Margit Stange’s Literary Criticism of Chopin’s The Awakening Essay

Margit Stange’s Literary Criticism of Chopin’s The Awakening Margit 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 which Stange believes influenced the novel. Part of understanding Edna’s motives and 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 her husband. Her sunburned hands seem to indicate a woman who has performed a labor of some necessity, therefore making her â€Å"unrecognizable† as the wife of a respected and prosperous businessman. At the same time, those who see her and know who she is are reminded of Leonce’s status by the tan his wife has acquired while visiting an elite resort (279-80). The clash between the appearance of labor and leisure in Edna’s form gradually comes to favor the look of leisure, but it is Edna who increasingly defines how she spends her time, and what constitutes leisure. By casting off the duties that come with being Mrs. Pontellier, Edna is devaluing the â€Å"currency† with which her husband buys respectability and esteem. By withholding sexual and social favors, Edna ruptures Leonce’s privileged comfort and establishes herself as femme seule, literally providing for herself with an independent income (282, 286). Stange links this situat... ...ity. Certainly that is an effective material argument, and further exploration of contemporary criticisms of birth control, from both men and women, could provide even greater context for understanding how women regarded motherhood and to what extent they saw it as â€Å"voluntary.† But Stange herself points to a profound statement of Stanton’s that more clearly defines the power mothers wielded socially, and the great loss of self-ownership motherhood entailed, both of which Edna Pontellier came to understand and control. Describing what Stange calls a â€Å"moment of extreme maternal giving,† Stanton wrote â€Å"‘alone [woman] goes to the gates of death to give life to every man that is born into the world; no one can share her fears, no one can mitigate her pangs; and if her sorrow is greater than she can bear, alone she passes beyond the gates into the vast unknown’† (289).

Racism or Class Discrimination

Racism is an issue that has been prevalent within America for hundreds of years. We overcame slavery with the help of famous American leaders like Abraham Lincoln and fought for equal rights with the help of Martin Luther King Jr. Today we face the issue of a more discreet kind of racism- the kind of racism that is more felt than heard. A sales associate who may not ask a customer to leave because of the color of their skin, but follows the customer around the store to make sure he or she isn’t stealing is an example of discreet racism. This type of racism is harder to fight because it is harder to recognize than outward discrimination. It seems as though minorities, especially African-Americans, have a disadvantage from the time they are born. According to Leondar-Wright, â€Å"The median white family has more than $120,000 in net worth (assets minus debts), while the median black family has less than $20,000. † There are many reasons why black families’ net worth is so much lower than white families’, but among the most obvious reasons is discrimination. Children from low-income families tend to have more responsibilities than those from middle or high-income families. These responsibilities may take away from time spent on schoolwork. For example, if a fourteen year old must work to help pay household expenses because his or her parents are having trouble making ends meet, it is highly possible that time spent working could be taking away from time spent doing schoolwork. Even if a student does not have to work while in school, it is still possible that his or her parents (if the student is lucky enough to live with both their mother and father) work hours that would render him or her responsible for extended amounts of housework. Either way, it is likely that a low-income, minority student must work much harder than a middle or high-income student to achieve the same academic status. If and when African-American students are accepted into college, it is much harder for them to be granted a loan to help pay for their college education. Because loans are given based on current income to debt ratio, banks are more weary of lending money to low-income families for fear of not getting their money back. Even in college, many African-American students must work to support themselves, which takes up time. Time spent working, again is time that they could be using to study. Because of all the obstacles they face, African-American students must work much harder to accomplish the same achievements as white students. Once in the work place, whether it be after college or not, African-Americans still must work harder than Whites to attain the same level of success. Simply finding a job can prove to be a challenge for minorities. The old saying, ‘it’s not what you know, but who you know’ holds true for the job finding process. For many minority young adults, parents and relatives who may be able to assist in the job search have fewer connections than white families. Therefore, students from low-income families must work harder to find jobs than many students from white or middle-class families. Even the simple process of applying for a job proves to be yet another hurdle for minorities. In the essay ‘Institutional Discrimination’ by Robert Cherry, the term â€Å"statistical discrimination† is brought up. Statistical discrimination is referred to as â€Å"the process by which individuals are discriminated against when firms use group characteristics to screen individuals. † Because employers often have a large amount of applications to go through to fill one or just a small amount of positions, they often base their choices off ‘of group characteristics rather than individual information. ’ Because employers do not want to spend a lot of time screening potential candidates, they chose to discriminate against groups of people that, in their minds, are not as productive as others. According to a study by Irons and Moore, African-American workers tend to be left out of the â€Å"informal communications network. † This basically means they are left out of water cooler conversations that may provide valuable information to them pertaining to their work. The study also found that on average, it took much longer for African Americans to be promoted than their White co-workers, and that â€Å"They had to demonstrate over and over and over again that they were worthy of promotion. (Cose 78) Overall, the study found that success came later, harder, and at a lower degree for Blacks than Whites in America. Another point mentioned in Coses’ ‘Rage of a Privileged Class’ is something called the â€Å"self-fulfilling prophecy† (Cose 88), which basically states that performance is greatly based on expectations. For example, if someone believes they are expected to perform well at a particular task, they will most likely perform better than if he or she is expected to perform poorly. This concept can easily be applied to the classroom setting. If a teacher expects her white students to perform better than her minority students, this can have a great effect on her student’s performances. While racism is still an issue in the United States today, the main problem can be traced to the issue of class discrimination. The majority of minorities come from low-income families; â€Å"Poverty rates for Blacks (at 24. 3%) in 2006 were 16. 1% higher than Whites (at 8. 2%). † (H. T. Edney) Once born into a lower class family, your life will be filled with uphill battles and constant struggle. Lower class citizens are discriminated against everywhere in the United States. Banks hesitate to lend money to low-income students going to college, even though they must work harder to get into college than upper class students. Because they must work harder, low income students are more likely to appreciate the opportunity given to them and less likely to take advantage of any help he or she may receive along the way. If you are a lower-class African-American reading this essay, you may be wondering who today’s Martin Luther King Jr. ill be, or if there will be anyone from our generation who will pioneer for your rights. On the other hand, if you are a white, upper-middle class person reading this essay, you may not find racism to be an especially important issue in our society today. No matter your particular situation it is an inarguable fact that the socioeconomic class you are born into will become the chief factor in determining how far you will be able to go in life. Whether this is a good thing or not, may be up for some debate.

