The Handmaids Tale in regards Essay Example

The Handmaids Tale in regards Essay Example The Handmaids Tale in regards Essay The Handmaids Tale in regards Essay Essay Topic: The Handmaids Tale Margaret Atwood having wrote ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, a novel about a society in which all women rights have been removed would have come across as extremely startling to a world where the women’s suffrage movement in America had started over 100 years earlier and women had finally been given the right to vote 25 years beforehand which had essentially been the point where the feminist movement had become widely acknowledged with the literacy studies on feminism such as that of Kate Millett’s. Margaret Atwood’s thoughts on her novel ‘a book about what happens when certain causally held attitudes about women are taken to their logical conclusions’, explores the feminist theory by creating a society in the near future in which the rights of women, which women all over the world had worked hard for, for centuries are taken away giving women a new role in life. The protagonist Offred lives in a time where a revolution had happened years previously which put into authority authoritarian power. The new government see the Handmaid’s as an instrument of the government as they are the only women who can reproduce due to the dangerously low reproduction rates as a result of nuclear results which led 99% of women to be sterile. ‘Distribution of power over the male and female partners mirrors the distribution of power over males and females in society’. Women’s relationship with men especially those of the Handmaid women is that of servitude with women being seen as possession of men. Offred is named so because she is seen as the property of the commander who is named Fred as is such with the other handmaids that are mentioned in the novel such as Ofglen and Ofwarren. Even the Commander’s wife who is meant to have more power than the handmaidens is only known by her previous name Serena Joy due to Offred having previously read about her. This feature of the novel relates the feminist criticism of women being degraded and treated as objects. The diminution of each social type of women from the Commander’s Wife to the Martha’s in each household mirrors the struggle for power of every woman in the Republic of Gilead. The idea that women are encouraged and socialised to hate other women rather than sympathise if a woman is in a similar or different situation stems from the feminist view that men have created stereotypes of women through literature and art which becomes widespread as other women start putting themselves and others into these stereotypes. ‘Once I’d merely hated her for her part in what was being done to me; and because she hated me too and resented my presence’, the women’s lack of unification is hinted as one of the reasons that the authoritarian regime still existed. Being unable to sympathise with the other types of women groups; with the Martha’s, The Commanders wives and the Econowives all thinking that the handmaidens are sluts for sleeping with the Commanders even though they know that the Handmaidens have no choice. This assists into creating a society where there are no female friendships and bonds, where the only relations females have with each other are built of fear and jealousy. The protagonist isn’t one typical of a feminist novel, as even though she longs for freedom and hasn’t completely converted by keeping her memories and occasionally breaking rules she is still a passive and essentially helpless character. Atwood deliberately uses a protagonist that the feminist theory criticises in literature; Offred is passive and only possibly escapes due to a man (Nick) possibly saving her, creating a damsel in distress character. However Atwood does this because Offred is a symbol of the majority of young women in the 1980’s, acceptant of her position as a woman, having some freedom but not as much as she should, this illustrated as she tells the readers of her life pre-revolution as she worked in a library with only females. Her affair with her later husband Luke while he was married also goes against the sisterhood that feminists encourage, however it makes for a more relatable and human character, someone the female readers that Atwood was addressing the novel to would sympathise with. Her memories of the past during the sexual revolution introduce to us characters such as Offred’s mother and her best friend Moira are the feminist literary constructs in the novel. Offred’s embarrassment of her mother’s actions, formerly desiring for a mother who women had been oppressed into being for centuries – a domestic mother. ‘You young people don’t appreciate things she’d say. You don’t know what we had to go through, just to get you where you are’, there is a sense of foreshadowing as Offred will later appreciate the life she once had, however she only does this once it is too late to change anything. The feminist and woman’s suffrage movement fought to be from oppression of the duty that they are told they are made to do. These rights have been revoked in The Handmaid’s Tale where the only purpose of the Handmaids is to reproduce. ‘We are for breeding purposes. There is supposed to be nothing entertaining about us, no room is to be permitted for the flowering of secret lusts. We are two-legged wombs, thats all’. These views on women- that they are only useful to bare children dates back to centuries and is a view that feminists criticise due to the basic perception it puts on women. To be barren such as the Unwomen are in The Handmaiden’s Tale is to be seen as useless as they aren’t even able to do the only job that women are expected to. ‘It’s only women who can’t, who remain stubbornly closed, damaged, defective’. Handmaidens are put into households where the commander’s wife isn’t able to have children due to the nuclear weapons that made women infertile. It is suggested that it is actually The Commander who is infertile instead of his wife but in the Gilean society it isn’t possible for men to be infertile, the blame is rested solely on women if they are unable to conceive. This highlights the unfairness of society and what women had to face before all the women’s suffrage came into place emphasising the importance of feminism and its fight for equality. ‘The problem wasn’t only with the women, he says. The main problem was with the men†¦You know what they were complaining about the most? Inability to feel. Men were turning off on sex, even. They were turning off on marriage. Do they feel now? I say. Yes, he says, looking at me. They do. ’ The explanation by the commander as to the reasons why women’s rights had been taken away back to the ‘natural’ order of things is due to the effects the liberation of women had on men. Men found things too easy to get as there wasn’t a challenge in getting women to sleep with them, also with women having new found freedoms such as being able to work and have money of their own left the men with no purpose, as they were no longer the heroes or the providers like they had been portrayed to be in literature as the women were no longer damsels in need of saving. ‘Most of the male characters that she examined were denigrating, exploitative, and repressive in their relations with women’. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ presents the true nature of men in the novel, hiding from any assumptions that they repressed women’s rights in order to protect women, but rather so that men could stay in the same position in life. The only way they could get their purpose in life back was to revoke women’s freedoms, at the cost of the happiness of most women. This supports the extremist feminist view that men purposely suppress women so they can have total control. Atwood’s novel can be regarded as a feminist piece due to the portrayal of a society where women’s rights are infringed even more than it had previously been in history. She encourages her female readers embrace the female history in order for history not to repeat itself which she feared when she wrote the novel, due to conservative people coming to power condemning the sexual revolution.

