African Studies & Feminism Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

African Studies & Feminism - Term Paper Example Van Allen’s analysis (1972) makes the important point that Colonialism caused a tremendous amount of loss to Igbo women. This challenges the common view that Colonialism was a good thing, and that it saved women from all kinds of barbarous practices. This reason is the transfer of sexist and discriminatory attitudes from the colonial powers to African society such as the view that â€Å"politics was a man’s concern† (Van Allen, 1972, p.165-166). Finally, this article clearly demonstrates that a sophisticated village-by-village system of government had operated very successfully before the colonial powers arrived, and that it was elimination of the village assembly, in which all villagers had the right to speak, that did the most damage to the position of Igbo women in their society. The voice of women in village affairs was silenced and they were thus prevented from participating in decisions that affected their lives and the lives of their families. This article shows the harm that was done by Colonialism, in the name of progress, and identifies the source of the modern day oppression of Igbo women as being the Colonial powers, and not local ideas and customs, The report by O’Barr et al. captures the enthusiasm and the main resolutions of a massive meeting of 14,000 women called to mark the end of the United Nations Decade for Women.A key outcome was the realization that the enormous differences that exist between the experiences of women in very different countries are likely to continue on into the future, and the meeting resolved to ensure that these differences would â€Å"generate a creative strength, not draining weakness, in the effort to implement a women’s agenda nationally and internationally† ... The diversity of voices is a deliberate tactic to illustrate a second important finding: there will not be a one-size-fits-all solution to problems that affect women world-wide. Themes such as divorce, aging, widowhood and non-marriage show considerable convergence between Third World and Western women’s experiences, but some areas such as poverty and exclusion from education and healthcare are highlighted as being very different, depending on location (O’Barr et al. 1986, p. 592). A third important contribution in this article is the factor of race, and it was noted that women of African descent in particular had to deal with the issue of racial privilege, most usually accorded to white women, and in some countries this was compounded by issues like ethnic and gender segregation imposed by the state in question. Although this article is not formed into a smooth and logical argument, like the Van Allen (1972) article it nevertheless makes a powerful statement through it s multifaceted approach, giving a full range of information from many perspectives. It shows that women in the world face many different challenges, and that efforts to tackle them will need to be varied and flexible, in order to adapt to each situation. Above all, the coming together of leading women in great numbers gives a tremendous boost to those involved, and it creates a momentum for political change that ripples across the globe. The most striking feature of Amina Mama’s article on Gender Studies for Africa’s Transformation (2003) is that it represents a new generation’s perspective. It builds on the work of papers such as the two mentioned above, and reports on scholarly work and teaching conducted by African women and for African

Historical Validity in The Alamo :: essays research papers

Historical Validity in â€Å"The Alamo†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the 2004 release, by Touchstone Pictures, â€Å"The Alamo† takes a famous story told throughout time and recreates it on the screen once again. This time was it really any better than the other releases? Maybe the flashy effects and better film quality could interest you in this movie but the real question is how valid is it. To the average person this story looks as if they have recreated it perfectly, but to a historian it might not look so genuine. Although this movie does depict many things with absolute efficiency some things are left out. Almost completely ignored in this movie are important instances in history such as the cowardly James Fannin and the battle at Goliad. This is an important part of the story that has been left out. It could have been nice to know what happened to the one person who could have helped but refused to due to his own growing situation. Also in the movie James Bowie is portrayed as a mildly sick person whereas in real l ife he deathly ill. He was known to have typhoid fever and a bad case at that. Beyond the fallacies in this movie there were many great things that were put to the screen. One of the best in my opinion is the removal of the â€Å"line† that was drawn in the dirt by Travis. According to much research the line was actually a story drawn up years later to help signify the sacrifices these men had made. They correctly portrayed how the men were outnumbered in this fight and the effort and courage that was put forth in this battle to defend the Alamo. The last and most controversial issue in the movie is how did David Crockett really die? In this movie they give him the courageous death that he was thought to have.

‘Billy Liar’: Which of Billy’s three girlfriends is best suited to him?

