Culture of Kazakhstan

â€Å"Culture is a process for identity of living creatures and cultural evolution raises the identity of society, benefit goes to its individuals. Culture is the domain of human activity associated with self-expression of a person, a manifestation of his subjectivity. That's why every culture has additional features, as related to both the `creative person, and everyday practice, communication, reflection, generalization, and his daily life† (Religious Studies:Textbook / Ed. MM Shakhanovich. – St. Petersburg. Peter, 2006). On our planet, there are so many different countries with their own traditions, customs and culture, The relationship between these cultures and people rather strained, so there are national characteristics, specific to each nation. Actually, it’s not a secret that, traditions that are normal for Europeans, is totally unacceptable for Asian people. After the failure of etiquette, tradition and cultural heritage of the country, can lead to vari ous conflicts. The uniquences of individual nation, lies precisely in its cultural characteristics that are unique to him. ( Every culture 2011) â€Å"Kazakh ethnic group, held a long period of formation, in which participated many tribes and nations, has an important place in the history of Eurasia, and one of the oldest ethnic groups. It is the successor to the cultural heritage of all nations who took part in its formation, so that the Kazakh people – one of the richest nations in cultural terms. Kazakh culture until the twentieth century was a nomadic†. (Every culture 2011) According to the Kazakh traditions, guests are treated to the Kazakh national cuisine for dastarkhan (dinner table) in yurt.Yurt, adapted to nomadic life and a very effective tool in the process of nomadic meets all the requirements of the nomadic lifestyle can be easily disassembled and quickly installed a new location. Kazakhs have a lot of different traditional events, like Nauryz, or Spring Festival, Shildehana and so on. Nauryz falls on the vernal equinox. On this day, every woman cook a special dish, â€Å"Nauryz kozhe†, which consists of seven types of products: Siberian millet, wheat, rice, barley, millet, meat, and kurt.People go from village to village, eat this food, sing the song â€Å"Nauryz†, hug, congratulate each other a Happy New Year and wish a good offspring in the new year and prosperity at home. â€Å"Shildehana† – celebrated on the birth of son, wealthy people inviting people and organized contests of singers, trick riding on horseback. Also Kazakhstan like all countries where the spread of Islam, it was customary to   religious holiday – â€Å"Eid†. In this celebration, the sheep and lambs are sacrificed in the name of God..The meat is given to the poor, and partly used for the family. An obligatory ritual of the holiday is a common prayer in the mosque prior to sacrifice. In this day of celebration in ever y home preparing a meal, all congratulate each other. At that time, â€Å"the more you learn about French traditions and culture, the more you will be interested in. France has a long and varied history to draw upon, and countless legends and customs have been passed from generation to generation. In addition, each region of France is quite unique†. Easy-french 2011) They expect guests and foreigners to behave in the same manner that they do. The French are all about preserving their culture and being individualized. â€Å"France is culturally vivid and varied phenomenon. Various times, manifest in the architecture of France, calling each other, also appear the picturesque outline of the locks, bridges, towers† (Everyculture 2011). When the French come off the art, they are happy to deal with such sports as football, rugby, basketball, cycling. Bycicle race tour in France popular all over the world.Traditional games such as bowls, are also very popular. â€Å"France i s a secular state. The main religion is Roman Catholicism, but it doesn’t play a leading role in public life and experiencing a relative decline. Islam is the second most common religion, followed by Protestantism and Judaism† (Yakovlev, EG Aesthetics: A. Tutorial. – M. : Gardariki, 2003). So, people can notice, there are a lot of differences and similarities between European and Asian countries. In general, the greeting in both countries absolutely different.For instance, in France, â€Å"when people greet each other, they shake hands or embrace with a kiss on both cheeks . Kissing is only done when two people are close friends or relatives. For the most part, the embrace is done only the first time in a day in which one sees someone and is not repeated again until one says good-bye† ( Every culture 2011). Likwise in Kazakhstan, if you know the person very well, you should greet with a kiss on one cheek once and shake hands. Notably, in both countries, al most the same greeting.

House on Mango Street Essay

Childhood: In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single novel or play, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole. Throughout the novel, The House on Mango Street a girl named Esperanza goes through many different changes as she tries discovering her true self. She evolves from insecure and not knowing anything about herself into confident and knowing where she wants her life to take her.That children must go through the experience of growing out of an innocent child into finding themselves as a person and finally developing self-confidence is highlighted in the book. At first, Esperanza starts out young, insecure, and immature. Her immaturity shows apparent when she talks about her mom holding her and says, â€Å"sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you and you feel safe† (6-7). This shows Esperanza’s insecurity because her mom remains a big source of comfort to her. She feels nice and safe all the time because her mom will act as a protection for her.In addition, Esperanza’s immaturity shows when she claims, â€Å"They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake† (28). This emphasizes how defensive and protective Esperanza reacts towards her neighborhood by calling them stupid when that’s just how they act. She does not try to understand their point of view. Though Esperanza maintains these characteristics, the reader will soon see her slight yet palpable maturity. As Esperanza develops as a person, she goes through another phase where she remains young and immature; however, she starts to show obvious signs of maturity and growing up.When Esperanza stands up for her sister she states, â€Å"That’s right, I add before Lucy of Rachel can make fun of her† she proves her maturity, because she thinks of others like her sister, Nenny (50). She does the right thing instead of caring about what her friends think about her. She takes on more and more responsibilities as she grows up. As she progresses, she shows hints of growing up physically and mentally, but not completely. When a group of her and her friends try heels, she says, â€Å"yes, it’s true. We have legs. Skinny and spotted with satin scars where scabs were picked, but legs, all our own, good to look at, and long† (40).They all realize that they finally have entered the first stage of growing up when they notice their slightly more womanly, adult figures. The long legs show their slight maturity, but their scars and scabs show that they still remain young. Even though the changes might only be slight they remain changes which continue to come as she grows older and finds her place in the world. Towards the end of the novel, Esperanza finally grows up and becomes self-confident. When Esperanza runs away from the â€Å"Monkey Garden†, she’s forced to grow up. â€Å"I looked at my feet in their white socks and ugly round shoes. They seemed far away.They didn’t seem to be my feet anymore. And the garden that had been such a good place to play didn’t seem mine either† (98). The play place that was once so innocent now, a junkyard reciprocates Esperanza’s innocence that slowly turns into reality. She is growing up. Additionally, she gains enough confidence and maturity to make her own life decisions, shown when she makes the important decision of where she wants her life to take her. She states, â€Å"I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain† showing Esperanza’s maturity to make her own life choices by herself (88).She finally becomes confident and independent enough to know where she wants her life to take her. Esperanza finally completes her evolution from young and immature to adult-like and confident. House on Mango Street allows children to see that they will have to grow up one way or another. People might try to experience being an adult then decide to take a step back to ignore it but, there remains no way to avoid it. Life won’t always be easy, but in the end people will discover who they are and what purpose they have in life.

Two-Career Family versus One-Career Family Essay

Two-Career Family versus One-Career Family - Essay Example Men are more familiar with the official work, but when they have to manage the household duties they find it really difficult to manage both at the same time, simply because they have to devote more time towards the domestic activities. So, both men and women have to sacrifice time for both the activities and thus reducing the efficiency in the sphere they are more familiar with. It has been seen that even a highly educated wife can look after the home, which the husband cannot (Hester and Dickerson 1). In a 1-career family the earning member has to face different types of problems and challenges like taking care of the family finances, transportation, taking care of the children and other household jobs all alone (Gladow and Ray 1). In the 2-career system, both share the duties, maybe not equal, while in the 1-career system the only bread earner has to take all the responsibilities. The 2-career family lifestyle is more popular than the other form and the primary reason is to increase the family income as the cost of living is increasing day by day. Although it results in financial gains, it brought with itself problems as well. The husband and wife have rarely been able to equally share the responsibilities, especially at home. Women, with equally challenging and demanding job roles, compared to men have to take the load of the domestic work. Although men have encouraged women to start a career in the professional field, they have not been able to help them out in domestic work and share equal responsibilities. They could never turn into a partner in this field and at best they have been helping hands for their wives. Hence, wives have to bear the brunt of the responsibilities at home. But it should be noted that the stress levels among the traditional couples are the same as the modern ones (Hester and Dickerson 1).

EVOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

EVOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM - Case Study Example However, studies show that the percentage of Americans covered under such Insurance has declined significantly in three years, and it hit a new low with only 44.5 per cent of people covered by under this scheme (USNews, 2011). Thus, due to a steady decline in employment (Bloomberg, 2011), along with various other factors the number of people covered under health insurance has declined simultaneously, rendering access to healthcare limited to a certain section of population. Furthermore, health care costs have risen considerably over the years. Such rise in healthcare costs can be attributed to several factors such as technological developments, rise in cost of prescription drugs, rise in chronic illnesses, ageing of the population, rise in administrative costs, rise in charges by healthcare providers, inflation etc. The healthcare costs in the U.S. have currently exceeded 17% of the total GDP and continue to rise (HBR, 2011). One of the major causes of such a rise is the rise in tech nological developments, which has significantly increased the odds of treating long-term chronic illnesses. Furthermore, the cost of setting up new and advanced technological tools for treatment is relatively higher than the conventional methods of ailing (FDA, 2003). Also, there has been a drastic rise in the costs of prescription drugs, thus pushing the healthcare costs further. According to reports chronic illnesses such as obesity and diabetes is causing a serious upward shift in the cost of branded and prescription drugs in the U.S. Furthermore, other factors such as the rise in ageing population, increase in drug use and increase in reliance on new branded and specialty drugs are also responsible for driving the costs of healthcare services, thus making it inaccessible to a large percentage of population (AMA, 2011). Another significant problem faced with regard to access to healthcare is the differential access to healthcare services, especially as it pertains to a certain se ction of the population. This includes, the minority communities such as people belonging to culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds, as well as expats. The key causes of such racial disparity in healthcare delivery include: difference in economic backgrounds, difference in health status, and access to healthcare insurance etc. According to Wang (2006) there are significant differences in health status of minority communities and the white population. Studies have shown that Blacks have a shorter life expectancy and higher infant mortality rates as compared to Whites. Furthermore factors such as racial stereotyping, prejudice, and clinical uncertainty on the part of care givers also account to health disparities among the minority communities. Strategies to overcome the problems: In order to curtail the rising number of uninsured and underinsured individuals, healthcare organizations can develop adaptive strategies; seek increased federal funding; or development of a nation-wi de health insurance program, which may lend credible support to the

Trade Pattern between developed(the U.S.) and developing(South Korea) Term Paper

Trade Pattern between developed(the U.S.) and developing(South Korea) countries - Term Paper Example Even though the U. S has a trade discrepancy with South Korea, it has had a reliable trade surplus of approximately $2 billion to $3 billion in agricultural goods (Carbaugh 213)1. South Korea is the tenth greatest economy in the globe, with a yearly annual GDP fast approaching one trillion US dollars (Todaro 314)2. While it was the seventh biggest export market for the US in 2004, U. S was South Korea’s third largest trading partner and the second largest export market in 2005. In addition, South Korea is the fifth biggest market for the U.S agricultural export and the United States provides more than one fifth of South Korea’s agricultural imports. This paper looks at the characteristics of the United States-South Korea bilateral trade and offers an overview of the tariff reduction as well as elimination schedules of the two countries (Eckes 311)3. Characteristics The main mode of the US-South Korea mutual trade has moved from inter-industry trade to intra-industry tra de. Specifically, the trade model was inter–industry trade on the foundation of divergence in resource donations before 1994. The US exported intensive and natural resource-founded industry goods and technology, as well as capital-concentrated products to South Korea and imported labor-concentrated goods from that nation (Buckley et al. 341)4. Nevertheless, intra-industry trade between the two nations has increased notably in the high technology product sector since 1995. A key rise in trade of high-technology goods between the two nations shows the surge in bilateral intra-industry trade founded on good differentiation. The two nations have also raised their bilateral trade in differentiation mid-technology goods. Comparisons between trade volume and trade surpluses, by sector, can offer insight on bilateral trade patterns between the two nations. In this paper, US-Korea bilateral trade is looked at in six sectors. Agriculture and food, natural resource based industries, tex tiles, mid technology goods, high-technology goods among others. The sectors are determined on the basis of standard international trade classification two-digit code. The agric-food sector includes primary agricultural goods and processed food (Lo?pez 648)5. The natural sector comprises of gas, coal, wood and petroleum products among others. The mid section comprises of fertilizers, chemical materials, non-ferrous metals as well as furniture. The high-tech section has machinery, scientific instruments and transport instruments. The others comprise of the transaction services. The US has trade surpluses and South Korea is in the food and agriculture sector, and until lately, the natural resource-based industries. The US has a trade deficit and South Korea in the high technology section, which has grown with time. The US also has a trade shortage with South Korea in the textile section; however this deficit has declined with time. Indeed, both US imports and exports of textile produc ts have declined ever since 1990, owing to the third country impact in the market. Since other nations like Thailand, China, Indonesia, as well as Latin American nations have become very competitive in the manufacture of textile products, both the US and South Korea have raised their imports of these commodities from these nations. For the middle-technology section,

An increasing number of women in Europe are putting greater emphasis Essay

An increasing number of women in Europe are putting greater emphasis on their careers than on having children. Do you think that this is desirable - Essay Example (17) This seemed to be one of the strongest factors why today, the perception is that having children is an obstacle for women who want to have careers. It is like if the woman wants to get ahead for success or in the corporate ladder, she should not get married and have kids. Also, some women are getting practical especially in the context of how expensive it is to raise children. For instance, the Family Circle magazine stated in a survey that parents in the UK would have spent about â‚ ¤43,000 by the time their kid reaches the age of 18, inclusive of food, education and other necessities. (Curtis 2006) The case would have been alright since the rise in the number of women in the labor force is seen as a positive development in terms of equality in the workplace. However, things become disturbing when a huge percentage of women today are willing to forego having children in favor of working. According to the British National Statistics Office, roughly 20% of women reaching the end of their fertility are childless and that the majority of both men and women believe that enjoyment is more important than having children. (Gillan 2006) This is underscored by a study undertaken by the Economic and Social Research Council which explored the changing gender-role attitudes of today’s generation. It reported that public opinion in Europe has increasingly leaned in favor of women working and that if the woman is married she is expected to contribute to the household income. (2006) If the trend continues to hold, with women preferring work over family, then it would contribute to the decline of the traditional family values. This is essentially not a positive development since as what the Richard Eden (2000) has argued, â€Å"there are fewer people marrying and more divorcing, more step-families, more cohabitation, more single

Interview and Team Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Interview and Team Analysis - Essay Example I once worked as part of a team in a school project. It was a group project and the teacher had formed the teams herself. There were four members in our team and I was the leader. Adopting a team approach helps develop a diversity of knowledge (Levi, 2014, p. 10). Therefore, one criterion that the teacher had kept in mind while forming these teams was that each member of a team should have expertise in a unique area of knowledge. In my team, I was expert in software, one of the team members was expert in presentation, another had a detailed knowledge of the subject, and the fourth member had access to all the external and internal sources of information and resources that we would need to develop the project. Together, we nailed it! We distributed our roles considering each other’s skills and were able to develop and present our project within the assigned time and with quality. As a team, since we had to achieve our goal in a very limited span of time, we would resort to virtual interaction to carry on the work even after school hours. â€Å"A virtual team is any team whose member interactions are mediated by time, distance, and technology† (Levi, 2014, p. 283). We used Skype and video conferencing to keep in contact with each other to develop the project. Levi (2014) calls virtuality a matter of degree, which implies that virtual teamwork does not necessarily completely eradicate face-to-face interactions. So when we were at school, we would interact with each other face-to-face, whereas at other times, we used to interact virtually. We learned a lot about virtual teamwork on this project and it was a wonderful experience. The interviewee was a 40-years old manager working at a local restaurant. When asked the definition of success in team management, the interviewee replied that success means attainment of all individualistic and collective goals and feeling good about it. This definition is very much in line with how Levi (2014) defines

Noncoercive paraphillias Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Noncoercive paraphillias - Essay Example When the item is not present it likely leads to erectile dysfunction. This must be causing distress in the individual’s life to be diagnosed. This disorder tends to start in adolescence and is usually chronic (DSM, 2000). This disorder involves cross dressing. Usually it is a male dressing in women’s clothing. While dressed as a woman he usually masturbates imagining himself as both partners in the sex act. This is not to be confused with a gender identity disorder. These individual prefer heterosexual relationships when they are not cross dressing. Generally the desire to cross dress diminishes with age or it may turn into gender dysphoria (2000). Sexual Masochism involved an individual being humiliated, beaten, bound or made to suffer in some while during sexual intercourse or masturbation. This is all done to the paraphiliac either by himself or by having a partner help perform the acts. One very dangerous behavior involved in this is hypoxyphilia which is depriving them self of oxygen with can and has caused death (2000) Sadism is when the paraphiliac derives sexual excitement form the psychological or physical suffering of a victim. Some individual with paraphilia are bothered by their sadistic fantasies which may happen during sexual activities but they do not act upon. These fantasies generally involve having complete control over their victim. At times a masochist and a sadist may join in consenting behaviors. Some can, however, perpetrate these fantasies upon others and when that happens they generally do not stop until caught (Weinstein & Rosen, 2004). It is thought that this behavior is related to childhood experience. It may also be related to a neruopsychosociological need for heightened arousal. It may be an escape from rigidly controlled everyday roles, a punishment for sexual activity or guilt relief. Domination in known to relieve feelings of inadequacy

