The Three Waves of Feminism

The Three Big Waves of Feminism First-Wave Feminism: Women’s Right to Vote In 1776, the then First Lady of the United States was the first to raise her about women’s rights, disclosing to her significant other to â€Å"remember the ladies† in his drafting of new laws, yet it took over 100 years for men like John Adams to really do as such. With the assistance of about six decided, and for this situation white upper-working class, ladies the principal wave women's liberation, which ranges from the nineteenth century to the mid twentieth century, at long last prompted their objective following 72 years of dissenting. The Nineteenth Amendment, which tied down the rights for ladies to cast a ballot at long last went in 1920.This thousand triumph brought different changes along, remembering changes for the instructive framework, in social insurance and in the working environment. Second-Wave Feminism: Personal Means Political The First-Wave was noteworthy to woman's r ights as it set up a sheltered balance from where ladies could begin. The second flood of women's liberation, in any case, was urgent to everything that trailed. This wave checked everything the mid 1960's to the late 1980's. Obviously woman's rights didn’t cease to exist totally, in the middle of the first and second wave women's liberation, as the media attempted to make numerous individuals believe.In certainty woman's rights was as yet a point among ladies; they just didn’t swarm at surveying stations any longer. Rather numerous little gatherings of ladies activists were battling for conception prevention or the ladies harmony development. At that point, during the Second World War ladies out of nowhere assumed a significant job as work powers and could experience independency. In spite of the fact that after the war, since the men were back with their celebrated courage, it was required of ladies to quietly head once more into the kitchen and showcase their  "natural† job as mother and spouse, which has been squeezed onto them from the very beginning. You can peruse likewise WavesObviously that didn’t agree with a large number of them. Anyway before the Women’s Liberation development and before the Sexual Revolution in 1968, there have been the Civil Rights Movement and the antiwar development. Those two were the initial two significant social developments to be shown through TV, just as they were the harbingers of the accompanying women's activist development. They demonstrated that ladies, as well, could get political. Ladies from Rosa Parks to Coretta Scott King caused political dissent to appear to be fundamental and supported numerous ladies all over America, paying little mind to race and ethnic foundation, to support their rights.It was the women's activist movement’s go then to get genuine individual and by getting genuine individual it didn’t get any less political. Ladies had enough of the lewd behavior and abusive behavior at home going on behind entryways, of being kept out of law and clinic al schools and along these lines being limited to low paid employments, of being restricted in household as well as in open circles. To make it short: ladies had enough of being looked down at. With these issues the key requests of this development were: â€Å"the right to protected and lawful fetus removal, the privilege to open and moderate childcare, and the equivalent open doors in training and employment†.Another request was more help of battered ladies' havens, and changes in authority and separation law. This influx of women's liberation raised the a large portion of changes with respect to ladies and laws. Governmental policy regarding minorities in society rights for ladies were broadened and acts like the Women’s Educational Equity Act, which permitted instructive correspondence for ladies, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which precluded â€Å"sex separation based on pregnancy†, were passed. Among these demonstrations a law went in 1975 that necessar y the U. S.Military Academies to concede ladies, just as conjugal assault was made illicit and the no-flaw separate from lawful. Despite the fact that the last two laws were not perceived by all states, it was as yet viewed as a huge achievement. In the mid 1980s the greatest quality of the subsequent wave, the fabulous assorted variety of women's liberation and associations, out of nowhere turned into its greatest shortcoming as the media began the supposed â€Å"feminist sex wars† by pitting ladies, particularly two of them, against one another, attempting to obliterate the picture of sisterhood pointedly.Even however the Women’s Liberation development obviously would not pick a pioneer, the media singled out Gloria Steinem as the pioneer of this development. Gloria Steinem was a solitary and childless profession lady, who contrasted marriage with prostitution and demanded that â€Å"if men could get pregnant, fetus removal would be a sacrament†. On the opposi te side there was the media’s sweetheart Phyllis Schlafly, who practically without any help cut down the Equal Rights Amendment. Otherwise called the ERA, this mendment requested that the â€Å"equality of rights under the law will not be denied nor condensed by the United States or any state on the record of sex†. It was first presented by Alice Paul in 1923, a lady really relatively revolutionary, yet didn’t get endorsed by enough states to get legitimized. Regardless of whether this happened in light of Phyllis Schlafly herself or the manner in which media introduced the women's activists of that time is easy to refute. At long last the ERA might not have gotten legitimized and ladies were as yet mistreated, yet sisterhood was a lot of alive and blooming.In sisterhood ladies discovered quality and with this newly discovered quality they began breaking the barricades which had been shielding them from ascending the vocation stepping stool and concluded that it was long past an ideal opportunity to begin assuming responsibility for their own lives. Third-Wave Feminism: Finally Diversity After ERA was vanquished, a huge measure of media inclusion over the alleged â€Å"death of feminism† showed up on the TV screen of Americans. The individuals who really trusted them were most likely gobsmacked by the third flood of women's liberation which discovered its beginning in the mid-90’s.Caused by the Clarence Thomas affirmation hearings and the apparent hate and scorn the informer, Anita Hill, was met with by the all-male jury, ladies concluded that once men crossed one line too much. The most clear contrast between the third wave development and its sisters the first and second wave developments was the embracement of assorted variety. With woman's rights getting worldwide it opened up for ladies of any race just as any social class, yet additionally discarded the mass media’s â€Å"ugly braless bubblehead† generaliz ation of women's activists with ladies like Pinkfloor expressing: â€Å"†It's conceivable to have a push-up bra and a cerebrum simultaneously. Being female and a women's activist was not, at this point totally unrelated and with the purported â€Å"grrl† women's activists, ladies began to appear as solid and engaging, while at the same time recovering everything ladylike, from wearing high-heels to lipstick. The key requests of the Third Wave are a lot harder to stick point, as the scope of issues developed by ladies worrying about the sex persecution as well as with monetary mistreatment and ecological issues as well.However one pivotal viewpoint was the deconstruction of straight out reasoning and its interminable assault on unreasonable excellence beliefs set for ladies since the time TV was concocted. The third flood of woman's rights has not finished at this point. It is history really taking shape, as new issues to manage emerge when old ones are tackled. The mos t likely most prominent accomplishment of these waves is the attention to abuse they’ve spread, the sentiment of network between ladies they made just as diverting woman's rights from a theoretical idea into a generally acknowledged truth.

History Of The Nigerian Mass Media Media Essay

History Of The Nigerian Mass Media Essay The developing pattern in Nigerias communicate industry after the entryways were opened up for private cooperation has been an example of overcoming adversity. The Nigerian country, in spite of introductory governments misgivings, has not crumpled. There has not been any instance of the utilization of the private stations to incite inconvenience nor sabotage the nation. Or maybe, what Nigerians appeared to have seen is the chance to pick. Rivalry in communicate programming realized by private stations has made some imperativeness and dynamic quality in the communicate division with the end goal that even numerous legislature claimed stations that were nearly soaking in exhausting and dreary monologs of what the administration said, etc have been compelled to surrender their sleep. It has been a colossal bit of leeway for the Nigerian aviation routes for the deregulation of its aviation routes. The legislatures fears got unwarranted with the praiseworthy fearlessness of General Ibrahim Babaginda (organization) who on August 24, 1992, opened up the doors to permit private people and gatherings the chance to claim, control and work communicate stations. In any case, for quite a while, government clutched its selective imposing business model of the communicate media since it believed it couldn't confide in the expert attentiveness of private people to ensure open interests or shield the countries security. It would be reviewed that progressive military adventurists thought that it was a helpful technique to execute their upsets on the wireless transmissions of the countries communicate media. The legislature presumably felt the country was not ready for private responsibility for stations. In the interim, decades later the previous governments acknowledged they have been off-base in light of the fact that the deregulation extended the business and improved the productivity and adequacy of communicate stations in the nation. Deregulation in Nigeria has helped the nation as well as lift the opportunity of articulation and furthermore advance the nature of broadcasting in Nigeria. Besides, they have additionally invigorated social and monetary development and advancement in the nation. Truth be told, notwithstanding anything, it has given greater work chances to Nigerians and a vehicle for sponsors and promoting professionals. With the happening to private TV slots, the substance of transmission in Nigeria has been changed forever for good. For one, it has brought the stake up in the business, as stations, both open and private, presently rivalry is getting quicker constantly. Today, watchers have more stations to look over, dissimilar to in the past when NTA and state stations held influence. This has meant more projects. One of the aftermaths of communicate deregulation is the upsurge in the flourishing exercises of autonomous makers. As a result of the alternatives and scope gave by a deregulated communicate advertise, free makers, the majority of who had been baffled out of common assistance media stations have new chances to feature their abilities. Furthermore, the work advertise in the communicate part, in the wake of deregulation, offered better possibilities as managers tricked the couple of accessible gifts with better compensations. Poaching before long turned into the request for the day as most government stations that neglected to value the value of their on-air gifts and different experts in the news, projects, and building directorates lost them to the up and coming outfits. Notwithstanding the advantage of deregulation in Nigeria, the responsibility for media stations by people hungers for path for genuine majority rules system. It is certainty that an administration claimed communicate station would not have any desire to communicate whatever would imperil or discolor the picture of the legislature. Consequently, laborers in such media house would think that its hard to communicate corrupt accounts of the administration as a result of the dread of losing his employment. Be that as it may, the nearness of private media houses gives space for simple distribution of governments corrupt stories. The reason for mass correspondence as a guard dog for the majority gets compelling in this viewpoint in light of the fact that a contextual analysis of Nigeria uncovers that a private media house won't stop for a second to communicate any report that would or not discolor the picture of the legislature. This they would accomplish in excess of an administration clai med station. Besides, it is prominent that deregulating the aviation routes as been one of the key choices the Nigerian government has taken. Another favorable position of the deregulation of the aviation routes is the demonstration of communicate on-line. The private media houses in Nigeria encourage the development and increment of web-throwing. In Nigeria today, practically all private media houses have their projects communicated on-line through web-throwing. Every one of these focal points of deregulation of the aviation routes in Nigeria have contributed colossally in improving the economy of the nation. It has improved the economy on the grounds that such a large number of people have set up such a significant number of media houses which have additionally expanded the quantities of the utilized particularly the individuals who had gone to class to concentrate in the predetermined field of mass correspondence and news-casting. In addition, as the standard of the business improves, it makes the business to be fit for contending with different nations enterprises. Likewise, another bit of leeway which a communicate station has is the capacity of instructing its audience members. Deregulation in Nigeria which gives space for the surge in of more media houses settle on watchers have options of been instructed. It builds the capacity of media houses to make its crowd instructed and aware of where they live in. Promotion on communicate stations likewise make attention to the majority, such a significant number of communicate stations in any event, when people claimed stations have ruled the aviation routes publicize bunches of items and administrations. Above all, it fills in as a medium where makers or business visionaries uncover their items or administrations to the individuals. Additionally, it fills in as a medium the crowd becomes acquainted with about new items and new turn of events. At last, in view of the accentuation of the significance and necessities of the deregulation of the Nigerian aviation routes, the deregulation of the aviation routes was essential and has profited the nation massively. There is additionally a splendid possibility in front of the business even as these people who continue swarming into the business continue guzzling new and well enhancing thoughts which would improve it to its pinnacle of standard. So along these lines, in fact the sky is a venturing stone for the business.

