Gender Issues in Sri Lanka Essay Example for Free

Gender Issues in Sri Lanka Essay Gender issues In general, when considering third world countries, most would say that they have some very similar characteristics. Third world countries are often thought of as places that are impoverished, have significantly high birthrates, are economically dependent on advanced countries, and have not evolved socially in regards to equal rights issues. Although many of these characteristics do apply to Sri Lanka, the latter has definitely evoked some discussion on the topic of gender issues in underdeveloped countries. Issues such as decision making in the household, educated women and their role in society, and attitudes towards women in employment will be discussed. As stated earlier, most would agree that from a distant perspective Sri Lanka would seem to be socially underdeveloped in regards to equal rights. One way that this misconception is debunked is by looking at the roles of male and female in the household. There are many variables to take into consideration when looking at roles of family members and who has the balance of power; for instance, if the wife is working or not could be considered at both ends of the scale. If she is working than her husband may feel that because she is making a financial contribution she has more of a right to make important economic decisions that may effect the family. On the other hand he may feel as though her being away from the children is a detriment to their upbringing, and in turn is placing a burden upon the family leaving the wife with few domestic decisions. Another variable that has to be considered is if the residence is with the husbands family or if it is with the wifes family. In this case one would assume that whichever house was being resided in would have the balance of the say towards family decisions. The last variable that will be considered is that of marital duration. Does a longer marriage necessarily mean that the financial and domestic decisions of the household will become split evenly between the husband and wife? The answers to these questions were the focus of a study conducted by Anju Malhotra and Mark Mather in 1992. The study showed that when the wives were working, regardless of whether or not they shared their wages or kept them, they had an increase say on financial matters. However, the domestic decisions were not nearly as great, especially if the wages earned by the wife were kept for herself (Malhotra et al. 1997: 620). When looking at the balance of power in regards to household arrangement, the study found that the wife had almost no say on financial matters when living at the husbands parents house but did have some say on domestic issues. The opposite it true for when the family resided at the wifes parents house. The wife typically had a significant say on financial and domestic matters with the latter outweighing the two (Malhotra et al. 1997: 620). As far as marital duration is concerned, it seems as though as the family grows together there is somewhat of a role reversal. The husband becomes more concerned with domestic matters and the wife takes some responsibility for the financial decisions (Malhotra et al. 1997:620). These findings led my research group to believe that the people of Sri Lanka are generally very similar to those of western societies in regards to household decisions. Education is not something we think about when speaking about developing countries, many assume that it is just not an option for underprivileged people. Although that is the unfortunate truth that effects many third world countries, it does seem that Sri Lanka is on its way to recovering itself. For many years the gender gap between male and female scholars needed to be decreased. In the early 1980s the percentage of the total amount of people with university degrees that were women was barely above 40%. A more alarming fact might be that the percentage with post-graduate degrees was barely above 25% (Ahooja-Patel K. 1979: 217). The majority of women pursuing a degree usually did so in the fine arts category or the education and teacher training fields, many staying away from disciplines such as business or engineering. Although these numbers may seem staggering Sri Lanka has shown some promise in terms of social welfare. Programs are now in place to encourage female education and to decrease the inequalities women face today. In the early 1990s the gender gap between literate males and females was only a 5% difference (Malhotra et al. 1997: 602). Many believe that the more westernized Sri Lanka becomes the more independent the thoughts and wills of women will expand, creating a country of little inequality. Women in the work force today in western society face many barriers; this is after years of trying to refine the social economic status of women. In Sri Lanka, because of its poor economy, employers may have actual complaints that may affect the profitability of their business. In general in Sri Lanka, men are usually preferred over women as employees. Some employers complain that because of the possibility of the need for time off to bear children that it may disrupt the flow of the work force. Many men could feel as though women were being treated with undeserved favoritism, which could cause conflict. Others feel that the financial burden of having to install proper facilities to accommodate women could create too much of a loss that they would not be able to overcome it. The topic of most discussions seems to revolve around the Maternity Amendment Act of 1978, which states that women workers are entitled to six weeks maternity leave with pay. It also states that they are allowed two nursing breaks of one hour each or two breaks of one half hour each when a day care center is available (Ahooja-Patel K. 1979: 219). Women cannot, under the law, be fired for any reason that stems from them being pregnant. An unfortunate fact that is slowly being eradicated is that many women are just not qualified for the jobs that are available in Sri Lanka. Because of the gender gap in education and training that has plagued Sri Lanka for years this trend will surely continue until the inequality has subsided. In many ways Sri Lanka has come very far in terms of gender equality when discussing kinship and education. However, womens economic situation has shown to be less favourable. The people of Sri Lanka acknowledge that women have a place in the work force but financially cannot accommodate them. Until the economic growth of Sri Lanka can develop further, people will continue to have the survival of the fittest kind of attitude, which will continue to alienate and repress the women or Sri Lanka.

