Analysis Of Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin In The Sun

Dreams don’t always work out the way you want them to. Beneatha, in A Raisin in the Sun, had many big dreams, not all easily achievable. Many of them, also never came true for her, and then some of them did. Beneatha’s character traits explain dreams, and how sometimes they dont come true. Beneathas independence, indecisiveness, and modern views of society all help describe what Lorraine Hansberry is trying to make readers think about while reading A Raisin in the Sun. In hope that readers will think about when dreams dont come true, Hansberry introduces Beneathas as a bright, young, independent woman. â€Å"Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet – if I ever get married.† (Act One, Scene†¦show more content†¦She’s indecisive, but that gives her more of a chance to have her dream come true, even if its a smaller dream. Her family tells about the small dreams she had, such a guitar lessons, horseback riding, and camera work. Dreams can be big or small, its still a dream. Smaller dreams can eventually lead to a bigger dream. Sometimes you have to start small, and then work your way up. Maybe sometime in the future Beneathas small dream of beginning guitar lessons will turn her into wanting to be a big musician. Dreams are whatever you want them to be, and Beneatha’s dreams show that. She shows that even if you are indecisive, you can still have yo ur dreams come true-small or big. Beneathas dream of everyone thinking the same way she does, regarding color, and gender, dont come true. At this time in history, peoples opinions are considered ‘close minded’ to people today. â€Å"Independence and then what? What about all the crooks and thieves and just plain idiots who will come into power and steal and plunder the same as before – only now they will be black and do it in the name of the new Independence – WHAT ABOUT THEM?!† (Act Three) Mama’s generation got their freedom, now its time for Beneatha’s generation to get their freedom. She thinks the worst of people, which is a very ahead of her time view onShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin In The Sun1092 Words   |  5 PagesLorraine Hansberry was an African-American female playwright born in Chicago in 1930. Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, has won awards such as the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play and i s loosely based on events involving her own family. This play portrays a poor African-American family of five known as the Younger Family, living on the South side of Chicago in a run-down one-bedroom apartment, Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished and their primary feature now isRead MoreCharacter Analysis Of Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin In The Sun1322 Words   |  6 PagesIn Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha Younger is the highly motivated, opinionated daughter of Lena Younger. As a black woman attending college with intentions of becoming a doctor, she is a trailblazer character whose goals stand out among the rest. With such independent desires and arduous goals to meet, Beneatha does not dwell on her romantic life. Her focus lies in her future, not the boys who court her. Beneatha is more than willing to consider the possibility of being singleRead MoreInitial Expectation And Purposes Of Theatre845 Words   |  4 PagesPurposes of Theatre â€Å"Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (1959) probes the racially charged politics of home ownership in post–World War II Southside Chicago† (Matthews). Before going to see this performance, I made a quick research about this play and that research formed an initial view about this performance. I have read about the play in general, a short synopsis a historical and influences upon American society and theatre. Lorraine Hansberry’s â€Å"A raisin in the Sun† is a play that tellsRead MoreEssay on Dreams Deferred in Hansberrys A Raising in the Sun1902 Words   |  8 Pagesambitious students must sacrifice another facet of their lives in order to achieve their academic goals. In A Raisin in the Sun, many of the characters must give up something important to them to achieve their own idea of success. Everybody has his or her own dreams. Although some people may have homogeneous aspirations, no two are exactly the same. Hansberrys play, A Raisin in the Sun, reflects this concept by expressing that each character’s idea of the American Dream is distinct in its own wayRead MoreA Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry Essay1343 Words   |  6 PagesA Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a play that displays housing discrimination in Chicago during the 1950s. Housing discrimination was partially an effect of the Great Migration. This was an event during the 1950s that resulted in about six million African Americans â€Å"migrating† from the south to the north, Midwest, and west regions of the United States. This caused the population of black people in major northern cities to increase rapidly. They are then only able to live in certain neighborhoodsRead MoreA Raisin In The Sun Archetypal Analysis1452 Words   |  6 Pagesarchetypal analysis that enables one t o gain insight into the conventional and universal experiences within the society of which that form of literature is based upon. These repeating and shared experiences are especially prevalent in the literature of the 1950s, as it is a period of time characterized by social injustice and prejudice targeting not just individuals but entire groups such as blacks, women and other disenfranchised communities within American society. Accordingly, Lorraine Hansberry’s A RaisinRead MoreThe Matriarchs of the House in A Raisin in the Sun by Loraine Hansberry814 Words   |  3 PagesIn A Raisin in the Sun by Loraine Hansberry, the three strong-willed women of the story have varying opinions, views, and beliefs on life. The story is set in the Southside of Chicago, Illinois. The Younger’s are an African-American family that has struggled to survive financially for many years. With a large injection of money from Mr. Younger’s death, the family struggles to make a unanim ous decision on what they will use the 10,000 dollars for. The three major female characters differ in a varietyRead MoreThe Roles Of Sexism And Dreams1377 Words   |  6 Pagesonly fit for supporting roles just like their mother, Mama Lena. Debuted on Broadway in 1959, the dramatic work, A Raisin in the Sun, is composed by Lorraine Hansberry, who depicts the issues of sexism and dreams. Considering these themes, how can we explore the presence of dreams as well as the ideology of sexism that is registered in Black America? Through Walter’s quote, Hansberry’s screenplay challenges gender stereotypes through Walter and Beneatha while exploring Mama s domestic narrative; theseRead MoreDreams Deferred in Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun736 Words   |  3 Pages Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play, A Raisin in the Sun, culls its title from the infamous poem â€Å"Dream Deferred† by Langston Hughes, and both works discuss what happens to a person when their dreams -- their hopes, their aspirations, their lives -- are endlessly put on hold. For this analysis of the dreams and character of Beneatha Younger in Raisin, I would like to pull on another dreamy poem of Langston Hughes’ entitled â€Å"Dream Boogie.† Like all the characters in the play, Beneatha has dreams thatRead MoreA Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry2035 Words   |  8 PagesLorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is a remarkable play written in 1959 by an African American author about an African American family. This time period was in the early days of the modern awakening of civil rights awareness. It was a timely play challenging the then current stereotypical view of a black family by depicting a realistic portrayal of a specific blac k family with aspirations, hopes, dreams, dignity, and ambition as would be expected from all families regardless of race. The

