Nike’s CSR challenge Essay

It can be seen from the passage that Nike’s Asian factories audited hundreds of factories in 2003 and 2004 and found cases of abusive treatment in more than a quarter of its South Asian plants.And in 2005 Nike returned to report its social and environmental practices. It said that staffs and employees work in a poor environment .Between 25% to 50% of its employees and staffs in the region restrict access to toilets and drinking water during the workday. Besides , a lot of staffs have to work for extra hours per week and wage level is lower than other industries. These kind of social and environment issues not only happen in Nike ,but also in many other industries. However , Nike start to report the detail of all its factories and in fact Nike devote more to improving conditions than its competitors. New method to solve CSR problems are needed. Nike come out a new realization. This new realization lead to a new strategy,which involves the company engaging labor ministries, civi l society ,to establish companies’ standards of social and environmental performance. Nike have realized that the responsibility of one is to work towards the accountability of all. The strategy is that instead of the closed system , company will establish an open system. Nike also realize that the company’s future depends on the way customers, suppliers, investors and others relate to it. Leadership is another challenge that Nike is facing. Traditional leadership make the manager only do their duty, but not thinking about other fact. New Corporate leadership require managers be ‘leaders beyond borders’,which means they should reach across such borders to engage others in dialogue and action to address. In addition ,Nike should consider wider issues of trade flows, governance, media, financial markets and politics,if it wants to survive in new open system. Nike’s efforts will be meaningless if Nike do not make changes in financial markets Case Questions Q1: In referring to the opening profile and the closing case for this chapter, discuss the challenges regarding corporate social responsibility that companies in the apparel industry face in its supply chains around the  world? Answer: There have been cases reported abusive treatments in more than a quarter of its South Asian plants. Another report is that 25%-50% of factories in the region restrict access to toilets and drinking water during the workday. The same percentage that was reported also applied to factories denying workers at least one day off of the seven days they already work.Nike’s CSR Challenge highlighted that difficulty of bring wholesale to change to a company that isn’t centralized. Instead the challenge is now to reform the way business is done. Leadership was traditionally seen as guiding employees towards the goal of the company. What is needed is a more open form of leadership that calls for collaboration among mutually parties in order to solve systemic problems.The challenges are too reshape the signals being given out by its supply chains group to itself and its competitors. So that the companies can operate in a sustainable and just way, which is also financially viable Q2: Discuss the meaning and implications of the statement by a Nike representative thatâ€Å"consumers are not rewarding us for investments in improved social performance in supply chains.† Answer: Nike start to create a positive environment and change system for upgrading.As a result ,Nike will attract more consumers and bring feedback from consumers. This will help Nike continue going forwards. Q3: What does it mean to have an industry open-systems approach to social responsibility?What parties are involved? Who are the stakeholders? Answer: It depends on the way consumers , suppliers ,investors and other related to it. It means all the groups of company need to consider social and environment problems.The open system involve labor ministries, civil society and competitors.The stakeholders are customers, suppliers, investors, and others relate to it. Q4: What is meant by â€Å"leadership beyond borders†? Answer: It means people who can see across borders created by others,such as the borders of their jobs,and reach across such borders to engage others in dialogue and action to address systemic problems. Q5: Is it possible to have â€Å"a compatibility of profits with people and planet†? Whose responsibility is it to achieve that state? Answer: Yes ,it is possible. Companies’ first aim is profit. Through making profit a company can survive .However ,at the same time ,company should take care of their staffs and employees,or they will fail to make the profit. In addition ,environment is also very important. Company should protect the environment as well as making profit.Environment should not be neglected. People, environment and profit should be balanced.It’s all consumers, suppliers and investors,and employees responsibility to achieve that state. Conclusion: This case talks about CSR challenges that Nike are facing. The fact is not only Nike ,but also other industries are facing these challenges. However,Nike devotes itself to making a new strategy. It makes a positive environment. Besides, leadership is also a challenge for Nike and other industries. Companies should focus on â€Å"leadership beyond borders†, which means management is expected to beyond borders created by others such as the borders of their job, and reach across such borders to engage others in dialogue and action to address systemic problems. In a word ,environment, profit and human should be balanced.

