Monday, January 27, 2020

View Of Men And Women Media Media Essay

View Of Men And Women Media Media Essay Of the many influences on how we view men and women, media are the most pervasive and one of the most powerful. All forms of media communicate images of the sexes. Many of these media perpetuate unrealistic, stereotypical, and limiting perceptions. From a very young age, people are subjected to norms or standards for how each gender should act. Advertising is necessary today. Whether you have a small business or a large one, you must tell groups of people who you are, what you sell, and where you are located. You must tell them when they wish to hear or read about such things.TV advertising affects gender identity by reinforcing stereotypes. Advertisers carefully create their TV advertisements to send a particular message about gender. Television advertising plays an important role on changing consumer behavior and attitudes and gave consumers new patterns about identity. In my research I would like to focus on the fact that  the formation of gender identity and the inequality of g ender are due to many internal and external factors. I will also try to show that TV is the most common media that represent the difference of gender and influence our view to the state and position of men and women and  I will also attempt to specify gender stereotypes, which are used in advertising as a persuasion technique. LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Table one: Favorite Television Channels of students of the UNIVERSITY OF JENDOUBA Higher Institute Of Human Sciences LIST OF FIGURES Figure1: Chart 1: The impact of TV on the development of gender identity. Figure 2: Chart 2: Making the appearances to the model presented in TV advertisement LIST OF SYMBOLES TV: Television Ads: Advertisements INTRODUCTIOIN   The world is moving towards progress in every walk of life. But when we look towards societies, it feels as if something is still missing. Social issues are matters which directly or indirectly affect many or all members of a society and are considered to be problems related to moral values. Social issues include poverty, violence, corruption, bribery, suppression of human rights, discrimination, crime, killing in the name of honor, gender identity and inequality in rights etc. Mass media play a significant role in a modern world, by broadcasting information  in fast pace and giving entertainment to vast audiences. Media is a pervasive and profoundly influential socializing force.   It is the most powerful tool of communication. It helps promoting the right things on the right time. It gives a real exposure to the audience about what is right or wrong. Even though, media is linked with spreading news, it helps a lot to inform us about the realities and it has a constructive r ole to play for the society. Media consist of press, television, radio, books and the Internet. The latter is now the most developing medium; however, TV also has a wide field of influence.  TV is the most powerful common type of media due to its extensive worldwide spread. It plays a significant role in the development of many social issues. It plays an important role in order to focus on the social issues in almost every era. It is the most commonly media used by people in our daily lives, it insinuates messages into our consciousness at every turn. Today News Channels are spokesperson of some social issues, which helps us to estimate the realities of lives. By creating a certain type of message, TV can manipulate peoples attitude and opinions.  Ã‚  All forms of advertisement in TV communicate images of the sexes, many of which perpetuate unrealistic, stereotypical, and limiting perceptions.  Advertising has the power to persuade, the power to influence the mind and shape destiny. It has the power to cha nge markets and improve profit margins. Advertising has short-term power conveying new information, building awareness, enhancing credibility, and long-term power conveying brand image, attaching emotional values to the brand, building positive reputation, etc. The prevalence or predominance of power of gender and formation of identity, in the media and especially TV, is one of the most important issues now a day.  Gender identity develops through a process of differentiation: interactions of biological, social, and cognitive-learning factors that occur over time. Differentiation means that a basically similar structure develops differently depending upon the influence of other factors such as media. In other word various influences increase the difference between the sexes.  Ã‚  At birth, almost all children are socially labeled as either a girl or a boy, based on the appearance of the external genitals. The child begins to develop a body image of the self as a girl or a boy. After the child acquires language, by eighteen months to two years, the child can label the self as  girl  or  boy.  This is the early expression of gender identity. Learning of some aspects of gender identity occurs at biologically sensitive periods of ti me and once it is learned it is difficult to alter. All societies partition some aspects of human existence into two distinct roles of male and female. The specific content of female and male gender roles varies among different societies. These characteristics may or may not be closely related to the biological functional differences between females and males. The difficulty that children face in the learning process is determining which characteristics are gender-linked and which are not. Children develop gender-identity constancy by five to six years of age. Gender is the idea that if a child is a girl, she will always be female and will grow up to be a woman; if a child is a boy, he will always be male and will grow up to be a man. These continuities are not obvious but must be learned. Gender identity is consolidated through social experiences and gender characteristics, which may include games, changes in the sexual characteristics of the body and media. Usually these changes are consistent with the gender identity and gender rol e. These physical changes must be incorporated into the gender identity. Standards of feminine or masculine physical attractiveness change from childhood to adulthood, as do other aspects of gender roles. Social pressures intensify for conformity to female or male gender roles. In addition, the sex hormones fuel romantic and sexual interests. Sexual orientation, as heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual, also becomes part of an adult gender identity and role, although it originates much earlier in development. Although gender identity as man or woman is stable, some of the content of an individuals gender role may change over a lifetime because of changing social norms, a move to another society or over the impact of media. The conceptualization of the self as male or female is a basic part of human identity in all societies. A distinctive gender identity may be linked to sexual behavior and cross-gender social presentation in different parts of the world. This gender identity includes individuals who do not fit into the societys traditional masculine or feminine sex roles. With great satisfaction we were then able to assert that sex is a biological designation, and gender is a set of socially constructed expectations for women and men. That distinction permitted us to make claims about material conditions, historical moments, and cultural pressures. In short, the separation of sex and gender allowed us to point to social constructions, not biological. Also  gender is called a gender  because it was originally called a sex but sex was too inappropriate for kids so they came up with a new word for the same meaning. To sum up things,  Gender Identity  refers to a persons private sense of, and subjective experience of, their own  gender. This is generally described as ones private sense of being a  man  or a  woman, consisting primarily of the acceptance of membership into a category of people:  male  or  female.  