Essentialism Essay

Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes Introduction Gender is something that is complex and ambiguous, and cannot be set into a strict binary structure. Through Don Kulick’s ethnographic research, he spent time studying transgendered prostitutes called Travestis in Brazil. After reading Kulick’s book about the Travestis and their lifestyles I would like to argue that “gender” is an incredibly personal identity that is constructed by ones environment, and

Descartes’ Dualism Rene Descartes dualism states that the mind and body are separate entities. The mind is a nonphysical, non-spatial substance; the mind and brain are separate existences, the brain is a part of the physical body and serves as a connection between the body and mind. Dualism is a hot topic of argument on whether the theory holds any validity or if it holds any truth. However, Cartesian dualism is a credible theory and has a lot of support to verify it. One major point in Descartes

and Peoples of Islam” credits Islam’s rise in scientific activity primarily to the construction of centres of higher learning, academies, and institutions, such as the House of Wisdom (“The Sciences,” 1996: 409). In “Modern Science and Islamic Essentialism,” Habib emphasizes that internationality and diversity are unique and distinct characteristics of Islamic science. He claims the reason behind the success of Islamic science is primarily the diversity and plenitude of the sources translated, rather

In December 2002, the directors of 18 museums located throughout Europe and the United States issued the Declaration of the Importance and Value of Universal Museums. The declaration is an attempt, by the directors of major Western museums, to defend against demands for restitution of museum objects by defining themselves as “universal museums” which are of value to all of humanity. This document fails as a convincing defence against restitution claims for several reasons. First, it dismisses circumstances

Mary Wollstonecraft, a Futuristic Feminist This research project addresses the work of Mary Wollstonecraft, "The Vindication of the Rights of Women". To investigate this, I will first summarize her work and someone else 's interpretation of it, then analyze the author, voice, message and significance, and finally analyze the two works to answer the question, "What are the current ideas about your philosopher? How have their ideas influenced us today?". My first souce will be the primary source of

Journal Article Review: Cultural Relativist and Feminist Critiques of International Human Rights – Friends or Foes? Written by: Oonagh Reitman, 1997 This journal article is explaining about the different views in the critiques in the International Human Rights. The writer of this article attempts to explain to the readers to differentiate the understanding of the point of views of two sides, cultural relativist and feminist. Cultural relativist and feminist are actually quite similar but in the way

cisgender female because they were born as males and therefore retain some of the advantages that come with masculinity. These advantages go beyond the biological differences in gender - which can be equated with hormonal treatment. In her essay Essentialism and Experience Bell Hooks discusses the effect of male privilege. She argues that male students, who have spent most of their lives benefitting from male privilege, do not fully understand the passion of experience in a classroom. Similarly we

The fear of the disappearance of Lesbian identity is not a new one; Lesbianism has a history of being ignored. In Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, author Adrienne Rich contends that through the lens of Compulsory Heterosexuality, Lesbianism is deemed either “Abhorrent” or rendered invisible (Rich, 632). While inclusion and cohesion are necessary for minority groups to gain political clout and recognition, the lack of spaces distinctly for Lesbians has always been sparse. Grouped

Sarah Lucas is an English sculptor, installation artist and photographer who gained fame as one of the major Young British Artists during the 1990s, with a series of highly provocative work. Lucas began in the early 1990s by using furniture as a representation of the human body, usually with crude genital connotations, adopting the methods of Pop Art, Conceptualism and Minimalism, amongst others. In the piece entitled ‘Bitch, 1995’ she uses a table, t-shirt, melons and vacuum-packed smoked fish to

The only thing more powerful in mobilizing symbols, sentiments, and sensibilities than popular culture, is personal and shared experiences. What is so potent about pop culture however, is the ability of its participants to share their personal experiences to audiences than can both empathize and relate to the realities these artists present. This extended period of the civil rights and black power era can arguably be defined as the mobilization of the larger public by popular black figures whose