Women in Early Twentieth Century Womens Literature

Women in Early Twentieth Century Womens Literature The Relationship between Women in Early Twentieth Century Womens Literature In twenty first century pop culture, relationships between women are portrayed as being tightly knit and balanced as displayed by characters from the book The Friday Night Knitting Club or the television show Sex and the City. While women in twenty first century media very often have a female antagonist, there are the female friends to whom she can turn to when in need of support. However, when comparing early twenty first century media to early twentieth century equivalents, there is a marked difference in the interaction between women. Literature written in the early twentieth century by women takes a significantly different look at relationships between women. When comparing and contrasting the relationships between women in Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and The Awakening by Kate Chopin as well as Sylvia Plaths The Bell Jar there lies the subtle indication that only in a utopian world can a healthy, non-antagonistic relationship between women exist. The very basic relationships or the ones that are initially formed are within the family unit, between parent and child. The women of Herland are essentially one large family unit, one in which motherhood is the primary goal to be achieved, and the relationship between mother and child, no matter the biological connection, is a healthy one. The mothers of Herland are entirely available for their children at every waking moment ready and willing to provide comfort, guidance, understanding, and a helping hand. In contrast, however, Esther Greenwoods relationship with her own mother in The Bell Jar hardly strikes the same chords as the women of Herland. During Esthers hospitalization instead of offering comfort and understanding Mrs. Greenwood assails her daughter with guilt, mentioning that Esther had used up almost all her money and that she should be appreciative of Mrs. Guineas financial aid otherwise she would be in a big state hospital (Plath 185). I hate her (Plath 203) Esther te lls her therapist Doctor Nolan when talking about Mrs. Greenwood and serves to be the culminating statement of their relationship. Whether or not the assertion of hate made by Esther is indeed sincere or stems from her mental state is unclear, however, by merely making such a profound statement and in the context in which it is made displays the troubled relationship between mother and daughter. While it is easy to draw conclusions from Herland and The Bell Jar in regard to the relationship between mother and daughter, in The Awakening it is slightly more difficult given the fact that there is little to draw upon in reference. The Awakenings protagonist, Edna Pontellier, lost her mother at a very early age and very little is mentioned in regard to any influence her mother may have had in her life. However, still within the familial relationship, Edna briefly mentions a sister, Janet, and it can be assumed based on Ednas refusal to attend her sisters wedding in chapter twenty three t hat the two are not close. The very basic unit of female companionship in The Bell Jar and The Awakening create a polar opposite to what is witnessed in Herland in the familial sense. The distinctions between female relationships become further removed between the societies of The Awakening and The Bell Jar from Herland as friendships are explored. In the all female nation of Herland, the women work and live together not only as one large extended family but also as friends, a relationship best reflected by the characters Ellador, Celis, and Alima. These three young women mark the quintessential twenty-first century friendship. While the audience does not witness the friendship between them directly, it is safe to assume that Ellador, Celis, and Alima find one another companionable enough to spend the amount of time they do around each other. Further evidence suggests that they trust one another enough to confide the darkest truths to each other as the narrator Van suggests when he notes that he got a pretty clear account of [Alimas rape by Terry] from Ellador (Gilman 132). In contrast, Edna in The Awakening confides a good part of her troubles to Madame Ratignoll e, she does not reveal so much (Chopin 25) of it as to completely expose herself. On a very superficial level, Edna and Madam Ratignolle might, by Victorian standards, be considered friends; however, the reader senses more antagonism and completion between them. Edna shows element of scorn toward Madam Ratignolle as she describes her as the mother-woman in chapter four sewing a babys garment designed for winter wear, when treacherous drafts came down chimneys and insidious currents of deadly cold found their way through key-holes (Chopin 11). The Bell Jars Esther Greenwood also shares the same type of superficial friendship with Doreen as Edna does with Madam Ratignolle. While Esther and Doreen spend time with one another, there lacks the intimate quality on which real, solid friendships, like Celis, Ellador, and Alima share, are built. It is further shown that Esther cares no more deeply for Doreen than she would any stranger she would meet with on the streets of New York City, whe n Esther decides to dump [a drunk Doreen] on the carpet and shut and lock [her] door and go back to bed (Plath 22). Ironically, all three novels feature environments in which the primary inhabitants are female, and yet still only Herland is capable of sustaining an ideal coexistence.

