Status of Women Empowerment in India Essay Example for Free

Status of Women Empowerment in India Essay Presented By Ankur Sharma Faculty:Institute of Rural Management, Jodhpur Meaning of Empowerment: On an individual level we see empowerment as building confidence, insight and understanding, and developing personal skills, for example, being able to analyze situations and communicate more effectively with others. Meaning of Women Empowerment:Women Empowerment means to inspire women with the courage to break free from the chains of limiting beliefs, patterns and societal or religious conditions that have traditionally kept women suppressed and unable to realize their true beauty and power. Women Empowerment In India:However indian economy is progressing in terms of GDP Per Capita Income but still women empowerment is a big concern for our country.Still conditions of womens are pathetic in our countries. There are many areas where we have to think about seriously should be taken positive steps to eridicate such kind of sociel evils from our society.As being an part of society,its our duty that we should also contribute to the society try to bring awareness among people.we should not underestimate womens just not only the basis of Physical strenth.Rather they are equally competent to us even in terms of their intellectual power or in terms of there emotional intellegence.Here we are discussing some major areas that requires a big concern: Domestic Violance: Domestic violence in India is endemic and widespread predominantly against women. Around 70% of women in India are victims to domestic violence according to Renuka Chowdhury junior minister for women and child development. National Crime Records Bureau reveal that a crime against a women is committed every three minutes, a women is raped every 29 minutes, a dowry death occurs every 77 minutes and one case of cruelty committed by either the husband or relative of the victim. | Domestic violence in India often happens as a result of dowry demands.According to Unicefs Global Report Card on Adolescents 2012, 57% boys in India think a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife while around 53% girls think that a husband is justified in beating his wife.Domestic violence is known to happen in Upper Class families as well as NRI families. Gender Discrimnation: Infancy to childhood The cultural construct of Indian society which reinforces gender bias against women, has led to the continuation of India’s strong preference for male children. Female infanticide, a sex-selective abortion, is adopted and strongly reflects the low status of Indian women. Census 2011 shows a decline of girl population under the age of seven, with activists estimating that eight million female fetuses may have been aborted in the past decade.The 2005 census shows infant mortality figures for females and males are 61 and 56, respectively, out of 1000 live births, with females more likely to be aborted than males due to biased attitudes. A decline in the sex ratio was observed with India’s 2011 census reporting that it stands at 914 females against 1,000 males, a drop from 927 in 2001 the lowest since India’s independence. The demand for sons among wealthy parents is being satisfied by the medical community through the provision of illegal services of fetal sex-determination and sex-selective abortion. The financial incentive for physicians to undertake this illegal activity seems to be far greater than the penalties associated with breaking the law. Childhood to adulthood (education): Education is not widely attained by the Indian women. Although literacy rates are increasing, female literacy rates lags behind the male literacy rate. Literacy Rate Census of India 2001 and 2011 Comparison Literacy for females stands at 65.46%, compared to 82.14% for males.An underlying factor for such low literacy rates are parents perceptions that education for girls are a waste of resources as their daughters would eventually live with their husbands families and they will not benefit directly from the education investment. Adulthood and onwards: Discrimination against women has contributed to gender wage differentials, with Indian women on average earning 64% of what their male counterparts earn for the same occupation and level of qualification. Discrimination against women has led to their lack of autonomy and authority. Although equal rights are given to women, it may not be well recognized. In practice, land and property rights are weakly enforced, with customary laws widely practiced in rural areas. Women do not own property under their own names  and usually do not have any inheritance rights to obtain a share of parental property. Education and economic development: According to 1992-93 figures, only 9.2% of the households in India were female-headed. However, approximately 35% of the households below the poverty line were found to be female-headed. Education: Though it is gradually rising, the female literacy rate in India is lower than the male literacy rate.Compared to boys, far fewer girls are enrolled in the schools, and many of them drop out.According to the National Sample Survey Data of 1997, only the states of Kerala and Mizoram have approached universal female literacy rates. According to majority of the scholars, the major factor behind the improved social and economic status of women in Kerala is literacy. Under Non-Formal Education programme (NFE), about 40% of the centres in states and 10% of the centres in UTs are exclusively reserved for females. As of 2000, about 0.3 million NFE centres were catering to about 7.42 million children, out of which about 0.12 million were exclusively for girls. urban India, girls are nearly at par with the boys in terms of education. However, in rural India girls continue to be less educated than the boys. According to a 1998 report by U.S. Department of Commerce, the chief barrier to female education in India are inadequate school facilities (such as sanitary facilities), shortage of female teachers and gender bias in curriculum (majority of the female characters being depicted as weak and helpless). Workforce participation: Contrary to the common perception, a large percent of women in India work. The National data collection agencies accept the fact that there is a serious under-estimation of womens contribution as workers. However, there are far fewer women in the paid workforce than there are men. In urban India Women have impressive number in the workforce. As an example at software industry 30% of the workforce is female.They are at par with their male counterparts in terms of wages, position at the work place. In rural India, agriculture and allied industrial sectors employ as much as 89.5% of the total female labour. In overall farm production, womens average contribution is estimated at 55% to 66% of the total labour. According to a  1991 World Bank report, women accounted for 94% of total employment in dairy production in India. Women constitute 51% of the total employed in forest-based small-scale enterprises. One of the most famous female business success stories is the Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad. In 2006, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw,who started Biocon one of Indias first biotech companies, was rated Indias richest woman. Lalita D. Gupte and Kalpana Morparia were the only businesswomen in India who made the list of the Forbes Worlds Most Powerful Women in 2006. Chanda Kochher Indias second-largest bank, ICICI Bank, and Morparia is the CEO of JPMorgan India. Land and property rights: In most Indian families, women do not own any property in their own names, and do not get a share of parental property.Due to weak enforcement of laws protecting them, women continue to have little access to land and property.In fact, some of the laws discriminate against women, when it comes to land and property rights. The Hindu personal laws of mid-1956s (applied to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains) gave women rights to inheritance. However, the sons had an independent share in the ancestral property, while the daughters shares were based on the share received by their father. Hence, a father could effectively disinherit a daughter by renouncing his share of the ancestral property, but the son will continue to have a share in his own right. Additionally, married daughters, even those facing marital harassment, had no residential rights in the ancestral home. After amendment of Hindu laws in 2005, now women in have been provided the same status as that of men. Crimes against women: Police records show high incidence of crimes against women in India. The National Crime Records Bureau reported in 1998 that the growth rate of crimes against women would be higher than the population growth rate by 2010.Earlier, many cases were not registered with the police due to the social stigma attached to rape and molestation cases. Official statistics show that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of reported crimes against women. Acid Throwing: The Thomas Reuters Foundation survey says that India is the fourth most  dangerous place in the world for women to live in as women belonging to any class, caste or creed and religion can be victims of this cruel form of violence and disfigurement, a premeditated crime intended to kill or maim her permanently and act as a lesson to put her in her place. In India, acid attacks on women who dared to refuse a mans proposal of marriage or asked for a divorce are a form of revenge. Acid is cheap and easily available and is the quickest way to destroy a womans life. The number of acid attacks have been rising. Sexual harassment: Half of the total number of crimes against women reported in 1990 related to molestation and harassment at the workplace. Eve teasing is a euphemism used for sexual harassment or molestation of women by men. Many activists blame the rising incidents of sexual harassment against women on the influence of Western culture. In 1987, The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act was passed to prohibit indecent representation of women through advertisements or in publications, writings, paintings, figures or in any other manner. In 1997, in a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of India took a strong stand against sexual harassment of women in the workplace. The Court also laid down detailed guidelines for prevention and redressal of grievances. The National Commission for Women subsequently elaborated these guidelines into a Code of Conduct for employers. Dowry: In 1961, the Government of India passed the Dowry Prohibition Act, making the dowry demands in wedding arrangements illegal. However, many cases of dowry-related domestic violence, suicides and murders have been reported. In the 1980s, numerous such cases were reported. In 1985, the Dowry Prohibition (maintenance of lists of presents to the bride and bridegroom) rules were framed. According to these rules, a signed list of presents given at the time of the marriage to the bride and the bridegroom should be maintained. The list should contain a brief description of each present, its approximate value, the name of whoever has given the present and his/her relationship to the person. However, such rules are hardly enforced. A 1997 report claimed that at least 5,000 women die each year because of dowry deaths, and at least a dozen die each day in kitchen fires thought to be intentional. The term for this is bride burning and is criticized within India itself.  