Cuba Speech Essay

This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of loathsome missile sites is now in preparation on that impris unriv entirelyedd island. The purpose of these behinds target be none other than to provide a nu go past strike capability against the Western Hemisphere. Upon receiving the first preliminary hard information of this nature last Tuesday morning at 9 A.M., I enjoin that our surveillance be stepped up.And having now confirmed and blameless our evaluation of the evidence and our decision on a course of action, this Government feels obliged to report this tonic crisis to you in fullest detail. The grammatical caseistics of these new missile sites indicate two distinct types of inst wholeations. Several of them include medium range b allistic missiles, sure-footed of carrying a nuclear consignment for a distance o f more than 1,000 nautical miles. Each of these missiles, in short, is capable of impinging Washington, D. C., the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or both(prenominal) other city in the southeastern part of the United States, in Central America, or in the Caribbean area.Click photo for high resolutionAdditional sites not yet completed appear to be designed for intermediate range ballistic missiles capable of traveling more than twice as far and thus capable of striking most of the major cities in the Western Hemisphere, ranging as far north as Hudson Bay, Canada, and as far south as Lima, Peru. In addition, jet bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, are now being uncrated and assembled in Cuba, while the necessary air bases are being prepared. This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base by the presence of these spectacular, long-range, and clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction constitutes an explicit little terror to t he peace and earnest of all the Americas, in flagrant and dig defiance of the Rio Pact of 1947, the traditions of this multitude and hemisphere, the joint resolution of the 87th Congress, the Charter of the United Nations, and my receive public warnings to the Soviets on kinsfolk 4 and 13.This action also contradicts the recurrent assurances of Soviet spokesmen, twain publicly and privately delivered, that the arms buildup in Cuba would retain its original defensive character, and that the Soviet Union had no pick out or rely to situation strategic missiles. on the territory of any other course. The size of this d letstairstaking makes clear that it has been planned for some months.Yet, only last month, after I had made clear the distinction amidst any introduction of ground-to-ground missiles and the existence of defensive antiaircraft missiles, the Soviet Government publicly stated on September 11 that, and I quote, the armaments and military equipment sent to Cuba are designed exclusively for defensive purposes, that there is, and I quote the Soviet Government, there is no need for the Soviet Government to shift its weapons for a retaliatory blow to any other country, for instance Cuba, and that, and I quote their authorities, the Soviet Union has so strong rockets to carry these nuclear warheads that there is no need to search for sites for them beyond the boundaries of the Soviet Union. That direction was false.Only last Thursday, as evidence of this rapid offensive buildup was already in my hand, Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko told me in my office that he was instructed to make it clear once again, as he said his government had already done, that Soviet assistance to Cuba, and I quote, pursued solely the purpose of contributing to the defense capabilities of Cuba, that, and I quote him, training by Soviet surplusists of Cuban nationals in handling defensive armaments was by no means offensive, and if it were otherwise, Mr. Gromyko wen t on, the Soviet Government would never become involved in rendering such assistance. That statement also was false.Neither the United States of America nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small. We no longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nations security to constitute maximum peril. Nuclear weapons are so destructive and ballistic missiles are so swift, that any substantially increased casualty of their use or any sudden change in their deployment may well be regarded as a definite threat to peace. For many years, both the Soviet Union and the United States, recognizing this fact, let deployed strategic nuclear weapons with great care, never upsetting the precarious status quo which insured that these weapons would not be use in the absence of some vital challenge. Our own strategic missiles get down never been transferred to the territory of any other nation under a dress of secrecy and deception and our history unlike that of the Soviets since the end of World War II demonstrates that we present no desire to dominate or conquer any other nation or impose our system upon its good deal.Nevertheless, American citizens brook become adjusted to living daily on the bulls-eye of Soviet missiles find inside the U.S.S.R. or in submarines. In that sense, missiles in Cuba add to an already clear and present danger although it should be noted the nations of Latin America have never previously been subjected to a potential nuclear threat. But this secret, swift, extraordinary buildup of Communist missiles in an area well known to have a special and historical relationship to the United States and the nations of the Western Hemisphere, in violation of Soviet assurances, and in defiance of American and hemispheric policy this sudden, clandestine decision to station strategic weapons for the first time outs ide of Soviet soil is a deliberately provocative and unjustified change in the status quo which cannot be reliable by this country, if our courage and our commitments are ever to be trusted again by either friend or foe.The 1930s taught us a clear lesson aggressive conduct, if allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged, ultimately leads to war. This nation is opposed to war. We are also true to our word. Our unswerving objective, therefore, essential be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country, and to secure their withdrawal or elimination from the Western Hemisphere. Our policy has been one of patience and restraint, as befits a peaceful and powerful nation which leads a worldwide alliance. We have been determined not to be diverted from our central concerns by mere irritants and fanatics. But now further action is required, and it is under way and these actions may only be the beginning. We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the costs of worl dwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth but neither will we shrink from that risk at any time it must be faced.Acting, therefore, in the defense of our own security and of the entire Western Hemisphere, and under the authority entrusted to me by the Constitution as endorsed by the Resolution of the Congress, I have directed that the following initial steps be taken immediately First To halt this offensive buildup a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba from whatever nation or port will, if found to claim cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers. We are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948. Second I have directed the continued and increased close surveillance of Cuba and its mi litary buildup.The distant ministers of the OAS Organization of American States, in their communiqu of October 6, rejected secrecy on such matters in this hemisphere. Should these offensive military preparations continue, thus increasing the threat to the hemisphere, further action will be justified. I have directed the Armed Forces to prepare for any eventualities and I trust that in the interest of both the Cuban people and the Soviet technicians at the sites, the hazards to all come to of continuing this threat will be recognized. Third It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union. quarter As a necessary military precaution, I have reinforced our base at Guantanamo, evacuated directly the dependents of our personnel there, and ordered additional military units to be on a standb y alert basis.Fifth We are calling tonight for an immediate meeting of the Organization of Consultation under the Organization of American States, to contend this threat to hemispheric security and to invoke articles 6 and 8 of the Rio Treaty in support of all necessary action. The United Nations Charter allows for regional security arrangements, and the nations of this hemisphere decided long ago against the military presence of outside powers. Our other allies around the world have also been alerted. Sixth downstairs the Charter of the United Nations, we are asking tonight that an emergency meeting of the Security Council be convoked without delay to take action against this latest Soviet threat to world peace. Our resolution will call for the prompt dismantling and withdrawal of all offensive weapons in Cuba, under the supervision of U.N. observers, before the quarantine can be lifted.Seventh and finally I call upon Chairman Khrushchev to halt and eliminate this clandestine, r eckless, and provocative threat to world peace and to stable relations between our two nations. I call upon him further to abandon this course of world domination, and to join in an historic effort to end the perilous arms race and to transform the history of man. He has an opportunity now to move the world back from the abyss of destruction by returning to his governments own words that it had no need to station missiles outside its own territory, and withdrawing these weapons from Cuba by refraining from any action which will widen or deepen the present crisis, and past by participating in a search for peaceful and permanent solutions.This nation is prepared to present its case against the Soviet threat to peace, and our own proposals for a peaceful world, at any time and in any forum in the OAS, in the United Nations, or in any other meeting that could be useful without limiting our freedom of action. We have in the past made strenuous efforts to limit the spread of nuclear we apons. We have proposed the elimination of all arms and military bases in a fair and effective disarmament treaty. We are prepared to discuss new proposals for the removal of tensions on both sides, including the possibilities of a genuinely independent Cuba, free to determine its own destiny. We have no respect to war with the Soviet Union for we are a peaceful people who desire to live in peace with all other peoples.But it is difficult to settle or even discuss these problems in an atmosphere of intimidation. That is why this latest Soviet threat or any other threat which is made either independently or in response to our actions this week must and will be met with determination. Any hostile move anywhere in the world against the safety and freedom of peoples to whom we are committed, including in particular the brave people of West Berlin, will be met by whatever action is needed. Finally, I want to say a few words to the captive people of Cuba, to whom this actors line is b eing directly carried by special radio facilities. I speak to you as a friend, as one who knows of your deep attachment to your fatherland, as one who shares your aspirations for liberty and justice for all. And I have watched and the American people have watched with deep sorrow how your nationalist revolution was betrayed and how your fatherland fell under foreign domination.Now your leaders are no longer Cuban leaders inspired by Cuban ideals. They are puppets and agents of an international conspiracy which has turned Cuba against your friends and neighbors in the Americas, and turned it into the first Latin American country to become a target for nuclear war the first Latin American country to have these weapons on its soil. These new weapons are not in your interest. They contribute nothing to your peace and well-being. They can only undermine it. But this country has no wish to cause you to suffer or to impose any system upon you. We know that your lives and land are being u sed as pawns by those who deny your freedom. some(prenominal) times in the past, the Cuban people have risen to throw out tyrants who destroyed their liberty.And I have no doubt that most Cubans today look forward to the time when they will be truly free free from foreign domination, free to choose their own leaders, free to select their own system, free to own their own land, free to speak and write and worship without fear or degradation. And then shall Cuba be welcomed back to the society of free nations and to the associations of this hemisphere. My cranny citizens, let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can figure precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred.Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead months in which both our patience and our will will be tested, months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of a ll would be to do nothing. The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as a nation and our commitments around the world. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission. Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will be achieved.

