Sexual Inequality In OT Essays - Sexual Fidelity, Marriage

Sexual Inequality in OT In today's society women are looked upon ignorantly by the male gender. This attitude derived from the na?ve men of the Old Testament. They did not see women as being an important part of history and therefore hardly spoke of them. When women were mentioned it was usually in a condescending fashion. Even with genealogies in the Old Testament women were not listed as if to show that they were not important and of no concern. Women in the Old Testament our viewed as being inferior to men, sexual predators, and an item of property. In the first creation story (Genesis 1:27) God is described as creating man, both male and female at the same time. This might be interpreted as implying equality between the two genders. But in the second creation story, (Genesis 2:7) God formed only a man. Realizing that he needed a helper (Genesis 2:18), God marched all of the animals past Adam (Genesis 2:19-20) looking for a suitable animal. Finding none suitable, God created Eve out of one of Adam's ribs. The term "helper" has historically been interpreted as implying an inferior role for Eve. ("The Hebrew translated word helper is used twenty-one times in the Old Testament: twenty of these cases refer to help from a superior.")(Coogan 813)Adam later asserts his authority over Eve by naming her. In Genesis 19 the men of Sodom gathered around Lot's house, and asked that he bring his two guests out so that the men can "know" them. This in frequently interpreted as a desire to gang rape the visitors, although other interpretations are possible. Lot offers his two virgin daughters to be raped instead. Yet, even after this despicable act, Lot is still regarded as an honorable man, worth saving from the destruction of the city. Allowing one's daughters to be sexually assaulted by multiple rapists appears to be treated as a minor transgression, because of the low status of the young women. A man could simultaneously keep numerous concubines. These were sexual partners of an even lower status than a wife was. As implied in Genesis 21:10, she could be dismissed when no longer needed. Another example of this inferiority to men it is the book of Exodus. In Exodus 20:17 it lists the last of the Ten Commandments. It forbids coveting your neighbor's house, wife, slaves, animals or anything else that the neighbor owns. The wife is clearly regarded as equivalent to a piece of property and in no way would a piece of property be superior to a man. Also in Exodus 21:22-25 it describes a situation in which two men are fighting and hit a pregnant woman. If the woman has a miscarriage because of the blow, the men must pay a fine for their act - not to the woman, but to her husband, presumably because he has been deprived of a child. Leviticus 12:1-5 explains that a woman who has given birth to a boy is ritually unclean for 33 days. If the baby is a girl, the mother is unclean for 66 days. It would appear that the act of having a baby is a highly polluting act. To give birth to a girl is twice as polluting as is giving birth to a boy. In Leviticus 18:20 and 20:10, adultery was defined as a man having sexual intercourse with his neighbor's wife. Deuteronomy 22:23 extends this prohibition to a man sleeping with a woman who is engaged to be married. If a man has an affair with an unmarried woman, the act is not considered adultery. Although God wanted men to only have one wife, married men on many occasions visited prostitutes and received no punishment for this sin. This was a double standard among the sexes for a woman got severely punished if she committed such a sin. A man who committed adultery did not commit a wrongful act against his wife, but rather against his male neighbor implying that a woman did not matter. Another example of where the Bible insists that men are more important than women is in Leviticus 27:6. A child aged 1 month to five years of age was worth 5 shekels if a boy and 3 shekels if a girl and in Numbers 3:15 it shows that a census counted only male infants over the age of one month, boys and men. Females were not considered worthy of being included. Women were also thought of as inferior when it came to things such as