Amongst the urban educated, such dowry abuse has reduced considerably. Child marriage: Child marriage has been traditionally prevalent in India and continues to this day. Historically, young girls would live with their parents until they reached puberty. In the past, the child widows were condemned to a life of great agony, shaving heads, living in isolation, and shunned by the society.Although child marriage was outlawed in 1860, it is still a common practice. According to UNICEF’s â€Å"State of the World’s Children-2009† report, 47% of Indias women aged 20–24 were married before the legal age of 18, with 56% in rural areas.The report also showed that 40% of the worlds child marriages occur in India. Female infanticides and sex selective abortions: India has a highly masculine sex ratio, the chief reason being that many women die before reaching adulthood.Tribal societies in India have a less masculine sex ratio than all other caste groups. This, in spite of the fact that tribal communities have far lower levels of income, literacy and health facilities.It is therefore suggested by many experts, that the highly masculine sex ratio in India can be attributed to female infanticides and sex-selective abortions. Ultrasound scans have been a major leap forward in the care of mother and baby, and with them becoming portable, these advantages have spread to rural populations. However, ultrasound scans can often reveal the sex of the baby, allowing pregnant women to decide to abort female foetuses and try again for a male child. This practice is usually considered to be the main reason for the change in the ratio of male to female children being born. In 1994 the Indian government passed a law forbidding women or their families from asking about the sex of the baby after an ultrasound scan (or any other test which would yield that information) and also expressly forbade doctors or any other staff from giving that information. However, in practice this law (like the one forbidding dowries) is widely ignored, and levels of the abortion on female foetuses remain high and the sex ratio at birth keeps getting worse. Female infanticide (killing of girl infants) is still prevalent in some rural areas.Sometimes this is infanticide by neglect, for example families may not spend money on critical medicines or even just by withholding care from a  sick girl. The abuse of the dowry tradition has been one of the main reasons for sex-selective abortions and female infanticides in India. Trafficking: The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act was passed in 1956. However many cases of trafficking of young girls and women have been reported. These women are either forced into prostitution, domestic work or child labour. Other concerns: Health: The average female life expectancy today in India is low compared to many countries, but it has shown gradual improvement over the years. In many families, especially rural ones, the girls and women face nutritional discrimination within the family, and are anaemic and malnourished. The maternal mortality in India is the second highest in the world. Only 42% of births in the country are supervised by health professionals. Most women deliver with help from women in the family who often lack the skills and resources to save the mothers life if it is in danger. According to UNDP Human Development Report (1997), 88% of pregnant women (age 15-49) were found to be suffering from anaemia. Family planning: The average woman in rural areas of India has little or no control over her reproductivity. Women, particularly women in rural areas, do not have access to safe and self-controlled methods of contraception. The public health system emphasises permanent methods like sterilisation, or long-term methods like IUDs that do not need follow-up. Sterilization accounts for more than 75% of total contraception, with female sterilisation accounting for almost 95% of all sterilisations. Sex ratios: India has a highly skewed sex ratio this is attributed to the practice of sex selective abortions which kills approximately one million baby girls per year.The government stated that India is missing three million girls in 2011 and there are now 48 fewer girls per 1,000 boys than there were in 1981. Sanitation: In 2011 a Right to Pee (as called by the media) campaign began in Mumbai, Indias largest city.Women, but not men, have to pay to urinate in Mumbai, despite regulations against this practice. Women have also been sexually assaulted while urinating in fields.Thus, activists have collected more than 50,000 signatures supporting their demands that the local government stop charging women to urinate, build more toilets, keep them clean, provide sanitary napkins and a trash can, and hire female attendants.In response, city officials have agreed to build hundreds of public toilets for women in Mumbai, and some local legislators are now promising to build toilets for women in every one of their districts. Notable Indian women: Education: Savitribai Phule was a social reformer who along with her husband, Mahatma Jotiba Phule played an important role in improving womens rights in India during the British Rule. Savitribai was the first female teacher of the first womens school in India and also considered as the pioneer of modern Marathi poetry. In 1852 she opened a school for Untouchable girls. Arts and entertainment: Singers and vocalists such as M.S. Subbulakshmi, Gangubai Hangal, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle are widely revered in India. Anjolie Ela Menon is one of the famous painters. Sports: Although the general sports scenario in India is not very good, some Indian women have made notable achievements in the field. Some of the famous female sportspersons in Indian include P. T. Usha, J. J. Shobha (athletics), Kunjarani Devi (weightlifting), Diana Edulji (cricket), Saina Nehwal (badminton), Koneru Hampi (chess) and Sania Mirza (tennis). Female Olympic medalists from India include weightlifter Karnam Malleswari (bronze, 2000), Saina Nehwal (bronze, 2012), and boxer Mary Kom (bronze, 2012). Politics: Through the Panchayat Raj institutions, over a million women have actively entered political life in India.As per the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, all local elected bodies reserve one-third of their seats for women. Although the percentages of women in various levels of political activity has risen considerably, women are still under-represented in  governance and decisionmaking positions. Literature: Many well-known women writers are in Indian literature as poets and story writers. Sarojini Naidu, Kamala Surayya, Shobha De, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai are some of them. Sarojini Naidu is called the nightingale of India. Arundhati Roy was awarded the Booker Prize (Man Booker Prize) for her novel The God of Small Things. we have to understand that without empowering women in india we can not compete amongest developed countries.Most of the women thinks that if they are getting respect in family or from husband,they are empowered.But this misconception should be removed from our society. Women in India feel proud to display that they are well protected and pampered by their husbands without realizing that they are making themselves helpless. Such womens economic literacy is so low that they cannot play any role in familys decision regarding familys budget, savings and investments. To such women, the national budget discussion is for men only and soap operas are for them. Such women su ffer a lot if something untoward happens to their husbands. This type of extreme dependency is not good for the development of women. Women should remember that they are also rational, intelligent and thinking human beings. Dependent women are not empowered women. If modern women think that they are empowered, its a myth for them. Empowerment means to inspire women with he courage to break free from the chains of limiting beliefs, patterns and societal or religious conditions that have traditionally kept women suppressed and unable to realize their true beauty and power. In India, the empowerment process has already begun. We are now witnessing a steady improvement in the enrollment of women in schools, colleges and even in profession institutes. Their health is better as compared to earlier decades. In this decade, women are entering into the job market in increasing numbers. They are showing their skills even in non-traditional sectors like police, defence, administration, media and research fields. Twenty-six laws have been enacted so far to protect women from various crimes. The recent law on the protection of women against domestic violence satisfies the long pending demand of the women activities. In the political field, the reservation for women is a significant step forward towards their political empowerment. When thirty-three percent reservation for women in Parliament becomes a reality,  womens voice will be heard in the highest forum of democracy. The day, women of India will reach zenith in their empowerment. But a lot of work has to be done as there is a category of women (who consider themselves highly educated) that proudly accepts that they dont have digital literacy even though they own a computer, they cannot even operate bank accounts or make travel arrangements for family or handle hospital admissions even during emergencies. Even for a simple task like social visits or shopping generally they need the company of their husbands. Conclusions: Empowerment by itself may not place women on an equal footing with men. The greatest need of the hour is change of social attitude to women. Take the classic case of dowry. Dowry is still rampant in a virulent form even among the highly educated a girl may be, dowry is still demanded. Women’s empowerment means a lot, but the ultimate goal of the equalization of man and woman would materialize only when her complementary role is recognized by the society. Sources: A)Women in India: wikipedia.org/wiki B)Publish your Article.com,Writer : MrMaahir Virani C)Data for Domestic ViolanceMrs Renuka Chowdhery,Junior Minister for Women Child Development. D)Data for Education and Economic Development:National Sample survey data 1997. E) Workforce Particiaption:1991 World Bank Report. F)Acid Throwing:The Thomas Reuters Foundation Survey.

