Religious belief and organizations Essay Example for Free

Religious belief and organizations Essay Gender issues are a great importance in contemporary society and culture. Although they concern both men and women at present, gender studies are still mainly focused on women because women have been voiceless for so long. Feminism see religion as a product of patriarchy as it only serves the interest of men. Jean holm argues that all religion preaches equality but they do not practice it. This argument derived from her study of cotemporary religions which showed that women are subordinated to the role of men as they do not have a part to play in many religions. For example, in Japanese religions, the women arrange and organize public rituals, but only the men can take part in it. Thus showing devalued and important women are within religious organizations. A Marxist feminist DeBeauvoir believes that there must be a religion for women because if women have their own religion, they cannot be oppressed. So therefore, they have created a feminine bible, where everything is equal between both sexes. Sociologists such as Stark believe that women are physically deprived as they suffer more life crisis than men; so therefore, women are more likely to turn to God as someone that can help them. DeBeauvoir reinforces this statement by saying that religion gives a divine guardian that they long for and gives them hope for a better future in a sexless heaven. Meaning that religion gives women false consciousnesses by making them believe that women would be rewarded in heaven for their sufferings on earth and a heaven where theres equality. However, Saadawi disagrees with the statement that religious teachings are the cause of the oppression and exploitation that women suffer, but blames the patriarchal system. She states that men have literally distorted religion especially in Islam, to socially control women and to serve their own interest, so religion isnt the cause but the interpretation of it by men. Leila Badawi also sees Islam as positive as women have a choice over the three types of Islam and they get to keep their own names. Therefore Islam is not as strict and controlling as members of society put it out to be. Helen Watson justifies this by stating that wearing the veil is a political choice and wearing a veil can be seen as a positive thing to some women. This is because after interviewing some muslin women, Badawi came to a conclusion that muslin women are trying to take a stand against western culture. This is revealed when the women said that wearing the veil makes her proud of her religion and that it felt liberating to have freedom of movement as they can communicate with members of society without being on show. Sociologist Said, says that the west the west have created an orientalist discourse, justifying domination. So therefore, not all religions oppress and exploit women because some women do have a choice on certain things. An example would be Judaism as some women are now allowed to become rabbis and seikheism is now into equality and argues that women have choices.

Racism In Huck Finn Essay -- essays research papers

The conflict between society and the individual is a theme portrayed throughout Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Huck was not raised in accord with the accepted ways of civilization. Huck faces many aspects of society, which makes him choose his own individuality over civilization. He practically raises himself, relying on instinct to guide him through life. As portrayed several times in the novel, Huck chooses to follow his innate sense of right, yet he does not realize that his own instincts are more moral than those of society. From the very beginning of Huck's story, Huck without a doubt states that he did not want to conform to society; "The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me... I got into my old rags and my sugar hogshead again, and was free and satisfied"(Twain, 2). Miss Watson lives with Huck and she is always picking at him, trying to make him become conventional. According to the essay, The Struggle to Find Oneself Huck has become so used to being free that he sees the Widow Douglas' protection solely in terms of confinement. She doesn’t let Huck smoke when he wants and she is always nagging. "Miss Watson would say, "Don't put your feet up there, Huckleberry;" and "Don't scrunch up like that, Huckleberry -- set up straight;" and pretty soon she would say, "Don't gap and stretch like that, Huckleberry -- why don't you try to behave?"(Twain, 3). We get the feeling that Huck is an individual, a person who is indepe ndent and has the willingness to live a life free of complications. According to Ryan Schremmer’s essay Examination of Freedom as an Overall Theme in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the theme of freedom is shown in Huckleberry Finn, which parallels to his distancing from society: One of the most prominent and important themes of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is freedom. Freedom not only from Huck's internal paradoxical struggle in defining right and wrong, but also freedom from Huck's personal relationships with the Widow Douglas and his father, as well as freedom from the societal institutions of government, religion, and prejudices. When Pap returns for Huck, and the matter of custody is brought before the court, the reader is forced to see the corruption of society. The judge rules that Huck belongs to Pap, and forces him to obey an evil and abusive man. One... ...n of his father's sickness when seeking help. These men are not hesitant to hunt slaves, yet they refuse to help a sick man. Huck's acceptance of his love for Jim is shown in chapter thirty-one. Huck writes a letter to Miss Watson to return Jim, yet he ends up ripping the letter and wishes to free Jim. "'All right, then, I'll go to hell'- and he tore it up." Here, we see that Huck concludes that he is evil, and that society has been right all along. Huck doesn’t realize that his goodness comes from within. He doesn’t become aware that those inner qualities are not paralleled to external behavior. If Huck was to catch on that he would be eager to change how society functions instead of running away from it. Huck acts as a much nobler person when he is not confined by the hypocrisies of civilization. Throughout the story we see how he distance himself from society and creates his own world in which he follows his own feelings of what’s moral and honorable. From the beginning of the story we see his instinct come into play and how it affects his decisions throughout the story. He almost always goes his own way, makes up his own mind, and lives by his own standards.

