How Women are portrayed in society and how sexism plays a role Essay Example for Free

How Women are portrayed in society and how sexism plays a role Essay Sexism may be defined as a negative response to a threat that is either real or imagined. In society today sexism plays a major role in terms of image, reputations, and perceptions of how women are portrayed in the media and life in general. The media relatively plays an influential role in sexism against women since the media has predetermined standards of what women should be like. Women base their expectations of society and more importantly, expectations of themselves, by what they see around them. All of us consume the media in one form or another the media sends us images that we consciously or subconsciously absorb, and create a picture in our minds of reality, the way we believe things should be. This also affects men also since there are certain expectations that they have to live up to. The media, entertainment icons, and school cooperatively exhibit and promote gender assimilation, although there are certain standards that men and women must live up to. The media and entertainment icons especially, hold a strong influence on womens perspective on themselves, especially teenage girls who are going through the awkward stages of their life. Britney Spears is one of the several popular icons in the entertainment industry that plays an influential role in young women lives across the globe. While shes making millions of dollars from touring and selling albums, shes influencing the vulnerable minds of women and their perception of themselves. Shes also setting standards in the from her teenage fan base perspective since they idolize her. Adolescent girls start to obsess over the fact that they have to try to look like Britney Spears by buying similar clothing she wears and constantly worry about their weight since Britney Spears pictures in the magazine looks makes it look like shes skinny. What they cant seem to comprehend is that most of the time people who have their pictures in the magazines are airbrushed 95% of the time to perfect the flaws that person has. Therefore, girls are going to start to get the impression that they must look like that individual that the magazine promotes. The masterminds behind the propaganda of Britney Spears reputation are the executives at the record company. They figure that since young women are very vulnerable to the fact that their self-esteem is capable of being influenced by someones image or actions. Executives know in order to make  money off of Britney Spears; they try molding her into a typical young woman so teenagers can relate to her as a person and image. To accomplish this, they know that Britney can be innovated by promoting certain clothing and doing certain things. In the long run not only the record company is making a profit from this but the clothing stores/companies are benefiting from it too. When it comes down to wanting to look like Britney Spears, adolescents think they have to look like her because of the way she looks and how small her clothes are. Fashion trends and clothing styles, in particular, significantly aid the social construction of gender, especially women. The mere presence of a standard for the judgment of beauty automatically designates some group to be in control of the other. This causes individuals to constantly judge one another to make sure that they fit into the correct gender classification. Trendy, hip clothing are made for a very specific, minority group of women- narrow-hipped, small-breasted, tall, and skinny. The pressure to fit into these styles of clothes is unrelenting and produces insecurities and a poor self-perception. These adolescent anxieties are not uncommon and can produce eating disorders, depression, and suicide. Self-esteem is very important for both men and women because it helps them define who they are as a person mentally and physically. High standards that are being portrayed in the media make us self-consciously aware of how were supposed to look like in real life. The new diet trends such as south beach, the zone, and Atkins diet are forcing us to think that we need to lose weight in order to be a suitable size. Also new technologies that are being created to prolong youthful appearances also put an impression on the society that its not appropriate to age. Diets and aging to aside, celebrities that are thin and youthful that meet the alleged beauty standards of modern society conveys a message to adolescents and women that it is wrong to be a certain size or have a particular image. In the long run this speeds up the process of adolescents, men and women in general to develop some sort of eating disorder or depression due to low self-esteem. The media forces this upon us to see this and absorb this into our minds, and form somewhat a distorted mentality of ourselves. Eating disorders are one of the most common problems among adolescents in our society. Individuals who lack a good self-esteem are prone to influences of  perfection, when in reality there is no such thing as being perfect. Images of women and men in the media that are almost always young, thin, muscular and highly attractive and which is not the norm. This is what they strive to become, many become miserable in the process. Normal body features bodily changes such as putting on weight, getting older, having underarm and leg hair, having pimples or having small breasts are shown to be highly undesirable, and even abnormal. These body enhancements procedures can sometimes be fatal and lead to death. An individual shouldnt have to go through the matters of life and death risks just to change a minor imperfection about them. Women and men are constantly made to feel that they are not good enough, and that they should take corrective measures to improve themselves and their bodies to be closer to the norm which could lead to psychological and emotional harm, as well as eating disorders in some women who are obsessed with changing their bodies in order to look desirable and to be accepted in society. The general public begins to accept these standards and assimilate this into their morals. The individual in the society start to believe what the media says about what they think is right. This is when sexism and racism come into play. They start to use impractical standards against other people and start to judge them based on what they look like. Men and women in the society are greatly affected by this since they have to deal with their social peers. In order to fit in they try to perfect themselves and change the way they look by following the latest trends and values. Unfortunately, in our society today people continue to pass judgment on others and not give that person a chance to make their first impression. In conclusion, I feel that people shouldnt pay attention to irrational standards that are going to make their lives miserable. Despite the medias and the public standards of perfection, a person should be happy with who they are regardless of how they look. Instead of striving to fix their smallest flaws by going through extreme measures such as starving themselves to stay thin or going through cosmetic surgery to maintain a youthful and attractive appearance, they should accept their imperfections and be happy with who they are. The society has these standards to define themselves as a  person. Sometimes these standards are created to put stereotypes on genders in order to characterize who they are. I feel that these standards shouldnt exist and that each individual should go by their own standards.

