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Week 1 1. Benefit plans Employer-sponsored benefits reflect the culture and business of the organization, and plans should be crafted and selected accordingly. Think about your current (or former) organization's benefit plan. Did it help to improve the quality of your work as well as your personal life? Why or why not? Was it a generous benefits program or were there specific benefits you felt should have been included? We want more time off Today people are looking for benefits what will help them manage their work-life life-styles better.Today, with the help of technology, employer is now starting to be more capable of offering flexible options with great results. Time off, seems to be another area that, I think, needs major improvement across the whole country. The average of two weeks’ vacation is way below the standard offered in all other countries, even third world countries have mandated better time off benefits embedded in their labor laws. I feel that we Americans wo rk too hard, with little time to be more involved in raising our kids or even taking care of ourselves.No time for soccer practice with my kinds, no time to go to the gym so I can lose some weight, no time to cook a good health meal for the family. Our lives are hassle and hassle and hassle. To me, when it comes to benefits, time off carries a lot of weight. I rather have an additional week of vacation that 5K more in my pay. Benefit plans Our company is into sales, entertainment, sports. I think it would be kinda hard to model a plan accordingly. Our plans are more designed to the type of family you have because we have a big mixture of people.I personally am not covered so I can't really speak in terms of how it benefits my life. Of course I do have vacation time and such, which does allow me to take some to myself. One thing I think would help in my quality of work or personal life is a flexible schedule. What I do sometimes affect payroll, so I have to map out times off or half days. However there are times when I really could use off and not really need to be in, so I wouldn't mind working an extra hour each day to have a half day later, or coming in earlier so I can leave earlier.Mainly because I prefer working in teh morning. I feel it helps me stay more attentative. Benefit discussion Providing workers with paid vacation time is extremely common, and generally considered a low-cost benefit to offer. Two weeks paid leave is fairly standard for a small business in the U. S. Many companies start workers at two weeks and reward them with additional time off as they accrue seniority. Some companies will also pro-rate vacation time, so that new hires that start on or after July 1 are only offered a week's vacation time in their first year. . Benefit Planning Process (graded)| As part of conducting a benefit plan needs assessment, a human resource professional must consider the organization’s business strategy as well as its compensation philosophy. Wh at do you think is the next step that should be taken? What are some of the possible outcomes of a benefit plan needs assessment? depends of what stage of the life cycle of the organization is | Mark Lema | 4/25/2012 7:11:46 AM| | I guess It depends of what stage of the life cycle of the organization we are, and the industry we are.I think that if we are new start-up business in the technology industry, we might need the best talent out there; therefore our strategy should be to offer very competitive benefits to attract and retain the best. Specially if they are highly skilled and in big demand. If I were to be in the â€Å"decline† stage or the organization, I might have to reduce cost and offer cost effective benefits to offset the costs and minimize expenses. | | RE: depends of what stage of the life cycle of the organization is | Harpreet Sandhu | 5/4/2012 7:53:32 PM| | Modified:5/4/2012 7:54 PM | I agree with my classmates that first it all depends on what stage the org anization is in. Along with this in my opinion, the immediate external environment and the changing needs of the organization are the priority too. If there is lot of external competition then the organization might need to reevaluate its benefit plans to attract, retain and reward valued employees. In order to do this, human resources should conduct a thorough review of the current plan and gain a clear understanding of short and long term strategic and financial objectives. | What do you think is the next step that should be taken? | Catherine Flynn | 4/30/2012 11:46:54 AM| | I think they need to look at the employees themselves and what their needs are. Easier for smaller companies, but even for bigger companies you can do online surveys. Finding out what the employees want is kinda imperative because you may not have similar workers. You may have some single people who don't need child care benefits, or older people who are into saving more so would really be interested in a 401 k or Pension more than an FSA account necessarily. | RE: What do you think is the next step that should be taken? | Lynn Peirce | 5/1/2012 12:34:40 AM| | Hi Catherine, thanks for your post†¦. I think, as I have seen through my readings†¦ companies simply are not offering pension plans. I would rather have that than a 401K. I think compnies should use surveys and interviews with kep personnale to see what employees really want after a needs assessment†¦. I imagine the results would be surprising. Management always seems to be disconnected from the â€Å"real† hard working backbone employees. | | RE: What do you think is the next step that should be taken? | Aaron Jones | 5/1/2012 6:04:19 AM| | This is true but they should reconnect themselves so they can find out what is really going on with there employees, the hard backbone employees need to know that they are  notice for there hard work and when mangerment does   surveys and needs assessment this shows th e employees that the organzation is concern about there hard working employees. | | Outcomes of an assessment | Catherine Flynn | 5/1/2012 11:18:52 AM| | I'm not sure what the book says.However I would assume there could be many outcomes such as needs that might be too expensive to cover. Or perhaps not enough people want the same coverage or not enough people to meet the limit requirement for the insurance company. You can also find out that the benefit plan might not suit anyone at all and a serious change is needed. | | RE: Benefit Planning Process | Harpreet Sandhu | 5/6/2012 8:41:42 PM| | Most successful companies utilize business strategic planning to set priorities and goals for the organization's future; outcomes include short-term goals and long-term strategies.A clearly written, well designed strategic plan can align business units, divisions and employees so that the vision of the management team and the mission of the company can be fulfilled. As companies evolve and the environment changes it is critical for companies to maintain a disciplined execution of the strategic plan. However, if they are not aligned with the business strategy, are done independently, and are not linked to a multi-year strategy they can become a source of frustration and may create unintended outcomes.By adopting a strategic benefit planning process, companies can make decisions regarding their benefits and health care with significantly less stress. Addressing the changing environment of health care will be approached with a more thoughtful long-term perspective and will be tied to the values and philosophy of the   company. | benefit plan | Manqing Liu | 5/4/2012 10:36:41 PM| | There are several external environmental factors considered in strategic benefits planning: Industry prospects, economic conditions, and forecasts Employer costs for compensation and benefitsGovernment regulation of employee benefits Changing demographics of the labor force| Next Step | Natasha Wylie | 5/11/2012 2:13:56 PM| | I think the next logical step would be for the company to  do an evaluation  in terms of both cost and employee need, to maintain a balance between direct wages and benefits. Wage increases and benefit changes independently can lead to excessive increases in payroll costs where the organization loses control of the situation. When benefits or one benefits costs are rising quickly, it impacts the organization's ability to raise other parts of the compensation package. |Week 2 discussion Role of Government (graded)| Other than the mandates of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and a few other ineffectual reporting and disclosure requirements, benefit programs were practically unregulated by the federal government. Before the major shift that came with the enactment of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974, which was primarily aimed at traditional defined benefit (DB) pension plans but applicable to other employer sponsored retirem ent and benefit programs. What is the government’s current role in regulating the administration of employee benefits?Do you think there is too little or too much government intervention? Why? Role of the government | Aaron Jones | 5/5/2012 4:23:24 AM| | 1. * Government regulates retirement plans, health benefit coverages, unemployment insurance and workers' compensation benefits. Effects * Government regulation on unemployment insurance pays benefits to the unemployed. By regulating workers' compensation benefits, states can control the amount an insurer pays, the kind of drug testing it requires and whether businesses with fewer employees are exempt from these laws.With the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the federal government establishes standards for retirement and health coverage that private businesses must offer. Liability * In states like North Carolina, the government subjects new employers to a standard tax rate at first. Once it has determine d their actual rate, the state's Employment Security Commission notifies the business by letter of its liability to pay unemployment taxes.Significance * Not only do federal and state regulations on benefits guarantee certain types of coverage, they also establish minimum reporting standards and disclosure requirements for businesses that must document their compliance. Size * An expansive program, ERISA regulates benefits given to a company's current and discontinued employees. It also mandates compliance with the Newborns' Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, to name a few. information from: Government Regulations on Employee Benefits | eHow. om http://www. ehow. com/facts_5554578_government-regulations-employee-benefits. html#ixzz1tzOVqKAW. | RE: Role of Government | Sylvia Privette | 5/6/2012 8:53:03 AM| | Lynn and Aaron I agree with both of you. I don't think the government intervenes eno ugh. I believe they waited to long to help with this issue as they do with all issues. They wait  until they are out of control or the government is tired of paying for the people because they are short on funds, so they attack. Had this issue been dealt with before the backlash would not be so drastic. As Aaron stated it took this particular president to do something.I look back at the wheel and the economy if you don't work for the big companies, then its difficult for the smaller ones to give great benefits. The Healthcare plan is a good one, but possible at an inconvenient time for companies financially. In response to Lynn I too believe the government should provide healthcare coverage but to the needy. If you are employed then your employer should offer heathcare and the employee should be covered, contributing or not. The government is now complaining that are not only giving health care to the needy and companies can help bare some of the cost.We all know healthcare is exp ensive | | RE: Role of Government | Manqing Liu | 5/12/2012 9:54:07 PM| | The government's role in the retirement income area has been dictated primarily by historical factors. Beginning in the late 19th century, the economy of the United States changed fairly rapidly from predominantly agricultural to predominantly industrial and service oriented. Coinciding with this change—and probably in response to it—the large, supportive extended family of the agricultural economy was largely replaced by smaller, more fragmented family units.The shift away from agriculture reduced the amount of economically useful work available to older people, and family structural changes reduced the amount of family support for the aged. | | RE: Role of Government | Aaron Jones | 5/7/2012 6:04:07 AM| | This is the way the system likes to operate, they will let an situation like this one get so far out of hand then have meeting about the matter and really get nothing done instead they fight o n issues that they know should have been