Feminist Poetry Movement of the 1960s

Feminist poetry is a movement that came to life during the 1960s, a decade when many writers challenged traditional notions of form and content. There is no defining moment when the feminist poetry movement began; rather, women wrote about their experiences and entered into a dialogue with readers over many years before the 1960s. Feminist poetry was influenced by social change, but also by poets such as Emily Dickinson, who lived decades earlier. Does feminist poetry mean poems written by feminists or poetry about feminist subject matter? Must it be both? And who can write feminist poetry—feminists? Women? Men? There are many questions, but generally, feminist poets have a connection to feminism as a political movement. During the 1960s, many poets in the United States explored increased social awareness and self-realization. This included feminists, who claimed their place in society, poetry and political discourse. As a movement, feminist poetry is usually thought of as reaching a greater apex during the 1970s: Feminist poets were prolific and they began to achieve major critical acclaim, including several Pulitzer Prizes. On the other hand, many poets and critics suggest that feminists and their poetry have often been relegated to second place (to men) in the poetry establishment. Prominent Feminist Poets Maya Angelou: This incredibly prolific and powerful woman is one of the most well-known feminist poets, though she hasn’t always fallen in line with the cause. â€Å"The sadness of the women’s movement is that they don’t allow the necessity of love,† she wrote. â€Å"See, I don’t personally trust any revolution where love is not allowed.† Her poetry has often been praised for its depictions of black beauty, female women, and the human spirit. Her book Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water fore I Diiie, published in 1971, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1972. Angelou received the Literarian Award in 2013, an honorary National Book Award for contributions to the literary community. She died at the age of 86 in 2014.Maxine Kumin: Kumin’s career spanned more than 50 years and she won the Pulitzer Prize, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, and an American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award. Her poetry is deeply connected to her nat ive New England, and she was often called a regional pastoral poet.Denise Levertov: Levertov wrote and published 24 books of poetry. Her subjects reflected her beliefs as an artist and a humanist and her themes embraced nature lyrics, protest poetry, love poems and poetry inspired by her faith in God.Audre Lorde: Lorde described herself as a â€Å"black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.† Her poetry confronts the injustices of racism, sexism, and homophobia.Adrienne Rich: Richs poetry and essays spanned seven decades and her writing tackled issues of identity, sexuality and politics and her continued search for social justice, her role in the anti-war movement, and exploring her radical feminism.Muriel Rukeyser: Rukeyser was an American poet and political activist; she is best known for her poems about equality, feminism, social justice, and Judaism.

a guide to mysql ch 7 Essay - 1277 Words

CIS 331 – Database Management Using SQL Week 6 Homework - Due: Week 7 Name  ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬ 1. Review Questions – page 207 (A Guide to MySQL – Chapter 7) Questions 1 - 19 (type out the answers) 2. Premier Products – pages 207 - 209 (A Guide to MySQL – Chapter 7) Exercises 1 – 9 (create in MySQL) Except where indicated, use MySQL Query Browser to perform each operation and print the results. 3. Henry Books – pages 209 (A Guide to MySQL – Chapter 7) Exercises 1 – 9 (create in MySQL) Except where indicated, use MySQL Query Browser to perform each operation and print the results. Estimated Completion Time: ___________ Comments: _______________________________ Lab Assignment Grade:†¦show more content†¦NUM = ORDER_LINE.ORDER_NUM AND PRICE 100; +----------+----------------+-----------+--------------+ | PART_NUM | DESCRIPTION | ORDER_NUM | QUOTED_PRICE | +----------+----------------+-----------+--------------+ | DR93 | Gas Range | 21610 | 495.00 | | DW11 | Washer | 21610 | 399.99 | | KL62 | Dryer | 21613 | 329.95 | | KT03 | Dishwasher | 21614 | 595.00 | | BV06 | Home Gym | 21617 | 794.95 | | CD52 | Microwave Oven | 21617 | 150.00 | | DR93 | Gas Range | 21619 | 495.00 | | KV29 | Treadmill | 21623 | 1290.00 | +----------+----------------+-----------+--------------+ 8 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql CREATE VIEW ORDER_TOTAL AS - SELECT ORDERS.ORDER_NUM, SUM(NUM_ORDERED * QUOTED_PRICE) AS TOTAL_AMOUNT FROM ORDERS, ORDER_LINE WHERE ORDERS.ORDER_NUM = ORDER_LINE.ORDER_NUM GROUP BY ORDERS.ORDER_NUM - ORDER BY ORDER_NUM; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec) mysql SELECT ORDER_NUM, TOTAL_AMOUNT FROM ORDER_TOTAL WHERE TOTAL_AMOUNT 1000; +-----------+--------------+ | ORDER_NUM | TOTAL_AMOUNT | +-----------+--------------+ | 21613 | 1319.80 | | 21614 | 1190.00 | | 21617 | 1589.90 | | 21623 | 2580.00 | +-----------+--------------+ 4 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql SELECT ORDERS.ORDER_NUM, SUM(NUM_ORDERED * QUOTED_PRICE) AS T.TOTAL_AMOUNT FROMShow MoreRelatedNet Sec Essay11858 Words   |  48 Pagesaddresses Quick Scan- Provides a fast scan limiting the number of TCP ports scanned only the top 100 most common TCP ports Regular Scan-This is the default scan by issuing TCP SYN scans for the most common 1000 TCP ports using pings for host detection. 7. How many different tests (i.e., scripts) did your â€Å"Intense Scan† definition perform? List them all after reviewing the scan report. The Intense Scan initiated 36 Scripts. The scripts can be found at http://nmap.org/nsedoc/ 8. Describe what eachRead MoreDhl Marketing Mix22718 Words   |  91 Pages...................................................................................................................... 5 Mission and Vision Statements ................................................................................................ 7 Current Market ......................................................................................................................... 8 Measures of Performance.....................................................................................

Fossil Fuel Consumption, CO2 and its impact on Glo Essay Example For Students

Fossil Fuel Consumption, CO2 and its impact on Glo Essay bal ClimateBackground:At the beginning of human history, we had to satisfy our energy needs (for food, heat and movement) by using our own muscle power and gathering or hunting naturally available plants, animals and wood. Each stage in the evolution of human society (the development of farming, domestication of animals, harnessing of wind and water power) increased the average per capita energy use, but it was the Industrial Revolution and the exploitation of fossil fuels which marked the transformation of societies into the energy-intensive economies of today. Since the eighteenth century the industrialising countries have come to rely on non-renewable energy resources, and at present about 80 per cent (Myers, 1994) of the worlds commercial energy is derived from oil, coal and gas. Although it has been observed that the growth of energy consumption is closely correlated with the increases in gross national product thus our economic development, the major sources of energy (that is fossil fuels) are stock resources. Fossil fuels are consumed by use and the current consumption patterns are non-sustainable. It is recognised that energy conservation and the development of renewable energy sources will be needed to sustain economic growth. The quantity of ultimately recoverable fossil fuels is limited by geology and remains a matter of suspicion, but the view of the 1970s that scarcity was imminent is still popular. It is the 1973 Oil Crisis marked the transition from abundant, low-cost energy to an era of increasing prices and scarcity. Today concerns over scarcity have been overtaken by the question of whether human beings can afford to meet the environmental costs of continued fossil fuel consumption. One of the most widespread concern related to global climatic changes. Introduction:Climate represents normal weather condition of an area over a period of many years. This is in contrast to weather which is the day to day changes in the atmosphere. It is now realised that our global climatic normals had fluctuated in the past millions of years which was nowhere related to human activities. Nevertheless, with the increasing human population and our reliance on fossil fuels since the last century, we have definitely participated in the climatic changes which are taking place to a certain extent. Since the Stockholm Conference in 1972, more and more attentions have been drawn to the issue of global warming, which is the increase in global temperature caused by the atmospheric greenhouse effect. We have greenhouse effect because some trace components of our atmosphere re-absorb and retain certain wavelengths of heat radiated from the Earths surface, and the burning of fossil fuels have increased the tropospheric concentration of all of these compounds, especially carbon dioxide # (CO2). The Greenhouse Gas CO2: A Product of Fossil Fuel Consumption:Pollution of the atmosphere from the consumption of fossil fuels has many effects. Perhaps the best know are modifications that have led to changes in carbon dioxide. In some ways carbon dioxide cannot be classified as an air pollutant as it is reasonably abundant in the natural atmosphere (0.03%), and it is a basic product of all fossil fuel consumption. Although the chemical reaction in combustion of fossil fuels is not always simple, it can be summarised as the release of the carbon combined with atmospheric oxygen atoms to form carbon dioxide. This process is often referred as respiration, such that:C6H12O6 + 6O2 + heat 6CO2 + 6H2OHere, we see that carbon dioxide is not an impurity, as a matter of fact, life on the earth is somehow depending on this gas, either directly through photosynthesis (plants) or indirectly via the food-chain (animals). Nevertheless, this gas plays an important role in the heat balance of the earth, because of its distinctive heat-storage properties. IMPORTANT TERMS EssayConclusion:Although there are still many problems regarding the relationship of carbon dioxide and global climatic changes and even global warming itself, there is little question that climate (temperature) and CO2 are inextricablely linked (from the ice-core studies) and the temperature of the earth has been increasing over the last decade. More on that, it is a fact that the burning of fossil fuels do release infrared-absorbing carbon dioxide to our atmosphere. Therefore, it is just a logical conclusion that the greenhouse is here, as it always does. It appears that there is excessive heating within the greenhouse which is induced by our increasing rate of fossil fuel consumption, and the problems that lies behind global climatic change are far reaching . Perhaps, the real limit to our fossil fuel consumption will be the CO2 problem but not the size of the resource. A Chinese proverb says that prevention is better than cure. Approaches to energy conservation could be the key. Bibliography:Benarde, M. A., 1992, Global Warning Global Warming, John Wiley ; Sons, Inc., 52-65. Goudie, A., 1994, The Human Impact on the Natural Environment, Cambridge: The MIT Press, 301-7. Kraushaar, J. J. ; Ristinen, R. A., Energy and Problems of a Technical Society, John Wiley ; Sons, Inc., 394-400. Myers, N., 1994, The Gaia Atlas of Planet Management, London: Gaia Books Limited, 96-113. Tolba, M. K., 1992, The World Environment 1972-1992, London: Chapman ; Hall, 61-71.

