Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Violence Show on TV Essay Example for Free
Violence Show on TV Essay A lot of people believe the amount of violence shown on TV and in the cinema affects the actions of our young people and therefore increases the amount of violence in our society today. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? What can be done to reduce violence in our society today? A matter of considerable controversy at present is the issue of whether young peoples actions are influenced by the amount of violence which appears on TV and in the cinema or not. From my own prospective, I believe that violence in our today society has increased due to TVs and cinema. It cannot be argued that young people immitate what they see on TVs. Eversince every home has at least one LCD, plasma or a normal TV, youngsters behaviour has radically changed: they find themselves in what they see on screen, they have models and follow them. Even if it is not a scientific proven fact, it is obvious that aggressive scenes and plots which appear in movies and talkshows encourage them to adopt a violent behaviour. Doing what they see on TV retains an image of satisfaction among young people, making aggression an habit for those still in the process of moulding themselves into what they want to be. One way to combat the problem of violence in our society today would be for the government to censor the movies and TV shows. Even if they are not allowed to watch horror and thriller movies, teenagers under 18 still get the change to do it. By introducing censorship and cutting the violence scenes, I believe young people would not be encouraged to behave violently and disruptively. It would, therefore, be impossible for them to follow this example of being aggressive. To sum up, from what has been written above, I can safely draw the conclusion that the amount of violence seen on TV and in cinema increases the fights, clashes and disruptive behaviour in our society. However, this issue can be tackled by inforcing laws in order to censor every scene which can have a bad impact on peoples behaviour.
Monday, August 5, 2019
Proposed System for Plagiarism Detection
Proposed System for Plagiarism Detection Chapter 3 The Proposed System Introduction This chapter introduces ZPLAG as proposed system, and its most important design issues are explained in details. It is very easy for the student to find the documents and magazines using advanced search engines, so the problem of electronic thefts is no longer local or regional, but has become a global problem occurring in many areas. Due to the Hugging of information, and correlation networks, the discovery of electronic thefts is a difficult task, and the discovery of the thefts started in the Arabic language and the most difficult task no doubt. And in light of the growing e-learning systems in the Arab countries, this requires special techniques to detect thefts electronic written in Arabic. And although it could use some search engines like Google, it is very difficult to copy and paste the sentences in the search engines to find these thefts. For this reason, it must be develop a good tool for the discovery of electronic thefts written Arabic language to protect e-learning systems, and to facilitate and accelerate the learning process, where it can automatically detect electronic thefts automatically by this tool. This thesis shows, ZPLAG, a system that works on the Internet to enable specialists to detect thefts of electronic texts in Arabic so it can be integrated with e-learning systems to ensure the safety of students and research papers and scientific theses of electronic thefts. The thesis also describes the major components of this system, including stage outfitted, and in the end we will establish an experimental system on a set of documents and Arabic texts and compared the results obtained with some of the existing systems, particularly TurnItIn. The chapter is organized as follow; Section 3.2 presents an overview of the Arabic E-Learning, Section 3.3 presents and explains the General Overview of the Proposed System, Section 3.4 explains in details the system architecture of the proposed system ZPLAG. Section 3.5 gives a summery for this chapter. General Overview of the Proposed System The proposed system consists of three different phases namely; (1) Preparation phase, (2) Processing phase, and (3) Similarity detection phase. Figure 3.1 depicts the phases of the proposed system. Figure 3.1 Proposed system phases Preparation Phases: this phase is responsible for collecting and prepares the documents for the next phase. It consists of five modules: text editor module, check language module, check spelling module, check grammar module, and Sentences analysis module. Text editor module allows the user to input a text or upload a text file in document format, these files can be processed in the next phase. The check language module is responsible for checking the input file written language, If it is an Arabic language then use Arabic process, or English language then use English process. The check spelling module use to check the words are written correct or there is some misspelling. This phase consists of three modules explained as follows: Tokenization: break up the input text as some token . SWR: remove the common words that appear in the text but carry little meaning. Rooting: