Are women trated differently in the legal system Essay

Are women trated differently in the legal system - Essay Example Although conditions are very much different between these two periods, this particular research will discuss arguments why women should not be treated differently in the legal systems. A. Discrimination of women in the past. There are conditions wherein women were treated separately in the legal systems of the past and today. During the 19th century, women were not allowed to vote and were denied of their legal rights to exercise the right to suffrage in the U.S. At that time, women were not treated equally with male counterparts and were subjected to the social tradition and English common low that denied their rights to vote, own property, keep their own wages, or obtain the charge of their own children. Even the wife of US President, Abigail Adams, took note of this women’s condition, and reminded Pres. John Adams in 1776 as she wrote to him, â€Å""In the new code of laws, remember the ladies and do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands." John Adams replied, "I cannot but laugh. Depend upon it, we know better than to repeal our masculine systems" (Francis, Roberta, n.d.). This author recalls in her article that the fight to win women’s right to vote took 72 years before it was finally acknowledged in the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The heroines of the movement for the constitutional rights, as related in the history, suffered long years of persecution and humiliation but were not moved out of their protests. Accordingly, the specific written guarantee of the 19th Amendment, when won, was the following, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex" (Francis, Roberta, n.d.). This victory of women led to other protests on further amendments to equal rights to women; similar to their first protest, it took many years because of many laws in the workplace and in the society that had categorized women as second class citi zens and perpetuated gender inequalities. In the past, the proposal of women for equal rights for employment was contradicted by the labor movements on the reason that it was a threat to power structures and also by business interests because of economic costs. 2. Should the current law system be changed in order to treat women equally? This issue is still very much debated upon today, that even the United Nations took it upon as one of their duties to be responsible of ensuring that it promotes and protect gender equality and women empowerment (Gender Equality, n.d). The U.N. argues that gender-based discriminations are often times permitted by laws, policies and practices of institutions and nations. For instance, in many countries in the Middle East, women do not have the same rights for inheritance and property and even are not allowed to testify in court. According to the writings of J.Arlandson, the superiority of men over women was drawn from the rulings of the Islam’s Qu’ran, which Islam followed to the letter. Wage gap also exists in the U.S. today, as shown in the Pay Equity information of the National Committee on Pay Equity, which states that women are paid an average of $36,931 in comparison with $47,715 paid to male counterparts. The Pay Equity Information also stated that working women, particularly colored ones, were undervalued due to sex, and race; the numerous cases filed in several courts in the US could attest to inequality in

Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men Essay Discuss the theme of exclusion in relation to one or more characters and how its presented in of Mice and Men In the novel, there is a strong link to the theme exclusion within the characters. Steinbeck presents this by describing the character in a certain way to make the reader aware of the social ranking and judgement, and does this by also giving the reader an idea of how the characters refer to each other and why this may portray exclusion and how. Crooks is a highly isolated and excluded character in the novel as the stable buck. We know as the reader that he is excluded from the moment he is introduced. This is first presented when Candy says â€Å"the stable bucks a nigger†. Using the term ‘nigger’ to describe the character tells us that there is a strong racial exclusion and that Crooks isn’t very socially high up. Steinbeck later then develops the exclusion of this character when Candy also says â€Å"the boss give him hell when he’s mad†. This just tells us that the Boss, who is much higher up than Crooks excludes him and makes his life ‘hell’. By this Steinbeck might mean that the Boss takes out all of his anger on Crooks because of his low status due to his race. He can be treated however by people that are at a higher status ranking than he is. In my opinion Crooks has the lowest social ranking and the most negative judgements compared to all the other characters who are excluded as even Candy refers to him simply as a â€Å"nigger†. Another character that is highly excluded is Curley’s wife. Right at the beginning of the novels George is describing Curley’s wife to Lennie listen to me you crazy bastard, he said fiercely. Don’t you even take a look at that bitch. I don’t care what she says and what she does. I see em’ poison before but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her, now leave her alone. † George is telling Lennie to stay away from her. Steinbeck uses an imperative where George is telling