Aegean island of Chios Essays

Aegean island of Chios Essays Aegean island of Chios Essay Aegean island of Chios Essay Introduction In the undermentioned pages I am traveling to show a instance survey refering the Aegean island of Chios, in relation to the statements made alonside this survey. This peculiar instance survey is suited for the presentation and scrutiny of the current state of affairss every bit good as development proposals and development of the island from a tourer company or a tourer developer point of position. Description OF THE ISLAND The island of Chios covers an country of 342 square kilometres and has a population of about 60,000, a denseness of 62.35 dwellers per square kilometer. ( The corresponding figure for the state as a whole is 66.5 dwellers per kilometer ) . Administratively, Chios is composed of a individual state ( state of Nomos of Chios ) and includes one metropolis, three towns, 50 five small towns and 101 crossroadss. Lush green fragrant Khioss, besides known as the mastic island, has much to offer to the traveler. It is likely Homer s place of birth, and it has an huge naval and rational tradition. It was inhabited since the Neolithic epoch, has known consecutive vanquishers, was devastated by plagiarist onslaughts during the Byzantine old ages, and after a short period of Enetian domination it came under the Genoan commercial company Maona ( for two centuries ) . It paid a high monetary value during the Grecian Revolution, with the population slaughter ( 1822 ) , despite the fact that the ChioS did nt take part ab initio in the rebellion, since they enjoyed particular privileges given to them by the Turks due to the mastic production. In the South of Chios the mastic mastic has been cultivated for centuries ; the bantam tree that after being pinched by the locals, responds with cryings , offering its premium of cherished rosin. Mastic, which is an sole Chios merchandise, has been cultivated on the island since the first century A.D. and tradition has it that the lentisc started rupturing down when the Saint Isidor was tortured and martyred here by the Romans ( 250 A.D. ) . All the plants in respects to the tree, the rosin aggregation and its uncluttering down, are manual labor. PRESENT TOURIST SITUATION OF CHIOS Tourism in Chios is non developed in comparing with the rest.of the Eastern Aegean Islands. Chios occupies merely 6 % of the entire figure of tourers with Dodecanese ( Rhodes, Kos, etc. ) , 76 % , Samos 10 % and Lesbos 8 % . It has been felt that touristry can play an of import function in the economic life of the island, after the diminution of the transportation industry. Chios has non developed touristry, chiefly because of the two following grounds: foremost, the tierce of the male population used to work on the ships and secondly, the ship proprietors wanted the island much to them ­selves and the dwellers to be employed mostly by them. From the old analysis we can see that touristry developed really quickly over the last few old ages in Greece and that in some topographic points, the sequences of that development had negative effects, altering the societal, economic and environmental balances. Subsequently, the alone character of topographic points was lost and it became similar to other tourer resorts around the universe. So, in a sense, Chios is lucky because has the chance to analyze different tourer development undertakings and signifiers of Tourism and can work the experiences of the other topographic points to its benefit. S.W.O.T ANLYSIS We have so far presented the basic features of Chios. Those features allow us now to continue with the island s SWOT analysis: STREGTHS The civilization and history of Chios of import archeological sites and memorials The life traditions of the island The natural environment of Chios clean seas Tourism in Chios has most expressed features of alternate signifiers of touristry. Large figure of commercial stores and supermarket. Short distance to Turkey ( 1/2 hr to Chesme and 11/2 hr to the 3rd biggest metropolis Ismir ) Quality agricultural green goods Dynamic local industrial companies of rural agricultural merchandises ( citrous fruit fruits, mastic gum, herds and spices e.t.c ) . The long naval tradition. Technical support from the University of the Aegean ( Business School ) which is based in Chios. Failing Lack of Tourist civilization, a development and selling scheme Small tourer period ( 4 to 5 months ) Low degree of tourer modernisation. Large figure of comparatively little tourer endeavors. Lack of specialized employment. Absence of tourer investings Control of the local tourer market from large circuit operators. Relatively little haven and airdrome Opportunity Low tourer activity could be the island s biggest chance for development. Evidence from topographic points with high tourer entreaty like Rhodes, Corfu, Paros, Kos, etc. , already demo environmental and cultural jobs, overcrowding, pollution, e.t.c, sometimes irreversible. Sustainable touristry development that will take to the uninterrupted, parallel and balanced development of all the sectors of the local economic system and esteem the cultural features of the country to the benefit of both locals and tourers. Development of altrnative signifiers of Tourism such as agrotourism local touristry, cultural touristry, ecological touristry, sea and H2O touristry e.tc. The stimulation of local trades and other local popular art which would hold a larger patronage and more agencies of support Encourage investings Incentives to change over traditional edifice into tourer adjustment. Joint tourer undertakings with neighbour Turkey Menace Uncontrolled Tourist development and growing. Unilateral growing of touristry. Ccultural and societal change Damage of the environment Intensity of competition. from states such as Turkey which is expected to accomplish good public presentation in the coming old ages The uncertainness about the future developments of the universe fiscal and economic crisis, makes anticipations on the Greek travel and touristry industry during the forecast period peculiarly hard. Decision An of import measure in strategic planning is to measure concerns and demands of assorted sectors of the local community ( different age groups, the concern sector, the educational and societal services sector, and so on ) and to measure all the elements related to touristry and other options for economic development and environmental preservation in Chios

Free Essays on Cathedral

The narrator in Raymond Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral† has two fully functional eyes, in which he chooses never to use to their full potential. They eyes of the narrator are insecure, jealous, lonely, and prejudiced. They are limited in what they choose to see. The tone of the narrator conveys his inability to see throughout the entire story. The narrator’s tone also reveals his character and personality. The first few pages of the story reveal the narrator’s blurred view of his own life, his wife’s life, and the entire world around him. The reader is quick to discover that the narrator seems to have an unhappy and insecure outlook on life. The narrator’s blurred view of everything that happened in his wife’s life reveals the insecurity that plagues him. When referring to his wife’s ex-husband he says, â€Å"Her officer- why should he have a name? He was the childhood sweetheart, and what more does he want?†(pg225). BY treating everyone the same and denying them importance, the narrator is trying to make himself seem more important in the lives of others. He simply calls his wife’s first husband â€Å"the officer† or â€Å"the man†(pg224). His refusal to even use his wife’s name while narrating as well as constantly referring to Robert as â€Å"the blind man†(pg224). Shows he blocks the importance of p eople around him. The narrator chooses not to be like Robert at first because of his disability. The narrator is aggravated and insecure about the fact that his wife talks and writes that she allowed Robert to touch her face. â€Å"She told me he touched his fingers to every part of her face, her nose- even her neck†(pg224)! Because of the fact that his wife is so close to Robert, and is so happy in the event of his arrival, â€Å"I saw my wife laughing†(pg227), â€Å"She was still wearing a smile†(pg227P, is makes it easier for him to judge Robert according to his disability. The reader first learns of the narrato... Free Essays on Cathedral Free Essays on Cathedral In the short story â€Å"Cathedral† by Raymond Carver. I relate with the husband since personally I have never spend any time with a blind person. I would feel the same way as he did, since I wouldn’t know how to start. I used to have the same idea of a blind man as the narrator of the story. The narrator was expecting someone who never laughed and moved slowly. I relate to this character in every sense, it is hard to start a conversation with a blind person, you might feel intimidated. The ending is where I relate more to the character than any other place. At the ending the narrator closes his eyes and just imagines himself to be blind and he finally connects with the blind man. I have closed my eyes a few times and I have imagined how it will be to not be able to see my love ones appearance. In the second short story â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place†, by Ernest Hemingway. I can’t relate to the young waiter he is just self-absorbed. The young waiter is an excellent example of the type of human beings that only think about themselves. Throughout his conversation with the older waiter, the young waiter insults the old deaf man, calling him â€Å"a nasty thing.