American Women Essay Example for Free

American Women Essay The American society was such a fragmented society in its early days of independence that various sectors of the society have had to free themselves through the hard way. The racial segregation between the blacks of the south and the whites of the north took a long time to resolve, and the solution came only by the war between the two regions when the one mighty Abraham Lincoln intervened. After racism, gender equality took the center stage. The American men could not envisage a situation where their women counterparts could vote alongside them, but with the upcoming of powerful women like Elizabeth Cady Sturton and Susan B Anthony with no exception to Alice Paul in the late 19th Century saw the fight get a notch higher. Actually the centre problem was the Amendment of section nineteen which will have allowed the women of the bigger empire. In this paper we are going to peruse through the whole process of the fight until the actual inception. The history of the women’s suffrage movement can be traced back in 1848. In this year a small women’s Right convention met at Seneca Falls in New York. These ladies were here to initiate their public outcry for equal rights with men . They wanted to be given equal opportunities as men to attend college, to make doctors and lawyers as their men counterpart. Pegged to this they demanded the right to vote, which according to them will open doors for all of the above. Alice Paul, the biggest name in the fight for women’s suffrage, entered battle seven decades after the inception of the fight. She herself had a test of the battle back in England where she had gone to attend her studies but unfortunately her later years ended in jail. She immediately flew back to the states only to find that the fight was underway. The entrance of Alice Paul in the bigger fight saw the battle reenergized and take an even rigorous pace. It is important to note that the first time the women’s suffrage amendment was presented to congress was in 1878 but unfortunately the congress did not give it any vote. In the next four decades the unrelenting women kept presenting it to the congress, all this time the bill yielding no luck. By this time the older generation of women suffragist had gone but the support among the American population had not gone. When Alice Paul and his party (National Women’s Party) gained strength, some states of the United States had already mandated voting for their women. Infact, in 1916 Montana became the first state to elect a woman, Jeannette Rankin ,to the congress. However, the congress was not in any way prepared to pass the suffrage amendment bill. With the congress having a negative attitude towards the bill (perceived as a gender biases) Alice Paul and some other leaders like Harriet Sturton thought to get the attention of the president and the congress. Their first strategy was to organize parades in the major cities, and New York and Washington were the most targeted. Suffragists in thousands and wearing white robes marched along the streets of New York. Some groups of the suffragist rode on horse back carrying banners flying high, but this could not change the mind of the president (then President Wilson). Therefore, another move was looming-picketing was to begin at White House. No sooner had picketing begin than was Alice Paul thrown in jail. She spent almost six weeks in and when she was released any move to stop picketers bore nothing. The exaggerated stories on the newspaper only helped to anger suffragists even more and helped more women join the movement. The mistreatments of the arrested suffragists, including forced feeding for those in prison hospital deterred not the free suffragists. These women were so courageous and that’s why in one of the president’s speeches to the public Paul courageously stood up and asked â€Å"How about votes for women? †(Doris, 1918) She could only be manhandled and led away for custody mistreatment. Still during the mistreatments one of them cried out and said â€Å"It was Alice Paul, the strongest weapon left with which to continue our battle†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Doris, 1918). Therefore, it was evident that these women were not going to let up soon, not until their demand was attended to. On January 9th 1918 President Wilson officially declared his long awaited support for the women’s suffrage movement. The events that followed saw a speedy move to pass the suffrage amendment bill, first beginning with the Susan B Anthony Amendment, which was to give suffrage to all American women citizens. Hardly a year later on August 26th, 1920 the amendment was verified in Tennessee, becoming the 36th state to do so. With this the Nineteenth amendment was officially introduced into the American constitution. For Alice Paul and her colleuges the first part of the battle had been won, next was the Equal rights Amendment which was to protect and guarantee women protection against discrimination. Eight decades down the line the battle still continues but the war can be said to be more than won. The approach and the strategies employed by Alice Paul and her friends can be said to intellectual. Their demonstrations never involved violence infact when she was asked if at all she threw stones herself she strongly resisted,-â€Å"No, indeed. I never did and I never shall. I think such deeds belong to rioters and women are seldom rioters† (Doris, 1918). I personally like this attitude in Alice Paul. The contemporary U. S politics is characterized by powerful women politicians like Madeline Albright, Condoleezza Rice, Jendayi Frazier and many others. I am of the opinion that these politicians should be made to understand that any political ovation they do enjoy today was fought for by the more powerful women like Alice Paul and Anthony B, who came before them. They should also realize that U. S politics make a big difference in the whole world: there is no nation in the world where women have been given a high profile than in the U. S, save for the fact that the empire hasn’t produced any woman president. All these, courtesy of suffragist women movement. We now turn our attention to the movie, evidently acted by young Americans who were actually touched and directly affected by the acts of the suffragist movement. Iron Jawed angels was acted in 2004 and it narrates the suffrage movement of the early 20th century. Having received its filming in Virginia under the production of HBO films in 2004, it is said to have received a standing ovation at the Sundance. The play focuses on the two defiant and powerful women in the history of the United States, first Alice Paul, whom Hillary Swank acts, and Lucy Burns acted by Frances O’Connor. In essence the movie attempts to