Real School Issues That Negatively Impact Learning

Real School Issues That Negatively Impact Learning Schools face several issues daily that negatively impact student learning. Administrators and teachers work hard to overcome these challenges, but it is often difficult. Regardless of the strategies schools implement, there are some factors that will likely never be eliminated. However, schools must do their best to minimize the impact these issues have while maximizing student learning. Educating students is a difficult challenge because there are so many natural obstacles that hinder learning.   Not every school will face all of the challenges discussed, though the majority of schools across the country face more than one of these issues. The overall makeup of the community surrounding the school has a significant impact on the school itself. Schools facing a large portion of these issues will not see significant internal changes until external issues are addressed and changed within the community. Many of these issues can be deemed as societal issues, which can be nearly impossible for schools to overcome. Bad Teachers The vast majority of teachers are effective at their job, sandwiched in between the great teachers and the bad teachers. While bad teachers represent a small percentage of educators, they are often the ones who generate the most publicity. For the majority of teachers, this is frustrating because most work hard every day to ensure that their students receive a quality education with little fanfare. A bad teacher can set a student or group of students back considerably. They can create significant learning gaps making the next teacher’s job that much harder. A bad teacher can foster an atmosphere full of discipline issues and chaos establishing a pattern that is extremely difficult to break. Finally and perhaps most devastatingly, they can shatter a student’s confidence and overall morale. The effects can be disastrous and nearly impossible to reverse. This is the reason that administrators must ensure that they make smart hiring decisions. These decisions must not be taken lightly. Of equal importance is the teacher evaluation process. Administrators must use the evaluation system to make informed decisions when retaining teachers year after year. They cannot be afraid to put in the necessary work required to dismiss a bad teacher who will damage students in the district. Discipline Issues Discipline issues cause distractions, and distractions add up and limit learning time. Every time a teacher has to handle a discipline issue, she loses valuable instructional time. In addition, each time a student is sent to the office on a discipline referral that student loses valuable instruction time. Any discipline issue will result in the loss of instruction time, which limits a student’s learning potential. Teachers and administrators must be able to minimize these disruptions. Teachers can do this by providing a structured learning environment and engaging students in exciting, dynamic lessons that captivate them and keep them from being bored. Administrators must create well-written policies that hold students accountable. They should educate parents and students on these policies. Administrators must be firm, fair, and consistent when dealing with any student discipline issue. Lack of Funding Funding has a significant impact on student performance. A lack of funding typically leads to larger class sizes and less technology and curriculum materials, and the more students a teacher has, the less attention he can pay to individual students. This can become significant when you have a class full of 30 to 40 students at varying academic levels. Teachers must be equipped with engaging tools covering the standards they are required to teach. Technology is a tremendous academic tool, but it is also pricey to purchase, maintain, and upgrade. The curriculum in general continuously changes and needs to be updated, but most states curriculum adoption runs in five-year cycles. At the end of each five-year cycle, the curriculum is totally outdated and physically worn out. Lack of Student Motivation Many students simply do not care about attending school or putting in the effort necessary to maintain their grades. It is extremely frustrating to have a pool of students who are only there because they have to be. An unmotivated student may initially be on grade level, but she will fall behind only to wake up one day and realize it is too late to catch up. A teacher or administrator can only do so much to motivate a student: Ultimately, it is up to the student as to whether she decides to change. Unfortunately, there are many students in schools nationally with tremendous potential who choose not to live up to that standard. Over Mandating Federal and state mandates are taking their tolls on school districts across the country. There are so many new requirements each year that schools do not have the time or resources to implement and maintain them all successfully. Most of the mandates are passed with good intentions, but the spacing of these mandates puts schools in a bind. They are often underfunded or unfunded and require a lot of extra time that could be spent in other critical areas.  Schools do not have enough time and resources to fulfill many of these new mandates. Poor Attendance Students cant learn if they arent at school.  