Tuesday, January 28, 2020

The Male Dominant Image Essay Example for Free

The Male Dominant Image Essay In his play The Lion and the Jewel, Soyinka expresses his opinions about society through his characters, as many authors do in their writing. One of the characters, Baroka, frequently seeks to take more wives despite his age and subjects his current wives to humiliating tasks such as plucking his armpit hairs and tickling his feet as a way of showing his power over them. Through the characterization of Baroka and the attitudes of other characters in the play, Soyinka explores the idea that a man needs to show dominance over women to be considered a man by society. Despite his age and already having a larger number of wives, Baroka is still seeking to take another wife, specifically a young one. This is most likely because he wants to exert the image that he is still desirable and his sexual ability has not been diminished with age. It is very important for Baroka to maintain this image, and this is why he is still persistent to take Sidi as a wife, even after she clearly refuses several times. Image is very important to Baroka, and his existing image had been tainted by the photograph of him by a latrine. Sidi, however, is young and has the image of the most beautiful woman in the village due to the pictures of her in the magazine. Bakora believes that making the most beautiful woman in the village his wife is the perfect way to elevate his image. While he is seducing her, he tells her â€Å"the truth of this, old wine thrives best in a new bottle.† (p. 1185) The old wine is a metaphor for himself and the new bottle is Sidi. He seeks the new bottle to enhance himself. He will not stand to be seen as less than a woman, to have his position as a man and a leader diminished. This is why in the end, he resorts to physical force to get Sidi to marry him when all else fails. By tradition, she is bound to marry the man she loses her virginity to, and Baroka exploits this. The fact that Baroka ultimately used tradition to exploit her also implies that much of the twisted notion that a man must exercise dominance over a woman to be powerful stems from tradition. Baroka also asserts his power by taking advantage of his wives and forcing  them to do humiliating tasks for his pleasure. While the things he makes them do are not brutal or violent, it asserts the fact that they are below him and he holds the power in the relationship. They must pluck his armpit hairs and tickle his feet, although he never does something for their pleasure in return. In regards to them performing these tasks, he uses such statements as â€Å"†¦thou Sadiku, thy plainly unadorned hands encase a sweet sensuality which age will not destroy. Beyond a doubt Sadiku, thou art the queen of them all.†(p. 1172) This statement, while in his mind possibly meant to praise, is actually quite demeaning. These statements reduce his wives simply to objects of pleasure for him. This shows how by making a woman his wife, Baroka ultimately restricts the balance of power in the relationship, with himself permanently at the top, and his wives permanently at the bottom. They are not his partners in equal, nor do they assist him in making important decisions. They are simply there to pleasure him and maintain his status. Women are self-enhancing tools for Baroka, merely useful accessories. This is no different from wearing expensive rings to show off and raise one’s status. It is not only Baroka’s thoughts and actions that assert the idea that a man needs to show dominance over women to be considered a man by society, but also those of other people in the play. When Sidi learns from Sadiku that Baroka is supposedly no longer fertile, they both view it as him having lost his power. This is demonstrated by a line Sadiku aims at Lakunle when he witnesses them celebrating Baroka’s supposed downfall. â€Å"You a man? Is Baroka no more a man than you? And if he is no longer a man, than what are you?† (p 1170) This shows how the idea that a man needs to show dominance to have power is ingrained in the people of the village, just as gender roles and are ingrained in our society today. The fact that women react exactly in this way to a man’s loss of virility in The Lion and the Jewel shows that Baroka’s fears that he will lose the respect of the village if he does not constantly verify himself are justified. He is getting older and less attractive, so he feels the need to constantly prove his power. In conclusion, Baroka’s character represents a man who is trying to verify his power and maintain his image with age in the way his society deems  appropriate. Gender roles are present in all societies, and although they vary somewhat from one society to another, it is never a good thing to have cookie cutter expectations that all men or all women are expected to fit into. It is extremely harmful psychologically for people to always measure themselves to a standard of an ideal, when in reality few can be a perfect example. This also brings up the question, why are gender roles present in the first place? Why is there a set way a man should act or a woman should act? I believe that these standards originate from tradition. Polygamy is the tradition of the Yoruban people in The Lion and the Jewel, so naturally one may be inclined to use the number of wives a man has as a way to measure him. Likewise, in Christianity, gender roles stem from the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible. Soyinka’s The Lion and The Jewel portrays a character who commits many misdoings, but in the end he is simply trying to fit with his society and tradition.