explain to bring out how these activists formed a more radical wing from the conservative and older main stream wing. In the real sense the movie is a clear show that actually women are not objects but complete characters just like their counterpart men. The play also acknowledges the fact that although these women had different backgrounds but they are united in their common goal of women’s suffrage movement. The play continues to Harvey the fact that in this country dominated by male chauvinism, it was no easy go as the women of this radical wing clash with their conservative counterparts and also a divided public opinion. It is also extra hard given the male dominated leadership of the country led by president Woodrow Wilson (acted as Bob Gunton) himself. The actors also bring out the idea that along the way in the course of the fight sacrifices are looming with many of the activists being thrown in jail and going a step further ton strike on food. These lead to forced feeding by the hospital nurses. This forced feeding wins them a name, Iron Jawed Angels: the title of the play. These ladies have a strong will which actually sees them realize their dream one fine day in 1920. By the time the movie was being cast in 2004 it was clocking 84 good years since the end of the suffrage movement. Many in this generation had not experienced the reality of the bitterness of living without accessing the necessary human rights enjoyed by any member of the society. To an eighteen year old American girl in college it is just a common right for her to access to . I tend to feel the real bitterness this young woman engages when the plain truth dawns on her that actually it isn’t any other opportunity for her to attend her college tutorial classes alongside male counterpart, who also ought to realize the opportunity was mistakenly meant for them alone about close to ninety years ago. Needless to add, the movie is real timely to these somehow ignorant population of the whole truth behind the struggle for equal rights among the men and women of the great empire. Asking me to scoop out my view of the accuracy and effectiveness of the movie to the contemporary American society, I Imagine the American college lady who has just been watching this actors in the theatre. The pain of the hard swallowed saliva drips along her saliva as it comes to her realization that she is their as a result of a sacrifice made by somebody else.The play is this effective and accurate! References: Stevens, Doris. Jailed for freedom: American Women win the vote. 1920. Ed. Carol O’Hare Troutdale: Newsage Press, 1995. Graham, Sally Hunter. Woodrow Wilson, Alice Paul, and the Woman Suffrage Movement: Political Science Quarterly 98 (1983-84):665-79. http://www. gutenberg. org/etext/3604 http://iron-jawed-angels. com/ http://movies. go. com/iron-jawed-angels/d776839/drama

Purpose of a Job Description Essay Example for Free

Purpose of a Job Description Essay The primary purpose of a job description is to identify the duties, essential functions and requirements of the position. Job descriptions also serve several other important functions. A good job description can assess work flow and eliminate duplication of effort and also help to assist in the evaluation of the employees’ job performance. It should be a statement of what duties and responsibilities the employee is expected to complete and a means for achieving them. Job descriptions can also be used as recruitment tools, compensation surveys and other benchmarks tools. Job descriptions are used for different purposes by the employee and the Human Resources Department. Human Resource managers, can use job descriptions for employee training and development and establishing and updating performance standards. In general, a job description includes the title, a description of the tasks performed, and information on working conditions. It can also include any other attributes that the employer requires for that position such as: education, knowledge, skills and personality suitability. (Verma, 2007) Many business challenges such as the introduction of new technology, or increased business competition, can be more easily met when employees are well prepared and trained to have the required skills. The company I work for, for example, informs all the employees with the latest updates within the company by sending a letter. With detailed job descriptions, you can compare the actual tasks of employees to what needs to be done within the organization. This helps you easily identify critical areas that need to be addressed, ensuring you have a global view of your organizations strengths and weaknesses and, at the same time, a detailed view of each employees areas of strengths and areas for improvement or change. In the recruitment process, a job description gives potential employees comprehensive information about the job for which they are applying. An accurate and effective job description filters applicants who are being evaluated for the opening helping generate a higher-quality pool of applicants. It also serves as a resource to the supervisor who is filling a position by helping determine the types of selection tools that should be used when hiring. The Sim-Industries HR department has been in place for 1, 5 years now and they still have not made time to develop job descriptions, because the management did not see this as a priority. The company was in its initial fase and all the employees were expected to be flexible during that period. For example, the finance manager worked in the finance department but was also involved in the human resource department and he was furthermore acting as the PA of the CEO. Currently we have two hundred employees and I believe that it is time to start setting up job descriptions. We need structure and the different kind of functions within the company should be defined. It must be clear what duties a colleague has and what he or she is responsible for within the organization. It will be a lot clearer for new employees to have a job description as they will then have a better understanding what the organization is expecting from them. As I can see now in the organization, many employees do not exactly know what their duties are and who is responsible for what. Therefore I think that we should consider the introduction of another type of management. With for example performance management, we will reach more personal involvement between employees and managers due the fact that the system is based on managing the strategy of the organization. The goals in the organization will be more specific when the managers constantly ask themselves: ‘How are we going to reach that? ’ and ‘Who is responsible for that? ’ When they start using the new system, the strategy will become clearer.