is the process of removing: (prefixes, infixes, or/and suffixes) from words to get the roots or stems of this word Replacement of Synonym: words are converted to their synonyms. Similarity detection Phases: It is consists of three modules Fingerprinting, documents representation and similarity detection, this phase discussed as follows: To calculate fingerprints of any document, first cut up the text into small pieces called chunks, the chunking method that responsible for cutting up the text will be determined [12]. A unit of chunk could be a sentence or a word. In case of chunking using sentences called sentence-based, the document can be cutted into small chunks based on ââ¬ËCââ¬â¢ parameter. For example, a document containing sentences ds1 ds2 ds3 ds4 ds5, if C=3 then the calculated chunks will be ds1 ds2 ds3, ds2 ds3 ds4, ds3 ds4 ds5. For example, a document containing words dw1 dw2 dw3 dw4 dw5, if C=3 then the calculated chunks will be dw1 dw2 dw3, dw2 dw3 dw4, dw3 dw4 dw5. The chunking using Word gives higher precision in similarity detection than the chunking sentence. The Architecture pf Proposed System The following properties should be satisfied by any system detecting plagiarism in natural language: Insensitivity to small matches. Insensitivity to punctuation, capitalization, etc. Insensitivity to permutations of the document content. The system main architecture of ZPLAG is illustrated in Figur1. Preparation: text editor, check language, check spelling, and check grammar. Preprocess: synonym replacement, tokenization, rooting, and stop-word removal. Fingerprinting: the use of n-gram, where the user choses the parameter n. Document representation: for each document, create a document tree structure that describes its internal representation. Selection of a similarity: use of a similarity metric to find the longest match of two hash strings. As mentioned in the previous section, the system architecture breakdown contains three main phases. Each phase will be composed to a set of modules in terms of system functionality. The following section contains the description of each phase and its modules in details. 3.4.1 The Preparation Phase The main task of this phase is to prepare the data for the next phase. It consists of text editor module, check language module, check spelling module and check grammars module. 3.4.1.1. Text editor Module Figure 3.2, illustrates text editor module. The users of the text editor module are faculty members and students, where the users need a text area to upload their files, so the brows helps for file path to make it easy for the users, After that check file format is very important , because the service upload files with doc or docx format, then after the user upload the file , the text editor module save the file in the database. Figure 3.2 text editor module 3.4.1.2 Check Language Module The raw text of the document is treated separately as well. In order to extract terms from text, classic Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques are applied as. Figure 3.3 illustrates Check Language module and its functions: from the system database, whereas all the files are stored, the check language module bring the file and read it, then check for language either Arabic , English or combo (both Arabic and English), After that mark the document with its written language and save the file again in the system database. Figure 3.3 check language module 3.4.1.3 Check Spelling Module Figure 3.4 illustrates Check spelling module and its functions: after bringing the document from the system database, whereas all the files are stored, the check spelling module read the file, and use the web spelling checker, then the check spelling module make all the possible replacements for the words in false spelling check , After that save the file again in the system database. Figure 3.4 check spelling module 3.4.1.4 Check Grammars Module For English documents, Figure 3.5 illustrates Check grammar module and its functions: after bringing the document from the system database, whereas all the files are stored, the check grammar module read the file, and use the web grammar checker, After that the check grammar module mark the sentences with the suitable grammar mark and save the file again in the system database. Figure 3.5 check grammar module 3.4.2 The processing Phase 3.4.2.1 The Tokenization Module In the Tokenization module : after bringing the document from the system database, whereas all the files are stored, the Tokenization module read the file, and brake down the file into paragraphs, after that brake down the paragraphs into sentences, then brake down the sentence into words. After that save the file again in the system database. 3.4.2.2 The Stop Words Removal and Rooting Module The raw text of the document is treated separately as well. In order to extract terms from text, classic Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques are applied as. Figure 3.6 illustrates Stop Words Removal and rooting module and its functions: Figure 3.6: SWR and Rooting module SWR: Common stop words in English include: a, an, the, in, of, on, are, be, if, into, which etc. Whereas stop words in Arabic include: Ãâ¢Ã¢â¬ ¦Ãâ¢Ã¢â¬ , ÃËà ¥Ãâ¢Ã¢â¬Å¾Ãâ¢Ã¢â¬ ° , ÃËà ¹Ãâ¢Ã¢â¬ , ÃËà ¹Ãâ¢Ã¢â¬Å¾Ãâ¢Ã¢â¬ ° , Ãâ¢Ã Ãâ¢Ã