Oedipal Complex Essay

The essential component to any tragedy, Greek or Shakespearean, is a protagonist with a fatal flaw. In Greek tragedy this is called hamartia. This Latin term translates directly into the word â€Å"flaw† but is usually used to describe an excess of a personality trait – virtue or vice (Cave 68). The protagonist’s fatal flaw pushes the the plot and action of the tragedy forward. It is this tragic flaw, which leads to the eventual downfall of the character, his circumstances, and the denouement of the drama. In examining the bulk of the literature’s protagonists, no other character embodies the essential role of the flawed protagonist like Hamlet. Without the flaw there would be no drama, and no irony and â€Å"would have ended dismally with a sense of utter frustration and inadequacy† (Wilson 236). Many critics believe that Hamlet’s fatal flaw is his Oedipal Complex. Sigmund Freud and The Oedipal Complex The Oedipal Complex was first developed by Sigmund Freud. The theory revolves around the concept that individuals have a hidden desire for sexual interaction with a parent of the opposite sex. At the same time the child feels a rivalry with the parent of the same sex. It may be that Freud named the oedipal complex after the infamous king of Thebes not because Oedipus’s childhood experience mirrored the developmental phase he described but simply because Oedipus was readily recognizable as a man who killed his father and had sex with his mother. (Sugiyama 121). Freud intensely studied Hamlet, and wanted to be known as the man who diagnosed Hamlet’s mental disorder. He writes, in The Interpretation of Dreams, the play is seems to be about Hamlet seeking revenge for his father’s murder, but Shakespeare, within the text of the play, does not show a reason for why Hamlet waits so long to kill Claudius. Freud states â€Å"According to the view which was originated by Goethe and is still the prevailing one today, Hamlet represents the type of man whose power of direct action is paralyzed by and excessive development of his intellect. † (98). Ernest Jones Interpretation of Hamlet Dr. Ernest Jones offered one of the first indepth presentations of the theory that Hamlet suffered from the Oedipal Complex. He asserted, in Hamlet and Oedipus, â€Å"The story thus interpreted would run somewhat as follows: As a child Hamlet had experienced the warmest affection for his mother, and this, as is always the case, had contained elements of a more or less dimly defined erotic quality† (98). There are two qualities which the Queen has which supports this reasoning. Shakespeare clearly shows her sensual nature. He also explains that she has a great deal of intense love for her son. Jones believes â€Å"The former is indicated in too many places in the play to need specific reference, and is generally recognised† (98). Hamlet is a study of â€Å"the powerful influence of infantile sexuality on the patterns of unconscious thinking in the lives of adults. † (MacCary 114). Hamlet’s fatal flaw is his Oedipal complex which leads to indecision. The rising action, falling action, and resolution, in Hamlet, can be attributed to the theme of indecision. Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is a bright young man with many talents. He is an academic, a witty orator, and a flawless actor. Certainly, he has the potential to do anything he wants which may have included, in the future, being the King of Denmark. His aptitude for all things calls into question why there is a great delay between Hamlet’s decision to avenge his father’s murder and the actual revenge. Hamlet laments over his indecision: O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world! (Act I, sc ii) He continues, condemning his mother for leaving his father and more importantly choosing Claudius over him: Within a month, Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to good. But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue! (Act I, sc ii) Knowles, in his article â€Å"Hamlet and Counter-Humanism,† states â€Å"Hamlet’s father’s death, his mother’s concupiscence and hasty marriage to her husband’s murderer, produce a grief and loathing of such a profound degree that a sense of being created by emotion estranges him from the previous identity of a princely role† (1046). This grief is compounded by Hamlet’s repressed romantic love for his mother. The Problem Revealed : Hamlet Identifies with Claudius It is Hamlet’s Oedipal Complex which leads to indecision and the reevaluation of his choice to kill Claudius. Claudius was able to kill Hamlet’s father and sleep with Hamlet’s mother. He was able to do what Hamlet could not. Hamlet is living out his Oedipal fantasies through Claudius (Joseph 26). Killing him would end Hamlet’s fantasies. Hamlet is disgusted by his mother marrying his uncle. In Conscience of a King, Bertram Joseph (28) believes that Hamlet â€Å"showed all the signs of a noble and well-balanced sanguine temperament. † Joseph assumes that Hamlet is not experiencing insanity and he is in perfect mental health – the embodiment of everything a good Elizabethan should be. Incest was not acceptable in Elizabethan times. When reflecting on the thought of his father and mother sleeping together, Hamlet states† Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him, as if increase of appetite had grown. † He wishes he does not remember how his mother hung onto his father. His uncle and mother married at a â€Å"most wicked speed† and now sleep in â€Å"incestuous sheets†. The literal interpretation may be that his belief system is causing his anger. However, Hamlet goes on to say â€Å"It is not nor it cannot come to good; But break, my hear, for I must hold my tongue. † Hamlet is not upset over his father’s death but is jealous because his mother choose Claudius (her brother in law) instead of Hamlet (her son) to marry. Hamlet’s Idealism Defined Hamlet actions should not attributed to mental illness but a repressed desire for his mother. Thomas MacCary asserts, in Hamlet: A Guide to the Play, â€Å"Shakespeare’s Hamlet, has its roots in the same soil as Oedipus Rex†¦. the secular advance of repression in the emotional life of mankind† (104). He continues thats â€Å"In Hamlet it remains repressed; and — just as in the case of a neurosis — we only learn of its existence from its inhibiting consequences. . . . Hamlet is able to do anything — except take vengeance on the man who did away with his father and took his father’s place with his mother, the man who shows him the repressed wishes of his own childhood realized (MacCary 105). Hamlet believes fully that men were born good and were meant to do good things. His strong belief system contrasts strikingly with the reality and corruption of the world when he returns home and his own fantasies. He comments on the state of Denmark and more specifically his father’s house, â€Å"‘Tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed; Things rank and gross in nature possess it merely† (Act I, sc ii). He is disgusted not just by his home community but the evil which existed in his family. Upon the realization that the world was cruel, and that he will never actually be with his mother, he describes life as a â€Å"prison† (Act II sc ii). He finds it difficult to resolve his illusions of what he feels and what he should feel. It is his Oedipal Complex and the living out of his fantasies through Claudius which allows him to conceal his bitterness while his internal moral will pressures him to avenge his father’s death. Hamlet attempts to use logic, a typical idealist characteristic, to determine what course of action he must take (Gresset and Samway 7). Shakespeare uses Hamlet to â€Å"provide new and revealing insights into the evolving Renaissance codes of honor, for Shakespeare creates characters in Hamlet that represent various stages in the evolution of a changing honor system. (Terry 1070). Hamlet struggles with idea that he may be a coward for his inaction and a sinner for his cardinal thoughts. Despite his nightly supernatural chat with the ghost of his murdered father, he is still unsure if justice should be done by his own hand. Fendt comments, in Is Hamlet a Religious Drama? An Essay on a Question in Kierkegaard, that â€Å"The plot shows Hamlet to be a first class detective — he uncovers a criminal who has committed a perfect crime, and only in his more scholarly moments of soliloquy has he time to consider despising himself† (60). Fendt makes a good point in that Hamlet has to figure out for his own peace of mind what truly happened to his father. He understands that if Claudius did kill his father he must kill Claudius. He understands that in a world of lies it was hard to tell truth from fiction, and a sinner from a saint. Hamlet states, â€Å"the native hue of resolution is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought†(Act III sc i), and concludes that the death of Claudius must be based on justice not emotional revenge. Therefore, Hamlet must have independent proof that his uncle murdered his father. â€Å"Other Shakespearean plays exploit the device of the play-within-a-play as a form of recognition ‘token’,† (234) comments Cave in Recognitions: A Study in Poetics. Cave is correct, play with in plays is a common tool used by Shakespeare. It is also the only way Hamlet, besides direct conformation, is going to be able to tell if Claudius is guilty. In addition Hamlet is able to prolong his Oedipal fantasies. It is for this reason that Hamlet invites players in to perform a â€Å"murderous† play to ferret out the truth from his mother and new father. Symptoms of Oedipal Complex within Hamlet Shakespeare slowly reveals Hamlet’s complex through a series of subtle yet functional hints. Claudius comments on the relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude â€Å"The queen his mother lives almost by his looks† (Act IV, sc vii). implying an unnaturally close interaction between the two of them. This shows that Hamlet must have a place within his mother’s life. His deep desire for his mother attributes to his inability to love Ophelia. Hamlet is drawn to Ophelia because she, in some ways, resembles his mother. It is for this same reasons that Hamlet takes out anger for his mother on Ophelia. This accounts for Hamlet’s mistreatment of Ophelia throughout the play. Polonius believes that Hamlet’s is love sick over Ophelia and that is why he is going mad. Alexander Welsh, in Hamlet in His Modern Guises, believes that Polonuis â€Å"diagnosis of Hamlet’s madness as being due to unrequited love for Ophelia was not so far from the mark, and he certainly recognized that his distressful condition was of sexual origin. Thus Polonius had the right idea though the wrong woman† (Welsh 138). Even the ghost urges Hamlet to â€Å"Let thy soul contrive against they mother† (Act I, sc v) and give up his desires for her, so that Hamlet can avenge his father’s murder. In it within Act III, that Hamlet’s Oedipal complex is directly seen. John Mills, in Hamlet on Stage: The Great Tradition, states â€Å"†He was openly abusive to Ophelia and Gertrude in the play scene, delivering the sexual innuendos loudly enough for the whole court to hear†(Mills 236). In this scene Hamlet is hiding in her closet, watching her carefully. He confronts his mouhter about the murder of his father and speaks explicitly about her sexuality. He screams: This was your husband. Look you now, what follows: Here is your husband; like a mildew’d ear, Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes? And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes? You cannot call it love; for at your age The hey-day in the blood is tame, it’s humble, (Act III, sc iv) He explains that she could not love Claudius and that his father would not approve of her choice. He continues on, with the play’s most explosive dialog: Nay, but to live In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, Stew’d in corruption, honeying and making love Over the nasty sty,– (Act III, sc iv) It is important to note that this scene takes place in the Queen’s bedroom. The conversation symbolized Hamlet and Gertrude essentially â€Å"in bed† together and hints to a sexual relationship. Hamlet confronts his mother with his sword drawn which Freud considered a phallic symbol (Maccary 114). The conversation between Hamlet and Gertrude, is not a son talking to his mother. Hamlet speaks like a jealous lover chastising his girlfriend for sleeping with a different man and making their bed â€Å"enseamed†. The Queen is extremely upset and actually asks Hamlet to help her figure out what to do. At this point when Hamlet should have told her to confess, he urges her to stop her relationship with Claudius, â€Å"Not this, by no means, that I bid you do: Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed† (Act III, sc iv). Hamlet’s jealous orders restrictive his mother from being sexual with his â€Å"father,† making all Queen’s attention to be given to Hamlet. Fantasy Becomes Reality Hamlet’s inability to understand the motives of evil in actions and thought can also be attributed to his sole idealistic viewpoint. He does not understand why anyone would commit murder and therefore he is uncertain that he had ability to violently kill a man. Murderous revenge represents everything that Hamlet is not. Hamlet’s rational intellect allowed him the clarity of mind to understand both the good and bad in the act of the revenge and perhaps what his true motives for waiting are. The mental degradation of Hamlet, is believed to be insanity by the other characters but it was clear to the audience that he is merely coming to terms with what he believes to be right. Hamlet is a religious man and murder was a sin. Hamlet is a man of classical philosophy and revenge is not rational. In â€Å"The Mind of Man in Hamlet†, Levy writes â€Å"In Hamlet, man is still the rational animal, but a revolution in understanding the operation of thought occurs†. Hamlet is a man of classical philosophy and revenge is not rational (Levy). Choosing to appear mentally impair is good strategy because if the characters believe he is unwell, he will not be able to figure out the true. Hamlet’s true character remains unblemished. Hamlet is a man who believes in chivalry, and slaughter is not gentle. Hamlet is trying â€Å"to be worthy of the times in which he lives is not so far in essence from the protagonists of Greek drama. His fear of the risk of damnation is not something that can be called a moral flaw ; yet it acts like one, paralysing his will, making him behave like a coward† (Joseph 129). It is those idealistic qualities which causes the postponement of Claudius’ death. It is in the moment that Hamlet allows his emotion to dominate over his intellect that Claudius was killed. He is consumed by the thoughts of his father’s demise and is haunted by the knowledge that his father’s soul will not be able to rest until his death is avenged. Hamlet willfully concludes, â€Å"My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth† (Act IV sc iv). It is then that Hamlet finally had the ability to suppress his idealistic nature, and do what is right. The murder is not a well planned scheme and occurs in the heat of the moment. Hamlet, after the murder of Claudius never once wavers in his decision. He has done what is right and believes that â€Å"There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow† (Act V sc ii). Oddly enough fatalism is part of idealistic theory and therefore Hamlet always remains true to himself and his idealism. This also further supports that the Oedipal Complex can be applied to Hamlet, because he succeeds in killing â€Å"his father† (Claudius). Jones comments â€Å"And we have assumed as well that the final murder of Claudius also represents, in its actual psychological significance, the murder of the mother’s husband, made possible by the theme of vengeance for the father. This is the basis of the drama† (124). The act of killing his mother, even directly, could symbolize the act sex. Therefore, Hamlet has finally succeeding in attaining his subconscious need to have a sexual relationship with his mother. Conclusion Hamlet’s indecision caused his desire for his mother makes him the perfect tragic protagonist and leads to theme of indecision. Reta Terry, in her journal article â€Å"Vows to the Blackest Devil†: Hamlet and the Evolving Code of Honor in Early Modern Englandâ€Å", believes â€Å"Hamlet’s tragedy is, in part, that he is forced to attempt to balance these â€Å"rival ethical legacies† as he struggles to remain honorable† (Terry 1). Without his intense regard for the ideals of truth, justice, goodness and beauty being in conflict with his most basic physical desires there would be no play. His fatal flaw of indecision and his desire to sleep with his mother create a moral dilemma which the characters, and plot revolves. Even Hamlet, the academic, comments on the presence of hamartia in human nature. He states: oft it chances in particular men That for some vicious mole of nature in them, As in their birth, wherein they are not guilty, By the o’ergrowth of some complexion, Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason, Their virtues else, be they as pure as grace, Shall in the general censure take corruption (Act 1, sc 4). Hamlet continues late in the resolution of the play, â€Å"though I am not spleenative and rash Yet have I in me something dangerous† (Act V. sc i.) Critics believe while Hamlet is â€Å"Normally not rash at all, he is capable of extreme rashness when provoked extremely. The â€Å"something dangerous† is the proud impatience that there is in his otherwise noble sense of public mission. â€Å"(Elliott 25). Freud states â€Å"Hamlet is able to do anything but take vengeance upon the man who did away with his father and has taken his father’s place with his mother – the man who showed him in realization the repressed desires of his own childhood† (101). The pain which should have caused him to take immediate revenge was replaced by pity for himself. Freud continues â€Å"by conscientious scruples, which tell him that he himself is no better than the murderer whom he is required to punish† (102). It is Hamlet’s idealistic nature mismatched with his pragmatic circumstances of his Oedipal Complex, that creates the ultimate theme and driving force behind all the rising action, falling action, and resolution of this tragedy. Works Cited Cave, Terence. Recognitions: A Study in Poetics. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988. Croxford, Leslie. â€Å"The Uses of Interpretation in Hamlet. † Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics (2004): 93+. Elliott, G. R. Scourge and Minister: A Study of Hamlet: A Tragedy of Revengefulness and Justice. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1951. Fendt, Gene. Is Hamlet a Religious Drama? An Essay on a Question in Kierkegaard. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1998. Gresset, Michel, and Patrick S. J. Samway, eds. Faulkner and Idealism: Perspectives from Paris. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1983. Jones, Ernest. Hamlet and Oedipus . New York: Norton, 1949. Joseph, Bertram. Conscience and the King: A Study of Hamlet. London: Chatto and Windus, 1953. Knowles, Ronald. â€Å"Hamlet and Counter-Humanism. † Renaissance Quarterly 52. 4 (1999): 1046. Levy, Eric P. â€Å"The Mind of Man in Hamlet. † Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 54. 4 (2002): 219+. MacCary, W. Thomas. Hamlet A Guide to the Play. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Mills, John A. Hamlet on Stage: The Great Tradition. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985. Shakespeare, William. â€Å"The Tragedy Hamlet. † THE NORTON INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE. Ed. Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, Kelly J. Mays, and . New York: Norton, 2000. Sugiyama, Michelle Scalise. â€Å"New Science, Old Myth: An Evolutionary Critique of the Oedipal Paradigm. † Mosaic (Winnipeg) 34. 1 (2001): 121 Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, tr. James Strachey, Avon, N. Y. 1965. Terry, Reta A. â€Å"†Vows to the Blackest Devil†: Hamlet and the Evolving Code of Honor in Early Modern England. † Renaissance Quarterly 52. 4 (1999): 1070. Walker, Roy. The Time Is out of Joint: A Study of Hamlet. London: Andrew Dakers, 1948. Welsh, Alexander. Hamlet in His Modern Guises. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001. Wilson, J. Dover. What Happens in Hamlet. New York: Macmillan, 1935.

