Definition of Love Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Definition of Love - Essay Example To define love one can read Shakespeare, another would rather kiss for the first time†¦ Actually, love can be considered at different levels: from lingual expression to physiological, emotional and psychological contexts (Tibbetts 1979, p. 280). When people say "I love you", what do they really mean? In accordance with the definition from the dictionary: love is  "a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties" (cited by Fisher 1998, p. 136).  We would rather focus not only the essence of love but on different types of it. First of all, love can be correlated with the different meanings  of this concept. "There’s romantic love; love between two people, which  is considered to be both intimate and sexual" (Fisher 1998, p. 138). Love is everywhere for me. I love my family, my friends, people and animals in our world. I love reading; I love God and many other things. Actually, I feel that all these forms of love are different and I can clearly feel this difference. Moreover, I feel that love to my beloved person, my mother or my best friend are different types of this feeling. To my mind, the closest synonym to any form of love is "comfort", "coziness", "pleasure"†¦too many other synonyms can be also selected, but I would like to prefer one of these forms of synonyms (Wood 1995, p. 80). People in their relationship trying to find the golden mean. Very often there is a chance to put someone's happiness about your own feelings. It is one of the highest prices paid for happiness. Love to another person can be the greatest treasure in the world, but you have to pay a high price for it. One should love another person above his/her flaws. Not only positive features but also negative features should be loved by a person in case they experience real love.   

Drug Courts and Recidivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 14250 words

Drug Courts and Recidivism - Essay Example The Drug Court had been born. Since the early 1990's when drug courts became the preferred methodology of treating the offender while reducing the incidence of drug related crimes, much of the research has stated the benefits of drug courts in reducing recidivism. Many individual courts have published results of reduced recidivism since its implementation. Determining the extent of the recidivism reduction because of participation in drug court is the focus of this research paper. Examining the recidivism rate nationally and comparing these figures to the recidivism rate nationally for drug court participants will show a significant reduction due to drug court participation. This research will discover any regional variation and offer direction for future research while benchmarking current success. During the 1970's and 1980's the Criminal Justice System had moved from a more rehabilitative model to a punitive philosophy. "Between 1980 and 1993, American prison and jail populations tripled, much of the increase due to the increased number of drug convictions and longer sentences for drug offenses" (Armstrong 2003, p. 138). In 1994 alone drug trafficking and conviction accounted for 31.4% of felony convictions nationwide (12.5% for possession and 19% for trafficking). Further, between 1980 and 1989 arrest for drug offenses rose 134% (Armstrong 2003,

International Financial Reporting Standards Impact

International Financial Reporting Standards Impact 1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY The adoption rate of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has been on the ascendency since its inception in 1973. The number of countries that have adopted IFRS as a basis for financial reporting are more than hundred with others agreeing to converge or adopt it by 2011 (Deloitte, 2008). The need for transparency and comparability of financial statement across countries has increased the desire to adopt a single set of global financial accounting reporting standards (IFRS Insight: IASplus, 2008). Trade liberalisation and globalisation of capital markets have given further impetus towards the adoption of IFRS as a single set of high quality globally accepted accounting and reporting standards as against national accounting standards. The contributions of high quality financial reporting systems in national jurisdictions that experience high economic growth, stable fiscal and monetary systems and access to international investment funds cannot be overemphasised (Wong, 200 4). The need to ensure high quality reporting has forced both developed and emerging capital markets to adopt or converge with IFRS, their national accounting standards. Emerging Capital Markets (ECMs), which constitute a significant part of the global financial market, compete with their developed counterparts for investment funds due to globalization of businesses and integration of capital markets. This exposes the financial reporting information in ECMs to international scrutiny. It has been suggested that ECMs ‘lag behind the advanced capital markets in terms of adequacy and reliability of information disclose in annual reports (Ali et al, 2004). The perceived low quality of financial reporting inhibits the growth of ECMs due to its ability to erode the confidence of investors (Enthoven, 1981) and can lower productivity in the economy. Sutton (1997) asserts that a high level of accountability and transparency in corporate dealings increases the confidence of investors in capital markets. It is imperative that high quality financial reporting must be provided to investors to reduce moral hazards as a result of the agency problems created by the separation of ownership from control. Bekaoui (1999) suggests that the adoption of IFRS is the only way to trust accounting information from developing countries. Some ECMs have adopted IFRS to portray that they are following internationally best practice of financial reporting and to take advantage of the worlds investment funds. However, IFRS which is believed to have been developed for the advanced capital markets may not be an ideal accounting standards for ECMs which are made up of small, medium and sometimes family-owned businesses. Nobes (1998) suggests that due to the nature and characteristics of firms in developing/emerging economies, â€Å"the full panoply of the rules of IASs may seem unduly complex; and the resulting financial statements unduly detailed and expensive†. Choi and Mueller (1984) and Belkaoui (2004) support the suggestion of Nobes (1998). In spite of these challenges many countries in emerging economies have allowed their companies to report on the basis of IFRS either mandatorily or volu ntarily. Mandatory adoption of IAS/IFRS have the tendency to deprive firms the opportunity to choose accounting standards that reflect their information needs and the nature of their business. It has been suggested that IFRS adoption is costly but beneficial and at the same time poses challenges to companies (e.g.El-Gazzar, 1999; Jermakowicz, 2004; Barth et al, 2005; Daske and Gebhardt, 2006; Jermakowicz and Gornik-Tomaszewski, 2006; Daske et al, 2007; Tyrall et al, 2007; Hail et al, 2009). Ball (2001) suggests that companies will experience the impact of IFRS adoption differently due to different regulatory framework and institutional factors across different countries. Research into the costs, benefits and challenges of IFRS adoption to ECMs in sub-Saharan Africa, is non-existent to the best knowledge of this researcher. The adoption of IFRS in Ghana might challenge its neighbours to also follow suit. Therefore, research into the cost and benefits and implementation challenges is needed to guide other countries on the decision whether to adopt IFRS for financial reporting. It is in this light that this study is being undertaken. 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The adoption rate of IAS/IFRS has been on the ascendency since its inception in 1973 (IASB.org, 2004). Capital Markets have been forced to adopt IAS/IFRS by the World Bank, International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and World Trade Organisation (WTO), THE European Union (EU) and the International federation of Accountants (IFAC) due to globalization of trade and liberalization of capital markets. The Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana) is the body responsible for the issuance of accounting standards in Ghana. Prior to the mandatory adoption of IAS/IFRS 2007, two sets of accounting standards were in use in Ghana; the Ghana Accounting Standards (GAS) issued by the Ghana National Accounting Standards Board(GNASB), and the International Accounting Standards (IAS/IFRS). The Ghana Accounting Standards were adaptation of the International Accounting Standards. Ghana, being a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), allowed companies to issue financial report based on International Accounting Standards. The credibility and quality of financial reporting in emerging capital market have not been able to match the high standards of reporting in developed capital market and Ghana, an emerging economy, is no exception. In 2004, the World Bank commissioned a report into accounting and auditing in Ghana. The report painted a gloomy picture of financial reporting and auditing in Ghana. The World Bank (ROSC-Ghana, 2004, p1) noted that; â€Å"The accounting and auditing practices in Ghana suffer from institutional weaknesses in regulation, compliance and enforcement of standards and rules. Various weaknesses were indentified in the laws and regulation governing financial reporting†. The report observed an inadequate compliance with the Ghana Accounting Standards and also made mention of the fact that some companies claim to comply with the International Accounting Standards in their annual reports but fail to do so. Consequently, the ICA (GHANA) in January 2007 adopted IFRS as the basis for financial reporting for all listed companies beginning 31st December 2007 due to the recommendation made by the World Bank. However, first time IAS/IFRS reporting date for all companies was extended to 2008 due to companies unpreparedness to migrate from Ghana Accounting standards to international standards. In spite of the world-wide acceptance of IAS/IFRS for financial reporting, the jury is still out about the costs and benefits of IFRS implementation to listed companies that adopt IAS/IFRS either voluntary or mandatory (e.g. El-Gazzar et al, 1990; Jermakowicz, 2004; Hoogendoorn, 2006; Jermakowicz and Gomik-Tomaszewski, 2006; Daske et al, 2007; Hail et al, 2009). Generally, little empirical evidence has been provided on whether the costs of IAS/IFRS adoption outweigh the benefits. Specifically, literature on the costs and benefits of IAS/IFRS implementation to listed companies in ECMs in Africa is limited. This study seeks to investigate out the costs and benefits of IFRS adoption to listed companies in Ghana. 