WeChat Users Motivation, Satisfaction and Loyalty

Introduction The introduction of the internet has greatly changed many aspects of people’s life, including the way individuals communicate and interact nowadays (Nimrod 2015).Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on WeChat Users’ Motivation, Satisfaction and Loyalty specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Such change has been instigated by the availability of numerous social media platforms through which people can communicate easily with one another, such as the Instant Messaging (Pun 2015). Instant messaging is a communication tool that allows users to enjoy instant transmission of text messages via the internet. Due to its effectiveness, the Instant Messaging tool has become popular among internet users. WeChat is an example of IM service that was introduced to the market in 2011 by the Tencent Holdings (Laaksonen, Jarimo Kulmata 2009). The WeChat service has become so common not only in China, but also in more than 200 other countries (Swan 2002). Most of the users of WeChat are the young generations since it offers a reliable platform through which they can share information on the go with many people. In addition, WeChat is increasingly used by marketers to communicate about a given product or services to their clients. According to a report released by Statistica, there is a growing popularity of WeChat in China nowadays. Even though there are numerous studies on Instant Messaging services in the West, very limited studies are available in the East, especially about its impact on consumers in China. Such limited studies are attributed to the fact that China has strict control of internet based services. For this reason, a study to examine the popularity of WeChat in China amidst such circumstances will be of high significance to both the industry and academic contexts. This study will seek to provide an overview of WeChat users’ motivation, satisfaction and loyalty with a s pecific focus on the case of China. Significance of the Study The advancement in technology has provided enough platforms through which people have improved the level of connectivity and interaction among one another (Mao 2014). The service has become very important in China as it enables effective computer-mediated communications among many users (Raacke Bonds-Raacke 2008). Liu, Chen and Wei (2015) attributed such a trend to the increased need for social media platforms among marketers since such platforms are able to reach a wide range of consumers.Advertising Looking for proposal on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The choice of this topic was informed by the fact that most other social media platforms in China, such as Facebook and Twitter, are blocked based on the China’s internet censorship policy (Lin Lu 2011). For this reason, there is a need for a study that would highlight the reasons beh ind increased use of WeChat among Chinese people (Ko, Cho Roberts 2005). The results from this study would be of interests to academics and marketers. Aims and Objectives of the study The study will have several aims and objectives to achieve. Aims To investigate WeChat users’ motivation, satisfaction and loyalty, as well as explore the relationship between motivation, satisfaction and loyalty. Analyzing the development trend of WeChat in the future and how it is likely to influence marketing of different products. Objectives To review the research topic from existing literature To investigate the role of users’ loyalty, motivation and satisfaction in the use of WeChat in China in order to understand reasons behind its popularity while most other social media platforms have been blocked in China. Hypothesis From the above aims and objectives, the study will be based on the following hypothesis. H1: Motivation has a positive impact on WeChat users’ level of satisfaction. H2: Motivation has a positive impact on WeChat users’ loyalty. H3: Satisfaction has a positive impact on WeChat users’ loyalty Literature Review Motivation Just like in the case of any other media platforms, users of WeChat ought to have a positive attitude and the desired motivation for them to continue with the use of the platform (Koermer McCroskey 2006). Often, many people are psychologically motivated to use social media. Previous research on the issue indicated that studies on social media mainly focus on the examination of what motivates the users to adopt a social media platform (Junfeng, Zhimei Changshou 2014).Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on WeChat Users’ Motivation, Satisfaction and Loyalty specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In an effort to understand the psychological motivators of WeChat users, this study focuses on Uses and Gratification (UG) theory. It may be applied in various areas including both the traditional and the modern media of communication such as newspapers and the internet. The development of the UG theory was based on the psychological and social origins of needs (Luo 2002). It is one of the most influential theories in the media research. It takes into consideration the fact that users of social media are active when they know what exactly motivates them. It also explains that people have their main reasons for choosing a specific media such as to ensure the satisfaction of their psychological needs. The Uses and Gratification theory is useful when it comes to establishing the factors that explain different behaviors of customers. The gained attitude may be defined as the summative evaluation by an individual, which may be positive or negative, or the characteristic they know about WeChat. Attitudes develop over a period of time when they are learned and experienced (Reisinger 2003). They thus determine if the consumers w ill like or dislike the products or services. The strength of the attitudes however, differs from one individual to the other. From the perspective of the marketers, they can use communication to change the attitudes of customers which are otherwise hard to change (Yang Yoo 2004). Such communication may involve the use of advertisements or ensure the gratification of their psychological needs and expectations. The growth and development of information technology has led to globalization, which comes with high need to interact, stimulating the rapid growth in the use of internet (Zelizer 2011). It is such growth that has led to the replacement of the traditional methods of communication. Internet use has become common among many people due to the fact that it is entertaining, provides reliable information, and offers room for social interaction. Suh and Han (2003) indicated that the provision of information and entertainment are some of the factors that improve the motivation levels of customers.Advertising Looking for proposal on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Chang and Zhu (2011), factors such as the ability to meet new friends, provision of information, and conformity have similar impact of providing positive effects on both the users and the marketers. However, the motivation provided by entertainment has a considerable positive impact on the attitude of both pre-adopters and post-adopters (Gremler, Gwinner Brown 2001). Due to the differences of culture and social life, different countries have different attitudes towards the adoption of social media. In China, a study by Chang and Zhu (2011) indicated that social gratification of users is obtained when their psychological needs are met, helping them gain a positive attitude towards the social media. Loyalty Loyalty in any product or service can be measured by assessing the trust an individual has for the concerned product and/or service. The most adopted definition of trust is that it is exhibited when there is a high degree of confidence among different entities. Such c onfidence encourages the exchange of integrity and reliability among the partners. From the definition, gaining confidence, reliability, and integrity over one another is really significant to conceptualize trust and hence customer loyalty. Due to the gained trust, customers tend to support service providers who they trust. The trust and loyalty, in this case could be experienced from different perspective; intra-organizational and interpersonal. In the case of this study, the emphasis will be on establishing the possibility of intra-organizational type of trust. It also examines the degree of trust WeChat users have with their services. Trust is essential because it helps in reducing insecurity and cognitive risks, thus encouraging long-term relationships to grow between the users and the service providers (Mato Rossi 2008). The establishment of trust thus brings positive impacts with respect to the willingness of customers to use word of mouth communication, as well as their inte ntion to use social networking sites (Chu Choi 2011). Satisfaction Satisfaction is defined as the sense of fulfillment users of a particular product and/or service have. According to Suh and Han (2003) trust is one of the key determinants of the attitudes consumers have on social media. As a result of trust in a given service, users develop some degree of satisfaction. Correa, Hinsley and de Zuniga (2010) argued that satisfaction from the use of online forums has a positive impact on the attitude of the users. In a study conducted by Shin (2010) on privacy, trust, and satisfaction concerns consumers have on the use of social networking sites, it was evident that satisfaction significantly determines the duration an individual uses a particular social media platform. The level of user satisfaction also determines the rate at which users recommend a particular social media to family and friends. Often, word of mouth communication (WOM), though is informal can be used in such recommen dations (Maxham 2001).. Methodology and Research Design Introduction Research design refers to the systematic process through which a researcher is able to collect and analyze data in a logical manner for purposes of achieving the research aims and objectives (Mitchell Jolly 2010). There are various examples of study designs including explorative, experimental, cross-sectional, and descriptive researches (Gratton Jones 2004). On the other hand, research methodology involves the processes and techniques that a researcher uses to collect and analyze data for a particular research problem (Kothari 2005). In the methodology chapter, the focus will be on the research methodologies, as well as the research design employed. As such, the chapter will present the methods of collecting and analyzing data, research design used, sampling techniques, sample frame and sample size, as well as the target population. Research Designs The research on WeChat user’s motivation, satisfaction an d loyalty will focus on what the service has achieved, and its significance among users. In addition, the study will rely on quantitative data. This will be supplemented by a survey to establish the opinion of different users of WeChat. As such, the research will employ the quantitative research design to collect data from different sources. Target Population In a study, the target population refers to the total number of people or units from which a study hopes to collect information (Denzin Lincoln 2008). The study on WeChat users’ motivation, satisfaction and loyalty targets students in The University of Hong Kong, China. Sampling Design A sample refers to a section of the target population (Denk 2010). Using appropriate sampling techniques ensures that a representative sample is used. A sampling design takes into consideration the sample size, sampling techniques and the sampling frame (Neumann 2007). This research will use random sampling technique to achieve a sample s ize of 300 users. Reliability and validity The reliability of the research will be achieved by using credible sources of data such as journals and books. Validity, on the other hand will be achieved by collecting related to same time period which ensured that the degree of external validity was achieved. Hence, the results obtained could be generalized. Data Collection and analysis Methods The research aims at analyzing the motivation, satisfaction and loyalty among WeChat users. Both primary and secondary sources of data will be used to provide the necessary information about WeChat. After the collecting data, different methods of data analysis will be used including Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and MS Excel. The SPSS analysis will be used to ascertain the possibility of any relationship between the variables under investigation and the MS Excel will be used to analyze the result. Ethical considerations The study will seek permission from the relevant authorit ies before carrying out the actual study. In addition, the results from the study will be kept anonymous. References Chang, Y Zhu, D 2011, ‘Understanding social networking sites adoption in China: A comparison of pre-adoption and post-adoption’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 1840–1848. Chu, S Choi, S 2011, ‘Electronic word-of-mouth in social networking site: A cross-cultural study of the United States and China’, Journal of Global Marketing, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 263–281. Correa, T, Hinsley, A de Zuniga, H 2010, ‘Who interacts on the web? The interaction of users’ personality and social media use’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 247–253. Creswell, J 2009, Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and Mixed methods approaches, Thousand oaks, CA: Sage. Denk, T 2010, ‘Comparative multilevel analysis: proposal for a methodology’, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, vol.13, no.1, pp. 29-39. Denzin, N Lincoln, Y 2008, Colllecting and interpreting qualitative materials, Malden, MA: Blackwell. Gratton, C Jones, I 2004, Research methods for sport studies, Psychology Press, Chicago. Gremler, D, Gwinner, K Brown, S 2001, ‘Generating positive word-of mouth communication through customer–employee relationship’, International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 12, no. 1, 44–59. Junfeng, Z, Zhimei, L Changshou, L 2014, ‘Research on the development and preliminary application of 12396 new rural sci-tech service hotline WeChat public platform’, TOAUTOCJ, vol. 6, no. 1, pp.839-843. Ko, H, Cho, C Roberts, M 2005, ‘Internet uses and gratifications: A structural equation model of interactive advertising’, Journal of Advertising, vol. 34, no. 2, pp.57–70. Koermer, C McCroskey, L 2006, ‘Sociality Communication: Its influence on customer loyalty with the service provid er and service organization’, Communication Quarterly, vol. 54, no. 1, pp.53-65. Kothari, C 2005, ‘Contemporary methods of quantitative data collection and analysis in literacy research’, Reading Research Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 1, pp.94-112. Laaksonen, T, Jarimo, T Kulmata, H 2009, ‘Cooperative strategies in customer–supplier relationships: The role of inter-firm trust’, International Journal of Production Economics, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 79–87. Lin, K Lu, H 2011, ‘Why people use social networking sites: An empirical study integrating network externalities and motivation theory’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 1152–1161. Liu, C, Chen, T Wei, Y 2015, ‘Research of the trait and quality on emergency WeChat platform based on service framework and quality gap’, TOCSJ, vol. 9, no. 1, pp.1002-1007. Luo, X 2002, ‘Uses and gratifications theory and e-consumer behaviors: A structural equa tion modeling study’, Journal of Interactive Advertising, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 34–41. Mao, C 2014, ‘Friends and relaxation: Key factors of undergraduate students’ use of WeChat’, Creative Education, vol. 05, no. 08, pp.636-640. Matos, C Rossi, C 2008, ‘Word-of-mouth communications in marketing: A meta-analytic review of the antecedents and moderators’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 578–596. Maxham, J 2001, ‘Service recovery’s influence on consumer satisfaction, positive word-of-mouth, and purchase intentions’, Journal of Business Research, vol. 54, no.1, pp. 11–24. Mitchell, M Jolly, J 2010, Research design explained, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Neumann, W 2007, Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, London: Allyn Bacon. Nimrod, G 2015, ‘The hierarchy of mobile phone incorporation among older users’, Mobile Media Communication, vol . 3, no. 1, pp. 23-34 Pun, R 2015, ‘WeChat in the library: promoting a new virtual reference service using a mobile app’, Library Hi Tech News, vol. 32, no. 6, pp.9-11. Raacke, J Bonds-Raacke, J 2008, ‘MySpace and Facebook: Applying the uses and gratifications theory to exploring friend-networking site’, Cyber Psychology Behavior, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 169–174. Reisinger, M 2003, ‘Platform Competition for Advertisers and Users in Media Markets’, SSRN Electronic Journal, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 13–16. Shin, D 2010, ‘The effects of trust, security, and privacy in social networking: A security-based approach to understand the pattern of adoption’, Interacting with Computers, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 428–438. Suh, B Han, I 2003, ‘The impact of customer trust and perception of security control on the acceptance of electronic commerce’, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 135–1 61. Swan, S 2002, ‘Rhetoric, Service, and Social Justice’, Written Communication, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 76-108. Yang, H Yoo, Y 2004, ‘It’s all about attitude: Revisiting the technology acceptance model’, Decision Support System, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 19–31. Zelizer, B 2011, ‘Journalism in the Service of Communication’, Journal of Communication, vol. 61, no. 1, pp.1-21. This proposal on WeChat Users’ Motivation, Satisfaction and Loyalty was written and submitted by user Spencer L. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Automated Library Management System Essay Example