Expensive nature Essay Example for Free

Expensive nature Essay We can see that the maiden was not happy with the way in which her life changed when she uses the rhetorical question why did a great Lord find me out, To fill my heart with care? She is basically asking, Why did her life have to change when she was so happy and why did the lord have to fill her heart with care and worry whereas before she was blissful unaware of any problems surrounding her. She feels shame in the fact that she enjoyed her relationship with the lord woes me for joy thereof as in her time what she was engaging in would have been considered disgraceful. She feels used by the Lord and describes how if her hadnt come into her life she wouldnt be an unclean thing or if they had got married she could have been a dove and enjoyed a good life with him. The poet then starts to write of the cottage maidens feelings towards her cousin Kate. She describes the way the Lord grew tired of the cottage maiden and then decided to start a relationship with Kate and we get the inclination that the cottage maiden has feeling of jealousy but also anger towards this. She feels the Lord wanted Kate because she was good and pure she was a virgin and the fact that she wouldnt give in to the Lord made him want her even more. This makes the cottage maiden angry with herself for giving in to him and she goes on to describe how he bound Kate with his Ring and the neighbours just called her an outcast thing. This implies that she believes if she hadnt had sex with The lord maybe he would have married her instead of Kate. Now the cottage maiden is stuck in her old life, and is unhappy because now she has had a taste for higher things she is not contented with what she had before anymore. She sits and howls in dust while Kate is now enjoying what the cottage maiden used to have but to a higher extent You sit in gold and sing. In the next few stanzas the cottage becomes bitter towards her cousin and implies that She really loved him whereas her cousin Kate was bought by the lord, she says that if their situations had been switched she wouldnt have taken the Lord if he had been with her. The Maiden seems angrier with her cousin than she is with Lord but she feels betrayed by both of them. Although in the last stanza the maidens tone changes she begins to gloat. She realises that she has the one thing that her cousin Kate would like but cannot have, a baby. She knows her cousin worries about this but seems unsympathetic as she goes on to say how she will not being giving her son up and she is protective over him cling closer, closer yet. She knows that the lord would give lands for one but she seems to be saying tough to both of them and maybe thinks Kate is getting the punishment she deserves from god, seens as in those days a baby was seen as a gift from god. The cottage maiden loves her son more than anything else in her life and shows this by saying my shame, my pride she thinks she should be ashamed of him but she is not she still loves him dearly. In the seduction and Cousin Kate the male characters are portrayed very negatively.  Eileen McAuley describes a youth that met the young girl at the party. After the party he takes her to the docks in Liverpool, which have relevance to the way in which he perceives the young girl. The docks are typically associated with prostitutes, which suggests he doesnt think anymore of her than a cheap prostitute. This also comes to our attention when in the last line of the second stanza he muttered little slag. This lets us no without a doubt that he had no respect for her or had no intention of becoming involved in any kind of relationship with her past that night. He comes across as quite cheap from the way the author writes, leather jacket creaking madly Expensive leather is extremely quiet and soft, the fact that his jacket was creaking implies it was not of an expensive nature. He also spits in the river, trying to impress her but really just showing his vulgarity. He had obviously planned the night, which makes him seem quite seedy and perverted, he seems to be in control of the night, he sat down, he led her, and hed bought her more drinks. He seems to be the source of intoxicated state as he had been buying her drinks all night and he handed her the vodka at the river. The fact that he thinks he need to get her drunk before she will have any contact with him shows that maybe he doesnt really think that highly of himself anyway. The conversation between the couple is very one dimensional and shows the boy to be quite selfish as he only talks about subjects which concern or interest him and shows no interest in any subject relating or relevant to the young girl. The way the author describes how he spends his free time also gives us an insight into what type of boy the young girl is involved with. He says he spends most afternoons down by the river whilst he should be in school so the fact that hes a truant makes him seem less academic and clever and more juvenile. He also explains how he goes there alone so we get the inclination that maybe he doesnt have that many friends either or he could be antisocial. He says blatantly in from of the girl that he goes there with his dads magazines making him sound seedy and sweet paint thinner indicating that he abuses solvents. All in all he doesnt make himself sound to attractive to this young intelligent girl who is looking for the perfect partner to lose her virginit y to. He is very unromantic when it comes to seducing the young girl; in fact he is anything but seducing her hes just trying to grope her. The author writes about how he contrived to kiss her which again goes back to the way he had planned the night in advance but also shows us that he didnt have any interest in the girl he just wanted to use her for sex.  In Cousin Kate we do not find out about the Lord in such great detail but we get the inclination that he used his position and his money to trick the cottage maiden into a relationship when the author uses the phrase he lured me to his palace home. The word lured implying seediness and trickery. The author creates the Lord as a very fickle man who treats his women like clothing, wore them as eye candy until they were dirty and boring only to throw them away and change them for a better model. He became bored with the cottage maiden after she had had sex with him and decided to pursue her cousin Kate. He comes across as quite persistent to get his own way as he does not give up on Kate and he ends up marrying her, so he can finally get his own way which shows that he will go to extremes to get what he wants. He obviously feels that love is based upon possessions and not emotions as he tries to buy Kate with his lands and money not with his personality, this make him seem shallow. The setting for both poems is important, the seduction being set in the city and cousin Kate in the country has great relevance.  I touched upon the setting for the seduction earlier; the docks being associated with prostitution implies that the boy felt the girl was of that standard. Also the setting is not glamorous it is quite seedy and putrid. The way the author says towards the frightening scum on the water reflects on the dangerous situation that she has got herself involved in but also the word scum actually mirrors the boys character. The author also goes on to describe the Mersey, green as a septic wound and I think this simile on the setting also reflects in the situation as a whole, infectious and unrewarding. Also the setting for the second part of the poem is a bedroom, isolated from the rest of the world, showing the young girls emotions, her longing to be cut of from the rest of her surroundings. The setting is a contrast from the first part of the poem, whereas the city is bustling, busy and noisy, her room is secluded, quiet and lonely. The change in scenery reflects the change of tone and emotion. The choice of setting for Cousin Kate is quite straightforward; the countryside is perceived as a quite place full of nature and animals, unlike a city. A city is a more typical setting for a situation like the cottage maidens so the fact that it takes place in the countryside is even more ludicrous. Both authors use the settings to create effect but the effect they have on us is the complete opposite of each other. In the seduction the reader is supposed to relate the situation to the setting but in Cousin Kate it is used for shock effect and to make the situation seem more extreme as the countryside isnt the typical place youd expect her relations to be taking place.