† The older waiter defends the senior, however, saying that he is clean and dignified in his drunkenness. The younger waiter forces the man to pay the bill, and soon the man leaves. The young waiter is impatient with the old man, hoping to return home to his wife by a decent hour. He doesn’t understand the old deaf man circumstances as the older waiter does. He doesn’t understand how important it is to offer such a clean, well-lighted place to his customers. In â€Å"Cathedral† I would change the negative response that the narrator has about spending time with a blind person. I do relate with his feelings and thoughts about blind people but not his first reaction. He tells us immediately that his visitor's blindness molests him and that he is not looking forward ... Free Essays on Cathedral The narrator in Raymond Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral† has two fully functional eyes, in which he chooses never to use to their full potential. They eyes of the narrator are insecure, jealous, lonely, and prejudiced. They are limited in what they choose to see. The tone of the narrator conveys his inability to see throughout the entire story. The narrator’s tone also reveals his character and personality. The first few pages of the story reveal the narrator’s blurred view of his own life, his wife’s life, and the entire world around him. The reader is quick to discover that the narrator seems to have an unhappy and insecure outlook on life. The narrator’s blurred view of everything that happened in his wife’s life reveals the insecurity that plagues him. When referring to his wife’s ex-husband he says, â€Å"Her officer- why should he have a name? He was the childhood sweetheart, and what more does he want?†(pg225). BY treating everyone the same and denying them importance, the narrator is trying to make himself seem more important in the lives of others. He simply calls his wife’s first husband â€Å"the officer† or â€Å"the man†(pg224). His refusal to even use his wife’s name while narrating as well as constantly referring to Robert as â€Å"the blind man†(pg224). Shows he blocks the importance of p eople around him. The narrator chooses not to be like Robert at first because of his disability. The narrator is aggravated and insecure about the fact that his wife talks and writes that she allowed Robert to touch her face. â€Å"She told me he touched his fingers to every part of her face, her nose- even her neck†(pg224)! Because of the fact that his wife is so close to Robert, and is so happy in the event of his arrival, â€Å"I saw my wife laughing†(pg227), â€Å"She was still wearing a smile†(pg227P, is makes it easier for him to judge Robert according to his disability. The reader first learns of the narrato... Free Essays on Cathedral The protagonist in â€Å"Cathedral,† Bub, is a man who has several defining characteristics. Bub is insecure, insensitive, and ignorant. This is clearly shown in Bub’s relationships with his wife and Robert. Bub’s insecurities are blatantly shown when he comments on his wife’s ex-husband: Her officer-why should be have a name? He was her childhood sweetheart, and what more does he want? Bub resents the ex-husband for being his wife’s first love. He would have liked to have had that role so he negatively addresses his wife’s past relationships. Bub’s unconfident mannerisms further transpire when he comments on his wife’s relationship with Robert. He states: In time she put it all on tape and sent the tape to the blind man. Over the years she put all kinds of stuff on tapes and sent the tapes off lickety-split. Next to writing a poem every year, I think it was her chief recreation. On the tape, she told the blind man she’d decided to live away from her officer for a time. On another tape she told him about her divorce. She and I began going out, and of course she told her blind man about it. She told him everything, or so it seemed to me. This intense friendship between his wife and Robert further exacerbated his insecurities. Robert and his wife have an intimate relationship that Bub has never, and probably will never, have with his wife. He goes on to say: My wife finally took her eyes off the blind man and looked at me. I had the feelings she didn’t like what she saw. I shrugged. This relationship offers Bub only one consolation, he believes that because he can see that has an advantage. He constantly refers to Robert as â€Å"the blind man.† He never uses Robert’s name or assigns any human attributes to him. This insecurity is partially responsible for his wife’s continued involvement with Robert. Also responsible for his wife’s close relationship with Robert is Bub’... Free Essays on Cathedral Cathedral by Raymond Carter is a story about a man (the narrator of the story), his wife, and her longtime friend Robert, who is blind. Robert is coming to visit the man’s wife. Robert’s wife, Beulah, had just recently died and he is visiting his dead wife’s relatives in Connecticut. The narrator is not enthusiastic about this visit from his wife’s friend. At the beginning of this short story, the tone of the narrator is bitterness and ignorance. His tone moves to enlightenment by the conclusion. This dinner party will break down the barriers between the blind and those who have full use of his or her eyes. Within the first two paragraphs of the story, the narrator describes how Robert and his wife met and continued their relationship over several years within the first two paragraphs of this short story. The narrator is bitter about the relationship between Robert and his wife. He is especially disturbed or bothered by the level of intimacy between the two. The narrator’s wife and Robert communicated with each other via taped letters. His wife shared every detail of her life with Robert including moving from base to base, divorce from her childhood sweetheart, and an attempted suicide. On her last day at work with the blind man, she allowed him to â€Å"see† her by permitting him to touch her face and neck. At this point in the short story more bitterness is displayed by the narrator. This bitterness seems to be about a poem written about the experience! The narrator displays his ignorance regarding the blind and his or her limitations in several instances throughout the story. He first admits that his knowledge of the blind is limited to images that he had seen in the movies. He described the blind as people who move slow and never smile or laugh. The man’s wife gives him more information about Robert after he suggests they go bowling together. His wife mentions that Robert was married to a woman named Beulah, who th... Free Essays on Cathedral Question: Compare the two couples evolving in Raymond Carver's Cathedral. Overcoming Differences Human being in nature is an integrated system that is influenced by his complex environment. As a matter of fact, we interact with our surrounding; human being is always seeking for a mate. In the following essay, I will discuss the differences between the two couples who evolve in Raymond Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral†; such as religious beliefs, physical appearance and relationship. Firstly, physical appearance plays a major role in today’s society. In our time, most people judge their equals based on their look, not their core. In â€Å"Cathedral†, Robert, a blind man, and his wife give no importance to perception. Their love is true and it is not based on the exterior. In contrast, the narrator overplays the importance of vision and physical appearance: â€Å"All this without his having ever seen what the goddamned woman looked like. It was beyond my understanding† (11). It is obvious that his love isn’t based on fundamental values. Had his wife been different looking, it is very likely that they wouldn’t be together. Secondly, religious beliefs of the two couples are an issue that seems to divide whole populations and often it is used as a pretext to initiate conflicts. The author makes it clear that the two couples do not share the same spiritual values. In the story, Robert and his wife appear to be religious persons; they both agree to marry in a church: â€Å"Pretty soon Beulah and the blind man had themselves a church wedding† (11). On the other hand, the narrator openly states, while talking to Robert, that he does not believe in God: â€Å"I guess I don’t believe in it. In anything† (14). On a different occasion, he also makes fun of the prayer and says: â€Å"Pray the phone won’t ring and the food doesn’t get cold† (12). His couple does not share the same divine beliefs. Thirdly, relationship in a couple has good ...