How to Use Hyphens Correctly in Business Grammar

How to Use Hyphens Correctly in Business Grammar Louise Julig wrote a wonderful post about hyphens in her Thoughts Happen blog. Business writing requires correct hyphenation. It’s both clarifying and funny. She wore a purple wrist band to remind her of her pledge not to complain. The problem? The bracelet omitted a needed hyphen, prompting Louise’s grammar complaint: Argh! I just can’t stand it anymore! I’ve been doing this purple-bracelet â€Å"stop complaining† exercise for almost three weeks now (and am on my record 5th day of not complaining) but I can’t hold it in any longer because every time I look at the half inch of rubber encircling my wrist I want to gouge a little hyphen between â€Å"Complaint† and â€Å"Free.† It’s â€Å"A Complaint-Free World,† people, not â€Å"A Complaint Free World†! Oh the irony of complaining about the â€Å"complaint free† bracelet. But really! Hyphens are very complicated. I agree with Grammar Girl’s recommendation to check a dictionary and style guide when possible. When it’s not, fall back on this baseline rule: Hyphenate compound modifiers when they come before a noun, and don’t hyphenate them when they come after a noun. Louise illustrated this rule nicely: Why is this? Here’s my best explanation: hyphens group modifiers together for clarity. Say you have a red brick house. Is it a red house? Yes. Is it a brick house? Yes. Therefore, no hyphen is needed. However, what if you have a â€Å"gluten free recipe.† Is it a gluten recipe? No. Is it a free recipe? No. Therefore, a hyphen is needed to group the modifiers together so you know the recipe has no gluten. It’s a gluten-free recipe. Why then do you not hyphenate after the noun, e.g. â€Å"the recipe is gluten free†? The temptation is to throw in extra hyphens just in case, e.g. â€Å"the recipe is gluten-free.† But it’s just as bad to over-hyphenate as to under-hyphenate, and it really isn’t necessary. Here’s why: when the modifier comes after the noun, it’s only modifying the one word immediately after it. So we ask ourselves, â€Å"What kind of ‘free’ is it?† and the answer is â€Å"gluten.† It’s gluten free. Louise, thanks so much for breaking your complaint-free pledge to clarify this! I say you should gouge that little hyphen into your bracelet, and wear it proudly!

Provide topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Provide topic - Essay Example Obviously, they had no idea, but I think my father knew it. He never said a word and told my mother to let men handle men business. At the time, I was confused and angry with myself, but it soon dawned on me that things, from that time would change. The fishing trip was a jarring moment in my life, but as Elizabeth Bishop claims, â€Å"Think of the long trip home. Should we have stayed home and thought of here? Where should we be today?† (Bishop 6). While I wished at the time that I had never taken this trip, I now realize that it was essential to my growing up. Setting and Profile of Self The fishing trip was on a hot humid Saturday morning. My father and brothers had done this numerous times before and were ready with their fishing rods. As the youngest in the family, eleven at the time to be exact, I had only done this thrice with my father. Normally, when I accompanied my brothers, they only let me unhook the fish and pack them. My mother was not very hot on me joining my father and brothers on this trip, though. You see my father was a hard man, a serious man who did not take particularly well to my spending hours around my mother. The fishing trip was his idea, and he gave me no chance to say no, despite having planned for a toad trapping expedition with my friends. In my family, everyone, except my mother was expected to be a man since I had no sister. My mother was the only feminine soul I intimately knew. Being different to my raucous brothers and aloof father, I preferred her company. The trip changed my worldview from that point. The Event Smearing the sun block my mother had lovingly packed besides my snack box, I mentally prepared for what lay ahead. Fishing had never been my forte, and I had always looked admiringly at my brothers as they brought in fish with my mother’s congratulations ringing in my ears. Now, here I stood, ready to clear the hurdle I felt stood between manhood and me. Even at eleven, I felt that my strapping, ragge d body was ready for any obstacle that the vast body of water threw my way. I felt apologetic for the fish that had to bear the demonstration of manhood that I was just about to put up. So absorbed in this initiation was I that the journey to my father’s favorite fishing spot was but a fleeting moment. The sudden splutter of the fishing boat’s engine as my eldest brother brought it to a stop brought me back to reality. I fumbled along the floor of the boat for my fishing rod, mistakenly picking my father’s rod. â€Å"Son that is for the big fish† he laughed as my brothers joined. I would show them what I was now. As I let out my line into the water and sat back waiting for the unfortunate fish that would define my manhood to attack the bait, I said a Hail Mary, borrowing from my favorite movie, the Godfather. As if she had heard me, then it struck, and I lurched to my feet. Adrenalin flooded my veins as the strength I had believed in so much began to drai n against the vicious thrashing of the fish. At the time, I was beginning to contemplate surrender and my claims to manhood; the fish did me a great favor. It leapt from the surface of the water, magnificently gleaming in the sun surrounded by breathtaking surf spray. In this moment, I saw the fish transformed from an unlucky victim of my manhood aspirations to a brilliant life specimen, and I longed to possess it. Maybe it was the boy in me, but the man had