address   long before Barack Obama came along.Now that he is here he just wants do do the job he was put in office for taking care the American people and use all the funds in a wisely matter so all can live a more comfortable life. Healthcare is expensive and with the right program in place the cost can be handle if they   take the right action regarding this matter. | Do you think there is too little or too much government intervention? Why? | Catherine Flynn | 5/9/2012 8:26:36 PM| | All benefits are so complex it takes a lot to work plans out, so having regulations I think is helpful.However I don't feel that the government should get more involved than they already are because I feel that they are almost trying to control what I can and cannot have, and that is what I don't agree with. I mentioned before about the Individual Mandate Clause in the new healthcare plan that is being voted on and I personally do not appreciate being told what I can and cannot buy. It should be my choice to purchase health insurance if I want it or not, and this clause is taking that choice away from me. | | Do you think there is too little or too much government intervention? Why? Norma Vega | 5/9/2012 11:32:52 PM| | I think there are too little. While there are some penalties and sanctions imposed by ERISA, through the Department of Labor, these are for violations on the administration of the employee benefits programs of those who voluntarily designed employee benefits plans. How about for those who opted not to voluntarily design employee benefits plans and programs? REFERENCES:Pndyck, Robert S. (2005). Microeconomics. Pearson Education, Inc. http://www. dol. gov/compliance/guide/erisa. htm#who | | To ensure there is fair environment for competition | Mark Lema | 5/10/2012 7:15:33 AM| In my opinion, the government’s role is to primarily set a minimum standard. As they do for the minimum wage. Then to enforce de law, and to ensure there is fair environment for competition and no monopolies are developed. Competition will drive the quality of benefits. | Government Mandates | Professor Blanco | 5/10/2012 1:12:34 PM| | Class-  Ã‚   intereesting that many of you feel that â€Å"government should provide benefits†. Let's take a look at that. Benefits are very expensive, we know. But why? What is driving the cost of these benefits? How do you propose the â€Å"government provided benefits† will be paid? | RE: Government Mandates | Crystal Johnson | 5/10/2012 4:30:08 PM| | One thing that is raising the cost of benefits is specialty drug prescriptions. Specialty drugs for   multiple sclerosis can cost $2,500 to $3,800 a month. The cost of staying alive on drugs is sky rocketing. Prescription drug companies are making a killing with their patents and over charge the public to fix erectile dysfunction or having long lashes. However, drugs that actually extend your life and true quality of lif e should be augmented so everyone can benefit or at least let people have reasonable access to them.I know that sex and long eye lashes are meaningful to quality of life, but not as much as asma medication or kidney cleansing  drugs for dialys patients. http://www. shrm. org/hrdisciplines/benefits/Articles/Pages/SpecialtyDrugs. aspx | | | RE: Government Mandates | Manqing Liu | 5/11/2012 11:15:52 PM| | I found something interesting about government provided benefits: A 2008 poll of 1,400 Americans by the Cornell Survey Research Institute found that when people were asked whether they had â€Å"ever used a government social program,† 57 percent said they had not.Respondents were then asked whether they had availed themselves of any of 21 different federal policies, including Social Security, unemployment insurance, the home-mortgage-interest deduction and student loans. It turned out that 94 percent of those who had denied using programs had benefited from at least one; the average respondent had used four. http://www. nytimes. com/2011/09/20/opinion/our-hidden-government-benefits. html| | | What is the government’s current role in regulating the administration of employee benefits | Natasha Wylie | 5/13/2012 5:43:14 PM| The  basis of ERISA is to provide protection of employee benefit rights. ERISA has a few major objectives, they are: To ensure that workers and beneficiaries receive adequate information about their plans To set standards od conduct for those managing employee benefits plans   and plan funds To determine that adequate funds are being set aside to pay promised pension benefits To ensure that workers receive pension benefits after they satisfied minimum requirements To safeguard pension benefits for workers whose pension plans are terminated | | | Do you think there is too little or too much government intervention?Why? | Natasha Wylie | 5/13/2012 6:05:23 PM| | I'm on the fence about whether there is too much government interv ention in the administering of employee benefits. I'm sure  that both sides could argue where oversight is needed and where there is too much involvement. Whether the oversight is handled by the government or another agency, I do believe that someone should look out for the best interest of employees, and ensure things related to benefits are handled in a proper manner. |Government Mandated Benefits (graded)| There are certain benefits that are legislatively mandated and cannot be altered or dropped by an organization for any reason other than the organization is closing its doors for good! Social Security and Medicare, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, COBRA and FMLA are all federal and state mandated programs. What do you think determines the types of programs that the  government chooses to make mandatory? Do you feel these programs are efficient and effective?Why or why not? | Government Mandated Benefits | Lynn Peirce | 5/6/2012 2:55:19 AM| | My feeling is that the U. S. economy plays a large part in determining the types of programs the government makes mandatory, in order to help and protect U. S. citizens in times of need, for example, COBRA. Some of these programs go back many years in their enactment, such as the Social Security Act of 1935, when the U. S. had the foresight to help aid in retirement of older workers (and that was post-Depression and pre-WWII).Some of these programs are efficient, such unemployment insurance (even though it should last longer), and some are not, such as Medicare (seniors still have to purchase supplemental insurance or pay out-of-pocket costs). Social Security may not even be around in another 25 years. I think these programs started out well, and the intentions are good, but they became financially strapped. See http://www. socialsecurityreform. org/problem/index. cfm. | | RE: Government Mandated Benefits | Sylvia Privette | 5/6/2012 8:06:52 PM| | I agree with both of you.The government does w hat it feels is necessary when monies are tight for them and for companies. The state of the economy determines in which way the wheel should turn. If it too expensive for the government then they want more from employers, however they also know that employers will want something in return i. e. , tax incentives. The government should have stepped in long ago before these problems became bigger problems. Aaron you make a good point. The government should make sure that the employees they have working in these positions are educated nough to do so. The proper training and supervision is most important. Mishandling of funds is a big issue for the government and it seems as if they need the corporations help in bailing them out financially. I am grateful for the programs that the government has mandated, however, I think the government could regulate more benefits programs. | RE: Social Security ; Government Benefits | Lynn Peirce | 5/10/2012 11:03:05 PM| | Jill, as we discussed in cla ss, Social Security was implemented in 1935, after the Depression, and was only meant to be temporary.Since the system is already broken, and the government is trying to fix it, healthcare will be regulated by the federal government†¦ but as we discussed in class, Obamacare will have to be tweaked in order to satisfy those who are opposed to it, as well as make it more feasible to implement and operate. I imagine this will be  a nightmare. I found this great article about Social Security, written from the viewpoint of a sociologist, on the origins of Social Security and how it is being â€Å"reformed†: http://www2. ucsc. edu/whorulesamerica/power/social_security. tml If the current social security dliemma, is not fixed, I feel that the consequences will be dire. | Do you feel these programs are efficient and effective? Why or why not? | Natasha Wylie | 5/13/2012 7:35:53 PM| | Personally speaking I think that these programs are effective. I have used FMLA, after giving birth to my daughter. T he Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) gives eligible employees 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for themselves or a relative suffering from a serious health condition, a newborn baby, recently adopted child or a new foster child.Also covered are emergencies that occur when a relative who is a member of the National Guard or Reserves is called to active duty. To qualify, employees must work for a covered employer for a minimum of 1,250 hours during the designated 12-month qualifying period. Its a relief to not worry about securing your position while out on FMLA. There were times when if an employee needed to be out of work for and extended period of time, there positions weren't held. | Week 3 discussion Healthcare Cost Management (graded)|Many Americans benefit from the investments in healthcare; however, the recent cost growth, coupled with the economic downturn and rising national deficit, has placed a great strain on the financial systems used to finance hea lthcare, including private employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and public insurance programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. What is the responsibility of individuals for the cost of their care? Are health savings accounts and high-deductible insurance policies an approach that should be expanded? What are the concerns for low-income individuals?Healthcare cost management | Aaron Jones | 5/12/2012 7:12:54 AM| | The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes a provision similar to AMA policy on individual responsibility, which is scheduled to take effect in 2014. The Congressional Budget Office predicts the ACA will expand coverage to 32 million more Americans by 2016. Several of the new benefits included in the health reform law, such as an end to coverage denials based on pre-existing conditions, are only made possible by increasing the number of Americans participating in the health insurance market.Individual responsibility for health insurance allows patients to take ownership of their health care needs, decreases the number of uninsured — now estimated at 50 million nationwide — and helps make popular insurance market reforms possible. By promoting individual responsibility and increasing the number of insured individuals, we improve the health of Americans and keep hidden costs from being passed along to all of us * HSA/HDHPs are a highly tax-advantaged savings vehicle appealing to people who have high incomes and to those who are expected to have low use of health care services.For the uninsured, these approaches are less attractive since they often have low income and neither benefit significantly from the tax advantages now have the financial assets necessary to cover the large deductibles associated with the plans. * Their ability to reduce system-wide spending is very limited. * The plans have the potential to increase segmentation of health care risk in private insurance markets unless employers set premiums to offset the healthier s election into the plans or government subsidizes the higher costs associated with the remaining non-HSA market.The plans have thus far been less attractive that prononents envisioned, the authors add, so their potentially negative ramifications on populations with high medical needs have been limited. However, they say, â€Å"efforts to expand enrollment in these plans through further tax incentives, for example, could place growing financial burdens on those least able to absorb them, leading to more barriers to medical care for the low-income and the sick and fewer insurance options. www. rwjf. org/pr/product. | Healthcare Cost Management | Lynn Peirce | 5/12/2012 10:39:30 PM| I think that individuals should be responsible for their own healthcare, whenever possible and affordable, but since the economy has been so bad for so long, a lot of people go without, which places a strain on the financial systems used to finance government-managed programs. I, myself, am fortunate