Reward, Punishment, Prisoner’s Dilemma Essay

Reward and punishment are subcategories of operant conditioning. Rewards are meant to reinforce and gain behavior, piece punishments decrease behavior. For example, if you want to potty train your dog, you would reward the dog every time it goes outside to pee by giving them a dainty or petting them. On the other hand, if your dog pees indoors on the carpet, you would punish it by yelling or spanking them. Eventually, you will decrease the totality of reward little by little (by only feeding the dog treats every ten times the dog goes outside to pee), and the dog will be potty trained (conditioned).Johnny and Sam have been arrested by the police for robbing the bank and the police put them in separate jail cells. The officer makes an spell to each telling them they may choose to testify against their friend or remain silent. If one confesses and their friend remains silent, the person who confesses will be melt while their friend will be sentenced 10 years in prison. If both st ay silent, they will be sentenced 6 months in prison while if both confess, both will get five years in jail. The dilemma that the prisoners face is that whatever the other does, each is better off confessing indeed remaining silent. However, if both confess, the outcome is worse then if they both had remained silent.Pursuing for individual reward would logically lead to both prisoners betraying and getting sentenced a longstanding time in prison, but instead if the prisoners cooperated, they would both get less time in prison. Through experimenting with this in class, I came to a conclusion that factors much(prenominal) as gender affected the results. Males tended to be more ego-interested and were dominated with betrayal while women tended to lean towards staying silent and not risking betraying their friends.The marshmallow experiment was a study do in which a marshmallow was offered to each child for 15 minutes in a room, alone. The child was told that if they could resist eating the marshmallow for 15 minutes, they would be rewarded with another. Most children (two-thirds) were ineffectual to resist the temptation and ate the marshmallow before the 15 minutes was over, even when they knew theyd be treated with another one in just 15 more minutes. This experiment was related with future success the ability to wait longer correlated with success, since being able to wait showed greater self control, and self control is vital to future success.

Compare and contrast the treatment of dogs in ‘To Flush my Dog’ and the RSPCA leaflet

To Flush, My track written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the RSPCA leaflet Just 3 a month will armed service rescue more animals wish well Trio atomic number 18 two documents exploring the same topic treatment of drags. some(prenominal) documents depict how the owners treat their wienerwursts differently cover the write out and bond between dogs and humans. In To Flush, My hot dog, Elizabeth appraises her dog in a very elaborated manner, while RSPCA documents look at animals from a nonher perspective. Though the stalk is the same, the aim of indite is very different. Elizabeths wonder for her dog is contrasted with the maltreatment by some owners whose dogs argon subsequently rescued by RSPCA. Similarities, differences and impacts of such treatments will be discussed.Nevermore, to pat thee (Stanza 16, line 6) Elizabeth enjoyments archaic lyric poem like thee and thy to emphasize the importance of Flush to her. Their intimate relationship is shown through physical affection like patting and stroking. However, there is not any physical affection between Trio and its owner. Trio was physically abuse. It was squeezed and grabbed in the belly. The wound is so serious that the owner has been prosecuted and is banned from keeping animals for five years. Readers can be easily moved by such violent scenes.Elizabeth provides Flush with a cozy home. She takes good tuition of it, feeds it with sugared milk and gives it some pretty collars to wear. Similarly, the staff in RSPCA treated the terribly injured and physically ab apply dogs with devoted care around the clock, hoping that they would recover as soon as possible. This shows the provision of love and care by dog lovers beyond basic necessities such as food and shelter. However, Poppy and Trio are not as fortunate as Flush. As she swept on the drain pipe, saved it from certain death (Poppys story, line 10) elaborates the miserable fate of Poppy or other unfortunate dogs. Poppy is not even provi ded with a proper home. It was rescued by the owners neighbor when she swept along the drain pipe.In To Flush, My Dog, readers are bewildered to see such a beautiful and loving dog which understands its owner. Fawning, fondling, breathing fast (stanza 11, line 4) is an alliteration used to describe that Flush is a caring and genial dog. This creates a drumming effect to attract readers attention on how pleasing and absorbed Flush is. No man break thy purple cup (stanza 17, line 5) is a metaphor used to show how loyal Flush is to its owner. Purple is the colour of loyalty. No man is used to describe the subjective role of Flush.Nobody can replace his role. It alludes Flush is very loyal to its owner and it is the best companion to her. repeating of the word benediction, which means compassion, is used in the passage to emphasize that Elizabeth feels very blessed to take a shit such a loving friend. This is reinforced by Mock I thee, in wishing wale? which reiterates that Flush is a true blessing to her.This makes a big contrast to the treatment of Trio inform in the RSPCA leaflet, where its irresponsible owner smashed it against a cupboard with full force just because it do a mess in the bedroom. The kickoff paragraph in Trios Story successfully grasps readers interest on why Trios owner saw red.The reaction of the dogs in these two passages was overly very different. Flush is a caring and loyal dog. It sits beside the writer when she is sick. Rather than performing with other dogs, it stays with its owner. Flush is considerate and thoughtful that it comforts the owner when she cries. It trusts its owner. This alludes again the mutual love and affection between Flush and Elizabeth. On the contrary, Trio crawled away from its owner and hid under a cribbage after his owner smashed him against a cupboard. This suggests how ruthless the owner is and how sick their relation is.The purpose of writing these two documents is very different. To Flush, My Dog is written to show appreciation to dogs and it shows that Flush is a true blessing to her. However, the RSPCA leaflet is written to appeal for donation provided with two convincing and touching stories. This is done by the examiners candid attempt to convey the message. Dear Friend (first line in the letter) is what the tester addresses the possible donors andgeneral public. This successfully triggers emotions and thoughts from the readers since someone they dont know is directly addressed in a friendly manner.The grammatical constructions of the two poems are very different. To Flush, My Dog is a poem with rhyming words in the first two lines and 4th, 5th lines in every stanza. There are a total of 20 stanzas with six lines each. Examples of rhymes are plenty, like brown, breast, rest in the second stanza and height, delight, line and thine in the snuff it stanza. In the RSPCA leaflet, there are two touching stories of physically tortured dogs-Trio and Poppy and a letter from the inspector of RSPCA with an aim to appeal donation for helping the poor animals. The structure is modern English.Both documents use a jackpot of emotive and convincing language. In just one year we rescued 6982 abused and neglected animals. The use of figures and emotive languages neglected, abused successfully are deployed to arouse readers attention and sympathy. It also allows readers to realize the seriousness of the situation. Other words like struggle, neglected, abused, terribly injured are also used to emphasize the suffering of the dogs like Trio and Poppy, and thus appeal for help, support and donation for the RSPCA.In the poem To Flush, My Dog, Elizabeth describes her dog as pretty, supportive and benediction, to suggest the mutual love between Flush and Elizabeth. The first stanza Gentle fellow creature is echoed at the end of the poem when it proclaims Loving fellow creature showing the rapport towards her fellow.Both To Flush, My Dog and the RSPCA leaflet articu late the love and bond between human and dogs, which is shown by Elizabeth and inspector respectively. Elizabeths close relationship with Flush is contrasted by the ruthless ones of Trios and Poppys. The structure and the style of these two documents differs to a great extent but the use of language shows some similarities. The superlative similarities are the writers excellent ways of articulating their ideas and to influence the readers.

