Before moving into political texts we should know what is meant by politics. So, what is meant by politics? Politics is “the art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs” (Free Dictionary). So, political texts are views of scholars which emphasizes on various political and social concerns related to the people and country. The aim of this type of writings is to display countries problem towards people and sometimes critics tried to make solution regarding those issues through those writings. Now, the question comes how to read a political text? From the two political texts “Women’s capabilities and the right to education in Bangladesh” and “setting themselves apart: Education, capabilities and sexuality among Samburu women in Kenya” which I have read, it is evident that a political text consists of several parts: starts with a strong title, abstract, introduction, several organized sections with legitimate evidences and statistical data’s as proofs, conclusion, acknowledgements, endnotes and references.
Firstly, one should read the title of the text in order to know about the topic of that political text. Abstract is an important part of any political text as it provides the main idea of the text and sums up the whole text very briefly. So, one will easily get the idea of the text if he or she reads the abstract very closely. Introduction lets the reader to know the background information regarding the topic and also leads to the main argument of the text which the author poses through his/her thesis statement. Each of the several sections consists of analysis and evidences to the argument which author claims. So, one should read the topic sentence of each body paragraph as it will help reader to get the main idea of that paragraph and will have to skim the whole paragraph. While reading the political text one will also have to look at the evidences in order to know how author uses the evidence to support his claim. Conclusion are mainly thought provoking, so one has to read the conclusion and will have to find out the underlying meaning which the authors wants to provide through his writing.
Now, the question comes how these political texts work to illuminate political issues. Each political text is written with an informative and objective tone and consists of several organized which focuses on each idea. For example: in “Women’s capabilities and the right to education in Bangladesh” the author throughout the text talks about women capability of education. Authors even referred women’s education as instrumental and capabilities approach (Kuenning and Amin). By referring to the fact “women’s schooling is one of the main ways of acquiring human capital” (Kuenning and Amin, 126) the author shows how women’s schooling is important. The points which the author explores throughout this article show the readers very explicitly why women schooling is important. These facts raises awareness in people’s mind and also allows us to visualize the situation. Even, this has interviews of some guardians and girls which tell the perception of Bangladesh’s people towards this serious issue. All together this interviews, analyses and research oriented data acts as a mode to enlighten people’s mentality towards women’s education. Similarly, other political reading also raises people’s awareness regarding social problems in this way.
Work Cited
Arends-Kuenning, Mary and Amin, Sanjeda, “Women’s capability and right to education in Bangladesh.” International Journal of Politics and Society, Vol. 15, No.1, September 2001. Print.
Carolyn, Lesorogol.K, “Setting Themselves Apart: Education, capabilities, and Sexuality among Samburu women in Kenya” International Journal of Politics and Society.Print.
Farlex. “Politics” The Free Dictionary. Web. 7 April. 2013.
Author Archives: mou20
Education: Solution for solving the serious problem about ‘missing women’ all over the world
Noble laureate, Amartya Sen in his article “More than 100 million missing women” portrays the condition of women in South Asia and provides reasons for the difference in the ratio of women to men in Europe, North America, South Asia, West Asia, China and also provides reasons to show why the ratio of women to men in Europe and North America varies from South Asia and West Asia. In the second paragraph of section 5 by using the example of Kerala he explains the reasons for the difference in the result and also offers a solution to solve this serious problem (11). From the statistical data about the higher ratio of women to men in Kerala it is evident that gainful employment, women’s education, economic rights, property rights are factors responsible for raising women’s chances of survival (11). At the same time, literacy rate is one of the most important factors which are responsible for higher ratio of women to men (11).
He also mentions” Kerala’s ratio of women to men of more than 1.03 is closer to that of Europe (1.05) than those of China, West Asia, and India as a whole (0.94).” That means even though Kerala is an Indian state its ratio is similar to that of Europe because it has higher literacy rate. He also compares the ratio of Kerala with Punjab in order to show that even though Punjab is one of country’s richest states, the ratio is lower for Punjab in compared to Kerala. That means economic condition of a state or a country is not the pioneer issue for the difference in the ratio of women to men. Gainful employment is also available in Punjab. The difference between these two states is in literacy rate. Only, for this difference the Kerala’s ratio is ‘much higher than elsewhere in India.’
This paragraph clearly supports the thesis that Sen poses at the beginning of the article: “How can we understand and explain these differences, and react to them?” He uses Kerala as an epitome for showing that literacy rate enhances ratio of women to men. At the same time, he proved that misconception about the cultural difference between east and west and economic development is not responsible for lower ratio of women to men. His main idea behind this paragraph is to show the readers that higher literacy rate is the solution for raising the ratio of women to men. That is we can ‘react’ to the serious problem and can resolve it with the help of education.
