Module 5 TD-HRM 401 - Recruitment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Module 5 TD-HRM 401 - Recruitment - Essay Example Such may include a situation in which an employee has given out some confidential information regarding an investigation into the conduct of an employee by government authorities (Friedman, 2005). Employers need to take several actions that are aimed at minimizing retaliation actions such as coming up with policies against retaliation, proper communication with the employees who are making complaints at a personal level or in a staff meeting, ensuring confidentiality on any complaint that has been raised by the employees as well as proper documentation of any complaint brought up by the employees. Employers need to further offer training to the employee so as to make them to clearly understand what actions constitutes retaliation and how to respond when such occurs. The trainings should be aimed at offering counselling opportunities to the affected employees so as to boost their morale even as they strive to make their genuine concerns to be

Housing Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Housing Industry - Essay Example The increase in the number of household is as a result of population growth and migration and this in turn results inot an increase in the demand for houses. In 2006 the total number of houses in England was 21,989 thousand according to table 3.1, an analysis of the various regions it was evident that majority of these dwellings which is 16% were located in south east while only 5% of these dwellings were located in the north east region. (Calculations in appendixes 1) The following chart demonstrates the total number of dwellings in thousands for each region in 2006. It is evident from the chart that majority of dwellings are located in the south east and London which is 16% and 15% respectively of total dwellings in England. The following is an analysis of the total number of dwellings in the regions for the year 1996 and the year 2006(calculations in appendixes 2). From the above chart it is evident that each region has experienced an increase in the number of dwellings, however some regions have higher increase than other regions especially the South east region has the highest increase in the number of houses while the north east region has the lowest increase in the numbe... The north east region and the south east region: Percentages of the total for each year: From the above chart it is evident that there has been a decline in the percentage of the total for the South east region whereas there has been a relatively low decline in the percentage of the total for the North East region, however from the trend it is evident that the South east region has maintained a relatively high percentage of the total over the years compared to the North East region. Calculations in appendix 3. Trend in the number of houses in the N. east region and the S. east region: The following chart summarizes the trend in the number of houses in the N. east region: From the above chart it is evident that there has been an increase in the number of houses in the N. east region over the years. From the above chart it is evident that there has been a gradual increase in the number of houses in the S. east region over the years. Moving averages: We now analyze the moving average for the two regions over the years. The following table summarizes the simple centered 3 step moving average for the N. east region from the year 1997 to 2005: (calculations in appendix 4) N. East N. East moving average 1996 1,094 1997 1,100 1099.333 1998 1,104 1104 1999 1,108 1108 2000 1,112 1111.667 2001 1,115 1115 2002 1,118 1118.333 2003 1,122 1122 2004 1,126 1126.333 2005 1,131 1131.333 2006 1,137 The data is summarized by the following chart: The above line chart shows the 3 period centered moving average and the total number of houses in the N. East region. The following table summarizes the simple centered 3 step moving average for the S. east region from the year

Color Theory Essay Example for Free

Color Theory Essay Wonder Woman hated men when she first set off to the world from her home, Themyscira, but later understood that she was wrong in her initial assessment of men because she simply didn’t understand men. In Deborah Tannen’s essay, â€Å"Sex, Lies, and Conversation†, the often misunderstood forms of communication between men and women are explored. Gloria Steinem, American feminist who is a nationally recognized leader of the women’s liberation movement in the 1960’s and 1970’s, who expressed how she felt Wonder Woman is an exemplary model of what a feminist is. I believe Steinem would agree with many of Tannen’s views because they are rational, based on research and her essay is meant to bring the two genders to better understand one another. Steinem and Tannen both have the same goal; they both strive to find peace between men and women. Tannen discusses extensively in her essay about how if you understand that both men and women are raised in separate cultures, American man culture and American woman culture. An example of this would be how women place intimacy as the foundation of relationships, and talking as the cornerstone of relationships. The bonds between men can be as intense as women’s relationships, but they are founded less on talk and more on the activities they experience together. Both forms of communication are used to build bonds between peers but do so in different ways, and that’s a pattern that follows both cultures throughout â€Å"Sex, Lies and Conversation†. I believe that Steinem would agree that to have peace between the two sexes, there must be some sort of understanding of how the two sexes communicate with one another. Through that understanding, women would live far bette r lives in a world that seems dominated by men. Throughout her essay, Deborah Tannen is clearly explaining that the problem between the sexes is that there is much mistranslation but that it is reparable and she even goes to state â€Å"Once the problem is understood,  improvement comes naturally†. Her essay is something Gloria Steinem would agree on and possibly even recommend to members of her various organizations to help improve their relationship with the world around them. Wonder Woman’s values like self-reliance, peacefulness and esteem for human life are all values that Steinem believes that feminists are trying to introduce into the mainstream. Although Steinem focuses heavily on improving the lives on women, I believe she does that because women are at a disadvantage in today’s society and she’s looking to help bring equality between the sexes. The gap that only a few years separated women from men in society having equal opportunities and rights is slowly disappearing and I think its in large part due to the efforts of people like both Steinem and Tannen. People who are looking to both understand that although men and women are different, they should to be allowed access to the same opportunities. Steinem’s efforts to empower women correlates with Tannen’s effort to bring to light the need of a cross-cultural understanding between men and women because in the end, they just want to see improvement in communication. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to understand that Steinem would agree with Tannen’s attitude towards the failure of communication between the sexes. If people start to understand how to interpret how the two sexes communicate and educate themselves and others, The world would be a better place for everyone. Like Tannen says at the end of her essay, â€Å"like charity, successful cr oss-cultural communication should begin at home.†

