Comparative Study on the Origin of Religion Essay Example for Free

Comparative Study on the Origin of Religion Essay Since the early 1800s, there had been an ample amount of skeptics trying to account for the origin of religion. The basic question on everybody’s mind was where does religion come from? Some believed that people developed religion because they didn’t understand the forces of nature around them. Others believe that religion was created as a way of restrain people. In the 19th century, people were introduced to social science and anthropologists who once studied primitive culture were exposed to several theories on the origin of religion. Edward B Tylor was one of the first who developed a theory on religion. Max Muller was a German professor at Oxford University whose interest included Indian mythology and the study of religion. Another anthropologist was George Frazer who key contributions to religious anthropology was a religious encyclopedia. There are many explanations to the origin of religion, one of the most prominent being Edward B. Tylor’s theory of animism. This theory is considered the foundation of the physical evolution of religion; two other influential religious anthropologists, Max Muller and James Frazer, also based their explanations of the origin of religion on nature. All three religious anthropologists are similar in the sense that they traced the evolution of religion in an attempt to figure out the origin of it but differ in the way they approach the concept of religion. Edward B. Tylor developed the theory of animism to help explain the most rudimentary form of religion. Animism is defined as the belief that attributes souls and spirits to humans, plants, animals and other entities. Animistic religious beliefs are well-known among primitive societies who were â€Å"so low in culture as to have no religious conceptions what so ever† (Tylor). Tylor considered animism as the most primitive phase in the development of religion. He believed that the reflection of dreams and the observation of death caused primitive people to develop the idea of souls and spirits. Tylor thought that primitive people believed that everything in nature had a soul within it. He hypothesized that a belief in animism led to the formation of a more generalized god and, eventually, the creation of monotheism. Animism ultimately led to the evolution of religion in the minds of the people. It led them to take something so simple as nature and use it to explain the natural phenomenon in their environment. A conflicting theory that uses the concept of evolution is that of Max Muller. Another theory of the origin of religion was developed by Max Muller. He believed that people first developed religion from the observation of nature. According to his theory, primitive people became aware of regularity of the seasons, the tides and the phases of the moon. Their response to these forces in nature was to personalize them†(Hopfe and Woodward). They personalized them through linguistics. Muller believed that development of religion was a cause of confusion in language (Goldsmith). There seems to be a divide between Muller and Tylor over the nature of the origin o f religion. Max Muller believed that the answer to the sole origin of religion could be found in the past and a person can trace its origin in the linguistic remnants in the Indo-European languages. Tylor thought that implementing an ethnological approach would be more successful than studying languages for answers of the origin of religion. Evolution of religion is evident in Muller’s theory because â€Å"they personified the forces of nature, created myths to describe their activities, and eventually developed pantheons and religions around them† (Hopfe and Woodward). By developing religions and pantheons from identifying the forces in nature is a clear sign of the evolution of religion in the human mind set. Even though their theories are different, the idea of evolution of religion in the human mind is evident in both Muller and Tylor’s theory. Sir James George Frazer, a fellow religious anthropologist, began developing his own theories on religion. Frazer believed that humans used magic as a way to control nature and the events around them and when that failed, they turned to religion. They used religion to control the events for a while and when religion failed they turned to science. Frazer’s theories were similar to those of Tylor. They both believed that the human mind developed in the same way as that of physical evolution.. Even though Frazer took a similar approach to Tylor in tracing the origin of religion, he modified Tylor’s theory and replaced Tylor’s theory of animism with his idea of magic. A similarity between Frazer and Tylor is that they both believed that religion began from an intentional method of describing and making sense of a strange world. Frazer replaces the idea that religion explains nature by introducing science as a substitute. Frazer’s approach to tracing the origin of religion is similar to that of Tylor and Muller since all three traced the evolution of religion in an attempt to figure out its origin. Both Muller and Frazer’s theory are similar to Tylor’s theory since both trace the origin of religion through the evolution of it but differ in the way they interpret religion. All three of them seemed to miss a vital element of religion which is that no one who practices religion is doing so to explain how the world works. People use religion for several reasons. Some use it to give meaning to their lives while others use it to enforce social order. Maybe all three anthropologists didn’t miss this key component but rather didn’t know about it due to the rapid evolution of religion.

