the performance data to improve performance. However, the research did not have research questions. The study used an analytic approach to collect quantitative data from a sample of 190 cities. The researchers searched the cities with a high likelihood of measuring performance with the intent of improving service delivery (Sanger, 2012). Fundamentally, the researchers selected a sample from four service areas namely police, parks and recreation, fire, and public works. The study used quantitative approaches to analyze the data and present it in tables. The study findings are important for the city mayors and officials who hold leadership positions to implement the information gotten from performance measurement for the betterment of services. In summary, the researchers established that government institutions rarely implement the information from performance measurements for the improvement of services. The data analysis indicates that few organizations use the information to improve service delivery. The analytic approach used in this study can be applied to solve performance problems. The researchers have analyzed the problem by seeking the primary data of the various cities. Primary data establishes the main cause of a problem, and thus provides a platform for selecting the best solution (Zikmund, 2013). For

Female Gangs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Female Gangs - Research Paper Example However, researches in the past two decades by the United States Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) indicate that the existence of female gangs can be traced back to the 1800s (Moore & Hagedorn, 2012). Their roles have evolved from being alibis, sex toys, drugs and weapon holders to full gang membership. Studies have been conducted on gangs because gangs are of social concern. This paper will research on and discuss female gangs in three aspects. First, it will discuss the origin of female gangs and what drives females into forming or joining gangs. Secondly, it will discuss different types of female gangs and thirdly, how they play into male gangs. Although some of the earlier generalizations about female gangs still apply, there have been tremendous changes in their activities with their growing numbers. The OJJDP noted a police report from Boston that described a female gang as a growingly autonomous organization that plans and commits crime without any help from males (Moore & Hagedorn, 2012). It was feared that in Boston young girls were quickly adopting gang life rituals in the early 1990s. To integrate into gangs or form their own, females imitate the behaviors of male gangs (Moore & Hagedorn, 2012). In a bid to be like the males, they coordinate and take part in criminal activities, wear tattoos and clothing related to gangs. They borrow characteristics and styles of the dominant male gangs including patterns of violence, preferred weapons and use of graffiti to pass a message or declare their existence and presence in neighborhoods. Becoming a member is either by choice or forced initiation (Moore & Hagedorn, 2012). Forced initiation is in the form of being jumped-in by gang members. On the other hand, females who opt into gangs by choice offer themselves to be used sexually by gang members in exchange of climbing up the hierarchy. However, those who are

Solar energy as an alternative energy source Essay

Solar energy as an alternative energy source - Essay Example (uk.news.yahoo.com 2011) Solar energy is more abundant, less exhaustible, and a more population free than any other source. Active and passive solar energy types are the major ones. The active systems are those that capture, stores, and distribute that energy from the sun. Passive systems provide the avenues for the sun to enter and they rely on natural airflow to provide distribution. (Goel, 2005 p109) The active solar system includes a collector, a storage mechanism and a distribution device. This type of the solar system has overcome the age-old problem of solar concept wholly. It is the most needed when the sun is not shinning at right for example, the storage area is usually water such as, an indoor swimming pool, stores or bricks located in the basement. The heat can be distributed as the need arises and it is extracted by means of pumps or fans, depending on the storage method. A passive solar system is not expensive as active system because it has only a device for collection which consists of a south facing solar panel that collects the sun rays. The method is effective in greenhouses and homes equipped with another back up heat source. The construction technique is followed to ensure heat is held once captured. Passive solar energy are used to heat water, grain, distilled water and also used in cooking. According to (Smith and Taylor, 2008 p2), the latest development with the solar energy concerns converting the sun rays that is, radiant energy, into electric energy. The second thermodynamics law states that heat is usually lost when we change the form of energy. The research indicates that 99% of radiant energy from the sun is lost in form of heat leaving the earth’s surface. The main goal of using solar energy to produce electrical energy is to use more efficiently the escaped heat of the sun. There is a more indirect method of converting the solar energy to electrical power. More research is being conducted lately on the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity by the use of solar cells. These solar cells are in need of more development before they are readily available to the public. The solar energy supply is unlimited and the supply is also renewable. The reliance of fossils fuel thus indirect population by the amount of solar produced can be reduced. Solar is a necessity because of the demand increase on the traditional energy and also the increasing costs relating to such an increase. There is no population generated as a result of its use. Every watt of power generated from the sun reduces the population thus solar energy is an excellent alternative energy. Other than the costs of manufacturing of the component, their purchasing and the installation costs, there are no other costs that are associated with the use after the initial investment outlay. To meet the needs, the electric solar system can be expanded by installation of more panels. It is notable that the demand of fossil fuels that is oil and natural gas decreases as the usage solar energy increases. Other advantages of alternative sources of energy is solar electric system can eliminate greenhouses gas emissions by an amount of 18tons. The solar energy can be used for the remote applications, heat water and space heating. (Craddock David, 2008 p 13) Solar energy as an alternative source of energy has various disadvantages too. Solar energy projects that are Large scale commercial involves a large area of land and involves