All societies have a set of gender categories that can serve as the basis of the formation of a  social identity  in relation to other members of society. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to change after that.  Although the formation of gender identity is not completely understood, many factors have been suggested as influencing its development. Biological factors that may influence gender identity include pre- and post-natal hormone levels and genetic makeup.  Ã‚  Social factors which may influence gender identity include ideas regarding gender roles conveyed by family, authority figures, mass media, and other i nfluential people in a childs life.  Child are often shaped and molded by the people surrounding them by trying to imitate and follow. Ones gender identity is also influenced by the  social learning theory, which assumes that children develop their gender identity through observing and imitating gender-linked behaviors, and then being rewarded or punished for behaving that way.  In some cases, a persons gender identity may be inconsistent with their biological sex characteristics, resulting in individuals dressing and behaving in a way which is perceived by others as being outside cultural gender norms.   In short  Gender is one of the most studied social paradigms as it is the main paradigm that people use in determining how to act and interact with others. For this reason, it is important to look at the ways in which individuals receive messages about gender norms from media and especially TV because television advertisements is the most common and used medium that transmit cultural ideas about gender, help to socially construct gender and affect the way that people think about their own gender, and contribute to the ongoing social stratification of genders in society. Literature Review Televisions effect on viewers is a subject that has been extensively studied in the last twenty years and whose impact extends farther than most people realize. Many studies have focused on how television advertisement affects the formation of gender identity. Gender Identity Formation and Gender Role Sociologists are particularly interested in gender identity and how it determines gender roles. Genetics, hormones, differences in the brain, and socialization all interact to mold a persons gender identity. In order to understand gender identity development and related issues, definitions must be emphasized for clarity. Gender identity refers to the feeling that you are male, female or transgender. In other word, according to WIKIPIDIA Gender identity  refers to a persons private sense of, and subjective experience of their own  gender. This is generally described as ones private sense of being a  man  or a  woman, consisting primarily of the acceptance of membership into a category of people:  male  or  female.  All societies have a set of gender categories that can serve as the basis of the formation of a  social identity  in relation to other members of society. Many things contribute to the formation of gender identity, including cultural differences societ y, family and factors that are in place before birth. In one hand, Cross cultural findings show that variations in gender role between different cultures are consistent with the idea that gender role behavior is learned. The study of Hofstede identified five distinct cultural dimensions that served to distinguish one culture from another. Masculinity (MAS)  is one of these five dimensions it refers to how much a society sticks with, and values, traditional male and female roles. High MAS scores are found in countries where men are expected to be tough, to be the provider, to be assertive and to be strong. If women work outside the home, they have separate professions from men. Low MAS scores do not reverse the gender roles. In a low MAS society, the roles are simply blurred. You see women and men working together equally across many professions. Men are allowed to be sensitive and women can work hard for professional success. For example, and of course according to the study of Hofstede, Japan is highly masculine with a score of 95 whereas Sweden has the lowest measured value. In addition (according to Hofstadters analysis), if you were to open an office in Japan, you might have greater success if you appointed a male employee to lead the team and had a strong male contingent on the team. In Sweden, on the other hand, you would aim for a team that was balanced in terms of skill rather than gender. On the other hand, Socialization, or the process by which a child learns the norms and roles that society has created for his or her gender, plays a significant role in the establishment of her or his sense of femaleness or maleness. If a child learns she is a female and is raised as a female, the child believes she is female; if told he is a male and raised as a male, the child believes he is male. From the birth, most parents treat their children according to the childs gender as determined by the appearance of their genitals. Parents even handle their baby girls less aggressively than their baby boys. Children quickly develop a clear understanding that they are either female or male, as well as a strong desire to adopt gender-appropriate mannerisms and behaviors. This normally occurs within two years, according to many authorities. In short, biology sets the stage, but childrens interactions with the social environment actually determine the nature of gender identity. However, parents do not directly teach gender role behaviors to their children through selective reinforcement and punishment but that children acquire gender appropriate behaviors nonetheless. It may therefore be that the learning of gender role occurs through processes other than those specified by social learning theory. Social learning theory has difficulty explaining how childrens understanding of gender ch anges over time. It also cannot easily account for how childrens preparedness to imitate a gender role behavior depends more on whether the behavior is seen as gender appropriate than the sex of the model demonstrating it. The main way that gender behaviors are learned is through the process of observational learning. Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways, some of which relate to gender. They pay attention to some of these people and encode their behavior. At a later time they may imitate the behavior they have observed. They may do this regardless of whether the behavior is appropriate or not. The child is more likely to attend to and imitate those people it perceives as similar to itself. Also, the child will also have observed the consequences of her parents behavior and will be motivated to imitate the behavior it has seen reinforced and avoid imitating the behavior it has seen punishedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ For example, imagine three siblings, Raed (4 years), Aziz (5 years) and Ranim (6 years). Ranim and Aziz plays dressing up and both put on dresses. Their dad reinforces Ranim for this, by saying she looks pretty but punishes Aziz by saying he looks silly and boys should not dress that way. In future, Ranim is more likely to wear dresses and Aziz is less likely. Raed, who has been watching all this, is unlikely to imitate the behavior of wearing a dress because he has seen his brother (who he perceives as similar to himself) getting punished for doing it. Children around the age of two years playing at home with their parents, recording the reinforcements and punishments the parents provided. Boys and girls were reinforced and punished for different behaviors. Boys were reinforced for playing with gender appropriate toys (e.g. bricks) and punished for playing with dolls. Girls were reinforced for staying close to the parent and punished for rough and tumble play. This confirm that boys and girls are reinforced for gender appropriate and punished for gender inappropriate behavior, lending support to the idea that gender role behavior is learned from the childs environment. How TV affect the Development of Gender Identity As well as, just as a mirror reflects the visual image of ourselves, we also rely on an even bigger mirror to reflect back a reality of ourselves in a collective environment: mass media. It is through this mirror that we are able to understand our identity through a social reflection of reality. Mass media, and specifically television, have impacted the amount and context in which images and cultural symbols are exchanged across physical and cultural borders. According to Clive Barnes (b. 1927) British drama critic, Television is the first truly democratic culture-the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people wants. The most terrifying thing is what the people do want. In addition Anthropological accounts suggest that the growth of TV has had large effects on a wide range of day-to-day lifestyle behaviors, including latrine building and fan usage. Television today is the first and foremost storyteller, unlike olden days when parents, schools and books told most of the stories. TV presents to us stories about what is good and bad, the happy and sad, the success and the failures and it tell us who is on the top and who is at the bottom.   Furthermore, the influence of TV advertising on gender identity clearly seems to be a daily situation. Actually, TV publicity objective is to directly attack the human personality to develop certain attitudes and postures in relation to certain products, TV programs, goods and services, politic movements and other related organizations and social economics movements this create serious problems and consequences on personal identity and free personality evolution. When we see the front of an advertisement in TV we tend not to see the headlights and the grill as a symbolic representation of the human face, because instead, we see the TV as an image in and of itself. Yet the image of the TV itself represents a broader connection to our identity for it contains a takenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ for granted symbolic reflection of our own nature. In short throughout human collective consciousness, the impact of images and symbols on the construction of identity is integral in our definitions of self. Whether we like it or not, our world is no longer contained by the constructs of geographic boundaries. No longer are we limited to our natural born surroundings; due to TV we now have access to information, ideas and culture from any place on the globe. Our generation is now confronted with the complexity of choice to be whoever you want to be. Identity is up for mass media and TV in special which brings exposure of ideas of choice and freedom to all who have access to its message, regardless of their former national or cultural identification. This Information Revolution carries its own implicit and explicit agendas across borders and cultures, whether welcomed or not. It has provided modern human beings with new abilities and skills, allowing them to acquire an incredible capacity in the manipulations of culturoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ symbolic elements. This everà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ growing electronic media technique for rapid global and instant transmission around the world of the oral and written words, ideas, beliefs cultural values, voices, images and so on, has already reached a sophisticated and impressive level. These mediaized cultural symbols heavily influence the interaction, analysis and constructions of collective identity, manipulating our perception of who we are both as an individual and as part of a specific cultural group. Television rely on cultural symbols, which are instrumental to our basis of cultural identity and knowledge, thus it can be inferred that television as a visual medium is the most influential mouthpiece of group identity. With satellite television, more accessible and affordable than change our perspectives of ever before, it is not hard to imagine that television is the most direct and influential way to spread information, ideas or symbols. According to Marie Winn and her  essay  Ã‚ «The Plug-In Drug,  » television has various negative effects on our society today. In her essay Winn explores the ways in which television has harmfully caused disruptions with the quality of family life, rituals, and values. She recognizes there is a problem with society and the way in which it is consistently influenced by television. I am able to agree with Winn on this point, but I do not feel that the totality of the influence is negative. Television today has a lot of positive effects and influences on our society and our Tunisian culture; it gives us helpful information, various forms of  education, and entertainment Throughout the years, the Tunisian people have come to rely on the television and all it has to offer. The television with its multi-purposes has positively affected our society through its means of information, education, and entertainment. We as Tunisian people have become a part of a society which is greatly influenced by the television. Furthermore, this influence has been proven to affect the quality of family life, as Winn mentions in her article  «The Plug-In Drug.  » The positive effect of television on our society as a whole, and the knowledge it provides is far greater than this quality of life that she mentions. I must admit that there are both positive and negative aspects that come out of our televisions today, but I feel that the positive effects definitely outweigh the negatives when it comes to the importance of information, education, and entertainment for our society. The Impact Of TV Advertisement On Gender Identity Gender representation, on the smallest scale, has, always, been important for one to understand what it means to be male or female. So to look at it in terms of advertising and specially advertisement presented in TV, which is considered the most powerful and influential medium in the society, is to look at it with a more serious eye. From the images inflicted upon us in TV we see man and woman different. For a man that means being tough, intelligent, serious, competitive and business minded while for a woman, that means having beauty, elegance, passivity and good domestic ability. According to the article of Jessica Furgerson, The Influence of TV Advertising on Gender Identity, a Research conducted in 1998 notes that TV commercials show boys as active and dominate, yet shows girls as giggly and shy. TV commercials also demonstrate what type of behavior is appropriate for boys and girls by dictating which toys are for girls and which toys are for boys. The representation of how boys and girls should act and what they should play with sends a message to the viewer of what is appropriate, thus shaping the gender identity of the viewer. The impact of TV advertisement on males identity Positive impacts TV advertisement presented men as rational, ambitious, smart, stable, competitive,  powerful, independent, and tolerant. He is also Strength, performance, and skillful. In addition he is the Cultural standard may be because in society and especially our Arab societies Men have considerably more economic and political power than women, According to the article of Jessica Furgerson The Influence of TV Advertising on Gender Identity Television advertisers place men in two distinct roles: the bread winner and the heterosexual male. Initially, TV advertisements commonly depict men as knowledgeable, hard working, powerful and successful; this depiction tells men that to be a man you must take care of your wife and kids and possess these qualities. Negative impacts According to the document Gender issues in the Media  , masculinity is often associated with machismo, independence, competition, emotional detachment, aggression and violence. Despite the fact that men have considerably more economic and political power in society than women, these trends although different from those which affect women and girls are very damaging to boys. This means that Men are associated with emotional detachment, aggression and violence. For example most of the toys presented in TV for young boys are all toys of war like pistol, tank and sword. This teach young boys how to be violent and make him aggressive, hard and sometimes without feelings. Children learn from these advertisements that the suitable character for him is to be violent and aggressive. That is TV advertisement affect negatively the gender identity of men. The impact of TV advertisement on females identity Positive impacts In TV women are attractive, sensitive,  romantic, warm, peaceful, fair, submissive, timid and desirable. In addition, Women are patient, happy and sociable as it is said in the Essay (the influence of TV on gender identity) which was wrote by  anaconda,  University, Bachelors,  A+,  May 2005 Housewives are seen as happy to serve others and to relinquish their spare time and personal needs; all in an effort to insure that their families fell loved and cared for. She is presented in advertisements as the good wife and the strong and patient women who spend the spare time in looking after children and doing the best to make all members of society happy. b. Negative impacts According to the article of Jessica Furgerson The Influence of TV Advertising on Gender Identity TV advertisements cast the female character in one of two ways: the home maker or the sex object. Initially, women are consistently shown in the home, supermarket or shopping in order to reinforce the role of the woman in the domestic sphere. On the other hand, women are also portrayed as sex objects, almost always shown in provocative clothing delivering a clearly sexual message. By continually telling women that they should be doing these things, viewers see such behavior as the norm and frame their gender identity around it. In addition TV emphasizes traditional roles and normalizes violence against women. Women are usually in the home, performing domestic chores such as laundry or cooking; as sex objects that exist primarily to service men; as victims who cant protect themselves and are the natural recipients of beatings, harassment, sexual assault and murder. Furthermore and according to an Essay (the influence of TV on gender identity) which was wrote by  anaconda,  University, Bachelors,  A+,  May 2005 Day time advertisement on television tend to portray men in stereotypical roles of authority and dominance, while women are associated with traditional roles of housewife. She also said that Females are shown maintaining the perfect household, with their primary goal being to take care of the house their husband and or family. The reason for this could be the fact that men dominate the workplace. According to an article of Dow (1995:200, cited in Holtzman 2000:80) 3% of directors in general ar e women. The advertising industry itself has a particularly high man to female ratio and based on statistics produced, it was revealed that only 17 out of 244 advertising directors were women and in an industry so greatly dominated by men is it not likely that consciously or subconsciously the adverts produced will be biased. This means that Women are unimportant or invisible and play a second role in society and less likely to be shown in TV. Even with the bigger freedom of choice given to women nowadays we are still to a certain extent living in a society which looks through the males gaze where women are still being portrayed as being dependent on men. Evaluating TV Advertisements As we have mentioned above TV advertisement impact negatively the consumer and especially their gender identity. Evaluating TV advertisement is better both for the advertisers and for the consumers. On the one hand the type advertisers use to keep stores name and merchandise before the public. With advertisements you remind people week after week about your regular merchandise or services or tell them about new or special services or policies. In addition advertising