The Cultural Politics of Emotion Essay Example for Free

The Cultural Politics of Emotion Essay The communication gap between First and Third world feminist, as expressed by Narayan lies within a cultural setting: though Western feminism is still an upholding to the rights of women, Third world feminism speaks towards a culture’s specific issues, as Narayan writes, â€Å"I am arguing that Third-World feminism is not a mindless mimicking of ‘Western agendas’ in one clear and simple sense that, for instance, Indian feminism is clearly a response to issues specifically confronting many Indian women† (13). Thus, feminism is explicit to country and cultural beliefs, not hinging upon a predetermined or in this case Western view. There are many people, mostly women, who have been fighting for their equal rights – and we now commonly call this as feminism. Feminism started not merely on 19th century, but even during the 17th to 18th century. This is the very reason why feminists have gotten so much attention from well respected organization and government officials. With this idea in mind, many are now asking, who are the women who started the feminist movements and what prompted them to initiate such action? By digging deeper to what the real meaning of feminism is, it can also be identified the first few women who fought and strived really hard just to show the world that feminism is indeed worth fighting for. These women have their own issues that they highlighted and it all boils down to the fact that females are not just a decoration for males, instead, they are people who can be effective even in dealing with other important aspects of he society like the government. Feminists’ ideas started during the time of the infamous Enlightenment, with Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and the Marquis de Condorcet who initiated championing womens education. The first scientific society for women was founded in Middleberg, a city in the south of the Dutch republic, in 1785. Journals for women which focused on issues like science became popular during this period as well. Mary Wollstonecrafts A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is one of the first works that can be called feminist, although by modern standards her comparison of women to the nobility, the elite of society, coddled, fragile, and in danger of intellectual and moral sloth, does not sound like a feminist argument. Wollstonecraft believed that both sexes contributed to this situation and took it for granted that women had considerable power over men. Indeed, it was during the late 17th century to the early 18th century that the earliest works on the so-called woman question criticized the restrictive role of women, without necessarily claiming that women were disadvantaged or that men were to blame (Deckard, 1975). When 18th century came, the movement is generally believed to have begun as people increasingly came to believe that women were treated unfairly under the law. The feminist movement is rooted in the West and especially in the reform movement of the 19th century. The organized movement is dated from the first womens rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848 (Deckard, 1975). This feminism started not on one place or country, but coincidentally, a lot of women from various countries around the world fought for their rights as and equal and rightful members of the society. Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the founders of the suffragette movement and aimed to reveal the institutional sexism in British society, forming the Womens Social and Political Union (WSPU). Often the repeated jailing for forms of activism that broke the law, particularly property destruction, inspired members went on hunger strikes. Due to the resultant force-feeding that was the practice, these members became very ill, serving to draw attention to the brutality of the legal system at that time. In an attempt to solve this the government introduced a bill that became known as the Cat and Mouse Act, which allowed women to be released when they starved themselves to dangerous levels, then to be re-arrested later. (Deckard, 1975). Meanwhile, the Feminist movement in the Arab world saw Egyptian jurist Qasim Amin, the author of the 1899 pioneering book Womens Liberation, as the father of Arab Feminist Movement. In his work Amin criticized some of the practices prevalent in his society at the time, such as polygamy, the veil, or womens segregation, and condemned them as un-Islamic, and contradicting the true spirit of Islam. His work had an enormous influence on womens political movements throughout the Islamic and Arab world, and is read and cited today (Deckard, 1975). Various women were able to raise their voices during that time. They were able to capture the attention of many and hear out their grievances. Let us take a closer look at each of the famous and most influential women during this Abolition Movement, and create a more prominent appreciation on their ways and methods of fighting for their cause. Among the most influential women whose actions were all aimed at highlighting the feminist rights, the Grimke sisters (Sarah Grimke and Angelina Grimke Weld) topped the list. Motivated by religion and a desire to live a useful life, they were among the first American women to speak in public. They wrote a number of tracts against slavery and for womans rights. To abolitionist acclamations, Angelina became the first American woman to address a state legislature. Both sisters would remain abolitionists and womans rights activists for the remainder of their lives with Angelina concentrating on the abolitionist movement and Sarah concentrating on the womans rights movement (Lerner, 1998). Sarah Grimke offered the best and most coherent Bible argument for womans equality yet written by a woman. She was also able to identify and characterize the distinction between sex and gender; she took class and race into consideration; and she tied the subordination of women both to educational deprivation and sexual oppression. She identified men, individually and as a group, as having benefited from the subordination of women. Above all, she understood that women must acquire feminist consciousness by conscious effort and that they must practice asserting their rights in order to think more appropriately (Lerner, 1998). Angelina, on the other hand, in several of her pamphlets and speeches, developed a strong argument for womens rights to political equality. In her insistence on womens right, even duty, to organize for political participation and to petition, she anticipated the practice and tactics women would follow for the rest of the century. In both her Appeal to Southern Women and in her Letters to Catherine Beecher she fashioned a defense of womens right to organize in the antislavery cause which connected it with the causes of white women and influenced the practice of several succeeding generations (Lerner, 1998). The way in which women are treated is also beautifully highlighted in the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The author in a few brilliant and well-placed strokes of writing, makes it clear to the reader the place that women are given in his setting. While describing the ill treatment of the woman ‘adulterer’ at the hands of the Taliban, Hosseini says, â€Å"And what matter of