enough to receive Medicaid, but it was not handed to me, as one must be medically-needy (an individual can make $47,500 per year and receive Medicaid). There are two programs within Medicaid in New Jesey, one is the Workability Program, which I am in; the other is for people who are unable to work.Health insurance is very expensive for employers ot provide, as we have been discusssing in class the past few weeks. I feel that high-deductible policies are not the way to go, but health savings accounts may be a great option to explore. The concerns for low-income individuals are that they simply do not have the means to invest in a health-savings account, and if they don't qualify for Medicaid, they are stuck in clinic care, which doesn't really do the job. â€Å"More than 60 percent of nonelderly Americans receive health-insurance (HI) coverage through employers, either as policyholders or as dependents.However, rising health-care costs are leading many to question the long-term viability of the employer-based insurance system. Concerns about the economic burden of providing HI are particularly acute for small businesses, which are both less likely than larger firms to offer HI and more sensitive to price when deciding to offer insurance. Small firms may have difficulty containing costs due to their limited bargaining power and their inability to hire experts skilled in negotiating with insurance companies.Further, while few recent studies have systematically explored differences in the quality of HI plans that small and large firms offer, small firms may offer health plans of lower quality† (http://www. rand. org/pubs/technical_reports/TR559. html). | Healthcare Cost Management | Norma Vega | 5/13/2012 11:20:31 PM| | I would say it depends on the institution. There are great medical facilities all over the US but many are closing down because of different law violations. I think it is a mix of both money and helping patients though. The good facilities I think concentrate on the genuinely helping people part from top down.As they hire staff, I would hope that is one requirement they look for while in the interview process. I think with a good staff and employees that truly care and provide excellent service are the ones that are successful and make more money. | The importance of becoming a smart consumer | Mark Lema | 5/15/2012 1:30:07 PM| | Becoming a smart consumer is a must when it comes to utilizing your healthcare benefits. The high cost of benefits is not under the control of employers, therefore, employer have no option but to offer all other   possible options to reduce the cost of healthcare and minimize the passing of that cost to their employees.Unfortunately, there is very little employers can do. As they cost for healthcare increases, employer have to become more creative in developing a healthcare pla that will not upset employees and   that will not place the company on bankruptcy. HSA and FSA type of accounts are som e of those alternatives that employer use to help employees better manage their healthcare costs. Unfortunately, the lack of understanding how these plans work, and the fact that it requires a lot of time andn preparation to comply with the processes  and submit receipts, has pushed back many current and potential participants.In my case these option do help. My wife, who is the smart one, fully understands the procedures and requirements of HASs and FSAs and has save us   in the last years 100’s of dollars in healthcare costs, this dedication and full understanding of my family healthcare needs, has by far offset the time-burden it requires to manage them. | | What are the concerns for low-income individuals? | Catherine Flynn | 5/16/2012 5:17:20 PM| | For low income families it's a big struggle to be able to afford insurance. Sometimes it can even be something that they just don't think about cause it may not be the firs thing on their mind.When you're worrying about ot her bills, that could take precedent over insurance. Until someone gets sick, then you realize that on top of all the bills, you need money for when you or your child is sick or needs hospital care. For my family when I was growing up, we knew insurance was important because I was a pretty sick kid, so I was always needing doctor visits and medicines, and of course ER visits since I was also clumsy. Then my mother's health started to decline as I got older. So having some sort of insurance was extremely important and I always knew that it's beneficial to have some type of funds available should emergencies occur.When I was in college there were a few years I had to go without benefits. Today and even then I felt extremely lucky I didn't get sick because if I had I would have had a lot of bills. Not only because of that but because My mother and I had assistance, I'm very grateful for it. However not everyone has that, and not everyone is eligible for it because they work. But their salaries may not be enough to get them health care, so they have the option of finding a job that might offer benefits, or get a second job to try and get a plan on their own.It can be very difficult, and it's something you need to ask yourself. Are you going to try your hardest to protect yourself with insurance, or are you going to risk it? I think it depends alot on each persons circumstances. | What are the concerns for low-income individuals? | Michael McArdle | 5/18/2012 10:43:39 AM| | Personally I just feel that low-income people are in trouble of never being able to afford healthcare. There are people that can go to Health Clinics but there is still a fee of $5, $10 or $20, based on income level, and many people cannot even afford to pay the amounts that are listed.Sometimes when I visit to see the Dentist because I don't a dental plan, I pay $20, I hear the stories of the people talking to each other makes me almost want to melt in my seat hearing about their life stories a nd the struggles they have. It is just so sad that all of these people I see in the waiting room are unable to afford to see a Family Doctor, it makes me feel sad. | RE: What are the concerns for low-income individuals? | Aly Traore | 5/18/2012 4:34:25 AM| | what you said is very true and sad, but unfortunately it is the reality. n my opinion, to better live in USA in these days, you have to be at least in middle class that is the level where you can benefit from the system of economy in particular healthcare system. â€Å"low- income† is just a beautiful word to cover the word â€Å"poor† in the government vocabulary. | | Consumer Driven Healthcare (graded)| Consumer driven healthcare has become popular over the past few years as employees seek tax advantages and cost savings on healthcare. What are some of the key features of a consumer driven healthcare plan? Does your company currently offer any of these plans?If so, are you taking advantage of them? Why or why not ? | RE: Consumer Driven Healthcare | Sylvia Privette | 5/15/2012 10:02:36 PM| | Lynn  I agree, with healthcare becoming more and more expensive, for the little things people are starting to self heal as much as possible. Those over the counter medicines are on the rise for purchases because its cheaper. Individuals wait until self healing is no longer working to go to the doctor. I am starting to see more people looking for the cheaper health plans. The plans offered by the government based on income determines your contribution.Some of these plans depending on pay scale are cheaper the what employers are asking. Also free clinics are on the rise for health care, the medical buses we see sometimes like to get your blood pressure checked, or free screenings, free flu shots, mammograms and the use of the department of health especially for children. These are some of the cheaper ways people are staring to use. | | | RE: Consumer Driven Healthcare | Manqing Liu | 5/20/2012 10:49:22 P M| | Many large employers are offering consumer-driven plans, also known as high-deductible plans.These plans require employees and beneficiaries to be more involved, not less, in health care issues. Employee health and well-being affect not only absenteeism, but also bottom-line issues such as disability, workers compensation, and productivity. | | RE: Consumer Driven Healthcare | Aaron Jones | 5/16/2012 4:23:00 AM| | With the high cost that comes with healthcare people are becoming smart consumers when looking for the right healthcare package, it may not have all the benefits people are looking for but as long is the price is right people will just get what they can afford these days.Free clinics, over the counter medicines, whatever will work for that person helps the consumer deal better with healthcare issues. | | consumer-driven plans | Mark Lema | 5/16/2012 1:17:52 PM| | The term consumer-driven evolved out of a concept of a defined contribution in contrast to a defined benef it. Many large employers are offering consumer-driven plans, also known as high-deductible plans. These plans require employees and beneficiaries to be more involved, not less, in health care issues.Employee health and well-being affect not only absenteeism, but also bottom-line issues such as disability, workers compensation, and productivity. | Does your company currently offer any of these plans? If so, are you taking advantage of them? Why o | Catherine Flynn | 5/16/2012 5:22:55 PM| | Our company offers two separate plans, and one of them does fall under this category. Alot of our employees actually do take advantage of this particular plan versus our personal choice plan. I however do not, so unfortunately I lack alot of the specifics about it.I think our biggest question right now is what's going to happen in June, because that will affect our negotiation meetings with our brokers that are coming up soon. It could not change at all, or it could change completely. I will say th at because I'm not to familiar with both plans yet I can't say that I know which one is best for me. I do know however that I am very prone to getting sick, and often, so I suppose that would play a big factor in my choice of benefits. | | RE: Does your company currently offer any of these plans?If so, are you taking advantage of them? W | Aaron Jones | 5/17/2012 4:48:37 AM| | This is a tough situation to be in but like most companies we all have to sit back and look over the choices we have when it comes to making the right choice for health care and I am sure you will sit down and make the best choice for you and your family. Just pray that the company does not make to many changes to the healthcare and if they do it works out for all that is involved in this situation. Good Luck! consumer driven healthcare | Aly Traore | 5/17/2012 10:14:56 PM| | consumer-driven health care is a good idea, and even better a good system, but with a deregulated health care system environment, it wil l be very hard for employee to stick to it for long, because the cost of health care is increasing every day. in my opinion, to be better enjoy all the health care benefits, the system has to be regulated. | | Does your company currently offer any of these plans? | Michael McArdle | 5/18/2012 10:51:13 AM| Our company does offer a lower cost plan if a person has a primary doctor, and it does cost less than a PPO, however the cost of seeing a doctor is still very high, close to $50, and if someone gets a prescription, they pay close to the full price that the prescription would have been to someone without insurance, so overall it is worth paying more for a PPO because the cost to see a doctor or get a prescription is much lower, and if you have a major accident and need surgery, a person is more likely to get the treatment they need over not getting help if their insurance was low cost and does not cover surgeries for emergencies. FSA's | Natasha Wylie | 5/20/2012 1:25:27 PM| | My co mpany offers flexible spending accounts. Flexible Spending Accounts permit employees to pay for specified health care cost that are not covered by an employee's insurance plan. For the upcoming benefit year I did elect a pre=tax contribution to FSA. This year I expect to have dental work done   and having access to the money upfront and pre-tax is an added and much needed benefit. | | RE: FSA's | Norma Vega | 5/21/2012 6:39:29 PM| | Hello Natasha,Same here.I am going to be getting some dental work as well as some minor nasal corrective surgery done and being able to pay the $500 out of pocket cost with a pre tax card is such a luxury. I really have no idea how anyone could not like these benefits. I think it comes down to people being scared of having money taken out, not realizing they’re going to spend it anyway post tax. I also think that some people can’t comprehend exactly how much they are saving from taxes. | What are some of the key features of a consumer dri ven