Blog Archive MBA News How to Interpret HBSs Application Changes

Blog Archive MBA News How to Interpret HBSs Application Changes With the start of application season for fall 2014 enrollment, Harvard Business School (HBS) announced two significant changes last weekâ€"it now requires only two letters of recommendation (instead of the previous three) and has replaced its two 400-word essays with just one open-ended question without any word limit: “You’re applying to Harvard Business School. We can see your resume, school transcripts, extra-curricular activities, awards, post-MBA career goals, test scores and what your recommenders have to say about you. What else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy?” To help interpret these changes, the Wall Street Journal asked mbaMission founder and president Jeremy Shinewald to weigh in on possible motivations. While eliminating the essay may lighten the load for applicants, Shinewald says that these changes could also make the process easier on the admissions end of things: “By cutting a few hundred words from a few thousand applications, schools can evaluate candidates more quickly. … It may also be a sign that schools are adapting to the way applicants communicate these days, relying more on Tweets, emails and blog posts than on long correspondence.” The WSJ also points out that by making the application more “approachable,” competition among applicants could get steeper, consequently placing greater emphasis on the interview. For the class that will be entering this fall, HBS reportedly saw application volumes hit 9,315 compared with 8,963 the previous year. Ultimately, the school admits approximately 1,100 of those applicants. Despite this approachability, you will still likely be scratching your head over how to tackle such a broad question. Having the personalized guidance of an admissions consultant may be a good option for determining what else about you the admissions committee ought to consider. Start by reading our HBS essay analysis, and then sign up for a  free, 30-minute consultation with an mbaMission Senior Consultant! Share ThisTweet Harvard University (Harvard Business School) News

Critique Of The Performance Management Process - 835 Words

Critique of the Performance Management Process Today’s businesses need to have systems in place to identify, recognize, reward, and retain their top performers to achieve sustainable growth (Oberoi Rajgarhie, 2013). Therefore, having a well-developed performance management process in place allows the employer and employee to communicate goals, share information, and establish career growth. Performance management needs to contribute to the success of the organization while providing a positive impact on the employees. Therefore, performance planning and performance execution are two components of the performance management process that are critical in achieving success. Performance planning is a key component of the performance management process that includes employee results, behaviors, and development plan (Aguinis, 2013). During this phase, individual career success as well as organizational success is outlined. The employee expectations and goals are established, w hich help achieve departmental and organizational goals and objectives. Engaging the employee in the planning process, helps them understand the goals of the organization, their individual contribution, and the end results if objectives are achieved. The planning phase is critical as this component holds the employee accountable for their work assignments and responsibilities. Therefore, defining goals should be a joint process between the manager and the employee. The employee is responsibleShow MoreRelatedCritique Of The Performance Management Process Essay970 Words   |  4 PagesCritique of the Performance Management Process â€Å"Performance appraisal encroaches upon ‘one of the most emotionally charged activities in business life – the assessment of a man’s contribution and ability† (Narcisse Harcourt, 2008, p. 1152; Thompson Dalton, 1970, p. 150). The performance management process is a tool organizations use to align the mission and strategic goals with the employee’s expectations. Furthermore, the process can groom employees to perform at their optimum potential (SchanieRead MorePerformance Appraisal Critique1536 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Performance appraisal is a method which is increasingly used to evaluate employees to determine the degree to which they are performing effectively and encourage them to direct their energies towards organizational performance. Although the appraisal is being practiced, there are criticisms made against the system which generally arise from within the Orthodox and radical management frame work. This essay outlines the orthodox and radical critiques respectively and suggests whetherRead MoreRole Of Business Intelligence On Business Performance Management1324 Words   |  6 PagesBusiness Intelligence in Business Performance Management’, Volume 1(Issue 04) Summary: These paper focusses on how to apply analytics to business process and how BPM encompasses a closed loop set of processes that link strategy to execution in order to optimize business performance, which is achieved by setting goals and objectives and establishing initiatives and plans to achieve those goals and the last taking corrective action against the situations. Critique: A real time system that alertsRead MoreHow Does New Public Management Change The Public Sector?1344 Words   |  6 PagesHow did New Public Management change the public sector? New Public Management is the use of private sector and business approaches in the public sector in order to achieve efficiency, efficacy and quality in the delivery of public services. As a positive consequence of this, there have been increasingly positive changes through the reforms that have been implemented by New Public Management into the public sector. This paper will uncover these reforms by discussing the establishment, core principlesRead MoreA Discussion of the Orthodox and Radical Critiques of1941 Words   |  8 PagesThough performance appraisal has become an integral part of modern organizations and a crucial aspect in performance management in assessing their effectiveness and efficiency. Its critiques have continued as appraisals have increase in use and scope across sectors and occupation. The two dominant schools have been that of orthodox and radical critiques. This paper will discuss some of the orthodox and radical critiques of performance appraisal and evaluat es the recent innovation of 360 degree feedbackRead MoreSoldiers Lead A Unique And Exclusive Military Lifestyle1523 Words   |  7 Pagesexperience than the supported person, coaching relies primarily on teaching and guiding to help bring out and enhance current capabilities. A coach assists young service member, being coached, to comprehend and increase in value, their current level of performance and potential. Instructs those service members on how to reach their next level of knowledge and skills. Mentorship remains as the voluntary developmental relationship, that exists between a Soldier of greater experience and a Soldier of lesserRead MoreDiscussion Pay And Benefits For Employees879 Words   |  4 Pagespositions? 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They used a phenomenology design in which to explore there lived experiences. Their research sample included children who were the age of six to twelve, could verballyRead MoreFactors That Newly Relegated Burnley Football Club Faces When Implementing Budgetary Strategies1560 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract In this report I will discuss the difficulties that newly relegated Burnley football club faces when implementing budgetary strategies. I aim to illustrate how financial planning and more specifically Zero-Based budgeting can enhance a clubs management of finances and create financial stability. Equally, I will try and present how variance analysis can be used to measure the success of budgetary projections within organisations and more specifically within the sports industry. 2. IntroductionRead MoreStrategy And Performance Management At Dsm1231 Words   |  5 PagesStrategy and Performance Management at DSM Performance management is the process of planning work assignments, setting expectations, monitoring processes, rating performance, and rewarding performance. Performance management systems are used by organizations to identify, measure, and develop the performance of individuals and teams. The goal of an effective performance management system is to strategically align employee performance with company goals and objectives (Smither London, 2009). In

