Is there a different in attitude toward Cesarean section between women Dissertation

Is there a different in attitude toward Cesarean section between women in Iran and women in United kingdom - Dissertation Example The items in the questionnaire were all in English. Procedure. The questionnaire was distributed to participants in through two hospitals in Iran and one hospital in Britain. All participants were from the middleclass and were educated at pre or post university levels. The Iranian participants were all literate in English. Results. The results of Principal Components Analysis (PCA) showed two factors emerging from the questionnaire which were labeled as â€Å"Preference for CS† and â€Å"Misconceptions about CS†. Overall, the Iranian participants gave lower ratings on both factors compared to their British counterparts which imply more support for Cesarean Section. There was also a positive correlation between age and the two factors. Marital status and having children did not influence their preference for and misconceptions about the procedure. It was thus concluded that more effective information dissemination must be carried out about the advantages and disadvantage s of CS, to allow women to make more informed choice. Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 6 1.1 Introduction 6 1.2 Background of the Study 6 1.2.1 Reasons for the Choice of CS 7 1.2.2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Influences to CS Choice 8 Prevalence of CS in Britain and in Iran 9 Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature 11 2.1  Ã‚  Ã‚   Introduction 11 2.2 Overview of Cesarean Section (CS) 11 2.3 Factors that Influence CS Choice Among Women in Iran 14 2.4 Factors that Influence CS Choice Among Women in Britain 17 2.5 Empirical Studies 21 2.6 Conclusion 28 2.7 Research Aims 30 2.8 Research Questions 30 2.9 Research Approach 31 2.10 Research Methodology 32 Chapter 3 Method 34 3.1  Ã‚  Ã‚   Research Design 34 3.2 Participants 34 3.3  Ã‚  Ã‚   Materials 34 3.4 Procedure 35 3.5 Data Collection Procedures 35 3.6   Ethical Considerations 36 3.7  Ã‚  Ã‚   Method of Data Analysis 37 Chapter 4 Results and Discussion 38 4.1  Ã‚  Ã‚   Introduction 38 4.2 Results 38 4.3  Ã‚  Ã‚   Discussion 46 Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations 51 5.1  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conclusions 51 5.2  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recommendations 53 References 55 Appendix A – Survey Questionnaire 66 List of Tables Table 1. Principal component analysis of survey items. 38 Table 2. Cronbach Alpha: Factor 1 (Preference for CS). 40 Table 3. Cronbach Alpha: Factor 2 (Misconceptions about CS). 41 Table 4. Descriptive Statistics: Status x Having Children on Factor 1(Preference for CS). 41 Table 5. Between-Subjects Effects: Status x Having Children on Factor 1 (Preference for CS). 41 Table 6. Descriptive Statistics: Status x Having Children on Factor 2 (Misconceptions about CS). 42 Table 7. Between-Subjects Effects: Status x Having Children on Factor 2 (Misconceptions about CS). 43 Table 8. Descriptive Statistics: Cultural Groups on Factors 1 (Preference for CS) and 2 (Misconceptions about CS). 43 Table 9. Correlations: Age vs. Factors 1 (Preference for CS) and 2 (Misconceptions about CS). 44 Table 10. De scriptive Statistics: Having Children x Cultural Group on Factor 1 (Preference for CS). 45 Table 11. Between-Subjects Effects: Having Children x Cultural Group on Factor 1 (Preference for CS). 45 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction The present chapter is an overview of research related to the medical and psychological aspects of cesarean section, the risks involved, reasons for choosing cesarean section and the cultural attitudes towards choosing

Four wheel steering Vs Front wheel Steering Assignment

Four wheel steering Vs Front wheel Steering - Assignment Example The vehicle is symmetrical about the x-z axis; 2. The vehicle’s total mass  is lumped; 3. The vehicle’s roll axis is fixed and ; 4. The road’s surface conditions are consistent throughout the modelling; 5. Small angle approximations apply to the vehicle’s motion. The dynamics of the 4WS vehicle system can be divided broadly into three categories which are: 1. Tyre side forces; 2. Yaw moments; 3. Roll moments. These aspects of the steering system will be investigated separately based on three kinds of steering systems which are the 2WS (two wheel steering) with front wheel steering, 4WS under 40 km/h where the wheels are steered in opposite phases and 4WS over 40 km/h where the wheels are steered in the same phase. The three modes of steering and the relevant dynamics and motion investigation are discussed below. 2. Vehicle Dynamics Where: The variables ,  and  all represent various kinds of disturbances that may affect the lateral, yaw and roll d irections such as drag effects, side wind gusts, braking on ice, modelling uncertainties, loads, a flat tyre, an uneven road etc. These external disturbances may exert a sizeable influence in certain circumstances but for the sake of this investigation these disturbances will be neglected. The longitudinal forces  are related to the wheels’ rotational model and these forces can be described by denoting them as: Where  is the effective rotational inertia that includes all related drive train effects. The lateral forces  are non-linear functions that can be described using the magic formula as below: Where   are six different coefficients that depend on the vehicle load  and the camber angles  and . In order to study the dynamic behaviour of the vehicle model being investigated under the assumptions that the side slip angle is small under regular driving conditions, the equation listed above can be linearized and written as: The tyre slip angles presented in the notation above can be written as: If the roll angle is assumed to be small then  and . In this case the equations listed above can be linearized as below: Similarly: And: If the vehicle is considered to be travelling under constant velocity conditions in a steady state fashion then  = 0 and the longitudinal force  displayed by the wheels can be approximated as: The dynamics of the involved actuator can also be represented as a linear first order lag system that can be described as: Where: And: Using the equations listed above a descriptor system can be obtained that possesses the form listed below: Where: The matrix inverse operation can then easily be used in tandem with the matrices presented above to produce a linear time invariant system that is described as below: The system above can now be easily modelled as a state space system in MATLAB in order to see how the system behaves when subjected to different steering angles and speeds. The parameters of interest are the lateral velocity, the yaw rate and the roll angle. 