Summarize Poor economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summarize Poor economics - Essay Example Lack of resources and access to medication is a leading factor in the demise of children and adults alike in countries that are less developed. This is in spite of the availability of vaccination and medications. However, it is noted that money is the issue. There is limited availability of funds to facilitate the treatment of some diseases that can be easily controlled. Since they are unable to prevent diseases, they become less productive. In consequence, they are unable to work and move out of the poverty that affects their livelihood. Several examples of success and failure are given in equal measure. Banerjee and Duflo convince the readers that there are simpler solutions to poverty, rather than just relying on global help such as financial aid. Improving health provides a chance to increase productivity and stop the stagnant development that characterizes such areas (Banerjee and Duflo, 2011). The chapters in the book bring a deeper intuition on development. Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo convincingly presents to the reader the traps that the 21st century poor generations indulge into with the assumption that they are helping themselves. The experiences of the poor, and the experiments they partake have been explained in a way that warns others on what to avoid. Chapter 3 focusses on health as a leading factor in the quest to eradicate

A definition of the values and ethics in sport Essay Example for Free

A definition of the values and ethics in sport Essay Principles A principle is a basic truth, law or policy. Principles are standards that define moral behaviour. A principle in sport might be that the officials teat all equally on the field of play. For example the referee in a rugby match is expected to make decisions on what has happened on the field of play, regardless of who the player is, this illustrates the principle of fair play in sport. In the premier league football it is often though that players get away with behaviour that would be deemed unacceptable and against the principle of fair play. Values Values are ideals that form the basis of actions and beliefs. An example of a value in sport is when a player endeavours to play well for the teams sake and not for his or her own benefit. Foe example, a hockey goalkeeper would put herself at some risk by saving a hard driven shot, this upholds the value of playing for the sake of others. In premier league football a goalkeeper may try very hard to save a shot and risk injury because he is die to gain as an individual in a forthcoming transfer deal. This is not upholding the value of playing for others. Ethics Ethics are rules that dictate a persons conduct. They form a system of rules that groups and societies are judged on. In sport it is ethical to acknowledge that you have broken the rules of your particular game. For example, a snooker player would tell the referee that he had committed a foul shot even though the referee had not noticed, this shows ethical conduct. In athletics, a runner might take a performance enhancing drug, breaking the rules of competition this is an example of unethical behaviour. The underpinning value of these three definitions is that of fair play and abiding by the rules. Everyone involved at sport at all levels are supposed to encourage ethical considerations that will lead to fair play, it is to be encouraged at all levels of sport and towards all ages of sportsperson but particularly aspiring young athletes. The major underpinning values that are to be taught are:- * Friendship * Respect for others * Playing with a level head and a team spirit * Equal opportunities An explanation as to the importance of ethics and values for sporting organisation and the individuals who participate Individual and group development has a lot to do with the ethics and values that are learnt through life. Ethics and values are important for individuals who take part in sport because sport plays a major role in a lot of peoples lives from an early age. Players and fans that are into sport tend to devote a lot of time and effort to their favourite sport. If you look into the nature of fairplay in sport for some people it leads to their understanding of fairness in a wider social setting, this is because many of our basic values, such as playing fairly are often absorbed through athletic competition because when kids are taught about sports emphasis is often put on playing fair. The underlying importance of this is that if an individual or group do not develop a proper set of ethics and values it will make them and their club look bad. An example is a player like Roy Keane who admitted in his autobiography that he broke a fellow footballers leg simply because he wanted to. From this I can understand that Roy Keane did not grow up with the same sort of values that I did. He didnt get it hammered into him when he was young that breaking someones leg isnt part and parcel of the sport. This also reflects a bad image on the club and if my memory serves me right Manchester United round about that time were considered quite a dirty club. No proud owner of a club really wants their club to be known as an aggressive bunch of cheats. It is nobler to be like Chelsea who last year not only won the Premiership but the fairplay award as well which if you look at it really makes you think yeah they are true champions because they won it fairly. You could argue that they spent 100 million pounds to win the league but they still did it fairly more so than any other team in the land and I and hopefully many other football fans respect them for it. From a strong commitment to ethics and values players can achieve likeability and move onto more successful jobs. An example is Gary Linekar he never received a yellow card in his whole life ans he has since taken over from the legendary Des Lynam as the Match of the Day host. Players with bad reputations that are openly disliked by the majority of fans are unlikely to move onto other limelight jobs when their career over as well as simply being disliked by the general public. When these players careers are over they still have to do the shopping, go out to eat etc. When they go out into the public people are going to have an opinion of them based on the ethics and values that they have shown on the field of play. Who wants to be openly disliked? Clubs have a good public image to gain from having a strong commitment to ethics and values and all good businesses know that a good public image means more money. A consequence of bad ethics and values could be related to athletics. Probably the most talked about ethic in sport is the prohibition of using performance enhancing drugs in athletics. A lot of people do wonder what justifies this prohibition because why shouldnt athletes, especially competent adult athletes be free to take risks with their bodies? The answer to this comes down to ethics and morals most of us have about sport. This is an important rule