Drugs, Sports, Body Image and G.I. Joe Essay

The thesis is â€Å"some researchers worry that Joe and other action-hero figures may, in minor fashion, help fan the use of muscle-building drugs among young athletes.† (486) Angier wants to convey to the audience that dolls can affect whether he or she will use muscle-building drugs to grow big like the G.I. Joe dolls. Dolls like Barbie, G.I. Joe helps to send a message to the kids that being strong or being thin like the dolls are what they should look like as adults. A) Angier’s tone throughout the essay is informative to prove her point that dolls help kids the use of muscle-building drugs. She tells the audience how outrageous the doll’s body’s proportions are. She states that G.I, Joe’s â€Å"biceps bulge so much that they are larger around than his waist . . . human size, they would be larger than even the arms of the grotesquely muscular Mr. Olympias of today† (486). She wants to inform the audience that dolls that kids plays with are abnormal. The fact that kids plays with these kinds of dolls can have an effect on boys and girls. Angier also conveys that because kids want the type of bodies the dolls have, they will do things in order to achieve that goal. One of the ways is to use anabolic steroids which can make â€Å"it possible for men to look as big as superman† (487). Showing what problems steroids can cause will inform people that people should not be taking steroids to achieve the muscular body. The fact that Angier uses specific people who are certified to know about drugs and the influence of toys like Dr. Harrison G. Pope Jr., and Shalender Bhasin with increases her credibility. Readers will likely trust what Angier says because she supports her evidence with people who knows about steroids well. Barbies, G.I. Joe, and other American dolls can have an effect on kids about their appearance but I do not think that it is a huge factor that makes kids think that big muscles and thin bodies are the norm. It can leave a message to the kids that muscles and thin bodies are the best but I think normally to attract the others, people want to have big muscles and thin bodies. Also the fact that society wants to make people think that thin bodies and having a nice body is the best.

All Quiet on the Western Front/WWI Essay - 1215 Words

In regards to war, Gandhi once commented, â€Å"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary, the evil it does is permanent.† In other words, violence masks its potential impairment by seeming innocuous at first; however, the true damage, often permanent, can be seen chronically. The idea reflected by Gandhi’s quote can be proven through an examination of World War I and Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. Although soldiers and governments in both worlds initially saw honor and security of their countries as valid reasons for going to war, what ultimately came of that conflict were both immediate consequences, such as loss of innocence and development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (often referred to as PTSD) among young soldiers, as well as permanent, long-term consequences, like the hatred the war had spurred in Germans which ultimately ensued to Hitler’s rise to power. Soldiers and their count ries believe there were important reasons to fight in World War I because they aspired glorification and feared oppression from other countries, which lead to formation of alliances. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul, the narrator of the novel, and his classmates willingly volunteer in the war war because Kantorek, an authoritarian schoolmaster, established false beliefs in their minds. Kantorek patronizes the war and in a way, he views the war as an opportunity to immortalize himself in history. He strives to become aShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Beginning of World War I1494 Words   |  6 PagesWWI Synthesis Essay Bruce Lee once said, â€Å"Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them† (â€Å"Bruce Lee†). During World War I, the mistake of Serbia killing the archduke was neither admitted nor forgiven. A series of events brought together the European continent into a bloody and unprecedented war. 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