Coffee Industry in Vietnam Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Coffee Industry in Vietnam - Case Study Example Initially, coffee industry was run by government. The total area under coffee production in 1995 was 186,400 hectares and increased to 535,100 hectares by 2002. The coffee type mainly grown in Vietnam is Robusta, a relatively low quality coffee in comparison to Arabia. But Vietnam's coffee is of high quality and planted on mountainous areas because of "a large range of temperature between day and night and basaltic soil" (Sinh, Sutcliffe, and Van, 1999, p.68). The coffee produced in Boun Ma Thout is widely accepted by the customers due to its improved quality. In order to get a clear cut idea and gain a better understanding over the coffee industry in Vietnam, it is necessary to draw a dividing line over the periods of coffee industry in Vietnam stretching from 1996-97 to 1999-2000. During the first period, i.e. 1996-1997 due to the high price, coffee farmers were inspired to cultivate it more while the second period brought them to the world coffee market when it reached its peak level in 2001 as their domestic coffee demand was static. During this time, government brought the country's coffee industry to the highland regions and took effective production and export oriented programs. Boun Ma Thout Coffee Festival of 2005 was a turning point for Vietnamese coffee industry. In this festival, Hanoians came to see the entire process of coffee production - planting, harvesting, drying, roasting and grinding. Subsequent to this, they came to enjoy cup coffee. Such festivals have opened the doors for all to be familiar with coffee culture and at the same time help developing it. Current Scenario Mainly grown coffee type in Vietnam is Robusta. It grows in plenty in highland regions of Vietnam. Robusta has a relatively less potential to be affected by diseases and it needs less water supply. As the Vietnam began to earn huge currencies through importing this improved quality coffee at much higher rate, the policy makers tempted the farmers to cultivate it more. As a consequence of this, the farmers became somewhat blind to the coffee cultivation and began to cut down tropical trees along with other trees. As a result, at the end of late 1990s, the world coffee price fall down only because of Vietnamese overproduction. Restlessness of market price and the condition ordained on them let them facing a serious financial hardship. However, this led coffee farmers neglect densely planted "dollar trees" (Greenfield, March 2004) too. Again use of chemical fertilizer instead of organic fertilizer quickly fertilized and increased coffee production and ultimately affects on the long run fertilization. Standardization There is an urgent necessity to take proper initiatives for making the proper standardization of coffee industry for ensuring its perfection and better quality. Sinh, Sutcliffe, and Van (1999) states that- "General Department of Quality Control, the Polytechnic University, and the Department of Science, Technology and Quality Control and after reviewing the coffee standards of ISO and some countries such as Indonesia, Brazil, and the Standardization Committee of Vietnam Coffee Corporation (VINACAFE) has developed standards

Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Global Warming - Essay Example In 1896 a Swedish scientist put forth the position that burning of fossil fuels causes accumulation of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere, which in turn creates a â€Å"greenhouse effect† and elevation of global temperatures. In the 1950s, the notion of global warming cropped up again when G.S. Callender highlighted the dangers of the greenhouse effect (Weart 2003). Weather models developed in the 1960s led to the discovery that the levels of certain gases were rising, degrading the fragile ozone layer in the atmosphere. The summer of 1988 was the hottest one on record with temperatures rising ever since and concerns about global warming have escalated since that time. Weather is truly international, but during the earlier part of the 1900s weather had low priority. Meteorologists and scientists of various countries banded together under the umbrella of the IGY (International Geophysical Year). Drilling of the ice caps commenced in Greenland, yielding the discovery that ice cores held a record of climactic history. This later led to the formation of the GARP (Global Atmospheric research program) which was headed by the Swedish meteorologist Bert Bolin, devoted to weather forecasting and the study of the steadily rising curve of atmospheric Carbon dioxide. Weart (2003) provides a detailed discussion of the phenomenon of climactic changes and the conflicting predictions of scientists on global warming and cooling. He details the IPCC reports of 1995 and 1997, wherein scientific experts predicted that by the middle of the 21st century, the temperature of the world would have increased between 1.5 to 4.50C, figures which have been recently revised upwa rds to as much as 5.50C.(Weart 2003).

BIM Implementation Strategy for FM Thesis Proposal

BIM Implementation Strategy for FM - Thesis Proposal Example Arayici and Aouad (2010) in Eadie et al. (2014) have shown that BIM goes further than managing essential building design and the building’s life-cycle to include facility management. In recent times, the construction industry has been undergoing a paradigm shift to serve various purposes. The changes are meant to increase infrastructure value, productivity, quality, efficiency and sustainability. These changes are also aimed at reducing lifestyle costs, lead time and duplications through effective communication and collaboration of stakeholders in projects (Arayici, et al., 2011). These processes should not only be incorporated in the construction stage but throughout the entire lifecycle, and this is the basis of facility management. Facility management ideally should not be left to start after the completion of a building. The appropriate time to start management of a facility is during its early stages of its construction. As Patrick MacLeamy, the developer of the â€Å"shifting the effort† concept, highlights, that the further you are through the design process, the higher the cost of design change (Light, 2011). Another advantage that facility management can gain from BIM implementation is the efficient use and reuse of data. The fluid flow of data use can help facility managers to keep track of the changes that a facility undergoes in the various stages of its lifecycle. When information is complete and is used efficiently, the quality of the facility is maintained at a peak and the clients enjoy a sustainable product. Facility management should start when the project is in its early stages to facilitate maximum data collection for future use (Arayici, 2013). As a result, the facility can benefit from ensured sustainability. Facility management requires intensive information sharing among the parties involved. The managers should, therefore, have a proper mechanism for ensuring that the stakeholders have access to

Analysis Of Wordsworths Resolution And Independence English Literature Essay

Analysis Of Wordsworths Resolution And Independence English Literature Essay The poet establishes in the first two stanzas the mood of nature when he traveled on the moor. The tense can be confusing. Wordsworth begins in the simple past, but the past serves here the uses of the present in the sense of active recollection of emotion in present tranquility. The BUT at the beginning of stanza four introduces the contrast that exists between the joy of nature and the dejection of the poet. The time that he recalls was one of a rising sun, calm and bright, singing birds in the distant woods, the pleasant noise of waters in the air, the world teeming with all things that love the sun, the grass jeweled with rain-drops, the hare running is his glee. But the poets morning is one subjectivity of dejection; on this morning did fears and fancies come upon him profusely. In the midst of the sky-lark warbling in the sky, he likens himself unto the playful hare; even such a happy child of earth am I / even as these blissful creatures do I fare; / far from the world I walk, and from all careà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. This is the joyous side of his life. But, in the midst of the joy, he thinks of that other kind of day that might come to him, that day of solitude, pain of heart, distress, and poverty. In stanza 6 he recalls how his life has been as a summer, mood, how the sustenance of life in all its nourishing variations has come to him so gratuitously. But, then he thinks also of the possibility that it will not continue so for one who takes no practical thought for his own care and keep. The question is, how long will nature continue to give freely to one who does not with diligent responsibility harvest grain for the garner of future days: but how can He [ in this case the poet himself] expect that others should / Blind