healthcare plan? | Natasha Wylie | 5/20/2012 1:38:03 PM| The key features of consumer driven health care plans are: It helps employers maintain control over cost Enables employees to lower the cost of insurance premiums through high deductibles Puts a restriction on employees ability to make choices about who they want to receive treatment though via in ; out of network providers | | key features of a consumer driven healthcare plan | Manqing Liu | 5/20/2012 10:42:17 PM| | Transforming the third-party reimbursement system into one that puts economic purchasing power — and decision-making — in the hands of the consumer.Supplying the information and decision support tools needed, along with financial incentives, rewards and other benefits that encourage personal involvement in altering health and health care purchasing behaviors. Letting consumers, rather than health plans, control health care decisions. | Week 4 discussion Life Insurance Plans (graded)| A major conc ern for most employees is caring for their families in the event of the employee’s death. Many employers provide life insurance for employees. Does your organization offer a group insurance policy?If so, what is the basic plan design of your organization’s life insurance policy, and for  how much are you covered? RE: Group life insurance plans | Manqing Liu | 5/27/2012 10:52:00 PM| | Group life insurance is term insurance covering a group of people, usually employees of a company or members of a union or association. Individual proof of insurability is not normally a consideration in the underwriting. Rather, the underwriter considers the size, turnover and financial strength of the group. Contract provisions will attempt to exclude the possibility of adverse selection.Group life insurance often includes a provision for a member exiting the group to buy individual coverage. | Group life insurance plans | Aaron Jones | 5/19/2012 7:08:48 AM| | There are three different types of group insurance and this company uses number one for there employees from what I was reading out of the company policy. 1) Basic group term life—This is the most typical coverage, providing basic coverage and often paid for by the employer. The premiums (up to $50,000) paid for by the employer are considered to be an employee income tax-free benefit. ) Supplemental group term life—Often offered by employers in conjunction with a basic group term life policy, this type of coverage provides the flexibility for the employee to purchase additional amounts of coverage. The employee chooses the type and amount of coverage to suit personal needs and circumstances and pays the cost for the premiums. 3) Portable term life—Employees who lose the employer’s group eligibility (they either leave the group or retire) can take this coverage with them to continue their insurance protection generally until they reach age 70.They make their payments directly to t he insurer, many times through electronic funds transfers. From what I saw when I was reading the company policy when it comes to life insurance they use the typical coverage for there employees, they have there reasons why they do things the way they do it because everybody have different reasons for life insurance mostly this company uses number  1 for there employees. | Life Insurance Plans | Catherine Flynn | 5/20/2012 2:46:40 PM| | We offer voluntary life insurance plans for employee, their spouse, and dependents. Each are available in increments of $10,000.Each plan has a maximum benefit of $500,000 except for dependents, this insurance is only available in $2,500, $5,000, $7,000 or $10,000. This is only available for 30 days after you acquire the dependent (birth, marriage, adoption). I personally feel as though it's important for me to make sure my family, even though small, should be protected if I can afford it. Accidents happen, and if I have the available funds why not put money away for that purpose? I've always been a squirrel when it comes to money so saving plans like these are a good fit for me. | Commonwealth life insurance plan | Crystal Johnson | 5/20/2012 7:22:50 PM| From what I understand, my life insurance plan matches my base pay. Base pay is $20,000 to $25, 000 less than my actually income because of the amount of over time that I do. If I get killed on state property  it suppose to be three times my base pay. Rumored has it that the hostage situation that happened in 1998 where a staff was killed by another staff member the grieving family had to go to court to get the triple pay out. The insurance company said that the death was not caused by a patient so they did not want to pay. Even though the killer staffer was upset about upper management decision to fire him.Group Life InsuranceThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provides life insurance coverage for permanent employees through The Prudential Insurance Company of America. The a mount of life insurance is equal to your annual salary (rounded to the nearest $1,000) as of the date of hire, up to a maximum of $40,000. The amount of insurance is adjusted on January 1 of each year to account for pay changes. There is a 90-day waiting period from your date of hire before coverage takes effect. Eligible employees will receive a â€Å"Welcome Kit† from Prudential within three months of hire.The kit will include the Booklet/Certificate that confirms coverage and outlines the contract provisions that apply, as well as a Group Insurance Beneficiary Designation/Change form. | | RE: Commonwealth life insurance plan | Natasha Wylie | 5/28/2012 11:34:36 AM| | Life insurance should really be called â€Å"death insurance. † Like other types of insurance, life insurance is protection against the unknown. When you buy life insurance, you're paying for the peace of mind that your family will be taken care of in the event of your sudden demise. Life insurance is t he life jacket in the fishing boat..You hope to never have to use it, but it's nice to know it's there. Some people call life insurance gambling. They think that you're throwing away a bunch of money on the off chance that you'll die young. But when life insurance is handled correctly, it isn't gambling at all. It's simply part of a larger economic plan whose goal is the financial security of your family. It's a shame that often times its not handled correctly. | Imputed Income | Crystal Johnson | 5/24/2012 5:55:52 PM| | Income that may not be seen as cash, but instead comes in the form of a benefit†¦ ometimes by having another pay an expense†¦ sometimes by having a benefit provided. Examples: The value of a car provided by your employer that you may use for personal use. That value is imputed income. Likewise, the value of having some other benefits – over $50,000 a year of life insurance provided by your employer (the value of the insurance is imputed income). An employer sponsored (even if what it does just work to make the costs lower) of an on site cafeteria – imputed benefit. Having a below market rate loan†¦ that some employers provide certain employees†¦ he lower interest that they forgoe is a benefit to you†¦ and hence imputed income. Read more: http://wiki. answers. com/Q/What_is_imputed_income#ixzz1vpnMNB4x| Definition of Imputed Income | Lynn Peirce | 5/24/2012 9:33:06 PM| | As per our discussion in class tonight, imputed income is defined, as follows: â€Å"Imputed income is the addition of the value of cash/non-cash compensation to an employees’ taxable wages in order to properly withhold income and employment taxes from the wages. Imputed income is taxable to the assignee (unless specifically exempt).Because it is delivered for the performance of services (related to employment) it must be included in the assignee's Form W-2 to accurately reflect the assignee's taxable wage-related income† (se e http://definitions. uslegal. com/i/imputed-income/). I didn't want to add too much because Crystal also defined it in her post. | | Life Insurance | Natasha Wylie | 5/28/2012 11:28:45 AM| | Employee sponsored life insurance gives employees a peace of mind in the event of death. Having life insurance relieves some of the financial burden left on grieving loved ones.Employee-sponsored life insurance   protects family members by paying a specified amount to n employees beneficiary upon the employees death. | Disability Plans (graded)| In addition to replacing household income when an employee either retires or is no longer working, he or she may also carry some type of income-replacement plan in the event they become disabled. Does your current (or former) employer offer disability coverage for employees? What are the specifics of your coverage? Do you feel the need to purchase supplemental disability insurance? Why or why not? | RE: Disability coverage | Crystal Johnson | 5/22/201 2 2:08:29 AM| Jobs that offer short term disability insurance as part of a benefit's package creates more loyalty in employees than jobs that do not offer it. Human beings are going to acquire bumps and bruises as part of the â€Å"age and wisdom† baggage. Short term disability insurance gives you the luxury to fully heal while keeping a roof over your head and raman noodles on your plate. When employees know  that they  will be able to recuperate without financial stresses  from standing-on-the-stool-to-change -a-light-but-crashed-landed-into-the-wall, they are more willing to go stay where they are appreciated and valued. Disability Coverage | Lynn Peirce | 5/20/2012 1:51:31 AM| | Of course, the firm I currently work for does not offer disability insurance; since I am a Medicaid recipient, I currently would not need it. As far as purchasing supplemental disability insurance, I found an example of coverage from Combined Insurance Company, as follows: â€Å"Disability income insurance is paid directly to you for covered disability for up to two years* when you are totally disabled and can't work due to accident or sickness. You are protected, on or off the job, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.You are considered totally disabled when you are under the regular care of a physician and are unable to perform the substantial and material duties of your own occupation. Income Protector works in conjunction with Social Security and Workers' Compensation to help you maximize your benefits. When no social benefit** is paid, Combined Insurance pays you the full benefit amount of your selected plan. When a social benefit is paid, our disability income protection makes up any shortfall between your target replacement paycheck and your social benefit payment. ** However, Combined Insurance will never pay less than 40% of the benefit amount purchased† (http://www. combinedinsurance. com/insurance-types/disability-insurance. html). I think it is probably a good idea, if you have a family and can afford it, but on the other hand, we are already paying into Disability, and it seems like another money-maker for insurance companies. I mean, there is insurance for just about everything anymore (like pet insurance). How far does it go, and how much should an employer provide when the cost of health insurance is already so high? | | Aflac | Crystal Johnson | 5/20/2012 7:38:08 PM| | I am not a saver. I know I should be more responsible and put money away  for rainy days. I know that I should put away 10% of my income for  life's  financial thunderstorms. I don't have a financial  umbrella. I like dancing in the rain so I got Aflac. Aflac  gave our union a group rate for  disability insurance and secondary life insurance. My coworkers  allowed Aflac to  take out money out of their check because the wanted a stronger piece of mind and  plan  B to their savings plan.I choose to have Aflac take out money out of my  check be cause I cant be trusted to do it myself. | | RE: Disability Plans | Lynn Peirce | 5/23/2012 5:08:32 PM| | They have to pay people/employees to do this, so they have to make it worth everyone's while. The cost to the employer has to be validated in order for it to continue. | | RE: supplemental disability insurance | Aaron Jones | 5/24/2012 6:21:07 AM| | I am sure that a whole lot of people will need this type of insurance when they get to a point in their life and hopefully the insurance will cover the things they will need cover once it kicks in.The rules always change when the person really needs this type of coverage this is why the person must make sure evrything is still good before the insurance is needed. | Disbility plans | Harpreet Sandhu | 5/23/2012 10:20:53 PM| | Short term disability insurance can replace a portion of income during the initial weeks of a disabling illness or accident whereas, long term disability can replace a portion of income after those initial weeks, for an extended period. Some people have one or both of these through their employer.Many people