The crisis of masculinity

The crisis of masculinity INTRODUCTION My dissertation is concerned with the male hegemony of Hollywood cinema. I will consider briefly the representation of the female but only to support the discussion of male hegemony in regards to spectatorship and representation of the male. I will limit my argument to the â€Å"post feminist† period (post 1970s) because this cinema era is extremely significant as it demonstrates a fundamental change in the representation of the male. I have decided to concentrate on the representation of the male because the discussion of female representation, although not investigated in its entirety, is generally more prevalent. I have chosen to analyze two key films that had major success in the year 1999. I have specifically chosen these films as not only do they reenact a threshold point in societys perception, but both deal heavily with the theme of modern day masculinity. The two different approaches from very different directors- David Fincher, The director of Fight club has a lengthy history of â€Å"mainstream† work whereas Paul Thomas Andersons work history is more â€Å"alternative†. I will argue that in its structure Fight club is highly synonymous with Hollywood in terms of character placement.(male protagonist, passive female). I will look at how Magnolia is more discoursive/melodramatic focusing on coming from a â€Å"female† perspective. I will look at the main characters in each of the films and discuss how both films approach the key aspects of masculinity: Paternity the Phallus. The similar concerns and contrasting nature of the films thus conclude that they serve as great examples for discussion. The dissertation will consider film theory and psycho-analysis however I would like to relate those to cinematic textual systems a term used by to describe mise en scene elements, editing and other cinematic manipulation of the frame for the spectator. Talk about how perspective and cinematography are interlinked, cinematography being vital to â€Å"the gaze†. â€Å"To theorize the gaze is to engage in cinematic textual systems (diegesis, montage, mise-en-scene, intertextuality etc) and the act of viewing, as well as the competing, dynamic and heterogeneous processes involved between the two†. Pg 6 (a) WHY CINEMATOGRAPHY IS IMPORTANT TO DISCUSS. Once we have investigated on a functional level how cinema manipulates the viewers gaze only then can we move forward and expand on this? The very existence of cinema relies on box office profits; cinema conveys the reality of the desire of the spectator, but also notably produces films that display the unconscious fears of the societies that produced them. This is an argument I will discuss at more length in the first chapter. CHAPTERS: Phallocentric perspective/cinematography I will start by engaging with the philosophy which forms the basis of the dissertation. I will also justify the inclusion of cinematography as a valid point in my dissertation by clarifying its relationship with film theory and psychoanalysis. â€Å"Were Designed to be hunters and were in a society of shoppers† Tyler Durder (Fight Club) In the second chapter I will put my discussion in context, explaining briefly the importance of the cinema of this era. â€Å"Fight Club†: I will discuss why I chose the two films I did The two different approaches directors- coming from very different background fightclub is aimed at mainstream whilst magnolia comes from an alternative viewpoint. I will argue that in its structure Fight club is highly synonymous with Hollywood in terms of character placement.(male protagonist, passive neurotic female) â€Å"Magnolia†: I will look at the key characters of the film and analyse how they demonstrate a crisis of masculinity. I will examine the look at how Paul Andersons Magnolia manages to subvert the male hegemony of mainstream films and acts as a critique of the Hollywood cinematic address. PHALLOCENTRIC PERPSEPCTIVE: â€Å"The spectator constructed by the text is taken to be male-regardless of the ‘actual gender of the viewer. He is taken to look through the eyes of the male hero on screen at the on-screen female, so that the viewer in the auditorium can fantasize the pleasure of dominating and possessing her, and thus enjoy the visual pleasure of ‘masculine conquest†. Kenneth Mackinnon Whatever the route of the gaze, the result is the same. She is objectified. And the female object confirms that the male is the proper and sole subject.† (b) pg 126 Since Hollywoods conception the films produced have taken to rather formulaic, standardized conventions to accrue predicted success at the box office. These are seen in its cinematic style, and narrative form. As a result Hollywood has become extremely skilled at satisfying the spectator through manipulation of its address. male hegemony At the beginning of cinema for example, spectators desired to see more and so became the standardization of erotic display to satisfy the spectator interest in voyeurism. Thus this Hollywood address gives us a spectacular insight into the unconscious fears and desires of society. If we look at one particular example â€Å"Metropolis† (1927) Directed by Fritz Lang, this film featured a destructive and powerful female robot. Notably this film came at a time when society had to deal with the increased mechanization, loss of jobs in industries resulted in a perceived loss of male control and power. â€Å"Metropolis† represented the destruction of masculine dominance over science and nature, represented as a female android, the ultimate opposite. The more information gathered by the development in film theory and psychoanalysis the further we can investigate into understanding the reality of the relationship between spectator and cinema and can move forward from male hegemony into creating an alternative cinema one in which both sexes are represented fairly. this can be shown through the deigesis, mise en scene, etc etc. In Laura Mulveys essay â€Å"Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema†, she discusses the passive role that women have played in cinema arguing that this passive role supports the male hegemony by encouraging visual pleasure. This visual pleasure is formed by Mulvey identifies three â€Å"looks† or perspectives that occur in film which serve to sexually objectify women. The first is the perspective of the male character on screen and how he perceives the female character. The