Reflections on technology's impact on me and my friends Essay

Reflections on technology's impact on me and my friends - Essay Example Students are connected all times regardless of the place. Students surf and chat while at lecture whole, libraries and dormitories. The effects of this constant connection are increasingly become hazardous towards academic performance and happiness resulting from increased anxiety amongst the Y-generation as Ken State Research indicates. Analysis of the Ken State study attributed Lower GPA, fueled levels of anxiety, as well as lower levels of happiness to increased use of cellphones amongst the peers. According to Turkle’s TED talk, the increased internet connectedness has attracted the youth to harmful sacrifice interactive platforms that have negatively re-shaped users. The internet is never a grown up as has been misunderstood and hence an urgent call to revamp internet usability and design. According to Jenna, internet users, have shifted from the conventional culture and now live on phones in total disregard to moments. Relationships have weakened as people spent much time on devices to one another. Alerts from phones have distracted occasions and further draw people into using theirs. A situation that make people preoccupied with texts and hence many have bumped onto each along

Operation Managment case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Operation Managment - Case Study Example In deed Lee (1) points out that the key differentiator between poor performing and high performing companies is the ability to increase inventory turns. Inventory management can be a daunting task for a mass retailing business with hundreds of products coming from a wide array of suppliers. Such a challenge can be even greater when the suppliers are located in different echelons of the organisation’s distribution network. Usually, most retail chains often use central distribution centres which source products from the suppliers and distribute them to the retail stores. Though this proves effective in most cases, if not well managed and executed, it may result to excess inventory in terms of redundant safety stock, stock outs, and product allocations that are not optimal (Lee 2). This paper analyses LuLu’s hypermarket’s inventory management to identify a weakness and propose a re-engineered improved operation. LuLu Group operates some of the biggest and well performing hypermarkets, Lulu Express and shopping malls in the United Arabs Emirates and in other cities within the Gulf region (Retail Business Review 1). The hypermarkets which are the retailing division of EMKE Group, a multinational company dealing in a wide array of sectors, prides itself in providing high quality consumer merchandise across the Gulf region through its 103 stores. Like any other mass merchandising store, LuLu hypermarkets offers a wide array of consumer goods and services under one roof (LuLu Hypermarkets 1; Hemalatha and Sivakumar 52). LuLu hypermarkets deal in a wide array of products ranging from grocery products, apparel products, baby products, cleaning products, beverages, health and beauty aids, electronic products, pet supplies, seasonal merchandise, home furnishings and home decor, kitchen appliances, tools and power equipment, office supplies, outdoor living, gardening products, as well as footwear. All these products are from a wide array of brands, in different