Hollywood And The Rise Of Cultural Protectionism Media Essay

Hollywood And The Rise Of Cultural Protectionism Media Essay As suggested by Elsaesser, 2005 Hollywood has been used to refer to various artistic goods from the United States of America that are very popular and well known globally. These products include TV programs, films, music as well as a number of world-wide broadcasters for instance CNN, MTV and Disney. The achievement of Hollywood is unquestionable; in 1998 the 39 films deemed to top the list of popularity and successes were of America origin. On the same note Hollywood in Europe has made the home movie industries struggle to hold even 30% of their nationwide market share. The issue of Americas cultural influence is conceivably felt most profoundly in France, where President Jacques Chirac said in 1999 that France refused to consider cultural products like ordinary goods, subject solely to the law of the market. (Scott, 2000) Additionally, other countries as far as Middle East and Asia and Africa are also feeling the American cultural influence as a result of Hollywood. This attitude is reflected in large subsidies to French creative industries and in laws which limit the amount of foreign material on television and in cinemas. Such cultural protectionism with no doubt has been deemed to be a burning issue in the World Trade Organization negotiations and is attributed to such activities as government sponsoring international broadcasting internationally in order to counter the American media perspective. The major examples of American films that influence culture in political philosophy, economic philosophy, social structure, education, religion and language include Air Force One, Cruel Intention, The Associate, Passion of Christ and Rush Hour in that order (Bruner, 2008). On this background, the essay is a critical examination of aspects of culture as being invisible, and using Hofstedes and Trompenaars definition the aspects of culture being promoted by Hollywood films are discussed. Similarly the various ways Hollywood films affect cultural values of people outside US are brought to light. Finally, the essay examines the issue of protectionism declining or being seen as insignificant. Discussions on whether countries should use protectionism or not to support their domestic film industries are also discussed. In the same line of reasoning, the paper brings forth other cultural industries that need protection from the government. Aspects of culture that Hollywood films promote around the world According got Hosfede definition of culture, he said that culture is mind software that ensures that it guides each individual in his or her daily interaction (Hofstede, 2001). He said that the entire individual carries with them a pattern of thinking, feeling and the way in which they act that has been learned through their lifetime experience. Much of what one has in life is acquired in once childhood due to persistence learning of certain aspects and the assimilation of some ideas. Therefore, as some of the thinking has been instilled in once minds, it changes one way of thinking and acting in his/her environment. Therefore, if such is required to be reverted, a lot more has to be done as it is very difficult to change the effect one has conceived for a bigger period than learning them in the first time. Trompenaar in his tempt to define what culture holds came up with different dimension that affect the culture. Therefore, this cultural dimension will be explored in regard with the effect that has been brought by the Hollywood films. Hollywood film has promoted different aspects of culture around that world in various films that they have produced. Though they have experienced many critics, their effects are paramount and cannot be ignored. Some of the cultural effect that the film has brought in the face of the world is political philosophy through their film Air Force 1. This film shows the capacity that the united state has in curbing terrorism. It brings about a vision where the government of US has great ability to fight about the terrorism in its own capacity undermining the strength of such government like Kazakhstan (Peer ally, A. 2008). The Hollywood film has a great effect on economic philosophy in the world through their films such as Cruel Intentions and The Pursuit of Happiness. Both the films show how economical crisis can lead to breakage of relationship and lack of enough resource can lead to engaging in vices as Cruel Intention postulate. Through these films, Hollywood has put a great impact on those people who are economically stable to be sited to have other wicked ways as being deceitful to their counterparts and taking advantage of the poor ones. The film has also made a lot of impact on social structure. Such movies as The Associates and Pretty Woman have been at the stage of culture diversification (Gudykunst Kim 1997). The film shows the level at which one is changed after meeting with other people no matter their caliber. The film shows people being able to change their working condition at taking time to socialization. The film is able to enhance the male social responsibility towards their female culprits when they are in time of danger. The Hollywood films have been equivocal in the nature of the impact they have had towards education. Dead Poets Society and Little Miss Sunshine are among the films that have been directed towards affecting the education. For example, in a Dead Poet Society film, the culture of education is portrayed as parent being so conservative in most of the world (Peerally 2008). This is where the parents decide on what their children are supposed to pursue in their academic future yet their children have different perspective, which should be respected according to their talents. These are some of the things that most of the communities are fighting across the globe. Therefore, the film has brought a lot of sensation on such education culture. Religion has also been in the receiving end through Hollywood films such as The Passion of Christ and the Love Guru film. Passion of Christ film has been the most controversial film that has received a lot of resistance especially in the Muslim world. This has to some extent been banned to be viewed in countries where Islam religion is rampant. This is because it has been viewed as to support Christian and by the people viewing it, they it will cause religious upgrade which is one sided. This is by purporting one faith and ignoring the Islamic religion. To the Christian world, it has contributed to the culture of religion and has been rampant in the idea of strengthening Christianity. Language has not been left behind as one of the aspects that have been affected by Hollywood films. Rush Hour and Borat: Cultural Learning of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan among other films has been in the forefront in the language diversification. The Borat show how the Kazakhstan girl changes her village after marriage to a US man. She is able to learn different language that helps her to bring many changes in her village including technology. Though this film was held with mixed reaction, it has made a lot of impact on the people around the globe. How Hollywood film has affected cultural values of other nations The film has been very predominant on the Christianity, thus undermining