Essay #2 (Women Who Live Evil Lives by Martha Few and Autobiography of a Slave by Juan Francisco Manzano) In the book Women Who Live Evil Lives by Martha Few, Few makes the argument that despite the vast ethnic and gender discrimination that plagued Santiago de Guatemala during the time of the Spanish inquisition, women especially women of color were able to exercise more cultural authority then historians have previously acknowledged. Her analysis of the perspective of the “mujeres de mal vivir” or “the women who live evil lives” tells us the often overlooked story of women who to use Few’s words, “drew on ideas and practices of religion and the supernatural and reformulated them to assert their authority and power in the local community”(5). She goes on to say that “Women then used this authority and power to overtly challenge gender, racial and colonial hierarchies and intervene in conflicts and problems in daily life”(5). This new found perspective for examination allows us a better understanding of the hierarchical aspects of both the culture at large as well as the slave culture. Within both of the cultures, societal role was often determined by ethnicity as well as gender and Few points out that the perspective of historians has always been shaped by the assumption that this discrimination led to the utter oppression of those in marginalized groups.
The paper referred to prostitutes as sisters and Men were usually depicted as the wrongdoers. This was a concept unheard of in Ingraham’s society. Ingaham shed light on the fact that once a woman was violated and abandoned by a man, she became shunned by the community, lost all opportunities to be married to a “good man,” had few job prospects available to her, as well as had no legal recourse. The only job women could hold at the time was as sweat shop employees, where they would be paid extremely low wages, on which survival was difficult, especially if the women had to support her children. Ingraham felt this broken system had been pushing women onto the street and into prostitution.
Since Cordelia didn’t have the best home life prostitution was a way for her to maybe feel loved and that she was wanted. In the beginning she did it for pleasure and as she got older it was a way for her to make money. As the story goes on Cordelia never really got out of the effects of poverty. The first example that poverty was an underlining cause in Cordelia life was that prostitution was everywhere around her because she lived in a neighborhood where people were very poor and needed money. This influenced her greatly and got her started on a bad track in life.
The only way that many women could survive was to resort to prostitution with other inmates or prison guards or officials. This was proven to be mistake after prisons became overpopulated and corrupt. Toward the late 1700s most of the crimes that where committed by women where often punished by public humiliation. More serious crimes where still where enforced by corporal punishment. If you fast forward to today women are treated better while in the system but their crimes are
The noble women didn’t have life any easier, though they were considered lucky compared to the peasants. For these reasons, life was harsh in the middle especially for the women. Harsh punishments were given to all who did not follow the rules given out by the men of the society. The women of the medieval times were in danger the most as they were treated harshly by the society. The women had no choice but to be punished the same way as men were; brutally.
Along with “Civil Peace” and “Sugar Baby” the story “Girls at War” forms Achebe’s masterful trilogy of short stories that is set during and im¬mediately after the Nigerian Civil War (1967-70). Achebe uses the title “Girls At War” ironically to make emphasis on the vulnerability of women especially as victims in times of war and turmoil. This title does not mean physical fight between girls but rather the psychological, emotional as well as moral struggles among girls in times of difficulties as in the case between Gladys and her girlfriend Augusta. The girls compete among themselves for favours from men in order to survive. This is typical of our society today where girls are fond of dating men in authority and of wealth in order to gain security and comfort.
One can find more information about this stage of development of the American society from primary sources. Nannie Alderson (1942) describes the life of American women in the small towns of the West in her book A Bride Goes West. Some of the experts from the book point out to significant changes in the American people’s minds regarding the role that women played in society. In her book, Alderson also describes the reverse side of free relations and feminization. She writes, “Two-thirds of the women [engaged in prostitution] died young from sexually transmitted diseases, botched abortions, alcohol abuse, narcotics abuse, suicide, or murders.” The same shift in public mind regarding the family values is described in Galen’s Epitaph on a Tombstone.
She's a whore, and she goes to jail. It's ludicrous." This point is easy to understand, many women who aren’t actually prostitutes engage in similar behavior to that of sex trade workers without making a profit at all. However, when women do try to turn a profit for this behavior that isn’t illegal, they find themselves a target of law
But overwhelmingly, the crimes were petty and many believed police officers only arrested them to give the local news media a show. After all, it was fairly indecent for women to walk around city streets waving their bras. This was a boon for the local and national media outlets. Overwhelmingly though, the amount of crime caused by women because of social inequality is minimal and not a great source of consternation to local, state, and national law enforcement. Social inequality based on cultural practices is much more prevalent however.
Corruption among police is an issue that has been known for many years. In many parts of the United States as well as in other countries the citizens do not trust the police and are even scared of them. Mexico is a very well know country in which many officers are corrupt. In instances such as these, police officers are persuaded and even threatened to work with different drug cartels around different parts of Mexico (Pollock, 2010). This paper will discuss police corruption and misconduct in different areas of the world as well as the ethics involved.