Socialist Feminism Essay Example for Free

Socialist Feminism Essay According to (Alcoff,1995 ) Cultural feminism is the ideology that a woman needs to appropriate the value of her female nature in an attempt to authenticate her female attributes that were previously determined and undervalued by masculinity itself. In cultural feminism, a woman’s enemy lies not just in an economic institution, backward values or even a social system but the root of it all lies in masculinity itself and even in male biology. It is a celebration womanhood, of the separation of a woman’s existence from mans and taking pride in the very essence of female sexuality right down to one’s anatomy. The power of popular culture and the â€Å"Vagina monologues† All aspects of feminist culture seems to occur in waves over periods of time however overlapping and questionable in terms of generations they may be they are most evident in western parts of the world, such as the suffragists of the 1920’s and the American women who fought for sexually reproductive rights in the 1960’s. A wave of popular culture swept across America in the early 1990†s that was indeed a reflection of how cultural feminism was present in their society known as â€Å"the vagina monologues†. In her book Baumgardner (2011:102) writes about a how the series of fictional stories inspired by the real life experiences of women of different races, ages and ethnicity on their sex life’s, relationships and personal struggles inspired plays in different universities across the nation gave birth to the V-day an international movement that stands to end violence against all women and girls. This wave of popular culture encouraged not just the lesbian woman but the heterosexual female to be proud of every bit of her womanhood and sexuality. In (Alcoff, 1995:435) suggest â€Å"woman should not dismiss their biological importance simply because patriarchy has used it to overpower us, our biological make up and the paradox of a woman’s body holds the key to reconnecting with ourselves, our inner genius and beguiling physicality. † Cultural feminist movements today and the fight against FGM A primary concern of cultural feminism today can be seen in the stance against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Which according to (WHO, 2010) involves the piercing, cutting and burning off of the clitoris or labia and the stitching of the vagina. It is the horrific violation of women’s rights and is predominantly practiced as a result of cultural beliefs in Africa. (UNICEF,2011)estimates the number of women being subjected to FGM in Africa today ranges between 100 to 130 million, FGM is most prevalent in Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Somalia which has approximately 98% of girls being mutilated. This is an important example of why feminist movements are still needed because third world feminist struggles and first world struggles differ. Feminist movements have developed non governmental organisations like (The Feminist Majority Foundation, 2010) Amnesty International group that seeks to replace cultural practices like FGM with symbolic ceremonies that will still promote traditional beliefs without causing any physical harm. Such Non-Governmental organisations truly represent how feminism has evolved and has become more concerned with helping vulnerable groups without the help of government aid or funding to address struggles and inequalities by providing health care without asking for anything in return and advocating for policy development and policy change that affects women. Radical feminism  It can be said that radical feminism is at the root of all types of feminism. Bates (2005:66) states that radical feminism has been the incubator from which many feminist ideas rose, from the period of 1967-1975 radical feminism was the leading edge of most feminist theory, however it is no longer fit to solely describe â€Å"feminism†. It is often misrepresented as women who detest men when in actual fact it is about women who detest patriarchy. Nachescu (2009:30)mentions how radical feminists challenged the knowledge of politics under their slogan â€Å"the personal is political† this redefined political areas that affected human life such as abortion and contraceptive laws all of which were previously part of ones personal life. Sexuality and the â€Å"closet feminist† Generally feminism is torn between two opinions on the issue of sexuality; some believe sex is the root cause of female oppression whilst others believe it is what truly liberates a woman. Prostitution challenges female liberation from male objectivity especially in states where sex work has been legalised creating miscommunication between radical feminists and prostitutes. According to (Morris 2007:6) â€Å"they only believe in finding a way for prostitutes to escape but what is wrong with having sex for a living, who am I to you if I enjoy how I earn a living, and are such people without dignity? †. Although this may be a sensitive topic, the legalisation of prostitution in some countries has served to protect sex workers. Today even though one might support various issues of feminist concern, no one wants to bear the title of the ball busting ice queen. The modern woman fears being