The Success Of Ebay

The Success Of Ebay eBay.Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online marketplaces for the sale of goods and services, online payment services, and online communication offerings to a diverse community of individuals and businesses in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: eBay Marketplace, Payments, and Communications.   The eBay Marketplaces segment provides infrastructure to enable online commerce in a variety of formats, including the traditional auction platform; and its other online platforms, such as Rent.com, Shopping.com and Marktplaats.nl. Its services include trust and safety programs; feedback forum; safe harbor program; eBay standard purchase protection program; customer support; tools and services; and My eBay, which permits users to receive a report of their eBay activity that includes bidding, selling, account balances, favourite categories, and recent feedback, as well as About Me, which provides users to create their own personal home page. The Payments segment delivers a product for small businesses, online merchants, and individuals that enables them to send and receive payments online. Its services include joining the network, verification of its PayPals account holders, withdrawing money, and trust and safety programs. The Communications segment enables voice over Internet protocol calls between Skype users, as well as provides connectivity to traditional fixed-line and mobile telephones. It offers its software in 23 languages. The company also offers online apartment rental services and comparison shopping resource service, as well as provides an Internet payment platform that allows merchants to authorize, process, and manage online payments. eBay, Inc. was founded by Pierre M. Omidyar in 1995 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.   What is eBays business strategy? How successful has it been? What are the problems that eBay is currently facing? The business strategy of eBay is to generate revenue from the fees and commissions associated with its charged to the site to exchange products. The revenue is generated by the people who use the eBay site. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). eBay also collects revenue from direct advertising as well as from various service providers, such as PayPal that increase the ease and speed of eBay transactions ( The wikinvest, 2010). eBay also build on its existing strengths and increase its choice of customized shopping experiences and new monetization models. Properties such as eBay Express, ProStores, eBay Stores, and Shopping.com give eBay entry into the market for new, in-season products (The eBay Inc, Annual Report, 2009). eBays growth strategy focuses on expansion in geography and scope and on continuing innovation to enhance the variety and appeal of products on its sites. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). eBay is now begun developing tools and services that promote e-commerce anywhere on the web. eBay is also having discussion with MySpace to allow eBay listing on MySpace pages. The eBay companys plan has been very successful by economies of scale of eBay due to its large supply of buyers and sellers (Kevin Dickson, 2009). Having a large number of active users as they do, they are able to protect themselves from new entrants to the industry. This retains their market share and provides them with a strong foundation for successful business. eBay is very successful, whereby the company has been profitable and had attracted more than 233 million users by 2006 It has operations in 32 countries. In 2005, eBay users listed 1.8 billion items in auctions. This caused about $50 billion dollars exchanging hands (Catherine Holahand 2007). One of the most successful parts of the company is that it is fully automated. This significantly reduces costs to eBay, keeping net income high. According to Danny Vogeley, 2005 states that, current problems that eBay facing now is based on analysts report that sales growth have dropped from 40 percent annually to 23 percent. New users are no longer joining the site at the same rate they used to join, and there are many of eBays top sellers arent concerned in adding voice calls to their sales models. eBay also has faced is a rising number of buyers who have been defrauded by sellers (Albert, Miriam R, 2002). Customer service is one more problem for eBay and it is mostly due to the size of the eBay company. eBay experiences basically two types of customers, sellers and buyers. Often the need of one customer is not the same as the need of the other (The eBay Inc, 2010). The next problems that eBay is currently facing are resistance by some of its top sellers to its operation of a VoIP service Skype, a aggressive threat to the online auction marketplace in Asia by Yahoo, and maintaining the honesty and integrity of its auction service in the face of tremendous growth and expansion (Jeffrey S, 2006). How is eBay trying to solve these problems? Are these good solutions? Are there any other solutions that eBay should consider? In order eBay to solve these problems, they are trying to improve its sites user experience to keep its loyal customer base happy. It is reducing the clutter of its web page design, especially the home page, which has been described as one of the most confusing and cluttered in the industry. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). eBay is looking to improve product search result and give buyers more guidance in finding the product they are looking for without having to scour through hundreds or might be thousand of listing. eBay also increasingly focused on providing a traditional retail experience or small seller in order to have great income as a result (Nikole Cruise, 2009). The solutions is eBay try to include a great expansion. Growth rates have been hindered by the increase in seller fees, however, these loses have been covered by the expansion into other countries. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). Joseph. T. Sinclair (2007, pp.62) states that eBay has added extra measures of protection. For example, eBay will give extra protection to those buyers that purchase a vehicle on their sites. eBay has also entered into a number of relationships with major competitors such as Yahoo! and Google. Other than that, eBay is banking on PayPal to become the standard payment technique for online transaction (Evan Schwartz, 2001). This has allowed its eBays customers to buy and sell goods and receive payments easily. This has increased the user base of eBays customers. To remain in touch with its customers, eBay has started a program called Voices which brings buyers and sellers together 10 times a year at corporate headquarters (Josh Catone, 2008). This program allows users to talk to management and discuss what the users like and dislike about eBay and make suggestions. eBay has tried to build a channel of communication between customers (Charles  M.  Mayo, 2010) . It enables customers to discuss tips on how to sell and purchase items. It is also creating a component of the website where people can discuss items that people collect and trade. Using these ideas can help to decrease the number of fraudulent transactions. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). eBay is now also looking to improve product search result and give buyers more guidance in finding the products they are looking for without having to scour through hundreds of listing. The solutions that eBay has come up with to resolve various problems seem to be effective. eBay believes that the most vital task of the company is to keep customers happy (Annalee Newitz, 2007). eBay is trying to maintain the selling capabilities of the merchants on eBay as well as the confidence of its customers. An extra solution that eBay have to consider includes helping to avoid fraudulent purchases (Tri Bros Broda, 2006). eBay could act as a mediator between the two parties. It could set rules stating that the purchaser must pay the amount of the item to eBay. Once the item has been sent to the purchaser, the payment will then be forwarded to the seller. What people, organization, and technology factors play a role in eBays response to its problems? People factors that play a role in eBays problems include the company employs and manage diverse kinds of people. The company employs around 15,500 employees. Whereby, the employees of the company have different background and each had different job experiences in the past. Such is done by the company because they believe that these people can give them a unbiased in organization (The eBay Inc, 1998). This makes the company flexible to different kinds of situation to this problem. The next People factor that plays a role in eBays problems is the employees at eBay are extremely well taken care of, and this is an area of pride for the company (Kevin Dickson, 2009). With out a large force of human capital eBay would not be able to function. The focus on employee satisfaction and attitudes is important to achieve the success of the company. People factors include recognizing that there are problems in the company and coming up with the solutions to the problems. People in eBay has to figure out how allocate its 8000 full time workers as eBay purchases new technologies and programs that will be used on the website and that will need support (The eBay Inc, 2010). People will have to talk to buyers and sellers to determine if the companys new services are satisfying the demands of the users. Organizational responsibilities factor play a role in the planning process because an organization is responsible for providing stakeholders with profit or value first and foremost. (Sarah Ganly, 2010). The benefit to the stakeholder to play a role in the decisions of the planning process because the ultimate goal of most businesses is to provide value Organization factors in eBay include having enough employees to carry out the changes to the company. It must be made sure that the organizations business strategy is customized to satisfy new and emerging demands (The eBay Inc, 2009). The organization also needs to have enough finances to fund the purchase of the new programs and services that it may use to respond to the problems (Catherine Holahan, 2007). Within the organization factors eBay has made many advances to aid in their growth. Three operating segments have been designed within the company to handle the commonly used marketplaces, along with the additions of payments and communications (Kevin Dickson, 2009). Marketplaces are made up through the use of eBay auction listings, fixed price listings, as well as the additions of their other online platforms, Half.com, Rent.com, Shopping.com and StubHub. In Technology factors include offered new innovations in the technological sector and introduced new concepts with regards to eBay site (Ina Steiner, 2010). Seeing as, technology rapidly changes the company makes sure they are updated to what is happening and they can adjust to these changes. The company makes sure that the products they have are updated with regards to technology and if new technologies emerge they can compete with these products. eBay summarized its ongoing site operations and underscored its success in scaling to process ever-growing global demand and rolling out advanced features and functions while lowering costs (The eBay Inc, 2001). The company also described its next generation software architecture, which is designed to increase productivity and trading speed as well as allow for greater flexibility in adding new businesses Technology factors include the element and programs that will be run by eBay such as PayPal, Half.com, Shopping.com and Skype. EBay will most likely have to also increase storage space to accommodate the new programs (Kevin Dickson, 2009). EBay will have to develop the technologies and have the programs written that will power eBays new Ad Context program that will compete with Googles Ad Sense program that runs contextual online ads based on keywords that are searched in the website. Will eBay be successful in the long run? Why or why not? Yes, eBay will be successful in the long run. eBay is the worlds largest online auction website (The Buzzle Online, 2010). eBay will stay successful as long as another e-commerce site does not start up that offers better security and seller/buyer service. Their business strategy has already proven to be extremely effective, and they are currently the dominant player in the online marketplace business. As the effort that eBay facing may limit its future growth and expansion, they should always be able to keep at least their current levels of business and resulting profit margins (The Channel Advisor, 2010). In the ways to make eBay to successful in long run, eBay will have to design ways of attracting new buyers to the website so that transactions can continue to take place (Jack Goldstein, 2009). eBay has been investing greatly in VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), but at the moment VOIP is not of necessity considered a mainstream service. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). eBay needs to find ways of making this service more obtainable not just to its current users but to people in general. eBay can work with computer manufacturers and supply financial investment to have VOIP technology installed into computers. Beside this, eBay has a large market space spanning dozens of countries. This maintains a large base for customers to sell their products easily and effectively. eBay is trying to apply more interactivity with the purchase of Skype, so that customers and sellers can communicate two-way (Catherine Holahan, 2007). eBay provides a high level of price transparency, the simplicity to which customers can find out prices in a market (Philipp Maier, 2005). eBay has recognised that it is more profitable to work with competitors such as Yahoo! and Google. The ensuing that eBay now shows has generated a source of revenue. Conclusion eBay has always done very well in focusing its companys goals and has been fast in grabbing into opportunities. eBays business model demanded that their viewers needed to be many thousands of consumers, and there should be a balance between buyers and sellers. They actively worked balance the number of buyers with the number of sellers. Envisioning success, they designed their Web site to make it easy for many simultaneous buyers to find items to buy, and for sellers to offer items for sale. They provided sellers with a safe, reliable means to collect what they were owed, while also providing the buyer with a similar safe, reliable means to ensure that what they bought was just as the seller had represented it.   The eBay company should try to branch out to other business opportunities. The company can try to have a personal buying and selling business wherein a company has a visible branch that buys and sells different products and services. Customers who have known the company for a long time will be the first customers of the company in this effort. eBay gives a whole new meaning to the word middle man business. It does this by providing extra ordinary tools to sellers which, lets the seller target their products to the buyers. It also provides buyers with wonderful search tools, to get to the products they are looking for. eBay has made a very powerful platform for both sellers and buyers by being seamless and invisible but at the same time facilitating Customer to Customer relationship.

