The Argument For Voluntary Motherhood - 1813 Words

This question got people thinking. Around the 1870’s a campaign began called â€Å"voluntary motherhood† which was a program suggesting that married couples should resist sexual activity for long periods of time to keep from having unwanted children. Some feminists during this time were pushing the campaign of â€Å"Voluntary Motherhood†. â€Å"Contesting† against the conservative party and their extreme beliefs became one of the most â€Å"powerful feminist movements†. The main problem was really that women did not always want to be mothers. Despite contrary belief, some women had no desire to bear children. Thus, the feminists argued â€Å"Voluntary Motherhood† and claimed it as their main slogan. This simply means that women who actually desire to be mothers†¦show more content†¦Really, this issue throughout most of its stages is nothing more than a conflict between social radicals and social conservatives. People seemed to be so frightened by the fact that women no longer wanted to be completely submissive to men and therefore continuing to birth numerous children, that they automatically assumed that women just wanted to run around and be promiscuous(Tone 148). One of the earliest waves of this movement began in 1870 ,which Tone describes as the â€Å"Victorian sexual system†(Tone 148). During this time, people of strong morale stated that the purpose of sexual â€Å"activity† for women is solely for reproduction. Many people could not believe that women would ever have any type of sexual desire that was unrelated to the desire to be a mother(Tone 148). And for those who did believe that women might have some sort of â€Å"sex drive†, they believed that it was directly related to the duty to satisfy their husbands(Tone148). Of course, men were one hundred percent entitled to having strong sexual desires and were in no way patronized for that. In fact, many married men would find sexua l pleasure outside of their marriages, with prostitutes and otherwise promiscuous ladies. Within the churches, preaches spoke of how women with sexual desires were â€Å"unwomanly† and that their only true desire should be that of domesticity and maternity. â€Å"Many forces to be mentioned later, were clearly at work in curbing fertility, but the powerShow MoreRelated Margit Stange’s Literary Criticism of Chopin’s The Awakening1350 Words   |  6 PagesStange evaluates The Awakening in the context of the feminist ideology of the late nineteenth century. Specifically, she argues that Edna is seeking what Chopin’s contemporaries denoted self-ownership, a notion that pivoted on sexual choice and â€Å"voluntary motherhood† (276). Stange makes a series of meaningful connections between Kate Chopin’s dramatization of Edna Pontellier’s â€Å"awakening† and the historical context of feminist thought that Stange believes influenced the novel. For example, she equatesRead More Margit Stange’s Literary Criticism of Chopin’s The Awakening808 Words   |  4 Pagesand Chopin’s thinking are Stange’s well-chosen references to the contemporary ideology that shapes Edna’s thinking and her choices. Stange argues that Edna is seeking the late-nineteenth-century conception of self-ownership, which pivots on â€Å"voluntary motherhood.† Edna’s awakening, her acquisition of self-determination, comes from identifying and re-distributing what she owns, which Stange argues is her body. For example, Edna’s skin indicates early in the novel her more complex relationship with herRead MoreThe World Is A Free Motherhood1176 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The most important force in the remaking of the world is a free motherhood.† This quote from Margaret Sanger highlights many first wave feminists views about the restrictions of motherhood, marriage, and household respon sibilities. Many women saw being a mother as a chore or as something out of their control. Sanger fought these restrictions through bringing birth control to the general public who suffered from poverty due to large families. Others, like Charlotte Perkins Gilman, wrote social critiquesRead MoreReproductive Rights as a Historical and Feminist Issue914 Words   |  4 Pagesinformation and availability go hand-in-hand to allow women the knowledge to make an informed decision about their body. In 1891, Harriot Stanton Blatch (daughter of famous Elizabeth Cady Stanton) spoke out about a new term â€Å"Voluntary Motherhood.† She claimed that the upheld idea of motherhood as the highest moral position woman should strive to achieve was a lie, and that women who mothered unwelcome children were scorned.[2] This creates another example of a double standard placed against women in societyRead MoreBeing A Woman Is More Than Biology1658 Words   |  7 Pagesthose needed by man. Hil l and Kelley stated â€Å"If there were no other way of promoting more perfect equality for women, an argument could perhaps be sustained taking these risks.† By this they mean that if there were no other way than for women to be subject to the exact same laws as men such as same wage earning, working in unsafe conditions, no resting days, etc†¦ that an argument could perhaps be sustained while taking these risks into consideration but they believe that there is another way of promotingRead MoreAn Honorable Woman By Deborah Sampson966 Words   |  4 Pagesrelationship with society was dependent on their relationship with their husbands. Nonetheless, the Revolution did heighten the status of many women. The idea of â€Å"republican motherhood† gave women the responsibility to educate and prepare future citizens. While this got rid of women’s direct involvement in politics, republican motherhood did promote the expansion of educational opportunities for wome n. It also encouraged the idea of â€Å"companionate marriage,† in which marriages were brought together by affectionRead MoreBirth Control : The Rise Of The Modern Woman1764 Words   |  8 Pageshave the freedom to express themselves or reach their goals as women(Friedman 7). Most women in this time period were not even able to dream because their time was completely occupied by child rearing and family duties(Friedman 7). One of Sanger’s arguments was that the poor women in America were not able to access the kind of birth control that more wealthy women were able to get from Europe. Sanger, thankfully, did not see that as fair(Friedman 8). In the year 1912, Margaret Sanger began educatingRead MoreEssay about A Gender Debate606 Words   |  3 Pagespeople at that time believed women should stay home. Mill argued that it was in a womens nature to choose the role of wife and mother (William Stafford, 1998). However, recent feminists have argued against such notions and challenge the idea that motherhood is the only meaningful occupation for women. They have developed a critique of the family, which claims family is: ...ideological confinement to the domestic sphere and that it institutionalizes heterosexuality and defines other forms of sexualityRead MoreThe Contagious Diseases Act Of Nineteenth Century Britain Sparked1476 Words   |  6 Pagesof course, been other feminist campaigns previously, but these Acts were particularly significant in providing further stimulus, and influencing later movements. But what was it about these Acts that caused such a reaction? There were two broad arguments that feminists reacted to: the blatant misogyny and double-standard that shaped British society, and the way these Acts seriously breached women’s civil rights. 1864 saw the first establishment of the Contagious Diseases Acts, prompted by militaryRead MoreAnalysis of Bells Opinion on Prostitution1609 Words   |  6 PagesStudent Network Resources Inc.  ©2003-2008 ________________________________________________________________________ Paper Topic: Since people have a right to determine what they can do with their bodies (e.g. surrogate motherhood), they should also have the right to sell their sexual services if they freely choose to do so. Although sex work has always received a lot of criticism from the society that we live in but according to Bell (2009) rather than looking as sex work as degrading