branded as a narrow minded cliche of a radical feminist who would much rather burn a bra than buy one. Women prefer to be recognised as non-neutralists and are more content to make a sizable anonymous donation than stand and protest for the cause itself. This has sparked a trend of â€Å"closet feminists† who are deluded by the so called illusion of â€Å"having it all†. Genz, 2009:101)The modern woman can be described as an individual figure that tips her hat to past feminist accomplishments but now thinks of them as superfluous and extreme. Feminism and why the cause will never die The struggle has changed but the cause is still very much the same, society may have guaranteed equality for women on paper but in actual reality there are still hidden mechanisms still obstructing progress. Over time feminist movements have addressed the most obvious struggles and inequalities like education, equal pay and reproductive rights which previously were hard to detect at individual level. However(New York Times, 2011:22)reported â€Å"the right to vote was only granted to women by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2011 but women will only be allowed to vote or run for municipal positions in 2015 and only with the consent of a male family member. † Even in todays so called â€Å"enlightened era† the lists of human rights denied to women in some parts of the world are appalling. Feminist movements are still present addressing the relationship between oppression and power, which is evident in today’s society as sexual harassment and rape and attacks on the gay and lesbian communities. Roy (2011:12) journalist at the New York Times reported the rape of a 15 year old girl in New Delhi, India the story made headlines because her attacker was granted a reduced sentence on the account that he was his family’s primary breadwinner. These injustices have given birth to different kinds of global movements such as the â€Å"slut walk† in which women protest on the right to wear what they choose without fear of male attack or rape. (Reader: 2012) reports on women and men taking their protest to the streets after a Toronto police officer accused a rape victim of â€Å"asking for it† flashes of cleavage and legs on show their slogan reads â€Å"consent is sexy†. Too often very light is shed on such organised protests but this is a specific example of how the feminist movement is not over it is merely manifesting itself in different ways.

Every Grain of sand Essays -- essays research papers

poem tells a story within its words, even if it is not directly stated. Nearly every word and phrase in a poem, and even its punctuation has a meaning and a message that the author is trying to send across to the reading or listening audience. Not always is it easy to immediately understand what the poet is trying to say, but within the words and punctuation, over time and with analysis, interpretation is possible. Poetry is a group of so many words that a poet carefully chooses to show certain meaning. The song â€Å" Every Grain of Sand† that is written by Bob Dylan deserves to be called poetry because of his careful use of tone, symbolism, allusion, simile and enjambments. Tone is an important part of poetry. It sets the mood of the piece and gives the audience a sense of what is going on and how the narrator feels. In â€Å" Every Grain of Sand† the tone is one of sadness and depression. There is a certain desperate tone in the poem, as the narrator looks for help in â€Å"the hour of [their] deepest need.† This is evident in the first and second lines of the first stanza when it is written †In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need / When pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed.† The â€Å"time of confession† sets a solemn tone, for when a person is confessing it is usually a quiet, personal, and regretful time. This sad emotion that the tone sets is further emphasized when the author uses words and phrases like â€Å"sorrow of Night,† â€Å"violence†, â€Å"chill†, â€Å"bitter†, â€Å"loneliness† and â€Å"broken mirror of innocence.† These all set a mood of sadness, anger, bitterness, hatred and darkness that the narrator feels in his hour of need, as they carry the burden, or the â€Å"chains,† of their past mistakes. Although most of the poem keeps with a sad tone, the tone shifts slightly. Line fifteen says â€Å" Then onward on my journey I come to understand...† This line shows that he is slowly on his way, realizing things he perhaps did not at first. Symbolism is another important poetic device that is used throughout this poem. One’s entire understanding of the poem relies upon their understanding of the symbols applied. Bob Dylan uses symbolism on numerous occasions throughout his song â€Å" Every Grain of Sand†. In the line â€Å" When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed,†(1. 