Gay Marriage or Same-Sex Marriage

When I first began writing about same-sex marriage on this site, I used the term gay marriage to refer to unions meeting this description. I did so for two reasons: The term gay marriage is much more common, so readers are more likely to go to Google or another search engine and type gay marriage than they are to type same-sex marriage. Since I wanted readers to be able to easily find my writing on the subject, I went with the more common phrase.I had no objection to the phrase, since the only people I knew who were interested in same-sex marriage identified as lesbian or gay or identified as bisexuals in lesbian or gay relationships. Some readers took me to task for this. At first, I was skeptical--some of my friends in the LGBT rights movement use the phrase gay marriage, and I was reluctant to switch terminology before the disenfranchised community itself did. I was reminded of the infamous Native American debacle, in which non-indigenous writers thought they were being sensitive by describing native American tribes as Native American rather than American Indian--not realizing that the majority of native Americans used the term American Indian, and preferred to be described as such.But now Ive switched to same-sex marriage. Why? Four reasons: Same-sex marriages need not actually involve lesbian or gay partners. One or both partners might be bisexual or asexual--or even heterosexual. Its not really any of my business.Likewise, many opposite-sex marriages are technically gay marriages. Gay men and lesbians often marry members of the opposite sex (who might be heterosexual or might also be gay) and for a variety of reasons (denial, mutually agreed-upon financial convenience, or simply to construct a more effective closet, to name three examples that come to mind).There has been so much hostility directed against same-sex marriage under the terminology of gay marriage that the phrase almost sounds like a pejorative now. The more accurate terminology of same-sex marriage has a less painful history.It has become clear to me that in recent years the gay rights movement has largely adopted the language of same-sex marriage. While not all gay rights activists use the term, there has been a noticeable increase in its use by activis ts, and a decline in the use of the phrase gay marriage, over the past few years. Im not saying that its wrong to use the phrase gay marriage, nor am I promising that I will never use the phrase again. But I think that the phrase same-sex marriage is both more accurate and more sensitive to the concerns of same-sex couples seeking equal treatment under the law.

Foreign Trade Policy - 1516 Words

†Critical analysis of new Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 of Govt. of India† The Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 of the Govt. of India is a â€Å"holistic strategy, driving export growth to new markets and addressing issues of labour-intensive export and intensive export and transaction cost effectively.† On trade climate and export target The world has not witnessed in the last seven decades a situation as it has been in recent years and it is very important that the Government steps in the act as a facilitator to intensive exporters to get them out of what we may call the tsunami. Objectives of last 2 policies of Foreign Trade of Govt. of India 1) 2004-2009 The last 5 years (2004-09) FTP was released on 1st September in the year†¦show more content†¦Major economic indicators of †¢ Industrial production †¢ Trade capital flows †¢ Unemployment †¢ Per-capita investment and consumption have taken a hit. WTO estimates that the global trade this year is likely to decline by 9% in volume terms while IMF has projected a decline over 11%. World Bank estimates 53 million over of people would fall into poverty this year and a billion of people would go chronically hungry. Fortunately India has not been affected to the same extent as the other economies of the world. But our exports have suffered a decline since last 10 months due to contraction in demand in the traditional export markets. Indian exports have slowed down since October 2008(surprisingly it is dropped of a contraction in exports) because of economic downturn and financial crisis in principal markets in North America and European Union. EXPORT SCENARIO Setting Targets 2008-09 2010-11 2013-14 Total Indian Exports: US$168.70bn US$200bn US$336 bn India’s Share in: 1.65 % 3.28% (Aim by 2020) World Exports I Year Export Import Trade Gap Value Value [ E (-) I } (US$ bn) (US$ bn) (US$ bn) 2001-02 43.82Show MoreRelatedForeign Trade Policy1508 Words   |  7 Pages†Critical analysis of new Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 of Govt. of India† The Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 of the Govt. of India is a â€Å"holistic strategy, driving export growth to new markets and addressing issues of labour-intensive export and intensive export and transaction cost effectively.† On trade climate and export target The world has not witnessed in the last seven decades a situation as it has been in recent years and it is very important that the Government steps in the act as a facilitatorRead MoreForeign Policy : Trade With Foreign Nations854 Words   |  4 PagesForeign Policy – Trade with Foreign Nations The policy issue I have chosen is trade with foreign nations. The approach that the United States government has adopted to address foreign trade is varied depending on the nation in question. For some nations, the United States has what is called a Free Trade Agreement which is an â€Å"arrangement among two or more countries under which they agree to eliminate tariffs and nontariff barriers on trade in goods among themselves† (Cooper, Free Trade Agreements:Read MoreForeign Investment And Trade Policy1565 Words   |  7 PagesForeign Investment and Trade Policy: Brazil can be seen as country that is open and inviting foreign investments. Brazil remains the top destination for FDI in the Latin American region and according the A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index for 2015, Brazil is ranked #6 as a global FDI destination. FDI inflows into Brazil stood at USD 60.5 billion as on Feb 2015, (Central bank of Brazil). 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However, one large area that has been left untouched by integration has been a common, European military. Though European member states are highly integrated as part of their membership in the EU, Europe’s currently military policies are insufficient, and their inability to create a militaryRead MoreThe Impact Of Foreign Policy On International Trade Essay1494 Words   |  6 Pagesinternational trade, many people h ave posed their opinion about what the role of government should be in it. Different factors are involved when it comes to deciding what this should be. It impacts a lot of people, so in order to do that, trade policy must be properly defined, identify what the roles of government currently are, and their involvement in it, and then analyse what should be their role. Trade policy is how a country carries out trade with other countries (Commercial Policy, n.d). EvenRead MoreThe Role Of Government And Foreign Trade Policies Essay1588 Words   |  7 PagesGovernment should play in trade policy has been long debated over the years and is constantly changing to keep up with the needs and wants of a country. International trade policies are vital to any countries prosperity, and more specifically the economic development. Trade Policy is a set of rules and guidelines that determine how a country acts towards another in regards to trade and global business whether it be through free-trade or protectionism. The Governments role in trade policies include regulationRead MoreThe Foreign Trade of Bangladesh - Its Composition, Performance, Trend, and Policy6029 Words   |  25 PagesThe Foreign Trade of Bangladesh: Its Composition, Performance, Trend, and Policy Mohammad Mafizur Rahman Abstract Despite structural limitations in the Bangladesh economy, the export sector performed well throughout the 1990s. The export growth rate of Bangladesh was higher than that of the world and the SAARC countries. However, the balance of trade of Bangladesh was always in deficit and the trade deficit with India is huge. The export share of primary commodities has decreased while thatRead MoreInternational Investment And Trade : Foreign Policy Goals And Consumer Safety1604 Words   |  7 Pagesregards to international investment and trade, a government’s political proposals are deeply in conflict with its economic arguments (Heuet, 2015) despite both being implemented with the focal objective to improve a country’s market efficiency and competitiveness. Despite the concern and view that government intervention results in protecting the interests’ of producers at the expense of consumer interests, it is imperative to recognise that imposed trade barriers, such as tariffs, taxes and quotasRead MoreForeign Policies Big And Small Affect Our Lives1413 Words   |  6 Pages Foreign policies big and small affect our lives in many seemingly unconnected ways. War and military interventions may grab headlines, but our actions in the international political system are much more wide reaching. Almost everyday there are trade agreements between countries and international political candidates being elected that affect our lives as US citizens as much or even more than the military actions we always see on CNN and the New York Times. Foreign policy is much more extensive than