because performance enhancing drugs such as steroids have very harmful side effects as well as providing an unfair advantage. It is important that a value such is this is instilled into athletes of all ages because really we would hope that all athletes would want to compete clean not only because they should want to see how good they can become without performance enhancing drugs but hopefully the integrity of the sport should be important to them as well. I remember I myself used to be a big fan of athletics back in the day of Linford Christie and Colin Jackson but over time I began to get tired when my heroes, the people I looked up to got stripped of their gold medals because they had cheated. Incidents like these put me off the sport and I no longer watch it, this is why it is important for individuals and organisations to have a strong set of ethics and values. Children look up to and aspire to be like a lot of the athletes that are on the TV these days and a poor showing of ethics and values by a well known professional sportsperson will surely be taken in and acknowledged as ok by many young athletes. Basically fans want to trust that an athletes accomplishments are achieved fairly. Consequences of bad ethics and values are that sportspersons integrity is totally lost, the sports integrity itself will go down and younger athletes may lose faith in wanting to be a professional. Coaches at all levels experience the pleasures of watching young people develop sport skills and contribute to successful teams. However, coaches also have important legal and ethical obligations to their athletes. Coaches need to ensure that a strong set of values are instilled right from the start of those of whom they are coaching playing days. There are a range of ethical responsibilities for a sports coach the most common are To encourage the development of youth into productive citizens and to develop their abilities and attitudes for further learning and success in life. To encourage participation and involve as many people as possible in a competitive experience. All team members, regardless of ability are to be afforded opportunities to develop their work ethic, sense of commitment, and social and athletic skills. All coaching programmes should seek to educate athletes about community support and encourage them to return that support both now and throughout their lives. And one of the biggest goals to be taught is that of The goal is to win, but to win the correct way, a player should never sacrifice his character for a win Earlier on I described the consequences of a bad set of ethics for an individual. In my opinion a coach with a bad set ethics is far worse because it is just not him or her who looks bad it is the people he/she is influencing as well. First of the importance of a proper coaching is the influential factor. This doesnt just apply to children but to adults as well. The problem these days is that winning is everything and some coaches do actually teach that. Various coaches at the top level send their players out to win a match through diving, time wasting and fouling opposition players. So adults can be influenced as well and so can kids who are learning in much the same way that winning is everything. It is imperative that a coach instils values and ethics into a child as early as possible so that they are not so easily swayed into cheating as they get older. This once again helps keeps intact the integrity of the player, the club the play for and the sport. The benefit these players will have are that they can become an upstanding member of the public a role model that players can look up to sort of like a David Beckham figure (bad example). Consequences are that from a young age players are conditioned into thinking that winning is everything and this can spill over into real life. A sports player may cheat on a maths test or lie to get a girlfriend because the values that they learnt through their coaching apply to their real life situations. Coaches need to be a positive role model and penalise unfair play! An example I can remember when this was not done was in the final of the 1999 womens world cup. The American womens football team completed regulation and extra time play against china with the score drawn. The championship, viewed through the world by millions of fans, many of them young American girls captivated by the success of the American women, was to be settled by a penalty shootout. The coach had decided one of the Chinese shooters, Liu Ying, lacked confidence so said something to the American goalkeeper, Briana Scurry. When Ying made her move, Scurry took two quick steps forward, in violation of a rule of football, to cut off Yings shooting angle. The tactic worked. Scurry deflected Yings shot and the Americans won. As for as Im concerned Scurry acted unfairly and cheated by violating a rule on her coaches advice. It set a bad example to all the aspiring young American women and for me and many other people that watched, the American victory was tainted by unethical behaviour in a deliberate violation of the rules. I see that as a major consequence of bad ethics taught and it is still happening all over the world in other sports such as boxing where fighters have cheated in a multitude of ways through their cornermen. To be honest a lot of the people that cheat in sport through advice of their coaches are remembered only for their win and not for the cheating but there are many people still out their who view these sportspeople and the people that coached them as cheats and they have to live that for the rest of their lives. The main value statements that need to be learnt in order to obtain an NVQ in sport and recreations are that people shouldnt be discriminated against based on their age, gender, ethnic origin or if they are disabled. The reason that these value statements are in place is because in this day and age there is still a lot of prejudice in the world. Prejudice cant be afforded in competitive sport or the sports industry. Sport in reality is supposed to be all about enjoyment and achievement and shouldnt in anyway be anything to do with a disability, age or colour of someones skin. The benefits of the individuals who learn these value statements and take them in are that they will influence people to shed their differences and help understand other peoples needs and this will help to draw different types of people together. Basically differences can be buried by sport if people learn these statements then apply them to the sporting organisations they work in. An example is that they could encourage different race teams or mixed age teams or include people with disabilities. Most of the football teams that we support today have a mix of nationalities. The small minority of supporters that are racist tend to support the ethnics in their own team with the same love shown to the people in their team that are the same races as them. This shows that sport can bring people together at the highest level which means that it can be filtered down to lower levels like people