2) Dylan uses the flooding of the newborn seed to represent how the tears ... ...f Sand† create a feeling of searching for something, especially at the beginning. The first enjambment is in the first three lines of the poem, where the speaker is just trying to explain how he feels, and continues talking, without taking any breaths. The second stanza also includes enjambment, showing that there was a little bit of a realization that is some one to help in times of need, or a thought going on. In the fifth stanza there are not any enjambments. This shows that the speaker is thinking about each thing that he has experienced, the punctuation shows him pausing after each thought. Having enjambments in a poem gives a new feeling and possibly a new meaning. Bob Dylan’s use of effective tone, symbolism, allusion, similes, and enjambments in his song â€Å"Every Grain of Sand† is reason enough for it to be considered poetic. Although it is rhythmic, the piece flows for the many other reasons we’ve explored. It has deep and hidden meanings that are left to the audience’s interpretation, and it uses expressive language to tell its story. Songs, therefore, can be poetic if they include all the right elements. work Cited http:// www.findlyrics.com/song/d/Dylan_Bob/10766.html

Multiple Regression Model

Project: Multiple Regression Model Introduction Today’s stock market offers as many opportunities for investors to raise money as jeopardies to lose it because market depends on different factors, such as overall observed country’s performance, foreign countries’ performance, and unexpected events. One of the most important stock market indexes is Standard & Poor's 500 (S 500) as it comprises the 500 largest American companies across various industries and sectors. Many people put their money into the market to get return on investment.Investors ask themselves questions like how to make money on the stock market and is there a way to predict in some degree how the stock market will behave? There are lots and lots of variables involved in how the stock market behaves at a specific time. The stock market is in a way an information agency. Based on new information, whether good or bad regarding almost everything from political issues to interest rates and inflation, the stock market can go up or down. The market is anticipating economic occurrences proactively, ignoring already occurred events that were predicted before.This way it is very hard to predict how it is going to move in the future. As S 500 is considered to be the most reliable benchmark  for the overall U. S. stock market, we decided to study what factor has the most impact on it. We created two regression models and included the economic indicators, such as Consumer Price Index, Producer Price Index, House Price index, Interest Rate, Unemployment Rate, and Gross Domestic Product of some countries. Model Specification and Data How accurately can we predict the stock market behavior?People working in the finance industry have been trying to estimate or predict the behavior of stock market for a long time, or maybe some of them already have a very long and complex model of predicting the behavior of a stock market based on many factors and variables. We decided to use the US econo mic indicators and the other countries’ GDP. With this research we are hoping to find a statistically significant model that would describe what affects the stock market. We used the average annual data from 1980 to 2011 to track the influence on the US market. Our data is a time-series data.It is very interesting since within these 31 years there were a lot of changes in the countries’ economies, financial regulations and policies. At the very beginning, we assumed that the following factors may have influence on stock market: S (Percentage Change) = ? 0 + ? 1*(Annual CPI) + ? 2*(Annual Average PPI) + ? 3*(Annual Average House Price Index) + ? 4*(Annual Average Interest Rate) + ? 5*(Percentage Change of Annual Average GDP of US) + ? 6*(Percentage Change of Annual Average GDP of Spain) + ? 7*(Percentage Change of Annual Average GDP of Germany) 1: Consumer Price Index reflects the state of inflation in the country’s economy. That indicator is very important in th e assessment of the stock market performance. If inflation grows, the interest rate rises and this prevents the companies to borrow money for further development of their businesses. This entire situation may hurt the stock prices of the companies and that’s why we wanted to see how big the impact is. We assume that this variable is going affect the dependent variable a lot. ?2: Producer Price Index indicates early state of inflation.Therefore, if investors know that the PPI heralds a strong economy with no increase in an interest rate, then they feel confident to invest in the businesses what means increased positive activity in the market. We assume that this variable is going to have some impact on the dependent variable however; it is not going to be crucial. ?3: House Price Index is an analytical tool for estimating changes in the rates of mortgages. If mortgage rates are high, then housing market is weak because demand for houses drops due to expensive loans, therefore HPI drops.In 2008 mortgage default affected stock market very severely because before that period house prices went down because people couldn’t pay their mortgage payments and banks collapsed. Decrease in house prices is one of the possible contributors to recession because the home owners lose their equity in their houses. Considering such recession scenario, the stock market always becomes bearish. Additionally, house market is considered more