Effect of Gender Imbalance on Women's Status in the Colonail Period in Essay

Effect of Gender Imbalance on Women's Status in the Colonail Period in New France - Essay Example It is no different in the history of women’s status in Canada or ‘New France’. Gender imbalance in the colonial times put women in an ambivalent position of being valued as well as rejected if they do not come up to men’s expectations. This paper drew much information from cases published from the colonial era as primary sources as well as the works of Peter N. Moogk, Sylvia Van Kirk and Saliha Belmessous, historians who chronicled the culture of New France in Canada during the colonial times as secondary sources. It focused on how the gender imbalance at that time affected the status of women. During the colonial period in what has come to be known as New France, gender balance was askew in terms of number, as it was recounted by Belmessous1 that only 1,772 women emigrated to Canada as compared to 12,621 men, between the years 1608 and 1699. This sexual imbalance continued on till the end of the century. It is due to this lack of women that French colonial officers encouraged native Amerindian women to join the convent for their education to form them into proper ladies and be married off to French settlers instead of native men. It also implied that the convent-bred women had a great influence on the French men to be more cultured. Van Kirk2 explained that intermarriages, also known as â€Å"miscegenation† between French colonizers and the native Amerindians failed because of differing motives of the two cultures. The French Jesuits who encouraged native women to join the Ursuline convent admitted that they wanted the native women to be indoctrinated with their culture. One Jesuit offered that the intermarriage’s purposes were: â€Å"to make them like us, to give them the knowledge of the true God, . . . and that the marriages . . . were to be stable and perpetual.†3 This meant that native women should be Christianized and introduced to a gender-role that included spinning, sewing, knitting, taking care of anima ls, etc. that made them acceptable to their French mates. Native Huron chiefs believed the idea of intermarriage was favourable to them because the French traders make good Hurons, but questioned the French officials about bride price and their women’s right to property and divorce which were part and parcel of their own culture.4 These chiefs were made to understand that the native women would benefit much from such marriages through the teachings of the Ursuline nuns. However, only a small number of the native women were transformed and not many were interested in being successfully converted, so they were not considered acceptable as â€Å"founding mothers of New France† 5. The reverse of Native men â€Å"marrying out† to French women were looked down upon, as it was considered marrying beneath themselves. This is because a woman who married into an Indian tribe became an Indian herself and renounced her original culture. On the other hand, an Indian woman wh o married a foreigner legally ceased to be an Indian, losing all her rights to Indian status as well as her children.6 Thus, by the mid-nineteenth century, intermarriage became a usual practice of colonization and became a way of removing Aboriginal/Indian women from their own native cultures. Governor Vaudreuil7 justified his hostility against the intermarriage of French men and Amerindian women in saying that it divided the French men as they were integrated into their Amerindian wives’ clans. There was a great possibility that such action involved intertribal feuds and could have pitted the French

Ismg 3000 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Ismg 3000 - Essay Example Conversely, Barton himself was hired as a function of the belief that he could inject some fresh blood and new perspective into the way that the organization operates. Due to the fact that the same tired techniques had been tried over and over under Davies’ leadership with little to no affect, Barton was ultimately viewed as a way in which a blank slate could be created and the organization could move forward from a fresh point without the baggage that Davies engendered. This is due to the fact that IT touches so many different aspects of the firm in somewhat imperceptible ways. Whereas the affect of a new marketing strategy can be uniformly measured, the effect of procurement of new and more efficient IT systems and the integration of a greater level of IT expertise within the field means that the overall synergy that is created is something that is difficult to narrow down to but a few statistics and figures. Moreover, when one realizes that the rate of expenditure as compared to the rate of return, this too is problematic due to the fact that the rate of return on investment is not immediately or rapidly realized. Ultimately, it does matter due to the fact that as soon as key functions of IT are removed, the organization itself would necessarily come stumbling to a halt. An example of this can be seen in the way that a firm would no longer be able to support a key data package that is necessary for operational effectiveness. With such an integral and key component of the firm no longer operations, the means by which business is conducted is necessarily reduced; thereby reducing the competitive advantage of the firm and the total outreach and scope that it could hope to appeal to. With regards to my current firm, this can best be described as an IT situation that is strategic. Rather than providing a support function or merely aiding the organization in developing a product, my firm is one that provides a hands

The Ipswich Womens Centre Against Domestic Violence Social Work Essay

