A Touchy Subject By Paul Fussell - 1442 Words

In the opening to Paul Fussell’s essay â€Å"A Touchy Subject†, he observes that no one really quite understands how class works, and each class theorizes the deciding factors between them, through the colored lenses of station. Of interest though, is the description he gives of the Upper Class, who â€Å"perceive that taste, values, ideas, style, and behavior are indispensable criteria of class, regardless of money or occupation or education† (McQuade) If that criteria is taken and applied to society, other social classes are revealed that lie hidden within the umbrella of Low, Middle and Upper. There is a group of people that embodies their own values, who celebrate their ideas, flaunt their style and act with a certain behaviors, and they have formed a class of their own; Geekdom. This class resides within the other classes, like a sleeper agent, and may at first be easily mistaken for a member of another class. However, being a Geek transcends traditional class labels, and one can find them within the lower, middle and upper class. The reason these members defy traditional labels is that regardless of their monetary or educational status, this class holds those values in it’s core. As the dictionary defines it, a geek is â€Å"an enthusiast or expert, especially in a technological field or activity† (Merriam-Webster), and that enthusiasm, that passion, bleeds into all aspects of the geek’s life. Because they have that enthusiasm, the geek values and purchases items, not because theyShow MoreRelatedThe Impact of Social Class Distinction in America Essay890 Words   |  4 PagesAccording to Paul Fussell, and his essay, class is a â€Å"touchy subject.† Class is often noted as â€Å"any group of plants or animals.† However, wh en it comes to defining class as social distinctions, the word becomes more complex. The social class structure has remained â€Å"murky† over the years, and to most Americans, extremely complicated. In today’s society, social class has become more and more intricate, but it has never been set to where Americans feel comfortable in their own skin. Today, when talkingRead MoreThe Inequalities of the Social Class in the United States and How to Improve It1315 Words   |  6 Pagescorrectly define every individual. And most Americans rather not but are defined by social class it’s a touchy subject and avoided by many. Author Paul Fussell says, â€Å"Although most Americans sense that they live within an extremely complicated system of social classes and suspect that much of what is thought and done here is prompted by considerations of status, the subject has remained murky. And always touchy. You can outrage people today simply by mentioning social class, very much the way, sipping teaRead MoreThe Appearance of Social Classes after World War II1894 Words   |  8 Pagespredisposed as an awkward subject among Americans; therefore it is rarely talked about because it makes people uncomfortable. Generally when interviewed, people claim there are no classes in the area where they live (Fussell). Class and status are two c ompletely different things because status associates a range of things and class is simply a unit (Goldschmidt). Americans often give away their class merely by the criteria they use to define what the word â€Å"class† means (Fussell). The United States’ ideology

The Holocaust And The Civil War - 2133 Words

Two of the most tragic and remembered events in our world’s history were the Holocaust in 1933, the Civil War and Slavery in the United States starting in 1619. Both are known today as possibly some of the worst times in US, and worldwide history. As well known as this is, the Holocaust was the â€Å"systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of over six million Jews.† The Nazi’s came into power in Germany in January of 1933, and had a strong belief that Germans were â€Å"pure† and â€Å"superior† and the Jews were â€Å"unclean† or â€Å"inferior†. Hitler’s main goal was racial purity, and the greater expansion of his network. Hitler would go far beyond the boundaries of humanity to ensure racial purity came into play. Slavery wasn’t unheard of before it came to America, in fact, it was quite common in many other parts of the world. What may have started out as just forced labor for the uppe r classes turned into an enormous growing economy for the colonies, and eventually Southern states. Slaves were treated solely on their masters choice, which could range from mild, to cruel and inhumane. Both of these situations/events came to forever change humanity, and bring about the realization that many would go far beyond anything imaginable in order to alter and reduce a group down to virtually nothing for their own selfish good. The Holocaust was an event that many would love to forget, lives would be altered forever, and many would come to realize the true abilityShow MoreRelatedPre Nazi Holocaust And The Civil War1181 Words   |  5 Pagesspeech’ during the centuries of slavery†¦Was the Civil War fought simply because Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth†¦and their relatively few supporters spoke† (Downing 183). He also gives the example of pre-Nazi Germany, describe by Downing as â€Å"Europe’s paragon of civilization.