Lennie to ‘listen’ to what he is saying. Meaning itâ⠂¬â„¢s very important because he says it â€Å"fiercely† as he really wants Lennie to take on board what he has said. George is really quite horrible in that hes is describing Curley’s wife as a â€Å"bitch† and â€Å"poison. † There is derogatory language used here by Steinbeck to really ethicize how George is feeling. And they are insults, specifically to her. Steinbeck also uses slang from around the time that the book was written. George says that she is like â€Å"jail bait†. This is slang to describe somebody who gets other people into trouble, even by just going near them. Curley’s wife knows how all the other men feel about her nd she has ways of showing how she feels back. â€Å"she turned on him in scorn. â€Å"listen nigger†, she said. â€Å"you know what i can do if you open your trap? † for a moment she stood over him as though waiting for him to move so that she could whip him again she turned at last to the other two. † Here Curley’s wife is trying to seek attention from Crooks, Candy and Lennie. From this quote it shows e xclusion within all the characters. Curley’s wife is excluded as she is the only woman and nobody will speak to her. Also she gets no attention. The other three characters are excluded as all the other men have gone out from the ranch and they’ve been left behind. Steinbeck shows us that Curley’s wife reacts to how excluded she is as she has to turn to insulting people sp that she can feel above them and more powerful. Physically she also â€Å"stood over him†, to feel better about her self esteem and less worthless. An imperative is used to begin with also so she feels higher ranked than the men around her. Steinbeck represents her as a bully by being racist to Crooks and describing him as a â€Å"nigger†. But just let two of the guys get together an’ you won’t talk. Jus’ nothing but mad†. Here Candy and Crooks are being spoken to by Curley’s wife. She was speaking to Crooks, seeking for attention when Candy showed up and there was silence form both characters. She’s telling them that she has experienced things like this before obviously. As Curley’s wife says â€Å"the† guys it makes me think that she is describing them as objects and not as real people. We, as the reader can tell that she is getting more and more upset as we reach halfway through the passage. She shortens her words such as and to â€Å"an’ and just to â€Å"jus’†. This proves that she is losing her temper and patience as to why they will not talk to her. We can also tell this as her sentence structures are getting shorter as she goes on. This quote clearly promotes exclusion as nobody really wants to talk to Curley’s wife. This is because they believe that they will get into trouble if they do so. It also shows how much Curley’s wife is excluded. She’s being excluded from a black man and an old disabled man who are already excluded against.

Our Political Candidate Should Support Abortion Essay -- Politics Poli

Our Political Candidate Should Support Abortion It is very difficult for the two opposing sides in the heated debate of the legality of abortion to see eye to eye. This is mainly because the two sides, who live in the same country, state, cities, and neighborhoods live in all together different worlds. Your neighbor that you see out every day playing with their dogs, washing their cars, and mowing their lawn may live in an exactly opposite world. Are they married? How many children do they have? Are they male or female? What is their job like? Do they have a job? College education? Do they attended a church, synagogue, other place of worship, or none at all? As it can be seen, people who live in the same country, have the same president, can lead entirely different lives and have entirely different views on the world. It is the government’s job to make laws that appeal to both sides, and protect the basic rights of all of its citizens. This makes the legality of abortion debate so very divisive as abortion and its legali ty mean many different things to many different people. (Luker) The key issues are as vast and different as the people who hold an opinion on the topic of abortion. The case of Palko v. Connecticut (Roe vs. Wade) was the first to define a right to privacy. Using this same notion of a right to privacy, in 1973 the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Roe v. Wade that a woman has a right to privacy in the medical procedure of abortion. This right to privacy according to the court means that she can have an abortion at anytime in any method she deems fit. This case though did allow for the state to impose limits on the right to an abortion as the state sees fit. (Roe v. Wade). For other people, the abor... ...{scholarly primary, print, authoritative} Tumulty, Karen â€Å" A Test of Kerry’s Faith† Time Magazine April 5, 2004 {Popular news, print via internet, reputable} Wallace, James. â€Å"Abortion isn’t Life, Liberty, or Happiness† July 11 1998 http://www.godlessprolifers.org/library/wallace2.html {unrestricted, print modified, plausible} Wilcox Race Differences in Abortion Attitudes: Some Additional Evidence The Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 2. (Summer, 1990), pp. 248-255. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-362X%28199022%2954%3A2%3C248%3ARDIAAS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 {Scholarly primary; print via internet; reputable} Wilke Why Can’t We Love Them Both? On Line Book (c) 1998 Heritage House 76, Inc. Chapter 10 http://www.abortionfacts.com/online_books/love_them_both/why_cant_we_lo ve_them_both_preface.asp {Unrestricted; print via Internet; apparently credible}