Automated Library Management System Essay The development of the computer technology and network communication technology makes it possible for human’s society to enter an era of information. But nowadays, most of the computer laboratory is still in the primitive stage of manual management. This not only is extremely inconsistent with the development of computer science, but also wastes much of manpower and material resources, so it has been an emergent question for computer laboratory management to develop a Computer Laboratory Computer Management System and use it replacing primary manual management thesis is based onDiliman Computer Technology Institute (DCTI) is a private, non-sectarian tertiary educational institution. Situated along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, 1. 2 Statement of the problem The following statements are the main problems in creating an Automated Computer Laboratory Management System. * How to create a local area base system that will connect computers as Administrator and Users * How to cr eate a system that will automatically trace a user if he log in to a computer * How to create a system that can, shutdown/restart/lock a user computer using an administrator account. Is the system is acceptable to the student of DCTI * What structured query language (SQL) for database would be use 1. 3 Significance of the Study The Researchers intended to create a Automated Computer Laboratory Management System for Diliman Computer Technology Institute to help the school in maintaining the computer laboratory. Student. As the result of this research the student might work in the computer laboratory more efficiently Faculty. As the result of this research professors can teach more effectively Administrator.As the result of this research administrator can quickly monitor the usage of computers in the laboratory and determine a problem right away if there is a tendency of failures in the network 1. 4 Scope and Limitations Scope The researchers used Visual Basic 2008 for creating the sy stem and Microsoft Access for handling the database. The system has two parts the Administrator and client, the Administrator can monitor the usage of computer in the computer laboratory. * The Administrator can access some command in the computer in the laboratory The Administrator can view how long a client has been using the computer. * The Administrator has the capability to shutdown or restarts a computer whenever the administrator saw that nobody is using the computer. * The Administrator can restrict websites which is unnecessary for learning of the students Limitations * The system is operational assuming that there is no power interruption * The system cannot trace what website a client browsed * The system is exclusive for a specific workgroup The system is compatible only to windows platform 1. 5 Definition of terms The following terms are used in the study: Client. A client is a piece of computer hardware or software that access a service made available by the server. Co mputer applications. These are the software programs that run on a computer. Web browsers, e-mail programs, word processor, games, and computer utilities are examples of application. Computer. A machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operation. Computer systems.These are means of communicating especially on system such as mails, telephone or television for receiving and sending information to all the users. Communication. By a general term, this is a process of sending or receiving any kind of information, medium can use to process the communication from sender to receiver. Data. Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis. Internet connection. It is an arrangement in which the upstream (outgoing) and the downstream (incoming) data are sent from, and arrive at, a computer through a satellite.LAN. â€Å"Local Area Network† A LAN uses clients and servers that have network-enabled operating systems s uch as Windows, Mac and Unix. Output. This is the product of any system. Process. A system sequence of operations to produce a specific result Programming Language. Used to create Server. A server is a software program, or the computer on which that program runs, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on the same computer or other computer on a network. VB. Net. Visual Basic.Net is a version of Microsoft’s Visual Basic that was designed, as part of the company’s . NET product group to make Web services applications easier to develop. URL. â€Å"Uniform Resource Link† A URL is a formatted text string used by Web browsers, email clients and other software’s to identify a network resource on the Internet. Network resources are files that can be plain Web pages, other text documents, graphics, or programs. Chapter 2 Literature Review 2. 1 Foreign of Related Literature Computer Lab Management SoftwareWhether the students using the computer are young or old, access to these lab management features is extremely helpful. As many staff development presenters know, it can be even more difficult to teach technology skills to adults (especially teachers) than to young people. When an instructor wants to limit off task behavior (like surfing websites unrelated to the presented lesson), encourage time on task, or present oral instructions to students, these software tools are wonderful additions to a technology-infused learning environment.Some management programs offer additional features with wonderful instructional benefits for classroom teachers and students. Shut down or restart computers: It can be time consuming at the end of the day to shut down all the computers in a lab or classroom, or to restart them before the next class. Some programs offer the ability to shut down or restart an entire lab simultaneously with a few mouse clicks on the instructor computer. Installed Network Interface Cards (NICs) in each computer must support this feature for it to work.Transfer a file to all student computers: If a school file server is available and a shared folder has been created allowing student as well as teacher access, files for a particular lesson can be opened from the network. Some lab management programs allow for the distribution of files directly to the hard drive of every computer in the lab, however, and some can even retrieve modified and saved files from the student computers to the instructor computer at the end of class.Chat: While some teachers may think this feature is superfluous and unneeded, chat capability included with lab management software can be invaluable for a variety of reasons. First, most students love to chat on their computers: typing text messages to each other like they would in an online chat room. A major difference between an online chatroom and a chat environment provided by a lab management software program is that the participants are controlled: only th ose students physically in the room can participate in the chat.As a reward for staying on task or completing a lesson, students can be given five minutes of chat time at the end of the period. Students desperately need guidance and instruction on what is appropriate and safe to disclose in an online chat environment, so in addition to motivating students, chat sessions can also provide them with invaluable digital safety skills. For more information about online safety issues, 2. 2 Review of Related Studies 2. 3 Conceptual Framework Input -Student received book Student present I. D and Library card Librarian get student information, librarian record borrowed book, book information and date -Librarian record information -Librarian sign library card Student Librarian Library Card Record Book Identification Card Output Process Chapter 3 Methodology 3. 1 Research Design The researcher used the descriptive method. This method defines the data that they need to accomplish the system . The researchers also used variety of methods in gathering the data. The researchers used public libraries to gather necessary information for the review of related literature. The researchers also site the internet for other relevant information.

Kath Mouse Part 2 essays

Kath Mouse Part 2 essays Kath is being even worse to me now that I won the talent contest but at least she isnt getting that much support. After the contest people started to talk to me and all of a sudden I had friends. Kevin is now being even nicer to me and is getting real close so were coming best of buddies. I heard a rumor in our school that Kevin want to be more then friends and is going to ask me out after I sing at Christines. I felt like nothing would be able to ruin my mood but Kath found a way. Just the day before the dance Kath came up to me and yelled, I hope you have a good time at Christines. Oh by the wayMouse my brother isnt going because he wants to stay away from you and he knows your going to be there. Uh huh, well it just so happens that isnt true and we talked just yesterday about the party and what were going to do, I replied grinning. Kath then stormed off with her nose in the air at the sound of these words. After that little incident I avoided Kath the rest of the day and right before I left the school Kevin came up to me. Ill get my dad to drive us to the party if you dont have a ride, he told me. Sure pick me up at 7:00, you remember my address right? I asked. When I got home I started to get ready. I took a warm shower and tried to choose myself a matching selection of clothes. At the end I decided on a tight baby blue tank top and a white mini-skirt. I also started to do my hair. A french twist with a bit of spizazz to it. After that, all I had left to do was my make-up. My mom told me which make-up I should use and how to put it on because I havent used it before. I put on eyeliner, some rouge, and mascara to help me look even more beautiful. I was totally ready at around 6:30 but I still fiddled with my hair and my skirt a lot until it was 7:00. ...