Poles Reading Fewer and Fewer Books Essay

Poles interpretation few and fewer books speculating about the causes Fewer and fewer Poles argon reading books nowadays. It is mostly visible in the libraries, book stories and even in the reading rooms. What are the causes of such phenomena? Let us look at three of them lack of time, the rise of technology and laziness. It seems that the master(prenominal) cause might be that Poles have no time for reading books. These days more(prenominal) and more people are overworked, and when they finally have their leisure time they pick to go to the cinema or to the party rather than read books.Going to the library and borrowing books also requires some time and whitethorn be problematic to many people. Another important cause is that technology plays an important role in many peoples lives. The new technology, which is developing day by day offers a roundabout of facilities, interesting methods of spending time. People are focused on gaining new abilities, moving with the times and books are often considered as something archaic and unnecessary. What may also contribute to such a phenomenon as reading fewer and fewer books by Poles is the fact that they are simply lazy.It seems that going to the library and borrowing a book demands too much effort for contemporary people. As far as teenagers are concerned, they prefer much easier things to do, for example staring at the television, playing video games or going to a pub. fetching everything into consideration, I can state that reading books by Poles as a way of spending their save time is becoming less popular. Nowadays people spend their time mainly on work and are generally not interested in books. It can be difficult to change this disconfirming attitude towards reading but it is certainly worth trying.

A Crucible analysis in terms of language and structure Essay

In times of clean-living and social chaos between any civilised or uncivilised society, when the threat of any argue force or alliance turns citizens and parliament alike into accusative fools when the voice itself is riddled with paranoia and irrational thinking, (most likely by the simple arrival of something unknown or new,) other comp integritynt parts of society come forth to brook through their art, an alternative item of view whether it be subtle or publicArthur Miller a leading Ameri place playwright of several decades with such acclaimed works as Death of a Salesman and The military man Who Had All the Luck to his name. Although Millers dramas took a familial setting, he earned a paper for dealing with the contemporary political and moral issues of the time. One dramatic device used in a piece studied by myself and piers was an allegory the use of characters or change surfacets to represent ideas or principals in a play, story or picture.At the height of the McCarth y era, when indeed social order and security were replaced by paranoia and an element of superstition, Millers allegoric play The Crucible conveyed the insanities and fears of the future by showing on stage a similar occurrence in the ult. By playing to the audiences of 1950s America, Miller brought to light the contract of 1700s Salem, how they coincide, and how if the witch hunt in the present day continued one of the biggest publicblunders of the past which would repeat itself.I use the term witch hunt because of the nature of accusations and their ability to root bulge the weeds of society fifty years ago- the communists.Senator Joe McCarthy takes his place in history as the main insert leading the anti-communist movement. As the threat of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) loomed over the west, and the iron curtain acted non only as a barrier of communications between the two parts, but as point of alienation east meets west, communists meet democrats, any cros sover between the two met its climax at panic, then the trials in the United States to which Miller was no stranger to.The playwright was brought to trial to assist the court in finding those who were witnessed to meeting and socialising with him they were deemed communist. In various quotes and accounts given from Miller himself, we can see how his personalised involvement in the communist raids appear in the play in the thoughts and feelings of the characters and the overall message that can interpreted from The Crucible I believe this to be the ethos of boundaries and limits of human beings- how far we can push ourselves before we find the things we would die to hold onto. Are we Abigail with limitless lack of morals persevered by the incomprehensible love for self, with her only boundary being her obsession with passion, embodied in a Mr John Proctor? Or atomic number 18 we those minor characters, who Miller had seen in court?I saw accepted the notion that scruples was no longer a private matter but now one of state administration. I saw men handing conscience to other men and thanking them for the opportunity of doing so. Minor that is in the sense of having one thing in common a common boundary which was non-existent it seems when it came to handing over names of guilty friends. If we are not, we are then John Proctors those who would die for sanctity and purity of ones name.Millers personal input into The Crucible is one that manifests itself in the character of John Proctor this character is ground on the playwrights boundaries and pride. The strength of Proctor comes from Millers beliefs which are mirrored in a quote taken from court- I am not protecting the Communists or the Communist Party. I am trying to protect my sense of self. I energise taken responsibility for everything I have ever done, but I cannot take responsibility for another human being. However, I believe that whatsuch(prenominal) was Millers astonishment that history was to b e repeated when the world had learnt and moved on from the savage displayed by the judges of these trials and the prosecutors of the Salem witch trials, that he took it upon himself to dig up and publicise the past as the events had so much to teach- It was as though the whole country had been born anew, without a memory even of certain elemental decencies which a year or two earlier no-one would have imagined could have been altered, allow alone forgotten. Astounded, I watched men pass me by without a nod whom I had known instead well for years I knew that the terror in these people was being knowingly planned and consciously engineered , and all they knew was terror.This quote also tells us of Millers suspicion of the US government that a fear with no real public threat (communism) had such a massive affect on the general population. I believe he thought that the will of the democratic government increased the hack of communism to keep America what is was and still is, a democ racy- no matter how many chapters of history whitethorn come back to haunt them.

Into the World: The Story of Tom Brennan and Ort Essay

Both the novel The drool of tomcat Brennan by J. C slay and the film Forrest Gump by Robert Zemeckis seeks the experiences various(a) characters switch that result in change and transition in realistic course. Both Burke and Zemeckis explore these experiences by using a variety of techniques, particularly flashbacks and m any(prenominal) forms of imagery that relate to their fears, the way people act up with crisis and friendship in a in which the sweetheart can relate to them do it more realistic.In The Story of turkey cock Brennan, Burke explores the experiences many characters dedicate that relate to fear and the various barriers in their lives that result in change and transition. Burke drills a metaphor when gobbler describes his room as a cave which strongly suggests the idea that as a result of his fear he changes by becoming isolated from everyone and finds it difficult to move into the world from ult experiences.Burke uses an accumulation of negative memories fr om Toms perspective the fear in Fins eyes, the empty st ar of Luke, the way Nicole looked worry she was sleeping to accentuate the negative experiences Tom has encountered and unsettle the viewer as rise as to extend the difficulty he has in his transition in which the viewer can relate to. She also uses a flashback that was triggered from Toms memories to explore his past experiences of negative events on the night of the accident as well as create empathy in the viewer towards Tom.Likewise, in Forest Gump we are depictn similar aspects of fear by the various experiences characters have had and how it results in the change and transition. In a similar sense to Burke, Zemekis uses a flashback to explore the negative experiences Jenny had as a child when she got harassed by her father. Like The Story of Tom Brennan, the flashback encourages a sense of empathy from the audience towards Jenny and explores her fear in a realistic way by allowing the viewer to connect their own fear s with Jennys and create tension in the audience.In the present, Zemekis uses an atom of familiarity when there are a series of still shots taken of Jenny and her old house which draws a remembrance between the two. The house triggers the horrors of Jennys childhood and suggests she finds it difficult to put away her past and move on due to her negative experiences as a child. The flashback is essential as it underlines the idea of fears do change and effecting transition in a realistic way.Burke also explores the ways various characters deal with hardships in their lives that result in change and transition of the individual in a realistic way. The subject of black is used to map the state of despair of the characters which is evident in the flashback when Tom says I tangle the darkness grow inside me. This effectively emphasises the negative experiences Tom had encountered in the past and shows how it contri entirelyed to his feelings of despair and a change in individual.Bu rke uses a metaphor in The St. Johns game was a hill, just another(prenominal) hill to climb in my journey then life would plateau for a while to show a positive change in Toms attitude and to competently emphasise how Tom has learned to deal with difficult events due to his previous hardships, which is something many young people can tangency to their own lives. Burke uses listing to explore Toms previous experiences when he says he taught me how to give up and pass, how to rise my eyebrow, how to ride a bike which develops a forgiving tone towards Daniel showing the change in Tom who previously felt despaired and distant from his brother due to his foolish and irresponsible act but now however developed and changed as a result of his positive response to his hardships. In a similar way, Zemeckis uses the same motif of black when there is a mid range shot to view the negative change in Jennys life when she is using illicit drugs with her friends.It effectively demonstrates how h er experiences have made her act this way. In contrast when Forrest has to deal with Jennys death, Zemekis uses a close up shot in a flashback on Forrest and his son to capture the close proximity of the two as well as to emphasise a positive change in Forrest. It also shows how Forrests blood with his son is built upon through this experience by learning to proceed with his transition as an individual.During The Story of Tom Brennan, Burke explores the various friendships certain characters have between individually other and how they result in change and transition for the individuals in a way that the viewer can relate to. Through the use of symbolism when Tom gives a series of photographs to Daniel, it allows Burke to explore the relationship they have between each other in the past as well as to allude to the strong friendship they erstwhile had. Despite Daniels reckless behaviour, Tom learns to move forward in life nd to transmit the past behind. When Matts mother says How are you Tom? Hows it going? Weve been thinking of you it develops an accessible tone towards Tom which encourages a sense of relief. This is significant as it shows how Toms friend and family are becoming closer with Tom in order to help him move forward despite any shame his family may have caused. The motif of hills is used to symbolise the difficulties each character goes through.This metaphor is shown when Brendan is go on with Tom to show the strong friendship they have developed as well as to symbolise how Brendan helps Tom put away his past in order to move on into the world. In a similar way, Zemeckis uses the metaphor of a tree when Forrest says Jenny taught me how to climb which is symbolic of the strong friendship they have developed from an experience and shows how Forrest is able to proceed with his transition in life due to the help of Jenny.In flashback, when Forrest is just a kid we are shown how Jenny encourages Forrest when Zemeckis uses as tracking shot to capt ure how Forrest tries to start away from the kids chasing him on bicycles. The use of a slow motion shot captures the symbolism of Forrests limb braces breaking which stresses how Forrest has learned how to break past the things that are stopping him from moving forward in life from his transition due to the encouragement of his great friend Jenny.This is significant as it competently demonstrates to the viewer how breaking past the things that are stopping you from moving into the world can prove to be beneficial. In conclusion, Burke effectively explores the experiences humans have and shows how thy result in some sort of change or transition through the use of a variety of techniques such as flashbacks and many forms of imagery in a realistic way. Likewise, Zemeckis explores the experiences various characters have to demonstrate how they change and proceed with transition in their lives in a way in which viewers can relate to it.