Marketing Mix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Marketing Mix - Essay Example A marketing mix is an important tool that helps Coca Cola Company to understand what to do to reach out to the target market. Marketing means having Coca Cola drinks at the right place at the right time for convenience for the customer. Coca Cola has numerous elements that form the core of a main marketing system. The elements help Coca Cola achieve its objectives by incorporating them together. A good combination of the elements allows Coca Cola to have a focus on the marketing product. Creation of a pricing strategy by gathering information of the market ensures that the product is not underpriced or overpriced. The strategy involves scrutinizing Coca Cola targets and objectives for the product. Price is one of the elements of a product mix, and it plays an important role in determining the sales of the Coca Cola. In the case of Coca Cola, the price is the value of the drink offered to any individual seeking to quench his or her thirst. Price is the amount that customers pay to purchase Coca Cola from the supplier. Setting the price is important in the development of Coca Cola because it will control the forces of demand and supply for the enterprise. Pricing strategy for Coca Cola helps it to have the ability to determine its sales. The perceived value of the product plays a big role in the determination of the sales of Coca Cola Company. The manner in which a customer values a product is important in the pricing of the beverage company. A positive customer value helps Coca Cola Company successfully charge higher than the monetary of the product. On the other hand, a product should not have a lower value in the eyes of the customer. In the case of the scenario of Coca Cola, the product will be underpriced affecting the sales objectives of the company. About the price, product plays an important role in the marketing mix of a product. Products are the commodities that the company offers for sale. Coca Cola delivers quality products

Being and Nothingness according to Jean-Paul Sartre Essay

Being and Nothingness according to Jean-Paul Sartre - Essay Example Sartre explains that our perception of the external world is absolute and pure. He also suggests that our perception of objects is of finite nature, and our self perceives them with the help of the senses. He is of the idea that what we see in the outside world is what we know and what we get. In his philosophical theory argues that the being – in –itself and being- for- itself are distinct aspects of this real world. Here being – in –itself are the unconscious beings and being- for -itself is the conscious being. As per Jean-Paul Sartre, being –in -itself is stable and isn’t aware of its existence, whereas being – for- itself is aware of its own consciousness. These both beings are distinct from each other and constitute the existence of the universe.Being – in– itself cannot change its form with its own will as it does not have will or consciousness. However being – for – itself has free will, awareness an d chooses to act right or wrong. Anyway, Jean-Paul Sartre sees the being – for –itself as incomplete and indefinite, as it can go to any limit with its dynamic consciousness. This is what makes a man undetermined, indefinable and conscious creature. Since for – itself or a man in other terms is absent of a predetermined essence, it is intimidated or forced to create itself from nothingness or voidness. According to Sartre voidness or nothingness is the very explainable characteristic of a human being.For example, a rock is a rock and can do nothing to change its shape or form. But in case of being – for – itself can change its shape, form and even decide what he wants to do or not do. A man has the power to act in this world, and also can interact with physical objects which are being – in – itself. We can see that a man is not simply being here in this world, but also is actuating himself with the power of consciousness and awareness . A man or a self can create a whole dynamic world of himself by perceiving the objects of the universe. His consciousness is of infinite power and this gives him the ability to perceive being – in – itself in a dynamic way.

Gender studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gender studies - Essay Example However, the concept of gender and masculinity is not actually as simple as it may seem, because, in reality, gender has different meanings to different people (Phillips), as well as masculinity. Gender, Social Practice, and Masculinity. Connell in his book entitled Masculinities views the individual "gender as a structure of social practice" (72). This assertion clearly contradicts to the consideration that gender is formed out of biological reproduction. To Connell, gender exists due mainly to the incapacity of biology in determining the social. Hence, the relationship of genders is one thing that structures the society, and that gender is being developed through an individuals daily undertakings in the society. The construction of gender begins at the time a mother gives birth to her child. Once the baby comes out her womb, the gender of the child is identified based on the genitalia. Babies are clothed in a manner that will represent their gender so that no further questions can be asked in regard to it after knowing their gender. Hence, a sex category transforms into a gender status by the process of giving names, or of dressing (Lorber). Now, there is a form of division once the child knows that he/she is a male or a female because the society dictates that males are different from females and that no gender can be in opposite (homosexual) or both (bisexual) based on the individual humane body features. All these things enable the so called social construction of gender. How does the social construction of gender affect masculinity? Based on Connells approach to identifying gender, masculinity has nothing to do with all things biologically. People have created their own version of what masculinity should mean, and they have succeeded. Because in todays world, talking about masculinity means talking about man alone, and

HSBC Analysis Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

HSBC Analysis Report - Essay Example The analyses would assist in identifying the unique capabilities of the bank. The performance of the various analyses would also facilitate to get an understanding on the needs and ways to enhance the competitive edge of the bank. Therefore, the analyses would not only assist in understanding and recognizing the capabilities and weak areas of the organization but would also assist in structuring strategies or plans so as to augment the capabilities and improve on the weak areas. The analyses would be conducted with the application of various management tools like SWOT analysis which would assist in identifying the internal capabilities and weaknesses of the bank. Five-force analysis would assist in identifying the competitive advantage of the organization and would also facilitate to design plans to further enhance the competitive advantage of the bank. And, a PEST Analysis would assist to comprehend the business environment in which the organization is presently operating and to rec ognize the potential prospects as well the potential risks and work on them accordingly. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 About the Organization 4 External Analysis 6 PEST Analysis 6 Internal Analysis 8 SWOT Analysis 8 Five Forces Analysis 10 Addressing the Four Generic Blocks of Competitive Advantage 14 Distinctive Competencies 14 Differentiation Strategy 15 Strategic Alliances 15 Major Problems That Needs to be Addressed 15 Recommendations 16 References 17 Bibliography 19 About the Organization HSBC claims to be the local bank of the entire world. The bank has its head office in London and is considered to be the biggest organization in the field of offering services related to banking and finance globally. The bank’s worldwide network includes offices above 9500 in numbers in and around 76 countries as well as territories in Asia-Pacific area, Middle East, Europe, Africa and also America. Similar to the other banks, HSBC also operates with a profit motive. Attaining i ts purposes and goals by sticking on to its principles has facilitated the organization to keep up profitability along with soaring ethical standards (HSBC, 2011). The bank focuses more on local investments and depends on it for economic development. The bank’s chief four businesses are Private Banking, Personal Services related to Finance, Global Banking and Commercial Banking. The individual sectors associated with the mentioned businesses facilitate the bank to tie together the international economic tendencies of providing services to both the present and budding markets (HSBC, 2011). The bank is formally known by the name of HSBC Holdings plc in the UAE. HSBC Holdings plc is said to be the biggest banking organization in the entire world and is said to hold the sixth position globally for being among the leading companies (HSBC, 2011). HSBC commenced operating in the UAE since the year 1959. It was in this year that it obtained The British Bank of the Middle East which w as established in the year 1889 in London. This was the bank that guided the way towards banking services in that particular region and was learnt to be the sole bank that was dedicated to provide service in that particular area for decades (HSBC, 2011). Apart from the acquisition, the bank also formed new local alliances. In the year 1978, the business of the bank was handed over to another fresh bank in Saudi Arabia. The new bank was known as the Saudi British

Minimalism, functionalism and neo-eclectic Essay

Minimalism, functionalism and neo-eclectic - Essay Example Another important feature was simplicity. Simplicity was introduced to make a structure appear more natural and thus more livable. Smallness and simplicity thus became the core of minimalist aesthetics and have been associated with such important names as Walter Gropius, Alberto Giacometti, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Constantin Brancusi, Le Corbusier, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Barth has explained the minimalist doctrine in these words: "artistic effect may be enhanced by a radical economy of artistic means, even where such parsimony comprises other values: completeness, for example, or richness or precision of statement". Functionalism as the word suggests is a movement that focused on utility of structures. It was felt that a structure must do what it is intended to do. And while the movement may have suffered from ambiguity, no one can seriously deny the effectives of the basic doctrine of functionalism. Every object must be created to perform that job it is int ended to perform. It was felt that each part of a structure must serve a purpose. It was a rather austere and neutral approach to building as if a work of art was suddenly stripped off its soul. While utility was an important characteristic and one that even modern architects cannot ignore, basic aesthetic values were largely ignored and this gave rise to criticism. It was argued that if utility is taken a bit too far, things other than utility may take a backseat and thus the entire approach suffers. This has been interestingly explained by Pile (1979) in these words: "Simplistic discussions of function in design often lose sight of the complexity of multiple functional requirements that characterize the development of most modern objects. If one supposes that each thing has a function, it can seem that discussions of this matter are pointless. The definition of a chair, after all, requires that any chair can be sat in. Similarly, all knives must cut, airplanes fly, and failure in this kind of primary function dooms an object to total failure and, in all probability, to the junk heap. In practice, every object has, in addition to the obvious primary function, many other subsidiary

