Saturday, January 25, 2020

The State Of Male Privilege In Contemporary Society Sociology Essay

The State Of Male Privilege In Contemporary Society Sociology Essay The state of male privilege within society is greatly debated. Both past and present day academics, have considered the extent of its presence and effects within society in relation to spatial and geographical dimensions. Over time, a vast selection of literature claiming that male privilege heavily affects womens power and opportunity for equality between the sexes has accumulated. This literature is a reaction to issues such as women consistently taking lower wages in the workforce and being repressed by the family unit, cultures, religion, politics and society as a whole. This has resulted in limitations for women due to stereotypical gender roles reinforced in both work and home spaces. However, the increased empowerment of women must be noted through the last century, for example, when women won the right to vote. The last decade witnessed Farrells (1993) works on The Myth of Male Power which has cast a rather different light on the alleged privileges of man. Leaving one to ques tion whether, in fact, it is to women that freedom and privilege belongs; Goldin and Katz (2006) discuss this phenomenon in The reversal of the college gender gap. Are men perhaps, as Farrell (1993) suggests, perhaps the subordinated sex? For the purposes of this essay, male privilege will be defined as the notion that the male population of society is granted rights and statuses based strictly on the grounds of their gender, thus women are denied equal liberties. Patriarchy, as a concept strongly associated with male privilege is defined as a system of social structures and practices, through which men dominate, oppress and exploit women, according to The Dictionary of Human Geography (Gregory et al. 2009). Cosslett et al (1996) highlight the theme of patriarchy is evident within theological structures. They also refer to a verse from the book of Timothy in the New Testament which clearly suggests that women are subordinate to men. Let a women learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, bit the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet woman will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty. (1 Timothy 2.11-15) 1 Timothy 2.11-15 suggests that women are the cause of sin and deception. Eve, as the representation of the female form was deliberately disobedient when provided with the opportunity to exercise her own authority. Christianity interprets this foundational allegory in order to offer an explanation for the sexual hierarchy existing within society. According to Therborn (2004), the world of patriarchy remained part of society throughout the 1900s. The law of the father remained a substantial part of understanding society during the 1900s. The role of the father was to rule over the children continuing into adult life, until they were married. It was generally perceived that men were super-ordinate to their wives, thus men had generational authority. So much so, that despite a general expectation that men should keep a mistress in Latin Europe and America, divorce was incredibly difficult and a uniquely male privilege in China and Muslim countries (Therborn, 2004). Female freedom was incredibly restricted, entirely controlled by their male authority, whether it be by their father or husband. Movement in public spaces for women was physically restrained almost everywhere, however, restrictions varied to a great extent. In North-America and North-western Europe, sexually ambiguous spaces including the streets after dark, restauran ts, theatres and other places of entertainment were usually off-limits to women unless being escorted (Therborn, 2004). However, Therborn (2004) noted that more extreme measures were taken to restrain womens movement elsewhere, for example, in an area of land between the Gangetic plains of the redundant Mughal Empire to the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Women of the upper conservative classes rarely left their female quarters, let alone their home; it was expected that they should only set foot outside their home for events such as their marriage, their fathers death and at their own burial. On the few occasions when they did leave their home, they were wrapped up and veiled. Therborn (2004) discusses not only the restrictions that were placed on womens movement through space but physical restraints places on their body by men. Women in China endured great suffering; forced to conform to the male concept of beauty their feet were broken and bound up as a tribute to their male authority. Jackson (1990) suggests that some homosexual men may have suffered oppression under patriarchy (such as compulsory heterosexuality), as well as the inherent exploitation of women. Brittan (1989, p.4) considers that masculinity or patriarchy assumes that heterosexuality is normal, it accepts without question the sexual division of labour, and sanctions the political and dominant role of men in the public and private spheres. Essentially certain forms of masculinity are privileged, subordinating other forms. Thus, homosexuality is treated as secondary to heterosexuality, just as women are to men. The continued oppression and abuse of women through time and place inspired the sentiments