† He notes how advanced this nation’s economy, sciences and engineering were, and that Jews were represented everywhere. Yet it just took 12 years for the Nazi Holocaust was devised and executed. These are dark periodsRead MoreThe Elements Of Genocide : Genocide1312 Words   |  6 Pagesgenocide is the holocaust, which was a governmental systematic persecution and the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis. Like the holocaust, genocides posses eight stages known as classification, symbolization, dehumanization, organization, polarization, preparation, extermination and denial. These characteristics will ultimately define if situation was a genocide or not. Similarities and differences for the eight stages of the genocide can be seen between the dark Holocaust, and the cruel War in DarfurRead MoreSingling Out the Jewish People743 Words   |  3 PagesBefore the beginning of World War II the Nazi party took over in Germany. At its head was a man named Adolf Hitler. For some reason Hitler hated the Jews, we see this in World War II with the Holocaust. The Holocaust started in 1933 when Hitler rose to power; he made a plan in 1941 which was to eradicate the whole Jewish population. Hitler called this plan the â€Å"Final Solution† (An Introductory History of The Holocaust). Why did Hitler and the Nazis single out the Jews for genocide? And in what waysRead MoreThe Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich916 Words   |  4 P agesrejection. Hitler was never interested in getting formal education. His father Alois Hitler was a civil servant, but Hitler never wanted to be like his father. He has the urge to become a painter or an artist. His father’s life never interested him. According to the book â€Å"The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich,† Hitler explains his negligence towards getting a formal profession. â€Å"I did not want to become a civil servant, no, and again no. All attempts on my father’s part to inspire me with love or pleasureRead MoreNight by Elie Wiesel Essay1038 Words   |  5 PagesElie Wiesel’s eye-opening Night is very relevant for real life. This stunning book is applicable because of its education about World War II for the Jewish, inspiration to the human race in their day-to-day lives, and because genocide still goes on today in places such as Darfur. This book is very educating about the history of the concentration camps and Holocaust. â€Å"†¦The spectators observed these emaciated creatures ready to kill for a crust of bread...the old man was crying, ‘Meir, my littleRead MoreTruth And Justice : A Lexicon Of Terror And The Banality Of Evil, Victoria Sanford s Buried Secrets1612 Words   |  7 Pagesposition of Lieutenant-Colonel. In Arendt’s book Eichmann is on trial for crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes against the Jewish people, and membership in a criminal organization. Arendt’s book was all about the process of finding the truth in what happened during the Holocaust, and what role Eichmann played in the whole trial. The trial was also about finding justice for the survivors of the Holocaust, as well as getting justice for those who did not survive. Adolf Eichmann’s trial has often timesRead MoreThe Holocaust : A Profound Effect On Modern History Essay1688 Words   |  7 Pages Final Paper Dr. Holly Hurlburt Holocaust Memorial The Holocaust had a profound effect on modern history. Millions of European Jews lost their lives during this brutal extermination period. Many Jewish professionals were removed from their businesses and denied education. Thousands of Jewish businesses were ransacked and destroyed throughout Germany. In the middle of the night, Nazi officials broke into Jewish homes kidnapping all Jews regardless of age and gender. These men, women, and childrenRead MoreEssay on Nightfather by Carl Friedman834 Words   |  4 Pagessurvivors of the Holocaust have been through it all. Their stories describe each and every detail of the horrendous events they experienced. Although the book Nightfather is fiction, the stories described depict the actual Holocaust exactly. By dissecting the time period of Carl Friedman’s Nightfather, a reader can understand the elements of fiction and realize the impact of history on fictional literature. This book takes place sometime during the 1960s after the Second World War. Some Germans wouldRead MoreEssay On Syrian Civil War1050 Words   |  5 PagesSyrian civil war started in 2011 and ended in . The Syrians were attacked by Kurdish forces , ISIS , other groups like Jadish al Fateh , an alliance between the Nusra Front and Ahrar-al-Sham and the Assad regime . As of March 2017 , more than 5 million Syrians have fled the country and 6.3 million people are displaced internally . An estimate of 143,150 and 340,125 people had died during the war . On 15 January 2015 , the United Nations put out an estimate of 220,000 that had died in the war . GermanyRead MoreThe Holocaust And Its Effects On The Jews And The Rest Of The World1213 Words   |  5 PagesThe Holocaust was a systematic government enforced persecution and murder of the Jews that took place throughout Nazi-occupied territories under the command of Adolf Hitler. Although the rest of the world did not suffer from the abu se, murder and isolation that the Jews endured, the brutal polices against Jews caused major destruction and sparked tremendous outrage globally. World War 2 erupted after Adolf Hitler won the election for Germany’s leader in 1933. Throughout the years, his dictatorship

Standardization and localization in International Human Resource

