This paper will summarize the fifth article ‘Charlotte Brontë’s Circumvention of Patriarchy: Gender, Labour and Financial Agency in Jane Eyre’, by Owsley Lauren. The main argument is whether Jane Eyre functions as a primarily feminist text in the modern literary and gender discourse (Owsley). She does this by examining the role of Jane and her journey towards attaining her position in society. The article uses feminism as the main theoretical framework by Lauren in gender and societal station to examine the efforts of Jane Eyre towards achieving freedom and gaining equitable romantic involvement.
Lauren’s first sub-argument is the importance of financial freedom as a critical boost to social and political liberation. The only way for Jane is by becoming independent and able to fulfill her needs. Jane depends on Rochester for financial success, which does not accord her the freedom she desires (Owsley). Lauren places Jane in a society where men are powerful, and their financial stability depicts their masculinity. Rochester is seen as decisive for what he has earned and the financial capability to cater to his needs. It is hard to achieve financial autonomy through the labor systems because of societal constructs.
Another significant sub-argument by Lauren is that Jane’s concessions of her prized self-sufficiency are not sacrifices of her earned agency but cognitive choices that she can afford to make because of her purchased societal station (Owsley). Jane has triumphed against societal bids to achieve equitable status and earn her freedom. She fights the rigid hierarchy of the organized religion and pursues spirituality towards feminism and justice. Jane reminded restless and dissatisfied with her lifestyle both at home and in her economic position giving room for adequate fiscal comfort. Jane raises to a governess from being an orphan and physically struggles to set her status. Lauren shows these as the difficulties every woman must battle against to overcome societal oppressions and a significant mental autonomy to achieve success.
The third sub-argument of the article is Jane’s inheritance, a necessary rhetorical implementation on Charlotte Brontë’s part that provides her with the luxury to negotiate her interpretation of the social conventions of marriage and motherhood (Owsley). Financial independence gives Jane the view that romantic relationships as a potentially equitable partnership rather than an opportunity for social or monetary security; to grant Jane a genuinely egalitarian relationship with Rochester. According to the article, labor opportunities for educated women like Jane and those who want to expand their intellectual integrity are subjected to societal practices that oppress women while dignifying men. Jane gains equality in a romantic relationship through financial autonomy and earning the luxury to negotiate her interpretations of social life. Lauren relieves Rochester of his masculinity and elevates Jane as the head of their home, expressing her freedom.
Lauren is looking to participate in the debate about Jane Eyre and whether the work functions as a primarily feminist text. She states that “Jane’s ultimate marriage and pregnancy seemingly diminish her desire for independence and her resistance to socially constructed norms of appropriate femininity” (Owsley). She implies that an argument has been made that Jane Eyre is not only a feminist text because ultimately, she also gets married and becomes pregnant. This is the author’s position concerning other scholars and the socially constructed norms women must battle to achieve financial and personal freedom.
Work Cited
Owsley, Lauren. “Charlotte Brontë’s Circumvention of Patriarchy: Gender, Labour and Financial Agency Injane Eyre.” Brontë Studies, vol. 38, no. 1, 2013, pp. 54–65. Web.
“Brave New Mundo”: How The Migration Of Workers From Mexico Influenced The US
Introduction
Since the beginning of Mexican migration, the attitude of American citizens and the government toward this event varied at different periods. Neil Foley discusses in the seventh chapter of Mexicans in the Making of America, titled “Brave New Mundo,” how the migration of workers from Mexico influenced the economic, political, and cultural situation in the United States. According to Foley (2014), “Latinos were the fastest-growing population and were predicted to outnumber African Americans by the turn of the century” (p. 179). Congress decided to diminish the number of illegal foreign employees in the 1980s by implementing penalties for employers who had unauthorized workers in their organizations and increased security on the U.S.-Mexican border (Foley, 2014). Some politicians were interested in allowing undocumented migrants from Mexico to stay in the U.S. for additional support during presidential elections. However, others wanted to secure borders and prevent them from entering the country to address the concerns of the white population of the United States. Although some Americans and political leaders were concerned that Mexicans could take away U.S. citizens’ jobs, the migration benefited the country because it reduced workplace accidents and Workers’ Compensation (WC) claims.