also choose to purchase individual disability insurance on their own. Individual Disability Income Insurance can provide protection for people who do not have disability insurance available through their workplace or may be used to supplement group coverage through their workplace. Some of the benefits of MetLife’s Individual Disability Income Insurance include: Monthly Benefit Payments—after an initial waiting period, benefits are paid for each month you can’t work through the policy’s maximum benefit period.Noncancelable and Guaranteed Renewable Coverage Available – Provided premiums are paid on time, MetLife cannot cancel or change your coverage or premium rates until the first premium due date on or after your 67th birthday. www. metlife. com/individual/insurance/disability-insurance/index. html | | Do you feel the need to purchase supplemental dis ability insurance? | Manqing Liu | 5/25/2012 8:13:45 PM| | Most people don't realize the risk of becoming disabled, permanently or temporarily, at some point in their lives. But the reality is that at age 40, your chances of becoming disabled for 90 days or more prior to age 65 is 43%. Source: 2004 Field Guide, National Underwriter). I think it is necessary to purchase a disability insurance. | | RE: Do you feel the need to purchase supplemental disability insurance? | Aly Traore | 5/25/2012 8:49:59 PM| | why would you want to buy an additional insurance, if you can invest your money somewhere else to make profit over the time period. in my opinion,   I think if your goal is to buy that supplemental insurance just to have more money in a case where you get disable or retired,   this is not a good option. | RE: Mental Health Paridy Act | Sylvia Privette | 5/25/2012 8:46:06 PM| | Modified:5/25/2012 8:47 PM | The Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA) provides for parity in the applicatio n of aggregate lifetime and annual dollar limits on mental health benefits with dollar limits on medical/surgical benefits. A plan that does not impose an annual or lifetime dollar limit on medical and surgical benefits may not impose such a dollar limit on mental health benefits offered under the plan. MHPA does not apply to benefits for substance abuse or chemical dependency. Health plans are not required to include mental health benefits in their benefits package. MHPA only applies to those plans that do offer mental health benefits. ttp://www. dol. gov/dol/topic/health-plans/mental. htm | | disability benefit | Manqing Liu | 5/26/2012 9:44:15 PM| | Monthly disability benefit depends on your average lifetime earnings. The amount also may be affected by your receipt of other government benefits. If you are getting workers' compensation, civil service, military, state temporary disability or state and local retirement benefits based on disability, the total amount combined with you r Social Security disability benefits may not exceed 80 percent of your average earnings at the time of your disability.Should your total government benefit go over that amount, your Social Security benefit will be reduced. Disability payments from private sources do not affect your SSDI benefits. | Does your current (or former) employer offer disability coverage for employees? | Natasha Wylie | 5/28/2012 12:35:42 PM| | My organization offers short and long term disability. Short-term disability provides income if employees are not able to work due to a non-work related illness or injury.Long-term disability coverage allows employees to continue receiving a portion of their salary for a period of time if they are disabled and cannot perform the duties of your regular job or injured. This employer-provided benefit provides 60 percent of base pay up to $10,000 per month maximum. | Disability Plans | Natasha Wylie | 5/28/2012 1:43:49 PM| | There are  four laws that influence the desi gn and implementation of company sponsered disability plans: ERISA ADEA The americans with disabilities Act State   Workers compensation and Social Secuity Disability Regulations |

Examine Pushkin’s Use of the Supernatural in ‘Pikovaia Dama’

Examine Pushkin’s use of the supernatural in ‘Pikovaia dama’ (‘The Queen of Spades’). To what extent could this text be described as a ‘ghost story’? The first setting is a card party hosted by Narumov of the Horse Guards. Hermann the young engineer was always watching the others play until the early hours of the morning but had never actually partaken in the card game himself. Tomsky starts to talk about his grandmother, Countess Anna Fedotovna. All the others listen eagerly while he tells a story about his grandmother’s gambling sixty years ago in Paris. She had lost a large sum playing the card game Faro.When her husband refused to pay off her debts, which she could not do so herself she has to look elsewhere for the money. Tomsky goes on to tell of his grandmother’s acquaintance with a man named Count de Saint-Germain, â€Å"the subject of so many weird and wonderful tales†. One of those tales mentioned in the nov ella is that he was the inventor of the elixir of life. A potion which could be used to bring eternal life to whoever drank it. This is the first sign of the supernatural in the story. Pushkin by no means shows any feeling of the tales of Count de Saint-Germain to be true.It is actually quite the contrary as Tomsky starts off by saying â€Å"You know he passed himself off as the†¦ † indicating that he was trying to convince people he was but in actual fact very few believed him. Also the use of â€Å"and so forth† indicates he is getting bored of listing these ‘wonderful’ tales about the Count. He then goes on to say that people used to ridicule him. For all the Count’s mysteriousness he was though a very wealthy man. The Countess requested to meet with him in the hope that he would pay off her debts out of the kindness of his heart.After all, that kind of money would not even make a small dent in the Count’s wallet. After pondering her proposal he said â€Å"I can accommodate you as far as the sum of money goes, but I know you would be at ease until you had repaid me, and I would not wish to encumber you with fresh worries†. Instead he wanted to give her a secret which would allow her to win all her money back. By now all the guests at the card party were listening intently. The countess turned up at a card game the same evening the Count had given her the secret.Playing Faro, the same game they themselves were playing at the part, the Countess selected three cards. All three cards won, coming up one after another and she had recouped all of her losses. There was a very sceptical reaction to the story. One said â€Å"Pure luck! † and Hermann remarked â€Å"A tall story†. Tomsky also tell of his grandmother passing down the secret once to a young man she took pity on. He also won with all three cards. Without calculating the odds it is fair to say that Pushkin is not expecting us to believe tha t these sequences have occurred twice out of pure luck.Therefore it is up to the reader to decide in this situation if the tale of the magical secret should be believed. It is not being told from the narrator’s point of view but instead from Tomsky’s. It could be perceived as being no more than a drunken story made up in a bar to impress a few friends and acquaintances. The next time Pushkin presents with something of the supernatural is much later on in the story in chapter five. Since the time that Tomsky had told the story of his ageing grandmother’s secret, the young engineer, Hermann, had become obsessed with the notion.In trying to obtain the secret from the Countess he had accidentally killed her. Three days after that night he had decided to attend the funeral at a local monastery. After the oration at a full church the relatives were first to go up and take leave of the body. Then it was the turn of all other guests wanting to pay their respects. After many had gone it came to the turn of Hermann who was feeling no real remorse for killing the old lady. â€Å"He bowed to the ground and lay for several moments on the cold floor, strewn with fir-twigs.At length he rose, pale as the corpse itself, ascended the steps of the catafalque and bent down. †¦ At that moment it seemed to him that the deceased gave him a mocking glance and winked an eye. Hermann in hastily recoiling missed his footing and crashed faced upwards to the ground. He was helped to his feet†. The way Pushkin says in this paragraph â€Å"it seemed to him† almost implies that it did not actually happen at all and that it was only in Hermann’s imagination. This could be a as a result of guilt Hermann may feel for killing the old lady or could even be a sign that Hermann is going mad.Later that evening Hermann went to an inn and drank a fair amount of wine, which was very uncharacteristic for him. On arriving home he jumped straight into bed ful ly clothed and fell sound asleep. In the middle of the night he woke up because of the moonlight flooding his room. â€Å"At that moment someone peeped in at his window from the Street and immediately walked away. Hermann did not pay the slightest attention to this. A minute later he heard the door of the next room being opened. Hermann thought that it was his orderly, drunk as usual, coming home from a night walk.But he heard an unfamiliar footstep: someone was softly shuffling along in slippers. The door opened: a woman in a white dress came in. Hermann took her for his old nurse and wondered what could have brought her at such an hour. But gliding across the floor the white woman suddenly stood before him—and Hermann recognized the Countess! † â€Å"I have come to you against my will,' she said in a clear voice, ‘ but I am commanded to grant your request. Three, seven, and ace will win for you in succession, provided that you stake only one card each day and never in your life play again.I forgive you my death, on condition that you marry my ward, Lizaveta Ivanovna. . . .† Hermann was the only one to see this, his orderly remain asleep throughout the whole episode. Once again the element of supernatural is only witnessed by Hermann. On top of this he has been drinking heavily which Pushkin could have pointed out to lead us to believe that is was all in Hermann’s mind. With the three cards Hermann believed the Countess told him engraved in his mind he made his way to a card game in Petersburg. Hermann placed an extremely high stake on the first card, higher than the table had ever seen before.The dealer dealt and a three turned up on the left, a win for Hermann. The next evening he was back and placed even higher stakes on the seven card, another win. The next evening Hermann was back once again and everybody was gathered around the table in excitement. Hermann of course choosing ace as the Countess had told him. Tchekalinsk y began dealing; his hands trembled. A queen fell on the right, an ace on the left. ‘The ace has won! ‘ Hermann said, and showed his card. ‘Your queen has lost,' Tchekalinsky said kindly. Hermann shuddered; in fact, instead of an ace there lay before him a Queen of Spades.He could not believe his eyes or think how he could have made a mistake. At that moment it seemed to him that the Queen of Spades screwed up her eyes and gave a meaning smile. He was struck by the extraordinary likeness. . . .'The old woman! ‘ he cried in terror. On this occasion we can be sure that it’s all in Hermann’s mind as all the other players and spectators clearly see a different card to the one that Hermann is seeing. It also adds to the theory that Hermann was slowly losing his mind throughout the story with him finally being admitted to a mental hospital in the novella’s conclusion.In my opinion I think it would definitely be possible to label The Queen of Sp ades as a ghost story on the premise that the main character, Hermann, believes he sees a ghost. At the same time Pushkin seems to go out of his way to give us a logical reason for all of the supernatural occurrences in the story, whether it be alcohol, dreams, guilt or just simply hallucinations. There are also so many different layers to the story that labelling it a ghost story would omit so many other possible labels. Garry Evans

Intimately oppressed Essay

