The Breakdown Of Society Essays - Parenting, Divorce, Marriage

The Breakdown Of Society Essays - Parenting, Divorce, Marriage The Breakdown of Society : Over the years, people have brought forward hundreds of proposals for the breakdown of society. One of the more popular, or perhaps notorious, depending on your point of view, has placed the blame on the rising predominance of single parent households in society. I personally have trouble believing that one problem can be held responsible for all of societys ills. However, I can definitely see how some people could feel so strongly about this. Coming from a two-parent family, I cannot speak from experience about life in a single parent household; but I do have friends and acquaintances that were brought up in single parent households. When I spent time with these people and their families, it became quite clear to me that their way of life, though not necessarily better or worse than mine, was certainly not the same. They were clearly missing certain aspects of life that I was accustomed to. For instance, while growing up, I always had the experience of two adults on which I could draw in order to form my own opinions, whereas the children who had grown up with only one parent were not afforded this luxury. I always felt bad for them because I had something that they didnt have. Whenever I brought it up, they became very defensive of the parent they lived with, and accused me of being shortsighted. Financially, single parent households seem to be at a definite disadvantage compared to households with both parents. There are many statistics showing how difficult it is to support a family on one income. Even the United States department of Health and Human Services has declared, It is no longer feasible in America to enjoy a middle class standard of living without the presence of two incomes (Burk, 1). This problem seems to be worsened by the unfair system of transfer payments that has been implemented by our government. It becomes a case of two families living on two incomes, rather than the traditional system of one family living on the same two incomes. Recent efforts to criminalize non-payment of child support are ludicrous. It gives boys the message that when they grow up and foolishly become fathers themselves, their lives will be destroyed by bitter wives, just like their fathers before them had their lives ruined. Girls, on the other hand, get the impression that they can grow up and become breeder mommies whose lives will be subsidized by government sanctioned child support. The net effect is bitter children with a warped sense of values. In addition to marring the children, this also poses the question of how a father would be able to pay child support from prison (Burk, 2). Clearly, this is a very obtuse point of view. To blame all of this problem solely on either the mothers or the fathers would be cruelly unfair. Obviously both parents should be held both financially and emotionally responsible for the raising of a child, even if the child only lives with one of these parents. Some fair system must be designed so that a child can be financially supported, without draining the assets of the non-custodial parent. I personally feel that a child would be able to get just as much love and emotional nourishment from one parent as a child would get from both. Though there may be more of a financial burden, I think that children of single parent families can live as full, happy, and successful a life as their two-parent counterparts. Surely, there must be thousands of children from single parent households who have made very successful lives for themselves despite their upbringings. Or, maybe their single parent upbringing actually contr! ibuted to their success. Perhaps some children thrive on the difficulties that they faced as children and are all the better for having gone through it. Statistically, however, far more social pathologies can be found among children from single parent households than can be found among children from two parent households. There is a broad spectrum of these problems, obviously rooted in single parenting: 63% of all youth suicides are committed by children from single parent households; 70% of all teenage pregnancies

Essay on VISUAL ANALYSIS PAPER

Essay on VISUAL ANALYSIS PAPER Essay on VISUAL ANALYSIS PAPER Essay on VISUAL ANALYSIS PAPERThe art has always played a significant role in fixing ideals and reality of certain historical period. The notions of beauty, in particular, are different in different periods of time, and it is rather interesting and educational to study artifacts of people who lived on earth before. The Woman from Willendorf is a catchy example of ancient art that provokes a mixed response.The Woman from Willendorf is a small prehistoric statuette made of oolitic limestone. It is about 4 inches high and more than 2 inches wide, yellowish by color with red tints of ochre. On the face of it, the image seems to be awkward or even outraging, but as the viewer learns the very sense of the artifact, the beauty of it begins to uncover itself. The figure is flaring because it portrays a naked obese woman, and the parts of her body are portrayed in detail. The female figure does not correspond to modern idea of beauty, but the function of the statuette was rather ritual than a esthetic. The shape of the figurine resembles a pear. Therefore, it seems rational to assume that the statuette is a portrayal of some goddess because such obese women used to be a symbol of fertility. Thus, the author tried his best to emphasize stumpy constitution of his model. The breasts are pendulous; the stomach is obese and circled with â€Å"ring-buoy†; the belly button is clearly defined; and the buttocks are outstanding. One more noticeable detail is that her arms are folded on her breast, which makes her look relaxed and calm. In fact, severe overweight of the woman was not posed as a defect. At the same time, no attention has been paid to her face. It is obvious that the parts associated with childbearing and fertility were crucial for the author. The vulva’s labia are treated in an outright manner, and the pubic area is even protruding too much.Although the Woman does not have eyes or mouth, the master has dedicated much time to carving the upper part of h er head. There are circular horizontal bands on it resembling plaited hair; on the other hand, it may be a headwear or something like that. The figure does not have feet; probably, they have been broken off or the author did not plan them at all. The latter assumption leads some researchers to the idea that the figure could be used in a vaginal way to favor easy conception, childbearing and childbirth.The statuette is friable and crumby, and despite the realistic representation of its almost repulsive appearance, it may seem that the figure is made of pastry and looks rather appetizing. Apart from that, it should be taken to account that at the time the statuette was made people did not have such plenty of foods as we have today. It is doubtful that overweight women were prevailing twenty thousand years ago when they lived in a harsh ice age environment, so the exclusive female corpulence is likely celebrated not to show a typical representative of ancient community. Instead, such a shape became an object of ritualization, and a puffy female body naturally turned into a symbol of fertility. After all, personalization of natural forces was generic for ancient people, and in this way they probably produced a visualization of their ultimate dreams concerning abundance and healthy procreation.

Confessionalism or Memoir The Poetry of Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Essay

Confessionalism or Memoir The Poetry of Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, and Billy Collins - Essay Example The routine is fine for the husband, but the wife feels there could be more to life. The wife thinks: Although she loves her husband, the wife wishes it could be different. The wife even wishes her husband would leave, become a poet, or even die to make her life different. The hardship of an American farmer’s wife is clear. The hard work, lack of appreciation, and expectation of marital duty is clearly making the wife exhausted. The American farmer’s wife is often isolated on acres and acres of land. This isolation breeds the ill will that the wife wished upon the husband. The daughter then goes on to compare her father to a Nazi. She can never please him. The daughter even wanted to kill her father. He died before she could, but she thought about it. The lack of communication due to different languages is a distinct American trait. This is another American trait of describing the hardship of American life on the coast of Nantucket. The necessity of fishing and working on the sea is contrasted by the risk and death caused. The Quakers believe everything is in God’s will. Thus the deaths caused by the sea were divinely ordained. The religion is also a big part of American life. Billy Collins uses the first person in many of his poems. Although the first person is not used in â€Å"Winter Syntax†, a lone man is described on a journey. The journey is described by freezing cold, the desert heat, and finally as â€Å"shivering, draped in sparkling frost, a smile will appear in the beard of icicles† (Collins). The lone man travels the American landscape to complete the journey which is one thought. The whole description of the journey is about having one thought. This poem, unlike the previous three, does not deal with death. All of these poems fall under the term confessionalism. The poems are deep thoughts that take the form of a confession. In â€Å"The