Role of Glucagon Analogues in Cardiovascular disease

Role of Glucagon Analogues in Cardiovascular disease The Potential Role of Glucagon – Like Peptide – 1 (GLP-1) Analogues in Cardiovascular disease Introduction People who have a diagnosis of diabetes have a triple chance of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and unfortunately poorer clinical outcomes following myocardial infarction, angioplasty and bypass surgeries (Hausenloy and Yellon 2008). It is estimated that CVD is responsible for 65% of deaths in people with type 2 diabetes (Burge 2012). Management of diabetes includes identifying, preventing and managing CVD risk factors such as dyslipidaemia and hypertension (NICE 2014). Other risk factors for CVD include poor or inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables, smoking, central obesity, psychosocial factors, altered lipids, inactivity and unsafe alcohol consumption (World Heart Federation 2014; Yusuf et al 2004). GLP-1 analogues indicated to treat diabetes have been shown to have cardiovascular benefits (Hausenloy and Yellon 2008). GLP – 1 GLP – 1 is an incretin naturally occurring in the body and is secreted due to the presence of food in the ileum, increasing endogenous insulin, inhibiting glucagon, thereby reducing post – prandial hyperglycaemia and is also responsible for controlling appetite and satiety (Hausenloy and Yellon 2008; Sheikh 2013). GLP -1 does not cause hypoglycaemia because its actions are inhibited when blood glucose is ≠¤ fasting levels (Hausenloy and Yellon 2008). GLP- 1 receptors are extensively distributed throughout the body: in the brain, lungs, intestines, stomach, pancreas, and heart. GLP-1 itself has a half – life of 1 – 2 minutes after secretion (Burge 2012; Zhao 2013). The presence of the receptors in the heart has been the focus of new research. Cardiovascular effects In animal studies GLP – 1 was seen to cause vasodilation (Brown 2012). An increase in heart rate and blood pressure were both observed in rats that were either conscious or sedated, but there is some controversy with the mechanism (Zhao 2013). When GLP-1 has been infused dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy showed improved cardiac performance after GLP – 1 infusion (Zhao 2013). Left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions were improved after GLP – 1 infusion in decompensated heart failure (Zhao 2013). Ban et al (2008) work on mouse heart as cited in Brown (2012) has shown that there are GLP – 1 receptors in the endothelium and cardiac myocytes. When GLP – 1 was administered during reperfusion studies cardiac damage was less likely (Brown 2012). Apart from the animal studies, there have been some phase 2 trials in humans with CVD (Zhao 2013). The first investigators to prove that infusing GLP – 1 for 3 days improved â€Å"global and regional left ventricular wall motion scores† in patients with dysfunction of the left ventricle after myocardial infraction was Shannon’s group (Zhao 2013). They also concluded that there was reduced hospital stay and mortality as an in – patient. Several weeks post discharge these effects remained. An experimental study of 14 people with coronary artery disease who were treated with GLP – 1 at a rate of 1.2pmol/kg/min resulted in improvement of left ventricular function (Zhao 2013). This was corroborated by another study of 172 patients who were treated with exenatide at a rate of 0.12 µg/min for 6 hours post elevation of ST – segment MI. A retrospective study of 420,493 people found that individuals who received treatment with exenatide were less likely to experience cardiovascular event, hospitalization due to CVD or all cause hospitalization when compared to non – exenatide treated people even though they were more likely to be obese, have prior CVD, high cholesterol and other co – morbidities at baseline (Best et al 2011; Brown 2012). The use of exenatide in patients with type 2 diabetes did not show an increase in cardiovascular disease and similarly liraglutide was not associated with any major adverse cardiac event in an analysis of phase 2 and 3 trials (Sheikh 2013). Hypertension Animal studies utilizing GLP – 1 have concluded a decrease in hypertension development in Dahl salt – sensitive rats (Zhao 2013). This decrease in blood pressure was also observed in human trials with the GLP – 1 agonists exenatide and liraglutide. A meta – analysis of 16 randomized controlled trials of 5860 people of which 3443 were randomized to a GLP – 1 agonist concluded that exenatide and liraglutide caused a fall in systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 1 – 5 mmHg when compared to other hypoglycaemic medication and placebo in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (Wang et al 2013). The LEAD trial concluded that liraglutide caused a reduction of systolic blood pressure ranging 3.6 – 6.7mmHg within 2 weeks of starting therapy (Burge 2012). This effect was seen for the full 26 weeks of the trial. The DURATION trial also reported reduction in systolic blood pressure (Burge 2012). Data from 6 trial concluded that subjects with T2DM who were treated for 6 months with exenatide saw a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (Zhao 2013). There is also promising data from phase 3 trials of liraglutide which concluded that there may be reduction in systolic blood pressure when liraglutide is used with other agents such as metformin (Zhao 2013). Exenatide use reportedly cause a fall in systolic blood pressure in obese patients with T2DM who were also treated with insulin (Sheikh 2013). This decrease in systolic blood pressure was confirmed by an analysis of 2171 patients (Sheikh 2013). Liraglutide was also reported to cause a reduction in systolic blood pressure in Asian patients (Sheikh 2013). Conclusion The data from the use of GLP-1 in both animal and human studies show consistent reduction in systolic blood pressure a known risk factor for both cardiac disease and cerebrovascular accident (CVA). There have also been promising signs that there may be a GLP – 1 cardio protective effect post cardiac damage and improvement in left ventricular function. It is not clear whether the doses used to treat diabetes will provide the same level of reduction in systolic blood pressure and cardiovascular protection in the longer term. More clinical studies are required focusing the benefits of GLP-1 analogues on the cardiovascular system as the data will not only provide benefits to patients with T2DM but also patients who are at risk or suffer a CVD. References Best, J. H., Byron J. Hoogwerf, B. J. and Hussein, M. A. (2011) ‘Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Events in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Prescribed the Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 (GLP-1) Receptor Agonist Exenatide Twice Daily or Other Glucose-Lowering Therapies’, Diabetes Care, 34(1), pp. 90 – 95. American Diabetes Association. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3005487/?report=reader (Accessed: 22 September 2014). Brown, N. (2012) ‘Cardiovascular Effects of Anti-Diabetic Agents: Focus on Blood Pressure Effects of Incretin-Based Therapies’, Journal of American Society of Hypertension, 6(3), pp. 163 – 168. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3422131/ (Accessed: 22 September 2014). Burge, T. (2012) The Effects of GLP-1 on Cardiovascular Health. Available at: http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/54-feature/13201-the-effects-of-glp-1-on-cardiovascular-health (Accessed: 11 September 2014). Hausenloy, D. J. and Yellon, D. M. (2008) ‘GLP-1 Therapy: Beyond Glucose Control’, Circulation: Heartfailure, 1, pp. 147 – 149. [Online]. Available at: http://circheartfailure.ahajournals.org/content/1/3/147.full (Accessed: 11 September 2014). NICE (2014) Managing type 2 diabetes. Available at: http://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/diabetes#path=view%3A/pathways/diabetes/managing-type-2-diabetes.xmlcontent=view-index (Accessed: 17 September 2014). Sheikh, A. (2013) ‘Direct cardiovascular effects of glucagon like peptide-1’, Diabetology Metabolic Syndrome, pp. 5 – 47. [Online]. Available at: http://www.dmsjournal.com/content/5/1/47 (Accessed: 11 September 2014). Wang, B., Zhong, J., Lin, H., Zhao, Z., Yan, Z., He, H., Ni, Y., Liu, D. and Zhu, Z. (2013) ‘Blood pressure-lowering effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists exenatide and liraglutide: a meta-analysis of clinical trials’, Diabetes, Obesity Metabolism, 15(8), pp. 737 – 749. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23433305 (Accessed: 23 September 2014). World Heart Federation (2014) Cardiovascular disease risk factors. Available at: http://www.world-heart-federation.org/cardiovascular-health/cardiovascular-disease-risk-factors/ (Accessed: 17 September 2014). Yusuf, S., Hawken, S., Ounpuu, S., Dans T, Avezum, A., Lanas, F., McQueen, M., Budaj, A., Pais, P., Varigos, J., Lisheng, L. and INTERHEART Study Investigators (2004) ‘Effect of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with myocardial infarction in 52 countries (the INTERHEART study): case-control study’, Lancet, 364(9438), pp. 937-52. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15364185 (Accessed: 17 September 2014). Zhao, T. (2013) ‘Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and protective effects in cardiovascular disease: a new therapeutic approach for myocardial protection’, Cardiovascular Diabetology, pp. 12 – 90. [Online]. Available at: http://www.cardiab.com/content/12/1/90 (Accessed: 11 September 2014).