Human and Animal Interrelationships from Domestication to Present Term Paper - 7

Human and Animal Interrelationships from Domestication to Present - Term Paper Example At the point when one of his customers was ridiculed in court for favoring a country way of life, Cicero shielded nation life as the educator of economy, of industry, and of equity. Therefore, this article will focus on the early agriculture in Rome. Unlike modern times, Agriculture in Rome was not considered that important rather a privilege associated with the wealthy. The social elites of ancient Rome had undertaken the practice of agriculture as a respected occupation. The writings of Cicero clearly indicate that back in the time agriculture was quite a profitable and a joyful occupation which was means to acquire a better life (Smith 95). For this reason, the rural lifestyle was also readily acquired by the wealthy and others in the society also strived to adopt similar lifestyle. Two of the most popular crops which were more of a necessity for every table in Rome were wheat and spelt. Romans also relied on various provinces they had acquired after wars for agriculture yet most of their focus was on Italy which was quite suitable for a wide variety of crops (Johnston 55-56). During this era, Romans were also fond of purchasing food from the neighboring countries. Land ownership was the means to constitute a part of the aristocracy in Rome; the more land a person acquired to higher his esteem in society and politics was. Even the brave soldiers were allocated land as rewards for their services. Land was also the sole factor behind slave labor since men were enslaved to work of these fields. Thus, the paper aims at exploring how the Romans farmed to understand their values more as agriculture was the dominant factor behind every aspect of Roman life. Despite the fact that roman life was fixated on urban areas, a great many people existed in the nation becoming products, working the area, tending vines and herds. Agriculturists underpinned the citys fuel and sustenance

English 1010 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

English 1010 - Essay Example For me, my experiences in the gym are really exciting. In course of my doing exercises in the gym, I have just realised that there are several categories people who work out there. First of all, there is a category of people in the gym whom I can refer to as the gym rats who intentionally wear undersize T-shirts and flex muscles in front of others; this category of people are very busy and they move around in the gym like rats. Secondly, there are some people in the gym whose main preoccupation seems to be taking photos in the gym; this group of people constantly look in the mirrors and take photos longer than they actually work out in the gym. Thirdly, I have noticed that there are newbies whose main goal in the gym seems to observe others practise. Then, there is the fourth category of people in the gym who listen carefully to their trainers and ask their trainers a lot of questions; my friend and I fit in this fourth category. Another interesting fact that I have observed in the gym is that the majority of business people who come to the gym for practice do not turn their phones off while practising; for the business people, gym appears to be their second office. Another interesting category of people in the gym is a specific category of girls, whom I call â€Å"beauty queens†. I call these girls so not because they are really good-looking but mostly because they wear heavy make-up as if they are coming to a party. I have also noticed chatterboxes who visit gym only to talk with other people, but not work out. Finally, there is an interesting category of people whose main aim of coming to the gym is to pick girls. Frankly speaking, I don’t think that gyms are the places for men to find girls for dating. Such people should go to social gatherings to look for girls but not in gyms. Another interesting thing that I have

Science vs. Religion Essay Example for Free

Science vs. Religion Essay The debate between religion and science has been going on for years, clashing together with different ideologies. The argument combines historical and philosophical approaches to contest to each side, battling to disprove each other. While religion is based on faith, using the will of God to guide them in their observations, scientists use experiments to find discoveries based on facts. The conflict between religion and science hasn’t been fiery in modern times, compared to the years where science was inferior to religion, but the topic has still been brought up in discussion. Can someone be both a scientist and a religious person? Although they may both pursue knowledge, there methodologies are completely different, pitting each other into heated discussions. In our past lecture with Brother Guy Consolmagno, he argues that Christianity isn’t completely based on faith in God. The church is also continuously studying the universe, like scientists, trying to learn more about our origins. Comparable to science, ideals in the church changes, and aren’t always set in stone. The Bible may be the guide for most religious people, but there are also different interpretations of the Bible that people find to counteract certain claims. Guy uses evidence that the first medieval Church universities started the modern study of astronomy. The university learned: grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music courses, which showed that it was like any other university teaching students for a better career. The university may be Christian based, but it didn’t ignore what science offered them. According to Guy, Jesuits run 25% of all observations in Europe. They helped create the definition of a â€Å"year,† based on our four seasons. Despite the differences between religion and science, Guy believes that we can comingle ideas from both sides to progress our studies of the universe even further. (Consolmagno) One of the topics in The Constant Fire introduces James Clerk Maxwell, one of the great physicists in his time, and his view of religion and science co-existing with each other. Maxwell formulated equations that explained electric and magnetic fields and the unification of these concepts into electromagnetism. Maxwell’s equations and mathematical laws are the reason why we have radio, television, and all electronic technology today; although he constructed scientific laws for his devotion to science, he was also a devout Christian. â€Å"I believe†¦that Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. † (Maxwell) He attended church regularly, read scripture before going to sleep at night, and even committed the entire psalms to memory. It showed that his religious belief was unyielding, despite his scientific advances in society. At the same time I think that each individual man should do all he can to impress his own mind with the extent, the order, and unity of the universe, and should carry these ideas with him as he reads [the Bible]. † (Maxwell) Learning about the universe through a different perspective doesn’t waver doubt; instead, it enriches spiritual understanding. Maxwell set an example showing how his experience in science was an aspiring journey to glorify his God. (Frank) The Constant Fire also explains Isaac Newton’s perception of his work towards science contrary to his religious beliefs. Newton asserted himself as a â€Å"priest of nature. † Like any religious person, he believed there was a God of absolute power. Although, he also believed that his work was exploring God’s greatness, making science a way of explaining his creation. â€Å"It is the perfection of God’s works that they are all done with the greatest simplicity. He is the God of order amp; not confusion. † (Newton) Both scientific philosophy and religion were inseparable, as both concepts bounced off each other. Even coming from one of the greatest scientists in the orld, like James Maxell, Newton concluded that there ironically was no warfare between science and religion. (Frank) Science comes from the creativity of an individual making up a new hypothesis. Religion comes from varied interpretations of how they view the spiritual being they worship. We don’t have enough evidence from the universe to commit to a godless path, and we are too knowledgeable enough to pledge to a specific religious ideal. I believe there is such thing as a middle ground: taking the possibility of new ideas and building an equal foundation. I still keep to the constitution of scientific theory composing our world, but I also keep multiple hypotheses in mind. We should be open-minded, and explore the different possibilities of the unfathomable unknowns of our universe. I’m not afraid to ask the lingering question science and religions try to explain.

