How modern society changed women’s lives Essay

The position of women is often considered to have improved during the last few decades. There is, however, considerable debate as to the extent of change and the reasons for it. This essay will look at how women’s lives have changed in terms of employment, pay, education, household, sexuality and the state. I will conclude that the most important changes for women are in education, but that the basic pattern of inequality remains in most aspects of the social structure, from paid work to the household divisions of labour, from sexuality to violence. Ann Oakley (1981) has traced the changing status of women in British society from the eve of the Industrial Revolution to the 1970s. She claims that ‘the most important and enduring consequence of industrialization for women has been the emergence of the modern role of housewife as ‘the dominant mature feminine role’ Thus a combination of factors which included ideology, the banning of child labour, and restrictions of the employment of women, locked the majority of married women into the mother housewife role. This led to the idea of a ‘cornflake packet family’ where the male was the breadwinner, the wife was the housewife, and the family consisted of two children – a boy and a girl. The mother had an expressive role, while the father had an instrumental role of going out to work. The inequality, and the extent to which the different aspects of this are interconnected, mean that is some use the concept of patriarchy to describe this set of social relations. Patriarchy is a social system through which men dominate, exploit and oppress women. However, in recent decades, changes in the economy and society have altered the situation – several of these changes will be outlined below. One of the most important areas to look at for the changes in women’s lives is in terms of pay and employment relative to men. Women are less likely than men to be in paid employment, but the gap has closed steadily over recent decades. The proportion of those in employment who are women rose from 38.1% in 1971 to 49.6% in 1995. However, most of the increase in women’s employment has been in part time work. The proportion of women working part time has increased steadily, from 34% in 1971 to 47% in 1995. Women workers are concentrated within a very narrow range of occupational groups, although there have been some significant changes in this recently. Over 40% of full time women workers are to be found in clerical employment. In contrast, men are spread through a much wider range of occupations. Women are confined both to lower grade jobs (vertical segregations) and to different jobs (horizontal segregation). The pattern of segregation however has changed significantly over recent years. At the top end of the hierarchy the number and proportion of women in the managerial and professional grades have substantially increased. However, in the most powerful positions in public life, women continue to be seriously under-represented. Walby notes that in 1992 only 9.2 per cent of MPs were women, there were no women Chief Constables until the 1990s, and in 1994 only one in 25 High Court judges was a woman. In 1996, there was only one woman among 50 British ambassadors or heads of overseas mi ssions. Linda McDowell uses the theory of post-Fordism to understand changes in the labour market. This theory argues that businesses have moved away from mass production towards the flexible production of small batches of specialized products. In doing so, they employ a core of highly skilled workers who are capable of using their skills to produce a wide variety of products. Other work is carried out by part-time workers, or workers on short-term contracts, or is contracted out to other firms. McDowell argues that these changes are reflected in the increased use of part-time female labour and the reduction in the employment of males in full-time permanent jobs. But while it is clearly important to take account of changes in the labour market and the economy as a whole in order to understand the changing patterns of gender inequality, it is necessary to be cautious about basing an analysis on the theory of post foridsm. This theory has been heavily criticized on a number of grounds, and the work of Lovering and others suggests that post Fordism cannot be seen as a general trend that has affected all employers. A different explanation for the changing nature and pattern of women’s employment in countries such as Scandinavia has been the shift to state  policy. Talcott Parsons had proposed a functionalist explanation of women’s disadvantaged position in the labour market, which focused on the impact of the household. He argued that men get paid more because women’s domestic responsibilities adversely affect their involvement in paid work. However, in Scandinavia, there is a much greater public provision of childcare together with higher rates of female employment and a smaller wages gap between women and men. Thus changes to state policy can improve the nature and pattern of women’s employment. But has there been any change in women’s pay relative to men’s? The implementation of the Equal Pay Act between 1970 and 1975 reduced the wages gap a little. In 1970 women earned only 63% on men’s hourly rates, and only 55% of men’s gross weekly pay. In 1997, women working full time earned 81% of men’s hourly rate, but those women working part time only earned 59% of men’s hourly rates. Thus the size of the gap has been closing steadily for those working full time, but not for those working part time. It does seem therefore that the position of women in employment has transformed itself in recent years, though there remains considerable inequality and the picture is not one of simple progress. One area where there have been