Changes In The Representation Of Women In Advertising Essay

Changes In The Representation Of Women In Advertising Essay Advertisements are one of the most cultural factors which mould and reflect society. They are a ubiquitous and inevitable part of everyones life: even if we do not read a newspaper or watch television, the images posted over our urban surrounding are inescapable. The advertisement translates these statements to us as human statements: they are given a humanly symbolic exchange value. (Wiliamson, 1976) Many theorists believe that perceived gender roles form the bases for the development of gender identity and thus it is vital to study the theories used to enforce these gender stereotypes and their shifts. Eaglys social role theory implies that gender roles based on stereotypes have been developed due to sexual division of labour and societal expectations. Eagly (1987) differentiates among the common and age scopes of gender-stereotyped features. The common character is categorized by elements, such as nurturance and emotional expressiveness, mostly linked with household activities, and thus, with women. The age role is categorized by characteristics such as hostility and sovereignty, mostly linked with communal activities, and thus, with men. Gender roles strongly influence behaviour when cultures support gender stereotypes and build up strong expectations based on those stereotypes (Eagly 1987). According to Deaux and Lewis gender stereotypes differ on four dimensions: traits, rol e behaviors, physical characteristics, and occupations (Deaux and Lewis 1983). This work is further developed by Berm who stated that Gender stereotypes are implanted through childhood socialization and are reinforced in adulthood. This thought is supported by Berms Gender schema theory, which presents the idea that children learn how their cultures define the roles of both women and men and then internalize the knowledge acquired as gender schema. (bem 1993) Feminist legal theory is based on the belief that the law is instrumental in womens historical subordination. There are two elements of the feminist legal theory. First, feminist jurisprudence aims to explain the ways in which the law played a role in womens former subordinate status and in the latter, feminist legal theory is dedicated to changing womens status through a reworking of the law and its approach to gender. According to Gunther women in television adverts prior to 1970s were not shown to be in paid work, and when they were, they would be stereotypical jobs such as a nurse or personal assistant. Housewife culture declined after the 1950s, but it was still common during the 1960s and 1970s (Gunther, 1995 :34). Content analysis of advertising in television during the 1970s provided strong evidence of the existence of stereotyping. All adverts which featured women showed three quarters were for kitchen and bathroom products. Men were viewed with powerful authoritative roles and provided the dependable voice-over (Ibid: 35) Research in the late 1970s and early 1980s reinforced a continuation of these trends, with men shown at work and women as housewives and mothers at home. Nonetheless, it became more common for men to be shown at home as well, in the role of husband or father, and the range of womens occupations increased (ibid : 36, 37). This is reminiscent of the Social Learning Theory. During the late 1970s women in advertising played a central focus on beauty, cleanliness, family and pleasing others. In the 1980s TV advertising started to conceptualize the idea of the busy working women by offering solutions to the working woman, who was assumed, would still perform household tasks such as cooking and cleaning. Pg 55Through the early 1990s, a study was conducted of 500 prime-time TV ads in the UK, by Cumber batch (reported in Strinati, 1995: 86),and it was deduced that advertiser had seemingly become vary of many years advertisers were reluctant to do anything different from the conservative stereotypical gender roles until in the 1970s and 1980s feminists took the protest to roads. Pg 55 Television audience are bombarded with images and slogans through advertisements. In 2000 Nielsen Media Research and Radio Advertising Bureau survey concluded that the average U.S. household, watched more than seven hours of television per day (Albarran, 2000). Audience subconsciously memorize slogans and absorb images without questioning them. This is known as the cultivation effect (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan and Signorieli (1980)) .The effect of this exposure produces cultivation, or teaching of a common worldview, common roles and common values. (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan Signorieli, 1980, p.10). In order to understand the change in female stereotypes we must apply a semiotic analysis to the advertisements in the contrasting time frames.Williamson (1978) stated that semiotics studies looks at any system of signs whether the substance is verbal, visual or a complex mixture of both. (Semiotics and Ideology (n.d) para.2). Ideology is the meaning made necessary by the conditions of society while helping to perpetuate those conditions. (Williamson (1978) p.13). We must first discuss intersubjectivity, (OSullivan, Hartley, Saunders, Montgomery, Fiske, (1994) p.157 158) As the audience In order to understand advertisements we must learn how to read them. It is vital to deconstruct them by the use of encoding and decoding. Encoding is performed by the transmitter of the advertisement message and decoding is a process accomplished by the receiving audience. The visual message is the most important element of a television advert because through it, its semiotic system of codes and co nventions it attracts potential buyers of the product. Most female personal care products target consumers by offering them an idealized reader-image (McCracken (1992 p.20). Thus television advertisements attract the audience by selling them visions of how they would like to see themselves. The codes and conventions on the advert have been transgressed by Dove which as a brand has taken a sharp turn away from traditional conventional ideologies of female perceptions. Advertisements must take into account not only the inherent qualities and attributes of the products they are trying to sell, but also the way in which they can make those properties mean something to usà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The components of advertisements are variable and not necessarily part of one language or social discourse. Advertisements rather provide a structure which is capable of transforming the language of objects into that of people, and vice versa. Judith Williamson, Decoding Advertisements, 1978, p.12 (flake doc) According to Gerbner; common media learning has increased television viewing is associated with more stereotypical views, especially of gender (Allan Scott, 1996). Gerbner et al (1980) argued that for frequent heavy viewers, television virtually subsumes and monopolizes other sources of information, ideas and consciousness. Furthermore, the frequent viewers perceive the world as television depictions . (Gerbner, et al., 1980). Dove old advert The advertisements of the early 1960s begin with a male voice over. This man narrates the advert and his claims of Dove being new and revolutionary and this is reinforced through female narration. This can be said to be reflective of male patriarchy dominant at during the late 1950s and early 1960.The key word in the advert is new and is repeated, in each case before the brand name. The readers eye is drawn simultaneously to the models eyes and face, and the text onscreen. The Advert emphasized as the brand name and thus the text anchors the connotative meaning of the product but new is the first word you read. Cosmetics advertisers aim to reduce competition by conveying that their products are the newest product with the latest technological advances. Emphasis in adverts is placed on the new key property of the product. For example, Dove creams and cleanses your skin and boasts that other products only cleanse and dry ; here, there is a strong implication of criticism of other brand s and products and this encourages women to be critical of themselves and their peers in using wearing of out-of-date brands that do not embody the latest key properties or technology. The beginning of the advert contains a picture of the products packaging; this is what the audience is to look for when buying the product. The image of the dove represents Greek connotations of Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love thus representing traditional female beauty and characteristics. Next the audiences