working in leisure centres or small clubs. With regards to age sport and sports facilities should cater for all ages. Just because someone becomes older does not mean that they lose there ability or desire to play sport. Old people should be valued equally when they go to a leisure centre its not that they want to do a swimming lap in twenty seconds they just want to enjoy themselves and be involved. Older people might look old but some dont feel old and contribute their knowledge and experience to those that are younger. The benefits of understanding the older people in the community are that it open doors and gives opportunities for special events such as swimming for the elderly or special classes. Old people dont want to feel inferior or isolated and if sporting organisations can help and understand them by arranging and encouraging activities for them to take part in it can only improve the organisations overall/community image. People in the community dont want to feel ostracised so classes such as Muslim women only classes, women only classes and free for the over 60s classes have helped participation rates in relation to sporting activities. If all the people that are part of an organisation have a good set of ethics and morals it can only be productive for the organisation. Good examples will be set, participation rates will be met and the bank balance should show a good profit. The more types of people that are mentioned in the value statements taking part in sporting organisations can only lead to good publicity for the organisation. The consequences of an organisation not having a good set of ethics and values can be quite severe. There could be legal complications if disabled facilities are not available and possibly if there are not enough people from ethnic origins not taking part. Organisations such as leisure centres could lose out on financial gains and suffer loses that could lead to a cut in jobs or the leisure centre losing its contract and being taken over or shut down. As well as that with poor ethics and values there will be no community spirit regarding the sporting organisation because if it does not cater for all the surrounding people it cannot expect to be successful. Successful businesses that have made it have done so due to the fact that they catered for the elderly, disabled etc. Manchester United offer reduced rates for the elderly and disabled and this gives them a good image which is paramount for a big sporting organisation that is in the limelight. Another consequence is that the general health of a community may declines. If the staff at an organisation are showing a lack of morals and values people may not attend which means that they are not getting the exercise that they need and this is particularly important in the elderly. For a lot of people working in sporting organisations they have to realise that the public is the main reason for their existence thus they have to be treated with some respect. If an organisation wants the public to have a good attitude towards them then they have to make sure that all their staff have people skills and a high degree of customer service skills. Employees in sports organisations have very important roles to play because they are on the front lines representing the organisations that they are working for. They need to set good examples and encourage ethics and values in every aspect of their job. If they dont it leads to customer complaints as well as tainting the image of whomever they are working for. On the managements side, they need to make sure that they instil good customer service ethics among employees and thus create a people-focused culture. They also have to take a more serious attitude to customers complaints and in rewarding those employees who display positive attitudes towards customers. Setting examples at the highest level will hopefully filter down examples to the lower levels staff who wont want to break the rules and then they should pass on these same examples to the customers they are serving. Once again this leads to increased participation rates, the business should make more money and have a decent public image. Employers and Employees have other important issues to consider such as providing high and health and safety standards. The importance of Health and safety in sporting organisations such as Leisure centres/gyms cannot be over-emphasised. This applies to employers, who must satisfy legislative requirements and employees, who work with hazardous substances. Consumers too are increasingly interested in knowing about the possible dangers of substances used in leisure centres including those that are added to their food. The public and employees stand to benefit from improved safety because effective health and safety management clearly helps reduce accidents. Obviously the less accidents there are the higher the reputation of the leisure centre/gym. A leisure centre/gym is all about reputation especially when there are so many rivals around. Health and Safety at work benefits:- Well-being at work Safety at work Quality of life Motivation Less injury or sickness Job security Good moral Low turnover Increased productivity Lower insurance premiums Increased reputation

Australias Health Care System | Analysis

Australias Health Care System | Analysis The key principle underlying Australian healthcare system is equity to universal access to most health care regardless of the situation or ability to pay. This is achieved since revenue for this healthcare comes from taxation. Health services are funded through Medicare and pharmaceuticals schemes which are highly subsidized by the government while public hospitals and public healthcare are partly funded by commonwealth and state funding agreements. The schemes are founded on the spirit to make public health accessible by all the citizens irrespective of their financial ability (Healy Hilless, 2001). The purpose of this paper is to expound on the concepts of equity of access of healthcare in relation to effectiveness and efficiency and the relationships that exists among these concepts. Equity of access Equity is all about ensuring that all people have the support that they need to access, participate and achieve the same level. Access and equity are two concepts that go hand in hand they imply removing barriers and opening up opportunities. In the field of health these concepts mean that people with differing needs and abilities have the same opportunities to be attended to professionally by the medical practioners whether private or public at any time irrespective of their age, disability, color, race, gender, religion, sexuality, or location. It means addressing the healthcare need of everyone (Department of education and equity standards branch, 2003). The Australian government through its insurance schemes have tried to make healthcare accessible to all, however, it has been found that compressive insurance coverage is not always sufficient to ensure equitable access to health services since other factors such as shortages or mal-distribution