New Opportunities for Women in Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

New Opportunities for Women in Society - Essay Example Women have been awarded bachelors degrees for centuries, have the vote, and are not generally victimized in society. Women can now hold any position available to a man, take the same degree courses, and vote in the same elections as men, although there are still some inequalities present. This paper will look at the historical developments that have led to the status of women in society today, including the Seneca Falls convention and the provision of education for women. It will examine how these developments have led to new opportunities for women in the United States, so that now more women than ever have a career (Baker, 1984). It is these historical developments, amongst others, that have allowed women to move out of the domestic sphere and into the working world. 18th Century America and the Salem Witch Trials The situation for women in the late 17th and early 18th centuries is where the discussion of women in the United States will begin. Women at this time were expected to be confined to the domestic sphere and did not generally hold down jobs in the same way that men did. In some states, women did have the ability to vote but these rights were generally lost over the coming years, in some cases because married women did not legally have ownership of anything and therefore were not considered as individuals (Matthaei, 1982). They were expected to run the household, and did not have any educational qualifications (Evans, 1997). Families were also generally larger in this era than they are today, and women were expected to care for their children as part of their homely role. Further than this, childbirth was also far more dangerous and many women did not survive pregnancy because of the poor health provisions (Rosen, 1973). Women of the time were often taught to read for Bible reading purposes, but there was no desire to teach women how to write and there was no formal education for females (Matthaei, 1982). Women were also viewed as being under the cont rol of their father or their husband, or another male figure if these weren't applicable, often being traded for furthering the family status. These problems were further compounded by the fact that the highly Puritanical society in some areas saw females as being more prone to sin than men, casting a shadow over the role of women in society. It was this view that led to the events of the Salem Witch Trials, in which 13 women were hanged. It must be noted here that men were also victim of the accusations, but they were aimed primarily at women. This further highlights the status of women as inferior within the society, and provides a good starting point to show just how far women have moved from this original starting point and how much has been gained for women's rights. It is also interesting to note the role of women in the Revolutionary War. Women were not permitted to fight (although one, Deborah Samson, did fight by disguising herself as a man) but they were permitted to have roles as nurses and cooks, as well as other secondary roles (Segal, 1981). Women were not permitted into the army until much later, but it is interesting that they were allowed to participate in some activities, which would be unheard of in many other countries at the time. It was this Revolution that brought about the idea of Republican Motherhood, placing women in the role of correctly bringing up the children in order for society to

International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

International Business - Essay Example Many governments are developing national policies, which aims at attracting and facilitating foreign investment. Policy framework is an instrumental element to global investment and trade. However, governments are not adapting a blanket approach to this factor, but reinforcing regulatory policies on foreign trade with a view of accommodating industries policies that favor competitive business practices. The strategies developed at the national level should not only favor international investment, but also protect national business. Largely, the economic policies should focus on the individual needs. At the same time, present investment trends favor regional trade as opposed to the bilateral trade. Arguably, the bargain by regional blocks roots for common economic policies as opposed to the bilateral agreements that tend to favor individual countries. The developing countries are leading in foreign direct investment. This trend seems to suggest that new business openings are more in t he developing countries because of untapped business opportunities. It is apparent from the World Investment Report 2013 that global value chain has an impact on international and foreign direct investment. ... The developed and the developing countries tend to project varied investment trends in the global economy (World Economic Forum 2013). Specifically, countries such as Japan and United States have significant internal value chains and tend to rely less on the global value chains. China, Germany, and United Kingdom significantly depend on foreign trade. The foreign exports in these three countries contribute immense to their economy. A considerable population of these countries derive their income or wage from industries whose primary concerns is to manufacture goods or products for export. Elsewhere, the composition of exports and positions in global value chains depend on natural resources of various found in these countries. For instance, China is hub for manufacturing of nearly all the electronic products. Favoring factors influencing investment in this country is the cheap labor and availability of raw materials. Since the quantity manufactured supersedes the quantity demanded nat ionally, hence the quantity sent to the global market (Ma, Van Assche and Hong 2009 pp 655). Largely, favoring conditions for investment tend to give leeway for various investors to concentrate of investment for export purposes. Another factor that seems to explain the observable trend in the global market and the impact of global vale added chain is the concept of economic structure and export model (Gereffi, Humphrey and Sturgeon 2005 pp78). Players in the global trade seem inject varied input depending on favoring factors. For example, countries such as Singapore, China, and Netherlands derive significant amount of foreign benefit from the entreport trade. A review of Chinese economy for instance, shows that its economy derive considerable amount of foreign