etc. These words do not provide a significant meaning to the documents . Therefore, they should be removed in order to reduce ââ¬Ënoiseââ¬â¢ and to reduce the computation time. Word Stemming: it will be changed into the wordââ¬â¢s basic form. 3.4.2.3 Replacement of Synonym Replacement of Synonym: It may help to detect advanced forms of hidden plagiarism. The first synonym in the list of synonyms of a given word is considered as the most frequent one. 3.4.3 The Similarity Detection Phase 3.4.3.1 The Fingerprinting Module It is consists of three modules Fingerprinting, documents representation and similarity detection, this phase discussed as follows: To calculate fingerprints of any document, first cut up the text into small pieces called chunks, the chunking method that responsible for cutting up the text will be determined [12]. A unit of chunk could be a sentence or a word. In case of chunking using sentences called sentence-based, the document can be cutted into small chunks based on ââ¬ËCââ¬â¢ parameter. For example, a document containing sentences ds1 ds2 ds3 ds4 ds5, if C=3 then the calculated chunks will be ds1 ds2 ds3, ds2 ds3 ds4, ds3 ds4 ds5. In case of chunking using word called a word-based chunking, the document is cutted into small chunks based on ââ¬ËCââ¬â¢ parameter. For example, a document containing words dw1 dw2 dw3 dw4 dw5, if C=3 then the calculated chunks will be dw1 dw2 dw3, dw2 dw3 dw4, dw3 dw4 dw5. The chunking using Word gives higher precision in similarity dete ction than the chunking sentence. ZPLAG is based on a word-based chunking method: in every sentence of a document, words are first chunked and then use a hash function for hashing. 3.4.3.2 The Document Representation Module Document representation: for each document, create a document tree structure that describes its internal representation. 3.4.3.3 The Similarity Detection Module A tree representation is created for each document to describe its logical structure. The root represents the document itself, the second level represents the paragraphs, and the leaf nodes contain the sentences. Summary Being a growing problem, The electronic thefts is generally known as plagiarism and dishonesty academic and they constitute a growing phenomenon, It should be known that way to prevent its spread and preserve the ethical principles that control the academic environments, with easy access to information on the World Wide Web and the large number of digital libraries, electronic thefts have become one of the most important issues that plague universities and scientific centers and research. This chapter presented in detailed description of the proposed system for plagiarism detection in electronic resources and its phases and its functions.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Nomos vs. Physis in Sophoclesââ¬â¢Antigone and the Modern World Essay
Nomos vs. Physis in Sophoclesââ¬â¢Antigone and the Modern World The Greek play, Antigone, written by Sophocles in the year 441 BCE, honors the Greek god of wine, Dionysus. It is hard to imagine that a play, written century ago for an imaginary god, would still be widely popular and have great significance in today's world. Using two main characters, Antigone and Creon, Sophocles creates a dialogue that examines two very different views of nomos (law) and physis (nature), the focal point of all Greek beliefs. These two terms were often the key in deciding what was considered right and wrong among the Greeks, and people still use nomos and physis in today's society centuries later. Throughout Antigone, Creon and Antigone use nomos and physis to defend their actions taken when Antigone breaks a law made by Creon, because she feels it impedes upon the unwritten laws of the gods, much like anti gay advocates defend their stance on protecting the sanctity of marriage, while gay activists oppose it because it violates their fundamental constitutional ri ghts. Using Creon and Antigone, Sophocles illustrates the way that nomos and physis support their opposing viewpoints. When Antigone's two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, kill each other in battle, Creon, her uncle, succeeds to the throne. Once in power, he makes a law that no one can bury Polyneices because he was un-loyal to his native land. If anyone defied his new law by burying him, then the perpetrator would be killed and left unburied. However, Antigone felt that both of her brothers should have a proper burial, and disobeyed Creon's law by burying Polynneices knowing she would have to suffer the consequences. When brought before Creon, she defended her actions through phys... ... constitution. They believe that the law should not decide who people can love, and that it is a persons right to marry whomever they want. Therefore, the terms nomos and physis are still used in today's society in similar ways to that of Creon and Antigone centuries ago. Even though Antigone was written centuries ago, the basic principles of nomos and physis can still be applied in today's world. The way that the two terms are interpreted will vary from person to person, and there is no right or wrong answer. As long as there are controversial issues in the world, peoples opinions of nomos and physis will continue to evolve and change through time. Works Cited Sophocles. Antigone. Exploring Literature: Writing and thinking About Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Joseph Terry. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc, 2001. 123-154.