Question: Discuss about the Standardization and localization in International Human Resource Management. Answer: Introduction The term internationalizing denotes the way of increasing the involvement of business in international markets in order to be more competitive and expand their business beyond the domestic territory. One must think globally and has the ability to understand cultures that exists in host country if it plans to serve internationally. International Human Resource Management is denoted as the collection of activities that focuses on managing the organization human resources at the international level in order to achieve the objectives, mission and goal and also gain competitive advantages over competitors at each level either national level or international level. International human resource management involves various functions of HRM like recruitment, selection, training and development, performance appraisal, promotions, payments and rewards and many more at international level. It also aims at focusing on other activities like skills management globally and expatriate management. Major concerns International human resource management is highly concerned with the HRM issues that involves international boundaries other than the home country. International human resource management is also concerned with the relationships and bonding between the HRM activities in an organizations and the foreign external factors in which the organization works on. International human resource management also includes comparative HRM studies. For an example: How the companies in other countries like Japan, Thailand and Switzerland make plan to upgrade skills of their employees are different from each other. International human resource management is highly concerned about how to manage HR at MNC i.e. Multinational Companies. It basically involves three major types of employees i.e. Home country employees, Host country employees and Third country employees (Saleeth, 2010). IHRM standardization and localization The characteristics of HRM in the internationalizing of the firm generally involves from the initial strategic level of analysis in a multinational parent company. International HRM initiative basically involves two major organizational levels i.e. multinational parent company and their foreign subsidiary. It also involves maintaining a strong relationship between the two levels. There must be a fit between the standardization and localization of multinational parent companies policies and procedures and practices and host country. It often happens that the multinational enterprises insist their policies and practices to be executed and transferred strictly in order to protect their interest segments. MNEs also earn several operational efficiencies when they export their standardized policies in order to take guarantee of the operational consistency in international business. To standardize and socialize the new organization in many areas like finance reporting, HRM and operational r eporting and monitoring, key appointment must be taken prior. International HRM standardization can be visualized as a rational management initiative by multinational enterprise in order to transfer HRM practices and policies to international operations with a concept that these standardized operations will perform and product the better performance for both the partners (Wilson, 2003). The issues of standardization and localization Maintaining the balance of HRM The issues of standardization and localization for MNEs is trying to maintain the balance of HRM factors like strategy, structure, size of the firm and maturity in the firm. Every corporate culture in an organization has a very strong impact on the standardizing because culture and external factors of the local environment affect the operational mode and role on the localization strategy. Today every MNC involves itself to standardize HRM practice in the most effective and efficient way. But this is not beneficial for the whole workplace but it can be beneficial to managers who works in a group at the cross boundaries of the firm. Maintaining globalization in a corporate elements is quite easy and possible but the international organizations should recognize that the while making those local adaptations and exceptions, standards are required which drives localization(Steger, 2010). Localization is basically driven by the various cultural and institutional environment factors which ar e observed in the local entity itself. National culture is also the major factor in international HRM. Those cultures which are totally based on the personal relations consider to value more compete balance on both the rewards i.e. intrinsic as well as extrinsic. While the cultures which are based on the isolation or personal independence only compete on extrinsic rewards. The pressure that are found in the institutes works as a powerful influences on the practices of human resource and those institutions values and norms are totally based on the features of the national business system (Ampalazz, 2014). Educational Training Other major issues involved is educational training. Educational training is the major factor that is required for many countries. From the HR perspective, training and development of the staffs in an organization plays a very major role because no organization can successfully improve and grow unless their staffs are well trained. The main aim of training the staffs is to increase the capabilities in order to perform the duties with full potential. To increase the skills and potential of the staffs, several training methods should be organized. Some of the training methods can be training with theoretical education, introduction to organization and job training. The staffs who are trained have better knowledge about the products and the service offered by the