The Beginning of the “Decade of Hispanics”
Most aliens who came to the United States from Mexico were males who sought employment, creating a significant cohort of cheap labor. The number of legal and undocumented immigrants started to rise in the 1980s, naming these years the “decade of Hispanics” (Foley, 2014). The number of Mexican aliens in the U.S. rose from 2 million in 1980 to almost 12 million in 2015, accounting for 25% of foreign-born residents (Dillender & McInerney, 2020). Since American industrial corporations and farms became interested in hiring Mexican workers in the twentieth century, about 400,000 Hispanic laborers entered the U.S. annually in the 1960s and the 1970s (Gutiérrez, 2020). This rise was attributed to the ratification of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act (Foley, 2014). This policy allowed many people from Mexico to reunite with their families and find occupation in the United States.
The rapid increase in the Hispanic population received an equivocal response from the public. On the one hand, Americans did not want competition from Mexican workers (Foley, 2014). On the other hand, foreign laborers brought particular benefits to the country’s economy and American citizens. Since Mexican immigrants took all hard-labor jobs, Americans had an incentive and opportunity to seek higher education to occupy positions that required more sophisticated training. Unfortunately, this situation was not perceived in such a favorable light by the majority of the U.S. population at that time, causing confrontations.
The Impact of Mexican Immigrant Workers on Occupational Injuries and WC Claims
The federal government feared that there would be more immigrant workers from Mexico than American industry could handle, but the appearance of Hispanics in the U.S. job market reduced occupational injuries and WC benefit claims. Since Mexicans mostly took jobs with an increased hazard to health, it led to a drop in the number of workplace injuries among U.S. citizens (Dillender & McInerney, 2020). According to Dillender and McInerney (2020), “between 1980 and 2015, the overall rate of nonfatal occupational injuries fell by over 60 percent” (p. 1). Furthermore, the overall Emergency Departments referrals related to such accidents decreased (Dillender & McInerney, 2020). However, it was probably more associated with Hispanics’ hesitancy to report injuries to their employers or physicians because many came to the U.S. illegally. Once workplace accidents dropped, WC claims, usually given to individuals injured at work, also fell by 17% (Dillender & McInerney, 2020). Because WC payments cost almost $100 million to American employers, this decrease can be viewed as a significant saving (Dillender & McInerney, 2020). Overall, despite the citizens’ concerns, Mexican immigrant workers helped improve workplace safety for Americans and reduced compensation payments.
Illegal Mexican Migrants and American Politics
Some political leaders in the United States viewed Mexican immigrants as an instrument to win elections, while others perceived them as a threat to stability. For example, President Nixon realized that Hispanics did not elicit the same degree of hostility among white voters as African Americans (Foley, 2014). Hence, he decided to gain support from Latino Americans by creating supportive regulations for immigrants. He was the first president to support bilingual education for children with limited English proficiency (Foley, 2014). However, President Carter’s viewpoint was not as optimistic as Nixon’s because the country was struggling with unemployment. Carter claimed that unauthorized workers from Mexico displaced Americans and caused outrage among the general population (Foley, 2014). President Reagan gave more freedom to “cross-border workers to provide an adequate workforce for employers,” offering amnesty for all unauthorized Mexican workers (Foley, 2014, p. 192). The “decade of Hispanics” increased the importance of Hispanics for the U.S., and specific policies demonstrated it. Still, aliens from Mexico were represented negatively by the mass media, especially when the presidency was taken by individuals with conservative viewpoints about an inflow of Mexican workers to America.
