The Feminization Of Poverty Essays - Feminist Economics,

The Feminization Of Poverty The Origins of the Feminization of Poverty The United Nations Development Fund for Women reports that women are still the poorest of the world's poor, representing 70% of the 1.3 billion people who live in absolute poverty. They also estimate that nearly 900 million women in the world have incomes of less than $1 a day. In the United States alone, women are about 50 percent more likely to be poor than men. The feminization of poverty in America has steadily increased since the 1950's. Researchers have investigated the reasons for this increase, citing everything from teenage pregnancy to the rise in ?deadbeat dads.? Over the last thirty-five years there have been several trends in our society that have contributed to the feminization of poverty. In 1978, Diana Pearce published a paper citing that poverty in America was becoming more and more ?feminized.? She cited that almost two-thirds of the poor over the age of 16 were women. Pearce also claimed that even though there were more women entering the labor force between 1950 and the mid-1970's, women's economic status had declined. She argued that the blame for this feminization of poverty belonged to the government because of their lack of support for divorced and single women. She argued, ?for many the price of that independence has been their pauperization and dependence on welfare? (McLanahan 1). Further examination of the issue has shown that various changes in the family have contributed to the feminization of poverty. The last thirty years has seen a steady increase in the amount of children born outside of wedlock. In 1960, about six percent of all births were to unmarried couples whereas by 1996 over a third fell into this category (McLanahan 5). This influx of births to single mothers has weighed greatly on women in poverty. The statistics of children born to unmarried black couples is even more dramatic increasing from 22% in 1960 to 70% in 1996 (McLanahan 5). Most women in the lowest quintile of the population have come from generations of poverty before them and their only hope of survival is to get on their own and try to get education or job training. With the birth of children, these impoverished women now have two or three dependents to support and the cycle of poverty continues. Most of these women do not have families to support them and they are left with only one option ? government support. This has contributed a great deal to the rise of single mother households. Another contribution to the rise in female-headed households has been the increase in divorces. Sarah McLanahan, a researcher at Princeton University, noted that in 1950, ?most people remained married until they or their spouses died, but today over half of all couples end their marriages voluntarily. The divorce rate ? the number of divorces each year per 1,000 married women ? rose steadily during the first half of the twentieth century and increased dramatically after 1960. Over half of all marriages contracted in the mid-1980's were projected to end in divorce.? After the marriages are ended the custody of the children almost always goes to the mother. Now the mother becomes the single provider in her family, facing a job that pays far less than the job her male counterparts have, and on top of that her needs are greater because she has custody of their children. Karen Holden and Pamela Smock noted the problems women face after their marriages have ended: ?Women's post-dissolution economic hardship is due to multiple interrelated factors, often only superficially coupled with the marital dissolution event. In particular, the division of labor during marriage, lower wages paid to women both during and after marriage, and the lack of adequate post-dissolution transfers to women imply that unless changes in women's work roles are mirrored by social policy initiatives and men's assumption of equal responsibility for children (both within and out of marriage), economic prospects for previously married women will remain poor (Holden 52).? As single mothers, these women are thrown into unfamiliar territory, and the outcome has been a greater amount of women below the poverty threshold. With this rise in female-headed households below the poverty line has