should create in the minds of customers the attitude you want them to have about your store, its merchandise, its services, and its policies. To some degree, all advertising should be evaluated because it is your reputation builder. Evaluating advertising requires tracking and analyzing message. Therefore, both marketing professionals and advertisers employ a variety of techniques to evaluate the success of TV advertisements. In addition to that and essentially, measuring results means comparing sales with advertising. I n order to do it you have to start early in the process before you even make the advertisement. Also you must listen to what people say about your advertisements and of course take it into consideration. In doing so, advertisers must discover their mental framework within which any comment about their advertisement was made and find points which reinforce believability and a feeling that your product fulfills some wish or need. However, you should not be misled by what people say and you must see that their advertising does the job they want it to. On the other hand TV advertisement must be evaluated for the benefit of consumer and to protect him from any types of delude. Furthermore, it is important to assess the impact of TV on consumer and especially its impact on the creation of gender identity and gender role representation. The consumer protection organization should be present in doing this and I think that the creation of a new brand under this organization which main role is an protecting gender identity from stereotypes in media in general and in TV advertisement in specific in now a day a need. In addition Parents and teachers can have a much greater impact on a childs development than the media to which the child is exposed. They must teach and explain to children to understand that media do not reflect reality; that they communicate implicit and explicit values; and that they can influence the way we feel and think about ourselves and the world, are vitally important lessons towards achieving a society in which wom en and girls are seen and treated as equal to men and boys. METHODOLOGY The main aim of this chapter is to present the survey methods used to conduct this research. Therefore interview and questionnaire were included in this research process as method or instrument of data collection. Primary source: interview and Questionnaire Interviews Interviews: are questionnaires administered in person. I rely on the use of it because it is most personal and produce better rates. In fact, direct contacts were made with a group of students of the UNIVERSITY OF JENDOUBA Higher Institute Of Human Sciences (Each student was asked alone). The interview will deal with how people identify themselves and what their lifestyles are. Questionnaire The questionnaire will give us information about how TV affects the development of gender. It is designed the same students who respond to the interview. First I use the questionnaire because it is Practical and it can bring a Large amounts of information can be collected from a large number of people in a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective way. It can be carried out by the researcher or by any number of people with limited affect to its validity and reliability. The results of the questionnaires can usually be quickly and easily quantified by either a researcher or through the use of a software package. It can be analyzed more scientifically and objectively than other forms of research. When data has been quantified, it can be used to compare and contrast other research and may be used to measure change. Secondary source: advertisement presented in TV In my research I relay on the advertisements presented on vario

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Mary Wollstonecraft`s Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Mary Wollstonecraft is considered as the â€Å"mother of feminism† or rather the ‘first feminist†. Her book, â€Å"A Vindication on the Rights of Woman†, published in 1792, revolves around the central issue of women’s rights especially with respected to women education. The book is addressed to Edmund Burke and is considered a milestone in the history of feminism. Mary Wollstonecraft was born in London, in 1759, to John Edward Wollstonecraft and Elizabeth Dickson.She had an older brother, Edward (Ned), and four younger siblings. Mary Wollstonecraft lived in Paris during the most climactic episode of the French Revolution: the trial and beheading by guillotine of King Louis XVI. Mary's father was gruff and abusive and her mother passive and neglectful. Despite this, Mary acquired her education in Yorkshire and made friends with clergyman Mr. Clare who recognized her intelligence and introduced her to the Bible, the works of Jonathan Swift, William Shak espeare and John Milton. In 1788 Wollstonecraft began to establish herself as a writer.She was a prolific writer and she wrote for Joseph Johnson’s monthly periodical, The Analytic Review. In 1790 Mary wrote â€Å"A Vindication of the Rights of Men† in response to Edmund Burke's â€Å"Reflections on the Revolution in France,† and thereby established her credentials not only as a woman of opinion, but as a woman who was happy to voice her opinions on an equal platform with other intellectuals of the period.Edmund Burke, a champion of American Independence as saw the Glorious French Revolution of 1688 as a moderate and cautious settlement. In his â€Å"Reflections on the Revolution in France†, (1790), Burke aimed to denounce Price, to attack the French revolutionaries and their principles, and to defend the British constitution and the notion of prescriptive right. He argued that vice and individual selfishness rather than government were the cause of socia l unhappiness.Supporting the aristocracy, Burke made part of his argument through sentimentalized pictures of sexual and familial relationships, especially of the French queen Marie Antoinette as mother and lady, worthy object of chivalric devotion. These pictures were particularly revolting to Wollstonecraft, who did not admire much, the aristocratic families. This book, then, is a reply to the arguments of Edmund Burke.In â€Å"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman†, Wollstonecraft calls for a revolution in female manners.   