for him, sow for him, and at his call / Love him; who for himself will take no heed at all? the poet thinks of himself as poet, one endowed with his own privileged, joyous place in life, there comes to his mind the names of Thomas Chatteron and Robert Burns, poets in the English tradition that Wordsworth would admire. The association that he makes of himself with them is at one and the same time joyous and imminent: we poets in our use begin in gladness;/ but thereof come in the end despondency and madness. The universal joy of the poets life is contemplated in range of potential sorrow. The beginning of stanza 8 marks a turning point in the poem. From this juncture to the end, the poet will tell how he learned what we find in the title, resolution and independence, and he learns significantly from a wanderer, a man who has subsisted on the gathering of leeches, a man who is now a beggar. As the poet thinks his untoward thoughts about life and struggles with all their depressing suggestions, he meets in a lovely place beside a pool bare to the eye of heaven, a solitary man, the poet says the oldest man he seemed that ever wore grey hairs. The poet interprets his meeting with him to be verily a gift of Devine Grace. Stanza nine is Wordsworths long simile for the old solitary. The purpose of the simile is to describe the leech gatherer as alive but almost not alive. Wordsworth compares him to a huge stoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/ couched on the bald top of an eminence, and to a sea- beast crawled forth through using the sea beast as simile for the stone. The old man is virt ually one with the scene amidst which he sits; he has very nearly become one with nature: motionless as a cloud the old man stood, / that hearth not the loud winds when they callà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The encounter reveals to the poet a man of great age, bent double, feet and head / coming together in lifes pilgrimageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. He looks as if he might be made taut in his bent posture by the tight strain of some past suffering, rage, or sickness. The poet is picturing him as very nearly supernatural, at least somehow beyond the usual scope of human experience: he seemed to bear a more than human weightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. In stanzas 12- 15, the old man finally moves. The poet sees him stir the waters by which he stands and then looks with fixed scrutiny into the pond, which he conned , / as if he had been reading in a bookà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The poet greets him, and the old man makes a gentle answer, in courteous speech which forth he slowly drewà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Wordsworth uses the whole of stanza fourteen to describe his speech, lofty utterance, stately speech. In lines 88 and 89, the poet asks him what his occupation is, and suggests that the place in which he dwells may be too lonely for such a person as he. The old man identifies his work as leech- gathering; this is why he is in such a lonely place. He must, being old and poor, finds his subsistence here, though the work may be hazardous and wearisome. He depends on Gods Providence to help him find lodging. But in all, he can be sure that he gains an honest maintenance, however much he may have to roam from pond to pondà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ from m oor to moor. In lines106-119, the poets responses to the old leech-gatherer are told. While the old man had been answering his question about employment and placement in so lonely a setting, the poet becomes absorbed in the strange aspects of him who speaks. He loses the detail of answer the leech-gatherer is making; he cannot divide his words one from another. Lines 109-112 contain the essence of the poets articulation of his feelings. They should be read carefully and compared to other passages in Wordsworths poetry where he attempts to give voice to experience that is very close to mystical absorption. Observe here that the poet finds himself absorbed in the being of the solitary: And the whole body of the man did seem Like one whom I had met with in a dream; Or like a man from some far region sent, To give me human strength, by apt admonishment. But the poets dejection returns. He thinks again the heavy thoughts of fear, of resistant, recalcitrant, cold, pain, and labour, and all fleshly ills, and of those poets who have been mighty, but who have died in misery. He yearns to find some message of strength and hope in the leech-gathers words, so he asks again, how is it that you live, and what is it you do? In lines120-126, the leech-gatherer repeats the nature of his work, but he adds that whereas he once could gather the object of his industry easily, he now because of the growing scarcity of leeches must travel more extensively- still he perseveres. In lines127-133, the poet relates more of his private, unspoken response to the old Man. Against it happens that his mind wanders, as in stanza 16, while the leech-gatherer is answering his question. The poet pictures him as even more a solitary than he is in his present state; the poets imagination working on the figure before him makes of the wandering solitary very nearly a transcendent being, silent and eternal: In my minds eye (the poet affirms) I seemed to see him pace / About the weary moors continually, / wandering about alone and silently. The poet is troubled by his own imaginative responses to the Man before him, but not troubled in a bad sense. This is the ministry of fear that we find so often in Wordsworths work. In lines 134-140, the leech-gatherers resolution and independence is obvious to the poet in the way he moves from economically precarious condition to more cheerful utterances. The old Man before the poet is obviously a person of firm mind, however decrepit he might in appearance seem. He remains in the midst of whatever misfortune the society of man or isolation with the bare elements bearing him, a person of kind demeanor and stately bearing. The poet compares himself to the leech-gatherer and scorns himself for his dejection. He takes the old Man into his memory as an another point for future days and asks that God will help him to preserve what he has learnt: God, said I, be my help and stay secure; Ill think of the leech-gatherer on the lonely moor! As suggested in other places in this study, most of Wordsworths solitaries live as a part of the nature in which they move. There is the effect in this poem of the leech-gatherer going in and out of nature; the poet is for a time aware of him as a person confronting him face-to-face, but then he loses touch with him, as if he had blended back into the nature out of which he had momentarily stepped. One might profitably compare stanza sixteen, where Wordsworth speaks of the leech-gatherer as coming to him as if out of dream, which the Simplon Pass episode in Book Sixth of The Prelude. About line 600 of that book Wordsworth speaks of an imaginative experience in the following terms: in such strength of usurpation, when the light of sense Goes out, but with a flash that has revealed The invisible world, doth greatness make abode, There harboursà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ . Wordsworths light of sense near to going out at least twice while he is talking to the leech-gatherer. One may also interestingly compare Wordsworths responses to the vision on Mount Snowdon in Book Fourteenth of The Prelude with his experiences while talking to the old Man he met on the moors. He certainly intends for the reader to be impressed with the leech-gatherers insistence on survival, survival that comes to him, we feel, to great degree because of a sheer act of will. Again, as with many of Wordsworths solitaries, courage is presented as with many of Wordsworths solitaries, courage is presented as the capacity to endure. There is a notable difference, however, between the courage of Michael and the courage of the leech-gatherer; never being sure he will find them, as she has been to Michael, who, though his farm is eventually lost after his death to owners outside his family, can live the total of his years on land that has been made his been own. Michael draws continual sus tenance more from his own deep wells of unyielding fortitude. There is an obvious contrast also in this regard between the leech-gatherer and the Old Cumberland Beggar. The leech-gatherer accepts housing from those who will help him, but he does not have the regularity of affection and acts of kindness that the persons in the community of the Old Cumberland Beggar an area of nature in which he can live and die, in which he can make his home, Those who care for him are almost neighbors to him. The leech-gatherer is much more thrown on his own resources. It is in this that the poet learns his greatest lesson from him. There is in the encounter between the poet and the leech-gatherer the work of Providence. Wordsworth seems to say in the poem (and in the letter he wrote about