stable investment than stock market. When stock market drops, people are willing in the houses and HPI goes up.We assume that HPI and stock market shouldn’t move in the same direction thereby we don’t take into consideration the complex scenario of 2008. ?4: 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate impacts on the number of issued bond and is used as risk free rate to calculate the excess return on the investment. It also has an influence on the stock market. ?5: Gross Domestic Product of the US is important for business profit and this can drive the stock prices up. Investing in the stock market seems reasonable when the economy is doing well.If the economy is growing fast then the stock market should be affected positively, the investors are more optimistic about the future and they put more money into market more. This variable is crucial for the dependent one. ?6: Gross Domestic Product of Spain. Since Europe is currently in a recession, we wanted to include the GDP of Spain, as one of the weakest economies in Europe now, to check if there is any relationship between Spain’s economy and the US stock market performance. Very small percentage of US investments goes to Spain.Compared to Germany, which is the 5th country the USA invests into, Spain is the 31st country on the list. There should not be any correlation between these two variables, so we included Spain’s GDP into our regression to check our hypothesis. ?7: Gross Domestic Product of Germany is an indicator of Germany is the 5th largest economy in the world and is the largest European trade and investment partner of the US. Germany is the largest economy in Europe and almost 1/5 of GDP of the European Union is that of Germany alone. We assume that this variable has to have an impact on the US stock market.The second regression model is the following: S (Annual Average) = ? 0 + ? 1*(Annual CPI) + ? 2*(Annual Average House Price Index) + ? 3*(Annual Average Interest Rate) + ? 4*(Average Annual Unemployment Rate) + ? 5*(Annual Average GDP of US) + ? 6*(Annual Average GDP of Germany) + ? 7*(Annual Average GDP of China) After we run the regression of the second model, it resulted in improving of our model accuracy. We excluded PPI, GDP of Spain because it came out that these variables have no impact on the US stock market.Also, we added the unemployment rate and GDP of China because it is the largest US business partner. Here is the explanation of the new variables: Unemployment Rate is one of the most impo rtant factors of the economy’s performance. High unemployment rate decreases the buyer power of the consumers. 2/3 of the US economy is consumer based and it influences the stock market negatively. We assume that there is a relationship between these two variables. Gross Domestic Product of China affects the US economy because cheap export from China prevents inflation in the US.China is a huge buyer of the US Treasuries. It lowers the interest rate and companies borrow money to invest in development hence, it directly affects the stock market. We assume that GDP of China and US stock market move in the same direction, meaning if China does well, it has money to buy US Treasuries. Additionally, the US stock market increases because production of those US companies that is outsourced to China grows. Results The First Model [pic] Looking at this model, we see that only the interest rate and GDP of US are statistically significant because they have P-values lower than 0. 05.The rest variables do not correlate with S because their P-values are high. Our assumption about Spain’s economy affecting the US stock market was proved. The coefficient we got for GDP of Spain is statistically insignificant. Looking at the US and Spain investment relationships in the broad aspect we see that Spain’s performance has no significant impact on the US stock market even considering its economic situation. PPI is a fraction of inflation and CPI also reflects inflation, so we decided to exclude one variable because two variables together cancelled each other out and we got defected result.As P-value is smaller compared to P-value of PPI, we decided to keep it in the second model. Looking at the adjusted R square which is 26 %, we concluded that model is deficient and we have to change the variables. The Second Model [pic] Each estimated coefficients we can interpret as follows: -For every 1 unit increase in Annual CPI, the S will go down by -25. 68 S points. Whe n inflation goes up, it causes interest rate to go up, therefore companies are not willing to borrow money and invest. Hence the S index moves in the opposite direction to CPI.The P-value of 0. 000368 implies that the results are statistically significant and it coincides with our assumption. -For every 1 unit increase in House Price Index, the S goes down by -7. 97 units, which tell us that when the price of houses rises, the stock market moves in the opposite direction and it shrinks because people invest in the housing market. The P-value of 0. 000028 shows it is a statistically significant outcome. -For every 1 unit increase in Annual Average 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate, the S index goes up by 27. 