Wollstonecraft argued that females are in all the most important aspects the same as males and women are superior in the context of strength of mind, perserverance and fortitude. On the basis of these philosophical arguments of sexual equality Wollstonecraft called for the reform of female education, arguing that girls should be educated in the same subjects and by the same methods as boys.She further advocated a radical revision of British law to enab le a new, egalitarian marriage in which women would share equally in the management and possession of all household resources. She demanded that women be paid equally for their labor, that they gain the civil and legal right to possess and distribute property, that they be admitted to all the most prestigious professions. And she argued that women should be given the right to vote.On Love, Sentiment, Passion and Emotions:Wollstonecraft accuses men of sentimentally viewing women as females rather than human beings and hence has been â€Å"more anxious to make them alluring mistresses than affectionate wives and rational mothers† (Wollstonecraft, xxxi). Wollstonecraft questions why females should always be degraded by being made subservient to love or lust. Wollstonecraft says that love is indeed a noble emotion but it should not be allowed to act as a block to reasoning. Sentimentally, a woman is considered as someone who needs to be trained to be a good wife.However, a woman who is trained only in pleasing her husband will not be able to appeal to a man’s sexuality in the long run. When her sentimental and sexual appeal fades off, she is likely to seek approval from other men and become bitter. The author eloquently says: â€Å"love, perhaps, the most evanescent of all passions, gives place to jealousy or vanity† (Wollstonecraft, page 27). Thus, Wollstonecraft indicates that there must not be too much sentiment should not be considered in the context of women education.Wollstonecraft points out to women who tend to acquire a certain artificial mode of behavior because of popular sentiment as to how they should behave. These people under the cloud of sentiment tend to lose their original powers of thinking. â€Å"The greater numbers of people take their opinions on trust to avoid the trouble of exercising their own minds, and these indolent beings naturally adhere to the letter, rather than the spirit of a law, divine or human† (Woll stonecraft, 185).She says it’s because of their foolish sentiment that makes them fear the â€Å"eye of man†. Their sentiment based behavior is based on having a good reputation and not because of chastity or other virtues. To prove the above conclusion, Wollstonecraft cites the examples of affairs that married women of high class society indulge in, and contrasts it to the degradation suffered by a young woman in love. This is mainly because of the sentiment that married women have good reputation.The respect for the sentiment of the world has, however, been termed the principal duty of woman in the most express words, for Rousseau declares, ‘that reputation is no less indispensable than chastity. According to Wollstonecraft, â€Å"A sentiment that often exists unsupported by virtue, unsupported by that sublime morality which makes the habitual breach of one duty a breach of the whole moral law† (Wollstonecraft, 197). Thus, according to the author, sentim ent should be one that is supported by virtue and values. Only such sentiment based on values can lead to morality and truly great character. This value-based sentiment can be had only through education and a thinking mind, which is why the author supports the right of women to education.The author also points to the fact that the sentimental image of a woman is provided through novels. She feels that women rights in particular write works of fiction that are all steeped in sentimental jargon, which tend to corrupt the mind and the heart. The female characters are often stereotyped and shown as submissive and having no thinking brain of their own. Women writers tend to prefer unnatural sentimental flights of fantasy in their works and in the process they create damaging stereotypes.   Wollstonecraft complains of Elizabeth Inchbald's A Simple Story (1791).She points out that all female writers tend to give a sanction to the libertine reveries of men, poison the minds of their own s ex, and strengthen a male prejudice that makes women systematically weak? Contrary to sentimental novels, novels of sensibility matter because they shape behavior and serve as an index to broader cultural ills. Woman is â€Å"made by her education â€Å"the slave of sensibility,† Wollstonecraft observes (174). She holds that novels, music, poetry, and gallantry make women â€Å"creatures of sensation† (78) through their sentimental content. Thus she holds that sentimental stereotypes of women tend to create emotional women: â€Å"All their thoughts turn on things calculated to excite emotion; and feeling, when they should reason, their conduct is unstable, and their opinions wavering† (77). She says that education that tends to inflame the passions must indeed be miserable. Education should strengthen the passions and not inflame them.The sentiment of being always a woman is the â€Å"very consciousness that degrades the sex† (135). Here, Wollstonecraft points out the subtle connection between emotion and reason. She agrees that a man, or a woman, of any feeling, must always wish to convince a beloved object that it is the caresses of the individual, not the sex, that are received and returned with pleasure; and, that the heart, rather than the senses, is moved. â€Å"Without this natural delicacy, love becomes a selfish personal gratification that soon degrades the character† (135). She carries the sentiment still further.She says, affection can justify many personal gestures, but accepting liberal gestures in the name of gallantry is despicable. â€Å"When a man squeezes the hand of a pretty woman, handing her to a carriage, whom he has never seen before, she will consider such an impertinent freedom in the light of an insult, if she has any true delicacy, instead of being flattered by this unmeaning homage to beauty† (135). The understanding can come only by eradication of sentimental notions. She questions Roussea u as to how he can expect women to be virtuous and constant when reason is not the foundation of their character or truth the pursuit of their inquiries.Wollstonecraft opines that women must try to improve their character but they cannot do this as long as they are attached to their sentiments. They need to â€Å"curb the wild emotions that agitate a reed, over which ever passing breeze has power?† (28). According to the author, love, the common passion replaces choice and reason with chance and sensation. This passion however subsides like a fever once the security of marriage sets in. On the other hand, reasoning can allow a man and woman to enjoy the calm tenderness of friendship and the confidence of respect.Underlining the fleeting nature of love, eloquently Wollstonecraft says: â€Å"Passions are spurs to action, and open the mind; but they sink into mere appetites, become a personal and momentary gratification when the object is gained, and the satisfied mind rests in enjoyment† (28). She even says wickedly, that â€Å"caresses which should excite confidence in his children are lavished on the overgrown child, his wife† (28) thereby indicating in a subtle manner that all emotions only serve in keeping her stagnant at her childhood state of mind.She describes the sentiment of a woman as the outcome of â€Å"a mistaken education, a narrow uncultivated mind, and many sexual prejudices† (31) that tend to keep a woman loyal to her husband; if sentiments were to rule, she