the poet) that this old Man was sent to him for his own rehabilitation. This may seem in some ears to be very close to blaspheming the preciously human, that one human being would be so sacrified fro the instruction and welfare of another. But the rediscovery of stability and hope in the midst of dejection for the poet who writes the poem is certainly the direction of things from the early stanza of the poem, where the glory of the natural surroundings seem to be functioning expressly for the poets interesting. The hare that leaps joyfully through the first five stanza of the poem (mentioned three times in the five stanzas, in the second, third, and fifth) becomes in a way emblematic of the poets life. The hare is also a servant of the benignant Grace of God, bringing to the poet reminders that he is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦such a happ y child of earthà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ . There may be in the background the biblical records of Gods directly expressed mercy for man, even as incursions that cut with the particularity of biographical facts. But the leach- gatherer comes not so much in the mood and manner of historical encounter as he comes in the form of natures extension of herself, ministering through an agency that is close to being more a natural agency than a human one. With regard to the language of the poem, Wordsworth is working with a seven- line stanza or rhyme royal. The longer last line has the effect of slowing down the narrative and giving more time to the reader for consideration. Wordsworths highly conscious artistry can be seen in his careful use of similes that describe the old man of the poem. The stone and the sea- beast of stanza nine, and the cloud in stanza eleven convey a sense of life that is highly worthy of the word. On the subject of the language of the poem, one may question whether the diction that the poet attributes to the leach- gatherer is a selection of language really used by menà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. In stanza fourteen, the old mans speech is described as choice words and measured phrase, above the reach / of ordinary menà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Wordsworth as a narrative poet has most of his characters as active, persons committed to action. He consistently draws his characters so that they are easily recognizable as human beings. They are usually three- dimensional characters that have definite features. For all of his shared identity with nature_ which is to a very great degree_ we still meet the leach- gatherer as man, not as thing. Stanza ten and eleven are examples of Wordsworths ability to create character in a relatively few lines; in this he shares a fame that is owned by only a few artists. The leach- gatherer is easily visualized, with his body bent double, propped, limbs, body, and pale face. / upon a long grey stuff of shaven woodà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ . such vivid character drawing is necessary to give the old man the action of personality that he has, an action essential to his being for the poet a model of resolution and independence. Wordsworths characters are real because we can think of them as human beings. Howev er heroic the leach- gatherer may be, his heroism does not take him beyond the limits of the human. We have in him no Achilles. His heroism is the kind that can be attained by human beings we know and meet. Generally Wordsworths characters are real because we can think of them as human beings. The leach- gatherer shares much more with Abraham than with Achilles. Sources: Barashc, F. The romantic Poets. Monarch press. New York: 1991. Hough, G. The Romantic Poets. 1964.

Androgynous Characters in Thomas Hardys Novels Essay -- Biography Bio

Androgynous Characters in Thomas Hardy's Novels Androgyny may be defined as "a condition under which the characteristics of the sexes, and the human impulses expressed by men and women, are not rigidly assigned" (Heilbrun 10). In the midst of the Victorian Era, Thomas Hardy opposed conventional norms by creating androgynous characters such as Eustacia Vye, in The Return of the Native ; the title character in Tess of the d Urbervilles ; Sue Bridehead in Jude the Obscure ; and Marty South in The Woodlande rs. Hardy's women, possessing "prodigious energy, stunted opportunity, and a passion which challenges the entire, limiting world" (Heilbrun 70), often resemble men in actions and behavior. Eustacia Vye may be considered androgynous for her passion, rebelliousness, and refusal to accept the confines of Egdon. She exists in a state of untamed romantic emotion and fantasy, and has little concern for the effects of her actions. These characteristics of Eustacia make her less typical of women during the Victorian Era, but the scene in which her androgynous behavior is most evident...

Bisexuality Politicised Essay

This paper asks the question how can bisexuality be or become a danger to the dominant sexual script which I problematise as produced racism, sexism, homophobia, and monosexism. That this brand of heterosexuality occupies 99% of our cultural space in entertainment, education, history and public expression and is considered inevitable and unchallengable for 90% of peoples relationships is, I will argue, the victory of white patriarchal science. I intend to show the nature of this victory and imagine what counter struggle and victories might emerge from the site of my bisexuality. The Historical role of Biphopia- Policing the Treaty. Underpinning this paper is the belief in that many if not all heterosexual identifying people can be bisexual and that the majority are to some extent not privately monosexual. The majority status of bisexuality does not make it normal nor ideal however I mention it because it is important to realise that the invisibility of bisexuality requires extraordinary effort to maintain and it’s repression occurs against all people not just a few â€Å"natural† bisexuals. To understand the historical role that biphobia has played and the historical position of bisexuality it is necessary to recognise homosexuality as a creation of western patriarchal and homophobic medical science. Women have always loved women and men have always loved men but the classification of these experiences as a sexuality with little or no element of choice and a biological or individual psychological basis was given currency in the 19th century by a professional class that feared same sex desire. Their construction of homosexuality shaped and informs Western cultural understanding of sexuality â€Å"not in the first place because of its meaningfulness to those whom it defines but because of its indispensableness to those who define themselves against it. † (Segal, L. p145) for it was and is needed â€Å"not only for the persecutory regulation of a nascent minority of distinctly homosexual men (and women) but also for the regulation of the male (and female) homosocial bonds that structure all culture – at any rate all public or heterosexual culture. † (Eve Sedgewick in Segal, L. pp194-5) Early psychoanalytic texts were quite explicit that the project was to police all male and female relationships warning â€Å"teachers and parents not to take too lightly friendships among girls which become passionate† and society to â€Å"be more concerned with the degree of heterosexuality or homosexuality in an individual than they are with the question of whether he has ever had an experience of either sort†. â€Å"The real danger from homosexuality† was seen to lie â€Å"not in actual sex association but in homosexual attitudes towards life† such as the negative attitudes of â€Å"thousands of women †¦ toward men, marriage and family life† influenced by â€Å"latent homosexuality† for â€Å"neurotic attitudes about love and marriage can prove contagious. † (Caprio, F. pp 6 -11) Generally, prior to this the western world had relied on Christianity to dictate the terms of sexuality. Whether sexual attraction was â€Å"natural† was no defence under a regime which tended to view â€Å"natural† sexual desires as needing control from a religious authority. The medical establishment faced the dilemma of replacing religious authorities without having any utilitarian basis for the repression of same sex desire. The construction of homosexuality as a distinct condition was to define normality as exclusive heterosexuality. In fact heterosexuality was simply the condition of being human. Sexual behaviour became a product of a persons condition; the â€Å"human condition† producing normal heterosexual behaviour. There was now no need for a religious justification for preferencing the heterosexual over the homosexual because behaviour was not a matter of choice but a matter of whether or not you were ill; Well or sane people simply didn’t want to have sex with people of their own gender. This was presented as a more humane response to homosexuality than religious condemnation or incarceration. Psychiatrists often called themselves compassionate as they argued for