Characteristics of at-Risk Students (Aed201)

School Program for At-Risk Students In the United States many students face many problems or terrible conditions in their lives at home, school and in life in general. These problems and conditions can affect students tremendously when it comes to schoolwork or academic success. Many schools nationwide have set up programs or assistance to help these students succeed despite the problem or condition being faced. Not all students may encounter a problem or condition, but some encounter multiple problems. The types of problems and conditions include changing families, poverty, violence, abuse of alcohol and/or drugs, suicide, and child abuse (Axia College, 2005). These are serious problems that many students face in today’s world, which can seriously affect academic success. Students who face one or more of these problems is said to be â€Å"at-risk† for academic failure (Axia College, 2005). The characteristics of students placed at-risk are a low SES, inner city, male, transient, minority, non-native English speaker, and divorced families (Axia College, 2005). The only way a school, district, or state can do something about the at-risk students is to assist the needs of these students as much as possible. Many schools, districts, and states have set up special programs for at-risk students, including anything from afterschool programs to housing assistance. Usually the programs assist one of the characteristics of at-risk students to assist these students for their particular problem. The Phillipsburg school district of New Jersey has taken the issue of at-risk students very seriously by setting up an afterschool program to assist students facing the problem of low SES (socioeconomic status). Students who come from a low SES family face issues that interfere with academic success, such as low income families, lack of parental involvement, low exposure to school-related experiences, and so on (Axia College, 2005). The Phillipsburg school district has incorporated a program called Youth Center to assist the students who face these challenges. The Youth Center program is offered to all students, whether from low SES or high SES families. As soon as school ends, the students can board a free bus that transports them directly to the Phillipsburg school district youth center. The youth center contains a gym, field, classrooms, tutors, assistants, and anything else needed for the program. Students are offered tutoring services, homework help, supervised recreation, supervised educational activities, and volunteer opportunities (Wyant, 2010). This program is free of charge and is offered after school of every full day of school. Students arrive immediately after school to the youth center and are allowed to stay there until 6pm. The Youth Center program should be viewed as an exemplary and beneficial program to all. This program is exemplary because it offers many options for students and parents as well. The latchkey students have a place to go instead of sitting at home alone waiting for a parent to arrive. The wide range of activities offered is exemplary because it attracts many different types of students to participate. Offering the program at no cost and no cost transportation is also exemplary and beneficial because these students typically come from low income families that would never be able to afford such a program elsewhere. The benefits of the program go beyond giving the students a place to go free of charge. The academic benefit of this program is exemplary because the students have the access to tutors and homework helpers. Students who have attended this program for one year showed an improvement in school by seventy five percent, which is very good (Wyant, 2010). Since the program was established in the Phillipsburg school district, the academic achievement test scores have risen respectfully. Ensuring the youth center program reaches all targeted students and meet the students’ needs is crucial for this school district. All students and parents are aware of the existence of this program and are often encouraged to join. The statistics have shown how students academically progress after joining the program, which is attractive to other students found in the same situation. The school district is even considering an expansion to the program by adding counselors to assist students’ emotional needs (Wyant, 2010). Many schools, districts, and states are doing everything possible to assist students who are considered at-risk. The Phillipsburg school district has had success with the youth center afterschool program to assist low SES students. There are many programs available to students who are at-risk, but maintaining and improving these programs is essential to success. Students do not have to face the challenges of being at-risk alone anymore. References Axia College of University of Phoenix. (2005). Changes in American Society. Retrieved April 30, 2010, from Axia College, Week Three reading, aXcess, AED201—Teaching as a Profession Course Web site. Wyant, H. (2010). Joseph H. Firth Youth Center. Retrieved April 30, 2010, from http://www. phillipsburgnj. org/index. php? option=com_content&view=article&id=42&Itemid=53 FOR AXIA COLLEGE AED201†¦ RECEIVED â€Å"A† on this paper.