see a perfectly manicured female hand , this continues to reinforce female notions of beauty. Once the product is unpackaged the bar of soap is curvy, this could questionably parallel the unpack aging of the female body which like the soap is also curvy. The words completely new are draw upon the eyes of the audience eye drawn and this point is reinforced by the narrative. The audience is introduced to the product by a male voice over. A Female voice over refers to the cleaning of the product cleaning, a subtle reference to the position of women in the home, filling of bar may also be representative of cooking. She continues to talk about cleansing, the product cleans and creams and this is repeated and is reinforced to the audience. The male voice then reinforces the positives of the products; his commentary is similar to that of a scientists new discovery. Its can be argued that the mode in the advert acts as a guinea pig for the experimental use of the product, it is her purpose to serve the male voice over. We are only able to view the models face, and towards the end of the advert her makeup changes as if she were ready to go out, for a date perhaps, and in this transformation she is rewarded by an anonymous male, whose hand we see as he caresses her cheek continuing to reinforce the previous Aphrodite notions beauty and love and desire to please in a patriarchal society and fulfil beauty expectations. The ad consists of a visual subject which in this case is the soap and an object, the soap bar, while subconsciously portraying the subject as the women and the object as her Female curves. This reinforces traditional gender stereotypes as the objects beauty is acknowledged by male presence. I will now introduce and analyze recent Dove television adverts according to semiotics. I am looking to see how the representation of women is conveyed and to see if the operation of patriarchy is apparent. I suspect that I will be able to deduce that all of these adverts operate patriarchy through similar ideologies presented through, images and articles in magazine about their products. The advert then shows the ordinary women having fun at photo shoot. In the new television advert the models are relaxed and it appears as if they are chatting to their girlfriends. The self-touching conveys the impression of narcissism, admiring ones own body and displaying it to others. Furthermore, in the firming body products campaign we are first introduced to the model via an audition we see real women, wearing ordinary clothing, jeans and simple tops and not glamorous silk gowns. They are all different shapes, sizes and ethnicities. The larger women unconventionally and ironically are wearing lower cut blouses. Next the audience views the women using of products in ordinary household environments. The use of a female voice portrays societal liberisation of women and her voice has a relaxed jovial tone as she refers to size 8 women. The female voice of dove, implies that size 8 women note real women but merely fictional supermodels. She refers to large hips and pear shape, this healthy fruit are Dove a promoting a healthier fuller figure. Women are in white lingerie this mirrors the color of the dove which is free and liberated. A twenty first century interpretation of the dove may be interpreted as the present greater liberation, peace and freedom which is reinforced in Doves new ad campaign. During the photo shoot there is a male voice present in the background. He wears black perhaps because he not as free and liberated as women and is confined to the antiquity of black which contrasts the free soaring spirit of Dove. In comparison to the 1960s ad, the earlier is more informative about the product where as the new advert, focuss on the self in comparison to the prior which focuss on the product. In the new advert the narrator only names the products and reinforces that their tested on real women The absence of obvious sex appeal in this ad displaces the use of the product as a method of attracting the male. Instead the womans focus is on attaining for herself the advertised qualities embodied other women shown. The ad uses empowerment to sell the product because the majority of women in their late thirties or early forties who are considering firming products are likely to have already attracted a male. It is the qualities embodied by real women that the ad is making desirable, and then attainable through the product itself. Dove claim they have changed all this by revoloutionalizing societal perceptions of beauty. By presenting real women in their lingerie the brand expresses the societal liberation of female freedom and sexuality. Women in their campaign are not presented with traditional sexual connotations as vixens; hour glass body shapes, long hair, large bust, instead the women in the 21st century ad campaign are perfectly flawed. This campaign broke stereotypical rules and took beauty taboos head on. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty (CFRB) textually reveals that CFRB employs feminist signs to reference a key binary resistance in feminist politics discussing liberation and oppression; in the presentation of an ideology of real beauty. This message promotes Dove as a mechanism of change to the view of societal perceptions of limiting and unattainable female beauty, a position influential feminists support in mainstream media and through corporate partnership. This analysis suggests that real beauty is a new stereotype within the dominant ideology of female beauty; the attributes of thin, young, and blonde are replaced by many shapes, sizes, colours and ages, yet the real women are presented to arouse public dialogue about their physical beauty while promoting Dove and its products; resulting in sexual objectification of their image. Also as the definition of real beauty embraces self-esteem, CFRB produces a demanding, oppressive beauty stereotype for female consumption than the do minant stereotype which emphasizes only physical standards. Ultimately, CFRB support the patriarchal view of female identity as a consumer through the ideological consumption of real beauty and fiscal consumption of Dove products. This analysis provides a history of the relationships between feminists women in advertising, and the assembly of beauty advertising to observe the construction structure of CFRB. In earlier decades the aim for women was to attract a man and be in a loving relationship. The focus has shifted, however, and the goal now is to be slim, attractive, and happy, regardless of lifestyle, and whether or not an individual is in a successful relationship or not. It is through inter-subjectivity that cultural identity is affirmed. Just as advertising influences culture, so too does it reflect trends and cultural values. Advertising in womens products represents a utopian view of the world and sells the product by selling stereotypical aspirations to attain the lifestyles or the looks represented in their texts. Henceforth, Margaret Duffy claimed that advertising, Popular academics have seen it as anti-humanistic, a creator of unnecessary needs and desires. (Duffy as cited by Manca and Manca, 1994, p.5). Unlike big clothing brands like Gucci or Prada for example, self care products cannot be identified by displaying the brand name in the actual cream or soap bar but instea d, advertisements such as this encourage women to look critically at each others physical appearance and gossip about how other women look. The old dove advert exemplifies elements of both the social learning and the gender schema theory. As we are socialized into our gender roles females traditionally have been concerned about their appearance and focuses on trying to please the opposite sex. This is reiterated by doves ad campaign buy the males reassuring hand of the womans soft beautiful skin. This social acceptance is reinforced by the gender schema theory which describes women as gentile creatures. Thus these two work hand in hand in a repetitive cycle. In contrast to this contemporary dove advertisements are influenced by feminist legal theory. The female voice over mirrors social power acquired by women in the early 20th century and after WWII. This is made even more apparent by the partly dressed models that break traditional gender stereotypes of beautiful pin up women as they appear in all shapes and sizes. FLAKE intro the second ad Chocolate seems more decadent than other confectionery because we have been sold this myth. The audience treats the signifiers in advertisements as though they are truths rather than our own constructions, which are enabled by refined publicity teams. This tendency to accept signs stems advertising has signified a