Freedom of Speech Mill and Freiberg - 1505 Words

THE MOST MEANINGFUL FREEDOM Freedom of speech is the key element of the real democracies. Freedom of speech is also concerned to the idea that people can speak freely without being stopped, or censored. Freedom of speech is briefly hallmark of democracy because democracy is based on independent thoughts of people. In a democratic society people are allowed to express their views freely and peacefully. There will be no democracy if freedom of speech isnt granted to people. Where there is freedom of speech, new ideas and thoughts are made available by the members of the society through free dialogues, discussions and debates. Thus, the right of freedom of speech is a necessary condition for creating a healthy and democratic†¦show more content†¦For example the pornography and drug using are good arguments that the ones who are against to the existences of porn products and illegal drugs are free to not use them. However they have no right to put pressure on the ones who consume these products. However the most important thing is that people who purchase and consume these kinds of products should not cause harm to others such as raping or killing others. Although it may not be an unavoidable fact, the writer (2008) states in the text of Freedom of Speech â€Å"some studies show that the increasing consumption of pornography in the USA over the last 20 years has coincided with a marked reduction of violent crimes against women, including rape.† Therefore it will be now f more clear why I do not disagree with Feinberg’s Offense Principle: Mill’ formulation (1978) suggests only speech that directly harms the rights of others in an illegitimate manner should be banned so if the consumption of porn or drug using do not directly harm others it would be meaningless to ban them and as Mill’s formulation (2008) continues as â€Å"finding such material offensive, obscene or outrageous is not sufficient grounds for prohibition.† I believe that I could explain well why I disagree with the Offense Principle. As I mentioned in the introduction part; offensive speech should not ethically exist but it will be impossible to abrogate them in the proper sense. As seemedShow MoreRelatedOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesperspectives provide, in their different ways, profound challenges to the ways in which we live in and design organizations. They pose important challenges to organization members about issues such as: †¢ The relationship between organization control and freedom. †¢ The nature of power and authority in organizations. †¢ The relationship between individualism and collectivism in modern organizations. †¢ The relationship between organizations and society. †¢ The ways in which organizations are designed. †¢ The relationship