Theories And Frameworks Of Csr - 1315 Words

1.2 – Models and Frameworks There are various theories and frameworks of CSR that helps organisations to attain a positive position in society. These are as follow: 1.2(a) - Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility The modern definition of CSR is rooted in Carroll’s Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility. This model outlined the four different elements of CSR which include economic responsibility, legal responsibility, ethical responsibility and philanthropic responsibility. (Carroll, 1979). The pyramid is widely used by businesses because it explains the key areas that firms are responsible to their stakeholders. According the Carroll’s Pyramid a corporate have four types of responsibilities. The model has economic†¦show more content†¦After satisfying the top responsibility, attention turns to the second and so on. 1.2 (b)- Stakeholder Shareholder Theory Today world’s largest firms claim to have CSR at the centre of their corporate strategy. Those corporations usually fail to put their words into action which exploit CSR as a good means of PR to improve their brand image and reputation. Therefore, Edward Freeman (1984), proposed stakeholder theory and recognised it as an important element of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This theory states that an organisation owes a responsibility to a wider group of stakeholders, other than just shareholders. In order to succeed and be sustainable over time, executives must keep the interests of employees, customers, suppliers, communities and shareholders aligned and going in the same direction. (Freeman, E. R., 1984) Stakeholder theory is revolutionary because it gives a completely different perception of firms. The three key points of the theory includes instrumental power, descriptive accuracy and normative validity (Freeman, E. R., 1984). 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BesideRead MoreCorporate Social Responsibility1015 Words   |  5 Pagesare giving more attention to develop a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and mainly their core values. Core values are used in marketing strategies (Berry, 1999) also in customer-retention management in order to create distinctive, long-lasting relationships with customers (Prahald and Ramaswamy, 2004; Normann, 2001) and stakeholders (Pruzan, 1998; Post et a, 2002). The interaction with a stakeholder and concerns a business operation use to understood CSR as the voluntary integration of environmentalRead MoreCorporate So cial Responsibility : Csr979 Words   |  4 Pagesmany years. In spite of the fact that CSR has been neglected for quite a long time, nowadays several authors deal with this issue, as revealed by the development of theories in recent years concerning the topic. In spite of the fact that there has been a huge growth of literature it is still impossible to simply define CSR. Many definitions trying to capture the concept of CSR exist, but their content varies (Matten Moon, 2008). The principal idea of CSR is that organisations should agree thatRead MoreThe Link Between Corporate Social Responsibility And The Competitive Advantage Of A Company1332 Words   |  6 Pageslink between Corporate Social Responsibility the competitive advantage of a company is often viewed to be positive if environmental limits, social needs corporate interests are all coordinated within the given framework (Porter Kramer, 2011). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be classified as the actions of firms that contribute to social welfare, beyond what is required for profit maximization (McWilliams, 2015). Economist Milton Friedman famously stated that, â€Å"a corporation’s responsibilityRead MoreManagerial Perceptions On Occupational Health And Safety1742 Words   |  7 Pagesnew technologies coming in we will see a shift of population from agriculture to non-agriculture sectors. That will be the time when CSR and OHS will be on limelight for Nepal. Today in Nepal, Financial Institutions and some Manufacturing Companies are voluntarily disclosing Occupational Health and Safetyalong with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Statement. CSR have been a hot topic in the decade. Corporate are also citizens of a country who utilises infrastructure, resources of a country inRead MoreCostco Wholesale Corporation Ethical Framework For Decision Making951 Words   |  4 PagesCostco Wholesale Corporation Ethical Framework for decision-making To examine Costco Wholesale Corporation ethical framework for business decisions and identify the consequences and tradeoffs of those decisions. Costco’s ethical posture Costco Wholesale Corporation, the third largest US retailer, is a membership-only warehouse club that sells in high volume, low price products. Costco prides itself on keeping low prices for the consumer, as evidenced by the brief period they stopped selling Coca-ColaRead MoreAnglo American Corporate Social Responsibility1501 Words   |  7 PagesAnglo-American corporate social responsibility (CSR) has rapidly expanded. This essay will review the important concept around Anglo-American CSR, its development and provide a verdict on the extent whether liberalisation, globalisation, and developments in the markets for debts and equity are impacting the tradition view of an Anglo-American public corporation and the nature of its social responsibility. 2. Tradition view of Anglo-Saxon corporate and CSR According to the research from Cernat (2004)Read MoreCorporate Social Responsibility Of The International Organization1562 Words   |  7 Pagesorganization, which means that government have no control over their practices, according to (Gideon Rachman, 2011) â€Å"FIFA cannot be held accountable†. (Grant and Keohane, 2005, p.35) cited in, How can FIFA be held accountable?, analyzed a comprehensive framework, in which the mechanism of Hierarchical accountability was examined, in FIFA’s case, the governance structure and executive body are not required to report to higher authority, the president is only accountable to the FIFA congress (FIFA, 2010),

John F. Kennedy The President Of The United States

I selected John Fitzgerald Kennedy or JFK for my research because I did not know much about him. Initially, I knew that he was the 35th president of the United States. Kennedy is also one of the four presidents who were assassinated while in office. JFK himself was not only famous, but his marriage was well known as well because his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, was a social face that was admired all over the world. I did not know much about the aspect of his presidency, but thought that ethically he was not a moral man. Kennedy was involved in rumors that he was unfaithful in his marriage and had affairs with many women, including Marilyn Monroe. As I researched more on John F. Kennedy, I learned how complicated and interesting his life and presidency was. Even before Kennedy became the 35th president of the United States, he showed reputable characteristics of a tremendous leader. JFK initially was in the military, specifically the U.S. Navy, serving in World War II (O’Reilly 20). From the events that he experienced during his time in the navy, Kennedy learned to persevere through tough times and that he had leadership qualities in him. Through his presidency a coconut could be seen sitting on his desk in the oval office to remind him of ultimately the place that began his career in politics (O’Reilly 32). It is important for a president to think back of the previous life that he lead before he became the most essential man in the country. Because of Kennedy’s backgroundShow MoreRelatedJohn F Kennedy And The President Of The United States2011 Words   |  9 Pagesof her greatest icons that she had. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States was killed with just under three years in office. Although this man was killed with just over half of his term in office accomplished many things that Americans now consider him to be the most influential person to have held the office of president of the united states, a s well as an instigator of significant social change. John F Kennedy was a President that fought for civil rights for aRead MoreJohn F. Kennedy s President Of The United States Essay1854 Words   |  8 Pagescountry.† John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was the top rated and popular president the U.S. has ever had. During his roughly 1000 days in office he had an approval rating of 70% with the closest being Dwight Eisenhower with 65%. Since then, 74% of people believe he did an above average or outstanding job while only 3% believe he did a below average or poor job. With all of those facts, November 22, 1963, may go down as one of the most controversial days in the United States ofRead MoreJohn F. Kennedy s President Of The United States1813 Words   |  8 PagesJohn F. Kennedy When John F Kennedy served as the 35th president of the United States his overall goal was to issue civil rights for everyone. Fortunately, he was very successful in doing so when he achieved this goal before being assassinated. Many people would argue his presidency was a failure due to the Cuban missile crisis that almost started a nuclear war, however, due to Kennedy s leadership we were able to come to a peaceful agreement. John F Kennedy was successful in office because heRead MoreJohn F. Kennedy s President Of The United States1171 Words   |  5 Pagescase it is the former president of the United Sates John F. Kennedy, one of the most legendary president of the United States. He is listed as the youngest elected president and die at the heart of its mandate to the presidency of the United States, killed two years after entering the White House. Today it remains the only American president of the Catholic faith; and the current president of the United States Barack Obama con sidered the first black president of the United States. The two men who haveRead MoreAnalysis Of President John F. Kennedy s Short Term As President Of The United States1544 Words   |  7 PagesEssay- President John F. Kennedy MSgt Corey B. Kennedy Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy For two years and ten months, America had a visionary leader that inspired a generation to achieve things as a country once thought impossible. For two years and ten months, America had a president that used ethical leadership in decisions that impacted not just the United States, but the world as a whole, and left a lasting legacy. There are a many defining moments from President John F. Kennedy’sRead MoreJohn F Kennedy served as the 35th president of the United States until his term tragically was cut1200 Words   |  5 PagesJohn F Kennedy served as the 35th president of the United States until his term tragically was cut short by a communist sympathizer on November 22, 1963. On November 22, 1963 the United States lost its innocence. The majority of Americans mourned and felt the pain of his assassination. America watched his assassin meet his own demise from their homes, and watched his widow march down the street of Washington in her husband’s funeral profession, and grown men wept when young John Jr. saluted his FathersRead MoreKennedy Won The Democratic Convention953 Words   |  4 PagesRowe funded Humphrey’s campaign in hopes that Humphrey would defeat John F. Kennedy. Moreover, Rowe thought that this would lead to Johnson’s path of the presidency (Peters, P. 62) However; i t was too late because Kennedy was dominating the presidential nominations. Instead, Johnson was relying on his running mate Humphrey to win the Democratic Convention. Ultimately, Johnson hoped that Humphrey would choose him to be his vice president if Humphrey won the Democratic Convention. Johnson believed thatRead MoreJohn F. Kennedys Life, Struggles, and Accomplishments Essay872 Words   |  4 Pages John F. Kennedy’s beginnings These words said by a powerful president, who had helped this country not only be successful but a very strong country. John F. Kennedy said these words to tell Americans, you need to care for your country not just yourself. John F. Kennedy was not only a president but he was in the U.S. Navy, which I think means he has pride in his country and was willing to do anything he could do to make it a better place. In chronological order I will discuss John F. Kennedy’sRead MoreJohn F. Kennedy Not Only A Great President But A Naval897 Words   |  4 PagesJohn F. Kennedy not only a great president but a naval hero to our country. He stopped The Cuban Missile Crisis in which was almost a nuclear world war and he is recognized as one of the best presidents ever. John F. Kennedy is one of the greatest presidents ever and he had many great achievements. John F. Kennedy was president from January 20, 1961 through November 22,1963 when he was assassinated in Texas. John F. Kennedy was born on May 29th, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was the 35thRead Moreâ€Å"Forgive Your Enemies, But Never Forget Their Names.† –John1302 Words   |  6 Pagestheir names.† –John F Kennedy This quote was said by a man who was once someone that the American people would call the 35th President of the United States. John F. Kennedy was a very young President, as well as a very good looking president. Women would swoon over the idea of John F. Kennedy but also be jealous of his wife that he was married to at the time. John F. Kennedy is well known for his affair with Marilyn Monroe the world’s leading bombshell blonde in the 1960’s. This President is also well