1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS Ghana, in a bid to develop its capital markets, established the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) in 1989. The GSE became operational in 1990. Currently, there are thirty-four listed companies in Ghana. The adoption of IFRS for financial reporting became mandatory in Ghana after its official launch in 2007 by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. However, listed companies were given additional year to fully implement IFRS. These events provide the opportunity to access the impact of IFRS adoption on listed companies in Ghana. The main purpose of the study is to access the costs and benefits of IFRS adoption to listed companies. Primarily, the issue focused on are costs, benefits, and implementation challenges to listed companies in Ghana. The specific research questions pursued in this study are follows: What are the benefits of IFRS adoption to companies in Ghana? What are the costs of implementing IFRS? What challenges do companies in emerging capital markets face as results of IFRS adoption? What are the effects of retrospective application of IFRS (IFRS1) on financial prior periods financial statements? 1.4 METHODOLOGY Two research techniques are used to collect data on the cost, benefits and IFRS implementation challenges. Interviews and content analysis of some selected annual reports are used in this study. The interviews are used to ascertain the opinions on the costs, benefits and implementation challenges of IFRS adoption from ( ) finance directors/chief finance officers/ finance managers whose firms are all listed in Ghana. Interviews were conducted with the Big 4+1 auditing firms in Ghana. These audit firms provide audit and other accountancy services to about 95 % of the listed companies in Ghana. The interviews with auditors were necessary to seek additional insight and to validate the results of the interviews conducted with FD/CFO/FM. 1.5 CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY This study is undertaken bearing in mind the following contributions it intends to achieve: To the best knowledge of this researcher, this study is the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa and could inform policy makers in other ECMs about the costs, benefits and implementation challenges when companies are forced to adoption IFRS as a bases of financial reporting. The study is of tremendous use to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to evaluate the costs and benefits of its standards to companies and the implementation challenges to take steps to reduce the costs and challenges and improves on the benefits. This will help the IASB to achieve its aim of standardisation of financial reporting around the globe. The study could also help inform companies worldwide which decide to adopt IFRS voluntarily about the costs, benefits and implementation challenges before venturing into such initiative. 1.6 ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY This study has been structured into six chapters. The content of each chapter is detailed below: CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION The background of the study, which comprises the introduction, and the statement of the problem are stated. The appropriate research objectives and specific research questions used to achieve the objectives are specified. The contributions of the study are expressed. The chapter ends with the organization of the entire study. CHAPTER TWO: EMERGING CAPITAL MARKETS AND FINANCIAL REPORTING ENVIRONMENT IN GHANA This chapter starts with the discussion of emerging capital markets. Land and people of Ghana, the economy of Ghana, forms of business ownership, the evolution and the role of the Ghana Stock Exchange, and sources of financial reporting regulation in Ghana are covered in this chapter. The chapter ends with the summary of issues covered in the chapter. CHAPTER THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter discusses the role of capital markets, the importance of financial reporting in capital markets. The role of listed companies in promoting financial reporting, the history of the International Accounting Standards, recent trends towards worldwide adoption of IFRS, and the importance of IFRS adoption, prior empirical research, and gaps in the literature are covered under this chapter. All these are studied to put the topic in context. The chapter ends with a summary of the issues discussed. CHAPTER FOUR: METHODOLOGY The methods and techniques used to collect the data and their advantages and limitations are discussed. The issues studied in this chapter are: justification for the choice of Ghana, definition of the period studied, profiles of companies and research instruments. The primary data collected through questionnaire and interviews are quantified using descriptive statistics. The chapter ends with the summary of activities undertaken. CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS This chapter analyses and discusses the results obtained from the descriptive statistics conducted in previous chapter. CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION This chapter reminds of the research objective and questions studied including the procedure for data collection and analysis. The chapter presents the key findings of the study undertaken. The chapter also presents the limitation of the study and suggestions for future research. It ends with the coverage of the overall conclusion of the study. CHAPTER TWO COUNTRY PROFILE AND FINANCIAL REPORTING ENVIRONMENT IN GHANA 2.1 INTRODUCTION The environment within which a study is undertaken influences the methodology to be used and the weight readers should put on the conclusion drawn from the study. Therefore, understanding the social, political, cultural, and economic within which this study is undertaken is important. This chapter puts the research environment in context. The location and peoples of Ghana is provided in section 2.2. Section 2.3 presents political development in Ghana. Section 2.4 outlines the structure of the Ghanaian economy. The financial reporting system in Ghana is presented in section 2.5. Section 2.8 summaries the issues studied in the chapter. 2. THE LAND AND PEOPLE OF GHANA Ghana is sub-Saharan African country located along the Atlantic Ocean with a total land area of 238,539 square kilometres. Ghana shares borders with Togo, Cote dIvoire and Burkina Faso. There are ten regions in Ghana. These regions are broadly categorised into two: Northern and Southern sector. The major vegetation of the northern sector is savannah but the southern sector is predominantly rainforest belt. The population of the country as at the last population census in 2000 was 18.91 million with an annual growth rate since 1984 2000 of 2.7% (GSS.2007).The population density of the country is 79.3% with greater concentration in the southern part of the country. The temperature is generally between 21-32 °C (70-90 °F). The Ghana Statistical Service puts the literacy rate in the country at 34.2%. There are about 56 different languages in Ghana due to the many ethnic groups. The English language is the official language of the country. 3. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA Ghana was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence from the British in 6th March, 1957. Ghana became a republic in 1 July, 1960. Ghana is a member of many notable international organisations some of which are as follows: the Africa Union, the World Bank Group, the Commonwealth, ECOWAS, International Monetary Fund, Africa Development Bank, the African Peer Review Mechanism and the Economic community of West Africa States. Ghana after going through four successful coup dà ©tats return to democratic rule in 1992 under executive presidency. The nation has enjoyed an uninterrupted democratic regime since 1992. The last election of the country was held on the 7th of December 2008. National Democratic Congress, a party with social democratic ideology took over the reigns of government from the New Patriotic Party- a party with capitalist philosophy. Internationally, Ghana is seen as a beacon of hope on the continent of Africa because of her democratic credentials. 4. THE ECONOMY OF GHANA The economy of Ghana depends predominantly on agriculture, mining and quarrying and forestry. The economy has been designated in three major sector-agriculture, service and industrial sector. Agriculture is the main economic activity and currently accounts for about 34.3 of GDP, followed by 31.0% from the Services sector (GSS, 2007). Ghana relies mostly on Cocoa and Gold for its foreign currency earnings. The industrial sector contributes. Ghana has recently discovered oil in commercial quantities with first lifting expected in the year 2010. The GDP growth rate of the country between 2005 and 2008 are as follows: 5.9%, 6.4%, 6.3% and 7.2% percent respectively (World Bank, 2008). The currency of the country was re- denominated in July 1, 2007 by setting ten thousand Cedis to one Ghana Cedi. This was done to remove dead weight zeros of the old cedis as the volume and value of transaction keeps increasing to make recording easier (GOG, 2008). In 2007, Ghana successfully raised US $750M from the Euro Bond Market. The bond was oversubscribed by the international community. The oversubscription and the quality and internationality of the investors were attributed to the confidence of the international community in the Ghanaian economy (MoFEP, 2008). 5. FINANCIAL REPORTING ENVIRONMENT IN GHANA 2.5.1 Sources of Financial Reporting Regulation in Ghana The government and the private sector are responsible for financial reporting regulation in the country. The government exercise its responsibility through the department and the agencies under its purview namely: Registrar Generals Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, Bank of Ghana and the Insurance Commission. The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana) (ICAG) are the private sector institutions responsible for financial reporting regulation in the country. 