Figures of Speech in the Waste Land Free Essays

Some figures of speech in the wasteland Figures of speech comprise two main categories. One category twists the meaning of words to wrest a new non-literal meaning from words that, when phrased together, have a very different literal meaning, as in the idiomatic figure of speech, â€Å"He died from laughter. † Literally, this means a man met his demise due to laughter. We will write a custom essay sample on Figures of Speech in the Waste Land or any similar topic only for you Order Now Figuratively (i. e. , non-literally), this means he laughed with vigor for a long time. Figures of speech that twist meaning are classified as  tropes. The other category enhances meaning by arranging and rearranging words and word order to dramatize, emphasize or more elegantly express the point at hand. For example, an analogy may be more dramatically made by using a  chiasmus  that inverts parallelism in a typical abba component arrangement. For example, consider the inverted parallelism of this: The day [a] but shines [b], but glows [b] the night [a]. Figures of speech that enhance through words, sounds, letters, word order and syntax are classified as word schemes, or justschemes. It is clear from this brief explanation of figures of speech that  The Wasteland, with a figure of speech as its very title, will be replete with figures of speech of both kinds,  tropes and schemes. In this format, I can identify a few prominent ones, the first being the title. The Wasteland  is the overarching figure of speech (trope/metaphor) that shapes this entire poetic treatise on the state of the world in Eliot’s day. The title of Part I, â€Å"The Burial of the Dead,† is itself a significant figure of speech, also a metaphor, that establishes the central idea of the work. For Eliot, following World War I (1914-1918), Earth itself was ravaged, torn and dead, â€Å"Lilacs out of the dead land †¦. † This figure of speech signifies that death resulting from WWI encompasses the dead who died in battle and the dead who still breath though dead inside from horror and from the loss of dead Earth: A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, 62 I had not thought death had undone so many. â€Å"Son of man† is another important figure of speech, an allusion and metaphor, as this is to whom portions of Part I are addressed: Son of man, 20 You cannot say, or guess, for you know only A heap of broken images, Another important figure of speech (trope/analogy and symbol) found in Part III, â€Å"The Fire Sermon,† is Tiresias, the blind old man who sees â€Å"At the violet hour†: I Tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives, †¦ can see At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives 220 Homeward, †¦ This figure of speech is important because it represents Eliot’s point and belief that the living dead cannot see, can no longer perceive, what is around them, what is true. This is also an allusion to the Biblical precept that those who see are blind, that is, cannot see spiritual truth. Figures of speech of the  scheme  kind are also present, though seemingly less prominent and used for elegance and compression rather than for significance. An example is found in Part III: â€Å"the young man carbuncular. † Here the word order is changed so that the adjective modifier â€Å"carbuncular† follows the head noun (â€Å"man†) of the noun phrase. Standard word order would be â€Å"the carbuncular young man. † This sort of rearrangement of word order, with the adjective coming after the noun, is called an  anastrophe How to cite Figures of Speech in the Waste Land, Essay examples