of health services providers or constraints presented by language or cultural differences limit access to medically necessary care for apportion of the population (Docteur, 2004). In fact there is a wide agreement that rural and remote Australian communities are underserved by appropriately trained health professionals compared to those who live in the urban areas. Further, most remote Districts of Australia communities are unable to attract medical practioners and they are dependent upon rural remote area nurses to provide their healthcare. The shortage of rural registered nurses also impacts negatively on health care delivery. Despite these short comings, Australian population enjoys good h ealth relative to other countries with an increasing life expectancy of an average of 78 years and low incidences of life threatening infectious diseases. Although the spirit of the government healthcare policy to provide equity and access to healthcare has not been fully achieved, this policy has contributed greatly to the health status of its citizens. For instance over 85% of the people consider themselves to have excellent health status. In order to achieve the equity of access to health care ità ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s important that distribution of the health officers be checked and implements tele health services that will ensure that those Australians in remote areas have access to relevant healthcare (Jackson et al., 2009). Effectiveness There is no unanimity on how the concept of effectiveness can be defined, as a result of this there is inconsistency among scholars in their definition of the concept for instance. Some scholars view effectiveness as the degree by which organization achieves their goals, while others view it as the survival of the organization (Sudan Chand, 2004; Stephen, 2008). Other feels that effectiveness is present as long as an organization uses its resources efficiently and continues to contribute to the large system. Despite the inconsistencies, scholars have agreed on some points that may be applicable in measuring effectiveness. For instance how well has expectations of the society been met as per societal regulations and rules, the time dimension of how the system meets its goals in near future. Intermediate or in distant future and the decline or growth of the system can also be an indicator of effectiveness (Sudan Chad, 2004). Increasing the effectiveness of health care systems in Australia is growing priority for policy makers. The notion of effectiveness encompasses a broad and growing number of dimensions, reflecting increasing expectations in Australia in such away that health system must do more than just improve population health and reduce disability. The effectiveness of the access of health care by rural and remote communities in Australia has been enabled by the outreach models initiated; these are periodic supplies of the services from one location especially in towns to other location in this case remote areas. Other problems associated with heath care system especially in secondary and tertiary services such as surgery are not available to the people for instance Kimberley region has higher mortality rates than in the state level due to lack of access of specialist services like surgery which takes to long to be availed. The state rural community lacks enough medical personnel which mean that access to healthcare is also a problem. Compared to major towns like Melbourne, Kimberly the Australiaà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s most northern region with the highest proportion of aboriginal people always have a shortage of not lees than 20 medical doctors (OECD, 2002). Efficiency Measuring efficiency in healthcare is concerned with comparison of inputs with outputs or outcomes of the health care system to access the degree to which goals are achieved while minimizing resource usage. From economic perspective, efficiency put two elements into consideration that is allocative efficiency and dynamic efficiency.Allocative efficiency is aimed at allocation of resources so that the input invested in heath care system yield the best output. To achieve this technical efficiency, effectiveness and priority setting must be addressed. Effectiveness is aimed at maximizing outputs to a limited amount of inputs. Priority setting involves deciding amount of resources to be allocated in each and every disease while technical efficiency is achieved by ensuring that the staff serves to their full potential. Efficiency can also be measured in three levels i.e. the disease, subsector and system level. The disease level focuses on each disease on the gains in heath status brought by healthcare system, while the subsector level focuses on gains brought specifically by hospitals, outpatient care and pharmaceuticals and the system level relies on the holistic view of the system (OECD, 2010). Large hospitals and multi general practioners practice and specialist medical centers are most common in urban Australia and rare in rural Australia and services that look similar are actually structured differently. These healthcares deliver different services and cater for different populations. Rural residents are not equal participants in the primary health system since there are few general practioners in rural areas, they also make few visits in healthcare centers and they spend much to seek health care than their urban counterparts this means that the Medicare scheme of the government is not efficient in providing equity of access of health care to all citizens. The cost of time, transport and greater competition for services in regional centers contributes to lower utilization rates of those in smaller isolated communities (Luck, 2011). In addition the experienced pre-exist nurses in rural area can be up-skilled to serve a broader range of primary health care hence reducing t he burden of the general practitioners rather than trying to fill every vacancy of general practitioner. The nurses serve by complementing the work of medical practitioner. Interrelationships A properly functioning health system can be evaluated in terms of equity of access, efficiency and effectiveness of all the components of the system. Although there are a number of challenges in these dimensions, Australian health care system has strengths which manifests that the government has made efforts to maintain the proper functioning of the system in recognition that all these aspects are necessary and inseparable in a good health system. Efficiency, effectiveness and equity of access concepts are thus interrelated and their matrix is important when formulating policies of a system. Healthcare has remained a focal point for discussion throughout the history. However with entitlement spending dramatically increasing, poised for further increases, healthcare has been placed at the fore front of public policy. Globally very few countries have achieved an efficient and equitable healthcare industry. Australia serves as an excellent example in their health care policy