The Rise in Penal Populism | Dissertation

The Rise in Penal Populism | Dissertation Abstract Since the mid-1970s onward, the vast majority of Western countries have experienced a significant plus continual rise in their incarceration rates, leading to the problem of overcrowded prisons. We examine the extent to which the ‘incarceration boom’ of many modern societies can be attributed to the phenomenon of penal populism. Specifically, we argue that some short-lived actual crime waves during the late 1970s and 1980s may have initially generated a small amount of rational penal populist sentiment among the public, it is the strong divisions within the increasingly heterogeneous public (both politically and ethnically), the central government, and the popular media industry of many democratic developed nations which have ultimately sustained the growth of both penal populism and prison population numbers. Furthermore, we focus on the types of crime that are most commonly targeted by strong penal populist sentiments in the public and criminal justice system, and suggest that all such categories of crime can be fundamentally linked to the cultural ‘purification’ of children which has taken place in virtually all Western societies during the latter half of the twentieth century. Finally, we consider the limitations of penal populism, referring to those few post-industrial states where such populist punitiveness has been largely resisted, and postulate what the end-stage consequences of a penal populist movement spanning over the past three decades are likely to be. 1. Introduction The term ‘penal populism’ denotes a punitive phenomenon that has become characteristic of many modern industrial societies, especially within Western liberal democracies since the late twentieth century onward, whereby anti-crime political pressure groups, talk-back radio hosts, victim’s rights activists or lobbyists, and others who claim to represent the ‘ordinary public’ have increasingly demanded of their governments that harsher policies and punishments be enforced by the relevant organs of the criminal justice system (e.g. law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, legislators, etc.) in order to combat the perceived rise in serious crime rates (Pratt, 2006). One direct consequence of the increasingly severe ‘tough on crime’ measures – such as ‘Life means Life’, ‘Three Strikes’, and ‘Zero Tolerance’ policies – exercised in many economically advanced countries from the mid-1970s onward has been an unprecedented rapid rise in the incarceration rates of these respective nations, leading to the problem of overcrowded prisons. The United States epitomises the tempo of the modern change in national imprisonment rates, and currently has the worst problem of prison overcrowding on a global scale. Indeed, ‘American incarceration numbers [have] increased fivefold between 1973 and 1997’(Caplow and Simon, 1999, p63). More recently, ‘in 2004 the United States surpassed Russia in incarceration rates to become the world leader. With 2.2 million individuals inside (assuming a U.S. population of 290 million in 2004, that is an incarceration rate of approximately 759 adults in prison per 100,000 residents of the United States) and upwards of 7 million individuals either on parole, probation or awaiting trial, 1 in every 33 people in the U.S. is currently under state control and the number is growing’(State-Wide Harm Reduction Coalition, 2005). Clearly, an interpretation of the widespread incarceration rise must be able to accurately explain its rapidity, extent, and endurance on a global scale. There are two principal explanations for why such a large number of developed countries have experienced an ‘incarceration boom’ over the past three decades. Both theoretical models assert that it is changes in penal policies plus sentencing practices, rather than simply significant increases in crime rates alone, which are the primary factor responsible for driving prison population growth, but there is considerable disparity between the two theories about the causes of penal policy changes. One ‘crime wave’ hypothesis posits that actual rising crime rates in many Western countries, including the vast expansion of drug crime during the late twentieth century, have resulted in a greater rational public demand for the criminal justice system to take more severe punitive measures against convicted dangerous criminals (i.e. those offenders who pose the highest threat to public safety and social order; the criminal offenders most commonly targeted by penal populism in modern societies shall be considered in detail below), such as a more frequent use of incarceration with longer custodial sentences. In contrast, the second ‘political opportunism’ hypothesis suggests that many majority government parties have intentionally overstated the size and severity of the national crime problem in order to heighten public fears or instil ‘moral panic’ over perceived (as opposed to actual) rising crime rates, which are merely a political artefact, and subsequently utilise harsher crime control policies to win electoral favour (Caplow and Simon, 1999). Importantly, irrespective of which mechanism has in actual fact been operating across numerous advanced industrial states, and has led to the observed excessive growth in prison population sizes, both explanatory models can clearly be regarded as strongly related to the presence of penal populism. The critical difference between the two theories is whether the main original source of those penal populist sentiments can be accurately considered to be the public or the state, or both. According to the first model, which may be described as the public-induced penal populism hypothesis, it has been the persistent public demand for the government to impose harsher punitive measures on convicted criminals which has primarily caused the fast-paced escalation of incarceration numbers in many modern nations. In other words, the criminal justice systems in these countries have largely been exercising a regime of penal excess because constant pressure from a large sector of the public (in response to an actual rise in crime rates) has compelled them to do so. In comparison, the second model, which we may refer to as the state-induced penal populism hypothesis, postulates that within many Western countries the government parties in power have often created and sustained an artificial appearance of rising crime rates in order to instil widespread public anxiety. Subsequently, the majority government (and individual politicians) can be observed by the public to be apparently controlling the perceived illusory crime problem, such as through adopting and enforcing ‘tough on crime’ measures, and thereby attain public popularity to secure their party’s (or their own) success in the next general election. The second model further suggests that the government is not the only state institution in developed nations which benefits from overstating the scale of the dangerous crime threat, but that there are also large rewards for popular media outlets or news companies willing to do so. It is argued by many criminologists that within almost all democratic Western countries, the central government and the popular media, which are both fragmented into multiple competing party’s or companies, are highly dependent on addressing and reporting criminal activity that specifically victimises ‘ordinary people’ in order to retain electoral votes and public ratings, respectively. Hence, the state-induced penal populism hypothesis proposes that politicians and media outlets lead rather than merely follow or passively represent the public opinion: the public only supports or appears to ‘demand’ the government’s harsher punitive policy strategies because the same national government and popular media industry (as two powerful state institutions) have manufactured a compelling false image of prevalent serious crime which has instilled strong penal populist sentiments in a large proportion of that public. The central aim of the following examination is to determine which of these two distinctive theoretical positions is most likely to be correct. It is of course possible that the public-induced penal populism mechanism primarily operates in one developed nation, while in another Western country it may be the state-driven penal populism process that is predominant. However, to the extent that the relatively recent phenomenon of globalisation has resulted in many common economic, social, political, and cultural practices being widely adopted by a number of modern industrial states, one may plausibly expect a similar (if not identical) mechanism of generating penal populism to be present in the developed nations affected by prison population growth, especially with regard to the United States and Western Europe. At the outset, we may hypothesise that although some short-lived real increases in Western crime rates during the late 1970s and 1980s may have initially triggered some rational penal populist sentiments among the public of these modern societies, it has been the combined interaction of both political opportunism and media opportunism which has acted as a powerful vehicle in numerous modern societies for distorting the public’s common view of the national crime problem, and ultimately for sustaining the growth of both penal populism plus prison populations, regardless of how those crime rates may have subsequently changed (and in most developed countries they have steadily declined). One fundamental feature of the modern incarceration surge over the past three decades that is observed in virtually all countries affected by rapid prison growth is the significant proportion of these prison populations that has become comprised of racial minorities, including both of resident ethnic groups and of non-citizen illegal immigrants. As one study (O’Donnell, 2004, p262) remarks, ‘one factor that accounts for rising prison populations across Europe is the incarceration of ‘foreigners’. It is likely that prison accommodation in the Republic of Ireland will be used to hold growing numbers of failed asylum seekers, at least pending deportation. It is also inevitable that the composition of the prison population will change as members of minority groups begin to appear before the courts on criminal charges’. In terms of the racial minorities imprisonment trend in the United States, Caplow and Simon (1999, p66) assert that ‘it is undeniable that the incarcerated population is disproportionately composed of minorities (especially African Americans and Hispanics), and that the disproportion has increased during the period of rising imprisonmentThe period of rapid growth in incarceration rates has seen a significant increase in the proportion of minorities in the inmate population, especially among drug offenders, the fastest growing segment of that [prison] population’. As is the case with most Western European countries, the United States prison sector has also experienced a mass round up of illegal immigrants or non-citizens during the last three decades, who in 2003 made up 40% of federal prisoners (State-Wide Harm Reduction Coalition, 2005). Ultimately, therefore, it is apparent that the incarceration boom in many developed countries has primarily affected various racial minority populations present within these nations. It is the cumulative incarceration of racial minorities that is significantly responsible for the prison overcrowding problem commonly observed. Thus, one crucial question that we must address in the following study is what has caused (and continues to cause) the increased imprisonment of racial minority populations, relative to the incarceration rate of the racial majority host population (typically white), within the modern industrial societies affected by prison overcrowding? Specifically, we shall seek to determine whether pervasive ‘penal racism’, indicated by a greater tendency in developed nations for both the law enforcement system to arrest and subsequently for the criminal justice system to imprison ethnic or non-white defendants compared with white ones who have committed the same offence, is sufficient to explain the large racial differentials observed in incarceration rates, or not. The methodology of the following study consists entirely of literature-based research and analysis. 2. The Origins of Penal Populism: Real Crime Waves versus Political and Media Opportunism It is widely acknowledged that the prevalent public sentiment in many developed countries to ‘get tough’ with criminals has played a central role in catalysing the incarceration surge which has occurred in these nations since the mid-1970s onward, an influential social movement that is referred to as penal populism. Furthermore, whether one regards the source of that penal populism as stemming from a rational public response to actual rising crime rates or, conversely, as triggered by public exposure to political and media manipulation, the measured strength of the public’s demand on their respective democratic governments to impose harsher punitive measures on convicted criminals has remained consistently high over the thirty year period of vast growth in incarceration numbers. For example, with regard to the United States, one study notes that the time series of public responses to the survey question of whether courts are too lenient has remained highly stable since 1972 (Caplow and Simon, 1999). The significant temporal correlation in many modern industrial states between the onset of strong public desire since around the mid-1970s for more stringent crime policies and the period of rapid prison population growth is a clear indication of the vital part that penal populist sentiments have played in causing prison overcrowding. One may plausibly argue that the strong growth of penal populist sentiments in most advanced industrial societies over the past three decades has been initially generated by temporary real increases in crime (including the rapid expansion of a drug-crime economy during the 1980s) and sustained by an increased reliance of governments on implementing harsher crime control measures (rather than more effective social welfare policies) to gain public support plus secure electoral favour. Accordingly, we intend to demonstrate that penal populism in developed nations is a product of both short-lived actual crime waves and manipulative political opportunism. Indeed, one would theoretically expect the two factors operating in conjunction to result in a significantly larger escalation in incarceration rates (as is in fact observed) than would occur if only one of these forces was present in isolation. As one study has observed, ‘tough on crime’ policies produce prison population increases only to the degree that offenders are available to be imprisoned (Zimring and Hawkins, 1991). Conversely, an increase in crime rates would also not produce a corresponding increase in imprisonment rates unless some suitably punitive crime control measures were in place. During the last thirty years there has also certainly occurred in many Western countries a greater dependence of competing popular media companies, both television and the press, on selectively reporting dangerous (i.e. worse than normal) crime on an almost daily basis, simply in order to maintain or increase viewer and reader ratings. By portraying the national crime problem as more severe and more prevalent than in reality, individual popular media outlets (e.g. tabloid newspapers) in developed nations have become more appealing to public viewers than their quality media counterparts (e.g. broadsheet newspapers) who often object to distorting or manipulating the reporting of crime news. Since the late twentieth century onward, crime news has