African American Women s Assimilation Into White Culture

This quote by Malcolm X was trying to spark deep internal thought to African-Americans, especially African-American women, audience about why African-American hated themselves and wanted to be white. This self-hatred and desire to be white stems from the pressure to absorb and assimilate to white culture, which calls for African-American women to deny their race completely. This is perpetuated by which is proliferated practices and rhetoric that suggest that being African-American is equated to being inferior. Thus African-American women have sustained an inferiority complex , which has become internalized through the consistent measuring of African-American women in comparison to white women. African-American women’s assimilation into†¦show more content†¦Slurs of racism to suggest that one group is superior will not be mentioned, but the undermining of other groups through various systemic practices of standards by visual/verbal rhetoric will be discussed. Problem: Detrimental Psychology As stated above, African-American women have been subjected to measure themselves against white women. White women are viewed, in this society and since the beginning of the concept of race, as the epitome of beauty. Logically, African-American women attempt to emulate the white standard. This creates an inferiority complex, because the epitome of beauty is white woman, than any other race can be deemed as inferior; this deteriorates African-American women’s self-worth. To remedy worthlessness, many body modification techniques have been made to fully mimic white women in terms of beauty. This emulation still is being done and it is continuous, because of the psychological ‘white fantasization . This white fantasization begins with the comparison of the African-American woman to the white woman in countenance who have pale complexions and finer hair, which is directly contrasted with African-American women’s more curly-coiled hair and varying complexions that are darker than those who have mostly a European racial background. To achieve thisShow MoreRelatedMulticultural Perspectives Of Practice : Msw 5531633 Words   |  7 Pagesexperienced spinal cord injury, which resulted in permanent paralyses such as paraplegia or quadriplegia. Ms. Cynthia Jackson was one of my clients that had an enormous impact on me. Ms. Jackson is 55 year old African American. Ms. Jackson served in the United Air force in the late 1970’s post-Vietnam War and was based in Germany. While serving in Air force, Ms. Jackson severely injured her back in tanker truck accident which resulted in paralysis in her lower exterminates. 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The Failure of Gatsby’s American Dream Free Essays