organization (UKEssay, 2015). Change and the innovation While untrained staffs are unaware about the change and the innovation and they also have the feeling of low confidence. Providing training to the staffs improve and enhance strength and ability to solve the issues that exists in the organizations, analyze them and provide the solution regarding the same. It also aims at increasing the ability of the employees to perform the certain task given to them. Now when it comes to international HRM, training employees is the first major important factor to be considered because it have an impact on international business. International HRM is managing the work across the boundaries and controlling all the activities of it. If a company works internationally, but do not have well trained staffs, it will be very difficult for the organization to achieve its objectives. Educating them and conducting training programs will help them in understanding the policies and rules of the host country and then working accordingly (F, 2015). Levels of standardization and localization To be competitive across the globe, MNCs should involve in making the decisions of when to best make changes to the several subsidiaries in terms of standardization and localization. Company must ensure that it should focus on the major core activities and competencies and further replicate these major competencies across its subsidiaries because they are key factor to separating themselves from their major competitors. In absence of this unique trait, there would be very few to differentiate their organization from the major competitors and would create problems in the success of the company (Potoki, 2010). In this competitive market, it gives an opportunity to the competitors to gain market shares. In order to consider core competencies, MNCs must use standardization because it makes the company to use its strength and stand as a leader in within an industry. The factor core competencies must be used selectively because not everything that exist in the company is considered to be u nder core competencies. Whenever core competencies are not involved in an organization and when there is need for the subsidiary to adapt some particular local cultures to be successful in the specific field, then at that time MNCs should allow all the firms to conduct localization (Strano, 2011). There are many strategies adopted by MNCs to standardize or localize. Some of them are 1) The adaptation strategy which are adapted to meet market forces but they are never needed to the degree of a localized strategy which means that the marketing mix strategy is a only changes and varied when needed. 2) Worldwide segmentation strategy where the segments of the customers exist across the globe and they can be offered a very standardized product. 3) Requirements of sub global strategy when grouping the host country markets into small clusters which will be similar and standardized based on the region. Each marketing mix strategies have their own standardized product around the subsidiaries (S, 2011). There is a great importance of the HR managers role in internalization in order to achieve MNEs difficult and complex purposes. Managing human resource in a company in a better way which is highly involved globally needs cultural awareness and the ability to respond promptly to all the external factors that exists in the environment. Managing HR at international level requires motivating and employees that will inspire them to work with a collaborating nature even though they dont live in the same location. They should be able to work with a mutual understanding in both the countries i.e. either in the home or in the host country. The major importance of HR role Fostering and cultivating Global collaboration: When companies start working at the international level, HR professionals must be more realistic and generalist. They must be aware of all the internal operations in the organizations and should work more on the personnel work in a more effective way. The HR managers cares about the competitive advantages that prevail in the organization and also helps to achieve profitability and economic factors in the difficult financial times. They also aim at decreasing the employee attrition and getting participated in the community too (Sanders, 2011) Working with the managers: When companies shave become more globalized, HR professionals also act as a business partners who are highly involved in interviewing and recruiting new employees in the organization and then further providing training and development programs. When a company operate its business on an international level, it will require HR personnel who will work and cooperate with all the other managers in the particular product line (Duggan, 2014). Building teams: When a company in involved in the international business, it must ensure that the business operations are working well together with all the other diversified team members. It must be sure that all the members of the host country as well as all the members of the home country should work as a single team in order to achieve the company s objectives, goals and vision. The team members can be motivated and inspired by conducting and organizing various workshops that will be related to team building and by promoting employees and also by providing them rewards. Rewards can be in the form of monetary as well as in non-monetary. In many of the organization, individual recognition plays a major role in motivating the employees while it does not always prove to be true in