The Ipswich Womens Centre Against Domestic Violence Social Work Essay The Ipswich Womens Centre Against Domestic Violence (IWCADV) is a feminist community based organisation committed to working towards the elimination of domestic and family violence throughout the community. The primary focus of IWCADV is to provide support to women and children survivors of domestic and family violence. This includes telephone information, referral and support services, court support for women, counselling services, group work and childrens work. During my placement experience as a womens counsellor at IWCADV I first spent a few weeks developing my understanding of the issues involved in domestic violence and the systems that are in place to support women and children who are survivors of domestic and family violence. My knowledge of the issues affecting women and children experiencing domestic and family violence includes an understanding of the emotional impacts of abuse (such as feelings of grief and loss, anger, guilt, depression, trauma), the loss of personal and physical security, safety concerns, the financial costs, family law and other legal issues, and power and control imbalances in relationships. I have developed my knowledge of the issues affecting women and children experiencing domestic and family violence in my university studies and my work experience. The understanding that I gained from my University studies was enhanced during my student placement at the Ipswich Womens Centre Against Domestic Violence. It was here that I developed my understanding of feminist perspectives on domestic and family violence, including the individual, familial, legal and social issues. In this role I was able to develop my understanding of feminist informed practises and techniques. I support this framework for practice as it can empower women and help them find their voice, encouraging women who have experienced the loss of control to make choices about their own life and to take responsibility for their life choices and to take back control. I worked from within a feminist framework to empower the client to find her voice and to discover her worth and make her own choices. In my role as a student counsellor at IWCADV I provided crisis support and advocacy work to women who have experienced domestic and family violence. During the beginning counselling sessions, I found it was quite difficult to always follow the story and set direction for the counselling. I took a strengths based narrative approach and usually after 2 -3 sessions a clearer picture had developed of the clients experience with domestic violence, and this continued to unfold throughout the counselling sessions. One of the most personally rewarding aspects of my counselling experience was the opportunity to explore and experience symbol and sand tray therapy. I spent some time reading Sandplay and Symbol Work Emotional healing and personal development with children, adolescents and adults by Mark Pearson and Helen Wilson to prepare for my personal experience with symbols and sand tray therapy during my professional supervision sessions. I then had the opportunity to introduce one of my counselling clients to the sand tray. Whilst I did have feelings of uncertainty about my ability to facilitate the process, I did feel comfortable enough with the setting and with my client to create a safe place for self-discovery and self-awareness. She was very open to the process and we both found this to be an enjoyable and meaningful experience. My client reported that this was a very positive experience for her and allowed her to process some of her experiences with domestic violence and that it was a breakthrough for her in terms of learning to accept and value herself. I felt that it was an honour to share this part of my clients journey. With another client who was directed by the Department of Child Safety to attend counselling, setting the direction for each session was more difficult. I did not believe that this woman was ready to explore some of the emotional issues related to the trauma that she had experienced as a result of long term domestic violence. I was encouraged by her regular attendance and I believe that this was a result of my increasing ability to develop rapport. I was able to develop good rapport with my clients by being non-judgemental, using open ended questions and appropriate body language. I believe that my skill in developing rapport is reflected by the feedback and regular attendance to counselling sessions by my clients. I did struggle with ending the sessions on time and frequently found that sessions with some clients were running over 1.5 hours long. I spoke with some of the other workers at the service about this and they agreed that it could be difficult especially when women are exploring very painful issues and that it was important to be sensitive but direct when closing a counselling session. The group supervision times that I was included in at IWCADV were also very rewarding and inspiring times for me. The other workers at the service were all very passionate women with a strong commitment to empowering women and changing community attitudes about violence towards women. During group supervision there was opportunity and support for workers to reflect on their own feelings of despair and helplessness, and there was encouragement to extend and share your knowledge and understanding of the issues relating to domestic and family violence. The group times were also very rewarding team building occasions and there is a strong commitment at the service to supporting one another. For example, I found that after long phone calls or after a counselling session, another worker would check-in with me to provide any support and to answer any questions that I had.