Muslim women do not receive equal treatment with men Essay Example for Free

Muslim women do not receive equal treatment with men Essay Some westerners think Muslim women do not receive equal treatment with men. In fact, the aim of Islam is quite the opposite. Examine and comment on this claim in the context of a multicultural society. Why is it that western consciousness perceives Islam in such deeply flawed terms? Why are negative images of Islam more prevalent than any others? Why is it still acceptable to say things about Muslims that would simply be deemed unacceptable of Jews, Christians, or Buddhists? That years of inter-faith dialogue have done little to advance a better understanding of the Islamic faith in the western world is an indication of how profoundly entrenched in the West misrepresentations and vulgar stereotypes of Islam are. The western society generally views itself as the source of womens liberation, and feminists seem to have an obligation to broaden their rights to the eastern oppressed women. West sees the veil as a stumbling block and feels if they were to remove it would it would gain freedom for these women. These views have misunderstood the status of women in Islam and have been publicized in the media. Britain regards itself as giving equal rights to men and women Although in Britain latest studies have shown that men are paid more than women to carry out the same task. Surveys have shown that employers would rather employ men than women with the same qualifications. There are hardly any women politicians in comparison to men but Muslim women like Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh, have ruled over 300 hundred million Muslims in the 1990s and now is currently being ruled by another women. Benazir Bhutto had been the president of Pakistan. There has essentially never been a female president in the United States till this present time. The extent of a religions efficiency depends on what resolution to controversial issues like that of women is presented. Islam has provided the most practical outline of social organization, according to the natural and physical capabilities of both men and women. However other civilisations and faiths prior to Islam dealt with this matter as well, Aristotle and many other Greek philosophers argued that women were not fully human and this view was accepted in the catholic churches. St Thomas Aquinas another philosopher later put forward his view of the earlier Greek philosopher proposing that women were the traps of Satan. Every evil caused in humanity was likely from them. This idea was accepted throughout the middle ages. Men were the only ones who had rights before the law they could buy, sell and own a property. Up to this present time male Jews still recite, Blessed art thou our lord, our God king of the universe that I was not born a female(Alan Unterman, Jews: their Religious beliefs and practices,1981, page 140). Also in Judaism, the Talmud states Woe to the man whose children are female (Ibid, Page 133) In pre Islamic Arabia women were treated like commodities, object desire that were bought and sold like cattle. Some of them were even made to dance naked in the vicinity of the Kaaba during annual festivals. In those times a man could have as many wives as he desired and women were inherited if widowed from father to son. Arabs used to bury their female children alive at birth, and treat women as mere chattels and objects of sexual pleasure possessing no rights or position whatsoever, these teachings of the Noble Quran were revolutionary. Unlike other religions, which regarded women as being possessed of inherent sin and wickedness and men as being possessed of inherent virtue and nobility, Islam regards men and women as being of the same essence created from a single soul. The Quran declares: O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should you treat them with harshness, that you may take away part of the dowry you have given them except when they have become guilty of open lewdness. On the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If you take a dislike to them, it may be that you dislike something and Allah will bring about through it a great deal of good. (4:19) O mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, his mate, and from this pair scattered (like seeds) countless men and women. Reverence Allah, through whom you demand your mutual (rights), and reverence the wombs (that bore you); for Allah ever watches over you. (4:1) Spiritually men and women are equal. They are created out of identical spiritual material. (According to some old Christians thinkers) so therefore if women are sinful so are the men because they are identical. In Islam there is absolutely no difference between men and women as far as their relationship to Allah is concerned, as both are promised the same reward for good conduct and the same punishment for evil conduct. The Quran says: And for women are rights over men similar to those of men over women. (2:226) The Quran, in addressing the believers, often uses the expression, believing men and women to emphasize the equality of men and women in regard to their respective duties, rights, virtues and merits. It says: For Muslim men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast, for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allahs praise, for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward. (33:35) Enter into Paradise, you and your wives, with delight. (43:70) Who so does that which is right, and believes, whether male or female, him or her will We quicken to happy life. (16:97) The Quran admonishes those men who oppress or ill-treat women: The Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) said, Women are the twin halves of men. The Quran emphasizes the essential unity of men and women in a most beautiful simile: They (your wives) are your garment and you are a garment for them. (2:187) the ideal relationship between husband and wife is graphically described in the above verse. Just as a garment hides our nakedness, so do husband and wife, by entering into the relationship of marriage, secure each others chastity. The garment gives comfort to the body; so does the husband find comfort in his wifes company and she in his. The