Chapter 6: THE INTIMATELY OPPRESSED It is possible. reading standard histories. to bury half the population of the state. The adventurers were work forces. the landowners and merchandisers work forces. the political leaders work forces. the military figures work forces. The really invisibleness of adult females. the overlooking of adult females. is a mark of their submersed position. In this invisibleness they were something like black slaves ( and therefore break one's back adult females faced a dual subjugation ) . The biological singularity of adult females. like skin colour and facial features for Negroes. became a footing for handling them as inferiors. True. with adult females. there was something more practically of import in their biological science than skin color-their place as childbearers-but this was non plenty to account for the general push backward for all of them in society. even those who did non bear kids. or those excessively immature or excessively old for that. It seems that their physical features became a convenience for work forces. who could utilize. feat. and cherish person who was at the same clip retainer. comrade. and bearer-teacher-warden of his kids. Societies based on private belongings and competition. in which monogamous households became practical units for work and socialisation. found it particularly utile to set up this particular position of adult females. something kindred to a house slave in the affair of familiarity and subjugation. and yet necessitating. because of that familiarity. and long-run connexion with kids. a particular patronization. which on juncture. particularly in the face of a show of strength. could steal over into intervention as an equal. An subjugation so private would turn out difficult to deracinate. Earlier societies-in America and elsewhere-in which belongings was held in common and households were extended and complicated. with aunts and uncles and grandmas and grampss all life together. seemed to handle adult females more as peers than did the white societies that subsequently overran them. conveying â€Å"civilization† and private belongings. In the Zuni folk of the Southwest. for case. extended families- big clans-were based on the adult female. whose hubby came to populate with her household. It was assumed that adult females owned the houses. and the Fieldss belonged to the kins. and the adult females had equal rights to what was produced. A adult female was more unafraid. because she was with her ain household. and she could disassociate the adult male when she wanted to. maintaining their belongings. Womans in the Plains Indian folk of the Midwest did non hold farming responsibilities but had a really of import topographic point in the folk as therapists. herb doctors. and sometimes holy people who gave advice. When bands lost their male leaders. adult females would go captains. Womans learned to hit little bows. and they carried knives. because among the Sioux a adult female was supposed to be able to support herself against onslaught. The pubescence ceremonial of the Sioux was such as to give pride to a immature Sioux maiden: â€Å"Walk the good route. my girl. and the American bison herds broad and dark as cloud shadows traveling over the prairie will follow you†¦ . Be duteous. respectful. gentle and modest. my girl. And proud walking. If the pride and the virtuousness of the adult females are lost. the spring will come but the American bison trails will turn to grass. Be strong. with the warm. strong bosom of the Earth. No people goes down until their adult females are weak and discredited. . . . It would be an hyperbole to state that adult females were treated every bit with work forces ; but they were treated with regard. and the communal nature of the society gave them a more of import topographic point. The conditions under which white colonists came to America created assorted state of affairss for adult females. Where the first colonies consisted about wholly of work forces. adult females were imported as childbearers and comrades. In 1619. the twelvemonth that the first black slaves came to Virginia. 90 adult females arrived at Jamestown on one ship: â€Å"Agreeable individuals. immature and incorrupt†¦ sold with their ain consent to colonists as married womans. the monetary value to be the cost of their ain transit. † Many adult females came in those early old ages as apprenticed servants- frequently teenaged girls-and lived lives non much different from slaves. except that the term of service had an terminal. They were to be obedient to Masterss and kept womans. The writers of Americans Working Women ( Baxandall. Gordon. and Reverby ) describe the state of affairs: â€Å"They were ill paid and frequently treated impolitely and harshly. deprived of good nutrient and privateness. Of class these awful conditions provoked opposition. Populating in separate households without much contact with others in their place. apprenticed retainers had one primary way of opposition unfastened to them: inactive opposition. seeking to make every bit small work as possible and to make troubles for their Masterss and kept womans. Of class the Masterss and kept womans did non construe it that manner. but saw the hard behaviour of their retainers as moroseness. indolence. malignity and stupidity. † For case. the GeneralCourt of Connecticut in 1645 ordered that a certain â€Å"Susan C. . for her rebellious passenger car toward her kept woman. to be sent to the house of rectification and be kept to hard labour and harsh diet. to be brought away the following talk twenty-four hours to be publically corrected. and so to be corrected hebdomadal. until order be given to the contrary. † Even free white adult females. non brought as retainers or slaves but as married womans of the early colonists. faced particular adversities. Eighteen married adult females came over on the Mayflower. Three were pregnant. and one of them gave birth to a dead kid before they landed. Childbirth and illness plagued the adult females ; by the spring. merely four of those 18 adult females were still alive. Those who lived. sharing the work of constructing a life in the wilderness with their work forces. were frequently given a particular regard because they were so severely needed. And when work forces died. adult females frequently took up the men’s work every bit good. All through the first century and more. adult females on the American frontier seemed close to equality with their work forces. But all adult females were burdened with thoughts carried over from England with thesettlers. influenced by Christian instructions. English jurisprudence was summarized in a papers of 1632 entitled â€Å"The Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights† : In this consolidation which we call marriage is a locking together. It is true. that adult male and married woman are one individual. but understand in what mode. When a little Brooke or small river incorporateth with Rhodanus. Humber. or the Thames. the hapless rill looseth her name†¦ . A adult female every bit shortly as she is married is called covert †¦ that is. â€Å"veiled† ; as it were. clouded and overshadowed ; she hath lost her family name. I may more genuinely. farre off. say to a married adult female. Her new ego is her superior ; her comrade. her maestro. . . . Julia Spruill describes the woman’s legal state of affairs in the colonial period: †The husband’s control over the wife’s individual extended to the right of giving her castigation. . . . But he was non entitled to bring down lasting hurt or decease on his married woman. . . . † As for belongings:â€Å"Besides absolute ownership of his wife’s personal belongings and a life estate in her lands. the hubby took any other income that might be hers. He collected rewards earned by her labour. . . . Naturally it followed that the returns of the joint labour of hubby and married woman belonged to the hubby. † The father’s place in the household was expressed in The Spectator. an influential periodical in America and England: â€Å"Nothing is more satisfying to the head of adult male than power or rule ; and †¦ as I am the male parent of a household †¦ I am perpetually taken up in giving out orders. in ordering responsibilities. in hearing parties. in administrating justness. and in administering wagess and punishments†¦ . In short. sir. I look upon my household as a patriarchal sovereignty in which I am myself both king and priest. † No admiration that Puritan New England carried over this subjugation of adult females. At a test of a adult female for make bolding to kick about the work a carpenter had done for her. one of the powerful church male parents of Boston. the Reverend John Cotton. said: â€Å" . . . that the hubby should obey his married woman. and non the married woman the hubby. that is a false rule. For God hath put another jurisprudence upon adult females: married womans. be capable to your hubbies in all things. † A best-selling â€Å"pocket book. † published in London. was widely read in the American settlements in the 1700s. It was called Advice to a Daughter: You must first put it down for a Foundation in general. That there is Inequality in Sexes. and that for the better Economy of the World ; the Men. who were to be the Law-givers. had the larger portion of Reason bestow’d upon them ; by which means your Sexual activity is the better prepar’d for the Conformity that is necessary for the public presentation of those Duties which seem’d to be most properly assign’d to it†¦ . Your Sexual activity wanteth our Reason for your Conduct. and our Strength for your Protection: Ours wanteth your Gendeness to soften. and to entertain us. †¦ Against this powerful instruction. it is singular that adult females however rebelled. Women Rebels have ever faced particular disablements: they live under the day-to-day oculus of their maestro ; and they are stray one from the other in families. therefore losing the day-to-day chumminess which has given bosom to Rebels of other laden groups. Anne Hutchinson was a spiritual adult female. female parent of 13 kids. and knowing about mending with herbs. She defied the church male parents in the early old ages of the Massachusetts Bay Colony by take a firm standing that she. and other ordinary people. could construe the Bible for themselves. A good talker. she held meetings to which more and more adult females came ( and even a few work forces ) . and shortly groups of 60 or more were garnering at her place in Boston to listen to her unfavorable judgments of local curates. John Winthrop. the governor. described her as â€Å"a adult female of a haughty and ferocious passenger car. of a agile humor and active spirit. and a really voluble lingua. more bold than a adult male. though in apprehension and opinion. inferior to many adult females. † Anne Hutchinson was put on test twice: by the church for unorthodoxy. and by the authorities for disputing their authorization. At her civil test she was pregnant and ill. but they did non let her to sit down until she was close to prostration. At her spiritual test she was interrogated for hebdomads. and once more she was ill. but challenged her inquirers with adept cognition O f the Bible and singular fluency. When eventually she repented in composing. they were non satisfied. They said: â€Å"Her penitence is non in her visage. † She was banished from the settlement. and when she left for Rhode Island in 1638. 35 households followed her. Then she went to the shores of Long Island. where Indians who had been defrauded of their land thought she was one of their enemies ; they killed her and her household. Twenty old ages subsequently. the one individual back in Massachusetts Bay who had spoken up for her during her test. Mary Dyer. was hanged by the authorities of the settlement. along with two other Religious society of friendss. for â€Å"rebellion. sedition. and assumptive push outing themselves. † It remained rare for adult females to take part openly in public personal businesss. although on the southern and western frontiers conditions made this on occasion possible. Julia Spruill found in Georgia’s early records the narrative of Mary Musgrove Mathews. girl of an Indian female parent and an English male parent. who could talk the Creek linguistic communication and became an advisor on Indian personal businesss to Governor James Oglethorpe of Georgia. Spruill finds that as the communities became more settled. adult females were thrust back further from public life and seemed to act more trepidly than earlier. One request: â€Å"It is non the state of our sex to ground profoundly upon the policy of the order. † During the Revolution. nevertheless. Spruill studies. the necessities of war brought adult females out into public personal businesss. Women formed loyal groups. carried out anti-British actions. wrote articles for independency. They were active in the run against the British tea revenue enhancement. which made tea monetary values unacceptably high. They organized Daughters of Liberty groups. boycotting British goods. pressing adult females to do their ain apparels and purchase merely American-made things. In 1777 there was a women’s opposite number to the Boston lea Party-a â€Å"coffee party. † described by Abigail Adams in a missive to her hubby John: One eminent. wealthy. ungenerous merchandiser ( who is a unmarried man ) had a hogshead of java in his shop. which he refused to sell