grinch who stole christmas :: essays research papers

The time arrives but once a year -- Chirstmas-time holiday with varying cheer. But buying and selling and buming and parking Spur movie mischievers in need of a larking. There's snowflakes fallen and gently sprinkled, With all the little Whosters' smiles frozen wrinkled. Sleeping and shopping for five minutes or less, Stopping a moment to see the Grinch and how he stole Christmas. This dastardly deed won't make Zanzibelt wail, This is a gift that won't fly through the mail. For you'd be called names like suffering maroon, If you miss this fable-ous live-action cartoon. Maniacal, magnificent, magical and merry -- Driven through the snow by the one Jim Carrey. Soaring through sets bent by fantastical fancy, He's over the top, past the tip-top of Mount Clancey. The tiniest of heart's tale is whispered and told, But the green-haired shoulders break every mold. There once was a boy by the name of the Grinch, Rankled and ruptured! Punctured and pinched! So his feet did move with speed and precision, Finding a home made of garbage...his decision. "Those people of Whoville and that infernal time of year," Said the man who ate glass with wallowful jeers. But Whos are filled with spirits that sing, (A little off-tune, but to good intentions cling). The hoopla and crazitude centered on a girl, Named Cindy Lou Who, Taylor Momsen gave it a whirl. She questions each corner and scours for the answer, To why Christmas can make even the lazy pure dancers. Based on a book and cartoon by Doc Seuss, A bomb could have blown about the oddball recluse. But fantabulous sets and Cindy Lou's sparkle, Tag-team with Carrey's ability to spew the word "farkle". The wonderment remains, so watch, watch, watch -- Or you'll be laughed at like a boy named little Mike Rotch. The Doc's main points stick like hair to glue, It's not too dark, so other critics: Boo hoo! You need to say why such a creature would steal,