garment is the grace, the beauty, the embellishment of the body, so too are wives to their husbands as their husbands are to them. Islam does not consider woman an instrument of the Devil, but rather the Quran calls her musanat a fortress against Satan because a good woman, by marrying a man, helps him keep to the path of rectitude in his life. It is for this reason that marriage was considered by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a most virtuous act. He said: When a man marries, he has completed one half of his religion. He enjoined matrimony on Muslims by saying: Marriage is part of my way and whoever keeps away from my way is not from me (i.e. is not my follower). The Quran has given the raison dà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½tre of marriage in the following words: And among His signs is this that He has created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them; and He has put love and mercy between you. Verily in that are signs for those who reflect. (30:21) The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was full of praise for virtuous and chaste women. He said: The world and all things in the world are precious but the most precious thing in the world is a virtuous woman. He once told the future khalif, Umar: Shall I not inform you about the best treasure a man can hoard? It is a virtuous wife who pleases him whenever he looks towards her, and who guards herself when he is absent from her. On other occasions the Prophet said: The best property a man can have is a remembering tongue (about Allah), a grateful heart and a believing wife who helps him in his faith. And again: The world, the whole of it, is a commodity and the best of the commodities of the world is a virtuous wife. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was most emphatic in enjoining upon Muslims to be kind to their women when he delivered his famous khutba on the Mount of Mercy at Arafat in the presence of one hundred and twenty-four thousand of his Companions who had gathered there for the Hajj al-Wada (Farewell Pilgrimage). In it he ordered those present, and through them all those Muslims who were to come later, to be respectful and kind towards women. He said: Fear Allah regarding women. Verily you have married them with the trust of Allah, and made their bodies lawful with the word of Allah. You have got (rights) over them, and they have got (rights) over you in respect of their food and clothing according to your means. One who makes efforts (to help) the widow or a poor person is like a mujahid (warrior) in the path of Allah, or like one who stands up for prayers in the night and fasts in the day. These aspects were much emphasized by the Prophet (peace be upon him). He exhorted men to marry women of piety and women to be faithful to their husbands and kind to their children. He said: Among my followers the best of men are those who are best to their wives, and the best of women are those who are best to their husbands. To each of such women is set down a reward equivalent to the reward of a thousand martyrs. Among my followers, again, the best of women are those who assist their husbands in their work, and love them dearly for everything, Islam, as a religion recognizes mens and womens role as different but, however it certainly does not regard them as superior or inferior than one or the other. Both roles are as important as each other. Islam has been designed to be flexible enough to be interpreted in a variety of ways to cover a variety of cultures, times, contexts, individual personalities. both men and women should dress (in public) in a manner that will de-accentuate their sexuality1. The Surah an-Nur says: Tell the believing men to lower their eyes and guard their private parts Tell the believing women to lower their eyes, guard their private parts and not display their charms except what is apparent outwardly (an-Nur 24:30-31). O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters, as well as all (other) believing women, that they should draw over themselves some of their outer garments (when in public): this will be more conducive to their being recognized (as decent women) and not annoyed. But (withal,) God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace! (al-Ahzab 33:59, Asad transl.) The spirit of this ayat is to dress in a manner that will signal unavailability. The reason why another ayat (an-Nur 24:60) is crucial in gaining a broad overview of the Quranic concept of appropriate dress is that it implies that women should wear in public more than what they would wear in private, in front of their intimates their families. So this leads to three basic points in considering how to dress: a) the universal idea of de-sexualized dress b) the time and context specific concept of being identifiable as a Muslim c) that before she reaches old age (and preferably after) a Muslim woman should wear more in public than she would privately in front of family. As long as these three injunctions are met, there is a wide range of options open to the Muslim woman depending on the context of the society in which she lives and moves in public. Today, Muslim womens dress has been politicized and carries with it many conflicting symbols and meanings; perhaps the most visible is the use of head covering as a confrontation against western colonialism. Muslim woman has to have the right and freedom to choose how she interprets her dress code. This fundamental acknowledgement of her instinctive ability to choose (or not) the path of Allah (swt) is more important than any type of specifics about what constitutes hijab (or appropriate covering of the body). Without this freedom to interpret Islam to the best of her ability (a part of which, of course, is seeking the informed opinions of knowledgeable Muslims in order to educate herself) she is not living up to her potential as a human being, and that is more fundamental than what clothes are being worn. As the Quran says: There is no compulsion in matter of faith. Distinct is the way of guidance now from error (Al-Baqarah 2:256, A.Ali translation) The queen of her house, is the position a true believer is expected to give his wife. In contrast to these enlightened teachings of Islam in respect of women, Western talk of womens liberation or emancipation is actually a disguised form of exploitation of her body, deprivation of her honor, and degradation of her soul! Islam has given the highest position to women on earth, while Europe and the west were wallowing in the dregs of degradation and savagery. Islam had