Ceasar Charater Analysis Essay Example For Students

Ceasar Charater Analysis Essay Ceasar Charater analysis Character Analysis Antony- What Cassius says about Antony: You know not whatthat which he will utter? Pg. 582 lines 233-236. This shows that the conspirators are afraid of what Antony will say in his oration to the mob. Cassius is trying to make Brutus see what Antony is really up to, but Brutus is too caught up in honor to notice. What Antony does: He speaks to the crowd making them feel sorry for him, ashamed of themselves, and hate the conspirators. He causes them to go into an angry rage in scene 3. What Antony feels: O pardon me thougentle with these butchers. Pg. 582 lines 254-236. Antony has made a deal with the conspirators that have killed his best friend. This quote is after the conspirators have left, and he is talking to the corpse of Caesar. He spills his true intentions and gives word of his counter conspiracy. He feels that even though the men are honorable, that they have butchered a man that could have been reasoned with and brought out of what it was he did wrong. What Antony says: Let each man render me his bloody handMy credit now stands on such slippery ground that one of two bad ways you must conceit me. Pg. 580 lines 184-194 He leads the conspirators on to trust him, when in fact, he wants to be able to speak to the mob. He uses a vicious pun so that he knows what he is talking about, but the conspirators think that he is simply talking about the blood on the ground being slippery. Caesar- What Caesar says: Et tu Brute? Then fall Caesar! Pg. 577 line 77 Caesar is shocked that Brutus, his most loyal friend would do this. His mask comes off at this point and shows his personal face. Throughout the play, he has put himself as an arrogant official, and only when he is around his friends does he show his true identity. This is so important because marks the point when Caesars spirit enters Antonys revenge. The play comes to its climax in this line. What Caesar does: Caesar refuses to let Publius Cimber back into Rome. He, in a way, kills himself by the way he responds. He puts himself up as a god-like man and almost says he is in control of his own destiny. This gives the conspirators final reason to kill him, and they do. What Antony says about Caesar: Through his oration, Antony shows all of Caesars good traits, and attacks the bad ones. He says that Caesar was generous, using the will as a testament to that, and he states that Caesar would weep with the people if ever the people wept. The Mob What the mob says: It is no matter, his name is Cinna. Pluck but his name out of his heart, and turn him going. Pg. 593 lines 30-31 The mob does not care that Cinna is not a conspirator. He just is unfortunately and ironically the first they stumble upon. More ironic is that his name is the same as one of the conspirators. The mix up of names can be deadly, and this is proof of it. What the mob does: Tear him, tear him! Come, brands. Ho, firebrands-to Brutus, to Cassius! Burn all. Burn Decius house and some to Cascas, some to Ligarius. Away, go! Pg. 593 lines 32-33. They murder the innocent Cinna because he, tragically, has the same name as a conspirator. The mob treats him indecently and unfairly, and he is killed as a result. Antony had riled the mob up, before this tragic scene. They were made to feel sorry for Antony and ashamed they had revoked Caesar. .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 , .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 .postImageUrl , .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 , .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5:hover , .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5:visited , .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5:active { border:0!important; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5:active , .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5 .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc234a302677b2cb70306019f92bb07f5:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Aborigines And Their Place In Politics Essay They were after the conspirators. When they confront Cinna, Shakespeare shows them as an intelligent Roman mob. Even the best of people can be horrible in large groups. They brutally murder Cinna and have no remorse afterward. What Brutus thinks of the mob: Brutus conceives the mob as an inte. .lligent group of Romans. This is his flaw. He thinks that the citizens will accept his intellectual approach to the murder. He has put it on a higher plane that the mob cannot understand, so they are left confused and vulnerable to Antonys speech. Brutus What Brutus says: not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more. Brutus is addressing the angry crowd after the murder, trying to calm them with reasons. These reasons, however, are not only for the crowd. Brutus is attempting to convince himself that the murdering was a just cause. He uses Caesars ambition as another excuse, only trying to convince himself more. What Brutus does: Brutus gives the last blow to Caesar before he falls over in a lifeless lump on the floor. Brutus has betrayed his best friend, for an ideal. Caesar cannot believe this and takes off the mask of arrogance for just one moment before his death. We find it ironic that such a noble man, as Brutus would kill his most beloved friend and leader. What Antony says about Brutus: O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, that I am meek and gentle with these butchers! Antony, himself, can hardly believe what Brutus has done with the other conspirators, and talks to the bloody corpse in a strange confusion. He is implying, most undoubtedly, that Brutus was the worst of them all, and Antony was kindest to him. Cinna (the poet) What Cinna says: I dreamt tonight that I did feast with Caesar, and things unluckily charge my fantasy. I have no will to wander forth of doors, yet something leads me forth. Pg. 592 lines 1-4. Cinna knows that something is brewing amongst the gods, but he is still compelled to go forth with the day. Not only does this prediction foreshadow the bloody scenes of the following acts but also symbolizes Brutus in that his mind did not want to continue. Rome was the something that was leading him forth. What citizen 1 says about Cinna: Tear him to pieces. He is a conspirator. Pg. 593 line 26. The citizens have no remorse for the innocent poet and kill him quickly. This foreshadows the upcoming battle of Romans fighting Romans. Cassius What Cassius says: I fear our purpose is discovered. Pg. 575 line 17 and Be sudden for we fear prevention. Brutus, what shall be done? If this be knownI will slay myself. Pg. 575 lines 19-22. Cassius shows his paranoia and his fear of what Antony will do when he finds out. He shows how suicidal he is and that he will eventually kill himself due to stress. He is a weak man when he is under pressure, but he seeks change in his dull life as a Senator. To rid himself of some of the stress, he suggests that they also kill Antony. What Brutus says to Cassius: Cassius, be constant. Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes. Pg. 575 lines 23-24 Brutus acknoledges Cassius paranoia, and tries to comfort him. This is very naive of him to try and bring Cassius defenses at a very crucial moment. What Cassius does: Stoop then, and wash. How many eyes hence shall this our lofty scene be acted over. Lines 111-112. Cassius says this to get support and love from Brutus. His line marks the transition form true reasons for killing Caesar and Roman honor to the primitive and bloody act they had just committed. Brutus does not realize this transition and continues with what he had come to do. The act of washing the blood symbolizes, to Cassius, that Brutus is washing his love for Caesar away, leaving room for Cassius. Casca While Casca himself does not play a large role in this act, he plays a large role later in the play because he was the first to strike Caesar, and in the back is even more significant. .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 , .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 .postImageUrl , .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 , .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880:hover , .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880:visited , .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880:active { border:0!important; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: tabl e; clear: both; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880:active , .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left: 18px; top: 0; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880 .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u475b6c68b6aaf6b616f0ff0cd4a42880:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: International business law, go Essay