Missing just 10 days of school each year from kindergarten to 12th grade adds up to missing almost an entire school year by the time they graduate. Some students have the ability to overcome poor attendance, but many who have a chronic attendance problem fall behind and stay behind. Schools must hold students and parents accountable for consistent excessive absences and should have a solid attendance policy in place that specifically addresses excessive absences. Teachers cannot do their jobs if students are not required to show up every day. Poor Parental Support Parents are typically the most influential people in every aspect of a child’s life. This is especially true when it comes to education. Typically, if the parents value education, their children will be academically successful. Parental involvement is essential to educational success. Parents who provide their children with a solid foundation before school begins and stay involved throughout the school year will reap the benefits as their children become successful. By contrast, parents who are minimally involved with their child’s education have a significant negative impact. This can be extremely frustrating for teachers and makes for a  continuous uphill battle. Many times, these students are behind when they start school due to a lack of exposure, and it is extremely difficult for them to catch up. These parents believe it is the school’s job to educate and not theirs when in actuality there needs to be a dual partnership for the child to be successful Poverty Poverty has a significant impact on student learning. There has been much research to support this premise. Students living in affluent, well-educated homes and communities are far more academically successful, while those living in poverty are typically behind academically. Poverty is a difficult obstacle to overcome. It follows generation after generation and becomes the accepted norm, which makes it almost impossible to break. Though education is a significant part of breaking the grip of poverty, most of these students are so far behind academically that they will never get that opportunity. Shift in Instructional Focus When schools fail, administrators and teachers almost always take the brunt of the blame. This is somewhat understandable, but the responsibility of educating should not fall solely on the school. This deferred shift in educational responsibility is one of the greatest reasons for a perceived decline in public schools across the United States. Teachers are doing a far superior job of educating their students today than they ever have been. However, the time spent teaching the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic has been significantly decreased due to increased demands and responsibilities to teach many things that used to be taught at home. Any time you add new instructional requirements you take away time spent on something else. The time spent in school has rarely increased, yet the burden has fallen to schools to add courses such as sex education and personal financial literacy into their daily schedule without an increase in time to do so. As a result, schools have been forced to sacrifice critical time in the core subjects to ensure that their students are being exposed to these other life skills.

The propensity of people to steal items from hotel rooms linked to Dissertation

The propensity of people to steal items from hotel rooms linked to cost of room, education level or age of guests Why do people - Dissertation Example The objectives have been achieved based on qualitative primary data gathered through survey of consumers from two different cultures – The Turkish and the British. While studies have been conducted on consumer stealing habits in the western countries, no study has been found that compares the consumer behaviour of the Turks with the consumer behaviour in the West. Literature review (McGregor, 2000) suggests that culture has very little impact on consumer behaviour primarily because social and consumption values are different. The only noticeable difference that culture has an impact on is on the items that are stolen from hotel rooms. Economic background of the residents and the category of hotels in which the guests stay, make a difference in consumer theft. However, this too cannot be generalized because the emotional state of consumers also influences behaviour. Consumers may not even be aware that removing some items are considered theft or consumers who steal consciously may not be conscious of the implications of their action. The study highlights the limitations of the study and makes recommendations for further study based on the subject. Table of Contents Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Rationale for the Study 2 1.3 Research Aims & Objectives 2 1.4 Structure of the Study 3 Chapter II Literature Review 2.1 Consumer Behaviour 4 2.2 Personality of Guests 5 2.3 Types of Consumer Misbehaviour 6 2.4 Consumer Behaviour and Emotional State 7 2.5 Consumer Behaviour and Morality 7 2.6 Consumer Behaviour and Technology 9 Chapter III Methodology 3.1 Research Philosophy 11 3.2 Research Design 11 3.3 Choice of Method 11 3.4 Research Approach 12 3.5 Data Collection 12 3.6 Sampling 13 3.7 Data Analysis 14 3.8 Ethical concerns 14 Chapter IV Findings & Discussions 4.1 Findings Overview 15 4.2 Findings from Primary Data 16 4.3 Discussion 19 Chapter V Conclusion & Recommendations 5.1 Conclusion 23 5.2 Recommendations for Hotels to reduce theft 24 5.3 Li mitations of the Study 24 5.4 Recommendation for further research on the subject 25 References 26 Appendix 29 Charts Chart 4.1 Demographics of the Respondents 16 Chart 4.2 Hotel rates in ? 16 Chart 4.3 Most Stolen Items 17 Chart 4.4 Items taken away but not considered stolen 18 Chart 4.5 Motive for theft from hotel rooms 19 Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Background Consumer behaviour has been of immense interest to marketers because it has been associated with how consumers make decision to spend their valuable resources such as time, money and effort on consumption related items (Schiffman and Kanuk, 1997 cited in Abdallat & El-Emam, 2005). However, the field of consumer behaviour stretches beyond purchase decisions. For instance, it is also the study of processes involved when individuals or groups have to select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires. As Abdallat and El-Emam, citing Belch (1998), explained it also involves disposing of products and services and is not limited to purchase of goods and services. While the hospitality industry places consumers at a pedestal and all services geared towards his satisfaction (Harris & Reynolds, 2004; Aslan & Kozak, 2012), not all customers are functional and some behave in a dysfunctional manner to customer-oriented initiatives (Harris & Reynold