accorded women a position of honour, respect, safety and love, which has not yet been matched to this day, let alone being superseded and excelled. When questioned about status one must consider Muslim womens rights in the field of finance. A Muslim woman has the right to full ownership and disposal of wealth at will. This right was granted to her about 1423 years ago whilst Britain, women didnt have this right untill1860s. Her father if she was unmarried must provide for a Muslim woman or by her husband if married; however rich she may be, she is not responsible for domestic expenses. This is one of many privileges given to women. The Holy Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, The searching of knowledge is incumbent for every Muslim (male and female).Women should pursue their education as far as it is possible. One of the main aims of acquiring knowledge in Islam is to become Allah-conscious. In the history of Islam there were women who were narrators of Hadith, mystics, scholars, writers, poets and teachers, in their own right. They utilized their knowledge within certain precepts of Islam. The west has fabricated many myths that Muslim women are not allowed to work. These myths have no basis in Islamic law. It is natural in Islamic societies for there to be a female doctors and teachers. However, she is not required to participate in trade, vocation or professions unless necessary. A woman must receive her husbands approval in order to work, because he may feel that her work will cause her to neglect her matrimonial duties and care of the children Muslim women just like the men are prohibited from taking on jobs that sell her femininity to make money (dancing, prostitution, modeling etc) even if her husband doesnt mind. Apart from those jobs that are prohibited in Islam all others are lawful. A women is entitled to equal pay of equal work of equal value, this concept was established by Islam centuries ago. Although a woman can inherit from her father, children and husbands when before Islam she could not inherit at all, the rate of her inheritance is half that of a man. In order to requisite this apparent unfairness, Islam gives women many privileges e.g. dowry which is obligatory and is her own. Quran says: And give women their dowries as a free gift (4:4) A woman has the right to choose who she marries and shouldnt be forced to marry anyone with out her wish. She can even have her marriage annulled in a court of law if she can prove that her parents/guardians went ahead with it against her will. Yet there is a resounding silence when the issue being raised is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), honor killings, forced marriages, the unequal application of hadd punishments on women, or the denial of education to girls and women. All of these wrongs are perpetrated on women in the name of Islam. Genital mutilation for females is not allowed in Islam? Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him clearly prohibited mutilation or maiming of the body. While it is true that many of these violations occur across cultural and religious boundaries, the only action often taken by conservative Muslims is a condemnation of the action because it is cultural and not Islamic. Meanwhile, women continue to be murdered and little girls continue to be mutilated. Polygamy is a misunderstood phenomenon that is more a remedial law in Islam than anything else, used only if necessary. Monotheism is a norm in Muslim societies past and present, and one must remember that prior to Islam, men could have as many wives as they desired. so much that many women were deserted for long periods of time. The verse in the quran that legitimates polygamy was revealed after the battle of uhud, when many widows and orphans were left without care. Hence at the time polygamy was the answer. Although in some extreme circumstances e.g.when the wife is a barren, seriously ill, and mentally unstable or has a bad character. In these cases a man can marry again if he feels the presence of the second wife will benefit the wife, the children or him. However Islam insist that the man treat both wives equally in every aspect possible.The quran says: If you fear that you will not be able to deal justly with orphans, marry women of your choice , two or three or four; but if you fear that you will not be able to deal justly with them, then only one (4:3) Islam recognizes that marriages are sacred and are a civil contract between husband and wife which should work or be dismantled if it ceases to do so. Although Islam permits divorce the prophet (pbuh) says: Of all the things that Islam has permitted, divorce is the most hated by Allah. This shows divorce shouldnt be taken lightly. Divorce is a right mainly available to men (although a woman can demand to have it in a marriage contract). As well When Islam discusses the deficiencies of women; it is neither insulting them nor belittling them. Some men, unfortunately, do precisely that when they quote the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that women have a deficiency in their intellect and their religion. They take these words out of context as a means of oppressing women and putting them down. The Prophet (peace be upon him) meant something quite different. He said: I have never seen among those who have a deficiency in their intellect and their religion anyone more capable than women of swaying the intellect of the most determined of men. He is actually asserting here the power of women to influence men and sway their opinion. This is one of the distinctions that women, in their natures, have. He then went on to define precisely what he meant by these deficiencies. In the remainder of the hadà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½th, some women asked him: O Messenger of Allah, what is this deficiency in our intelligence and religion? He replied: Isnt it that a womans testimony as a witness is half of the testimony of man? They said: Yes. He said: This, then, is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isnt it true that when she is in her menses, she leaves off prayers and fasting? They said: Yes. He said: This is the deficiency in her religion. Therefore to every male witness there need to be two female witnesses also because of their lack of knowledge and experience women are not preferred to be positioned as judges in Islam. There is no specific directive of the Shari`ah that prohibits a woman from leading prayers. Therefore, we cannot say that Islam prohibits a woman from leading prayers. The matter actually relates to