Culture of Hispanic Latino Americans

Culture of Hispanic Latino Americans One of the fastest growing and the most interesting of origins come from is Hispanic/Latino Americans. I preferred this ethnic group as it the biggest growing populations in the US so I can healthier relate to them. Additionally, my attention upon achieving my Paralegal degree is inside Human Trafficking as well as Sex Trade which engage this Hispanic/Latino Americans in the midst of others. Furthermore, my son-in-law is Hispanic American also for that reason I would like to know more concerning his culture. Being a fast growing community, one way or another, we as Anglo-Non Hispanic Americans have an association with them. For my part, my son-in-law is a Hispanic American, and I want to learn more of his very rich culture. Also, we can observe that a lot of actions are being undertaken to make their presence more pronounced in the community. It would no longer come as a surprise then, if the status and acknowledgment of their presence would significantly change in the future. Thus, their culture is worth studying. In retrospect, I can say that my reasons for wanting to study this group and their culture are not just for these reasons. I am interested in a more specific are, which is the involvement of ethnic groups in Human Trafficking and Sex Trade. It can be observed that these unlawful activities primarily targets individuals from the minority group, and in obtaining my Paralegal degree, I have more than a passing fancy for these concerns. Language and Population: we should first have a basic understanding and appreciation of their culture before going into detail about the concerns that are currently being faced by the people with Hispanic origin. This will then be our reference in the kind of life they are generally living. It was mentioned before that the Hispanic population is the fastest growing community in the United States. They constitute 11% of the countrys population, and surveys have shown that there are approximately 31 million people who have Hispanic origins (Clutter and Nieto). If most races are being identified primarily because of their physical attributes, the Hispanic Americans have a different reason that bind them together. Japanese, Koreans, and Vietnamese, among others, and basicaly Asians are being identified because of their eyes and physical appearance. Africans are distinguished because of the color of their skin. For the Latinos, it is different. They cannot trace their origins in just one country (Garcia). When we combine a Cuban, an Argentine and an Argentine, we will see various cultures that do not necessarily coincide. One thing binds them together, and that is their language (Arana). Admittedly, like most other communities who are adapting to new cultures, this is increasingly becoming forgotten. However, it cannot be denied that they are being bound by one language, and this is Spanish (Arana). This is the point of reference for the mixed and diverse cultures that the Hispanos have. Even so, there had been a steady decline in the fluency of speaking Spanish among the Latinos. This is because of their continuous and increasing interaction with non-Hispanics, which made their practice of their native tongue very limited. At this point, it is very helpful to note the evolution of way the Hispanic Americans see themselves. Increasingly, they are becoming determined to be called in a manner they think befit them. For one, less and less of them have been refer to themselves as Americans (Englekirk and Marin). Most of them are more comfortable in still referring to themselves as Mexicans. Being Hispanic or Latino, seems to be more acceptable to them, than be identified to be the Americans. Differences and similarities between Anglo-Non Hispanic Americans and Hispanics/ Latino American are not several sometimes people attribute who and what they are today to where they came from, and what kind of family brought them up. Many studies have tried to link ones behavior, health, and other things with family history and genetics. There still exist the debates and discussions about nature as opposed to nurture. In all these things, family history, including ones family tree, becomes prominent. Indeed, in my own case as an Anglo-Non Hispanic American, my family became very influential in the person that I have become. Raised as a Methodist, celebrations of Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter happen in our homes as Anglo-Non Hispanic Americans, Perhaps this added joy to childhood, as I cannot imagine one without the festivities which brought simple joys to me then. Admittedly, ours was not a very religious family, and I can say that it is more so now than then, as we stopped going to church as a family while I was still in high school. As far as working is concerned, I can honestly say that the work ethic in my family is indeed very strong as Anglo-Non Hispanic Americans. This seems to be the natural tendency for the women in the family. Proof to show, all the women in our family worked outside the home. This is in addition to the responsibility of taking care of the children and of the homes themselves. My adoptive father and mother, although the latter is not very close to me, were teachers/administrators. My stepmother was employed in the same profession as my adoptive parents. Even my grandmothers on both sides worked as well. This is not to say, though, that ours has broken away from the traditional way of living that has been in existence during our time. While I was