Theme of Creativity in The Destructors :: Graham Greene

Conditions within various regions often restrict freedoms and creativity of the individual, as a result of human experiences, an individual may commit an act of violence, intended with a different goal, not just that of destruction. In "The Destructors," the author uses diction, setting, and syntax to unveil a general truth of an aspect of human nature: creativity. The poignant use of diction throughout the short story, mostly in the action segment, subliminally demonstrated the positive aspects of destruction. The author goes into Mr. Thomas' mind and illustrates the opinion that, "…but why should burglars engage in what sounded more and more like a stealthy form of carpentry?" By comparing the destruction of Old Misery to a respectable occupation, the author shows a manner of destruction interpreted positively. In the midst of the action, the author mentions "…they worked with the seriousness of creators." Such a statement indicates the complexity of the work occurring at the house: there was more afoot than mere destruction. Through explicit depictions of thoughts and actions within the story, the author reveals a hidden message of human nature, in that not all destruction is evil. The author utilizes setting to construct a firm foundation in this story by referencing the repercussion of bomb sites repeatedly. First mentioned as the location of their meetings, "an impromptu car-park, the site of the last bomb of the first blitz," the setting played an important role in the story. Whilst the rubble of a bombsite seems heartrending, the boys in the gang show no emotion to such scenery, this detached interest signifies an irregularity-destruction taking place of other inane characteristics. Old Misery completely contradicted this belief that the boys held, frequently described with “it’s a beautiful house” and “it had escaped the blast which had smashed the house next door.” Such descriptions lead to the perception of Old Misery as the light in the dark, where the boys were doomed to dwell. The author used this unique setting wherein the boys lived to reflect how human experiences can vary due to living situations. The author gave significance to the action within the story through forms of syntax. In Trevor’s speech to Summers, he uses short lines including “we are going to destroy this house” and there won’t be anything left when we’ve finished” to cause Trevor’s personality to become more realistic in tone. Theme of Creativity in The Destructors :: Graham Greene Conditions within various regions often restrict freedoms and creativity of the individual, as a result of human experiences, an individual may commit an act of violence, intended with a different goal, not just that of destruction. In "The Destructors," the author uses diction, setting, and syntax to unveil a general truth of an aspect of human nature: creativity. The poignant use of diction throughout the short story, mostly in the action segment, subliminally demonstrated the positive aspects of destruction. The author goes into Mr. Thomas' mind and illustrates the opinion that, "…but why should burglars engage in what sounded more and more like a stealthy form of carpentry?" By comparing the destruction of Old Misery to a respectable occupation, the author shows a manner of destruction interpreted positively. In the midst of the action, the author mentions "…they worked with the seriousness of creators." Such a statement indicates the complexity of the work occurring at the house: there was more afoot than mere destruction. Through explicit depictions of thoughts and actions within the story, the author reveals a hidden message of human nature, in that not all destruction is evil. The author utilizes setting to construct a firm foundation in this story by referencing the repercussion of bomb sites repeatedly. First mentioned as the location of their meetings, "an impromptu car-park, the site of the last bomb of the first blitz," the setting played an important role in the story. Whilst the rubble of a bombsite seems heartrending, the boys in the gang show no emotion to such scenery, this detached interest signifies an irregularity-destruction taking place of other inane characteristics. Old Misery completely contradicted this belief that the boys held, frequently described with “it’s a beautiful house” and “it had escaped the blast which had smashed the house next door.” Such descriptions lead to the perception of Old Misery as the light in the dark, where the boys were doomed to dwell. The author used this unique setting wherein the boys lived to reflect how human experiences can vary due to living situations. The author gave significance to the action within the story through forms of syntax. In Trevor’s speech to Summers, he uses short lines including “we are going to destroy this house” and there won’t be anything left when we’ve finished” to cause Trevor’s personality to become more realistic in tone.

