The use of cigarettes as an accessory in fashion images Essay

The use of cigarettes as an accessory in fashion images - Essay Example The essay "The use of cigarettes as an accessory in fashion images" discusses the use of cigarettes in the images of fashion. This was done through the clever slogans that were used such as â€Å"There are many reasons to smoke now,† â€Å"We make Virginia Slims especially for women because they are biologically superior to men† and â€Å"You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby.† It was also done through the use of glamorous-looking women and Hollywood stars seen smoking in the advertisements and in newsreels or films. Women wanting to associate themselves with these ideas of desirability, independence or needed a means of gaining better control over their emotions would take to smoking because they were mimicking the activities of the famous people they see through these media representations. To see how this works, it is helpful to examine how cigarettes have appeared in non-cigarette-related advertising and reinforced these ideas. Cigarettes started appearing in a dvertisements early on as a means of emphasizing the self-reliance and desirability of the female individual. Several examples of this can be found in the images collected in Farid Chenoune’s collection of lingerie images Hidden Femininity. One such example is the following image taken in the early 1900s. This black and white vintage photograph depicts a curvaceous woman in a lacy black teddy with high-cut ‘French’ style legs and a low-cut front that blouses mostly open over her chest. This cut emphasizes the curve of her hips and suggests the curves of her breasts.

The New Testament and Culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The New Testament and Culture - Research Paper Example Racial mix up has reduced ethnic differences as communities continue coming to a common understanding of the New Testament. Professional athletes have also been depicted as a falsely glorified group. The glorification has been portrayed as a short-lived affair that lasts as long as the professionals remain popular in the game. There after, they are forgotten. Parables in the New Testament have been illustrated as awe inspiring narratives that carry their own meaning. They are portrayed as having a significant impact on literature. Hofsted defines culture as a tool that the mind applies to guide a person’s day to day activities and interactions with others. He believes that culture is a collective aspect of a population that has occupied a particular social environment where individuals learn unique norms and also develop standards that guide their behavior. These behaviors make a distinction between cultures since all individuals in a particular culture share norms and customs (Hofstede, 65). The New Testament conflicted most of the cultural practices especially those concerned with worship. Generally, societies had their own way of worship and believed in supernatural powers that influenced their existence. For example, God was regarded as the Supreme Being and the giver of life, similar to the belief in the New Testament. However, the ways of worship changed when people could no longer speak to God and offer sacrifices in shrines. The New Testament emphasizes on new ways of worship and faith as well as adoration of people with unique talents such as those of modern athletes. Ethnic practices such as traditional dance, marriages and burial rights among other aspects of traditional lifestyles were overshadowed by the New Testament (Johnson, 112). The New Testament had a great influence on social identity of communities globally. When people belong to a certain social grouping, they develop a sense of

Faith, Reason, and Imaginationi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Faith, Reason, and Imaginationi - Essay Example Religious faith can be defined as an assent because of the authority of a revealing God. This definition turns faith into an intellectual act and it places the emphasis, at least implicitly, on what is believed, though, again implicitly, what is believed is considered to be not evident or immediately present-that is, to be beyond reasonable evidence. Hence the introduction of a motive for believing, God's authority, who would not deceive us in presenting something for our belief which was not true. Obviously, God's authority is preferred to reason's because we are dealing with religious faith, not scientific belief. Faith, thus, is faith hi God and in whatever God says must be believed. The ultimate reason for believing religiously is not evidence, but God. Proponents of this view of faith acknowledge that this assent of faith takes place in a certain penumbra because the content is not sufficiently supported by reason or other evidence worthy of trust. By the second definition, what is believed is beyond reason; hence the need to introduce the authority of God as the motive for belief; that is, as the only force capable of bending the will to believe. At all events, if things are evident, it is not faith. It is also argued that the assent of faith is given with certainty, not as opinion, but with the surety of true knowledge; and this even though rationally the evidence may not be there (the New Oxford American Dictionary 2001, p. 556). Another definition of faith is "a belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence" (The New Oxford American Dictionary 556). There is need, therefore, of a specific act of the will to command the assent, since it is not necessitated by the reasonableness of the evidence. Still, as should be apparent, this understanding of faith emphasizes "belief that" over "belief in", and it is here, for instance, faith is somebody indicates the expectancy of a journey without definite end or destination; and it points to the human condition as one of travel. Faith can be defined as care about what really matters to us. If we are serious about what ultimately concerns us, doubt can never be excluded altogether, but must be faced with courage. That to which faith is an openness is never given wholly to the believer because it is infinite (in time or in essence), absolute, and therefore cannot be grasped by a subject who is finite in every way. This lack of fit between finite and infi nite is also the reason why doubt or unfaith is always a danger. Imagination Imagination is defined as "mental representation; a mental image of something that is neither perceived as real nor present to the senses" (The New Oxford American Dictionary 2001, p. 779). The imagination has always formed part of the subject-matter of aesthetics, but its recent revival can be traced to recent advances in philosophy of language and philosophy of mind. The second definition states that imagination is 'ability to form images" (The New Oxford American Dictionary 2001, p. 779). It is natural to define imagination as that attitude taking fictional propositions as its contents (where a fictional proposition is one that is not true). For instance, the contents of imaginings are fictional propositions in the trivial sense that they are to be imagined, not in the ordinary sense that they are a species of falsehood. Since we cannot characterize the attitude of imagination nontrivially by its contents,