Spectator Management Plan (Event Managment) Case Study

Spectator Management Plan (Event Managment) - Case Study Example Women would watch the games from a far of which still was wrong and if they were found they paid dearly for disobeying. This in real sense was a way of managing the spectators. The Type of Event and the Venue of the Event The type of event that we are going to deal with is a sport event taking place at the National Stadium at 4: 00pm in the evening till 9:00pm.This stadium has a capacity of holding more than five thousand spectators. We considered the national stadium because there are few potential hazards that can take place there. This venue is near the general hospital where we can get medical help whenever we need it. The area is not so crowded and there is a super highway which will check traffic jams and overcrowding of people. The venue is also well installed with fire extinguishers which will help in case of fire outbreak. It is also well lit to provide light at the dark hours of the night. According to Labtrobe Council. (www.latrobe.tas.gov.au), the stadium has well shelter ed areas for the patrons, staffs and the volunteers incase weather conditions are harsh. These areas that have been set up include transport pick up and set down joints, spectator and official viewing points, seating and eating areas, first aid areas and event management areas, entrance and ticketing areas and competitor and official viewing areas. ... As we move forward we are going to discuss on how each stake holder is going to take up his role in spectator management. Crowd Management Strategies (1997-2000) To plan effectively for an event there are several things that a facility management must take into account. Technology and Equipment. Technology and equipment includes surveillance cameras, onsite monitoring and effective communication. Surveillance cameras are going to be installed at every entrance of the stadium. These cameras will help in monitoring the proceedings of the event at hand. Communication radios will be a vital need for ever officer and they should be in good condition with no disappointments. This will make it easy to track any risk. Obtainance of Permits. This was done at the local council where we were issued with a written document to show the time, venue, activity and laws that are to be followed during the running of the event. Obtainance of road closures and permits to sell alcohol was given to us by the local authority. First aid is not an exception especially in this stadium where the event is going to take place. Not only did we need a first aid kit, but we also needed experienced people as well in the field of the same and we got them. Emergency outs are available in case there is an incident and the spectators need to escape through another outlet. For example, in case of a fire break out. Behavior Of The Crowd Involved. Three important categories of personnel are involved here. We have the operator, security (in this case the police force) and the event promoter. These people will know the behavior of the crowd at the stadium so that they can plan well. Crowd Management Strategies (1997-2000) we noted four types of conditions that can create

The relationship between leadership and management Essay

The relationship between leadership and management - Essay Example Dissimilarity between leader and leadership is important and confusing since the leader is an individual as leadership is the function that an individual performs. A leader or a manager are two words that are used interchangeably to describe individuals holding formal authorities in organizations irrespective of their behavior in such positions. A manager does not necessarily exercise leadership in positions in which they are appointed even though leadership is just part of management. Generally, there are skills or traits that an effective leader is required to have as explained by various theories both old and contemporary theories. Some of the main traits that appear in leaders are ambition, zeal, intelligence, self-directive, and self-confidence. At times, physical characteristics, capability, and persona may be important aspects used to summarize what a leader is. There are six distinct characters that popular effective leaders have such as honesty and integrity. In addition, dr ive, motivation, cognitive ability, and business knowledge are also other characteristics of leaders. These traits would definitely distinguish whether a manager will be an effective leader or not. ... Leaders are emotionally stable, intelligent, discerning, and theoretically skilled who are able to show analytical ability, good ruling, and the capability to think strategically. Leadership requirements may vary with the situations of a workplace hence the need of researchers to concentrate on what effective leaders do rather than what effective leaders are (Nixon, Megan & Parker 205-207). Leadership skills, which are the knowledge, abilities, and competencies, are very essential in leadership. Nevertheless, the competencies depend on various factors such as the leader’s basic nature and values, the number of followers and the extent of leadership skills of a leader. The organization’s background and the values and associated behaviors of whoever is being led are in fact imperative while considering the leaders skills. Managers are usually needed to use these skills, which may be improved in training courses such as guidelines for decision-making, problem solving metho ds as well as appropriate use of power and influence without forgetting building trust to enable smooth and effective running of an organization (Shahmandi, Silong & Ismail 65-67). Effective leaders are always consistence in their operations and posses abilities based on hard work. Effectual leadership earns and keep others trust, have personal integrity, inspires trust among their followers, and ensures steadiness with what they promise their hanger-on. Nice leaders define and set a sense of mission by setting goals, priorities, and standards and ensuring the communication and implementation of the objectives set for smooth running of the organization (Shahmandi, Silong & Ismail 65-67). Moreover, good and

The Black Cat - Abnormal Madness :: Poe The Black Cat Essays

The   Black Cat - Abnormal Madness It seems that almost every Edgar Allen Poe story ever written has a much deeper and darker meaning hidden inside its lines. Many of these pieces are demented enough even if the reader does not read "between the lines." "The Black Cat" is an example of this kind of story. In this morbid look into the narrator's mind, the reader follows the narrator as he does many disturbing things in his household. This story, like many of Poe's other pieces, is a venture into abnormal psychology where the narrator is completely insane, not only because of the horrible things he does to his cat and his wife, but   because of his state of mind that he shows the reader throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, the narrator makes the writing out to be "plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events"   (p. 1495). As the story progresses, the reader finds out that this is > clearly not at all the case. The events within the text of this account are unmistakably the ramblings of a madman who cannot seem to control his actions and keeps drifting deeper and deeper into insanity. In the first paragraph of the story, the narrator begins to defend himself by saying that he is not mad. This definitely seems like he is trying to reassure himself more than the reader of his state of mind. This seems to be Poe's way of gradually   easing into showing the reader that this story is, in fact, an exploration   into the abnormal psychology of the human mind. The narrator says that from his childhood, he has been considered a very   docile person. He also mentions in the first part of the story that his "My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my   companions" (p. 1495). At the point in the story when he says all this, it seems fairly feasible. However, as the reader goes on to read, the rest of the story, they find out that this is not the narrator's present demeanor in the least. Just from seeing what is obvious about the narrator and not even reading deeper into his mindset, the reader can gather that the man is   probably not a reliable source for correct information.

Origins of Sexism

How is it that the word defined as the attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles somehow became synonymous with en discriminating against women? 1 When did this term adopt a negative connotation? The dictionary continues to describe the noun as discrimination or devaluation based on a person's sex. 2 The definition implies that the discrimination applies to both sexes, not that one is the victim of the other. However, it is clear: women are perceived as the inferior sex in our society, and apparently always have been.Yet, although sexism is a relatively modern word, the idea was created by power-hungry men and spread by biblical writers. In the way that a table is unstable if just one leg is fractionally horror, the way patriarchy and matriarchy are understood affects how sexism is viewed. If you were to reference a dictionary in search of definitions, you would find almost mirror images- only, in a matriarchy it is the mother who is head of the clan, not the father. However, Cynthia Leer, author of The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory has a different take on this.She says, â€Å"Matriarchy should be understood instead as the [mastery] of the Mother's way,† or as, â€Å"a realm where female thing are valued and where power is exerted in non-possessive, non-controlling and organic ways that are ruinous with nature. â€Å"3 Matriarchy has gotten a bad reputation through the years for being a term open to interpretation due to its many meanings. The pure purpose of the word, in its simplest form, is to describe a time in which men were not the dominant sex. Another phrase greatly misunderstood is gender roles.First, please disregard memories of your first grade teacher using the word ‘gender' instead of ‘sex' in order to keep laughter under control. Second, the two words are utterly different – apples and oranges. Gender is a not a biological characteristic; it is not the label to explain which reproductive or gans a person may have. Instead, gender is a social characteristic that a society attaches to a biological sex to explain the expectations of behavioral norms and cultural significance. In today's colloquial