considerable changes for women’s lives has been in education. Education has seen a transformation of the position of girls and young women. In schools, not only has the traditional gender gap in examination performance been closed but girls have overtaken boys; while in higher education the gender gap is closing steadily. One reason for the change is the discrimination against women in education was made illegal in the 1875 Sex Discrimination Act. A further reason was the increase in the opportunities for women in the world after education as the labour market gradually opened up. These changes in education have potential implications for other aspects of gender relations – since access to good jobs as some relationship to educational qualifications, women might anticipate taking a higher proportion of top jobs. It may also have an impact on wages, in so far as lack of qualifications, rather than discrimination, was a reason for women†™s poor rates of pay. However, while girls are learning in new areas,  boys are not learning those subjects traditionally learned by women eg at present, only 15% of all boys do home economics. A further important issue to look at when considering the changing lives of women, is in the area of the household. The most striking change is the increased likelihood of families being formed of only mothers and children, which reflects to a large degree the large increase in divorce rates. The number of lone parents increased from 8% in 1981 to 21% in 1996, and the vast majority of these are women. One of the most significant features of one-parent families is their tendency to live in poverty, leading to many forms of social exclusion. The poverty largely results from the lack of a male income into the household, but is compounded by the lower propensity of lone mothers to be in employment as compared with married mothers. Changes in the welfare state are also important in that they have disproportionately affected women because more of them head single parent households and more live to pensionable age. Women in old age are thus particularly vulnerable to the risk of poverty. A further change in the household has been in attitudes towards housework. Men are now more likely to accept that women should not be responsible for all the housework. However, it does seem that while there has been a change in attitudes, this is not to a great degree played out in action. The UK is in contrast to some countries such as Sweden where there is more shared parenting and childcare is part of education for boys and girls. Changes in sexuality have been a further impact upon women’s lives. Giddens argued that there has been a ‘transformation of intimacy’ in recent years. It is widely suggested that women have made great advance towards equality with men in the area of sexuality. The sexual double standard, whereby non-marital sex was acceptable for men and not for women has reduced. Other changes include the much greater availability of contraception and safe abortion, which has made unwanted children much less likely. Furthermore, there has been greater acceptance of a wider range of sexual practices, such as gay and lesbian relationships. Feminist movements have also helped to change and shape women’s lives. The  1970s was the second wave of feminism in the twentieth century, the early one being instrumental in winning political citizenship for women. Many of the feminist ideas of the 1970s which had been considered outrageously radical when first expressed are now widely accepted. For instance, male violence is now recognized as a significant problem and the subject of serious discussion by the police as well as feminists. Equal pay is also an early feminist demand now accepted into mainstream policy initiatives such as Opportunity 2000. In Gender Transformations(1997), Walby reviews changes in patriarchy in the 1990s. Although she discovers plenty of evidence that patriarchal structures remain in place in Britain, she also finds evidence of important changes. In particular, she claims that there is evidence of a generational difference between older and younger women. Older women tend to be restricted by the constrains of private patriarchy, which was the dominant form of patriarchy in their early lives. They are likely to have few qualifications and therefore have limited opportunities in the labour market. Younger women, on the other hand, have benefited from some of the changes that have taken place. They are likely to benefit from increased qualifications and improved labour market opportunities. Walby thus points to polarization between the younger and older women, while convergence between younger women and men. In conclusion, there have been many changes in the transition to modernity, which have shaped women’s lives. While some of these changes have reduced gender inequality n recent years, especially in the field of education, the basic pattern of inequality remains in most aspects of the social structure, from paid work to the household divisions of labour, from sexuality to violence. This essay has pointed to many changes in women’s lives, but whether their lives have improved has been a matter of debate: Liberal feminists tend to see these changes as progress, while radical feminists tend to argue that little has changed and patriarchal domination remains firmly intact. Marxists usually claim that industrialization and the advent of capitalism led to a deterioration in the position of women and since the Industrial Revolution little has improved. Bibliography Mcdowell L ‘Father and Ford revisited: gender, class and employment change in the new millennium’ Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 2001 Walby Gender Transformations Abercrombie, Warde et al, ‘Contemporary British Society’ Haralambos and Holborn ‘Sociology’