On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion Essay

On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion - Essay Example Methods of induction have ranged from utilizing sharpened tools, herbal medicines and physical trauma. Opinions, both culturally and legally differ worldwide, with public debate over legal ramifications and ethics of abortion being a very emotive issue. Abortion and the debate ranging around it have birthed activism, debates and controversy in equal measure. It is in fact a norm for people to refer to themselves as pro-life or pro-choice. Personal beliefs touching on responsibility, morality, government role in public policy and religion all affect ones view on abortion. Mary-Anne Warren, an American philosopher, put forward in her article â€Å"On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion†, the perspective that abortion is acceptable morally. This paper seeks to delve into her article, especially her arguments and form an objection to her work. Warren begins her argument by debating how permissibility of abortion morally is dependent on whether the subject fetus is indeed a pers on. She argues that while a satisfactory defense of the right of a woman has to an abortion without proof of a fetus not being a human being is not satisfactorily possible, this difficulty in conclusion of a fetus’s status should not make it impossibility in the production of a solution to the moral status of the abortion problem (Warren 2). Pro-abortionists, due to not coming to grips with issues surrounding abortion, have had most of their arguments fall flat, failing to weaken traditional arguments on antiabortion. Their arguments are of two sorts, they either state that denial of a woman’s right to abortion is a deprivation of her rights to have control over her own body, or that deaths induced by illegal abortions, especially by poor women, is as a consequence of this law. This is obviously flawed since the fact that access restriction to abortion has such tragic side effects is not a pointer to the unjustified restrictions, as murder is still wrong. She cites J. Noonan saying, â€Å"The fundamental question in the long history of abortion is; how you determine the humanity of a human being?† (Warren 1). She goes on to argue that once the assumption of a fetus’ moral rights is allowed in full, the question of whether abortion is justifiable becomes a difficult and complex question. Warren seeks to push her abortion agenda via discussion of the five characteristics she believes are central to being a person. Warren tends to view persons as entities who have consciousness, self motivation, reasoning, communication capacity and presence of self awareness and self concepts (Warren 2). The first issue she tackles is the Definition of a human. She argues that â€Å"human† has two meanings, distinct but not easily distinguishable. Since killing of innocent humans is wrong and fetuses are an example of humans that are innocent, killing them is wrong. She shoots down this argument by claiming that the usage of human in similar se nse in both conclusions, whichever use is meant of the two, one of them begs questions. If used in two senses that are different, then the conclusion is still wrong (Warren 5). She claims that the presence of the human genome in fetuses does not point to it being morally human. Her second characteristic deals with the definition of moral community. She asks if it is indeed possible to establish if moral humanity can be sufficiently defined by genetic humanity. She describes the moral community as all people and only people, rather than all human beings and only human beings. Her argument continues to debate what characteristics enable any entity qualify for consideration as a person. She puts these characteristics down as consciousness and capacity to detect pain, acting out of self motivation,

