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Topics in Cultural Studies
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Topics in Cultural Studies
In general, the society has undergone increased dynamism with respect to gender issues. In particular, women in Latin America have assumed new social statuses as compared to the previous traditional roles. The concept of Machismo from the Spanish point of view denotes the presumption that masculinity is far much better and comparatively superior to femininity. Pescatelo (1973) indicates that it also refers to male chauvinism or sexism. In the traditional context, machismo implies that men were more powerful than their female counterparts. Proponents of this concept are not only relatively irresponsible but they are also not mindful of the implications of their activities. This concept can be used to explain the authoritarian form of government that has been characteristic of Latin America since historical times.
Marianismo on the other hand is an all inclusive term that refers to the veneration of feministic values and virtues such as moral strength, kindness, modesty, submission, compliance, docility, hard work, distinctiveness and purity. It considers women to have semi divine attributes and to be more ethical and spiritual than their male counterparts (Pecatelo, 1973). It is also defined by sexual purity and feminine passivity. Cultural studies ascertain that Latino men tend emphasize on these attributes when looking for wives. They believe that such women are home makers and can pass on the desirable characteristics of submission and spirituality to the children, just like the Virgin Mary cared for Jesus in Catholicism. Regardless of the fact that this conception was held in high regard in the past, it is notable that its application was generally class based. In this respect, unlike women in upper social classes who relied on their husbands for provision, those in lower social class were compelled to assume active economic roles in order to cater for their needs effectively.
As mentioned afore, women in Latin America have undergone various changes with respect to gender roles. In his review, Kellogg (2005) ascertains that women in traditional Latin were reserved and assumed domestic roles. They were sexually passive and did not participate actively in economic production. Rather, they concentrated on reproduction, nurturance and domestic production. Currently, emergent research shows that women in Latin America are both politically and economically active. They contribute significantly to the holistic welfare of the community and support their families economically. The reasons for these changes pertain to the economic and political crises that hit the region in the recent past (Kellogg, 2005). Further, education and globalization has also led to increased enlightenment and awareness and therefore changed individual perceptions of these roles.
Despite having undergone numerous changes, women in Latin America have not penetrated the social and economic sectors yet. Compared to the women in western countries, Latino women still lag behind (Collins, 2009). Statistical evidence shows that a higher percentage of American women assume high profile positions in the society. However, just like their Latino counterparts, they have not been able to assume the highest social and political positions. The representation of Latino women in the political sphere and labor sector is still wanting. The low representation in these sectors can be attributed to their reserved nature. Nonetheless, it is worth appreciating that they are assuming a similar trend and in future, they would probably attain the desired status.
References
Collins, G. (2009). When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to Present. USA: Little Brown and Company.
Kellogg, S. (2005). Weaving the Past: A History of Latin America’s Indigenous Women from Pre-Hispanic Period to Present. Oxford: University Press.
Pescatelo, A. (1973). Female and Male in Latin America. USA: University of Pittsburg Press.
Topic. legal drinking age
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Topic: legal drinking age
SP: I want to convince you to reduce the legal drinking age
Thesis: Rising the legal drinking age to 21-year age limit in most states is contributing to an increase in extreme drinking among the minors (Witte and Mitchell, 100).
Introduction: question: how many of you think that banning the drinking age to 21 is actually helping us in any way? Would you feel the same if you found your underage son or daughter consuming alcohol without your knowledge? I do not think that is the case. When the drinking age was reduced to 21 in the 1980s, the main aim was to reduce the rate of highway fatalities. However, everyone knows that the act has done us more harm than good. Everyone knows that the age limit of 21 years have not stopped minors from drinking. Some experts are in the believe that it is contributing to an extreme drinking among the minors. That is why the age of drinking should be reduced to reduce these cases of minors experimenting with alcohol in secrecy.
Reason one: lowering the age of drinking to 18 will make the kids safer.
