Tell Them Who I Am essays

Tell Them Who I Am essays Elliot Liebows groundbreaking novel entitled Tell Them Who I Am is one that helps to paint a clear picture of the lives of homeless women, and even homeless people in general. Liebow presents the trials that face homeless women in their daily life and in all other aspects of their life from their daily life and their ability to work to personal things like how their friends, family, and religion fit into the equation. Elliot Liebow, at the age of 58, after being diagnosed with cancer and being told he didnt have long to live, retired from his job as an anthropologist and started volunteering at a local soup kitchen. With plenty of time on his hands and a want to do more, he also volunteered at a shelter for homeless women. It was here that he started socializing with the women and taking a real interest in their stories and what they go through on a day to day basis. He started taking casual notes about they told him, with their permission of course, and later collected their life stories and really got a feel for their plight. This is how he got all of his information. Tell Them is a prime example of participant observation. Someone with no real knowledge of the struggles of homeless women prior to his volunteer work became immersed in their lives and was able to write a book about them. His goal with this book was to write an honest description of shelter life, while also explaining how the women could remain so human while being faced with such inhuman conditions. He really approaches the subject with the perspective of a conflict sociologist. Having experienced first-hand what the women feel and have to deal with, he knows that a change in the way things happen for these women, and all others in the same situation, is necessary. When really looking at the title, it points to the way that most people tend to pigeonhole homeless people into a certain category and stereotype them as though theyre all the s...

Stigma, Stigmas, and Stigmata

Stigma, Stigmas, and Stigmata Stigma, Stigmas, and Stigmata Stigma, Stigmas, and Stigmata By Maeve Maddox Another term associated with religious practice, but often used in other contexts, is stigma. The word has two plural forms: stigmas and stigmata. Stigma derives from Greek and Latin words for the type of mark made by burning, like the brand placed on a slave, or by cutting. The word’s figurative meaning is â€Å"mark of censure or infamy.† The plural stigmata appears in a line at the end of Saint Pauls Letter to the Galatians. Paul says he â€Å"bears Christ’s stigmata in his body† (stigmata Domini Iesu in corpore meo porto). Paul is playing on different meanings of the word stigma. On the one hand, he is contrasting the marks and scars he has received by preaching Christianity as the valid equivalent of the mark/stigma of circumcision, which some Jewish Christians of his time insisted should be required of converted Gentiles. He is also using the word in the sense of the identifying mark of a slave, implying that he belongs to Christ, as a slave belongs to his master. In modern religious usage, the Latin plural stigmata refers specifically to marks on the body that mimic the five wounds of Christ: nail holes in the hands/wrists and feet, and a wound in the side. Some reported stigmata include pain and marks around the head (from the crown of thorns) and on the back (from scourging). The first documented stigmatic (person who exhibits Christ’s stigmata) was Francis of Assisi: The  saints  right side is described as bearing on open wound which looked as if made by a lance, while through his hands and feet were black nails of flesh, the points of which were bent backward.- New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia.   A stigmatic who lived in the twentieth century and was studied by contemporary physicians was Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968). The figurative use of stigma is popular in the media to refer to the disapprobation displayed toward certain members of society or to characteristics felt to be socially disreputable. Used in this sense, the usual plural is stigmas. Here are some examples of this use of stigma: Now, in the 21st century, we still have a situation where the words â€Å"mental illness† have negative connotations, leading to stigma surrounding anyone diagnosed with mental illness. In 1936, a bill was passed that made Texas the first state in the southwest to legally remove the  stigma of illegitimacy  from birth records. It is important to understand stigma in India, given its varied culture and mixture of rural and urban populations. The verb is to stigmatize: Afflicted individuals and racial or national groups  have been stigmatized  because of perceptions about highly contagious, difficult-to-cure diseases. [This book] is a great overview of how romance novels (and their readers)  have been stigmatized  for centuries. How Singles Are Stereotyped,  Stigmatized, and Ignored An error in the use of stigma is the redundancy of following it with the word mark: There is a stigma mark attached to being Aboriginal. I would think that if anyone needs a stigma mark, it is them. Note: The noun stigma has other meanings in scientific contexts. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'ts45 Synonyms for â€Å"Old† and â€Å"Old-Fashioned†The 7 Types of Possessive Case