2.5.2 The Registrar Generals Department (RGD) Every company in Ghana is expected to registrar with the Registrar of companies in accordance with the Companies Code 1963, Act 179. The Registrar Generals Department in Ghana is responsible for the issuance of certificate of incorporation and commence before a company can start its operating activities. Companies are expected to submit their annual account to the (RGD). The RGD has the power to exempt a company from disclosure requirements. 2.5.3 Bank of Ghana The Banking Law 1989, PNDC 225 gives the Central Bank, Bank of Ghana (BoG) an oversight responsibility over the banking and non-banking financial services institutions in Ghana. Banks and non-banking financial institutions are suppose to comply with financial reporting requirements in Ghana in addition to Manual of Accounting and Auditing specified by the BoG. The BoG regularly visits the banks and nonbanking institutions in the country. Financial and nonfinancial banking institutions are supposed to file their annual returns with the BoG. With the adoption of IFRS Ghana, banking and non-banking financial institutions are required to comply with IFRS in addition to the Accounting and Auditing Manual specified by the BoG and the requirements of the Companies Code 1963, Act 179. 2.5.4 Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service is empowered by the Government of Ghana to develop the forms and basis of taxation in Ghana. Taxes, which affect corporate financial reporting, are as follows: corporate tax, capital gains tax, stamp duty, gift tax and national reconstruction levy, value added tax and now the Economic Stabilisation Levy.The Customs Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS) levy imports and Exports duties on companies. 2.5.5 Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana) An Act of Parliament, Act 170, established the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) (Ghana) in 1963. The Act 170 empowers the ICA (Ghana) as the regulator of financial reporting in Ghana. The members of ICAG are only persons recognised under the Companies Code, Act 179, for the purpose of audit of companys account. Until the adoption of IFRS in Ghana, the Ghana Accounting Standards (GAS) that was in used was adaptation of the IASC standards after the each IASC standard was reviewed. The ICAG is a member of the International Federation of Accountants and Association of Accountancy Bodies in West Africa. 1. Ghana Companies Code 1963, Act 179 The companies code 1963, Act 179 prescribes the nature and form of information which must be provided in the annual reports and accounts of corporate entities in Ghana. The Companies Code defines annual reports and accounts as directors report, profit and loss accounts for a period, balance sheet as at the end of the period, notes to the accounts and the auditors report. Section 124 (1) enjoins directors of corporate entities to prepare and submit audited accounts to members and debenture holders every calendar year at intervals of not more than fifteen months. With the adoption of IFRS companies are required to comply with the requirements of the Companies Code in addition to the measure and disclosure requirements as specified by the IASB. In Ghana, failure to comply with the provisions of the Companies Code carries sanctions. 2.5.6 Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) was incorporated as a private company in 1989 under the Companies Code Act 179(GSE WEBSITE). Trading on the floor of the exchange commenced on November, 1990. There were thirty-five (34) companies listed on the GSE as at 31st December, 2008. Trust Bank Gambia Limited is only foreign issuer on the GSE. The total volume of shares traded on the exchange in the year 2008 were two hundred and six teen million, five hundred and eighty four thousand and six hundred (216,584,600). The year-to-date performance of the GSE as at 31st December, 2008 was 58.06%. The Stock Exchange Listing Regulation 1990, Legislative Instrument No.1509 instructs listed companies to make additional disclosure in their annual reports regarding the number shares and stated capital, information about the company secretary and registrars, transactions with directors, statement of source and application of funds, interim reports and unaudited report to the GSE prior to the submission of a udited annual reports. The role of the GSE is to win the confidence of the investing public (internal and external), protect investors and encourage companies to raise funds through the equity and debt markets. Therefore, IFRS which has been perceived by the IASB to be a high quality accounting standards will help the GSE in their quest to build confidence and protect investors. The focus of this study is the impact of this perceived high quality standards on listed companies in Ghana which to the best knowledge of this researcher has not yet been studied. 2.5.7 International Financial Reporting Standards With the adoption of IFRS in Ghana, listed companies are require to comply with the measurement, presentation and the disclosure requirements of applicable standards in addition to the requirements of the Companies Code 1963 Act 179 and the Banking Law 1989. 6. Summary Globalisation of businesses and integration of capital markets of which GSE is part, makes it imperative that financial reporting practices of listed companies should be reliable, relevant, verifiable, comparable and confirm with international financial reporting standards. Financial reporting is affected by the social, political and economic environment within which its operates. This chapter discussed the country profile of Ghana and the financial reporting environment in Ghana. The next chapter reviews the literature. CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 3.1 INTRODUCTION The issues studied in this chapter include conceptual issues and theoretical framework on the impact of IFRS adoption on companies. Specifically, the issues studied include, the meaning and history of international financial reporting standards, IFRS adoption around the world, the role of capital markets, the relevance of IFRS to emerging capital market and theoretical framework on the impact of IFRS on companies. 3.2 HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING FINANCIAL STANDARDS BOARD (IASB) The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is private non-profit making organisation responsible for the development, issuance and approval of accounting standards to form the basis of financial reporting. The objective of the IASB is to, â€Å"provide the worlds capital markets with a single set of high quality accounting standards to be used as a common language for financial reporting† (IASB. org). The IASB came into effect in 2001 to replace the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC).The IASC was formed by a group of professional accountants from nine countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, United Kingdom/Ireland, and the United States of America) in 1973. Sir Henry Benson, who put forward a proposal for the formation of IASC at the 10th World Congress of Accountants in 1972, was elected the first chair in 1973 (IASPLUS.org). The immediate tasks of the IASC were the development of accounting standards on accounting policies, inventories, and financial statements. The IASC issued its first accounting standards in I975. The accounting standards developed and issued by the IASC were called the International Accounting Standards (IAS). These accounting standards are still in used today. The IASB and its predecessor lack the power and authority to ensure that companies that adopt their them are complying with their standards. They rel y on national standard setters to ensure that companies comply with their standards. 3.3 THE MEANING OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS Accounting standards are a set of rules, regulation, and convention that guide the preparation of financial statements and financial reports. Accounting standards form the basis for the preparation and auditing of corporate annual report. Accounting standards are developed based on conceptual framework and in the case of the IASB the ‘due process. Conceptual framework for the preparation of account has been described as a constitution (FASB, 1976; Miller, 1985; Solomon, 1986) which forms the basis for developing accounting standards. Conceptual framework are developed to guide standard setters to ensure consistency in issuing future standards and as a guide in settling accounting issues in situations where there are no accounting standard ( IAS.PLUS.org). The conceptual framework defines the elements in the financial statements, how they are recognised, measured and presented which serve as a point of reference to management in situations where there are no accounting standards (IAS. 8). Conceptual framework is not an accounting standard in itself. In situation where there is a clash between a particular standard and conceptual framework, the interpretation of the accounting standard supersedes that of the conceptual framework. The development of accounting standard undergoes several stages before it is published. The process through which a project undergoes before it is finally issued or rejected through voting is known ‘Due Process. ‘Due Process allows interest groups (preparers, users, auditors, analyst, academia etc) to take part in the standard setting process through the submission of comments. In spite of the democratic nature of the standard setting process, prior research document intense lobbying by constituents of the standards setters (see Zeff, 2002; Georgiou, 2004; Cortese et al, 2006). Accounting standards can at best be thought of as a compromise between competing constituents. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are developed and issued by the IASB. The standards issued by the IASC are called International Accounting Standards (IAS). IFRS has both narrow and broad meaning (IAS PL US.org). In the narrow sense, IFRS refers to the sets of new standards issued by the IASB different from the previous standards (IASs) issued by the IASC. The IASB has issued eight new standards (IFRS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8) since 2001. Broadly, IAS 1.11 defines IFRS as the entire standards (IFRSs and IASs) as issued by the IASB and IASC respectively and the interpretations issued by the International Standards Interpretation Committee (IFRIC) and the Standards Interpretation Committee (SIC). 