Family Health Assessment Essay

Introduction Family is considered the natural and fundamental unit of the society. The family members make up the family as a structure. Family includes members of different age group from newborns to elders. The family’s activities and reactions influence the patterns of the family as a whole (Edelman, Kudzma, & Mandle 2014, p.2014). The ultimate goal of the nursing is to expedite the health of the family. Family health assessment defines the assessment of actual and potential problem of individual (Gordan 1994). The goal of nursing is giving direct and indirect care to the person and community in terms of assessment, diagnosis, nursing interventions, implementation and evaluation. Historically conceptual models are using to assess the family in nursing practice. Health assessment included with subjective and objective data. Here Gordan’s 11 functional health assessment patterns are using to assess this family. The Gordon’s functional assessment patterns are a valuable tool for assessing and evaluating the family’s traditional health patterns, and permitting the health care provider to look at the inside of the overall health of the particular family. Family Background The family I selected belongs to an African ethnic group. This essay discuss the health pattern and functions of Nyennoh’s family. This is a nuclear family with mother of age 32 father 34 and three children of age groups eleven years old boy, nine years old girl and five years old boy. Both of the parents are working, and splitting their days to taking care of the children. Mother is working as a nurse at the hospital for three days and father working as a respiratory therapist at the neighborhood hospital for  three days. They all going to neighborhood school. Among their three children nine year old girl is diagnosed with sickle cell anemia since her birth. They are Christians and true believers in God. â€Å"Values and Health perception means the level of the individual’s level of commitment to maintain health’’ (Gordon 1994). Read more:  Essays About Assess Individual in Health Care This particular family is very efficient to manage their day today living effectively regardless of the health issues. They both in health field, they know how to manage the condition and their perception of sickle cell anemia is excellent. Assessment of nutritional status is the intake of healthy eating and drinking pattern and adequate amount of healthy food. Types of food including the growth and development of the family and restrictions and concerns about their perception of health. They maintain healthy eating habits through having restrictions. Their main food items include vegetables, rice, fish and fruits. They are very attentive to balance their diet to prevent anemia as a family. Parents always encourage kids to eat healthy food and drink plenty of water to keep them healthy especially the girl with sickle cell anemia. Adequate rest and sleep is essential to maintain good health. Inadequate sleep may lead to physiological problem and psychological problems. A person should sleep average 6-8 hours at night. Nyennoh’s family has no sleep deprivation. They go to bed at 9 o’clock and get up 6 o’clock in the morning. They have a good sleeping pattern so they never use any medication to induce sleep. The elimination pattern is varies in individual. This family is not experiencing any bladder or bowel problems. There is no evidence of diarrhea or constipation in the family. Bowel movements and regularly in every day. Parents always take special attention to the children to avoid constipation especially girl with sickle cell anemia to prevent any cuts and bruises. To maintain the concept of health activity and exercise pattern are the effective indicator of individual’s life. This family is very active. They are very particular about activity and exercise. They go for walks everyday as a family 30 minutes in the neighborhood or park. The girl with sickle cell has some restrictions to away from vigorous activities to prevent any dehydration or joint pain or cuts or bruises. She is a very knowledgeable girl about her illness.

Vtiamin D Deficiency Developing, Implementing and Evaluating a Research Paper

Vtiamin D Deficiency Developing, Implementing and Evaluating a -Based Intervention - Research Paper Example The issue is aggravated with low levels of vitamin D. National Institute of Health (NIH) and the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) guidelines recommend that a 800 to 1000 IU daily supplement of vitamin D to maintain >30 nmg/L levels and this needs appropriate interventions as the need of the hour as practitioners and health care providers need to enhance their knowledge base on the harmful effects of vitamin D deficiency. II. Relevance to nursing and the value of the project to the advancement of nursing knowledge Patient concordance can be improved by effectively equipping the practitioners with relevant knowledge on the need for maintaining appropriate vitamin D levels. Lee (2001) observes that at least 50 percent of chronic diseases can be prevented, and health promotion is a major concern in preventing these all-cause diseases. Health promotion is defined as â€Å"combination of health education and related organizational, economic, and environmental supports for behav iour change of individuals† (Green and Kreuter, 1991, Lee, 2001) in which health education is the primary concern. Health education focuses on health behaviour which is central to health promotion and is found to affect at multiple levels through personal and interpersonal health behaviours (Lee, 2001). Health of an individual is perceived more as an additive process due to the influences of environment, physical and psychological factors as viewed by Nightingale. Further, health is not just the absence of disease but a multi-dimensional concept that is more relevant to the 21st century health concern. It is also the major concern regards nursing, apart from the other three nursing metaparadigms: person, environment and nursing. Being a self-standing concept in the field of nursing, health is promoted as a holistic process for adapting oneself to social, psychological and biological changes through goal-driven behaviour to implement the four health models described by Edelman and Mandle (2004): clinical, role performance, adaptive and eudaimonistic models (Lippincott and Lippincott, 2008). Health promotion enhances the concept of health and along with preventive paradigm, forms the basis for health belief model (HBM) and further, Pender’s health promotion (PHP) model. Many of the other models of nursing and health care are based on these two models. As nurses engage in complex functions like health education, assist, supervise or carry out medical treatments suggested by physicians, their role in health promotion becomes is crucial and is based primarily on PHP model. Nurses play a crucial role in â€Å"the process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health† (WHO, 1984, p5; Mackey, 2002, p4). III. Intervention: Analysis of Institution Unit X’s adherence to National Practice Guideline X within the past 6 months Describe selected intervention. Education training program as an effective intervention program is suggested for a target audience which includes practitioners, nurses, and other providers of health care. The nursing process is similar to the education process and involves the four stages: assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. PHP model focuses on four related aspects of intervention: inputs, outputs, activities and