cultural scepticism which in return has acted as the signifier for a new system of parody in advertisement which humours the system of unconscious connotations whilst achieving the goal of selling the product within the same system of denotations and connotations which it ridicules. The Cadburys Flake television advertisements of the 1970s and 80s depict young, beautiful white women in romantic dreamscapes, i.e. the poppy field, the Victorian-style bathroom, content in their independence, yet eroticised by the sexual relationship they share with their phallic chocolate bars The advert begins with the flake girls licking her lips, she then holds up the erected chocolate bar which becomes the central focal point for the audience. We are given time to read the name of the chocolate which then is followed by music. As the music proceeds the flake girl begins to unwrap the bar and slowly and places it in her mouth not taking a bite this may be interpreted to mirror the sexual acts. The girl presents traditional beauty appearance, her makeup draws attention to her eyes and lips her straight hair also represents phallic images and traditional beauty connotations similar to that in the Dove adverts of 1960s presenting the beauty of Aphrodite. She places the chocolate seductively in her mouth and as the sun shines behind her she enters into her sexual fantasy a beach with a back horse. This stallion may be representative of a man, strong, learn and being lead by a strong female from the 1960s. She finally smiles as she enjoys the creamy chocolate. Most prominent in this advert is the female voice over, this being representative of political change. . These images appeal to the consumer, who makes connections between the visual subject, the chocolate and the visual object the chocolate bar in contrast to the subconscious subject sex and the subconscious object the lack of the male penis. The substitution of the chocolate bar for phallic images is all the more erotic when the audience is exposed to close-up images of white females rouge stained or gloss-laden lips wrapping themselves around the brown bar. The attributes of the chocolate; its distinctive shape and texture are connoted into a meaning of sexual desire and satisfaction. These myths then become the Flakes identity. Flake has removed the idea of the Flake girl who traditionally has sensually nibbled the chocolate bar since 1959. The new campaign aims to focus on the beauty and delicacy of the Flake bar, as opposed to the Flake girl succumbing to the mouth watering chocolate. The ad features Russian model Yulia Lobova and 200 metres of yellow fabric. The fabric twirls around the model as a yellow dress in an analogy of the Flake bar. For the past seven months the UK Cadbury team have been working on creating a new campaign that helps give Flake a fresh, contemporary approach, said Phil Rumbol, UK marketing director at Cadbury. We wanted to focus on the beauty of the product rather than just the sensuality of eating it we consider Flake to be a truly unique product and its still going strong in its 90th year. The signifiers in the new advert are the colours purple and yellow from which the audience picks up on the significant code and recognises the brand. The floating women in the luxurious material signify the beauty and luxury of the brand and product. The material unwraps a woman where s previously it was the ale phallic. This advertisement can be used for a global audience, the lacking of language ad simple images sounds and colours relates to a wider audience. The models makeup is also subtle in comparison to previous flake girls. The traditional beauty and enhancement of eyes and lips is not as apparent. Flake old advert- influenced by feminist legal theory and like women rebels against the societal perception and position of women. This is exemplified by the female voiceover. Ironically this advertisement presents another female stereotype of the sexual women and not a home maker. This is a stereotype which was not taught during the early 1960s however female presence in society was seeing a change, perhaps Cadbury were attempting to create a new stereotype or perhaps trying to break traditional conventions and set new set new social learning theoretical perspectives. New ad- Cadbury has once again created a new stereotype but this time of not gender but of pleasure , presenting their chocolate not with sexual connotations. However Cadbury still use a female who is lost in some form of desire however this advert focuses on the chocolate rather than its The desirable indulgence in this ad is the chocolate itself rather than the subconscious portrayal of a phallic image. The fantasy is constant however the nature of the new adverts emphasizes on the changes of gender stereotypical roles in comparison to the old one. CONCLUSION Having explored the ideals of femininity in television advertisements we can argue that they are revealed to be carefully constructed in their layout, choice of colour, packaging and the product itself, text, language used, and which model has been photographed to represent the brands ideology through the codes and conventions it adheres to. In some adverts consumption of the product is implied to lead to being loved, cared for and protected by a man and this is portrayed as highly desirable in the case of dove. In contrast the new campaign shows a female empowered to stand alone without masculine approval, and to consume the product as a luxury for herself, not to make her more attractive to a man. Flake In conclusion the advertising has evolved from traditional notions of female stereotypes alternative to that of dove to minimalist advertising which is based on consumers socially acquired knowledge for e.g it will be commonly known for all the audiences the colours of flakes packaging similarly to this the logo of dove and the colours of the packaging. Even though gender stereotypical roles in adverts have tremendously evolved since 1960s while performing the semiotics of both the adverts an interesting pattern of similarity lead to decipher a rare connection between the new dove ad and the old flake ad. In the dove new ad the confidence of women to be comfortable with their appearance no matter how they look without male dominance and the confidence of the flake girl in the old advert to have her own fantasy where she leads the masculine horse figure shows power and dominance portrayed by both then dove women and the flake girls. It could be argued that Cadbury has been ahead of times in modern portrayal of gender stereotyping however it still follows the traditional pattern to gender stereotyping showing a stereotypically beautiful white Russian model while Dove has broken this convention and introduced a new form of gender stereotypical role. Creating new stereotypes. In addition, many television adverts carry an implication of women being confident, successful and strong. From closer study it becomes clearer that this masks the operation of patriarchy which uses representations of women in adverts to suppress the empowerment and independence of women in real life. Again Dove differs here from other advertising campaigns by showing positive images of women who do not conform to the unattainable ideal standard of beauty shown in other ads and Cadbury create a new implication of female empowerment. However such implications were evident in adverts during the 1960s. It is obvious that advertising plays a major part in creating and maintaining the consumer culture in which we live. It can be argued that if the public had greater awareness to the negative images in the mass media in reference to women, they would be able to distinguish between their actual needs and those created by factors such as peer pressure, advertising, and low self-confidence. Cash Pruzinsky (1990, p.51) stated two perspectives which form our appearance, one from the inside and one from the outside. The relationship between these perspectives is central when discussing self-esteem and body image, but it is our physical appearance which provides advertisements with their material. Despite this it is our feelings about how we look from the inside and our insecurities which enable adverts to work. Fiske says, An advert is only the inter textual circulation of its meanings, a set of unfinished meanings in process. Texts are not signifying objects but agents, instances and reso urces of popular culture. (1991, p.124 125) It is only when being read or viewed and its meaning interpreted by individuals that the advert becomes whole and performs the function of selling a product. Without human interaction an advertisement can only be looked at as a manifestation of the world surrounding it.