all the organization. HR professionals helps to create awareness and also helps us to know how a tram can work effectively and gain a huge profit across the borders (Farndale, 2010) Providing training: HR professionals maintains an environment which is productive in nature by ensuring that employees are well trained and have the enough skills to complete the task assigned to them. The employees should accomplish the given job task with the best knowledge and skills. HR professionals conducts training and development programs that helps employees to get credentials for performing the several functions. They also make sure that the company follows all the government rules and regulations properly (Gond, 2011). For an example: In Europe, all the employees that work in an organization must follow the standards that are set and gain a healthy and safe work place settings. The employees in an organization must be aware about all the rules and regulations of the host country so that all the international operations must be carried in a successful way (ZKjadoon, 2015). Other HRM modules like cross border merger and acquisition Cross border merger and acquisition is the deal between the domestic firm and foreign firm in the target country. Today the trend of MA is increasing day by day and has accelerated with the globalization. In recent years, America and Africa are attracting maximum number of cross border MA which has taken place due to the combination of political gridlock in many countries. Companies get involved in cross border MA because they aim at gaining huge incentive sin doing so. Or it can also be said that both the host country as well as home country gains a huge advantage from the deal. Many domestic firms perform so well that the in the emerging market that it attracts MA and foreign firms to get involved in it. Apart from this, the foreign firms also consider all the risk factors that are involved in the cross-border MA like political risk, economic risk, social risk and general risk. All these risks can be examined by the risk matrix which helps to examine the risk factors involved in th e company and its possible outcomes to be determined as well. The foreign firms evaluate the MA partners using the risk matrix and calculate the potential whether to get involved in the MA partners or not. If the scored score is not appropriate then they will not be involved in MA and if the score is good, then they can be involved in MA. the cross-border MA also requires political support and regulatory approvals because the deals cannot be done in the absence of these factors (Chaudhuri, 2009). International alliances International alliance is the partnership of two or more companies from different countries. By setting up such partnerships, the company gain a competitive advantage. The strength are combined together worked hard to achieve the objectives and goals set in an organization(Li, 2015) Conclusion It can also be concluded that in order to get involved in the cross-border MA, an organization must be regulatory scrutiny about all the ownership patterns, rules and regulations with the holding structures. Moreover complex decision that exists in the organization are taken by the HR managers who are well trained and skilled enough to take any managerial decisions. The role of HR professional is very vital in an organization because they are the one who motivate and inspire other employees to achieve the desired objectives and goals. Today, standardization and localization are widely used in an organization in order to separate themselves from the competitors. It also provides an opportunity to the other competitors to gain a competitive advantages. References Ampalazz. (2014). Retrieved from what are the issues of standardization: //www.coursehero.com/file/10948645/DQ2/ Chaudhuri. (2009). Retrieved from cross border MA: challenges and opportunities in global business environment: //www.eiasm.org/frontoffice/event_announcement.asp?event_id=664 Duggan. (2014). Retrieved from Role of Human Resource Managers in Internationalization of Business: //smallbusiness.chron.com/role-human-resource-managers-internationalization-business-11567.html F, R. N. (2015). Retrieved from Staff training and development methods: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4384864/ Farndale, E. S. (2010). The role of the corporate HR function in global talent management. Journal of world business. 45(2), 161-168. Gond, J. P. (2011). The human resources contribution to responsible leadership: An exploration of the CSRHR interface. Journal of business ethics. 98(1), 115-132. Li. (2015). Retrieved from International Strategic Alliances: www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199846740/obo-9780199846740-0063.xml Potoki. (2010). GlobalizationDe-Localization. Report of the EPD Working Group. S, B. (2011). Retrieved from Localization vs. Standardization: Global approaches to CSR Management in multinational companies: //www.mba-berlin.de/fileadmin/user_upload/MAINdateien/1_IMB/Working_Papers/2011/WP_6 Saleeth, H. (2010). Tutebox. Retrieved from What is International Human Resource Management?: https://www.tutebox.com/2850/business/hrm/what-is-international-human-resource-management/ Sanders, K. . (2011). HR-line management relations: characteristics and effects. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 22(8), 1611-1617. Steger, M. B. (2010). Retrieved from Globalization. John Wiley Sons, Ltd. Strano, M. H. (2011). GLOBALIZATION OR LOCALIZATION. UKEssay. (2015). Retrieved from Key Issues Influencing Localization Commerce Essay: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/commerce/key-issues-influencing-localization-commerce-essay.php Wilson, S. C. (2003). Springer link. Retrieved from Standardization and Localization of Human Resource Management in Sino-Foreign Joint Ventures: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A%3A1024053617705 ZKjadoon. ( 2015). Retrieved from Importance of Human Resource Management for Business: //www.businessstudynotes.com/hrm/importance-of-human-resource-management-for-international-business/

