...“legal”. According to Merriam-Webster (2013) Natural rights are “rights which are "natural" in the sense of "not artificial, not man-made”; “as in rights deriving from logic, from human nature, or from the edicts of a god”. They are ”universal”, (they apply to all people, and do not derive from the laws of any specific society),”They exist necessarily, inhere in every individual, and can't be taken away” ( Merriam-Webster, 2013). For example, it has been argued that humans have a natural right to life. They're sometimes called inalienable rights. Legal rights, in contrast, are “rights based on a society's customs, laws, statutes or actions by legislatures” (Merriam-Webster, 2013). An example of a legal right is the right to vote of citizens. “Citizenship, itself, is often considered as the basis for having legal rights, and has been defined as the "right to have rights"(Broidy and Agnew, 1997), Legal rights are sometimes called civil rights or statutory rights which Broidy and Agnew (1997) believe are “culturally and politically relative”, since they depend on a specific societal context to have meaning. In layman terms, a “right” is something that is due to a person or governmental body by law, tradition, or nature. The pursuit of happiness, for example, is a right defined by human nature. A “privilege” is a special benefit, exemption from a duty, or immunity from penalty, given to a particular person, a group or a class of people. The main difference...
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...theory. This theory has its roots in the Feminist movements. There are various forms of feminism depending on the functions and its attempt to explain the nature of the relationships between the men and women. Such include Liberal Feminism, Radical Feminism, Marxist and Socialist Feminism, Eco-Feminism, Cultural Feminism (Hannam p589). Liberal feminism is a type of feminism that operates or is actively undertaken in any conventional society so as to incorporate women into the structure of that society. It started after the American Revolution and was pioneered by Mary Wollstonecraft and Abigail Adams with its main focus being to campaign for equality for women (Fisanick p757).Radical Feminism is that type of feminism that is attributed with having given rise to many of the other form of feminism. These radicals as they came to be known started this pressure group in the year 1967-1968 after the civil rights and peace movements ended. They didn’t just desire to achieve social change at a local level but in revolutionary proportions. This association held female oppression and inequality as the highest form of subjugation one that affected all races, cultures, economic class and nations (Hannam p512).Marxist or Socialist Feminism which is a blend of socialist feminism and radical feminism blames female subjugation and oppression on the capitalist system of property...
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...Colby Madray 4/26/12 ENGL 1102 Lacy Hodges Jackson and Dickinson Show Control and Oppression After reading Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and Emily Dickinson's "My Life Had Stood, a Loaded Gun," one major theme stands out. In my opinion, both show structures of control and oppression. Control is the influence of others' behavior and oppression is unjust treatment. Both literary works are an accurate display of both control and oppression. "The Lottery" shows control through its leadership and tradition. "My Life Had Stood, A Loaded Gun" shows control and oppression through the fusing of identities and death. Both passages also share many similarities. Some of the similarities include the relationship between the ruler, the titles of the controllers, and the use of violence to portray their messages. Jackson's "The Lottery" shows control through the village's leaders and headship. "Mr. Graves, Mr. Summers, and Mr. Martin are characters Jackson has chosen to represent the power and authority within the community. Peter Kosenko (1985) suggests that the village exhibits the same socio-economic stratification that most people take for granted in a modern capitalist society" (Shields 415). The lottery is an annual event in the village. It is usually a two day process, but since this village is so small it can be completed within two hours. A representative from each family, typically the head of the household, draws a slip of paper from the old black box. It is mandatory...
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...wide range of themes such as the inevitability of death, which is portrayed when Gilgamesh’s struggle to be young backfires. Other themes include the struggle between humanity and divine power, necessity of friendship, oppression, and the enduring struggle for power along with the conflict between the rulers and the ruled. Relationship between the Ruler and the Ruled The conflict between rulers and their subjects is perhaps the most enduring historical trend known to humanity. As Machiavelli, Hobbes, Karl Marx and other realist theorist of power politics concur, this longstanding conflict manifests itself in terms of oppression and suppression where the ruling class seeks to dominate the masses financially, socially and politically. This trend is no more today as it was then. It is a reflection of survival for the fittest as envisioned in Darwin’s evolution theory (Foster 45). Looking at the epic of Gilgamesh, which was created at around 2500 BC, oppression emerges as one of the mainstream themes. This is portrayed in the eminence of the king, which symbolizes domination. As the King of Uruk, Gilgamesh was a tyrant who subjected his subjects to unbearable oppression. According to Stanford University Professor of Literature, Annabel Rutherford, women oppression came in the form of droit de seigneur, which is translated to mean ‘the King’s right to deflower young women on the night of their wedding.’ Likewise, the king subjected women...