Representation of Mexican Aliens by the U.S. Media
Depending on the period in Mexican-American relations, immigrants were presented differently by the media. For instance, the Frito-Lay company created a character, “Frito Bandito,” a brave and clever Mexican man, to target Hispanic customers (Foley, 2014). However, this character and his potentially criminal origin were viewed by Latino Americans as an offense; therefore, they started to boycott the product, forcing Frito-Lay to remove “Frito Bandito” from its marketing campaign. Since the number of Mexican Americans was high, manufacturers could no longer ignore that avoidance of their products from Latino groups might damage their sales. Thus, Coors beer corporation had to hire more Hispanics and spend $9 million to create a positive advertisement to revert the nationwide boycott (Foley, 2014). Unlike firms that sold goods or services, American news media illustrated illegal workers from Mexico as a threat to the economy and political stability of the United States. In the 1970s and the 1980s, “the national print media featured articles” with such headlines as “Los Angeles swells with aliens” (Foley, 2014, p. 191). In fact, illegal migrants could not alter this representation because many Americans supported this hostility against Hispanic workers.
The Author’s Viewpoint about Illegal Migration of Hispanic Laborers
Foley’s overall perspective about illegal Mexican immigrants remained neutral to positive throughout the chapter. Foley (2014) highlighted that these newcomers from Mexico comprised a substantial portion of cheap labor for American industry. Indeed, the numbers are impressive because more than 57,000 undocumented Mexican workers come to the United States annually (Gutiérrez, 2020). The author’s writing gave the impression that illegal migration was a minor crime that outweighed the benefits that the country’s economy, politics, and culture could receive. However, Foley (2014) admitted that these advantages were not perceived optimistically by the general public. Furthermore, he narrated how people’s viewpoints were shaped by the media’s depiction of drug dealers, prostitutes, and murderers from Mexico. Hence, the nation’s hostility to aliens was employed by politicians to increase militant power on the borders in the 1990s. It seemed that Foley did not support this negative attitude and vilification of Mexican immigrant workers since it was not Mexico but the United States who annexed Texas, which was a strong point. Although this argument was not mentioned here, the author assumed that earlier chapters convinced the reader that the actions of unauthorized Mexicans were justifiable.
Conclusion
This chapter in Foley’s Mexican in the Making of America discussed the role of Mexican immigrant workers in the economy, politics, and culture of the United States since the beginning of the “decade of Hispanics.” Thousands of laborers have come to the U.S. annually during the last seventy years, and many of them are undocumented. Hispanic aliens represent the large cohort of the cheap workforce, allowing American employers to have their work done with lower expenditure. Moreover, the immigration of people from Mexico positively impacted the workplace injury statistics among white Americans because many hazardous jobs were taken by aliens, who rarely report accidents due to their illegal status. Since fewer occupation incidents are reported, Workers’ Compensation saved significant capital because a reduction in injuries at work indicated fewer cash claims. Politicians like Nixon and Reagan were optimistic about these migrations, while others, like Carter and Clinton, supported the overall negative attitude toward the employment of unauthorized Hispanics. The author appears to justify illegal immigration by the advantages that the U.S. economy receives from cheap labor without referring to the U.S.-Mexican war for Texas mentioned at the beginning of the book.
References
Dillender, M., & McInerney, M. (2020). The role of Mexican immigration to the United States in improved workplace safety for natives from 1980 to 2015. Journal of Health Economics, 70, 1-19. Web.
Foley, N. (2014). Mexicans in the making of America. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Gutiérrez, D.G. (2020). American Latino theme study: Immigration. National Park Service. Web.
Sherlock Holmes Stories And Law Enforcement Practice
Introduction
Despite being written in the 21st century, the stories about Sherlock Holmes are still popular today. Shafritz and Borick (2011) believe that it can be more than entertaining reading, proposing an effective approach to investigating crimes. They are convinced that the fame of Sherlock Holmes resulted in “the increase in manufacturing productivity and standard of living brought about through scientific management” (Shafritz & Borick, 2011, p. 4). In addition, the stories had a significant impact on law enforcement practice, promoting evidence-based approaches and scientific management. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present my reaction to the ideas presented by the authors and outline the connection between the ideas expressed in the book and a police organization.