Definition and Examples of Taboo Language

Definition and Examples of Taboo Language The term taboo language refers to words and phrases that are generally considered inappropriate in certain contexts. Social anthropologist Edmund Leach identified three major categories of taboo words and phrases in English: 1. Dirty words that are concerned with sex and excretion, such as bugger, shit.2. Words that have to do with the Christian religion, such as Christ and Jesus.3. Words which are used in animal abuse (calling a person by the name of an animal), such as bitch, cow. (Brà ³na Murphy, Corpus and Sociolinguistics: Investigating Age and Gender in Female Talk, 2010) The use of taboo language is apparently as old as language itself.  You taught me language, Caliban says in the first act of Shakespeares The Tempest, and my profit ont /  Is, I know how to curse. Etymology The word taboo  was first introduced into European languages by Captain Cook in his description of his third voyage around the world, when he visited Polynesia. Here, he witnessed the ways in which  the word taboo  was used for certain avoidance customs ranging across widely different things...(The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion, 2011) Examples and Observations People constantly censor the language they use (we differentiate this from the institutionalized imposition of censorship)... In contemporary western society, taboo and euphemism are closely entwined with the concepts of politeness and face (basically, a persons self-image). Generally, social interaction is oriented toward behaviour that is courteous and respectful, or at least inoffensive. Participants have to consider whether what they are saying will maintain, enhance, or damage their own face, as well as to be considerate of, and care for, the face needs of others. (Keith Allan and Kate Burridge, Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language. Cambridge University Press, 2006) Tips on Using Four-Letter Words in Writing [S]omeone in my position has had to devise some rough rules governing the use of [four-letter words]. My own set of rules I now put in writing for the first time. In what follows, they and them stand for what were once obscenities. (Kingsley Amis, The Kings English: A Guide to Modern Usage. HarperCollins, 1997) Use them sparingly and, as classicists used to say, for special effect only.Even in low farce, never use any of them in its original or basic meaning unless perhaps to indicate that a character is some kind of pompous buffoon or other undesirable. Even straightforward excretory ones are tricky.They may be used in dialogue, though remember rule 1. An attempt at humor will often justify their appearance...If in doubt, strike it out, taking it here as one of them. Linguists on Taboo Language in Cultural Contexts Discussion of verbal insults invariably raises the question of obscenity, profanity, cuss words, and other forms of taboo language. Taboo words are those that are to be avoided entirely, or at least avoided in mixed company or polite company. Typical examples involve common swear words such as Damn! or Shit! The latter is heard more and more in polite company, and both men and women use both words openly. Many, however, feel that the latter word is absolutely inappropriate in polite or formal contexts. In place of these words, certain euphemismsthat is polite substitutes for taboo wordscan be used... What counts as taboo language is something defined by culture, and not by anything inherent in the language. (Adrian Akmajian, Richard Demers, Ann Farmer, and Robert Harnish, Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication. MIT Press, 2001) Linguists have taken a neutral and descriptive stance on taboo words. The role of linguistic studies has been to document which words are avoided in what situations... Words themselves are not taboo, dirty, or profane. Many of the words currently considered inappropriate in public settings were the neutral, normal term for an object or action in earlier forms of English. The word shit was not always deemed inappropriate or impolite. In a similar way, many languages of the world still treat bodily functions in a less euphemistic manner. (Peter J. Silzer, Taboo.  Encyclopedia of Linguistics, ed. by  Philipp Strazny. Taylor Francis, 2005) ​The Lighter Side of Taboo Language Shifting Standards in South Park Ms. Choksondik: All right children,...Im supposed to clarify the schools position on the word shit.Stan: Wow! We can say shit in school now?Kyle: This is ridiculous. Just because they say it on TV, its all right?Ms. Choksondik: Yes, but only in the figurative noun form or the adjective form.Cartman: Huh?Ms. Choksondik: You can only use it in the nonliteral sense. For instance, Thats a shitty picture of me is now fine. However, the literal noun form of [writes on the board] This is a picture of shit is still naughty.Cartman: I dont get it.Stan: Me neither.Ms. Choksondik: The adjective form is now also acceptable. For example, The weather outside is shitty. However, the literal adjective is not appropriate. For example, My bad diarrhea made the inside of the toilet all shitty, and I had to clean it with a rag, which then also became shitty. Thats right out!Timmy: Sssh...shit!Ms. Choksondik: Very good, Timmy.Butters: Ms. Choksondik, can we say the expletive, like Oh shit! or Shit on a s hingle? Ms. Choksondik: Yes, thats now fine.Cartman: Wow! This is gonna be great! A whole new word! (It Hits the Fan. South Park, 2001 Taboo Language in Monty Pythons Flying Circus Voice Over: The BBC would like to apologize for the poor quality of the writing in that sketch. It is not BBC policy to get easy laughs with words like bum, knickers, botty or wee-wees. (Off-camera laughter) Sh!(Cut to a man standing by a screen with a clicker.) BBC Man: These are the words that are not to be used again on this program.(He clicks the clicker. The following slides appear on screen: B*MB*TTYP*XKN*CKERSW**-W**SEMPRINI (A woman comes into the shot.) Woman: Semprini? BBC Man: (pointing) Out! (Cut back to the chemists shop.) Chemist: Right, whos got a boil on his semprini, then? (A policeman appears and bundles him off.) (Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and John Cleese in The Chemist Sketch. Monty Pythons Flying Circus, Oct. 20, 1970)

Methods of Analysis - Horizontal and Vertical Assignment

Methods of Analysis - Horizontal and Vertical - Assignment Example The horizontal analysis for an income statement is taken out by considering two years data. By taking out the difference between both years, a further calculation is conducted. Similarly, the balance sheet also requires the same technique for conducting the horizontal analysis. Vertical analysis is a relative analysis of the financial data. In this particular case, each category of the financial statement is classified as a percentage of other related items. Basically, all the items are listed according to the percentage value of the total sales. Likewise, in the case of a balance sheet, all the listed items are derived from the percentage value of the total assets. This analysis is very helpful as financial decision-makers are capable of making the decision on the basis of account balances held within the single time span. With the help of ratio analysis, the decision makers take out quantitative analysis regarding the data provided by the firm’s financial statements. There a re certain formulas used to calculate the ratios. The basic motive of analysis is to measure the performance of the firm in comparison to the competitors, the historical data, and even the industry as a whole. In order to take out fundamental results, current year ratios are compared to the timeline results (Sinha, 2009). The main purpose of the analysis of financial statements is to recognize the advantages of the company and take the most out of them and to recognize the weakness of the company and take corrective measures (Cagan, 2005). In the horizontal analysis, the dynamics and the tendency of the position of the financial statements are examined. On the basis of the observed changes, the security and business efficiency is estimated. Whereas in vertical analysis enables insight into the structure of the financial statements. The structure of the financial information is very important in determining the business quality. Ratio analysis is divided into 2 groups; one group cont ains information within a certain period, typically one  year. Group 1 uses data from the cash flow statement and income statement.   Group 2 contains information from a particular moment and relates to data of the balance sheet.   Thus, this measures the quality of the business.