second is the perspective of the spectator as they see the female character on screen. The third â€Å"look† joins the first two looks together: it is the male audience members perspective of the male character in the film. This third perspective allows the male audience to take the female character as his own personal sex object because he can relate himself, through looking, to the male character in the film. Female body representation has always involved some degree of eroticism fragment a womens body into various body parts. A good example of how editing shot composition and framing can be seen in Martin Scorseses Raging Bull. The main character Jake La Motta becomes entranced by the physical beauty of - by the side of the pool. By the sequence of close ups we are placed into the mental position of Jake to reduce - to a mere object to be gawped at. Here we literally see the â€Å"looks† as Mulvey referred to them shown through the shot juxtapositioning. Although one could argue this section was designed to illuminate us of Jakes disturbed mentality, thus serves as an extreme example; however we do see these looks perpetrating mainstream Hollywood throughout the generations since its beginnings. However self conscious and ironic Hollywood manages to be, it always restricts itself to a formal mise en scene reflecting the dominant ideological concept of the cinema. The alternative cinema provides a space for the birth of cinema which is radical in a both a political sense and an aesthetic sense and thus challenges the basic assumptions of the mainstream film Thus cinematography holds the key to the buried attitudes of gender. The cinema is an epic form that utilizes dramatic elements; this is determined by the technologies of the camera and editing. Even in a spatially and temporally continuous scene (mimicking the theatrical situation, as it were), the camera chooses where to look for us. In a similar way, editing causes us to jump from one place (and time sometimes) to another, whether it be somewhere else in the room, or across town. This jump is a form of narration; it is as if a narrator whispers to us: â€Å"meanwhile, on the other side of the forest†. â€Å"One of the key pleasures cinema allows is identification. The spectator will almost always identify with the character whose look authorizes the point of view shot.† pg 94 Hedges,Inez Vertigo is a prime example whereby everything is seen from the perspective of the main male protagonist, the audience follow his erotic obsession and subsequent despair precisely from his point of view. However the spectator is caught in moral ambiguity toward the latter part of the film as the film reveals the illicit nature of the voyeurism. â€Å"Were Designed to be hunters and were in a society of shoppers† -Tyler Durden â€Å"These violent white male icons grew at a time when working class white males had to contend with increasing economic instability and dislocation, the perception of gains by people of colour at the expense of the white working class and a womens movement that overtly challenged the male hegemony. One way the system allows working clases (of various races) the opportunity for masculine identity validation is through the use of their body as an instrument of power dominance and control.. The threat that women posed as a result of their increased economic independence, destabilizes gender realtions and upsets male identity†. Spectacle of the Male WHAT WAS GOING ON AT THE TIME? Working Class Males had less access to more abstract forms of masculinity validating power (economic power, workplace authority) Fightclub protagonist has loss of authority, in the end he reaffirms his masculinity through physical acts of violence. Susan Faludi went one step further, arguing that films of the 1980s such as Fatal Attraction (1987) and Baby Boom (1987) were part of a wider backlash against womens liberation and womens careers.Yearning for reinstatement of the nuclear family, American Beauty protagonist yearns for realignment of patriarchal structure as does Gaz in full monty his desire to recover his role as breadwinner so that he can reclaim his son from his ex wife. FIGHT CLUB â€Å"It touched a nerve in the male psyche that was debated in newspapers across the world.† The Times MARLA: â€Å"Could be worse, a woman could cut off your penis† Tyler Durden Marla introduces/is the conflict. Neurotic marla is a sexualized woman/object (her flat dildo etc) placed into whore category. she disturbs the house causes cracks in walls leaks, etc. â€Å"What counts is what the heroine provokes or rather what she represents. She is the one or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the slightest importance† Budd Boetticher TYLER: Tyler and his impulsive nature, represents the Freudian philosophy of the Id. The id is responsible for our basic drives such as food, water, sex and basic impulses. EXPAND Always has his chest on show like the iconic images of the 1980s heroic action movies. The body is shown to acquire battle scars which removes any erotism which may induce the female gaze need to explain.. used as a tool of power to redeem authority. This is the physical manifestation of the ironic rejection of the â€Å"heroes† of the action films of the previous years. He is in control, has the power over Marla and makes the decisions, drives the narrative. PATERNITY: â€Å"Were a generation of men raised by women† Tyler Durden Paternity discussed in the bathroom between the two, father abandoned him EXPAND THE PHALLUS: First introduced to violent action gun in his mouth then to the softer image of sign saying â€Å"Were still men† Bob has larger breasts feminized. The genitals are particularly present in this film from Tyler showing the graphic images of full frontal male nudity of the penis to taking away the statesmens balls thus demasculating him. Balls stand for Male Power the ability to reproduce Testicular cancer meetings also. Dildo in Marlas bedroom representing the fake male the fake man, the substitution of the real penis with a fake one reveals inferiority complex no need for the real man in the modern world. CINEMATOGRAPHY: Primarily the narrative of the film Fight Club is wholly centered on the male our protagonist Jack. We are encouraged as the spectator to emphasize with him, he navigates the shots in the Voice over the use of the word â€Å" we† is used to encourage identification from the spectator. Is there a problem with identification in this film because the spectator identifies with the protagonist Jack who turns out to be Tyler also so when Jack finds out he is Tyler not only do we experience the same surprise as him, the spectator is left feeling removed from identification? Misplaced just as man does in society? The creation of a microcosm in the house new world order fascism back to being real men, almost militarian (thats what they associate with manhood). Use of colour, lighting difference between the house and the flat, how Brad is framed with his chest exposed showing his muscular torso to portray the idealized man Jack wants to