The Failure of Gatsby’s American Dream In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is portrayed as being an admirable, wealthy, kind, and genuinely impressive man. However, that being said, he is also portrayed as pretentious, deceptive, criminal, and most importantly to the plot, completely insatiable. We will write a custom essay sample on The Failure of Gatsby’s American Dream or any similar topic only for you Order Now Even though the novel’s narrator, Nick Carraway, heavily sympathizes with Gatsby, he has many character flaws that ultimately assure the failure of his â€Å"dream†, and even lead to his untimely demise. The first bit from the novel that demonstrates Gatsby’s inability to be content, is the fact that he is not Jay Gatsby. It is learned about halfway through the novel that Jay Gatsby from California is actually a man names James Gatz, who comes from Chicago. The fact that Gatsby fabricated his past and lives his life under an alias shows that he is unable to be content even with his own origins. To go through the trouble of making up an entire past for himself rather than simply revealing the truth shows that either he was too ashamed to tell of his family for his financial background, or as is more likely, he found it to be boring. By very nature, Gatsby craves excitement and adventure. In order to make himself seem more exciting and adventurous, he became Jay Gatsby. After examining that, it’s best to look at Gatsby’s chosen vocation. Although Gatsby claims to have his money from being born of a wealthy family from the West, he is later revealed to have earned his money from the illegal business of manufacturing and selling bootlegged liquor. Seeing Gatsby use criminal means to achieve wealth and the â€Å"American Dream† demonstrates how desperately he wants to be taken seriously. Using his fake persona and fool-proof criminal processes to get wealth and social status means to him that most certainly, he could not be looked down upon or judged for being born of a lower class family and not having any of his own wealth to speak of. Working in the criminal underground also means, however, that he would make very few social connections, and have few true friends, bringing me to my next point. Gatsby desperately longs for personal relationships. This is apparent in everything from the way he desperately clings to his love of Daisy to his willingness to allow Ewing Kilspringer, whom Gatsby barely knows, to sponge off him and virtually live at his mansion. Since the adventure and excitement of his fake persona and his criminal lifestyle are not enough to satisfy Gatsby, he figures that the only way to obtain true happiness would be through interactions with people, who can be around him and always admire his accomplishments and somehow complete him. However, Gatsby is unable to make social connections because of his own social awkwardness, which as becomes more and more apparent, he compensates for with his wealth and possessions. The best example of this is Gatsby’s parties, in which the guests all have an excellent time, and know of Gatsby, but know almost nothing about him, even to the point where nobody seems to know where he even came from. Gatsby’s awkwardness and fear of real people causes him to close himself off even at his own parties, and hope that somehow the good time people have will make them admire him more (which, oddly, seems to work). The desire for intimate personal relationships becomes Gatsby’s own version of â€Å"The American Dream† which manifests itself most strongly in his â€Å"love† for Daisy Buchanan. Daisy and Gatsby were briefly lovers before Gatsby was sent off to the First World War. Having been the last person who Gatsby felt any true emotions toward, Daisy becomes the object of his desire, affections, and now, his energy and will to achieve. Gatsby’s dream however is crushed by the realization that Daisy is not the ideal person who he thinks she is. Since Gatsby is a lover of fantasy and exaggeration, he holds all people to an impossible standard of how he thinks people should be, even himself. The real Daisy is almost too shallow to really love, as is most evidenced by the way she is so emotionally moved by some silk shirts that Gatsby has, calling them the most beautiful things she has ever seen. Despite the fact that Daisy is not who Gatsby wants her to be, he clings to her, either realizing his impossible standard, or so far into his delusion that he is unable to see her as anything but ideal despite her major character flaws. Beginning an affair, the two plot to stand up to Daisy’s abusive husband Tom, and run away together. When the plan finally has the chance to come to fruition, however, Daisy is unable to tell Tom that she does not love him. The reason for this is not because Gatsby is undeserving, but because he is so insatiable, and unstoppably ambitious to the point that he doesn’t know what he truly wants, that he is unable to actually achieve anything that might make a true difference in his life. Tom on the other hand, while rude and pushy and genuinely unkind, knows exactly hat he wants and has no problems in simply taking it. After a car crash kills Tom’s lover, Myrtle, Gatsby attempts one more act of gallantry in order to prove his worth and determination. He takes the blame for Myrtle’s death in an attempt to save Daisy, who was really to blame. As Gatsby stops to finally take in all that he has accomplished, and finally appreciate what he has (symbolized by him f inally using his pool) he is murdered by George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband who then takes his own life. Oddly enough, after Wilson’s murder/suicide, the reader is then struck by the striking similarities between Wilson and Gatsby. They both tired of being taken advantage of, they both loved a woman who was not real, and they both longed for true companionship. The only difference is that one of them was able to achieve greatly on a more worldly level, which despite his large personal shortcomings, made him into that person of his own creation that he had so desperately wanted to be: The Great Gatsby. How to cite The Failure of Gatsby’s American Dream, Papers

The Issue Of The Transgender Essay Example For Students

The Issue Of The Transgender Essay Against Transgenders Transgender is when an individual tries to switch genders. The term â€Å"transgender† is becoming more and more well known throughout the United States. Research has proven that â€Å"†¦65% of Americans said they have a close friend or family member who is homosexual, while 9% said that they have one who is transgender† (Steinmetz 40). Many trans-individuals decide later on in their lives that they want to switch genders, and other people argue that they were born the wrong gender, making it a very controversial topic. â€Å"Living within a trans-identity can be a complicated situation for many different reasons† (Cronn-Mills 60). There are many obstacles that trans-people face throughout their lives. Depending on what state trans-people live in, they are faced with whether or not they are accepted by marriage, religion, surgery, adoption rights, identity documents such as birth certificates, driver’s licenses, and passports. There are many barriers that trans-people face daily such as discrimination, whether it is in the workplace, school, or just in public. Trans-people are denied when they try to serve in the military. There is a lot of debate whether or not trans-people are allowed to participle on sports teams, and which restroom/locker rooms to use. Trans-people have unequal access to health care, and the media shows a poor representation of them. People claim that being â€Å"transgender† is a â€Å"mental disorder† (GID). Forty-one percent of trans-people have reported that they have attempted suicide throughout their lives, compared to less than two percent of the general population (Cronn-Mills 52). How other people treat them, can greatly influence trans-individuals throughout their lives and how they view th. .ed States military has a very bias opinion about trans-individual’s right to serve the country. Trans-individuals have struggles and that have to face everyday. Trans-people are faced with many more obstacles rather than homosexual people. Trans-individuals are reminded everyday of the decision that the made and are often judged/discriminated. Trans-people have others treat them like they are diagnosed with a gender identity disorder. The media discredits and disrespects trans-individuals by believing that one cannot change into a different sex that was assigned at birth. The United States military will not allow trans-individuals to serve. Trans-people have unequal access to health care and rights of public restrooms to add on top of public discrimination daily. How other people treat trans-individuals can influence their lives and how they view the world.