become a fundamental component of the public’s staple diet. As Pratt (2007, p68) suggests, ‘the reporting of crime is inherently able to shock [and] entertain, sustaining public appeal and interest, selling newspapers and increasing television audiences. Furthermore, the way in which crime is used to achieve these ends is by selective rather than comprehensive reportingHowever, it is not only that crime reporting has quantitatively increased; there have also been qualitative changes in its reporting: it is prone to focus more extensively on violent and sexual crime than in the pastThese qualitative and quantitative changes in crime reporting can be attributed to the growing diversity of news sources and media outletsAs a consequence, both television and the press have to be much more competitive than used to be the case. Their programmes have to be packaged in such a way that they become more attractive to viewers than those of their rivals and competitors’. Evidently, given that it is typically the most popular newspapers (such as the tabloid press in Britain) which feature the greatest number and severity of crime stories, it means that the most common representations of crime, portrayed in ‘the form of randomised, unpredictable and violent attacks inevitably committed by strangers on ‘ordinary people’, reach the greatest audience’(Pratt, 2007, p70). Thus, it is clear that within modern society the potential benefits to popular media outlets from inaccurately amplifying the danger plus scale of national crime in the public’s perception are equally as large as the rewards for politicians willing to do so. With regard to addressing the (largely fabricated) immediacy of the criminal activity problem, therefore, media opportunism and political opportunism are proximately linked in virtually all post-industrial countries where penal populist currents are strongly established. As well as magnifying the size of the dangerous crime problem, the popular media in many Western countries further continually seeks to undermine the current sentencing practices of the criminal justice system, regardless of how harsh they have become over the past three decades. In the same way that the crime stories reported by the popular media are scarcely representative of the actual nature of everyday crime within developed nations, the court stories followed are rarely illustrative of everyday sentencing practices. According to Pratt (2007), that media misrepresentation then reinforces the common public opinion that courts are too lenient, even though they have become significantly more punitive, in addition to fuelling the widely held public sentiment that the crime rate is constantly escalating when recent statistics indicate that crime is in fact steadily declining in most modern societies. Thus, in its reporting style, crime analysis by the Western popular media has become ‘personalised’ rather than ‘statisticalised’, since: 1) it prioritises the experiences of ordinary people (especially crime victims) over expert opinions 2) News reports are more prone to focus on the occasional failings of criminal justice officials as opposed to their many successes. Indeed, in the vast majority of modern societies, the ‘citation of criminal statistics has become a code for softness on crime and callousness towards its victims’(Pratt, 2007, p88), which simply provides the popular media with further scope to legitimately overstate the scale and severity of everyday crime in developed states. For these reasons, the media outlets in many Western countries have played a significant role in facilitating the continual growth of penal populist sentiments among the public. 3. The Transient Growth of a Drug-Crime Economy in Developed Countries It is highly pertinent that the vast expansion in drug crime within many Western nations during the late 1970s and 1980s coincided precisely with the onset of rapidly escalating incarceration rates in these same countries. As is asserted, ‘the growth in nondrug crime has simply not been sufficient to sustain the rapid growth of imprisonment. By the 1970s there was already an active culture of drug use and networks of drug importation/sales in the United States, but their economic importance increased in the 1980s due to new products and distribution strategies, especially for ‘crack’ cocaine. That transformation in the marketing of illegal drugs coincided with political decisions to intensify the punishments for drug crimes. The result was an enlargement of the population available for criminal justice processing’(Caplow and Simon, 1999, p71). It is crucial to acknowledge, therefore, that in any modern industrial society there is not a rudimentary causal link between a greater public desire for severity in criminal sanctions and a sustained growth in incarceration numbers; other conditions must be present. Specifically, ‘a key condition is a large pool of offenders available to be imprisoned’(Caplow and Simon, 1999, p93). Although there had also been documented transient increases in the number of offenders committing nondrug crimes such as violent crime, property crime (larceny), and sex crime in modern societies during the 1980s, these numbers tended to fluctuate in cycles over time, and could not account for the continual rise in incarceration rates observed. In contrast, the number of drug crime offences had remained consistently high throughout the 1980s in virtually all developed countries that have experienced an incarceration boom. However, in most Western nations the total drug crime rate then started to steadily decline during the 1990s largely due to the much harsher punishments being imposed on drug crime offenders (both petty and serious) by the criminal justice systems in these states. One valid explanation for the persistently high rate of drug crime during the 1980s is the ‘economic base’ principle. Specifically, while the average monetary yield of larceny, violence and sex offences is very low, drug crime represents one of the only categories of felony where the potential financial returns are extremely high, and that provides a strong economic incentive for individuals living in poverty. Hence, drug smuggling and trafficking are the only illegal activities capable of providing a solid economic base for a large criminal population in modern society. The initial cost of goods is low and law enforcement efforts sustain high retail prices, thereby ensuring large profit margins (Reuter and Kleiman, 1986). Since the 1980s, drug crime has certainly been targeted by penal populist sentiments in many Western countries affected by a public expectation for greater punitiveness, largely irrespective of how the drug crime rate has subsequently changed in these developed nations, but it is evidently not the only category of felony that has become a common target of penal populism. Sex offences (especially against children), violent or abusive crimes (once again, even more so when the victims are children), and youth crime are three other important types of crime that in late modern capitalist states have characteristically become subjected to a public desire for penal excess. We shall examine in detail at a later stage below what these specific four categories of crime have in common and why they are such typical targets of penal populist sentiments in developed liberal societies. 4. The Increased Dependence of Governments on Crime Control as a Source of Popular Credibility The rapid proliferation of drug crime in many Western countries during the late 1970s and 1980s was accompanied by a great loss of public confidence in the social welfare programs implemented in these same nations. As Pratt (2007, p95) asserts, ‘the visible presence of drug addicts in these countries had become a symbol of misplaced welfarism and tolerance, now believed to be corroding their economic and social fabrics’. Furthermore, the short-lived growth of general crime waves in many modern societies during the late twentieth century led to a significant decline of public assurance in the competence of their respective governments to control the state. As one study remarks, ‘the international crime waves of the 1960s and 1970s helped diminish the prestige of national governments all over the industrial world, by calling into question their capacity to maintain social order. The increase of crime rates at a time of increasing government efforts to help the poor undermined many of the traditional arguments for welfare, and helped confirm the view of many conservatives that efforts to help the poor only made circumstances worse by eliminating incentives for self improvement’(Caplow and Simon, 1999, p88). It is difficult to determine whether the crime wave was caused by expansions in welfare programs or merely coincided with them. The main point is that in addition to the direct relationship between high rates of crime and demands for punitive governmental responses, the crime wave may have indirectly diminished the prestige of and public demand for welfare-oriented government (Caplow and Simon, 1999). Thus, it is argued that during the 1980s many Western governments shifted the priority of their domestic agendas away from welfare policies toward crime control policies. Initially, it was most often right wing conservative politicians that promoted ‘tough on crime’ punitive measures, making crime a political issue and gaining public support. However, Lappi-Seppà ¤là ¤ (2002, p92) suggests that mainstream opposition (i.e. left wing) parties are then forced into advocating punitive policies as well, because although these left wing parties want to ‘distance themselves from the populist programmes of the right wing movements, there is one area where they do not like to disagree – the requirement of being ‘tough on crime’. No party seems to be willing to accuse another of exaggeration when it comes to measures against criminality. Being ‘soft on crime’ is an accusation that no [governmental party] wants to accept. And it is that fear of being softer than one’s political opponents which tends to drive politicians, in the end, to the extremes of penal excess’. It is plausible to argue, therefore, that constant competition between opposing governmental factions for public favour in liberal democracies has created an ‘punitive arms race’ of political opportunism, whereby each party is compelled to promote plus (when in power) implement increasingly more radical punitive policies – irrespective of the actual level of crime that the country is experiencing – in order to avoid appearing weak on crime and consequently losing valuable electoral votes to their political opponents who are prepared to be more severe on criminals. Clearly, such an opportunistic punitive arms race occurring within the governments of developed nations would lead to an exponential increase in the prison population numbers of these countries, and ultimately to prison overcrowding. That political mechanism may at least partly explain why so many Western countries which have experienced a large decrease in crime rates since the mid-1990s and into the early twenty-first century have still reported a rising prison population. For example, Pratt (2006, p1) observes that since 1999 Labour led coalition governments in New Zealand have strongly adhered to Britain’s New Labour ‘approach to crime and punishment, even using the famous phrase ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ in its election manifestoes of 2002 and 2005. As a consequence, while [New Zealand’s] recorded crime rate has dropped by 25% in the last ten years, its imprisonment rate has increased to 189 per 100,000, one of the highest of Western countries’. Yet it is not only the divisions (i.e. in terms of competing parties) within Western democratic governments that have catalysed the increased political focus on crime control, but also the growing number of divisions among the public itself. Indeed, modern society in many developed nations (such as the United Kingdom and the United States) has become increasingly heterogeneous since the late twentieth century, and consequently the number of bases of division within these societies has expanded. For example, the members of a diverse post-industrial society are not only partitioned along the traditional parameter of social class, but are also strongly divided by a number of dichotomous value-based issues that are characteristic of ‘post-materialist’ politics such as abortion, gay rights, animal rights (e.g. fox hunting), mass immigration, school prayer, and capital punishment where it still exists (Caplow and Simon, 1999). These value- or identity-based issues are intensely contested over in modern societies by well-organised pressure groups on either side of the bipolar political spectrum. These issues are bipolar or dichotomous in the sense that they are non-negotiable with no ‘middle ground’; one either supports abortion rights or one opposes them. Hence, public division on these post-materialist issues is inevitable. One important consequence of the heterogeneous publics of Western countries becoming divided by such a multitude of value conflicts during the 1970s onward is that government parties had difficulty finding any issues to build successful election campaigns on that would appeal to a vast majority of the public. Harsher crime control appeared to be a clear choice as a singular issue that large sections of the modern public are united in consensus on. As is stated, ‘Unlike most values issues on the left or right, crime control seems to cut across the political spectrumPoliticians seeking to build viable majorities inevitably turn to the few issues that can bring people together in the new political landscapeThat is why election campaigns continue to focus on crime and punishment issues even when opposing candidates agree in their support of punitive anticrime measures. Faced with voters who split on so many issues and who are profoundly sceptical about the ability of government to improve their lives through welfare-oriented interventions, the mode of governing that commands the broadest support – punitiveness toward criminal offenders – is understandably [valued by governments]’(Caplow and Simon, 1999, p83). Ultimately, therefore, while short-lived actual increases in crime rates during the late 1970s and 1980s may have initially triggered the rise in imprisonment rates in a number of developed countries, political opportunism (in the sense of governments capitalising on populist punitiveness) has arguably sustained the incarceration boom in virtually all Western nations affected by prison overcrowding, regardless of how those crime rates may have subsequently changed. 