Dna1 essays

Dna1 essays Fetal surgery itself is a relatively new procedure with only a few hundred attempts world wide. Because of the risk of inducing preterm labor and delivering so early in the pregnancy, fetal surgery traditionally was reserved for life- threatening circumstances. While spina bifida is not necessarily life- threatening, it is the most common debilitating birth defect, diagnosed in about one of every 1,000 here in the US. Babies born with spina bifida typically experience one or more lifelong and an sometimes devastating physical disabilities like weakness or paralysis in their lower limbs, loss of feeling, urinary and bowel dysfunction, and hydrocephalus (water on the brain). In addition some children also have skeletal deformation, sexual dysfunction, and mental impairment. Each child is an individual with differing degrees of disability. If we have the chance to lessen the extent of injury, why wouldnt we do that, asks Dr. Joseph Bruner, Director of Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy at Vanderbilt. (fetal-surgery.com/; 10/29/00; Copyright 1998-2000 fetal-surgery.com). Fetal surgery for spina bifida is intended to decrease the handicaps associated with spina bifida by protecting the fetuses previously exposed spinal tissue from additional damage by the amniotic fluid and intrauterine movement. Doctors say this procedure can not restore neurological function which has already been lost, but it may prevent additional loss from occurring due to the intrauterine environment. (fetal-surgery.com/; 10/29/00; Copyright 1998-2000 fetal-surgery.com). As an added and unexpected benefit, it was discovered that the procedure apparently affects the way the brain develops in utero, allowing certain malformations of the brain, typically associated with spina bifida to correct themselves. Its extraordinary that the malformation goes away, ...

Kill Two Birds With One Stone in French

Kill Two Birds With One Stone in French The French proverb faire dune pierre deux coups seems a little more humane than its English equivalent, to kill two birds with one stone, but theres no telling what the two jobs are- the proverbial stone could be killing birds, or it might be knocking cans off a wall or striking two windows at once. Of course, this is all very literal; the proverb is really talking about efficiency, getting two things done at the same time instead of just one. Pronunciation: [fehr dun pyehr deu koo] Meaning: to kill two birds with one stone Literal translation: to strike twice with one stone, to do two jobs with one stone Register: normal Examples Si tu viens avec moi, on peut faire dune pierre deux coups. If you come with me, we can kill two birds with one stone. Jai fait dune pierre deux coups  : en rentrant de la poste, je suis passà © par le pressing pour rà ©cupà ©rer ta veste. I killed two birds with one stone: on my way back from the post office, I went to the dry-cleaners and picked up your jacket. Synonymous expression: Faire coup double Related expression: Faire un coup (informal) - to do a job, particularly something illegal