Business Practices

Business practices came under fire when America's seventh largest firm Enron collapsed due to unethical accounting strategies. This case triggered a series of unwelcome events where one after the other, large organizations in the US collapsed or run for bankruptcy cover with one case even implicated the infamous Martha Stewart for insider trading. The various deceitful activities of some larger companies resulted in widespread public mistrust of business practices and values. Companies as big as Adelphia, ENRON, Global Crossing, Kmart, Qwest communications, WorldCom and Xerox are all under thorough investigation by one of the few reliable authorities, Securities and Exchange Commission (Royal Bank of Scotland). All the aforementioned names were business of international repute that were charged with the unethical act of projecting inflated profits to trick stakeholders and earn higher profits and generate greater revenue from expensive stocks (Royal Bank of Scotland). WorldCom ran for insolvency in July 2002, making it one of the biggest bankruptcies of all times (Royal Bank of Scotland). Both World Com and ENRON hugely overstated their profits and hence committed the major crime of misleading stockholders. â€Å"World Com Inc. , the US No. 2 long distance Company fraudulently overstated profits by nearly 7 billion dollars in last few years. Analysts, brokers and accountants moved like herds to promote their stock† (Royal Bank of Scotland). Enron was another major setback to the industry and economy when its unethical accounting practices resulted in a huge financial crunch. The accounts of the company showed that Enron's revenues in 2000 were over $100 billion. Enron was growing rapidly as it was selected by Fortune magazine as one of those companies whose stocks were most likely to last the entire first decade of the 21st century. Enron was performing well in all its three business namely energy, wholesale and global services. Enron's bankruptcy then took the world by complete surprise, as this was not only the biggest collapse in the United States in recent years, it was also the fastest. Before filing for bankruptcy in December last year, Enron was the seventh largest company of the United States as it turned its businesses into monopolies by dominating all areas of its various operations. But a company that looked so powerful only a year ago collapsed dramatically when one of its accountants began raising questions about those shady transactions which had managed to conceal the company's negative debt position from its accounting books. But slowly and gradually Enron's problems began unrolling in front of the public and it became clear that all the profits shown by the company were simply an illusion. ENRON as well as World Com both had managed to make these blunders with the Arthur Anderson, that was reportedly, â€Å"one of the top five accountancy firms in the world† that doctored accounting books of ENRON â€Å"and later shredded vital documents at several of their office locations including London† (Royal Bank of Scotland). Ethical crisis in business is definitely a hot issue these days. With no respite in sight and probably no long term solution available, public has become wary of American corporate world. It appears that every other day, a large organization makes headlines for fraudulent actions. What is even more ironic is that these unethical practices have mostly involved large accounting firms: organizations that are created with the sole purpose of providing honest third-part services. The major accountancy organizations that have been found involved in ethical crisis included Arthur Andersen, KPMG, Price Waterhouse Coopers and others (Royal Bank of Scotland). In addition to these â€Å"in May 2002, Myrill Lynch was fined $100 million for over rating various stocks of blue chip companies and apologized for doing so in N. Y district court† (Royal Bank of Scotland). Furthermore, â€Å"many of the analysts of investment/Merchant Banks hype stock prices and profit forecasts of companies with whom they do business with† (Royal Bank of Scotland). Apart from accounting errors, there are other illegal and unethical practices that companies have been consistently resorted to. Unethical activities like â€Å"dumping polluted chemical wastes into rivers, insider trading on Wall Street, overcharging the government for Medicaid services, and institutions like Stanford University inappropriately using taxpayer money to buy a yacht or to enlarge their President's bed in his home as morally wrong† (Ronald: 505) are the bane of business today. Nonetheless, such unethical practices are undertaken every other day with little or no regard for the well being of people. Sense of social responsibility is thus missing from our mighty corporate world today. Two important cases in this regard are as follows: Allegheny Bottling is one of the Pepsi-Cola Bottling franchises, which came under severe criticism when it was found guilty of price-fixing. It is a common practice which is nonetheless unethical (Ronald: 505). The case went to federal courts where it was decided that since ever senior executive knew of the price fixing practice and did not report it, they were all partners in crime. The court then ordered three years in prison for the entire senior management, some of whom were not directly involved but knew of the plan and chose to remain silent. The firm was also fined 1 million dollars as fine but the problem with the sentence was that a firm cannot be imprisoned under the Constitutional Law and thus what the federal court ordered was not applicable in practice. (Ronald: 505). Another such case that underscores the need for better practices and more ethically sound business code concerned Harris Corporations. This firm had incurred huge losses, amounting to more than $500,000 when they were heavily fined for their fraudulent practices. But instead of pleading not guilty or contesting, the firm quickly and calmly â€Å"pleaded no contest to charges that it participated in a kickback scheme involving a defense department loan to the Philippines† (Ronald: 506). This was an irresponsible strategy to cover up unethical practices of the firm and the CEO explained it later in these terms: â€Å"The firm and its employees were not guilty of criminal conduct; top managers pleaded no contest because the costs associated with litigation would have