Yellow Essay Example For Students

Yellow Essay In the last half of the nineteenth century, Victorian ideals still held sway in American society, at least among members of the middle and upper classes. Thus the cult of True Womanhood was still promoted which preached four cardinal virtues for women: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. Women were considered far more religious than men and, therefore, they had to be pure in heart, mind, and, of course, body, not engaging in sex until marriage, and even then not finding any pleasure in it. They were also supposed to be passive responders to mens decisions, actions, and needs. The true womans place was her home; females were uniquely suited to raise children,care for the needs of their menfolk, and devote their lives to creating a nurturing home environment. (Norton, 108). However, the tensions between old and new, traditional and untraditional , were great during the last years of nineteenth century and there was a debate among male and female writers and social thinkers as to what the role of women should be. Among the female writers who devoted their work to defying their views about the womans place in society were Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin. Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) was a social activist and theorist of the womens movement at the turn of the twentieth century. She developed her feminist ideals in her novels, short stories and nonfiction books such as Women and Economics. Charlotte Perkins Gilman is best known for her short story The Yellow Wallpaper, (1892) which is based on her own experience. As the story begins, the woman-whose name we never learn- tells of her depression and how it is being treated by her husband and brother who are both doctors. These two men are unable to see that there is more to her condition than just a stress and depression and prescribe for her rest as a cure. The narrator is taken to a summer house to recover form her condition where she is not allowed to do anything but rest and sleep. Furt hermore, she cannot do one thing that she loves the most: writing. I must put this away, -he hates to have me write a word. She spends most of her time in a room with yellow wallpaper and very little to occupy her mind with. She becomes obsessed with discovering what is behind the pattern of the wallpaper and becomes determined that the image is a woman who is struggling to become free. The narrator wants to set this woman free, so she peels off the yellow wallpaper. Then she locks herself in the room and throws the keys out of the window. When her husband gets to the door and wants to break in, she tells him over and over again where the keys are. After he gets in and sees her creeping on the floor, he faints, and the narrator had to creep over him every time.Though The Yellow Wallpaper is a fiction, it was based on Gilmans own experience after being diagnosed as a hysteric and prescribed a rest cure which prohibited her writing. However, The Yellow Wallpaper is more than a case s tudy in mental illness or a horror story, it is a story of a dominant/submissive relationship between husband and wife. John, the narrators husband, never takes her seriously. At the very beginning of the story she says John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage. Anytime the narrator would make a suggestion for her recovery, John would give her a stern reproachful look. Although the narrator feels desperate, John tells her that there is no reason for how she feels. He treats her like a child and makes her doubt herself. John is the man of the house and he expects the narrator to trust him completely, just as small children trust in their parents. The narrator often speaks in a manner that suggests that she cannot disagree with anything her husband says. She is a typical nineteenth century submissive wife and her What is one to do? means that she has no authority and no control over her life. The idea of resting is not something she likes, she would rather work, but she has no choice. Still, she manages to disobey her husband and write her journal without him knowing it. There are many other evidences of dominant-submissive relationship, and one of the most convincing is when John says, I beg of you, for my sake and our childs sake, as well as for your own By placing himself and the baby first he is unintentionally saying that she is not important enough. The main cause of the narrators mental condition is her overbearing husband who stifles her emotional and imaginative impulses and forces her to concentrate on the objects that surround her. Furthermore, this inactivity pushes her deeper into madness. John imprisons her in a room that has no escape with bars on the windows and immovable bed which is nailed down. But the narrator is not just a prison of this room, she is a prison of her marriage. Her developing insanity is a form of rebellion and a way to gain her own independence. Her struggle to set the woman in the wallpaper free symbo lized her fight for independence. Kate Chopins The Awakening (1899) carried out the same theme of struggling woman in a dominant/ submissive relationship. However, Kate Chopin was different from Gilman because she never joined or supported organizations though which women fought to gain political, economic, and social rights equal to those of men. At the same time they both felt that relationships founded on economic dependence and household duties had to be reconsidered. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman had very different views on womens sexuality. Gilman spoke out strongly against eroticism in womens life while Kate Chopin concentrated mainly on the biological aspects of womens situation and was the first writer in her country to accept passion as a legitimate subject for serious, outspoken fiction. ( Per Seyerted, 198)The Awakening tells the story of a middle class woman, Edna Pontellier, who lives in New Orleans. She is married to a man she no longer loves and she looks for excitement and passion that they dont have in their relationship. She falls in love with a young man, Robert Lebrun, but he goes to Mexico when he discovers that his feelings toward Edna are very strong. During their separation Edna becomes involved with another man even though she doesnt love him. After Robert Lebrun comes back from Mexico, he meets Edna and admits to her that he loves her, but their happiness doesnt last long. Edna leaves to see her friend, Adele, and when she comes home, there is a note that is left by Robert Lebrun that says, I love you. Good-by- because I love you. Edna decides to take a swim and she never returns. .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e , .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e .postImageUrl , .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e , .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e:hover , .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e:visited , .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e:active { border:0!important; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e:active , .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ubb0c0889a45309bcdac1cb31a8b9304e:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Essay About Rock Music We will write a custom essay on Yellow specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Edna, as the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper, isnt satisfied with her marriage which is based on dominant/ submissive relationship. Her husband, Mr. Pontellier, doesnt treat Edna as human being , rather he treats her like one of his possessions paying just enough attention to make sure Edna is physically well and does everything that is expected from her. Mr. Pontellier lives for his business, social respect, and a decent family. As soon as he sees Ednas behavior changing, he seeks advice of a doctor. He is concerned about the fact that Edna lets the housekeeping go to the dickens and about her some sort of notion in her head concerning the eternal rights of women.While Edna seeks romance as a source of happiness, she experiments with art, and as she awakens personally, she develops a deeper commitment to it. Art plays a very important role in the life on the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper too. For Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, art is work because it is both difficult labor and ones true vocation, the idea that wasnt very common among nineteenth century women. Adele plays piano to enrich lives of her family and to beautify her home; she sees music a supplement to family life. Edna and the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper were not able to succeed in art because of the limitations of family life. Ednas dependency disturbed her from her work, although she isnt prohibited from doing what she likes, while the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper is told to keep away from writing by her loving husband. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman held different views on motherhood. The narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper doesnt talk a lot about her baby, but every time she does, she speaks of her baby with love, Theres one comfort, the baby is well and happy, and doesnt have to occupy this nursery with this horrid wall-paper. Charlotte Perkins Gilman sees motherhood to be essential for womens lives. Edna, on the other hand, understands that her role of a mother a lso makes impossible her continuing development as an autonomous individual.(Dyer, 27) Edna fears motherhood, perhaps because this is the role she cannot change. The nineteenth centurys message of the importance of motherhood was so extremely strong and intense that it couldnt be entirely opposed even by women like Edna who valued their independence more than family life. Still, Edna refused to live for her children rather than for herself. Ednas friend Adele is perfect in her role of mother, she is an example of mother woman. It isnt a coincidence that last pages of the books final chapter are dominated with the issue of motherhood. When Edna parts from Robert to go to Adele when she gives birth, Edna still believes that she has control over her own destiny. But seeing Adeles agony reminded her about her duties toward her children as their mother and she realizes that her dreams about her independence can never come true. This realization that comes along with loosing the man she loves forces her to take her life because she understands that there is no way for a