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...It shows situations where women’s oppression scan periodically be contained within the oppression of animals. Along with women’s oppression being able to be contained within an animal’s oppression, these oppressions can be substituted for each other because of their distinct similarities of structure and rationalization. The conceptual link advocates for the recognition and acceptance that these two separate groups are facing similar oppressions and that their oppressions and their fight against them can mutually benefit and reinforce each other. When there is a discontinuity in the recognition of the potential these two groups have to fight together against their oppression, situations where both groups find mutually beneficial conclusions to their oppression can not be possible. Tackling animal rights and women’s rights together has more validity and potential for complete success than women and animal activists fighting separately. Without proper acknowledgement of this connection, approaches to liberation from one of the groups could inversely reinforce the oppression of the other. Activists and liberators of both women and animals need to endorse the possibility of the conceptual link of the Linked Oppression Thesis as a way to avoid launching of exploitive campaigns in the name of individual group’s activism. PETA’s “I’d Rather...
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...of writing, which demonstrates her pain, her lament, and her cry for help through pictures of the Nazi regime and genocide. In reality, however, mantled under the disguise of Hitler and fascism are her father and her husband. Through multiple metaphors, Sylvia Plath depicts these two as her oppressors, who have been gradually ruining her life tenderly in turn. Thus, in her great poem Daddy, Silvia Plath shows her grief caused by oppression from her father, her husband, and the contemporary cultural environment. As the title of the poem goes – Daddy – this literary work is mainly about her father, who had obviously left her when Plath was still young. After he had left her, he had freed her from the symbolical “black shoe, in which [she had] lived like a foot for thirty years.” In addition, she associates her father with Hitler, saying that she had always been scared of him, and depicting his mustache and Aryan eyes. She had also referred to her father as a brute, which also proves that she had been oppressed by him. However, despite that oppression that she had been experiencing, she still missed him. The author writes, “I used to pray to recover you” and “at twenty I tried to die and get back […] to you.” Although the title of the poem suggests that she had devoted the poem to her father, Sylvia Plath also addresses her husband in the poem. She describes him as a substitute for her father, who oppresses her as well. Sylvia writes about her husband, “I made a model of you...
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...recognition of humanity should be the central focus of human existence. • Within a historical context both humanization and dehumanization are possible realities. • The very attempt to deny our humanity, through the process of dehumanization, reaffirms our humanity. • Humanization is characterized in terms of: o Yearning for freedom and justice o Struggle to recover humanity o Emancipation of labor o Overcoming of alienation o Affirmation of the individual • Dehumanization is characterized in terms of: o Injustice o Exploitation o Oppression o Violence o Those robbed of their humanity o Those who have robbed others of their humanity • Struggle: is defined in terms of one’s attempt to overcome one’s oppression. o Limitation of Struggle: 1 Cannot seek to oppress the oppressor as a consequence of one’s attempt at liberation. 1 • Task of the Oppressed: o Liberate themselves o Liberate the oppressor • Liberation: o Both the oppressed and the oppressor require liberation 1 The assumption that only the oppressed require liberation is incorrect. 2 o Only arises from the those oppressed 3 o Cannot be attained by chance or circumstance 4 o Can only be attained through a fight for liberation. 5 The fight is actually an act of love. 6 • False Generosity: only meaningful insofar as injustice is still perpetrated. AKA “lovelessness”. 7 o False Charity: seek...
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...The factors influencing Huck’s growth strongly contrast the ones of Tom. Nature, society, and natural instinct are the most prominent influencers in the changes Huck undergoes throughout the novel. First and foremost, to fully understand the developments Huck faced, one must look at his life prior to such change. Growing up, Huck was in a terribly abusive situation, he faced extreme treatment from his father, who unlike Aunt Polly, beat Huck out of drunken anger. Huck’s father’s most chilling act was when Huck recalled that, “He chased me around and round the place; with a clasp knife, calling me the Angel of Death and saying he would kill me and that I couldn’t come for him no more” (pg 31). In an essay Liu Xi Zhang writes about the initiation theme present in Twain’s novel, or the development of a characters maturity. He notes that “escape is a necessary stage for all protagonists in the American initiation novels.” Zhang’s hypothesis proves to be true when examining Huck's life. In an effort to escape his brutal father, Huck fakes his death, runs away, and begins his journey down the Mississippi River. Not long into his journey, Huck runs into the fugitive slave, Jim, and the two embark on their journey to freedom together. Nature is the first influential factor in Huck’s development. Nature provides Huck with the Mississippi River, the symbol of freedom itself in the novel. The river carries Jim and Huck away from their...
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...Module 2 Frye’s article states that in some ways we are all oppressed and in others we are not oppressed at all. The opinion that I gather from her article is that oppression is purely subjective and open to interpretation. Men and women are held to different degrees of oppression and have different instances that force oppression. Men are raised to be tough and not cry and if this feeling is oppressed then the man seen weak by other men and insensitive to women. Women are expected to be nurturing and soft in nature so if they are not then they are not viewed as a lady. Gender role are instilled in children at a young age and essentially design oppression in young adults and children. We do not see children suffer from oppression because they are generally more concerned with their own feelings instead of worrying about what others think. If one does not conform to the standards of oppression then they are looked down upon and seen as an outcast. People generally have a predisposed notion that people should be happy all the time and if not then they should keep their feelings to themselves. “On the other hand, anything but the sunniest countenance exposes us to being perceived as mean, bitter, angry, or dangerous.” This can greatly affect people’s first impressions, relationships and job opportunities. Society also contends that the people that do not have the sunniest disposition are more prone to violence and depression. A person that is shy and withdrawn can be perceived...
