In what ways are the state and the law patriarchical institutions Essay

In what ways are the state and the law patriarchical institutions - Essay Example regarded an embodiment of strength and knowledge, they were inclined to be in charge of the social structure to which, in olden times, left women practically incompetent over men. Holy scriptures that date back two thousand years ago illustrate how women were thought to be of no essence. 1 Timothy 2:16 â€Å"I permit no woman to teach or have authority over men. She is to keep silent.† The supremacy of a Patriarchic society extends far beyond the realms of: sexuality, family units, employment and employment compensations, male-on-female hostilities, edifying associations, and the state. (eSSORTMENT, 2002) When society began to depict the roles of men as heads of nations and kingdoms, pioneers of expeditions and discoveries, brave heroes of war, engineers of technology and infrastructure, great thinkers and philosophers, etc., it unconsciously instilled prejudicial thoughts -- that there exists an inferior gender, the female gender. (Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, 2008) A State is a defined group of people, living within defined territorial boundaries and more or less subject to an autonomous legal system exercising jurisdiction through properly constituted courts; (Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, 2008) We have mentioned how men were able to superintend the social structure several thousand years ago given the perception of his intelligence to lead, ability to provide for the family, and biological physique that exuded strength and courage. Historically, men were able to illustrate the relationships of superiority and inferiority in society such as master-slave, strong-weak, leader-follower, parent-child, masculine-feminine, patriarch-matriarch, etc. As the dominant figures or spheres in society, men were able to select principal or exceptional people to constitute authority or governance and thus, forming the state. With the existence of the state, laws of society were established which were inclined to be patriarchal in nature. The parameters of

Jade of Peony Essay -- Literary Analysis, Wayson Choy

We have all been in a situation where we have immigrated to a new country for different reasons regarding, better future, or education. In the book Jade of Peony, Wayson Choy describes a struggle of a Chinese immigrant family as they settle in Canada, through the perspective of three young children; Liang, Jung, and Sekky. Each child describes his or her struggle, while settling in a new country. The family struggles to keep their children tied to their Chinese customs and traditions as they fit in this new country. The Chinese culture needs to be more open minded as it limits the future generation’s potential. Chinese culture limitations are seen through the relationship expectations, education, gender roles and jobs. Similarly, the relationship expectations in Chinese customs and traditions were strongly held onto. The daughters of the Chinese family were considered as a shame for the family. The sons of the family were given more honour than the daughters. In addition, some daughters were even discriminated. The only daughter in the family, Liang had to hear her grandmothers taunt: â€Å"If you want a place in this world [...] do not be born as a girl child† (Choy 27). The girls from the Chinese family were considered useless. They were always looked down upon in the family; they felt as if the girls cannot provide a family with wealth, this attitude would really affect the parents from Chinese family preferred boys as they thought; boys could work and provide the family income. Due to Chinese culture preference to having boys, girls often did not have the right to live. In the Chinese ethnicity, the family always obeyed the elder’s decision. When the family was trying to adapt t o the new country and they were trying to learn th... ...ulture resists the new generations potential, due to the gender roles and jobs. In conclusion, Chinese cultures prohibition was seen, by examining the relationship expectations, education, and gender roles and jobs. The Chinese culture needs to be more cultivated as it constricts the newer generation’s capability in Canada. In Wayson Choy’s book The Jade of Peony, he describes the struggles of an immigrated Chinese family, as they tried to follow two cultures to adjust in a new country like Canada, but still held onto the old traditions of China, and the kids of the family struggled as they tried to follow these two cultures. We all know the struggles the Chinese immigrants had to face as they embraced a new life in a country like Canada. However, we remember and praise these immigrants for their determination as they, work hard to make a name in this country.

The Actual Real World in “The Heat Death of the Universe”

