The Statutory Definition Of Pornography Essays -

The Statutory Definition of Pornography Suppose one accepts MacKinnon and Dworkin's suggested statutory definition of pornography. How does one who generally accepts MacKinnon and Dworkin's views on the pervasively harmful effect of pornography, and who accepts a need for legal redress of the harms perpetrated by pornography, deal with pornographic material? The ordinance proposed by MacKinnon and Dworkin would deal with such material by enacting legislation which gives people adversely affected by the works, which clearly fit their definition of pornography, a cause of action against the producers, vendors, exhibitors or distributors for "trafficking", or for an assault "directly caused by the specific work. I do not think liberals, or others for that matter, should have much problem with the clause dealing with assault, since a causal connection to specific works is demanded by it. However, s. 3.2(iii) which deals with trafficking would be very problematic for liberals and legal conservatives because it creates a cause of action for a person contrary to the traditional conception of a rights holder's cause of action. This subsection reads: Any woman has a claim hereunder as a woman acting against the subordination of women. Any man, child or transsexual who alleges injury by pornography in the way women are injured by it also has a claim. [emphasis added] My goal in this paper is to suggest that a slight modification to this subsection of the ordinance would make it very difficult for liberals and legal conservatives to object to it. This modification would restrict the cause of action to the same persons as the other sections of the ordinance, namely, the particular victim of the specified injury. I shall argue that such a modification would largely cohere with the conception of harm already at work in Ontario law, would afford only a minor reduction in the potential efficacy of such legislation in curbing the harm of pornography, and would offer to empower the feminist camp which is behind such an ordinance with a mechanism for social and political change if a sufficiently organized feminist "vanguard" took hold of the opportunity to empower women. Adrian Howe argues that the concept of social injury which may be suggested by the ordinance recognizes the differential harm felt by women from pornography. Howe suggests this social notion of harm may be a necessary feature of any successful law reform which is to address the huge social problem of male domination and female oppression. The liberal notion of an individuated human right fails to capture, for MacKinnon and Howe, "the specificity of the harm to women." Thus, an ordinance which did not create a cause of action "for women as women" would fail to address the root of the social problem of which pornography is a manifestation. This conception of social harm, and thus subsection 3.2(iii), may offend liberals or legal conservatives in two ways. First, the notion of non-individuated harm is antithetical to the liberal conception of a rights holder claiming a cause of action. Fundamental to a liberal conception of harm is the notion of the individual who is autonomous, separate and fundamentally worthy of respect. Rawls and Kant exemplify this view in their analyses when they posit the undifferentiated self, free of any particular qualities save that of being an agent worthy of a fundamental, inviolable respect. This notion of the individual worthy of equal concern and respect in the eyes of the state permeates liberal conceptions of rights. It is also a fundamental, if not exclusive, tenet of the common law of torts: In tort litigation, the courts must decide whether to shift the loss suffered by one person, the plaintiff, to the shoulders of another person [emphasis added]. Clearly, on its face this conception of harm precludes the notion of a harm suffered collectively which cannot be delineated individually. While class actions are possible, and claims may be made on behalf of groups such as company shareholders, this is only by virtue of the fact that a legally recognized individual has suffered an identifiable particular harm. Thus, the conventional liberal notion of harm is radically distinct from that outlined by Howe and MacKinnon. Since on the liberal conception rights holders are autonomous, individual selves who are essentially distinct, harm to one is distinct from harm to another. It may be that a liberal conception of a rights holder simply renders the concept of a social harm, and thus a cause of action "for women as women" incoherent. I do not wish to discuss whether it is possible to develop a complete liberal notion of social harm. It is sufficient to