says, life is better spent in eating drinking and loving. But then, it is only a fleeting shadow. She says that reasoning should be able subside love into friendship. But here, the author clarifies that she does not allude to romantic passion which cannot be clipped, but rather she refers to the small enjoyments of life.Thus we find that the book â€Å"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman† is one that surpasses the test of time. Women today still remain tie d to their emotions either by choice or by society. This makes the book relevant even in the modern day context. A revolutionary figure in a revolutionary time, Wollstonecraft took up and lived out not only the liberal call for women's educational and moral equality, but also virtually all of the other related, violently contested questions of the 1790s– questions pertaining to the principles of political authority, tyranny, liberty, class, sex, marriage, childrearing, property, prejudice, reason, sentimentality, promises, suicide, to mention only a few. Clearly, she struck many a raw nerve and faced huge opposition. That her views are relevant till today, mark Wollstonecraft and her book as classics in feminist literature. The book is a must read for anyone interested in the history of feminism. Bibliography:Wollstonecraft, Mary (1792). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Backgrounder to Deputy Minister

This pilot project was launched on January 7, 2007. Taking into consideration the relentless criticism in important newspapers, magazines and TV channels, about the alarming increase in the drug demand level among both male and female high school students, a Committee was appointed by the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry to initiate the modalities of Awareness Campaign with the active co-operation of School Managements.The Ministry, instead of taking direct responsibility for implementation of the project, created a special fund with an initial contribution $ 50,000 for contingent grants and selected two NGOs for implementation of the project. The issue presented before the NGOs was simple and direct. â€Å"Can the Awareness Campaigns deliver tangible results in the area of drug demand reduction? † The problem and the scenario: This is the first of its kind familiarization program conducted for the benefit of the representatives of the NGOs.The objective is to train the traianers from the point of view of this Awareness Campaign. The NGOs selected have the experience and expertise of working among the drug addicts, for over a decade. Five representatives from each NGO attended the session, one of them was the Chief Coordinator, and the rest were field level personnel. The guideline /handouts specially drafted by the Implementation Committee constituted by the Ministry for the training course were given to them. There are twenty four High schools in the District â€Å"A† selected for the program.Each NGO was allotted 12 Schools. The above initiative was in response to the directions of the Cabinet to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. This time-bound program is directed to be completed within a period of three months. The Deputy Minister of the Department was asked to personally monitor the program and present the report within the time stipulated. The strong reason for associating NGOs is: By experience it is observed that drug demand reduction is mainly a socio-spiritual initiative.The typical government approach bogged down to procedures, did not deliver the results in the past. a) Making the Deputy Minister take direct responsibility of this important social issue: According to the inputs before the Cabinet, the situation relating to the drug scenario in the schools has been alarming. Very inconvenient questions were raised in the Parliament about Government’s lethargy in not properly addressing the issue. The need for a sense of destination and direction to the combustible school-going generation in this age group was felt by the members of the Parliament.On a careful study of the scenario, the following reasons were cited by a Committee specially constituted by the Ministry to send the report to the Cabinet. What are the reasons for such moral collapse of the youngsters at the formative stage of their life? Five major issues were cited: a) Economic prosperity. The children get more than requir ed pocket money. The reasons and sources for children having more cash than is necessary for their normal needs however could not be ascertained. The students were not willing to share this information with the counseling team.b) The friendship-net of the drug-addicts is fast expanding. The teachers are afraid to take strong action against the students lest they will be charged under the various provisions of the Child Abuse Act. c) The same was the issue with the parents. In a few cases the children had initiated legal action against the parents under the above Act. d) With the divorce rate touching 55%, every second family was a broken family. Denied of love in the house and in the absence of a happy social interaction with the immediate family members, children looked out for other sources of enjoyment.e) The peer-pressure of the senior students was too much to resist. In some cases, the senior students did not hesitate to take recourse to coercive methods to drag the unwilling f riends to the drug joints. Deputy Minister’s accountability: â€Å"Deputy ministers are accountable to their Ministers, and to the Prime Minister through the Clerk of the Privy Council. (4) Deputy ministers are also accountable to the Public Service Commission and the Treasury Board for authorities directly delegated or assigned to them relating to financial and human resource management.(5) One of the Deputy Minister’s fundamental responsibilities is to support the Minister’s accountability to Parliament. Deputy Ministers and other departmental officials appear before parliamentary committees on behalf of their minister by answering questions and providing information, but they explain rather than defend or debate policies. Public servants do not have a public voice, or identity, distinct from their minister; they are anonymous. †(The Accountability†¦. ) The Deputy Minister has the dual responsibility in implementing the program.Even though the init ial grant of $50,000 was made available by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (the Deputy Minister’s own Ministry), further grants totaling to $ 5,000,000, for the broad implementation of the project all over the State were due shortly from the Finance Ministry, to be disbursed in two monthly installments. â€Å"As noted earlier, Deputy Ministers are assigned specific powers directly or through the Treasury Board under certain provisions of key acts of public administration without reference to their Minister.Specifically, the Financial Administration Act confers directly on Deputy Minister’s responsibility for the prudent management of resources allocated to their department, in compliance with certain