Gender Inequalities in Health Sociology

Gender Inequalities in Health Sociology This essay aims to understand why there are health inequalities between both genders and the social classes. This will be achieved by analysing the findings of sociological research, whilst discussing the main problems with how health inequalities are measured. The cultural and structural explanations on why health inequalities occur will also be evaluated. In 2009, The House of Commons Health Committee published a report, which found that even though peoples health was improving in all social groups, the gap between the health of the social classes had widened. The reason stated for this, was that the health of those in higher social classes was improving far quicker than the health of those in the lower social classes. The figures within in the report showed that if you are in a higher social group you are more likely to live longer than someone in the lower social classes. The report also stated that not only do poorer people die younger; they also suffer more years of ill health. Access to health care for the lower classes is also uneven and those who are poor, elderly and disabled are less likely to receive proper treatment than those who are young and able-bodied. A report done by the Learning Disabilities Observatory alleged that this was because the elderly and disabled were unable to access health care due to reduced mobility, being unable to communicate health problems to professionals and their carers failing to identify health problems. (Eric Emerson, 2010) The Health Committee report also illustrates the interrelations of gender inequalities and socioeconomic status. On a geographical level females who were born in the more affluent areas of London, such as Kensington and Chelsea had a significantly higher life expectancy (87.8 years) than females who were born in Glasgow (77.1 years), which has the lowest life expectancy figure in the UK. Subsequently, even though the life expectancy for males and females in social class l (professional) and social class V (unskilled manual) has improved compared to previous years, the disparity between them, is still widening. (House of Commons, Health Committee, 2009) A cultural explanation was also given for why mens life expectancy is more severely affected than womens life expectancy. It was suggested by the Mens Health Forum that men are more likely to take risks with their health due to them trying to cope with stress and conforming to role models in society. Men, compared to women also make poor use of primary care services such as pharmacies and GP surgeries. This is thought to be because men find it culturally unacceptable to discuss their health problems. Men are also more likely to die of health problems relating to their weight, as they are less able than women to identify when they are overweight, as weight is seen as a womens issue. (Memorandum by the mens health forum, 2008) However, even though the data found within the Health Committees report looks convincing the majority of the data is based on morbidity rates, which are not always reliable, as not everyone who gets ill may report their illness. Even human error and illness not being recorded accurately can mean that data based evidence of health inequalities can be unreliable. A previous report done in 2004 by Hilary Graham, featured evidence that suggested that if your parents were poor or in poverty then you were already predisposed to having poor health and having a higher mortality and morbidity rate. This was due to mothers who are poor not being able to afford nutritious food and not being able to access health care. This in turn can lead to babies being born with a lower birth weight, and poor cognitive and physical development. This can influence further problems in health as an adult and therefore, further inequalities in health than someone who was born to parents with a higher income. The findings of the report done by Graham also showed that those living with illness or an impairment were less likely to avoid economic hardships due to their persisting health difficulties and the discrimination they faced, meaning they were less likely to maintain long term employment. In turn, those who did belong to a higher socioeconomic group had a far bette r chance of staying in employment even when faced with ill health. It was also suggested within the report that socioeconomic position affects an individuals health indirectly by influencing intermediary factors such as their home and environment (e.g. poor living and working conditions) and psychosocial factors such as their stress levels and relationships within their family. (Graham, 2004) On analysing Grahams report, there are certain criticisms that can be made on the reliability of her findings. For instance, all the data that featured in her report is secondary; none of it is her own. Therefore, the validity and reliability of the findings featured in her report is only as good as the people she collected it from. However, the research she did use was up -to date and from credible resources. There are cultural and structural explanations that also help us understand why there are inequalities in health between the genders and social classes. In relations to gender inequalities in health the cultural/ behavioural explanation suggests that men are far more likely to suffer ill health and die younger than women due to role models in society and the need for them to feel masculine. Because of this, young men in particular are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol and take drugs. A higher consumption of alcohol and drug taking in particular is thought to be a prime reason why young men are more likely to commit suicide. Women, on the other hand have been socialised to pay greater attention to their health and body as it is seen as a way to define their femininity. However, more women suffer from eating disorders than men do. (Waugh,C. et al 2008) Many feminists believe that women no longer have control over the health care they receive, and any health care they are given is sui ted to doctors and hospital hours. They also argue that women are left to suffer at the hands of male doctors, who are more likely to diagnose female patients symptoms as that of a mental illness. (Browne, 2008) The structural/ materialistic explanation for inequalities in health has suggested that women are more likely to get ill because of their role in society as caregivers because they are more likely to suffer from stress and mental illness. Women who do part-time work are also more likely to suffer from ill health as they are less well paid and have fewer perks than women who are able to do full time work. Men on the other hand often do jobs that are dangerous, stressful and physically demanding (e.g. warehouse work, armed forces jobs etc.) The structural explanation also suggests that those who are in the lower social classes are more likely to suffer from ill health because they are less able to engage in healthy lifestyle choices due to lack of income. They are also more likely to do manual jobs and have less money to buy good quality foods. Lack of transport may make it harder to access medical care and stress of not having enough money can lead to further health problems, which ma y eventually lead to unemployment. Marxists claim capitalist society causes people to become ill as it aims to serve only the higher classes. Being unable to work is seen as the definition of sickness, whilst Doctors are seen as agents of social control with the power to sign people off work. Yet not working can equally make people ill by increasing the risk of ill health, depression and suicide. (Kirby,M. et al 1997) Both explanations are equally valid; however, the structural explanation looks at the wider picture of why people in lower classes or certain genders are more likely to suffer from high morbidity and mortality rates, as they cannot afford healthy lifestyles like the higher classes. The cultural explanation gives insight into why one gender more than the other seeks health care and why data for morbidity if higher for women than men yet mortality levels are higher than men than in women. (Martin Holborn, 2004) In conclusion, the findings in both the reports from the Health Committee and by Hilary Graham both show that the lower your social class, the higher your risk of suffering from poor health and lower life expectancy. Furthermore, the cultural explanation gives reason to why men are less likely to visit the doctor due to wanting to conform to masculine stereotypes, whereas women are encouraged to look after their health. Alternatively, the structural explanation gives greater insight into how your social class can affect your health by limiting your access to healthcare and the means to living a healthier lifestyle.