growing up, girls were not groomed for college. They were not encouraged to pursue higher education in order to have careers of their own. We have not been set to conquer the world, as the boys in the family do. What came about in my life was the trend during those days. I started working while I was still in high school, married afterwards, and raised my own children. At this day and age, women no longer do that. Careers are being established as much by men as by women. The closest similarity between Anglo-Non Hispanic Americans and Hispanics/ Latino American is probably the feeling of not being accepted in addition to often being rejected. I have felt that way as an Anglo-Non Hispanic American at times, being adopted but I am sure it does not compare to the degree of their circumstances. It is like salsa and ketchup, which are two very different condiments but both have their own significant and striking features. For their part, the Latinos have distinct family values that are very admirable indeed. Family is the very essence of their living, and this importance and respect that is being accorded to the concept of familial usually extends to more than the immediate family. They go by the conventional norm regarding the father as the head of the family. The mother then, is in charge of everything that is concerned with matters of the home. They feel a strong sense of responsibility for familiar concerns that include, but are not limited to, financi al problems, health issues, and such other concerns that affect the state of living at home. Also, they have certain etiquettes and beliefs that distinguish the Anglo-Non Hispanic Americans and Hispanics/ Latino American from most cultures is the way they talk to each other is one, as they tend to treat each other with formality. If we are to compare this with the American way, which is usually informal and casual in nature, there is indeed a significant difference. It is to be noted that Latinos speak in a loud, fast and animated manner when the conversation is informal in nature. When that is not the case, each conversation is then punctuated in the beginning and in the end, of firm handshakes. Body language and gestures like a peck in the cheek signifies how close a Hispanic individual is to the person one is talking to. Most notable also is the particular attention given by Latinos to their looks and appearance. This, for them, is very much in connection with honor, pride and dignity (Clutter and Nieto). Thus, it is common to see well-groomed and impeccably dressed Hispa nic people during social gatherings, church events, and in work. This code of etiquette relaxes during informal events, and tennis shoes and jeans are becoming the popular choice of the people also. In terms of time management though, they are more flexible and less conscious of punctuality than most Americans. Being late is a socially acceptable behavior for the Hispanic people, because that is the kind of culture that they are used to. Also, we have discussed earlier that what binds the people is their language. They remain connected, despite the cultural and historical differences, because of this factor. Considering this, it would be understood then, if they try to lessen their public speaking. It was noted that generally, most Latinos are reserved in public speaking, and this is because of their heavy accent (Clutter and Nieto). Although this may still be true until now, we can say that this is rapidly changing, as most of the younger generations who are immersed in the America n culture, have the tendency to be less fluent of their native language, than of English. Religion is aspect of their culture that is worth noting is the religion of the Hispanic community. Most of them are Roman Catholics, constituting more than 90% of the population, and this somehow influences the other cultural traditions, practices, and beliefs of said individuals. The core of the Hispanic culture, thus, does not just mean music and food. There is a spiritual foundation in most of the things that they do and believe in. For instance, these people are known for the creativity and hype that is present in their festivities and celebrations. What we do not realize is that they put more weight and significance to the celebrations that is related with religion, like patron saints days, rather than birthdays and personal festivities. The same goes true for the situation that the community in question, and my own. Despite being an adopted child, I believe that I lived a privileged life, and I think the same cannot be said for the Latinos. Everything that they have, they have to work for-from the acceptance, trust and respect of the people around them, the food that they place in the table and to the status that they have in society, socially and economically. Employment There is one very common misconception for Hispanic Americans, and this is their seeming simple-mindedness (Englekirk and Marin). This is mainly due to the initial impression for those who have first settled in the country. This perception was somehow a root, or a trace for that matter, of the low impression and general distrust for the Hispanic Americans. They were thought to be of inferior class than the natives. This view aids in the initial labor and employment opportunities for most Hispanic Americans. They have been involved in agriculture, mining and transportation, nature of work that requires physical, rather than mental abilities. They had more opportunities as compared with the Japanese and other Asians who were banned from