Periods of European History that Demonstrated Changing Attitudes Towards the Education of Women :: European Europe History

Periods of European History that Demonstrated Changing Attitudes Towards the Education of Women Throughout the early portion of modern European history, women were never encouraged to undertake any significant education. Though the problem lessened over time, it was still a strong societal force. There were three major time periods when substantial changes took place in attitudes towards women's education -- the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Seventeenth and the early Eighteenth centuries. The earliest time period, the Renaissance, may have actually been the most liberal time period for women's education. The church was the only force at this time that discouraged education. In Erasmus's book "The Abbot and the Learned Lady", The church's position on this issue says that education does not protect the chastity that was necessary for women. There were still, however, a certainty that women could and should be educated. For example, in Castiglione's book "The Courtier", it is stated that women are capable of everything that men are. Also, Roger Ascham has described his female student(the future Queen Elizabeth I) as equally bright as any other male student of his. Furthermore, in a letter by the poet Louise Labe`, she states a need for women to "raise their head above their spindles" and take up studying. The next age, the Reformation and the catholic Reformation, saw a dramatic and conservative change toward the attitudes of education for women. Martin Luther, a leader of the Reformation, was quoted as saying that God made men with broad shoulders to do all the intelligent, and women with broad hips to do the "sitting" and housework. Agreeing with Martin Luther, was Emond Auger, a French Jesuit, who said "there is no need for women to take time out from their work and read the Old and New Testament" and also that "Women must be silent in church". The third age of early modern European history is the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, in which men at large were still strongly against the education of women, but they had reached a compromise to some extent. They allowed women to be educated on a minor level, as Mme. de Maintenon(wife of Louis XIV) says "Educate your middle-class girls in the middle-class way, but don't embellish their minds", but a women could never go beyond that. It seemed also that some men had conflicting view points on this issue. In Moliere's play "The Learned Ladies", educated women are

Violence In The Media Essay -- essays research papers fc

 Violence in the Media It’s the ever-present question that has been asked by authorities, educational institutes and parents alike. Does violence in the media influence the behavior of society? Some say yes, others say no. Other questions posed that I will try to clarify in this essay are those to do with what, if anything is being done to control this virus. To fully comprehend these questions we must first understand what is meant by violence in the media, and whom it effects, if anyone at all. Also, did violence in the media come first, or was it derived from violence in the ‘real world’? There are arguments that can be stated from both sides. Some say that escalation of violence in society is a symptom of deteriorated value systems and poor parental instruction. Others say, and this is backed up with factual evidence, that violence that is seen on television, in the movies and in video games is directly linked to the violence in society. Either way, there is too much violence in the mass media and the outcome of this can in no way, shape or form be of a positive nature. Violence has become an ordinary way to be entertained, settle arguments, or blow off steam. Violence results when many different things come together, and we know that violence in the media is one of those things. Children spend more in a week time watching TV than doing anything else, other than sleeping. Violence, however, isn't limited to TV-it can be found in music, video games, comic books, newspapers, and magazines. Exposing children to violence can desensitise them to violence and make them more fearful of others, causing them to act more aggressively. Fortunately, most media violence can be unplugged. The term mass media can be used to describe television, cinema, video games, books, music, the Internet, newspapers or magazines. Everyday we are confronted with violence that is portrayed in the media. Everywhere billboard we go past, every movie we see, every magazine or newspaper we pick up will inevitably have violence in it. Whether it is informing us about it, or using it as entertainment, people are susceptible to this violence. The main age group that is influenced most immensely by this is young children. Since they are exposed to violence in the media from such a young age, they believe that violence is praised, even funny. They presume th... ... one night a week a family night. Plan some activities for the whole family. Don't buy products whose advertisements glorify violence. Express your concern to the manufacturer. Violence is everywhere. It is an impossibility to avoid it. Refusal to address the issue will not solve it. The parents must stop allowing TV to be the baby sitter and sole educator of their children. TV is a medium for entertainment, not instruction. The parents must seize responsibility of properly raising their children. Herein lies the solution. Do not to TV land for salvation, because it is like a mirror, it will reflect your image. Just as one cannot complain to a mirror that one is fat or ugly, one cannot blame TV for our own evils. Bibliography Kim, Timothy Young ‘Media and Violence’ Available www-edlab.cs.umass.edu/~tkim/media.html online 1998 Kopel, David B ‘The Impact of the Mass Media Revolution,’ Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy Available http://i1i.org/SuptDocs?issuPper/Irmaddag.htm Online ‘The Mass Media’ Document;  Grolier Encyclopedia 1996 VIOLENCE IN THE MEDIA

Analysis of The World Bank’s Findings on Air Pollution Essay -- Pollut

Analysis of The World Bank’s Findings on Air Pollution (PM10 Concentration) in World Cities The World Bank is an international non-governmental organization with the goal of aiding developing countries throughout the world with financial and technical assistance. Besides the obvious concern of financial stability for the impoverished countries of the world, the World Bank also focuses on education, health, infrastructure, and communications. Our analysis deals with the environment and infrastructure aspects of the World Bank’s work. The World Bank provided us with the dataset entitled â€Å"Air Pollution in World Cities (PM10 Concentration).† â€Å"PM† stands for particulate matter pollution in the air. This dataset showed every major city in the world with a population of 100,000 or more and also every country’s PM concentration. The country-based portion of the dataset was used for this analysis. The primary determinants of PM concentrations are the scale and composition of economic activity, population, the energy mix, the strength of local p ollution regulation, and geographic and atmospheric conditions that affect pollutant dispersion in the atmosphere. (World Bank) Thanks to economic improvements throughout the world and technological advancements, PM10 concentration has increased at a very slow rate. The objective of this analysis was to determine the pollution concentration of several regions throughout the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Central America, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America. Our original null hypothesis was that the ÃŽ ¼ of the pollution concentration of each region was equal. Conversely, the alternative hypothesis states that the ÃŽ ¼ of each region is not equal. We used se... ... show the discrepancy between region means, but it can also be physically observed when comparing the two extremes of Europe at 30.95 and Africa at 73.31 PM10 concentrations. It is obvious from the results of this analysis that the world has a wide range of pollution effects. Traditionally more advanced regions such as Europe and North America have pollution under control because of a stable economy and a wide array of technological resources. Other regions such as Africa and Central America are struggling with pollution, relative to more developed regions, improvements in technology and structural shifts (World Bank) in the world economy are helping these regions keep air pollution to a minimum. WORKS CITED 1. The World Bank http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:20785646~pagePK:64214825~piPK:64214943~theSitePK:469382,00.html