Saturday, August 3, 2019
History of Ledd Zeppelin and ITs Musical Impact Essay -- Led Zeppelin
History of Ledd Zeppelin and ITs Musical Impact Tell someone to name a band from the 1960s and '70s and you could probably listen to a dozen answers before hearing the same one twice. The overwhelming amount of talent squeezed into these two decades has produced some of the most popular, most powerful, and in some cases, the most bizarre music ever. Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Queen, Aerosmith, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Eagles.... All were from this era that seemed to glorify music as no other time period did, or ever will. The amount of evolution of music that occurred in this time period is amazing as well. The mainstream went from listening to songs like Bill Haley and the Comet's "Rock Around The Clock," to The Beatles' frightening "Revolution 9." While these two examples may seem completely different, they are not as distant as one might think. Nearly all music from the '60s and '70s was bred from its earlier ancestors. Music has been constantly evolving, and during the two decades in question, it underwent a radical change like never before. The New Yardbirds In early 1968 the music group The Yardbirds was in shambles. Their last, and half-put --together album "Little Games" was a total flop and the band had to struggle to have the release of the album in the UK stopped. On March 30, the group allowed a taping of their concert in Madison Square Garden to be considered for a live album to be released later. They easily convinced their record contractor, Epic Records, to ditch the project. The lead guitarist of The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, had suffered from a mental breakdown a few years earlier and could no longer handle the pressure of touring. The band members, Keith Relf, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, and Jimmy Page decided to throw in the towel and let the band collapse. Playing wasn't the same rush it used to be, and it just wasn't fun anymore. Each member elected to follow their own projects. Dreja planned a career in photography, McCarty and Relf intended on starting bands of their own. Lead guitarist, Jimmy Page was given legal rights to the band's name, songs, and albums. However, along with the rights that Page was given, were 10 tour dates that still needed to be honored in Scandinavia. Page nee... ...The most significant thing about Led Zeppelin's music today, is that it doesn't sound dated. The music seems similar to music today. The lasting impression of their music is obvious, and can be heard in any Rock band of today. Unfortunately, the machine that was Led Zeppelin came to a screeching halt on the morning of September 25, 1980. When band members decided to go into Bonham's bedroom to pull a prank on him in his sleep, Bonham was found dead. After a night of heavy drinking, Bonham had turned the wrong way in his sleep, and asphyxiated himself upon his own vomit. A statement was released on December 4, 1980, stating that the band could not go on in its present state. After 11 incredible years, the band could not function with "the loss of our dear friend." Led Zeppelin had owned the 70s, and they were going to finish their reign quietly, and let the throne open to the next "supergroup." As suddenly as Led Zeppelin began, it had ended even more so. The giant had fallen. . "As it was, then again it will be, Though the course may change sometimes, Rivers always reach the sea." -Ten Years Gone Led Zeppelin History of Ledd Zeppelin and ITs Musical Impact Essay -- Led Zeppelin History of Ledd Zeppelin and ITs Musical Impact Tell someone to name a band from the 1960s and '70s and you could probably listen to a dozen answers before hearing the same one twice. The overwhelming amount of talent squeezed into these two decades has produced some of the most popular, most powerful, and in some cases, the most bizarre music ever. Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Queen, Aerosmith, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Eagles.... All were from this era that seemed to glorify music as no other time period did, or ever will. The amount of evolution of music that occurred in this time period is amazing as well. The mainstream went from listening to songs like Bill Haley and the Comet's "Rock Around The Clock," to The Beatles' frightening "Revolution 9." While these two examples may seem completely different, they are not as distant as one might think. Nearly all music from the '60s and '70s was bred from its earlier ancestors. Music has been constantly evolving, and during the two decades in question, it underwent a radical change like never before. The New Yardbirds In early 1968 the music group The Yardbirds was in shambles. Their last, and half-put --together album "Little