The overall importance of the Millenium Development Goals project Essay

The overall importance of the Millenium Development Goals project - Essay Example The Millennium Summit was offered with the details of the Secretary General. The Millennium Forum set further contribution, which gathered delegates of more than 1000 non-governmental as well as civil society establishments from over 100 nations. The Forum gathered during May 2000 to wrap up a two year discussion procedure covering topics such as poverty eradication, ecological safeguard, constitutional rights and safety of the helpless. The sanction of the Millennium Development Goals Project was perhaps the most important result of the Millennium meeting. Within the area of harmony and defence, the implementation of the Brahimi account was perceived as appropriately preparing the association to achieve the authorizations provided by the Security Council (Feeny & Clarke, p. 173, 2009). â€Å"The Millennium Development Goals† (Tankut, p. 76, 2009) derived from the Millennium Declaration generated by the United Nations. The Declaration emphasizes that all human beings has the r ight to solemnity, independence, equal opportunity, an essential level of comfort that incorporates autonomy from starvation and aggression, and supports broad-mindedness as well as harmony. The Millennium Development Goals Project were prepared to ‘operationalize’ these plans by setting aims and signs for poverty decline with the intention of achieving the constitutional rights laid down in the Declaration on a set fifteen year timeline (Tankut, p. 76, 2009). Nonetheless, the Millennium Declaration was just part of the starting points of the Millennium Development Goals Programs. It came about from not only the United Nations but as well the â€Å"Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund† (Buvinic et al, p. 221, 2008). The setting took place by a sequence of UN-led conventions in the 1990s concentrating on concerns such as kids, diet, constitutional rights, women and others. On the side of t he Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, there was a disapproval regarding the fall of international Official Development Assistance by most important benefactors. With the beginning of the UN's 50th anniversary, then UN Secretary saw the requirement to deal with the number of advancement concerns. By this time, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development had already created its International Development Goals and it was shared with the UN's attempts during the World Bank's 2001 conference to shape the Millennium Development Goals Programs (United Nations - Halving Hunger, p. 82, 2005). The Millennium Development Goals Programs concentrate on three most important areas of Human progress: strengthening human capital, recovering infrastructure, and boosting communal, financial and political privileges with most of the focus heading in the direction of rising essential standards of living. The aims selected in the human capital focus take account of recov ering nourishment, healthcare and schooling. For the infrastructure focus, the aims take account of recovering infrastructure by means of increasing access to harmless drinking water, power and contemporary information and communication expertise; strengthening farm productivity by means of sustainable traditions; developing transportation infrastructure; and safeguarding the atmosphere (Spratt, p. 382, 2008). Finally, for the communal, financial as well as political rights focus, the aims t

Human Resource Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 5

Human Resource Management - Case Study Example The company that is discussed in the case study is the Oceanic Airways. The case is about the human resource management of the company and how the organization has failed to maintain profitability due to a massive failure in managing in its human resource. The case discusses the factors that have led the company to its downfall. The case also gives brief information on the airline industry of Asia. The main focus of the case is on Oceanic Airway’s HR practices. The case presents the failure of the HR department of Oceanic Airways due to many factors. The information about the practices of the company is given and the main players in the organization are also discussed with the comments of the employees. The case study also identifies many problems in the organizational structure of the company. The company is has seen any interference from the government and that is considered one of the main problems of the company. Communication gap was another problem identified. There are other factors like high fuel prices and other economic factors that have contributed to the downfall of the company. These factors are more or less uncontrollable for the organization. The main information is on the human resource management practices of the company and how different human resource department work in order to perform basic functions of recruiting, selecting, training and promoting. The details of how human resource department work is provided in the case. Human resource problems of the company are actually increasing with the day with more and more employees getting disgruntle about the situation. The company has to start to think about its practices and should revamp all its policies in order to satisfy employees and in turn make profits. Employees actually are a source of income for the company especially in times of uncertainty when the airline industry is facing intense competition and fuel prices are fluctuating like anything.

The Arab Spring Uprising Essay Example for Free

The Arab Spring Uprising Essay While each country fights for individual basic rights, which are usually area specific, there are a few rights every country is protesting against including government corruption, economic decline, unemployment and abject poverty. Role of Technology Many have speculated on the role of technology and the use of social media in the uprisings of the ‘Arab Spring’, with some going so far as to conjecture the role of technology in the revolutions’ communication and collaboration is unprecedented. West, 2011) The mostly educated and unemployed youth of these countries were at the heart of many of these conflicts and actively used social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to coordinate with fellow protestors in a quick and efficient fashion. (Democratist, 2011) The use of these social networks gave the protestors the ability to share times amp; locations with large groups instantly and allowed them to present a much more organized front than was previously imagined possible. International news sites like Al-Jazeera and Wikileaks provided protestors with the ability to acquire much needed outside news from media not owned by the country’s government and gave protestors the ability to communicate with the world about their trials and triumphs. Internet usage was not always freely allowed by these countries and in the midst of their revolution, President Mubarak’s government cut off internet accessibility throughout most of Egypt for a period of time. Tunisia After what is believed to have been the catalyst for the uprising known as ‘Arab Spring’, Tunisia’s own uprising began in December, 2010 after merchant, Mohamed Bouazizi, caught himself on fire in the middle of Sidi Bouzid to protest police corruption in the country. Not long after that, thousands of civilians began to take to the streets calling for the resignation of then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and democratic reform. According to Tunisian government records, approximately 223 people were killed as a direct result of the protests. After 28 days of protests and international media attention, President Ben Ali abdicated his power, fled the country to Saudi Arabia, and his government was removed from power shortly afterward. Since the revolution, the county has had its share of continued protests, held its first semi-democratic elections in over 20 years and has put an interim government into power. Egypt Formed shortly after the Tunisian uprising, Egypt’s own upheaval began on January 25th, 2011 and lasted a full 18 days before wrenching the autocratic President Mubarak and his government from power. During these 18 days, Egypt saw a flood of protests take place around the country and most notably within Cairo’s Tahrir Square; these protests quickly took a turn for the violent with protestors frequently ramping up between Mubarak supporters and the oppositions. Though Mubarak at first refused to step down from the presidency, after international pressure and an escalation of violent protests, he announced on February 10th that he would step down and hand over his presidency to the vice president. In the last year however, protests have continued at the perceived sluggishness of the new governing forces to bring much needed economic and social reforms to the country. Yemen Initially started as a protest over changes to the constitution, corruption and prevalent unemployment, Yemen’s revolution brought with it the ousting of President Saleh. Embattled President Saleh long faced opposition from his inner cabinet from as early as 2009 over governmental corruption, as well as poor social and economic conditions in the country. Protests started on January 27, 2011 and raged for over a year before, after an attempt on his life in June, 2011, President Saleh fled the country and Vice-President al-Hadi took over the governing of Yemen. In February of 2012, Saleh stepped aside and allowed the newly elected President Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi to maintain governance within the country. Amid the recent firings of the deposed President’s inner circle, Ali Abdullah Saleh denounced the revolutions taking place around the Arab world and suggested that peace may not be found easily in Yemen. (Associated Press, 2012) Libya What began as a protest over the conditions for civilian living and corruption, quickly gained steam and formed in a civil bloody war, pitting so-called rebels against those loyal to the current President Qaddafi. After more than 40 years of power, Qaddafi found himself at the helm of a battle for his very Presidency and the nation’s government. Citizens of Libya gained hope from the outcome of Tunisian revolution and six months after the first protests, Colonel Qaddafi was killed by rebel forces; the country was declared liberated from his reign not long after. The revolution in Libya was supported in part by a United States backed coalition which provided air support to the Libyan rebel forces and helped bring an end to the bloodshed and oppression. (The New York Times, 2012) Libya’s fight for independence and liberty, one of the bloodiest in recent memories, has not ended in peace for the Libyan people yet. In 2012, a solid and unifying government has yet to gain control and the country has been broken up into semi-autonomous states with militias governing individual areas. Similar Timing, Different Solutions While there are some similar themes which flow through each revolution, including the timing and as the prevalence of educated, yet unemployed youth protestors, the systems of governments being protested against and the solutions for change vary widely from country to country, as author Lisa Anderson reminds readers in Demystifying the Arab Spring (2011). Since Tunisia’s government, before the revolution, was made up, in large part, by relatives to ousted-President Ben Ali, the country has seen continued unrest as demands for a total change in regime continue and the new government will face virtually starting from scratch in terms of government officials. Egypt, while also carrying a tradition of familial government, in contrast to Tunisia has a powerful military which aided in the circumvention of power from Hosni Mubarak. In direct contrast to Tunisia and Egypt’s relatively smooth transitions from power, Libya became a country at the heart of a civil war with a leader who was determined not to lose power. After Qaddafi’s death, the country’s rebel led coalition has had to begin the process of rebuilding a country torn apart by a bloody war. In the past two year, the world has seen a string of uprisings, dubbed the ‘Arab Spring’, which are really unrelated as a whole and yet contingent upon one another. Without the success of Tunisia’s revolution would Libya, Egypt, or Yemen’s citizens risen up? Personally, I think so. But I also believe the revolutions have fueled one another and the successes and failures of some are felt by the many. While the ‘Arab Spring’ carries on, with countries like Bahrain and Syria still fighting for their freedom and for governmental change, it is easy to see there is a long road of recovery ahead for this region of the world. References Anderson, L. (2011, June).