the other religion. Therefore, by promoting one religion according to Hall 1976, most of the viewers are conditioned towards the superiority that this religion has over other religion. To some extent, due to their high demand across the world, some of the government like the government of Malaysia has developed a soft spot towards its viewing by lifting its complete burn on some of the movies to the entire resident but restrict them only to be viewed by the Christians only. These films has supported Christianity very much in countries whose Islam is a strong hold. The films have caused Americanization globally through these films upholding American culture and beliefs and propagating their values to the whole world through these films. According to Hofstede1991, this has made the upcoming generation to be brought up in an environment that has very much been intoxicated by the US culture from the mode of dressing to language change that is regarded as urbanization in different parts of the world. Their movies have been the cause that affects people in the culture that they have in the communication patterns. They ensure explicit and implicit communication that ensures that they improve their values in other countries (Bram, 1997). They come up with the American way and even other way of communication, that seemingly is being emulated by the young generation that is changing towards their assimilation to this communication structure. These movies will affect on the way people outside US make their decision. They show streams of decision-making process that the actors uses that eventually turns to be either successful or failure according to certain circumstances. This may see some of the people across the globe emulate the movie sterling in making their own decision in regards to the way they have portrayed in some of the movies. This will eventually turn to be a holistic way in which a decision is executed to cater for certain occasion especially by the young generation who may be at high risk of emulating these ideas. Some of the movies like The Lord of the Ring have been portrayed as the one that show struggle between god and evil. Therefore, people who are out of the America and are not at the verge of understanding their culture right away may take it as war between Muslim and Christianity. This may deepen the hatred that has been perennial among this religious group and always causing havoc amongst them. Aspects that make Hollywood movies to have effects on other nations Realia The use of film as the Hollywood has been using can bring lots of change in the cultural world. The movies use Realia in their production that enhances authenticity of the communication that enhances the culture that they want to bring about. Realia is a communicative language teaching that uses life materials from the culture that has been targeted to provide the audience with a dose of reality. This is seen inmost films such as Passion of Christ, which has been shooting in Italy where it is incorporated with the roman culture being more real and with then authenticity that makes it very convincing. They are able to use war jets and real staged information that makes the audience to be susceptible towards the effect that the film portrays. Saviors This is the ability of using and coming up with intercultural communicative experience that is so rampant in the Hollywood movies. They are able to incorporate the altitude for example some people from other countries has in different aspect of life with their knowledge of certain professional features like armed forces, and their skills especially in the intercultural communication in the films. This acts as ne of the most convincing aspect towards the change of the people behaviors. The curiosity that has been encompassed therein creates a lot of passion for the films making them to be a source of irresistible culture change aspects. It creates curiosity to the people feel that they are supposed to discover unfamiliar phenomena especially about themselves. This is by creation of stereotypes in different communities making the community concerned to be ell aware of how the world thinks of them (Adler, 1991). This makes them to try as much as possible either to counter that or to be self aware about themselves. Social cultural knowledge The movies have ever been at the core point of making the world aware of the cultural and social diversity of people around the globe. They do this by the way they display each culture according to the way they act their movies making their audience emulates some of the cultures especially the ones that has been displayed positively across the film. This has affected the people culture around the globe by trying to incorporate different culture as portrayed in the movies. Mostly, the American culture has been the most borrowed by the film lovers across the globe. Therefore, this has made most critics to accuse the Hollywood filmmakers of trying to instill American cultures and social values to the whole world making other cultural values that had been held with a lot of esteem to start fading or be lost in confusion of integrated culture from different places. Islamic religion has been the most critical of Hollywood work due to them inclining themselves in one religion and using of c ulture that the Islamic religion do not allow in their countries. They claim that they cause disintegration of morals and there are not viable to be viewed in their countries. Most of these movies are the cause of westernization in most the other part of the world. Cultural dimensions The film has brought about changes around the globe by creating a platform where people are able to acquire cultural awareness of other nations thus being able to identify and interpret and hence analyzing implicit and explicit values of each culture according to the phenomena that are attached in them (Adler, 1991). According to Trompenaar, he claims that the people culture is capable of differing due to what has been equipped in their mind. He called this mental program in his work he described different dimensions that causes cultural change. Power distance is the first dimension that has been brought to show how Hollywood film causes cultural change in the lives of the people outside US. This is by unequal distribution of power in the movies presented and therefore showing that the American government being more powerful than other nationalities that are antagonist in the plot. This makes people to have a certain view towards the capability that the US government has especially in the way they handle their security issues and fight against terrorism. The other dimension is uncertainty avoidance that is the capacity at which people from other cultural divide feels uncomfortable of unknown cultural situation. These movies brought about urge of the people to feel insecure to interact freely due to the kind of stereotyping that has been brought to each cultural group in the world. They make people to prepare for ambiguity that may emerge during their interaction, therefore culture change. Individualism and collectiveness is another dimension that has been coined in the pursuit of understanding the effects of the Hollywood films on the other part of the world. The film is able to put the degree of the cohesiveness that exists among different societies more pronounced in their films. This