Monday, January 20, 2020

In The Park Analysis Essay -- Gwen Harwood, poem analysis, poetry

In the park written by Gwen Harwood, was originally written under a male pseudonym. The poem represents the idea of changing identity because of certain circumstances as well as challenging common ideas, paradigms and values & beliefs which is commonly held amongst mothers in today’s society. Harwood wrote the poem with relatively simple composition techniques but it provides a rather big impact which helps to give an insight into the life of a mother or nurturer which bares the burdens of children. The title of the poem ‘In The Park’ immediately gives us an image of the geographical landscape in which the poem is set in and from further analysis, the poem is written in a sonnet structure where its 14 lines broken up into two parts of 8 lines and 6 lines with a break in between. Though we normally associate sonnets with romantic love poems, it is a different scenario with this poem as it is slightly ironic because challenges us by attempting to show the negative effects of love where the woman’s life has been destroyed basically due to the children and how love is no longer present in her life. ‘The woman’ of the poem has no specific identity and this helps us even further see the situation in which the woman is experiencing, the lost of one’s identity. Questions start to be raised and we wonder if Harwood uses this character to portray her views of every woman which goes into the stage of motherhood, where much sacrifice is needed one being the identity that was present in society prior to children. The first 4 lines it is indeed set the in park and Harwood has cleverly chosen the park as the setting of the poem as many people see the park as a mundane, boring place. Our assumptions of the park as a scene is normally ... ...-lover is in control, the woman is in a total opposite situation and the conversation has reached its limit and the ex-lover is cued to leave in a subtle but quick manner with a ‘departing smile’. With the final lines give us a better understanding of her situation, where her life has been devoured by the children. As she is nursing the youngest child, that sits staring at her feet, she murmurs into the wind the words â€Å"They have eaten me alive.† A hyperbolic statement symbolizing the entrapment she is experiencing in the depressing world of motherhood. These final words sum up her feeling of helplessness and emptiness. Her identity is destroyed in a way due to having children. We assume change is always positive and for the greater good but Harwood’s poem challenges that embedding change is negative as the woman has gained something but lost so much in return.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Health Services Organization Essay