because its system balances for equity of access and efficiency through the adoption of the free market policies in health provision as well as the base safety net for individuals who cannot afford free market rates hence making sure that the biggest population can be able to access the health services. According to Duckett (2008) efficiency compare outputs to inputs in this case, the number of health care staff to the number of people seeking health care services putting in to consideration the satisfaction the patients. Ità ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s possible to estimate the number of health staff required to attend patients satisfactorily in every region if efficiency ratios are known. In the efforts to achieve efficiency and effectiveness of the medical staff the policies of the government ensures that the citizens can access adequate and qualified medical personnel equitably. For instance in rural Australia there is an average of one medical doctor in a population of one thousand people. This is in contrast with the urban settings where the number of medical doctors is higher in the same population. While doctors in rural area may be efficient due to high number of patients they attend to access to them by citizens is limited hence contributing to the in effectiveness of the system due to citizensà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ dissatisfaction. Australia government and private sector has invested heavily in construction of health facilities in all regions so that citizens can access them easily and equitably. For instance it had 1051 acute care hospitals of which 734 were public hospitals providing 70% of the bed stock and 317 were private hospitals. Public hospitals are funded by the government or by charitable organizations while private hospitals are privately funded (Healy, 2001). Due to large number of public hospital with many facilities and resources they at times underutilized hence operating inefficiently. To ensure that efficiency is achieved public hospitals liaise with private hospitals to provide private services that are not available in private hospitals. This way efficiency is achieved and at the same time the satisfaction of the citizens by the kind of collaboration that exist between private and public hospitals indicates that the hospitals are effective in accordance with social rules and regulations. Eff iciency of hospitals has also been achieved through the policy of regional hospitals constructed in regional centers especially to cater for rural population. The regional hospitals also help the citizens to access specialist health care with ease. All this efforts contributes to the success of the health system in the spirit on universal access to health care (Duckett, 2008). For the societal satisfaction with the health care system the founding principles of the Australian health care system must work hand in hand. Effectiveness, efficiency and equity of access principles should be demonstrable in a perfect system. Although perfection cannot be achieved the governments through its insurance policies have tried to make accessibility a reality. In addition to accessibility the efficiency of the health workers has been tried to be achieved through encouraging the general practitioners to work in the remote areas where there is shortage of practitioners this is done through incentives, perks and allowances offered to those who practice in rural areas in addition to this tele health care services are adopted such that health care services are moved closer to the people from the urban areas where it concentrated these practices are done periodically. Conclusion The underlying principle in Australian healthcare system is equity to universal access to most health care regardless of the situation or ability to pay. This is achieved since most health care system get revenue from taxation thus promoting equity of access of the health system. The concept of equity of access in relation to effectiveness and efficiency is also explored in Australian heath care system (Healy, 2001). In this case efficiency is measured by degree to which goals are achieved in health care system while minimizing resource usage while effectiveness is measured by degree to which health care system achieve their goals. Large hospitals and multi general practitioners practice and specialist medical centers are most common in urban Australia and rare in rural Australia. This indicates that the Medicare scheme of the government is not efficient and effective in providing equity of access of health care to all citizens. Representations Of Women In The Media: Unrealistic Representations Of Women In The Media: Unrealistic In this essay I will discuss the images of women in mass media and mass culture and how realistic or discursive they are. I will approach this through observing and analysing media advertising and stereotyping of females as a whole. I will examine the role of the woman in modern society and consider her position in public culture. I will begin with an explanation of Cantors theory that representations of women in the media are unreasonable and too different from reality in present society (Cantor, M. 1978). This hypothesis suggests that these images reflect only a few â€Å"real† women and disregards those of different colour, age, status or sexual orientation. The fact is that female icons in the media reshape the perceptions of women and exacerbate the flaws of ordinary ones. Goffman (1979) argues that while images of men are closer to reality, female are represented as â€Å"models pretending to be real persons†. This comes from the fact that women in mass media have lost their personality and have become an object of sight, a thing to be gazed at (Berger, J. 1972). I conclude that women in popular culture do not represent the complete reality but we can witness some improvement throughout recent years, which I will mention later in the essay. First, I will start with the way that women are displayed in the media and what their role they adopt in terms of populism. Females, either celebrities or models, are often put on exhibit in different types of media in order to promote products, shows, movies, events. There are different stereotypes- from the femme fatale to the supermom but there is a connection between all of them. They are always white, slim, and perfectly-shaped which implies a certain ideal of the modern woman. Problems come when ordinary women are forced to conform to this ideal. And when I say â€Å"forced†, I mean trying to live up to the imposed visions of female beauty. There are set standards of beauty and women try to meet these standards in order to be liked and admired. Womens main concern is their body shape. They try to achieve this mesomorphic figure. This means an ideal shape of the body which for women is an â€Å"hourglass† figure (Handout â€Å"Is Media Sexist†). I argue tha t these beauty standards are established for a purpose. Everybody gains from womens insecurities except them. When women are not self-confident, they turn to cosmetic and diet products to achieve the desired standard. This results immediately in the profit and the development of the companies and the industries. For evidence I turn to data from (BBC News World Edition, Feb 5. 