3.4 IFRS ADOPTION AROUND THE WORLDWIDE IFRS has gained acceptance as a single set financial reporting standards in countries around the world. Deloitte (2008) suggests that globalisation of capital markets have created the need to scrap local standards in favour of international standards and benchmarks and attributed IFRS adoption as single set of global accounting standards as the best example towards this end. Deloitte asserts that more than hundred (100) countries have adopted IFRS for financial reporting but others including (Chile, Korea, Brazil, India, and Canada) have agreed to adopt or converge to IFRS by 2011. Chile and Japan have agreed to work the IASB to eliminate the difference between their local GAAP and the IFRS to ensure convergence. The European Union (EU) in 2002 mandated all listed companies within the EU to issue financial report using IFRS beginning 2005 (EC No. 1606/2002). This applies to new countries that will be admitted to the EU membership. This development made the EU the largest customer of the IASB because no continent had and have still not taking such bold initiative. Even though IFRS is mandatory for all listed companies in the EU, the EU does not issue blanket adoption of the standards issued by the IASB. The Accounting Regulatory Committee (ARC) within the European Commission must endorse the standards before they become applicable in the EU. This endorsement process confers political power on EU over the IASB (Whittington, 2005) at least for now. This power would dwindle if the largest capital market of the world, the United States, eventually adopts IASB standards, which has started with the removal of reconciliation requirements ( ) for non-US issuers who issue financial report based on IFRS . In 1993, the IOSOC tasked the IASC to develop ‘core standards to be used for cross boarder listing after the existing standards had been reviewed. The core standards were issued in 1999 and the IOSCO recommended its members to use IASC for cross boarder listing in the year 2000 (IASPLUS.com). Many countries have adopted IFRS due to their association affiliation with politically powerful bodies and their agents, which offer a great deal of assistance, which could be financial, training, trade partnership etc. Ghana perhaps allowed IFRS for financial reporting due to its affiliation with the IFAC (World Bank, 2006) and mandatorily adopted IFRS in 2007 after the recommendation by the World Bank in 2006. The United States, which would, perhaps be the last country to adopt IFRS, has taken a giant step towards converging the US GAAP with the International Accounting Standards Boards. The US SEC has removed the requirements, which ensures that foreign issuers who report based on IFRS reconcile their financial statement with that of the US (SEC, 2007 A.III.2). The US SEC has developed seven milestones, which must be achieved in order for the SEC to determine in 2011 whether IFRS should be mandatory for US issuers in their filings with the SEC in 2014 (SEC, 2008). When the US finally adopts IFRS it would become the language for reporting as other countries would be attracted to do so (Tweedie, refer to assignment). This development when actualised will lead to global convergence, which has been the long cherished vision of the IASC (now IASB) since its creation in 1973 (Benson, 73; IASB, 2003). IFRS adoption can come in many forms and shapes. Some countries (e.g. South Africa, Ghana) have adopted IFRS without modificat

Eating Disorders - Body Image in the Media Essay -- Argumentative Pers

Body Image in the Media      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Plato once said, "We behold beauty in the eye of the mind...." What some people consider beauty others may not. From the actresses that are shown on television, movies, models that are in magazines, and the pop stars that create hip and modern music videos, one could be under the impression that to be beautiful you must thin. Actresses such as Jennifer Aniston, Sarah Michelle Gheller, Clarista Flockheart, Courtney Cox and Debra Messing all have staring roles in their own television shows and are all extremely thin. The audiences of these shows being mostly women and adolescent girls, what kind of message about body image are they sending out?    The stars of Hollywood are considered to be the most beautiful and elegant in the world. A vast majority of the population wants to have their bodies resemble those of the stars. These women and girls will go to extreme lengths have this happen. What these women don't understand is, these actresses have professionals to help them look "beautiful." They have professional hair and makeup artists, fashion experts to help them dress, and lighting experts to make the women glow on the screen. These actresses and models will go through painful plastic surgeries to enhance their "beauty" because they feel as though they are not beautiful enough. "Fashion magazines are filled with air brushed photos of emaciated models with breast implants" (Schneider, Shelly 2). Not even famous actresses feel as though they are beautiful enough. "I have never worked with a beautiful young woman who thought she was A) beautiful or B) thin enough." (Schumacher 1) This director, Joel Schumacher, has worked wit h actresses like Demi Moore, Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock. ... ...the women who aren't on television really do have it easier. Women who are not in the spotlight don't have to worry about thousands to millions of people looking and analyzing them. Women who are not in the spotlight do not having people telling them they are over weight or not pretty enough to be televised. All females should appreciate each other for the special features that each of us possesses. If we could focus on the positive instead of the negative maybe we could go help the problem of people having low self-esteem and body issues.    Work Cited "Children, Adolescents, and Television." Pediatrics. 107. (2001): 423-427 Erokan, Laney. "Negative Body Image Influences Eating Disorders." Lycos Network. 30 Aug. 2000. <http://www.studentadvantage.lycos.com> Schenider, Karen S. Shelley Levitt. "Mission Impossible." People. 3 June 1996. : 64-73

Mancuse Illustrations

Today technology has taken over just about every aspect of our daily lives. According to some this is a good thing because it makes our lives easier and more efficient. For others it is not so great for some of the same reasons that its proponents support it. Technology, and more specifically technological progress have lead us down a road full of contradictions, which is especially true in the area of liberty. It has programmed us to believe that there is another set of primary needs that join the likes of food, clothing, and shelter. If we continue down this road there will come a day when the wireless phone will join this list. Has there been an increase in the scope of societies control over the individual by way of technology? I believe, as does Mancuse, that as opposed to controlling social forces by way of terror, which was used in totalitarian governments of the past, we now use technology. How is technology used to accomplish this? Technology promises greater efficiency and an increased standard of living. These are two things that cause us to become slaves, because things are never efficient enough and we always want more money. Therefore, we can begin to see how in our society the technical apparatus becomes totalitarian. Mancuse illustrates this point by explaining how technology determines not only the socially needed occupations, skills, but also â€Å"individual needs and aspirations.† It is one thing for socially needed occupations to be affected; however, when our private existence threatened the issue becomes totally different. Does technical progress destroy the opposition between public and private existence? I would say that it most certainly does. Our private space has been attacked and arguably destroyed. Mancuse argues that due to the effects of mass production and scientific management we react in a mechanical fashion. This is perhaps most evident the way that technical progress manipulates our â€Å"needs†. Simply because progress is made, it does not mean that it has become a fundamental need. Mancuse breaks up our needs into both true and false. The false needs are the ones that are being imposed on the individual by particular social interests. One might argue that we should be able to distinguish between the two. However, this is very difficult when they are seen as â€Å"desirable and necessary to the prevailing societal institutions and interests.† As the title of the book suggests we are becoming, if we are not already, one-dimensional. We are losing our private self. We can only operate in a way that has been manipulated through the exploitation of technical progress. How does technology promote social control? â€Å"Social control is anchored in the new needs which it has produced.† In addition to this statement we can also look to one of the greatest of all evils, the division of labor. The division of labor turns the individual into a mere cog in the great machine that is our society. There is no better example of the mechanization of the human being. There is no soul in this type of system, which means that there can be no true gratification. Furthermore, it creates a sense of everyone having to be the same, which is exactly how people are controlled. Any type of refusal to go along with the group is looked down upon, causing some to simply get back in line and others to feel impotent. This is further proof that we have lost our private space. Is technology acting independently? Mancuse argues that one-dimensional thought is â€Å"systematically promoted by the makers of politics and their purveyors of mass information.† I believe that what Mancuse is trying to get at here and in the rest of the chapter is that this closing of a dimension is being done behind our backs. For example, the American Revolution occurred because of the colonists feeling that they were being treated unfairly. They knew that they were not properly represented in parliament so they reacted. In the case of losing a dimension things become much more abstract. We have been and continue to be duped by the makers of politics. Unfortunately, these people are not operating in a way that provokes revolution as opposed to the actions of Great Britain towards the colonies. Overall, I believe that we as an industrialized society have tricked. Tricked into believing that we need certain things. Tricked into giving up our private selves. Tricked into allowing technology to dominate us. Most of us have truly become one-dimensional men. There is no longer a distinction between public and private because we all act the same. We are just parts of a machine that could not work without us, but we are blind to what has happened because it was all done in a way that does not provoke.