Competition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Competition - Essay Example The regulations are put in place to help reduce the conflicts in the commercial; procedures like those of maximizing profits. The entities may require raising the profits and the only way they find to do this is to raise the prices of their products where the burden ends up with the people. The government, therefore, comes in and regulates this to avoid conflicts as well as to ensure that the functioning of the business is taken care of. These regulations come with laws like the minimum wage laws which act in the same way as minimum price laws. When this is implemented, workers who produce less than the minimum wages are laid off leading to unnecessary unemployment. The market efficiency and transparency reduces due to these regulations especially if they work against insider trading. The result of this is that the share price becomes higher than that which would have been if the insiders were allowed to use their information. Inadvertently, the outsiders who were to be protected end s up paying higher prices for the same shares and loses more than they would actually have lost. These regulations have led to market imbalance in some cases. If the amount demanded and supplied is the same and the regulations bring about a fall in the prices, then the supply will reduce and the demand will increase. To solve these imbalances, there have arisen cases of black markets and other dubious means of avoiding the effects of the regulations. Monopoly market structures are the most affected by these regulations as they work independently. The government advocates for the customers to have access to their information, set the price controls and also regulate their operations in the countries of operations. The effect of these is that new markets are opened that bring about competition and thereby increased efficiency and quality services. There is liberalization which is promoted that leads to the mobility of labor, financial capital, goods and services. These bring about new businesses into the industry and intensify competition. [Djankov, Simeon et al, 2002] The competitive market structures are effected through the laws that govern their operations and competitive strategies. Certain acts are prohibited like setting very low prices to accrue short term losses at the expense of the other competitors so that they may even end up closing down. The regulations also govern the number of similar businesses in a certain area. The monopolistically competitive markets have been forced to provide enough information regarding their products. In these markets the consumers have relied on the advertisements which sometimes have given a super perspective of the products. The government regulation has had to control the prices in these firms because in the long run, these firms set prices that are very low to kick out their rivals from the market through their slightly differentiated products which is prohibited. Sometimes these firms set high prices especially bec ause the marginal cost is less than the price in the long run. In a monopsony, the government works together with a monopsonist consumer to ensure that the partial regulations are in place to work at the right time. The government analyses how the consumer is to be protected and also when there should be the intervention from other sources. The second market structure that also faces regulation is an oligopoly market structure. This market structure involves a situation which falls in between perfect competition and monopoly. It refers to few firms

Fitness Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fitness - Assignment Example Chad may be having. This initial formality is quite crucial for any trainer and their client. For Mr. Chad, a medical form was sent to his doctor and later returned with all the necessary medical questions and requirements filled out. It turned out that Mr. Chad is quite healthy, with no chronic illnesses. For a personal trainer, it is always important to familiarize with a patient’s medical history. This familiarity ensures that one is fully aware of the client they are dealing with and whether they are fit enough for some of the exercise routines being made ready for them (Graves, 2000). Once the decision to begin exercising is reached, cardiac anomalies are usually tested. This examination is done through a graded exercise test. This test was recommended to Mr. Chad because of his age. It is generally not performed on people under the age of 40 years. The test was done with utmost care, under the supervision of three highly trained medical personnel, who had brought with them emergency response medical equipment. A treadmill was used for running and walking exercises, after which his heart rate and blood pressure were measured and compared to the standard range. To determine how hard Mr. Chad should train, a level of exercise intensity that would reasonably overload his cardiovascular system was identified. This identification was through the THR, which relates increasing exercise intensity to a faster heartbeat. The increasing pulse is caused by the muscles demanding for more blood and oxygen. After this test, the next exercise was to assess Mr. Chad’s cardiovascular endurance. This examination was done through the 12-minute run-walk test. The test was used to verify aerobic fitness levels before and after training. In this exercise, Mr. Chad covered a distance of 1.3 miles in 12 minutes, indicating that he had good cardiovascular endurance (Graves, 2000). Having tested Mr. Chad’s cardiovascular endurance, a

Internal Control Essay Example for Free

Internal Control Essay 1. Inform the President of any new internal control requirements if the company decides to go public.  As per the accident that happened in the company about some employees was viewing pornography on company computer and he had a hard time to get his employees admitted that they were the one who doing it. He should use limit access by individual passwords for each person to log in the computer systems. To make sure that which person was log on in the computer and do bad thing during that period. 2. Advise the President of what the company is doing right (they are doing some things well) and also recommend to the President whether or not they should buy the indelible ink machine. When your advice the President, please be sure to reference the applicable internal control principle that applies. From the passage that the accountant has recently started using prenumbered invoices following by the principle of internet control activities. Please find the Documentation Procedures passage below. From the passage, the president wants to buy an indelible ink machine to print their checks. In my opinion, I would like to recommend that he should buy an indelible ink machine following by the principle of internal control activities. Please find the Physical Controls passage below. Principles of internal control activities Documentation Procedures Companies should establish procures for documents. First, whenever possible, companies should use prenumbered documents, and all documents should be account for. Prenumbering helps to prevent a transaction from being recorded more than once, or conversely, from not bring recorded at all. Second, the control system shown that employees should promptly forward source documents for accounting entries to the accounting entries to the accounting  department. This control measure helps to ensure timely recording of the transaction and contributes directly to the accuracy and reliability of the accounting record. Require use prenumbered checks and account for them in sequence; each check must have an approved invoice; require employees to use corporate credit cards for reimbursable expenses; stamp invoices â€Å"paid†. Physical Controls Store blank checks in safes, with limited access; print check amounts by machine in indelible ink. 3. Advise the President of what the company is doing wrong (they are definitely doing some things poorly). Please be sure to include the internal control principle that is being violated along with a recommendation for improvement. Following from the passage that they have one accountant who serves as Treasurer and Controller which streamlines many of their processes. In this dual role, he purchases all of the supplies and pays for these purchases. He also recieves the checks and completes the monthly bank recommendation. The accountant is so busy that the company handels pretty cash a bit differently. He should asign duties to more than one person not only one because it hard for one person to control and serves as treasurer and controller in the same time. Following by Principles of internal control activities. Please find Segregation of Duties and Establishment of Responsibility passage below. From the following passage that all employees have access to the petty cash in a desk drawer and are asked to only place a note if they use any of the cash. In my opinion, he should limit access to the petty cash in a desk drawer, only one person could have responsible for the petty cash. Following by Principles of internal control activities. Please see the Establishment of Responsibility passage below. Principles of internal control activities Segregation of Duties Different individuals approve and make payments; check singers do not record disbursements Segregation of duties is indispensable in an internal control system. There are two common applications of this principle: 1. Different individuals should be responsible for related activities. 2. The responsibility for record-keeping for an asset should be separate from the physical custody of that asset. The rational for segregation of duties is this: The work of one employee should, without a duplication of effort, provide a reliable basis for evaluating the work of another employee. Segregation of related activities making one individual responsible for related activities increases the potential for errors and irregularities. Establishment of Responsibility An essential principle of international control is to assign responsibility to specific employees. Control is most effective when only one person is responsible for given task. Establishing responsibility often requires limiting access only to authorized personnel, and then identifying those personnel. Only designated personnel are authorized to sign checks (treasurer) and approve vendors. Compare checks to invoices; reconcile bank statement monthly

How Do the Media Shape Public Attitude to Welfare Provision?