of Mary Wollstonecraft two centuries ago, who wrote, I [only] wish women to have powerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦over themselves, as highlighted by Finch (1996). As the second wave of feminism began to gain strength in Britain in the 1960s, views of the family changed, as feminists argued the family was a fundamental cause of womens oppression (Finch, 1996). Finch (1996) questions whether or not the family represents restriction of opportunities, thus positioning women as subordinates to men within the family unit. He suggests that the gender relations characteristic of the dominant family form are key to understanding a womans place within society. However, Finch (1996) argues that in recent years the family form has altered. Therborn (2004) suggests that the early twentieth century saw de-patriarchalization occurring at an incredible rate. No other social institution through time has been forced to retre at and loosen its hold as much. The retreat of patriarchy from society has been aided by legal enforcement; for example, when women (all over the age of 21) won the right to vote in 1928 as well as the UN declaration of human rights 1948, which stated: Men and Women of full age, without any limitations due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage, and its dissolution Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses So the family form has changed and continues to change; as the first wave of feminism spurred on de-patriarchalization in the early twentieth century followed by the second wave come the 1960s, womens rights within marriage and the family were increasing. A womans ability to succeed in the eyes of Mary Wollstonecraft has to go against the grain of social life (Finch, 1996, p.20), in combination with favourable circumstances allowing a woman to gain financial independence. However, Finch (1996) recognises that this remains a difficult task even at the end of the twentieth century. Callen and Wren (1994) report a sharp rise on the hourly wages that Irish women received relative to their male counterparts during the 1970s, after the introduction of the equal pay legislation and anti-discrimination legislation. Over the past few decades the male-female wage gap has seemingly shrunk by about half. This narrowing was particularly dramatic in the 1980s but since has levelled out and remained more stable (Doms and Lewis, 2007). However, it remains that women only earn approximately 70% of the amount their male colleagues earn for the same jobs. This is evidence that men seem to have privileges which women lack. Simon and Landis (1989) suggest that the wage gap between men and women cannot narrow to equality until both genders have equal employment. Conversely, most of the figures quoted for the male-female wage gap are for production workers in the manufacturing industry, but this group of workers amounts to just 1 in 3 of all employees and less than 1 in 5 of all fe male employees (Callen and Wren, 1994). Thus, it is debateable as to whether this sub-group of the economy can provide an accurate representation of the male-female wage gap. It is also important to note that women are more highly concentrated in the younger age groups within the workforce; 70% women: 52% men were aged 35 or below. This is usually attributed to many women, especially married women, tending to leave the labour market during the years of child-bearing and child-rearing (Callen and Wren, 1994). This can affect the wage gap because generally wage gaps for groups of a similar age, or possessing similar labour market experience are smaller. The wage gap is often around just 7% for those under the age of 35. Despite increasing numbers of women returning to work after having children, many still feel that child-care and other family responsibilities are the main reason that they did not seek out paid work. The presence of a pre-school child (age 0-4) makes it much less likely that a woman will return to work (Callen and Wren, 1994). This effect is not at all mirrored in the case of men. McDowell (1997) suggests that this is due to the binaries that exist in society; the workplace is a male dominated space while the home is a female dominated space. However, Hochschild (2003) notes a staggering increase in mothers returning to work in America with children aged 3 and under, from 34% in 1975, to 61% in 2000. 90% of women that do return to the workforce have found that they still are expected to be responsible for finding and organising childcare. Whilst this increase in the number of mothers that are working outside the home may suggest that women are gaining power over themselves, it may a lso be attributed to a change from Fordist notions of a family wage. Rather, womens work has absorbed the deindustrialisation of America and the decline in mens wages (Hochschild, 2003). In fact, Pratt (2002) predicts that by 2025 women in the UK will possess 60% of the nations wealth, and by 2020 just 47% of the UKs millionaires will be men. Garai and Scheinfield (1968) suggest that the majority of studies report that men advance further in the workforce, whilst women are left behind with the expectation to get married and have children because boys have a clearer concept of their future occupational roles, are more realistic in their vocational planning, and less frequently