Presuppositions Of The Game Theory :: essays research papers

Presuppositions of The Game Theory Soloman believes that as the game theory gets more sophisticated, we tend to lose sight of the problem rather than solve it. He sees the problem as how to get people to think about business and about themselves in an Aristotelian rather than a neo-Hobbesian (or even a Rawlsian) way, which the game theoretical models simply presuppose. Soloman discusses seven presuppositions in the first section of his "Ethics & Excellence" book. They are: rationality and prudence; motivation and self- interest; money and measurement; the anomaly of altruism; good and goals; the open-ended playing field; and the role of the rules. Soloman rejects each presupposition and gives his reasons why. This essay will discuss two of these presuppositions and either agree or disagree with Soloman and then give reasons as to why. The two presuppositions that will be discussed are money and measurement and the role of the rules. Money and Measurement In business, as in most games, we like to keep score. As one of Soloman's businessman friends told him "in business you always know how well you are doing. You just have to put your hand in your pocket." People often think the more money one has, the happier they are. You often hear people say "if I only had more money, I would be happy." Frequently the perceived level of success is compared to the size of one's bank account, the location of their house or the amount of cars in the driveway. People seem to perceive money as being happiness. Soloman says that keeping score, although it is not an essential feature of games, seems to be one of the most durable features of game theory. He thinks that the best way to keep score is to have a dependable point system, a definite unit of worth, which is money. Soloman rejects this presupposition by first stating that "money isn't the only or even primary social good", and "money is only a means and not an end." Soloman agrees with these statements but to further reject this presupposition, he goes on to discuss another example involving money. Social theorists, in general, "like to talk about money, because money is a readily measurable utility, a readily comparable measure, and apparently clear basis for comparison." But even some of these unrefined theorists recognize that equal amounts of money do not have equal significance for different people, therefore money is not an absolute readily measurable utility. Soloman states that various ends are hard to compare and so success and "maximum utility" may be hard to measure. "If we were to assign every end a monetary value, however,

With reference to a case study on Brazil, explain what affects rural to urban migration

The following essay is based on a case study of Brazil. I will describe and show the problems of rural to urban migration. The two locations we will be studying are the Caatinga and a city called Belo Horizonte, both located in Brazil (see map below). Rural areas are areas isolated from city centers with very little communication and transport to them. They are very poor areas with little agriculture. Urban areas are city like places where communication, transport and living conditions are acceptable. The Caatinga is one of the most remote areas of Brazil. It is a dry and poor area. It is the largest dry region in South America. The vegetation in this area is very pitiable. Population Pressure happens a lot here. Many people are born and are forced to live in such disgraceful conditions. It is situated in the North-eastern part of Brazil. The Caatinga has serious problems including health and, the most important one, there is a lack of jobs. Another major problem are droughts. Approximately once every ten years, a drought occurs causing large disasters in matters of agriculture and health. Climate also plays a big role in the daily life of the Caatinga inhabitants. The other location we are going to study is Belo Horizonte. It is a town located in the south-eastern part of Brazil. I'm going to concentrate on the surroundings (suburbs) of the town known as the Favelas. These are groups of houses, now changed into neighborhoods where people that migrate from the Caatinga and other rural areas of Brazil move too. Here the houses are mostly wooden shacks or the better ones are made with cement and bricks. Here there is little electricity and water. Living conditions are much better than in the Caatinga. There are more job opportunities for migrated people with no money. People that migrate to these places, in most cases leave the Caatinga with no money at all and will have to live under cardboard boxes until they can afford to build there own shack. You can read also Classifications of Restaurants The most important factor that affects migration are the Push and the Pull factors. Push factors are negative factors. These could include such things as health, education, general living conditions etc. The Pull factors are positive factors. These include things like electricity provided, clean water, better health etc. In this case study, the push factors will be about the rural areas (Caatinga). The pull factors will be about the urban area (Favelas). Migration is affected by these factors. In this study the most important ones are health, climate, job opportunities, education and living conditions. The problems that people face in the Caatinga are very serious. This is why people want to migrate or even are forced to migrate to urban places and Favelas. They do this to try and gain some money and to give better future for their children. Droughts are very common in the Caatinga. When these occur, rivers can dry up and there is no water to drink and to use for agricultural reasons. This brings every time famine, starvation and disease. People can only drink from dirty ponds formed when the last rain had fallen. Illiteracy is another great problem. There are no schools for people to go to. Most of the population cannot read nor write. Children cannot learn how to write and this is why when they migrate, they will have very underprivileged jobs with very little pay. When droughts occur, agricultural land is destroyed along side with all of the crops grown during the year. This brings long periods of time with no one working on the land which means no jobs. With no jobs, people have no money and cannot buy food nor medicines for their family. When the harvesting fails, people can only eat lamb and beans throughout the year until the next harvest is ready. There is no medical care in these areas. Diseases such as Malaria strike young children and elder people causing death rates to increase drastically. This also is connected with transport. Ill and sick people cannot be transported to cities to be taken care of. No food can be imported to the Caatinga. The population of the Caatinga can only live on what they produce, this is called subsistence farming. The climate has also a very important job in the Caatinga and is one of the biggest factors causing migration. All through out the year there is little or no rain at all in some areas of the Caatinga. The temperatures are very high in the summer (reaching over 30à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½) and in the winter are very cold (approximately 10à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½). You can read also Costco Case Study Families in the Caatinga are very large. Some families have up to 15 children and in some cases can reach 20. This is because people want to have more children so that they can be maintained when they reach an older age. Another reason is that