11,104 research outputs found
“La culpa es de los tlaxcaltecas”: Gender, the Burden of Blame, and a Re-examination of the Myth of La Malinche
This paper explores Elena Garro’s short story “La culpa es de los tlaxcaltecas.” Supplementing close readings with analyses drawn from relevant authors and theorists, I highlight the key ideas regarding gender, identity, memory, and history that Garro weaves into her text, and I consider Garro’s emphasis on patriarchal control, the internalization of female culpability for the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, and women’s role in constructing and reconstructing historical discourses. By travelling into her own and Mexico’s past, Laura Aldama, one of the main female protagonists in the story, not only challenges gendered histories but also reveals how patriarchal thought continues to influence contemporary realities. In addition, by paralleling Laura’s guilt and feelings of betrayal with the La Malinche myth, Garro’s work restructures this cultural symbol. Ultimately, I argue that “La culpa es de los tlaxcaltecas” redefines women’s role in history and society; valorizes female solidarity, voice, and perspective; and encourages women to challenge the limitations of masculinist discourses
An Exploration of Female Sexuality, Class Status, and Art in Hardy’s Short Stories
In this paper, I examine Hardy’s treatment of female sexuality as mediated by art in two short stories: “The Fiddler of the Reels” and “An Imaginative Woman.” Given Hardy’s role as an artist, his noted compassion for women, and his interest in Victorian attitudes toward sexuality, my analysis of these topics in his short stories is particularly relevant. Hardy’s investment in class issues is also pertinent, as I consider how Hardy uses his heroines’ relationships with art to underline the distinct disadvantages of lower-class women. While Ella, the middle-class heroine of “An Imaginative Woman,” uses poetry to channel stagnant sensual energies as a relatively empowered subject, music objectifies and overpowers the lower-class Car’line of “The Fiddler of the Reels.” In my analysis, I compare Ella and Car’line’s interactions with art, noting art’s potential to serve as an emotional outlet, a source of pleasure, or an overwhelming and dangerous force. I argue that middle-class women possess a clear advantage: their access to Victorian discourses that acknowledge female sexuality and their encouragement to engage the creative arts as active agents afford them a level of power. Ella thus uses art as a tool to express her desires and to obtain a degree of sexual satisfaction. On the contrary, the rural, working-class Car’line is completely vulnerable to Wat’s fiddle, and its power ultimately causes her emotional and physical deterioration. In my comparison of female sexuality and artistic expression in “The Fiddler of the Reels” and “An Imaginative Woman, I elucidate Hardy’s efforts to reveal the distinct disadvantages of lower-class women in Victorian society
Photospheric activity, rotation, and star-planet interaction of the planet-hosting star CoRoT-6
The CoRoT satellite has recently discovered a hot Jupiter that transits
across the disc of a F9V star called CoRoT-6 with a period of 8.886 days. We
model the photospheric activity of the star and use the maps of the active
regions to study stellar differential rotation and the star-planet interaction.
We apply a maximum entropy spot model to fit the optical modulation as observed
by CoRoT during a uninterrupted interval of about 140 days. Photospheric active
regions are assumed to consist of spots and faculae in a fixed proportion with
solar-like contrasts. Individual active regions have lifetimes up to 30-40
days. Most of them form and decay within five active longitudes whose different
migration rates are attributed to the stellar differential rotation for which a
lower limit of \Delta \Omega / \Omega = 0.12 \pm 0.02 is obtained. Several
active regions show a maximum of activity at a longitude lagging the
subplanetary point by about 200 degrees with the probability of a chance
occurrence being smaller than 1 percent. Our spot modelling indicates that the
photospheric activity of CoRoT-6 could be partially modulated by some kind of
star-planet magnetic interaction, while an interaction related to tides is
highly unlikely because of the weakness of the tidal force.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted to Astronomy & Astrophysic
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Social Security Reform: Legal Analysis of Social Security Benefit Entitlement Issues
[Excerpt] Calculations indicating that the current Social Security program will not be financially sustainable in the long run under the present statutory scheme have fueled the current debate regarding Social Security reform. This report addresses selected legal issues that may be raised regarding entitlement to Social Security benefits as Congress considers possible changes to the Social Security program in view of projected long-range shortfalls in the Social Security Trust Funds.