punishment befits the adulterer? We shall throw stones†. ( 237, Hosseini) The brutality of this remark is accentuated further by Hosseini’s vivid portrayal of the scene in which the woman is mercilessly stoned to death. It is therefore in culture that the main difference between First-World and Third-World feminism lays. The treatment of women in India is one filled with hypocrisy. In Narayan’s essay, the India chastises Western civilization for their treatment of women; for instance, Indian women were permitted to attend higher education classes decades before the English even considered the aspect. Indian’s say that they treat their women as goddesses, while the West treats their women far less as equals, but this in turn is duplicitous, in examples Narayan gives of the treatment from men received by her grandmothers, and her mother (chastisement, beatings, and submissiveness, and silence). In her book, Speech and Silence in the Mother Tongue, Narayan gives childhood examples of how she became a feminist, and they are not dominantly rooted in the idea of Westernization, but culturally in a Third-World view, as she writes, â€Å"†¦though I cannot bring myself to it, of her pain that surrounded me when I was young, a pain that was earlier than school and ‘Westernization’, a call to rebellion that has a different and more primary root, that was not conceptual or English, but in the mother-tongue† (7). This then gives insight into how feminism isn’t dependent upon the introduction of Western culture in liberating women, but is in fact contingent upon a witness’s own account of oppression and their reaction to that oppression, that is that Narayan’s own rebellion was a response to her mother’s sadness in being trapped by her mother-in-law and her marriage. This exemplifies the difference between First-World and Third-World feminism, the fact that Narayan must contend with the paradigm of Western feminism instead of simply revered as representing her own culture’s fault; Narayan is not representing Western ideas but is only supporting equality and fair treatment for her fellow Indian women. In the Indian culture, women are perceived to become wives first and their own identity as a person is wiped away by such a paradigm, this is true for the incentive of women’s movements, the West included. Indian wives are submissive and the Third-World culture enhances this notion by parlaying women into marriage at the age of thirteen (as Narayan’s grandmother had done), and treating them as Other rather than as Self. In her book Speech and Silence in the Mother Tongue, Narayan writes of the predominant sentiment found in India in regards to women and mentions, â€Å"They were anxious about the fact that our independence and self-assertiveness seemed to be making us into women who lacked the compliance, deference, and submissiveness deemed essential in good â€Å"Indian† wives† (8). The wife and mother ideas of women are predominant in most cultures, and the concord factor between First and Third world feminism is united in this fact, and their rebellion against such submissiveness. The culture of feminism is presented as one that has great bonds with politics. For both First-World and Third-World feminism there is no difference in the root of feminism when it is in politics, and political campaigns that women are often secluded: in schooling, voting, and citizenship, women have been treated secondarily in both First and Third world cultures. Therefore, Narayan’s generation of Third-world feminist aren’t rebelling because of Westernization, but because in their own politics women have been forgotten in India and in the West. It takes political connections to other women and their experiences, political analyses of women’s problems, and attempts to construct political solutions for them, to make women into feminists in any full-blooded sense, as the history of women’s movements in various parts of the world shows us. Therefore, the dichotomy of First-World and Third-World feminism finds harmony in this political connection. The westernization of Indian has been blamed for the rebellious nature of feminism and even the introduction of the women’s movement, but in fact, it is the own culture’s deviant nature that gives rise to the necessity of feminism. Narayan gives example of her cousin being tortured with cigarettes and being locked away while in another country and keeping silent about it for years until a relative came to visit. The silence is the devastating part of the story; in Indian culture, it is supposed and indeed ingrained in Indian women to hold their tongues, and be submissive, and not innocent, but obedient. Yet, western culture was seen to pervade the Indian traditional way of living. In the book, Speech and Silence in the Mother Tongue, Uma says, â€Å"Veiling, polygamy, child-marriage, and sati were all significant points of conflict and negotiation between colonizing â€Å"Western† culture and different colonized third-World cultures. In these conflicts, Western colonial powers often depicted indigenous practices as symptoms of the â€Å"backwardness and barbarity’ of Third-World cultures in contract to the â€Å"progressiveness of Western culture. † The figure of the colonized woman became a representation of the oppressiveness of the entire ‘cultural tradition’ of the colony. â€Å"(17) The effect of this colonization of Indian women was one of conflicting progressiveness. Traditions of Indian culture were already bred with English sentiments (such as the sari) and English clothing was continually being upgraded and introduced into Indian culture; in fact men were wearing suits long before women were allowed to change into less traditional clothing. In her book Speech and Silence in the Mother Tongue, in one example Narayan gives, she talks of how, she and her family went on a vacation in a more rural part of the country and she was instructed to wear her Indian clothing and not her Western clothes because she had hit puberty (though in the city nothing was wrong with such clothes), Narayan writes, â€Å"My story reveals that what counted as ‘inappropriately Western dress’ differed from one specific Indian context to another, even within the same class and caste community†(27). The effects of Westernization therefore and colonization give rise to differing ideas of what constitutes traditional wear from one part of the country to another. In conclusion, Narayan gives insight to how differing opinions of feminism are still spurned from similar ideals. Third-World feminists are not ‘outsiders within’, that is, they are not denying the tradition of their country, but instead, feminists need to challenge some of the more patriarchal rules of India. Third-World feminists are not denying their culture, but are asking for change. Work Cited Ahmed, Sara (2004). â€Å"The Cultural Politics of Emotion†. Routledge Publishing Boydston, Kelley, Margolis, The Limits of Sisterhood, p. 178. Deckard, Barbara. 1975. The Womens Movement: Political, Socioeconomic and Psychological Issues New York: Harper Row. p. 253. Gerda Lerner. 1988. The Grimke Sisters from South Carolina: Pioneers for Womens Rights and Abolition. Oxford University Press. Narayan, Uma. Speech and Silence in the Mother Tongue. Yee. Shirley J. Abolitionist Movement. February 2002. Sunshine for women. http://www. pinn. net/~sunshine/whm2002/abolitn. html

Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart :: essays research papers

"[Trembles] with hate, unable to utter a word... in a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo's machete descended twice and the man's head lay beside his uniformed body." (204) This is a graphic illustration of Okonkwo?s desperate last attempt to reassert his manhood and to make a statement to the tribe. Regrettably for Okonkwo though it was a failure, and Okonkwo knew that the tribe would never stand up and fight, like he wanted them to. This incident is directly related to Okonkwo?s obsession with not looking weak like his father. Some people might say that Okonkwo was just trying to protect the tradition and cultural of his tribal village but in actuality this is far from the truth. When Okonkwo cut down the guard, he made the swift assumption that his clansmen were as passionate about fighting colonialism as him and would follow him into war. When he found otherwise, he could not understand what had happened to his village. The next place he was seen was hanging from a noose in a selfish show of hypocrisy. In the end, Okonkwo's status among his tribe counted for nothing because his own despair over the colonization of his village led him to kill himself. His whole life Okonkwo strived to not to look weak like his father, but in the end he took the cowards way out, suicide. Suicide was a great sin against the Earth. Because he took his own life, Okonkwo, a great leader of Umuofia, had to be buried by strangers. All of his work and perseverance amounted to nothing because of what he had done. Another claim that people might make is that he is justified because he was just finishing what the white people had started by imprisoning him and his fellow villagers. This may be true, but is revenge a very good justification for murder suicide? Though the corrupt court messengers were in the wrong for what they had done, Okonkwo had no right to do what he did either. Okonkwo failed to realize that two wrongs don?t equal a right, he thought that he could solve every thing with brute violence and war but he paid for his mistake with his life. Okonkwo made a fatal mistake by being so quick to war and to diplomacy. Okonkwo?s life mission was to be every thing his father wasn?