2003) where the diet industry alone is worth 40 to 100 billion (U.S.) a year. What is worse, being surrounded by all these perfect images, women start to feel depressed, lose their self-confidence and develop eating disorders. The American research group Anorexia, Nevrosa Related Eating Disorders, Inc. says that one out of every four female students regulates her weight through fasting, skipping meals or vomiting. â€Å"Beauty demands sacrifices† this is the excuse for women suffering and struggling to achieve the ideal. However, this ideal lies in the realm of the unrealistic beauty. It is impossible to achieve perfection and what is more, flaws make us unique and charming. Nevertheless, not everybody feels that way, especially when every single advertisement, show or magazine has imposed the thinness as the main factor for attractiveness. Canadian researcher Gregory Frouts reports that over three-quarters of the actresses in television shows are underweight and those who happen to be heavier are criticised and get negative comments. Magazine industry has made some efforts to oppose the trend of displaying only slim models by putting a heavy-set model on its cover but the advertisers remain sceptic towards their ability to sell beauty products. Another group being affected by the beauty standards are teenagers. 50% to 70% of all preadolescent girls, for instance, are reported to have been on at least one diet and are dissatisfied with their bodies. This stems from the fact that more young girls are involved in media and popular culture. By observing their idols that dress provoc atively and act controversially, teenage girls look up to them and imitate them, believing this is the right behaviour. In her book the Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf (2002, page 3) says: â€Å"The notorious Calvin Klein ad campaigns eroticised sixteen-year-olds when I was a teenager, then eroticised fourteen-year-old models in the early nineties, then twelve-year-olds in the late nineties.† With reducing the age of the girls on exposure in the media, it becomes harder for youngsters to ignore the sexualized ideal and not to obey the markets and the industrys conventions. The truth is that this sexualized ideal and pornography have started to influence popular culture and this leads to the objectification of women (Briggs, A. and Cobley, P. 1998). Knowing that sex sells in todays society and men are attracted to women on the base of sexuality and seductiveness, the only thing which comes to mind when seeing another commercial with a beautiful and provocative girl, is sex. The need for mens attention and the wish to be desired are the main reasons for a woman to change herself. In spite of the change, women will hardly achieve this ideal because of the high and unattainable requirements it sets. The term which applies to this situation is hyperreal. It is a post-modern theory which suggests that we cannot tell the difference between image and reality (Baudrillard, J.) It seems that media has reshaped usual representations and it is hard to perceive an image of a celebrity going out in the public without makeup to walk her dog, for example. The incapability of making a distinction between media image and reality and setting an expected model for womens appearance make it harder for women to meet the demands of the popular media. That is to stand for something that does not exist. This is the time when the simulacra replaces reality. The Simulacra (a copy) starts as a reflection of reality, then it masks and misrepresents it till there is no longer a basic reality and the simulacra becomes a substitution for the real world (Baudrillard, J. 1988). Good example s are processes which help us transform our image such as digital photography and editing, virtual reality, controlling weight. These methods of changing oneself could have a great impact on the simulacra and it will start to disguise and fight reality. For instance, nowadays is easier to fool the audience. With the developing technology and the growth of cosmetic surgery industry it has become a common practice for faces of the media to cover certain imperfections and to hide flaws. I will argue that female movie stars are highly misrepresented regarding their appearance. The paradox comes when even in movies for ancient times, female characters are still perfect, with perfect skin and white teeth never mind the situation, the place (stranded on a desert island for example, the TV series Lost) or the period of time. Also, body doubles are used to veil some weaknesses of the actresses. (such as Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman). Studies show that 85% of these body doubles have breast implants. (Kilbourne, J., Cant Buy My Love, 2001). However, there is scientific evidence which suggests a lot of women with breast implants suffer different side effects: pain, deformations of the skin, insensitive breasts or potentional tumour. (Centre for Policy Research for Women and Families, Washington, D.C.) Studies indicate that even plastic surgeries among teens have increased by 50% from 1996-1998 mostly for girls. This results from media superstars parading with their plastic surgeries and advertising them everywhere which eventually leads to a model for imitation. This non realistic model, however, cannot be accepted by everyone. Very few women could achieve this ideal. Even so advertised among girls Barbie cannot be a measure for perfection. Research comparing a computer model of a woman with Barbie-doll proportions shows that if put into practice, this exemplary woman would have a too weak back and a too narrow body to include all human organs. Eventually, such a woman would die from malnutrition. (Time, Nov 11. 1996). This is another example of the unrealistic image and role which women accept. There is another alternative that women have started to apply their desire for beauty and change- the reality TVs Extreme Makeover, The Swan or I Want a Famous Face. These people, mostly women, participating in the project are subjected to a strict diet and exercise regimes, psychological counselling and many surgical procedures. The aim is to transform the person physically and then the inner peace and tranquillity will be achieved resulting in ones satisfaction with life. These programmes claim that all social and personal problems could be solved through cosmetic surgery. The only thing that the shows miss, however, is showing the potential risk of such interventions. Neither of them reveals the possibility of complications of plastic surgery. In this way particularly women are made to believe that ideal bodies are attainable and transforming ones figu re is a normal thing now. (Turner, L. 2004). In other words, all kinds of media television, film, radio, magazines and music video industries have a great influence on defining