be. The decaying house, large empty insde and out (as its on an industrial estate) builds up a representation of the inner vacousness of the protagonist. MAGNOLIA Paul Thomas Andersons LA ensemble film â€Å"Magnolia† disrupts the classic Oedipal patterning common to many mainstream films. The film repeatedly enacts a pronounced degree of male failure and what amounts to an indictment of the system of father rule The men of Magnolia are to some extent all feminized by circumstance or choice: Earl, dying, is in need of care; Phil is a compassionate male nurse; Donnie is gay and wants to give love; Jimmy, because of his illness, is dependent; and Jim is a nurturing representative of the law who loses first his baton and then his gun, the phallic signifier par excellence. Even Frank Mackey, who has closed down his internal feminine, is again a caretaker by the films end. The most recalcitrant male is Stanleys father, Rick. He suggests a barely controlled violence, throwing a chair through the television as Stanley refuses to compete. A crisis in masculinity and male paradigms of power and behavior is posed. Clearly, the film is scrutinizing how to be a man and live as a man in culture. FRANK: This notion is foregrounded by Franks â€Å"Seduce and Destroy† infomercials, which appear during different segments of the film, and his performance of masculinity for the internal diegetic male audience. The excess of language, gestures, and emotion here enact male hysteria. A wielding of language that speaks as a means to recapture and reanimate male power, it suggests a masculinity reasserting itself at the expense of women. Franks misogyny and anger toward women come to seem a projection, a denial of the self-loathing and father-loss that resulted in his becoming his mothers caretaker as she succumbed to cancer. Women seem to be a smokescreen for his pain, something he can latch on to and feed his sense of rage. Frank, played by Cruise at his best in his usual angry young man mode, is aptly named as the teacher of ostensible truth, power and control who with arms nailed to an unseen cross is projected as an illuminated (Lucifer) savior. His crucified humanity, now a loaded shell, a persona with rigid firm ego boundaries of patent masculinity, launches a provocative assault, laced with inexplicable resentment, against Woman. His assumed control and power over his own vulnerability (fear of his undeveloped feminine component generalized as woman) results paradoxically from the rejection by and loss of his father followed by the incessant care of his slowly dying mother whom he was unable to save. PATERNITY: Stanley Spector to his father: â€Å"You need to start being nicer to me† His all-encompassing impotent rage is projected along with his need to control the symbolic Woman who constitutes the loss of his childhood and manhood. Like a fatherless boy of the ghetto, he shuns the excessive identification and nauseating closeness associated with his mother and her powerless circumstance. To acquire her world would only confirm his loss and her power to destroy. To him she only means burden and loss of freedom; thus he abuses Woman in order to maintain control and detachment. Moreover, his loss of masculinity resulting from the inability to control the inevitable suffering and eventual death of his mother lead him to create and identify with what he lacks, a powerful male image. His artificial self-acquired mastery over himself results tragically from lack of opposition since he cannot win the badge of manhood by defeating a foe who is missing or a cause that is inexplicable. The grateful male crowd (representing the incomplete male) is willing to pay Frank to attain his techniques to compensate for its loss and to overcome its incompleteness through the power of maintaining distance and control. But Frank paradoxically eventually finds redemption in what he denied, in the traditional female manner of acquiring power, through interaction with the Other. Frank, the rejected son finally confronts his dying father who is now unable to reply, apologize and expiate his guilt. Without the articulation and acceptance of his fathers sin, Frank cannot forgive or overcome the unknown one, he can only endure his memory. The cathartic release of his tormented repressed anger and simultaneous conflicted fear of another loss of and desire for his missing father is gripping. He faces uncertainty but his acceptance of his past and his anguished self, the veil of his repression and denial of his history is lifted and results in the loosening of his current defences and hi s false self. The painful return from/to his original position confirms that rebirth is painful. He can now join the family of man. The initially compliant game show kid (J. Blackman) alters his condition of bondage by sacrificing the moment of glory by a paradoxical (anorexial) attempt to avoid the game by controlling his body until he loses bladder control. When he realizes that adherence to arbitrary debilitating rules crushes creativity and freedom, he loses his ambition to succeed conventionally by a symbolic Freudian urethral discharge. Both the game and his body are beyond his control. He confronts his parasitic father as an incomplete child (no mother), asking to be treated anew with respect without having to constantly sacrifice himself to earn the love of his father. THE PHALLUS The cop who shows an interest in her, needs no change, only completion by another, but he too demonstrates his universal deficiency by losing the badge of his profession, his gun. This loss of power is later recovered from the sky god and magically saves a life. His stability rests on his identification with the law which he chooses to interpret selectively as a wise judge with the power to render mercy CINEMATOGRAPHY: Magnolia constructs the place of the female subject differently for the process of identification with the spectator. This is done by.. Magnolia systematically rejects mainstream films signifying system. As Fiske notes, soap opera suggests the workings of a feminine aesthetic and thereby posits the audience as female (180). Magnolia subverts the classic masculine gaze and audience address usually associated with film. The masochistic position from which we watch Magnolia is inscribed by the excessive music and by the competition of the musical discourse and the dialogue. This is doubly inscribed, as it were, because it speaks to the condition of the character as opposed to working in counterpoint to the image. For example, â€Å"One† (â€Å"is the loneliest number †) plays while introducing these lonely characters; over a close-up of the victimized and addicted Claudia, we hear â€Å"Save Me† (â€Å"You look like a girl who could use a tourniquet †). Soap operas exemplify such â€Å"double-voiced discourses† in which dominant cultural forms allow women participation (Fiske 192). The predominant use of close-ups and extreme close-ups throughout the film also expresses this excess. â€Å"There are two dramatic points of depature for melodrama. One is coloured by a female protagonists viewpoint which provides a focus for identification. The other examines the family and between the sexes and generations; here, although women play an important part, their point of view is not always analysed and does not initiate the drama† pg 42 Mulvey.L Marcie, the unruly black woman at the edges of the text, shouts what appear to be empty threats, but the danger she evokes is soon realized. The canted camera angles and frenzy of the editing, in addition to her shouting, foreground the level of disorder she represents. Handcuffed to a sofa, she continues to be verbally abusive as Jim investigates. Pulling the sofa from room to room, she becomes comic relief even as her powerful frame suggests a formidable adversary. Jim seems barely a match for Marcie, despite her containment. Jim: â€Å"MARCIE! DO NOT DRAG THAT COUCH ANY FURTHER!