an adoption of â€Å"scientific† curative responses to homosexuality. (Caprio, F, p. xi) The majority gay and lesbian movement accepted the shifting of sexuality into an area for science and have embraced the notion of a biological basis or early psychological basis for sexuality. Their fight has largely been for homosexuality to be treated as incurable and it follows natural and equally valid alternative to heterosexuality, jettisoning any agenda to argue that is better. Only a minority have argued that homosexuality is a political choice and an option for everyone. With both sides ceasing hostilities1, when homosexuality was delisted as a mental illness in 1973 (Altman,D. ,p5), institutionalised heterosexuality and gays and lesbians overt interests have moved to coincide. Victories to normalise homosexuality also normalise heterosexuality’s dominance by depoliticising sexuality in general. In 1993 when a homosexuality gene was â€Å"discovered† a genetic basis for the majority status of heterosexuality was created though not declared. Anyone who would argue that the commonality of heterosexuality might have something to do with social programming and institutional support can now be said to be messing with nature. The proud bisexual threatens this peaceful coexistence of the heterosexual majority and homosexual minority. Recognition of our bisexuality requires a validation of our sexual relationships with people of our own gender based on choice rather than the agreed legitimate biological basis. Such choice may be personal or circumstantial but also political or moral. Normalising bisexuality with a biological cause won’t defuse it’s threat though it could contain it if it relegates us to a fixed minority status. Society still has to reckon with why we choose to validate relationships with people of our own gender by identifying as bisexual. We reopen old debates that many who have found safety in a biological basis for their monosexual identity want to keep closed. (I will revisit this fear in the last section, Bisexuality and the Future when I discuss Bi supremacy. ) A bisexual identity simply has to be defined as confused or an exception to the rule. Individuals have to be pressured to fit themselves into one or the other category. In a secular society without moral taboos people can’t be allowed to entertain the idea that their partners gender is political. Also, understandably gays and lesbians know those moral taboos still hold significant power so many still see their best option as policing the treaty based on the attribution of their sexuality to a biological or psychological cause. Bisexuality and identification – Withdrawing our support for the status quo. The bisexual identifying person is not predominantly someone who feels attraction equally to both genders or without any reference to gender2 and in terms of actual sexual or emotional experience the majority could be classified as predominantly homosexual or heterosexual. â€Å"Why then, don’t you call yourself gay or straight? † is the inevitable response to this confession. And confession it feels like because to indicate a â€Å"leaning† puts at risk the validity given to a bisexual identity within contemporary discourse. Sexual expression is usually presented as representative of something innate rather than a mediation between a person and their world. Consequently the woman who says she usually finds women easier to make emotional connections with is seen to be describing her â€Å"innate† difficulty emotionally connecting with men rather than her experience of men and their culture. Asserting a bisexual identity in the face of this invalidation is about contextualising sexual responses rather than finding invisible internal reasons for them. A bisexual identity in the above circumstance keeps open the possibility that a preference for emotional relationships with women could change if men and male culture changed. Alternatively a preference for sex with men might be attributable to homophobia. (Weinberg, M. S. , p221) The reasons for choices are not always positive ones but the possibility for counter argument exists. Holding onto a bisexual identification based on potentiality, rejects the conservatism of describing reality by the status quo. However a bisexual identity is also partially an attempt to accurately relate personal history as well and this too has a radical power. Most monosexual identifications represent people only by concealing some bisexuality. By identifying as bisexual a person accepts and celebrates those aspects of their life that are inconsistent with a monosexual identity. The power of metanarratives within modernism, including descriptions of sexuality, relies on such inconsistencies being deemed insignificant. Hence a public bisexual identity is a confrontation of generalist theories with lived experience. If people promote such a solidarity with their experiences and the people who compose them that is greater than any to a proposed theory then expounders of metanarratives (including myself) will lose power. Our authority to dictate â€Å"from above† will be replaced by a decentralised authority based on being â€Å"up close† to our own reality. Bisexuality and other oppressions. Sexuality forms alliances across genders, ethnicities, and classes so any bisexual movement which fails to take gender, race or class issues into account poses a real danger of obscuring differences and concealing oppression. (This is also true for a multiplicity of issues such as disability or mental illness). My discussion of bisexuality and other basis for oppression are not intended to present bisexual identification as the panacea of the worlds ills. Social change must be inspired by a diversity of experience and informed by a range of critiques. Given the above it is presumptious for me as a half-wog male to seek to resolve ongoing debates about a bisexual political agenda among feminist women or debates among black women and men on how to connect bi pride with anti-racism. To do so would be to pretend that I can speak from only my bisexuality and abandon any white, male perspctive. As a long term unemployed person I believe I can speak on class issues from the inside to some extent but also still acknowledge the privelage of my university education. This is not to say that I think that sexism is a womens issue or that the responsibility for opposing racism is solely non-whites. Nor am I comfortable being accountable to lesbian or straight feminists on the issue of bisexual profeminism or placing beyond reproach the homophobia of some black liberationist theorists like Eldrige Cleaver. What to speak on and when in regard to a radical bisexualitys’ impact on patriarchal, white supremist and class oppresion is best defined as problematic. As a simple way out I hope to show how I see a politicised bisexuality contributes to my pro-feminism, anti-racism and support for class struggles. It is my hope that this will have relevance for a wider audience. Radical Bisexuality and Pro-feminism. Judith Butler states that â€Å"the heterosexualisation of desire requires and institutes the production of discrete and assymetrical oppositions between â€Å"feminine† and â€Å"masculine† identities. † (Segal, L. p190) Monique Wittig goes further to argue that a woman’s place in heterosexuality is a class of oppression and that the lesbian escapes her class position. (Wittig, M, p. 47) I agree that â€Å"hetero†-sexuality (literally a sexuality based on opposites) reproduces and supports womens oppression in other spheres by creating a binary gender system. Men need to realise that their love for women is problematic when it is that â€Å"love† of the â€Å"feminine identity† that belongs to this sytem. This is the attraction for the other and requires women’s difference to be exaggerated and emphasised. These exaggerations shape women as not-men while we men shape ourselves and are shaped into embodiments of the ideal. The seeming irony of male heterosexuality where women are objects of love being consistent with misoginy where women are objects of hate makes perfect sense through the operation of oppositional heterosexuality precisely because the love requires women to be less than men. A love that does not require partners to be different than ourselves is not possible within exclusive heterosexuality because it fails to provide the argument to repress same sex desire. It is necessary for heterosexual men to confront their homophobia which demands they repress or invalidate their same sex desire before they can love their female partners as their â€Å"own kind† and not another species. An additional benifit to patriarchy of discrete gender identities that is liable to be lost when men reject oppositional heterosexuality is the regulation of male social interaction. The arguments to exclude gay men from the military reveal the mindset deemed necessary to produce a war machine; â€Å"We are asking men in combat to do an essentially irrational thing – put themselves in a position where they are likely to get killed †¦ One of the few ways to persuade men to do that is to appeal to their masculinity †¦ You cannot have an adrogynous military †¦ The idea that fighting is a masculine trait runs deep. As a cultural trait it predates any written history. It may even be a genitic trait †¦ Just think what it would mean to demasculinize combat. The effect on combat effectiveness might be catastrophic. † – Charles Moskos, Military Socioligist quoted in Colonel R. D. Ray, Military Necessity and Homosexuality (Gays:In or Out, p63) It is regrettable that non-heterosexual men and many women are proving they too can make excellent soldiers. 