Women Empowerment in India

http//papers. ssrn. com/sol3/papers. cfm? abstract_id=1320071 WOMEN authorisation IN INDIA Purusottam Nayak and Bidisha Mahanta Email emailprotected co. in Web Address www. pnayak. webs. com/ Abstract The save paper is an attempt to psychoanalyze the spatial relation of wo custody take-so in India develop handst motley indicators uniform wo custodys abode close fashioning power, financial autonomy, freedom of movework forcet, insurance insurance- devising interest, acceptance of unequal evokeual practice role, exposure to media, admission charge to learning, experience of ho using up servant madness etc.tera based on entropy from different sources.The study reveals that women of India argon relatively disempowered and they enjoy approximately patheticer military capability than that of men in spite of many efforts under t e actually(prenominal)yn by g everywherenment. sexuality bed cover exists regarding access to statement and custom. dwelling d ecision making power and freedom of movement of women vary intimately with their while, precept and practice session status. It is found that acceptance of unequal gender norms by women be calm prevailing in the society. More than half of the women believe wife beat to be justify for peer little spring or the opposite.Fewer women cook final differentiate on how to spend their wages. Control over gold meshing increases with age, discipline and with place of residence. Womens exposure to media is withal less(prenominal) relative to men. countrified women are more addicted to domesticated violence than that of urban women. A large gender gap exists in policy-making liaison too. The study concludes by an observation that access to education and employment are only the enabling factors to potency, feat towards the goal, however, depends largely on the attitude of the people towards gender equality.Introduction In the last five decades, the concept of women empow erment has undergone a sea change from wel outlying(prenominal)e oriented approach to equity approach. It has been understood as the surgical operation by which the powerless gain greater apply over the circumstances of their lives. authorization grumpyly includes control over resources and ideology. According to Sen and Batliwala (2000) it leads to a growing intrinsic capabilitygreater self confidence, and an inner transformation of ones consciousness that enables one to overcome external barrier. This view primary(prenominal)ly emphasizes on two measurable aspects.Firstly, it is a power to chance upon desired goals but non a power over former(a)s. Secondly, idea of empowerment is more applicable to those who are powerless- whether they are potent or female, or classify of individuals, class or grade. 1 Though concept of empowerment is not specific to women, yet it is unique in that and it cuts crosswise entirely(prenominal) tokens of class and caste and a similar wi thin families and business firms (Malhotra et al, 2002). Women empowerment is also defined as a change in the context of a womens life, which enables her increase capacity for leading a fulfilling tender-hearted life.It gets reflected both in external qualities (viz. health, mobility, education and awareness, status in the family, familiarity in decision making, and also at the train of material security) and internal qualities (viz. self awareness and self confidence) charitable victimization in reciprocal ohm Asia (2000) as quoted by Mathew (2003). UNDP (1990) for the first time introduced the concept of pitying ontogenesis Index (HDI) that evolved initially as a broader beat of socio- frugal progress of a nation but it became popular as a whole step of average achievements in valet de chambre development for both the sexes.Contrary to the general belief that development is gender neutral, statistics attest that women lag behind men all over the world including India in al nearly all aspects of life. It is for this reason that the focus on military personnel development has been to highlight the gender dimension and continuing inequalities confronting women since 1995 (UNDP 1995). The Report celebrated that with start empowering women overall development of human existences is not possible. It further stressed that if development is not engendered, is endangered.To bring out the facts and figures relating to deprivation of women two indices, namely, Gender related Development Index (GDI) and Gender dominance Measure (GEM) were introduced. while GDI measures the achievements in the said(prenominal) dimensions and variables as the HDI, it also takes into account inequality in achievement mingled with women and men (Anand and Sen, 1995). The greater the gender disparity in human development, the put down is countrys GDI compared to its HDI. The GDI is the HDI adjusted d consumewardly for gender inequality.On the other hand, GEM indicates wh ether women are able to actively insert in economic and governmental life. Theoretically, the index can take values between zero and infinity, with a value of unity reflecting an dictatorial equality in the respective attainments of males and females. A value higher than unity would imply that females down reform attainments than males. 2 Construction of GDI As we know HDI is a composite index of third prefatory components of human development such as knowledge (Education Index), longevity (Health Index), and standard of living (Income Index) where I1 ?Education Index ? , I 2 ? Health Index ? are constructed by (1) & I 3 ? Income Index ? by (2) (1).. I j ? X ij ? Min( X ) Max( X i ) ? Min( X i ) pound ( X ij ) ? Log ? Min? X i Log ? Max? X i ? Log ? Min? X i (2) I 3 ? To construct GDI the following three steps are involved Step-I For apiece dimension of education and health, indices are constructed for males and females separately using the formula (1) and for income in dex by formula (2) Step-II For all(prenominal) dimension, Equally Distributed Index (EDI) is constructed using the formula (3) as follows ?Male population contend female universe Share ? (3) EDI ? ? ? Dimension Index for Male ? Dimension Index for Female ? ? ? ? ? 1 Step-III GDI is calculated by combining the three equally distributed indices in an un-weighted average using the formula (4) 1 (4).. GDI j ? ( EDI1 ? EDI 2 ? EDI 3 ) 3 Construction of GEM Gender empowerment Measure as we know focuses on womens opportunity rather than their capabilities.It captures gender inequality in three key areas such as (a) policy-making federation and decision making power as thrifty by womens and mens per pennyimeage shares of parliamentary seats (b) Economic meshing and decision making power as measured by two indicators (1) Women and mens percentage shares of congeal as legislators, senior officials and managers and (2) Women and mens percentage shares of professional and technical po sitions and (c) 3 Power over economic resources as measured by womens and mens estimated earned income.For each of these three dimensions, an Equally Distributed Equivalent fortune (EDEP) is calculated as a population weighted average according to the general formula (5) ? Female Popn. Share Male Popn. Share ? (5) EDEP ? ? ? ? Male Index ? ? Female Index ?1 The EDEP for political participation and economic participation are each divided by 50 to construct the corresponding indexed EDEP whereas for economic resources simple EDEP is taken into consideration. All these three indices are averaged to construct the GEM.Planning relegating (G. O. I. , 2002) used a trey index, namely, Gender Equality Index (GEI) in the subject field homosexual Development Report. The mannerology for construction of GEI is the homogeneous as that of HDI. The point of departure involves expressing the index as a semblance of attainment level for females to that of males. Secondly, in estimating the i ndex, the economic attainments for males and females have been captured by taking the respective worker-population ratio, un wish well the use of per-capita monthly expenditure as in the HDI.This has been done, primarily, to avoid taking recourse to apportioning consumption or income, between males and females at the firm or at an individual level, using criteria that could always be debated. Educational and health attainments have been captured using the same set of indicators as in the case of HDI. Besides these three indices, a play of other socioeconomic and political indicators are being widely used to measure women empowerment (G. O. I. , 2005-06). Review of belles-lettres A number of studies have been undertaken on women empowerment at the global level and in India.Some studies dealt on methodological issues and al around on empirical analysis. Moser (1993) focused on the interrelationship between gender and development, the reflection of gender policy and the implementa tion of gender planning and practices. The work of Shields (1995) provided an exploratory 4 framework to apprehend and develop the concept of empowerment both from a theoretical and practical perspective with a particular focus on womens perception of the meaning of empowerment in their lives. Anand and Sen (1995) tried to develop a measure of gender inequality.Pillarisetti and Gillivray (1998) mainly emphasized on the methodology of construction, composition and determinant of GEM. Bardhan and Klasen (1999) criticized GEM as an inadequate index of measuring women empowerment at the aggregate level. Malhotra et al (2002) in their paper on the watch for the World Bank highlighted methodological issues of measurement and analysis of women empowerment. Chattopadhyay and Duflo (2001) in their paper used a policy of political reservation for women