Sociology, Germov and Smith

Sociology, Germov and Smith Introduction We often think of theory as somehow divorced from reality, but we actually make use of theories every day of our lives (Germov 2009, p. 25). In this assignment I will examine two theoretical perspectives. I will then discuss their similarities and differences in their approach to studying health and illness. I then aim to discover which perspective has greater contemporary relevance in todays society. The two theoretical perspectives I have chosen to investigate a structural functionalism and symbolic interactionism. I chose these two perspectives as I am interested in finding more information about them both, I would like to discover more information about how they relate to health and what perspective is has more relevance today. According to Germov (2009, pp. 26) A theory is an explanation of how things work and why things happen. They allow us to make sense of our world by showing us how certain facts are connected to one another to show us the answers to the how and why questions of life (Germov 2009, p. 26). Germov (2009, pp. 26) states: A theory attempts to simplify reality and generalise its common and related features relevant to the topic at hand. The sheer variety of social life and the diversity of human behaviour mean that there is no single sociological theory of everything. Many social theories have been developed over the years. There are seven main theoretical perspectives including structural functionalism, Marxism, Weberianism, symbolic interaction, feminism, contemporary modernism and post-structure/postmodernism (Germov 2009, p. 27). However I have chosen to only investigate two of these theories, functionalism and symbolic interactionism. Functionalism is the oldest and dominant theoretical perspective in sociology (McClelland, 2000). The key theorists for this perspective are Emile Durkeim and Robert Merton (Germov 2009, p. 27). Emile Durkheimis considered to be the father of sociology. He is credited with making sociology a science, and having made it part of the French academic curriculum as Science Sociale. Emile Durkheim gave many lectures, and published an impressive number of sociological studies during his lifetime. His lectures and studies were on subjects such as religion, suicide, and all aspects of society (emile-durkheim.com 2002). This perspective is built upon twin emphases: application of the scientific method to the objective social world and use of an analogy between the individual organism and society (McClelland, 2000). It studies the way social structures function to maintain stability and social order (Germov 2009, p. 27). Summary Structural-functionalism is a consensus theory, meaning that it sees society as built upon order, interrelation, and balance among parts as a means of maintaining the smooth functioning of the whole. Structural-Functionalism views shared standards and values as the basis of society, focuses on social order based on unspoken agreements between groups, and views social change as occurring in a slow and orderly fashion (Unc.edu 2004). Functionalists accept that change is sometimes necessary to correct social dysfunctions, but that it must occur slowly so that people and institutions can adapt without confusion (Unc.edu 2004). Structural Functionalism has made a number of main assumptions which focus on several levels of analysis society, community, individual and social unit. The assumptions include that societies and social units such as families and organisations are held together by orderliness and cooperation, societies work best when they function smoothly as an organism and that the system may be static or involved in an ordered process of change. Another assumption made by structural functionalism is that the nature of one part of the system has an impact on the form that the other parts can take. Also those external environments adapt to each other and more (Unc.edu 2004). Functionalism focuses on the MACRO level, meaning it looks at large-scale social institutions like society compared to looking at international networks such as the government. Structural functionalism pays little attention to individual agency and personality development. The functionalist analysis of health care has been mainly influenced by Talcott Parsons. He viewed the health of individuals as a necessary condition of a stable and ordered society. He conceived illness as a form of deviance meaning he viewed it as stopping people from carrying out various social roles which were essential to the functioning in society (Germov 2009, p. 30). In other words, when you are sick you are not being a productive member of society. The general idea is that the individual who has fallen ill is not only physically sick, but now adheres to the social role of being sick. The pathway to health was achieved through the sick role. Being Sick is not just a state of fact or condition, it contains customary rights and obligations based on the social norms that surround it. The theory outlined two rights of a sick person, the sick person is exempt from normal social roles and the sick person is not responsible for their condition. The obligations are that the sick person should try to get well and that the sick person should seek technically competent help and cooperate with the medical professional (Millon, Blaney Davis 1999, p. 446). An example of this is that students often have to supply a medical certificate to support their case for not performing their students roles of not turning up to class or submitting work on time. Symbolic interactionism is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. This perspective has a long intellectual history, beginning with the German sociologist and economist, Max Weber and the American philosopher, George H. Mead, both of whom emphasised the subjective meaning of human behaviour, the social process, and pragmatism (McClelland 2000). According to Smith (2001): Max Weber was born in 1864 and looked at sociology in terms of it being an extensive science of social action and in the beginning he would only focus on specific social contexts. Somewhat in contrast to this belief, he later believed that one of the most distinguishing characteristics of a society is their change or shift in motivation that is caused by structural or historical forces. Symbolic interactionists focus on agency and how people construct, give meaning and interpret their behaviour through interaction with others (Germov 2009, p. 33). The main assumption is that humans create reality through their actions and the meanings they give to them. Therefore, society is the cumulative effect of human action, interaction, and interpretation, and these are more significant that social structures, hence the focus of the perspective (Germov 2009, p. 33). For interactionists, humans are pragmatic actors who continually must adjust their behaviour to the actions of other individuals. We can adjust to these actions only because we are able to interpret them. Germov (2009, p. 33) states: Symbolic interationism provides a theoretical bridge between sociology and psychology by concentrating on a small-scale interaction and how this impacts on individuals identity or image of themselves. An example of the quote above is when someone is to receive a compliment regularly such as you are attractive and intelligent the reaction can impact on what you believe and how you behave. In contrast to functionalism which focuses on the MACRO level, symbolic interationism focuses on the MICRO theories meaning it looks more on individuals and their everyday interactions with others and small-scale social groups and organisations (Unc.edu 2004). Symbolic interactionism emphasises that health and illness are social constructions that vary over time and change between cultures. Meaning that what is considered an illness is socially defined and passes through a social lens that reflects the culture, politics, and morality of a particular society and a certain point in time (Germov 2009, p. 33). Therefore an illness in one culture may be considered a wellness in another culture. Also now in the 21st century a plump woman would be considered healthy where as a thin woman would most likely be seen as unhealthy (Anderson Taylor, p. 540). Both functionalism and symbolic interactionism are sociological theories. There are a wide variety of sociological theories which can be grouped together according to various criteria. One of the most important of these is the distinction between structural or macro perspectives and social action or micro perspectives. These perspectives are different as they approach the analysis of society in different measures. Functionalism is an example of a macro perspective because it analyses the way society as a whole fits together whereas symbolic interactionism is a micro perspective as it stresses the meaningfulness of human behaviour and denies that it is primarily determined by the structure of society (Langhoff 2002). I believe that the perspective with the most contemporary relevance is structural functionalism. Parsons views are correct in saying that the health of individuals is a necessary condition of a stable and ordered society. The sick role ask people to supply evidence when not being able to perform their normal social role. This has contemporary relevance as for example, in todays society if people are unable to work they are to supply a doctors certificate to prove they were deemed unfit to work and contribute to society. This is because as according to Parsons, illness disrupts the normal functioning of society; therefore it is important that the sick are encouraged to seek expert help so that they can return to performing their social role (Germov 2009, p. 30). Conclusion Furthermore, functionalism has contemporary relevance because of the rights and obligations stated before are true when discussing society today. If people are sick they are exempt from normal social roles and they are usually not responsible for their condition. The obligations are also true as when sick, it is looked upon that if the sick person is unable to perform their social role they should try to get well and that the sick person should seek expert help and cooperate with the medical professional. After investigating the theories of functionalism and symbolic interactionism it is clear that functionalism has more contemporary relevance in society today. However over time social theories change as society itself changes and new knowledge, ideas and capabilities emerge (Germov 2009, p. 39). Bessants and Watts 1999 study (cited in Germov 2009, p. 38) state that sociologists constantly hover between and in and out of different traditions, and specific social theories are not as neat or coherence as grouping then into theoretical perspectives implies. This meaning that sociologists tend to include a range of perspectives into a specific theory. This essay has focused on sex and gender and the nature vs. nurture concept and in doing so as assessed Freuds notion of anatomy is destiny. After gaining an understanding of the concepts associated with the nature vs. nurture concept it can be suggested through research that there is no evidence to prove that one concept is of greater significance to the development of a child. In saying this it can be concluded that Freuds notion of anatomy is destiny is still relevant today in society, however is not the underlying factor that contributes to the development of a child. It can now be suggested that although the nature theory is always going to contribute to the development of a child, more research is suggesting and offering evidence to believe that the nurture theory contributes significantly to the development of a child.