Kids always have a way of navigating around the 21 years old limit. It has not reduced or eliminated drinking. What it has done is drive it into the underground behind the closed doors or at the most risky and less manageable settings (congress, 17).
My experience in New York, I found a group of youngsters on a weekend in a famous mall. They all had cans of famous alcohol brands which they were sharing and making funny comments at passersby. I wondered around what the parents thought their children were.
Reason two: the increased age of drinking increases the rate of risky behaviors among the youngsters
The law has created a dangerous culture, a reckless one unsupervised binge, and the extreme drinking habits.
Something called the six-ten where children down six cups of beer in ten seconds. Kids are trying to perfect the art of getting drunk faster by playing drinking games.
Statistics: 33% of the number of eighth graders and 70% of other 12 graders tries alcohol each year and the percentage is likely to increase (Bonnie and O’Connel, 13l).
III. Engaging in binge drinking has more risky consequences compared to safer drinking.
Statistics shows those youths who start drinking before 15 years are more likely to develop alcohol dependency five times more than those who commence drinking after 21 years of age.
The rate of current consumption of alcohol increases with an increase in age from approximately 1% at 12 years, 15% at 16 years, and 39% at 20 years.
Alcohol is the most commonly abused in the United States and responsible for more than 4300 deaths annually among underage. Although drinking below 21 years is illegal. 11% of youths, aged 12 to 20 years consume alcohol in the US. More than 90% of this alcohol is in form of binge (Leonard, 100).
Conclusion: the rate of binge drinking is on the rise among the underage youths. It is important for the congress to reduce this rate by reducing the age of drinking (Dasgupta, 12). By making them used to drinking wine at a tender age, they are educated on the risks associated with underage drinking.
Works Cited
Bonnie, Richard J and Mary Ellen O’Connell. Reducing underage drinking. Washington DC: National Academies Press, cop., 2010.
Congress, US. Congressional Record. New York: Government Printing Press, 2010.
Dasgupta, Amitava. The science of drinking. Lanham: Rowman & Little field, 2011.
Leonard, Barry. Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking. New York: DIANE publishing, 2008.
Witte, Philippe De and Mack C Jr Mitchell. Underage drinking. Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique: UCL, Presses universitaires de Louvain, 2012.
Topic, the American Revolution
Topic: The American Revolution
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Sunset at Philadelphia
George Washington was 55 years old when he initially, he had wanted to spend the rest of his life in private but he was convinced by his friends to change his mind, was elected president and consequently, elected as convention leader. Most of the delegates that attended were the young, rich and educated people and most of them were also slave owners; there was no representation for the poor, the uneducated, the farmers, women, blacks and the Indians.
The convention met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from where the delegates gathered to correct an array of problems that had come up while the newly-independent nation was operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain and hence the crafting of the constitution.
The convention began with presentation of James Madison’s Virginia Plan proposal which was presented by Virginia’s governor, Edmund Randolph which stated that representation in both houses was to be given to states based on its population which was perceived as giving more power to large states like Virginia where both houses would then elect the executive and the judiciary and would have veto power over the state legislatures. Madison’s idea greatly resembled Britain’s parliament and it omitted any discussion of taxation or regulation of trade, however; these items had been set aside in favor of outlining a new form of government altogether.
William Patterson then presented the New Jersey Plan and in it, each state would have a single vote in Congress as it had been previously under the Articles of Confederation, so as to balance out the power between large and small states.
The third plan that was presented came from Alexander Hamilton. It was a complete replica of the British constitution that included an upper house and legislature that would serve on good behavior. These options having been presented, the representatives from Connecticut eventually came up with a plan that was a compromise of the three and that was workable. this was the idea that formed the core of the U.S constitution- a government was to have an upper house that consisted of equal numbers of delegates from every state and a lower house with proportional representation based upon population and became the law of the land in 1789.