3. MATLAB Simulation The space state system was simulated as such in MATLAB for a host of combinations. The input steering angles were investigated for two wheel steering (2WS) and four wheel steering (4WS) systems for the yaw rate, the lateral velocity and the roll angle for limits of vehicle speed above and below 40 kilometres per hour. The 2WS system was investigated as such both above and below 4

Burma’s Peaceful Transition to a Democratic Future Essay Example for Free

Burma’s Peaceful Transition to a Democratic Future Essay Burma is an Asian country that attained its independence on 4th January 1948 and is bordered by China on the North and Thailand on the East. it was referred to as the union of Burma in 1948. On January 4th 1974 it changed its name to the union of Burma and then on 23rd September, 1888 it reverted to the union of Burma. In 1989, then it changed the name again to the union of Myanmar and this was through the efforts by the state law and order restoration council (SLORC). It is a country whose population has had a lot of significance in Burma’s politics. The Burmese government is known as Myanmar and assumed an authoritarian feature that is dominated by a military leader. There have been substantial efforts to switch to a more democratic moves but these efforts have be hampered by the military which is against this move for example in 1990, a parliamentary government was elected but the Burma’s military could not let it to convene. Burma has a population of about 50 million people and has 500,000 troops who have been helping the government to create a regime of fear by denying the citizens most of their basic rights. Some democratic leaders have come up and visualized a viable idea of freeing the people from the torture they get from the government. In 1992 with his party the National League for Democracy, managed to scoop 82 % of all country’s parliamentary seats but the military regime which used dictatorship principles declined to transfer power to the leaders that were democratically elected. For more than ten years later, Aung San Suu kyi was put on house arrest and was released only in 2002. Her release was viewed by many as the only hope to the establishment of Burmese democratic government that would be sensitive to the people’s needs unfortunately in 2003 herself and many of her supporters were killed by a rowdy mob that was sponsored by the government. This conflict between the majority and the minority became evident after Burma achieved independence in 1948. It was at this time that Aung San Suu was given the mandate to control all those areas that traditionally were not controlled by only single community. After 1948 when the Burmese constitution was signed, constitution right have not been exercised on the minorities, they also do not have pieces of land and especially those that formerly belonged to their people. Since the war period, the Burman minorities have been sidelined by the majority who are the Burmese Burma was a British colony from the 1920s and this continued up to 1948. Though the Burma’s heartland was ruled directly by the colonial powers, the surrounding regions were allowed to rule themselves and this led the loyalty to split along the ethnic lines. The dominant ethnic group is the Burmese that comprise of 68 percent of the whole population and minority accounts for the remaining 32 percent. Religion in Burma has played a key role in causing further divisions. There are many religious in Burma for example there are Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus. These religious divisions have been aggravating the situations for example in 1991; more than a quarter million Muslims were evicted from their homes. This was exacerbated by the fact that there were many alliances formed. They were forced to cross the border to Bangladesh where they were accepted as refugees by the Bangladesh government but were helped by the international community with the basic needs. Today, the Burmese government is led a prime minister whose regime is greatly accused of displacing thousands of Burmese communities both internally and externally, some community such as Karen, Mon and Kareni were forced to seek refuge in Thailand. Those that are internationally displaced receive a better treatment than those that are internally displaced as the later are mistreated by the military. It is estimated that about 600,000 citizens have been internally displaced and are constantly looking for ways they could avoid slavery. They are used as slaves by this government as many of them are conscripted in the army by force or are left with no other choice except from joining the drug network that is sponsored by the state. There are various movements that have been trying to free the population of Burma from military. Some of these are; the Junta, the Karen National Union and the Moi Tai army though their efforts did not materialize because most of the current military officials are from the community with the majority that oppresses the minorities. So, it is really hard to make any advance but there is one very vibrant group that has mobilized the minorities to participate in a non-violent peaceful demonstration. Led by Buddhist monks, these people protested against the abuse of human rights and matched in groups of more