How Do the Media Shape Public Attitude to Welfare Provision? How do the media shape public attitudes to welfare provision? Research has shown that in previous spells of economic crisis that the public’s attitude to welfare provision grows more sympathetic (Taylor-Gooby, 2004, as cited in Clery, 2012: 2) and, therefore, during the current economic crisis within the UK, we would expect that this trend would continue. Clery (2012: 17), however, found that the public are more sceptical about the welfare system and that there is ‘less enthusiasm about public spending on all types of benefits and an increasing belief that the welfare system encourages dependence’. The media is widely cited as being a cause of this shift in public attitude to welfare provision. The ubiquitousness of the media gives potential to ‘educate, raise consciousness and shape public attitudes’ (Kinder, 1998 as cited in Bullock, 2001: 229) on issues, such as welfare, particularly when there is no personal experience or background knowledge of the issue. There are many news stories which highlight a high proportion of fraud within the welfare system, primarily focusing on single parents, unemployed and disabled. Benefit fraud has always been an issue but ‘there is very little evidence to suggest that fraud is a major problem.however, there is a widespread belief that the system is riddled with fraud’ (Spicker, 2011). Evidence from DWP (2014) suggests that official and claimant error is actually higher than benefit fraud within the UK (see Figure 1.1) and fraud by unemployed claiming Jobseekers allowance is at the lower end of the scale (Figure 1.2). Figure 1.1: Estimated percentage of expenditure overpaid due to fraud, claimant error and official error since 2005/06 Source: DWP Fraud and Error in the Benefit System: 2012/2013 (Great Britain) Figure 1.2: Which Benefit has the Most Fraud and Error Overpayment Source: DWP Fraud and Error in the Benefit System: 2012/2013 (Great Britain) Another frequent story within the British media is that of single mothers abusing the welfare system, thus labelling all single mothers and attaching a stigma of the ‘welfare queen who exploits the system to live a lavish lifestyle’ (Lipset, 1990, as cited in Bullock et al, 2001: 230). Wilthorn (1996, as cited Bullock et al, 2001: 234) demonstrated that welfare recipients are one of the most hated and stereotyped groups in contemporary society and a series on poverty by Parisi (1998, as cited in Clawson and Trice, 2000: 54) illustrated how the ‘media perpetuate stereotypes of the poor as lazy, sexually irresponsible and criminally deviant’. Larsen and Dejgaard (2013: 288) argue that such stereotypical images created by portrayal of welfare recipients in the media are difficult to remove and that they have a significant impact on the public determining whether they perceive claimants to be deserving or not. Stereotyping these groups ‘acts both as a justificatory device for categorical acceptance or rejection†¦to maintain simplicity in perception and in thinking’ according to Allport (1954; 1979: 192). Sotorovic (2000: 269) demonstrates, however, that journalists believe they accurately report on issues which are important and reflect the public’s point of view, however the opinion of Jones (2014: URL) contradicts this: ‘The Government and†¦the media have fed us a relentless, poisonous diet of â€Å"skivers† and â€Å"scroungers†, of the feckless and workshy hiding behind blinds, subsidised by you, the hard-working taxpayer, who have to get up in the morning and slog your guts out. It was the behaviour of those at the top of society which led to a surge in unemployment†¦ and hundreds of thousands driven to food banks in one of the richest countries on earth†¦. it is the behaviour of those at the bottom of society that has been scrutinised, poked, criticised, and demonised’. There are some claimants who take advantage of the system and live off the taxpayer, however the minority who do are thrown into the public’s eye through competitive truth-stretching headlines, selective reporting and pictures to provide ‘texture, drama and detailed images’ which illustrate the ‘taken for granted’ and the ‘goes without saying’ FIGURE 2: NEGATIVE VOCABULARY IN NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON WORKING AGE BENEFITS: CONSISTENT TITLES, 1995-2011 Source: Turn2Us (2012: 41) (Clawson and Trice, 2000: 55), giving the perception that the UK has a culture of worklessness. The idea of ‘worklessness’ could be dispersed by the results of a survey conducted by the IFS on the UK benefit system where it was found that the majority of the welfare budget was paid to the elderly (42.3%), and only 2.57% paid to the unemployed (IFS, 2012: URL). Respondents in a poll carried out by the TUC wrongly believed that 41% of the welfare budget was paid to the unemployed (TUC, 2013: URL). There has been an increase in negative language used by the media over the past 10 years (Figure 2) with language referring to non-reciprocity/lack of effort escalating at the time of New Labour’s third term reforms and the Conservative’s ‘Broken Britain’ agenda. It could be argued that this marked a shift in the public discourse of welfare in the UK to an ‘essentially individualistic ethic of responsibility’ (Dean, 2004: 78). The negative language seen within media in the UK does not appear cross-nationally. Larsen and Dejgaard (2013) argue that this is due to institutional models of welfare and the UK’s move from a soft social democratic regime to a harsh liberal one which creates deservingness discussions in the media, often highlighting laziness as the cause of poverty which may be due to the liberal ideologies of individualism and responsibility. The study found that media within the contrasted Nordic social democratic countries tended to focus on welfare in a more positive light referring to the ‘deserving poor’, with no blame on the claimants. It would appear that the high levels of perceived undeservingness and the negativity towards the poor and welfare recipients may be due to the means-tested and non-contributory welfare system in the UK (Larsen, 2006, as cited in Larsen, 2013). Larsen (2013: 298) also suggested that political orientation may be reason for the negative depict ion within the media, particularly given the scandals surrounding the Murdoch Empire. At the time of the Conservative’s election manifesto, The Sun Newspaper publicly announced that they had lost faith in the Labour party and would support the Conservatives in the upcoming election (Brook and Wintour, 2009: URL) to fix the broken society which we live in. This support of one of the largest newspapers within the United Kingdom may have had a large impact on their reader’s opinion, shaping their belief that society was broken, and a change in government with subsequent welfare reform was required to make it better, rather than looking at the real broken Britain: the reasons for the economic crisis rather than focusing on the vulnerable, the reasons for high unemployment and the  £25b outstanding from wealthy tax dodgers. It leads to an argument whether the media should be able to publicly support any governmental party or whether they should remain impartial rather than inflict their political ideology onto the public. Liberal ideology and social class also had a strong influence in the reporting of two missing girls, Madeleine McCann and Shannon Matthews. Whilst both girls were around the same age, their different class backgrounds demonstrated media bias in the reporting of the two cases and there was belief amongst the media that Madeleine was worth more as she was from a middle class background and a substantially higher reward was offered for her safe return. On the other hand, Shannon’s disappearance was used as a political tool on ‘scroungers’ and ‘to fix broken Britain’ (Jones, 2012). The signs are that the media is and will become more dominated by the most privileged (The Sutton Trust, 2006) which will create further bias and inequality within the industry, therefore The National Union of Journalists need to toughen up, ensuring that journalists operate ethically and morally and not as they did in the Matthews case. The media has been the most widely cited cause of influencing public attitudes, it is however clear that there are other factors: ‘the image of claimants as social parasites was evident long before the press became a major factor influencing opinions; the rejection of the dependent poor goes much deeper’ (Spicker 1984, as cited in Turn2Us, 2012: 54). The media, policy and the public are interconnected and they can influence each other, however the media has the opportunity and the power to reach the widespread public through newspapers, television, social media etc. It stands that if the media continue to use their ideological-driven partisan reporting to fuel misconceptions rather than give facts, the era of welfare cuts and austerity will prolong with the eventual demise of the welfare state, as believed by almost 60% of voters in a survey by commissioned by Christian Think Tax, Theos (Press Association, 2014: URL). A healthy media would stand up to the powerful and we althy to change the myths and prejudices (Jones, 2014) and protect the vulnerable as the modern welfare state intended. Word count: 1478 References Allport, G W (1954/1979). ‘The Nature of Prejudice’. Cambridge, MA. Perseus Books. Brooke, S and Wintour, P (2009). ‘Sun turns its back on Labour after 12 years of support’, available at http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/sep/30/sun-ditches-labour-for-tories [accessed 18 February 2014]. Bullock, H E (2001). Media Images of the Poor, Journal of Social Issues, 57(2): 229-246. Clawson, R A and Trice, R (2000). ‘Poverty as we know it: media portrayals of the poor’. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 64 (1): 53–64. Clery, E (2012). ‘Are tough times affecting attitudes to welfare?’, British Social Attitudes: the 29th report, available from http://www.bsa-29.natcen.ac.uk/downloads.spx [accessed 27 December 2013]. Dean, Hartley (2004). Popular discourse and the ethical deficiency of Third Way conceptions of citizenship. Citizenship studies, 8 (1). pp. 65-82. Department of Work and Pensions (2014). Fraud and Error in the Benefit System: 2012/13 Estimates (Great Britain), available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/271654/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-2012-13_estimates-160114.pdf [accessed 12 February 2014]. Institute of Fiscal Studies (2012). A Study of the UK Benefit System, available at http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn13.pdf [accessed 16 February 2014]. Jones, O (2014). ‘Benefits Street: A Healthy media would stand up to the powerful and wealthy. Ours targets the poor and voiceless’, available at http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/benefits-street-a-healthy-media-would-stand-up-to-the-powerful-and-wealthy-ours-targets-the-poor-and-voiceless-9046773.html [accessed 12 January 2014]. Jones, O (2014). ‘Owen Jones: My latest battle to stop the demonisation of people on benefits’, available at http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/owen-jones-my-latest-battle-to-stop-the-demonising-of-people-on-benefits-9136123.html [accessed 18 February 2014]. Jones, O. (2012). ‘The strange case of Shannon Matthews’, Chapter 1 in Chavs. The demonization of the working class, London and New York: Verso. Larsen, C A and Dejgaard, T E (2013). ‘The institutional logic of images of the poor and welfare recipients: A comparative study of British, Swedish and Danish newspapers’, Journal of European Social Policy, 23(3): 287-299. Press Association (2014). ‘Voters gloomy on future of welfare’, available at http://money.uk.msn.com/news/voters-gloomy-on-future-of-welfare [accessed 20 February 2014]. Sotirovic, Mira (2000). Effects of Media Use on Audience Framing and Support for Welfare. Mass Communication and Society, 3(2-3): 269-296. Spicker, P (2011). ’How social security works: An introduction to Benefits in Britain’. Bristol, The Polity Press. The Sutton Trust (2006). ’The Educational Backgrounds of Leading Journalists’, available at http://www.suttontrust.com/public/documents/2Journalists-backgrounds-final-report.pdf [accessed 2 February 2014]. Trade Union Congress (2013). YouGov/TUC Survey Results: Welfare Poll, available at http://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Welfarepoll_summaryresults.pdf [accessed 16 February 2014]. Turn2Us (2012), ‘Benefits Stigma in Britain’, available at http://www.turn2us.org.uk/pdf/Benefits%20stigma%20Draft%20report%20v9.pdf [accessed 27 December 2.014].