Cross-Dressing in Shakespeares Twelfth Night and As You Like It Essay

Cross-Dressing in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and As You Like It In Shakespeare's plays Twelfth Night and As You Like It both of the lead female characters dress as men. Both plays are comedies and the change in gender is used as a joke, but I think it goes much deeper. A woman can become a man, but only if it is not permanent. The affect of the change cannot be too great because she must change back to female once everything is settled. They are strong female characters, but must become men to protect themselves and ultimately solve the problem of the play. In the book Desire and Anxiety: The Circulation of Sexuality in Shakespearian Drama Valerie Traub calls the characters, "the crossed-dressed heroine who elicits and enjoys multiple erotic investments" (Traub 17). They can only acts this way when they are dressed as men. They return to their passive and nonsexual ways when they change back to women's clothing. In both plays the women are not in their own lands, Viola being shipwrecked on a strange land and Rosalind being banished from the cour t and wandering in the forest. Both women disguise themselves as men for protection. On the way to the forest Celia says to Rosalind, â€Å"Now go we in content/ To liberty and not to banishment† (1.3.137-138). Liberty in this line is the freedom they get overcoming the restrictions of a female role (Erikson 22). Dressing as a man is the way the women protect themselves, but as the plays progress the roles they play as men begin to influencing their actions and attitudes. The definition of a man by what he wears is so strong that in Twelfth Night Orsino still refers to Viola as her male name Cersario even after he learns she is a woman and decides to marry her. "Cersario, come/ F... ...e roles are right. Men are manly taking care of their women by marrying them and women are in their correct roles under their husbands. Works Cited Erickson, Peter. Patriarchal Structures in Shakespeare’s Drama. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985. Greenblatt, Stephen general ed. Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, and Katharine Eiasman Maus eds. The Norton Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1997. Orgel, Stephen. Impersonations: The Performance of Gender In Shakespeare’s England. Cambridge: University Press, 1996. Traub, Valerie. Desire and Anxiety: Circulation of Sexuality in Shakespearean Drama. London: Routledge, 1992. Notes: More of the definition of a female’s role in Shakespearean England can be found at http://drama.pepperdine.edu/shakespeare/romeoandjuliette in the essay Female Sovereignty in Renaissance England.

children Essay -- essays papers

children Childhood and the Treatment of Children Children all over the world are treated differently at different times, during different centuries. Some children are raised by both of their parents in a good environment, with good conditions, and with a good education. Those kids are well taken care of and are happy if love is added to all that. The place that they live in becomes perfect. There are other kids, though, that have no loving parent, or no parents at all; no beautiful warm home, or no home at all; no healthy food, or no food at all and no good education, or no education at all. They have to work all day just to survive and get a little bit of something to eat. These children, unlike the other kids, are treated badly, abused and used. As time changes, people change: sometimes for the worst and sometimes for the better. Even now, children are mistreated in other countries and even here in America. Pip is left without parents to be raised by his sister. His sister, Mrs. Joe, is twenty years older than Pip. She is raising Pip â€Å"by hand†, meaning she lays her hand on him whenever possible, which is all the time. Pip is treated very badly, but at least he has a friend who would stand up to him; Joe is Mrs. Joe Gargery’s husband. Joe wants Pip to have a good education even though he himself didn’t have one, but Mrs. Joe, on the other hand, thinks it’s not a good idea and a waste of time. Pip does things like other kids do; he plays, eats, and goes...

Crazy Horse :: essays research papers fc

Crazy Horse When I think back of the stories that I have heard about howthe Native American Indians were driven from their land andforced to live on the reservations one particular event comes tomy mind. That event is the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It isone of the few times that the Oglala Sioux made history with thembeing the ones who left the battlefield as winners. When storiesare told, or when the media dares to tamper with history, it isusually the American Indians who are looked upon as the bad guys.They are portrayed as savages who spent their time raiding wagontrains and scalping the white settlers just for fun. The mediahas lead us to believe that the American government was forced totake the land from these savage Indians. We should put the blamewhere it belongs, on the U.S. Government who lied, cheated, andstole from the Oglala forcing Crazy Horse, the great war chief,and many other leaders to surrender their nation in order to savethe lives of their people. In the nin eteenth century the most dominant nation in thewestern plains was the Sioux Nation. This nation was divided intoseven tribes: Oglala's, Brule', Minneconjou, Hunkpapa, No Bow,Two Kettle, and the Blackfoot. Of these tribes they had differentband. The Hunkpatila was one band of the Oglala's . One of the greatest war chiefs of all times came from thisband. His name was Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse was not given this name, on his birth date inthe fall of 1841. He was born of his father, Crazy Horse anOglala holy man, and his mother a sister of a Brule' warrior,Spotted Tail. As the boy grew older his hair was wavy so his people gave him the nickname of Curly . He was togo by Curly until the summer of 1858, after a battle with theArapaho's. Curly's brave charged against the Arapaho's led hisfather to give Curly the name Crazy Horse. This was the name ofhis father and of many fathers before him . In the 1850's, the country where the Sioux Nation lived, wasbeing invaded by the white settlers. Th is was upsetting for manyof the tribes. They did not understand the ways of the whites.When the whites tore into the land with plows and hunted thesacred buffalo just for the hides this went against the moraleand religious beliefs of the Sioux. The white government began tobuild forts. In 1851, Fort Laramie was built along the NorthPlatte river in Sioux territory .

