Fairy Tales Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fairy Tales - Research Paper Example Indeed, in fairy tales, the stepmother is usually mean, deceitful and incapable of loving her stepchildren. In this day and age when divorce, separation and single parenthood make having a stepmother a fact of life, it is a wonder why fairy tale stepmothers are still stereotyped as such. Moreover, because of how common having a stepmother is nowadays, it is curious to know how these evil depictions may influence the relationship of today’s children with their stepmothers. One reason behind the evil stepmother character is history, supposedly. Author Maria Warner writes that fairy tales may be influenced by the happenings in society during the time the stories were written. Death at childbirth was common in earlier times so having a new mother was a usual occurrence. Warner believes that making the stepmother wicked in fairy tales served as a warning for readers during that time and points to real-life tragedies where an offspring is killed so the stepmother’s child can inherit the father’s riches. (Sellers) Another explanation for this depiction comes from Bruno Bettelheim and other critics who have psycho-analyzed fairy tales. According to this group, the portrait of an evil stepmother is actually a projection of the bad side a good mother has. (Tatar) Supposedly, an individual does not feel as guilty hating the bad qualities of one’s mom epitomized by the malevolent stepmother. With this image of a mother’s evilness, â€Å"mom† is able to remain the loving and good-natured parent, always wanting the best for her child. Writer Patricia Watson shares that in Europe during the writing of Hansel and Gretel, peasants abandoned their children because they did not have enough food to feed them (Watson) and thus it was easier to hate a â€Å"stepmom† for this. It is noteworthy, too, how the stepmother is made to be jealous of her stepdaughter’s beauty or good qualities. In Snow White, the Evil Queen who is vain becomes angry when her magic mirror says its famous line: â€Å"Snow White is the fairest of all.† (Grimm) Her anger led her to think of ways on how to get rid of Snow White in her world. Wanting to look pretty and young is not a problem and cannot e viewed as a mistake on the stepmother’s side. Everyone wants to look young and good. What made her evil though is her banishing of Snow White from the castle and trying to kill her. Although having a bad stepmother may be common in this age of divorce and separation, it has not been a regular occurrence for stepmothers to kill their stepdaughter or stepson. In Cinderella, the vain stepmother forces Cinderella to work in her own house, maybe in an attempt to make the pretty stepdaughter dirty-looking and unpleasant. She also makes it hard for Cinderella to attend the Prince’s ball by giving her so many chores and then locking the child up in her room. (Cinderella) In 2007, a self-study about the relationship of a ste pmother and stepdaughter was released to the public. The researchers were members of one family who exemplified one of the most common contemporary family structures – a stepfamily. The researchers discovered that the â€Å"wicked stepmother† title is most times brought about by anger that the biological child cannot express towards the biological mother and by negative stereotypes that the child hears. (Strawn and Knox) This research is important. It

International business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International business - Essay Example It would be prudent to examine why world over free-trade agreements between the nations have got so much importance in last few decades. Suranovic (2010) describes following key reasons behind any international trade between the nations. Resource Differences Each country differs in availability of resources, especially natural resources such as mines, minerals, energy sources, water and crucial raw materials. This resource benefits put them into advantage over other countries to produce good. Technological Differences Technological differences put one country ahead of other because deploying better technology country can produce goods at lower cost using lower resources. Economies of Scale Economies of scale put one country into advantage over others because that helps reduce the cost of production. Those who fail to operate at the economies of scale will be at disadvantageous situation. It is obvious that global demand will rush toward the lowest production centers. Government Regul ations Tariffs imposed on the imported goods or subsidies provided to domestic producers can boost or bust the trade between the nations. ... That augurs well for the overall growth of the market. Inefficient domestic producers are the biggest sufferers who cannot stand due to their non competitiveness. Their inability to compete with the good from other countries could be for any reason; however, they opine that they should be protected if domestic workers’ jobs are to be saved (Suranovic, 2010, Ch.2). The Ricardian Model states that free trade raises production and consumption efficiencies. It also states that labor is mobile and economy achieves full employment soon; however, in the real world full employment cannot be achieved due to impending complexities of the market. Labor productivity changes when they move one from one market to another. In reality it does not remain a win-win situation for all. One group of workers who have a competitive advantage get benefitted in terms of real income but at the same time other groups of workers lose on real wages. That is to say, a free trade arranges redistribution of the income among participatory nations (Suranovic, 2010, Ch.2). US Free trade with Latin America, Central America and the Caribbean needs to be seen in the above perspectives. US entered into a free trade agreement with the five countries of the Central American namely Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Dominican Republic. The agreement is known as CA-DR FTA. The textile and clothing sector is the most vibrant nontraditional and industrial export sector of the Central America which is responsible for most of the foreign exchange earnings. Thus, the biggest impact that the US industries may experience will be in textiles, apparel and leather sectors (Jensen et al., 2007 p.1). Butcher and Stamps (2004) state that the economic benefits to the US economy are mixed in