The play ‘Billy Liar' concerns a nineteen-year-old boy who has three girlfriends. The Fisher family live in a typical lower middle class house in an industrial town in the north of England. The furniture is quite new but of dreadful taste. The Fisher family is very dysfunctional. The family consists of: Billy, a compulsive liar, who uses sarcasm to try and show his intelligence. He seems to be confused about life in general and is also very lazy. Billy is very intelligent. We know this, as there is evidence of this throughout the play. Billy has three girlfriends, I think this a signs of irresponsibility and that he is not very mature. Billy's mother, Alice, is a housewife. She is constantly fussing over Billy and mothering him. An example of Alice mothering Billy is ‘how do you mean? A job in London? What job in London? ‘ questioning Billy because she worries about him. Maybe this is one of the causes of Billy's many dilemmas. Alice seems very easy going. Geoffrey, Billy's father, does not have a good word to say about Billy. He does not trust his son one bit and has no faith in him. Geoffrey has his own business and he also has an obsession to saying the word ‘bloody'. Finally, there is Florence. This is Billy's Grandmother, Alice's mother. She is extremely racist and also forgetful. She is forgetful. She is almost senile and throughout the play she is found rambling to herself. She blames Alice for Billy being spoilt. At the beginning of the play when Billy is discussing Barbara with Arthur, he seems unbelievably sexually frustrated. He has had a plan to seduce Barbara by using a ‘passion pill'. Barbara is a girl of about nineteen who is large and well built. This gives the impression that Barbara is relatively old fashioned and prudish. Barbara has strong morals and refuses to have sex before marriage. We know this as in one part of the play Billy puts is hand on Barbara's knee (after she has taken the passion pill) and Barbara says ‘it seems†¦ indecent, somehow' this certainly makes Billy sexually frustrated. Barbara is very gullible. We can tell this because she believes all of Billy's lies. Also Billy's mother approves of Barbara and thinks she looks respectable. When Billy greets Barbara her reply ‘hallo, pet. ‘ Is spoken callously and flatly. This gives the impression that her feelings for him are not as strong as she believes them to be. Billy also tells Barbara more lies such as ‘Oh yes, I made all the furniture', and ‘ she might have to have her leg off' (talking about Florence) which Barbara again believes. One thing that Billy and Barbara have in common is that they fantasize extensively. Evidence of this is the way that they plan together their dream cottage in Devon with a little Billy and a little Barbara. They have really planed this in minute detail, down to the colour schemes and garden plans. My personal opinion is that Barbara has a greater passion for oranges than for Billy and is constantly eating them. Barbara and Billy address each other using pet names such as ‘pet' and ‘darling'. This shows some sense of relationship between them. Billy gets so frustrated at Barbara's addiction to oranges and lack of passion that he picks up her bag of oranges and, in total fury, throws it across the floor. Barbara is exceptionally helpful when she visits the Fisher household. She does the dishes and is egger to help Alice. This makes her seem incredibly domesticated. Alice thinks really highly of Barbara. I know this because she says ‘I'm glad he's found himself a nice sensible lass for once. I think Barbara and Billy are suited in one way because they both fantasize but in many other ways they are not. Barbara has some direction and plan to her life while Billy has no direction at all. Barbara has very strong morals; she does not believe in sex before marriage or in mixed sex holidays but Billy certainly does. I do not think that Barbara and Billy are well suited at all.. The y obviously do not love each other. Rita is first introduced in a phone conversation between herself and Billy. In the conversation Rita is being very forceful and she puts Billy on the defensive. While this phone call takes place Barbara is in the house. Rita wants her engagement ring back, the ring Billy has given to Barbara! This shows that he does not have respect for either of the girls. He is desperately trying to get the ring back off Barbara to return to Rita who is very annoyed. Rita is a small girl with blonde hair. She is seventeen years old but ‘dresses to look much older'. She is ‘common and hard' and works in a snack bar. When Rita is first seen she is coming to claim her ring back from Billy. As soon as she enters the garden, she instantly insults Billy, saying to him ‘look what's crawled out of the cheese'. This gives the impression that they do not really have any affection towards each other. When Billy tells her one of his extravagant lies Rita is not as gullible as Barbara. Billy and Rita do not have mutual respect in their relationship. You can tell this in their language and tone of voice. Despite all the negative points in their relationship, there is definite sexual chemistry and physical attraction. I know this because Billy attempts to quieten down Rita by kissing her passionately and, sure enough, Rita responds to this by kissing him back. Yet Rita threatens Billy by saying that her father is not happy that she has not got her ring back. I think she is trying to blackmail Billy here. Rita eventually leaves extremely angry and without a ring. She has left Billy in a predicament because has threatened that her father will come and sort him out! Later that day Rita returns to the Fisher house. She is now furious. She does not knock before going in. This is extremely rude. Rita is not intimidated by older people we can see this in the manner in which she talks to Billy's mother. While talking to people Rita frequently mocs the way they talk. She comes up with some amazing insults and dishes them out, one being ‘squint eyed, bow legged, spotty snotty nosed streak of nothing'. She directs this insult Barbara. She does not think much of Barbara at all. She says that Barbara needs to wash her ears because she has got ‘carrots growing out of them'. This means that she thinks that Barbara is naive and stupid. She is probably right in thinking this. I do think that Rita and Billy are suited because there is a definite sexual attraction between them. Yet that is all they have in common because they are both from different back rounds. Rita comes from quite a rough back round and this is probably the cause for her acting in the way that she does. Billy comes from a lower middle class up bringing. Billy's mother definitely would not like Billy marrying Rita as she would not fit in with their family. We do not meet Liz until the very end of the play. I like this aspect of the play because we hear about Liz very near the beginning of the play so this leaves a bit of mystery surrounding her character. At the beginning of the play Arthur makes a remark about Liz's skirt. He says ‘it's about time somebody bought her a new skirt'. He refers to her as ‘scruffy Lizzie' that agrees with comments that Alice makes about her. She says ‘that scruffy one' and also ‘her in that mucky skirt'. The play ‘Billy Liar' was written in the 1960's. We can see evidence in the way that society's view of women in the way that people think through the play; Alice's opinion of Liz's skirt which now seems to be a very old fashioned view. Also we can see how society has changed in the way Barbara views sex before marriage and mixed sex holidays. This also fits with the class Barbara comes from. Liz is a free spirit who travels around the country from job to job. Maybe this is why people cannot relate to her or regard her as a threat. During the time of which the play was set, people tended to stay within their own locality. Despite everyone making rude remarks about Liz, Billy seems to have genuine feelings. During one part of the play Barbara is talking to Alice about Liz and she says that ‘she used to put a lot of ideas into his head'. Possibly she is jealous of Liz, because she knows that Billy still has feelings for her. So she is trying to ensure that Alice does not like Liz. Right at the very end of the play Liz enters the scene with Arthur. Although Liz is about the same age as Barbara and Rita she has maturity and ‘self-possession'. She is dressed casually and is, infact, not as scruffy as we have been led to believe. She is not particularly pretty but is obviously a girl of ‘strong personality'. When she comes into the scene they just make polite conversation and Billy asks Liz when she got back. He seems hurt that Liz had not phoned him. After Liz and Billy have been talking for a while, Liz gets the idea of going away to London with him. Billy gives the impression that he definitely wants to go to London with Liz. When Billy tries to lie to Liz he cannot quite go through with it. Liz is a very good judge of Billy's character. Despite this it does not stop her from loving him. Liz gets the bizarre idea that she wants to marry Billy. She does not want to get engaged and she does not care about getting a ring, unlike Barbara and Rita. Billy and Liz seem to share the same dream. Billy loves talking to Liz. We can see this in the length of his of his speeches. At the end of act three, we can see that Liz is more optimistic than Billy. She makes her mind up about going London. She is sure but Billy is unsure and to some extent pessimistic about going. Liz just makes her decisions on impulse. Liz and Billy get along really well and enjoy each other's company. They have interesting conversations in which they are both fully involved. It seems as if they are sole mates. But maybe they would be suited better as just good friends. I do not think any one of the three girls is really suitable for Billy. Billy has things in common with each of the girls. Barbara and Billy both fantasize, Billy and Rita have a lot of sexual chemistry between them while Billy and Liz can talk to each other very well. But Billy has big relationship issues. He cannot commit in a relationship; he shows this in the way that he decides not to go to London at the end of the play. He cannot make decisions; he shows this numerous times throughout the play and one of his main goals should be to stop lying! I think Billy could learn to love each of these girls. But I am unsure he would be able to live with them or get married. Billy cannot keep still; he cannot stick to one girl; he cannot make a sensible decision. Billy is highly intelligent but his inability to make decisions stops him getting anywhere in life.

