There is much emphasis on being independent and doing things for yourself in society that people are turning cold and are merely looking out for themselves. It is getting to the point that a husband or wife can not really be relied on because almost half of all marriages end in divorce. Maybe looking out for one's self is the logical response, since that is the only person one can rely on. What is it that makes a person independent? Does being independent mean being alone, being domineering towards others, being excessively proud, or being egotistical? Can someone be married and friendly to others and still be truly independent?
Margaret Laurence's novel The Stone Angel shows that true independence need neither begin at a young age nor end at a certain point. This is clearly portrayed by the main character Hagar Shipley, who at the age of ninety is still a woman who at least tried to make her own decisions, despite obvious age related limitations. Being too independent can affect personal relationships, yet on the other end of the spectrum, being too dependent on other people could cause others to view you as a burden. So what is the happy medium here and how can both extremes be avoided?
Hagar Shipley is an independent woman, but it is because she has to be or because she wants to be? Her independence began at a young age, since she had no mother in her childhood to set examples for her, nor a mother to go to for advice. Her Auntie Doll was her only possible female role model in her life, but Hagar did not have much appreciation or respect for her. It seemed as though she was moving in on her mother's territory. Without a mother figure in her developing years, Hagar had to learn things for herself when it was not appropriate to talk about something with her father; this caused her to make more mistakes along the way. She holds a strong resentment towards other women, especially her mother. Hagar believes her mother was weak for dying during childbirth, in reality it was a situation entirely out of anyone's control. Considering the fact that she was lacking a birth mother, her personality developed in a more rugged way, rougher around the edges then generally expected. It also reflects her resentment towards women in general, and causes her to avoid dependence on others.
What autonomy does is it helps stimulates an atmosphere of self-improvement in a community rather than people being dependent on others. Besides not using people as mere means O’Neill believes in helping develop others’ ends so that they can be independent.
When you move into your own apartment you are an independant adult. (no need to rely on others)
...e mother left him to explore on his own to learn lessons about what is around him, such as the fire. Although he will get hurt once, he will learn from the experience. Even when it comes to social structure person autonomy can work out well. In the example of the Burmese novices, one can ask and ensure with the one in power or knowledge, but a person does not need to follow what he or she has been told to do. It is not a command but a suggestion and warning. Thus, personal autonomy can be practiced when it comes to work. A person does not have to be fully on his own to be individual. In both the child and work example, the child and workers are supported. Although they are left to do things on their own, the mother and the monk are there when help is required.
strong on her own. Specifically, how to be independant and gain control of her own
Using autonomy as effective deliberation which relates autonomy as having “to do with the rationality of a person’s thought process” (Yeo & Moorhouse, 1996, p. 94), it could be confirmed using the results of the capacity assessments as evidence, that Ms. R is rational and making this decision with competent deliberation. Mr R’s decision can additionally be justified using autonomy as authenticity, which assesses the consistency of a person 's choice with their “settled dispositions, values and characters” (Yeo & Moorhouse, 1996, p. 94). Since Ms. R is a 59 year old woman who has been living alone, her choice to remain home is authentic and no different than what she has been doing
We have been socialized to believe that caring for an elderly relative or person is a burden. The term “burden,” which is used by many elderly members of society, further advances the notion that to care for others, even others in one’s family causes undo stress upon the caregivers. If a person is a burden on somebody, then they cannot be successfully achieving goals. The concept of achievement is represented by striving towards the American dream. Independence is an indirect reward of a lifetime of working towards the status that has been dictated as normal to us by our culture...
Affective Autonomy emphasizes the individual’s independent pursuit of affectively positive experience (pleasure, exciting life, varied life) (Smith & Schwartz, 1997). Schwartz (1999) redefined Affective Autonomy as a cultural emphasis on the desirability of individuals independently pursuing affectively positive experience.
Just from this short quote, one can see the independence she wanted the women in her stories to feel without having a man in their lives.
