Literature review saudi arabian culture Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Saudi arabian culture - Literature review Example that the Western understanding of Muslim women appears unduly influenced and limited by evidence from only a few regions of Saudi Arabia2. The social science scholarship most familiar to the West about Muslim women seems to focus disproportionately on the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). Often seen as the land of Muslim excellence, ‘MENA’ is in fact home to fewer than 20 percent of the world’s Muslims. Nevertheless, it is an unfortunate reality that women in Saudi Arabian society, and in its local communities, face gender-based inequalities associated with Saudi’s so-called ‘patriarchal gender system.3’ Aspects of this originally pre-capitalist system persist in rural areas across a wide swath of lands, both Muslim and non-Muslim, from East Asia to North Africa. The Saudi Arabian social system, regardless of its religion, features and encourages kin-based extended families, male domination, early marriage (and consequent high fertili ty), restrictive codes of female conduct, the linkage of family honour with female virtue, and occasionally, polygamous family structure. In all Muslim areas, veiling and sex-segregation generally form part of the gender system.4 The seclusion of women from the rest of the world alongside the concurrent ban on sexualisation of women in the public eye has led to increased levels of sexual violence and abuse directed towards both women and children5. It is only recently that researchers have uncovered more accurate statistics on the occurrence of this abhorrent violence following the establishment of human rights based projects and refuges to rescue and protect women and children as well as to promote the welfare of the wider-public in general. 1) General Theoretical Background: Women and Gender An important foundation for the study of women and gender is to be found in the feminist literature of the 1970s. Around this time scientists had begun to untangle the complex interplay betwee n biological gender differences, and the abstract concept of gender, which is now a socially determined construct imposed on all human beings from the moment they are born. (Maccoby and Jacklin, 1974) Terminology such as ‘the sexual revolution’ (Millet, 1970) were used to describe the birth of consciousness about women’s subordination to men in patriarchal societies and many aspects of women’s lives were re-examined in this light. This analysis is similar to some Marxist ideas because it identifies the concentration of wealth and power in one area as the source of oppression: â€Å"the position of women in patriarchy is a continuous function of their economic dependence.† (Millet: 1970) Another American feminist studied the ways in which women in patriarchal societies are conditioned to adopt domestic and subservient roles, stressing the social constraints, which are described as â€Å"a comfortable concentration camp.† (Friedan: 1963, p. 438 ) Later, scholars moved away from

Tax Evation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Tax Evation - Essay Example The Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court cannot meet and do their businesses. As it is, taxes are the lifeblood of every government. However, people continuously exert their best efforts to evade taxes. They pursue different avenues in order to minimize, if not entirely avoid payment of taxes. Different styles or strategies have been used in order to attain this end. One, underreporting of incomes - usually, this strategy is being used by businesses, whether sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. This of course cannot be attained without the assistance of the accountants. The latter manipulate the income to be reported by the business so that liability for taxes would be lesser. In some countries, double numbering of official receipts are made so that only half of the transactions are officially entered into the entry book of the company. Only those transactions which involve important personalities or companies are being recorded officially so that in case of emergency examination of books, the said transactions can be easily traced. Those involving small transactions with not so familiar customers remain unrecorded, or will be recorded only in the unofficial record. Two, overstating deductions and exemptions - again, these cannot be done without the faithful assistance of the so-called accountants who creatively emphasize items of deduction and exempted transactions from the profit or income. Others are so enterprising that they take time to establish allegedly non-government organizations which are of course tax-exempt. Thru the latter, they conduct businesses without the threat of tax liabilities. The otherwise regular businesses are done with a claim that they are being made for some philanthropic objectives. Three, failure to file the necessary returns - this results to absolutely tax-free transactions. Underground economy plays a big role in this strategy. With absolutely no permits and licenses, those engaged in this enjoy the tax -free business as long as they are not caught by the authorities. Despite the fact that their income/capital involves only a small amount of money as compared to the legitimate businesses, if summed up, theirs will constitute a big portion of the revenues that the government could otherwise have received. Tax evasion plays a very important role in the economy. First, it definitely reduces the tax collections of the government, resulting to gross reduction of the public services that the government could have rendered to its constituents as the government should make do with its available resources. Second, it modifies the distribution of wealth in the society. Businessmen indulged in the same line of business would be on unequal footing since the tax-compliant ones have to shoulder additional expense for the payment of taxes while the tax evaders continue to enjoy their profits without entailing the same or similar expense. Third, it impinges on the accuracy of macroeconomic statistics. The tendency to commit tax evasion is caused by many factors, among them are: 1) high tax rates - the higher the taxes to be paid, the more likely the taxpayers would evade its payment as the same would greatly affect their finances; 2) minimal penalties - tax evaders are not afraid of the penalties in case they get caught since most of the time, penalties are limited to civil ones and tax