Communism in Animal Farm by George Orwell Essay - 588 Words

Eric Arthur Blair, known by his pen name George Orwell, was one of the most well rounded writers of the 20th century. his satirical attack on communism, and soviet Russia in particular, has had a wide influence. Written during a time when most of the world was considering communism, â€Å"Animal farm,† accentuated what historian Richard Pipes proficied about communistic policies,† Marxism, the theoretical foundation of communism, carried within it the seeds of its own destruction.† Communism has several unforeseen costs. Communistic policies require the total removal of a free market economy which obviously costs the country allot. By placing the power of the law in the hands of a few, the laws, especially those dealing with†¦show more content†¦Similarly there were severe punishments for authoring or distributing â€Å"corrupt† literature. Even scientific advancement was carefully censured. The most disturbing cost of communism is the tendency for communist countries to start horrible wars. The major contributor is the design of the communistic government places the full authority on the shoulders of one ore a select few men. Even when they pretend to have a parliament, communistic dictators simply override others to execute whatever self-serving plan that they have. Sometimes the leader could even start a war in the best interest of their country. Communistic countries are never self sufficient for very long, they need more land, fresh hardworking converts, and more recourses to consume. War is the only way to achieve that end. When communism takes over a country the most obvious effect is on the economy. Next the government eliminates all true freedoms. And, lastly communism usually begins a war. Communism in principle is a good idea. It was even successfully implemented by the Ejido and Inca tribes of South America where it was used for over seven hundred years. The problem is the unchecked power that develops. Roger Nash Baldwin once wrote,† I am for socialism,Show MoreRelated Critique of Communism in Animal Farm by George Orwell Essay1282 Words   |  6 PagesKarl Marx’s perfect society described in his Communist Manifesto is in direct conflict with the implementation of Soviet Communism, which was scathingly criticized by George Orwell’s book Animal Farm. Karl Marx believed that in order to form a just and equal society, the working class, called the proletariat, would have to overthrow those who owned the means of production, who were known as the bourgeoisie. This was to be known as the Proletariat Revolution where the oppressed laborers in capitalistRead MoreThe Downfall Of Communism : George Orwell s Animal Farm1867 Words   |  8 Pages THE DOWNFALL OF COMMUNISM 2 The Downfall of Communism George Orwell is the author of the novel, Animal Farm, which is an allegory for the Russian Revolution. 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