Trifles A One-act Play by Susan Glaspell

Trifles A One-act Play by Susan Glaspell Farmer John Wright has been murdered. While he was asleep in the middle of the night, someone strung a rope around his neck. Shockingly, that someone might have been his wife, the quiet and forlorn Minnie Wright.   Playwright Susan Glaspells one-act play, written in 1916,  is loosely based on true events. As a young reporter, Glaspell covered a murder case in a small town in Iowa. Years later, she crafted a short play, Trifles,  inspired by her experiences and observations. The Meaning of the Name Trifles for This Psychological Play The play was first performed in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Glaspell herself played the character, Mrs. Hale. Considered an early illustration of feminist drama, the themes of the play focus on men and women and their psychological states along with their social roles. The word trifles typically refer to objects of little to no value. It makes sense in the context of the play due to the items that the female characters come across. The interpretation may also be that men do not understand the value of women, and consider them trifles. The Plot Summary of a Family Murder-drama The sheriff, his wife, the county attorney, and the neighbors (Mr. and Mrs. Hale) enter the kitchen of the Wright household. Mr. Hale explains how he paid a visit to the house on the previous day. Once there, Mrs. Wright greeted him but behaved strangely. She eventually stated in a dull voice that her husband was upstairs, dead.  (Though Mrs. Wright is the central figure in the play, she never appears onstage. She is only referred to by the on-stage characters.) The audience learns of John Wright’s murder through Mr. Hale’s exposition. He is the first, aside from Mrs. Wright, to discover the body. Mrs. Wright claimed that she was sound asleep while someone strangled her husband. It seems obvious to the male characters that she killed her husband, and she is been taken into custody as the prime suspect. The Continued Mystery With Added Feminist Critique The attorney and sheriff decide that there is nothing important in the room: â€Å"Nothing here but kitchen things.† This line is the first of many disparaging comments said to minimize the importance of women in society, as noticed by several Feminist critics.  The men criticize Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping skills, irking Mrs. Hale and the sheriff’s wife, Mrs. Peters. The men exit, heading upstairs to investigate the crime scene. The women remain in the kitchen. Chatting to pass the time, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters notice vital details that the men would not care about: Ruined fruit preservesBread that has been left out of its boxAn unfinished quiltA half clean, half messy table topAn empty birdcage Unlike the men, who are looking for forensic evidence to solve the crime, the women in Susan Glaspells Trifles observe clues that reveal the bleakness of Mrs. Wright’s emotional life. They theorize that Mr. Wright’s cold, oppressive nature must have been dreary to live with. Mrs. Hale comments about Mrs. Wright being childless: â€Å"Not having children makes less work- but it makes a quiet house.† The  women are simply trying to pass the awkward moments with civil conversation. But to the audience, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters unveil a psychological profile of a desperate housewife. The Symbol of Freedom and Happiness in the Story When gathering up the quilting material, the two women  discover a fancy little box. Inside, wrapped in silk, is a dead canary. Its neck has been wrung. The implication is that Minnie’s husband did not like the canarys beautiful song (a symbol of his wife’s desire for freedom and happiness). So, Mr. Wright busted the cage door and strangled the bird. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters do not tell the men about their discovery. Instead, Mrs. Hale puts the box with the deceased bird into her coat pocket, resolving not to tell the men about this little â€Å"trifle† they have uncovered. The play ends with the characters exiting the kitchen and the women announcing that they have determined Mrs. Wright’s quilt making style. She â€Å"knots it† instead of â€Å"quilts it†- a play on words denoting the way in which she killed her husband. The Theme of the Play Is That Men Do Not Appreciate Women The men within this play betray a sense of self-importance. They present themselves as tough, serious-minded detectives  when in truth, they are not nearly as observant as the female characters. Their pompous attitude  causes the women to feel defensive and form ranks. Not only do Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters bond, but they also  choose to hide evidence as an act of compassion for Mrs. Wright. Stealing the box with the dead bird is an act of loyalty to their gender and an act of defiance against a callous patriarchal society. Key Character Roles in the Play Trifles Mrs. Hale: She had not visited the Wright household for over a year because of its bleak, cheerless atmosphere. She believes that Mr. Wright is responsible for crushing the merriment out of Mrs. Wright. Now, Mrs. Hale feels guilty for not visiting more often. She believes she could have improved Mrs. Wright’s outlook on life.Mrs. Peter: She has tagged along to bring back clothes for the imprisoned Mrs. Wright. She can relate to the suspect because they both know about â€Å"stillness.† Mrs. Peters reveals that her first child died at the age of two. Because of this tragic experience, Mrs. Peters understands what it is like to lose a loved one (in Mrs. Wright’s case- her songbird).Mrs. Wright: Before she was married to John Wright, she was Minnie Foster, and she was more cheerful in her youth. Her clothes were more colorful, and she loved to sing. Those attributes diminished after her wedding day. Mrs. Hale describes Mrs. Wright’s personality: She was kind of like a bird herself–real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and- fluttery. How- she- did- change.

Answering the questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Answering the questions - Assignment Example Interviews entail a lot and it is necessary to transcribe everything beforehand such that during data preparation I would have everything down. This include, answers to all interview questions, body language of the interviewee and all the word classes used(Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2003). The coding of messages before an analysis is vital to qualitative content analysis. This is because slight differences in unit defining can lead to inaccurate decisions during coding(Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2003). Therefore, unit of analysis can be defined as the element of writing that is confidential during content analysis. An example is that during aninterview, an interviewee can use a word to describe his or her entire feeling. This is noted and not necessarily told to the interviewee but used during coding. In order to develop categories they have to be sourced. Sources of categories can be found in stipulated theories, related works or data taken during data preparation. In this phase inductive reasoning is used to generate theories while reasoning, inductive and deductive, are used to code schemes(Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2003). The coding scheme must be accurate as any mistake will lead to a different decision which will make all data wrong thus wrong findings and conclusions. Therefore, a test on the coding scheme must be done to test its authenticity(Creswell, 2007). This must be done very quickly to certify and develop the scheme for use on the data preparation. Consistency must be emphasized lest a mistake is done to ruin the whole data. After checking everything like coding authenticity and consistency and coding the whole text from the interview it is time to conclude. Write down findings which will have been developed through reconstructions of coded data. Implications will be made to rule out assumptions. Finally, after concluding the findings and writing the down the