Treasury Board policies, regulations, standards, and periodic audits. Responsibility relating to personnel management, including appointment, employer-employee relations, and the organization of the department, are assigned to deputy ministers directly by a number of acts†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Review of†¦)Therefore, the Deputy Ministers have multiple accountabilities. To their Minister and the various Statutory Commissions constituted by the Government for controlling. But the Minister of the Department is the immediate and legal boss and he is answerable to the Minister, as for the general Management of the Department. The Deputy Minister needs to control and ensure that appropriate systems, management processes and instruments are maintained properly so that the performance monitoring goes on smoothly.The role of the Internal audit system for inspection and evaluation is very important and the surprise element of deployment of the staff designated for the purpose helps for a neat and clean administration. Irregularities and malpractices in the disbursement of financial allocations/grants need to be reported to the Deputy Minister well in time, for timely action. In the present case†¦. The Awareness Campaign conducted by the two N GOs had salutary effect on the students. Stunning facts came to the light that about 45-50% of the girl students, smoked, took alcohol and drugs. The percentage among the boys was about 70%.Mostly it was peer pressure, and as found during the Campaign, secret drug joints functioned in the vicinity of the educational institutions. Some peddlers visited the students at conspicuous places nearby on fixed days of the week. But the contents of the Awareness Campaign, lectures on the harmful effects of drugs, practical demonstration through slides/video/audio etc. had desired effects on majority of the students. Many openly declared that they were quite ignorant about the drastically damaging effects on health, by intoxication. Some students volunteered to attend counseling classes at the offices of the NGOs on regular basis.Such awareness campaigns have created highly positive effects on the impressionist minds of the youth. The above observations will place the Deputy Minister in a stro ng position to recommend to the Finance Minister for release of the intended grant of $ 5,000,000 for conduction of such Awareness Campaigns as a matter of policy, all over the State. For one round of Awareness Campaign consisting of two lectures on two altenative dates, expenses devolved are $ 1000, per day. An ad-hoc department is created in the Ministry by transferring suitable senior personnel on deputation basis and junior staff by fresh appointment.A skeleton Section has been formed to look after the immediate administrative needs. The priority of this Ministry is to build up diligent cadres who have a high sense of responsibility in relation to ethical morality. To involve in Awareness Campaigns related to drug demand reduction, one needs to develop missionary zeal. One needs to have a vision, not the legal government-employee relationship only. By saving one individual from deep drug addiction, an entire generation is rehabilitated. Conclusion: Can the Awareness Campaigns de liver tangible results in the area of drug demand reduction?The answer is in the positive. In view of the social conditions obtaining today, when the children are not assured the love they desire and deserve from the parents, due to reasons mentioned above, the School seems to be the place where they can get life-building exercises and lessons. Some of the reformed students have volunteered to actively participate and don the role of reformers, for the benefit of children in other schools. This is a highly positive development. It is now proved beyond doubt that holistic approach to cure drug addicts gives permanent results and the chances of relapse are minimal.So, the intended policy of the Government to associate NGOs that have the socio-spiritual approach, seems to be sound and adoption of this system is throughy recommended. ————— References Cited: Article: The Accountability of Deputy Ministers before Parliament (PRB-05-48E). www. parl. gc. c a/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0548-e. htm – 29k Article: Review of the Responsibilities and Accountabilities of Ministers †¦ This is the general accountability of deputy ministers to the Treasury Board†¦ www. tbs-sct. gc. ca/report/rev-exa/ar-er04_e. asp – 21k

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Analytical Essay Sea Story - 888 Words

Assignment A - Analytical essay The short story â€Å"Sea Story† is written by A.S Byatt in 2013. A tale of one man’s lost love, a comment on today’s carelessness concerning our nature and the adventure of one single bottle’s contribute towards environmental disaster. In the very first sentence of the story, the reader is introduced to the main character, a man born by the sea. The writer makes it obvious from the very start that nature – or more specific, water, is an important theme throughout the story. The first part of the story gives a brief summery of this man’s life and character, a characterization defined by the ocean to such degree that the man almost becomes the body of water himself â€Å"his mother’s birth pangs began when she was†¦show more content†¦This is contradictory towards his understatement of â€Å"†¦ the Finley fishermen, who would not learn to swim [†¦] They acknowledged that the sea was to much for them.† Whether this woman had an interest for the man, is, for the reader, never known, but regardless of that, it is clear that it wouldn’t affect the woman’s decision to go to the Caribbean, and be one with the water. It is as stated further up, the true love of her life. The main character’s view of life is determined by his predilection for literature. He abstractify things in life and make them something literary. His love for the woman is in his mind made up by a metaphor of the ocean. This might be the thing that makes him not understand the ocean as well as the woman. When the man puts his love on paper, sticks it into a plastic bottle and throws it in the ocean, he commits the worst crime – one could imagine – an ocean lover, like his love, could think of - pollution of the water. It is, of course, never what he intended to do – merely sending his love to a woman he’ll never meet again – but by taking a distance to the ocean, he doesn’t think of the consequences his romantic actions will lead to. The narrator describes the bottles voyage, just like the man would, in a very poetic way, almost making it sound exciting and romantic. It is like the narrator wants to show the reader both the man’s ideal version and the realistic version of the bottle’sShow MoreRelatedGraduation Speech - Original Writing1607 Words   |  7 Pagesintriguing pseudonym and title I used for this one†¦ foreshadowing for Poetry Out Loud? In all seriousness, this essay was a mess. 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