language, ‘gender roles' and ‘sexism' seem to be interchangeable. In actuality, gender roles serve as a mask for the greater travesty Of our time: sexism. The argument goes something like this: â€Å"Sexism has always existed! Women never hunted, because they were women and they were always confined to their homes. † For the sake of argument, let's pretend this is an curate statement. Even then, if women everywhere were confined to doing only ‘feminine† tasks and chores, the whole argument is still completely backwards – sexism has not always existed.In fact, it is quite ignorant to believe that very early societies would have been able to arrive at the mentality that one sex is superior to the other when every person was valuable to the cla n – they all relied on each other to survive. There is no reason to believe that a matriarchal society ever existed, that an entire clan was ruled by a woman. But similar to chimpanzee communities that we study today, it is very probable many hominids (two-footed primates) lived in a maternity; essentially, women were central to the society. Families were formed around the mother figure – the only known piece to the puzzle of childbearing in prehistory. When children were born, they were automatically accepted into their mothers clan, named after her, and no sense of illegitimacy lingered. 6 The mothers in prehistoric time were inclined to share provisions with their children and family members, and in time began feeding the entire clan – solidifying the idea that women Were important to the arrival of a civilization.Females sustained the clan by gathering fruits, vegetables and grains – males gathered as well, but only enough to feed themselves and possi bly a close male relative. Both sexes hunted small game and male-female groups hunted together with nets and spears. It is widely accepted, though, that only men hunted large game. When horticulture became prevalent, (some time later- around 10,000 BCC) it is said to be the work of women. 7 Aside from gathering food, providing about eighty percent of the nutrition received in a clan, women took on jobs that have advanced onto a stereotype that lingers in contemporary societies.Because early societies had yet to discover the link between sex and pregnancy, and because fatherhood was not a recognized position, men did not take on the responsibility of rearing children. Until relatively recently in the spectrum of humanity, every child demanded two to three years of their mother's time to breastfeed, and many women had multiple children within this age group at one given time. Regarding the aforementioned idea that every able body was necessary to the success of a developing clan, wome n could not afford to be del during childbearing years. It was in order to maintain society that women had to be carefully tasked with chores. The main concern was that every chore was â€Å"compatible with simultaneous child watching. † Specifically women were given, assignments that did not require severe concentration, were easily interruptible, and most importantly, did not put children in danger, in a way that hunting would. 9 This is how women fell into step with chores such as preparing daily food and spinning, weaving, and sewing clothes.It takes several hours of spinning yarn to create enough to weave in n hour, so women spun while they watched children and young girls spun while they tended to livestock. 1 0 With menstruation and pregnancy constantly present in these civilizations, and with game meat only sporadically appearing meat was very valuable to the women, who were always on the verge of anemia. 1 1 The anemia created another barrier between women and huntin g in addition to the already-present complications of hunting during pregnancy or with children. Their bodies were too physically weak.Also, female bodily fluids are more potent to an animal; therefore the women would be more easily sensed by their prey, making it almost counterproductive for a female to go on a hunt. 12 Some may argue that it still is indeed the femaleness of a woman that prevents her from a hunt. It IS not her designation as a woman that keeps her from participating in â€Å"male† activities, it is the fact that a woman's body has different functions, abilities, and limits than a man's. In a functional society every person plays a specific role and no role is more important than another; every single role is required for the society to thrive. Asking a man to breastfeed so that a woman could attempt to cut down a tree was – and still IS – irrational. ) It is to sexist for communities to fall into a way of life that allows every individual to c ontribute to their fullest potential, thus creating a highly productive and efficient society. There was a time when the femaleness of a woman was not seen as a disadvantage by men, but rather it was revered and honored. Forty thousand years ago, before words could be written down, prehistoric peoples represented concerns, rituals, sacrifices, and more with cave art and carvings.It comes as no surprise that many of the oldest carved figurines found show admiration for a woman's body: her fertility and ability to produce and feed hillier. 13 These figurines, called Venues, typically depict women who are â€Å"fat, healthy, with giant breasts†. 14 It might seem strange to a present-day woman how carving women as fat could possibly be flattering, let alone venerating. But a thin figure, something many women strive for today, would have been very troubling: her children would have gone hungry. We also kick to old preserved cave paintings for ideas of what culture was like before writing.In a remote part of central India, paintings of South Briar tribes from 8000 BCC to 2500 BCC were found on rock shelters. Like many others, they epic animals, hunting, dancing, and symbolic designs. 