and identifying the conceptions of ideal physiques and figure. Music televisions such as MTV often display girls and women in the traditional role of a sex object, inviting and evoking sexual fantasies, whereas serious female musicians are rarely featured. Also, men are shown as sex objects less frequently. (MTV Programming; and Media Use in America, 2000, Mediascope). So, women are again in the submissive role but this is the way audience will perceive them. Most often, there is a connection between images and audiences. Fiske (1987) suggests that audiences recognise two different strategies when interpreting womens images. One is the realistic interpretation which implies the presence of real persons and the belief that the representations are genuine. The other is the discursive interpretation which reveals a non realistic image and depends on the so cial and cultural values of the audiences themselves. This suggests that images of women in the media correspond to the needs and the values of contemporary society. Eventually, interaction occurs between media representations and their addressees. It is in their hands to decide whether to believe or not, whether to be like these images or not but the most important thing is that the women should have the right to choose and not to follow an unrealistic ideal just because of the trend. I conclude that the conception that women always have to perfect their bodies has made a huge progress. Nevertheless, there have been some indications for a change in recent years. Naomi Wolf (2002) argues that from the first publishing of the book, which criticise the demand and the judgement upon women concerning the beauty, there has been some room for improvement now. According to her, there is no more just one representation of the woman in popular culture. Women of colour have now more publicity in all fields of media (e.g. Rhianna, Beyonce), as the second one is one of the most successful and profitable singers and is more of a plus-size woman at the same time. Speaking of plus-size women, I suggest looking at celebrities like Queen Latifah launching a plus-size clothing line. Before, it was unthinkable to display old women and whenever this happens, they were transformed in such a way that they will have no wrinkles and will look no older than thirty. Now, media is overwhelmed by statements like â€Å"Demi Moore is not afraid of getting old†. Different age, colour, even sexual orientation (Ellen DeGeneres- openly gay TV host) have started to get accepted by general public and gain more popularity in terms of the real representation of women. I would like to conclude that there are still stereotypes and a common misrepresentation of women in the media but it is all starting to create a greater variety of beauty standards which result in a more realistic, though still demanding, conception of beauty and femininity. References 1. Baudrillard, J. (ed.) (1988) Selected Writings, Stanford: Stanford University Press. 2. BBC News World Edition, Feb 5. 2003, The Diet business: Banking on failure. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2725943.stm 3. Beauty and Body Image in the Media http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_beauty.cfm 4. Berger, J. (1972) Ways of Seeing, Harmondsworth: Penguin. 5. Briggs, A. and Cobley, P. (1998) The Media: An Introduction, Essex: Pearson Education Limited 6. Cantor, M. (1978) â€Å"Where are the women in public broadcasting?† in G.Tuchman (ed.) Hearth and Home: Images of Women in the Media, New York: Oxford University Press. 7. Centre for Policy Research for Women and Families, Washington, D.C. 8. http://www.mediaandwomen.org/problem.html 9. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/news/article_1393908.php/Demi_Moore_s_age_ease 10. Friske, J. (1987) Television Culture, London: Methuen. 11. Goffman, E. (1979) Gender Advertisements, New York: Harper Row. 12. Handout â€Å"Is Media Sexist† 13. Kilbourne, J. (2001) Cant Buy My Love, New York: Touchstone. 14. Moore, S. (1998) â€Å"Heres looking at you, kid!† in L.Gamman and M.Marshment (eds) The Female Gaze, London: Womens Press. 15. MTV Programming; and Media Use in America, 2000, Mediascope 16. The Canadian Womens Health Network (Body Image and the Media). http://www.cwhn.ca/node/40776 17. Time, Nov 11. 1996, Barbie boots up. http://www.time.com 18. Turner, L. (2004), Cosmetic Surgery: the new face of reality TV 19. Wolf N. (ed.) ( 2002) The Beauty Myth, London: Chatto Windus

Shattered Essay -- Poetry

The mirror is cracked but not shattered. Fragments of glass reflect pieces of her. Lily-white skin. Primped, hanging curls the color of corn. A button nose. Cherry ribbon lips. Opaque forget-me-not blue eyes. The dark pupils dilate and swivel, dilate and swivel, but her eyes are sightless. She sees, but she does not. The mirror is cracked but not shattered. She sees her face separately in each shard of glass. Some small, some large. A multitude of reflections, each one a clone of the other, each one a doppelganger, a twin. Never alone. Each reflection with an identical companion. Symmetry is beautiful. She aches. The mirror is cracked but not shattered. Her fingers graze the mirror. The pads of her fingertips tingle at the touch of each crack’s raised edge. A mirror; a symbol of frailty and a symbol of immense power. Reflective ice. What lurks beneath the translucent, razor-thin surface of a mirror? Her fingers reach for the reflections before her. The mirror is cracked but not shattered. The curtains unveiled her. Pretty as a doll. Silent as a mannequin. Lifeless as a marionette with no one pulling her strings. Beneath the spotlight’s glare, a reflection clearer than in a cracked-but-not-shattered mirror. The lipstick glued to her lips, the blush caked on her face, the bright red circles painted upon her cheeks. A freakish sight fit for the gypsies’ circus. Silence. Or laughter. Silent laughter. The fat tears roll down, leaving clean tracks in the thick makeup. The mirror is cracked but not shattered. Prone to melancholy, she muses. To be cracked like the mirror but not shattered. All the pieces together, but not completely complete. Complete completeness terrified her. Her own eyes see clearly, t... ... So much frightens her. Irresistible completeness strikes both awe and terror in her. Her tiny hands ball into fists, the fingers like claws, like stilettos. Her porcelain whets into a blade. An inexorable desire rising, groaning like a glutton within her disgustingly perfect shell. The mirror is cracked but not shattered. With her white flawless claw, she smashes the cracked mirror. It shrieks one final time as its fragile fragments shatter and cascade to the barren floor. Fluorescent lights glare callously at her triumph below. A moment’s pause, as the silence embraces the passing of the mirror’s long life. The deadened air suckles eagerly from the mirror’s relinquished memory of reflections. Beneath her lie the pieces, abandoned and unwanted like broken teeth, no longer part of an incompletely complete work of wonderment. The mirror is shattered.