How Aztec Culture Survived Essay Example for Free

How Aztec Culture Survived Essay Aztec refers to Nahuatl speaking people from the central region of Mexico. There are other groups who are related to this community; they include the Acolhua and the Tepanic. This essay analyses the history of the Aztec people, their culture and how they survived the Spaniard conquest. The Aztecs were located in the south central region of Mexico. They lived in Mesoamerica highlands in the area of basins which are separated by dissected mountain ranges and eroded volcanic peaks. The Aztecs originated from the remote north at around the early 13th century. They were moving around the valley of Mexico in their struggle of survival. Their experiences went to the extent of Aztecs being enslaved by another tribe. They stopped their migratory pattern in 1325 when they settled on the south west of Lake Texaco. This was after they saw an eagle sitting on a pricking pear stem. To the community, this was an omen which announced the location where they should settle and make their city (Msdu. du, 2010, Par 1-4). In part of their culture, the Aztecs maintained their activities of fishing, hunting, garden techniques, and gathering. The rivers in the valley were rich in fish, shrimp, insects, tadpoles, and pasta. There were those who settled near the ocean and they ate crabs, fish, turtles, and fish. This means that water was the main source of their livelihoods. They hunted animals such a rabbits, armadillos, snakes, pumas, coyotes, and deer. In addition, they hunted the wild turkey. The community gathered crops such as cocoa, bananas, pumpkins, squash, beans, tobacco, chili, onions, green tomatoes, red tomatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, and vanilla. Later, they began warring with other tribes and they conquered them. The Aztecs allowed the tribes that they conquered to maintain their government and religion but the tribes were supposed to provide the Aztecs with textiles, food, pottery, and other items that they required (Native Web, 1995, Par 2-4). The Aztec people spoke Nahauatl Language but did not have a written language. They however had no written records. Instead, they used varieties of hieroglyphic paintings and the methods of direct representation as ways of keeping their records. The first contact of the Aztec empire with the Spanish conquest was during the reign of Ahuitzotl from 1486 to1502. The Spaniards and their allies became very dangerous to the people of Aztec. Hostilities developed, leading to the massacre of the Aztec main temple and the death of their leader, Montezuma II. On July 1, the Spaniards fled the town, leading to an episode which they referred to as The Sad Night. The Aztec society was helped by the native allies to fight the Spaniards and in August 13, the battle ended. They conquered but due to the poor leadership that prevailed, the falling of the empire was witnessed. Despite the empire’s declination, their culture still remained intact. This led to positive development of the Aztec culture because the Spaniard presence did not affect their way of life. Today, many traditional groups of Mexican Americans can trace their origin from the time of Aztec tradition. They are well known today for human sacrifices. During the special events, a slave was sacrificed to honor the gods and to regulate the human existence (Anguilar-Moreno 131). In conclusion, I found out that Nahuatl language which is the traditional language for the Aztec is being spoken by 1. 5 million people. In Mexico City, most of the buildings and streets have Nahuatl names. This means that the Aztec old days are still respected up to now.