The Role of Women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay -- Essays P

The Role of Women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight In the Fourteenth Century, Feudalism and its offspring, chivalry, were in decline due to drastic social and economic changes. In this light, _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_ presents both a nostalgic support of the feudal hierarchies and an implicit criticism of changes, which, if left unchecked will lead to its ultimate destruction. I would suggest that the women in the story are the Gawain poet's primary instruments in this critique and reinforcement of Feudalism. By positioning The Virgin Mary (as the singular female archetype representing spiritual love, obedience, chastity, and life) against Morgan and Bertilak's wife (who represent the traditional female archetypes of courtly love, disobedience, lust and death) the Gawain poet points out the conflict between courtly love and spiritual love which he, and other critics of the time, felt had drastically weakened the religious values behind chivalry. As such, the poem is a warning to its Aristocratic readers that the traditional r eligious values underlying the feudal system must be upheld in order to avert destruction of their way of life. It is easy to read _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_ as a romantic celebration of chivalry, but Ruth Hamilton believes that "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight contains a more wide-ranging, more serious criticism of chivalry than has heretofore been noticed" (113). Specifically, she feels that the poet is showing Gawain's reliance on chivalry's outside form and substance at the expense of the original values of the Christian religion from which it sprang. As she shows, "the first order of knights were monastic ones, who took vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity. The first duties th... ...eties facing Arthur's Camelot--specifically women, magic, adultery, and incest--with Morgan representing a trope for all the ills. Morgan, Gerald. "The Action of the Hunting and Bedroom Scenes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Medium Aevum 56 (1987): 200-16. Morgan argues that a moral struggle is suggested by the juxtaposition of the hunt scenes and the bedroom scenes, with the Lady in the role of the hunter and Gawain as the hunted. Warner, Marina. Alone of all Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1976. Warner's book details the special importance of the Virgin Mary throughout Christianity and explores her religious and secular meaning. She discusses such things as the Church's attitude toward virginity, the role model of the Virgin martyr, the Virgin's relics, and her role as an intercessor with God. The Role of Women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay -- Essays P The Role of Women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight In the Fourteenth Century, Feudalism and its offspring, chivalry, were in decline due to drastic social and economic changes. In this light, _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_ presents both a nostalgic support of the feudal hierarchies and an implicit criticism of changes, which, if left unchecked will lead to its ultimate destruction. I would suggest that the women in the story are the Gawain poet's primary instruments in this critique and reinforcement of Feudalism. By positioning The Virgin Mary (as the singular female archetype representing spiritual love, obedience, chastity, and life) against Morgan and Bertilak's wife (who represent the traditional female archetypes of courtly love, disobedience, lust and death) the Gawain poet points out the conflict between courtly love and spiritual love which he, and other critics of the time, felt had drastically weakened the religious values behind chivalry. As such, the poem is a warning to its Aristocratic readers that the traditional r eligious values underlying the feudal system must be upheld in order to avert destruction of their way of life. It is easy to read _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_ as a romantic celebration of chivalry, but Ruth Hamilton believes that "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight contains a more wide-ranging, more serious criticism of chivalry than has heretofore been noticed" (113). Specifically, she feels that the poet is showing Gawain's reliance on chivalry's outside form and substance at the expense of the original values of the Christian religion from which it sprang. As she shows, "the first order of knights were monastic ones, who took vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity. The first duties th... ...eties facing Arthur's Camelot--specifically women, magic, adultery, and incest--with Morgan representing a trope for all the ills. Morgan, Gerald. "The Action of the Hunting and Bedroom Scenes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Medium Aevum 56 (1987): 200-16. Morgan argues that a moral struggle is suggested by the juxtaposition of the hunt scenes and the bedroom scenes, with the Lady in the role of the hunter and Gawain as the hunted. Warner, Marina. Alone of all Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1976. Warner's book details the special importance of the Virgin Mary throughout Christianity and explores her religious and secular meaning. She discusses such things as the Church's attitude toward virginity, the role model of the Virgin martyr, the Virgin's relics, and her role as an intercessor with God.

Destructive Materialism in The Pearl :: essays research papers

In The Pearl, the author, John Steinbeck, uses the pearl to express what human nature is. Kino, a poor pearl fisher, finds the ?pearl of the world? and imagines all the things he will buy after he has sold the pearl. At the beginning of the novel, the pearl that Kino finds is described as being large, incandescent and as "perfect as the moon", by the end of the novel, Kino looks at the pearl and it is "ugly, gray, like a malignant growth." In general, mankinds are greedy, deceptive and evil. In the novel, Steinbeck tries to spread the message that materialism destroys people. In the novel, The Pearl, John Steinbeck does an excellent job portraying how materialism destroys people. Juana says to Kino ?This pearl is evil. This pearl is like a sin. It will destroy us all!?(38). Even though Juana warns Kino that the pearl will bring misfortunes to the family and advises him to throw the pearl away, Kino neither takes the advice nor listens to what his wife says because Kino's mind is already overtaken by his dreams. Kino puts the pearl before his family and even if his wife takes it, he attacks her to reclaim it. ?He [strikes] her in the face and she [falls] among the boulders, and he [kicks] her in the side...He [hisses] at her like a snake and she [stares] at him with wide unfrightened eyes, like a sheep before a butcher? (59). Kino hits his wife and becomes more evil after he has found the pearl. Also, Kino has lost his humanity and becomes like an animal. He will not consider his family anymore like he used to because he has turned evil and he is overtake n by his dreams. Steinbeck uses the scene where people burn down Kino's house to show humans do evil acts to harm someone. Since the pearl dealers cannot think of a way that can deceive Kino, they burn down his house in revenge, which makes Kino's family become homeless.

Competition :: English Literature Essays

Competition Schools vary greatly in their competitive natures. Sixty-three percent of the students from John Hopkins University School of Medicine, for example, feel their classmates are extremely competitive, and most say they study very hard. On the opposite end, Yale University School of Medicine has a unique evaluation system in which there are no grades. This system produces an extremely non-competitive atmosphere. It is up to us to decide whether competition is healthy or unhealthy. However, there is a difference between trying to do our best and trying to do better than everyone else. There’s nothing wrong with setting high goals and working to achieve them, but strong competitive feelings often produce unnecessary stress and anxiety which can get in the way of success. Even worse, competition can also cause death or even create serious problems in our society. Competitive games are detrimental to children’s learning. A warm, friendly, relaxed, and safe environment is the best environment to encourage children to acquire language. Yes, competitive games can motivate able children, but they also discourage those with less ability. In the classrooms, children are eager to play games, but once a child feels there is no chance of winning, he or she â€Å"switches off†. If the child begins to mess around with the game equipment (card, dice, etc) or use it in a laborious or exaggerated fashion, then that is indication that the child is not focused on the activity. And if the child is not focused, then the value of the activity is nil. However, the desire to win games can also make children much more interested in learning. In the worst cases, victory in games can become a horrible one-upmanship. English is not enjoyed for its own sake but becomes a means to put down others. In his essay, â€Å"Stop Trying to Beat Your Competitorsâ € , Oren Harari says: â€Å"Attitude implies that the competition is leading the market, and that the only possible solution is to eliminate that competitor† (1). By definition, competition is working for a goal in such a way as to prevent others from reaching their goals; however, in our society, we simply put it this way: I win by making sure that you lose. At a Cyber Internet Cafà © (CIC) place last year, death actually occurred because of competition. Counter-Strike is a very popular game for teens; since most of them don’t have fast computer and internet connections at home, they usually go to Cyber Cafe and pay two dollars for an hour to play games with their friends or other people online. Competition :: English Literature Essays Competition Schools vary greatly in their competitive natures. Sixty-three percent of the students from John Hopkins University School of Medicine, for example, feel their classmates are extremely competitive, and most say they study very hard. On the opposite end, Yale University School of Medicine has a unique evaluation system in which there are no grades. This system produces an extremely non-competitive atmosphere. It is up to us to decide whether competition is healthy or unhealthy. However, there is a difference between trying to do our best and trying to do better than everyone else. There’s nothing wrong with setting high goals and working to achieve them, but strong competitive feelings often produce unnecessary stress and anxiety which can get in the way of success. Even worse, competition can also cause death or even create serious problems in our society. Competitive games are detrimental to children’s learning. A warm, friendly, relaxed, and safe environment is the best environment to encourage children to acquire language. Yes, competitive games can motivate able children, but they also discourage those with less ability. In the classrooms, children are eager to play games, but once a child feels there is no chance of winning, he or she â€Å"switches off†. If the child begins to mess around with the game equipment (card, dice, etc) or use it in a laborious or exaggerated fashion, then that is indication that the child is not focused on the activity. And if the child is not focused, then the value of the activity is nil. However, the desire to win games can also make children much more interested in learning. In the worst cases, victory in games can become a horrible one-upmanship. English is not enjoyed for its own sake but becomes a means to put down others. In his essay, â€Å"Stop Trying to Beat Your Competitorsâ € , Oren Harari says: â€Å"Attitude implies that the competition is leading the market, and that the only possible solution is to eliminate that competitor† (1). By definition, competition is working for a goal in such a way as to prevent others from reaching their goals; however, in our society, we simply put it this way: I win by making sure that you lose. At a Cyber Internet Cafà © (CIC) place last year, death actually occurred because of competition. Counter-Strike is a very popular game for teens; since most of them don’t have fast computer and internet connections at home, they usually go to Cyber Cafe and pay two dollars for an hour to play games with their friends or other people online.