In today†s busy world, many people get so caught up in their own ambience that they overlook all the other things out there. Some people seem treat their surroundings as if it were their own â€Å"little world†, creating tunnel vision to the array of the actual real world and all the things that occur in it. Pamela Zoline addresses this and many other issues in the short story, â€Å"The Heat Death of the Universe†. This piece reports the abstract, somewhat crazy thoughts, of the world from an ordinary housewife to the reader. At first, these thoughts appear to be coming from a severely confused and mentally unstable person, with no point what so ever. Contrary to the evidence stated in the text, â€Å"Sarah Boyle is a vivacious and intelligent young wife†¦ proud of her growing family which keeps her busy and happy around the house† (192), the reader can see that the main character, Sarah Boyle, is quite unsatisfied with her place in life. This unhappiness stems from a wasted education, causing the apathetic housewife to resort to ceaseless contemplation, which shapes the life she has created for herself and the home she is trapped in. The fact that Sarah Boyle was well-educated is pointed out clearly in the first few paragraphs, â€Å"Sarah Boyle is a vivacious and intelligent young wife and mother, educated at a fine Eastern college† (192). This fact can be also be easily deduced by the reader after observing the knowledge Sarah presents and the vocabulary she exhibits, such as â€Å"ONTOLOGY: That branch of metaphysics which concerns itself with the problems of the nature of existence or being† (191) and â€Å"ENTROPY: A quantity introduced in the first place to facilitate the calculations, and to give clear expressions to the results of thermodynamics† (193). Clearly, such words are not ones that would be regarded as common knowledge or everyday conversation topics. The terms used by Sarah throughout the story lead the reader to regard her as some type of advanced science major. In addition to the vocabulary usage, the manner in which her mind functions and the habits she displays also guides the reader to the same assumption. Sarah demonstrates scientific thinking methods constantly; always making lists, noticing irrelevant and abstract things, counting and lettering objects, constantly pondering ideas and concerned with factual matters. Sometimes she numbers or letters the things in a room†¦ there are 819 separate moveable objects in the living room†¦ she is passionately fond of children†s dictionaries, encyclopedias, ABCs and all reference books† (193). Combining all these facts, statements, and observations the reader deduces Sarah Boyle as a scientifically educated, intelligent woman: Which leads to the question, why is Sarah a housewife? This thought seems to reoccurringly pass though Sarah†s mind as well. The mannerisms that Sarah Boyle displays evident the fact that she is unhappy with her position in life as a housewife; she feels that her education is worthless here, causing her to feel unchallenged and bored, which only leads to endless contemplation in the world she has chosen. The largest indicators of Sarah†s unhappiness are the notes that she leaves throughout the house, such as â€Å"Many young wives fell trapped. It is a contemporary sociological phenomenon† and â€Å"Help, Help, Help, Help, Help† (193). In addition to these notes, rarely does Sarah ever talk about her family; which is highly contrary to the expectations of the common housewife. When she does refer to her family, the statements are quite short, uncaring, and undescriptive. â€Å"Today is the birthday of one of the children† (192). Speaking of her family life, never does she mention a husband. Sarah only makes remarks of a questionable nature about her children, she doesn†t seem to display the motherly love or compassion one would expect; in fact, several places in the short story, the comment is made that â€Å"Sarah Boyle is never quite sure how many children she has† (196). This comment leaves the reader confused and, in addition to the numerous derogatory and confusing references made to children throughout the story, causes the reader to think that she doesn†t care for her children at all. Looking at some of the statements she makes, this is quite possible. In one situation she conceives the idea that a cereal may cause cancer, â€Å"Perhaps something is terrible wrong with the cereal†¦ Perhaps it causes a special, cruel Cancer in little children†¦ she imagines in her mind†s eye the headlines†¦ † (192). Irregardless of this idea, she excessively feeds the children the cereal â€Å"great yellow heaps of it† (192) and even goes out to the store to buy more â€Å"shopping in the supermarket†¦ a box of Sugar Frosted Flakes†. These facts combine to produce the result that she does not care if her children get cancer. Also, Sarah feels that â€Å"housework is never completed† (197), resulting in a never-ending task, that eventually drives her insane. All evidence in mind, it becomes clear that she is unhappy as a housewife, causing her to constantly create crazy ideas with her unapplied education, driving herself into an unstable mental state. With no appropriate way to apply the education Sarah has received, she resorts to using it in the only place she has as an option, her home. She starts to devise a parallel between her house and the universe. She falls back on her education and implements the theory of entropy and the â€Å"heat death of the Universe† into her own homemaking skills. According to these theories combined, â€Å"The total ENTROPY of the Universe therefore is increasing, tending towards a maximum, corresponding to complete disorder of the particles in it†¦ he Universe constitutes a thermodynamically closed system, and if this were true it would mean that a time just finally come when the Universe â€Å"unwinds† itself, no energy being available for use† (200). Sarah applies this theory in her housekeeping techniques, thinking that the more organized she is, the less disorder she creates. Therefore, she is not contributing to entropy in her own Universe, her house. Keeping entropy at a constant therefore would not contribute to the â€Å"heat death of the Universe†. Evidently, this abstract thinking is indicating some mental problems. At the end of the short story, Sarah displays a mental breakdown, combining all the unexplainable ideas that float though her mind in a physical and mental explosion. Throughout this short story, Pamela Zoline effectively addresses many relevant issues in today†s society. Through a common housewife, Sarah Boyle, the reader can observe the daily trauma and feeling of worthlessness that one may experience at what it can result in.

Odysseus Character as Genuine Hero Essay examples

Odysseus was a very robust individual who was obligated to leave his kingdom of Ithaca to embark on a journey to fight the battles of Greek and win over Troy. To do this, he was required to leave behind his newborn son Telemachus, and his wife Penelope the Queen. The war lasted 10 years, and once the battle was over Odysseus and his fleet split and attempted to sail back to Ithaca. There, he was favored by Athena, goddess of handicrafts, learning, and the arts, and despised by Poseidon, god of the sea. His journey back home went off track and Odysseus eventually returned home after 20 years. Throughout the journey, Odysseus encountered many different situations in which he made some respectable choices, but the poorer ones landed him in a†¦show more content†¦Odysseus even went to the land of dead in order to get his men back from Circe, the goddess of magic, who turned all of Odysseus’ men into pigs. â€Å"She drugged it with wicked poisons to make them forget their homes, and when they had drunk she turned them into pigs by a stroke of her wand, and shut them up in her pigsties.† (Homer 120) The fact that he risked his life to save his men even after all the obstacles he encountered proves that Odysseus made difficult but respectable and considerate choices. There were many instances in which Odysseus made poor decisions throughout the expedition, but the worst one was after he landed in Poseidon’s son’s island and fed on Polyphemusin, the King of the Cyclops’ food. Soon after the incident, Odysseus and his crew were imprisoned in Polyphemusin’s lair as sustenance. â€Å"Rolled a huge stone to the mouth of the cave- so huge that two and twenty strong four- wheeled wagons would not be enough to draw it from its place against the doorway.† (Homer 106) Odysseus and his men waited until the Cyclops fell asleep, and once he did, they drove an axe into Cyclops’ eye and blinded Polyphemusin. (Homer 110 )† This infuriated Neptune, because Polyphemus was his son. Entering an unknown lair impacted Odysseus for a decade. â€Å"All the gods had now begun to pity him except Neptune, who still persecuted him without ceasing and would not let him get home.† (Homer 4) Neptune’s ongoing grudge resulted in Poseidon becoming focused adversaryShow MoreRelatedThe Types of Love Experiences in Homer’s The Odyssey1142 Words   |  5 Pagesepic hero Odysseus on his quest back from the Trojan War, and all the hardships he faces as a result of his decisions. 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