Evaluation of Software Industry in Bangladesh Essay

Chapter-I: Introduction 1. Origin of the Study The MBA program of DIJ requires that each student complete an internship attachment period of at least 10 to 12 weeks with an organization and submit a report on the basis of it. Considering the fast pace of the software industry today, I am working one of the youngest and brightest organization in the industry, Hello Dacca, as my place of internship. There is a lot of speculation regarding the future of the software industry, in general. With the little bit of healthy competition that the industry had been lacking till now, it is no doubt that the consumers would soon egin feel its affect in the form of lower prices and more packages to choose from. However, it remains a doubt as to which companies would Just survive and which companies would thrive and prosper. Hence, I chose to carry out a comparative analysis of the prospects and challenges of software companies in Bangladesh, with particular emphasis on the future prospects of Hello Dacca Pvt. Ltd. 1. 1 Watershed of the Software Industry In 1955, the world’s first software company was formed in the United States. Now, more than half a century later the software market has entered a period of drastic change. Many information processing functions found in packaged software has been transferred to the Web, and the use of open source software (OSS) has become widespread. There are also strong signs that â€Å"Software as a Service† (SaaS) will assume a greater prominence. These developments go beyond a mere discussion of whether to charge fees or to choose between packaged software or contracted development, or to use open source or proprietary software; they have shaken the software industry to its very foundation. Will the software industry continue to develop as a high-tech industry, or will creative destruction occur and a new industry rows from the ashes? Perhaps the industry will disappear altogether and become just another business service like embedded software? Tim O’Reilly describes three long-term trends in the evolution of software: (1) commoditization, (2) network collaboration, and (3) SaaS 2. History & Definition of the Software Industry Software Industry consists of that part of computer programming activity that is traded between software-producing organizations and corporate or individual software consumers. Traded software represents only a fraction of domestic software activity, whose extent cannot be reliably estimated, since much computer rogramming takes place within firms and its value is not captured by the industrial census or software industry analysts. According to the industry analyst INPUT, in 2000 the U. S. market for traded software was $138 billion (Table 1). The U. S. software in the year 2000 were $259 billion, according to the trade publication Software Magazine. The traded software industry consists of three main sectors: programming services, enterprise software products, and shrink-wrapped software products. These three sectors became established in the mid-1950s, the mid-1960s, and the late 970s, respectively, in response to the technological opportunities and the business environment of the time. The most successful firms developed specialized capabilities that enabled them to prosper within their sector; however, this specialization made it difficult to move into other sectors, and very few firms have been successful in more than one software sector. It should be noted that the software industry is not confined to independent software vendors, but also includes computer manufacturers such as 18M, Unisys, and NCR who supply programming services and software products alongside their hardware offerings and are among he largest software suppliers. These are sometimes referred to as â€Å"captive† markets because computer users have relatively little choice in the supplier of basic operating software for corporate systems. 2. 1 Programming Service The first commercial electronic computers†usually known as â€Å"mainframes†Ã¢â‚¬ were sold in the early 1950s. They were very expensive, typically renting for $100,000 a year. Most computer-owning corporations undertook their own program development and operations, for which they maintained a staff of up to thirty or forty individuals. This was not a disproportionate expense in relation to the overall costs of unning a computer. By the mid-1950s, however, mainframe prices had fallen significantly, and computer use diffused rapidly†the national computer stock rising from 240 mainframes in 1955 to over four thousand by 1960. Owners of these more moderately priced computers were often unwilling to recruit a permanent programming staff, preferring instead to commission programs from software contractors. Many of the early programming services firms were established by programming entrepreneurs to satisfy this demand. The first such firm, the Computer Usage Corporation (CUC), was incorporated in New York in 1955 by two ormer IBM programming employees, and the firm initially specialized in developing technical applications for the oil and engineering industries. The capital barriers to software contracting were (and remain) very low, and it was often said that all one needed was â€Å"a coding pad and a pencil. † The most important capability was the technical knowledge of the principals, usually acquired through working with a computer user or manufacturer. Several dozen firms entered the programming services industry in the second half of the 1950s. In a majority of cases, the firms pecialized in particular technical applications, or within a vertical market such as financial services, retail, or manufacturing. A very different type of entrant came into programming services in the mid-1950s, specializing in the construction of very large programs that were beyond the technical capability of even the largest and most sophisticated users. The first firm of this kind was the Systems Development Corporation (SDC), a subsidiary of the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica. SDC was incorporated in 1956 to develop the programs for the giant SAGE air-defense system. more than a million computer instructions. SDC employed several hundred programmers, estimated at the time to be perhaps halfof the nation’s programming manpower. SDC also trained hundreds of individuals to become programmers. There was, however, a rapid turnover of staff, as experienced programmers left for more remunerative employment in the private sector. At the time, SDC was hailed as the â€Å"university for programmers† and it was said that in the 1960s, SDC alumni were to be found in almost every major software firm in the country. SAGE was a â€Å"real-time† system, in which the computer lay at the heart of an information system that esponded instantaneously to external events. As the U. S. government deployed more and more real-time defense systems in the late 1950s and 1960s, systems integrators such as TRW, MITRE, General Electric, Wasting house, Hughes Dynamics, and Lockheed began to develop expertise in software construction. Real-time technologies were hugely expensive to innovate but once established by the military, they quickly diffused into the civilian sector in applications such as airline reservations and on-line banking. When Europe and the rest of the world began to catch up in the 1960s, American independent software firms and the programming ervices operations of computer manufacturers had a strong first-mover advantage. By the late 1960s, the most successful of the start-up software contractors had become significant firms. For example, by 1967 CUC had 700 employees, offices in twelve U. S. cities, and annual sales of$13 million. CUC, and firms like it, now offered a broad range of computer services that went well beyond program writing. Another firm, the Computer Sciences Corporation of El Segundo, California, established in 1959 by five programmers to write software for computer manufacturers, grew to ecome one of the largest computer services firms in the world (which it remains, with revenues in 2000 of$9. 4 billion, and sixty-eight thousand employees worldwide). Nonetheless, giant firms are the exception and the programming services industry is remarkably lacking in concentration. By the late 1960s there were several hundred programming services firms, but less than fifty of them had as many as a hundred employees.