Games" was a total flop and the band had to struggle to have the release of the album in the UK stopped. On March 30, the group allowed a taping of their concert in Madison Square Garden to be considered for a live album to be released later. They easily convinced their record contractor, Epic Records, to ditch the project. The lead guitarist of The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, had suffered from a mental breakdown a few years earlier and could no longer handle the pressure of touring. The band members, Keith Relf, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, and Jimmy Page decided to throw in the towel and let the band collapse. Playing wasn't the same rush it used to be, and it just wasn't fun anymore. Each member elected to follow their own projects. Dreja planned a career in photography, McCarty and Relf intended on starting bands of their own. Lead guitarist, Jimmy Page was given legal rights to the band's name, songs, and albums. However, along with the rights that Page was given, were 10 tour dates that still needed to be honored in Scandinavia. Page nee... ...The most significant thing about Led Zeppelin's music today, is that it doesn't sound dated. The music seems similar to music today. The lasting impression of their music is obvious, and can be heard in any Rock band of today. Unfortunately, the machine that was Led Zeppelin came to a screeching halt on the morning of September 25, 1980. When band members decided to go into Bonham's bedroom to pull a prank on him in his sleep, Bonham was found dead. After a night of heavy drinking, Bonham had turned the wrong way in his sleep, and asphyxiated himself upon his own vomit. A statement was released on December 4, 1980, stating that the band could not go on in its present state. After 11 incredible years, the band could not function with "the loss of our dear friend." Led Zeppelin had owned the 70s, and they were going to finish their reign quietly, and let the throne open to the next "supergroup." As suddenly as Led Zeppelin began, it had ended even more so. The giant had fallen. . "As it was, then again it will be, Though the course may change sometimes, Rivers always reach the sea." -Ten Years Gone Led Zeppelin
Friday, August 2, 2019
The Exporters Pocketbook :: Business
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites I. The Export Transaction and its Documents The Transaction Finding a market for the goods (market research) Selecting the marketing channels Negotiations Pricing Distribution channels Order Contract Commercial Invoice Commercial Invoice must include (minimum): Payment Terms Mode of Payment Division of Costs Details of Carrier Details of Receiving Party Details of Buyer Other Details For best results use the ECE (Economic Commission for Europe) Standard Commercial Invoice Packing List must include (minimum): Contents of the Packaging (=of the shipment) If more than one package or outer and inner packing ââ¬â all contents per each packing and per each package must be detailed separately Permits and Licenses Export licenses if needed Standards certificates Labeling Quality control certificates (highest is ISO, such as ISO-9002 or ISO-9000) Health and phytosanitary certificates Veterinary certificates Other permits, licenses and certificates Service Providers Marine Transport Air Transport Land Transport (lorry, train) Insurance Warehousing Banking and other Financial Services (factoring, forfeiting, etc.) Airway Bill of Lading (ABL) (More details later ââ¬â see appendices for samples) Holder of ABL does not own goods Air Transport Contract not effected ââ¬â but ABL proof of existence of such contract, including weight, measurements, number of packages and invoice. Marine Bill of Lading (MBL) Proof of receipt of goods in a certain condition Proof of existence of transport contract MBL facilitates the transfer of ownership Negotiable, transferable and assignable Subject to the Hague conditions and MUST INCLUDE: Name and address of sender Port of loading and Port of discharge Date of lading and place of issuance of bill of lading Name of vessel and number of voyage Identity marks of cargo Description of goods ââ¬â number of packing units, weight, volume Condition of goods ââ¬â statement of carrier (if not stated ââ¬â the goods are in good condition) ââ¬Å"Clean on Boardâ⬠not ââ¬Å"Foulâ⬠Types of Bills of Lading (BL) Shipped BL ââ¬â Goods are on deck of ship Received for Shipment ââ¬â Prior to loading onto ship Direct BL ââ¬â From origin to destination, transshipment not allowed Ocean Through BL ââ¬â In case of transit involving a few carriers. In such a case, each carrier imposes its own conditions on each leg of the voyage and for the limited duration it handles the cargo. Pure Through BL ââ¬â First carrier must transport from port of loading to a mid-point and is responsible for damages to the goods.