† (Anderson 29). Coded as marginal, Marcie wreaks havoc on the established order to which she is subject but in which she has no place, except as the â€Å"return of the repressed.† Jim finds a dead man in her closet. As a black woman existing on the social margins, she is an enigma that Jim and the film refuse to solve. In terms of sex, too, Magnolia exposes the system of male hegemony and power. In most soap operas, the condition of women living under patriarchy is examined to promote a reading that women identify as corresponding to their own reality, which leads to tears. Doane refers to these melodramatic texts as activating the â€Å"tropes of femininity† (183): waiting, watching and self-sacrifice. Through Jimmy and Earl, marriage as a system is also undermined. Not only is Jimmy adulterous, alcoholic, womanizing, and guilty of incest, he has astonishing contempt for his wife. In one of the films most powerful scenes, Rose learns the truth about her marriage, but it is also clear that she has known. Her performance of the dutiful wife, right up to the end, motivates Jimmys contempt. Rose can only face Jimmys molestation of Claudia when her husband breaks with the veneer of mutual respect and love on which their marriage is based. The only women with power in Magnolia are the black women, and when we are with them we are sutured to the position of two of the films key white male characters, Frank and Jim. That we identify with these women anyway, and with their threat to Frank and Jim, speaks to Magnolias feminine positioning of the viewer.† (a) â€Å"Magnolia displaces film narrative to television text and shifts from the normative masculine viewing position to a feminine one. Magnolia is symptomatic of a crisis in masculinity and interrogates cultural texts such as cop shows, quiz shows, and infomercials. Magnolia is a subversive cultural product, an indictment of paradigms of male hegemony and power, and a critique of the media systems of film and television. The films privileging of the soundtrack is unusual. Paul Thomas Anderson conceives the film in relation to one of Aimee Manns songs and envisions her voice as â€Å"another character† in the film (Anderson 204). Her voice does indeed constitute another character to such an extent that at times it upsets the normative hierarchy of discourses that mainstream films espouse. The use of such a counternarrative strategy and the predominance of a strong female voice working against and at times doubling the text also point to Magnolias challenge to the â€Å"male† textual film system and more traditionally â€Å"masculine† narratives. Manns voice is like a commentary on the action, pulling us in to watch the film from a female viewing position. BIBLIOGRAPHY Dillman, Joanne Clark â€Å"Magnolia†: Masquerading as Soap Opera, Journal of Popular Film and Television 33 no3 142-50 Fall 2005 Dines, Gail: Gender, Race and Class in the media Brod,H. (Ed) (1987) The making of masculinities Various, â€Å"The trouble with men: Masculinities in europeon and Hollywood cinema.† Fuery,Patrick (2000) New Developments In Film Theory- Palgrave, New York, â€Å"Male Spectatorship and the Hollywood Love Story†: Mackinnon, Kenneth. Journal of Gender Studies, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2003, Carfax Publishing Classical Hollywood Cinema : Film Style Mode of Production to 1960 Bordwell, David.; Staiger, Janet.; Thompson, Kristin Publication: London Taylor Francis Routledge, 1988. FILMOGRAPHY Fight Club () Dir: David Fincher Magnolia (1999) Paul Thomas Anderson Rocky ( 198 200 ) Thelma and Louise (1991)Dir: Ridley Scott

Margaret Sanger’s Planned Parenthood Essay -- Exploratory Essays

Margaret Sanger’s Planned Parenthood During a time in which white supremacy was being challenged by an ever-increasing African population, a woman named Margaret Sanger â€Å"sought to purify America’s breeding stock and purge America’s bad stains† (Planned Parenthood). She set out to establish the American Birth Control League, which eventually became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). Sanger’s actions provoked much controversy because at the time not only was contraception illegal in the United States, but it was denounced by almost every major religious denomination (Contraception History). Margaret Sanger set out on a mission to overcome first the church and then the state in order to â€Å"stop bringing to birth children whose inheritance cannot be one of health or intelligence,† (Planned Parenthood) and to impact women’s sexual freedom. Margaret Sanger’s first order of business in her attempt to claim women’s rights to sexual freedom was to alter the church’s thoughts and ideals regarding the use of contraception. In 1916, when she began her revolutionary crusade, contraception was not only condemned by the Catholic Church, but by many sects of Christianity. After much effort, the year 1930 brought success to Margaret Sanger and her cohorts. It was at this point that the Church of England accepted the use of contraception in certain circumstances, and only between married couples (Contraception History). This victory by Sanger and her organization, Planned Parenthood, was followed by a wave of acceptance among many denominations for contraceptive use among married couples, and then among single adults. The aftermath of Sanger’s efforts influenced much of the world to changing i... ... links to other resources in English as well as Spanish. http://www.nyu.edu/projects/sanger/ipff.htm This site provides the specific history of Planned Parenthood and provides a timeline of when involvement began in different countries across the world. It also includes the names of those on the various boards and commissions within the organization, and for what each is responsible. http://www.conservativebeacon.com/essays/Other/planned_parenthood.html This site provides an interesting comparison between Margaret Sanger and Adolf Hitler, implying that each was a white supremacist in search of ensuring the continuance of white domination. http://dianedew.com/sanger.htm This site provides quotes from Margaret Sanger herself, on many various subjects such as: blacks, adultery, abortion, and her own personal goals.