engaged in unrealistic fantasies and pipedreams about future happiness than girls. Is the privilege and success of men within the workforce due to a lack of aspiration and focus on employment from women? Or is it as Spencer and Podmore (1987) have suggested, that womens careers are unplanned due to an indecisive nature as well as suffering from breaks for child-rearing? This began to change as in the 1960s and 1970s, young womens expectations for their futures were changing, and no longer did they expect to follow in their mothers footsteps. By 1980, levels of male and female graduates had reached parity, but womens greater increase rate did not slow; in 2003, there were 1.35 for every one male 4-year college graduates, and 1.30 for every one male undergraduate (Goldin and Katz, 2006). Thus the 21st century witnessed a reversal in the college gender gap. This effect is not purely a phenomenon of the USA; it is now occurring in nearly all OECD countries. In the three surveys conducted to assess the college gender gap, Goldin and Katz (2006) reported that girls achieved consistently higher grades than boys did throughout high school. In the Wisconsin data of high school seniors graduating in 1957, the high school rank of the median girls was 21 percentile points above the median boy. This difference whilst less extreme still remained with a 16 percent ile point difference in 1992 graduated in the NELS data (Goldin and Katz, 2006). Therefore, demonstrating that girls have an academic privilege over boys. Evidence that the college gender gap and the male-female wage gap is narrowing perhaps lead to Farrell (1993) to question whether male power is a myth, further exploring the idea that men are not the privileged gender. Farrell (1993) considers the many ways in which women are argued to be subordinate to their male counterparts; feeling of powerless through fears of pregnancy, ageing, rape, date rape, and being physically overpowered, less exposure to team sports and its blend of competitiveness and cooperation that is so helpful to career preparation, greater parental pressure to marry and interrupt career for children without regard for her wishes, to name but a few. The conclusion to these experiences of women across the globe is that women have the problem, men are the problem (Farrell, 1993, p.27-28). However, Farrell (1993) then puts a different spin on the concept of gender privilege, claiming that men have a different experience. When a man tries to keep up with payments by working overtime and is told he is insensitive, or tries to handle the stress by drinking and is told he is a drunkard, he does not feel powerful, but powerless. When he fears a cry for help will be met with stop whiningà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ he skips past attempting suicide as a cry for help and just commits suicide. Thus menà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦increasingly become the suicide sex. (Farrell, 1993, p27-28) Farrell (1993) suggests that when we look at life expectancy, we acknowledge that blacks dying six years sooner than whites reflects the powerlessness of blacks in American society. Yet a man dying on average seven years sooner than a woman is rarely considered a reflection of powerlessness. If the seven year gap is biological, why was it just a one year gap in 1920? If life expectancy is one of the best indictors of power, then suicide is one of the best indicators of powerlessness, Power is the ability to control ones life. Death tends to reduce control (Farrell, 1993, p27-28). Until boys and girls reach the age of 9 rates of suicide are equal, but from the age of 10, as a boy grows older he is far more likely to commit suicide than a girl of the same age. Between the ages of 20-24, a male is 6 times more inclined to commit suicide than a female. By the age of 85, the suicide rate for men has increased to 1350% higher than for women of the same age. This suggests perhaps that men h ave a less privileged life, for feeling more stressed with work may cause an inclination toward suicide. It is easy to ignore the influence and power that a woman possesses, which a mother can have over her children including both sons and daughters. But it is the mother who is able to make their childs everyday life heaven or hell through discipline, whether that be making their bedtime earlier, taking away desserts, or grounding the child if they do not obey (Farrell, 1993). Few men are able to say they hold this kind of influence or power. Despite the old saying that man is master of the house, many men feel they were visitors in their wives castle. A wife may feel that a mans home is his castle, but from a husbands perspective, his wifes home is his mortgage. In the past, the prohibition against divorce gave a woman security in her workplace (the home), knowing they would be supported. However, no man could say he had a similar security in his workplace; his source of income could fire him, whilst her source of income could not fire her. Even today, now that divorce is a legal option, if a man quits his job, he does not receive unemployment pay. Yet, if she initiates divorce, she is able to take a half share of their possessions. Perhaps then, women possess greater privileges than men? It has been a long held assumption that women spend a greater amount of time on housework