The Kinship System of Yanomamo Culture Assignment

The Kinship System of Yanomamo Culture - Assignment Example This system of kinship is based on bifurcate merging. In this system of kinship, though the institution of marriage remains closely confined to the family, it sternly prohibits marriages between parallel cousins. It is just because the Yanomamo people tend to hold kinship so dear that they tend to form groups and manage intergroup relationships by resorting to alliances and warfare (Simpson & Kenrick, 1997). The Yanomamo people tend to organize themselves locally relying on the patrilinial decent. The depth of the lineage groups seldom extends more than three adult generations. Individuals are not allowed to mention the names of their dead as it is considered to be inauspicious (Simpson & Kenrick, 1997). In a practical context it means that the name of ancestors and the human ties associated with them are soon forgotten. Marriage to more than one woman is considered by the males to be a symbol of social status. The social life is woven around striking relationships between groups either through alliances or warfare. Both these methods of striking relationships involve the exchange of women between groups and it is mostly this exchange that gives way to violence and warfare. The Marriages alliances involve a marriage between two groups belonging to two different tribes. In the Yanomamo system of kinship, the individual loyalty and allegiance of a tribe member automatically passes on to the tribe in which that member marries (Simpson & Kenrick, 1997). Perhaps Yanomamo adhere to this kinship going by the need for the males to help tribes survive in an environment marked by scarce resources. Yanomamo people also tend to forge feasting alliances with tribes that are not united by a marriage, but are also not divided by aggression and war. In a broader context the Yanomamo idea of kinship originates from their philosophy that considers nature to be a unified and sacred force, marked by its power to

Analytical Study on the Issues Related to Gun Control Essay

Analytical Study on the Issues Related to Gun Control - Essay Example The issue of gun control is augmented with the present tendencies of using handguns by the civilians and students, who cause for much havoc among the people. The sniper shootings in America have made a deep threat among the civilians in America. In such circumstances it is worthwhile to redefine the American democratic system with its application in the present issue. Therefore, this essay tries to analyze the issue of gun control with the democratic features of pluralism, stratificationism and hyper pluralism. The Issues related to Gun control in America show a specialty of the democratic aspect, that is, Pluralism. There are different notions regarding gun control in America. The BBC reports, â€Å"Americans now appear equally split between urban liberals who want gun control and tough environmental controls, and country dwellers who oppose abortion on demand and support hunting with guns† (BBC News). Some of the states like California, Illinois, New York and the District of Columbia support some sort of control in gun rights. The states like Washington, Florida and Texas stand for the gun rights. In the states like Alaska and Arizona the concealed carry laws are so simple and so everyone can have guns. The gun control has been viewed differently by Democratic Party and Republican Party. The Democratic Party stands for the gun control measures whereas the Republican Party stands against the gun control (BBC News). So it can be stated that the issue of gun control is a partisan issue. Some states, some groups and some political parties support gun control whereas some, on the other side, critically object it. The gun control in the country remains to be a sharply attacked by the gun lobby prevalent in America. NRA (National Rifle Association) is the most powerful lobby arguing for the citizens’ rights of gun. It adheres to the Bill of Rights as put forward by the 2nd Amendment which ensures the citizens to possess gun. The gun lobbyists in Americ a stand as a supreme interest group in America projecting the dominance of interest groups in American democracy. The bill on gun control was presented in the different Houses of the state but was denied support by taking the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution which states that every American citizen has the right to protect his/her life from others, and therefore, the Constitution gives him the right to bear arms. This constitutional right could not be changed even in the modern scenario due to the influence of the gun lobbyists. The Second Amendment of American Constitution stands for the rights for guns. It ensures the citizens’ rights to own the firearms. The modern incidents of mass killing by the firearms have made the people to rethink about the excessive use of guns in America. The mass killing 32 innocent people on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University at Virginia, and the similar incidents at various parts of the country, have put the stat es to regulate on the use of guns by the civilians. The proposal of the states to ban gun was thoroughly failed by the influence of gun lobbies in America. In America around 145 groups are arguing for the gun culture and NRA is having the most influence of these all. The Pluralistic aspect of democracy has excessively played its role on this issue. Pluralism is a