Environment 110 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Environment 110 - Essay Example If the environmental service for gas and oil stopped, assuming that the oil wells run dry, the state would suffer from adverse effects, both social and economic. These may be worse if the scarcity of crude oil is a global problem. One of the effects of the change would be increased unemployment rate as people who worked in the mining fields and processing firms would lose their jobs. People who trade in the commodities would also lose income through lost jobs or lost profits. While importation could ease the burden, this would take time and would not be a complete remedy to lost jobs and reduced profitability. Importation would also increase cost of energy in domestic and industrial set ups, leading to macroeconomic burden. Induced economic strain from lost jobs, reduced income, and possible rise in commodity prices due to increased fuel cost would spill to people disposable income. This could have adverse effects on ability to afford services such as health care and education servic es. The state would also suffer negative effects on its import expenditures. Services pertaining to oil and gas are therefore significant to the economy and should be sustained. Ball State University. â€Å"Key economic sectors in Indiana: State overview.† Ball State University. July, 2014. Web. October 24, 2014. . The Indiana Department of Natural Resources. â€Å"Oil and gas in Indiana.† The Indiana Department of Natural Resources. N.d. Web. October 24, 2014. < http://www.in.gov/dnr/dnroil/files/og-OilGas_in_Indiana.pdf

Environmental Analysis of Disney Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Environmental Analysis of Disney - Case Study Example The main challenges faced by Disney will be changing technology and constant need for technological innovations, strict environmental laws and regulation demanding safe and clean production. Demographical factors will change traditional target audiences and require new planning and market segmentation. Industry environment will be affected by (1) fierce competition, (2) new industry structure and (3) globalization of the entertainment industry. The view of competition as market power no longer suffices in the long run. This is due to the fact the survivors of decades of fierce global competition all seem to be converging on similar and formidable standards for product cost, quality, and timeliness. In this case, Disney managers need to look at the internal competencies of their corporations to secure long-term survival. Operating environment will be affected by (1) 'know-how' business solutions and (2) rapid growth of the Internet and e-commerce. The main changes will affect operatin g environment and will help the company to create competitive advantage, improve sales and performance management. For the innovation of new ideas to be successful a high degree of integration is needed between all concerned (e.g. engineering, production management and marketing). Change process is closely connected with the integrity perception which is built into their way of doing things, a 'passion for integrity' which applies to employees, customers, suppliers and other audiences such as the community (Vogel 2007; Walt Disney 2007). In order to compete during the next 10 years, Disney should take into account global business environment and technological innovations which have a crucial impact on this sector. The most important factors for long-term plans include changing life style of consumers and demand patterns (Walt Disney 2007). The main long-term objectives will be the following: (a) Disney should create and support multicultural environment for its entertainment programs in order to meet changing consumer demands and resist competition. Such phenomenon as cultural globalization receives the development from technological revolution and economic globalization which together create a stream of the cultural blessings. Modern consumers are driven by world entertainment trends rather then national ideals (McDonald and Christopher 2003). (b) Disney should respond to demographical changes and segment its consumers according to their life style and a country of origin. Changing patterns of demand and more sophisticated tastes are expected over time and Disney should be in the marketplace ready to supply them. One of the means by which Disney can create market penetration is through the creation of its own distribution facilities around the world. (c) The next objective is global penetration and expansion. The Internet and increasing number of users in Asian and African countries will represent unlimited opportunities for this sector. For its product line, Disney should buy up retail outlets and making strenuous efforts to build a retailing network, which, apart from the immediate financial advantages, facilitates the marketing of their products. Disney should internationalize through cross-border mergers and takeovers. Disney will gain from reduced