Mass Media and National Identity

Gone are the days when the media used to exercise its power mainly through the radio and the newspapers. During that period, there was always time for free reflection on what it means to be an American. Today, the media merely thrusts its views on the viewer in a very powerful way. People are being exposed to a hugely expanded power of the media through the incessant television programs, movies and the internet.Like an invader who captures the minds of the weak, the American media is now in a position from where it can brainwash people into developing a media customized American identity. One of the more dominant images being circulated right now by American media is that to be American is to agree with the American President. All those who disagree are anti-American.Ever since the war on terrorism was launched during the aftermath of September 11, 2001, political leaders have used the media to seed the hearts and minds of Americans towards a new kind of patriotism. The Bush administ ration has, with the help of the media, widely propagated that this is the time when America needs to come together and support the President. The message is that unity and support for the President is more vital than having a healthy debate. This communication strategy has garnered a great deal of success in the United States as anti-war and anti-Bush policies have become equated with anti-Americanism.National identity of America was earlier derived from powerful figures of colonial America who imparted their daring visions, power, and energetic optimism to the American tradition. Among them are the explorer and colonial founder John Smith; the religious liberty advocate, Quaker, and colonial founder William Penn; the great Puritan intellectual Cotton Mather; and the astonishing 18th-century polymath Benjamin Franklin. Americans of the early 19th century were involved in the great controversy of whether slavery should be abolished or not.They were not afraid to fight wars for their causes and they also ensured that the republic achieved astonishing economic growth. Writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Louisa May Alcott helped in the development of a mature distinctive American literary and philosophical culture. There were great leaders like Franklin Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln who turned America into a great prosperous nation of sustained economic growth and they enabled the republic to stretch from ocean to ocean. America flowered as a land of great diversity with the advent of immigration in the mid-20th century. This was the time America grew to be a global leader and American character was exemplified through distinct American traits found in its great citizens.Some such distinct American traits that became part of American identity were lack of fatalism, energetic approach to problem-solving, faith in economic growth, dedication to education, devotion to religious liberty and belief in equality. There were many individuals who embodied these Americ an traits. Louisa May Alcott was a volunteer nurse in a Civil War hospital, where she contracted typhoid fever and was crippled for life from the mercury used to treat her. But that did not deter her from writing Little Women, a book that was hugely successful. Benjamin Franklin was the epitome of self confidence as he invented the Franklin stove to meet the firewood shortage in Philadelphia.Andrew Carnegie was a great industrialist who finally thought it best to focus on a single industry: the steel industry. Horace Mann was responsible for the creation of the universal compulsory school model. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which Thomas Jefferson drafted in 1786 was the foundation stone for the rise of America as a nation that valued freedom in all aspects of life.   Every American shares a national identity with his fellow citizens and he is proud to known that values such as optimism, self reliance and belief in equality and justice are all part of this great Amer ican identity which has been shaped by a long history of political openness and change, tolerance of conflict, entrepreneurial energy, and cultural mix.The nobility that is enshrined in American national identity is slowing being eroded in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, race relations, crime, immigration, health care, euthanasia, gun control, and education and the erosion is more intense due to the focus of the media on such issues. Media expert David Domke feels has studied the government’s post-September 11 communication strategies in the war on terrorism as well as the media response and the impact on U.S. public opinion.After studying media reports and public responses from the period from September 11, 2001, to Bush's address to the nation about Iraq on March 17, 2003, he concluded that â€Å"government officials have consistently emphasized American core values and themes of U.S. strength and unity while simultaneously demonizi ng the enemy† (Whitworth Communications, 2003). His conclusion is supported by a study of media coverage and public-opinion polls. Words such as freedom, individualism, mobility, and pragmatism â€Å"speak to the American spirit.