adopted in India to study the impact of womens leadership on policy decision.They found that women were more likely to get into in policy m aking process if the leader of the crossroads community was happened to be women. Mahanta (2002) sought to explain the question of womens access to or deprivation of basic human rights as the right to health, education and work, intelligent rights, rights of working womens, besides issues like domestic violence, all the while keeping the peculiar socio-cultural situation of the North eastern United States in mind.A whole kithop organized in 2003 by the Institute of Social Sciences and South Asia Partnership, Canada addressed the issues like Proxy Women who after being select to Panchayat bodies were merely puppets in the hands of their husbands, relatives and other male Panchayat members and emphasized on readying programme for their capacity building. Assam Human Development Report (Govt. of Assam, 2003) threw some light on inequality in the achievement between men and women of Assam in different spheres of life.The line viewed that poverty, violence and lack of political pa rticipation were the main issues of concern for South Asian Women, and Assam was no exception. The study of Kishor and Gupta (2004) revealed that average women in India were disempowered relative to men, and in that location had been little change in her empowerment over time. Parashar (2004) examined how mothers empowerment in India is link up with electric razor nutrition and immunization and suggested women to be empowered simultaneously along some(prenominal) different dimensions if they and their children were to eudaemonia across the whole spectrum of their health and survival needs.Sridevi (2005) in her paper 5 provided a scientific method to measure empowerment. Study of Cote de Ivoire revealed that increased female share in folk income leads to increased spending on human development enhancing items (as quoted by Ranis and Stewart, 2005). Blumberg (2005) viewed that economic empowerment of women was the key to gender equality and well being of a nation. This would not only enhance womens capacity of decision making but also lead to reduction in corruption, armed conflict and violence against females in the long run.Karat (2005) in her works discussed the issues of violence against women, their survival, political participation and emancipation. Panda and Agarwal (2005) focused on the factor like womens situation status in the context of her risk of marital violence and opined that if development means expansion of human capabilities, then(prenominal) freedom from domestic violence should be an integral part of any exercise for evaluating developmental progress. Desai and Thakkar (2007) in their work discussed womens political participation, legal rights and education as tools for their empowerment.Deepa Narayan (2007) do an attempt to measure women empowerment for different countries and regions by using self assessed points on a ten steps outpouring of power and rights, where at the bottom of the ladder stood people who were completely powe rless and without rights and on the top stood those who had a lot of power and rights. Figueras (2008) in her work studied the effect of female political representation in State legislature on public goods, policy and expenditure in the context of India and opined that politicians gender and affectionate position matters for policy. Barkat (www. goodgovernance. rg) while discussing the present status of women in Bangladesh opined that although women as mothers are held in high respect at the individual level, there was an unclear understanding of empowerment of women as a process of awareness and capacity building leading to greater participation in decision making and control over her own life. Thus, from the above review of literature it is evident that quite a number of studies have already been undertaken on women empowerment and related issues. Entire gamut of literature has centered mainly some conceptual and measurement issues and the constraints to women empowerment.The pr esent study in this respect is 6 an attempt to highlight the status and trend of women empowerment in India by taking into consideration various dimensions of it. The Case of India As far as India is concerned, the principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Constitution and finds a place in the Preamble, unplumbed Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women but also empowers the States to adopt measures of cocksure discrimination in favour of women. Historically the status of Indian women has been influenced by their past.There is evidence to show that women in the Vedic age got most honored positions in the society (Seth, 2004). They had the right to education. They were free to remain unmated and devote their whole life to the pursuit of knowledge and self realization. The marry women performed all the works and sacrifices equally with their husbands. They were educated in various disciplines of knowledge such a s astrology, geography, veterinary sciences and even in martial(a) arts. There were instances of women taking part in wars and fights. They were highly respected within and outside home.Gradually due to several(prenominal) socio-political changes, especially during the middle age, the glorious status of women declined. The urge for equality on the part of Indian women started acquire momentum during the colonial times. Noted social reformers and national leaders like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Annie Besant, Sorojini Naidu and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar made selfless efforts to create awareness among women astir(predicate) their status and were quite successful in removing various social evils such as sati pratha, child conjugal union, and polygamy. They also encouraged widow remarriage and women education.The reformers were successful in creating a base for development of women and theirs strive for equality. In course of time Indian society got transformed from traditional to a modern one. Consequently women became more liberal and aware of various ways of life. Since they are quite sure-footed of breaking the traditional barriers imposed by the society are now challenging the patriarchal schema though in a limited scale. Since independence, the Government of India has been making various efforts to empower women. In various plan periods, the issues regarding women empowerment has been given priority.From fifth five year plan onwards there has 7 been a remarkable shift from welfare oriented approach of women empowerment to development approach. The National Commission for women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the rights of women. The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution of India provided opportunity to women to take part in active politics. The year 2001 was declared as the year of womens empowerment for enhancing their status. To achieve the goal, the government introduced different programmes, identified strategies, established different institutions and made various legal provisions.In spite of all these efforts and actions, women in India still lag behind the men. According to 2001 Census, female literacy rate in the country was 54. 2 per cent as against 75. 9 per cent in case of males (G. O. I. , 2001). The situation was much worse in the rural and remote areas of the country. In spite of women going for higher education they face exclusion from their male counterparts and are alienated in various positions in governance. The incidence like early marriage, female feticides and infanticide, dowry, bride burning, rape, molestation, snatch etc are very frequent.In recent times, the record of crime against women indicates an increasing trend. The position of women in the country in the social, economic and political fields is by no means equal to that of their male counterparts. Besides low female literacy, there are many other factors that have contributed to gender biasness. Girl child is still given les s priority in certain parts of India. Past studies indicate that it is the peoples perception in general that the birth of a girl child is less desirable and evokes less happiness than that of a boy child (Seth, 2005). It is ingrained in the Indian psyche, cutting across religion, caste and region.Since her birth she is victimized in all spheres including education, employment, nutrition and social status. The World Economic Forum (2005), in its first gender gap study placed India at 53rd position among 58 nations, which shows a crucial gap in male and female achievements. In the same study, the out dictate of India in terms of political empowerment was 24th at both primary and grassroots level. The National Population constitution 2000 specifically identified the low status of women in India as an important barrier to the achievement of goals towards maternal and child welfare (G. O. I. 2000). 8 Indicators F Life Expectancy Adult Literacy Gross Enrolment Seats Share in Parliamen t Share of Professional & Technical Persons Gender related Development Index Gender Empowerment Measure 1990 M NA 57 NA NA NA F 1995 M F 2000 M F 2005 M 2007-08 F M NA 29 NA NA NA 60. 4 60. 3 63. 3 62. 5 65. 0 61. 8 65. 3 62. 3 35. 2 63. 7 43. 5 67. 1 47. 8 73. 4 47. 8 73. 4 45. 8 63. 8 46. 0 61. 0 56. 0 64. 0 60. 0 68. 0 7. 3 92. 7 8. 9 91. 1 9. 3 NA 90. 7 NA 9. 8 NA 90. 2 NA 20. 5 79. 5 20. 5 79. 5 NA NA 0. 401 (R-99) 0. 226 (R- 101) ascendant UNDP 0. 545 (R-108) NA 0. 586 (R-98) NA 0. 