the general practice of the Prophet (pbuh), which was subsequently followed by the Muslim leaders that followed the Prophet (pbuh). This practice of the Prophet (pbuh) as well as the Muslim leaders, who followed him, subsequently became a part of the social traditions of the Muslims. Thus, it is not a directive of the Shari`ah, but a part of the Muslim cultural tradition that men, rather than women should lead prayers. This gender-based distinction, it seems, has its basis on a few important facts. For instance, although the Prophet (pbuh) encouraged Muslim women to come to the mosques to offer their obligatory prayers with the congregation, yet it was not as strong a directive for them, as it was for the Muslim men. The nature and the variance of the Prophet (pbuh)s directive has generally resulted in a lower number of Muslim women being present in mosques, as compared to men. In many places, women are not even seen (even in lower numbers) in mosques. Thus, especially when the over whelming majority of people present in mosques consists of men, it was natural that a man was appointed as the Imam to lead the prayers. Moreover, because the Imam holds a central position in the mosque and naturally becomes the center of attention for all those who are present, it seemed a better decision that a man, rather than a woman, be appointed for this position. We obviously do not have any control over the thoughts and emotions of all those present in the mosque. Thus, to keep the minds clear of any sexual thoughts, especially in the mosques, it was felt more appropriate to appoint a man as the Imam. These are a few of the points that have played a role in the general acceptance of this socio-cultural tradition among the Muslims. The matter, as I have stated earlier does not pertain to any prohibition of the Shari`ah. Women are very capable of taking on any job previously monopolized by men, said Ms Hindi, a former English literature student at a college in Mecca, her home town. Women not allowed to drive cars in Saudi Arabia because of the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia was made official only in 1990 after 47 women demonstrated against what was then a customary law by driving a convoy of cars in Riyadh. They were arrested and detained until male relatives signed undertakings that they would not violate the ban again. The ban was made official by a fatwa issued by the Council of Senior Ulama (religious scholars). Women driving leads too many evils . . . included among these is her mixing with men without her being on her guard, the fatwa said. O Messenger of Allah, who is the person who has the greatest right on me with regards to kindness and attention? He replied, Your mother. Then who? He replied, Your mother. Then who? He replied, Your mother. Then who? He replied, Your father. In another tradition, the Prophet advised a believer not to join the war against the Quraish in defense of Islam, but to look after his mother, saying that his service to his mother would be a cause of his salvation. Muawiyah, the son of Jahimah, reported that Jahimah came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, Messenger of Allah! I want to join the fighting (in the path of Allah) and I have come to seek your advice. He said, Then remains in your mothers service, because Paradise is under her feet. The Prophets followers accepted his teachings and brought about a revolution in their social attitude towards women. They no longer considered women as mere chattels, but as an integral part of society. For the first time women were given the right to have a share in inheritance. In the new social climate, women rediscovered themselves and became highly active members of society rendering useful service during the wars which the pagan Arabs forced on the emerging Muslim umma. They carried provisions for the soldiers, nursed them, and even fought alongside them if it was necessary. It became a common sight to see women helping their husbands in the fields, carrying on trade and business independently, and going out of their homes to satisfy their needs. Among my followers the best of men are those who are best to their wives, and the best of women are those who are best to their husbands. To each of such women is set down a reward equivalent to the reward of a thousand martyrs. Among my followers, again, the best of women are those who assist their husbands in their work, and love them dearly for everything, save what is a transgression of Allahs laws. The Shariah regards women as the spiritual and intellectual equals of men. The Shariah requires a man, as head of the family, to consult with his family and then to have the final say in decisions concerning it. In doing so he must not abuse his prerogative to cause any injury to his wife. The word of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the queen of her house, and this is the position a true believer is expected to give his wife. In contrast to these enlightened teachings of Islam in respect of women, Western talk of womens liberation or emancipation is actually a disguised form of exploitation of her body, deprivation of her honour, and degradation of her soul! Manji is lesbian and has adamantly argued that the condemnation of homosexuality by most strains of traditional Islam is at odds with Quranic doctrine that Allah makes excellent everything which He creates. Her partner is Michelle Douglas, a Canadian activist. Manji has been a vocal critic of orthodox Islam, especially that treatment of women by some Muslims. She does not wear a headscarf or chador whereas most traditional Muslim women do observe the hijab. She has criticized the Palestinian leadership and the opinions of some Muslims about Israel. WOMEN IN THE QURAN AND THE SUNNAH Prof. Abdur Rahman I. Doi Professor and Director, Center for Islamic Legal Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaira, Nigeria. In Islam there is absolutely no difference between men and women as far as their relationship to Allah is concerned, as both are promised the same reward for good conduct and the same punishment for evil conduct. The Quran says: And for women are rights over men similar to those of men over women. (2:226) The Quran, in addressing the believers, often uses the expression, believing men and women to emphasize the equality of men and women in regard to their respective duties, rights, virtues and merits. It says: For Muslim men and women, for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast, for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allahs