Columbian Exchange free essay sample

What was the most important motive behind European maritime expansion? What was the most important motive behind European maritime expansion? What was the most important motive behind European maritime expansion?Did the Columbian Exchange change the world for the better or for the worse? The Columbian Exchange refers to the period of cultural and biological give-and-take between the New and Old Worlds. Interchange of plants, animals, and technology renovated European and Native American ways of life. After Columbus discovered the New World in 1492 the exchange continued throughout the years of growth and discovery. The Columbian Exchange changed the social and cultural sides of all parties. Improvements in farming production, evolution of warfare, improved mortality rates and education are a few illustrations of the reason why the effect of the Columbian Exchange on the world over-shadows the negative effects such as the diseases that were exchanged. On a technological stand point the Europeans didn’t significantly benefit from the less innovative Native Americans. We will write a custom essay sample on Columbian Exchange or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The natives gained many advancements in weapon capabilities including firearms and steel knives. Hunting with firearms proved more beneficial compared to bow and arrows.What was the most important motive behind European maritime expansion? With these improvements they were also able to defend themselves easier from aggressive adversaries. The Europeans may not have gained much from the Native Americans in technology, but they did take advantage of their ideas and culture. The voyage to the new world was made by humans but also animals. Both domesticated and non-domesticated animals made a huge impact on both worlds. When explores brought over new bigger and stronger animals they introduced new means of transportation, labor form, and food source. Horses and cattle were one of the biggest influences on the new world because the horses provided improved means of transportation, the cattle were used for their meat and hides, and when they are both used properly they promoted agricultural growth. One of their downfalls was that they would devastate the native’s crops by trampling and grazing them, but a benefit that the animals had going for them is that they were rarely troubled by diseases that decimated the indigenous population. Diseases were transmitted from Europeans to Native Americans as well as vice versa. Since both were isolated from each other, their immune systems were primed for different ailments, the natives were susceptible to the European’s Smallpox,  Measles, and Yellow Fever; while the explorers were vulnerable to Syphilis, Polio, and Hepatitis. Natives were devastated by the illnesses because they were airborne and could spread by touch also. In some cases various tribes were infected and almost completely wiped out before they even made contact with the Europeans. At the time these epidemics made it easy to say that the Columbian Exchange only had a negative effect on the world. There is a positive side to this tragic tradeoff, without it we wouldn’t have been able to develop antidotes to help prevent them and make our immune system stronger. Natives benefited substantially from the exchange of technology, while the Europeans profited from the native’s ideas and culture. Even though the useful animals were able to prosper in the new land and help the agriculture thrive, many of un-domesticated animals crossed over to the New World carrying diseases, but without these viruses we would not have been prepared for them as well as we are today. On first glance, the damaging conditions seem to out-weigh the positive ones, but after taking the future’s benefit into consideration, being able to develop cures, and having the knowledge on how to handle dreadful situations whether it is violent, medical, financial, or agricultural they all easily counter the negative effects of the Columbian Exchange.