Women and Marriage

This paper presents an in-depth discussion about the changing relationship between women and marriage. Economic factors, a rise in feminism, parents† influence, attitudes about sex, educational pursuits, and divorce statistics are discussed and their influence on women†s attitudes toward marriage are explored. Cultural changes that have impacted women†s lives are also examined. The purpose of the paper is to explore the changes affecting women, their attitudes toward marriage, and their expectations of marriage. This paper will primarily concentrate on the question of why women delay marriage. The ources used to develop this paper are published journals, the text for this course along with other books related to this issue, and the The Changing Relationship Between Women and Marriage Over the past four decades there has been substantial changes in the attitudes toward marriage among women in the United States. These attitudes relate to gender roles and social changes in today†s society and have contributed to women marrying later than their ancestors married. Studies show American women are waiting longer than ever to get married. Their median age at first marriage hit a record high of 24. years in 1994, up from 20 years in the mid 1950†³s (Crispell, 1996). That†s the oldest age since the Census Bureau started to ask about age at marriage in 1890. Of course postponing marriage means an increase, at any given time, in the number of people who have never wed, and that is also reflected in the census study. From 1970 to 1994 the number of Americans aged 18 and over who never married more than doubled from 21. million to 44. 2 million. Additionally, women may be less likely to marry in the future. Projections show the proportion of never married women increasing between 1992 and 2010 for all age groups under 55 (Crispell). According to Allen & Kalish (1984), the timing of a first marriage is related to the attractiveness of the alternatives to marrying. When women value roles that provide viable alternatives to the role of wife, they delay marriage. The role of women has undergone significant transformation brought about by changes in society. Today†s families are smaller and live longer, thereby allowing women to devote a smaller part of their lives to raising children than was the case in earlier times (Allen & Kalish). Thus, more time is left for other pursuits. A woman who enters her first marriage at an older ge is less likely to exchange dependence on her parents for dependence on a husband (Unger & Crawford, 1992). Elder (1974) found that women who married later were more likely to have careers, financial stability and be middle class as opposed to lower class background. What has transformed societal attitudes toward marriage so that young women delay it, older women get out of it, and some women skip it altogether? Economic factors, a rise in feminism, parental influences, attitudes about sex, educational pursuits, and the divorce rate have all undergone significant cultural changes and are among ome of the reasons being credited for influencing the ideas women have about marriage. Let†s examine these influences and the attitudes of women which determine their decision to marry or delay marriage. We will also examine the expectations of marriage that today†s educated women may have and how these expectations differ from other women†s Economic factors have resulted in women working outside the home, and have had a strong influence over a woman†s decision to marry. â€Å"The ever increasing opportunities for women to work outside the home make her less and less dependent, economically, upon a husband† (Casler, 1974, p. 30). Late marrying women indicated that careers took relative precedence over marriage during the period of their lives when their â€Å"less achievement – oriented peers were opting for marriage† (Allen & Kalish, p. 141). Women now in the labor market want more than just a â€Å"job†, and therefore, actively pursue a â€Å"career†. Between 1969 and 1979, for example, percentages of women endorsing wanting to be â€Å"an authority in my field† increased from 54. 3% to 70. 5% and in 1979 were only 4. 8% lower than the percentage for men. Women endorsing wanting â€Å"to raise a family† declined in these years from 77. % to64. 8% which equals the percentage for men. Long, Becker†s (1981) theories of marriage and family behavior hypothesize that women†s increasing labor force participation has had a critical and presumably irreversible impact on the family. If half of all marriages are to fail, and with alimony for ex-wives less common, a woman cannot count upon marriage for a lifetime of economic security (Allen & Kalish). Men†s economic status has substantially deteriorated since the 1970†³s (Oppenheimer, 1994). The median income of men aged 25 to 34 fell by 26% between 1972 and 1994 (Koontz, 1997). The institution of marriage underwent a particularly rebellious and ramatic shift when women entered the work force. â€Å"People don†t have to stay married because of economic forces now . . . we are in the midst of trying to renegotiate what the marriage contracts is – what men and women are suppose to do as partners† (Gleick, 1995). Studies show the lowest marriage rate of all is for women professionals (i. e. , doctors, lawyers). While over three-fourths of all women in the United States aged 35 to 39 are married, fewer than two thirds of these are professional women. Further, when they do marry, professional women are more likely to divorce than their age peers. As for hildbearing, these women have significantly fewer children than their nonprofessional counterparts, when they have children at all (Allen & Kalish). In the case of having children Oppenheimer argues that â€Å"the major component of the cost of children is the â€Å"indirect† cost – the cost of the mother†s time† (p. 295). A rise in feminism is credited for being another strong influence in women†s lives. Feminism movements, with emphasis upon educational and vocational achievements for women, seem to encourage departure from traditional sex roles which were chiefly organized