than hundred thousand protestors in the streets. The Head of the State, General Shwe who is also the chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is greatly criticized by the United States and the European governments which have imposed various sanctions that are enforced thorough consumer boycotts. The United States of America and the European governments using their influence led other Western nations to stop cooperating with Burma. Though these governments have been relentless in enforcing bans against Burma, some western companies are still cooperating due to some loopholes in sanction application. Most of these are the oil companies. Such as the American oil company and the French oil company. Also Cherron and the Yadana natural gas pipeline that runs from Burma all the way to Thailand is so much in use. There are still Asian businesses that operate in Burma for example the Daewoo Company that invests in extracting resources. The United States government in collaboration with the European governments also imposed sanctions on Burma’s clothing as well western nations to stop sourcing from Burma and more particularly those shops that were either partially or wholly supported by the government. After those peaceful protests, a good number of people stopped getting their products from Burma and these were led by an individual like Levi Strauss who was very vibrant in keeping up with the fight against the government products for example from 1992,many American cloth and shoes companies stopped acquiring their properties from Burma. In 2003, the united government banned Burma’s imports as in accordance with the Burmese freedom and democracy Act that was amended in the year 2003 however, some people have attacked this United States strategy of forcing this government to step down as has led many people to suffer greatly. Despite these critics, the move was supported by the Burmese democratic movement and has supposed by the Burmese democratic movement and has vowed to keep encouraging the western world to impose harder and stricter sanctions against the military government (Smith M. 1991) Burma insurgency and the politics of ethnicity London and New Jersey. Zed books. The human watches in Burma have highlighted all the crimes against humanity but there is no judiciary to address the problem any such move faces strong opposition from the military government. There is no free communication that is allowed by the Burmese military government in fact no one is allowed to access the internet and the search engines such as Google, G mail, hotmail and yahoo so the Burmese citizens are less informed. What the government has done is that it does not allow these companies to operate in its territory and as such they are blocked. If people have to access materials from the internet, they must first of all be filtered and censored by the military government. They use US filtering soft wares such as the Fortinet to censor emails, web pages and pro-democratic pages. In Burma, child soldiers are forcefully conscripted. They are also forced to punish their fellow military friends by being giving death threats incase they do not as they bare told. Children are conscripted in army by force. These children are promised to be jailed if they do not accept to join the army. Since the military regime usurped power in 1962, after overthrowing sthe democratically elected government, this regime has been one of the worst violators of human rights in the whole universe. The climax reached after the (SLORC) State Law and Order Restoration Council was changed To State Peace And Development Council sometimes back in 1997, November. This party in 1988 seized the states powers established itself and forcefully removed the little pretence that was there that they were upholding the dignity of the citizens and took part in massacring the demonstrates who were demonstrating against the creation of this undemocratic regime. They were marching in the streets of Rangoon and Burmese towns and cities when the military forces descended on them killing thousands. According to the comment that was made by the amnesty international human rights violation and torture were like a Burmese institution and they even listed various forms of abuses that were perpetrated by this corrupt regime. This report was further affirmed by the United Nations and other human rights watchdog. These abuses that they listed were for example torture, murder, litany abuses, forced displacements of citizens, holding or arresting individuals and keeping them in detention houses without trials and various litany abuses. These were the activities that were characteristic of this military regime and citizens have suffered enormously under it. Children were also abused by the military that forcefully conscript them in the army and also the villagers were forced to work for the military. Children are reportedly said to have been raped and defiled by the troops. The military operations that are from time to time conducted in various villages and these led to deterioration of living standards for example this was witnessed in Karen state and Shan state in 2001. This has forced many to be to run away to the neighboring states such as Thailand while those who are unable to move out of the country were internally displaced. The internally displaced and lived in the camps for internally displaced received very harsh treatment by the ruling military regime than those who manage to seek refuge in the neighboring states. The military regime do not in any way follow the internationally agreed freedoms for example the civil and political rights though Burma is a signatory to various international peace accords. Everything that happens in this country must be censored including the exhibitions. There is completely no freedom of expression. Even publications are not spared as they are censored by the government infact it is only sports and romance magazines are not censored. The broadcasting media houses are state owned and the government has the monopoly over them. They only air information that is favorable to them for example you it is common to see junta’s generals making speeches and from these stations and instead they go for less biased information. The SLOPCS has been very determined in curtailing the freedom of speech. Though they try to censor the information given by the public media, there are international ones that give more accurate information and these are what people rely on. These are stations such as the British broadcasting corporation (BBC), the democratic voice of Burma, radio Free Asia and the Voice of America (VOA). Apart from these international radio stations, any other person who goes against this decree risked twenty years imprisonment as per the 1996 decree. These are some of the laws that are enforced by this government without any regard to the international law standards. Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from government controls and abject rural poverty. The military regime took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the Burmese Socialism, but those efforts have since stalled. Burma has been unable to achieve monetary or fiscal stability, resulting in an economy that suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances including a steep inflation rate and an official exchange rate that overvalues the Burmese kyat by more than 100 times the market rate. Burma is a nation that is rich in various natural resources for example the country has precious such as pearls and rubies. The country is also rich in natural gases. In 1962 its economy was performing well when compared to other economies of the developing nations but the socialist party which assumed power later changed the economic status of Burma for example it replaced the capitalism mode of economy with socialism that advocated for central planning as opposed to central planning. Due to this economic change it became one of the poorest developed nations of world. In addition, most overseas development assistance was cut after the junta suppressed the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently ignored the results of the 1990 election. A crisis in the private banking sector in early 2003 followed by economic moves against Burma by the United States, the European Union, and Japan including a US ban on imports from Burma and a Japanese freeze on new bilateral economic aid further weakened the Burmese economy. Burma is data poor, and official statistics are often dated and inaccurate. Published estimates of Burmas foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the black market and border trade often estimated to be one to two times the official economy. Better relations with foreign countries and relaxed controls at home are needed to promote foreign investment, exports, and tourism. In February 2003, a major banking crisis hit the countrys 20 private banks, shutting them down and disrupting the economy. In July and August 2003, the United States imposed a ban on all Burmese imports and a ban on provision of financial services, hampering Burmas ability to obtain foreign exchange. As of January 2004, the largest private banks remained moribund, leaving the private sector with little formal access to credit outside of government contracts. In Burma the rate of unemployment is very high and the prices of commodities are very high and life standards are very high. According to one businessman said that the situation in Burma was moving from bad to worse and that there was looming danger of social unrest, lectures, professors and pipeline construction workers are poorly paid. Due the constant mass uprising by the democratic movement against this regime, it was rendered bankrupt in 1988 in the onset of the 21st century, it was on the lowest income generating countries in the world but it has greatly reversed this situation because it dropped its economic isolationism. It has also welcomed the foreign investors in its economy so that it would strengthen its military bases. In response to its call, UNOCAL and TOTAL oil companies came to its rescue. In Burma, there are military controlled economic sectors such as Myanmar economic holdings limited and the Myanmar economic corporation that is, UMEH and MEC respectively. These two industries which are controlled by the Burmese military are the ones that dominate the economic sector of Burma. UMEH is geared towards military strengthening while MEC is geared towards shifting the defense cost from the public sector to the private ones but both corporations have a part to play in strengthening the military base of Burma. Though European Union has been imposing economic sanctions to Burma its sanctions are not as stricter as those of the United States. It has invested a lot in Burma and it doesn’t want to lose the much that it has invested. United States has been very keen in reinforcing the bans or sanctions that have been imposed on Burma. The US government particularly has imposed a ban on its investments in this country and has also placed a ban against Burmese exports. Since the bans were proposed, US is the only nation that has implemented them. In the past, the European Union has not been imposing strict sanctions but starting from last year it has increased economic sanctions on precious metals and on imports such as gemstone and timber but they still demand for fresh elections to be held and human rights to be respected. It is only thorough these ways that the country can witness a transition from military rule to a democratic one. It had eased its sanctions basing its reasoning on its above conditions. Japan has been very friendly to Burma. It has never failed to support this military regime though on a small scale. Infact it is one of the major donor in Burma but it is reconsidering its foreign policy on Burma especially after a Japanese journalist was killed. It said that it would cut the aid that Burma gets from it. The other reason for it to withhold its financial aid was in 2003 when San Suu Kyi was kept in detention by the Junta. They believed that was the only best move that would pressurize the