Personal Response

My Papa’s Waltz, by Theodore Roethke and Those Winter Sundays, by Robert Hayden, a personal response:Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Personal Response specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These two poems honor fathers, in very different ways, although their life circumstances may have been equally constrained by economics, opportunities, personality, education, and perhaps even ethnicity. In My Papa’s Waltz, the figure of the father repels and attracts the narrator when he comes home drunk but exhilerated. In Those Winter Sundays, the father is a remote figure, whose behavior is masked by a taciturn nature and the burden of responsibility. Each is clearly loved by their child, the narrator, although this love may have come too late to be expressed to the parent. Each poem expresses regret that the relationship was as it was rather than some other way, perhaps easier, smoother, more open, more typica l, perhaps. My Papa’s Waltz signals the problem right in the first line about whiskey breath. This is a father who drinks to excess from time to time, or perhaps regularly. The dirty palm suggests that this dad works with his hands, and works hard, in spite of occasional binges. These clearly cause family problems, reflected in the mother’s scowl. The mom in My Papa’s Waltz probably knows and fears what comes next, after the boisterous singing passes and the child is in bed. Is this a scene foreshadowing domestic abuse? Will the father beat the mother using the same hand with which he marks time? How can a child deal with such possibilities? This child hangs on, literally, to his dad’s clothes, and to prolong the event, hungry for whatever attention this father can offer. There is even the very subtle suggestion that this father’s attentions may be inappropriate: is it fun or sinister that the child is danced off to his bed? In any case, these are ambiguous memories for the narrator of My Papa’s Waltz, although they have been clung to, all the way into adulthood, like the dad’s shirt. These poems are clearly meant to be read as autobiographical – and whether or not they are entirely factual, they draw on powerful memories from a child’s perspective, like the intimate contact of ear and buckle. Perhaps they represent a mix of experiences with different adults at different times. Advertising Looking for article on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The images in My Papa’s Waltz seem too real to be entirely fabricated. Such vivid moments in early life can be mined like a gold miner panning for nuggets. In light of this, should we be protected from all negative experiences? This is probably impossible, and probably would leave us all with nothing to write about. Those Winter Mornings is a sweeter memory, although still p ainful. The narrator in this poem is also in the midst of domestic disruption. The child fears conflict in the household. This is a deterrent from early rising even stronger than the bitter cold. However, in spite of the conflict hinted at, the dad is a caring and selfless presence, building fires, shining shoes for church, after going to work in some manual labor every day. He does not express his caring and devotion in words, but in self-sacrifice. It is possible to imagine that the fire of love has been stamped down to embers in his marriage, and that this sacrifice goes on without the rewards of intimacy. Or, perhaps the austerity the poet speaks of has more to do with the economic pressure on the family. In any case, this is a loving father, whose tokens of affection were ignored by the narrator in their childhood, to their everlasting sorrow and regret Again, Those Winter Sundays this seems to be an autobiographical piece, with the immediacy of personal experience. Such bitt ersweet memories can be the source of wisdom later on: perhaps the narrator will behave differently with their own children. Perhaps the poet will learn to show appreciation and love to parents and to children from having missed out, themselves, on such things in their own childhood. Memories of the sort that are shared in this poem are instructive of how to love your family while they are alive. The father in My Papa’s Waltz reminds me of characters in some TV dramas, such as Criminal Minds and CSI. These are people who are in a lot of pain psychologically, and their behavior is shaped, or warped by that pain. Some of these characters struggle with econonimic hardship. In some cases, their pain has led them to use or abuse alcohol. Substance abuse or misuse makes it difficult to deal with them. The drug or the booze change their mood in a flash, and with no observable reason! Like the dad in My Papa’s Waltz, one never knows whether a phone call or a visit will reveal someone rational and articulate, or morose and incoherent. Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Personal Response specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The uncertainty colors all interactions with such people who are in the grip of an addiction: it is scary not to know what mood or state someone is in before visiting or calling. The persistence of the memories in My Papa’s Waltz remind us that kids absorb and remember everything, even if they don’t have words for what they see and hear. Those Winter Mornings reminds me of the differences in the ways that people show love. In some families, it is ok to express lots of affection and emotion, and in others, such demonstrations of feeling are a bit less encouraged. The narrator in Those Winter Sundays is clearly feeling guilty about their obliviousness while a child, and the way that a father’s love was taken for granted. It is too late by the time t his poem is written to let the dad know how much his solicitude and cherishing care meant to the narrator. This makes me wonder whether I express appreciation for the people in my own life clearly enough. Both these poems, encourage the reader to cherish the family and the family events that we have. It also encourages us to love family while they are here, on earth, and available to be thanked. This article on Personal Response was written and submitted by user Dorothy A. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.