Altadis Strategy Management

Question: 1) Summarize Altadisstrategy and give your opinion on that issue 2) The report offers an economic valution of Altadis. What do you think about it? Would you change anything in that valuation? You dont need to make any number. Just to give your opinion on the above questions. 3) How does the above strategy fit with the offered evaluation? Answer: 1. Summarization of ALTADIS Strategy: ALTADIS is a cigar manufacturing company. There are so many plans in the company to make profit. If the cigars are sold in the various countries of the world, then the profit can be made. Strategy which is adopted by the company, has been given below- Cash flow driven- The fiscal opinion has been reduced by the ALTADIS Company. It was an opinion regarding the cigar division of France. For the product, rate of tax has been reduced. The price of the cigar has been increased by the manufacturing company. The price has been increased in the French market. In French market, the volume of blond cigar has been reduced by them. It has been reduced in two consecutive years. So, there is declination in the annual selling of cigar by almost 2%. From the shareholders of ALTADIS, the shares are being purchased by the company. By it, the total remuneration yield is being increased in every year. Company is growing with the revenue of almost 6%. Valuation- The shares are being purchased back by the company in every year. Millions of money is being returned to the shareholders by the company. The dividend is also being declared to shareholders by the company. In every year, the total remuneration of the company is being increased. In the company, the estimation of remuneration is almost 600 million euro. Radio Analysis- The entry of the ALTADIS Company has been done into the emerging market. Large discount is being provided by the company on their EBITDA and EBIT. Business of the company is being done by this policy. The ratio of the earnings of the company is decreasing continuously. It is happening due to the lower fiscal funds and leverage value. 2. The strategies approved by the ALTADIS Company should improve: After viewing the strategies of the company, the research analyst took the decision regarding the performance of the company during the year. According to them, the company could perform better during the year. It happened due to the continuous declination of the annual sales of the cigar. In the French market, the negative performance of the cigar sales should be counter balanced by the company. There is a continuous fall in the revenues of the cigar company by 4.1%. There is declination in the EBDITA of the company by 5.2%. In the French market, there is declination in the sales volume of the cigar. It is the reason of the declination of EBDITA. To improve the revenues of the company, the sales volume of the cigar should be increased. It should be done in the French market. The operating result of the company will be decreased by the continuation of this situation. According to the research analyst, the company should improve the sales volume of the cigar to generate the revenues. 3. Evaluation of the strategies- To get fund in the company, the purchasing of the shares back from the shareholders should be stopped by it. In the share market, the share price of the company will be increased by it. More revenues will be generated by the improvement in the sales volume of the product. The price earnings ratio of the company will be increased. A huge amount of the profit can be earned by the company by which more funds will be generated in the company. References- 1. Kwok, Benny K. B. (2008).Forensic Accountancy (2nd edition). LexisNexis.ISBN978-962-8972-76-0. 2. Pratt, Shannon; Robert F. Reilly; Robert P. Schweihs (2000).Valuing a Business. McGraw-Hill Professional. McGraw Hill.ISBN0-07-135615-0.Hmegrii 3. Anderson, Patrick L., "Value of Private Businesses in the United States," Business Economics (2009) doi:10.1057/be.2009.4 4. Bucks, Kennickell, Mach, Moore, "Changes in US Family Finances from 2004 to 2007: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances," Federal Reserve Bulletin, February 2009