Edgar Allan Poes, The Cask of Amontillado as a Description of Poes Li

Edgar Allan Poe's, The Cask of Amontillado as a Description of Poe's Life The cast of Amontillado was written by Allan Poe at a time when he felt he was being unjustly attacked. Most critics believe that the cask of Amontillado was written by Poe against his critics in the Mirror. I believe the cask of Amontillado is a story of Revenge and Hatred against some friends whom be believed had wrongfully accused him. A review of Allan Poe as a person and his experiences in life is essential a clear understanding of "The Cask of Amontillado". Hence, I will apply a cultural method of interpretation. Poe was raised by his God parents after his parents died at the age of three. He was involved in Gambling and he also drank a lot. According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, "Poe was a complex person, tormented and alcoholic yet also considerate and humorous, a good friend, and an affectionate husband. Indeed, his painful life, his neurotic attraction to intense beauty, violent horror, and death, and his sense of the world of dreams contributed to his greatness as a writer"(2). This was true of Poe's literature. The Cast of Amontillado is full of suspense, shows different Kinds of wine and the complexity of Poe's personality can be shown in the Characters .Some critics have said that the cask of Amontillado can be read as an allegory of two portraits of Poe. I think The Cask of Amontillado is a Portrait of Poe and that of his critics. It is a story that is full of symbols. The Cask of Amontillado is the story of man who is desperate to obtain revenge from an insult. The nature of the insult was never revealed in the story. All we know is that Montressor methodically planned his revenge against Fortunato. As Allan Poe put it, "It mus... ...portrayed by Fotunato and Luchesi. Considering the close resemblance between the story and the issues in his life at that time, I believe Allan Poe was writing about himself. He finally got his revenge when he filed a libel suit against English and Fuller. He won the libel suit but he also lost his reputation in the process. In The Cask of Amontillado, Montressor walled Fortunato in. However, Fortunato rested in peace while Montressor will go on with a troubled conscience. Works Cited 1. Poe, Edgar Allan , "The Columbia Encyclopedia", sixth ed. 2001 2. Dedmond, Francis " The Cask of Amontillado and the war of Literati, " Modern Language Quarterly; June 54, vol 15, issue2, p137, 10p. 3. Poe Edger Allan "The Cask of Amontillado" Reading and Writing literature by Phillip Sippiora, Ed by Pearson Education Inc. Upper saddle River, New Jersey, 2002. 240-245.