has made the people to start changing their way of living to ensure that they embrace the integrated living mechanisms and in the long run, forgetting some of their culture and social values (Hosted, 1991). Masculinity and femininity is also another aspect of dimension that has been affected very much through the emergence of these films. According to Trompenaar, he used masculinity gender role has a very distinctive contrary to femininity role which overlap (Adler, 1991). Otherwise, the movies have brought about roles of women to equally competitive as men roles are. They have been portrayed to be higher achievers thus changing the mentality of most of the society in the world especially where women are seen as weaker sex. Hollywood in the Global scene According to Bruner, 2008 globalization a concept characterized mainly by free movement of people, capital, goods and services has seen to it that the world has turned to be a global village. Through globalization, Hollywood has captured market in the entire world toping in most of the films. Strictly speaking, there are various movies that have been released by Hollywood that have influenced various aspects of the worlds thinking and ideologies. These include Air Force One, Cruel Intention, The Associate, Passion of Christ and Rush Hour to mention but a few. The films have had profound effect on political philosophy, economic philosophy, social structure, education, religion and language (Scott, 2000). The wide spread of Hollywood products throughout the world and especially in Europe is attributed to the progressive dismantling of a number of formal barriers to trade as well as investment fostering creation of global market. Additionally, the urge for higher degree of economic inte rdependence as well as a higher desire of interconnection and advancement in technology has made this possible. Hollywood is credited for producing over 80% of films being watched globally and has increased its market share two-fold from 1990. It is worth to note that it is second after aerosol in contributing to US export. The industry not only produces films but books, music, TV programs, software as a single industry has contributed in the economy of America by providing individuals with thousands of jobs among other things. Its dominance has also seen to it that less than 1% of foreign films industries have a stake in the country. On the same note, Hollywood in Europe has made the home movie industries struggle to hold even 30% of their nationwide market share. Hollywood dominance dates back in 1920s; currently compared to 1980 where it received about 30% of its revenue from overseas it now receives slightly above 50%. In Japan, the industry controls slightly over 50% of movie industry. A globalized market as well as world market that fancy big budget and entertaining movies having the rig ht stuff are attributed to being the major determinant factors making Hollywood films has a very high demand. However, although there are agreements that globalization as well as Hollywood wide spread has had positive stride in the societies; various groups (government, journalists and citizens) hold that the benefits accrued from Hollywood going international have in one way or another undermined cultural identity of a given population within a sovereign state or country. It is worth noting that indeed common markets has had the capability of promoting comparable manners as well as the chasing and acquisition of analogous ways of life among the worlds population; the most affected and vulnerable groups are the youths. The result is that various stakeholders have held their breath with regards to their customs, traditions, beliefs, views, thoughts and heritage being washed away. As results, to counter the problem, the governments have initiated policies and other tools aimed at safeguarding the nations culture in the face of globalization. There are a number of trade controls which include taxes, subsidies and quotas have been put in place in order to protect and nurture home cultures. Protectionism By definition, protectionism has been thought as the advocacies, systems or theories aimed at protecting/coddling those local domestic producers by limiting or impeding by using subsidies, quotas and tariffs importation of products as well as services deemed to be of foreign origin. The phenomenon has been insignificant and in decline in the recent years although its applicability has brought both negative and positive impact to the industry (Cavusgil et al., 2008). It is no doubt that the mechanisms used in coddling domestic industries including film industries for instances tariffs potentially raise the prices of imported products from the United States as well as other foreign countries. This is usually aimed at making the goods and services to be less attractive to end-users as compared to domestic products that are cheap. Quotas aim at reducing the amount or quantities of products being imported have also been used as device to protect domestic industries. Historically, wars and economic depressions did play a role in encouraging protectionism (Rosen, 1981). On the other hand, peace, globalization, interconnectedness and economic interdependence have played a part in encouraging free trade. Strictly speaking the policies that encouraged protectionism was wide spread back in 17th and 18th centuries in Europe (Scott, 2000). In 19th century, Britain abandoned her laws that encourage the phenomenon and during the World War I tariffs were tremendously lowered in Europe. It is worth mentioning that in 1920s, raising economic and political temperatures brought about protectionism through custom barriers. This led to drastic shrinking of world trade. The signing of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade did help countries such as U.S reduce custom tariffs and tremendously cutting down quotas hence encouraging world trade. Nonetheless, such agreements as GATT and NAFTA have not been successful in curbing the problem as it is evident that a number of countries resort to protectionism when faced with foreign competition (Cavusgil et al., 2008). There have been very serious arguments as whether movies should be considered and treated just like any other good. Similarly, given the magnitude of the argument, a big question has been brought forth, should countries protect and support their own domestic film industries through protectionism? To fully address the issue the paper will try to analyze both sides of the arguments and arrive at a conclusion. In one side, there are those of the opinion that movies should be treated just like any other commodities in the market and opt to be given a comparative advantage where the best producers of the same should specialize on it; consume enough and export the surplus while at the same time import what it is not producing. Like any other goods and services, movies promote the well-being of individual in terms of political, sociological, economical as well as environmentally hence should be treated as such. On the other hand, those opposing the notion hold that people fail to understand that movies/films are distinct from the normal goods and services. They believe that films have a profound capacity to seriously injure or influence cultures of sovereign nations; this means also that political, sociological and economic philosophies