military regime to address the democratic principles that have never been allowed to take root in this regime. In 2002,Japan supported Burma’s government with 17 million US dollars on top of that it gave Burma the technical support it needed Japan which was all this time shying away from enforcing sanctions on Burma as the US and UK were doing, it changed its policy after this saga. The British government pressurized the European Union to increase sanctions until san Suu Kyi was realized but it was assured that these sanctions would be eased if Suu Kyi was released. That nation that seems to support Burma or appears or appears or appears to be annually to Burma face violation by the US and UK government and this has occurred to china and North Korea. This is based on misconception that these close friends would be providing economic support to this government that has little regards for its citizens. The United States for example was very bitter because Burmese government suppressed democracy and imposed its will on people and that is why it has imposed sanctions. The heroic stature of Aung San Suu Kyi has greatly helped in making Myanmar to be recognized world wide. China has been blamed for helping this region for its support. The western world cannot sway the Juntas government for this to be effective, then the regional ASEAN countries such as India, Thailand and especially china must first be willing to transform this government. China has been asking Myanmar to quell violence and control protesters but it seems this is falling on deaf ears. China has been helping Burma in international affairs management for example it has been very vibrant in keeping the issue of Burma out of the United Nation’s agenda but the United States and the British governments have been on the other side. Due to many economic sanctions that have been imposed on this regime, it finds it even hard to provide aid to its people who living in poverty. The aid that Burmese gets is below par and is the lowest in the region especially when it compared with that of the local countries for example, an individual’s aid is counted as 2. 5 dollars per head while that of Laos’s stands at 63 US dollars. China has been accused of providing Junta with military aid thus limiting the chances of democracy being realized. It has continued to conduct business relations with. Burma but it is because of some factors that are understandable and some of these are that Burma is rich in useful natural gases that china is interested in again Burma provides China with an overland route to the Indian ocean so Chinese government would not do anything to destroy its relations with Burma. Though there have been calls for better treatment of protestors, they fall on deaf ears. The amnesty international has been pressurizing the United Nations to impose embargos and sanctions on China so that peace in Burma would be realized. This is based on understanding that the Burmese military government relies on china for most of its assistance so, if china was to cut its military aid then, the Burmese government would be unable to control the nation there by creating a platform of peace transition. If the new government would come in place, it would not find it hard to sustain itself even without getting any financial aid from other countries. There are a lot of minerals that aid from other countries. There are a lot of minerals that would help the government to finance its entire government projects. The new government should create confidence among its citizens so that they would participate in the economy thereby making the economy of this nation even stronger. This government should also extend its business relations with other nations as many of them do not have those minerals and definitely they would be so much interested in them. Work cited. Altsean-Burma: Alternative Asean Network on Burma campaigns, advocacy and capacity-building for human rights. 2008. Accessed on Wednesday, March, 2008 at http://www. altsean. org/ Andrew S. Burma’s Armed Forces: Power without Glory. Norwalk: East Bridge. 2002; 45-56 Burma net News. Accessed on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at www. burmanet. org BBC News. Analysis: Burmas economic Crisis. 15th March, 2002, 13:47 GMT Accessed at http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/business/1871326. stm Brookings. Quality, independence and impact. Retrieved on April 30, 2008 at www. brookings. edu Donald M. S. Burma-China Relations: Playing with Fire. Asian Survey, Vol. 37, No. 6, 1997; 533 International Crisis Group. Working To Reduce Crisis World Wide. Retrieved on April 30, 2008 at http://www. crisisgroup. org/home/index. cfm Myanmar. com. New Light of Myanmar. April 30, 2008 Accessed on April 30, 2008. At http://www. myanmar. com Philip S. Robertson: Sanctions Are Working in Burma. 2003. Online commentary at www. irrawaddy. org/com/2003/com31. html Accessed on August 2003. Smith M. Burma insurgency and the politics of ethnicity. London and New Jersey. 1991; 78

Challenges Faced by Muslim Women

Challenges Faced by Muslim Women Aizany Hussin Nayel Badareen Discovering Muslim Women Women play a significant role in the growth and the development of society around the world. Women perhaps are not physically or physiologically same as men, but they are much more responsible in delivering their roles for the society. However, in Islamic societies, women seem to be bound into certain roles and responsibilities. These righteous women are perplexed with the law and legal systems in their societies, which are supposed to be Islamic (al-Hibri, 37). These confusion and restrictions somehow heighten a mans status while degrading a womans position in the society. On the other hand, in the Quranic view of women, it states that both male and female were equal and they both have same responsibilities as well as benefits as a Muslim (al-Hibri, 46). Concisely, a Muslim women are more or less the same as the men in terms of rights in the Islamic societies. Considering these issues, this paper are to discuss about the challenges