In Mary Astell's From A Serious Proposal to the Ladies is a plea for intellectual equality among the sexes. The author was tired of the oppressive nature of man, which kept her and her sisters from developing their minds. She felt that females back then should have the same rights as women have achieved through the Civil Rights Movement today. Her answer to this was "A Religious Retirement." It is Mary Astell's ideal place to end her intellectual suffering and open new doors for the female mind. I feel that Mary went a little to far with this idea. She wanted to segregate males and females, live in a convent, and find alternates to marriage for women, which, I guess, would be the same as living in a convent. Mary was a feminist which I feel lead her to be so aggressive in this proposal, but I can understand why she is mad. I would feel the same way if I was not aloud to attend Florida State because of some ridiculous stereotype, for example, due to the fact I am a male. I guess I would also want a separate place to learn if society shunned me for who I am and what I wanted to do with my mind, but I would not exclude people to the same degree that Mary wanted to. So these places that Mary Astell wanted to create do have some merit to them. For without them, women of that time, unless rich, would not have been able to be educated.

Today in America there are many who assume that racism does not exist as it did in the forties, fifties, and sixties. Racism today is not as dangerous as it once was, but that does not mean that it does not hurt people just as much. There are many who think we have solved our racial problems and that African Americans live freely. However, there are many African Americans who work extremely hard to benefit society and all some people still see is their skin color. Malcolm X once said, "If you're born in America with a black skin, you're born in a prison." From reading Lenita McClain's "The Middle Class Black's Burden" and Shelby Steele's "On Being Black and Middle Class" the reader concludes that middle class blacks are judged unfairly by whites and other blacks through an examination of: 1)white people thinking blacks cannot do an adequate job, 2)lower class blacks who criticize middle and upper class blacks, and 3)victimization.

Racism today exists in many different forms. There are many people who, all their lives, were brought up to believe that black people are of a lesser standard. It is no wonder that many people think African Americans perform inadequately even though these African Americans produce a high quality satisfaction. The people that doubt the work of an African American can obviously be seeing only the skin color. Lenita McClain states, "I am burdened daily with showing whites that blacks are people." Shelby Steele asks, "After all, since when had white Americans taken note of anything but color when it came it blacks?" Our nation, which is supposed to preserve equal rights to everyone, is weakened when certain Americans feel they are judged on a day to day basis by their skin color. Some might argue that blacks and whites are equal, but it is obvious through these essays that this is not so.

If being stereotyped by some white people is not enough, many middle class blacks are ridiculed by many lower class blacks. It seems that some financially unstable African Americans consider middle and upper class African Americans to be ignorant of black culture. Discussing this issue, McClain says that some lower class blacks think, "We have forsaken the revolution, we are told, we have sold out." Being treated in such a way must surely aggravate or maybe depress an African American who has worked tirelessly for their status. Steele says that many think, "...that the purest black was the poorest black." Perhaps some lower class blacks have been taught, all their lives, that African Americans were supposed to be on the bottom of the financial scale, and now when they see their colleagues cracking that barrier, they become jealous and stoop to ridicule. Financial matters should not take precedence over culture. Just because one person is richer than another does not mean that the latter is any less culturally diverse. Everyone needs to stand together, be it white and black, black and black, or white and white. A person should not judged because of skin color or financial standing. A person should be judged on the content of his or her inner morals and character.

Victimization has caused much sorrow in the lives of many African Americans. Many blacks are made to feel that there is no place of serenity. Many whites make them feel uncomfortable for earning money while at the same time many blacks make them feel the same way. Steele says, "...when it came to race we were now being asked to identify with images of lower class blacks and to see whites, middle class or other otherwise, as victimizers." McClain adds, "I am a member of the black middle class who has had it with being patted on the head by white hands and slapped in the face by black hands for my success." Many blacks today still fight for their rights, one of which is the right not to be victimized.

Much to often blacks are judged unfairly by whites and other blacks. Sadly enough, many middle class blacks are forced to walk that fine line between wanting to succeed and being ridiculed for not remembering their heritage. In today's society there needs to be less victimizing and more accepting. America is made up of different languages and cultures, and though we are different in heritage we need to unite as a country.

• Today in America there are many who assume that racism does not exist as it did in the forties, fifties, and sixties

Racism today is not as dangerous as it once was, but that does not mean that it does not hurt people just as much. There are many who think we have solved our racial problems and that African Americans live freely. However, there are many African Americans who work extremely hard to benefit society and

• Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis is a key element in Greek mythology. This ability to change shape or form is a major development in the stories of Arachne, Zeus, and Daphne. Almost all of the gods had the power of metamorphosis. The first story was the one of Arachne. Arachne was a mortal, who was a great weaver. She was

• Mary astell extreme solutions

Discussion Question: Why did Mary Astell suggest such extreme solutions as a learning environment for woman, and is it necessary? In Mary Astell's From A Serious Proposal to the Ladies is a plea for intellectual equality among the sexes. The author was tired of the oppressive nature of man, which kept her and her sisters from

• Why did Mary Astell suggest such extreme solutions as a learning environment for woman, and is it necessary?

In Mary Astell's From A Serious Proposal to the Ladies is a plea for intellectual equality among the sexes. The author was tired of the oppressive nature of man, which kept her and her sisters from developing their minds. She felt that females back then should have the same rights as women have achieved through

• Blacks Treated as Lower Class Citizens

The black community in the United States of America has always been the Target of prejudice from the whites. The Constitution of America states all men Should have equal rights, but instead of following the constitution whites have Treated the blacks as lower - class citizen. An example that the black community Has been treated