diseases can easily kill many children. On average out of 10 children, 5 die of illnesses or starvation. In the Caatinga child labor is also a big concern for the government. Many children are used to farm on the land which isn't of their property. People from the Caatinga decide to migrate to urban cities like Belo Horizonte. They have to walk for hundreds of kilometers with all of their belongings and no money. When they arrive in the Favelas, they have to set up a new life. The Favelas are situated just outside cities. These are groups of houses built by migrates coming in from the rural part of the country. Here their children can receive an education from proper schools. They learn how to read and write so that in the future they will be able to have a better job. Once they reach an older age, children will have to start working to try and get some money for their numerous family. In a case we saw, the money that the father and her daughter earned was à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½12 a month, just enough to maintain their big family. They cannot spend any of it on leisure and entertainment. With the money they can buy proper food from markets and are able to feed the whole family. They can also buy medicines and with time, they can improve their household. The birth rate here is also much lower than in the Caatinga. This is because health is much more advanced and people don't need as many children to maintain them. The death rate is also much lower than in the Caatinga. Medicines to cure diseases are introduced and hospitals are nearby. Electricity and sometime running water in houses is introduced. This is a necessity for many families. The transport and communication is good here. The only problem is that there is no entertainment in these Favelas (no cinema, shops, restaurants etc†¦). The climate here is much better. The temperatures are quite high throughout the year and the rainfall is balanced. In conclusion to my essay, the urban environment is a much better place to live in because of all its pull factors. Urban population is increasing rapidly, 78% of Brazilian population lives in Urban population whilst the other 22% is spread out between rural and Amazonian. I would prefer to live in an urban environment because of all the comforts it can provide compared to the Caatinga. Still people don't have power over their actions. People living in the Caatinga cannot decide weather to move or not. It is a risk they have to take and only some families can take it. It would be hard to help the population of the Caatinga. Brazil, being in some parts a developed country and in others, not developed at all, would find it difficult to provide the funds to help this population. It would need to build a new transport system, including a railway and more roads. It could also build hospital facilities and refugee camps for homeless people. It should improve agricultural facilities adding irrigating systems and it should bring, using aqueducts, water to remote villages. This could also bring problems because people living in the Caatinga might not want their land to be industrialized. Also the funds to help could be received from the population of urban cities which might disapprove. Rio de Janeiro has tried to improve living conditions of the Favelas by expanding its land and becoming the second largest city in the world. It has built on a flat piece of land tall buildings for rich people to move in. It is a much safer place for people to live in. It is actually become a new city called Barra. Barra is one of the safest cities in South America. It has the largest shopping mall in all of South America. The criminality is very low. By building this city, Rio de Janeiro has stopped growing because people move out to Barra more. Soon Barra will become as large as Rio and suffer the same problems if migration doesn't stop.

Psychological and Ethical Egoism Essay

Egoism is a general term for the acknowledgement of human self-interest as a basis of action. There are several proponents of this theory. Basically it is a philosophical notion that was popularized by Hobbes. Whatever action that an individual would take is pursuant of his/her own self. This theory has famously been separated into two types. The first one is ethical egoism and the second is called psychological egoism. Ethical egoism talks about morality as the basis of action in order to uplift the person himself, while psychological egoism states that all of our actions are basically rooted on self-interest. Accordingly, psychological egoism is devised out of observation of common human behavior. A clear demarcation between the two lies on its structure, Ethical egoism is more prescriptive. On the other hand, Psychological egoism is descriptive or observational (Rachels, 2003). The Fallacy in Psychological Egoism Although Psychological egoism seems to be perfectly valid, it was widely refuted with respect to the fallacies that it had committed. One of the fallacies that can be found in the principles of psychological egoism, upon critical examination, would be the fallacy of â€Å"hasty generalization or converse accident†. According to some critics, the fallacy was rooted on confirming that indeed all human acts are self-interested due to the different instances that prove otherwise. This includes the fact that most people do actions that would damage or harm themselves such as smoking, self-mutilation and sometimes suicide. Also there are several altruistic behaviors that do not really come from self-interest. There are other things or notions such as conscience which also have an effect on one’s action. If those who supports psychological egoism would argue that all actions whether it be an act of conscience or an act that hurts oneself is also form of psychological egoism in itself, then there are no actions whatsoever that is not a form of psychological egoism (Rachels, 2003). Thus, it will result to a fallacy of tautology. It cannot be verified or established if an action is indeed a form of psychological egoism because there are no other actions aside from a psychologically egoistic act. Two Sides of Ethical Egoism The weak version of ethical egoism takes on the side of the probability of â€Å"altruistic behavior†. However, they have specified that although they acknowledge that the person does benevolent actions, nevertheless, they maintain that the action is still in accordance to or made with respect to the individuals’ own interest. One would like to do good because doing good makes him/her feels good. The strong version denies the presence of altruistic behavior. It asserts that in any circumstances, the individual would act in accordance to his/her self-interest despite the fact that it is in the form of benevolence. (Lander University, 2006) Major Similarities and Their Differnces Thus, as presented above, ethical egoism differs from psychological egoism in the sense that ethical egoist incorporates morality as a basis for human actions. It expresses the human self-interest in the sense of the goodness or the rightness of the act. Psychological egoism, do not try to tell us what we should do, but instead states that whatever actions that we have is basically an expression of our self-interest, the individual does not need to be moral or does not have to subscribe to morality (Rachels, 2003). Motivations In ethical egoism, the motivation lies on the person’s desires to do or aspire for something good or right. This is applicable when one is acting in able to help other people because it is in his nature to do so, as explained by David Hume. On the other hand, in