mother to be truly independent. The Roberts note makes her understand not just that he is scared of having an affair in public, but that he would never be able to accept her urge for independence and equality. Female passion was thought to be immoral and unhealthy by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and other proponents of realism and feminism in the last decade of the nineteenth century. The color yellow in The Yellow Wallpaper has been interpreted as t he narrators sexual repression, her sexual fear, her disgust of sexuality (Knight, 13).According to Denise D. Knight in her A Study of the Short Fiction, in the original manuscript of The Yellow Wallpaper, there was a sentence that described this color as a sickly penetrating suggestive yellow, that points out the fear that narrator feels toward sexuality. (p. 12) Kate Chopin in The Awakening suggested that guilt shouldnt accompany sex even if it isnt sex in marriage. She didnt judge Edna as a fallen woman, moreover, it seems like Chopins view of sex was that sexual growth of a woman didnt end with her marriage. To us, modern readers, sexual descriptions in The Awakening may seem hardly explicit, however, contemporary readers would have founds them inappropriate. However, Ednas awakening to her own sexuality can bring only partial fulfillment because Edna comes to understanding that female biology can also enslave and she thus takes her life because she needs sexual and spiritual freedom, but acknowledges a duty toward her children. Charlotte Perkins Gilman suggested that women in dependent relationships are always removed from their physical environment( Dyer, 55) Could it be that Edna and the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper responded to the environment that surrounded them because they started doubting their own place in the dependent/ submissive relationship? Excessive physicality of Grand Isle are irresistible to Edna, and her sexuality awakens under the influence of nature, sea, Creole women and men, and her longing for love and passion. This environment sharpens Ednas senses. The sea becomes very important to Edna as she learns to appreciate it. At first, Edna was afraid of swimming not because of her physical limitations, but because of her fear of being alone in the water. Ednas desire to swim alone in the sea without anyone standing near emphasizes her growth as an individual. She is no longer afraid of loneliness, she realized that she is not only part of domestic place, but part of the world. The Awakening is about the beginning of selfhood, and Ednas return to the sea, the source of life can be interpreted as a beginning of self-understanding. Ednas victory is in her awakening to an independence, passion, and self-understanding, but she refuses to live without human status and be judged by her ability to be a dutiful mother. The narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper doubts her husbands opinions and her own role in their relationship; being unable to write and communicate with her friends, she sees herself in the image of the woman in the wallpaper and identifies her thoughts and doubts with this image. The narrators urge for independence is more unconscious than Ednas , who fully understands expectations that her husband has of her and her own urges and desires. In the final scene when John faints and she creeps over him she says, Ive got out at lastAnd Ive pulled off most of the paper, so you cant put me back! She achieved h er independence and doesnt need anybody to rely on for survival. She achieved her independence from her submission to her husband, but this independence came at a terrible price- her sanity. The uniqueness of The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper caused early reviewers to greet it with hostility. Thus the nation was not ready to wake up to the truth about feminine passion and independence. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman saw no happy end to the womans urge for freedom. The narrators and Ednas achievement of independence brings them despair rather than fulfillment and happiness. The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening are both about the beginnings; they begin a painful process of bridging two centuries, two worlds, two visions of gender. (Dyer,116) Works Cited:Dyer, Joyce. The Awakening: A Novel of Beginnings New York: Twayne Publishers,1993. .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 , .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 .postImageUrl , .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 , .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41:hover , .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41:visited , .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41:active { border:0!important; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41:active , .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41 .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc96f9bc88732e2cb3a9e7444bb9c2e41:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Public Relatons Volvo Case Study EssayKnight, Denise D. Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997. Scharnhorst , Gary. Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985. Per Seyersted. Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography .Norway: Universitetsforlaget, 1969. The Awakening Chicago:Herbert S. Stone;Co.,1899. ReprintThe Yellow Wallpaper. Boston: Small, Maynard ;Co., 1899. Reprint. Afterword by Elaine Hedges. New York: The Feminist Press, 1973Words/ Pages : 2,457 / 24