around marriage and children, and toward more extensive careers for omen, especially those who are well educated (Becker). â€Å"Even though not all young women label themselves feminists, the idea that women can and should have aspirations other than wife and mother has been widely accepted† (Unger & Crawford, pg. 364). While it is true the woman†s movement has made significant progress in its attempt to equalize opportunities, the situation continues to be blatantly unjust. It has been said that marriage diminishes man, which is often true; but almost always it annihilates woman† (Casler, p. 30). Women, struggling to rise above the â€Å"housewife† role, have a strong esire to be valued for some of the same qualities men are valued for: ambition, intelligence, and independence. Unfortunately, subservient status of the married woman is deeply embedded in history. â€Å"Conventional matrimony is seen by some to be a major stumbling block in the path toward women†s liberation† (Casler, pg. 177). Modernization has inevitably led to the growth of individualism with its emphasis on the importance of self fulfillment as opposed to the subordination of individual needs† (Oppenheimer). As a result, women not only are beginning to lead less traditional lives, but are also ncreasingly tolerant of differences in life styles among others (Becker). The old status order that granted men a privileged position in the family is crumbling. Proponents of women†s empowerment have emphasized the effect of women†s education and income on their decision making authority within the household (Lundberg & Pollack, 1996). Policies that empower women have been supported with claims that they will increase the well being of children. The belief that â€Å"kids do better† when their mothers control a larger fraction of family has been proven (Lundberg & Pollack). Parental influence and upbringing, no doubt, have a enetrating influence on a woman†s ideas and her perceptions on marriage. Several studies have focused on parents† influence on a woman†s marital timing. Late marriers had less dating experience and more parental restrictions than earlier marriers did (Elder). It was found that the parents of late marrying women did not stress education and career over marriage but, valued career in its own right in such a way that they provided their daughters with permission to pursue a non-normative path (Allen & Kalish). So, it appears that parents of late marrying women have put less pressure on their daughters to marry han parents of the normative groups. In studies of women†s educational achievements and family influences, it seems that women who pursue higher education goals and careers during the average marrying years have, if not encouragement, at least acceptance of their choice by their parents. Furthermore, father†s occupation and education and mother†s education account for one-half of the variance in marital timing for women, which is consistent with the idea that both parents support their daughter in academic and career achievement if they themselves have achieved more (Allen & Kalish). In another tudy, parents of high educational and occupational level status, exert positive influences on their daughter†s education and career plans. Working mothers or mothers who are career oriented, tend to influence their daughters in that direction. A close relationship with parents and identification with their fathers are also positive predictors of career orientations of young women. A number of studies also have indicated that women who marry late are close to their parents. Frequently, their career goals are consistent with their family backgrounds (Allen & Kalish). Modern attitudes about sex are also influencing women. Traditionally, marriage was seen as a way to legitimize sexual relations. With the arrival of easily available birth control, sexual freedom is no longer a â€Å"reward† to be associated with marriage (Allen & Kalish). Premarital sex and living together arrangements have become more acceptable to many (Unger & Crawford). Women who married late will have been more able to have adequate sexual lives before marriage than women who married during the average marrying years. Late marriers considered premarital sex more acceptable than normative marriers. Willingness to participate in intimate personal and sexual elationships outside of marriage reduces the attractiveness of the The pursuit of an education is another significant influence on women, with the level of education achieved by women being directly related to their marital age (Elder). College attendance among women has doubled – one out of five women obtained some college education in the mid 1960†³s compared to two out of five in the early 1980†³s. â€Å"With their rapid increase in college attendance, by 1983 women constituted over half of the student body at two-year colleges and closed to half of the students attending four-year colleges† (McLaughlin, 1988, . 35). The most dramatic changes have occurred in the professions of law and medicine. The number of women becoming lawyers increased from 230 in 1960 to approximately 12,000 in 1982 up from 3 to 33% of all lawyers. Similarly, the number of women who received medical degrees increased from 3% in 1960 to approximately 4,000 in 1981, representing a jump from 6 to 25% of all medical degrees. Women are also rapidly growing in the professions of architecture and business administration, professions previously dominated by males. By 1985 women were earning half of all bachelor and master degrees and over a hird of the doctorates, compared to the 42% of all bachelor degrees, 32% of master degrees and 10% of all doctorates in the 1960†³s (O†Neill, 1989). The result is that both education and experience levels of the female labor force have begun to increase at a faster rate than they have for the male labor force (McLaughlin). Koontz found that highly educated women in professional careers are less likely than women in general to be involved in marriage and parenting. In recent decades, the percentage of young women obtaining advanced degrees and pursuing a professional career has increased dramatically. Between 1971 and 1980 the percentage of women aged 30-39 who completed four or more years of college rose from 10. 