psychological egoism, the motivation rest on the person’s or individual’s preference for self-interest. Psychologically egoistic behavior can best be interpreted when the individual is doing something in exchange of something that would benefit or would be in reference to his/her personal interest. Largely, those actions that are psychologically egoistic are selfish acts while those that fall under the ethical egoist are actions from self-interest. (Mosley, 2006) Selfishness versus Self-interest Selfishness is manifested through personal advantages, mostly sacrificing others in favor of one’s own self. Self-interest is promoting one’s interest either for the benefit of himself or of other people as well. Self-interest differs from selfishness in the sense that self-interest does not necessarily points toward selfishness because certain actions that would benefit one or would comprise self-interest may actually be altruistic actions. There are instances wherein you have to be helpful to other people in order for you to proceed towards your egoistic goals. Also there are some actions whether it is for oneself or for the sake of others that are not relevant basis in suggesting that it is selfish act or a self-interested act. For instance there were actions such as eating or drinking that can be classified as either a form of selfishness or a form of self-interest. As presented, the major key in understanding the points and relevance of each position lies on the individuals understanding of the term selfishness and acting for or out of self-interest. (Mosley, 2003) Reference http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/egoism.html

Sediments Threaten Salmon

Sediments Threaten Salmon Free Online Research Papers In the year 2009, the Glines Canyon Dam and the Elwha Dam are scheduled to start being removed from the Elwha River, located in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. The sediment that has built up behind these dams threatens the overall geomorphic condition of the river if released downstream. The Elwha Dam was built in the early 1900’s, 4.9 miles from the mouth of the river. The construction of this dam was finished in 1914. Glines Canyon Dam was completed 8.5 miles further upstream in 1927. Both of these dams impound reservoirs. The Elwha Dam forms the Lake Aldwell reservoir, and the Glines Canyon Dam forms the Lake Mills reservoir. (See Figure 1) The Glines Canyon Dam stands at 210 feet tall. This will be the tallest dam ever removed in the United States to date. Before the dams were built, the Elwha River was used my natives and produced about 380,000 migrating salmon and trout. The construction of Elwha Dam eliminated about ninety-three percent of the Elwha River habitat for these migratory fish, and thus began a very steep decline in the native populations of all ten runs of Elwha salmon and sea-run trout. The 1855 treaties between the Northwest tribes and the United States governm ent guarantee the tribes the right to fish in their accustomed places indefinitely, but the disappearance of the Elwha salmon runs has made this impossible for the Lower Klallam Elwha tribes. More than 300 dams have been removed in the United States in the last 20 years, but the Elwha River dams are the first to be acquired by the federal government primarily for the purpose of decommissioning, removal and restoring wild salmon. The Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act of 1992 authorized the Secretary of the Interior to acquire and remove the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Elwha River to fully restore the ecosystem and native fisheries. The National Park Service completed two Environmental Impact Statements. EIS-1, (Environmental Impact Statement 1) found that both dams, the Glinds Canyon Dam as well as the Elwha Dam, must be removed to meet the goals of the Elwha Act. EIS-2 recommends allowing sediments accumulated within the reservoirs to naturally erode downstream. When the Glines Canyon Dam is to be removed the sediment, which is built up behind the dam and then is released downstream, threatens the ability for salmon to get upstream and spawn natu rally. Figure 1: Figure 1 map shows the locations of the Glines Canyon Dam, Elwha Dam, and the reservoirs resulting from them in the Olympic National Park. [Source: www.AmericanRivers.org/elwha] The fundamental geomorphic change associated with a dam’s presence on or removal from a river is the alteration of the longitudinal profile of the river. Dams create a long, flat-water surface marked by an abrupt drop in elevation at the dam. After a dam is removed, water levels and channel positions more closely resemble the original morphology of the river, and the sediments that had been stored behind the dam are sculpted by the subsequent river flow. This adjustment to a new longitudinal profile can cause major changes in the distributions of aquatic organisms, like salmon and sea-run cutthroat trout.1 One of the major environmental challenges of removing high dams is the height of sediments behind the reservoir. This is less of a concern with low-head dams or dams in wide valleys, because the vertical relief of the low sediment deposits does not create as much potential for abrupt vertical erosion. The elevation of natural floodplains in most rivers is a small, from less than 1% up to 10% of the width of the bankfull river channel. A bankfull is a hydrological measure that generally indicates the height or stage of water that just fills the channel. After a high dam, like the Glines canyon Dam, has been constructed, deposits of sediment upstream of the dam may exceed the relative dimensions of floodplain and bankfull channels found in natural river networks. The removal of a dam with deep sediment deposits may create high, unstable terraces that are accessible to flood waters at the upstream end of the reservoir that existed before the dam’s removal but perched far above th e channel at the downstream end. The potential for episodic flood erosion of these high terraces and incision of lateral channels into the terraces complicates the restoration of the river and its floodplain after dam removal. The volume of sediments associated with dams can have major geomorphic and biological consequences for downstream reaches. Removing a dam can release large volumes of sediment to downstream reaches over short periods of time and creates easily eroded floodplains. The timing of sediment release and the downstream extent of sediment deposition are difficult to predict, leading to a high degree of uncertainty about ecological effects. Subsequent erosion of sediment deposits behind the dam results in frequent and complex channel change within the reach upstream of the dam. All this sediment greatly threatens biological life, specifically survival of salmon in the Elwha River.2 The life cycle of a salmon is quite interesting. Adult male and female salmon spawn together in gravel beds of rivers and streams. Using rapid fanning movements of her tail, the female salmon digs out a gravel nest. This nest is called a redd. The male fertilizes the eggs as the female deposits them. The female protects the redd for one to two weeks or as long as she is able before it dies. The fertilized eggs, or embryos, hatch and develop into alevins. An alevin is a newly hatched fish in the larval stage, one which has not yet emerged from the redd. As tiny alevins, they continue to live in the redd. Their food comes from a nutrient rich yolk sac attached to their undersides. The freshly hatched alevins mature into fry. This occurs as the yolk sac is absorbed into the alevin’s body, and the