and obstacles faced by Muslim women in the west and the Muslim women in the Muslim world. Islam, like any other religion, had to deal with the challenges that weight the community in order to assimilate especially in the West. Not to mention about the women in the community, who always had issues within the Muslim world and also in the West. Before we go any further, it is important to understand that there are significant differences between Muslim women in the west and Muslim women in the Muslim world in terms of the obstacles and challenges they had to endure. In fact, being a Muslim women in the west is not easy as it looks. For instance, Muslim-American womens identities has been defiled after the event of 9/11 in the United States (Karasu, 2). Therefore, Muslim-American women had to encounter the stereotypes and discrimination despite of the issues in the Islamic community itself because of the event. Different from other Muslim women, they only had issues within the community rather than being stereotyped. Above all, we still going to discuss about the challenges a nd obstacles facing the Muslim women in the West and the Muslim World. One of the challenges faced by Muslim women in the Western world is the way they dress especially in wearing a Hijab (veil). Western people sees women wearing the Hijab differently as they are the minority and they are more noticeable (Ali, 2). It is easier for them to recognize these women. In addition, Wearing the Hijab acts as a clear and visual identity marker for Muslim women adhering to Islamic standards in the United States, therefore women without the Hijab are not overtly expected to carry out the same values (Karasu, 2). This illustration demonstrates that all Muslim women wearing a Hijab are the same. In fact, there are also Muslim women who does not wearing a Hijab which has the same value as a woman wearing a Hijab. There are reasons for them to not wearing a Hijab in the Western nation. Furthermore, they are not obligate to wear a Hijab in non-Muslim country (Karasu, 2). With all the stereotypes and discrimination towards the Islamic community, it makes it harder for th e Muslim women who wear a Hijab to socialize in the western community and not to mention that they are easy to identify. Often, its hard for them to decide whether to wear the Hijab for the Islamic standards or not to wear it to fit in the community without being stereotyped. After all, it is a personal decision of oneself according to their beliefs in God (Ali, 3). Furthermore, Muslim women also had issues with the Islamic community in the Western world. They had problems in showing that they are religious enough to be a Muslims whether it is outside group or inside group members. (Karasu, 2). The outside group refers to the Western community and the inside group refers to the Islamic community in the west. So basically the conflict is that these women want to fit in the Western community without being marginalized by the Islamic community. We can also say that they want to practice Islam without being discriminated by the western community. For instance, Muslim-American women who did not wear Hijab are worried about not being considered Muslim (Karasu, 3). In fact, she did that because she wants to be accepted into the western community. Therefore, it is hard for the Muslim women in the west to make choices in order to be a true Muslim. However, not all Muslim-American women judge each other (Kerasu, 3). This statement make sense because being a minority is a challenging enough and we shouldnt judge others as long as we have the same faith. Family law also one of the challenges which the Muslim women in the western world had to confront. According to Kecia Ali in her article, Rethinking Womens Issues in Muslim Communities, Muslim women in the United States can choose to follow a certain doctrines in their personal dealings (4), in their marriage. With this they eventually can set up a conditions or agreements in their marriage so they can meet expectations and claim a certain rights between them (Ali, 4). Kecia Ali states that this method are beneficial but it will alter the traditional imbalance of spousal rights in classical law (4). Means that this will change the general rights of men or women in a marriage. For instance, like Kecia Ali said, the wife cannot put a condition to restrict the husbands rights to reject her (4) because in general, the husband are superior in terms of status in a marriage. So, this is one of obstacles for the Muslim women in western world which they have to confront. Muslim women in the Muslim world however has different set of issues. Some of them are the same as Muslim women in the western world but, differ in application. One of the biggest challenge for Muslim women in a Muslim world is customs and traditions. There are large deceiving customs and traditions that relate to the issues of womens rights. For example, in Morocco, they forbid a father to force their virgin daughter into marriage (al-Hibri, 43) and also claim this tradition are from the Maliki (al-Hibri, 43). Nonetheless, if we examine closely into the Maliki interpretation, it will result in the inconsistency with the hadith which is a daughter need a permission from her father to get married (al-Hibri, 43). A father still has a power towards his daughter in terms of marriage. There are pros and cons on this issue but, women are the one who be a victim on this matter. This is the example of issue that perplexes Muslim women in the Muslim world. However, we can still retain and pra ctice our cultural belief but, all of the customs must be consistent with the basic precept of Islam and any traditions that oppose Islamic belief must be rejected (al-Hibri, 41). Another major challenges face by Muslim women in the Muslim world is their rights in a marriage. A general view in the Islamic law is that women status in a marriage is lower than men. This law are claim to be harsh and unfair to women (Ali, 3-4). Actually, what happened is that most of women didnt know their actual rights in their