Intimately oppressed Essay

Chapter 6: THE INTIMATELY OPPRESSED It is possible. reading standard histories. to bury half the population of the state. The adventurers were work forces. the landowners and merchandisers work forces. the political leaders work forces. the military figures work forces. The really invisibleness of adult females. the overlooking of adult females. is a mark of their submersed position. In this invisibleness they were something like black slaves ( and therefore break one's back adult females faced a dual subjugation ) . The biological singularity of adult females. like skin colour and facial features for Negroes. became a footing for handling them as inferiors. True. with adult females. there was something more practically of import in their biological science than skin color-their place as childbearers-but this was non plenty to account for the general push backward for all of them in society. even those who did non bear kids. or those excessively immature or excessively old for that. It seems that their physical features became a convenience for work forces. who could utilize. feat. and cherish person who was at the same clip retainer. comrade. and bearer-teacher-warden of his kids. Societies based on private belongings and competition. in which monogamous households became practical units for work and socialisation. found it particularly utile to set up this particular position of adult females. something kindred to a house slave in the affair of familiarity and subjugation. and yet necessitating. because of that familiarity. and long-run connexion with kids. a particular patronization. which on juncture. particularly in the face of a show of strength. could steal over into intervention as an equal. An subjugation so private would turn out difficult to deracinate. Earlier societies-in America and elsewhere-in which belongings was held in common and households were extended and complicated. with aunts and uncles and grandmas and grampss all life together. seemed to handle adult females more as peers than did the white societies that subsequently overran them. conveying â€Å"civilization† and private belongings. In the Zuni folk of the Southwest. for case. extended families- big clans-were based on the adult female. whose hubby came to populate with her household. It was assumed that adult females owned the houses. and the Fieldss belonged to the kins. and the adult females had equal rights to what was produced. A adult female was more unafraid. because she was with her ain household. and she could disassociate the adult male when she wanted to. maintaining their belongings. Womans in the Plains Indian folk of the Midwest did non hold farming responsibilities but had a really of import topographic point in the folk as therapists. herb doctors. and sometimes holy people who gave advice. When bands lost their male leaders. adult females would go captains. Womans learned to hit little bows. and they carried knives. because among the Sioux a adult female was supposed to be able to support herself against onslaught. The pubescence ceremonial of the Sioux was such as to give pride to a immature Sioux maiden: â€Å"Walk the good route. my girl. and the American bison herds broad and dark as cloud shadows traveling over the prairie will follow you†¦ . Be duteous. respectful. gentle and modest. my girl. And proud walking. If the pride and the virtuousness of the adult females are lost. the spring will come but the American bison trails will turn to grass. Be strong. with the warm. strong bosom of the Earth. No people goes down until their adult females are weak and discredited. . . . It would be an hyperbole to state that adult females were treated every bit with work forces ; but they were treated with regard. and the communal nature of the society gave them a more of import topographic point. The conditions under which white colonists came to America created assorted state of affairss for adult females. Where the first colonies consisted about wholly of work forces. adult females were imported as childbearers and comrades. In 1619. the twelvemonth that the first black slaves came to Virginia. 90 adult females arrived at Jamestown on one ship: â€Å"Agreeable individuals. immature and incorrupt†¦ sold with their ain consent to colonists as married womans. the monetary value to be the cost of their ain transit. † Many adult females came in those early old ages as apprenticed servants- frequently teenaged girls-and lived lives non much different from slaves. except that the term of service had an terminal. They were to be obedient to Masterss and kept womans. The writers of Americans Working Women ( Baxandall. Gordon. and Reverby ) describe the state of affairs: â€Å"They were ill paid and frequently treated impolitely and harshly. deprived of good nutrient and privateness. Of class these awful conditions provoked opposition. Populating in separate households without much contact with others in their place. apprenticed retainers had one primary way of opposition unfastened to them: inactive opposition. seeking to make every bit small work as possible and to make troubles for their Masterss and kept womans. Of class the Masterss and kept womans did non construe it that manner. but saw the hard behaviour of their retainers as moroseness. indolence. malignity and stupidity. † For case. the GeneralCourt of Connecticut in 1645 ordered that a certain â€Å"Susan C. . for her rebellious passenger car toward her kept woman. to be sent to the house of rectification and be kept to hard labour and harsh diet. to be brought away the following talk twenty-four hours to be publically corrected. and so to be corrected hebdomadal. until order be given to the contrary. † Even free white adult females. non brought as retainers or slaves but as married womans of the early colonists. faced particular adversities. Eighteen married adult females came over on the Mayflower. Three were pregnant. and one of them gave birth to a dead kid before they landed. Childbirth and illness plagued the adult females ; by the spring. merely four of those 18 adult females were still alive. Those who lived. sharing the work of constructing a life in the wilderness with their work forces. were frequently given a particular regard because they were so severely needed. And when work forces died. adult females frequently took up the men’s work every bit good. All through the first century and more. adult females on the American frontier seemed close to equality with their work forces. But all adult females were burdened with thoughts carried over from England with thesettlers. influenced by Christian instructions. English jurisprudence was summarized in a papers of 1632 entitled â€Å"The Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights† : In this consolidation which we call marriage is a locking together. It is true. that adult male and married woman are one individual. but understand in what mode. When a little Brooke or small river incorporateth with Rhodanus. Humber. or the Thames. the hapless rill looseth her name†¦ . A adult female every bit shortly as she is married is called covert †¦ that is. â€Å"veiled† ; as it were. clouded and overshadowed ; she hath lost her family name. I may more genuinely. farre off. say to a married adult female. Her new ego is her superior ; her comrade. her maestro. . . . Julia Spruill describes the woman’s legal state of affairs in the colonial period: †The husband’s control over the wife’s individual extended to the right of giving her castigation. . . . But he was non entitled to bring down lasting hurt or decease on his married woman. . . . † As for belongings:â€Å"Besides absolute ownership of his wife’s personal belongings and a life estate in her lands. the hubby took any other income that might be hers. He collected rewards earned by her labour. . . . Naturally it followed that the returns of the joint labour of hubby and married woman belonged to the hubby. † The father’s place in the household was expressed in The Spectator. an influential periodical in America and England: â€Å"Nothing is more satisfying to the head of adult male than power or rule ; and †¦ as I am the male parent of a household †¦ I am perpetually taken up in giving out orders. in ordering responsibilities. in hearing parties. in administrating justness. and in administering wagess and punishments†¦ . In short. sir. I look upon my household as a patriarchal sovereignty in which I am myself both king and priest. † No admiration that Puritan New England carried over this subjugation of adult females. At a test of a adult female for make bolding to kick about the work a carpenter had done for her. one of the powerful church male parents of Boston. the Reverend John Cotton. said: â€Å" . . . that the hubby should obey his married woman. and non the married woman the hubby. that is a false rule. For God hath put another jurisprudence upon adult females: married womans. be capable to your hubbies in all things. † A best-selling â€Å"pocket book. † published in London. was widely read in the American settlements in the 1700s. It was called Advice to a Daughter: You must first put it down for a Foundation in general. That there is Inequality in Sexes. and that for the better Economy of the World ; the Men. who were to be the Law-givers. had the larger portion of Reason bestow’d upon them ; by which means your Sexual activity is the better prepar’d for the Conformity that is necessary for the public presentation of those Duties which seem’d to be most properly assign’d to it†¦ . Your Sexual activity wanteth our Reason for your Conduct. and our Strength for your Protection: Ours wanteth your Gendeness to soften. and to entertain us. †¦ Against this powerful instruction. it is singular that adult