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The impact of death on a family
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Introduction One of the most stressful events for older adults in later life is the death of a spouse, more formally defined as widowhood. Widowhood involves the loss of relationship of 50 or more years(Whitbourne, 2014). The effects of widowhood are often detrimental on the bereaved individual but varies greatly according the circumstances surrounding the spouse, socioeconomic status , race, ethnicity,and the nature of the couples relationship . According to Whitbourne, 80% of widowed adults over the age of 65 are women and 73% of women are widows by the age of 85. (Whitbourne, 2014). The highest rate of widowhood (76.2%) is among African American women ages 85 and over (Whitbourne, 2014). For minority women specifically, of African American
To begin with, there are many events in United States history that have shaped our general understanding of women’s involvement in economics, politics, the debates of gender and sexuality, and so forth. Women for many centuries have not been seen as a significant part of history, however under thorough analyzation of certain events, there are many women and woman-based events responsible for the progressiveness we experience in our daily lives as men, women, children, and individuals altogether. Many of these events aid people today to reflect on the treatment of current individuals today and to raise awareness to significant issues that were not resolved or acknowledged in the past.
Roberto, K. A., & Jarrott, S. E. (2008, January). Family Caregivers of Older Adults: A Life Span Perspective. Family Relations , 100-111.
The Author of this book (On our own terms: race, class, and gender in the lives of African American Women) Leith Mullings seeks to explore the modern and historical lives of African American women on the issues of race, class and gender. Mullings does this in a very analytical way using a collection of essays written and collected over a twenty five year period. The author’s systematic format best explains her point of view. The book explores issues such as family, work and health comparing and contrasting between white and black women as well as between men and women of both races.
In Deborah E. McDowell’s essay Black Female Sexuality in Passing she writes about the sexual repression of women seen in Nella Larsen‘s writings during the Harlem Renaissance, where black women had difficulty expressing their sexuality. In her essay, she writes about topics affecting the sexuality of women such as, religion, marriage, and male dominated societies. In Toni Morrison’s short story, “Recitatif” there are examples of women who struggle to express their sexuality. The people in society judge women based off their appearance, and society holds back women from expressing themselves due to society wanting them to dress/act a certain way.
When sixteenth and seventeenth century explorers returned to Europe from their journeys to Africa, they constructed and disseminated degrading stereotypes of African women based on the observations they had made abroad. Basing their perceptions of women off of European women’s bodies, these explorers noticed and commented on how African women’s bodies differed in many aspects—these disparities then became justifications for the differential treatment between these two groups of women. Because these African American women didn’t conform to the basic norms of womanhood that the explorers were accustomed to, they were quick to categorize them as strange, animalistic and hypersexual; their bodily forms, attire and skin color called attention to their otherness in the corporeal and social realm. Skin Deep, Spirit Strong offers a compilation of essays that document the observations made, the generalizations that were produced and the treatment that resulted from these interactions. The negative generalizations that these early European explorers made about African American women, had and to this day continue to have a significant effect on the way in which black women are viewed physically and sexually not only in the private sphere but also publicly.
When people think about organizations, leaders, activist, and world changers often times they do not correlate these titles and positions with women, let alone black women. When we think of social resistance movements and the leaders who operate the movements we often think of men. Many people in society think that a man is needed to construct, lead and run a social movement so that it can be affected enough to make a significant change. Stereotypical gender roles are the reason that many of us do not often think of women when we think about social resistance movements. However, African American women played a vital role in their organizations, they were powerful activist and they were adamant about addressing the many issues that black women face in society.
Everybody grieves at the death of a loved one or close friends differently. The loss of somebody that was close to you is never an easy thing to get over. You never know how long somebody will be in your life. Death has no timetable, and you’ll never know when you or somebody will die. There’s a chance that I might not finish this essay, and theres a chance that I might not have a family, or a chance for me to live my life to the fullest but I have to live my life without letting that hold me back. How does somebody deal with the death of a family member or friend when their relationship ended on a bad note due to an argument? Elisabeth Kübler-Ross compliments matters further when she writes, “A husband and wife may have been fighting for years, but when the partner dies, the survivor will pull his hair, whine and cry louder and beat ...
Boy meets girl. Girl and boy fall in love and get married. Girl and boy have children and life could not possibly get any better. Many years later: Boy and girl start to notice something different in their relationship, something wrong. They decide that their relationship is over, whether they’re both happy with that decision or not and they divorce. Boy and girl’s children see them divorce. Children process the divorce in different ways, and it stays with them for the rest of their lives. People who experience a divorce are affected by it, whether they want to be or not. More often than not, those effects are negative. Before any parents make a rash decision, and before any children put judgment on their parents for messing them up, let’s take a look at the thing people call DIVORCE and how it affects those involved.
The Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was founded by Marcus Garvey in 1914 and achieved great success in improving the socio-economic status of blacks in both the USA and his native country, Jamaica, in the 1920s. Although it experienced a gradual decline in support in the 1930’s, Garvey was arguably the most prominent black nationalist figure to emerge in the twentieth century. However, despite its influence, it is clear that the organisation often neglected to give a voice to the numerous black women in its ranks, many of whom were heavily involved in the UNIA from its beginnings. Scholars like Tony Martin have drawn attention to important leading figures within the UNIA who were females, such as Amy Jacques Garvey, Henrietta Vinton Davis, M. De Mena and Amy Ashwood Garvey in emphasising the role of women within the organisation. Nevertheless, these women activists were somewhat atypical from the average female UNIA member; although they fought for gender equality, most did not have the opportunity to occupy such high positions or receive acknowledgement for their contributions. This essay will endeavour to construct a detailed analysis demonstrating that while their numbers were substantial, it is clear that the roles and responsibilities of women within the Universal Negro Improvement Association were largely subordinate to those of men.
The black woman, she is as diverse and as beautiful as the billions of humans she gave birth to. The first homo sapiens to appear in the fertile land of East Africa were nurtured from her bosom; the wisdom and strength that is characteristic of the black woman today is not a recent acquisition but qualities that were honed over thousand of years. Every woman on this earth has mitochondrial DNA (mitochondrial DNA is the DNA transferred from mother to child and the only genetic material that stands the test of time)from Lucy, the small black woman found in the Awash Valley in Ethiopia. Lucy is her English name but I prefer the appellation given to her by the Ethiopians, Dinkesh, which means "you are beautiful" or "you are wonderful." Her dark skin, beautiful lips and course hair is not a sign of shame or inferiority but of the dominance of her genes. The fact that any baby born by a black woman and a male of another race will more likely resemble its mother is a testament to that dominance, a testament that within the veins of a black woman lies the blue print to life. However, put aside all that I have stated and yet the black woman is still not given the respect that is due to her. A travesty has been committed that leaves the black woman dying alone and her offspring fatherless. Single black mothers are ubiquitous to every black neighborhood and casts a negative cloud on a whole people who have lost the basic atom of what makes a people a people: family.
Harsh, cruel, and stressful are three words to describe the life of African American women domestic workers during the Civil Rights Movement. During the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, there were many contributions other than just the typical marches, speeches, and violence that everybody hears about. One of the many topics that have not been heard about frequently is the life of the colored maids during this time period. What were black domestic workers? These women worked for many white families usually in the south for practically their whole lives taking care of their employer’s children and working their houses cleaning and doing many other tasks. The life of a black maid had many responsibilities and difficulties that challenged these women on a daily basis.
All throughout American history people have been experiencing prejudice, whether it is because of their race, their class, their ethnicity, etc. Another deciding characteristic of inequality is gender. American women during the turn of the 19th century were constantly treated like they were inferior to men. Men got better everything from food, to clothes, to opportunities and jobs. Women didn’t have control over their belongings, their ideas, or even their bodies. They faced a constant struggle of conflict between standing up for themselves, and remaining obedient to the men in their lives.
Struggling with grief and loss can lead to a number of serious physical and emotional ailments. In the article “Death from a Broken Heart,” Dulce Zamora wrote about experiencing the strain of stress, emotional overload, and poor self-care after a death. The article highlighted the fact that grievers are at higher risk for health problems. Studies have shown, as the article discussed, that surviving spouses may also have increased odds of suffering from heart disease and emotional problems.
Pasley, Kay. “The Long-Term Effects Of Divorce.” Stepfamilies 16.1 (1996): 11. MAS Ultra – School Edition.Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Beginning as a young woman and going through her death, these are the things that single women find important: Grounding (in the home, neighborhood, career, finances, and social life), Friendships (maintaining close female friendships, and even forming new friends), Basic Needs (for daily contact, security, touch, rituals, enhanced use of free time), Sexual Feelings (acknowledging them, numbing them, transitioning between), Children and Other Forms of Nurturance (making a decision about children, nurturing yourself and others, and being nurtured), Grieving (accepting the ambiguity, grieving lose dreams, separating her grief from her family’s grief), Making Peace with the Parents (teaching them to treat you as an adult, resolving old issues, accepting their positive traits and ignoring the rest), and Old Age (having a positive image of yourself, preparing financially for old age, maintaining friendships, considering living options, preparing your living will for your death/burial) (Lewis and Moon). It seems as if single women wish to live a fulfilling life while taking care of themselves, because they are