Women Entrepreneurship in SMEs in Iran

Women Entrepreneurship in SMEs in Iran It has been thought that Entrepreneurs, in general, are recognized by their success or their failure. However, it goes without saying that the nature of business venture that they undertake and the manner in which they handle their business, are the main factors that determine their relative success or, in fact, failure. Consequently, it is not too far-fetched to believe in the fact that such relative success could or in fact would depend on the type of business ventured into by an entrepreneur. It is even more relevant in case of women entrepreneurs as there are numerous factors that impact their ventures. They learn the nuances of business only after they start a particular venture. These factors could begin with social factors, gender differences, issues on equality as well their ability to run a business in a much dominated male environment. Nevertheless, in order to understand the true nature of women entrepreneurship, the types of businesses undertaken in Iran need to be studied. In fact, one can examine the women entrepreneurs for not only traditional businesses but also in modern businesses, which involve some amount of technical knowledge. Indeed, one needs to take into consideration the fact that Iran is a developing country, much like India, Malaysia or even Indonesia. As claimed by Ganeshan (2004), women entrepreneurs in India generally undertake three types of industrial enterprises: (1) entrepreneurs operating purely as subcontractor on raw materials provided by their customers; (2) manufacturers of items that are usually used by large scale units; and (3) manufacturers of consumer products which are directly sold in the market. Evidently, in Iran, women are also divided in such category. Statement of the Problem The main objective of this research was finding the reasons for starting a venture or a new enterprise and, subsequently, the dominant factors that influenced women to take up entrepreneurship. Studies have revealed that women became entrepreneurs due to various reasons classified as pull and push factors. Pull factors are those which encourage women to have an independent occupation. Under the influence of these factors, women entrepreneurs choose a profession as a challenge, adventure, with an urge to do something new. On the other hand, the push factors are those, which compel women to take up business enterprises to get over financial difficulties and responsibilities. Nevertheless, many women take to entrepreneurship to fulfil an urge for independence and creativity. The role of Government agencies and NGOs cannot be ignored. Women entrepreneurship is one of the key focus areas in the various policies for women development. Therefore, in this study, the researcher would like to examine the different reasons for Iranian women to start a new business venture and compare those reasons with the difficulties that they might face such as religious limitations such as the dress code for Iranian women imposed by the government and cultural constraints such as male supremacy that regards men as superior to women. These two main factors will be studied in more depth and details since many women in Iran have been pulled back from fulfilling their innate capabilities and potentials simply because they were women and in Iranian society they had to face different forms of cultural constraints such as male supremacy as well as religious limitations that could in theory and would in practice undermine the scope of their success. Research Questions Therefore, in order to conduct the following study, the researcher decided to narrow down the many aspects and parameters involved into three main factors mentioned above and formed the following research questions. Is there any relationship between cultural constraints such as male supremacy and the rate of success in women entrepreneurship? Is there any relationship between religious limitations such as the dress code for women and the rate of success in women entrepreneurship? Research Hypothesis Subsequently, the researcher transformed these research questions into research hypothesis so that the questions could be analyzed in a more scientific and hierarchical format. There is no relationship between cultural constraints such as male supremacy and the rate of success in women entrepreneurship. There is no relationship between religious limitations such as dress code and the rate of success in women entrepreneurship. Research Objective The objective of this study is to see if the results of the questionnaire given to 42 women entrepreneurs in Iran managing different forms of SMEs, whether in the textile industry or the cosmetic trade, has a statistically significant correlation within two paradigm of religious limitations and cultural constraints with regard to rate of their success which will be operationally defined and measured in their annual turnover, rise in sales and profit as well as capital enlargement. The researcher intends to see whether these factors felt by the entrepreneur that will be measured using a questionnaire simply based on their personal opinion has in fact influenced the success of their enterprise or not. Research Methodology The researcher will be conducting a descriptive research in a form of field study using surveys and questionnaire. The researcher will be interviewing 42 women entrepreneurs using a 36 item questionnaire that deals with their opinion regarding male supremacy in Iranian society as well as the difficulties they might have faced or at least they feared to face in Iran simply because they were women. Moreover, the questions will also deal with the religious limitations that they had to face working in Iran since the government in Tehran does and has imposed different forms of restriction on women such as the dress code that could be regarded, at least in theory, as a formidable constraint for many women entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the interviewees will be given a survey that is kept quite confidential regarding the company annual turnover, rise in the sales as well as capital enlargement in which all aims to conclude the rate of success. Nevertheless, for the sake of face validity, the survey will be taken in the second phase of the research so that the entrepreneurs response on their opinion regarding the limitations and restrictions that they might have faced would not be influenced by the survey since their response would be quite subjective by nature and any previous administration could or at least might have an impact on their responses. Finally, the researcher would be using SPSS software of version 17.0 to analyze the questionnaire. The researcher will be interested to see if there are any positive or even negative correlation in the factors studied in this research and, if yes, how statistically significant such correlation is at 0.05 level of significance. The researcher would like to see if the null-hypotheses would be rejected at 0.05 level of significance, in order to conclude that such factors do, in fact, influence the rate of success for women entrepreneurship. Chapter 2 Review of Literature 2.1 Introduction The 20th century brought many changes to the world, but rest assure that one of the changes that transformed our societies was the emergence of women as free thinkers and independent individuals who no longer seek the support of men to survive nor to succeed in the society. The beginning of the century triggered stardom in the women liberation front when they were able to obtain their God given rights to vote and participate in the democratic system of governess. Women were later asked to join the work force in farms and factories when men were struggling with two world wars. It was from then on that working women and entrepreneurship of women became an issue and for many an opportunity to see more women taking responsibility in the improvement of the economy and the industries of many developed and even in the later part of the century developing countries. Women entrepreneurship Very few would ever indulge themselves to understand the factors that would actually drive and ultimately allow a woman in todays world to risk all her money and property to embark on a business venture. Hematian (2011) believes that women have always been deprived of their right to self autonomy and self reliance for many reasons. First and foremost, she believes that it is because men have always feared the rise of women as leaders in the society as a threat to teir survival. The reason is that men have realized that women are more capable in managing; whether in the family or the local community, women have shown more capability, but they have felt reluctant to the lack of motivation. Rani (1996) believes that the key factor is motivation that is the engine for a woman to take such risk. This motivation is vital for a woman to become successful and the source of this motivation can either be intrinsic or extrinsic. Nevertheless, Rani (1996) outlines another factor apart from motivation which is ambition. The notion of ambition has been long argued with scholars as it is ambition that broadens the vision of people and makes life meaningful. It is in fact an index of ones own resourcefulness and it is the key factor in women entrepreneurship. what matters much for the development of a nation is not merely the people but their aspirations and means to reach their goals. It is needless to say that ambitions differ among individuals on the basis of their personal characteristics. Ambitions nourish the achievement, motivation and help bring economic growth and development. p. 75 Nevertheless, what seems to be quite intriguing is how motivation and ambition differs from a woman to another when it comes to her family background. Rani (1996) studied the many factors that influence the women ambition such as the educational status of the family as well as the occupational status of the family and realized that more women who were raised in educated families and whose fathers were entrepreneurs or worked at a managerial level were eager and ultimately successful in establishing their business. Rani (1996) concludes that the fact that women are more social individuals than men and in fact, a woman never considers herself alone, physically, socially or even economically, but in fact as a part of a the family, the family also seems to reciprocate this feeling at least in the case of women entrepreneurs. p. 82 Therefore, it is not too far-fetched to conclude that women entrepreneurs can easily be considered as the agents of social change. The governments would definitely prosper if they begin to guide women in the right direction toward economic independence, particularly through the path of entrepreneurship. This is simply due to the fact that women are widely affected by the environment, and feels a sense of belonging to it that when it is nourished in the right way, it can be more constructive than imagined. There is little doubt that supporting women in becoming more financially independent can bring about great changes for the world and prosperity for all since women are more prone to support and supply their fellow species. Constraints in women entrepreneurship Therefore, the entrepreneurship of women becomes the focal point of many research and studies who all wish to analyze the impact of women in the work force and understand the many factors that could affect women entrepreneurship. Many scholars have looked at this issue and they have claimed that women entrepreneurship is merely an isolated issue that could never be fully understood outside the social, cultural and even political realm. In her study, Jalbert (2000) asserts that becoming an entrepreneur is not simply a state but in fact, an evolution of encountering, assessing and reacting to a series of experiences, situations, and events produced by political, economical, social and cultural change. P. 23 Jalbert (2000) further on notifies the simple fact that there are certain constraints that could and in fact would most likely deprive women to participate in the work force, particularly as managers, let alone become successful entrepreneurs who would have an impact on the economy. She believes that there are certain cultural and social patterns that could hinder, limit and restrict women from fully participating in the work force as independent individuals and successful managers. Tiwara (2007) believes that these social and cultural constraints in the east are the main obstacles that stand between success and progress for most Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The men need to realize that male supremacy has deprived their communities of sustainable progress and such medieval ideologies need to be eradicated for their societies to begin blooming again. On the other hand, Manaie (2011) analyzes the situation in a comparative form between the east and the west and outlines a series of factors that could influence women entrepreneurships, more specifically in his country Iran. Primarily, he believes that the main issue is education and assert that in the west different forms of courses are provided to inform and enlighten students and future managers of the reality of women entrepreneurship and its features, whereas in the east and more specifically in Iran such awareness is never intended. Furthermore, he believes that the lack of training courses for women entrepreneurship has created a huge gap for women who intend to embark on such a journey not knowing the difficulties they might face as women managers in the future. Furthermore, Manaie (2011) believes that another key factor is motivation and the cultural context of the east has created a distinct feeling of reluctance for women to participate in the workforce as managers and leaders and presidents of companies and huge corporations. He strongly claims that such cultural issues has created an overwhelmingly upsetting situation for most women where they feel, as he puts it, discriminated and isolated among successful managers who are predominantly men and unwilling to share their exclusive masculine reign with the opposite sex whom they covertly feel superior to and regretfully feel disproportionally more powerful and intelligent towards. p. 14 Manaie (2011) then proposes a series of solutions that could improve the situation for women entrepreneurship in Iran. First of all, he believes that cultural awareness is the key to success and he asserts that the divine religion of Islam does not, in any form, comply with male supremacy in the work force. It is simply the duty of the male to supply and support the family, comprising of wife and children, within the context of the family. Nevertheless, in Islam women are free to own property, do business and even manage organizations. The best example is the prophets wife who was in fact a merchant or could even be called a women entrepreneur who ran and owned one of the most successful trading enterprises in the Arabian Peninsula at the time of her marriage to the prophet somewhat fourteen hundred years ago. Moreover, there must be Characteristic of women entrepreneurs Noticeably, one needs to analyze women entrepreneurship in the micro perspective as to what kind of women become involved in such tedious yet challenging profession of managing dozens and sometimes hundreds of men in a company or a factory. The main question is what kind of an individual, more precisely a woman, would be interested and in fact capable of becoming a manager and what are the qualities that are shared by most of these successful women entrepreneurs. Jalbert (2000) believes that most women entrepreneurs tend to be very motivated and as she puts it self-directed individuals. She further on believes that these women show a very high urge for control and ultimately success and accomplishment. p.23 In her research, Jalbert (2000) looked at the common characteristics that are shared by most successful