Gender Inequality Within Society Essay
Society has conformed our minds to view gender based on oneââ¬â¢s role in society. This labels the person as a man or a woman and then classifies them based on the ââ¬Å"rolesâ⬠that society has assigned for each. Gender inequality is caused by the unequal perceptions or even the way someone is treated, based on them being a man or woman. It tends to be the result of what is seen as socially constructed differences of the typical gender roles. This is a social problem I find compelling due to the impact it has on society. Gender Inequality can be seen in different instances, some I feel more apparent than others. It can be displayed through gender roles by classifying a manââ¬â¢s role in society, versus a womanââ¬â¢s role. Gender Inequality can also be seen amongst relationships and how they adapt to what society feels is the way they respond to the relationship. Inside the workplace is another form in which gender inequality can be apparent based on the job a man or woman have. Gender inequality is overall very diverse and wide spread; both men and women are perceived and treated in various unequal ways. Over time, gender inequality is seen by both objective criteria, through the articles that establish facts of the individual issues and through subjective experience, in which my perception and others filter throughout their own minds; causing gender inequality to become a compelling social problem today. Gender inequality is shown through the generic labels that society has established, based on the individual being a man or a woman. The social role theory proposes that ââ¬Å"gender roles in society, such as a provider or protector roles for men and child-rearing and caretaker roles for women, strongly foster certain emotions, behaviors, and traits that meet societal expectations for those roles,â⬠(Bascom and Wilson 2013). A man is viewed as physically stronger than a woman, where as a woman as seen as more emotional and caring. ââ¬Å"Expected characteristics of men who fulfill these roles include being goal- oriented, assertive, aggressive, competitive, and courageous, whereas expectations for women, based on more communal roles include, being nurturing, kind, showing empathy and sympathy, and seeking social connections,â⬠(Bascom and Wilson 2013). Society has established roles in which differentiate men and women, by focusing on how they, as individuals,à should portray different characteristics. This allows for the opportunity of mislead perceptions, by the displays of gender in an unequal manner. If a man shows any characteristics that only a woman should have, he may be seen as weaker or maybe even deviant. This is true for a woman too, as that if she portrays too much aggression or competitive characteristics, she may be too manly, instead of fulfilling what should be her more nurturing role. Both men and women seem to face gender inequality, not just one more than the other. They both can face criticism, unequal treatment and stereotypes based on whether they choose to follow the exact way society has classified the gender ââ¬Å"norms.â⬠Although society has created these labels, it solely comes down to the individual on whether or not they choose to be deviant against them completely, in some ways, or simply not at all. Gender inequality over the years has improved when it comes to relationships. However more often than thought of, the power of the relationship usually still lies within the male being more dominant. ââ¬Å"Current theoretical conceptualizations of gender emphasize that it functions as a social structure, that this structure affects people at individual and interactional levels, and that the gender structure is, in turn, recursively affected by peopleââ¬â¢s actions within social relations,â⬠(Masters, Casey, Wells and Morrison 2013). Society has created this gender structure in which it finds appropriately fitting for how a relationship structure should function. This is done based on the way a man should act and what he should do and in return, how a woman should act and what she should do. It affects those in a relationship individually but also the relationship in general based on the way they choose to interact with each other; following societyââ¬â¢s idea of a relationship between a man or a woman or going against it. It isnââ¬â¢t the fact that society wonââ¬â¢t approve of being deviant with the gender roles for a relationship, but rather that they may be perceived differently or treated unequally due to them making the choice to be deviant towards those roles. This will continue to be a social issue, unless society as a whole, forms against the relationship structure we have been told to follow. Inequality in the workplace seems to be one of the strongest aspects when ità comes to gender inequality within society. Within an organization, ââ¬Å"patterns of gender relations constitutes a gender regime and can include inequalities between women and men in the shape of discrimination in