are in the mix. The then Canadian prime minister summarizes this Movies are culture incarnate. It is a mistake to view culture as a commodityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Cultural industries, aside from their economic impact, create products that are fundamental to the survival of Canada as a society (Baughn Buchanan 2001). Mechanisms fostering protectionist Strictly speaking there are a number of protectionists policies employed in world trade and for these matter movie industries. They include tariffs, import duties, administrative barriers, anti-dumping legislations, direct subsides, export subsidies, exchange rates and international patent. Cavusgil et al., 2008 noted that the most commonly used in movie industry are tariffs, subsidies, quotas and to an extent administrative barriers as well as exchange rates. What necessitated protectionism against U.S films as well as other related product stems from being accused of cultural imperialism, cultural colonialism, and cultural hegemony (Murray, 2003). Tariffs or taxes are place on imported products. Although they vary from country to country the aim is to increase the cost of importation this in turn makes the product to be highly priced hence unattractive to end-user as compared to the cheap local ones this in the long run lowers the volume of imports. There are other countries that did resort to using administrative barrier on the grounds that the product spoil and erode their national culture (Baughn Buchanan 2001). This works just like administrative rules for instance safely of food, electrical safety among others this thus is used to bring to play barriers that impede importation. Import quotas can also be used where it aims to cut down the quantity of imported products increasing its market price. Quotas bound the number of screen shows to be aired by United States films or may call the domestic industries to make a given number of films within a specified period of time. Eventually this prevents customers from viewing the movies that they want to (Murray, 2003). Manipulation of exchange rate has also seen to it that a country lowers the value of her currency. This raises the cost of importing goods and lowering the cost of exporting hence aiding in improving the country balance of trade. This has been shown to be effective in a shorter. Subsides include government paying a lump-sum or offer loans at vey low interest rates to domestic industries in order to compete with their foreign counterparts. Subsidies can weaken the domestic film industries (Trumpbour, 2002). Arguments supporting protectionism According to Murray, 2003 proponents believe that there is dire and legitimate need for governments to restrict entrance of Hollywood product deemed American from entering the country as they will jeopardize the national culture as well as political and socio-ecological philosophies. This will also help boost local industry. Trying to come up with a better balance of payment or trade balance is one such argument brought forth by proponents of protectionism. This stems from the understanding that when importations are discouraged and exportation of the some product encourage, the country will have a favorable balance of payment. This assumption forgets the long-term consequences for instance, when a country limits importation of products from a certain country, there are also chances that the other country will limit importation leaving the other country with no place to sell her products (Rosen, 1981). According to Baughn Buchanan 2001 protection of infant industries from unfair competition has also been used to support protectionism. The nurturing of such industries will help the country pick up, employs her people resulting to a better economic state. Additionally, the idea according to supporters helps protect declining industries from worsening the existing structural unemployment. On the same note, protectionist has been hailed to help countries shield it from being dumping site. There are argument that America produce poor quality films filled with pornographic materials and negative depiction of other countries political religion and economic ideologies. Argument against protectionism Opponents of protectionism have brought forth arguments that support the notion that indeed the concept has turned to be armful to people it aimed to initially protect. Protecting Hollywood films from entering the global scene in the name of preserving cultural as well as traditional heritage is in no doubt aimed at nothing other than keeping the citizen trapped in the dark ages (Cavusgil et al., 2008). Preservation of culture is intellectual slavery considering the trend of globalization where the world has turned into a global village and people meet every now and then. Additionally, protectionism misses the point since Hollywood products are aimed at brining together the entire world to have a common ground where communication help spread of knowledge, ideas, and feelings. This help resolve the current stalemate in division and conflict. On the same line, protectionism although aim at promoting local and infant industries, the blockage of foreign screens will definitely block the affected countrys citizen from access to information as well as freedom of speech (Trumpbour, 2002). This in itself is a breach of the constitution under human rights. For instance, quotas will limit the quantity of screens being aired making the local citizen with very limited options. According to Elsaesser, 2005 Greenspan a former chairperson of Federal Reserve said that protectionism, leads to an atrophy of our competitive ability. If the protectionist route is followed, newer, more efficient industries will have less scope to expand, and overall output and economic welfare will suffer. In a broader scope the concept major aim is to discourage importation of Hollywood product, this definitely have a multiplier effect on a number of countries that are partners in trade. For instance, if a country in the Middle East reduces imports, this may probably lead to a reduced rate/volume of her exports and in the long run jeopardizing global output. More importantly, the whole idea works against the world trade agreements and also derails competition. The lack of competition brought about by coddling of domestic industries will mean that such industries will not have an opportunity to be challenged in the free market to produce high quality products. In my view, there are other methods other than protectionism that could be used to help protect a country to shield and support its own film industry. These include among others, competing under a free market environment a situation where competitive advantage dictates who survivors and who does not, while doing so, government should support such industries financially and using measures that are short-term. Additionally, there is need for government to form consortiums that will help evaluates movies as well as other programs before being released to the public (Baughn Buchanan 2001). Although there are other cultural industries that need to be protected by the government for instances tourism, it is evident that the negative impacts of doing so will bring down the industry. However there is need to have acceptable measures to address such issues as demonstration effect, pornography which comes with tourism.