Weight Of A Nation Consequences Free Essays

In order to see proper as made the problem needs to be addressed and programs created to benefit the lifestyle f Americans. It was very interesting for me to see how much of an impact the Bugaboos He art Study has had on our nation. It was the only study of its kind that was able to monitor or obesity from young children into their adulthood lives. We will write a custom essay sample on Weight Of A Nation Consequences or any similar topic only for you Order Now Some of the statistics that shocked me were: children who are obese are eight times more likely to have heart disease as a n adult 77 percent of children who were obese remained obese as an adult h of society are able to maintain a healthy weight people who come from a lower socioeconomic status have higher obesity rat sees obesity increases asthma rates by 52 percent limited play space for children affects their overall health As I took the time to really think about obesity and what is means to America thought a lot about my family. Growing up we didn’t have the greatest socio anomic status. There were always challenges and struggles. As a result there are members w ho struggle with obesity within my family. I can look further back and can see the results of o exist generations in the past. This video really helped me to understand the many consequence s that occur due to obesity. Live that access to fast food just killing lifestyle in our nation. T here was a quote that really liked from the video. Order to make a change, it has to be a co and nation outreach for change. † I couldn’t agree more. In order to be able to see a change think that it needs to be targeted not only in communities but as a nation. Very go d video that opened my eyes to the reality of obesity. How to cite Weight Of A Nation Consequences, Papers