1 5 In these specific paintings, there are more women drawn, and they are more detailed than the stick figure men. The women are painted as strong and capable women – hunting and taking care of children all the while. To keep the traditions alive, South Briar women still partake in ritual hunting. 16 Sir Leonard Woolly called Cretan art the most inspired in the ancient world. 6 Paintings always show priestesses in the foreground with men behind them. Women in Crete were portrayed as merchants, farmers, chariot drivers, and hunters. Wall paintings show the women performing religious rituals. It does not appear that Crete was an equal society -? in a painted scene Of female dancers, the males and females have segregated seats, but the women had better accommodations. 17 Seve ral tombs that belonged to women were filled with riches such as jewelry, gold, and precious stones. In comparison, no male grave has been found with equal value.The Cretan world seems to have been able to develop and advance as a female-centered community without abandoning peace and pleasure-18 There is some scholarly inquiry as to whether there were female-centered clans in the Neolithic ere as well. There are very few images of males from this time period and the few that have been uncovered show men in situations inferior to women. 19 This leads to the theory women in Neolithic times held a higher status than women of later generations. The corpses found in Neolithic graves were buried with shells and paint arranged in a way to resemble female reproductive organs. 0 It is believed these art works indicate worship or glorification of the females in their clans. Fertility seems to be the basis of their worship and it often reinstated into prayer for healthy crops and animals. Doe s this mean goddess worship appeared in Neolithic culture, or did they only worship females? Was their worship equivalent to women having social power and dominance? As many myths rarely offer facts, they cannot be used to set history' in stone; however, they do shed light On what might have been happening during the time periods in which they were created.Several myths show warring between men and women in which the men always take over power from the defeated females. 21 These motifs appear in Central and Western Desert Australian Aborigine, Panda of New Guiana, Sumerian, and Greek mythology . 22 â€Å"Social charter† myths appear to justify why men took over female ruling, suggesting women committed some sort of sin or were naturally weak. If men had always existed as the controlling power, myths of former female powers would not exist. If men had always restrained women, their dominance would seem natural and it would be unnecessary for them to write explanations.Powerful women in mythologies are astoundingly universal . 23 patriarchy was an avalanche started by one meager realization: men had a role in procreation. Suddenly, their female-driven jealousy was uprooted. By giving the children their fathers' clan name instead of their mothers', the men had proof of â€Å"ownership†. With offspring essentially attached to the men of the clan, labor was also controlled by the men-24 Anthropologists insist that when large game hunting began during the Stone Age, men felt that hunting was their natural function in society. 5 With this new sense of identity came power- their dangerous work gave them status. It also created a sort of club or community between the male members of a tribe or clan . 26 Hunting required great teamwork, cooperation, ND lack of competition- these men had to work together. Most likely, men felt legitimated by their â€Å"exclusiveness† and their â€Å"us-versus-them pride† . 27 Of course, women hunted small gam e, but more in a means of ‘opportunistic kills'. Indeed, many ritualistic tools used during hunts were forbidden for women to see. 8 So when horticulture, a practice mainly performed by women, became popular around 5000 BCC, and large game began to disappear in populated civilizations, men had to jump on the band wagon and begin farming as well. 29 With men farming – a very isolated activity in imprison to hunting – they felt they lost everything fundamentally male. Young boys were not being taught the solidarity that came with hunting, so the men of the clan developed a new idea of group puberty rites. 30 These ceremonies did not occur before a horticultural society was established.The men began reinforcing gender roles in their society by teaching their sons what it took to be a â€Å"man†, something they felt should have been natural. Marilyn French, author of From Eve to Dawn: a History of Women in the World, explains, â€Å"Male solidarity was and re mains a manipulation against women. The first political movement, it arose, like all solidarity movements, to counter a sense of powerlessness and oppression,† that had dissipated with the loss of a hunter-gatherer society. 31 The main push of these puberty rites was to abnegate their mothers which led the oppression of women, including emotions they associate with them.Soon boys were taught disdain towards ‘feminine' emotions like love, compassion, and softness. Feelings were replaced with a hard, cool attitude and submission to elder males. 32 Thus, a form a sexism that still exists today (and many people ignore) was created: en are not to show â€Å"feminine† qualities. Dominance over children created another form of sexism. Now that males were aware of their part in procreation, they had to assure that the children their mates produced were theirs. In order to do this, they had to keep women under strict surveillance.Many women were captives from other village s, raped so as to be claimed as a mate, and given no rights; they were virtually slaves. 