Information Technology in India Essay Example for Free

Information Technology in India Essay India is one of the great standup country in the field of science and technology. every year india produces more than 500 thousands engineers. No doubt it is a bulk producers of scientists and technologists. Information Technology remain the backbone of the economical growth of India. and you can see it from the observed facts of exports. The share of IT in exports has increased by 17% from 1990 to 2001. IT based sectors such as Backoffice, remote maintainence, accounting, public service, medical, insurence and other bulk processiong fields are rapidly expending. Indian companies such as HCL, WIPRO, INFOSYS, TCS are todays tough competitors for the other IT organizations. History of Information Technology in India The setup of IT in India was done by the Tata group in association with the Burroughs at Mumbai in 1967. The first software export zone SEEPZ was setup in 1973 this was what we can call the old avatar of the IT parks. at that time 80% of indias software were exported from there. The indian government baughtEVSEM computers from soviat unions in 1968 which was used in big organizations only for the technological and scientific researchs. After the freedom of india in aug 1947 it was an economically beleaguered country. but due to the efforts of PM late. sir Jawaharlal Nehru india very repidly become a wide scientific work-field, such big that it was ranked 3rd after the USA and Soviat Unions. But due to the production of more engineers then country can consume the number of emigrants increased and this supported forigen countries to get a large step ahead from india. The most of the helping hands in the USs scientific and technological improvement was Indian, in association with the californias silicon valley. During this time the creation of new organization was in progress. with enhancement of IT in india some well known groups stood-up some of the names are, National Informatic Center, Tata infotech, Patni Computers, Wipro, Infosys etc. In 1991 Department of electronic created a corporation called Software Technology Parks of India which are owned by govt. of India. They provide VSAT communication. and after 1993 Govt. allowed pvt. companies to own dedicated links. VSNL was first to introduce Gateway E-Mail service with the 64kbps leased line service. It was the ministry of Atal Bihari Vajpai who significantly improved the IT in india by placing development of IT in the five major priorities and form National Task Force on IT and software development. and within 90 days of the creation of NTF the suggested 108 recommendation for IT sector. And new telecommunication policy IT Act 2000 was created for legal procedures of electronic transaction and e-commerce. Present Day Situation The present day situation of IT is a bit down due to the recession occurred in the market some year back but India is recovering very soon and IT sector id again on its running speed toward the progress. In the 2010 the economical revenue from the outsourcing operation of IT industry was US$ 54.33 billion which is greater then the other Asian country. and this revenue is expected to be raised up-to US$ 255billion in this decade. the major hub in IT in India is Bangalore which is also called silicon valley of India. beside this other emergind hubs are Delhi(NCR), Hydrabad, Chenni, Pune, Mumbai etc. The IT services has grown by 2.4 % in 2010 and is expected to grown at the rate of 4.2 % in 2011. according to the report of IDC in march 2010 indias data center services had a revenue estimated upto US$1.39 billion. TRAI reported that country has more than 10 million broadband subscriber and these numbers will change into 100 millions by the 2014. and the market of PC in india has grown at the rate of 27% in the past year and of Notebook computers has grown with a rate of 52 % which is surprisingly a huge ratio as compared to other countries. India is seen as a business environment and is growing like pollution in the environment(i didnt got other example of rapid growth rate). IT services and solution providers Patni computers has signed a deal of 32 million US$ with the a UK- based IT service provider. Firstsource solution has a deal with Barclaycard. vertex (CMO) has announced a joint venture with shell transource to address the domestic BPO. The market of the networking equipment in india is estimated to grow at a rate of 15 % till 2012as per reported in dec.2010. the net investment in the software and hardware market is of US$ 10,406 million according to department of industrial policy and promotion. An IT company EMC corp. will touch the investment of US$ 2 billion by 2014. A russian IT security company plans to invest 2 billion us$ in hydrabad in coming financial year. Still the Indian IT industry has no dead end in its way ahead. I wish for the continuous progress of IT in India. Note : the above discussed article is written on the basis of research on the various web resuorces. though I had tried to provide best, still there is no lack of knowledge on Internet for the subject of the same.