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting Reaction Paper Essay

The Narcotics Anonymous meeting which I attended was named 7 Days of NA which was located on 1212 North Wolfe Street at an organization called Dee’s Place. Just as the Alcoholic Anonymous meeting previously attended, the location appeared to be in a covert and quiet place to hold a support group. We entered through the rear entrance, which seemed to be staged that way to secure participants identity. As before at the last support group I attended, I searched around the room to see again, a 12 steps guide posted on the wall, a relatively thick NA ‘Basic Text’ textbook on the desk of the facilitator and this time there were more participants in attendance. There were approximately 20 woman and men in attendance, predominantly African Americans and two Caucasian women, however a majority of the attendees were women. All of which we either their due to being court ordered or there for the regular daily attendance. Before I was able to sit in my chair I was approached by a group of women, who appeared to be regular attendees, who greeted me with hugs and welcomed me to the meeting. After attending the AA support group, I felt as though I already knew what to expect and how to effectively receive the stories of how some of the individuals overcame substance abuse addiction. The meeting began with the facilitator reciting the Serenity Prayer, then she asked if anyone was new to the meeting. Again I was nervous and uncertain how to respond so I looked around but did not stand up because I did not want to be acknowledged. They then made announcements, where I then witnessed three people receive key chains for being 1 week clean. Though to some being one week clean may not pose much significance, however to the individual who sustained their sobriety for that period of time, it was proven that it was an enormous step for the individual. To me I believe the use of the key chain is a great aspect in motivating the individual to continue making progress towards their goals.  I observed that when each person who had the floor recounted their stories of addiction, ever yone appeared to have much admiration for the person sharing their story. I observed that before sharing their story they started with an introductory statement saying â€Å"Hi, my name is Janet, and I am an addict† and much like AA after each individual recounted their stories they thanked the group for having them while the grouped responded â€Å"Thanks for sharing†. This group, like AA appeared as though they were a unified family. Everyone listened to what each other had to say with no interruptions, no biases, and all appeared to be in support of one another. After listening to several stories of individuals suffering from addiction of various illicit substances to include mainly heroin, crack-cocaine and benzodiazepines, I was in awe as to how early some individuals began abusing drugs. Some of the participants started using drugs as young as 12 years old while some have been abusing drugs for as long as 20 years. However many participants identified as being clean for several years to include one woman who was clean for 15 + years, wh ich made me reflect on how strong these individuals must be to overcome such a powerful disease such as addiction. I noticed that though they have been clean for so long, they still dedicate themselves to attend NA meetings to assist in maintaining their sobriety. According to Gossop, Steward and Marsden (2007), it has been proven that attendance in 12 step self help groups including AA and NA meetings shows increased abstinence, improved psychological health outcomes and improved substance use outcomes. Expressing their stories of addiction to the group, for myself may appear to be seemingly hard and embarrassing but with a group of such empathetic and supportive members, recanting their stories came with ease. Once again I was asked if I would like to share my story, however this time I was more prepared and quickly and respectfully declined the opportunity to share a story with the group. Many participants engaged the group with stories of overcoming addiction or being sexually molested by family members as reasons behind their addiction. However all of their stories were compelling and empowering to the group of individuals who have seemed to endure some of the same sentiments as their fellow group mate. It appeared as if the individuals in the group even though that were court ordered appeared to be extremely engaged and very involved during the meetings. It seemed as though most who attended found peace and solice from  the group during the NA meetings. As it stated by Krentzman, Robinson, Moore, et.al (2010), client’s state that their top two reasons for attending NA meetings were to promote recovery/ sobriety and to find support acceptance and friendships. One thing that I learned from the NA group that just as in AA, family support deems to be an important function on the perseverance of an addict and that the participation and involvement of family is detrimental in the treatment process for the addicts. In several of our readings many of the passages discussed the effects of family systems support as it pertains to substance abusers chemical addiction. The passages described the family system as being a detrimental part of the treatment process as well as for the trea tment of the family as well. According to past studies, family involvement has aided clients in sustaining abstinence from drugs/alcohol and studies also show that those individuals with extensive family involvement in therapy reported higher numbers of clients being abstinent after six months as well as a much better family relationship (Crnkovic & Delcampo, 1998). After listening to all the stories of both feelings of defeat and success, the environment felt so warm and opened. Everyone made each other feel like no matter how long someone has been addicted or whether someone has fallen victim to relapse, they were still a part of the family and they were there to aid that individual in getting through their demise. Everyone motivated and supported each other to succeed. At the close of the meeting, everyone stood in a circle while everyone embraced and recited the Serenity prayer again. I believe that NA is an extremely important aspect of the treatment and intervention process of addiction, because it allows the individual to open up to those who have similar issues and who can emphathize and relate to what that person may be going through because they have or are in the same predicament. Longitudinal studies has proven that having an affiliation with NA has a greater likelihood of sustaining abstinence, improved social functioning and self efficiacy (Humphreys, Wings, McCarty , et al., 2004). As it relates to social work, advocating for self help groups such as Narcotics Anonymous are detrimental to the treatment process of addiction. These groups provide, advocacy, support and education to their clients which are all essential in supporting addicts in their treatment recovery. Working with these individuals requires empathy, understanding and comprehension of the disease  model of addiction, to be an advocate for not only clients facing addiction, but for the surrounding urban communities which are consumed with the drug abuse epidemic daily. References Crnkovic, A., & DelCampo, R.L. (1998). A systems approach to the treatment of chemical addiction. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, 20(1), 25-36. Gossop, M., Stewart, D., & Marsden, J. (2008). Attendance at Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, frequency of attendance and substance use outcomes after residential treatment for drug dependence: a 5†year follow†up study. Addiction, 103(1), 119-125. Humphreys, K., Wing, S., McCarty, D., Chappel, J., Gallant, L., Haberle, B., †¦ & Weiss, R. (2004). Self- help organizations for alcohol and drug problems: Toward evidence-based practice and policy. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 26(3), 151-158. Krentzman, A. R., Robinson, E. A., Moore, B. C., Kelly, J. F., Laudet, A. B., White, W. L., †¦ & Strobbe, S. (2011). How alcoholics anonymous (AA) and narcotics anonymous (NA) work: Cross- disciplinary perspectives. Alcoholism treatment quarterly, 29(1), 75-84.