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...Foundation Course 1 Human Rights, Gender & Environment Understanding Patriarchy Suranjita Ray• Subordination of women to men is prevalent in large parts of the world. We come across experiences where women are not only treated as subordinate to men but are also subject to discriminations, humiliations, exploitations, oppressions, control and violence. Women experience discrimination and unequal treatment in terms of basic right to food, health care, education, employment, control over productive resources, decision-making and livelihood not because of their biological differences or sex, which is natural but because of their gender differences which is a social construct. “Sex is considered a fact - one is born with either male or female genitalia. Gender is considered a social construction - it grants meaning to the fact of sex. Conversely, it could be said that only after specific meanings came to be attached to the sexes, did sex differences become pertinent” (Geetha, 2002: 10). Gender based discriminations and exploitations are widespread and the socio-culturally defined characteristics, aptitudes, abilities, desires, personality traits, roles, responsibilities and behavioral patterns of men and women contribute to the inequalities and hierarchies in society. Gender differences are man made and they get legitimised in a patriarchal society. This paper attempts to link the theoretical dimensions of patriarchy with its empirical experiences to engage in the ongoing...
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...According to Patricia Hill Collins, one distinguishing feature of Black feminist thought is that there is a dialectical relationship between oppression and activism, and there is a dialogical relationship between black women's collective experiences of oppression and their group knowledge. Because of their unique position within the matrix of domination, defined as the social organization in which intersecting oppressions are developed, maintained, and maneuvered, African American women have a special knowledge about the interlocking nature of race, gender, and class oppression. Therefore they must be a part of any effective effort to critique and overcome oppression. As Collins explains, this insight was known and practiced well before contemporary...
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...Analyse the way in which history and memory generate compelling and unexpected insights. – Jake Cronin The interaction between history and memory is a complex and dialectic process through which perceptions of the past are negotiated, reinforced or challenged. Despite official history’s dependency on validating its claims through documented evidence, it must be acknowledged that it is not objective and remains vulnerable to distortion of those with political power or hegemony. Similarly, the subjective nature of memory allows for official history to be vulnerable to the bias of personal experience and differing perspectives. Furthermore, although official history and subjective memory both provide adequate insights into the past, it is through the consideration and combination of the two that compelling and unexpected insights into the past are generated. Paul Keating’s ‘The Redfern Address’ offers a reasonable challenge to the dominant historical narrative surrounding the European colonisation of Australia and their acts of social injustice in regards to Indigenous Australians. Similarly, Shaun Tan’s ‘Memorial’ explores Australia’s wartime history through the medium of a community’s personal experiences, perspectives and memories converging to form history, and illuminates the way in which history is dictated by those with political power. Through the dialectic interplay of history and meaning, compelling and unanticipated comprehensions of the past are generated and are...
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...amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion or interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community" (Madison), factions are comparable to the modern day interest or lobby groups. That is to say, Madison defined factions as groups of people with a common self-interest. These groups, being involved with their own benefit, therefore, would be indifferent to the individual rights of other citizens as a whole, hoping only to further their ideas. Since, as many philosophers before him stated, humans are driven to action by their own self-interest Madison asserts that "the latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man," as all...
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...Oppression of Women in Ancient China Society in Ancient China, more specifically during imperial China, promoted gender inequality. This fostered the oppression of women in marriage. Society proved to have business-like views of marriage through their arrangement as well as foot binding and Nushu, a woman’s secret language. Further, religious views such as Confucius ideals on a woman’s role in society impacted how women were treated in society. Because religion and society viewed them as inferiors, women were forced to enter marriages that promoted oppression and gender inequality. In Ancient China, marriage was seen as a business decision rather than a union of love between two people. During the reign of the Zhou dynasty (1045-256 BCE), marriage among the elites was often viewed as the combination of two families. When a woman married a man, she often brought sisters along with her. These sisters, and sometimes female cousins, would be presented as accessory brides. (Shaughnessy, E., 2010) Women were never offered this luxury, therefore demonstrating how women were viewed as inferior. “Prejudice in China existed long before Confucianism. However, it was Confucianism that turned the marriage system into bondage of women, treating them as possessions for their husbands.” (Gao, X. 2003) Confucius was a man who...
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...Although her story was silenced and forgotten for decades, Getz uses graphics, primary sources such as court transcriptions, and historical context to illuminate a figure who otherwise would have been overlooked in history. Unable to control her own life as a slave, Abina ran away and testified against Eddoo but lost the case. The jury acquitted Eddoo even though the British had abolished slavery. In Abina and the Important Men, Getz highlights Abina’s limited efficacy because of the complex nature of colonialism. Abina’s attempts to advocate for herself were...
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