working in and migrating in the United States. Thus, it was the Mexicans who had the most opportunities. They were the ideal candidates to work on these manual labors at a lesser cost. During these times, Mexicans flock states like Texas and California, as these are the places where those jobs were in demand. This was during the 1930s. Their employment opportunities improved along with the change in the perception of people of their abilities and skills. Especially with the Equal Employment Opportunity in effect, their rights in the working environment have changed dramatically and brought immense economic and financial security. These new opportunities, the bette r treatment, and generally the improved situation, was brought about by the after effects of World War II. All aspects of the Hispanic Americans living dramatically improved after said event. Political Situation and Immigration Concerns Hispanics/ Latino American political standing and voice as a people is not handed-in in a silver platter. Latinos still are struggling for representation politically, although this would seem to take more time because their bet in the gubernatorial election against Arnold Schwarzenegger has lost (Masci). This is the very person who held the torch in this aspect of recognizance for Latinos all over the United States. On a lighter note, their campaign for more participation in the political arena seems to continue, as the Democratic candidate in New York is most likely going to hold a position in the House of Representatives (Griffin). With these events and circumstances in mind, we can see that their campaigns and advocacies to make their standing in society better are getting results, albeit being small and seemingly insignificant at first. This advocacy for better representation in government seems to have stemmed from several reasons. Leaders of the Hispanic communities claim that they are underrepresented in virtually all aspects. In jobs, they are short-listed, and this results from their limited access to job training programs (Griffin). We cannot say that just because there had been a significant development in the economic and political situation of the Latinos, that the situation no longer needs analysis. If we are to look into the lives of the majority of the Latinos, we will see that there are various flaws that really need attention. One of these would again be the limited access of these people to many of the social programs of the government (Griffin). There is also the aspect of civil rights implementation and effect on the Hispanic communities in the United States. â€Å"Federal enforcement of civil rights in education, for example, relies on victims of discrimination to file complaints† (Griffin). This remains to be an unexploited avenue for the Latinos, as there are many of them who are hesitant to file complaints against people who slighted them. There are several reasons for this, and one of the major ones would be the consequences that it would bring. No Latino in his right mind would prefer the ill will of the members of the community, and this would cause such person to just keep quiet. Also, there are instances, and many of them for that matter, when the Hispanics do not complain simply because they are not familiar or are unaware of the grievance process. What more, there are many who cannot complain because they, themselves are not eligible to. This is when Human Trafficking and other abuses would come into play. There had been many instances in the past when the news carried reports on illegal immigrants. These people have not entered the country through the approved and legal process of the American Embassy. This concern has been one of the primary concerns of the Hispanics then. Many of them entered the country unlawfully and are residing in the United States without proper documents. This makes them prone to abuses, as they would not be able to complain, and neither do they really have the legal backing of the government to protect them from abuses. This immigration concern of the Latinos brought legislators to propose that there be more rigid immigration laws to implement (Griffin). This would certainly affect the chances of many Hispanics who want to enter the country, for their own chance for success. This is one of the issues that are being faced by the community. Along with the social concerns that have been discussed early in this paper, it would no longer come as a surprise if th ere would be health concerns that the Latin communities in the United States face. Because the majority still faces financial difficulties, health issues are prevalent. This is to be expected because these families would not concern themselves much about basic nutrition and regular check-ups. These are basic factors that make good health, and these basic standards are not being met by these families. Health concerns take the back seat, and survival becomes the priority. Works Cited Arana, Marie. The Elusive Hisapanic / Latino Identity. Nieman Repeorts Volume 55.Issue 2 (2002): 8. Clutter, Anne W. and Ruben D. Nieto. Understanding the Hispanic Culture. The Ohio State University Extension. 23 July 2009 . Englekirk, Allan and Marguerite Marin. Mexican Americans. RoohIt!. 28 July 2009 Garcia, Jorge J.E. Hispanic/Latino Identity. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Limited, 2000. Griffin, Rodman D. Hispanic Americans: Can they find economic prosperity and political power? CQ Researcher Volume 2.Issue 40 (1992). Masci, David. Latinos Future. CQ Researcher Volume 13.Issue 36 (2003).