and childcare than men spend working, concluding that women work two jobs, men work one (Farrell, 1993, p.37). However, a study by the University of Michigan (1991) found the average man worked 61 hours per week, while the average woman works 56 hours a week. A nationwide study in 1975 found similarly that husbands did 53% of the total work, including childcare, housework, work outside the home, commuting and gardening, while wives did only 47%. A mans freedom or lack of it has been compared to that of a slave; a slave is expected to give up their seat for a woman, or to help her put on her coat like a slave would for their master (Farrell, 1993). Men as opposed to women are expected to do societys most hazardous jobs, like ones slave would have been given (Farrell, 1993).The difference simply being societys rules and expectations of men, such as that of politeness, whilst slaves act out of subservience. A man may feel through expectation that in a sense he is being discriminated against, but there is evidence that women also experience this. Black congressman Shirley Chisholms statement that she faced far more discrimination as a woman than as a black was widely quoted (Farrell, 1993). Although, perhaps the greatest discrimination that American men experience of all, purely because of their gender, is the expectation that men and only men should be conscribed into combat in the case of war. Farrell (1993) explores the idea of the pro-choice woman and the no-choice man, arguing that registering all our 18-year old sons for the draft in the event of war is as sexist as registering all our 18-year old daughters for child-rearing in the event that the country requires more children. Is it fair that an 18-year boy can be barred from all federal employment from the US Post Office to the FBI, as well as facing a $250,000 fine and five years in prison if he refuses to register for the draft? Farrell (1993) suggests that in essence he is subject to being killed purely for not killing; for whilst in prison he will be subject to homosexual rape and thus AIDS because of his reputation for not wanting to fight. Is this fair, while a female who does not register is able to atte nd a state school or a private school with federal aid, get married, have children, or be single and work. In other words, a woman who does not sign up for the draft is free to live life as she pleases, while a man has an obligation to die (Farrell, 1993, p.130). To conclude, the understanding of male privilege has changed greatly over the last century. There are a great many examples over time and place which suggest that women have suffered under the dominance of man, but, it is by no means a universally accepted concept. Farrell (1993) has persistently argued that men find they are subordinates to women and children. Many of the issues around gender discrimination in the workplace in terms of employment and wages, have found improvements in favour of women, to the extent that Pratt (2002) suggests that in the UK women will possess more wealth than men by 2025. However, male privilege remains prominent in other aspects of society, only time will tell whether this will remain or will gradually fade. It is difficult to say how near or far society is from gender equality due to the vast disputes as to the state of male privilege that exists today.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Kant on Time as A Priori Essay

Immanuel Kant presented a series of arguments regarding the nature of time. He sought to prove that time is innate in the sensibility of all human beings and that it is independent of the material world and argued that time belongs to experience as an a priori form of intuition (Kant, 74). In his Critique of Pure Reason, he claimed that time is a priori instead of being a permeating feature of mind-independent reality. He also argued that the nature of time as an element of the universe is sensible instead of conceptual which the mind   compels upon experience (75). He arrived at the conclusion that time could not independently exist or be associated to other objects as a verifiable entity. He claimed time to be the form of inner sense and maintained that time is â€Å"It is the immediate condition of inner appearances (of our souls), and thereby the mediate condition of outer appearances.†Ã‚   (77).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first of Kant’s arguments regarding time as an a priori form of sensibility states that it is a necessity for our understanding of   simultaneity and succession to be preconceived since they are generated in our minds prior to our experience of simultaneous but successive moments in time (75). Kant claims: â€Å"Time is not an empirical concept that has been derived from any experience. For neither coexistence nor succession would ever come within our perception,   if the representation of time were not presupposed as underlying them a priori. Only on the presupposition of time can we represent to ourselves a number of things as existing at one and the same time (simultaneously) or at different times (successively).