marriage. It is a common thing to see that man are far more superior in a marriage because obviously, man are physically stronger than woman and it is the husbands responsibilities to protect and take care for his family. It is accepted in all marriage even in non-Muslims that the husband has the power towards his wife and family. Because of this, many people thought that women has a far lower rights than men in a marriage and simply has to obey their husband. However, women actually has a guaranteed numerous rights by Islamic law (Ali, 4) and they have to learn how to claim their rights. Some suggestions made by Kecia Ali in her article about this matter. She said that, a wife can set a condition in her marriage contract so she can maintain her status as a woman (Ali, 4). Despite of this issue, what important the most in a marriage is respect to each other. Next challenge and obstacle that Muslim women in the Muslim world has to deal with is the sexual harassment. The global definition of sexual harassment is that its a form of violence resulting in assaulting a woman through a clear behavior that is sexual in nature from a person having authority over the other, who rejects this advances which leads to limit the freedom of women (Awel El Khayt, 3:10). The harassment can be done by visual, verbal and physical means. The conflict about this issue is that, not only sexily dressed women being targeted but women who dressed modestly also being harassed. This is a big issue for the Muslim women to confront with. Furthermore, most of these harassed women are not eager complain or make a report to the police about the harassment because they are afraid, embarrass and dont have any prove that they were being harassed (Al Jazeera, 12:14). If we didnt prevent this issue, the Muslim women status will be degrading even more within the community. Based on the challenges and obstacles facing Muslim women in the Western world and the Muslim world, we can conclude that being a Muslim women are indeed challenging. The challenges related to wearing a Hijab, with the community and family law is what Muslim women in the west had to confront. Not to forget about Muslim women in the Muslim world who meet obstacles related to culture and traditions, the rights in a marriage and the sexual harassment. There is nothing I can say about these issues but what I can do is respect towards all the Muslim women. For me, it doesnt matter if one belongs to another group or not because what matters is the beliefs. In fact, most Muslims generally do not categorize themselves, yet, they prefer to call themselves simply Muslims. Works Cited Seran Karasu, Muslim American Women in the United States: What is considered Muslim  Enough? Applied Psychology OPUS. NYU Steinhardt. Print. Kecia Ali, Rethinking Womens Issues in Muslim Communities. Taking Back Islam:   American Muslims Reclaim Their Faith. M. Wolfe and Beliefnet, eds, Esmaus, PA:  Rodale Press, 2002. Print. Azizah Y. al-Hibri, Muslim Womens Rights in the Global Village: Challenges and  Opportunities, 15 J.L Religion 37(2000). Print. Awel El-Khayt, Sexual Harassment in Egypt (English Subtitles) Awel El-Khayt Program,  e3lamakTV, Jun 18, 2013. Web.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gja05symHkk Al-Jazeera, Everywoman-Sexual Harassment in Egypt, Al-Jazeera English, Oct 19, 2007.   Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGFZNd2jfR8

Creon As Tragic Hero of Sophocles’ Antigone Essay -- essays papers

Creon As Tragic Hero of Sophocles’ Antigone Since the play’s inception, there has always existed a contention concerning the true hero of Sophocles’ Antigone. It is a widely held belief that Antigone must be the main character simply because she and the drama share name. This is, of course, a very logical assumption. Certainly Sophocles must have at least meant her to be viewed as the protagonist, else he would not have given her the play’s title. Analytically speaking, however, Creon does seem to more categorically fit the appellation of â€Å"Tragic Hero.† There is no doubt as to the nature of the work, that being tragedy. Along with this genre comes certain established prerequisites, and Creon is the only character that satisfactorily fits them all. There are certain qualities that a character must posses in order to qualify as a tragic hero. Ideally, the subject is to be a person of high rank, so that they may have much to lose. (Most frequently a monarch is used.) Granted, Antigone is a member of the royal bloodline. But we must not forget that she is the daughter of incest, hardly a glamorous position to start with. In Oedipus Rex, Antigone was indirectly disgraced, while Creon was socially elevated by inheriting kingship from Oedipus. Also, Creon’s being king comparatively trumps Antigone’s lesser status of orphaned princess. While this in itself objectively proves nothing, it does at a minimum make Creon the more likely choice of protagonist. Another essential component of a tragic hero is that of the tragic flaw, the one attribute that causes the inevitable downfall of the character. A case could be made for Antigone’s hamartia being obduracy. She is called stubbornly wild in the play by both Creon— â€Å"Th... ...d no wrong. Antigone needs no redemption because she has committed no great misdeed. Creon, however, comes to see his grave mistakes after he has fallen from grace. Creon repents, and is even brought to the verge of suicide. Like all tragic heroes, he can only realize his vice once everything has been taken away from him. So who was meant to be the lead character of Antigone? Antigone. So who is the lead character of Antigone? Creon. Somewhere along the line, Sophocles found a more complex story in the insecure king than in the defiant noblewoman. Using Aristotle’s outline of Greek tragedy (which ironically was primarily based on Sophocles), Creon is the only character who meets the criteria. Creon started from the highest position, suffered the greatest net losses, and possessed the only inarguable flaw. Titles aside, the literary content speaks for itself.