33 To bolster men's paternity roles, rules and laws were created that only applied to women. Females were the first criminals – adultery suddenly became a crime. Even Hough men always had the right to infanticide, women were not allowed to abort their children. Paternalism groups were founded on this domination. At this point, females were considered an object of the male's possession. Contrary to matrilineal, potentiality required force, and brutality towards women was often encouraged in their society. S When dominance started to shift towards the males, clans left their matriarchal marriages and began existing in parasitical marriages – women were no longer surrounded by male kin (stronger than she) and lost their protection. In a patriarchal marriage, the omen were taken and forced to live with their husbands' families who very likely did not speak the same language. 36 In some patriarchal communities women were allowed to leave. However, due to the fact that children were property of men, the women had no right to take children with them, and many stayed. 37 Without women protesting, patriarchy was born.Another vessel for both patriarchy and the idea of sexism was religion. Even in the beginning Of the Old Testament, the Bible provides very different roles for men and women. When God punishes Adam and Eve in Genesis, he describes Adam (man) as the breadwinner, and Eve (woman) as someone who needed a tight leash . 38 This tight leash takes the form of her husband and uterus. Women were limited by this elemental plot for centuries after – both Judaism and Christianity enforce further constraints on women. In Leviticus, it claims that everything a woman touches while she is â€Å"unclean† from menstruation is impure. 9 Taken out of context, this can be seen as a terrible sexist act, but there are also conditions in which a man is unclean. Even so, women cannot control what makes them unclean while men can. The biblical impurity of a woman outlasts her menstruation, even during childbirth-40 The women were secluded from the group for two weeks while they were impure and usually stayed with other women in â€Å"menstrual huts†. When they were allowed to grace the sanctuary and men again, they fulfilled their marital duties (the two weeks in which they saw their husbands they were most likely to conceive). 1 When a woman gave birth she had to seclude herself for seven days as if she were menstruating. Fifth baby was a male, she could return to the group on the eighth day for the baby's circumcision and tribal ironies before completing her thirty-three days of blood purifying. If the baby was a female, there Was no ceremony to welcome her arrival and her mother was required to purify for sixty-six days. 42 Consider this: if a woman is in constant impurity, constantly forbidden from the sanctuary, how often could a Heb rew wife appear in public?A scarce rabbi or community leader does not make for a good one – how would she be able to fulfill the responsibilities? In addition to underlining the uncleanness of a women, the Old Testament shows violent themes against women. In Deuteron 22:13 t shows that if a bride's virginity is challenged by the groom, the whole community plays a part in verifying the speculation through the custom of bloody sheets. If their suspicion is true (or they agree she did not bleed enough) the male population is permitted to stone her to death.Later in Deuteron, there are examples of rape and abuse with only small monetary penalties. 43 Even though religion is not to blame for men first seeking control over women, it plays a large role in the spread of sexual discrimination because many people looked to these ancient scriptures as a guide for their lives. It is believed by some biblical scholars that Yeah was originally conceived as androgynous. 44 He is characteriz ed by the word ‘compassion', which in the Hebrew language is rooted in the word ‘womb'. He is described as â€Å"giving birth† to Israel, â€Å"suckling' and watching over his children. 5 But as the Bible transitions into the book of Numbers, Yeah is not only male but patriarchal. In Numbers 12, God punishes only Miriam and not her brothers for the same act- the story teaches that women shall not challenge men. 46 Some argue that it is difficult to accuse the Bible of sexism hen several other verses describe such different ideas. For example, Galatians 3:38 adequately removes all justification for discrimination Of any kind by saying, â€Å"There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Pay close attention to the wording: there is no longer male and female. Moreover, religion is described as a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects. 47 The Bi ble (and the religion that follows it) is a text assembled by men and was prone to their social biases of the time period. Sexism very well did exist in the Hebrew Bible and it is impossible to erase history. It is not universally accepted that fertility held more weight and value in society before the Bible was written.Cynthia Leer, shares her view on the idea of matrilineal societies and goddess worship (something that dissipated long before the Bible): Prior to the Neolithic revolution, we have every reason to believe that prehistoric peoples, like contemporary hunting and gathering peoples, were more interested in restricting their fertility than enhancing it. Contraception, abortion, and infanticide are all practiced in uniting and gathering groups, and in horticulture societies as well, with infanticide rates ranging from 1 5 to 50 percent.Skeletal evidence suggests that childbirth was dangerous for mothers and children alike. Infant mortality rates were high at Actual ¶y;k, for example, and women there and elsewhere died very young by our standards (on average in their late twenties, earlier than men) in part because of high maternal mortality. It seems unlikely under these conditions that pregnancy and childbirth we invariably regarded as miraculous and welcomed as the gift of a munificent goddess. 