3 However the above quote exaggerates a fact that male â€Å"buddy† relationships are relied on by the military and that this requires a repression of same sex desire. This is because same sex desire is preferential – it is not a love of all men equally – but of a few and potentially for a time. The same-sex loyalty that is demanded by patriarchy including it’s military needs the stability of exclusive heterosexuality; â€Å".. the recognition of homosexuality is a threat to that peculiar combination of male camaraderie and hierachy on which most organisations depend; sexual desire is too anarchic, too disrespectful of established boundaries to be trusted. † (Altman, D. p63) Unravelling their heterosexuality is not the most important thing men must do to support feminism however it is a legitimate part of this support for â€Å"it is the repressed recognition of this fact (that everyone can be homosexual) that does much to fuel homophobia, but equally acts so as to promote male bonding and certain crucial authority structures. † (Altman D. ,p XI) Radical Bisexuality and Racism. The construction of homosexuality as a â€Å"natural† difference from the heterosexual norm shares and competes for the same conceptual space as constructions of race as biological differences from the white norm. This is particularly true because the hetrosexual ideal is represented as white with the sexuality of non-whites traditionally seen as untamed, violent, promiscuous or otherwise deviant even if heterosexual. Non-whites are considered only ever partly heterosexual while white queers are considered not proper whites. The competition for the limited conceptual space has led to historical difficulites in linking white supremacy with heterosexism (exacerbated by white queer activists own racial interests) and in fact has unwittingly linked Gay Power with white power. â€Å"Homosexuality as a race† has developed into a gay and lesbian ethnicity. For whites under racism where their whiteness is considered the norm and thus unnamed, this ethnicity is their only ethnicity, the lesbian/gay â€Å"language† their only language, and lesbian/gay history their only history, to the point that it is not seen as a difference within whiteness but a difference from whiteness. (Blasingame, p52) While we (white queers) are unconscious of our whiteness queer cultural politics consequently becomes a way of colonising non-white cultures with a new white culture, white leaders and white history in a particularly insidious way. While not as powerful as heterosexual institutions for people wanting to be publicly non-heterosexual we have considerable power; in the framing of beauty along racist lines, in the support of white non-heterosexual bourgeoius or political leaders and in the very conceptualisation of sexuality. As one example Brenda Marie Blasingame in Bisexuality and Feminism speaks of a history of sexuality in U. S. black communities which did not include placing people in particular â€Å"boxes† and accepted the practice of bisexuality. A part of moving into the white gay and lesbian movement for her was the requirement to come out as a specific sexuality and accept the marginalisation of bisexuals. For many people who are not white taking up a gay or lesbian and to a different extent bisexual identity requires an abandonment of their own ethnic politcal identity or view. (Blasingame, pp. 51 – 53) The common conceptual space of non-heterosexual and non-white however can and should however produce queer anti-racism provided white queers realise that this conception of their sexuality is wrong. There is a shared interest in anti-racism and anti-heterosexism in critiqing normalcy and naturalness. As only one example the construction of beauty posits that naturally â€Å"Gentlemen prefer Blondes†. Not only is this sexist for reducing women to a hair colour (and the Blonde is meant to be read as a woman) but it is heterosexist and clearly as racist as â€Å"Gentlemen prefer whites† when Blonde is only a white persons natural hair colour. When we politicise our sexuality we can open up not only the arguments against heterosexual dominance but the arguments against the sexual sterotypes of non-whites including the framing of Asian men as â€Å"young girls† represented in this regrettable quote from the 70’s magazine Gay Power; â€Å"I dig beautiful oriental men. Asking me to shoot at them is the same thing as asking heterosexual soldiers to shoot at beautiful young girls that they would like to fuck. † (Teal, D. p99) Radical Bisexuality and Class. It is worth noting that capitalism which I understand as the continual oppression of the poor that patriarchy is for women is no longer wedded to heterosexuality in Western affluent nations as it has been in the past. This is because Western nations are primarily consumer societies of fairly easily produced goods (easily because their production is either located in the Third World or in the Quattro Monde – the world of the Western underclass or because their production is automated). Western capitalism can therefore relax the â€Å"restraint and repression† which was necessary to both control factory floors and ensure a ready supply of human capital through reproduction. (Altman D, p90) Part of this is also due to unemployment and global capital mobility being sufficient to obtain cheap labour and another contributing factor has been Western women raising their education so they are more useful in employment than at home. Also marriage was the institution by which women were given the role of providing a whole range of services capitalism wouldn’t such as aged care and child raising as well as supporting adult men. Now many of these services are provided by profitable private institutions so traditional marriages are actually in competition with capitalism. Of course the worlds poor can’t afford these services and Thirld World countries remain supportive of compulsory heterosexuality (Altman, D, p90) but in the Western consumer-capitalism there is a an interest to increase consumption through the market of previous services fulfilled by women’s unpaid labour. In order to perpetuate consumption growth capitalism must also locate new disatisfactions like teenage angst, at an alarming rate while also offering at a price their answer. In this context gay, lesbian and even bisexual identities as well as transgenderism, S+M and fetish celebrations are eagerly embraced by many industries as the basis for new markets. Our anxiety for recognition, meaning, ceremony and a positive celebration of our sexuality are easily exploitable. â€Å"†¦ one of the possible negative side-effects of the popularity of ‘lesbian chic’ was that it codes lesbianism as merely a kind of fashion statement, something that requires certain consumer goods to mark the individual as lesbian. † (Newitz & Sandell) Bisexuals have to be mindful that while we seek recognition, capitalism is looking for new markets and while these interests coincide this will only be true for those of us who can afford it and it will be on the backs of the world’s poor involved in the production of our new consumerables and bearing the greatest brunt of the waste from our new consumption. One positive way to resist becoming merely another market is by applying the awareness of the political nature of sexual desire to the desire for consumer goods and services. Both desires are constructed to serve particular interests and not fundamentally our own. Through working to ensure that all of our desire works for liberation we will resist commodification as we achieve recognition. Bisexuality and the Future To outline what I see as the goal of Radical Bisexuality I will illustrate two scenarios depicting false victories and one which I believe genuinely opens up the greatest possibility for liberation. Scenario 1. Recognition of bisexuality as a third alternative way that people unchangably are. To some extent as I have said earlier this can’t overcome the capacity of bisexuals to fit in as straight and thus can’t conceal the choice to embrace the homosexuality within the heterosexual that they represent. However there are arguments that could be presented that bisexuals have to express their same sex desire or become depressed (â€Å"go mad†). These arguments could form the basis of depoliticising and medicalising bisexuality as has been done with homosexuality. This may make bisexual lives easier to defend and add to the options for young people but relegates