Haack On Fuzzy Logic Essay -- Haack Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Haack On Fuzzy Logic ABSTRACT: Much of the progress in modern logic beyond Aristotle is due to the invention of a precise and powerful formalism, and this is why Haack is reluctant to weaken it. What motivates her to regard deviant and fuzzy logic as extensions rather than rivals of classical logic is its demonstrated capacity for refinement and progress. Thus she sharply distinguishes between a logic dealing with fuzzy concepts (she accepts), and one which is itself fuzzy, i.e., where "true" and "false" cease to be precise concepts (she rejects). While it is often more convenient to retain as much as possible of classical logic because of its simplicity and familiarity, there is nothing in the hermeneutical view of logic to render it immune from revision. Yet to treat logic as a canon of interpretation conflicts with Haack's idea of what logic is and does. L.A. Zadeh who introduced the term "fuzzy logic" reserves it for the result of a second stage of fuzzification, motivated by the idea that "true" and "false" are themselves vague: a family of systems in which the indenumerably many values of truth values of the base logic are superseded by denumerably many fuzzy truth values, true, false, very true, fairly true, not very true, etc. For fuzzy logic, Zadeh tells us, such traditional concerns as approximation, proof procedures, etc. are "peripheral" because fuzzy logic is not just logic of fuzzy concepts, but is logic, which is itself fuzzy. (1) Susan Haack criticizes Zadeh on the grounds that fuzzy logic is not well motivated, since truth does not come in degrees. Inevitably some will protest that fuzzy logic is working, and so that her distaste for it can only be an expression of a Fregean prejudice. But she claims that i... ...ic Justification of a Conceptual Notation," 1882/translation by Bynum T. Ward in Gottlob Frege: Conceptual Notation and Related Articles, Oxford: Claredon Press 1982, p. 86. (6) F.S.C. Schiller, Formal Logic, A Scientific and Social Problem, London: Macmillan 1912, p. 8. (7) Haack, p. 233. (8) R. Carnap, Logical Foundations of Probability, Chicago: Chicago University Press 1950. (9) Haack, p. 233. (10) ibid. p. 234. (11) L.A. Zadeh and R.E. Bellman, "Local and Fuzzy Logics," in M. Dunn and G. Epstein, Eds, Modern Uses of Multiple-Value Logics, Dordrecht: Reidel 1977, pp. 106-107. (12) Haack, p. 236. (13) ibid. p. 237. (14) L.A. Zadeh, "A Fuzzy-Algorithm Approach to the Definition of Complex or Imprecise Concepts," International Journal of Man-Machine Studies 1976 vol.8 p.269n. (15) Haack, p.238. (16) ibid. p. 240. (17) ibid. p. 242.

Canova’s “Perseus with Head of Medusa” Essay

This piece, made to replicate the Greek classical style, stands tall above entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This sculpture, created by Antonio Canova in marble, was done in the early 19th century. Historically, the tale of Perseus and how he killed the beast-woman, Medusa, is from eons before, however, the artist chose to recreate this scene from Greek mythology. In addition, Canova uses many techniques that were used by Greek sculptors, he use of detailed anatomy, a combination of stoicism and portrayals of anguish, stiff posture, contrapposto and the draping of the fabric around Perseus’ arms. Perseus stands rigidly, looking at the head of Medusa. His expression is unchanged. One leg bends toward her head, but it does so in a rigid, uncomfortable manner. He holds his sword out on his right, and her head on his left. Fabric is draped unnaturally off his left arm and it falls to the floor behind him. He has the ideal body, with perfectly sculpted and toned muscles. Perseus is naked, save a pair of very decorative and ornate sandals. His body is in a curve, with his spine. He appears to be a warrior, and he is triumphant in his defeat of Medusa. A feeling of pride overwhelms one when they look at him, however, it is hard to relate to him, because he does not feel real. He is humanized, but does not appear natural or normal. Medusa, or rather her head, is held by its hair in Perseus’ left hand. He holds it out from him, in disgust. Her face is writhing in pain, as she has been decapitated. Her snake-hair is very representational, and doesn’t look like real snakes. Still, however, her face does not illustrate the true anguish or pain that she must have felt. It is not naturalistic. She actually appears to be somewhat idealized. This piece evokes feelings of strength, power and pride, however, I do not feel it evokes emotion or sympathy towards either character. Neither feels very â€Å"real† or natural, and thus it is difficult to relate to the sculpture.