Math Achievement Essay

Abstract This paper outlines the author’s purpose for reviewing literature on gender differences in mathematics education. An overview of research findings on gender and mathematics from industrial societies (USA, Australia, and UK) and from some developing countries in Southern Africa (South Africa, Mozambique, and Botswana) is then presented. Some causal factors for the existence of gender differences in mathematics achievement are critiqued and the link between mathematics and social entities (democracy and power) are challenged. The implications of the above for research on girls learning mathematics in Botswana (and Africa) are finally suggested. Introduction Literature review should not be considered as merely part of the requirements in scholarly enterprises, but as a critical undertaking in which the investigator exercises a constant scepticism on an issue of interest. In this paper, literature review is used as a process to critique the conscious and unconscious assumptions of scholarly research on gender differentials in mathematics education. It serves as a qualitative analysis to determine how these assumptions force the definition of problems and findings of such scholarly research efforts. The paper examines literature on research studies which have dealt with gender differentials in mathematics classroom dynamics. The disenfranchisement of girls in mathematics learning discourses and girls’ motivational orientations in mathematics are important issues for the human development efforts in Botswana. The paper draws upon literature from  Western countries, specifically the USA, the UK and Australia where research on gender differences in mathematics has been considerable and influential. The socio-political, cultural and socioeconomic contexts in these countries, however, differ from those of Southern Africa in many aspects of development (education, technology, economic, etc.), but there are possibilities to draw parallels, albeit in a limited way. Through considering parallels and differences between Western industrial cultures and Africa, the paper examines issues pertinent to African girls affecting their education. The literature analysis is against the backdrop of problems such as HIV/AIDS and unplanned pregnancies faced by girls within African communities. Botswana (like most of Africa) is grappling with the HIV/AIDS pandemic; high levels of unemployment and poverty (BIDPA, 2000). The African Economic Commission (1999:5) states that: Data from Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe indicate that girls 15 to 19 years old have an (HIV/AIDS) infection rate four to ten times that of boys in the same group. This is the age group within which research on gender and mathematics has tended to focus. According to Okojie (2001), the Botswana study, commissioned by the African Academy of Sciences Research Programme, indicated the rate of teenage pregnancy being higher than that of most other African countries. HIV/AIDS, unplanned pregnancies and lack of interest in mathematics are amongst real problems that girls in the developing world face which must be taken on board when embarking on a sociological research analysis involving gender differences. Notwithstanding these developments, the question of how to motivate students in the classroom is a leading concern for teachers of all disciplines. Student motivation becomes especially relevant to mathematics education in the light of recurring questions about how to get more students interested and involved in the subject. As we proceed in the new millennium, Botswana is plagued with significant high-school dropout rates and declining interest in mathematics among secondary school students. Educators and policy makers  need to understand the educational techniques that may ‘suffocate students’ interest in learning’ (Boggiano and Pittman, 1992), then work to rekindle that interest. This paper is concerned with the use of mathematics as a ‘filter’ for further education and career choices. This affects girls more as they tend to shy away from the study of higher level mathematics, science and engineering as reflected in the University of Botswana yearly intake (Fact Books 2002; 2003; 2004/5; 2005/6). The literature analysis proceeds from an articulation of girls’ reported achievement tendencies within mathematics learning discourses in the developed world and explores the situation in Africa, particularly Southern Africa, with a special focus on Botswana. Gender differences in mathematics education The developed world’s perspective on gender and mathematics Contemporary research studies reflect scholars’ maturing view of the complexity of causation of differences between males and females in mathematics education. As Fennema (2000) rightly points out, from around 1970, ‘sex differences’ index was used to imply that any differences found were biologically, and thus, genetically determined, immutable and not changeable. During the 70’s and 80’s ‘sex-related differences’ criterion was often used to indicate that while the behaviour of concern was clearly related to the sex of the subjects, it was not necessarily genetically determined. Latey, ‘gender differences’ refers to social or environmental causation of differences that are observed between the sexes. This paper critically reviews work by leading researchers in the era of this new understanding of gender differences. According to Leder (1996) there were probably more research studies published on gender and mathematics than any other area between 1970 and 1990. Fennema (1993, 2000) concluded that while many studies had been poorly analysed and/or included sexist interpretations, there was evidence to support the existence of differences between girls’ and boys’ learning of mathematics, particularly in activities that required complex reasoning; that the differences increased at about the onset of adolescence and were recognised by many leading mathematics  educators. Salmon (1998) concurred with the notion that gender differences increase at secondary school level, particularly in situations that require complex reasoning. In the absence of an African position disputing such views, it suffices to assume that similar differences might occur in the Southern African c ontexts. Studies by Fennema and Sherman (1977, 1978) documented sex-related differences in achievement and participation, and found gender differences in the election of advanced level mathematics courses. They hypothesised that if females participated in advanced mathematics classes at the same rate that males did, gender differences would disappear. Stanley and Benbow (1980) used interpretations of some of their studies as a refutation of this ‘differential course-taking hypothesis’. They argued that gender differences in mathematics were genetic, a claim which was widely attacked and disproved, but whose publication had unfortunate repercussions (Jacobs and Eccles, 1985). Fennema and Sherman (1977, 1978) identified as critical, beliefs about the usefulness of, and confidence in learning mathematics, with males providing evidence that they were more confident about learning mathematics and believed that mathematics was, and would be, more useful to them than did females. There was evidence that while young men did not strongly stereotype mathematics as a male domain, they did believe much more strongly than did young women that mathematics was more appropriate for males than for females. The importance of these variables (confidence, usefulness and male stereotyping), their long-term influence, and their differential impact on females and males was re-confirmed by many other studies (Hyde et al., 1990; Tartre and Fennema, 1991; Leder, 1992). Earlier, Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) had reported differences between females and males in spatial skills, particularly spatial visualization or the ability to visualize movements of geometric figures in one’s mind. The Fennema-Sherman studies and the Fennema and Tartre (1985) longitudinal study investigated spatial skills or spatial visualisation. They found that while spatial visualisation was positively correlated with mathematics achievement  (that does not indicate causation), not all girls were handicapped by inadequate spatial skills, except those who scored very low on spatial tasks. Fennema (1993) suggested that an appropriate curriculum redesign could compensate for these weak skills. Other studies (Kerns and Berenbaum, 1991; Voyer, Voyer and Bryden, 1995) reported boys outperforming girls on tests of visual/spatial abilities: the ability, that is, to draw inferences about or to otherwise mentally manipulate pictorial information. The male advantage in spatial abilities was reportedly not large, but detectable by middle childhood and persisted across the life span. Casey, Nuttall and Pezaris (1997) concluded that sex differences in visual/spatial abilities and the problem-solving strategies they support contribute to sex differences in arithmetic reasoning. Although they were not particularly innovative nor offered insights that others were not suggesting, the Fennema-Sherman studies had a major impact since they were published when the concern with gender and mathematics was growing internationally. They were identified by Walberg & Haertel (1992) and others as among the most often quoted social science and educational research studies during the 80’s and 90’s. The problems of gender and mathematics were defined and documented in terms of the study of advanced mathematics courses, the learning of mathematics, and selected related variables that appeared relevant both to students’ selection of courses and learning of mathematics. The Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales have been widely used as guidelines for planning interventions and research studies. Campbell (1986) found that girls’ lack of confidence in themselves as mathematics learners, their perception of mathematics as difficult, and their view that mathematics is a male activity, all had impact on girls’ attitudes, achievement, and participation in advanced courses. In a longitudinal study of sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades, Tartre and Fennema (1991) found that, for girls, viewing mathematics as a male domain was correlated to mathematics achievement. Girls in single-sex schools or in out-of-school mathematics projects – who did not see mathematics as an exclusively male domain tended to have higher mathematics success. When this dynamic was changed to make mathematics accessible to both girls and boys, girls’ interest and involvement were found to rise. Reyes and Stanic (1988) and Secada (1992) have argued that socioeconomic status and ethnicity interact with gender to influence mathematics learning. Forgasz and Leder (1998) share the view that gender differentials in participation rates are associated with the interaction of positive attitudes and beliefs about mathematics and socioeconomic status. The transferability of these findings, based on Western cultural concepts, poses a problem for African contexts. Socioeconomic status indicators in Botswana for instance, somewhat differ from the UK model and need be appropriately contextualised. The question of ethnicity also becomes problematic in the Botswana context since about 85% of the population is of Tswana ethnic origin. Moreover, ethnic differences have never been of significance and might not necessarily affect gender differences in mathematics in the same way as in Western contexts. Trends of gender differences in mathematics from the United Kingdom The gender gap in performance throughout the subjects in the United Kingdom has been shifting in favour of girls since the early 1990s. In national curriculum tests and at higher level GCSE grades, girls outperform boys. For example, in 1997, 49% of girls achieved five or more higher grade GCSEs compared with 40% boys (DfEE, 1997). However, at the lower levels of GCSE attainment, the gender gap is smaller in percentage point terms. In 1997, 8.8% of boys and 6.5% of girls failed to gain GCSE qualifications (DfEE, 1997). These figures show some of the paradoxes in gender and attainment. Males gain most of the higher education top awards but the trend is for girls in general to do better in public examinations than boys – differences which are apparent in the earlier years of schooling. Consequently, current concerns about schooling are now more related to boys’ underachievement (as demonstrated in public examinations) than to that of girls. The question is whether such outcomes at school and higher education reflect approaches to assessment, methods of teaching, and/or expectations of society. The OfSTED (2003) report found that boys progress more than girls in mathematics throughout schools. Research indicated that in mathematics the gap between boys and girls attaining level 4 and above at the end of Key Stage 2 was only one percentage point, with boys at 73% and girls at 72%; however, 32% of boys achieved level 5 and above whilst only 26% girls did (OfSTED, 2003:13). According to OfSTED (2003:14) although the differences are smaller than those in English, it is a continuous trend and it is therefore still vital to understand why girls perform better in certain subjects such as literacy and underachieve in comparison to boys in mathematics. One key reason may be the perception girls have of this subject area. The 1998 OfSTED Report on ‘Recent Research on Gender and Education Performance’ stated that â€Å"science, mathematics, technology, ICT and PE are rated as ‘masculine’ by pupils and preferred by boys† (Arnot et al., 1998:31). Girls rated English, humanities, music, PSE and RE as feminine and preferred by girls. However, Archer and Macrae (1991) are cited in the same OfSTED report suggesting that mathematics has become more gender neutral perhaps reflected in the smaller gap between genders than that of literacy. The reason the gap has become smaller may be because girls are more prepared to tackle ‘masculine’ subjects. Public concern about the underperformance of boys has risen since the early 1990s as girls outstripped their male classmates academically. Although the proportion getting five C’s or better increased from 38% in 1996 to 46% in 2003, the gender gap remained steady at 10 percentage points in favour of girls. Both boys and girls in deprived areas got much lower grades than their more advantaged peers. But while girls in poor areas were improving faster than those in affluent areas, the gap between rich and poor boys remained constant. Dr. Deborah Wilson, Bristol University expert on the gender gap in schools, argued that the differences are likely to be a result of factors outside school: â€Å"The effect of poverty on exam results is greater than the effect of gender. If we focus more on the reasons for poverty affecting performance we might get better results for both boys and girls†Ã‚  (TES, 13 August 2004). According to Mendick (2002), in England, the evolving gendered patterns of attainment in mathematics need to be juxtaposed with the unchanging gendered patterns of participation in the subject. There are very few remaining differences between the attainment of male and female students in either GCSE, AS, or A-level mathematics examinations (taken at ages 16+, 17+ and 18 respectively) (Gorard et al., 2001; Guardian, 2002a, 2002b). Although boys are still more likely to secure the top A* and A grades at GCSE and A-level respectively, the differences are small and getting smaller. In contrast to these shifting patterns of attainment, the decision to continue with advanced mathematics remains highly gendered in favour of boys. This polarization persists despite decades of feminist intervention; as Shaw (1995:107) argues: â€Å"the most striking feature of subject choice is that the freer it is, the more gendered it is.