4 units. It would imply that when interest rates go up then the stock market goes up as well, but the p-value of 0. 154 tells us the results are not statistically significant and we should not rely on this outcome. There is no correlation. -For every 1 unit increase in Annu al Average Unemployment Rate in US, the S goes down by 40. 44 units. The p-value of 0. 043 shows what we consider a statistically significant correlation. We can conclude that unemployment rate has a reverse impact on the stock market.When more people have jobs, more people have money to spend and to invest, hence the economy speeds up and the stock market goes up. -For every 1 unit increase in Annual Average GDP of US, the S goes up by 0. 601 index units. The p-value of 0. 00000069 shows the outcome is statistically significant, and implies that when the GDP of US grows meaning that the economy is doing better, investors are more confident and invest more and stock market also goes up. -For every 1 unit increase in Annual Average GDP of Germany, the S goes up by 0. 224 units.We assumed that when Germany is producing more products and their economy is doing well, then the stock market in US does somewhat better too because Germany and US have an economic interaction. The P-value of 0. 155 tells us that the relationship is not statistical significant to conclude the Annual Average GDP of Germany has a positive relationship with S. -For every 1 unit increase in Annual Average GDP of China, the S goes down by . 154 units. US economy as we know is affected by Chinese economy. When US companies move production overseas, specifically to China, the stock market in US does poorly.The P-value of 0. 005 means that this results is statistically significant. We did not find any violations with SLR/MLR assumptions. There appears to be no problem with the data and all the results are relevant. Summary The adjusted R2 of . 96 means that our regression of 96% explains the changes in S. We found out that the biggest correlation is observed between US GDP, CPI, HPI, and China’s GDP. We found out that the GDP of Germany and Interest Rate has no significant correlation with S predicted performance.As we explained above in the result section, the investors should look at US economy performance as well as China’s economic performance, CPI and HPI to try to predict the stock market behavior. References: 1. http://www. infoplease. com/ipa/A0774473. html 2. Federal Housing Finance Agency Web Site 3. U. S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of Economic Analysis Web Site 4. U. S. Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics Web Site 5. mhttp://research. stlouisfed. org/fred2/series/SP500/downloaddata? cid=32255

An Essay on Man vs. Candide - 795 Words

An Essay on Man vs. Candide During the period of Enlightenment, many philosophers began a new way of thinking. For philosopher Alexander Pope in An Essay on Man, Pope believed that, â€Å"Whatever is, is right† (L. 294), in that God is in control and every human being is a part of a greater design of God. Voltaire later challenged that belief in Candide with the idea that God does not produce order, but instead, we must produce it ourselves and use reason to give our lives meaning. Pope’s position is more optimistic, while Voltaire’s position takes on a pessimistic view in that it does not allow for the belief in some sort of higher purpose. Drawing from personal experience, Pope’s belief that we perceive troubles as troubles only because†¦show more content†¦413). With that notion, Voltaire is right because there is nothing in this world that is perfect or even close to perfect, but it is the best possible world we have. Voltaire acknowledges th at the world we live in includes both good and bad and joy and suffering. I can see the accuracy in Voltaire’s theory where man does have the power to make his own decisions in life, but at the same time I feel that our decisions go into a pre-developed plan. I have left several hard decisions that I’ve had to make, decide themselves. Even though I left it up in the air, I eventually partially made a decision, but I also had the help of a greater force. We might all have several paths laid out for us in the beginning, and depending on a few drastic choices that we make will determine which of those few paths we end up going down. Voltaire creates the opportunity that man can make his own difference in the world and be happy by giving man control over his life and not resting it all on God. Voltaire’s Candide and Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Man both make foundational points. Pope’s essay is more optimistic while Voltaire’s is more pessimisti c. The flaw in Pope’s essay is that Pope is tooShow MoreRelatedCompare Candide and Tartuffe5528 Words   |  23 Pagescharacters, which satirized the Neo-Classic belief system.     Ã‚   In  Candide, Voltaires approach is called black comedy. Many devastating factors play into the characters lives that causes the reader to be amused in a cynical way in order to guard their inner feelings. He challenges society as a whole by the way he implements real life occurrences into his writing and makes them come alive. This becomes evident when Dr. Pangloss told Candide what came of Cunegonde at the castle of Westphalia after he left