Did the British Empire Improve Lives in Africa free essay sample

Did the British Empire improve people’s lives in Africa? I will start off by defining the terms of this essay. ‘Improve’, in this context, means the African people’s lives developing and the standard of living getting better. The British Empire in Africa was vast. It included lands in North Africa, such as Egypt, much of West Africa, and huge territories in Southern and East Africa. British rule had a huge impact on the lives of millions of Africans. Before the British rule in Africa, African people were poor. They did not have proper towns, just little villages. They had no means of transport and no education. They had no or little knowledge about medications. It was merely uncivilized. The Scramble for Africa was the proliferation of conflicting Europeans claiming territory in Africa during the New Imperialism period, between 1876 and World War I in 1914. There were many causes for the Scramble for Africa. We will write a custom essay sample on Did the British Empire Improve Lives in Africa? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The main cause was economic. Africa was a country rich in natural resources and Europeans (including the British) wanted to gain the raw materials which Africa was full of. Africa had resources to offer such as rubber and copper and riches such as ivory, gold and diamonds which initially attracted European powers to colonise Africa and earn profits. European countries realised that by captivating African resources and riches they could establish trade with other countries for other materials and resources. Also, Europeans believed that the tropics had perfect weather for farming and growing cash crops such as cocoa in Ghana and tea and coffee in Kenya. However, it reached a point when nations grabbed land just to keep up with the others. The King of Belgium took a large area around the Congo River saying, â€Å"I did not want to miss a chance of getting a piece of this African cake. †The scramble for Africa was not beneficial to Africans as they were often exploited and disrespected. The slave trade soon followed. The slave trade was from 1600-1807. The Atlantic slave trade, was the trade of African people supplied to the colonies of the New World that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean. It was the British that developed the Atlantic slave system known as the ‘Triangular Trade’. African and Arab slave traders brought slaves to slave markets on the West African coast. They would then be bought by European slave traders. These slave traders bought goods from Europe which exchanged for the slaves. The slaves were then transported to the Americas on a journey known as the ‘Middle Passage’. Between 1700 and 1807, around 12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic. Roughly 15% of those transported died on the journey. The conditions on board the slave ships were horrific. Throughout the journey the slaves were chained together by their hands and feet and they were often kept below deck in the dark. In 1788, a slave ship called ‘The Brookes’ was carrying over 600 slaves from Africa to America. This was despite the fact that the ship was designed to carry only 451 passengers. However, the impact on slave trade was considerable. Ports such as Liverpool and Glasgow were created from the profits of the slave trade. However, the British were not the only benefiters from this. In Africa, the slave trade led to the creation of powerful West African kingdoms as there was only a small number of Africans that profited from selling slaves to Europeans. In 1807 the slave trade was abolished by the British Parliament as it was under increasing pressure from the abolitionist movement. It became illegal to buy and sell slaves, but people could still own them. An act making slavery illegal was passed in 1833 and it became a law on August 1st 1834. This improved African people’s lives by far. The British Empire was bad in many ways. It was built on vast ethnic cleansing, enslavement, enforced racial hierarchy, land theft and merciless exploitation. The British Empire also brought many improvements to Africa. The British educated the Africans by building schools, colleges, hospitals, roads and bridges. The British also developed Africa’s transport systems, by building railways and seaports. The British also raised political awareness in Africa and therefore, a new generation of black politicians was born. Even though the British’s motives were selfish and they built railways in order to ship the raw materials and riches out of Africa, it also benefited and civilized the native inhabitants (Africans). For example, the British invested in South Africa’s gold mines. They wanted the Africans to work and dig up the gold. Though the Africans were paid little or nothing, the British built hospitals, schools and houses for them, not because they wanted to help them, but because they had no other choice. In my opinion, I conclude that the British Empire did improve people’s lives in Africa, whether they had an intention to, or not. The African people did have to sacrifice their natural resources, but the British brought civilization and education to Africa. Though Africa is still poor now, it is much better, considering the state in which they lived before the British rule. bbc. co. uk/history