the commission under six shillings per lb. A figure of females. some say a 100. some say more. assembled with a cart and short pantss. marched down to the warehouse. and demanded the keys. which he refused to present. Upon which one of them seized him by his cervix and tossed him into the cart. Upon his happening no one-fourth. he delivered the keys when they tipped up the cart and discharged him ; so opened the warehouse. hoisted out the java themselves. set it into the short pantss and drove off. †¦ A big multitude of work forces stood amazed. soundless witnesss of the whole dealing. It has been pointed out by adult females historiographers late that the parts of propertyless adult females in the American Revolution have been largely ignored. unlike the genteel married womans of the leaders ( Dolly Madison. Martha Washington. Abigail Adams ) . Margaret Corbin. called â€Å"Dirty Kate. † Deborah Sampson Garnet. and â€Å"Molly Pitcher† were unsmooth. low-class adult females. prettified into ladies by historiographers. When women's rightist urges are recorded. they are. about ever. the Hagiographas of privileged adult females who had some position from which to talk freely. more chance to compose and hold their Hagiographas recorded. Abigail Adams. even before the Declaration of Independence. in March of 1776. wrote to her hubby: †¦ in the new codification of Torahs which I suppose it will be necessary for you to do. I desire you would retrieve the ladies. and be more generous to them than your ascendants. Do non set such limitless power in the custodies of hubbies. Remember. all work forces would be autocrats if they could. If peculiar attention and attending are non paid to the ladies. we are determined to agitate a rebellion. and will non keep ourselves jump to obey the Torahs in which we have no voice of representation. However. Jefferson underscored his phrase â€Å"all work forces are created equal† by his statement that American adult females would be â€Å"too wise to purse their brows with political relations. † And after the Revolution. none of the new province fundamental laws granted adult females the right to vote. except for New Jersey. and that province rescinded the right in 1807. New York’s fundamental law specifically disfranchised adult females by utilizing the word â€Å"male. † While possibly 90 per centum of the white male population were literate around 1750. merely 40 per centum of the adult females were. Propertyless adult females had small agencies of pass oning. and no agencies of entering whatever sentiments of defiance they may hold felt at their subordination. Not merely were they bearing kids in great Numberss. under great adversities. but they were working in the place. Around the clip of the Declaration of Independence. four 1000 adult females and kids in Philadelphia were whirling at place for local workss under the â€Å"putting out† system. Womans besides were tradesmans and hosts and engaged in many trades. They were bakers. tinworkers. beer makers. sixpences. rope-makers. lumbermans. pressmans. undertakers. woodsmans. stay-makers. and more. Ideas of female equality were in the air during and after the Revolution. Tom Paine spoke out for the equal rights of adult females. And the pioneering book of Mary Wollstonecraft in England. A Vindication of the Rights of Women. was reprinted in the United States shortly after the Revolutionary War. Wollstonecraft was reacting to the English conservative and opposition of the Gallic Revolution. Edmund Burke. who had written in his Contemplations on the Revolution in France that â€Å"a adult female is but an animate being. and an carnal non of the highest order. † She wrote: I wish to carry adult females to endeavour to get strength. both of head and organic structure. and to convert them that soft phrases. susceptibleness of bosom. daintiness of sentiment. and polish of gustatory sensation. are about synonymous with names of failing. and that those existences who are merely the objects of commiseration and that sort of love. . . will shortly go objects of disdain. . . . I wish to demo that the first object of commendable aspiration is to obtain a character as a human being. regardless of the differentiation of sex. Between the American Revolution and the Civil War. so many elements of American society were changing-the growing of population. the motion due west. the development of the mill system. enlargement of political rights for white work forces. educational growing to fit the new economic needs-that alterations were bound to take topographic point in the state of affairs of adult females. In preindustrial America. the practical demand for adult females in a frontier society had produced some step of equality ; adult females worked at of import jobs-publishing newspapers. pull offing tanneries. maintaining tap houses. prosecuting in skilled work. In certain professions. like obstetrics. they had a monopoly. Nancy Cott Tells of a grandma. Martha Moore Ballard. on a farm in Maine in 1795. who â€Å"baked and brewed. pickled and preserved. spun and sewed. made soap and dipped candles† and who. in 25 old ages as a accoucheuse. delivered more than a 1000 babes. Since instruction took topographic point inside the household. adult females had a particular function at that place. There was complex motion in different waies. Now. adult females were being pulled out of the house and into industrial life. while at the same clip there was force per unit area for adult females to remain place where they were more easy controlled. The outside universe. interrupting into the solid cell of the place. created frights and tensenesss in the dominant male universe. and brought away ideological controls to replace the relaxation household controls: the thought of â€Å"the woman’s topographic point. † promulgated by work forces. was accepted by many adult females. As the economic system developed. work forces dominated as mechanics and shopkeepers. and aggressiveness became more and more defined as a male trait. Women. possibly exactly because more of them were traveling into the unsafe universe outside. were told to be inactive. Clothing manners developed- for the rich and in-between category of class. but. as ever. there was the bullying of manner even for the poor-in which the weight of women’s apparels. girdles and half-slips. emphasized female separation from the universe of activity. It became of import to develop a set of thoughts. taught in church. in school. and in the household. to maintain adult females in their topographic point even as that topographic point became more and more unsettled. Barbara Welter ( Dimity Convictions ) has shown how powerful was the â€Å"cult of true womanhood† in the old ages after 1820. The adult female was expected to be pious. A adult male composing in The Ladies’ Repository: â€Å"Religion is precisely what a adult female needs. for it gives her that self-respect that bests suits her dependance. † Mrs. John Sandford. in her book Woman. in Her Social and Domestic Character. said: â€Å"Religion is merely what adult female needs. Without it she is of all time ungratified or unhappy. † When Amelia Bloomer in 1851 suggested in her feminist publication that adult females wear a sort of short skirt and bloomerss. to free themselves from the burdens of traditional frock. this was attacked in the popular women’s literature. One narrative has a miss look up toing the â€Å"bloomer† costume. but her professor admonishes her that they are â€Å"only one of the many manifestations of that wild spirit of socialism and agricultural radicalism which is at present so rife in our land. † In The Young Lady’s Book of 1830: â€Å" . . . in whatever state of affairs of life a adult female is placed from her cradle to her grave. a spirit of obeisance and entry. bendability of pique. and humbleness of head. are required from her. † And one adult female wrote. in 1850. in the book Greenwood Leaves: â€Å"True feminine mastermind is of all time timid. doubtful. and clingingly dependent ; a ageless childhood. † Another book. Remembrances of a Southern Matron: â€Å"If any wont of his irritated me. I spoke of it one time or twice. calmly. so bore it softly. † Giving adult females â€Å"Rules for Conjugal and Domestic Happiness. † one book ended with: â€Å"Do non anticipate excessively much. † The woman’s occupation was to maintain the place cheerful. keep faith. he nurse. cook. cleansing agent. dressmaker. flower organizer. A adult female shouldn’t read excessively much. and certain books should be avoided. When Harriet Martineau. a reformist of the 1830s. wrote Society in America. one referee suggested it he kept off from adult females: â€Å"Such reading will faze them for their true station and chases. and they will throw the universe back once more into confusion. † Womans were besides urged. particularly since they had the occupation of educating kids. to he loyal. One women’s magazine offered a award to the adult female who wrote the best essay on â€Å"How May an American Woman Best Show Her Patriotism. † It was in the 1820s and 1830s. Nancy Cott tells us ( The Bonds of Womanhood ) . that there was an spring of novels. verse forms. essays. discourses. and manuals on the household. kids. and women’s function. The universe exterior was going harder. more commercial. more demanding. In a sense. the place carried a yearning for some Utopian yesteryear. some safety from immediateness. Possibly it made credence of the new economic system easier to be able to see it as lone portion of life. with the place a oasis. In 1819. one pious married woman wrote: â€Å" . . . the air of the universe is toxicant. You must transport an counterpoison with you. or the infection will turn out foetal. † All this was non. as Cott points out. to dispute the universe of commercialism. industry. competition. capitalist economy. but to do it more toothsome. The cult of domesticity for the adult female was a manner of lenifying her with a philosophy of â€Å"separate but equal†-giving her work every bit every bit of import as the man’s. but separate and different. Inside that â€Å"equality† there was the fact that the adult female did non take her mate. and one time her matrimony took topographic point. her life was determined. One miss wrote in 1791: â€Å"The dice is about to be cast which will likely find the hereafter felicity or wretchedness of my life†¦ . I have ever anticipated the event with a grade of sedateness about equal to that which will end my present being. † Marriage enchained. and kids doubled the ironss. One adult female. composing in 1813: â€Å"The thought of shortly giving birth to my 3rd kid and the attendant responsibilities I shall he called to dispatch hurts me so I feel as if I should drop. † This despondence was lightened by the idea that something of import was given the adult female to make: to leave to her kids the moral values of self- restraint and promotion through single excellence instead than common action. The new political orientation worked ; it helped to bring forth the stableness needed by a turning economic system. But its really being showed that other currents were at work. non easy contained. And giving the adult female her sphere created the possibility that she might utilize that infinite. that clip. to fix for another sort of life. The â€Å"cult of true womanhood† could non wholly wipe out what was seeable as grounds of woman’s low-level position: she could non vote. could non have belongings ; when she did work. her rewards were one-fourth to one-half what work forces earned in the same occupation. Womans were excluded from the professions of jurisprudence and medical specialty. from colleges. from the ministry. Puting all adult females into the same category-giving them all the same domestic domain to cultivate- created a categorization ( by sex ) which blurred the lines of category. as Nancy Cott points out. However. forces were at work to maintain raising the issue of category. Samuel Slater had introduced industrial whirling machinery in New England in 1789. and now there was a demand for immature girls-literally. â€Å"spinsters†-to work the spinning machinery in mills. In 1814. the power loom was introduced in Waltham. Massachusetts. and now all the operations needed to turn cotton fiber into fabric were under one roof. The new fabric mills fleetly multiplied. with adult females 80 to 90 per centum of their operatives-most of these adult females between 15 and 30. Some of the earliest industrial work stoppages took topographic point in these fabric Millss in the 1830s. Eleanor Flexner ( A Century of Struggle ) gives figures that suggest why: women’s day-to-day mean net incomes in 1836 were less than 371/2 cents. and 1000s earned 25 cents a twenty-four hours. working 12 to sixteen hours a twenty-four hours. In Pawtucket. Rhode Island. in 1824. came the first known work stoppage of adult females factory workers ; 202 adult females joined work forces in protesting a pay cut and longer hours. but they met individually. Four old ages subsequently. adult females in Dover. New Hampshire. struck entirely. And in Lowell. Massachusetts. in 1834. when a immature adult female was fired from her occupation. other misss left their looms. one of them so mounting the town pump and devising. harmonizing to a newspaper study. â€Å"a flaring Mary Wollstonecraft address on the rights of adult females and the wickednesss of the ‘moneyed aristocracyà ¢â‚¬â„¢ which produced a powerful consequence on her hearers and they determined to hold their ain manner. if they died for it. † A diary kept by an unsympathetic occupant of Chicopee. Massachusetts. recorded an event of May 2. 