females however rebelled. Women Rebels have ever faced particular disablements: they live under the day-to-day oculus of their maestro ; and they are stray one from the other in families. therefore losing the day-to-day chumminess which has given bosom to Rebels of other laden groups. Anne Hutchinson was a spiritual adult female. female parent of 13 kids. and knowing about mending with herbs. She defied the church male parents in the early old ages of the Massachusetts Bay Colony by take a firm standing that she. and other ordinary people. could construe the Bible for themselves. A good talker. she held meetings to which more and more adult females came ( and even a few work forces ) . and shortly groups of 60 or more were garnering at her place in Boston to listen to her unfavorable judgments of local curates. John Winthrop. the governor. described her as â€Å"a adult female of a haughty and ferocious passenger car. of a agile humor and active spirit. and a really voluble lingua. more bold than a adult male. though in apprehension and opinion. inferior to many adult females. † Anne Hutchinson was put on test twice: by the church for unorthodoxy. and by the authorities for disputing their authorization. At her civil test she was pregnant and ill. but they did non let her to sit down until she was close to prostration. At her spiritual test she was interrogated for hebdomads. and once more she was ill. but challenged her inquirers with adept cognition O f the Bible and singular fluency. When eventually she repented in composing. they were non satisfied. They said: â€Å"Her penitence is non in her visage. † She was banished from the settlement. and when she left for Rhode Island in 1638. 35 households followed her. Then she went to the shores of Long Island. where Indians who had been defrauded of their land thought she was one of their enemies ; they killed her and her household. Twenty old ages subsequently. the one individual back in Massachusetts Bay who had spoken up for her during her test. Mary Dyer. was hanged by the authorities of the settlement. along with two other Religious society of friendss. for â€Å"rebellion. sedition. and assumptive push outing themselves. † It remained rare for adult females to take part openly in public personal businesss. although on the southern and western frontiers conditions made this on occasion possible. Julia Spruill found in Georgia’s early records the narrative of Mary Musgrove Mathews. girl of an Indian female parent and an English male parent. who could talk the Creek linguistic communication and became an advisor on Indian personal businesss to Governor James Oglethorpe of Georgia. Spruill finds that as the communities became more settled. adult females were thrust back further from public life and seemed to act more trepidly than earlier. One request: â€Å"It is non the state of our sex to ground profoundly upon the policy of the order. † During the Revolution. nevertheless. Spruill studies. the necessities of war brought adult females out into public personal businesss. Women formed loyal groups. carried out anti-British actions. wrote articles for independency. They were active in the run against the British tea revenue enhancement. which made tea monetary values unacceptably high. They organized Daughters of Liberty groups. boycotting British goods. pressing adult females to do their ain apparels and purchase merely American-made things. In 1777 there was a women’s opposite number to the Boston lea Party-a â€Å"coffee party. † described by Abigail Adams in a missive to her hubby John: One eminent. wealthy. ungenerous merchandiser ( who is a unmarried man ) had a hogshead of java in his shop. which he refused to sell the commission under six shillings per lb. A figure of females. some say a 100. some say more. assembled with a cart and short pantss. marched down to the warehouse. and demanded the keys. which he refused to present. Upon which one of them seized him by his cervix and tossed him into the cart. Upon his happening no one-fourth. he delivered the keys when they tipped up the cart and discharged him ; so opened the warehouse. hoisted out the java themselves. set it into the short pantss and drove off. †¦ A big multitude of work forces stood amazed. soundless witnesss of the whole dealing. It has been pointed out by adult females historiographers late that the parts of propertyless adult females in the American Revolution have been largely ignored. unlike the genteel married womans of the leaders ( Dolly Madison. Martha Washington. Abigail Adams ) . Margaret Corbin. called â€Å"Dirty Kate. † Deborah Sampson Garnet. and â€Å"Molly Pitcher† were unsmooth. low-class adult females. prettified into ladies by historiographers. When women's rightist urges are recorded. they are. about ever. the Hagiographas of privileged adult females who had some position from which to talk freely. more chance to compose and hold their Hagiographas recorded. Abigail Adams. even before the Declaration of Independence. in March of 1776. wrote to her hubby: †¦ in the new codification of Torahs which I suppose it will be necessary for you to do. I desire you would retrieve the ladies. and be more generous to them than your ascendants. Do non set such limitless power in the custodies of hubbies. Remember. all work forces would be autocrats if they could. If peculiar attention and attending are non paid to the ladies. we are determined to agitate a rebellion. and will non keep ourselves jump to obey the Torahs in which we have no voice of representation. However. Jefferson underscored his phrase â€Å"all work forces are created equal† by his statement that American adult females would be â€Å"too wise to purse their brows with political relations. † And after the Revolution. none of the new province fundamental laws granted adult females the right to vote. except for New Jersey. and that province rescinded the right in 1807. New York’s fundamental law specifically disfranchised adult females by utilizing the word â€Å"male. † While possibly 90 per centum of the white male population were literate around 1750. merely 40 per centum of the adult females were. Propertyless adult females had small agencies of pass oning. and no agencies of entering whatever sentiments of defiance they may hold felt at their subordination. Not merely were they bearing kids in great Numberss. under great adversities. but they were working in the place. Around the clip of the Declaration of Independence. four 1000 adult females and kids in Philadelphia were whirling at place for local workss under the â€Å"putting out† system. Womans besides were tradesmans and hosts and engaged in many trades. They were bakers. tinworkers. beer makers. sixpences. rope-makers. lumbermans. pressmans. undertakers. woodsmans. stay-makers. and more. Ideas of female equality were in the air during and after the Revolution. Tom Paine spoke out for the equal rights of adult females. And the pioneering book of Mary Wollstonecraft in England. A Vindication of the Rights of Women. was reprinted in the United States shortly after the Revolutionary War. Wollstonecraft was reacting to the English conservative and opposition of the Gallic Revolution. Edmund Burke. who had written in his Contemplations on the Revolution in France that â€Å"a adult female is but an animate being. and an carnal non of the highest order. † She wrote: I wish to carry adult females to endeavour to get strength. both of head and organic structure. and to convert them that soft phrases. susceptibleness of bosom. daintiness of sentiment. and polish of gustatory sensation. are about synonymous with names of failing. and that those existences who are merely the objects of commiseration and that sort of love. . . will shortly go objects of disdain. . . . I wish to demo that the first object of commendable aspiration is to obtain a character as a human being. regardless of the differentiation of sex. Between the American Revolution and the Civil War. so many elements of American society were changing-the growing of population. the motion due west. the development of the mill system. enlargement of political rights for white work forces. educational growing to fit the new economic needs-that alterations were bound to take topographic point in the state of affairs of adult females. In preindustrial America. the practical demand for adult females in a frontier society had produced some step of equality ; adult females worked at of import jobs-publishing newspapers. pull offing tanneries. maintaining tap houses. prosecuting in skilled work. In certain professions. like obstetrics. they had a monopoly. Nancy Cott Tells of a grandma. Martha Moore Ballard. on a farm in Maine in 1795. who â€Å"baked and brewed. pickled and preserved. spun and sewed. made soap and dipped candles† and who. in 25 old ages as a accoucheuse. delivered more than a 1000 babes. Since instruction took topographic point inside the household. adult females had a particular function at that place. There was complex motion in different waies. Now. adult females were being pulled out of the house and into industrial life. while at the same clip there was force per unit area for adult females to remain place where they were more easy controlled. The outside universe. interrupting into the solid cell of the place. created frights and tensenesss in the dominant male universe. and brought away ideological controls to replace the relaxation household controls: the thought of â€Å"the woman’s topographic point. † promulgated by work forces. was accepted by many adult females. As the economic system developed. work forces dominated as mechanics and shopkeepers. and aggressiveness became more and more defined as a male trait. Women. possibly exactly because more of them were traveling