Social Security benefits are administered pursuant to Title II of the Social Security Act, known as the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. Title II is part of a larger social insurance program in which Congress uses its power to tax and spend for the general welfare to promote the social goals of aiding the aged, survivors of workers, disabled persons, and persons of limited means. Beneficiaries under Title II have a legal entitlement to receive Social Security benefits as set forth by the Social Security Act and as administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA), an independent agency in the executive branch.
An individual’s right to Social Security benefits is in a sense “earned,” since there is a general relationship between OASDI benefits and wages earned and the tax paid thereon. However, benefits are not directly measured by the amount of payments made through the years into the system. Thus, the fact that Social Security benefits are financed by taxes on an employee’s wages does not provide a limit on Congress’s power to fix the levels of benefits under the Social Security Act, or the conditions upon which they may be paid
Event generator to construct cross sections for the multiphonon excitation of a set of collective vibrational modes
The construction of differential cross sections as a function of excitation
energy for systems with a collection of low- and high-lying intrinsic
vibrational modes has been attempted in the past. A prescription is proposed
that simplifies the implementation of such calculation schemes with a
remarkable reduction in computational time.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Planet-Induced Emission Enhancements in HD 179949: Results from McDonald Observations
We monitored the Ca II H and K lines of HD 179949, a notable star in the
southern hemisphere, to observe and confirm previously identified planet
induced emission (PIE) as an effect of star-planet interaction. We obtained
high resolution spectra (R ~ 53,000) with a signal-to-noise ratio S/N >~ 50 in
the Ca II H and K cores during 10 nights of observation at the McDonald
Observatory. Wide band echelle spectra were taken using the 2.7 m telescope.
Detailed statistical analysis of Ca II K revealed fluctuations in the Ca II K
core attributable to planet induced chromospheric emission. This result is
consistent with previous studies by Shkolnik et al. (2003). Additionally, we
were able to confirm the reality and temporal evolution of the phase shift of
the maximum of star-planet interaction previously found. However, no
identifiable fluctuations were detected in the Ca II H core. The Al I lambda
3944 A line was also monitored to gauge if the expected activity enhancements
are confined to the chromospheric layer. Our observations revealed some
variability, which is apparently unassociated with planet induced activity.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables; Publications of the Astronomical
Society of Australia (in press
Multiwavelength optical observations of chromospherically active binary systems V. FF UMa (2RE J0933+624): a system with orbital period variation
This is the fifth paper in a series aimed at studying the chromospheres of
active binary systems using several optical spectroscopic indicators to obtain
or improve orbital solution and fundamental stellar parameters. We present here
the study of FF UMa (2RE J0933+624), a recently discovered, X-ray/EUV selected,
active binary with strong H_alpha emission. The objectives of this work are, to
find orbital solutions and define stellar parameters from precise radial
velocities and carry out an extensive study of the optical indicators of
chromospheric activity. We obtained high resolution echelle spectroscopic
observations during five observing runs from 1998 to 2004. We found radial
velocities by cross correlation with radial velocity standard stars to achieve
the best orbital solution. We also measured rotational velocity by
cross-correlation techniques and have studied the kinematic by galactic space-
velocity components (U, V, W) and Eggen criteria. Finally, we have determined
the chromospheric contribution in optical spectroscopic indicators, from Ca II
H & K to Ca II IRT lines, using the spectral subtraction technique. We have
found that this system presents an orbital period variation, higher than
previously detected in other RS CVn systems. We determined an improved orbital
solution, finding a circular orbit with a period of 3.274 days. We derived the
stellar parameters, confirming the subgiant nature of the primary component and
obtained rotational velocities (vsini), of 33.57 km/s and 32.38 km/s for the
primary and secondary components respectively. From our kinematic study, we can
deduce its membership to the Castor moving group. Finally, the activity study
has given us a better understanding of the possible mechanisms that produce the
orbital period variation.Comment: Latex file with 16 pages, 18 figures. Available at
http://www.ucm.es/info/Astrof/invest/actividad/actividad_pub.html Accepted
for publication in: Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A
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