Critical Thinking and Perception Essay

What is real? Our perception of reality is often a product of the environment in which we live. In general, we formulate ideas of reality based on our own experiences as well as the experiences of the people around us. Our lives are influenced constantly by our surroundings. I truly believe that perception is a learned skill and not instinctive. Outside of our communities, television, radio and movies sculpt our perception of the outside world. I think most of my thinking at the ordinary level is based on perception, language, and information. At the most there is one logic step: If this than that. I think most thinking takes place in the perceptual stage. These are the questions that arise, How much do I take in? and how do I look at things? This perception is based on habits of perceptions and what I hear, what I read and how I express myself. I understand that we do not need to use much explicit logic because we have already built the logic into our language. For example, killing is ‘bad’ unless justified by war or self-dense. I know that with decisions I followed what was recommended and what my friends were doing and then rationalized it with the following rationalization: Everyone does this and the stock rises for a while and when the market eventually gets a severe correction I rationalize that as well. This rationalization is based on information–not all-available information but a selection that fits what I was inclined to do anyway. I think that logic can be used to reinforce perceptions (and prejudices) but logic and argument will not change perceptions. Perception is more than sensing; it is processing, reacting, and interpreting. Faith Bryne describes perception as, â€Å"detecting the nature of both outer and inner worlds. In many cases, it also means responding in some way, either consciously or unconsciously.† (Perception, 57) Perception is the way we look at things and I think processing is what we do with that perception. In my view if we take processing for granted then perception becomes even more important, because the way we look at a situation will determine what we can do about it. The influences (family, teachers, religion, race, environment, and economic level) that have shaped or conditioned my identity by instilling values, beliefs, viewpoints or a ttitudes that I have accepted without challenge serves as a perceptual block. The situations in which I am less of an individual because of these influences occur when I refuse to understand someone else’s opinion or look for other points of view because of something I have been conditioned to believe is true. I am not one who handles others opinions without asking for them. I am not very consistent in ensuring that my opinions are informed. Often times I have not taken careful consideration of the evidence and have treated opinions as facts especially if I have expressed it to the point that I have begun to believe it as truth. At times, in what matters most I am inclined to assume too much and take too much for granted. I feel the strongest urge to conform when someone is a positive role model and conforming to this type of behavior I believe adds value. However, a situation in which this conformist tendency has interfered with my judgment is following others because it seemed the lesser of two evils. All to often at the workplace this is how some decisions are made just to close an issue that ultimately will recycle. Additionally, I tend to jump or make hasty conclusions more often than I would like. This occurs more so in the area of personal relationships. I have learned that there ar e some errors and bad habits that can lead to shallow or uncritical decisions instead of careful judgments. I have gained the most insight from the following errors and bad habits, which are: Resistance to change (habits), Conformity, Rationalization, Stereotyping, common sense, Oversimplification, Hasty conclusions, and unwarranted assumptions. I think the real key to each the of errors and habits mentioned above is my being conscious of the tendency to do them and to get into the habit of applying and practicing the different ways or approaches to avoiding the blocks to critical thinking. This will be an ongoing process if I am to be in control of my own beliefs, and to somehow gain an understanding of the truth, then I must know what good reasoning is, and be aware of the ways in which my reasoning (and that of others) can go astray. How I tend to perceive certain situations in my life and how others may see it may not always agree with my thinking. This is a big obstacle that I will have to work on being better at and learning how to understand others perceptions. References Brynie, Faith Hickman. (2001). Perception. Blackbirch Press, Inc. (p 57

Child Migration And Human Rights Essay - 2129 Words

Children are often caught in the middle when the state decides whether a child’s right to live in an intact family conflicts with its interest in maintaining immigration control. Along with this issue, there is an argument regarding allowing children born in a country to have automatic birthright citizenship, even when their parents may be undocumented. In the book Child Migration and Human Rights in a Global Age, Jacqueline Bhabha writes about the implications deporting immigrants has on the idea of nuclear families. She references conclusions made by Jean Piaget, a famous developmental psychologist, about the negative impact children feel caused by separation from their parent or parents. Piaget states that the presence of parents is â€Å"essential for a child’s development of morality† (Bhabha 20). Research about the impact of separation with regards to immigrant children who are eventually reunited with their parents, reports the complex emotional turmoil experienced by the child or children. Therefore, thrusting a child into the migration process only proves to be more harmful than helpful. Clinical reports reveal considerable negative impacts on children and on family relationships both during and after the â€Å"separation phase†. Parents forced to part with their â€Å"children may feel guilt, but expe ct gratitude for the sacrifices that they made for their child, but in reality, the child ends up feeling more anger, and resentment towards the parent for leaving them† (BhabhaShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Forced Migration On The United Nations1080 Words   |  5 PagesIn Recent times, migration has become common, and the reason for migration is often access to better education and the cleaner environment. However, some migration is not by choice. 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