relation to opportunities, access to services and allocation of resources or benefits; all of these aspects of gender inequalities influence womenââ¬â¢s and menââ¬â¢s working life,â⬠(Elwer, Harryson, Bolin and Hammarstrà ¶m 2013). Gender inequality in the workplace can be seen in various forms. Among many of the findings pertaining to gender inequality, one of the most consistent is women earning less wages than men. ââ¬Å"The relational inequality theory predicts that when gender is a culturally salient hierarchal status distinction, women will tend to be excluded from high-wage firms and jobs,â⬠(Avent-Holt and Tomaskovic-Devey 2012). When gender seems most important, or better yet, more apparent, it is more noticeable that men will make more money over a woman in the same position. More often in workplaces, men tend fill more manager type positions where as women tend to fill lower hierarchy positions. We expect that ââ¬Å"male managers will be able to use their statuses to capture more resources, leading to larger gender wage gaps than in workplaces where men and women are randomly distributed across the workplace division of labor,â⬠(Avent-Holt and Tomaskovic-Devey 2012). This also shows that a man in a higher position, tends to be placed there with assumption they are more qualified, therefore creating gender inequality; not only is this shown with wages paid, but within the workplace as a whole and the type of job a man receives over a woman. Because of this, people generally ââ¬Å"estimate higher salaries for men than women because they associate men with greater occupational status or competence,â⬠(Williams, Paluck and Spencer-Rodgers 2010). In todayââ¬â¢s society a woman earns only seventy-seven cents to every dollar that a man earns. A woman may even have the same role as a man and generally will still make less money than him. Assumed they can perform in a more competent manner and have greater resources to allow them fulfill that position, a man is usually given a higher position over a woman who could have the same qualifications and ability to do the same job. Which is why gender inequality in the workplace exists within society. Todayââ¬â¢s society is responsible for the overall existence of gender inequality. Society has created what it sees as the gendered ââ¬Å"norms,â⬠à labeling a man and a woman individually by giving each different characteristics to which they should follow. This has allowed and opportunity for unequal perceptions to be created and for the way someone is treated to be different based on whether they are a man or a woman. Gender inequality is seen in the established gender roles, the relationship that can occur between and man and a woman and gender within the workplace The societal views which have conformed our mind, are the reasons to why this is a compelling social problem that exists and unfortunately will probably maintain its status in society for years to come. Bibliography Avent-Holt, D., & Tomaskovic-Devey, D. (2012). Relational Inequality: Gender Earnings Inequality in U.S. and Japanese Manufacturing Plants in the Early 1980s. Social Forces, 91(1), 157-180. Elwà ©r, S., Harryson, L., Bolin, M., & Hammarstrà ¶m, A. (2013). Patterns of Gender Equality at Workplaces and Psychological Distress. Plus ONE, 8(1), 1-10. Masters, N., Casey, E., Wells, E. A., & Morrison, D. M. (2013). Sexual Scripts among Young Heterosexually Active Men and Women: Continuity and Change. Journal Of Sex Research, 50(5), 409-420. Skolnick, A., Bascom, K., & Wilson, D. (2013). Gender Role Expectations of Disgust: Men are Low and Women are High. Sex Roles, 69(1/2), 72-88. Williams, M. J., Paluck, E., & Spencer-Rodgers, J. (2010). THE MASCULINITY OF MONEY: AUTOMATIC STEREOTYPES PREDICT GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ESTIMATED SALARIES. Psychology Of Women Quarterly, 34(1), 7-20.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Better Decisions, Better Life Essay
John Updike, who is known for his brilliant prose style and the sensual details in his stories, takes everyday tasks and gives a whole new perspective to it. Like in ââ¬Å"A&Pâ⬠, which is a narrative from the perspective of a nineteen-year-old boy working in the checkout line. Even though Sammy is just an average boy, something significant happens that day at the grocery store. The story revolves around Sammyââ¬â¢s journey from adolescence to adulthood and his resignation from the job at the grocery store marks the major change. Even though Sammyââ¬â¢s conscience disagrees with his decision, his need to escape the monotony of his life drives him to take it. The author uses various symbols to present a gradual progression into Sammyââ¬â¢s decision in the end. As a teenage boy in a town in Boston in the 60s, Sammy did not have much going on for himself ââ¬â his responsibility was to earn some money to manage the household expenses. For his he had to work at the grocery store. His co-worker Stokesie, who is only three years older than him, is married and has