5 of the Best Plays by Tennessee Williams

5 of the Best Plays by Tennessee Williams From the 1930s until his death in 1982, Tennessee Williams crafted some of America’s most beloved dramas. His lyrical dialogue drips with his special brand of Southern Gothic a style found in fiction writers such as Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner (but not seen too often upon the stage). During his lifetime, he created over thirty full-length plays, in addition to short stories, memoirs, and poetry. His golden age, however, took place between 1945 and 1961. During this time, he created his most powerful plays. Among those are five that will forever remain among the best dramas for the  stage. These classics were instrumental in making Tennesee Williams one of the best playwrights of modern times and they continue to be audience favorites. #5 – The Rose Tattoo Many consider this Williams’ most comedic play. Originally on Broadway in 1951, The Rose Tattoo tells the story of Serafina Delle Rose, a passionate Sicilian widow who lives with her daughter in Louisiana. The play explores the theme of newfound romance after a long period of loneliness. The author described The Rose Tattoo as â€Å"the Dionysian element in human life.† For those of you who don’t wish to run to your Greek mythology book, Dionysus, the God of Wine, represented pleasure, sexuality, and rebirth. Tennessee Williams’ comedy/drama exemplifies all of the above. Interesting Tidbits: The Rose Tattoo was dedicated to his lover, Frank Merlo.In 1951, The Rose Tattoo won Tony Awards for Best Actor, Actress, and Play.Italian actress Anna Magnani won an Oscar for her portrayal of Serafina in the 1955 film adaptation of The Rose Tattoo . #4 – Night of the Iguana When I was 12 years old, I stayed up late to watch what I thought was going to be a midnight monster movie about a Radioactive Iguana who destroys Japanese cities. Instead, I ended up watching an adaptation of Tennessee Williams play Night of the Iguana . There are no oversized lizard creatures, but there is the compelling main character, ex-Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon. Expelled from his church community, he has turned from a respected minister into an alcoholic tour guide who leads his disgruntled group to a small Mexican resort town. Shannon is tempted by the lustful widow, Maxine, who owns a seedy hotel. However, it seems his true calling is to emotionally connect with an impoverished, gentle-hearted painter, Miss Hannah Jelkes. They form a bond more complex and fulfilling than Maxine could ever offer. Interesting Tidbits: The original 1961 Broadway production featured Betty Davis in the role of the seductive and lonely Maxine.The 1964 film adaptation was directed by the prolific and versatile John Huston.Like the main character, Tennessee Williams struggled with depression and alcoholism. #3 – The Glass Menagerie Many argue that Williams’ first major success is his strongest play. To be sure, The Glass Menagerie exhibits the playwright at his most personal. The play is ripe with autobiographical revelations: The absent father in The Glass Menagerie is a traveling salesman – like Williams’ father.The fictional Wingfield family lived in St. Louis, as did Williams and his real-life family.Tom Wingfield and Tennessee Williams share the same first name. The playwrights real name is Thomas Lanier Williams III. The fragile Laura Wingfield was modeled after Tennessee Williams’ sister, Rose. In real life, she suffered from schizophrenia and was eventually given a partial lobotomy, a destructive operation from which she never recovered. It was a constant source of heartache for Williams. Considering the biographical connections, the regretful monologue at the play’s end feels like a personal confession. Tom: Then all at once my sister touches my shoulder. I turn around and look into her eyes... Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be! I reach for a cigarette, I cross the street, I run into the movies or a bar, I buy a drink, I speak to the nearest stranger anything to blow your candles out! For nowadays the world is lit by lightning! Blow your candles out, Laura and so good-bye... Interesting Tidbits: Paul Newman directed the 1980s film adaptation which starred his wife Joanne Woodward.The film contains an interesting moment not found in the original play: Amanda Wingfield actually succeeds in selling a magazine subscription over the phone. It sounds trivial, but it’s actually presented as a heartwarming triumph for the character – a rare beam of light in an otherwise gray and weary world. #2 – A Streetcar Named Desire   Of the major plays by Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire contains the most explosive moments. This is perhaps his most popular play. Thanks to director Elia Kazan, Marlon Brando, and Vivian Leigh, it became a motion picture classic. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, you have probably seen the iconic clip in which Brando screams for his wife, â€Å"Stella!!!!† Blanche Du Bois serves as the delusional, often vexing but ultimately sympathetic protagonist. Leaving behind her sordid past, she moves into the dilapidated New Orleans apartment of her co-dependent sister and brother-in-law, Stanley – the dangerously virile and brutish antagonist. Many academic and armchair debates have involved Stanley Kowalski. Some have argued that the character is nothing more than an apelike villain/rapist. Others believe that he represents the harsh reality in contrast to Du Bois’ impractical romanticism. Still, some scholars have interpreted the two characters as being violently and erotically drawn to one another.   From an actor’s viewpoint,  Streetcar  might be Williams best work. After all, the character of Blanche Du Bois delivers some of the most rewarding  monologues  in modern theater. Case in point, in this provocative scene, Blanche recounts the tragic death of her late husband: Blanche: He was a boy, just a boy, when I was a very young girl. When I was sixteen, I made the discovery love. All at once and much, much too completely. It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow, thats how it struck the world for me. But I was unlucky. Deluded. There was something different about the boy, a nervousness, a softness and tenderness which wasnt like a mans, although he wasnt the least bit effeminate looking still that thing was there ... He came to me for help. I didnt know that. I didnt find out anything till after our marriage when wed run away and come back and all I knew was Id failed him in some mysterious way and wasnt able to give the help he needed but couldnt speak of! He was in the quicksands and clutching at me but I wasnt holding him out, I was slipping in with him! I didnt know that. I didnt know anything except I loved him unendurably but without being able to help him or help myself. Then I foun d out. In the worst of all possible ways. By coming suddenly into a room that I thought was empty which wasnt empty, but had two people in it ... the boy I had married and an older man who had been his friend for years ...Afterward we pretended that nothing had been discovered. Yes, the three of us drove out to Moon Lake Casino, very drunk and laughing all the way.We danced the Varsouviana! Suddenly, in the middle of the dance the boy I had married broke away from me and ran out of the casino. A few moments later a shot!I ran out all did! all ran and gathered about the terrible thing at the edge of the lake! I couldnt get near for the crowding. Then somebody caught my arm. Dont go any closer! Come back! You dont want to see! See? See what! Then I heard voices say Allan! Allan! The Grey boy! Hed stuck the revolver into his mouth, and fired so that the back of his head had been blown away!It was because on the dance floor unable to stop myself Id suddenly said I saw! I know ! You disgust me ... And then the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off again and never for one moment since has there been any light thats stronger than this kitchen candle ... Interesting Tidbits: After debuting the role of Blanche on Broadway, Jessica Tandy was originally supposed to play the role in the film. It seems that she didnt have the star power to attract movie goers. Olivia de Havilland turned down the role and it was given to Vivien Leigh.Vivien Leigh won an Oscar for Best Actress in the film, as did supporting actors Karl Malden and Kim Hunter. Marlon Brando, however, did not win Best Actor though he was nominated. That title went to Humphrey Bogart for The African Queen in 1952. #1 - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof This play blends elements of tragedy and hope, earning its place as the most powerful work of Tennessee Williams’ collection. The taciturn protagonist Brick Pollitt struggles with alcoholism, the loss of his youth, the death of a loved one, and several other inner demons, not the least of which might be his repressed  sexual identity.   Brick is devastated over the suicide of his friend Skipper who killed himself after he tried to discuss his feelings. When Brick and his father finally determine the source of his angst, the protagonist learns about self-forgiveness and acceptance. Cat represents the most headstrong of the playwright’s female characters. Like other women in Williams’ plays, she experiences adversity. But instead of verging on insanity or wallowing in nostalgia, she â€Å"claws and scratches† her way out of obscurity and poverty. She conveys unbridled sexuality, yet we learn that she is ultimately a faithful wife who lures her husband back to the marriage bed by the play’s end. The third major character in  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is Big Daddy, the wealthy and powerful patriarch of the Pollitt family. He exhibits many negative traits. He is gruff, callous, and verbally abusive. Yet, when Brick and the audience learn that Big Daddy is on the brink of death, he gains out sympathy. More than this, when he overcomes despair and bravely embraces the little remainder of his life, he earns our solemn respect. The inevitable death of the father awakens a long-overdue sense of purpose with the son. Brick decides to return to the bedroom with the ambition of starting a family. Hence Tennessee Williams shows us that despite the unavoidable losses throughout our lives, loving relationships can endure and a meaningful life can be attained. Interesting Tidbits: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof won the Pulitzer Prize in 1955.The play was adapted into a 1958 film which starred Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, and Burl Ives, who originated the role of Big Daddy on Broadway.

Social Linguistics essays

Social Linguistics essays Linguistics is a major part of the anthropology field. Today, one of the largest obstacles in anthropology, is language groups becoming endangered. During the last couple years they have become more concerned about groups that are switching from the original language to a different one that has more power and opportunities. The other reason why linguists have become concerned is the groups are becoming so small that there is very little chance of continuing use of the groups language. The problem now is the extinction of languages, the loss of cultures, and the people they symbolize. There are different ways of explaining endangered languages, the easiest definition would be, languages below some critical number of speakers. (Kindell 1) Less spoken languages are in more danger, but the complex social, economic, political, or religious are major factors for the teaching of an original language from parents to their children. Nancy Dorian from the International Journal of the Sociology of Language describes three symptoms of language death, she says they are due to fewer speakers, fewer domains of use, and structural simplification. As of right now there a few options we can do to be involved with endangered languages. One, do absolutely nothing; deal with the changes in language use as normal. A second option is to attempt some sort of language maintenance program. Such as, language development plans, including education, literature production, and translation. There are certain problems for such a plan. A couple questions would be; should we even try to save languages from extinction? Is it even worth trying and can we really make a difference? Third, in the case of a moribund language (languages no longer being learned as mother-tongue by children), document the language and recording the most data as possible. In Sarah Gudschinsky's work, with the last known speaker of Ofaie, gave valuable information...