Essay --

Mary McLeod Bethune was an African American educator, activist, and advisor. She believed that education provided the key to racial advancement. She became an educator and did much to contribute to American society. Mary Bethune also became very involved in government service. She started her own civil rights organization working on critical issues for African Americans and also helped many presidents in certain affairs. Mary McLeod Bethune gave the speech â€Å"What Does American Democracy Mean to Me?† November 23. 1939. The speech was given on America’s Town Meeting of the Air, which was a radio show in New York that discussed American Politics. The speech remains significant today. This speech is about Mary’s personal meaning of democracy. She speaks on the relation between democracy and African Americans. She reminded listeners that African Americans have always been willing to do whatever it takes for democracy and what it stands for. Today many African Amer ican contribute to the democracy, making this speech relatable to them. â€Æ' Who? During this time period, Mary McLeod Bethune was a well respect civil rights activists and democratic advisor. By lending her expertise to several presidents, she became popular in American government. She became a leader in the effort to build coalition among African American women fighting for equal rights, better education, jobs, and political power. She led many local and national women’s clubs. She founded the National Council of Negro Women, which opened the doors to her relationship with President Roosevelt. President Franklin D. Roosevelt named her direct of the Office of Minority Affairs in the National Youth Administration. When? This speech was given during the New Deal Era. On November ... ...ons fundamental change. To whom? The radio show the speech was given on attracted up to 3,000,000 listeners each week. When giving her speech she was giving it to over a million Americans of all races. Her speech was to those who agreed and disagreed with African American progress and equality. For those who disagreed she spoke to them to possible change their hearts. To those who agreed, she spoke to them giving them inspiration. How? We do not know what she was physically doing because the speech was through a radio station. While giving the speech, Mary Bethune’s voice was powerful. Her words were spoken very clearly and she spoke loudly. This is significant because African Americans in the past were illiterate and could not read or write and their speech would not be clear. She spoke very literate and her vocabulary was unlike most African Americans at the time.

Evil Disney, Research Response to Henry Giroux Essay

There are plenty of hotbed issues on how the Disney corporation’s sociological and socio political ideologies are embedded into their products and how they affect children, but very few ask why Disney would place hidden ideologies in their movies/shows. What reasons would Disney have to program children with outdated morals while trying desperately to uphold a model image of innocence? What practices has the disney corporation practiced that some would consider immoral or even illegal? To answer these questions the following issues must be explored in more depth: The history and actions of Disney from its inceptions to the present,Walt’s strict â€Å"moral† code along with the legacy he left behind, the policies of Disneyland along with the corporation’s political, judicial and economical power, Walt’s ties to the FBI and organized crime syndicates, and the revolving door politics in our government. Disney’s powers have allowed them unprecedented freedoms associated with a private company and the pandora’s box that is Evil Mickey. First,what is the Disney corporation and how did it come to be? It was created almost single handedly by Walter Elias â€Å"Walt† Disney. He was born on December 5, 1901, one of five children. Walt had a love for drawing cartoons early on and even made money as a child by selling some of them to family and friends. When he was 16 he joined the Red Cross as an ambulance driver for WW1 after being denied service in the army for his young age. This patriotic fervor that would later shape his cartoons. When he returned home from the war he made a few failed attempts at working in different animation companies until he and his brother, Roy, started the Disney Brothers Studio in 1923 after moving to California. The two of them prospered despite two major setbacks becoming one of the most powerful media conglomerates today. Their first setback happened In the late 1920’s. Disney learned that Winkler and her husband, Charles Mintz, had basically stolen their entire enterprise when they stole the rights to Oswald, an early character for his laugh-o-grams. Along with all but one former employee, Iwerks, who refused to leave Disney, hopefully winning him employee of the year. (biography. com) Charles was unsatisfied with the production costs for earlier creations. When Oswald became highly successful, Mintz hired all of the former employees thereby giving the rights to the later formed Universal picture’s first creation. According to his biography, during this time Walt’s wife was pregnant with their first child and Walt went into a deep depression claiming it on â€Å"financial stress†. (sito, ch5) There is a lot of speculation about this time in Walt’s life. Some say that the Mishpucka and the organized mob had an influence into this(babbit); the mob, who at the time were powerful in the freezone of Hollywood, controlling unions, local law, real estate, film sets, etc. Time Magazine, Nov. 1, 1943, wrote, â€Å"In the witness chair in Manhattan’s Federal Court sat bland, Wily Willie Bioft (pronounced Buy-off), blackmailer, panderer, labor leader, and now star witness against eight ex-pals, who are charged with shaking down $1 million from the movie industry†¦ Question: Was it true that Bioft once had a five-year plan for taking over 20% of Hollywood’s profits-and eventually 50% interest In the studios themselves? Bioff (wistfully): â€Å"If we’d lasted that long, we would have. Question: â€Å"Did you ever say you were boss of Hollywood and could make producers do whatever you wanted? † Bioff: â€Å"Yes-and I could make them dance to my tune. † Although Bioff rolled over on his pals and ended up getting car bombed later there is no proof that Walt ever worked with them or against them. The only link between Walt and the Mishpucka/Mafia is Mafia associate, Henry Cohn. After the first setback with Mintz Walt was heavily in debt and needed some way to bounce back his business after losing nearly everything but his mind. Henry offered to give Walt a loan. The thought of the mafia looming over his head is one of the reasons stated for his severe depression (Rasmussen&Sito) The theft of Oswald, was a blessing in disguise that lead to the creation of Mickey Mouse and later to create the worlds first full length animated movie in 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which won 8 Oscars and made 1. 