Business ethic reflective essay Essay Example for Free

Business ethic reflective essay Essay It was probably in 2010, I was an agent in an assurance company. My duties was managing and servicing our organization’s existing corporate client portfolio that has been assigned to me. One of our company product called Saving Plan what pay an amount of money monthly or yearly up to 6 years, the annual will received 6% interest and consumer can take their money back after they complete the 6 years payment. As we know, every product might have some weaknesses while it benefits us. It is commonly that company or sales man will try to minimize the weakness of product while they promote it. But what I did wrong was that I did never mention the product weakness to customer that they will only get the best return (interest) after 25 years when they completed payment for 6 years saving plan, what I thought the saving plan as a force to consumer get use to save money and whoever buy the saving plan they will always get their money back at the end if they complete the payment. My concern was close cases at that time. In fact, It was kind of ethic problem when I promoted products but did not let customers understand all about it. Once I heard complain from customer I felt so guilty of myself that I had hidden from my customers. I felt shame to face my customer. I felt that was unfair to my customers and I used customer’s belief to gain my own profit. I thought it will not have any lose for my customers even I did not tell the limitation of the product cause after customer complete the saving plan, they could take their money back at anytime, but customers will only get their return of this investment after 25 years when policy mature. As it tend to depend on the economy, the saving plan may not make profit for customers. This lesson has taught me how to be an ethic person. We could put ourselves as consumers that we will always wish to know the truth and we have the right. I will never do this again in my life, trust is very important and to build a trust will always get back our customers. I would like to explain and analysis all to my customer. I wish I can be a ethic person wherever I am and whatever I do.

Death Penalty: Capital Punishment is State Sanctioned Murder Essays

Capital Punishment is State Sanctioned Murder      Ã‚   Old Sparky and Gruesome Gertie (affectionate names for the electric chair) have taken the lives of many, even the innocent (Finnerty 18). They are prejudiced and lack compassion. However, many Americans believe that they represent justice. Capital punishment does not represent justice, but vengeance and hate. Among the 7,000 people estimated to have been killed in the United States between 1900 and 1985, at least 23 were innocent (Finnerty 18). In at least 8 of 261 executions performed since 1976, something went wrong; for example, the executioner couldn't find a good vein, or the first jolt of electricity failed to do the trick (Finnerty 18). An innocent person, let alone 23 that were wrongfully executed might seem insignificant to one. Just for a moment think if that one person was your brother or father, and they were innocent! Would you then see that the American judicial system is imperfect, and that capital punishment should be abolished? Capital punishment is wrong an d should be abolished because of its imperfections, high cost, and immoral existence. Many people argue that we should keep practicing capital punishment because it would be a waste of money to sentence someone to life in prison. Facts show that it is more expensive to give someone the death sentence than life in prison. The cost of state execution is up to three times the cost of lifetime imprisonment (Dority 37). So many people are convinced that it is cheaper to practice capital punishment, but those people are not aware of the facts to be presented. If someone is interested in saving "tax payer's dollars," it is much cheaper to sentence someone to life in prison. The reason that life imprisonment... ...dical treatment that they deserve, not death. Capital punishment is an ineffective deterrent that only demonstrates violence for society (Dority 37). We are teaching society that it is acceptable to kill. We are saying that revenge is justifiable. Racism is no stranger to capital punishment. The death penalty wants to save as many white people as it can, and kill as many black people as possible. Violence begets violence, and murder begets murder. The violent crimes that capital punishment attempts to control will only increase if we, the people, do not demand moral alternatives to state sanctioned murder. Works Cited Dority, Barbara. "Not in My Name." The Humanist March/April 1993: 36-37. Finnerty, Amy. "Sunday: Six Facts." The New York Times Magazine 5 February 1995: 18. Monagle, Katie. "The Death Penalty." Update 4 September 1992: 13-15.