Preparing to Write and Drafting the Paper Essay

When it came to writing all these papers I gave myself time to think about the topics and tried to make sure I understood them before I sat down to write the essays. I have never really been a strong writer when it came to essays in high school it was not an easy task for me. I never had a good strategy when it came to actually writing the papers and putting everything in order. I figured out how to stop worrying so much about getting the assignment turned in on time because that would always stop me from thinking more about the paper then it would turn out bad and I would even up getting a bad grade which would make me feel horrible. I figured out that I should worry more about the paper and then I would be able to focus on the paper so I would be getting it done on time as well. My strategy for writing a paper requires me write a rough draft, take sometime to reread it and then type it making sure everything is spelled correctly. Then making sure all my grammar is correct through out my entire paper also, making sure that I have the correct punctuation everywhere its needed. Then after typing up everything I go through the paper one last time to make sure there isn’t anything I need to add or take out which is usually where I see where I need to change my sentence structure and add certain works or move sentences to different paragraphs. With this class it’s actually been a good experience for me when it came to writing papers and trying to get everything done either early or on time. My writing process has improved with taking this class because I have actually taken time to figure out what I’m going to write about when it comes to the subject and I take care of the assignment in a timely manner. These essays all seem to me that they can be directed to the same audience and can be given with the same enthusiasm because they can be directed to some one in their 20s or 30s because it talks about taking an online courses along with other things along those lines. It would be a speech that I would defiantly be interested in because of how the person would talk to us also with the vocabulary they use because it wouldn’t be a speech that I couldn’t understand. When someone is trying to give a speech or write an essay its difficult when your trying to gauge what type of audience when they are giving a speech or when they are writing a essay trying to figure out if they covered all the important points that need to be covered and that is going to give you the best grade you can get with the course your taking either online or in a classroom. When you first start out with a paper you are a little unsure as to what you are trying to tie together in the very first paper you write but they you figure out what you need for the next couple papers and it gets a little easier for constructing the paper. Trying to get people interested in the subject you are writing or speaking about can be one difficult task because people tend to get bored very easy or they want to learn, about something different not the subject that you are talking about. Papers are what you seem to make them because you can either make them hard or you can make them easy on yourself. If you stress yourself out then you make it more difficult but if you make it easy by trying to take what time your given to make it a good paper. Making sure everything is in the right order that you professor will accept it a very big deal because they look for little mistakes and want you to do the best that you can when it come to the well being of your grade and your class. When you put it all together and present it to either your professor or your audience it can go either one of two ways good or bad. You can always hope it goes good but sometimes you can get some criticism when it comes to what was good and what was bad to your paper or speech. Just making sure everything is in order and how you want everything to be good.

Jeffrey Dahmer An American Serial Killer - 912 Words

According to the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), a Serial Murder is defined as â€Å"The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events.† Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, who is well known as an American serial killer and sex offender who was born on May 21, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is known for his murders committed in his teenage years between the years of 1978 and 1991; Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 males. He not only murdered 17 men, but horrifically disposed of their bodies; he committed acts of rape, dismemberment, necrophilia, and cannibalism. However, Jeffrey Dahmer has been glorified by people in society because of his monstrous acts that seem almost unbelievable for a human being to commit. Today, serial killers, such as Jeffrey Dahmer are idolized due to society s fascination of what can not be understood. This is important because to understand the underlying causes of Jeffrey Dahmer’s actions; many psychologists have evaluated his unique and mysterious case. Although many serial killers experience a traumatic event that triggers their unique way of expressing themselves, Dahmer had a â€Å"normal† childhood. However, Dahmer’s parents, Joyce and Lionel Dahmer noticed he became withdrawn and reserved from others as he matured. As a result, he began having no interest in activities or social hobbies throughout his teenage years. On the contrary, he was only intrigued by dismembering dead animals through his childhood. In addition,Show MoreRelated Jeffrey Dahmer Essay example1398 Words   |  6 Pages Biography On: Jeffrey Dahmer Section I: Introduction: Jeffrey Dahmer was one of the most well known serial killers ever. Dahmer was no ordinary serial killer. He was a killer, necropheliac, and a cannibal. The purpose of this report is to learn more about this serial killer. Section II: Overview †¢nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;â€Å"Jeffrey Dahmer was born May 21, 1960, at Evangelical Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin† (Blakey). †¢nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;â€Å"Jeffrey Dahmer was found beaten by fellowRead MoreJeffrey Dahmer : An Strange Boy1646 Words   |  7 Pages1 CP Period 9 20 January 2015 Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960 in Milwaukee Wisconsin to Joyce and Lionel Dahmer. Jeffrey Dahmer grew up a very joyful, outgoing, happy kid. Dahmer was like this until his brother was born. After the birth of his brother, he seemed lonely as if he was seeking love and attention. Around the age of 6, Dahmer had a double hernia operation. Joyce and Lionel Dahmer soon realized that their son had really changed. Dahmer was shy and kept to himself,Read MoreMurder Is An Interesting Topic. Everyone Wants To Know1563 Words   |  7 Pageskill, and how could a human do that to another human? Also, are murderers psychopaths? 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