The Jacksonian Revolution
The Jackson era was the period between 1828 and 1848; Jackson was a general from Tennessee who ran for president in 1828 a time when new democratic ideals were brought in and many changes were occurring in all phases of life. His election radically changed the American politics and his ideas were so strongly changing and developing that a new political party was developed by Martin Van Buren and many others who tried to structure the party around the presidential candidacy of Jackson. In the past, only the wealthy and better educated were actively involved in government and their parties stood for factions or cliques by which greedy and ambitious men who had no interest in serving the public good could advance their private and selfish purposes; this was so until the turnaround of his rule with a conservative political philosophy advocating economy in operating government as well as a tight limited government activity as Jackson had sworn on election as president he would liquidate the national debt.
The Democratic Party, led by Jackson, Van Buren, John Calhoun and Thomas Hart Benton were against a powerful central government and a broad interpretation of the constitution; the Democrats regarded the states highly, and they claimed to follow the same ideas and republican doctrines of Thomas Jefferson in which their political philosophy was “fundamentally conservative.” They labeled Jackson a “man of the people” and found pleasure in celebrating his candidacy, as Jackson was a symbol of what was best in American life; the party leaders liked that he was a self-made man.
His nickname, “Old Hickory” was used as a marketing tool; however, the democrat’s opponents were angered by this terming it as a “crude lowering of the political process.” For instance, they complained to newspapers about what was happening, but the Democrats still did whatever possible to generate excitement for their cause. In addition to the advertising, barbeques and parades were also held and Jackson was later elected as President; he was committed to democracy and at his inauguration, he talked of important changes that would take place and his ideas for the future.
The democrats continued supporting the Jacksonian Revolution even though many people had begun going against it as elsewhere some members of the party turned their backs on Jackson, and shifted their views to the rival Whig Party and it was during this era where the first true evolution of the presidency and of politics took place where Jackson was fiercely committed to democracy. Moreover, as such he had asked congress to adopt an amendment that would abolish the College of Electors and made the majority to govern supported by his notion that to the people belonged to the right of electing their chief executive.
“I will die with the union”: Andrew Jackson and the Nullification process
The very first years of Jackson’s ruling was characterized by that were observed to be conservative as well as leaning towards state’s rights and the free trade markets economics but on the other hand the fundamentally pragmatic concepts he had suffused with a strong sense of popular need. With time he generated the king of administration that edged closer to the notion of a strong central government, which was motivated by sheer political necessity as in cases of disagreement, decisions were brought to a compromise. At times there were objections and inflexible position of states righters in congress such as the Maysville Road Bill but was later passed, and challenges in principles such as internal improvements being the responsibility of the federal government.
It was viewed as if he was opposed to public works but this was not the case as Jackson later approved several bills authorizing federal assistance for internal improvements purposely aimed at two folds slapping down internal improvements party and killing federal assistance bill due to its connections. There was thus a lot of rebellion in the country due to this and the dismal failure of public works and hence the internal improvement party broken asunder and finally annihilated.
On the other hand, there were calls for secession and complains on the tariffs on imports of products made in Europe that made them costly than ones from the northern U.S. raising the prices paid by planters in the South; on the other hand, the Vice President Calhoun, in the South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, supported the claim of his state, South Carolina, that it could void 1828 tariff legislation. Jackson vigorously supported a strong union, with effective powers for the central government and he attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue as a result there was also the Petticoat affair where Calhoun’s wife started an internal roil that eventually led Eaton to resign and caused the purge of the several pro-Calhoun cabinet members by Jackson; Martin Van Buren also resigned as Secretary of State. The inaugural Democratic National Convention was organized by his Kitchen Cabinet, Calhoun and Jackson broke from each other politically and Van Buren replaced Calhoun as Jackson’s running mate in the election but later Calhoun resigned as Vice President to become Senator for South Carolina.
Jackson attempt to have the Congress pass a “Force Bill” that authorized use of military force to enforce the tariff was delayed until protectionists agreed to a reduced Compromise Tariff and The Force Bill and Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833 and after this the South Carolina Convention then met and the nullification was abandoned.