praise, for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward. (33:35) Enter into Paradise, you and your wives, with delight. (43:70) Who so does that which is right, and believes, whether male or female, him or her will We quicken to happy life. (16:97) The Quran admonishes those men who oppress or ill-treat women: The Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) said, Women are the twin halves of men. The Quran emphasizes the essential unity of men and women in a most beautiful simile: They (your wives) are your garment and you are a garment for them. (2:187) Just as a garment hides our nakedness, so do husband and wife, by entering into the relationship of marriage, secure each others chastity. The garment gives comfort to the body; so does the husband find comfort in his wifes company and she in his. The garment is the grace, the beauty, the embellishment of the body, so too are wives to their husbands as their husbands are to them. Islam does not consider woman an instrument of the Devil, but rather the Quran calls her muhsana a fortress against Satan because a good woman, by marrying a man, helps him keep to the path of rectitude in his life. It is for this reason that marriage was considered by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a most virtuous act. He said: When a man marries, he has completed one half of his religion. He enjoined matrimony on Muslims by saying: Marriage is part of my way and whoever keeps away from my way is not from me (i.e. is not my follower). The Quran has given the raison dà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½tre of marriage in the following words: And among His signs is this that He has created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them; and He has put love and mercy between you. Verily in that are signs for those who reflect. (30:21) The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was full of praise for virtuous and chaste women. He said: The world and all things in the world are precious but the most precious thing in the world is a virtuous woman. He once told the future khalif, Umar: Shall I not inform you about the best treasure a man can hoard? It is a virtuous wife who pleases him whenever he looks towards her, and who guards herself when he is absent from her. On other occasions the Prophet said: The best property a man can have is a remembering tongue (about Allah), a grateful heart and a believing wife who helps him in his faith. And again: The world, the whole of it, is a commodity and the best of the commodities of the world is a virtuous wife. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was most emphatic in enjoining upon Muslims to be kind to their women when he delivered his famous khutba on the Mount of Mercy at Arafat in the presence of one hundred and twenty-four thousand of his Companions who had gathered there for the Hajj al-Wada (Farewell Pilgrimage). In it he ordered those present, and through them all those Muslims who were to come later, to be respectful and kind towards women. He said: Fear Allah regarding women. Verily you have married them with the trust of Allah, and made their bodies lawful with the word of Allah. You have got (rights) over them, and they have got (rights) over you in respect of their food and clothing according to your means. One who makes efforts (to help) the widow or a poor person is like a mujahid (warrior) in the path of Allah, or like one who stands up for prayers in the night and fasts in the day. O Messenger of Allah, who is the person who has the greatest right on me with regards to kindness and attention? He replied, Your mother. Then who? He replied, Your mother. Then who? He replied, Your mother. Then who? He replied, Your father. In another tradition, the Prophet advised a believer not to join the war against the Quraish in defense of Islam, but to look after his mother, saying that his service to his mother would be a cause of his salvation. Muawiyah, the son of Jahimah, reported that Jahimah came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, Messenger of Allah! I want to join the fighting (in the path of Allah) and I have come to seek your advice. He said, Then remain in your mothers service, because Paradise is under her feet. The Prophets followers accepted his teachings and brought about a revolution in their social attitude towards women. They no longer considered women as a mere chattels, but as an integral part of society. For the first time women were given the right to have a share in inheritance. In the new social climate, women rediscovered themselves and became highly active members of society rendering useful service during the wars which the pagan Arabs forced on the emerging Muslim umma. They carried provisions for the soldiers, nursed them, and even fought alongside them if it was necessary. It became a common sight to see women helping their husbands in the fields, carrying on trade and business independently, and going out of their homes to satisfy their needs. Among my followers the best of men are those who are best to their wives, and the best of women are those who are best to their husbands. To each of such women is set down a reward equivalent to the reward of a thousand martyrs. Among my followers, again, the best of women are those who assist their husbands in their work, and love them dearly for everything, save what is a transgression of Allahs laws. The Shariah regards women as the spiritual and intellectual equals of men. The Shariah requires a man, as head of the family, to consult with his family and then to have the final say in decisions concerning it. In doing so he must not abuse his prerogative to cause any injury to his wife. The words of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the queen of her house, and this is the position a true believer is expected to give his wife. In contrast to these enlightened teachings of Islam in respect of women, Western talk of womens liberation or emancipation is actually a disguised form of exploitation of her body, deprivation of her honour, and degradation of her soul! http://www.allaahuakbar.net/womens/rights_of_women_guaranteed_by_islam.htm A COLLECTION OF REFERENCES FROM THE QURAN AND HADEETH ABOUT THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN GUARANTEED BY ISLAM Spiritual Equality of Women and Men Allah has got ready forgiveness and tremendous rewards for the Muslim men and women; the believing men and women; the devout men and women; the truthful men and women; the patiently suffering men and women; the humble men and women; the almsgiving men and