600 (R-113) NAUNDP in its various Human Development Reports since 1990 till 2007-08 have placed India at a very low level of development regarding the position of women in terms of various indicators such as adult literacy, gross enrolment, share of seats in parliament and the professional and technical positions held by them (as shown in the box above). Though data are not provided for GEM indicator after 1995, GDI values reveals that women are consistently lagging behind. India has been placed in the 113th rank with a GDI value of 0. 600 as against a rank of 89 with GDI value of 0. 753 in case of Sri Lanka (UNDP, 2007-08).The rank of India has also gone down from 99 in 1995 to 113 in 2007-08 and has been fluctuating from year to year National Human Development Report (G. O. I, 2002) brought out information on indices on GDI and GEM. GDI showed marginal improvement during the eighties. GEI increased from 62 per cent in the early eighties to 67. 6 per cent in the early nineties. This implies that on an average the attainments of women on human development indicators were only two-thirds of those of men. At the State level, gender equality was the highest for Kerala followed by Manipur, Meghalaya, 9 Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland in the eighties.Goa and the Union Territories, except for Delhi, had gender equality higher than the national level. In the nineties, Himachal Pradesh had the highest equality, whereas Bihar was at the bottom and witnessed a decline in absolute terms o ver the earlier period. In general, women were break up off in the Southern India than in the Indo-Gangetic plains comprising mainly the States of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. States like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in the south and Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir in the north made considerable progress in improving the status of women vis-a-vis men on the human development indicators.States that did well in improving their female literacy levels are also the ones that substantially change their gender equality. On the whole, gender disparities across the States declined over the period. NFHS-III (G. O. I. , 2005-06) collected information on large number of indicators of women empowerment such as relative earnings of wives over their husbands, control over the use of these earnings, participation in household decision making, freedom of movement, gender role attitude, freedom from domestic violence, etc.Data on some of these indicators of women empowerment are examined and findings are presented in the following paragraphs. Decision Making Power Decision making power of women in households is one of the important indicators of women empowerment. It is found that only 37 per cent of currently married women move into in making decisions either but or jointly with their husband on their health care, large household leverages, purchases for daily household needs and on visiting their family members and relatives ( remit 1).Forty three per cent participate in some but not all decisions and 21 per cent do not participate in any of the decision. As high as in 32. 4 per cent cases the decision regarding the purchase of daily household needs is taken mainly by the respondents whereas the decisions like visit to her relatives are in most cases taken alone by husbands or jointly. Decision like major household purchases is taken jointly in most of the cases. A very less number of women alone take this type of decision. virtually 27 per cent of ingrained respondents take their own health care decision alone. 10Womens participation rate on household decision making not only varies from rural to urban areas but also gets affected by their play down characteristics like age, educational status, husbands education, employment status etc ( tabularise 2). urban married women are observed to be more empowered than that of the rural women. Empowerment of women increases with the increase in their age. Women who are more educated and industrious are relatively more empowered. more or less 46 per cent of total women in the age conclave 40-49 years participate in all the tetrad decisions compared to 15 per cent belonging to the age conference 15-19 years.With higher espousal educational status womens participation in decision making increases. About 21 per cent of women with no spousal education do not take part in any decision making at all as compared to 17 per cent of women with spousal education of 12 years or more. business also provides an advanta ge to women regarding their ability to decision making power. Employed women are more likely to participate in all decision makings. In urban setting and in atomic type of family, women have more autonomy in household decision making. Freedom of Movement Free mobility of women is another indicator of women empowerment.The data reveals that about half of women are allowed to go to the foodstuff or to the health facility alone (Table 3). Only 38 per cent are allowed to travel alone to places outside the village or community. man not all women are allowed to go to these places alone, only a minority are not allowed to go at all. Compared to urban women, rural women have less mobility. Womens mobility is also affected by their background characteristics like age, education, marital status, type of family etc. Table 4 reveals that freedom of movement increases with age though it does not vary linearly with education.Seventy per cent of the women of the highest education company are a llowed to go alone to the merchandise as against 49 per cent of women with no education. Employment is associated with greater freedom of movement. Only one in five never married women go to all of the three places compared with about one in three currently married women and two in three formerly married women. Nuclear residence and urban setting are also associated with greater freedom of movement. 11 Women of urban areas are freer than that of the rural women. also as high as 37 per cent of women of nucleus families are freer regarding their movement as compared to 29. per cent in case of the non-nucleus families. Acceptance of Unequal Gender Role Womens protest against unequal gender role in terms of their attitude towards preferences for son, wife beating etc. is another indicator of women empowerment. The data presented in Table 5 reveal that 54 per cent of women in India believe wife beating to be justified for any of the specific reasons. Similarly 35 per cent women believe it to be justified if they neglect their house or children. However, agreement with wife beating does not vary much by womens age and household structure, but decline sharply with education.It is to be noted that even among the most educated women, at least one in three agrees with one or more justifications for wife beating. In rural areas women are generally more agreeable to wife beating than in urban areas. Agreement is lower among never married women as compared to ever married women. Access to Education Womens access to education which is one of the important sources of empowerment can be measured by gender gap in literacy rates and enrolment in different stages of school education. The literacy gap between men and women was as high as 21. 7 per cent in 2001 (Table 6).Though the gap was fluctuating from 18. 3 per cent in 1951 to 23. 9 per cent in 1971, it has been showing a marginal declining trend since 1981. Table 7 shows enrolment by stages from 1951 to 2001-02. It is clea r that participation of girls at all stages of education has been steadily increasing over time. However, the overall performance of participation has not been satisfactory as it had been below 50 per cent at all stages of education Access to Employment Table 8 shows the employment and cash earnings of currently married men and women. Data reveal that only 43 per cent of women in the age group of 15-49 2 years are employed as against 99 per cent of men in the same age group. It also reveals that gender inequality exist in the arena of employment. As compared to 51% women employed for cash only, the corresponding figure for that of the males is as high as 72. 5%. Similarly a very few males are employed for kind only (3. 4%) as compared to females engaged for kind (11. 6%). Twenty four per cent women are not paid at all for their work whereas this proportion is as low as 5% for men. For women earning cash is not likely to be a fitting condition for financial empowerment.Employment an d cash earnings are more likely to empower women if women make decisions about their own earnings alone or jointly with their husband rather than their husband alone and if these earnings are perceived by both wives and husbands to be significant relative to those of the husbands. Table 9 in this connection shows the extent of womens control over earnings on the basis of background characteristics like age, education, place of residence, household structure etc. It is seen that womens control over cash earnings increases with age. In the age group 15 19 years only 17. per cent women alone take decision about the use of their cash earnings as compared to 28. 3 per cent in the age group 40-49 years. Similarly husband mainly takes such decision in case of 20 per cent women in the age group 15-19 years in comparison to 12. 7 per cent in the age group 40-49 years. Influence of other person in making such decision decreases with the increase in age of respondents. It varies from 18. 6 per cent in the age group 15-19 years to as low as 0. 