Marks and Spencer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marks and Spencer - Essay Example The above merge resulted to the creation of a union with over three million members (Towers and Terry 1991, p.53). The last two decades a trend for Europeanization of unions has appeared (Towers and Terry 1991). More specifically, unions from various member states have started to be organized at the level of the Union ignoring the national labour systems and laws (Towers and Terry 1991, p.54). An example of this form of union response is the following one: a cooperation/ membership agreement has been signed between ‘the GMB union (Britain) and the IG Chemie-Papier-Keramik (German)’ (Morely et al. 2006, p.77). It is implied that the union responses influence the union types; this result to the increase of union’s power to confront policies which are against the rights of employees. For example, through the research developed by Dreiling and Robinson it was revealed that certain unions in USA and Canada were stronger than others in confronting NAFTA (Dreiling and Ro binson 1998), a fact which was related to the types of the unions (Dreiling and Robinson 1998). On the other hand, it has been proved that trade unions are not so strong in order to face effectively the challenges of globalisation (Dolvik 2001). In the case under examination of particular importance is a specific category of union response: Europeanization. Indeed, since Marks and Spencer is established in UK the labour laws of UK should be used for resolving the dispute between the firm and its employees in France. However, it should be examined whether the unions in France had the right and the potential to cooperate with unions in Britain so that the rights of employees in the firm’s stores in France to be protected. According to Platzer (2010) the EU Reform Treaty of 2007 (Lisbon) emphasizes on the promotion of social rights and highlights the power of the EU to intervene in order to secure employment rights of people in member states (Platzer 2010). Therefore, the develo pment of a strategic alliance between the unions in France and those in Britain would be an initiative aligned with the existing European law on industrial relations. Under these terms, top managers in Marks and Spencer cannot ignore the trade unions in France, which could ensure the support of other European countries so that the rules of the above Treaty are applied. A different assumption would be developed if the study of Kip (2011) is taken into consideration. The above researcher notes that still, the most critical arrangements related to employment relations are developed at national level (Kip 2011), i.e. it seems that European Union is not, still, ready to support effectively the unions wishing to cooperate at European level. According to the above view, the decision of top managers in Marks and Spencer to use the British labour laws for resolving labour disputes in regard to their stores in France is considered as justified. It seems that the courts handling the case have accepted the second view; even if at a first instance the court’s decision was negative for Marks and Spencer, the firm managed to support the case effectively at the next level, an effort, which was successful; when reviewing the case at the next level, the court decided that the decision should be overruled (case study, p.39). A2. The infrastructure of Unionism and common interests Trade unionism is

Business finance and legal service coursework(Write a report on the Essay

Business finance and legal service coursework(Write a report on the financial performance of a company in a particular sector) - Essay Example As a cascading effect the production activities suffered. There were reports of spare capacity which in turn resulted into massive employment cut during 2012. New exports reduced considerably. As a result the growth in the manufacturing sector or FMCG sector has fallen steeply during 2011 to 2012 (Chartered Institute Of Purchasing and Supply, 2 April, 2013). Manufacturing activities lifted a bit higher towards the end of 2012 but rate of expansion was marginal and weak. The reasons behind it were cost inflation acceleration in Eurozone and rise in average input price hitting an eight month high (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, January 2013). The downturn UK economy was suffering came to an end during December 2012 with level of production and new orders rising at a faster rates. Reportedly highest gains were made by Britain’s consumer goods producer. It has been predicted if the recoveries in the overseas market continue to build during then Britain exporters are expected to make out huge profit out of it (Chartered Institute of Purchasing And Supply, December 2012). ... The Company believes in growth through organic and international expansion. The company has grown so much in the short span due to great strategic planning. â€Å"Their ambition is to grow their group together EBIT margin by an average of 50bps per annum from2009-2013† (Britvic plc, n.d.). They follow an expansion of 2-3% every year. The company gives prime focus in closing distribution gaps in all routes to market. Britvic started acquiring independent still business since 2010.They acquired Friute business in France with leading brand such as Teissiere and Pressade. This was followed by the prime acquisition of A.G. Barr during September 2012. The company’s excellent performance during this short span demonstrates their ability to grow in business and create shareholders wealth (Britvic plc, n.d.). An Overview of Financial Performance Data and Ratios: SNAPSHOT OF FINANCIAL POSITION OF BRITVIC PLC NAME FORMULA CALCULATION 2012 2011 Net Profit Ratio (Net Profit/ Net Sal es) 0.061703822 0.061937984 Return On Capital Invested (Adjusted Net Profit/Capital Employed) 0.118501529 0.118545994 Price Earnings Ratio (Market Value Of Share/ Earning Per Share) 15.2941176 Data Insufficient Current Ratio (Current Asset/Current Liability) 1.02425876 0.984615385 Capital Gearing Ratio (Equity Share Capital/ Fixed Interest Bearing Funds) 0.327546089 0.327983252 Debt Equity Ratio or Long Term Borrowing Ratio (Total Long Term Debts/ Shareholders Fund) 8.439577039 9.055292259 (Tracy, 2012) The above table gives a snapshot of the company’s financial position during the two fiscal years. The net profit ratio didn’t suffer any change within the two fiscal years. But the revenue had