women entrepreneurs and came to the conclusion that they all share four key personality traits. First and foremost, they all share the ability of communicative skills that enables an individual to, fully and could even be said efficiently, interact with their counterparts. Secondly, they all share the intuitive skill of initiation and decisiveness that makes managers who they are and what they can achieve. Thirdly, they have the consensus building ability to form coalitions as well as cooperation based on common interest and even common threats. Finally, and quite intriguingly, she asserts that they all have integrating skills that would allow an individual to prominently bind different people from different backgrounds and interests to share a common value and behave in uniform code of conduct. It is quite evident that as technology speeds up lives and the new age is now upon us, and therefore it is important to take time to reflect upon on what will obviously be one of the driving forces of the world economy in the new century. In fact, women are an emerging economic force that policymakers and economical experts cannot afford to ignore nor neglect. What are the implications of this for businesswomen throughout the world? How can womens business enterprises best channel this potential and maximize it to improve the status of women in the world economy? The worlds modern economy, and in fact democracy, depends on the participation of both genders. Askari (2010) believes that women have proven themselves to be an undeniable force in the progress of countries across the globe. She believes that during the past century four main factors have contributed to this blooming need for women to take part in the economy. First of all, she believes that the industrial revolution paved the way for women to enter farms and factories and begin working with men. Secondly, the social changes and the emergence of feminism gave women the identity and the recognition they needed to consolidate their position as decision makers and leaders in the economy. Thirdly, the cultural awareness and the weakening of male supremacy proved women can have even more success than men when working as managers and leaders and idea of the male supremacy was weakened and no longer a threat to women success. Nevertheless, Askari (2010) states that the most important factor that allowed women to participate more, and more productively in the economy was education and the vast scope of educated women that appeared in the world arena paved the way for successful women managers. In the global economy of the 21st century, international trade will be a key source of economic growth and development. Recent surveys conducted in many countries have revealed this fact, in which the National Foundation of Women Business Owners (NFWBO) has mentioned that women-owned firms involved in the global market have greater income, are more optimistic about the rate of success in their business outlook and are more focused on business expansion than women-owned firms that are to most extent domestically oriented. Joshi (2009) believes that womens business associations can and in fact should ensure that their members, whether large or small are equipped to obtain the rewards of moving into the international spectrum. In fact, it goes without saying that women must learn how to play the international trade game, and a world network of womens business associations can help them achieve this great goal. Joshi (2009) further on states that information technology can help identify these mentioned markets, provide industry information and spotlight trends about what the role of women in state economies can be or should be so that optimum results would be obtained. More information about women-owned business enterprises is deeply needed to force policymakers to realize that women are an economic force to be reckoned with. Part of this process is to document the economic significance of women-owned enterprises in order to establish a constructive dialogue. Indeed, what womens business organizations (WBOs) can provide may be summed up in three simple word; access, organization, and certainly advocacy. In some regions of the world, transformation to a market economy threatens to widen the gap of gender inequality and inevitably sexual discrimination. Furthermore, it is quite evident that such changes reflect a return to traditional norms and standards that relegated women to a secondary st atus. As countries become more democratic, gender inequalities lessen; thus, offering a more productive atmosphere for both sexes. Nevertheless, many argue that women are genuinely better managers than men in many aspects when given the opportunity. Hematian (2011) argues that the feminine side of women, and even in some cases in men, allows the manger to act more responsibly rather than irrationally when faced with difficulty. Dr. Hematian (2011) argues the psychological intriguing fact about women in general that is conformist rather than dis-conformist that exists in most men. The masculine feature of being rebellious blinds men from making concessions and that is the downfall of their decision making. Since, management, she states, is not about victory but reducing the cost of failure. p. 24 Women Entrepreneurship across the globe There is no doubt that a new generation is emerging and women from all four corners are the globe are taking part in the expansion of the world economy by their enthusiastic participation as well as their leading role in the management of different industrial and trade institutions across the globe. It might have been a dream or even a wild thought to believe that one day women even in as far places as Bangladesh can start their own businesses and become successful entrepreneurs but now we live in a world where that dream has come true as mentioned by many world figures including the noble prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus (2006) empowerment has come to the women of Bangladesh, even the poorest women in Bangladesh. Its tremendous. Its a dramatic change that has taken place. Women have access to money. They can now plan. They can now dream. Their children are in school. New communities are emerging. A new generation is emerging. On the other hand, one needs to understand that such success could and would never be achieved if the society does not recognize women as capable individuals who could stand on their own feet and have the capacity to succeed independently without any help or aid from their male counterpart. Men need to begin learning the notion of respect when it comes to women entrepreneurship and have the dignity and decency to honor and respect women who embark on such challenges to lead their own enterprise as former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice (2007) puts it quite well when she says, Respect for women is a prerequisite for success of countries in the modern world. In the dynamic 21st century no society can expect to nourish with half its people sitting on the sidelines, with no opportunity to develop their talents, to contribute to their economy or to play an equal part in the lives of their nations. In their well acclaimed research, Van Der Wees, C. Romijn, H. (1995) elaborate on the fact that womens business associations play a very essential role in identifying appropriate emerging sectors where women entrepreneurs can be prosperous as well as successful. In fact, the research indicated that the areas that are more probable to take off quickly during a nations market rejuvenation are delivery, transport, public relations, producing and consumer goods, and financial services. In this process, women business owners are innovators, job creators, and providers of economic security. Ultimately, female business owners will be recognized for who they are, what they do, and how significantly they impact the global economy. Change is afoot in the global economy and it is bearing a womans face. Quite intriguingly, worldwide, many women are entrepreneurs emerge from a persons creative mind and intuition into successful business ownership, and economic security that would benefit everyone. There is a simple truth that women bring integrity as well as commitment because they care about economic empowerment of the society as w whole, entrepreneurial development and innovation. Female entrepreneurs seek the professional and personal support that is found in business associations. Economic globalization has encouraged the expansion of female business ownership. The growing economic power and influence of women-owned businesses are changing the shape of the global economy, remarked Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, director of the UN Development Programs Human Development Report. On the other hand, Kollan (2009) strongly claims that the global impact of women entrepreneurs is only the beginning to gain the momentum it truly deserves. Across the world, the number of women business owners continues to women entrepreneurs in the world economy rise gradually. In fact, a recent United Nations report concluded that economic development, as a whole, is closely related to the advancement of women, in particular. In nations where women have advanced, economic growth has usually been steady. By contrast, in countries where women have been restricted, the economy has been stagnant and still struggling to develop, in the broad sense. According to the 1995 UN survey, two changes have occurred over the past 10 years in the enabling environment for women in the economy. One is the establishment of legal equality for women. The other is granting women equal access to education and training. Women entrepreneurs are significantly affecting the global economy. In a case study carried out by McCarthy, D., Puffer, S, Naumov A. (1994) the results revealed that women entrepreneurs play an important role in the entrepreneurial economy, both in their ability to create new jobs for themselves and to create jobs for others in their community. In fact, the results of the study showed that in Europe (both European Union countries and other European countries), estimates indicate that there exist more than 10 million self-employed women. In the United States 6.4 million self-employed women provide employment for 9.2 million people and create significant sales. Using the United States ratio between the number of employees and self-employment it may be estimated that employed women in surveyed European countries could employ around 15 million persons. Furthermore, it was discovered that self-employment represents one of the most important job opportunities for women. This seems to be a correct conclusion independent of what country or type of economy is observed. Self-employment represents an important job alternative for many women and perhaps especially for women in developing economies. It is also observed that in all countries women still represent a minority of those that start new firms, are self-employed, or are small business owner-managers. Women Entrepreneurship in Asia One needs to acknowledge the simple fact that women entrepreneurship has not been as well accepted and even welcomed in the east as it has been in the west. Nevertheless, one needs to understand that the east has been improving and the statistics regarding this is quite intriguing to analyze. For instance, in India there has been enormous energy put into the private sector to help women entrepreneurship and in some case more support has been allocated to the women entrepreneurs than their male counterpart to make sure that the initiative would give them an advantage. Tiwari (2007) believes that women entrepreneurs have had a very efficient as well as productive role in the enhancement of the Indian economy during the past decade. Nevertheless, there is an issue that, the social structures of today have prevented the balanced development of women along side with men. P. 31 Tiwari (2007) continues further on suggesting that as a remedy women should be given an advantage when embarking on business ventures. There are two streams of thoughts for the promotion of women entrepreneurship. First stream argue that women should be given higher priority and certainly the second argues that both men and women should be equally supported. The first view has been receiving more momentum in the Indian economy due to the fact that many politicians have now come to the conclusion that the women are more eager to take part in the improvement of the economy and by supporting them they could benefit both from their effort and their support in coming elections. In fact, different programs such as EDPs (Entrepreneurship Development Programs) are being carried out to meet just that scheme. Furthermore, Tiwari (2007) discovered that more women in India are participating in the three Es, namely being the Energy, Electronics and Engineering field. It is quite interesting to notify the fact that the new industrial policies of India have highlighted the need for special entrepreneurship programs for women entrepreneurs. This is simply designed by the administrations to enable and ultimately capable the women entrepreneurs to get a head start in their business ventures and be able to establish small-scale industries. India, as a whole, has well shown that when women are supported and motivated they can achieve much higher than their male counterparts and the integral approach from the government and non-government organization has been able to help them achieve that and it is the ongoing support of the system that has allowed them to do so well in the economy. On the other hand, Teoh (2007) states that women entrepreneurship in the Malaysia, a fast growing economy in the Southeast Asia region, has not been as significant as it could have been anticipated. The data in the research indicate that women accounted for only 7% of employers in the economically active population of Malaysia. Noticeably, it is quite unfortunate that the figure rose to only 8.5% six years later in 1990, and that is due to the fact that men still comprised the vast majority in employer status. However, Teoh (2007) believes that with all the constraints and slow progress there is a glimpse of hope since for the past ten years the government has put more emphasis on the creation and support for newly established SMEs who are struggling to grow their business. This is due to the fact that the government has well realized that the economy is best improved by supporting small businesses, and there are many women entrepreneurs who have the ideas, resources and recruitment capabilities to bring such capital back into the economy, women entrepreneurship has recently become an important pool of resources for Malaysias economic growth and personal prosperity. p.4 In the case of Malaysia, it is quite interesting to notify the fact that women account for about half of the total population, and about 36.7 percent of Malaysias total workforce of 10.9 million, with a significantly increasing representation at the professional, as well as the managerial and technical levels. In another study carried out women have been participating quite vigorously in the economy and the establishment of SMEs in the country. According to Normah (2006), the participation of women in Malaysias small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in 2003 was 1,122,000, or 36.8% of the total employment in SMEs which proves the fact that women, as much as men and even in some cases more enthusiastically, are becoming more and more involved in creation of jobs and helping the economy. Therefore, it might not be that stunning that the number of women entrepreneurs in Malaysia has increased so vigorously in the past thirty years due to the emphasis on industrialization by the state and the active governess, and growing interests in the private sector and the whole notion of privatization, self-employment and business-oriented employment that seems to be the key issue in h