3 to 18. 8 percent (Koontz). A positive relationship between educational attainment and the timing A woman†s completed fertility level is also highly correlated with her educational attainment in part because of the effect of delayed childbearing on fertility. Educational attainment is negatively associated with the likelihood that women will ever marry and/or bear children. Educational attainment is also related to the likelihood of divorce, for women but not for men. Women who have ompleted six or more years of college have significantly higher rates of divorce than woman at all other education levels, except high school drop-outs. High levels of education by women is highly predictive of delayed and reduced involvement in marital and parental Acknowledging the prevalence of divorce may influence a woman†s future decision to marry. Plenty of young women have seen unhappy marriages as they grew up – giving them an understandable fear of committing themselves. This may account for the rapid growth in the proportion of women rejecting marriage. We all know the statistics – alf of all marriages in the United States end in divorce and nearly a third of all children are born out of wedlock. As a result four out of 10 kids don†t live with both of their biological parents (Chollar, 1993). Delayed marriage and continued high divorce levels will combine to shrink the share of currently married men and women in most age groups. In the 21st century, men will remain more married than women because of the surplus of adult women in all but the under age 25 group (McLaughlin). Gottman found that a major complaint of divorced women was that their ex-husband†s had the majority of power. Moreover, it is still overwhelming women, not men, who are called upon to adjust their work lives to the demands of child rearing by quitting their jobs, working part-time or choosing a flexible job over one that offers higher pay (Cherlin, 1990). Women are also showing less patience with problem marriages as growing numbers unravel the The decline in the ideal of marital permanence – one of the most well documented value changes among Americans in recent decades – also has tended to make persons less willing and able to make the needed commitments to and investments in marriage (Gleick, 1993, p. ). While entering into marriage with the â€Å"utmost care and deepest consideration can only be to the good, it may be marriage itself – along with the most basic institutions like the work place – that continues to need refining† (Gleick, p. 28). Today†s women, all too aware of the current divorce numbers, may be hesitant to enter into I would say w e†re in a stalled revolution . . . women have gone into the labor force, but not much else has changed to adapt to that new situation. We have not rewired the notion of manhood so that it makes sense to men to participate at home (Gleick, pg. 56). Many married women report although their role has changed when they entered the work force, men primary have kept doing what they have always been doing, thus, putting additional burdens on women (Gleick). â€Å"However it seems that it is not the increased workload itself but rather the increased inequality that makes mothers less satisfied with their marriages than nonmothers† (Unger & Crawford, pg. 75). Men are making some progress though, in taking on household tasks, including child care, but women still shoulder most of the One of the most likely reasons for the decline in marital success is an increase in what persons expect of marriage. The levels of intimacy, emotional support, companionship, and sexual gratification that people believe they should get from marriage differ because of the breakdown of what it means to be husband or wife. Whereas, until recently, the rights and obligations of spouse†s were prescribed culturally and fairly well understood by just about everyone, they have become a matter for regulation in the individual marriages for some this has led to discord and Altogether then, cultural changes related to sex roles would seem to produce different expectations of marriage. A woman who has supported herself to the age of 25 or above and has lived on her own ntil that age has had time to get more education, be exposed more to a variety of view points and experiences, and therefore, is more likely to expect a peer relationship with her husband. All in all, she is more likely than a younger woman to enter marriage with a well developed sense of self worth and broad horizons for her life† (Unger & Crawford, pg. 364). Compared with a woman who marries younger – she is more likely to expect a more traditional relationship in which the husband is dominant (Everett, 1991). According to Everett, younger women expect greater communication, companionship, and ompatibility with their spouses than older women. Possibly younger women, still maturing, have not yet developed their own sense of self worth and, therefore, depend on their spouse to fulfill their needs of worthiness. As opposed to older women who, in most cases, have a more The traditional bargain struck between men and women – financial support for domestic services – is no longer valid. Women have shown outstanding improvements in education, and played a major part in the work force. With education and occupation in their hands, women do not need to rely on men for economic support, thus marriage s not an immediate concern anymore. However, it should be noted that when both husband and wife are employed the marriage is given an Nonetheless, all of these changes have spurred women to greater autonomy. Each has affected marriage in a different way, but all have worked in unity toward the same result – to make marriage less urgent and more arbitrary. Marriage may change for the better if people are committed to making the institution work, although in a new format. Still, studies show young adult women still care about marriage enough that the conflict between work life and family life remains intense.