5. The Target Crimes of Penal Populism There is a high degree of uniformity across all Western nations that have experienced an incarceration surge over the past three decades in the types of crime that are most commonly subjected to strong public demand for harsh punitive sanctions. Generally, the four most frequent felony targets of penal populism are: Drug crime; Sex offences, especially when the victims are children; Child abuse (physical, sexual, or psychological), and; Youth crime. Correspondingly, these have also been some of the fastest growing segments of prison and boot camp populations in many developed countries during recent years. One fundamental property that the above four categories of crime have in common is that children are extremely vulnerable to the effects of all of them. We may validly question why children have come to occupy such a central place in the penal populist sentiments of modern industrial societies. Pratt (2007, p96) remarks that ‘crime control policy driven by penal populism targets ‘others’, not ordinary, ‘normal’ peopleGiven the nature of populism, we should expect that crime control policy will gravitate towards easy and familiar targets, for whom there is likely to be the least public sympathy, the most social distance and the fewest authoritative voices (if any) to speak on their behalf: tho Effects of Watching Soap Operas | Research Effects of Watching Soap Operas | Research Shaping Minds: The Soap Opera and the Power of Representation Abstract In this thesis I aim to identify what the younger British public find engaging about Soap Operas, and to identify some of the processes at work during viewing, which might alter or enhance the ways in which we see the world. Focusing specifically on the relationship between popular media and the attitudes of young people towards sex and social class, research addresses the power of media representation, the use of role models, and how popular media encourages the viewer to make social distinctions and reinforces our ideas of classification. My research examines the influence of popular programmes, such as Sex and the City, and Australian and British Soap Operas, and throughout the thesis I refer to the theoretical approaches of Bourdieu and Michel Foucault, where I discuss the paradoxes latent in both the logic and language that people generally perceive to be stable and fundamental to social order. I also consider systems of classification and how the act of perceiving the validity and existence of such distinctions creates them. Conclusions drawn suggest that people consider soap viewing to be more dangerous in hindsight, whereas younger people do not recognise, or are less willing to recognise the inherent influences of soap story lines. Research does conclude that most people do consider soap operas to present an unrealistic portrayal of family life and relationships. Introduction Before the seventies a relatively small and largely irrelevant body of research existed that was solely based around soap operas, and it was only at that point when soaps began to assume a position as a topic of interest (LaGuardia 1974, 1977; Stedman 1971; Weibel 1977. In Blumenthal, p.43), as well as an area worthy of academic research (Katzman 1972; McAdown 1974; Newcomb 1974. Ibid). As Blumenthal openly writes ‘there were those who simply were against them, or found them silly.’ (Blumenthal, p.43). The context for this research formed out of a perceived gap in current research topics between the effects of media on children and adults, with relatively few projects being based solely upon teenagers and young people. As noted by Hawk et al (2006) much public and scientific concern has been expressed regarding the influence of sex in the mainstream media on childrens sexual development, such as Greenfield, 2004. However, fewer studies have studied in depth the relations hips between adolescents viewing of sexual content in the media and their own sexual behaviours and attitudes, and of those studies which do exist many are subject to severe limitations such as small samples, and narrow focus on a single type of sexual outcome, such as incidence of intercourse (Peterson et al., 1991. In Hawk et al, 2006: 352). An important consideration for the topic of this research also rested upon the observance that it is less common for research into sexual attitudes to be combined with attitudes towards social class; the decision to marry these two topics derived from the consideration that British soap operas more often represent the working class, whereas Australian soap operas mostly refer to middle class families. It was therefore an interesting research proposition to consider whether attitudes towards sex and class are being shaped by the type of target audience that these programmes are being aimed at. Although the present study does not focus on the ex tent to which women only are influenced by viewing soap operas, it does recognise that a large body of research exists on women and soap operas, and that more useful responses might be given by women respondents. Methodology In considering the methodology for this project it was decided that in order to achieve a more comprehensive collection of data with specific personal reactions to media that primary data in the forms of questionnaires and interviews should be used, rather than basing the thesis purely on secondary textual and resource analyses. As some critics suggest, textual analysis cannot always enlighten us as to what goes on in the minds of viewers and often relies upon inference and speculation (Dow, 1996). Secondary materials used for this project also include journals, articles, and books which have attempted to define the relationship between viewers and popular media. Results and findings are discussed using the research of theorists such as Adorno and Fiske; this was decided in order to encompass opinions which span a broad spectrum of relevant ideas, and are useful for how they illustrate the contrasts present in media research. Participants Participants who filled in only questionnaires were obtained by contacting high schools and middle schools, mostly in urban areas, that agreed to participate in data collection. Fifteen schools (who had their own colleges for 17-19 year olds) were initially randomly selected and contacted, 10 of which agreed to participate. As this project did not aim to highlight how attitudes might vary between age and race the identity and nationalities of respondents were not obtained. This was also decided upon because the ‘blind’ questionnaire offered school pupils more scope to provide false answers, especially concerning age and gender. In total there were 200 pupil responses with ages ranging from 12 to 18. As part of gathering primary data slightly different form of questionnaire (see Appendix Two) was presented to a random selection of young adults. This sample was achieved by approaching people on the street in a local town during rush hour. The only criteria that the second lot of respondents had to meet was that they were aged 30 or under this was to ensure that recall of their watching soap operas during their teens would be more likely to be more accurate. Furthermore, this age limit was necessary considering the ages of the programmes themselves, many of which have been running approximately 20 years or less. In the random sample interview it was possible to make a note of gendered responses Questionnaire and Interview Design In the interviewing techniques selected for this project it was decided to use a combination of single and multiple choice options and include questions which encouraged respondents to give subjective views and opinions. Contact with sexual and class content in the mainstream media, as represented through the viewing of soap operas and popular programmes, was measured by asking respondents on a four point scale the degree to which they felt that their favourite programme had influenced their ideas concerning these issues. In order to account for the differences in age between the two sets of respondents it was decided that when questioning the elder set that questions should include a retrospective option. For example, when questioning people about the influence of soaps on their opinions the question would read: â€Å"Would you say that watching this programme has or might have done so in the past altered your understanding of sexual relationships?† Chapter One:  Literature Review The Meaning and Origins of Popular Culture Over the last few decades culture has become frequently used to denote changing tastes and popularity in appreciation of interests such as music, art, theatre. As noted by Peter Goodall the word ’culture’ is consistently made use of by journalists and politicians, and especially by people studying within the Humanities (Goodall, 1995). The same author also notes that the word ’culture’ has become an ‘increasingly empty term [†¦] more frequently it is used, the more regularly it seems to need another word to prop it up and define its field of reference.’ (Goodall, 1995: xii). Take, for example, the term ‘police culture’, says Goodall, and the term ‘welfare culture’: does the word promise to mean more because these areas of society actually have little in common with one another? In both contexts the word ‘promises much [..] but delivers little; it poses as a noun but it is really an adjective’ where c ulture means little more than ‘group behaviour, practice or shared assumptions.’ (Ibid). The phenomenon of popular culture and the ease with which it has spread across the Western world, owes much to the existence of television, radio, and, more recently, the Internet. It was the Queens Coronation that begun the television age, with half the adult population watching the ceremony on TV sets; and most of these people not owning their own television at the time (Karwowski: 2002: 281). Statistics show that in 1951, the only available BBC channel had just 600,000 viewers, and that by the end of the century, watching TV was the most popular leisure activity with 94 per cent of homes having at least one colour TV and 66 per cent a video cassette recorder (Ibid). Karwowski highlights the following televised programmes as being central to the historical analysis of popular culture: the Queens Coronation The Goon Show from June 1952 to January 1960, described as ‘a surreal form of humour that lampooned all forms of pomposity and hypocrisy.’ (Karwowski: 2002: 281). Situation comedies such as Till Death Us Do Part 60s TV comedies, such as That Was The Week That Was and Monty Pythons Flying Circus Independent TV (ITV) began broadcasting in 1955. The number of TV channels grew to three with the start-up of BBC 2 in 1964, to four with Channel 4 in 1982, and five with Channel 5 in 1997, while colour TV was available from 1968. British Costume Drama, portraying English novelists such as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Evelyn Waugh Educational documentaries such as Sir Kenneth Clarks Civilisation (1969), Dr Jacob Bronowskis The Ascent of Man (1973) and Sir David Attenboroughs Life on Earth (1979) Walking with Dinosaurs Childrens programmes, such as Moles Christmas and the BBCs Teletubbies to more than 125. Quiz programmes such as the BBCs Quiz shows, such as The Weakest Link, and detective series such as Inspector Morse, currently being seen in 211 countries. However, KarwowskI observes that ‘all these genres become mere niche markets when compared to the soap opera, which has around a third of the nation addicted to its multifarious expressions.’ (2005: 282). In the UK, the most popular soap is Coronation Street, longest running since 1960, is as popular in Canada and New Zealand, with the Coronation Street web site having more hits from Canada than anywhere else. (Ibid). What we see in soap operas is often designed to provoke an empathic response in the mind of the viewer. Soap viewing can offer very contrasting experiences sometimes alienating or even shocking the viewer, and other times offering emotional support and guidance concerning difficult issues. It is perhaps this ‘mixed bag’ effect of soap viewing when a person is never sure what content will shape their viewing experience that make soap viewing so popular. Media theory questions how knowledge is received and understood by the audience. Charlotte Brunsdon once said that the pursuit of the audience can be characterized as a search for authenticity, for an anchoring moment in a sea of signification (1990, p.68). The interpretations of the complex relationship between the viewer and the viewed have been controversial and often, contrasting; for example, Theodor Adorno believed that the influence held over the public by mass media was potentially harmful and brainwashing, wher eas John Fiske wrote that work should focus on viewers’ interpretation of what they saw that the viewer had autonomy over the extent to which they would absorb and articulate the information presented (Gauntlett, 2002). Fiske also used the term ‘polysemy’ to refer to the potential for audiences to decode texts in varying ways (Fiske, 1986). Dow presents her idea that the viewer has almost complete autonomy over how they interpret what they see, saying that: â€Å"The most powerful claim of audience studies has been that real viewers often resist the dominant messages of television and interpret programming in ways that suit their own interests [..] Intentional or not, such judgments cast the differences between approaches within the framework of a zero-sum game in which only one party can be right, making the other automatically wrong.† (Dow, 1996: 2) Dow also suggest that it is not possible to completely disassociate oneself from the object of criticism because of the cultural and social interests which are shared by both the critic and the creator of the media in question. Furthermore, criticism becomes less about discovering meaning in texts and becomes more of a performative activity that is about creating meaning. Sex and Identity Part of the idea for this project was born out of the premise that there exists a strong link between ideas about sexual relationships and a young person’s sense of identity. It is an aim of this project to explore the degree to which hindsight might affect a person’s belief as to whether they have been influenced by what they have seen on soaps. Research has been conducted into the damaging nature of representation in popular media especially into the use of models or ‘ideal’ body types; what Virginia Blum calls the ‘yardstick’ of the ‘Other Woman’ against which women measures their imperfections. For the ‘twenty-first century Western woman,’ says Blum, ‘who is always evaluating her appearance (intimately bound up with her identity) in relation to some standard that must be Other in order to function as a standard’ (Blum, 2005: 27). Gauntlett cites research findings on women in prime time TV in the early nineties as being ‘young, single, independent, and free from family and work place pressures’ (Elasmar, Hasegawa and Brain, 1999:33. In Gauntlett: 2002, 59). Gauntlett goes on to suggests that the 1990’s saw the use of inoffensive models of masculinity and femininity, which were generally acceptable to the majority of the public, and that this reflected producers’ beliefs that they no longer needed to challenge gender representations (Ibid). In the case of the sitcom Friends the use of male and female models of represnetation were equal. As Gauntlett explains: â€Å"The three men (Ross, Chandler and Joey) fit easily within conventional models of masculinity, but are given some characteristics of sensitivity and gentleness, and male-bonding, to make things slightly refreshing. Similarly, the three women (Rachel, Monica and Phoebe) are clearly feminine, whilst being sufficiently intelligent and non-housewifey to seem like acceptable characters for the 1990s. The six were also, of course, originally all characters with a good set of both male and female friendships i.e. each other and the friendship circle was a refreshing modern replacement for the traditional family. (It was not long, of course, before they spoilt that by having Ross and Rachel, then more implausibly Monica and Chandler fall in love.)