Rip Van Winkle Essay -- Washington Irving

Rip Van Winkle In the late 1700's and early 1800's, literature began to show it was changing thanks to the newly formed democracy in America. As is the case with any young government, many different interest groups arose to attempt to mold the government according to their vision of democracy. Washington Irving, a native New Yorker born in 1783, grew up in a world engulfed in these democratic ideals. He grew up to be, as many would grow up in this atmosphere, a political satirist. This satirical nature of Irving's shows up well in "Rip Van Winkle", as he uses historical allusions and symbolic characters to mockingly compare colonial life under British rule to the democracy of the young United States. The reader assumes the appearance of Rip from the preceding paragraphs in which the author sets the general timeframe in the colonial era before and after the American Revolutionary war. To describe Rip one would have to look mostly at little hints in the story. The best way to describe Rip would be that he is very muscular because of all of the physical labor done in chores. We also learn Rip had light hair with blue eyes. Rip's clothing was that of the time period: black suits with fluffy white collars, tri-cornered hats, and brass buckles on the black shoes. Good-natured and helpful best describes Rip's attitude, this good faith towards all that eventually lands Rip in trouble. This story is full of historical instances. The first historical satire occurs attached to the name Peter Stuyvesant, who is mentioned twice with exaggerated praise. Stuyvesant, a harsh and strongly disliked governor, was in power when the English seized New York. Irving uses a false respect for Stuyvesant to make fun of the Dutch in New York, who blamed him for the loss of the land to the English. Having set the scene as a Dutch-friendly narrator, Irving introduces Dame Van Winkle, Rip's angry wife, who maintains contempt for Rip's laziness and carefree attitude. Dame Van Winkle' harsh control over her husband represents King George and the English rule of the colonies. Whereas George, yet felt faithful and attached to the Crown, mistreated the colonies Rip stood by his demanding wife. The irony is in Rip's non-caring attitude towards Dame Van Winkle. He was harassed and bossed, but he was content. Nicholas Vedder, the owner of the inn, who controlled the conversations and opi... ...ourse Rip, having been gone for twenty years, doesn't know what he is talking about and it goes on from there. Rip becomes very popular after telling his story to the villagers over and over again which proves that, in most cases, a fairy tale will beat out the truth in the order to please the public - and this story is no exception 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Poupard, Dennis "Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism." Sharon K. Hall, Vol. 4 Detroit, Michigan, Gale Research Company. 1981 Pg.1989-1992 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Greene, Gayle. "Yearbook 1986" Sharon K, Hall Vol. 44. "Contemporary Literary Criticism." Detroit Michigan. Gale Research Company. 1986. Pg.194-195 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Galens, Judith. "Nineteenth-Century literature Criticism." Joann Cerrito. Vol 41 Detroit. Gale Research inc. 1994 Pg. 31-35 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Greene Gayle. "Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism." Laurie Lanzon Harris. Vol 2 Detroit Michigan Gale Research Company. 1982 Pg.62-64 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Magill, Frank N. "Cyclopedia of literary Characters." A.J. Sobezak. Vol. 4 New Jersey. Salem press Inc. 1998. Pg. 1641-1645 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rochin, Domingo "Rip Van Winkle an American story" Washington Irving. David Barfoot New York 1998 Pg.14-20

Personal Narrative - Severe Chest Pain Attack :: essays research papers

Silent Killer Today was like supposed to be just like every other day. On another early Monday morning, just like every time I had to get up 2 hours before school, I woke up and went downstairs for breakfast at 6:30. I clean the mess from last night’s dinner with my brother and get ready to go with my carpool to school, because just like every other day, gas is expensive. Funny thing about the carpool, which comes at 7:00 sharp, 7:30 came and she didn’t show up, Therefore, we ended up waking up my father and dragging his tired angry self to school. I had forgotten my wallet at home, so I wasn’t going to have lunch and I didn’t eat breakfast either. Around 11:00, I start my pre-calculus class where we are doing long division of polynomial functions when it hits me. Pain. Intense sharp needle like pain in my chest. Subtle at first, but as I continue breathing, the pain gets worse. So, to solve this, I thought my chair was too tight to the desk. I moved back. Not helping. Clenched at the chest and bent over. Breathed slower. Not helping. Tore off my jacket and bent over in my chair fully. Not helping. And my breath kept getting shorter and shorter until I was barely gasping one every 5 seconds. I reached over and hit my friend and she got the point. Mr. Courtney phoned the principal, vice principal and school administrator. They all came down and told me to lie on the floor. By this time, I was nauseous and convulsing because of lack of oxygen and trauma. I lie there shaking as my teacher moves tables and finds jackets so that I can get my head elevated. The students leave the classroom. My teeth start chattering and I am near tears when the paramedics come in, 8 grown men with machines, clipboards, walkie talkies, and suits storm into the classroom and strap things on me. A red-lighted finger clamp to check my pulse, a blood pressure thing on my arm to check my blood, and 4 sticky clamps attached to wired to check other vitals of some sort. After 15 minutes, the pain subsides almost completely, except when I started to stand. Vital signs, good. Blood pressure, Good. Pulse, strong steady and fast. Adrenaline rush, maybe. Anxiety attack, maybe. Hospitalization, not necessary. By that time, they had called my mom and she came down from North Scottsdale in 14 minutes.