Tesco Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tesco - Case Study Example This paper seeks to discuss the macro-environmental characteristics of the Canada market where Tesco plans to enter through the use of the VRIO analysis. The company can use its financial strength to open new outlets in Toronto, which is the largest city in Canada. Tesco is a global supermarket whose brands have created a strong image to the target market. Through its diversified product portfolio, the supermarket has effectively met the needs of its customers. VRIO analysis which covers the four aspects that includes the question of value, the question of rarity, the question of imitability, and the question of organization can be used to candidly indicate how well Tesco is in a position to exploit the available opportunities in the foreign markets. Tesco has a strong financial background. This implies that it is able to exploit the opportunities that are available in the Canada market. With revenue of more than 70,000 billion USD and 597,784 employees as at 2013, the supermarket is able to provide competitive services and products to over 35 million customers in Canada (Humby et al, 2006). Canada has various ethnic groups which include the white, Asian, Black, and Aboriginal among others. Given the competitive nature that Tesco enjoys locall y and globally, it is able to meet the needs of the Canada customers who are served by relatively few supermarkets. Another point as noted earlier is on the imitation of the Tesco brands. As a company that value innovation and research, it will not be possible for the competitors in Canada market such as Bulkley Valley Wholesale, Bloor Street Market Foods, Provigo The Market, and Coopers Foods among others to imitate the products that Tesco will provide. In this way, the customers will be provided with a new experience that will make them loyal towards Tesco brands in the Canada market. Under the leadership of Dave Lewis and Sir Richard Broadbent, the CEO and Chairman respectively, Tesco

MOD 1 SLP ETH501 - Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MOD 1 SLP ETH501 - Business Ethics - Essay Example The deontological implications of such ethical issues cannot be underplayed. Ethical Problem While working at a local mall, I encountered a rather common unethical practice in the workplace - discrimination coupled with harassment. The store was predominantly a male-dominated work environment in which most employees and supervisors were men. The ethical issue emerged when the store hired a new female employee and the male supervisor started constantly treating her inappropriately. Notably, the presence of the new employee stirred up conflict because the store had not yet conducted sensitivity training. The male supervisor made inappropriate remarks to the new female employee and failed to groom her for promotions as he did with male employees (DesJardins, 2010). Despite her constant complaints to the store manager, the manager did not take any measures to remedy the situation. The ethical issues in this situation are quite diverse: firstly, the male supervisor’s treatment of t he new employee was biased along sexual lines. The store manager’s failure to act was also quite unethical. Making derogatory remarks towards employees on account of their gender is extremely unethical and unlawful. In addition, by denying the female employee necessary resources for promotion, the supervisor also acted unethically (Bhatia, 2004). Deontological Implications Deontological ethics posits that people’s duty to act or not to act centers on the uprightness or evil of the act rather than the consequence of the act. This means that certain actions are inherently proper or evil. Deontological ethics puts emphasis on the concept of whether or not an act is proper or evil, an obligation or duty (Kant, 1993). In the aforementioned ethical issue, the male supervisor acted unethically by failing to perform his work obligation, i.e. providing all employees the same opportunity to earn a promotion. Deontological perceptions of ethics require that people perform their d uties and obligations without being required to do so. Supervisors have a distinct duty to provide a level playing field for all employees in terms of employees’ access to company resources, such as training and grooming. Consequently, the supervisor’s gender-based discrimination contravened conventional view of proper actions in the workplace. Conventional wisdom requires equal treatment of all persons in the workplace; hence the supervisor acted unethically by infringing on the female employee’s right to use company resources (Velasquez, 2001). Regardless of the consequence of the supervisor’s discrimination, his behavior was quite unethical in itself. In addition, the supervisor’s utterance of derogatory remarks towards the female employee epitomized an unethical act. Deontological ethics points of view require people to act uprightly because it is their duty to act right ( Pojman & Fieser, 2011). The supervisor’s actions show disregard f or conventional wisdom that demands that it is the duty of all persons, regardless of their status and positions, to treat others in a humane and upright manner. Moral behavior in the workplace entails impartial treatment of all employees regardless of their race, gender or ethnicity. Conversely, the store manager’s disregard towards the female employee’s complaints is indicative of immorality and unethical behavior (â€Å"Duty-based Ethics†, 2009). The manager could create an impartial and upright