5 million despite being in the midst of an economic meltdown. (biography. com) Opening up Disney to a whole new realm of marketing and showing Walt the popularity and power of his studios. The second setback was the strike of 1941. Which was instigated by the firing of former head of the Federation of Screen Cartoonists and later leader of the Screen Cartoonists Guild, Art Babbitt on May 28, which caused 200 animators to go on strike almost immediately. (Sito&babbit) Walt early on had discovered that propaganda and public image were key to selling media, which is why he was so studious about keeping the interior of the workplace â€Å"Christian†. Walt had created the Federation of Screen artists to better control his workers, which was a union that regularly met with him on issues such as wage increases, better hours, less footage quotas, and better work environments. Since Walt was notorious for being a bit cruel and demanding in the office. (rasmussen) Though as soon as Art learned this he created the Screen Cartoonists Guild whose recruiting patterns were not the nicest methods possible but it did get them all to join â€Å"There were these tough union guys who said we couldn’t enter the door unless we joined, so we did. Under protest I joined. Because of the new job classification my salary doubled overnight. So i can’t complain about the union. † (sito) This was a time when union laws were strong under Teddy Roosevelt, more often than not the law would favor the people over the corporation. This was also a time when many Mob bosses were often also Union bosses so it was a give and take situation. Unions were now viewed as less as a helpful barrier between workers and the corporations to something evil, something, Communist. With the Red scare well under way and people were mixing socialist ideologies with communism. Though at this time the idea of communism was quite popular the way patsies were during the prohibition age. It was doing quite well in the underground of society. Even within Disney there was communism, Walt even thought communist agitators were the culprit to the 1941 strike. sito) This all of course is the end result of years of oppressive rule under Walt along with strengthening unions demanding better pay and working conditions. Walt hated those whose ideas drifted more towards the left wing which would fit the image of the highly conservative man he was. In the office an employee could be fired on the spot for any kind of social infraction. If an employee cursed or made any sort of rude engagements with a woman they would be forced to leave and of course there was no drinking allowed in his office. Disney employees under Walt had to get a hall pass to go to the restroom or get up at all† Of course walt was known for his rages, often times screaming at artists who had not met his quotas of 30 to sometimes 60 feet of film in one day. He was also known to be a heavy drinker in his officeâ€Å"You could smell the gin on his breath everyday after lunch† (Sito) Walt testified about the strike in the hearings of the House Committee on Un-American Activities about this and much more calling them â€Å"Communist agitators†, among other less decent things. sito) This of course started the well documented relationship between Walt and the FBI from 1940 till his death. He was promoted to full Special Agent in Charge Contact, which meant he had people under him finding communists and saboteurs, Ronald Reagan being one of his fellow operatives under T-10. He and Reagan Blacklisted many writers, actors and artists for having a differing political belief as that of the reigning government. The FBI also gained access to Disneyland to use as a platform for whatever they want. There is talk online on blogs that the FBI still use Disneyland to monitor foreign nationals entering the park since the threat of communism no longer applies. (Herbert&Sito&Babbit&Rasmussen) The relationship Walt had with the FBI and the ability to blacklist anybody he wanted may subscribe to Disney’s amazing rise during this time as a media powerhouse(but thats only speculation) This cozy relationship between Disney and the government has continued through the wonderful world of the revolving door politics. A sad modern relationship that is so commonly seen between politics and private companies. Many who are in executives in Disney will enter into politics and gain high levels positions starting as lobbyists and squeezing their way into actual positions of power in the government. Marsha Macbride for example, worked as an FCC chief of staff to chairman powell for years before sometime in the late 1990’s she started to lobby for Disney and was a major advisor in the clinton administration as well as during the merger of time warner and AOL, which Disney ended up winning and gaining rights along with cash settlements in 2003. The next year she is working as the Executive Vice President for Legal and Regulatory Affairs at the National Association of Broadcasters and still is. (gov relations 1-3) Another is Lisa Caputo who served citigroup, disney vp of communications and as a bill clinton staffer (gov relations 5)or Susan Fox who worked as an fcc advisor before going to work for disney as an advisor between the government on their divisions such as the Disney Interactive Media Group, Disney Channel, the Disney ABC Cable Networks, ABC and ESPN. (gov relations 4) Others include George mitchell who worked in on Board of Directors as well as a US senator. Eileen O’connor was a news producer for ABC but is now working in a US embassy. Dennis Hightower a former Sr. executive officer transferred to Dep Secretary of commerce. (gov relations 3&5)There is even a department of Disney called â€Å"Disney government relations† that has a direct link to another department within the FCC. After calling a few times and getting different information I got this â€Å"we work with our partners in government such as the AFA or the FCC to get better standards of broadcasting for the Disney corporation. Basically legally bribing