into the unsafe universe outside. were told to be inactive. Clothing manners developed- for the rich and in-between category of class. but. as ever. there was the bullying of manner even for the poor-in which the weight of women’s apparels. girdles and half-slips. emphasized female separation from the universe of activity. It became of import to develop a set of thoughts. taught in church. in school. and in the household. to maintain adult females in their topographic point even as that topographic point became more and more unsettled. Barbara Welter ( Dimity Convictions ) has shown how powerful was the â€Å"cult of true womanhood† in the old ages after 1820. The adult female was expected to be pious. A adult male composing in The Ladies’ Repository: â€Å"Religion is precisely what a adult female needs. for it gives her that self-respect that bests suits her dependance. † Mrs. John Sandford. in her book Woman. in Her Social and Domestic Character. said: â€Å"Religion is merely what adult female needs. Without it she is of all time ungratified or unhappy. † When Amelia Bloomer in 1851 suggested in her feminist publication that adult females wear a sort of short skirt and bloomerss. to free themselves from the burdens of traditional frock. this was attacked in the popular women’s literature. One narrative has a miss look up toing the â€Å"bloomer† costume. but her professor admonishes her that they are â€Å"only one of the many manifestations of that wild spirit of socialism and agricultural radicalism which is at present so rife in our land. † In The Young Lady’s Book of 1830: â€Å" . . . in whatever state of affairs of life a adult female is placed from her cradle to her grave. a spirit of obeisance and entry. bendability of pique. and humbleness of head. are required from her. † And one adult female wrote. in 1850. in the book Greenwood Leaves: â€Å"True feminine mastermind is of all time timid. doubtful. and clingingly dependent ; a ageless childhood. † Another book. Remembrances of a Southern Matron: â€Å"If any wont of his irritated me. I spoke of it one time or twice. calmly. so bore it softly. † Giving adult females â€Å"Rules for Conjugal and Domestic Happiness. † one book ended with: â€Å"Do non anticipate excessively much. † The woman’s occupation was to maintain the place cheerful. keep faith. he nurse. cook. cleansing agent. dressmaker. flower organizer. A adult female shouldn’t read excessively much. and certain books should be avoided. When Harriet Martineau. a reformist of the 1830s. wrote Society in America. one referee suggested it he kept off from adult females: â€Å"Such reading will faze them for their true station and chases. and they will throw the universe back once more into confusion. † Womans were besides urged. particularly since they had the occupation of educating kids. to he loyal. One women’s magazine offered a award to the adult female who wrote the best essay on â€Å"How May an American Woman Best Show Her Patriotism. † It was in the 1820s and 1830s. Nancy Cott tells us ( The Bonds of Womanhood ) . that there was an spring of novels. verse forms. essays. discourses. and manuals on the household. kids. and women’s function. The universe exterior was going harder. more commercial. more demanding. In a sense. the place carried a yearning for some Utopian yesteryear. some safety from immediateness. Possibly it made credence of the new economic system easier to be able to see it as lone portion of life. with the place a oasis. In 1819. one pious married woman wrote: â€Å" . . . the air of the universe is toxicant. You must transport an counterpoison with you. or the infection will turn out foetal. † All this was non. as Cott points out. to dispute the universe of commercialism. industry. competition. capitalist economy. but to do it more toothsome. The cult of domesticity for the adult female was a manner of lenifying her with a philosophy of â€Å"separate but equal†-giving her work every bit every bit of import as the man’s. but separate and different. Inside that â€Å"equality† there was the fact that the adult female did non take her mate. and one time her matrimony took topographic point. her life was determined. One miss wrote in 1791: â€Å"The dice is about to be cast which will likely find the hereafter felicity or wretchedness of my life†¦ . I have ever anticipated the event with a grade of sedateness about equal to that which will end my present being. † Marriage enchained. and kids doubled the ironss. One adult female. composing in 1813: â€Å"The thought of shortly giving birth to my 3rd kid and the attendant responsibilities I shall he called to dispatch hurts me so I feel as if I should drop. † This despondence was lightened by the idea that something of import was given the adult female to make: to leave to her kids the moral values of self- restraint and promotion through single excellence instead than common action. The new political orientation worked ; it helped to bring forth the stableness needed by a turning economic system. But its really being showed that other currents were at work. non easy contained. And giving the adult female her sphere created the possibility that she might utilize that infinite. that clip. to fix for another sort of life. The â€Å"cult of true womanhood† could non wholly wipe out what was seeable as grounds of woman’s low-level position: she could non vote. could non have belongings ; when she did work. her rewards were one-fourth to one-half what work forces earned in the same occupation. Womans were excluded from the professions of jurisprudence and medical specialty. from colleges. from the ministry. Puting all adult females into the same category-giving them all the same domestic domain to cultivate- created a categorization ( by sex ) which blurred the lines of category. as Nancy Cott points out. However. forces were at work to maintain raising the issue of category. Samuel Slater had introduced industrial whirling machinery in New England in 1789. and now there was a demand for immature girls-literally. â€Å"spinsters†-to work the spinning machinery in mills. In 1814. the power loom was introduced in Waltham. Massachusetts. and now all the operations needed to turn cotton fiber into fabric were under one roof. The new fabric mills fleetly multiplied. with adult females 80 to 90 per centum of their operatives-most of these adult females between 15 and 30. Some of the earliest industrial work stoppages took topographic point in these fabric Millss in the 1830s. Eleanor Flexner ( A Century of Struggle ) gives figures that suggest why: women’s day-to-day mean net incomes in 1836 were less than 371/2 cents. and 1000s earned 25 cents a twenty-four hours. working 12 to sixteen hours a twenty-four hours. In Pawtucket. Rhode Island. in 1824. came the first known work stoppage of adult females factory workers ; 202 adult females joined work forces in protesting a pay cut and longer hours. but they met individually. Four old ages subsequently. adult females in Dover. New Hampshire. struck entirely. And in Lowell. Massachusetts. in 1834. when a immature adult female was fired from her occupation. other misss left their looms. one of them so mounting the town pump and devising. harmonizing to a newspaper study. â€Å"a flaring Mary Wollstonecraft address on the rights of adult females and the wickednesss of the ‘moneyed aristocracyà ¢â‚¬â„¢ which produced a powerful consequence on her hearers and they determined to hold their ain manner. if they died for it. † A diary kept by an unsympathetic occupant of Chicopee. Massachusetts. recorded an event of May 2. 1843: Great turnout among the misss. . . after breakfast this forenoon a emanation preceded by a painted window drape for a streamer went round the square. the figure 16. They shortly came by once more. . . so numbered forty-four. They marched around a piece and so dispersed. After dinner they sallied Forth to the figure of 42 and marched around to Cabot. †¦ They marched around the streets making themselves no recognition. †¦ There were work stoppages in assorted metropoliss in the 1840s. more hawkish than those early New England â€Å"turnouts. † but largely unsuccessful. A sequence of work stoppages in the Allegheny Millss near Pittsburgh demanded a shorter working day. Several times in those work stoppages. adult females armed with sticks and rocks broke through the wooden Gatess of a fabric factory and stopped the looms. Catharine Beecher. a adult female reformist of the clip. wrote about the mill system: Let me now present the facts I learned by observation or enquiry on the topographic point. I was at that place in mid- winter. and every forenoon I was awakened at five. by the bells naming to labour. The clip allowed for dressing and breakfast was so short. as many told me. that both were performed hastily. and so the work at the factory was begun by lamplight. and prosecuted without remittal boulder clay 12. and chiefly in a standing place. Then half an hr merely allowed for dinner. from which the clip for traveling and returning was deducted. Then back to the Millss. to work till seven o’clock. †¦ it must be remembered that all the hours of labour are spent in suites where oil lamps. togedier with from 40 to 80 individuals. are wash uping the healthful rule of the air †¦ and where the air is loaded with atoms of cotton thrown from 1000s of cards. spindles. and looms. Middle-class adult females. barred from higher instruction. began to monopolise the profession of primary-school instruction. As instructors. they read more. communicated more. and instruction itself became insurgent of old ways of believing. They began to compose for magazines and newspapers. and started some ladies’ publications. Literacy among adult females doubled between 1780 and 1840. Women became