two children. He hopes to become the manager of the grocery store and is the only other co-worker mentioned in the story. Sammy obviously feels a strong connection with Stokesie, as they both eye the bikini clad girls together. Also, he mentions that the only difference he can tell between Stokesie and himself is the number of years they are apart (Updike 531). But from the tone in which Sammy talks about Stokesie, it is easy to see that he does not respect his co-worker as much. Instead he feels as though he is looking into a mirror of the future and he lives a life similar to Stokesieââ¬â¢s. Updikeââ¬â¢s intention was to portray Stokesie as the future reflection of Sammy. Although when the girls enter the grocery store dressed skimpily, they present Sammy with a whole new world. Sammy says ââ¬Å"you never know for sure how girlsââ¬â¢ minds workâ⬠, instead he imagines it to be ââ¬Å"a little buzz like a bee in a glass jarâ⬠(Updike 530). He observes little details about all of these girls and ranks them on the basis of his perception. The two girls he gives the position of followers were not given much thought, except for their swim suit colors and their build. However, the girl that he ranked as the leader, or the ââ¬Å"Queenieâ⬠, received most of his attention. Other than the color of her hair and bikini, he mentions how ââ¬Å"there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just herâ⬠(Updike 530). Also, he notices that she held her head so high that her neck looked stretched, but he did not mind that because that meant ââ¬Å"the more of her there wasâ⬠(Updike 530). This shows that Sammy is extremely intrigued by the girls, especially Queenie, that the more he could examine her, the more satisfied he would be. She was something different from his everyday experiences. The colors described are significant to the theme of the story. The girls were described to be wearing plaid green, bright green and beige bikinis (Updike 529,530). They are presented as a contrast to the dull colors of the store. These bright colors represent a colorful and unknown province. Also, the floor of the grocery store is a checkerboard green-and-cream. Even though these colors are close to the colors of the girlsââ¬â¢ bathing suits, the checkerboard pattern dissolves the radiance of these colors against the curiosity in the girls itself. This was a new event in Sammyââ¬â¢s life. After all, a grocery store check-out clerk does a job such as this mostly out of necessity. Evidently Sammy has grown tired of rude customers. He describes one elderly female customer as ââ¬Å"a witch about fifty with rogue on her cheekbones and no eyebrowsâ⬠(Updike 529) when she caught him swiping one of her items twice. Sammy felt as though it pleased her to correct him. He imagines people who come shopping at A&P to be sad souls. He describes some other female customers as ââ¬Å"houseslaves in pin curlersâ⬠(Updike 531). Also, he designates the customers at the grocery store ââ¬Å"sheepsâ⬠while narrating the story. He seems to address the herd mentality that people tend to have ââ¬â to stick together when thereââ¬â¢s trouble. Clearly, he doesnââ¬â¢t look up to this cowardly behavior. He complains about this since the beginning of the story. However in the end he changes this attitude. Not only the customers and Stokesie, but Sammy does not respect the manager either. Although he has never been vocal about it, Sammy mocks Lengel in his head and accuses him of hiding behind the door labeled ââ¬Å"Managerâ⬠all day (Updike 532).This shows Lengelââ¬â¢s gutless personality. When Lengel walks in on the girls checking out, he asserts his authority and lets them know that they must dress appropriately in the store (Updike 532). It was the last straw for Sammy and he quits his job, even after Lengel warns him about it (Updike 533). Lengelââ¬â¢s warning further shows that he has always taken the safer way and thatââ¬â¢s why he has never been able to stand up for his beliefs. Sammy did not want to be someone like Lengel, so he decides to break free. When Sammy stands up for the girls, a part of him did expect some appreciation from them. But the underlying reason is much bigger than a simple ââ¬ËThank youââ¬â¢. It is about his freedom from the routine lifestyle that he was getting used to. Continuing the life he had would eventually lead to the same monotonous life that Stokesie and Lengel had. Also, Sammyââ¬â¢s course of action changes through the story. In the beginning he would complain about the people he came across and worked with, but he had not ever taken any step to change that. Quitting the job was the major step that would change his life. Although, he may not have a stable job anymore, this decision has definitely made him a better person. Work Cited Updike, John. ââ¬Å"A&P.â⬠1961. Approaching Literature: Writing + Reading + Thinking. Ed. Peter Schakel and Jack Ridl. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2008. 529-534. Print.
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