alevin emerges from the redd. Once they become fry, they develop vertical bars called parr marks on their sides that help them remain camouflaged from predators. The parr marks last from a few months to years, depending on the specific species of salmon.3 After a period of feeding and growth in freshwater, the fry begin migrating downstream towards the ocean. The fry become smolts as they migrate downstream towards the ocean. Smolts undergo physiological changes that allow them to adapt to the saltwater conditions in the ocean. One of the most distinctive physical changes is the transformation from a brown color with stripes to a more silvery color that serves as camouflage in the ocean environment. The smolts grow to a fully developed adult salmon as they continue their journey to the ocean habitat. Depending on the species, salmon will spend from one to five years in the ocean and travel hundreds to thousands of miles before returning to the stream where they were hatched. Some fish stray to nearby rivers, colonizing new areas and replenishing weak populations. These adult salmon become spawners themselves. Most salmon spawn only once during their lifetime and die within a week or so of spawning. One very important aspect of these s almon dying is the nutrients from their decomposing bodies help to fertilize the stream. Yet some steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout can spawn more than once. After these adult fish, called kelts, spawn they migrate back to a saltwater environment.4 Excess sediment present can significantly affect the productivity of a salmon or trout stream.5 In a healthy stream, young salmon and trout hide in the interstitial spaces between cobbles and boulders to avoid predators. In streams that get extremely cold in winter, young steelhead may actually burrow into the streambed and spend the winter in flowing water down within the gravel. The area of the stream where flowing water extends down into the gravel is also extremely important for aquatic invertebrates; which supplies most of the food for young salmon, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout. If fine sediment is clogging interstitial spaces between streambed gravel, juvenile salmonids lose their important source of cover and food. Salmon, steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout are also very vulnerable to sediment pollution because they build their nests in the stream bottom. The eggs, buried one to three feet deep in the gravel redd, rely on a steady flow of clean cold water to deliver oxygen and remove waste products. In coastal streams the eggs usually hatch in about thirty days, depending on the water temperature. Eggs hatch into alevin and remain in the gravel another thirty days or so, living on the nutrients in their yolk sacs. As they develop into fry, the yolk is used up and the fry must emerge through spaces in the gravel to take up life in the stream. During the sixty-day period when eggs and alevin are in the gravel, major shifts of the stream bottom can cause them to die.6 Tappel and Bjornn demonstrated that increased fine sediment in spawning gravels caused decreased survival and emergence of salmonid eggs and alevin.7 (See Figure 2) Nawa and Frissel found fines less than 0.85 mm to have the highest impact on salmonid spawning success.8 Particles of less than 6.4 mm are recognized as having the potential to infiltrate their redds; forming a layer in the stream gravels which sometimes prevents emergence of the fry.9 Kondolf, in a review of this, found that when fines that were less than 6.4 mm exceeded thirty percent, it reduced salmonid emergence and survival by about fifty percent.10 Figure 2: Figure 2 graph shows that as the percentage of fine-grained sediment in streambeds increases, development of salmon eggs into emergent fry decreases. [Source: North American Journal of Fisheries Management 3:132] Studies conducted in actual redds in Olympic Peninsula streams in Washington State found that if there was more than thirteen percent fine sediment, less than 0.85 mm, intruded into the redd then almost no Steelhead or Coho salmon eggs survived.11 It was also noted that fine sediment levels inside and outside Coho salmon redds varied substantially. Fines less than 1.0 mm can sometimes average seven percent inside redds, yet can average thirteen percent outside them and with no inside redd measurement in excess of thirteen percent. Salmon do have the ability to substantially lower fine sediment in the redd pocket during redd construction. However, if fine sediment levels in the streambed outside the redd are high, there is a potential for fines to intrude into already constructed redds during high flows and high turbidity.12 Because the redd is a depression in the streambed, it creates the Venturi effect, drawing water down into the gravel. The Venturi effect is a special case of fluid or airflow through a tube or pipe with a constriction in it. The fluid must speed up in the restriction, reducing its pressure and producing a partial vacuum. This effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi. Fine sediment in suspension during storms may be sucked down into the redd. Tappel and Bjornn noted that pore space and permeability were key variables in the quality of salmonid spawning gravel, and suggested using the central tendency of particles as a standard.13 They assumed that, because of varying head diameters, Coho salmon have less success emerging as fry than Steelhead or sea-run Cutthroat when fine sediment levels in redds are high. Chapman suggested that measuring permeability itself might be a quicker, and more cost effective method of measuring sediment impacts on salmonids. Chapman concluded that measuring permeability was defined as the variability in spawning gravel quality with better resolution, and also at lower cost than substrate composition analysis.14 The relationship between permeability and salmonid egg survival is not as well known. Suspended sediment in the water column causes turbidity. Nawa and Frissel found that turbidities as low as twenty-five nephelometric turbidity units (ntu’s) caused a reduction in juvenile steelhead and Coho growth.15 High turbidity during winter impacts the feeding ability of juvenile salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout. The longer the duration of high turbidity the more damages to fish and other aquatic organisms.16 Measurement of turbidity were taken in excess of twenty-five ntu’s for weeks at a time in Freshwater Creek, located in Humboldt County California, in the winter of 1999.17 Coho and Chinook salmon do not have the leaping ability of Steelhead and are confined to low gradient reaches. These reaches were formerly the most productive spawning and rearing areas, with an abundant supply of good gravel and large wood. High bed load transport can bury low gradient reaches, making them much simpler and less productive salmonid habitat. These formerly productive low gradient reaches become wide and shallow and recovery of fish habitat may take a long time, perhaps decades.18 Lisle noted that recovery of streams with high gradient precedes much more rapidly following large flood events.19 Loss of pool volume has dramatic effects of salmon populations. During the year they spend in freshwater, Coho salmon prefer deep pools that form around large pieces of wood. High sediment transport can fill pools and cause reduction or loss of essential salmonid juvenile rearing habitat.20 Nawa and Frissel noted that optimal Coho habitat is comprised of pools of at least one meter deep, and found that yearling and older steelhead juveniles