Child Labor Essay -- Essays Papers

Child Labor Child labor has been around for long time and it still exists in today's world. Thiskind of labor provides problems or difficulties in the economic world. Child labor is social problem with the rise of industrial production and capitalism. It appeared in earlier ages in agricultural societies when the children all around the world had to work along with 19th century, spreading to many countries. The problems started when many children, younger than ten years old, were employed by factories. In this paper I will address the issues and history of child labor, the child labor laws, and my suggestions or solutions to child labor problems. Child labor is defined as the employment of children under the age of physical maturity for long hours. Child labor is often used in societies where industries are being developed. The governments and international organization usually consider a person economically active if the person works on a regular basis. A child is a laborer if the child is economically active. The children are used because they are agile, efficient at many unskilled and semi skilled work, quick learners, unprotected and easy for adults to exploit. Historically, children working is nothing new, it was and still is often described for a family's survival. Many of these children are forced into the workforce to become beggars, farm hands and factory workers. These children are denied an education and normal childhood, some children are confined and beaten. Some are denied freedom of movement or the right to leave the workplace and go to their families. Some are abducted and forced to work. Human rights abuses in these practices are existing. There are approximately 250 milli... ...ause criminal is always going to be a criminal. My opinion is that there should be a trade restriction because I want to see some changes in these countries thatuse child labor and trade restrictions on them would be my best choice. Bibliography: 1. â€Å"Child Labor†, http://1rights.igc.org/projects/childlabor/ 2. â€Å"History Of Child Labor†, http://www.atchison.K12.ks.us/gifted/childlabor.html 3. UNICEF, â€Å"Child Protection†, http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html 4. Human Rights Watch, â€Å"Child Labor†, http://www.hrw.org/children/labor.html 5. â€Å"Child Labor Laws†, http://www.doli.state.mn.us/childlbr.html 6. â€Å"US Child Labor Law†, http://www.cofc.edu/~muellerr/childlabor.html 7. â€Å"Children In Factories†, http://www.globalmarch.org/factory-lab/indonesia.html 8. â€Å"Kaushik Basu†,

Caribbean Music

Music of the Caribbean region differs from island to island. The Caribbean got its name from the term â€Å"Carib†, which is the name of an old Native American ethnic group. Today the region is divided into four different parts: Spanish, French, Dutch, and British Caribbean. The Spanish Caribbean consists of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Dominican Republic; the French Caribbean consists of Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana; the Dutch Caribbean contains Suriname, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, St. Maarteen, and St.  Eustatius; and the British Caribbean is the largest and consists of Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, British Virgin Islands, U. S. Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Turks and Caicos Islands. (CLASS NOTES) The Caribbean has a variety of different instruments and genres that make up its music and dancing culture. Caribbean music has several distinctive characteristics to both its sound and its dancing styles. Their techniques are not predetermined and the musicians improvise as they make their music. Dancers typically do not have a lot of body contact and the waist and pelvic region are the main body of center of attention. Fast rhythmic dancing is a big part of Caribbean dancing. Both music and dancing are influenced from a variety of other worldwide cultures, including African, European, and later Asian. (CLASS NOTES) Caribbean music features complex short combinations of rhythmic patterns. This is demonstrated in video ML 3475 . J88 1995 Vol. 4 : The Caribbean.  One of the most prominent instruments within Caribbean music is the large array of drums, including Steel, Conga, Timbales and Bongo Drums. All these types of drums distribute very different kinds of sounds. The steel pan, also known as a steel drum, is made from oil drums heated and hammered into an instrument with multiple pitches played with rubber-headed mallets (Mahabir). Today, the steel drum is a very sophisticated musical instrument. It is a unique instrument with origins in colonial Trinidad. The steel drum was used as communication for African slaves (Idaho State University). Turns out the steel drum doesn’t only evoke images of beaches and pina coladas. The drums haunting and echoing sound means so much more. The Congo drum is a Cuban barrel-shaped, one-headed hand drum. This instrument is played in sets of two or four. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, which mean each drum possesses its own unique sound. (Demonstrated on CD-2260, Drums defiance) The smallest Congo drum is called Nino and the largest tumba. This type of drum is played by striking the drumhead with one’s fingertips or palms instead of a mallet. The Bongo is a set of small one-headed drums that is held between the musician’s knees and is played by hand like the Congo drum. These drums are also important in Latin music, particularly music deriving from Cuba. (The Bongo Page) Bongo drums usually have a wooden or metal base, and can be tuned by tightening the skin over the drum. The sizes of these drums also vary according to the musician’s preferences. The drums are each named hembra for the larger drum and macho for the smaller drum. These are Spanish words meaning female and male, respectively. Hembra has a much lower tone then macho. The Bongo Page) However, both drums are significantly higher then the Congo drums. Reggae genre was first formed in Jamaica in the 1960’s. This genre of music is based on a rhythmic style, with spurs of off-beats. Typically it is a slower beat, with the guitar, and other instruments such as the drums influencing the sound. It is very similar to â€Å"rock steady† but the use of complex bass line and speed is what separates the two (Bradley). The reggae vocals are less dramatic then the influence from the instruments. It is very common to hear dialects, which could sound slang to some Americans. Something different from most singers is, reggae singers use tremolo (volume oscillation) instead of vibrato (pitch oscillation) (Bradley). The Calypso genre music was started on the Island of Trinidad (Dudley). This genre is also rooted in West African traditional music like Reggae. It was used for different aspects of life, such as communication and also for entertainment. Calypso is generally played on folk instruments such as the guitar, banjo, and other percussions. It is typically heavily rhythmic but still melodic. Since the genre was often used for communication the lyrics were often political in nature, but often masked.