Issue of gender inequality from a global perspective Essay

Issue of gender inequality from a global perspective - Essay Example Again, the focus of how the media covers the improvement of women will be aimed at presenting those 'general' variables that apply across all cultures, and education will be presented as one of the most important ways toward female emancipation. Finally, and in keeping with the economic focus, the solution driven approach will be examined from the US perspective over and against that of the rest of the world. Given that both health care and education are institutions that have had a very measurable positive impact, the question emerges as to whether these should be state or private? In terms of economics, the problems and the solutions will be examined with a particular central focus on fiscally driven themes. However much there is a lot of legislation and many institutions that function to challenge discrimination in the US, discrimination is nonetheless a problem. From the beginning's of US history, and to the present time, there has been a marked progress toward creating the insti tutions and legislation that promotes equality across social classes, race or visible minority barriers, barriers created by disabilities, and finally, the issue which will be the focus of the following analysis, namely, discrimination on the basis of gender. This said, progress toward gender inequality has been a long struggle. In the twentieth century, for example, the right to vote for women was established in 1919 or well after the right to vote was given to men. Further, the most significant acts or legislation for promoting equality, were really only passed in the 1960's. Among these, it has to be maintained that the Equal Pay or Equality Act rank as the most significant. While, the legislative or formal area of breaking down discrimination has taken some time, the effects of greater equality are arguably only a fairly recent phenomenon. For instance, in the US at the moment, in over two-thirds of all households women are in the workforce [Bennett and Ellison, 2010]. Further, women are outranking men in education at significant levels, and represent 71% of all valedictorians [Bennett and Ellison, 2010]. However, while there is progress by so many social indicators, they remain largely outsiders at the top of the work chain, so to speak. Moreover, they are still earning less than men for equivalent which means that there is a persisting wage gap in spite of a lot of the progress that has been noted in brief: â€Å"Women in the U.S. may be working more, and in greater numbers, but women are still just 3 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs, and make 77 cents on the dollar† [Bennett and Ellison, 2010]. It cannot be stressed enough that the wage gap for present purposes, has to be understood within some of the perimeters of economics. As a gap measurable or quantifiable, it follows that a tax revenue base is effected as just a single instance where impacts are made well beyond the immediate or surface layer. It cannot be said enough that both the wage gap and the impact of fewer women earning the top salaried jobs in the Fortune 500 boardrooms are economic at least as much as moral issues. In terms of the legal problems involved with systemic discrimination,

Film Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Film Studies - Essay Example The film Amistad provides an accurate depiction of slavery in the North prior to the 1865 time line (Jones 14). Slavery in the US was a manner of slave labor that existed as a permissible custom since the early colonial period. Pursuant to the American Revolution between the year 1775 and 1783, northern states abolished slavery. Congress subsequently abolished slavery in the Northwest Territory. Slavery in North gained momentum after 1800 with the advent of the cotton industry before expanding to the Southwest. This resulted in the establishment of a slave and Free State system. In spite of this, the US law illegalized the international export and import of slaves in the year 1807. By the mid 19th century, the South vigorously defended slavery, as well as its expansion into other territories. In the North, however, a minute number of abolitionists condemned slavery as sinful, while a large number of anti-slavery movements denounced slavery as unfavorable to the rights of free individ uals. States attempted and failed to reach a compromise, and in the year 1861, eleven states disentangled to establish the Confederate States of America. In order to defeat the Confederacy, in 1862, the Union made abolition of slavery the main agenda, which the Union attained in 1865 (Jones 29). During this period, slave owners freed all slaves but did not receive any compensation. Through the system, chattel slavery became the dominant system in which ownership of slaves entailed the ownership of an individual and all of his or her descendants. The chattel system encompassed a racial element as slaves were predominantly blacks of African descent, while the owners were largely whites. Freedom from slavery was only possible by running away or being discharged by the owner. The film, Amistad depicts this phenomenon as slaves aboard the vessel sought to run away from their owners. Amistad is a historical drama film based on the true events of the 1839 uprising in which newly captured A frican slaves took over the La Amistad ship off the Cuban coast under the leadership of Joseph Cinque (Jones 21). Directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1997, the film paints a picture of the slavery menace that engulfed North America in the 18th and early 19th century. The film follows the story of Cinque’s life through his recurrent flashbacks. Of paramount importance is Cinque’s capture in Africa and journey to the Caribbean Islands through the infamous Middle Passage slave vessel called Tecora. Cinque shows the horrors engulfed in the Middle Passage like the drowning of fifty persons to save rations (Jones 37). Cinque recounts that, after their arrival at the Caribbean Islands, his unlawful sale to the owners of La Amistad ensued. Through Cinque’s flashbacks, the film accurately depicts the occurrences of the slave trade and slavery, showing how trade in Africans occurred like in commodity such as copper and crops. Through Cinque’s experiences, the audience appreciates the events of the slave trade and slavery and understands the pushing force for the establishment of US antislavery laws. The film goes further to describe the legal battle that ensued after the recapture of the African slaves on the La Amistad by a US revenue cutter. The legal battle entailed the group of African slaves charged with murder and mutiny and who received