Literature Review Essays - Drinking Culture, Health, Neuroscience

Literature Review Kerrice Lawrence St. Mary's University College Most philosophers believe that behaviors are not inborn, but rather, developed by means of habits. Teaching imparts virtue , and it is believed that every child who is taught, including the bad ones, would be better than those that have never been taught. Bad behavior is associated with lack of education and low social status , while c ollege attendance is mos tly associated with self-improvement and upward mobility ( Parker-Pope, 2008) . However, f indings from different research studies tell a different story . Surprisingly, university/ college students are more likely to behave badly than their non-college-attending peers ( Parker-Pope, 2008) . P aper will give a critical review of research studies on the bad behaviors such as suicide, drugs, alcohol, health risks, and cannabis use of university/college students . Research by A r ria, O'Gr ady, Caldeira, Vincent, Wilcox and Wish (2009) states that s uicide is the second leading killer of college students and the third leading killer of youths aged 1 5 to 24 years. It accounts for approximately 1,100 student deaths annually (Arria et al., 2009). Suicide ideation is believed to be an important precursor to completed suicide and attempted suicide cases . The research was aimed at estimating the predictive ability of various suspected risk factors, their interactions on suicide ideation among college students , and the intervention . Specifically, the study's goals were to estimate the prevalence of suicide ideation among college students, and to develop a multi-dimensional explanatory model that explains college suicide ideati on. The study employed a face-to-face interview method. The results showed that depression is a clear risk factor for suicide ideation. Lack of social support was also a prominent risk factor for suicide ideation among college students. The study also found that parent-student relationships were very significant in suicide ideation among college students. The likelihood of suicide ideation increased with h igher levels of conflict with parents. Preventive factors identified included parental supervision, spending time together as a family, and family cohesion . The risk factors identified by most students included poor communication between students and parents, low parental approval, low perceived support, and family dysfunction. Besides family conflict, suicide ideation among college students is linked to lower family cohesion , higher emotional unavailab ility of the parents, and lower security in the students' current attachments to parents (Arria et al., 2009) . The study also linked suicide ideation among college students to social support , affective dysregulation, and other fac tors such as alcohol use disorders (AUD). This study, however, was limited to a single public university , thus the results may not be generalized to all students in other areas or i n small private universities or colleges. Besides, the study did not consider several factors that contribute to suicide ideation among college students. Such factors include stressful life events like troubled relationships and other personal, p rofessional, and academic problems , financial struggles, and family problems . Psychological disorders like anxiety have also been linked to suicide ideation among college students, though not included in this study. For most students, transition between adolescence and adulthood occurs during the university or college life. This life is characterized by high levels of stress as the students try to adjust to increased academic demands and new social environments. The social support networks also undergo drastic changes during this per iod, such as the separation from home and parents. P revious study by Arria et al. (2 009) used the interview method while Neighbors, Lee, Lewis, Fossos and Larimer (2007) use the survey approach to talk about bad behaviors . Neighbors et al. (2007) illustrated that h eavy alcohol consumption is a prevalent and problematic behavior among college students . About 40%-45% of college students in U.S. engage in heavy episodic drinking. The effects of heavy drinking among college students include academic problems, criminal behavior, injuries, unwanted sexual experiences, and deaths. This study was aimed at evaluating the relati ve contribution of social norms, drinking motives, demographics, and alcohol expectancies in predicting the alcohol consumption and the related problems among the heavy-drinking college students (Neighbors et al., 2007). The study employed a screening