wellness reformists. They formed motions against dual criterions in sexual behaviour and the victimization of cocottes. They joined in spiritual organisations. Some of the most powerful of them joined the antislavery motion. So. by the clip a clear women's rightist motion emerged in the 1840s. adult females had become adept o rganizers. fomenters. talkers. When Emma Willard addressed the New York legislative assembly in 1819 on the topic of instruction for adult females. she was beliing the statement made merely the twelvemonth before by Thomas Jefferson ( in a missive ) in which he suggested adult females should non read novels â€Å"as a mass of trash† with few exclusions. â€Å"For a similar ground. excessively. much poesy should non be indulged. † Female instruction should concentrate. he said. on â€Å"ornaments excessively. and the amusements of life. . . . These. for a female. are dancing. pulling. and music. † Emma Willard told the legislative assembly that the instruction of adult females â€Å"has been excessively entirely directed to suit them for exposing to advantage the appeals of young person and beauty. † The job. she said. was that â€Å"the gustatory sensation of work forces. whatever it might go on to be. has been made into a criterion for the formation of the female character. † Reason and faith teach us. she said. that â€Å"we excessively are primary beings †¦ non the orbiters of work forces. † In 1821. Willard founded the Troy Female Seminary. the first recognized establishment for the instruction of misss. She wrote subsequently of how she disquieted people by learning her pupils about the human organic structure: Mothers sing a category at the Seminary in the early mid-thirtiess were so shocked at the sight of a student pulling a bosom. arterias and venas on a chalkboard to explicate the circulation of the blood. that they left the room in shame and discouragement. To continue the modestness of the misss. and save them excessively frequent agitation. heavy paper was pasted over the pages in their text editions which depicted the human organic structure. Women struggled to come in the all-male professional schools. Dr. Harriot Hunt. a adult female doctor who began to pattern in 1835. was twice refused admittance to Harvard Medical School. But she carried on her pattern. largely among adult females and kids. She believed strongly in diet. exercising. hygiene. and mental wellness. She organized a Ladies Physiological Society in 1843 where she gave monthly negotiations. She remained individual. withstanding convention here excessively. Elizabeth Blackwell got her medical grade in 1849. holding overcome many slights before being admitted to Geneva College. She so set up the New York Dispensary for Poor Women and Children â€Å"to give to hapless adult females an chance of confer withing doctors of their ain sex. † In her first Annual Report. she wrote: My first medical audience was a funny experience. In a terrible instance of pneumonia in an aged lady I called in audience a kindhearted doctor of high standing. . . . This gentleman. after seeing the patient. went with me into the parlor. There he began to walk about the room in some agitation. crying. â€Å"A most extraordinary instance! Such a one ne'er happened to me before ; I truly do non cognize what to make! † I listened in surprise and much perplexity. as it was a clear instance of pneumonia and of no unusual grade of danger. until at last I discovered that his perplexity related to me. non to the patient. and to the properness of confer withing with a lady doctor! Oberlin College pioneered in the admittance of adult females. But the first miss admitted to the divinity school at that place. Antoinette Brown. who graduated in 1850. found that her name was left off the category list. With Lucy Stone. Oberlin found a formidable obstructionist. She was active in the peace society and in antislavery work. taught colored pupils. and organized a debating nine for misss. She was chosen to compose the beginning reference. so was told it would hold to be read by a adult male. She refused to compose it. Margaret Fuller was possibly the most formidable rational among the women's rightists. Her get downing point. in Woman in the Nineteenth Century. was the apprehension that â€Å"there exists in the heads of work forces a tone of experiencing toward adult female as toward slaves†¦ . † She continued: â€Å"We would hold every arbitrary harasser thrown down. We would hold every way unfastened to Woman every bit freely as to Man. † And: â€Å"What adult female needs is non as a adult female to move or govern. but as a nature to turn. as an mind to spot. as a psyche to populate freely and unimpeded. . . . † In the class of this work. events were set in gesture that carried the motion of adult females for their ain equality rushing alongside the motion against bondage. In 1840. a World Anti-Slavery Society Convention met in London. After a ferocious statement. it was voted to except adult females. but it was agreed they could go to meetings in a curtained enclosure. The adult females sat in soundless protest in the gallery. and William Lloyd Garrison. one emancipationist who had fought for the rights of adult females. Saturday with them. It was at that clip that Elizabeth Cady Stanton met Lucretia Mott and others. and began to put the programs that led to the first Women’s Rights Convention in history. It was held at Seneca Falls. New York. where Elizabeth Cady Stanton lived as a female parent. a homemaker. full of bitterness at her status. declaring: â€Å"A adult female is a cipher. A married woman is everything. † She wrote subsequently: I now to the full understood the practical troubles most adult females had to postulate with in the stray family. and the impossibleness of woman’s best development if. in contact. the main portion of her life. with retainers and kids. . . . The general discontent I felt with woman’s part as married woman. female parent. housekeeper. doctor. and religious usher. the helter-skelter status into which everything fell without her changeless supervising. and the jaded. dying expression of the bulk of adult females. impressed me with the strong feeling that some active steps should he taken to rectify the wrongs of society in general and of adult females in peculiar. My experiences at the World Anti-Slavery Convention. all I had read of the legal position of adult females. and the subjugation I saw everyplace. together swept across my soul†¦ . I could non see what to make or where to begin-my merely idea was a public meeting for protest and treatment. An proclamation was put in the Seneca County Courier naming for a meeting to discourse the â€Å"rights of woman† the 19th and 20th of July. Three hundred adult females and some work forces came. A Declaration of Principles was signed at the terminal of the meeting by 68 adult females and 32 work forces. It made usage of the linguistic communication and beat of the Declaration of Independence: When in the class of human events. it becomes necessary for one part of the household of adult male to presume among the people of the Earth a place different from that they have hitherto occupied †¦We clasp these truths to be axiomatic: that all work forces and adult females are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Godhead with certain unalienable rights ; dial among these are life. autonomy and the chase of felicity. . . . The history of world is a history of perennial hurts and trespasss on the portion of adult male toward adult female. holding in direct object the constitution of an absolute dictatorship over her. To turn out this. allow facts be submitted to a blunt universe. . . . Then came the list of grudges: no right to vote. no right to her rewards or to belongings. no rights in divorce instances. no equal chance in employment. no entryway to colleges. stoping with: â€Å"He had endeavored. in every manner that he could. to destruct her assurance in her ain powers. to decrease her self-respect and to do her willing to take a dependent and low life†¦ . † And so a series of declarations. including: â€Å"That all Torahs which prevent adult female from busying such a station in society as her scruples shall order. or which place her in a place inferior to that of adult male. are contrary to the great principle of nature. and hence of no force or authorization. † A series of women’s conventions in assorted parts of the state followed the 1 at Seneca Falls. At one of these. in 1851. an aged black adult female. who had been born a slave in New York. tall. thin. have oning a grey frock and white turban. listened to some male curates who had been ruling the treatment. This was Sojourner Truth. She rose to her pess and joined the outrage of her race to the outrage of her sex: That adult male over at that place says that adult female needs to be helped into passenger cars and lifted over ditches. . . . Cipher of all time helps me into passenger cars. or over mud-puddles or gives me any best topographic point. And a’nt I a adult female? Expression at my arm! I have ploughed. and planted. and gathered into barns. and no adult male could head me! And a’nt I a adult female? I would work every bit much and eat every bit much as a adult male. when I could acquire it. and bear the cilium every bit good. And a’nt I a adult female?I have borne 13 kids and seen mutton quads most all sold off to bondage. and when I cried out with my mother’s heartache. none but Jesus heard me! And a’nt I a adult female? Therefore were adult females get downing to defy. in the 1830s and 1840s and 1850s. the effort to maintain them in their â€Å"woman’s sphere. † They were taking portion in all kinds of motions. for captives. for the insane. for black slaves. and besides for all adult females.