Works Cited
Sen, Amartya. “More Than 100 Million Missing Women.” Nybooks Archives. Dec 20, 1990. Mar 31, 2013.
Societal norms: Responsible for woman’s not showing their talent in literary works during Shakespeare’s time
In “A Room of One’s Own” the author, Virginia Woolf by portraying the image of a ‘woman’ provided by the historians and by developing a fictional character, Judith Shakespeare looks into the life of English women during Elizabethan era. She explicitly describes about the image of a ‘woman’ provided by the historians and by the poets who referred woman as “a worm winged like an eagle” (Woolf, 40). That means historians considered women as useless like a worm who were incapable of showing their talents in literary works. On the other hand, Woolf’s imaginative character, Judith Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s’ “extraordinarily gifted sister” was very imaginative, adventurous; apple to her father’s eye experienced the gender discrimination of the society and acted according to her father’s wish (Woolf, 43).
Basically, Woolf invented the fictional character and uses in this non- fictional text to illustrate her point against the idea “A bishop, I Think, who declared that it was impossible for any woman, past, present, or to come to have the genius of Shakespeare” (Woolf, 42). What she wants to show is that, Shakespeare’s sister inherited same qualities like Shakespeare; she was imaginative, adventurous, “as agog to see the world as he was” (Woolf, 43). But, she was not sent to school. Even, she didn’t get chance to explore in many fields like her brother. She had the talents to proof her as a writer. But, she was bound to follow her father’s wish which was to get married in a early age. Moreover, Shakespeare was a renowned figure during that time. So, the use of the fictional character makes it more convincing to the reader and also effectively shows that the idea of woman incapable of writing like Shakespeare is not true. If a woman gets proper chance they can also show their intellect and can also become genius like Shakespeare.
Works Cited
Woolf, Virginia. “A Room of One’s Own.” Fort Washington: Harvest Book. 1981. First published 1929.
Gender And Sex: two ambiguous terms
“Gender” and “Sex” are two ambiguous terms which are always misinterpreted by people. Basically, most of the people can’t differentiate between gender and sex. According to World Health Organization, “Gender refers to the economic, social and cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being male or female at a particular point in time.” whereas “ Sex refers to the biological characteristics that define humans as female or male. Judith Lorber in her article “Night to his day: The Social Construction of Gender” distinguishes between gender and sex with the help of various examples. The classification of human being into two categories: men and female is based on the appearance of genitalia. This arises just after birth of a child. ‘Sex’ is main physiological difference that exists between men and women. This physiological difference includes genitalia and reproductive organs.
It is gendering which allows human beings to organize their lives. People of different genders work at different kinds of jobs. Gendering begins from home which is done by parents. That is the way children are being nurtured. This includes naming, dress up, interaction with parents of the same and opposite gender ( Lorber, 55).For example: when I was in my childhood my mother used to tell me that you should wear frocks, skirts, tops but not shirts. At that time I had no idea about male and female. She used to tell me that shirts are boy’s outfit so it should not be worn by a girl. Again, when I went to shopping mall and want to buy toy cars, video games my mom used to tell me that girls play with dolls, crockery, not with toy cars. Those toy cars and video games are boys’ games. This is a common scenario in everyone’s life. In this way the classification between men and women starts from home. Lorber mention this by referring to the line “Women influences children’s psychological development and emotional attachments, in the process reproducing gender” (61).Moreover, she mentions that gender norms are inscribed in the way people move, gesture and even eat(57). She explains this with the example of how differently men and women eat in African society(57).
It is gender which brings social difference between human being. It defines human beings into men and women. It is the major component of bringing inequality in our society. Still in our society women are subservient to men. Women’s work is usually paid less than men. Gender is mainly responsible for lowering the status of women. It is responsible for dividing work in home and in economic production. So, from this it is evident that gender and sex are two different terms, but they are compatible with each other.
Works Cited
Lorber, Judith. “Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender”.New Haven:Yale University Press, 1994. Print. 19 Feb. 2013.
World Health Organization. Gender, Women and Health. 2013. Web. 19 Feb.2013.