†Ã‚   (74) By stating that â€Å"Only under its presuppositions can one represent that several things exist at one and the same time   or in different times,† (74) Kant, in essence, is implying that concepts can not made on the basis of perception unless we have a preconceived notion of such concept. For example, our notion of a â€Å"dog† could not be a concept which is based on our experience since our mind would not be able to perceive it we did not have an idea of a â€Å"dog† which was based on a preconceived notion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, even with Gardner’s explanation, Kant’s argument is still unpersuasive. It fails to offer us sufficient reasons to agree that a preconceived notion of time is a necessary prerequisite of the perception of time. This argument is not compelling enough to weaken how time is viewed in the common sense because it begs a faulty conclusion that if this was so, our notion of color should also be a priori. Consequently, with this argument, the logical assumption about time would be that â€Å"because the notion of time is conjured simultaneously with representing the world of material objects, it cannot be based on perception of material objects. The basic view of the nature of time actually remains definite as the properties of time, which exists in and all the objects of the universe, are perceived through our experiences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kant’s second argument tries to prove that time is an a priori form of intuition by arguing that it is possible to consider time without any appearances of any material object but it is not possible to consider any material object without the appearance of time. Kant argues: â€Å"Time is a necessary representation that underlies all intuitions. We cannot, in respect of appearances in general,remove time itself, though we can quite well think time as void of appearances. Time is, therefore, given a priori. In it alone is actuality of appearances possible at all. Appearances may, one and all, vanish; but time (as the universal condition of their possibility) cannot itself be removed..† (74-75) However, if we take this argument into consideration, it would then be logically imperative to conclude that space embodies the of outer sense or time embodies the inner appearance however this conclusion, albeit sound based on the provisions of the Kant’s argument, actually contradicts the text itself .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All in all, Kant’s arguments fail to mitigate the strong points of the common sense view of time which is, that time is a pervasive feature of the world. His arguments do not offer conclusive ideas. Although he tries to provide empirical evidences to his arguments by referencing his claims with the realities of experience, his arguments imply assumptions that when interpreted do not necessarily hold true. His theory requires a vital premise, that our notions of time and space are a priori, and it requires it to be granted in the onset however he offers no compelling argument. This vital premise caused the undoing of his entire theory. Works Cited Kant, Immanuel. The Critique of Pure Reason. Trans. Kemp-Smith, Norman. Palgrave Macmillan, 1995.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Population and the World Hunger Debate Essay - 999 Words

Population and the World Hunger Debate The correlation between over-population and growing world hunger has become a controversial topic in today’s society. Concerns of population expansion, world starvation, and environment destruction are matters of debate and are of much concern for their outcomes affect everyone of society. The world is home to an estimated 6 billion people with more than 80 million additions every year. With this astonishing growing rate of population it is necessary to address the matter of world hunger before it is too late. The three main theories of world population and the correlation to world hunger are debatable; however, it is ultimately left to an individual to determine the truth/ answer to such†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The extermination of thousands of species of plants and animals annually, the collapse of over two-thirds of the world’s fisheries, the loss of an estimated 24 billion tons of topsoil each year, and increasing unstable climate, faltering food se curity, and depletion of the protective ozone layer† (Walker, On Wall Street) will all be effected because of over-population. According to a recent UN Food and Agriculture Report, in order to meet the population demands for the predicted population in 2050, the world will have to increase food production by 75%. This increase in population will have a direct effect on the environment for more land will be needed to support additional population growth. â€Å"An estimated 420 million people live today in countries that have less than .07 hectare of cultivated land per person (the bare minimum capable of supplying a vegetation diet for one person without the use of chemicals). That number is projected to increase to 1.04 billion in the year 2025† (UN Food and Agriculture Report). Land elimination and overuse is just one example of environment degradation as population increases. As more people use the land to grow food and found communities, smaller portions of land are left to support large growing numbers of people. One aspect of the land degradation is the overuse and abuse of soil. Soil supports the growth of food with in turn supports the existence of humans. 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