† (Gauntlett, p.59) In most soaps there exists a core set of characters who form the firm basis of the on-screen reality. If these core characters were to change too often then the soap loses credibility, and becomes an unreal parallel of the world that it is trying to represent. It is important that themes such as sex and class are presented in a coherent and consistent way. As Gauntlett’s comment on Friends suggests this is sometimes not the case as the idea of quasi family is ‘quashed’ by the sexual dynamics within the group, thus complicating the original idea. The Concept of Transformation It is a premise of this project that women might be more likely to have experienced closer identification with soaps than men. Although it was beyond the scope of this project to direct an in-depth inquiry into this premise, the questionnaire nevertheless attempted to explore whether there was a gender divide, although this attempt was limited due to the size of the questionnaire. As academic and soap viewer, Danielle Blumenthal, is quoted as saying: Soap operas . . . a connection with other women, beloved to me: my mother, grandmother, aunt, sister . . . a steady stream of modern folktales that symbolically link us together. Memories abound: racing off the schoolbus to catch the last ten minutes of General Hospital; laughing with Grandma over the plotline antics of Days of Our Lives; worrying over the lives of characters I cared about; endless feverish conversations with girlfriends, sister, aunt over who should do what, how, and with whom. (Blumenthal, 1997: 3) In her publication on feminist perspectives and soap operas, Blumenthal refers to soap opera viewing as a ‘specific cultural activity’ questioning how much the activity is an ‘empowering practiceor, praxisfor women to engage in.’ (Ibid, p.4). The term praxis, Marxist criticism has been defined as meaning conscious physical labor directed toward transforming the material world so it will satisfy human needs (Rothman 1989:170. In Blumenthal, 1997:3). Blumenthal extends this interpretation to mean not only physical, but also mental labour, ‘which transforms images and experience to meet human needs.’ (Ibid). The concept can also be interpreted as a belief that ‘social objects do not simply exist out there in space, but are mediated through a continual process of interpretation and construction by the subjective and socially oriented mind.’ (Ibid). ‘Girl Power,’ and themes which identify the strengths in women’s att itudes are not limited to the sitcom or the soap opera, in fact they occur, to some degree, within just about every form of visual media and are mediated by the minds of the programmes creators to be received by the viewing public. The concept of transformation is prevalent in most media where women use their new image to take control of their lives and turn around situations. For example, Barbra Streisands 1996 film, The Mirror Has Two Faces, uses the idea of a before and after to provide tension and contrast within the film. In this film, the character Rose is transformed by losing weight and dying her hair this secures the physical adoration of her husband who married her for her ‘inner self.’ While the film encourages viewers to identify with Barbara Streisand it also reinforces the ideal of transformation, where the heroine does not settle for less, but dares to achieve more. Rachel Moseley, in her publication on feminist cultural perspectives, fashion, and media, observes that within these Cinderella stories there exists a ‘moment of increased visibility which provides a space for both the visual pleasure offered showcasing of the transformation, but also for the articulation of the a nxiety and emotional resonance of ’coming out’ in relation to class, as well as gender.’ (Moseley, 2002: p.40). In British and Australian soaps the concept of transformation is readily embraced not least within the lives of individual characters, but within each episode itself so as to create a mini section of a greater storyline. The world of the soap opera is fluid and dynamic it moves along at a much faster rate than reality off-screen, with new ideas and events constituting change on many levels. Blumenthal’s ideas concerning the ‘transformation’ of images is particularly useful here as it might help to explain how the serial relationships of soap characters are interpreted by the viewer. In soaps, it is often the case that characters who are not married engage in a string of successive relationships, which sets an unreal precedent to viewers, especially younger viewers. Media critic Mary-Lou Galician, in her publication Sex, Love Rom ance in the Mass Media lists twelve false premises which are regularly promoted within, and associated with, mass media; all of which she defines as ‘myths and stereotypes’ (2004: p.x): â€Å"Your perfect partner is cosmically predestined, so nothing/nobody can ultimately separate you. Theres such a thing as â€Å"love at first sight. † Your true soul mate should KNOW what youre thinking or feeling without your having to tell. If your partner is truly meant for you, sex is easy and wonderful. To attract and keep a man, a woman should look like a model or a centerfold. The man should NOT be shorter, weaker, younger, poorer, or less successful than the woman. The love of a good and faithful true woman can change a man from a â€Å"beast† into a â€Å"prince. † Bickering and fighting a lot mean that a man and a woman really love each other passionately. All you really need is love, so it doesnt matter if you and your lover have very different values. The right mate â€Å"completes you† — filling your needs and making your dreams come true. In real life, actors and actresses are often very much like the romantic characters they portray. Since mass media portrayals of romance arent â€Å"real, † they dont really affect you.† (2004: ix) Many social critics and relationship therapists have blamed the mass media for brainwashing viewers with portrayals of unrealistic love that are ‘unattainable as a goal and unhealthy as a model and, thereby, contributing to the construction of these unrealistic expectations’ (Dyer, 1976; Fromm, 1956; Johnson, 1983; Norwood, 1985; Peele, 1975;Russianoff, 1981; Shapiro Kroeger, 1991; Shostrom Kavanaugh, 1971. In Galician, 2004: p.13.). Certainly, many soap operas under discussion in this thesis are guilty of this phenomenon, and are suggestive of the idea that it is unfashionable or abnormal to be single. For example, as Glass writes: â€Å"Who can take seriously a character saying, as one does in the televised version of Candace Bushnells column, Were not dating. Its a fuck thing? Or, Ive been fucked every way you can be fucked? These characters are not serious, not even interesting, certainly not funny. With that type of woman, romance, with its necessary belief in an ideal, is impossible. [..] Bushnells women cavort aimlessly in New York, trying different sex games to see which they can win. When they lose, they move on. There is no reflection, no despair, no consequence of any action. The tragedy is that nothing in their lives is tragic.† (Glass, 1999: 14) This sort of promotion of casual sex could be potentially damaging to younger people, who are in the earlier stages of forming opinions about themselves and the world, as it could encourage them to find partners before they are comfortable to do so. Furthermore, in a school environment, where children are exposed to the same sorts of mass media, these ideas are discussed and reinforced within a social reality that is far different from the reality on-screen. As author of Sex and the City, Candace Bushnell, said of her creation: No one has breakfast at Tiffanys, and no one has affairs to remember instead, we have breakfast at 7 am and affairs we try to forget as quickly as possible. How did we get into this mess? (cf Glass, 1999: 14) During its popularity SATC was responsible for liberating the ideas of many women, and even their male partners, who watched it. The character of Samantha, played by Kim Cattrall, has been highlighted as an importnat portrayal of a sexually assertive woman in her forties. As Cattrall once said in an interview, ‘I don’t think there’s ever been a woman who has expressed so much sexual joy [on television] without her being punished. I never tire of women coming up and saying, â€Å"You’ve affected my life†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Williams, 2002. Found in Gauntlett, 2002, p.61). Unfortunately the themes of casual sex is unsustainable and will not hold viewer’s attentions for as long as say, family dramas, which can be played out over a much longer period of time and have far more complex dynamics. Thus, the heyday of SATC is over, while Emmerdale continues. As suggested by Goldenberg et al the themes of sex is both intriguing and disturbing: â€Å"Despite its potential for immense physical pleasure and the crucial role that it plays in propagating the species, sex nevertheless is sometimes a source of anxiety, shame, and disgust for humans, and is always subject to cultural norms and social regulation. [..]We argue that sex is threatening because it makes us acutely aware of our sheer physical and animal nature. Although others (e.g., Freud, 1930/1961) have also suggested that human beings are threatened by their creatureliness, following Rank (1930/1998) and Becker (1973), we suggest that this motivation is rooted in a more basic human need to deny mortality.† (Goldenberg et al, 2002: p.310) Indeed, there is nothing safe about the themes of sex in soaps it is an unpredictable world, where things are more likely to go wrong, in comparison to the world of family life, where there are obvious boundaries and limits within which to localise behaviour. In terms of class, which is the other distinction that this project is addressing, the idea that most soaps represent a particular group of people from a particular area, means that they represent the social structure of that particular area. In turn, this means that most soaps are unable to present a cross section of society from any area wider than that which it chiefly represents, and often only manages to represent the lives of either working class or middle class people. Soaps which concentrate on more elitist tastes or narrower, more inaccessible stratas of society do not often gain such a high level of popularity. This can be seen in the case of Eldorado, a soap set in Spain about the lives of British expats, that lasted only a year before being axed. A different approach to the soap opera came alon gin 1997 with the airing of Family Affairs, a soap that focused on one family. The description of the soap read as follows: â€Å"The biggest, and riskiest, decision they made was to break away from the communal concept that underpins other soaps, whether it is the village (Emmerdale), the close (Brookside), the square (EastEnders), or the local streets and pub (Coronation Street). Family Affairs will centre on one family, and examine in intimate detail the struggles and tensions within the four walls of the Hart household. The other difference between this soap and its rivals will be that Family Affairs will not be geographically characterised. It is set in a neutral town, and will lack the northern atmosphere that permeates Corrie or Brookside. Class differences within the family will play a big part. The personal experience of Young and Hollingworth influenced them to base the soap around a family that had an ex-miner at its head (Hollingworths grandfather was a miner), whose son had become a self-employed builder, and whose four grandchildren were variously a trainee lawyer, an entrepreneur, a shop a ssistant and a schoolboy.† (McDonald, 1997: 1) This soap underwent a complete change in setting and in characters, before it was axed after only seven years. These example show that there is not enough of a market for specialised soaps which dare to do something a little different. It appears that it is the grittiness of urban landscapes or the character of places which people enjoying watching the most. Furthermore, it is interesting how similar themes such as teenage pregnancy, underage relationships, and people seeking to break the boundaries of their family’s class can all assume a different meaning, or at least be interpreted differently, according to the different locations and environments in which they are set. Mass Media and the Body Gauntlett observes a similarity between the malleability of the self and the late modern attitudes to the body: â€Å"No longer do we feel that the body is a more or less disappointing ‘given’ instead, the body is the outer expression of our self, to be improved and worked upon; the body has, in the words of Giddens, become ‘reflexively mobilized’ thrown into the expanding sphere of personal attributes which we are required to think about and control.† (In Gauntlett, p.104). Perhaps one of the greatest power centres behind both of these arguments is Hollywood, which in its history has seen the changing representation of women, and more recently, the increasing number of women, and men, who have surgery to preserve the image of their youth. These ideal images of women are not always positively received. For example, speaking in 1973, Marjorie Rosen commented that ‘the Cinema Woman is a Popcorn Venus, a delectable but insubstantial hybrid of cultural distortions’ (1973:10), and upon the changing representation of women Rosen observed the presence o f rebellious natured commentaries against working women in the 1940s and 1950s, and against female sexual emancipation in the 1960s and 1970s. Whereas women have been consistently promoted as ‘sex objects’ in varying styles throughout Hollywood’s history (Rosen, In Gauntlett, 2002). It would be an interesting line of enquiry to explore the degree to which feminist literature can help to explain the presence of the perceived gender gap in the process of idolisation and representation, and the influence of these processes on ideas concerning sex and sexuality. Some critics suggest that popular media have over-simplified debates which are essentially feminist in nature, and, in some cases, wrongly consider the feminist movement retrospectively, encouraging viewers to do the same. For example, in her article exploring the different definitions of third-wave feminism emerging in the U.S, Amanda Lotz comments that ‘simplistic popular media constructions of third -wave feminism’ are misleading to feminists, and that study of the ‘third-wave feminist ideas may be understood as distinctive of new social movement organization.’ (Lotz: 2003, p.3 ). Other critics pay close attention to the different psychological constitutions of women what Jane Gerhard terms ‘ideas about the distinctive psychological reality of women’ especially concerning our definition of post feminism, which makes a significant contribution to the re-assessment of heterosexual power relations. (2005: 41). With proponents of equality still battling with what Susan Faludi refers to as lackadaisical nature of post-feminism and the unfair ’backlash’ against the feminist movement itself (1992) the idea of feminism and soap opera viewing is topical and extensive, and, unfortunately, beyond the scope of this thesis to explore. Foucault Foucault’s work is useful in the discussion of soap operas and the effects of viewing popular television as it comments on the damaging nature of ‘normalization.’ Foucault argues that there is no such thing as a singular fixed meaning, and that meaning is understood on many levels most often through the historical, retrospective interpretation of rational and reasonable behaviour (Danaher et al, 2000). For example, he suggests that the nineteenth century witnessed a preoccupation with correctness where all things ‘wrong’ had to be ‘righted’ in some way in order to fit into a box of classification. This phenomenon has had long-lasting effects on Western culture to the extent where ‘norms’ have been established, and exceptions to these norms ‘cured’ or corrected. In the discussion of class and attitudes towards sex we might consider how the media has portrayed the image of the ideal woman or man. The difference between the historical normalisation of beauty to contemporary is that such images have been popularised through the media on an increasingly global and interpersonal scale. With the advancement of technology, advertising reaches people even within the private space of their own homes through television, radio, and the Internet. This is all the more dang