1843: Great turnout among the misss. . . after breakfast this forenoon a emanation preceded by a painted window drape for a streamer went round the square. the figure 16. They shortly came by once more. . . so numbered forty-four. They marched around a piece and so dispersed. After dinner they sallied Forth to the figure of 42 and marched around to Cabot. †¦ They marched around the streets making themselves no recognition. †¦ There were work stoppages in assorted metropoliss in the 1840s. more hawkish than those early New England â€Å"turnouts. † but largely unsuccessful. A sequence of work stoppages in the Allegheny Millss near Pittsburgh demanded a shorter working day. Several times in those work stoppages. adult females armed with sticks and rocks broke through the wooden Gatess of a fabric factory and stopped the looms. Catharine Beecher. a adult female reformist of the clip. wrote about the mill system: Let me now present the facts I learned by observation or enquiry on the topographic point. I was at that place in mid- winter. and every forenoon I was awakened at five. by the bells naming to labour. The clip allowed for dressing and breakfast was so short. as many told me. that both were performed hastily. and so the work at the factory was begun by lamplight. and prosecuted without remittal boulder clay 12. and chiefly in a standing place. Then half an hr merely allowed for dinner. from which the clip for traveling and returning was deducted. Then back to the Millss. to work till seven o’clock. †¦ it must be remembered that all the hours of labour are spent in suites where oil lamps. togedier with from 40 to 80 individuals. are wash uping the healthful rule of the air †¦ and where the air is loaded with atoms of cotton thrown from 1000s of cards. spindles. and looms. Middle-class adult females. barred from higher instruction. began to monopolise the profession of primary-school instruction. As instructors. they read more. communicated more. and instruction itself became insurgent of old ways of believing. They began to compose for magazines and newspapers. and started some ladies’ publications. Literacy among adult females doubled between 1780 and 1840. Women became wellness reformists. They formed motions against dual criterions in sexual behaviour and the victimization of cocottes. They joined in spiritual organisations. Some of the most powerful of them joined the antislavery motion. So. by the clip a clear women's rightist motion emerged in the 1840s. adult females had become adept o rganizers. fomenters. talkers. When Emma Willard addressed the New York legislative assembly in 1819 on the topic of instruction for adult females. she was beliing the statement made merely the twelvemonth before by Thomas Jefferson ( in a missive ) in which he suggested adult females should non read novels â€Å"as a mass of trash† with few exclusions. â€Å"For a similar ground. excessively. much poesy should non be indulged. † Female instruction should concentrate. he said. on â€Å"ornaments excessively. and the amusements of life. . . . These. for a female. are dancing. pulling. and music. † Emma Willard told the legislative assembly that the instruction of adult females â€Å"has been excessively entirely directed to suit them for exposing to advantage the appeals of young person and beauty. † The job. she said. was that â€Å"the gustatory sensation of work forces. whatever it might go on to be. has been made into a criterion for the formation of the female character. † Reason and faith teach us. she said. that â€Å"we excessively are primary beings †¦ non the orbiters of work forces. † In 1821. Willard founded the Troy Female Seminary. the first recognized establishment for the instruction of misss. She wrote subsequently of how she disquieted people by learning her pupils about the human organic structure: Mothers sing a category at the Seminary in the early mid-thirtiess were so shocked at the sight of a student pulling a bosom. arterias and venas on a chalkboard to explicate the circulation of the blood. that they left the room in shame and discouragement. To continue the modestness of the misss. and save them excessively frequent agitation. heavy paper was pasted over the pages in their text editions which depicted the human organic structure. Women struggled to come in the all-male professional schools. Dr. Harriot Hunt. a adult female doctor who began to pattern in 1835. was twice refused admittance to Harvard Medical School. But she carried on her pattern. largely among adult females and kids. She believed strongly in diet. exercising. hygiene. and mental wellness. She organized a Ladies Physiological Society in 1843 where she gave monthly negotiations. She remained individual. withstanding convention here excessively. Elizabeth Blackwell got her medical grade in 1849. holding overcome many slights before being admitted to Geneva College. She so set up the New York Dispensary for Poor Women and Children â€Å"to give to hapless adult females an chance of confer withing doctors of their ain sex. † In her first Annual Report. she wrote: My first medical audience was a funny experience. In a terrible instance of pneumonia in an aged lady I called in audience a kindhearted doctor of high standing. . . . This gentleman. after seeing the patient. went with me into the parlor. There he began to walk about the room in some agitation. crying. â€Å"A most extraordinary instance! Such a one ne'er happened to me before ; I truly do non cognize what to make! † I listened in surprise and much perplexity. as it was a clear instance of pneumonia and of no unusual grade of danger. until at last I discovered that his perplexity related to me. non to the patient. and to the properness of confer withing with a lady doctor! Oberlin College pioneered in the admittance of adult females. But the first miss admitted to the divinity school at that place. Antoinette Brown. who graduated in 1850. found that her name was left off the category list. With Lucy Stone. Oberlin found a formidable obstructionist. She was active in the peace society and in antislavery work. taught colored pupils. and organized a debating nine for misss. She was chosen to compose the beginning reference. so was told it would hold to be read by a adult male. She refused to compose it. Margaret Fuller was possibly the most formidable rational among the women's rightists. Her get downing point. in Woman in the Nineteenth Century. was the apprehension that â€Å"there exists in the heads of work forces a tone of experiencing toward adult female as toward slaves†¦ . † She continued: â€Å"We would hold every arbitrary harasser thrown down. We would hold every way unfastened to Woman every bit freely as to Man. † And: â€Å"What adult female needs is non as a adult female to move or govern. but as a nature to turn. as an mind to spot. as a psyche to populate freely and unimpeded. . . . † In the class of this work. events were set in gesture that carried the motion of adult females for their ain equality rushing alongside the motion against bondage. In 1840. a World Anti-Slavery Society Convention met in London. After a ferocious statement. it was voted to except adult females. but it was agreed they could go to meetings in a curtained enclosure. The adult females sat in soundless protest in the gallery. and William Lloyd Garrison. one emancipationist who had fought for the rights of adult females. Saturday with them. It was at that clip that Elizabeth Cady Stanton met Lucretia Mott and others. and began to put the programs that led to the first Women’s Rights Convention in history. It was held at Seneca Falls. New York. where Elizabeth Cady Stanton lived as a female parent. a homemaker. full of bitterness at her status. declaring: â€Å"A adult female is a cipher. A married woman is everything. † She wrote subsequently: I now to the full understood the practical troubles most adult females had to postulate with in the stray family. and the impossibleness of woman’s best development if. in contact. the main portion of her life. with retainers and kids. . . . The general discontent I felt with woman’s part as married woman. female parent. housekeeper. doctor. and religious usher. the helter-skelter status into which everything fell without her changeless supervising. and the jaded. dying expression of the bulk of adult females. impressed me with the strong feeling that some active steps should he taken to rectify the wrongs of society in general and of adult females in peculiar. My experiences at the World Anti-Slavery Convention. all I had read of the legal position of adult females. and the subjugation I saw everyplace. together swept across my soul†¦ . I could non see what to make or where to begin-my merely idea was a public meeting for protest and treatment. An proclamation was put in the Seneca County Courier naming for a meeting to discourse the â€Å"rights of woman† the 19th and 20th of July. Three hundred adult females and some work forces came. A Declaration of Principles was signed at the terminal of the meeting by 68 adult females and 32 work forces. It made usage of the linguistic communication and beat of the Declaration of Independence: When in the class of human events. it becomes necessary for one part of the household of adult male to presume among the people of the Earth a place different from that they have hitherto occupied †¦We clasp these truths to be axiomatic: that all work forces and adult females are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Godhead with certain unalienable rights ; dial among these are life. autonomy and the chase of felicity. . . . The history of world is a history of perennial hurts and trespasss on the portion of adult male toward adult female. holding in direct object the constitution of an absolute dictatorship over her. To turn out this. allow facts be submitted to a blunt universe. . . . Then came the list of grudges: no right to vote. no right to her rewards or to belongings. no rights in divorce instances. no equal chance in employment. no entryway to colleges. stoping with: â€Å"He had endeavored. in every manner that he could. to destruct her assurance in her ain powers. to decrease her self-respect and to do her willing to take a dependent and low life†¦ . † And so a series of declarations. including: â€Å"That all Torahs which prevent adult female from busying such a station in society as her scruples shall order. or which place her in a place inferior to that of adult male. are contrary to the great principle of nature. and hence of no force or authorization. † A series of women’s conventions in assorted parts of the state followed the 1 at Seneca Falls. At one of these. in 1851. an aged black adult female. who had been born a slave in New York. tall. thin. have oning a grey frock and white turban. listened to some male curates who had been ruling the treatment. This was Sojourner Truth. She rose to her pess and joined the outrage of her race to the outrage of her sex: That adult male over at that place says that adult female needs to be helped into passenger cars and lifted over ditches. . . . Cipher of all time helps me into passenger cars. or over mud-puddles or gives me any best topographic point. And a’nt I a adult female? Expression at my arm! I have ploughed. and planted. and gathered into barns. and no adult male could head me! And a’nt I a adult female? I would work every bit much and eat every bit much as a adult male. when I could acquire it. and bear the cilium every bit good. And a’nt I a adult female?I have borne 13 kids and seen mutton quads most all sold off to bondage. and when I cried out with my mother’s heartache. none but Jesus heard me! And a’nt I a adult female? Therefore were adult females get downing to defy. in the 1830s and 1840s and 1850s. the effort to maintain them in their â€Å"woman’s sphere. † They were taking portion in all kinds of motions. for captives. for the insane. for black slaves. and besides for all adult females.