4 per cent in 40-49 age groups. Place of residence also affects womens control over their cash earnings.Generally women in urban areas have more control over their earnings than that in rural areas. About thirty three per cent take decision alone about the use of their own earnings in urban areas as compared to 21 per cent in rural areas Education is one of the important factors that affects greatly in womens control over earnings. About 23 per cent women with no education have more control over their earnings whereas it is 28. 6 per cent in case of women end 12 or more years of education. Other persons influence on the decision about the use of earnings reduces significantly with education. It is as high as 8. 3 percent in the case of 3 respondent with no education as compared to 4. 9 per cent respondent with secondary level education. Household structure has an important role to play in affecting womens financial empowerment. In non nuclear family structure, influence of others is more in making such decision. In case of 6. 4 per cent women in non nuclear family, the decision about the use of their own cash earnings are taken by others as compared to 0. 6 per cent women in nuclear family. Exposure to Media Table 10 which presents data on womens exposure to media reveals that percentage of women not exposed to media is more than double that of men.About 71 per cent of women are exposed to media as compared to 88 per cent in case of men. Twenty nine per cent of women do not have access to media regularly. Since it is an important source of empowerment, greater proportion of women without having access to media reflects the relatively inopportune position of women in relation to men with regards to empowerment. Domestic Violence Table 11 shows percentage of women who have experienced different forms and combinations of visible and sexual violence according to selected background characteristics.It is observe d that extent of violence is not lessened by age. In the age group of 15-19 years, 22. 5 per cent women experienced tangible or sexual violence in India as compared to 39 per cent in the age group 40-49 years. Both types of violence are higher for ever married women than for never married women. Almost 40 per cent ever married women experienced physical or sexual violence as against 16. 9 per cent never married women. Extent of domestic violence is higher in rural areas as compared to urban areas.About thirty eight per cent women in rural area faced either physical or sexual violence as compared to about 29 percent women in urban areas. semipolitical Participation Womens political participation is one of the important issues in the context of empowerment. In stately analysis it means activities related to electoral politics 14 like choose, campaigning, holding party moorage and contesting pick. But in broader sense it encompasses all voluntary actions intended to influence the making of public policies, the giving medication of public affairs and the choice of political leaders at all levels of government.Political interventions by women of India today track down from movement for peace and good governance to protest against dowry, rape, domestic violence, food adulteration, price rise etc. Desai et at, 2007. However in this section we discuss participation of women in formal politics by analyzing the indicators like women voters and women elected members in the first twelve general picks in India. The following Table 2. 12 shows the voting percentage of men and women in the first twelve elections of independent India. In the very first election the percentage of women voter was significantly low (37%).Many women were left out as their names were not justly registered. The gender gap in voting though has been narrowing gradually significant gap between male and female voters still exists. Elected Women Members Many factors are responsible and decisiv e in the election of women candidates such as literacy, financial position, liberal family background, support of other members of the family, strong personality etc. Since most of the women lack access to these, few women get tickets and even fewer get elected from this handful of women candidates. Table 2. 13 shows the elected women Members in Lok Sabha.From the table it is clear that percentage of women members to the total members has been consistently less than 10 per cent in each Lok Sabha starting from 1st to 12th one. This shows poor participation of women in political field. Thus it can be concluded with information provided by NFHS III and others that women of India are disempowered relative to men in respect of decision making power, freedom of movement, education, employment, exposure to media, political participation etc and face domestic violence to a considerable degree and occupy the rank status both at home and in the society even in the 21 st century. 5 Constrain ts to Women Empowerment There are several constraints that check the process of women empowerment in India. Social norms and family structures in developing countries like India, manifests and perpetuate the subordinate status of women. One of such norms is the continuing preference for a son over the birth of a girl child, which is present in almost all societies and communities. The hold of this preference has strengthened rather than slashed and its most glaring evidence is in the falling sex ratio (Seth, 2004).The society is more aslope in favor of male child in respect of education, nutrition and other opportunities. The root campaign of this type of attitude lies in the belief that male child acquires the clan in India with an exception in Meghalaya. Women often internalize the traditional concept of their role as natural, thus inflicting an injustice upon them. Poverty is the man of life for the vast majority of women in India. It is another factor that poses challenge i n realizing womens empowerment.In a poor family, girls are the main victims they are malnourished and are denied the opportunity of better education and other facilities. But if they are financially independent or they have greater control over the resources then they exhibit greater autonomy both in the household and in public sphere and are no longer victims of poverty. Lack of awareness about legal and constitutional provisions and failure in realizing it, is another factor that hinders the process of empowerment. Most of the women are not aware of their legal rights. Even women who are aware lack the courage to take the legal step.The legislation which affects women most is their situation in marriage and inheritance. As far as the rights of inheritance are concerned, women generally do not try to inherit land left by their parents if brothers are alive (Seth, 2005). The traditional belief that land should not go outside the patriarchal family operates. The provision of Act like (1) Child Marriage Resistance Act, 1930, (2) The Suppression of flagitious Trafficking of Women Act, 1987 and (3) The Indecent Exposure of Women Act, have not led to the suppression of practice indicated in them.Of these three, the first one is by and large successful in restraining child marriage. The legislation almost failed in case of riotous trafficking and indecent exposure to 16 women. There are numerous incidence of indecent exposure of women in all forms of media with hardly any prosecution. Although the legal rights are in place to create an enabling cash machine these have not been very successful in realizing womens empowerment. Summery and Findings Various indicators of women empowerment are analyzed using the data from various sources while discussing womens present status in India.The main emphasis is given to the indicators like womens household decision making power, financial autonomy, freedom of movement, womens acceptance of unequal gender roles, exposure to media, access to education, womens experience of domestic violence etc. Womens political participation is also analyzed by using indicators like percentage of women voters and women MPs. afterwards analyzing the data it is found that household decision making power and freedom of movement of women vary considerably with age, education and employment. Freedom of movement of widow or divorcee is more than ever married or never married women.Similarly it is found that in the society the acceptance of unequal gender norms by women themselves are still prevailing. More than half of the women believe that wife beating is justified for any of the specific reasons like not cooking properly, not taking proper care of household and children, refuge to have sex with husband, showing disrespect to in-laws etc. However, this attitude is not varying much with age or household structure but decline sharply with education and places of residence. While studying womens access to education and emplo yment it is found that gender gap exist in both the situations.A large gender gap in literacy exists and participation of girls at all stages of education is below 50%. Similarly less than 50% of women are employed and a significant portion of them are not paid for their work. However, having access to employment does not mean that women have full control over their earnings. Fewer women have final say on how to spend their earnings. Control over cash earnings increases with age and with place of residence in urban areas and education, but not vary significantly with household structure. Womens exposure to media is also less relative to men.Womens experience of domestic violence shows that violence is not lessened by age. Rural women are more prone to domestic violence than urban women. Regarding womens 17 political participation it is found that large gender gap exists in voting and less than ten per cent of total member in Lok Sabha are Women. This is because most of the women lac k desired level of financial autonomy, literacy, strong personality, own decision making capacity, family support etc. Thus we see that these mutually interdependent factors reinforce each other and put women in a disadvantageous position relative to men.Various constraints in achieving the desired level of empowerment are also identified. Important among them are poverty, social norms and family structure, lack of awareness about legal and constitutional provision etc. Generally speaking the women of India are relatively disempowered and they enjoy somewhat lower status than that of men. In spite of so many efforts undertaken by government and NGOs the picture at present is not satisfactory. Mere access to education and employment can only help in the process of empowerment.These are the tools or the enabling factors through which the process gets speeded up. However, achievement towards this goal depends more on attitude. Unless the attitude towards the acceptance of unequal gende r role by the society and even the women themselves changed women can not enchant the opportunity provided to them through constitutional provision, law etc. Till then we can not say that women are empowered in India in its real sense. 