Black Feminism

Black Feminism â€Å"Feminism in general  is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending  equal  political, economic, and social rights for women. † Black Feminism is a strand of feminist thought, which highlights the manifold disadvantages of gender, class and race that shape the experiences of nonwhite women. Black feminist organizations emerged during the 1970s and they had to face manifold difficulties from both the white feminist and Black Nationalist political organizations they were confronting with.Black feminists had rejected the idea of a single unified gender oppression that faced evenly by all women, and argued that early feminist analysis reflected the specific concerns of white, middle-class women. One of the theories that evolved out of the Black feminist movement was Alice Walker's Womanism. Alice Walker and other womanists pointed out that black woman experienced a different and more intense kind of oppression from that of white women. They point out the emergence black feminism after earlier movements led by white middle-class women which they regard as having largely ignored oppression based on race and class.Patricia Hill Collins defined Black feminism, in Black Feminist Thought (1991), as including â€Å"women who theorize the experiences and ideas shared by ordinary black women that provide a unique angle of vision on self, community, and society†. Different critics gave their opinion regarding â€Å"Black Feminism† , some of them tried to justify their stand as the â€Å"Black Feminists†, some elaborated the purposes of this movement, some discussed the themes that work in this theory. They stated such as;Women of color have never been placed on a pedestal and protected the way white women are, and although women of color are thought of as a voiceless people, the stereotypes used to oppress them, â€Å"black matriarch†, â€Å"bitch† and â€Å"sapp hire†, contradict that notion (Hudson-Weems 211-213). In establishing why Black Feminism is relevant, it must be established that women of color have been thrice victimized: by racism, sexism and economic exploitation. These three oppressive forces affect women of color simultaneously and equally relentlessly (Gordon 166).Black Feminism is the acknowledgement that women of color have been oppressed by sexism and racism, that there was a failure to recognize and address these issues in the Feminist Movement and the Black Liberation Movement, and that women of color have their own agenda that neither movement can take on. Black Feminism focuses on the experiences needs and desires of women of color (Aldridge 193). The goal of Black Feminism is to create a criterion by which women of color can assess their realities, both in thought and in action (Hudson-Weems 210).Although it is contested that all struggles are the same, placing all women under feminism is the epitome of racist arrogance and domination, suggesting that white women’s experience is the standard and authority above any other experience (Hudson-Weems 209). Basically three characteristic themes are found in Black Feminist thought: †¢ Black women's self-definition and self-valuation; †¢ The interlocking nature of oppression; and †¢ The importance of Afro-American women's culture.We find the themes of Black Feminism like repression of women, self actualization, self-definition, self-valuation, political suppression and kind of racial, class and gender biases towards the women of Black race, in the stories of â€Å"Lice†, â€Å"Veil† and â€Å"Independence Day†. â€Å"Lice† is really a true illustration of deprivation of women because of their gender, kind of gender oppression and the stereotypical view of women in Black community that women are only to get married, have sex, and to devote their whole life for the family. There is a woman in the st ory, named â€Å"Sissie† a â€Å"voiceless creature†, as stereotypical view of Black Feminism is.In the Black community it is considered that if you are a woman you just have to perform certain roles other than that you have no identity of your own, as in the story the condition of sissie in Black community truly explained this stereotype â€Å"an ordinary wife with a normal marriage, ignored, double-timed, a harassed mother, a low paid teacher in a rotten third world education system. Black women have no personal identity without the male entity, as the words of sisse’s mother when sissie is going to married â€Å"Now our daughter has become a proper lady†. ith marriage comes a lot of responsibilities and she is left with no self-identity and have to behave like a Lady and then her mother thinks like a typical mother that she must stop calling her daughter ‘baby’ now because ‘†¦she was a grand old lady of five years’. In h er autobiography â€Å"Anne Moody†, brings the idea of black feminism into account, stating, â€Å"We were told in the same breath to be quiet both for the sake of being ‘ladylike' and take us less objectionable in the eyes of white people. † She is deprived of her wants and needs but in this situation as well her mother advises her to ‘remember counting her blessings’.She is having a husband who is legally and fully married to her but most of the time’ she also knows without looking that her husband was not occupying his side of the bed’’. She has no right to ask her husband because she is supposed to handle the households, not to look into the doings of her husband. As it is against the norms of patriarchal society, in which she is living. The depravity of the Black women also proves in the fact that their marriages are dependent on their pregnancies â€Å"Their marriages depended on it. Their feminity. Their humanity. † Third phase which depicts the darker aspect of black feminism is that of sexual oppression. Women are sexually harassed by male, as in the story