Analysis of Exposure Wilfred Owen

â€Å"Crickets jingle here. † Onomatopoeia This sentence was described in the lines where the soldier had a flash back where he used to live. Jingle is like a sound of a bell vibrating, like in occasions in Christmas which is the most important holiday in England. When the people hear the bell jingle; it’s echoing and creating a melody and some kind of music inside the sound. The writer’s linking the crickets with the jingle sound could be because the crickets sound also echo and create some kind of melody, and usually summer, you should find crickets jingle everywhere.The sound effect in this case would be Owen wanted to create the sounds that are familiar to the people in England. â€Å"The night is silence. † Metaphor Silence is the absent of sound. It tells us in the dark sky, the soldier also has to face the problem he has to look towards nothing and there’s a complete silence. The quote describes the place in an atmospheric way, and there†™s not much to discuss about. â€Å"The flickering gunnery rumbles. Onomatopoeia There’s a consonance of the r sound in this quote which is not a hard sound, yet a soft sound. I might be that the writer wanted the rhythm to slow down perhaps. The quote described clearly the image of the gunnery when the soldier’s using it. â€Å"Sudden successive flights of bullets streak out the silence. † Alliteration The quote has the alliteration of the s sound in the word sudden and successive.S is a hard sound so this helps emphasize the flights of bullet tearing the silence. The quote help raise questions in the reader: Has the battle begin again? â€Å"Worried by the silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous,† Metaphor The sibilance of the repeated ‘s’ sound creates the effect of whispering, an attempt to not draw the attention of the enemy, who are futilely using flares to see what is going on. The S sound creates like fussing sound.

Vision and Goals as a leader

The difference between a vision and a goal, one is abstract and one is concrete. Visions are essentially abstract, while setting a goal is more tangible. For an example of a vision, one would say they would like to plant a large garden that will produce a vast harvest In the spring; It will contain green beans, tomatoes and corn. This expresses an abstract desire for an outcome.Alternatively, a goal would sound like this, this springtime a large garden will be planted and time will be set aside to spend 5 hours a week hoeing the garden so the weeds will not interrupt the growth f the vegetables. This Is a substantial goal, meaning It Is a tangible and reachable, something you physically work towards. The subject of motivation can vary. In reality you will need to set the tone for the audience, in other words, different people will perceive different issues, and will be motivated by different things.Make sure you talk with your people regularly on a one-to-one basis to find out what m atters to them. Herbage's theory Is largely responsible for the practice of allowing people greater responsibility for planning and controlling their work. As a means of increasing motivation and satisfaction. The importance of visions is beyond dreams, It Is a statement of what or how you like things to be. Visions have a larger purpose and they share the core values that we hold at the center of our character. These core values are expressed to pave the road in the direction you want to see transpire.If a vision has been effectively communicated with precise and detailed direction and reason, others can see your mental picture to help you attain it and gain their commitment to it. ‘The only way to lead people Into the future is to connect with them deeply in the present. The only visions that take hold are shared visions-and you will create them only when you listen very, very closely to others, appreciate their hopes, and attend to their needs. † Souses, J. M. And Pos ter, 8. Z. To lead, create a shared vision. Harvard Business Publishing January 2009.This Is another important aspect of people seeing your vision is gaining their trust first. The significance of your vision and the excitement you display will help your team know where they are headed. This leads them see and become enthusiastic about the large depiction of your Image and gives them drive for a positive outcome. Nothing was ever created without vision. The importance of goals gives something to work towards to measure both personal and professional success.Without goals it is hard to believe in ourselves. Goals drive you forward, tells you what you truly want. Helps you achieve your desires by putting a large destination In smaller stepping stones to make it wealth a graspable reach. â€Å"Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. â€Å"- Pablo Picasso. Obtaining goals within a group who trust their leadership, are far more willing to share in and work towards reaching goals.Contribute all energies in same direction with the same outcome to have substantial results. When goals are agreed upon within a group the success will be immeasurable. The article setting. The first step talks about developing a vision. It is important to know where you are going as an organization. A leader must develop a vision with a positive attitude and be ready to present it with energy. They must also be effective in communicating that vision to their employees, who in turn will work together to achieve that vision. The second step talks about the importance of goal setting.