Othello by William Shakespeare - 588 Words

Othello The mutual purpose of a playwright or past or present time is to seize and grasp the attention of an audience. In order for a playwright to be successful, the playwright must uphold the curiosity of the audience. The catastrophe of Othello is one of Shakespeare’s well-known plays, and it is notorious for catching the attention of the audience. The Shakespeare had an intriguing way of capturing an audience or reader in remarkable way. Shakespeare uses countless methods in order to achieve his goal. Shakespeare guaranteed the misfortune of Othello would clutch the curiosity of the audience by the building of interesting characters, search for widespread themes, use of a witty technique and a well-written script presenting a persuasive plot. The plot of Othello is has a sequence of events that plays a big role in sustaining the interest of the audience. Shakespeare’s objective was to write a well written-script with plot that captivates the attention of the audience leaving them please and wanting more after reading or watching it. Othello is a play has a series of events presenting extreme drama, twists, tragedy and mystery that enthralls the audience leaving them wanting more. For example the audience reads the suspenseful drama regarding Othello, Desdemona and the manipulation Iago has on Othello in Act IV, Scene l. This sequence of events is carried on through the entire play. Shakespeare uses characters and creates them to manipulative causing drama making theShow Mor eRelatedOthello, By William Shakespeare957 Words   |  4 Pagesinnocent person kills himself while not knowing the truth. The best example of that would be the play Othello by the great William Shakespeare. As little as a handkerchief could make a difference if it is a symbol for something. In the play Othello by Shakespeare, handkerchief is first introduced by Othello to his beautiful mistress, Desdemona, as a sign of their love. At the end of the play what gets Othello to take extreme measures by the location of the handkerchief. As the symbol of the handkerchiefRead MoreOthello, By William Shakespeare1599 Words   |  7 Pages William Shakespeare’s 16th century play Othello is a duplicitous and fraudulent tale set alternatingly between Venice in act 1, and the island of Cyprus thereafter. The play follows the scandalous marriage between protagonist Othello, a Christian moore and the general of the army of Venice, and Desdemona, a respected and intelligent woman who also happens to be the daughter of the Venetian Senator Brabantio. Shakespeare undoubtedly positions the marriage to be viewed as heroic and noble, despiteRead MoreOthello, By William Shakespeare1218 Words   |  5 PagesIn a historical time period where emphasis was shifting from religion to race and ethnicity, key indicators of differences that perpetuated into racial prejudice and racial ideologies are evident in Othello by William Shakespeare. Although racism was not fully formed at this moment in history, Othello can be interpreted as a representation and an exploration of this shift in ideology. In the past, before this change to ward racial differences, religion was the major segretory factor in signifyingRead MoreOthello, By William Shakespeare894 Words   |  4 Pagesthose that which occurred in Othello written by William Shakespeare. Throughout the play Othello, we see the struggles of a marriage that is not accepted by their society. Othello is a extremely cherished black general living in a primarily white community. The play begins with Othello secretly becoming married to a white woman named Desdemona. This reasons others who are white to become angry and excuse to dislike this black man further more than they already do. Othello is a downward spiral from loveRead MoreOthello by William Shakespeare790 Words   |  3 PagesThroughout Othello by William Shakespeare, Othello makes numerous poor decisions due to his jealousy. Hitting Desdemona, trusting Iago, and killing Desdemona are among a few of the poor decisions that he makes. The word jealous can be defined as feeling or showing suspicion of som eones unfaithfulness in a relationship. Othello feels suspicious of Desdemona’s and Cassio’s relationship because of the lies that Iago tells him. Many people try to tell Othello the truth but he only believes the wordsRead MoreOthello, By William Shakespeare1923 Words   |  8 Pagesdissatisfaction or complication is shown. Firstly in Othello love is presented as ephemeral and transient while atonement love is presented as unrequited and finally in cat on a hot tin roof love is presented as painful and troublesome due to unreciprocated feelings. The tragic plot of Othello hinges on the potential of the villain, Iago, to deceive other characters, above all Roderigo and Othello, through encouraging them to misinterpret what they see. Othello is prone to Iago s ploys seeing that he himselfRead MoreOthello, By William Shakespeare941 Words   |  4 Pageswas Williams Shakespeare’s play Othello which depicts the tragedy of Othello, a Morris Captain. What is different about Shakespeare play is that the tragic hero is the black Othello and the villain a white Iago. Therefore, Shakespeare depiction of Othello as a tragic character and Iago as a villain, challenges Elizabethan’s stereotypes regarding individuals of African descent. Shakespeare challenges the stereotypical â€Å"type –casting of the black man† in Elizabethan society by depicting Othello asRead MoreOthello, By William Shakespeare1152 Words   |  5 Pages‘Othello’ was a tragedy of incomprehension at the deepest level of human dealings as no one in the play came to an understanding of himself or any of the surrounding characters. The play ‘Othello’ by William Shakespeare focused on tragedy through the anguish of the main character ‘Othello’ which lead to the suffering and death of numerous characters including himself. Appearance Vs. Reality challenged human dealings within the play ‘Othello’ as no-one came to see anyone’s true self and no-one seesRead MoreOthello, By William Shakespeare1178 Words   |  5 Pagesprofitable in condition of good and immorality. Othello is presented as good and Iago as evil, but Iago and Othello’s relationship also shares a distrust of their wives. The overall logical argument is based on love, jealousy and betrayal between two lovers that ultimately leads to their separation because of Iago’s evil plan. I am using this article to agree with Berry s view on how Iago separates two lovers just so he can take retaliation on Othello by manipulating everyone to unmasking their trueRead MoreOthello, By William Shakespeare1140 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Othello† is a play written by William Shakespeare in 1603. In this play, Shakespeare features three major characters: Othello, Iago, and Desdemona. Othello, a black man, and Desdemona, a white venetian secretly eloped in the play. Iago shows racism and prejudice towards their relationship because of their skin colors. In the play, Iago says: â€Å"Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise! Awake the snorting citizens with the bell, or else the devil will make a