Sissie is representative of the working women community, that how her Boss demanded sexual favor as a substitute for her promotion. Another blessing is mentioned that it is Saturday, which means no school but this Saturday means nothing for her as she has much to do at home on the free day, because there is no concept of rest for a woman even on the holiday. There is a car in her house which is her husband’s.She has no right regarding the car in spite of having investment in the car. Here again comes one of the major themes of Black Feminist thought that is of self valuation that a woman has no self possession. The very title of the story â€Å"Lice† is symbolic in the sense that apparently lice are in her daughter’s hair but symbolically these are the parasites that Black women have in their life in the form of biases, gender subjugation and typical concept about women as small creatures. â€Å"The Veil† refers to the theme of realization, self actualization in the Black feminism theory.It is the realization of woman after the real experience of having sex. The story is based on relationships and is being told by a woman that how a woman presuppose about having sex as an enjoyable activity but later on she realizes the truth that this enjoyment doesn’t last for long and at the end there remains nothing. Basically this story embodies the objectification of women and glorification of sex but sudden realization of the true fact, which is an important concept in Black Feminism that women of Black race starting realizing or identifying the things.As â€Å"His eyes are the only part of his body with which I have real contact. They dispel strangeness and ugliness and make my relationship with him real in the midst of numerous unreal ones† it is because in the beginning they used to spend time talking and sharing their interests and wants and this communication was carried out through eye contact as well as it was ‘a sort of meeting of minds, and gratifying’ but this relationship now lacks communication that’s what makes them feel strangers to each other and a number of questions arise in her mind that ‘whether it was the body’s desire for contact with another body? And this idea gives vent to ‘a violent desire’ to find out how ‘the meeting of my body with his could be like’. This lust for the fulfillment of bodily desires ‘draws me into loveless contacts simply in order to satisfy that curiosity’ and she experiences a kind of repulsion between their bodies except ‘in one situation – that of love. ’Then she thinks about the cause behind this repulsion and comes to know that ‘man worships his masculinity, so woman repulses him’ and the only way to get rid of this repulsion is ‘the victory of love over the male deity’ but she has no idea what it is and once again she is encountered by certain thoughts such as ‘Is the relationship between us love? ’ and ‘s love simply a fairy tale,†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ but suddenly a bitter realization stuck in her mind that ‘All the fairy tales come to an end and the veil fell from each of them. and ‘each time a veil fell,†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ she cries for ‘the beautiful illusion which was lost. ’ Then there comes a time when they both are having sex she notices that his body reveals ‘strength, youthfulness, cleanliness and good eating’ but later on when he is dressed and getting ready to leave ‘his face looks tired, as though he’s suddenly grown old and weary. ’ She experiences mixed ‘feelings of joy mingle with strange feelings of sadness’ as the man has left her alone once again.When ‘the effect of wine h as gone and the veil has lifted from my eyes’, she looks into the mirror as â€Å"I am about to walk away from the mirror, like every other time, to trample on the fallen veil at my feet and stamp on it with new found strength. But this time I do not leave my place. I bend down, pick up the veil from the ground and replace it once again on my face†. The story is all about the feelings of a woman that how she feels when the fantasy world or the glorified picture of having sexual pleasure turned into the reality. A veil of illusion is now dropped away from her eyes.But at the end of the day, she has to put up that veil over her face and pretend to be like as usual, because she is anticipated to behave like this. The story ‘Independence Day’ written by â€Å"Yvonne Vera† is a representation of political suppression of women of Black Color. This story refers to the variations in definition of independence according to men and women. In the story there i s a man who is watching Independence celebrations on television and he decides that ‘he was going to celebrate Independence properly; with cold beer and a woman. On the other hand, the celebrations are going on ‘the Prince and the new Prime Minister walked to the large flag pole in the middle of the stadium. ’ it is midnight and on one hand it is ‘the magic time of change’ whereas on the other side, the man is busy having sex with that prostitute. The whole country got independence but what about the woman who is still the slave of others and has to live her life the way she is told to. Although they were going to enter in a new era but it makes no difference for the women because there are specific boundaries settled by men for her, which is not allowed by the society to cross anyway.In short, we see that the black feminist movement had to contend with civil rights movements that wanted women in a lesser role. Men  believed the black women would or ganize around their own needs and minimize their own efforts, losing reliable allies in the struggle for civil rights. The black feminist movement not only had to compete with racial prejudice but also the structure of our patriarchal society, making their struggle much harder.