The Concept of Leadership in Organizational Success

Introduction It is apparent that leadership style is what dictates the nature of work environment within an organization and ultimately the business success of any organization. Additionally from the situation and resonance as well as the nature of contribution to the work climate, there are some styles that contribute positively and other negatively. There is need to clearly understand the concept of leadership and how it impacts on the success or failure of organizations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept of Leadership in Organizational Success specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This assignment is very important since it will give me an opportunity to understand the meaning of leadership, its importance, difference from management, the desired qualities for an effective leader and finally the various styles of leadership (Koestenbaum, 2002). All this will play a bigger role in ensuring that I fully appr eciate the whole concept of leadership usually applicable in all spheres of human life. Leadership importance The concept of leadership has been in existence ideally since the beginning of mankind. Nonetheless, there has been a tremendous change and what was deemed to be the best leadership styles in the past is totally not accepted at present. By definition, leadership has been thought as; â€Å"a process whereby an individual can influence thoughts, ideas and actions of others in achieving a set of preset goals, tasks, duties and responsibilities† (Kouzes Posner, 2007). From the definition provided it is evident that leadership is of importance not only to the individual workers but the entire organization and ultimately to all other stakeholders. It is leadership that creates a desired environment in the workplace that will see to it that vision, mission and core values are set and strictly having best strategies to accomplish them. Issues dealing with change management, motivated and satisfied employees, organizational success and performance can only be realized if the leadership in place is effective and all encompassing. It is no doubt that leadership makes use of all the resources especially the human capital to make organizations achieve competitive advantage vital for future survival of businesses in the presence of competition. There is need to distinguish between leadership from management. The later has been defined as the methods employed to control, plan, direct as well as organize all the resources at the disposal of an organization so that the same are in line with the values as well as principles that guide the organization. It is no doubt that the concept of management is responsible for ensuring that laws, procedures and guidelines are strictly adhered to. Together with leadership, management utilizes preset values and principles to tune the human resource in order to achieve the mandate bestowed to it.Advertising Looking for e ssay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Leadership qualities According to Koestenbaum, 2002 all leaders are not equal since there are those who will be seen to be more successful than others. The secret behind this rests on the combination of leadership qualities possessed. In this section, various leadership qualities are succinctly covered. Having effective presentation skills is vital for leaders to be successful. It is no doubt that information sharing within and outside the organization is very important. The ability to express ideas in the most effective manner, answering questions satisfactorily, delivering presentation confidently by using visual aids go an extra mile in making a good leader. The ability to make effective decision making usually differentiate between leaderships. Strict adherence to certain steps while making decision for instance establishing the problem as well as identifying goals to be objective, engaging intuition and collecting relevant data contribute to a successful leader when it comes to making rational decisions. Additionally acting assertively is key in making an effective leader. This entails the idea of making one’s views, opinion and beliefs known in the most genuine manner while having in mind the concerns of others. It generally entails showing utmost respect for others. Another quality that makes one to be a better leader is the ability to successfully manage personal time. It is no doubt that each and every task bestowed to managers and leaders have time bound. Leaders who are deemed successful will have in place mechanisms to set goals that are achievable realistic and measurable. Interestingly the ability to build trust is attained by leaders practicing what they preach. For instance world re-known leaders not only tell followers to keep time, actively listen but also put the same in practice. This idea makes the leader and his or her f ollowers to have a mutual understanding (Griffith, et al., 2006). The ability of a leader to create a democratic work place climate ensures that the subjects are free to air their views, opinion and beliefs that might challenge those of their leaders results to a more successful organization. Last but not least, being able to adopt various styles of learning is one important leadership quality. The possession of various learning styles such as activists, reflectors, theorists among others makes a leader to be more rational when making decisions (Kittle, 1994). Leadership styles Based on the various combinations of leadership qualities there are different types of leadership style. One of them is visionary leadership style in which the one at the helm of leadership believes in vision and shows empathy. Followers are made to understand that they are important to the organization and any success is attributed to them. Motivation is key thus this style has unmatched contribution to succ ess. This kind of leadership is very good in situations where firms are undergoing dramatic huge changes. An example of a leader who uses this leadership style is Mark Hurd the chief executive officer of HP Company. He allowed free flow of information as well as motivating his subjects towards attaining the common goal.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept of Leadership in Organizational Success specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Democratic leadership style is where the leader creates an environment in which the subjects are allowed to freely air their views and opinions. Thus the same are utilized by the leader in arriving at a decision. In situations where these views are seen in the decisions arrived at, the subjects will feel part and parcel of the decision hence support it to the bitter end. Additionally team work is highly encouraged where strengths and weaknesses will be known. Ideas are cultivated a nd encouraged. However, the style might lead to waste of time in making timely decisions (Griffith, et al., 2006). Another style of leadership is pace-setting where the approach used is carrot and stick. In this performers are rewarded while failures are punished. Individuals strive to personally gain at the expense of the organization. Leaders in this category expect their subordinates to be position to carryout their duties and responsibilities. Leaders can role up their sleeves and rescue the situation in case things seems to go hey wire. Lastly, commanding leadership is where those in the forefront hold a stance that is firm while commanding and giving directions to the subordinates. Leaders expect followers to fully comply with the principles, guidelines as well as procedures set by the relevant bodies (Kittle, 1994). One is not allowed to come in with a new idea and the subordinates are always under surveillance. Interestingly, there is no time to actively engage in conversati on to reach consensus. This kind of leadership is only applicable during crisis situations. One leader that utilized this kind of style is the British Airways CEO when the cabin crew went on strike mid 2010. The two styles to be compared are commanding and visionary leadership style. The former is more advantageous than the later since it allows free flow of information, a working environment in which all followers are highly motivated is created. Additionally through sharing of information, each and every person is at par with the happenings within the organization hence able to raise concern early enough (Griffith, et al., 2006). On the other hand, commanding style of leadership has been shown to be very detrimental since talent is not nurtured. Information is not shared accordingly hence there are those who are left in the dark when making decision which might later lead to resistance for instance in adopting change (Kouzes Posner, 2007).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Conclusion There is need to clearly understand the concept of leadership and how it impacts on the success or failure of organizations. This assignment is very important since it given me an opportunity to understand the meaning of leadership, its importance, difference from management, the desired qualities for an effective leader and finally the various styles of leadership. Leadership qualities such as effective communication, adopting different learning styles as well as building trust are key to shaping successful leaders. The various styles of leadership discussed include visionary, pace-setting, commanding and democratic. Leadership is indeed different from management but the two go hand in hand in ensuring an organization succeeds. References Griffith, B., et al. (2006). Effective groups: Concepts and skills to meet leadership challenges. New York: Allyn Bacon. Kittle, E. (1994). Leadership skills: Developing volunteers for organizational success. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press. Koestenbaum, P. (2002). Leadership: The inner side of greatness a philosophy for leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Kouzes, J., Posner, B. (2007). Leadership Challenge 4th Ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. This essay on The Concept of Leadership in Organizational Success was written and submitted by user Wilson Fisk to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Comparison Between Frank Fischer and Brian Martin essays