Direct Democracy Definition, Examples, Pros and Cons

Direct democracy, sometimes called pure democracy, is a form of democracy in which all laws and policies imposed by governments are determined by the people themselves, rather than by representatives who are elected by the people. In a true direct democracy, all laws, bills and even court decisions are voted on by all citizens. Direct vs. Representative Democracy Direct democracy is the opposite of the more common representative democracy, under which the people elect representatives who are empowered to create laws and policies for them. Ideally, the laws and policies enacted by the elected representatives should closely reflect the will of the majority of the people. While the United States, with the protections of its federal system of â€Å"checks and balances,† practices representative democracy, as embodied in the U.S. Congress and the state legislatures, two forms of limited direct democracy are practiced at the state and local level: ballot initiatives and binding referendums, and recall of elected officials. Ballot initiatives and referendums allow citizens to place – by petition – laws or spending measures typically considered by state and local legislative bodies on statewide or local ballots. Through successful ballot initiatives and referendums, citizens can create, amend or repeal laws, as well as amend state constitutions and local charters. Examples of Direct Democracy: Athens and Switzerland Perhaps the best example of direct democracy existed in ancient Athens, Greece.  While it excluded women, slaves, and immigrants from voting, Athenian direct democracy required all citizens to vote on all major issues of government. Even the verdict of every court case was determined by a vote of all the people. In the most prominent example in modern society, Switzerland practices a modified form of direct democracy under which any law enacted by the nation’s elected legislative branch can be vetoed by a vote of the general public. In addition, citizens can vote to require the national legislature to consider amendments to the Swiss constitution. Pros and Cons of Direct Democracy While the idea of having the ultimate say-so over the affairs of government might sound tempting, there are some good – and bad – aspects of direct democracy that need to be considered: 3 Pros of Direct Democracy Full Government Transparency: Without a doubt, no other form of democracy ensures a greater degree of openness and transparency between the people and their government. Discussions and debates on major issues are held in public. In addition, all successes or failures of the society can be credited to – or blamed on – the people, rather than the government.  More Government Accountability: By offering the people a direct and unmistakable voice through their votes, direct democracy demands a great level of accountability on the part of the government. The government cannot claim it was unaware of or unclear on the will of the people. Interference in the legislative process from partisan political parties and special interest groups are largely eliminated.Greater Citizen Cooperation: In theory at least, people are more likely to happily comply with laws they create themselves. Moreover, people who know that their opinions will make a difference, they more eager to take p art in the processes of government. 3 Cons of Direct Democracy We Might Never Decide: If every American citizen were expected to vote on every issue considered at every level of government, we might never decide on anything. Between all of the issues considered by local, state and federal governments, citizens could literally spend all day, every single day voting.Public Involvement Would Drop: Direct democracy best serves the interest of the people when most people take part in it. As the time required for debating and voting increases, public interest, and participation in the process would quickly decrease, leading to decisions which did not truly reflect the will of the majority. In the end, small groups of people often with dangerous axes to grind, could control the government.One Tense Situation After Another: In any society as large and diverse as that in the United States, what is the chance of that everyone will ever happily agree with or at least peacefully accept decisions on major issues? As recent history has shown, not much.