Plato’s Philosophical Ideas: Not a Reflection of Feminism
Is Plato a feminist? This debate is continuing for a long period of time. Before making any conclusion, one should know what is a feminist? According to dictionary of feminist theory, a feminist is someone who has “both a doctrine of equal rights for women and an ideology of social transformation aiming to create a world for women beyond simple social equality” (Maggie). Simply, feminist are those people who work to provide equal rights to women in all aspects of their life just like a man. Although the term ‘women’s right’ is a modern term and Plato’s writings were written during ancient period. Still, from his writings it can be concluded that Plato is not a feminist. Firstly, through his writing he suggested that women should be educated to put them in the class of guardian. Some might be thinking that by referring to this idea he put women in higher status. Although, it is true that during ancient period women’s position were very low in Greece. Their works were confined within the bricks. In that context, by putting women in ruling class he tried to higher the status of women. But, the underlying fact is that, Plato wanted that those women who will be in guardian level should have some exceptional features which will be absent in typical Athenian women. They will have to give up all the characteristics which a female possess. For example they will have to give up emotional characteristics. Their characteristics will be like a male philosopher. Basically, he tried to put women in guardian class by altering their womanly nature. Moreover, he considers souls to be gendered (Spellman 16).That is, if a man have a female soul, he will be considered as a coward (Spellman, 16). He mentions in his book that “People who are courageous, self controlled, pious and free should not imitate either a young woman or an older one” (Republic, iii). By referring to this lines, he wanted to say that women are not courageous and self controlled. They possess a weak character
Besides this, in his greatest masterpiece, Symposium, he included the speech of six famous Athenians. Pausanias refers in his speech that love is heavenly if it takes place between man and boy. Virtue can only be gained through this form of love. In this way, he disdains the love of women. Again, some might think that Plato uses Diotima’s speech to discuss about true beauty and love. So, he is a feminist. But, Diotima was not herself present in the symposium. She was used as a literary device. Basically those words were Plato’s own view which was delivered by Socrates. Even he did not praise about the characteristics of women in Diotima’s speech. Rather, he took away the power of creation from women and stated that “everyone would rather have such children than human ones” (Plato, 209d).What he wanted to express through this line is that, young men can give birth to wisdom just like women gives birth to a child. And, the task of giving birth to wisdom is much greater than the task of women.So, considering all these philosophical interpretations it can be concluded that Plato is not a feminist.
Works Cited
Humm, Maggie.The Dictionary of Feminist Theory. Columbus: Ohio State University.Press, 1990.
Plato.Symposium.Print
Plato’s feminism: A Discussion of Women in Ancient Philosophy.Print. .
Critical Analyses of Plato’s frame narrative structure by reader’s eyes
The dialogue ‘Symposium’ is one of the greatest creations of Plato which relates the events of tragedian Agathon’s victory party. Plato is not the speaker of this dialogue and uses a complex framing narrative structure. Basically, Aristodemus who was present on the occasion told the story of that event to Apollodorus and Phoenix, Philip’s son. Phoenix reported it to someone else. Glaucon heard that story from that person, but it was badly garbled. So, that person informed Glaucon about Apollodorus. Glaucon requested Apollodorus to tell the story. After telling the story to Glaucon, on another day another person came and wanted to hear it from Apollodorus. So, in this masterpiece Apollodorus is restating that story once more to that unnamed companion.
Plato uses such a complex structure to bring fictionality in his writing. The content of the dialogue is based on historical context. So, the philosophical discussions, time and place which are mentioned in the dialogue make it much more realistic. Overall, the use of famous characters increases the reliability of the dialogue and sets up the scenario.
Basically, the thoughts recorded in Symposium were Plato’s own thought. He created this complex structure to put down his philosophical ideas through this dialogue. He included the speeches of six prominent Athenians who deliver both story and myths about the nature and function of love. As, Socrates is one of the greatest philosophers, Plato wanted him to become the perfect example for love. So, Plato introduces Diotima as a literary device who knows the truth about love and lead Socrates towards it. Socrates continues his discussion about love by restating the Diotima’s idea and states that, “Love must be a lover of wisdom and, as such, is in between being wise and being ignorant” (Symposium, 487).Actually, Socrates use Diotima to continue his philosophical dialogue.
love versus wisdom
Since feeling is first
E. E. Cummings
The poem “Since feeling is first” by E. E. Cummings is about love and it begins with a line “since…to the syntax of things will never wholly kiss you” where the poet is trying to convince her lover that whenever we first feel for someone everything afterwards happen at the same time. It is better to fool for love than wisdom .The sign of romance of his lover worth much more to him than his intellect. They are made for each other so their life goes in an unstructured way i.e. not like a paragraph and even death is not an interruption for their love.
In this poem, poet is the speaker who is addressing his lover. What he wants to express through his first stanza is that whenever we first feel for someone, we do not give too much thought-basically; it is not real feeling if we give too much thought. He thinks that it is best to be fool for love while one is in his youth. The idea of ‘spring’ in the first stanza relates to youth. And, by referring to the line “the best gesture of my brain is…your eyelids flutter which says” in the second stanza, he is comparing signs of romance of his lover with wisdom. So, life goes on not in an orderly way like ‘paragraph’ and even death is not an interruption for love.
AUW's Interpreting Texts, Spring 2013 