Comparison Between Frank Fischer and Brian Martin essays There are many ideas on how much influence experts have on a society and how much influence society has on the expert. Without one or the other, neither would exist. Either that, or this world would be quite different if it was made up of only experts or only the common citizen. If the world were made up of only the common citizen, everyone would be taking care of his or her own. Nobody would be working for the expert, voting for the expert, criticizing the expert, looking up on the expert, or even preparing to be an expert himself or herself. But without the common citizen, the expert would have nobody to impress, nobody to influence, nobody to work for, and nobody to guide, or even nobody to get feedback from. In the book Citizens, Experts, and the Environment, by Frank Fischer, the author writes about the relationship between the citizen and the expert. In the book, Confronting the Experts, by Brian Martin, the author also writes about the relationship between the citizen and the expert and the conflicts between the experts vs. the expert. He also includes a few case articles from different individuals who wrote about their experiences with experts. Another well-known author is Thomas Kuhn, who came up with the term paradigm, which deals with shaping how you deal with things. Kuhn described it as a collection of beliefs shared by scientists, a set of agreements about how problems are to be understood. In Fischers book, Fischer focuses on public policy. He questions the role of citizens, whether citizens are knowledgeable enough to participate in a world where technology is way over our heads, or have the expert make the decisions for everyone because after all, they are the experts. He adds that citizen participation is low and that it can have some kind of impact on democracy. He defines citizen participation as deliberation on issues affecting ones own life . So ...

Women in Muslim Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Women in Muslim Society - Essay Example Therefore, the requisite of belief for Muslims is a relatively simple one; if you recognize that the ancient prophets had some conception of the true nature of God, then you are capable of leading a holy and virtuous path. Faith demands adherence to the code of laws, and a recognition of the nature of mankind and his place within the world. The Qur'an makes it clear that no restrictions should be placed upon who can be saved spiritually based upon sex, culture, race, class, or the actions of others. However, these stipulations upon entry into heaven do not formally empower women in their social relationships. Although a person of any sex or ethnicity possesses the capacity to recognize Allah as the one true God and Muhammad as his prophet in virtually all Muslim societies, many of these societies rely upon tribal law and gender traditions to determine particular power structures. The consequence of this is that in a number of Muslim societies women are explicitly identified as being inferior to men and, accordingly, are forced to occupy purely subservient positions. Of course, violence against women has been recognized as a global pandemic, which is not at all exclusive to the Islamic world: "The situation has lead public health experts to consider violence against women a global public health issue, one requiring a public health approach."1 Domestic abuse is common across virtually all cultures and religions to a very high degree; but in many Islamic societies - the Arab world in particular - violence against women could be far more prevalent than in the West, stemming partially from the underground, behind-closed-door character of women in these societies and partially from the widespread acceptance of domestic violence by the male-dominated, ruling sects. As a result, "Research carried out in several Arab countries, however, shows that at least one out of three women is beaten by her husband."2 It has been argued by a number of Western theorists that violence is endemic to Muslim societies; violence against those of other religions and violence against those occupying a lower-rung on the social ladder - women - are both justified within the overall Muslim worldview, according to these theorists. In Islam, within any given community, the rights of the underprivileged are such that they are justified in overthrowing those institutions that are deemed unjust, so long as the injustice lies clearly outside the teachings of the Qur'an. One of the difficulties with this position is that if the practices of other societies are unjust with respect to the teachings of Muhammad and Islam, then there is good reason to work to physically bring down these societies so they better adhere to the paths of virtue. So, quite often, cross-societal violence is clearly justified. But the reverse of this situation is also superficially justified; if the underprivileged of society are deemed to be behaving in an immoral manner, then violence against them is also justified. Although comprehensive studies and, therefore, accurate data is scarce, is has been often suggested that this justification for violence against women is quite prevalent in nations such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.3 Efforts to overcome these rationalizations for such violence have come largely from the West, though much of the propaganda has been aimed at appealing