† It is through the use of such words that mass media is shaping the national identity on political issues.There are people such as think-tank researchers, interest-group leaders and academic experts who can offer analysis from a neutral platform. They are not people who are likely to sing chorus to the government’s song. But Domke and his colleagues have found that such intellectual people tend to get less media attention – for the simple reason they are not guaranteed supporters of the government.This finding shows that the media coverage under the blanket of patriotic press coverage, has served to shift the American national identity from one that allows every individual the liberty to have his or her own opinion on political is sues to one that supports the standing of a unified nation behind the President of the United States, no matter what decisions he takes.Apart from this negative shift, there are many positive ways in which mass media is helping to shape the national identity of Americans. Hollywood is one of the most influential media in America and has always played a huge role in creating a sense of national identity and pride. American values such as equality, liberty, love for the nation, freedom of expression, human right are emphasized in many movies.Popular movies such as Pearl Harbor; We Were Soldiers; The Quiet American; Behind Enemy Lines; Black Hawk Down; Kandahar; Collateral Damage; In the Bedroom; Minority Report and Fahrenheit 9/11 explore and help in shaping American identity with respect to morality, family, nation and globalisation.Television programs such as Apprentice and American Idol showcase the potential America offers to people with values, talent, skill and willingness to wo rk. They add a sense of pride and positive attitude to the national identity. Sports such as baseball and basketball as shown in the movies and television programs have become American symbols of competitiveness and professionalism.However, television advertisements seem to focus more on hawking a happier home and love-life, improved eating and drinking and appearance, better health, taste and smell, a more comfortable car, etc., etc. thereby polluting the national identity with a craving for materialism and self centeredness.Through the mass media, Mickey Mouse, Babe Ruth, screwball comedy, G.I. Joe, the blues, â€Å"The Simpsons,† Michael Jackson, the Dallas Cowboys, Gone With the Wind, the Dream Team, Indiana Jones, Catch-22 – these names, genres, and phrases from American sports and entertainment have become a powerful tools in sculpting the American identity. Through mass media, music has also played a huge role in shaping American identity. The first major compos er of popular music with a uniquely American style was Stephen Foster (1826-1864). Soon the music that was representative of America combined elements of European musical tradition with African-American rhythms and themes.Some of Foster's best songs are: â€Å"Oh! Susanna,† â€Å"Camptown Races,† â€Å"Ring the Banjo,† â€Å"Old Folks at Home†. Today, the inclusion of African music such as Reggai and rap, Latino rhythms, and the domination of global artists has made American music much more representative of its expanding scope of national identity. However, rock music remains the prevalent pop music of America because it is one genre that can assimilate almost any other kind of music, along with new varieties of outlandish showmanship, into its strong rhythmical framework – much as America assimilates different cultures and different races into its constitutional framework and national identity.Rangers in the Sequoia National Park report that the huge sequoia monarch trees in the forests, however huge and seemingly strong, one day simply tilt over and crash to the ground because of their weak roots (Sites, 2007). So also the American national identity built through mass media can crash if care is not taken to nourish the roots of that identity. Mass media should focus on the unique American history and resplendent traditions instead of favoring an almost total obsession with the clamorous present and the dubious lures of the unpredictable future.Bibliography:Whitworth Communications (2003). Political Communication Scholar to Present Whitworth Lecture on Challenges to Civil Discourse of ‘Post-9/11 Patriotism'. http://www.whitworth.edu/News/2002_2003/Spring/GreatDecisionsDomke.htmSites N. James. Inger: A Modern-Day Viking Discovers America. Published by Scan-Am Communications. Ashland. http://www.identityindependence.com/ingersites.html