women; the fasting men and women, the men and women who guard their chastity; and the men and women who are exceedingly mindful of Allah. (Al-Ahzab 33:35) Attitudes towards women O ye who believe! Ye are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should ye treat them with harshness, that ye may take away part of the dower ye have given them,-except where they have been guilty of open lewdness; on the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If ye take a dislike to them it may be that ye dislike a thing, and Allah brings about through it a great deal of good. (An-Nisa 4:19) Collaboration and consultation The believing men and women, are associates and helpers of each other. They (collaborate) to promote all that is beneficial and discourage all that is evil; to establish prayers and give alms, and to obey Allah and his Messenger. Those are the people whom Allah would grant mercy. Indeed Allah is Mighty and Wise. (Al-Taubah 9:71) Womens Right to Attend Mosques Narrated Ibn Umar: The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, Allow women to go to the Mosques at night. (Bukhari Volume 2, Book 13, Number 22) Ibn Umar reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Do not deprive women of their share of the mosques, when they seek permission from you. Bilal said: By Allah, we would certainly prevent them. Abdullah said: I say that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said it and you say: We would certainly prevent them! (Sahih Muslim Book 004, Number 0891) The Common Performance of Ablutions Narrated Ibn Umar: It used to be that men and women would perform ablutions together in the time of the Messenger of Allahs assembly. (Bukhari: 1: Ch. 45, Book of Ablution) Womens Right of Proposal Narrated Sahl: A woman came to the Prophet, and presented herself to him (for marriage). He said, I am not in need of women these days. Then a man said, O Allahs Apostle! Marry her to me. The Prophet asked him, What have you got? He said, I have got nothing. The Prophet said, Give her something, even an iron ring. He said, I have got nothing. The Prophet asked (him), How much of the Quran do you know (by heart)? He said, So much and so much. The Prophet said, I have married her to you for what you know of the Quran. (Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 72) Womens Right of Permission Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, A matron should not be given in marriage except after consulting her; and a virgin should not be given in marriage except after her permission. The people asked, O Allahs Apostle! How can we know her permission? He said, Her silence (indicates her permission). (Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 67) The Right of Women not to be Forced Narrated Ibn Abbas: Bariras husband was a slave called Mughith, as if I am seeing him now, going behind Barira and weeping with his tears flowing down his beard. The Prophet said to Abbas, O Abbas ! are you not astonished at the love of Mughith for Barira and the hatred of Barira for Mughith? The Prophet then said to Barira, Why dont you return to him? She said, O Allahs Apostle! Do you order me to do so? He said, No, I only intercede for him. She said, I am not in need of him. (Bukhari: Volume 7, Book 63, Number 206) The Characteristics of a Believing Man Narrated AbuHurayrah: Allahs Messenger (pbuh) said: a believing man should not hate a believing woman; if he dislikes one of her characteristics, he will be pleased with another. (Muslim Book 8, Number 3469) The Education of Women Narrated Abu Said: A woman came to Allahs Apostle and said, O Allahs Apostle! Men (only) benefit by your teachings, so please devote to us from (some of) your time, a day on which we may come to you so that you may teach us of what Allah has taught you. Allahs Apostle said, Gather on such-and-such a day at such-and-such a place. They gathered and Allahs Apostle came to them and taught them of what Allah had taught him. (Bukhari Volume 9, Book 92, Number 413) On the Treatment of Women Narrated Muawiyah al-Qushayri: I went to the Apostle of Allah (pbuh) and asked him: What do you say (command) about our wives? He replied: Give them food what you have for yourself, and clothe them by which you clothe yourself, and do not beat them, and do not revile them. (Sunan Abu Dawud: Book 11, Number 2139) The best of you is one who is best towards his family and I am best towards the family. (At-Tirmithy). None but a noble man treats women in an honourable manner. And none but an ignoble treats women disgracefully. (At-Tirmithy). A Husbands Attitude Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) said that a man came to his house to complain about his wife. On reaching the door of his house, he hears Umars wife shouting at him and reviling him. Seeing this, he was about to go back, thinking that Umar himself was in the same position and, therefore, could hardly suggest any solution for his problem. Umar (RA) saw the man turn back, so he called him and enquired about the purpose of his visit. He said that he had come with a complaint against his wife, but turned back on seeing the Caliph in the same position. Umar (RA) told him that he tolerated the excesses of his wife for she had certain rights against him. He said, Is it not true that she prepares food for me, washes clothes for me and suckles my children, thus saving me the expense of employing a cook, a washerman and a nurse, though she is not legally obliged in any way to do any of these things? Besides, I enjoy peace of mind because of her and am kept away from indecent acts on account of her. I therefore tolerate all her excesses on account of these benefits. It is right that you should also adopt the same attitude. quoted in Rahman, Role of Muslim Women page 149 The Prophets Disapproval of Women Beaters Patient behavior was the practice of the Prophet, even when his wife dared to address him harshly. Once his mother-in-law- saw her daughter strike him with her fist on his noble chest. When the enraged mother -in-law began to reproach her daughter, the Prophet smilingly said, Leave her alone; they do worse than that. And once Abu Bakr, his father-in-law, was invited to settle some misunderstanding between him and Aishah. The Prophet said to her, Will you speak, or shall I speak? Aisha said, You speak, but do not say except the truth. Abu Bakr was so outraged that he immediately struck her severely, forcing her to run and seek protection behind the back of the Prophet. Abu Bakr said, O you the enemy of herself! Does the Messenger of Allah say but the truth? The