Conflict Management and Resolution
Sherlock Holmes contributed to promoting scientific management for applying to law enforcement and crime investigation practice. His approach impressed police officers, who stuck to old-fashioned ways, which were not effective. In general, the clients in the book applied to Sherlock Holmes due to the inability of the police to help them. The crime investigator highlighted that “detection is, or ought to be, an exact science and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner” (Shafritz & Borick, 2011, p. 8). Consequently, Sherlock Holmes made his approach popular, and later, other specialists contributed to its implementation to practice. It resulted in establishing the Principle of Scientific Management, which became basic for the criminal investigation process.
Another Sherlock Holmes contribution to conflict resolution regards circumstantial evidence. It should be mentioned that this methodology does not imply relying on the data provided by eyewitnesses. Instead, it focuses on the “attendant circumstances from which a judge or jury may inter facts and conclusions” (Shafritz & Borick, 2011, p. 9). In the case of Sherlock Holmes stories, the readers presented judges who could decide on the reliability of evidence. The famous crime investigator did not consider circumstances effective evidence for achieving the truth (Shafritz & Borick, 2011). He stimulated police officers to change their views in this regard in order to see other details which may be informative. In general, this approach had a considerable impact on law enforcement practice and resulted in more effectiveness of their profession.
Resources
It is undeniable that Sherlock Holmes was a prominent investigator who was capable of solving the most complicated cases. Today, a range of professionals in this field continue to stick to his approach, which appears to be an effective resource for shedding light on what is happening. Shafritz & Borick (2011) highlight that the actions of a talented crime science investigator were defined by his own system, which was extremely helpful for achieving the desired outcome. They mark: “he saw some of the pieces of a puzzle at a crime scene and, by using scientific methods and logical analysis, was able to come up with the missing pieces to get the whole picture” (Shafritz & Borick, 2011). Consequently, a case was perceived as a jigsaw puzzle, and it was required to find a missing piece.
This had a significant impact on law enforcement practice, as these days, specialists in this field follow the same approach. They systematically analyze the physical evidence, which is helpful for making a relevant hypothesis. In the end, they draw conclusions, which are based on logical deduction and evidence observed by them. Sherlock Holmes claimed: “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth” (Shafritz & Borick, 2011, p. 6). Thus, this method allows us to find a solution to complicated crimes and prove the guilt of the suspected. In addition, this system is useful for approaching the analysis of a place where a crime was committed competently.
Delivery of Services
As it has been mentioned earlier, the fame of Sherlock Holmes influenced the delivery of services significantly. People were impressed by the talent of a crime scene investigator, and the cases he had to solve were intriguing to them (Shafritz & Borick, 2011). For this reason, the character changed the perception of the profession and its responsibilities to some extent. Specialists were more motivated to dive into their job, helping people to find solutions in challenging situations. Police officers understood their duties of defending the population and were motivated to do their best, remembering the example of Sherlock Holmes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it may be stated that apart from being an entertaining story for both children and adults, Sherlock Holmes appears to be a powerful stimulus for changing law enforcement practice. By showing stories of investigating complicated crimes, the character advanced effective methods, which were not used by police officers at that period. He motivated them to adhere to scientific management and changed their point of view concerning circumstantial evidence. The talented crime scene investigator proposed his own system, which is used by modern specialists in this sphere. In addition, he impacted the motivation of colleagues to do their best and provide the best possible outcomes. Consequently, the book appears to be something more than entertaining stories about detectives.
Reference
Shafritz, J. M. & Borick, C. (2011). Cases in public policy and administration. Routledge.