48 Leer also geared the Venus figurines and points out the biggest dispute with establishing them as worship of fertility.The figures rarely show signs of pregnancy, lactation, or childbirth. 49 If Paleolithic artists were concerned in depicting pregnancy and fertility there are many ways to have done that – but these figures lack evidence of childbearing and most are simply voluptuous. They could show the clan's concern regarding hunger, which explains why they have fuller shapes – communities valued healthy and full bodies. 50 However, if you were to drop the notion that Venus figures represented omen and their fertility and ability to repr oduce, why are there only women figures?The complication with pinpointing the origins of sexism is the underlying question: which came first? Gender or sexism? Returning to overburdened language, it is because gender exists that sexism exists. Gender allows men to dominate women – it provides a biological excuse. Unfortunately many feminist matriarchies suggest that women are women because we hold secondary status to men. The designation ‘Woven† is neither a gender, nor a biological sex, but a category that people are placed into.This category seems to form the parameters in which women have experiences, yet women are only the byproduct of the category existence (in the same way my mother insists I had a bad time because my attitude was terrible to begin with, and not that my attitude was terrible because I had a bad time). 65 So long as this omnipresent category exists, sexism will exist. The femaleness of a woman is defined by Leer as the experience of being per ceived to be a woman and being treated as women are treated. This extends to any specific way women were treated in different cultures whether good or bad. The only femaleness that can be attached to any woman of any time period in any place of the world is this: ‘woman'. It is hard to speak for the men and women from a time before they themselves could speak, but don't believe it was ever intended for footmen in the kitchen† to be a derogatory term. The mentality that one biological sex is of higher-rank than another is derived from the simple fact that certain bodies are more able for specific tasks. Intended or not, men felt oppressed. This sparked a very deliberate and violent revolution. Men stole control and power long before rating was established and history was preserved.Indeed it was history; looking back to biblical times, the pictures that stories paint of their communities and culture show male-dominance. With the spread of Christianity, the secret of a more peaceful and equal past was locked up and it became widely accepted that the husbands and fathers should be the head of the household. Christianity and the men in the Bible certainly did not initiate all of the suffering and abuse against women that appears today – but they did Set the precedent that has seemed to excuse men for centuries. Bibliography Advisor, J. M. , Olga Softer, and Jake Page.

Analysis Of Toni Morrison s Beloved - 1323 Words

Toni Morrison’s Beloved is a masterwork of fiction that allows the reader to have many different experiences based on the novels that you pair the book with. When you read Beloved in a modernist light you get a story with slightly different themes then if you read it through a feminist lens. It is a credit to Morrison that her thoughtfully crafted piece of art is able to stand on it own in so many varying ideas. One of the lens that doesn’t get discussed enough is the lens of African American empowerment in the 20th century. There are quite a few insights that can be gleaned when reading the book surrounded by authors such as: Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, and Sonia Sanchez. Beloved shows us the harsh truths that were facing the†¦show more content†¦As a racial group they are forced to spend more time looking back then looking forward. A major issue of the time period that Morrison was writing in is one that reflected itself through Sethe in Beloved. Sethe experiences many different kinds of alienation throughout the novel. Early on she is physically and emotionally alienated from her husband Halle, from her children, from her community, and also from herself. This alienation comes from her being forced to kill her eldest daughter by the whites sent to put her back in chains. Sethe being forced to kill her daughter to keep her out of chains is what puts Sethe back into chains. No, she is not technically a slave to the white man again. However, she is an outcast to her community, this burden is the chains she must wear now, and it is the fault of the white man she must bear this burden. Alienation is a chain that every black character in Beloved must bear. They are all alienated in one way or the other. One of the best ways to see this is the multiple flashbacks to Sweethome. In these flashbacks the black characters do not show much in the way of characterization or personality. Their every action is personified by their nee d to be less victimized by their white masters, and how they could be safer from them. In Amiri Baraka’s Black Art Baraka lays out the idea that poetry must be used as a weapon to further the cause of African Americans. He says the African American artist need to,† let all