Math in Early Childhood Article Review Essay

Math Journal Review The purpose of this article was to explain the use and importance of programs such as the, â€Å"What’s the Big Idea† program instituted at the Bennington Library in Vermont. The â€Å"What’s the Big Idea† program aims to provide librarians with techniques and tools for introducing preschool and kindergarten students to science and math through literature. Picture books and stories are used a lot because stores are great conveyors to memorable messages about since and math. It also gives children the tools they need to be able to look at books and seek out math and science concepts and connections within the text. The program focuses on child directed and hands on explorations rather that adult directed instruction allowing the children to gain personal acts of discovery through play. â€Å"What’s the Big Idea† focuses on four main math and science concepts; numbers and operations, patterns and relationships, changes over time, and geometry and special sense. For each topic there are activities, projects, and books that correspond with the chosen topic. There are different activity centers that are also set up. Some are set up for large group and small group and some are set up for independent exploration. They offer things such as interactive graphs, geoboards, jars with small objects for sorting, blocks, and other manipulatives. Something new that I learned was that I didn’t know that libraries offered programs like that. I knew that had reading groups and programs but I didn’t realizes that there were also libraries that offered programs to also promote math and science concepts as well. I like how they use books first to gain an idea and then tie it into math and science by exploring the concepts in the story a little further to better their understanding not only of the story but of the math and/or science behind it. A way that I can see this information being useful in the future is to have programs like this available to all libraries nationwide. In the article it said that it started out in Vermont and spread to libraries in New York, Delaware, and Texas. With children having access to programs like this from the preschool level they will then enter kindergarten with a greater knowledge base and with deeper understanding of the math and science concepts that they will need for the rest of their lives.

The Contributions to the Western Civilization Essays

The Contributions to the Western Civilization Essays The Contributions to the Western Civilization Essay The Contributions to the Western Civilization Essay The Contributions to the western civilization Ashley Stewart 5/1/11 Professor Hammond Strayer University The Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, have made great contributions to develop the Western Civilization. The legacy that they’ve left was religion, knowledge, and government. The Hebrews contributed the religious aspect, the Greeks contributed knowledge and government, and the Romans contributed one must have an understanding of the ancient Greek culture, or else considered governing methods to Western Civilization. Its said that to understand our culture ignorant. sherer44). The Hebrews shaped the very core of Western Civilization. Author Thomas Cahill has recently produced a historical account, The Gifts of the Jews, which explores in depth the contributions of early Judaism to the thought patterns and social structure of present-day orders. A review of his work states that Within the matrix of ancient religions and philosophies, life was seen as part of an endless cycle of bi rth and death; time was like a wheel, spinning ceaselessly. Yet somehow the ancient Jews began to see time differently. For them, time had a beginning and an end; it was a narrative, whose triumphant conclusion would come in the future. From this insight came a new conception, that of men and women as individuals with unique destinies a conception that would inform the Declaration of Independence and our hopeful belief in progress and the sense that tomorrow can be better than today. ( The West would not have been the same without Jewish contributions that celebrated concepts such as absolute morality, self-improvement, and the striving to comprehend the forces that shape ones existence. These innovative notions permitted the Hebrews to endure throughout millennia of oppression and foreign dominance and reform their state into todays Israel, one of the top ten nations in the world in terms of military might and economic sophistication. The Greeks was creating colonies around the coast of Greece. /Instead of constructing the columns to be straight, they built them using gentle curves making everything appear more symmetrical. The two different architectural styles in ancient Greece were the Doric and Ionic. The earliest of the buildings were designed in the Doric style, such as the Parthenon. The Doric columns are rather sturdy yet plain. The ionic Columns were built thinner and more elegant. The tops of them had a scroll like structure, unlike the flat Doric style. Buildings such as the Erechtheum and the small temple of Athena were built in the Ionic style. Its to the Greeks we owe for their architectural innovations to western civilization The Greeks were very passionate about athletics. They took pride in the perfect human physique: strong, fit, cut, graceful human bodies.