Robert Louis Stevenson :: essays research papers

When one reads the nonfiction work of Robert Louis Stevenson along with the novels and short stories, a more complete portrait emerges of the author than that of the romantic vagabond one usually associates with his best-known fiction. The Stevenson of the nonfiction prose is a writer involved in the issues of his craft, his milieu, and his soul. Moreover, one can see the record of his maturation in critical essays, political tracts, biographies, and letters to family and friends. What Stevenson lacks, especially for the tastes of this age, is specificity and expertise: he has not the depth of such writers as John Ruskin, Walter Pater, or William Morris. But he was a shrewd observer of humankind, and his essays reveal his lively and perspicacious mind. Though he lacked originality, he created a rapport with the reader, who senses his enthusiastic embrace of life and art. If Stevenson at first wrote like one who only skimmed the surface of experience, by the end of his life he was pa ssionately committed to his adopted land of Samoa, to his own history, and to the creation of his fiction. Robert Louis Stevenson was born to Thomas and Margaret Isabella Balfour Stevenson in Edinburgh on 13 November 1850. From the beginning he was sickly. Through much of his childhood he was attended by his faithful nurse, Alison Cunningham, known as Cummy in the family circle. She told him morbid stories about the Covenanters (the Scots Presbyterian martyrs), read aloud to him Victorian penny-serial novels, Bible stories, and the Psalms, and drilled the catechism into him, all with his parents' approval. Thomas Stevenson was quite a storyteller himself, and his wife doted on their only child, sitting in admiration while her precocious son expounded on religious dogma. Stevenson inevitably reacted to the morbidity of his religious education and to the stiffness of his family's middle-class values, but that rebellion would come only after he entered Edinburgh University. The juvenilia that survives from his childhood shows an observer who was already sensitive to religious issues and Scottish history. Not surprisingly, the boy who listened to Cummy's religious tales first tried his hand at retelling Bible stories: "A History of Moses" was followed by "The Book of Joseph." When Stevenson was sixteen his family published a pamphlet he had written entitled The Pentland Rising, a recounting of the murder of Nonconformist Scots Presbyterians who rebelled against their royalist persecutors.