18 References ? Anand, S. and A. Sen (1995) Gender inequality in Human Development Theories and Measurement, in Fukuda Parr and A. K.Shiv Kumar (eds. ) Readings in Human Development, OUP, New Delhi. Bardhan, K. and K. Stephan (1999) UNDPs Gender Related Indices A Critical Review, World Development, Vol. 27, No. 6. Barkat, A. (2008) Women empowerment A key to Human Development. , http//www. goodgovernance. org visited on twentieth April 2008 at 4. 30p. m. Blumberg, R. L. (2005) Womens Economic Empowerment as the Magic Potion of Development? Paper presented at the centesimal annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia Census of India (2001) Govt. of India, New Delhi. Chattopadhyay, R. nd E. Duflo (2001) Womens Leadership and Policy Decisions narrate from a Nationwide Randomized Experiment in India, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and Department of Economics ,MIT, and NBER Desai, N. and U. Thakkar (2007) Women and Political Participation in India Women in Indian Society, New Delhi, National Book Trust. Figueras, I. C. (2008) Women in Politics indorse from the Indian States, Department of Economics, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. G. O. I. (2000) National Population Policy, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, New Delhi. G. O. I. 2001) Census Report, Office of the recording machine General and Census Commissioner, New Delhi. G. O. I. (2002) National Human Development Report, 2001, Planning Commission. G. O. I. (2005-06) National Family Health canvass III, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi. Govt. of Assam (2003) Women Striving in an Unequal World in Assam Human Development Report, 2003. http//planassam. org/report/hdr2003/ HDR. html. Visited on 20th February, 2008, at 5pm. I FUW (2001) Empowering Women, http//www. ifuw. org/saap2001/ empowerment. htm. Visited on 10th February 2008 at 10 a. m. Karat, B. 2005) Survival and Emancipation Notes from Indian Womens Struggles, Three Essays Collective, Haryana Kishor, S. and K. Gupta (2004) Womens Empowerment in India and Its States Evidence from the NFHS, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXXIX, No. 7. Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre (2000) Human Development in South Asia 2000 The Gender Question, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Mahanta, A. (ed. ) (2002) Human Rights and Women of North East India, Centre for Womens Studies, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 19 ? Malhotra, A. , S. R. Schuler and C.Boender (2002) Measuring Womens Empowerment as a Variable in International Development Unpublished Paper for the World Bank. www. unicef. org/pubsgen/humanrights-children/index. html. Visited on 11th January, 2008, at 5 p. m. Mathew, G. (2003) set address in the workshop on A Decade of Womens Empowerment through local Governance organized jointly by Institute of Social Sciences and South Asia Partnership, Canada sponsored by International Development Research Centre. Moser, Caroline O. (1993) Gender Planning and Development Theory Practice and Training, available from Women, Ink. ? ? Narayan, D. (2007) Empowerment A Missing Dimension of Human Development, Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) Conference, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford. Panda, P. and B. Agarwal (2005) Marital Violence, Human Development and Womens Property Status in India, World Development, Vol. 33, No. 5. Parasar, S. (2004) A Multidimensional set out to Womens Empowerment and its Links to the Nutritional Status and Immunization of Children in India. http//www. allacademic. com/meta/p109193index. html. Visited on 15th February, 2008 at 1 p. m.Pillarisetti and Gillivray (1998) Human Development and Gender Empowerment Methodological and Measurement Issue Development Policy Review, Vol. 16. Ranis, G. and F. Stewart (2005) Dynamic Links between the Economy and Human Development, DESA Working Paper No. 8. http//www. un. org/esa/desa/papers. Visited on 25th December, 2007 at 5 p. m. Sen and Batliwala (2000) Empowering Women for Reproductive Rights, in H. B. Presser and G. Sen (eds. ) Womens Empowerment and Demographic Processes Moving beyond Cairo, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 15-36.Seth, Meera (2004) Women and Development- The Indian Experience, Sage Publication, New Delhi. Shields, Lourene E. (1995) Womens Experiences of the Meaning of Empowerment Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 5, No. 1. Sridevi, T. O. (2005) Empowerment of Women-A Systematic Analysis IDF Discussion Paper. U. N. D. P. (1990, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2007-08) Human Development Report. World Economic Forum (2005) Womens Empowerment Measuring the Global Gender Gap. http/in. rediff. com/money/2005/may/17wef. htm. Visited on 20th January, 2008 at 9. 30 a. m. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 20Table 1 Married Womens Participation in Decision making, 2005-06 (Figures in per cent) Decision on/Decision by Mainly Wife Mainly Husband Urban Own Health Care Major household purchases Purchases of daily household needs Visits to her family &Relatives Own Health Care Major household purchases Purchases of daily household needs Visits to her family &Relatives Own Health Care Major household purchases Purchases of daily household needs Visits to her family &Relatives 29. 7 10. 4 39. 9 12. 2 26. 0 7. 6 29. 1 10. 0 27. 1 8. 5 32. 4 10. 7 39. 1 51. 5 28. 9 57. 3 Rural 33. 4 41. 2 27. 1 46. follow 35. 1 44. 4 27. 7 49. 8 30. 1 32. 2 24. 7 26. 8 6. 3 12. 0 12. 3 10. 4 1. 3 2. 8 2. 8 2. 2 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 31. 7 34. 6 26. 9 28. 9 7. 6 13. 5 13. 9 12. 1 1. 3 2. 9 2. 9 2. 9 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 26. 5 26. 8 19. 8 22. 0 3. 5 8. 7 8. 8 6. 6 1. 1 2. 5 2. 5 1. 8 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 Husband and Wife jointly Some one Else Other Missing Source NFHS-3 21 Table 2 Factors Affecting Womens Partic ipation in Decision making, 2005-06 (Figures in per cent) stress characteristics Own health care Making major househol d Purchase s 25. 1 39. 2 50. 7 60. 7 63. 6 61. 9 48. 9 51. 5 51. 4 50. 6 52. 56. 3 62. 6 53. 0 52. 3 52. 2 50. 1 51. 3 57. 3 55. 3 61. 0 45. 1 51. 1 62. 2 43. 0 Making purchase s for daily househol d needs 29. 1 44. 6 58. 7 6. 8 71. 2 68. 8 56. 2 59. 5 60. 1 58. 4 58. 3 61. 6 66. 3 61. 5 60. 5 60. 3 56. 8 58. 0 60. 2 63. 7 69. 5 53. 2 57. 4 70. 4 49. 2 Visits to her family or relative per cent who participat e in all four decisions 15. 1 25. 2 34. 3 42. 8 46. 3 45. 0 33. 0 34. 9 35. 2 35. 7 36. 2 40. 5 46. 1 36. 6 35. 7 36. 5 33. 7 36. 1 40. 6 38. 8 44. 3 29. 0 35. 1 44. 3 28. 7 per cent who particip ate in none 46. 1 31. 1 20. 4 14. 1 12. 8 13. 9 23. 4 22. 7 20. 21. 7 19. 7 16. 8 12. 1 21. 3 20. 3 20. 8 21. 8 21. 3 17. 3 19. 0 15. 0 26. 1 21. 6 13. 6 27. 7 Numbe r of women Age 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 Urban 40. 4 52. 5 62. 2 67. 7 69. 3 68. 8 59. 3 59. 4 61. 2 61. 0 63. 6 67. 2 73. 1 61. 6 61. 1 62. 0 59. 5 62. 5 66. 2 63. 0 67. 7 54. 6 61. 7 67. 7 56. 4 33. 5 47. 5 58. 9 67. 1 71. 6 69. 5 56. 5 57. 5 60. 4 59. 8 60. 7 65. 9 71. 6 59. 1 60. 9 59. 7 58. 3 60. 2 65. 2 69. 2 68. 0 53. 7 58. 7 68. 7 68. 7 6726 16782 18540 30952 20089 28604 64485 43931 7776 14018 10735 7704 8921 24918 8366 14793 14615 13144 17100 39835 25601 14234 53225 47851 45238Residence Rural No education little than 5 yrs 5-7 yrs 8-9 yrs 10-11yrs 12 or more yrs Education Husband s education No education Less than 5 yrs 5-7 yrs 8-9 yrs 10-11yrs 12 or more yrs Employed Employed for cash Employed not for cash Not employed Employment Household structure Nuclear Non nuclear Source NFHS 3 22 Table 3 Freedom of Movement of Married Women in India, 2005-06 (Figures in per cent) Places Alone Urban 66. 2 60. 3 45. 5 Rural 44. 3 41. 5 34. 0 Total 51. 4 47. 7 37. 7 With somebody else 26. 8 36. 2 48. 0 40. 4 53. 0 56. 6 35. 9 47. 5 53. Not at all Total To the market To health faci lities To outside the village/community To the market To health facilities To outside the village/community To the market To health facilities To outside the village/community 7. 0 3. 5 6. 6 15. 3 5. 5 9. 4 12. 6 4. 8 8. 5 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 Source- NFHS- 3 Table 4 Factors Affecting Freedom of Movement of Married Women, 2005-06 Percentage allowed to go alone to Market soil Characteristics 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 Urban Rural No education