English Imperialism and Representations Essay

In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest Prospero, an exiled Naples duke, and his daughter, Miranda, are marooned on a remote island with the lone indigenous[1] inhabitant, a beast man named Caliban. Through his sorcery Prospero is able to enslave Caliban, the indigene, who toils for the benefit of Prospero and Miranda, the usurping colonial powers. While it is unclear if Shakespeare intended The Tempest to mirror English imperialism during the late 16th and 17th century, there are many congruencies between events in the play and events around the time of the play’s first performance in 1611. To begin with, in order to analyze these congruencies a brief overview of England’s New World[2] exploration and colonization is necessary. Next, Gonzalo’s interest in the island and his â€Å"plantation† scheme illustrate the English imperial yearning for the New World. In addition, the first exchange between Caliban and Prospero encapsulate the conflicts of indigenous people and the colonizers in an imperial relationship. Finally, the question remains if Caliban represents specifically Native Americans or broadly represents subjugated indigenous people by English colonization. Shakespeare’s The Tempest metaphorically represents English imperialism and encapsulates English sentiments towards the New World during the time of its cultural production. During the life of Shakespeare, especially around the time of the first performance of The Tempest, Europe engaged in imperialistic activities throughout the New World. In addition, during Shakespeare’s lifetime, England’s imperialistic activities would play a larger role in the country’s interests and developments. In Alden T. Vaughan article â€Å"People of Wonder: England Encounters the New World’s Native,† Vaughan describes how English perceptions of the Native Americans developed over the course of the 16th century. The English, while interested in the New World, did not play an active role in its initial exploration: â€Å"English people in the Tudor era lagged noticeably behind other Europeans in learning about the Americas. For nearly a century, English interest in the New World was surprisingly tangential, more a matter of curiosity than of conquest and based primarily on foreign rather than on English observation† (Vaughan, â€Å"People,† 13). For a majority of the 16th century the English received second hand accounts (writings and illustrations) of the New World. However, the English did make limited forays into developing first hand knowledge of the New World. Vaughan states, â€Å"The first document contact between the English and the Indians occurred in about 1502, when Sebastian Cabot†¦brought back [three men taken from Newfoundland]† (â€Å"People,† 14), but he continues, â€Å"Not until 1530, apparently, were other Indians brought to England, and not until 1553 did an English publisher issue a book with appreciable attention to America’s inhabitants† (â€Å"People,† 14). While slow to capitalize on exploring and colonizing the New World, the English â€Å"[became] actively involved in the exploration and conquest of the [Americas] and its peoples. Thereafter, England’s image of American natives reflected uniquely English experiences and expectations† (Vaughan, â€Å"People,† 13). One of the significant imperialist ventures around the time Shakespeare wrote The Tempest was the Jamestown colony. The English founded Jamestown in 1607, four years prior to the first performance of The Tempest. While a contemporary critic can only speculate the extent which the New World tantalized and influenced the English during this time, it must have had some sway on the popular imagination of English society, including Shakespeare’s. In The Tempest, the character Gonzalo demonstrates an interest with the pristine island setting that represents English imperial yearnings. After being shipwrecked on the island, Gonzalo first notices the natural beauty of the island. He exclaims, â€Å"How lush and lusty the grass looks! How green! † (2. 1. 53). From his initial observation of the health of the island, Gonzalo’s interest in the island soon becomes opportunistic: â€Å"Had I plantation of this isle, my lord –† (2. 1. 140). When Gonzalo says â€Å"plantation,† he means colonization. Gonzalo initial admiration for the island transforms into a scheme to start a colony; he envisions his colony as the antithesis of industry, a utopic society of idleness. Gonzalo describes his â€Å"plantation† in the following manner: â€Å"I’ the common wealth I would by contraries Execute all things; for no kind of traffic, Would I admit; no name of magistrate, Letter should not be known; riches, poverty, And use of service, none; contract, succession, Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none; No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil; No occupations; all men idle, all, And women too, but innocent and pure; No sovereignty—† (2. 1. 144-52) In Gonzalo’s colony people just lie around with no one telling them what to do; in addition, the women all stay virgins. Gonzalo’s companions quickly point out the impossibility of his Eden-like scenario. Sebastian indicates, â€Å"Yet [Gonzalo] would be king on [the island]† (2. 1. 153) to which Antonio adds, â€Å"The latter end of his commonwealth forgets the beginning† (2. 1. 154). From the comments by Sebastian and Antonio, it is clear Gonzalo’s scheme is not practical, but certainly Gonzalo’s sentiment must have appealed idealistically to English and Europeans tired of the social turmoil in the Old World. Benjamin Bertram notes in The Time is out of Joint: Skepticism in Shakespeare’s England contemporaneous to Shakespeare’s life, London’s mercantile interests, unemployment, overpopulation, and â€Å"[i]mmigrants from the province† all made colonial ventures appealing (58). Gonzalo’s fantasizing might tap into the socioeconomic conditions contemporary to the time of cultural production of The Tempest. For some Europeans the social turmoil of the Old World was a sore spot, yearning like Gonzalo for a fresh start and for a better society in the New World. French courtier Michel De Montaigne in his essay â€Å"Of the Cannibals† (1580) argues the New World inhabitants are no more barbarous or savage than the Old World denizens, suggesting things might be better in the case of the former. De Montaigne establishes, â€Å"I find (as far as I have been informed) there is nothing in that nation [the American Indians], that is either barbarous or savage, unless men call that barbarism which is not common to them† (119). De Montaigne alludes to the social problems of 16th century Europe in pointing out the hypocrisy of the Old World labeling the New World as â€Å"barbarous† or â€Å"savage. † Moreover, De Montaigne sees the New World inhabitants as closer to a natural state and less tainted by â€Å"human wit† when he observes, â€Å"It is a nation†¦that hath no kind of traffic, no knowledge of letters, no intelligence of numbers, no name of magistrates, nor of politic superiority; no use of service, of riches, or of poverty; no contracts, no successions, but common, no apparel but natural, no manuring of lands, no use of wine, corn, or metal† (120). Curiously, both Gonzalo and De Montaigne evoke the idea of unfettered idleness and non-use of wine, corn, and metal as a more natural society. Also, in painting an idyllic picture of the social items supposedly absent from the New World, De Montaigne overlooks that corn is a New World vegetable and that American Indians were familiar with the practice of fertilization, although maybe not â€Å"mannuring. † While a lot of De Montaigne’s generalizations of the New World inhabitants are arguable, he calls the readers attention to a litany of social items as evidence of the Old World tainted by â€Å"human wit. † However, De Montaigne sarcastically concludes that what the American Indians, supposedly, do with their dead is no more barbaric than what the Europeans do with the living by torturing people, stating â€Å"there is more barbarism in eating men alive than to feed upon them being dead; to mangle by tortures and torments a body full of lively sense, to roast him in pieces, to make dogs and swine to gnaw and tear him in mammocks†¦than to roast and eat him after he is dead† (120). De Montaigne’s relativistic view of transatlantic cultural practices demonstrates culture in the Old World was not necessarily better than culture in the New World. Some Europeans might have yearned for a reprieve from the rigid trapping of the Old World; the New World to them might have represented an opportunity for a fresh start, a chance to create a utopic society. The only problem was what to do about the indigenous people already there. The English public had a growing interest in the New World during Shakespeare’s lifetime, and The Tempest almost predicts the course of English imperialism would take. The exchange between Caliban and Prospero in Act 1 Scene 2 metaphorically represents the underlying conflicts plaguing indigenous people and English colonizers. Caliban represents prototypical native Other[3] as he argues against Prospero, the colonial master. Caliban’s articulation that he is the rightful owner of the island sounds like the universal grievance of many colonized people: â€Å"This island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother, / Which thou tak’st from me† (1. 