Summarise Entitlement for Early Years Education

1. 1)There are different types of childcare options for children in the early years 0-5 these are: The first one is an organisation called Surestart this helps families from the birth of their child, providing help and support when the parents really need it the most. This organisation works with the parent’s right from when the child is born helping the child with educational needs.They provide full day care, short term care; health and family support if the family is having complications at home such as financial needs then Surestart will do their best to provide the family with links of people and organisations that can help them. They also provide parenting advice, this is essential for some new families that have never experienced parenting before. They also provide training and employment advice to fund the new families which is desperately needed especially when the family contains young parents.The next one is nursery schools; usually nursery schools provide this type of education for children between three and five years old. Most of the time these type of nurseries are based at the surestart centres but they can also often be linked to local primary schools. The next childcare option is pre schools and playgroups, most of the time playgroups are run by voluntary organisations for children three and four years old. This means that children can have 15 hours of their free education at these organisations.The next type of childcare provision is day nurseries these are consistently placed in workplaces as people going to work can place their child in that provision complete a day’s work and then take their child home. These can be run by both the business they are placed at or they can be voluntary, this might be free but sometimes the businesses can charge. A different type of childcare provision is one used at the carers home these are called childminders. These are often used after school is finished and people still need to place their c hildren in childcare.In childminders they are only allowed to look after six children under the age of eight but only three children are allowed at a time under the age of five. The last and most unlikely child care provision is a nanny these provide childcare in the parents’ home and are usually paid for by the parents and usually used over a long period of time. These are often used if the parents are on a ‘work trip’ or got a complete a set amount of work over a period of time.

Planned Parenthood - Argumentative Essay - 1253 Words

Argumentative Essay Planned Parenthood Millions of women across America will struggle to receive the medical attention they need if the federal government stops funding to Planned Parenthood. Every year 363 million dollars goes into the funding â€Å"pot† collectively at Planned Parenthood’s nationwide (Clark 5). This money is used predominantly by women; for six in ten women, Planned Parenthood acts as their main source of health care (Clark 4). Many individuals with low incomes depend on these clinics to maintain or help better their health. Recently, the federal government is trying to pass the Pence Amendment, which would eliminate funding to these institutions. The federal government needs to realize how important Planned Parenthood†¦show more content†¦In addition to taking away the availability of health provisions, this amendment will be taking away millions of jobs nationwide. Within each of these clinics are multiple employees ranging from customer service attendants to doctors. There are more than 880 health centers nationwide and several administrative offices across the country (Planned Parenthood 2). Are not we supposed to be focusing on making jobs available within our nation? Taking away countless jobs will damage this nation instead of benefit it. It will cause more suffering, which is what Planned Parenthood is trying to eliminate. The eliminating of funds to clinics will cause many to go without preventative care such as contraception. If people no longer have access to birth control, the population rate will continue to rise. When the government takes away funding, and therefore, birth control, unplanned births will happen and with that additional fees that the government will have to cough up. Sure, you save money up front when defunding Planned Parenthood but in the long run you are causing a bigger problem. As Groff states, â€Å"Family planning is a regular part of women’s health, every $1 spent on family planning saves $4. It is fiscal ly responsible† (1). With unwanted pregnancies, come unwanted children or children for whom we are not prepared for which go into foster care as well asShow MoreRelatedArgumentative Essay On Abortion1304 Words   |  6 PagesIn this argumentative essay I would like you, the reader to consider a public issue from my perspective and my belief system on the matter. I’ll be supporting my view on a common and overlooked procedure conducted by women and medical doctors within a walk in clinic and home. This procedure is known as an Abortion, also known as a voluntary abortion. The definition provided by Dictionary.com is  Ã¢â‚¬Å"the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy.† There have been manyRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesown conclusion, then its your responsibility to give them reasons they can appreciate. Lets examine that last remark. A conclusion backed up by one or more reasons in any order is called an argument, even when the reasoner is not being argumentative or disagreeable. The word â€Å"argument† is a technical term we will be using frequently in this course. Being logical means, among other things, that you should give an argument to support your conclusion if you expect other people to accept it