been greater than the fines, and litigation would have diverted management attention from firm operations† (Ronald: 507). Both the aforementioned cases reflect the loopholes and the weakening moral and ethical values in the corporate world. Nonetheless, the former case pertaining to the unethical practices of the Pepsi-cola franchise reveals that there are various firms that though realizing, knowingly commit crimes and conform to illegal and unethical practices. However, in the latter case, the management as well as the executives performed an unethical act, which they were ignorant of due to vague laws. Consequently, the above discussion reveals that one of the major motivations behind performing illegal acts is the reward that is offered by the executives or the employers themselves to induce unethical behavior for personal gains in terms of huge profits by illegal means. It has been observed that executives who offer bribes to other parties involved in business dealings are rewarded for transgressing code of ethics and many a times righteous individuals are scared to let the cat out of the bag, fearing the dire consequences that might place their jobs in danger. Therefore, another apparent reason of unethical behavior in the workplaces that promotes illegal practices is the fact that employees at all levels are either directly or indirectly rewarded for unethical acts or harshly abandoned by the materialistic world for going against the norm of practicing evils. Another reason as explained by Jansen and Von Glinow through their exhaustive study is that encouraging â€Å"counternorms† in an organization is also a form of promoting unethical standards in a company in order to save the firm's name or to avoid charges. These experts believe that â€Å"within organizations, it is often considered not only acceptable but desirable, to be much more secretive and deceitful. The practice of stonewalling, willingly hiding relevant information is quite common. One reason for this is that organizations may actually punish those who are too open and honest† (Ronald: 505). There are innumerable examples and real-life situations wherein employees were offered special incentives and bonuses as well as other monetary benefits for deliberately not disclosing the actual picture thereby hiding the true story. B. F. Goodrich is one of the employers utilizing such filthy strategies to gain acceptance and to enhance the international reputation. He offered great monetary gains to all his employees who provided him with and generated pseudo figures, with the help of which, he managed to receive a certificate for high â€Å"quality aircraft brakes† (Ronald: 509). In addition to the above, Metropolitan Edison also bribed their employees and compelled them to keep all the necessary and relevant details pertaining to the Three Mile Island endoplasmic mishap from the governmental agencies and other investigation firms (Ronald: 511). Thus the cases mentioned above lucidly prove the experts view that organizations advocate â€Å"counternorms of secrecy and deceitfulness. Because these practices are commonly rewarded and accepted suggests that organizations may be operating within a world that dictates its own set of accepted rules. This reasoning suggests a second answer to the question of why organizations knowingly act unethically namely, because managerial values exist that undermine integrity† (Ronald: 512). We all know by now that ethical problems exist in firms and when it is not in the form of major unethical practices like accounting fraud, monopolistic strategies or price-fixing issues, they can exist in the form of small white lies. While they may not be intended to harm anyone, but they certainly mislead the public thus creating a huge gap between actual reality and projected reality. And what is really disturbing is the fact that while some unethical practiced are condemned by law, there are others for which no legal respite is available. False advertising is one such issue. False advertising is certainly an ethical issue, which cannot be controlled through legal action. This is because while there are certain trade laws, which prohibit misrepresentation, advertising firms and their clients can always invoke First Amendment in order to retain their right of freedom of speech. But it is the ethical duty of the companies to present their commodities in the positive light without completely altering the reality. There are different ways in which advertising can deceive the viewers and potential customers. The one important method often used by most advertisers is the misrepresentation method where products are made to appear better than they really are. While we cannot do anything about instilling a sense of ethical responsibility in these people, it is still important for the customers and viewers to ignore useless and senseless advertisement. The Editor of The World & I (1996) writes, â€Å"The Supreme Court has held that advertising, at least much of it, is protected by the First Amendment's freedom of speech provisions. Thus, advertising is an important and protected form of speech, similar to journalism or statements of political opinion. So, rather than reject advertising outright, we need to learn how to discern the acceptable and useful from the unacceptable and worthless. Besides, everyone actually does accept and use advertising–namely that which promotes products or services or causes that one favors. † For this reason, while we may not always be able to control unethical problems concerning the business world, we must realize that it is the responsibility of companies to ensure that ethical violations are avoided at all costs. Firm must introduce the codes of ethics and make them suitable according to the nature of the job. These rules and regulations must envelope â€Å"relations with government organizations, relations with customers and suppliers and employee conflicts of interest, honesty, etc. † (Creating an ethical organization). It is also recommended that the organizations â€Å"provide general principles and detailed guidelines, including policies related to violations† and must make sure not to â€Å"overload people with unnecessary information† for that might result in the loss of interest and extreme agitation of the entire notion. Moreover, executives as well as managers are advised to enforce the code with proper training and effective communication.