Prophet said, O Abu Bakr, we did not invite you for this [harsh dealing with Aishah], nor did we anticipate it. quoted in: Mutual Rights and Obligations http://www.allaahuakbar.net/womens/women_sharia_and_oppression.htm A lot of attention has been focused on the issue of Muslim women and human rights since September 11, almost all of it by non Muslims. Once again, images of women swathed in black veils or blue burqas are de rigeur, as the media soberly reminds us that Muslim women are not considered equals to men in Islam, and that they are oppressed even by the moderate regimes in the Muslim world. From the Muslims, we have one of two reactions. The first is the reaction of the liberal, reformist, secular Muslims. They believe that Sharia oppresses women, and that we need to completely overhaul it, or toss out sections of the Quran that are uncomfortable, or institute secular forms of government that separate the sacred from the legal all together. These are the same Muslims who equate Hijab with oppression, and who support the denial of free speech rights to Islamists (all the while, crying for their rights to free speech in countries where it is denied). They take their political thought not from Islamic sources, but from feminism, socialism, and capitalism. Naturally, it is to these Muslims that the Western media turns when it wants a Muslim perspective on Muslim issues. On the other side, we have the organizers of the mainstream conservative Muslims, the leaders of our civic societies, advocacy groups, and associations. When presented with instances of womens oppression in the Islamic world, these Muslims, almost always men, respond defensively. They cart out examples of womens oppression in the Western world, or worse, they address the issue by lecturing the questioner about the virtues of the Ideal Place of Women in Ideal Islam. In other words, they treat the ideal that we are all aspire to as the reality on the ground. Pressed into taking a stand on real life issues, they retreat in anger. Thats culture, not Islam, it has nothing to do with me as a Muslim, they sniff. Who speaks for them? Most often, it is the United Nations, human rights groups, and feminist organizations, led by people who have no foundations of knowledge in Islam, and who often have a real antipathy for Islam. While the Feminist Majority Fund was selling swatches of burqa and petitioning the government for action on behalf of Afghan women, the leaders of our Islamic societies stayed silent. Publicly, many Islamic leaders and organizations disassociated themselves from the Taliban, but other than denying them entry into the Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC), they took no action to petition the Taliban for change from an Islamic view, or form any sort of Islamic opposition. Perhaps this is because when any Islamic organization or individual Muslim attempts to change or speak out about injustices towards Muslim women, the rest of the community circles the wagons. These lone souls are labeled radical feminists, and accused of attempting to undermine Islam. Strangely, when a Muslim womans Islamic rights are violated, many organizations are eager to speak out and petition. For example, when Merve Kavacki was denied her seat in the Turkish Parliament because of her headscarf (and later stripped of her citizenship), Muslim groups were quick to condemn the Turkish government, as they should have. In many Western Muslim circles, Merve has been elevated to a symbol of the struggle muhajabat women face in secular societies. Yet there is a resounding silence when the issue being raised is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), honor killings, forced marriages, the unequal application of hadd punishments on women, or the denial of education to girls and women. All of these wrongs are perpetrated on women in the name of Islam. While it is true that many of these violations occur across cultural and religious boundaries, the only action often taken by conservative Muslims is a condemnation of the action because it is cultural and not Islamic. Meanwhile, women continue to be murdered and little girls continue to be mutilated. In Africa, conservative sheikhs teamed up with womens rights advocates to educate people about the harms of Female Genital Mutilation. These people get very little mention in the Western media, which, of course, paints the Islamists as the opponents of an enlightened, secular minority of liberal Muslims. About a year ago, a small band of conservative Muslim women, almost all of us from the West, came up with the idea of starting a Muslim womens human rights group, to petition and advocate for the rights of Muslim women as they are given in the Sharia of Islam. Although slow to start, we have managed to form a basis from which to work, and have taken up our first case. Right now, a Muslim woman in Nigeria is under a death sentence from the Sharia court for the crime of adultery. The situation came to the attention of the authorities when the man who impregnated her decided to confess his crime to the police, rather than pay the child support that her father asked of him. There are many glaring errors in the case, from a classical, Orthodox fiqh point of view. These errors (which would aid the woman) are not coming from a reformist reinterpretation of Sharia, these errors are so great that any of the qadis of the past would have thrown the case against her out. Prophet Mohammed, sallalahu aleyhi wa salaam, was mocked and assaulted because of his strong and courageous stance on the status of women. He came with a message that lifted women up and gave them dignity. Fourteen hundred years later, we have descended back into the dark pit of Jahiliya, and Muslim women around the world find themselves cast into the same slavery that the Prophet, sallalahu aleyhi wa salaam, was sent to liberate them from. It does not make you a radical feminist to decry honor killings and volunteer for peaceful campaigns to educate and change laws. Raising your voice against Female Genital Mutilation does not mean you want to undermine Islam. To the contrary, working against these injustices in the way of Allah is a manifestation of the desire to uplift Islam and the Muslim people. When the Taliban decided to deny education to any girl over a certain age, it is the conservative Muslims, the ones who profess adherence to Quran and Sunnah that should have spoken the loudest against this. The longer we stay silent, the more people, both Muslim and non Muslim, will begin to equate Sharia with the oppression of women.