Age and Youth by William Shakespeare Essay

The poem â€Å"age and youth†, by William Shakespeare (born April 26th 1564 ? died April 23rd 1616) is one of his profound poems which was published in 1588. It is apart of a collection of numerous poems in â€Å"The Passionate Pilgrim†, ? Age and Youth being numeral XII. These various poems centre on the ideas of the early and late stages in life. More notably however his one sided perception on the two topics. â€Å"Youth† is cast as being the more favourable and several lines throughout the poem display this bias. â€Å"Youth is hot and bold, age is weak and cold†. â€Å"Youth like summer brave, age like winter bare† In fact the whole poem centers around the aforementioned topic (youth) being the more beautiful and aesthetically pleasing than barren and cold â€Å"old age†. Shakespeare’s themes in this particular poem are not unlike many of the others in â€Å"The passionate pilgrim†, the set of poems from which â€Å"age and youth† originates, with conventional themes such as love and beauty and the related motifs of time and mutability. Being a â€Å"continuation† of the previous poems in â€Å"The Passionate Pilgrim† it connects with his theme of addressing love and praise not to a woman but instead to a young man full of youth and vitality. â€Å"Venus, with young Adonis sitting by her Under a myrtle shade, began to woo him† The passionate pilgrim XI â€Å"My better angel is a man right fair† The passionate pilgrim II However â€Å"youth and age† is focused primarily on the topics previously stated (youth and age) but with respect to the young man in the previous poems of â€Å"The Passionate Pilgrim†. In effect the young man is immortalised by the poem thereby defying the destructiveness of time. This is one of the reasons behind this poem, to show how time destroys youth and beauty. â€Å"Youth is full of sport, age’s breath is short†. A number of poetic devices such as the juxtaposition of two complete opposites, the repetition of themes, the explicit imagery, metaphoric language and similes, just to name a few, have been used to convey these themes. â€Å"Youth like summer morne, age like winter weather†. A good example of the juxtaposition of age and youth as summer and winter, used intentionally to create an imagery of youth as being fertile, full of life and pleasant (as we would picture summer) and age being cold, dark and associated with death. Shakespeare has used this as though he is describing the lifecycle from birth (summer, youth) to death (winter, old age). In addition similes have been used as another technique showing the similarities between summer and youth and old age and winter. â€Å"Youth is nimble, age is lame†. Once again shows the simplicity of the poem and the theme Shakespeare is conveying to the reader. Metaphoric language is used here to define youth and age, it gives it an almost human quality as though youth and age can be imagined as two different people (i. e. personification). It is a very effective way of providing imagery for the reader. Other lines follow a similar pattern, â€Å"Youth is full of sport, age’s breath is short† again showing the vitality of youth and the frailty and finality of old age. The use of hyperbole as a technique is evident throughout the poem. Most of the lines have some form of hyperbole by using to greatly exaggerated extremes. â€Å"hot and cold†, â€Å"wild and tame,† â€Å"summer and winter,† â€Å"age and youth cannot live together†. All of these quotes exaggerate the characteristics of both age and youth and are important so there are no ambiguities between the two. They are as opposite as â€Å"hot and cold†. The use of masculine rhyme is present in the poem however it is not consistent throughout the whole poem. â€Å"Youth is full of sport, Ages breath is short, Youth is nimble, Age is lame Youth is hot and bold, Age is weake and cold. Youth is wild, and Age I s tame. † The repetition of youth and age gives it flowing rhythm and therefore rhyme is not necessary. Alliteration is used sparingly and not a strong technique in the poem. It is only used as a play on words, to humorously emphasise the initial consonants of the lines being read. â€Å"Age, I do abhor thee; youth, I do adore thee†. It is uplifting and gives the mood a somewhat flavour due to the alliteration being used. In brief the most focal and constant theme in the poem is the unwillingness to become old and the negative aspects of old age. â€Å"Age, I do abhor thee; youth, I do adore thee†. Youth is so vibrant and lively, a stark comparison to old age, an idea which Shakespeare stubbornly holds on to. â€Å"Age, I do defy thee: O, sweet shepherd, hie thee†. The melancholic mood of the poem expresses Shakespeare’s thoughtful sadness on growing old and the inevitability life and death. The poetic techniques effectively contrast how wonderful youth is and how lackluster and bleak we become as we get older. â€Å"Youth† is consistently depicted as being that of a young person with â€Å"age† being that of an old â€Å"lame† nearly dying man,† ages breath is short†.