Gary Thomas writes a beautiful account for married couples as it pertains to the marriage relationship between them as a couple and to their marriage relationship with God. His words mean to encourage the individual to grow and gain a better understanding to the abounding love God has for them and how He uses marriage to make that individual more holy. In that way, they may grow in a more intimate and loving way to their spouse.
Respecting autonomy means the individuals being served are provided with as much independence as possible. For example, a high functioning teenage with ASD is allowed to self-manage their behaviours with the addition of daily checks. This provides the teenager
Being locked into this cave caused a distorted view of the society around her and those closest to her. This was apparent when she reflected on Regina Weese who was buried in the same cemetery as her mother. Hagar viewed Regina’s death with no sympathy and simply believed that it was her own damn fault; “And yet I always felt she had only herself to blame, for she was a flimsy, gutless creature, bland as egg custard.” (Laurence 4). This shows that whatever Hagar believed that Regina did or did not do before she died made Hagar view her negatively instead of considering the people around Regina that would be impacted by her death. Next, the ignorance of Hagar was probably the most visible between her relationship with John and Marvin as she always viewed John as her pure son instead of Bram’s; “I always thought John took after the Curries… I hadn’t any doubt of it, until he came back here and started living like a hobo.” (Laurence 202). By the end of Hagar’s life, she recognized her ignorance by telling Marvin that “You’ve not been cranky, Marvin. You’ve been good to me, always. A better son than John.” (Laurence 304). Clearly, Hagar was blind to Marvin constantly trying to take care of Hagar when she just saw it as being needy and after her money when in fact Marvin and Doris sacrificed much of their life to keep Hagar safe which she finally
During the course of my education I will need to try very hard using a lot of effort, courage, and skill to achieve my goal; becoming a physician assistant in orthopedic surgery. Status is defined as, the relative social, professional, and other standing of something or someone. In the future when I am trying to obtain a job in a hospital I want to be of good status on the list of people applying for that spot. I want to shine over the others, so I have a better chance at being hired. Once I am hired somewhere, I want to also be of good status professionally. I want to outshine some of my competition for possible promotions in the healthcare field. Lastly, autonomy is defined as, the ability of someone to make decisions, speak, or act on their own behalf. As I become more independent after I start to finish school, I need to make decisions for my own self. As a grown adult I have the ability to make my own decisions and not have anyone choose them for me. In the healthcare field, autonomy is really important and often a debatable area for healthcare providers. This would come into play when someone would need to sign an informed consent for a first visit at the doctors, which implies that you’re an autonomous adult signing the form. I would say that these are all strengths of
...tivities that I chose to do, I slowly began to fall into place, on my own. I believe that its very important for parents to be open minded when it comes to gender. Looking back at my own situation, my parents followed the norms in the beginning and forced me into a realization that I wasn’t ready for. Therefore, as a young child, I did the only thing I could and rebelled. However, as they began to change and let me make my own decisions I got right back on track. I grew into a woman, and the previous experience helped me become my own person. Because of my father, I was determined to be my own individual, an independent and powerful woman. That was my number one priority growing up and I contribute a lot of my later success to that previous attitude.
Achieving personal autonomy to me means to have an interest for own personal achievements in life. It is the freedom to live your own life as you please. As young children we learn to follow people who we trust make decisions for us, but as we become adolescence we start wanting to make decisions for ourselves. That is where personal autonomy comes into play, as we mature taking control of our own life in a way that we want to live can create an inner happiness; no one wants anyone to control their life. We may have people who love and care for us that may give advice about what choices we should make in life simply because they want the best for us, but at the end of the day we make our own decisions which reflect the way we live (Koestner, R. 2008).
From a very young age, my mother taught me to do things for myself. As I got older and asked her why she encouraged that idea in me, she told me it was because she wanted to be able to know I could take care of myself when she is not here anymore. That is when I understood her reason in why she enforced my independence, instead of depending on her so much. Of course, everyone at one point in their lives was dependent when we were kids, but eventually we all become independent when we reach adulthood. However, I strongly believe in being an independent individual is important, instead of being dependent because before we start to settle down in life, we are by ourselves in search of who we want to be in life.