2. 335-6). Caliban’s ownership stems from his mother, a witch, who bore him on the island, and this claim is reminiscent of many indigenous people who trace their social beginnings through a creation myth fixing them to the land. As Caliban goes on, his description of the initial friendly relationship he had with Prospero, parallels the prototypical dealings between indigenous people and colonizers. Often this friendly period includes an exchange of items and information between the two parties. Caliban describes the following: When thou cam’st first, Thou strok’st me and made much of me, wouldst give me Water and berries in’t, and teach me how To name the bigger light, and how the less, That burn by day and night. And then I loved thee And showed thee all the qualities o’ th’ isle, The fresh springs, brine pits, barren place and fertile. (1. 2. 337-43) Caliban attests he â€Å"showed† Prospero â€Å"the qualities† of the island, and in essence, Caliban taught Prospero how to survive on the island. This detail interestingly parallels the situation in Jamestown. B. J. Sokol in A Brave New World of Knowledge points out that â€Å"sojourning Europeans almost entirely depended upon the services of native inhabitants for material survival, and especially for food† (83). This grace period between indigenous people and colonizers, however, does not last forever. Sokol continues, â€Å"In both [The Tempest] and Virginia these services had at first been voluntarily offered [by Native Americans], then they were purchased or extorted, and finally there was refusal, resistance, and rebellion† (83). Soon the colonizer presses for more resources, more control over the land, and more control over the indigenous people: soon the indigenous people become the colonized. Caliban describes himself from the position of the colonized, â€Å"For I am all the subjects that you have, / Which first was mine own kin; and here you sty me / In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me /The rest o’ th’ island† (1. 2. 345-7). Caliban’s central grievance is how Prospero has stripped Caliban of his autonomy and his control over the island. The central grievance for many colonized people is how the colonizer strips self-direction and control over ancestral lands from the colonized. Richard Hakluyt in his essay â€Å"Reasons for Colonization,† written in 1584 about the Virginia colonial project (125), succinctly describes the intentions of the English imperialism: â€Å"The end of this voyage [to North America] are these: 1. ) To plant Christian religion. 2) To traffic. 3. ) To Conquer. Or, to do all three† (129). As demonstrated earlier, Caliban is unhappy with his conquered status, a status Prospero confirms when he rebuts Caliban’s grievances, â€Å"Thou most lying slave† (my emphasis, 1. 2. 347). Prospero interestingly goes on to indicate his own inherent superiority and Caliban’s inherent inferiority, a privileging central to any colonial situation. Prospero states, â€Å"I have used thee, / Filth as thou are, with humane care† (1. 2. 348-9). Prospero ascribes the quality of â€Å"filth† to Caliban and â€Å"humane†-ness to his own actions. As the Hakluyt states, the first objective of the colonizer is â€Å"to plant Christian religion† or bring morality to the heathen indigenous people. Prospero’s ultimate argument for supplanting Caliban evokes the moral order the colonizer supposedly brings, for Prospero states the reason he has enslaved Caliban is because Caliban sought â€Å"to violate/ The honor of [Prospero’s] child† (1. 2. 350-1). From the perspective of the colonizer Caliban attempted to rape Miranda; however, from the perspective of the lone indigenous person Caliban attempted to propagate his culture: â€Å"O ho! O ho! Would’t had been done! / Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else / This isle with Calibans† (1. 2. 352-4). While this relativism does not absolve Caliban of attempting to forcefully procreate with Miranda, it does not absolve Prospero of enslaving Caliban either. Unfortunately, Prospero uses one crime to justify another crime: Caliban’s attempted rape leads to his enslavement at the hands of Prospero. Furthermore, when Miranda tries to instill Caliban with a sense of guilt over his attempted rape, she states she â€Å"endowed [Caliban’s] purposes / With words that made them known† (1. 2. 360-1). However, by endowing Caliban with the language of the colonizer, Miranda has merely indoctrinated Caliban in the ideology of the colonizer in which Caliban, the colonized, occupies the margin. The colonizer’s language is a burden upon the colonized, for in order for the two groups to communicate the onus is on the colonized to learn the colonizer’s language. Caliban concurs with this onus when he says, â€Å"You taught me language, and my profit on’t / Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you / For learning me your language! † (1. 2. 366-8). Another privileging in the imperial situation is the language and culture of the colonizer over the language and culture of colonized. For instance, Thomas Harriot spent time in the Virginia colony and wrote about the Algonquian people in Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia; his English contemporaries criticized him for learning the language of the Algonquians (Bertram 59). Bertram notes, â€Å"the English feared much more than foreign languages, as contact with foreign cultures inspired probing questions about cultural identity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (59). Miranda’s effacement of Caliban’s language demonstrates her fear of foreign language and culture. Just as Caliban threatens Miranda’s physical sanctity, he also threatens her cultural sanctity by not communicating in the controlled discourse. Clearly, the conflict between Caliban and Prospero in The Tempest metaphorically represents the imperialistic conflicts between the colonized and the colonizer. Lastly, although Caliban can metaphorically represent the colonized Other, did Shakespeare intend Caliban to represent Native Americans specifically? Alden T. Vaughan in his article â€Å"Shakespeare’s Indian: The Americanization of Caliban† examines the history of The Tempest analysis which attempted to see Caliban as representative of Native Americans. Vaughan concludes, â€Å"If an intentionalist reading is insisted upon, and if early interpretations of Caliban are taken into account, his principal prototype was probably the European wild man of Renaissance literature and iconography† (â€Å"Shakespeare’s,† 153). In addition, Ronald Takaki offers in â€Å"The ‘Tempest’ in the Wilderness† the context surrounding the first performance of the play; also, he explains how Shakespeare’s audience might have perceived the character of Caliban. Takaki explains the following: [T]he timing of The Tempest was crucial: it was first performed after the English invasion of Ireland but before the colonization of New England, after John Smith’s arrival in Virginia but before the beginning of the tobacco economy, and after the first contacts with Indians but before full-scale warfare against them. This was an era when the English were encountering â€Å"other† peoples and delineating the boundary between â€Å"civilization† and â€Å"savagery. † The social constructions of both these terms were dynamically developing in three sites—Ireland, Virginia, and New England. (143) If Shakespeare’s audience saw Caliban as more man than monster, they likely conflated all known savage Others in their perception of Caliban. When Prospero says, â€Å"This thing of darkness [Caliban] I / Acknowledge mine† (5. 