Identify and evaluate at least three forces that have affected the development of the health care system in the U.S. The U.S. healthcare system has continually evolved due to the success of innovative fore-thought. These innovations have been both strategic and tactical, influenced by all segments of the health care industry. There are many key strategic and tactical innovations, I will elaborate on three forces I feel affect the development of the healthcare system in the U.S.; they are: Increasing cost of healthcare, affect of economics on the healthcare system, and labor force trends in the U.S. as it relate to healthcare. * The steadily increasing cost of healthcare in the U.S. 1. The Unites States is known as the land of plenty, but if you are a native of this great nation you might feel quite differently about that statement. Being poor here has to be much like being poor anywhere else in the world, poor is poor; what might be different is opportunity. The opportunity that we are going to discuss is that of the pursuit of receiving the best healthcare regardless of race, creed, national origi n, or station in life (being with or without money). The cost of health care in the U.S. neared 2.6 trillion dollars in 2010, this is a staggering amount of money; but what make it more astonishing is that this amount is ten times higher than the 1980’s sum of 256 billion dollars that was generated by health care system (population bulletin, 2008). The rate of funds generated by health care has slowed down in recent years, but still is expected to grow faster than the national income. Our country need to address this growing burden and not just let politician say it’s a major policy priority, really make it a priority for the overall good of our nation. Furthermore, the United States has been in a recession for most of the past decade, resulting in a high rate of unemployment and lower incomes for many Americans. These conditions have put even more attention on health spending due to its affordability. Since 2002, employer- sponsored health care coverage for employee and family premiums increased by 97%, making the pursuit of health care a burden on the workers and employers. Medicare covers disabled people as well as the elderly; while Medicaid provides medical coverage for low-income families. Medicare enrollment has grown tremendously over the years due to the aging baby boomers and Medicaid due to the recession. This has added considerably to government spending, straining both federal and state budgets. Health spending accounted for 17.9% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010 (kaiserEDU.com, Health Policy from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Explained). * Economic affect healthcare. 2. Economics and health care is very simple to explain, especially by someone who has seen first-hand families being mentally tormented, because they could not afford dental care for their children, the check-up not covered by the company’s insurance to enable your child to be eligible to play football, or not being able to afford the prescription medication. There are many reasons families go without medical care, and far too many times it’s just because the individual is living just above the poverty line; which make them ineligible for assistance. I personally feel the affect economics have on healthcare or the lack there of, can never be explained any clearer; unless you are experiencing it yourself. * Labor force trends in the U.S. 3. In the 1960’s the U.S. labor force grow at the rate of 1.7 percent annually and continue to grow into the 70’s as the baby boomer (those born between 1946-1964 generation continued to reach adulthood and enter the workforce. During this same period women began to enter the workforce as never seen before causing the labor force to grow at a rate of 2.6 percent annually. One might not see this as a health issue, but with women joining the workforce men began to feel the pressure, causing health complication. Women on the other hand who at one time lived the life of a care free house wife, but now working in corporate America; has started to feel stress now heart attacks are the number one killer of the American female species. I know there was nothing glamorous about being a slave, but slaves lived with just about no illnesses or life threatening diseases, know blacks have the highest numbers when it comes to diabetes, HIV, and high blood pressure than any other ethnic group (but we are free), freedom should make us take life more serious and take care of ourselves as well as our children. During the 1980’s and 90’s fewer people entered the workforce, therefore the labor force growth slowed down and ranged from 1.6 to 1.1 percent. Even though we had covered on set of baby boomers we were about to see another set reach adulthood and struggle for a place in the workplace (U.S. labor force trends), in-turn means no health insurance because they are no longer their parents dependent. Healthcare is becoming a great necessity due to infectious diseases, the year of the flower children seem to have spread more than just flowers. Health Insurance Companies are not seeing their usual capital gain at this point, consequently a change in the way benefits are paid across overall is about to change. At one time people thought as long as they paid their insurance premiums the benefits would be there when or if it was needed (we learned to read the fine print). * Speculate whether or not these forces will continue to affect the health care system in the U.S. over the next decade. (Include a force that was not mentioned that you believe will impact the health care system of the nation. Unfortunately we show no immediate signs that the cost of healthcare will decline in the Unites States anytime soon. With all the bickering about healthcare, there’s one fact everyone seems to agree on: American medicine cost too much, especially considering what we’re getting for the money. As expert look toward the future, they don’t see the cost dropping dramatically anytime soon. Curbing the rise in healthcare cost depend on our ability to gain control of the many forces causing them to climb, technology has helped other industries lower costs by eliminating waste and increasing efficiencies, but it’s done the opposite in healthcare (Lisa Zamosky, Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2012. Without any dispute I’m sure we can all agree the economy will always affect healthcare and the people who need it, which will always be everyone. We all hope the economy will make a rapid recovery, but that’s just not how things work; just as it took decades of bad decisions to get us where we are today it’s going to take time for our nation to make a meaningful recovery. Over the next 50 years, the labor force is projected to grow even more slowly (at about 0.6 percent per year) as baby boomers retire. What will this mean as far as health care is concern; well as we grow older our need for healthcare on a regular base becomes more essential than it was when we were in our prime (population bulletin). Baby boomers, reaching senior living status promotes a different type of demand on the medical system; a tremendous demand for those employed by senior living facilities, as well as those providing home health care. * Evaluate the importance of technology in the health care system. Technology is the driving force behind the universe, if you are not a believer just think about the devices you use to get through your day; hence technology. Medical technology is constantly presenting us with new devices that make our lives more fulfilling, we have laser surgery, hip replacement, artificial limb to replace worn out or damaged ones, cataract surgery that have advanced so rapidly it’s amazing, can you believe a person can have heart surgery and be walking around the next day? This is all because of technology, it’s amazing. This is something we cannot put a price on, what is being learned and the advances being made due to research technology is saving lives as well as making lives better each and every day. References: KaiserEDU.com, Health Policy, from the Henry J. Kaiser family foundation, Explained, Cost and Spending. http://www.kaiseredu.org/en/Top ics/Costs-and-Spending Population Bulletin, Vol. 63 No. 2, June 2008, U.S. Labor Forces Trends By: Marlene A. Lee and Mark Mather (Marlene A. Lee is a senior research associate and editor of the Population Bulletin at the Population Reference Bureau. She holds degrees in public policy analysis and development sociology/demography from the University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill and Cornell University. Mark Mather is associate vice president of Domestic Programs at the Population Reference Bureau, where he coordinates several projects that communicate population research to advocacy groups, educators, the media, and the public. He holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in sociology/demography from the University of Maryland. http://www.prb.org

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Autism The Fastest Growing Disorder - 1076 Words

Autism affects people in a lot of different ways. Autism is the fastest growing disorder in the U.S.There is no cure for this disorder but there is treatment. Autism costs a family about $60,000 in one year on average. Symptoms of ASD can have different ranges depending on the person’s. Communication for an Autistic person is extremely difficult, so ASD people don’t even speak, they use hand signals or gestures. Peoples with ASD have a difficult time in social settings, they tend to have outburst or become reclusive depending on the situation. Some ASD people require only 2-4 hours of sleep on a regular basis while others can go for up to 72 hours of no sleep, there has been few but some who can stay awake for weeks at a time. The reason for this is because ASD people’s brains don’t sleep, They never get into a full deep rem sleep because the activities in their brain continue to function on overload. 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