† In fact, from 1994 to 2002, the proportion of the total number of 17 and 18 year-olds entered for A-level mathematics in England who are male showed little change, dropping only slightly from 65% to 63% (Government Statistical Service, 1995 to 2002; Guardian, 2002b). This greater participation of males in mathematics courses becomes more pronounced as you go up the levels from A-level, to undergraduate, and then to postgraduate, and is reflected in the larger number of men than women working in mathematically-oriented fields. Mendick (2002:1) argued: The gender gap in maths performance in this country, while still marginally in favour of boys, is continuing to narrow (Smithers, 2000; Gorard et al., 2001). However, the gender gap in participation in maths remains in spite of more than two decades of feminist initiatives for change. Moreover, maths becomes increasingly male dominated as we progress from sixth-form (ages 16 to 19) to undergraduate levels, and from undergraduate to postgraduate levels (Boaler, 2000)†¦ girls continue to disproportionately opt out of maths, a powerful area of the curriculum that provides a ‘critical filter’ (Sells, 1980) to high status areas of academia  and employment. The above suggests that although girls are doing better than boys overall across the subject areas in the UK, they still fall behind when choosing mathematics at higher levels of the education system. Mendick also portrays mathematics as a powerful subject, a signifier of intelligence that acts as a ‘critical filter’ controlling entry to higher status areas of academia and employment. Thus, for those concerned with social justice, it is pertinent to ask how it is that people come to choose mathematics and in what ways this process is gendered, which is the point of concern for this paper. According to Bevan (2005), the findings from the review of existing research included evidence that girls outperform boys in mathematics up to the beginning of A-level, but that the differences are small, and are not consistent across all components of the subject; attitudes to mathematics vary according to gender; there are significant differences in the expectations of boys and girls regarding their own performance in mathematics; boys and girls differ in their typical learning styles; and that ability grouping impacts differently on boys and girls. Bevan’s (2005) interviews revealed that teachers with very limited exposure to formal research were able to articulate judgments about gender differences in learning mathematics based solely on classroom experience; and that their intuitive judgments were often broadly correct, but tended to exaggerate the extent of any real differences. Presently there is no comparative research concerning Botswana teachers’ judgments on gender differences in the learning of mathematics. Sparkes (1999) pointed out that the gender gap in the UK was related to a variety of social issues including: parents’ educational attainment, growing up dependent on an income support recipient/eligible for free school meals, housing tenure and conditions, family structure (such as lone parent family), parental interest, involvement, practice, etc. These trends are different from the situation in Botswana and any comparisons need a contextual analysis of the situation. Perspectives from Africa with specific reference to Southern Africa Gender differences in mathematics education in developing countries are one critical area of research that needs further exploration. There is limited information about the status of contextual research on women and girls in those settings in relationship to their mathematical education. As Kitetu (2004:6-7) acknowledges from an African view: Unfortunately, while a lot of gender programmes have been carried out, not much research has been done within the classroom in the continent. Our understanding of gender in classroom practices is most often based on what has been studied in Western Europe and North America. I would like to argue that there is always a cultural angle in studies of social practices. Fortunately, there are emerging research efforts in the area of mathematics as the African continent begins to face up to the realities of gender differences in classroom practices. The persistent patriarchal attitudes in Africa tended to prevent researchers from problematising the gender issue. Investigating gender differences and Black South African learners’ attitudes towards mathematics, Mahlomaholo and Sematle (2004:4-5) reported that: The differences between boys and girls were very clear at all levels of analysis†¦ For example they (girls) said it was because of parental pressure/choice or because their friends were studying the discipline, or because their teachers instructed them to study mathematics. Others even went to the extent of citing chance or fate as responsible for them taking mathematics as an area of study†¦ They were apologetic and not taking responsibility on themselves†¦ They even expressed their embarrassment at not being good at mathematics, they also expressed the fear for their teachers whom they compared to lions†¦ they tended to agree that mathematics is for all and not for a particular gender. For the girls in Mahlomaholo and Sematle (2004:6-7), mathematics was â€Å"too  difficult† and  Ã¢â‚¬ ¦they were fed up with the subject and†¦ cannot be expected to continue with a subject that they were failing so dismally†¦ did not even have an interest in the subject as it demanded too much work and time to study while the boys saw much value in the discipline†¦There is no reason at all why some human beings do not have appropriate views regarding the study of mathematics, it is only because the views of a culture and a milieu that undermines women speak through them and have manifested themselves firmly in their minds. In their study of three successful women in mathematics related careers, Mahlomaholo and Mathamela (2004:3) reported the prevalence of a conventional patriarchal approach in the South African society. They argued that: It tends to privilege male interests and their privileged positions at the expense of women through the belief that the status quo where male dominate is natural and given†¦ Schools tend to operate in line with this approach. To underscore how the three women persevered in mathematics within the hostile cultural attitudes, Mahlomaholo and Mathamela (2004:7) argued that: †¦socialisation and upbringing, including home and family background, as well as parental support, were identified as factors that enabled the three women to go beyond the limitations of their situations. Mahlomaholo and Mathamela were convinced that beyond contextual and social factors the women had strong conceptions of themselves. They had self-belief in their abilities and a love for mathematics, which could not be dampened either by teachers’ negative remarks or the social structure’s negative stereotypes. The study identified social contextual factors and intra-psychic motivational factors as responsible for enabling female learners of mathematics to either excel or fail at the subject. Cassy (2004:5-6) reported from Mozambique that: â€Å"Although the main aim of the  education policy of the country is to promote, among others, gender equity in access to all education levels, there are more females than males, who do not benefit from this. This gender discrepancy increases over the education levels, being more at the tertiary level and particularly in mathematics and its related fields.† Cassy found significant differences between the patterns of attitudes towards mathematics expressed by boys and girls in which boys rated their attitudes more positively than girls did. Boys were more confident in working in mathematics than girls, and girls were more convinced that mathematics was a male domain than boys. Furthermore, girls were reported to believe much more than boys that mathematics is more appropriate for males than for females. Both girls and boys were found to agree that mathematics was useful. These findings are not different from what has been reported in Western research studies. Perhaps this was to be expected since the study used the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scale with its robust Western cultural questioning style. Cassy (2004:6) acknowledges that: â€Å"the majority of girls did not like the connotation of the items.† This calls for a more contextualised itemisation of the scales adopted from Western research contexts. Chacko (2004) presented another study from a Southern African perspective on the problems of students in learning mathematics and the approaches used in teaching mathematics in South Africa. Chacko reported no differences between girls and boys in terms of liking the subject. Chacko (2004:4) wrote: †¦ they do like mathematics and would like to do well in it but for them it is a very difficult subject. This interest in doing mathematics came out more prominently in township schools where they considered it important for future jobs. The South African students’ belief that mathematics is difficult was found among secondary school students in Zimbabwe (Chacko, 2000). Chacko (2004:4-5) further argues that students were encouraged to do well in mathematics because â€Å"their goals in life are something that is urging them to like mathematics which according to Hannula (2002) is ‘the value of  mathematics – related goals in the student’s global goal structure.’† It seems, from Chacko’s arguments that the liking of mathematics was not intrinsic to the students, but driven by the urge to do well in the subject because of the need and importance it presented for their future trajectories. According to Chacko (2004:8), girls in township schools seemed to spend more of out of school time on household chores, which could affect their studies. The same could be said about Botswana girls as Chacko (2004:5-6) further argued: †¦ chores took most of their time while school work was at the end when they were already tired to concentrate. This is more a developing country problem where chores in the house are kept for girls, which could affect the time they spent on learning and their vision for the future. †¦ Some of the girls in the township schools said that when they do not find time to complete homework, due to the reprimand from teachers, they would rather miss school. Once they miss school, it becomes difficult to catch up, which eventually lead to failure and drop out. Some of these problems are unique to the African contexts, and cannot be ignored when embarking on research on gender and mathematics. Chacko (2004:8) reported that the majority of students wanted mathematics to be made fun and to be related to life where they can see its use. â€Å"Girls in particular would like to see the content related to situations in life where these could be applied.† Some reported being shy and afraid to tell teachers that they did not understand, to avoid being ridiculed in public (by fellow classmates or teachers). Some of these issues are distinctive features of gender differences in African contexts which distinguish them from those of Western industrial societies. From the researcher’s experiences of teaching in secondary schools in Botswana and Nottingham (UK), there seems to be common ground with Chacko’s arguments. Over the years there have been efforts to address the gender disparities in  education in Africa, with a particular concern on the enrolment of girls, which for years has been very low. As Kitetu (2004) put it: The imbalance in boys’ and girls’ participation in schooling was linked to the age-long belief in male superiority and female subordination. This situation was further explained as aggravated by patriarchal practices, which gave girls no traditional rights to succession†¦ encouraged preference to be given to the education of a boy rather than of a girl. These small-scale investigations are recent efforts towards a better understanding of gender differentials in mathematics from an African perspective.