politicians to lower their standards and to take Disney’s side in lawsuits and corporate takeovers. Now a days after Walt’s death Disney has expanded to epic proportions in the media industry. The public face of cuddly animals, children’s fairy tales and building theme parks â€Å"It also owns six motion picture studios, ABC television network and its 226 affiliated stations, multiple cable television networks, 227 radio stations, four music companies, three cruise lines, theatrical production companies, publishing houses, multiple educational shorts, 15 magazine titles and five video game development studios. (gabler)It became the cultural pervader of a perfect world with everything that it put its name on. But there is a darker side to Disney that is up for debate. The side of Disney that is bigoted, American exceptionalist, sexist, racist, and a purveyor of pain and suffering. The propaganda machine that is Disney today. Propaganda has always been an important part in any government, from mummers playing the latest military conquest to Disney’s subliminal messages of obedience in children’s movies. Producers construct fantasy societies that seem to run in perfect harmony where each worker and is happy to work their menial jobs and never aspire to try to raise themselves above their born level. This is seen in the workers of Antz, Sleeping Beauty and Oz. Always with an all powerful â€Å"just ruler†. These stories lead children into blindly following their leaders down the yellow brick road to the great and powerful Oz. â€Å"Workers are quite happy to â€Å"serve the rich and privileged, never questioning their subordinate position. (giroux pg 102). Another example is the Chicken little movie in 1938, where the people are the chickens, the farmer the government and the fox being intellectuals (with his psychology book) Programming americans, along with all of the other(now banned) wartime disney movies that seep out Walts own personal bigoted morals. Another example is the â€Å"Thrifty Pigs† which is trying to get people to buy war bonds to stop â€Å"the big bad wolf†, or â€Å"Home Defense† which makes fun of the French soldiers as being incompetent. All of these and countless others that were formed to get the people to fight in a war that we had no part in until Pearl Harbor. Or the worst one, â€Å"The spirit of the 43† â€Å"taxes to fight the axis† â€Å"Dont spend your money on things you dont need, give it to the government. † Nothing like big brother Disney. But this side of Disney stops, at least blatantly, after Walts death in 1966 when it became a modern heartless bureaucratic corporation. Yet hidden messages are still within modern movies, though with less obvious programming. â€Å"vciolinguistic construction† of social dominance and inferiority in which characters who use mainstream American English tend to be associated with â€Å"strongly positive actions and motivations†Ã¢â‚¬  [pg 102 of Giroux] While the antagonist is often of another nationality such as the British voiced Scar or any voice that isn’t middle class Suburbia speech, as seen in Ursula’s louisiana sw amp accent. This pushes children to view those of the lower social class, dark skinned people or foreigners to be â€Å"evil† and become xenophobic and racist towards anything different than themselves. Disney goes a step further and makes a culture of consumerism, â€Å"’without tenements or poverty or urban class conflict†¦ It’s a native white Protestant dream of a world without blacks or immigrants. â€Å", â€Å"image of small towns characterized by cheerful commerce, with barbershop quartets and ice cream sundaes and glorious parades. â€Å"(giroux pg 96) Everything media wise that Disney produces ends up becoming a cog in the Disney corporate machine with imaginers spewing out product after product to sell to children and increase profits. Children see a movie and want to emulate the role models perceived, then a commercial comes on after Mickey mouse club house for the newest enchanted Princess gown or Woody’s costume and the kids ask their parents to get it. Children have not just copied the looks of the protagonists in Disney stories but have come to expect those fantasies to play out in real life, when the real world isn’t such a happy place and has no room for such fantasy. People end up growing up focusing on material items and their personal lives instead of focusing on the fixable issues, calling it the American dream. This ideology of apathy is a big problem now with revolving door politics, politicians who promise the same things over and over and never fix them and blame the other side, failing infrastructure, falling public school standards and debt through the roof. Not saying that its all Disney’s fault, of course not. Though almost every American child has seen at least one disney movie, it’s almost impossible not to be sucked into Disney’s sway since they even show them often in public schools as educational videos never delving deeper. As a social manipulator Disney has taken the fight out of us. Programing us to follow American exceptionalism since the American was the hero is portrayed morally just whilst his/her enemy spoke in an exotic accent along with generating xenophobism of other cultures. Reinforcing children to follow the status quo and not to learn about the rest of the worlds culture outside their own narrow sphere of friends and family, enclosing ourselves in a media shell while proliferating American’s culture and moral values to other nations, who view disney as the true america. Disneyland †¦ it is the â€Å"real† country, all of â€Å"real† America† -Jean Baudril ­lard [pg 95 of giroux. ] To be fair, countless other â€Å"children’s shows† show â€Å"non moral/family friendly broadcasting, especially now. Watching Spongebob as a child or the modern shows such as Adventure Time or the Regular Show and then seeing them as an adult. Explaining why my mother would laugh at certain parts of the shows that I didn’t laugh at. I notice now the abundance of sexual jokes I missed as a kid and the references to drugs, crimes, war, and all the other stuff thats messed up with the world. So this kind of hidden messages has been deeply imbedded into all sorts media, they are adults working on childrens shows after all, so i doubt they’d be â€Å"mature†. What is evil about Disney is the corporation and those leading it, not the movies that they put their name on. This culture of consumerism that the corporation has exacerbated has evolved into a new network with companies working together to sell a common goal.