Comparing Amy Tans The Joy Luck Club and The Woman Warrior Essay

Comparing The Joy Luck Club and The Woman Warrior  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Amy Tan's immensely popular novel, The Joy Luck Club explores the issues faced by first and second generation Chinese immigrants, particularly mothers and daughters. Although Tan's book is a work of fiction, many of the struggles it describes are echoed in Maxine Hong Kingston's autobiographical work, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. The pairs of mothers and daughters in both of these books find themselves separated along both cultural and generational lines. Among the barriers that must be overcome are those of language, beliefs and customs, and geographic loyalty. The gulf between these women is sadly acknowledged by Ying-ying St. Clair when she says of her daughter, Lena, "'All her life, I have watched her as though from another shore'" (Tan 242). Ultimately, it falls to the daughters, the second, divided generation, to bridge the gap of understanding and reconnect with their old world mothers. The Joy Luck Club begins with a fable that immediately highlights the importance of language in the immigrant story. It is the tale of a hopeful young woman traveling from China to America to begin a new life. She carries with her a swan, which she hopes to present to her American daughter someday. The language barrier is exposed when the woman's good wishes for her future child are defined by the idea that this daughter of an immigrant will never know the hardships endured by her mother because she will be born in America and will "speak only perfect American English" (Tan 18). However, things do not turn out exactly as planned for the young woman. Her lovely swan is confiscated by customs officials, and her treasured daughter, now an adult, does in... ...Strategies of Authorship in Asian America. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000. Huntley, E. D. Amy Tan : A Critical Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. New York: Vintage International, 1976. Soderstrom, Christina. "Maxine Hong Kingston." Voices From the Gaps: Women Writers of Color. University of Minnesota. 11 Apr. 2001 <http://voices.cla.umn.edu/authors/MaxineHongKingston.html>. Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Vintage, 1991. Tavernise, Peter. "Fasting of the Heart: Mother-Tradition and Sacred Systems in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club." The Joy Luck Club Page. 1994 Home page. 11 Apr. 2001 <http://mindspring.com/~petert/tan.htm>. Verschuur-Basse, Denyse. Chinese Women Speak. Trans. Elizabeth Rauch-Nolan. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996   

Theoretical Approaches to Speech Production :: Spreading Activation Theory SAT

Theoretical Approaches to Speech Production There are two main theories of Speech production, Spreading Activation Theory - SAT (Dell, 1986: Dell & O’Seaghdha, 1991) and Word- Form Encoding by Activation and Verification – WEAVER++ (Levelt et al., 1989: 1999). The SAT theory was devised by Dell (1986) then revised by Dell & O’Seaghda (1991). The theory works on a 4 level connectionist model: parallel and dynamic. The Semantic level is the meaning of what is going to be said. The Syntactic level is the grammatical structure of the words in the planned utterance The Morphological level is the morphemes (basic units of meaning of word forms) in the planned sentence. The Phonological level is the basic unit of sound within a sentence. In addition to the main structure of the SAT model a representation is formed at each level. Pre-Planning is more particular at the semantic level. There are categorical rules at each level, which impose constraints on item categories and category combination. The internal lexicon (dictionary) is considered to be a constructionist network it includes nodes for concepts, words, morphemes and phonemes. So when one node is activated it sends a message to activate all other nodes connected to it. The later computational model WEAVER++ was put forward by Levelt, Roelofs, and Meeyer (1999) derived from Lefvelt (1989). The model is based on the assumptions that there is a feed forward activation network spreading through the network and does not go back. There are 3 levels in the network the highest level of nodes represented are lexical the second level are lemmas which are abstract words from the mental lexicon and the lowest level are the nodes in support of morphemes the basic unit of meaning and phonemes. The network does not have any inhibitory links. The production of speech follows through the stages exactly serial. A word error will occur if the level of activity in the node does no match to the appropriate node higher up. There are 6 stages of processing in the WEAVER++ Theory 2 more than the SAT theory. First the Conceptual preparation stage where the lexical concepts are activated. Stage 2 comes the Lexical selection where an abstract word or lemma is Selected along with its syntactic features. The Morphological encoding is The basic word form derived from the lemma activated. Stage 5 is the Phonetic encoding is where the speech sounds are set. Articulation is the Final stage defines the way the word is pronounced.