The Cultural Homogenisation And Heterogenisation Cultural Studies Essay

The Cultural Homogenisation And Heterogenisation Cultural Studies Essay Taking a unilayered view on culture can easily result in limited equations such as homogenisation does not equal homogenisation, since homogenisation evokes heterogenisation, and both processes are occurring at the same time. Yet, by using Rams concept (2004) of the one-way institutional homogenisation and two-way symbolic heterogenisation level enables us to differentiate where homogenisation and heterogenisation are taking place. Lets consider some examples to grasp this concept. In Rams example, Falafel, Israels national dish, which was on its demise, experienced a renaissance through the arrival of hamburgers. He argues that McDonaldisation represents homogenisation on the institutional level (victory of foreign culture) and the renaissance of falafel represents heterogenisation on the symbolic level (victory of local culture). The examples of the tattoo culture in Japan (Yamada, 2009), and the Toraja culture (Volkman, 1984) exhibit a similar pattern. In the Japanese culture, tat toos have long been appreciated, particularly since earlier beginnings of the mid 18th century, when so called full body suits tattooing started. This culture has been evident in the population groups of lovers, geishas, prostitutes, and criminals. Yet, the Meiji Restauration in 1868 led to Westernisation and changed Japanese attitudes towards tattoos. What was initially viewed as spiritual and stylish suddenly changed to be viewed as abhorrent. Japanese tattoo culture, however, experienced a renaissance through incorporating American one point tattoos. In the case of the Toraja, an ethnic group in Indonesia, lengthy funeral ceremonies experienced a revival. Through improvement in mobility, thousands of Torajans immigrated to Massakar and other places in the 1930s to find jobs. Most of them were open-minded, well-educated young people that had converted into Christianity. When they came back to Toraja they did not try to eradicate traditional funeral practises and replace them with Christian or more cosmopolitan values, in the contrary they were the main promoters to revive the tradition. It is important to understand that the above mentioned revivals did not merely bring back a dying tradition. However, they brought back an old tradition with redefined meanings. This is particularly evident in the case of falafel, which lost its unique taste, is nowadays served indoor, and produced in a standardised manner. Therefore, the feelings attached to buying a falafel are very likely to have changed compared to 50 years ago. Furthermore, one-point tattoos do not bear the same spiritual meaning as full body suits tattoos, and funeral ceremonies in Toraja are nowadays more a practice to attract tourists, and showing off wealth. Put simply, they lost its spiritual meaning and authenticity. Rams concept is a very useful, differentiated concept for understanding the forces that shape cultural homogenisation and heterogenisation. Nevertheless, it is limited in its assumption that homogenisation on the institutional level is a one-way street (Ram, 2004, p. 24). Yet, it is much more a two-way street with different proportions of power as the expressive symbolic level (ibid., p. 23). Polarisation Contemporary scholars such as Appadurai (2006) and Lieber Weisberg (2002) question Samuel Huningtons theory of Clash of Civilisations. Appadurai claims that the theory is flawed since it leaves only geography, instead of emphasising ideology. He therefore suggests renaming the polarisation theory into Clash of Ideocide. Furthermore, Lieber Weisberg argue that the clash is rather within than between cultures. I prefer Appadurais, Lieber, and Weisbergs views, because they shifted the topic from the ethnic to an ideological level and acknowledge deterritorialisation, which will be discussed in the next section. Even though, Huningtons concept is flawed, he might be correct with his notion of polarisation. As an example let us consider Axelrods (1997) experiment in the field of cultural convergence, which contributed to shed some light on this debate. He developed a mathematical model, which he used to find out how many stable homogenised states remain at the end of the experiment (a r un). His model is based on the assumption that the more similar cultures are to each other, the more likely they will eventually homogenise. The number of stable homogenised regions at the end differed depending on the run. His findings indicate amongst others that polarisation increased the more cultural features (cultural dimensions) were used, because of the higher probability of being similar on one of the features. However, the more traits were attached to a feature the more stable homogenised states resulted at the end, meaning less polarisation. For instance, a feature could be the language people speak, and the traits the various alternative languages that might be spoken in that particular state. This model, however, has its limitations like any other model. In my opinion, the model correctly assumes that similar cultures are more likely to become homogenised. But it lacks to consider the inverse effect of heterogenisation, which we could observe in the examples of falafel, Toraja, and tattoo culture. Additionally, his attempt to simulate interconnectedness resulted in regional- rather than global interconnectedness. Nevertheless, the experiment demonstrates that polarisation can take place under certain conditions, and that the outcome of polarisation is ambiguous. This supports the transformalists view that the massive shake out, caused by globalisation, remains uncertain (Giddens, 1996). It is doubtful that cultures become polarised at an ideological level, as individuals have the desire to distinguish themselves from others by nature (Axelrod, 1997). However, it is conceivable that future events, which people associate with religion, could