1. 275-6), Caliban could seem more monster than man, â€Å"darkness† meaning evil, or Caliban could seem more man than monster, â€Å"darkness† referring to skin color. It is unclear what Shakespeare intended; however, how people interpret Shakespeare is entirely another matter. Although Vaughan dismisses the notion Shakespeare intended Caliban to be Native American, he supports the notion that Caliban can metaphorically be seen as Native American, stating, â€Å"metaphoric readings of The Tempest have had equal legitimacy with the older literal approach† (â€Å"Shakespeare’s,† 153). There are scholars who have a stake in seeing Caliban as solely meant to be Native Americans. An immediate thread of their inquiry is Caliban’s name, which might be an anagram from a variant spelling of the word canibal. John F. Moffitt and Santiago Sebastian in their text O Brave New People: The European Invention of The American Indian describe how the lurid European popular perception quickly associated cannibalism with the inhabitants of the New World. Moffit and Sebastian describe the following: Cannibalism was also the specific subcultural attribute of the aborigines of the Other World that, as might be expected, some European illustrators found most noteworthy. In a crude woodcut†¦, a German print of 1505†¦representing the earliest European depiction of American Indians†¦cannibalism becomes the foremost collective characteristic of the newly described peoples†¦. (264-5) While Europeans, according to Vaughan, were familiar with the concept of anthropophagi, or eaters of human flesh, such people were considered mythical (â€Å"People,† 15). Vaughan goes on to note, â€Å"So prominent did some accounts make the eating of human flesh that the word cannibal, from the Carib Indians who presumably practiced the vile custom, gradually replaced the older, more awkward, term for eaters of human flesh† (â€Å"People,† 15). Curiously, if Shakespeare meant to evoke the sensational trait of cannibalism ascribed to Native Americans by Europeans in his character Caliban, he does not develop the trait in the play. Conversely, if Caliban does not represent Native Americans, certainly the European characters within the play perceive his usefulness like Native Americans during the early 17th century. The play mentions dead or alive a Native American is profitable for displaying in England. Additionally, Trinculo notes, â€Å"[the English] will / lay out ten to see a dead Indian. (2. 2. 31-32). Later, Stephano schemes to capture Caliban, or as Vaughan euphemistically refers to Native Americans kidnapped by Europeans, â€Å"coerced American envoys† (â€Å"People,† 12). Stephano states, â€Å"If I can recover him [Caliban] and keep him tame and get / to Naples with him, he’s a present for any emperor that / ever trod on neat’s leather† (2. 2. 65-7). Although Caliban might have the same display value as a Native American in England, this fact does not necessarily make Caliban Native American. Within The Tempest, there is not enough strong evidence to support the reading that Shakespeare meant Caliban to be Native American. If Shakespeare intended Caliban to represent Native American then Leslie Fieldler notes, â€Å"Caliban’s attempt on Miranda’s virtue makes him ‘the first nonwhite rapist in white man’s literature’; his freedom song is ‘the first American poem’; and when he guzzles too much of Stephano’s wine, Caliban is ‘the first drunken Indian in Western literature’ (Vaughan, â€Å"Shakespeare’s,† 148). Native Americans struggle enough with poor representation in American society; there is not a pressing need to demonstrate Shakespeare intended Caliban to be solely Native American if it results in additional derision. In contrast, Jeffrey L. Hantman in â€Å"Caliban’s Own Voice: American Indian Views of the Other in Colonial Virginia† summarizes the 20th century importance of Caliban as a universal indigenous voice, â€Å"He is African, and he is Caribbean. He has been a native of Madagascar, Quebec, Cuba, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia. Today, he is sometime enslaved, and psychologically dependent, but he is also a guerilla, a revolutionary, and a hero† (71). Who Shakespeare intended Caliban to be is a non-issue for those who identify with Caliban. If people find an entryway into identifying with Caliban, then certainly Caliban becomes them as much as they become Caliban. Although it would be erroneous to claim Shakespeare meant The Tempest as an allegory for English Imperialism in the New World and Caliban solely represents Native Americans, the play does metaphorically represent English imperialism and encapsulates English sentiments towards the New World during the time of the play’s cultural production. A brief overview of England’s New World exploration and colonization demonstrates how the English perception of the New World and Native Americans transformed during the development of English imperialism. Within the play, Gonzalo’s interests in the island and his â€Å"plantation† scheme illustrate the English imperial yearning for the New World and an opportunity to develop a society closer to a natural state. Furthermore, the first exchange between Caliban and Prospero encapsulate the conflicts that mar imperial relationship between indigenous people and the colonizer. Moreover, although Caliban does not represent specifically Native Americans, he can broadly represent all subjugated indigenous people. There are many congruencies between events in The Tempest and events during the late 16th and 17th century English imperialism. The Tempest is an example where Shakespeare was not necessarily predicting a future outcome but more likely articulating the trajectory of a present English course. Works Cited Bertram, Benjamin. The Time is out of Joint: Skepticism in Shakespeare’s England. Newark, NJ: University of Delaware Press, 2004. De Montaigne, Michel. â€Å"From Of the Cannibals. † William Shakespeare The Tempest: A Case Study in Critical Controversy. Ed. Gerald Graff and James Phelan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 119-20. Hakluyt, Richard. â€Å"Reasons for Colonization. † William Shakespeare The Tempest: A Case Study in Critical Controversy. Ed. Gerald Graff and James Phelan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 125-34. Hantman, Jeffrey L. â€Å"Caliban’s Own Voice: American Indian Views of the Other in Colonial Virginia. † New Literary History 23. 1 (1992): 69-81. JSTOR. Winona State University, Darrell W. Krueger Lib., Winona, MN. 3 Mar. 2007 . Moffitt, John F. , and Santiago Sebastian. O Brave New People: The European Invention of the American Indian. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1996. Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. William Shakespeare The Tempest: A Case Study in Critical Controversy. Ed. Gerald Graff and James Phelan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 10-88. Sokol, B. J. A Brave New World of Knowledge: Shakespeare’s the Tempest and Early Modern Epistemology. Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 2003. Takaki, Ronald. â€Å"The ‘Tempest’ in the Wilderness. † William Shakespeare The Tempest: A Case Study in Critical Controversy. Ed. Gerald Graff and James Phelan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 140-172. Vaughan, Alden T. â€Å"People of Wonder: England Encounters the New World’s Natives. † New World of Wonders: European Images of the Americas, 1492-1700. Ed. Rachel Doggett, et al. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1992. – – -. â€Å"Shakespeare’s Indian: The Americanization of Caliban. † Shakespeare Quarterly 39. 2 (1988): 137-153. JSTOR. Winona State University, Darrell W. Krueger Lib. , Winona, MN. 3 Mar. 2007 . ———————– [1] Throughout the paper instead of simply using the term â€Å"natives,† I use indigenous people because the term â€Å"natives† carries negative imperialistic connotations. [2] I use the term New World provisionally in order to describe the dichotomy between Europe, the supposed Old World, and their realization of the Americas, which they dubbed the New World. [3] While some scholars have argued that Shakespeare intended Caliban to be representative of Native American, this intentionality is problematic. I will examine this later in the paper.