needed pools at least three feet deep for successful rearing.21 When both the Elwha and the Glinds Canyon Dams are removed, the river will flow freely for the first time is about one hundred years. That is a lot of time that sediments such as silt, sand, and gravels have had to build up behind these dams. In order to determine if river restoration is successful, it is important to have scientific information as to the geomorphic condition of the river before dam removal occurs. The USGS (United States Geological Survey) is developing suspended sediment monitoring systems, studying how sediment may be redistributed, and assessing how dam removal will affect the ecosystem of the Elwha valley. This will greatly help resource managers understand the effects of dam removal on sediment transport, watershed ecology, and aquatic habitat like salmon populations. This information will be essential for examining improvements in salmon habitat that may come with the removal of these dams on the Elwha River. My hope is that they use the Dredge and Slurry alternative, which is removing fine-grained sediment prior to dam removal by using suction dredges, and sending the slurry to a different location like the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In my opinion, this is the method that needs to be used when considering river morphology. The sediment that is built up behind the Glines Canyon Dam poses a huge threat on salmon habitat and survival. In order to ensure salmon survival after these dams are removed, the Dredge and Slurry alternative seems to be the answer to me. But we will just have to wait and see what the â€Å"experts† decide to do. A lot of time and research still needs to be done before the destruction of these dams begin. If the Elwha dam removals succeed, they will provide a really strong example of what a powerful restoration tool dam removal can be. Bibliography Behnke, Robert J. 2002. Trout and Salmon of North America. Chanticleer Press Inc. pp 2-10. Chapman. D.W. 1988. Critical Review of Variables Used to Define Effects of Fines in Redds of Large Salmonids. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 117: 1-21. Gilbert, Francis A. 2003. Restoring the Flow: Undamming of America. Blockwells Pub Inc. pp 32-47 Kondolf, G.M. 2000. Assessing Salmonid Spawning Gravel Quality. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 129:262-281. Lisle, T.E., and J. Lewis. 1992. Effects of sediment transport on survival of Salmonid embryos in a natural stream: A simulation approach. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science. 49: 2337-23344. McHenry, M.L., D.C. Morrill and E. Currence. 1994. Spawning Gravel Quality, Watershed Characteristics and Early Life History Survival of Coho Salmon and Steelhead in Five North Olympic Peninsula Watersheds. Lower Elwha SKlallam Tribe, Port Angeles, WA. Makah Tribe, Neah Bay, WA. Washington State Department of Ecology. Nawa, R.K. and C.A. Frissell. 1993. Measuring scour and fill of gravel stream beds with scour chains and sliding bead monitors. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 13: 634-639. Newcombe, C.P. and D.D. MacDonald. 1991. Effects of Suspended Sediments on Aquatic Ecosystems. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 11: 72-82. Tappel, P.D., and T.C. Bjornn. 1983. Methods of relating size of spawning gravel to salmonid embryo survival. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 3:123-135. Research Papers on Sediments Threaten SalmonMind TravelCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationStandardized TestingGenetic EngineeringRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanPETSTEL analysis of IndiaNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided Era

Applying Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Applying Psychology - Essay Example With regard to this stance however, I was not able to provide concrete examples as regards to the costs and benefits, and only described the theoretical concepts. With regard to the third case, while I provided alternative technologies that can be used, I failed to discuss the financial constraints and ethical considerations of using such. I proposed less invasive strategies such as strengthening the questions that are asked, and perhaps improving the systems for cross-checking. TMA allowed me to apply my knowledge of theoretical concepts in practice. However, I noticed a few errors in expressing myself grammatically. More importantly, I should draw more connections between theory and practice through sufficient examples. I am writing in light of your company’s proposition to impose flexible with working from home opportunities through the aid of computer-mediated communication (CMC). I have reviewed your company’s profile against the advantages and disadvantages of using of CMC. I am also proposing several recommendations with regard to the use of CMC which might be helpful as your company reorganizes and moves towards home-based work opportunities. CMC is clearly not a novel process in your company, and to a certain degree it has increased the productivity and work output. According to Joinson and Littleton (2008), there has been â€Å"evidence that the use of CMC in the workplace can be beneficial not just in speeding communication, but in increasing the quality of that communication† (p. 127). Studies by Shirani et al. (1999 as cited in Joinson & Littleton, 2008) and Adrianson and Hjelmquist (1999 as cited in Joinson & Littleton, 2008) have revealed deeper problem analysis and increase of brainstorming ideas in CMC compared to face-to-face interactions. However, there have been contentions to the level of interaction that takes place by using CMC. Without

Diseases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Diseases - Essay Example The CDC estimates that there are approximately 300 strains of Lyme disease (Matthews, 2012). Characteristics of the disease: Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that is caused by the spirochaete Borrelia burgdorferi. This bacterium also possesses several serotypes. Lyme borreliosis is transmitted through nymph and tick bites belonging to the genus lxodes. Humans are mainly infected by nymph bites. Lymph disease is mostly prevalent during the summer period. The onset of the disease is characterized by early lesions on the skin which have a central zone and expand in ring form. Other symptoms include myalgia, fever, rash, chills and migraines (McPhee & Papadakis, 2010). The patient also has a case of unexplained tendonitis, depression, insomnia and the appearance of floaters in the eyes. The disease may also progress to meningeal pathology and can also involve the central nervous system. Joint pains are also characteristic of later stages of the disease. Other symptoms that are less common in Lyme disease include inflammation of the eye, severe fatigue and hepatitis (McPhee & Papadakis, 2010). Treatment of the disease involves administrations of oral and intravenous antibiotics such as doxycycline, amoxicillin and cefuroxime (McPhee & Papadakis, 2010). Problems with diagnosing, preventing, treating or eradicating the disease: Firstly it is difficult to stop Lyme disease due to the fact that the vectors (ticks) are impossible to eradicate entirely. There is also difficulty in the diagnostic process of Lyme disease due to the fact that the â€Å"bull’s eye rash† that is considered a positive indication of the disease does not appear in all the patients. In addition, the disease has adverse impacts on organs of elimination; therefore, any type of rash can be a sign of Lyme disease. Other conditions that have been associated