indeed lead to a Clash of Ideocide, leaving two or three clear distinguishable, unharmonisable, and antagonised cultures. Complexity of measuring culture Even though, plenty of research has been done in the field of measuring cultures, e.g. by Trompenaar and Hampden-Turner (2008) or Geert Hofstede (2003), present studies provide us with limited results. To think that we can measure cultures rests on the assumption that there is in any case a definable, lived national culture(Held, 1999, p. 369). Yet, being British or American does not define who you are: It is part of who you are (Legrain, 2003, p. 6). Furthermore, societies do not share values and interests. They are rather contradicting social structures, which are constantly trying to find compromises (Castells, 2009). The phenomenon of deterritorialisation is also particularly making it difficult to determine the trajectory of globalisation. This concept represents the uncoupling of territory and culture through world interconnectedness (Held, 1999). A few clicks suffice to connect with the world and get exposed to the foreign. However, according to Wolfgang Welschs concept of Transculturality (1999) there is nothing absolutely foreign anymore, since everything is within reach. A notion which is in accordance with Appadurais view that there is no distinct we and they anymore (2006). Yet, foreign cultures are not within reach for everyone. There exist huge inequalities between countries and within societies when it comes to internet access (Held, 1999; ITU, 2009). In this context one could ask to which extent the not-haves influence the countrys elite, which is connected to the world? And how much do foreign television programmes and homepages influence a society? To answer this question one could utilise Giulianotti and Robertsons concept regarding migration strategies (2007). It assumes that individuals use strategies to either accept or reject foreign ideas and practices. Taking that as a basis, we can conclude that individuals do not passively absorb foreign cultural traits. They either actively absorb them because of preference or convenience or actively reject them. Lets consider an example to illustrate the complexity of this subject. Think of a Norwegian businessperson who newly drinks coffee at Starbucks in Oslo. Does that tell us how American he has become, if at all? Did the meaning he attaches to coffee change in any way? From this example it should get clear that by only analysing hard facts, such as counting the number of McDonalds, BMWs, Swiss Watches, etc. in a country cannot give us a comprehensive answer of how homogenised cultures are. However, it is beyond doubt that the explicit cultural layer is influencing the implicit one; the question is rather to whi ch extent. To determine the magnitude of this influence is indeed a tough nut to crack. As we discussed earlier in this section, societies are contradicting social structures comprising people with different cultures. Therefore, one can assume that different personalities take different decisions in rejecting and accepting foreign cultural traits. Lets assume an example of a French citizen that regards himself as cosmopolitan, speaks seven languages, travels around the world but is fighting in the front line for rigorous migration policies in his country. In this case he welcomes global cultural flows to France, with the exception of unqualified immigrants and refugees, which make part of the ethnoscape one of Appadurais five cultural flows (Appadurai, 2002). In contrast, another French citizen might feel responsible to help those people in need, however, might reject any foreign ideology that is not in accordance with his religious view. Who in this case is now the cosmopolitan and who is the heartlander (Goh, 1999)? This favouritism towards particular types of global isation flows is also evident in the example of the Israeli businessperson Ezer Weizman. He was a renowned car importer with strong business connections to the US. Yet, he fought at the forefront against the three Ms: McDonalds, Michael Jackson and Madona (Ram, 2004, p. 18). The same particularistic behaviour shows the Indian elite that basically hates American lifestyle, however, sends their children to US universities and tries to pursue the American dream (Appadurai, 2006). In the Middle-East this phenomenon is called Muslim schizophrenia (Lieber Weisberg, 2002). The final example to illustrate my point, uses the case of the Russian youth who welcomes technological advances such as iPods but does not want to emulate the spiritual nature of American lifestyle (Macgregor, 2008). Conclusion This essay demonstrated the complexity of this topic and showed that polarisation, homogenisation, and heterogenisation are simultaneously shaping contemporary society. I therefore support the view of the transformalists who believe that the direction of the shake out, caused by globalisation, remains uncertain. Nevertheless, we might ask which concept is more prevalent in contemporary society. In my opinion it is homogenisation, since the homogenisation process on the structural level is very intense and the heterogenisation process, like Ram stated, rather symbolic. The homogenisation process is mainly driven by communication technology, education, human rights culture, business attempt to eliminate difference, and the desire to increase efficiency through latest technology. It can be expected that those drivers of homogenisation will continue to shape society in the future. Homogenisation, however, will neither reach its pure form nor remain static, as people want to distinguish themselves by nature and will actively reject foreign cultures. At this point, I want to emphasise that the homogenisation trend might shift in some decades towards a dominance of heterogenisation or polarisation. Issues like climate change, wars, shifts in economic and political power, and dramatic events that people associate with religion could have unpredictable outcomes.