SHOULD WOMEN'S ROLES BE LIMITED TO THE KICTHEN?

                picture adopted from :Adrid Lands Info Net

"I believe that it is as much a right and duty for women to do something with their lives as for men and we are not going to be satisfied with such frivolous parts as you give us." - Louisa May Alcott

For years women’s role in society has always been limited to the kitchen. Women were always expected to stay at home and keep the family intact. Men, on the other hand have been tasked with the responsibility of providing for the family therefore,  making the corporate world a male dominated area.  As a result, this pattern became the rule of society.

However, as time went on women had to provide for the family for instance, due to loss of husband to death or divorce. Other times the men were at war. Women had to exit the kitchen and enter the corporate world to survive. This brought about some change in the gender roles. Women had to learn to balance their careers,  raising their children and marriage. This needed proper time management technique.

The Women in World History Curriculum is a website that takes on how women are restricted by society and tradition. Most of the quotes illuminate the harshest attitudes about women, which might not have applied to women in every class,  and which might simply have been ignored. They nonetheless help explain the limited contributions of women in some areas and the types of attitudes women have had to overcome.

Molly Nkosi, a female Bcom Law student at the Midrand Graduate Institute stated that women's role should not be limited to the kitchen because if all women are stuck in the kitchen then, there will be low levels of diversity in the corporate world.The more diverse ideas are contributed the higher the productivity. Molly concluded by saying that women are capable of withstanding emotional stress and pressure that the corporate world presents.  

Raesetsa Hopane, a male Client Technical Specialist at IBM also stated that women should not be limited to the kitchen as they have other capabilities such as in areas of Science and Art which should be explored. 

Sbusiso, a security guard at the Midrand Graduate Institute stated that he thinks women should not be limited to the kitchen. However, there must be a clear distinction between a man and a woman at home reason being that women tend to be dominant when given power. 
 

In my opinion, women should not be limited to the kitchen . There are so many opportunities out there and everyone both woman and man should have the chance to explore these opportunities and not limited. This will bring progress and development  in the world. Women have the ability to balance their work, be the perfect moms,  cook delicious food and be loving wives.  

ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR AT WORK

WORK ETHICS

This blog will discuss work ethics and specific reference will be made to the Zwelinzima Vavi’s sex scandal and whether or not what he did was ethical.

Ethics are the principles or standards that govern our actions. Ethical behaviour at work can be summarized as Respect, Accountability and Honesty.Employers inform employees of how they are expected to behave and carry themselves at work.In today’s society, however,  there are employees who lack a work ethic in every business and every job.

Jobsearchonline summarises Practical applications of ethics as follows:

Respect

•  Respect for self: a healthy lifestyle, optimism and confidence.

•       Respect for others: positive work relationships, based on effective communication and appropriate behaviour (ability to control emotions).

•     Respect for the organisation: taking an interest in the work being done and caring for the workplace.

Accountability

•    Taking responsibility for and “owning” actions and mistakes.

•      Avoiding making excuses or blaming others.

•        Admitting to “not knowing” and then finding out to avoid making mistakes.

Honesty

•        Being truthful.

•      Avoiding “time theft” by being on time, keeping personal tasks out of the workplace and committing to a full day’s work.

•      Not assuming personal use of workplace equipment or taking work supplies home.

                                                                                                                               Picture by: SOWETAN

The Cosatu General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi was suspended and placed on special leave over a sex scandal with a 26-year-old colleague during the teachers union’s regional conference in Port Elizabeth.

The colleague first laid a complaint of rape against Vavi before withdrawing it. According to IOL News by Lebogang Seale the lady at heart of the scandal refused to give reasons as to why she withdrew it. 

Zwelinzima has apologised for his indiscretion. However, no one is above the law-justice has to be done to prevent such cases from happening. He is currently awaiting his hearing and his fate will be decided then.    

It seen as a political attack used to get rid of Vavi. However, whether or not it was a political attack -it was unethical for him to have sex with his colleague. 

 

the legacy of leonardo

Leonardo’s legacy

“The painter has the universe in his mind and his hands’’ Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).

 Born on the 15^th of April 1452 in Italy, the genius Leonardo da Vinci  was coined to describe the term Renaissance man(Alessandro, 1997:83). He was a man of so many accomplishments in so many areas of human endeavor. Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, sculptor and skilled mechanical engineer.

Casual patrons of arts know him as the painter of the ‘Mona Lisa’ and the exquisite ‘Last supper’ painted on the wall of the dining hall in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy (Gardner, 1970:450-456).

by Leonardo da Vinci at Musee du Louvre 1503.

 

by Leonardo da Vinci at Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan 1495-1498.

 

 

Only 17 of the paintings that have survived can be attributed to Leonardo and not all of them are finished. In most people’s eyes this is seen as a tragedy. However, he is deservedly considered one of the greatest painters of all the time.

  He excelled in the inventiveness, technique, drawing ability, use of light, shadow and color. Many sketches remain as part of his unfinished projects but they give adequate evidence of Leonardo’s concept of art and sculpture.

 The greatest literary legacy any painter has ever published to the world is contained in the Volumes notebooks of Leonardo. His writing program began during his first stay in Milan, specifically between 1490 and 1495.

In the notebooks, Leonardo envisaged treating four major themes: a treatise on the science of painting, a treatise on architecture, a book on the elements of mechanics and a general work on the human autonomy (Andrew, 1972:24).

 Leonardo’s notebooks are distinctive for the relation of illustration to text and his use of ‘mirror writing’.  In the normal illustrated book- pictures amplify and clarify the text but it is the text that contains basic information. Leonardo always gave precedence to illustration over the written word. This is why Leonardo’s drawings do not illustrate the text but  serves to explain the pictures(Compton’s Encyclopedia 1990:133).

The term ‘mirror writing’ means putting words down on paper in such a way that they can be read normally only when the page is held up to a mirror. The reason for using mirror writing is uncertain because he did not intend to keep his notebooks a secret (Compton’s Encyclopedia 1990:133).

Francis I, King of France said: “There has never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculptures and architecture as that he was a very great philosopher”.

 There is no denying the fact that Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest minds of all time.

Given this information it can be concluded that Leonardo’s greatness lies in the diversity of his knowledge. It is indeed amazing to see that until today people from all parts of the world queue at Louvre in Paris to view Leonardo da Vinci’s work- a man who died 500 years ago.