The Matrix, or Two Sides of Perversion Essay Example for Free

The Matrix, or Two Sides of Perversion Essay When I saw The Matrix at a local theatre in Slovenia, I had the unique opportunity of sitting close to the ideal spectator of the film namely, to an idiot. A man in the late 20ies at my right was so immersed in the film that he all the time disturbed other spectators with loud exclamations, like My God, wow, so there is no reality! †¦ I definitely prefer such naive immersion to the pseudo-sophisticated intellectualist readings which project into the film the refined philosophical or psychoanalytic conceptual distinctions. (1) It is nonetheless easy to understand this intellectual attraction of The Matrix: is it not that The Matrix is one of the films which function as a kind of Rorschach test [http://rorschach. test. at/] setting in motion the universalized process of recognition, like the proverbial painting of God which seems always to stare directly at you, from wherever you look at it — practically every orientation seems to recognize itself in it? My Lacanian friends are telling me that the authors must have read Lacan; the Frankfurt School partisans see in the Matrix the extrapolated embodiment of Kulturindustrie, the alienated-reified social Substance (of the Capital) directly taking over, colonizing our inner life itself, using us as the source of energy; New Agers see in the source of speculations on how our world is just a mirage generated by a global Mind embodied inthe World Wide Web. This series goes back to Platos Republic: does The Matrix not repeat exactly Platos dispositif of the cave (ordinary humans as prisoners, tied firmly to their seats and compelled to watch the shadowy performance of (what they falsely consider to be) reality? The important difference, of course, is that when some individuals escape their cave predicament and step out to the surface of the Earth, what they find there is no longer the bright surface illuminated by the rays of the Sun, the supreme Good, but the desolate desert of the real. The key opposition is here the one between Frankfurt School and Lacan: should we historicize the Matrix into the metaphor of the Capital that colonized culture and subjectivity, or is it the reification of the symbolic order as such? However, what if this very alternative is false? What if the virtual character of the symbolic order as such is the very condition of historicity? Reaching the End Of the World Of course, the idea of the hero living in a totally manipulated and controlled artificial universe is hardly original: The Matrix just radicalizes it by bringing in virtual reality. The point here is the radical ambiguity of the VR with regard to the problematic of iconoclasm. On the one hand, VR marks the radical reduction of the wealth of our sensory experience to — not even letters, but — the minimal digital series of 0 and 1, of passing and non-passing of the electrical signal. On the other hand, this very digital machine generates the simulated experience of reality which tends to become indiscernable from the real reality, with the consequence of undermining the very notion of real reality — VR is thus at the same time the most radical assertion of the seductive power of images. Is not the ultimate American paranoiac fantasy that of an individual living in a small idyllic Californian city, a consummerist paradise, who suddenly starts to suspect that the world he lives in is a fake, a spectatle staged to convince him that he lives in a real world, while all people around him are effectively actors and extras in a gigantic show? The most recent example of this is Peter Weirs The Truman Show (1998), with Jim Carrey playing the small town clerk who gradually discovers the truth that he is the hero of a 24-hours permanent TV show: his hometown is constructed on a a gigantic studio set, with cameras following him permanently. Sloterdijks sphere is here literally realized, as the gigantic metal sphere that envelopes and isolates the entire city. This final shot of The Truman Show may seem to enact the liberating experience of breaking out from the ideological suture of the enclosed universe into its outside, invisible from the ideological inside. However, what if it is precisely this happy denouement of the film (let us not forget: applauded by the millions around the world watching the last minutes of the show), with the hero breaking out and, as we are led to believe, soon to join his true love (so that we have again the formula of the production of the couple! ), that is ideology at its purest? What if ideology resides in the very belief that, outside the closure of the finite universe, there is some true reality to be entered? (2) Among the predecessors of this notion, it is worth mentioning Phillip Dicks Time Out of Joint (1959), in which a hero living a modest daily life in a small idyllic Californian city of the late 50s, gradually discovers that the whole town is a fake staged to keep him satisfied†¦ The underlying experience of Time Out of Joint and of The Truman Show is that the late capitalist consummerist Californian paradise is, in its very hyper-reality, in a way irreal, substanceless, deprived of the material inertia. So it is not only that Hollywood stages a semblance of real life deprived of the weight and inertia of materiality — in the late capitalist consummerist society, real social life itself somehow acquires the features of a staged fake, with our neighbors behaving in real life as stage actors and extras†¦ The ultimte truth of the capitalist utilitarian de-spiritualized universe is the de-materialization of the real life itself, its reversal into a spectral show. In the realm of science-fiction, one should mention also Brian Aldiss Starship, in which members of a tribe leave in a closed world of a tunnel in a giant starship, isolated from the rest of the ship by thick vegetation, unaware that there is a universe beyond; finally, some children penetrate the bushes and reach the world beyond, populated by other tribes. Among the older, more naive forerunners, one should mention George Seatons 36 Hours, the film from the early 60ies about an American officer (James Garner) who knows all the plans for the D Day invasion of Normandy and is accidentally taken prisoner by Gernans just days before the invasion. Since he is taken prisoner unconscious, in a blast of explosion, the Germans quickly construct for him a replica of small American military hospital resort, trying to convince him that he now lives in 1950, that America won the war and that he has lost memory for the last 6 years — the idea being that he would tell all about the invasion plans for the Germans to prepare themselves; of course, cracks soon appear in this carefully constructed edifice†¦ (Did not Lenin himself, in the last 2 years of his life, lived in an almost similar controlled environment, in which, as we now know, Stalin had printed hor him a specially prepared one copy of Pravda, censored of all news that would tell Lenin about the political struggles going on, with the justification that Comrade Lenin should take a rest and not be excited by unnecessary provocations.) What lurks in the background is, of course, the pre-modern notion of arriving at the end of the universe: in the well-known engravings, the surprised wanderers approach the screen/curtain of heaven, a flat surfaced with painted stars on it, pierce it and reach beyond — it is exactly this that happens at the end of The Truman Show. No wonder that the last scene of the film, when Truman steps up the stairs attached to the wall on which the blue sky horizon is painted and opens up there the door, has a distinct Magrittean touch: is it not that, today, this same sensitivity is returning with a vengeance? Do works like Syberbergs Parsifal, in which the infinite horizon is also blocked by the obviously artificial rear-projections, not signal that the time of the Cartesian infinite perspective is running out, and that we are returning to a kind of renewed medieval pre-perspective universe? Fred Jameson perspicuously drew attention to the same phenomenon in some of the Raymond Chandlers novels and Hitchcocks films: the shore of the Pacific ocean in Farewell, My Lovely functions as a kind of end/limit of the world, beyond which there is an unknown abyss; and it is similar with the vast open valley that stretches out in front of the Mount Rashmore heads when, on the run from their pursuers, Eva-Marie Saint and Cary Grant reach the peak of the monument, and into which Eva-Marie Saint almost falls, before being pulled up by Cary Grant; and one is tempted to add to this series the famous battle scene at a bridge on the Vietnamese/Cambodgian frontier in Apocalypse Now, where the space beyond the bridge is experienced as the beyond of our known universe. And how not to recall that the idea that our Earth is not the planet floating in the infinite space, but a circular opening, hole, within the endless compact mass of eternal ice, with the sun in its center, was one of the favorite Nazi pseudo-scientific fantasies (according to some reports, they even considered putting some telescopes on the Sylt islands in order to observe America)? The Really Existing Big Other What, then, is the Matrix? Simply the Lacanian big Other, the virtual symbolic order, the network that structures reality for us. This dimension of the big Other is that of the constitutive alienation of the subject in the symbolic order: the big Other pulls the strings, the subject doesnt speak, he is spoken by the symbolic structure. In short, this big Other is the name for the social Substance, for all that on account of which the subject never fully dominates the effects of his acts, i. e. on account of which the final outcome of his activity is always something else with regard to what he aimed at or anticipated. However, it is here crucial to note that, in the key chapters of Seminar XI, Lacan struggles to delineate the operation that follows alienation and is in a sense its counterpoint, that of separation: alienation IN the big Other is followed by the separation FROM the big Other. Separation takes place when the subject takes note of how the big Other is in itself inconsistent, purely virtual, barred, deprived of the Thing — and fantasy is an attempt to fill out this lack of the Other, not of the subject, i. e. to (re)constitute the consistency of the big Other. For that reason, fantasy and paranoia are inherently linked: paranoia is at its most elementary a belief into an Other of the Other, into another Other who, hidden behind the Other of the explicit social texture, programs (what appears to us as) the unforeseen effects of social life and thus guarantees its consistency: beneath the chaos of market, the degradation of morals, etc., there is the purposeful strategy of the Jewish plot†¦ This paranoiac stance acquired a further boost with todays digitalization of our daily lives: when our entire (social) existence is progressively externalized-materialized in the big Other of the computer network, it is easy to imagine an evil programmer erasing our digital identity and thus depriving us of our social existence, turning us into non-persons. Following the same paranoiac twist, the thesis of The Matrix is that this big Other is externalized in the really existing Mega-Computer. There is — there HAS to be — a Matrix because things are not right, opportunities are missed, something goes wrong all the time, i. e. the films idea is that it is so because there is the Matrix that obfuscates the true reality that is behind it all. Consequently, the problem with the film is that it is NOT crazy enough, because it supposes another real reality behind our everyday reality sustained by the Matrix. However, to avoid the fatal misunderstanding: the inverse notion that all there is is generated by the Matrix, that there is NO ultimate reality, just the infinite series of virtual realities mirroring themselves in each other, is no less ideological. (In the sequels to The Matrix, we shall probably learn that the very desert of the real is generated by (another) matrix. ) Much more subversive than this multiplication of virtual universes would have been the multiplication of realities themselves — something that would reproduce the paradoxical danger that some physicians see in recent high accelerator experiments. As is well known, scientist are now trying to construct the accelerator capable of smashing together the nuclei of very heavy atoms at nearly the speed of light. The idea is that such a collision will not only shatter the atoms nuclei into their constituent protons and neutrons, but will pulverize the protons and neutrons themselves, leaving a plasma, a kind of energy soup consisting of loose quark and gluon particles, the building blocks of matter that have never before been studied in such a state, since such a state only existed briefly after the Big Bang. However, this prospect has given rise to a nightmarish scenario: what if the success of this experiment will create a doomsday machine, a kind of world-devouring monster that will with inexorable necessity annihilate the ordinary matter around itself and thus abolish the world as we know it? The irony of it is that this end of the world, the disintegration of the universe, would be the ultimate irrefutable proof that the tested theory is true, since it would suck all matter into a black hole and then bring about a new universe, i. e. perfectly recreate the Big Bang scenario. The paradox is thus that both versions — (1) a subject freely floating from one to another VR, a pure ghost aware that every reality is a fake; (2) the paranoiac supposition of the real reality beneath the Matrix — are false: they both miss the Real. The film is not wrong in insisting that there IS a Real beneath the Virtual Reality simulation as Morpheus puts to Neo when he shows him the ruined Chicago landscape: Welcome to the desert of the real. However, the Real is not the true reality behind the virtual simulation, but the void which makes reality incomplete/inconsistent, and the function of every symbolic Matrix is to conceal this inconsistency — one of the ways to effectuate this concealment is precisely to claim that, behind the incomplete/inconsistent reality we know, there is another reality with no deadlock of impossibility structuring it. The big Other doesnt exist Big Other also stands for the field of common sense at which one can arrive after free deliberation; philosophically, its last great version is Habermass communicative community with its regulative ideal of agreement. And it is this big Other that progressively disintegrates today. What we have today is a certain radical split: on the one hand, the objectivized language of experts and scientists which can no longer be translated into the common language accessible to everyone, but is present in it in the mode of fetishized formulas that no one really understands, but which shape our artistic and popular imaginary (Black Hole, Big Bang, Superstrings, Quantum Oscillation†¦). Not only in natural sciences, but also in economy and other social sciences, the expert jargon is presented as an objective insight with which one cannot really argue, and which is simultaneously untranslatable into our common experience. In short, the gap between scientific insight and common sense is unbridgeable, and it is this very gap which elevates scientists into the popular cult-figures of the subjects supposed to know (the Stephen Hawking phenomenon). The strict obverse of this objectivity is the way in which, in the cultural matters, we are confronted with the multitude of life-styles which one cannot translate into each other: all we can do is secure the conditions for their tolerant coexistence in a multicultural society. The icon of todays subject is perhaps the Indian computer programmer who, during the day, excels in his expertise, while in the evening, upon returning home, he lits the candle to the local Hindu divinity and respects the sacredness of the cow. This split is perfectly rendered in the phenomenon of cyberspace. Cyberspace was supposed to bring us all together