Critical analysis worksheet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Critical analysis worksheet - Essay Example In this article the author looks at the information presented during the Iraq War. As the author alludes to, the American military is full of people with conflict of interests, not the least retired military officers. These officers are often sought for their opinion by national television networks. The reason why these ex-military men are wanted for expert opinion is because they may have operational insights or at least understand how the military works. The issue about using such experts is that they often present a view that has already been distorted by the American military. It can sometimes even be the case that these experts are duped themselves by misinformation. I would ask the author about why this fascination for publicly funded sports stadiums has recently come into focus. What were the factors that resulted in an upswing for sports stadiums being funded by the public? Another question I would ask the author has to do the effect that a sports team has on a city. Is a professional sports team necessary for a small city because it gives everyone a "feel-good" factor or has this explanation been blown out of proportion? I would ask the author why the military feels that it needs to feed information to the media, either through press releases or ex-military officers, in order to justify military efforts. Is it because the information is distorted or does the American public need convincing? Also, do the network cable channels need to take some responsibility for the appearance of these military experts? Whose job is it to vet these people or establish some basic facts before getting some opinions about an issue? I do agree with the main premise of the reading. The reason why I feel these authors are onto something is because while the benefits of having publicly funded sports stadiums are prominently displayed in the media and by local politicians, to my knowledge there has not been many

Supply Management Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Supply Management Discussion - Essay Example It is only when these processes become difficult to undertake the problem of managing comes within the related equations. What I can propose to the IT Vendor Management is to offer them solutions which will cut back on the delays that are happening within the fore of the department and thus the lags are cropping up for all the wrong reasons. There is reason enough to believe such a premise because it promises quite a lot of understanding and comprehension on the part of the Vendor Management policy decisions and the related undertakings. My role as Manager is magnanimous because it has to pinpoint the exact need which will ascertain as to how the Vendor Management processes would be completed, and before that there is a necessity that any predicaments that come about, like delays within the hiring process, are taken care of immediately. This will make sure that the anomalies within the Vendor Management system are resolved in an amiable fashion. 2 This scenario is a classical example of a company going haywire even though it has made a name for itself within the global markets. HP is such a big name within the printer industry that it has almost become generic. The people associate HP with printers of all sorts, sizes and types. This is the reason why HP is easily adopted by people from different regions of the world and without any hindrances coming to the fore. This is irrespective of the cultural and racial tangents that have been much discussed about. What is important to understand is the fact that the company is doing all it can to make sure that the Supply Chain operations are in line with the different departments which are working under the aegis of HP itself. This will enable HP to have a single-minded business philosophy – to make sure that HP’s products remain supreme more than anything else (New, 2011). Also this will set the ball rolling as far as comprehending how new technological innovations and inventions could easily be decipher ed by the people no matter where they live or what kind of computer (and technological) usage they have within their ranks. Every organization goes through such instances of organizational and cultural issues once in a while, and it is only natural for a Manager like me to take pains with worries of these sorts. What I need to do in the meanwhile is to make sure that the company remains steadfast on to its most basic goals and objectives, and that there are no hiccups within these realms at all. 3 As the National Sales Manager for this pharmaceutical company, I am completely in the loop for the upgrade towards iPad 2 which is a must-have as far as the sales force realms are concerned. They need to be assured that their sales-related tasks and undertakings will not be hampered if they stick to iPad for the meanwhile. However, it is quintessential that they are given a focus test group, which is similar to how they were tested when they were allotted the new iPads. Since the element o f criticality is attached with the provision of iPads and iPad 2s, it is important that I initiate the process of the focus test groups – the sooner the better it will be for the sake of the organization. Also the fact that there is a contract in place with the iPads, it will make the task of not only my own self but also the ones working under me and with me very easier. There would be lesser predicaments that will come to the fore once the sales force is given