The Song of Songs vs. Lady Antebellum’s Our Kind of Love

The Song of Songs vs. Lady Antebellum’s â€Å"Our Kind of Love† The excerpts from The Bedford Anthology of World Literature entitled The Song of Songs can correlate to the contemporary love song â€Å"Our Kind of Love† sang by the notorious, award-winning country music group Lady Antebellum. Besides the fact that these two works were written under antithetical circumstances and during distinctly different time periods, they both share many of the same attributes. Both of these works closely examine the word â€Å"love†, a word that is commonly misused in the present day generation.Furthermore, they both portray the profound, romantic feeling that a woman and a man share when they are both mentally and physically attracted to each other. The Song of Songs, is often misunderstood. When many people first read this poem, they find it hard to believe that this sexual, explicit love poem is found in the Bible. Phrases like, â€Å"do not rouse her† (210. 9 ), â€Å"your lips drop sweetness like the honeycomb† (213. 11), â€Å"I have stripped off my dress† (214. 3), and â€Å"I am a wall and my breasts are like towers† (218. 0), are present throughout this poem. Many people read these phrases and think of them to be sexual connotations. These phrases are indeed erotic but what most people do not understand is that this poem is meant to show the love that God has created for a male to feel towards a female and a female to feel towards a male when they are in a monogamous relationship. This poem was also intended to be able to be used as lyrical hymn that could be sung. Many songs in today’s culture portray this feeling of love as well. Our Kind of Love† is a country song sang by the country musical group Lady Antebellum. Although, at first many people may not agree, The Song of Songs, a poem that can be found in the Bible, and â€Å"Our Kind of Love†, a song that just recently was produced, share many of the same qualities. The Song of Songs has two main characters: the bride and the bridegroom whom are lovers. The companions are another group of characters in this poem. They are kind of like the narrators of the poem that chime in at certain times.Each of the three characters plays a contrary role in the love poem. In â€Å"Our Kind of Love†, the country group Lady Antebellum, sings about the love shared between a male and a female. In this song, a man and a woman take turns singing about their love for each other. Even though â€Å"Our Kind of Love† is a song, it can also be considered a poem as well. While reading The Song of Songs, one might doubt that it is a poem because many of the lines contained in this poem do not rhyme with each other however, a poem does not always have to rhyme.One might also disagree that a song such as â€Å"Our Kind of Love† can be a poem, but a song was at one time just a poem until it was actually made into a song. Whe n first looking at both the poem and the song together, the stanza in which they are written looks almost identical besides the fact that the song is obviously shorter than the poem. This should be a clue to the readers right away that they are both poems. Another clue that both of these could be poems or songs, is the title of the poem The Song of Songs.The title says it all. â€Å"Our Kind of Love† and The Songs of Songs are both about two people madly in love. In both of these works, the characters both explain their love towards each other. However, the way they express their love for each other is extremely different. This is because of the difference in cultures and time periods. For example, in The Song of Songs the bridegroom describes his bride’s beauty by using a large amount of adjectives: How beautiful you are, my dearest, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves, your hair like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead (212. 1). In †Å"Our Kind of Love†, the way the male describes to the female her beauty sounds a little bit different than in The Song of Songs. He explains her beauty by using less description: â€Å"You wear your smile like a summer sky / Just shining down on me and you swear your heart is a free bird / On a lazy Sunday afternoon† (Lady Antebellum). Although these two phrases sound completely different, they are both stating the same thing, that they both think their lover’s are beautiful.The first phrase is written more proper, and the second phrase is more straight-forward and to the point, and this is why a great number of people do not realize that even though the language of The Song of Songs and â€Å"Our Kind of Love† is different, a lot of the phrases in both of these works are stating the same or close to the same thing. Another example of the similarity of phrases is when the bride in The Song of Songs explains the type of love her and the bridegroom share an d when both the female and the male in â€Å"Our Kind of Love† define the type of love they have together.The bride in The Song of Songs declares her love for the bridegroom: My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds where balsam grows, to delight in the garden and to pick the lilies. / I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine, he who delights in the lilies (215. 2-3). In comparison to this phrase, the male and female in â€Å"Our Kind of Love† explain their love by singing: â€Å"Just like driving on an open highway / Never knowing what we’re gonna find / Just like two kids, baby, always trying to live it up / Whoa, yeah, that’s out kind of love (Lady Antebellum).The Song of Songs was written during a much more earlier time period than â€Å"Our Kind of Love†. One can tell this by comparing the language that is used in both of these works. â€Å"Our Kind of Love† is a contemporary song that just came out in the year 2010. This song consists of everyday, modern language. It is very easy to understand the plot of this song just by listening to it or reading it through once. In contrast, The Song of Songs was written â€Å"between 350 and 250 B. C. E. † (208).This poem is much more difficult to understand than Lady Antebellum’s song because it uses more proper, precise language. The Songs of Songs may require a little extra attention in order to clearly understand the poem. This is what throws most people off and makes them think these two works are not alike. However, if one actually takes the time to look over The Song of Songs a couple of extra times, then he will see that they are stating the same objective, just using a different way to say it.When first looking at this essay, one might not agree with my idea that Lady Antebellum’s recent record-breaking hit, â€Å"Our Kind of Love† and the biblical love poem, The Song of Songs are alike. They are indeed written from di fferent time periods and from different cultures however, by now one should agree that these two works are more similar than they are dissimilar. They both have two main characters, a male and a female. Both of these works can be cited as poems or sung aloud. Also, they are both profound love poems.Many say that The Song of Songs was created in order to show God’s creation between a man and a woman and the love they share with each other, and that is what both of these works are doing. Even though The Song of Songs is much longer in length than â€Å"Our Kind of Love†, they both have the same point. One should take the time to examine both of these popular love poems/songs, because it is very interesting to see how big of an impact a difference in culture plays in World Literature.It is very amusing to see how a love poem written somewhere between 350 and 250 B. C. E. can relate so much to a contemporary country song. Works Cited â€Å"The Song of Songs. † The B edford Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Paul Davis, Gary Harrison, David M. Johnson, Patricia Clark Smith, and John F. Crawford. Book 1 ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. 208-19. Print. The Ancient World, Beginnings-100 C. E. Lady Antebellum. â€Å"Our Kind of Love. † Need you Now. Quad Studios, 2010