The Effect of Humour in Galloway’s the Cellist of Sarajevo

People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Riddles and jokes have been told for centuries to make light of situations and to make people laugh. Humour is the tendency of particular experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. People are able to be amused, laugh, or smile at something funny, and therefore they are considered to have a sense of humour. To find something humourous depends on the person and their taste in humour and there are many instances when humour does not result in laughter because of the mood of the surroundings or the context. Humour is an emotion that enables us to experience joy even when faced with adversity. It can be seen that in Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo, humour is used in a dark way to lighten the mood. This is done so that the readers have glimpses of light in a dreary time. Humour helps people, in this case the characters, carry on their lives in times of adversity. Galloway uses the lives of Kenan and Dragan to exemplify how humour, in the slightest form, can make a dreary day a little more pleasant. Through examining the life of Kenan, a middle aged man, it will be proven that humour has an important role in his daily life. Kenan has the duty of carrying canisters to the brewery to bring clean, filtered water for his family and Mrs. Ristovski, the neighbour. Before the war, Kenan was a clerical assistant at an accounting firm. His journey to the brewery is very risky because at any point he may be shot; therefore, humour has a huge impact in the way Kenan presently lives his life. Before Kenan leaves his house his wife and him joke about their clothes: â€Å"Would you like me to get you some shoes?†¦ No, she says. But I’ll take a hat if you have time†¦ Of course, he says. I would assume you would like mink? † (Galloway, 26). At a time of war, fancy clothes will not benefit either of them, but he leaves his wife in a good mood. Amila and Kenan use light humour to make a dark situation a little easier to bear. Another example in which Kenan uses his humour to make his grey, dreary journey a little more pleasant is when he walks across an older man fishing for pigeons: â€Å"How’s the fishing today? Kenan asks, †¦ They’re biting well, the man says, †¦ Do you need a licence this time of year? e asks, smiling so the man understands it’s a joke† (Galloway, 64). Seeing the man fishing for pigeons was a brief distraction for Kenan and also a window of hope; with seeing the man, Kenan felt that if he could finish his mission of collecting water for his family, he could also fish for pigeons to help his family. The humour is light; it makes the reader pause, and makes the characters forget about th eir surroundings and just smile. Kenan made slight of the situations he faced so that he can smile, and make it seem that life will carry on with the war. Just as Kenan used humour in his life, Dragan, previously a baker does the same to fill the void of his missing son and wife who left on the last bus to Italy. Dragan now lives with his sister and her family, and to have his space he goes to collect bread from the bakery for the family. While on his journey he has seen many men and women running to cross roads so that the snipers have less probability of hitting them. Dragan likes to see the running as a game: â€Å"The man runs in a straight line. He’s fast. A new world record? Maybe. Perhaps they will have to notify the people at Guinness† (Galloway, 230). Dragan uses sarcasm to make an almost dangerous situation seem funny since the civilian has survived. Dragan likes to see things for what they are, and to make the most of a situation. There is no need to focus on the bad when there is also much to be grateful for. Just like Kenan, Dragan does face a lot of danger and hardships with dealing with the loss of his family, but his humour and sarcasm seem to help him push through and carry on with his life. Dragan uses his wit make it through the tough and challenging times, especially since he has no one by his side. Although Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo is about a devastating, tragic time in history, he manages to use humour in the characters to lighten the mood of the book. By examining how Kenan and Dragan use humour, it has been shown that humour assists in fighting adversity. No matter what situation the character was faced with, they still had their humour, and as long as their sense of humour was alive, their sense of hope would live. As the humour helps the characters in the novel, it also makes the readers have something to tone down the darkness and despair of reality of the war. All persons are different and have appeal to a different sense of humour, but as long as there is something to put a smile on one’s face, then there is something worth fighting for. Works Cited Galloway, Steven. The Cellist of Sarajevo. Toronto, Vintage Canada, 2008 â€Å"Humour. † Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n. d. Web. January 30, 2010

Sexual Motivation Paper

Although some people might not realize it, culture has a large impact on the motivation for sex and the different cultures have different values for this motivation. In America things like television, music, and clothing have progressed so much in the sexual category. Sex is thrown out there more than is used to be and is made to think its not a big deal. In some foreign countries such as India, sex is not flaunted and is defiantly not promoted publicly. Motivation for them is private and not advertised. In some European countries the culture consists of nudity as a normal thing and part of their culture.This might be motivation in America, but not in these European cultures because they see it daily. Religion and home life also have effects on sexual motivation for any country. Whether a strict society or one that promotes sexual acts, all culture has effect on sexual motivation. The cultural motivation for sex in America has changed over the past thirty years. Sex was not as much a publicly advertised thing. Television shows and especially movies in present day have gone from kissing scenes to full nudity sex scenes.These shows make it look like sex isn't a big deal so it motivates people to do it more often. An example movie would be The 40-Year Old Virgin. This movie is all about a guy trying to have sex and throughout the whole movie it has many scenes with nudity. To an american, especially a teen, would be a big motivation because nudity is not something our culture represents publicly. Music also has gone to singing about sex in detail which is also a motivation. The song â€Å"I Just Had Sex† says it all. The artist sings about sex and that would motivate people for sex.The reason for that is because music has not always been about things like sex so now when they hear new sexual songs its a motivation. Another example of American's sexual motivation would be fashion advertising. The way companies model a clothing brand or even a new perfume lin e are all mostly nude models or women and men in sexual ways. The Gucci Guilty perfume ad is a woman and a man looking like they are about to have sex. Advertisement even twenty years ago was not this sexual so this is why in American culture today has a great effect on sexual motivation.Times have changed in America and the culture is starting to have more and more effect on sexual motivation. Peer influence has a great motivation for you especially if all your peers are sexually active. In other countries the sexual motivation is different than the culture effects in America. For a country like India, their sexual motivation sometimes comes from ads you see on the street, but their country is more strict on pubic sex. The motivation does not come from women in reveling clothing because as a law the Indian women are not allowed to wear such clothes.Although sex is not as promoted in India like in America, young people still see more sexual sources than their parents. It is research ed that the majority of the young Indian people in present day have learned about sex by magazines, television, and billboards. The Indian government wants to take action and introduce sex education as part of a school curriculum because the young people are learning about the sex in a way that doesn't teach them the risks and consequences. Their culture tries to keep the public sexual motivation down and the knowledge up.

Personalities behind the civil rights movement

The Civil Rights Movement was primarily due to discrimination and racism against the African-Americans. It aimed at granting full civil and political rights and equality to all the Americans, regardless of race. This article looks into the earlier phase (1896-1954) of the many movements which constitute the Civil Rights Movements. The Civil Rights Movement would be nothing without the contributions of brave men and women towards the achievement of equal rights. These personalities and leaders made it possible to end slavery, segregation and unfair treatment to the oppressed. Even some of these people were victims themselves who struggled for freedom and justice. These leaders include: Mary McLeod Bethune, John Brown, Linda Brown, Ruby Bridges, Frederick Douglass, Medgar Evers, Marcus Garvey, Jesse Jackson, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Homer Plessy, Dred Scott, Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, Harrit Tubman and Malcolm X. Every one of these leaders has his/her own story to tell, own act of selflessness in order to see the better of the country. Bethune was an African American who became an advisor of the late Franklin D. Roosevelt and created an all black school so that black children can study to have good jobs later on and vote wisely; Brown helped in preventing Kansas from being a slave state and helped slaves in escaping from their captors; Linda Brown became famous for fighting the Board of Education of Topeka to help give all black children a good education; Bridges helped in ending segregation in her school. Douglass, once a slave, helped children to read and write and fought for freedom through the speeches he gave; Evers also fought for equality for the blacks in Mississippi; Garvey started the Back to America Movement, meant to help blacks me treated right; Jackson, one of the greatest Civil Rights leader, was the second black American to run for presidency, which he believed was a key to getting more political power for the blacks; and Lincoln played a big role by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which was a declaration of freedom for all slaves. These were just some of those who have great contributions during the Civil Rights Movement. Their primary goal, among others, was to see that every American has equal rights regardless of race or color. To do this, not just whites but blacks must be allowed to have education or to go to an all-whites school. This was important for the blacks because it is one ticket to a good job and future. Achieving this also shows equality in education between blacks and whites. The leaders also fought for the eradication of poverty among the blacks. During those times, their only purpose was being slaves to richer people in their own state. They have no right for freedom, for good jobs around the neighborhood, and for all the good things whites enjoy. The leaders have wanted economic independence for all. Another thing they saw worth fighting for was their right to vote. Many black persons were killed brutally just for encouraging blacks to vote. The whites see this as an insult to them because they think that the blacks have no business dealing with political activities. These leaders also wanted privileges be granted to blacks, especially when it comes to the places where blacks and whites are separated, such as the seating in the buses, bathrooms, housing and school. All these goals constitute social change. The leaders wanted to end the hardships that blacks shouldered everyday. They have also longed for freedom of speech. John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks can be considered great leaders during these times. Their contributions have made many changes in the way blacks were treated in different states. Kennedy was the only president to appoint blacks in different federal positions as a way to end racial discrimination. He issued the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to make way for equal treatments and rights. This act abolished the discrimination on buses. Whites and blacks alike can now sit wherever they want to. It abolished discrimination in housing. Before, blacks lived in the seedier parts of town. Only whites have the right to clean, better and richer areas. Kennedy’s Executive Order # 11063 ended this. The act also abolished discrimination in voting and education. King, on the other hand, also played an important role during the Civil Rights Movement. He believed in peaceful demonstrations and rallies, protests and marches to fight against Jim Crow Laws, which segregate blacks and whites. He wanted blacks to enjoy the same privileges as the whites such as voting. His leadership brought about changes and the Jim Crow was defeated. Blacks were able to enjoy the things that used to be denied them. Lastly, Parks became instrumental in sparking the Civil Rights Movement. She was arrested one night for refusing to give the seat to a white passenger in the bus. She was found guilty, and had to pay a fine. Although she lost the case, her arrest made way for the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted a year. Her lawyers then filed suit against the segregation, saying it was unconstitutional. This effort was not wasted when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Parks’ lawyers. The segregation on the buses was finally over. REFERENCE Payne, Charles M. (1995). I’ve Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle. Berkeley: University of California Press.