Globalization to Beat Inequality Essay

Indeed, globalization is the most popular trend in international economics. Increasing integration of world markets and exchanges of information and technology are definitely expected to help the least developed nations, thereby bridging the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Thus, the thesis of Bhagwati’s (2004) book, In Defense of Globalization – that, in fact, globalization helps the poorest people of the world – must be agreed with. After all, foreign direct investments are an extraordinary boost for the economies of the developing world. Moreover, by importing and exporting more goods and services than before, a developing nation may very well increase its income and also improve the standard of living of its peoples. It is generally believed that an increase in international trade is accompanied by an increase in income inequality, seeing that the majority of the people in developing nations are poor and cannot afford to purchase relatively expensive foreign goods in the local market, nor form gigantic enterprises to sell to the foreign public. Furthermore, globalization involves the risk of foreign companies taking advantage of the undeveloped regulatory structures in developing nations. As an example, a foreign water company in Argentina, after the mass privatization of Argentinian business, was said to have been very ethical before it entered Argentina. The company had connections with France and the United States. All the same, the company turned to poor service in Argentina soon after privatization. The water company was eventually taken over by the Argentinian government for its careless, irresponsible behavior (Hacher 2007). If managed correctly, though, globalization is expected to help our world in significant ways. The famous observation of Friedman (2000) must also be considered in this analysis: â€Å"No two countries with McDonald’s have fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s. † Indeed, peace is conducive to global economic growth. But, so is equality. Even though the gap between the haves and the have-nots has been widening in recent years, good management of globalization may work wonders for the global economy. The World Trade Organization protests globalization on behalf of the poor nations. As an effect of globalization, the developing nations – just because they are doing business with the richer ones – are asked to accept the standards of environmental and labor protection that only the rich nations are able to afford at this point in time. Seeing that one of the accompaniments to globalization is acceleration, the World Trade Organization wants to emphasize that developing nations must be given more time to adjust to change. The fact that these nations require more time to adjust to change is illustrated by the experience of India with respect to child labor law. In point of fact, child labor law in India took a long time to be developed. The law was implemented at various levels over the course of many years, the reason being that India required children to work in its factories because of the Indian economy’s dependency on cheap labor. Besides, the parents of Indian children who worked could not afford to support their children that did not work (Pandey 2006). The debate over agricultural trade is by and large the most important issue for the World Trade Organization to deal with. Pitting rich nations against the poor, the debate emphasizes that the world’s poorest nations have few exports to offer besides basic agricultural products. Given that international trade is a necessity in today’s internationalized world, developing nations must compete against the giant nations, such as the United States and Japan. Developed nations support farmers with subsidies. If they do not support their own farmers, the latter would go out of business. This assistance – amounting to approximately three hundred billion dollars every year – increases the supply of basic agricultural products on the world market. As the price of agricultural produce is lowered, it is the poor nations that are hurt. In other words, the average cow in the European Union receives a daily subsidy of more than two U. S. dollars, and this figure is greater than the daily wage of twenty percent of the world’s population (Kaplan & Calzonetti 2005). Although Blinder (2006) is correct to state that the developed world would have to deal with tremendous change if â€Å"offshore outsourcing† is highly popularized in the coming years, it is not the rich world that requires help at this point in any case. Moreover, by mostly considering the changes that the rich world would have to experience, there is no way that economists would be able to convince the developed nations to effectively work with the developing nations. Therefore, it is essential to popularize offshore outsourcing by describing the benefits that both the developed and the developing world would accrue by means of it. After all, the developed world is in an excellent position to grant more jobs to people in the developing world. It would certainly be a win-win situation.Furthermore, it would help to bridge the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots, thereby ensuring sustainable development too. REFERENCES Bhagwati, JN 2004, In Defense of Globalization, Oxford University Press, New York. Blinder, AS 2006, ‘Offshoring: The Next Industrial Revolution? ,’ Foreign Affairs, Mar/Apr 2006, available at http://www. foreignaffairs. org/20060301faessay85209-p0/alan-s-blinder/offshoring-the-next-industrial-revolution. html. Friedman, TL 2000, The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization, Anchor Books, New York. Hacher, S 2007, ‘Argentina Water Privatization Scheme Runs Dry,’ Global Policy Forum, 26 Feb 2007, available at http://globalpolicy. igc. org/socecon/bwi=wto/wbank/2004/0226argwater. htm. Kaplan, E, & Calzonetti, C 2005, ‘The WTO’s Troubled ‘Doha Negotiations,’ Council on Foreign Relations, 9 Dec 2005, available at http://www. cfr. org/index. html. Pandey, G 2006, ‘India Tightens Child Labor Laws,’ BBC News, 10 Oct 2006, available at http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/default. stm.

Womens Themes in The Wife of Bath by Geoffery Chaucer Essay

Geoffery Chaucer wrote his legendary Canterbury Tales in Medieval times when women were considered as servants to their husbands and powerless. This was a time where church and state were one entity and in the church’s eyes women were supposed to be gentile and and virtuous. Sexuality and education of women was condemned by the church and state. The clothing during that time also represented the ideals of that time. Their skirts were long and ankles were never to be shown naked in public. Young girls were taught that a fulfilled life included marrying a rich and noble man, staying at home taking care of the kids and being in tune with a lifestyle that the church praised. Chaucer wrote his female characters to represent the women he had†¦show more content†¦Virginius intercedes hand Claudius is exiled. In this tale the martym of highly dramatized by the judge cutting off his daughter’s head. He would rather shee his daughter dead then handed over to a treacherou s man. Honor is something holy and should be kept at all cost. Once it is saved all those who tried to take a family’s honor are dealt with harshly. In the second tale The Fanklin’s tale, a knight Averages wants to make his life complete by marring a pious wife. He choses Dorigen, a patient woman, to make his wife. Soon after they are married the knight has to travel to make a living. While he is gone Dorigen becomes extremely sad. Her neighbor tries to convince Dorigen to go to parties but she refuses. One day she accepts an invatation to go to a picnic. There she meets a wealthy man, Arelius, who tells her that he will do anything to attain her. Jokingly she promises that if he removes all the rocks from the coast, she will marry him. He goes into a deep depression. His bother agrees to pay a magician to remove all the rocks from the coast. Meanehile, Averages returnes home and everything is right again. The rocks are removed from the coast and Arelius tells Dorigen that she must keep her pomise. She tells her husband and wants to kill herself. The knight says that she must keep her promise. She does as her husband says. Arelius releases her from her promise once he sees her sorrow. But he cannot pay the fee to the