Evaluation Of The Language Of Politics Book Essay

Evaluation Of The Language Of Politics Book - Essay Example The book gives various substantial examples of scholarly literature that maintain political languages' aspects as the most important element when using the language of politics. According to Michael, the influence on political thinking establishes politically naivety that closely establishes political philosophies and developments. Moreover, in the book, Michael argues that the importance of relevant language in politics is that it shapes various political views and beliefs that promote peaceful coexistence and development of philosophical, political ideas (Geis 5). The shaping of political factors using relevant language in politics promotes literacy levels among people in the society who embrace the importance of developments through the well-listened communicated language of politics. The book maintains that the use of scholarly literature evokes self-serving political leaders who know the interest of politics and language necessary in the society. Therefore, Michael gives various aspects associated with the shaping of politics as the importance of language used in politics that maintains societal literacy levels on politics as presented in the book, the language of Politics.The importance of the use of relevant language and politics engages aspects of political events and developments needed by experienced people in the society. Geis (4) argues that the use of appropriate language in a political field tolerates events that give meanings of languages with depicted developments.

What is the Muslim Brotherhood and why is it so popular in Egypt Essay

What is the Muslim Brotherhood and why is it so popular in Egypt - Essay Example It is worth mentioning in this context that the notion of Muslim Brotherhood has its roots in Egypt where it was founded as a pan Islamic religious and social movement by a group of activist Islamic scholars and teachers in the 20th century. Historical evidences reveal that the movement had been quite popular not only in Egypt but all around the world integrating more than two million Islamic members from various Islamic countries. To be noted, the movement was founded by an imam and a school teacher named Hassan al-Banna. According to the founder of the movement, i.e. Imam Hassan al-Banna, the main idea behind the initiation of the movement was to encourage the Islamic nature to dominate, rather than to get dominated by others. Although many experts all over the world believe that the organisation does not appreciate violence, it has many a times found cruised to have its linkage with Islamic terrorism (Tadros, 2012, pp. 1-15). It is in this context that the leaders of the Muslim Br otherhood attempts to advise its loyal followers to rescue Jerusalem from the dominance of Palestine which indicates a strong influence of historic event on the religious as well as social customers of the Muslim community in Egypt. This particular aspect however have been criticised to ignite the sense of terrorism among the followers of the organisation. It is further viewed that the organisation seeks to spread its teachings and ideologies all across the globe so that they can gain maximum number of followers which will in turn strengthen their power and influence over the world politics which has further been criticised as an aggressive political move covered with religious and social intentions. Apparently, the organisation works in every section of the society which includes schools, universities and professional offices among others. This aspect concedes with the aim of the organisation which searches for commendable position in all aspects of life of the Islamic people with special emphasis on the Arabic countries (Tadros, 2012; Leiken & Brooke, 2007, pp. 107-121). Correspondingly, the aim of this paper is to discuss about the Muslim Brotherhood in detail with respect to its popularity in Egypt. Discussion The Muslim Brotherhood From a generalised perspective, Muslim Brotherhood is regarded as a social and religious organisation that has its presence in various Islamic and non-Islamic nations of the world. It seeks to operate and show its influence in various aspects of the day to day life of people belonging to the Islam community, integrating all the Muslim like-minded people from around the world to regain the historical identity and a respectful position of Muslim society in the modern world (Aldridge, 2013, pp. 1-75). However, the concept of Muslim Brotherhood has a broader dimension. In order to have an in depth understanding of the same a detailed study is required. Hasan al-Banna was the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt in th e year 1928. He not only acted as a leader of the religious as well as political movement but also worked as a guide to the Muslim community motivating his followers to regain the dominance and social respect in the world. The organisation can further be observed to have been built on the notion that by integrating the Muslim community people, referred as Muslim brothers, the organisation could effectively work towards strengthening the presence