The method that built science

Science is no easy enterprise unless the decay in the inquisitive mind of man takes the form of a lingering revulsion against one of humanity’s most productive disciplines. The scientific method is by all means the cornerstone in the advancement of the major as well as the minor theories and derived knowledge in the scientific world. Dating back to decades in its progression, the utilization of the scientific method has led to a number of refinements in the established principles in the domains of science as well as the refinement in the scientific method itself. In effect, the mutual benefit gained from the application of the scientific method with regards to the analysis of numerous scientific cases and to the broad investigations that underline the basic precepts and consequent principles has placed an edge over the credibility of the science. This is in contrast to the several other means that are apart from and exclusive to the scientific enterprise in obtaining vital as well as crude information with regards to the natural and physical realm. Hence, in order for one to be able to effectively utilize the scientific method, a look into its parts and details is essentially contributive inasmuch as it is beneficial not only to the individual employing the method but also to the community in general. The initial step in the scientific method is commonly identified as observation which refers to the use of the sensory perception or oftentimes with the aid of specific instruments in examining the phenomena contained within the physical or natural environment. After arriving at a description of an event or a set of events or objects, a tentative and educated explanation of the observed event then proceeds. This process is oftentimes referred to as the formulation of the hypothesis which provides a partial, unofficial and unverified elucidation on the observed phenomena. With the hypothesis already in hand, what transpires next is the actual testing of the tentative explanation. This is done through the process of experimentation with all of the necessary material and equipments utilized in order to arrive at the resulting data. The resulting data after the experiment is then gathered and recorded so as to have a list of available information that will serve as the background for the hypothesis. Before arriving at any set of final conclusion with regards to the phenomena, an interpretation of the resulting data is necessary. This step provides the crucial link that stands between the conclusion, oftentimes coming in the form of a generalization, and the data collected from the experiment. Further, the interpretation of the data can be done in several ways, largely depending upon the type of data gathered and the domain in science under which it falls. Generally, the interpretation of the data yields the necessary bases or sets of premises that will be generalized and placed in support of the conclusion. With all the essential data already acquired as well as the interpretations of these sets of data from the variables provided in the experiment, a generalization of all these then follows. The conclusion serves as the pinnacle of the scientific method that started from mere observation of phenomena. Not only does the conclusion fits as the highlight of the scientific method, it also serves as the fundamental verifying statement or statements for the hypothesis, thereby granting the formulated hypothesis either with a substantiated and authenticated merit or a falsifying remark. There, too, are instances wherein the hypothesis is left hanging by the conclusion as the latter oftentimes arrives at a differing point whereas the hypothesis remains inconclusive although experimentation has already been performed. In general, the scientific method along with its intricate steps has provided an extra muscle for the scientific community to be able to better shape its scopes and foundations. Being able to understand the underlying steps in the scientific method is an essential and useful means in arriving at a more concrete exploration of numerous phenomena and the domains in which they fall under. Reference Kramer, S. P. (1987). How to Think Like a Scientist: Answering Questions by the Scientific Method. New York: HarperCollins. Â