in a Global Village; however, what effectively happens is that we are bombarded with the multitude of messages belonging to inconsistent and incompatible universes — instead of the Global Village, the big Other, we get the multitude of small others, of tribal particular identifications at our choice. To avoid a misunderstanding: Lacan is here far from relativizing science into just one of the arbitrary narratives, ultimately on equal footing with Politically Correct myths, etc. : science DOES touch the Real, its knowledge IS knowledge in the Real — the deadlock resides simply in the fact that scientific knowledge cannot serve as the SYMBOLIC big Other. The gap between modern science and the Aristotelian common sense philosophical ontology is here insurmountable: it emerges already with Galileo, and is brought to extreme in quantum physics, where we are dealing with the rules/laws which function, although they cannot ever be retranslated into our experience of representable reality. The theory of risk society and its global reflexivization is right in its emphasis one how, today, we are at the opposite end if the classical Enlightenment universalist ideology which presupposed that, in the long run, the fundamental questions can be resolved by way of the reference to the objective knowledge of the experts: when we are confronted with the conflicting opinions about the environmental consequences of a certain new product (say, of genetically modified vegetables), we search in vain for the ultimate expert opinion. And the point is not simply that the real issues are blurred because science is corrupted through financial dependence on large corporations and state agencies — even in themselves, sciences cannot provide the answer. Ecologists predicted 15 years ago the death of our forrests — the problem is now a too large increasee of wood†¦ Where this theory of risk society is too short is in emphasizing the irrational predicament into which this puts us, common subjects: we are again and again compelled to decide, although we are well aware that we are in no position to decide, that our decision will be arbitrary. Ulrich Beck and his followers refer here to the democratic discussion of all options and consensus-building; however, this does not resolve the immobilizing dilemma: why should the democratic discussion in which the majority participates lead to better result, when, cognitively, the ignorance of the majority remains. The political frustration of the majority is thus understandable: they are called to decide, while, at the same time, receiving the message that they are in no position effectively to decide, i. e. to objectively weigh the pros and cons. The recourse to conspiracy theories is a desperate way out of this deadlock, an attempt to regain a minimum of what Fred Jameson calls cognitive mapping. Jodi Dean(3) drew attention to a curious phenomenon clearly observable in the dialogue of the mutes between the official (serious, academically institutionalized) science and the vast domain of so-called pseudo-sciences, from ufology to those who want to decipher the secrets of the pyramids: one cannot but be struck by how it is the oficial scientists who proceed in a dogmatic dismissive way, while the pseudo-scientists refer to facts and argumentation deprived of the common prejudices. Of course, the answer will be here that established scientists speak with the authority of the big Other of the scientific Institution; but the problem is that, precisely, this scientific big Other is again and again revealed as a consensual symbolic fiction. So when we are confronted with conspiracy theories, we should proceed in a strict homology to the proper reading of Henry James The Turn of the Screw: we should neither accept the existence of ghosts as part of the (narrative) reality nor reduce them, in a pseudo-Freudian way, to the projection of the heroines hysterical sexual frustrations. Conspiracy theories, of course, are not to be accepted as fact however, one should also not reduce them to the phenomenon of modern mass hysteria. Such a notion still relies on the big Other, on the model of normal perception of shared social reality, and thus does not take into account how it is precisely this notion of reality that is undermined today. The problem is not that ufologists and conspiracy theorists regress to a paranoiac attitude unable to accept (social) reality; the problem is that this reality itself is becoming paranoiac. Contemporary experience again and again confronts us with situations in which we are compelled to take note of how our sense of reality and normal attitude towards it is grounded in a symbolic fiction, i. e. how the big Other that determines what counts as normal and accepted truth, what is the horizon of meaning in a given society, is in no way directly grounded in facts as rendered by the scientific knowledge in the real. Let us take a traditional society in which modern science is not yet elevated into the Master-discourse: if, in its symbolic space, an individual advocates propositions of modern science, he will be dismissed as madman — and the key point is that it is not enough to say that he is not really mad, that it is merely the narrow ignorant society which puts him in this position — in a certain way, being treated as a madman, being excluded from the social big Other, effectively EQUALS being mad. Madness is not the designation which can be grounded in a direct reference to facts (in the sense that a madman is unable to perceive things the way they really are, since he is caught in his hallucinatory projections), but only with regard to the way an individual relates to the big Other. Lacan usually emphasizes the opposite aspect of this paradox: the madman is not only a beggar who thinks he is a king, but also a king who thinks he is a king, i. e. madness designates the collapse of the distance between the Symbolic and the Real, an immediate identification with the symbolic mandate; or, to take his other exemplary statement, when a husband is pathologically jealous, obsessed by the idea that his wife sleeps with other men, his obsession remains a pathological feature even if it is proven that he is right and that his wife effectively sleeps with other men. The lesson of such paradoxes is clear: pathological jealously is not a matters of getting the facts false, but of the way these facts are integrated into the subjects libidinal economy. However, what one should assert here is that the same paradox should also be performed as it were in the opposite direction: the society (its socio-symbolic field, the big Other) is sane and normal even when it is proven factually wrong. (Maybe, it was in this sense that the late Lacan designated himself as psychotic: he effectively was psychotic insofar as it was not possible to integrate his discourse into the field of the big Other. ) One is tempted to claim, in the Kantian mode, that the mistake of the conspiracy theory is somehow homologous to the paralogism of the pure reason, to the confusion between the two levels: the suspicion (of the received scientific, social, etc. common sense) as the formal methodological stance, and the positivation of this suspicion in another all-explaining global para-theory. Screening the Real From another standpoint, the Matrix also functions as the screen that separates us from the Real, that makes the desert of the real bearable. However, it is here that we should not forget the radical ambiguity of the Lacanian Real: it is not the ultimate referent to be covered/gentrified/domesticated by the screen of fantasy — the Real is also and primarily the screen itself as the obstacle that always-already distorts our perception of the referent, of the reality out there. In philosophical terms, therein resides the difference between Kant and Hegel: for Kant, the Real is the noumenal domain that we perceive schematized through the screen of transcendental categories; for Hegel, on the contrary, as he asserts exemplarily in the Introduction to his Phenomenology, this Kantian gap is false. Hegel introduces here THREE terms: when a screen intervenes between ourselves and the Real, it always generates a notion of what is In-itself, beyond the screen (of the appearance), so that the gap between appearance and the In-itself is always-already for us. Consequently, if we subtract from the Thing the distortion of the Screen, we loose the Thing itself (in religious terms, the death of Christ is the death of the God in himself, not only of his human embodiment) — which is why, for Lacan, who follows here Hegel, the Thing in itself is ultimately the gaze, not the perceived object. So, back to the Matrix: the Matrix itself is the Real that distorts our perception of reality. A reference to Levi-Strausss exemplary analysis, from his Structural Anthropology, of the spatial disposition of buildings in the Winnebago, one of the Great Lake tribes, might be of some help here. The tribe is divided into two sub-groups (moieties), those who are from above and those who are from below; when we ask an individual to draw on a piece of paper, or on sand, the ground-plan of his/her village (the spatial disposition of cottages), we obtain two quite different answers, depending on his/her belonging to one or the other sub-group. Both perceive the village as a circle; but for one sub-group, there is within this circle another circle of central houses, so that we have two concentric circles, while for the other sub-group, the circle is split into two by a clear dividing line. In other words, a member of the first sub-group (let us call it conservative-corporatist) perceives the ground-plan of the village as a ring of houses more or less symmetrically disposed around the central temple, whereas a member of the second (revolutionary-antagonistic) sub-group perceives his/her village as two distinct heaps of houses separated by an invisible frontier†¦(4) The central point of Levi-Strauss is that this example should in no way entice us into cultural relativism, according to which the perception of social space depends on the observers group-belonging: the very splitting into the two relative perceptions implies a hidden reference to a constant — not the objective, actual disposition of buildings but a traumatic kernel, a fundamental antagonism the inhabitants of the village were unable to symbolize, to account for, to internalize, to come to terms with, an imbalance in social relations that prevented the community from stabilizing itself into a harmonious whole. The two perceptions of the ground-plan are simply two mutually exclusive endeavours to cope with this traumatic antagonism, to heal its wound via the imposition of a balanced symbolic structure. Is it necessary to add that things stand exactly the same with respect to sexual difference: masculine and feminine are like the two configurations of houses in the Levi-Straussian village? And in order to dispel the illusion that our developed universe is not dominated by the same logic, suffice it to recall the splitting of our political space into Left and Right: a Leftist and a Rightist behave exactly like members of the opposite sub-groups of the Levi-Straussian village. They not only occupy different places within the political space; each of them perceives differently the very disposition of the political space — a Leftist as the field that is inherently split by some fundamental antagonism, a Rightist as the organic unity of a Community disturbed only by foreign intruders. However, Levi-Strauss make here a further crucial point: since the two sub-groups nonetheless form one and the same tribe, living in the same village, this identity somehow has to be symbolically inscribed — how, if the entire symbolic articulation, all social institutions, of the tribe are not neutral, but are overdetermined by the fundamental and constitutive antagonistic split? By what Levi-Strauss ingeniously calls the zero-institution, a kind of institutional counterpart to the famous mana, the empty signifier with no determinate meaning, since it signifies only the presence of meaning as such, in opposition to its absence: a specific institution which has no positive, determinate function — its only function is the purely negative one of signalling the presence and actuality of social institution as such, in opposition to its absence, to pre-social chaos. It is the reference to such a zero-institution that enables all members of the tribe to experience themselves as such, as members of the same tribe. Is, then, this zero-institution not ideology at its purest, i. e.the direct embodiment of the ideological function of providing a neutral all-encompassing space in which social antagonism is obliterated, in which all members of society can recognize themselves? And is the struggle for hegemony not precisely the struggle for how will this zero-institution be overdetermined, colored by some particular signification? To provide a concrete example: is not the modern notion of nation such a zero-institution that emerged with the dissolution of social links grounded in direct family or traditional symbolic matrixes, i. e. when, with the onslaught of modernization, social institutions were less and less grounded in naturalized tradition and more and more experienced as a matter of contract. (5) Of special importance is here the fact that national identity is experienced as at least minimally natural, as a belonging grounded in blood and soil, and as such opposed to the artificial belonging to social institutions proper (state, profession†¦): pre-modern institutions functioned as naturalized symbolic entities (as institutions grounded in unquestionable traditions), and the moment institutions were conceived as social artefacts, the need arose for a naturalized zero-institution that would serve as their neutral common ground. And, back to sexual difference, I am tempted to risk the hypothesis that, perhaps, the same logic of zero-institution should be applied not only to the unity of a society, but also to its antagonistic split: what if sexual difference is ultimately a kind of zero-institution of the social split of the humankind, the naturalized minimal zero-difference, a split that, prior to signalling any determinate social difference, signals this difference as such? The struggle for hegemony is then, again, the struggle for how this zero-difference will be overdetermined by other particular social differences. It is against this background that one should read an important, although usually overlooked, feature of Lacans schema of the signifier: Lacan replaces the standard Saussurean scheme (above the bar the word arbre, and beneath it the drawing of a tree) with, above the bar, two words one along the other, homme and femme, and, beneath the bar, two identical drawings of a door. In order to emphasize the differential character of the signifier, Lacan first replaces Saussures single scheme with a signifiers couple, with the opposition man/woman, with the sexual difference; but the true surprise resides in the fact that, at the level of the imaginary referent, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE (we do not get some graphic index of the sexual difference, the simplified drawing of a man and a woman, as is usually the case in most of todays restrooms, but THE SAME door reproduced twice). Is it possible to state in clearer terms that sexual difference does not designate any biological opposition grounded in real properties, but a purely symbolic opposition to which nothing corresponds in the designated objects — nothing but the Real of some undefined X which cannot ever be captured by the image of the signified? Back to Levi-Strausss example of the two drawings of the village: it is here that one can see it what precise sense the Real intervenes through anamorphosis. We have first the actual, objective, arrangement of the houses, and then its two different symbolizations which both distort in an amamorphic way the actual arrangement. However, the real is here not the actual arrangement, but the traumatic core of the social antagonism which distorts the tribe members view of the actual antagonism.