bisexuals to the same minority status as is currently given to gays and lesbians. Most people who admit to loving their own gender in straight society would face the same oppression bisexuals now face as â€Å"heterosexual experimenters† and recruitment of the majority would be difficult as they would remain â€Å"true† heterosexuals as unable to change as â€Å"true† bisexuals or gays and lesbians. Further it could also trade the oppression that is invisibility for bisexuals with the oppression that is hyper-visibility for straight men and women, and increasingly gays and lesbians. Having recognised sexuality’s repression but not it’s production we will be easily exploitable by capitalism and our liberation may mean as being as marketed to and ritutalised as heterosexuality. Scenario 2. Bisexuality is considered the only natural sexuality which equates it with the only right sexuality. Heterosexuality would be patholigised along with homosexuality as both are considered to have unnatural â€Å"blocks† to loving one or the other gender. This is Bisexual Supremacy which I acknowledge as a justification for gays and lesbians to distrust bisexuals. While it is unlikely to be widely accepted it is possible that it could dominate queer spaces as a pocket of resistance to heterosexual dominance in the same way as celebrations of gay and lesbian purity have. It is certainly more likely to be targetted at lesbians and gays than straights and while this is the fault of heterosexism’s power, not my own, it must be refuted. This is not to say that politicising sexuality will not require some gay men in particular to reassess their rhetoric. Mysoginistic comments which denegrate women’s bodies deserve political criticism and can’t be assured the right to be accepted. However the wider charge of institutionalising the sexual oppression of women and supporting male social bonding can’t be levelled at male homosexuality and certainly not at lesbianism. Indeed at certain points in the struggle against institutionalised oppression different sexual identifications and choices will be appropriate. Because bisexuality is as deliberate a sexuality choice as any other and not a submission to some biological imperative (and even if it were I reject the claim that naturalness equals rightness) we can’t claim an non-contextual ideal status. Its political usefulness is only that of any tactic relative both to the circumstances and to the person, meaning that for some and at some times other sexual choices and identifications are more appropriate. Bisexual supremacy also prioritises the effort to be bisexual over other efforts to unravel heterosexist, patriarchal and racist programming. I have already stressed the need for a variety of critiques of power to inform social change which Bisexual supremacy ignores. In particular men in relationships with women need to realise that doing their share of the housework is far more meaningful than maintaining or developing their capacity to love other men. Scenario 3. The Dream. Realising our sexualities are scripted will hopefully prompt redrafts along feminist, anti-racist and anti-capitalist lines. No-one should be the sole author of this project even with their own sexuality as we all need to listen to the perspectives our privelages rob us off. Certainly a part of this will be a dialogue between political lesbians, bisexuals and straight women which already has a history and whose future I don’t want to conclude. Consequently my dream is vague. What I don’t see in this future is the fetishisation of wealth, whiteness or gendered difference. Women in relationships with men will recieve support and encouragement as full humans. Advertisers will be incapable of capturing our consumption with snake oil as we demand economic production satisfy new needs that we create, for justice and community. Pleasure including sexual pleasure will mean enjoying our values not forgetting them. Bisexuality like other sexualities will have to argue it’s political legitimacy but not it’s existance. Sexual identifications such as â€Å"Confused† may replace bisexual for many if it is recognises more of their personal truth and political terms like Anti-racist may be key elements of sexual identification. Radical bisexuality wont end all struggles but the raw energy of sexuality will be accountable to and in the employ of the great project of improving the world . Bibliography Altman, Dennis, The Homosexualisation of America, The Americanization of the Homosexual, St. Martins Press, New York, 1982 Sedgewick, E. K. , â€Å"How to Bring Your Kids Up Gay†, pp. 69 – 81, Fear of a Queer Planet : Queer Politics and Social Theory, Warner,M. (Editor), University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1993 Segal, Lynne, Straight Sex: Rethinking the Politics of Pleasure, University of California Press, U. S. A. , 1994. Foucalt, Michel, The History of Sexuality, Volume 1:An Introduction, Allen Lane, London, 1978 Newitz, A. and J. Sandell,â€Å"Bisexuality And How To Use It: Toward a Coalitional Identity Politics†, Bad Subjects, Issue # 16, October 1994 Caprio, F. S. M. D. Female Homosexuality:A Psychodynamic study of Lesbianism, The Citadel Press, New York, 1954 Weinberg,M. S. , C. J. Williams, D. W. Pryor, Dual Attraction: Understanding Bisexuality, Oxford University Press, Inc. , New York, 1994 Blasingame, B. M. , â€Å"The Roots of Biphobia: Internalised Racism and Internalised Heterosexism† in Closer to Home: Bisexuality and Feminism, Edited by E. R. Wise, Seal Press, U. S. A. , 1992 Colonel R. D. Ray, Military Necessity and Homosexuality , reprinted in Gays:In or Out: The U. S. Military & Homosexuals – A Source book, Brassey’s, March 1993. Teal D. , The Gay Militants, Stein and Day Publishers, New York, 1971. Wittig, M. , The Straight Mind and Other Essays, Beacon Press. Boston, 1992 Descriptors for Sexual Minorities †¢ Front Page †¢ What is h2g2? †¢ Who’s Online †¢ Write an Entry †¢ Browse †¢ Announcements †¢ Feedback †¢ h2g2 Help †¢ RSS Feeds Contact Us Like this page? Send it to a friend! Descriptors for Sexual Minorities | Asexuality | Homosexuality Heterosexuality | Bisexuality | Polyamory | The Kinsey Scale | The Gender Pronoun Game | Coming Out Embarrassing Questions About Sexual Orientation | Going Back In – Sexuality U-turns Modern culture has developed a number of terms and symbols to set apart its sexual minorities. Some of these originated within the different communities themselves. Others evolved from scientists, psychologists, legislators, and newspaper reporters trying to describe their gay, bisexual, transsexual, and polyamorous subjects. Many include obscure references to history that go largely unrecognized. Words Lesbian The word lesbian comes from the Greek island Lesbos, where the poet Sappho lived in 600 BC. Sappho wrote numerous poems about her female love, most of which were destroyed by religious fanatics during the Middle Ages. While the first usage of the word lesbian is unknown, it was used in several academic books as early as 1880. The word became more popular during the 20th Century, especially during the feminist era. The term ‘lesbian separatist’ was commonly used to distinguish feminists who wished to avoid the company of men altogether. Fag, Faggot, Fag Hag ‘Fag’ and ‘faggot’ are American insults for gay men. The term ‘faggot’ first started being used in this way in around 1914, but it is not clear where the word came from. A faggot is a bundle of sticks, used for firewood and tied up for carrying around. In the 16th century it was used as an insulting term for a useless old woman as something that weighs you down, in the same way that ‘baggage’ is sometimes used nowadays. But it’s quite a jump from 1592 to 1914 with nothing recorded in between. Gay men in the latter half of the 20th Century began using the term ‘fag hag’ to refer to straight women who frequently gather at gay establishments, partly as an insult and partly because of the rhyme. Dyke Contrary to popular belief, the origin of the insult ‘dyke’1, in reference to lesbians, has nothing to do with waterways or canals. The word first appeared in 1710 in British newspaper stories about presumed homosexuals Anne Bonny and Mary Reed. The two women captained a very successful pirate venture and completed several lucrative raids of the British Empire before agreeing to be interviewed. Reporters often noted their predilection for wearing men’s clothing, and one editorial avoided the unpleasant connotations of cross dressing by using a French word which refers to men’s clothing, dike. Over the years, this term was corrupted to the modern form ‘dyke’. Since then, general misunderstanding about the term’s origins have inspired many stand-up comedy routines and bad puns. Polyamory, Polygamy, Monogamy The prefix ‘poly-‘ means many, while ‘mono’ means one. The suffix ‘gamy’ was originally from the French word for marriage, but has since been misunderstood as referring to sex. These terms refer to the number of consensual romantic partners taken by each adult in a family. Of course, the suffix ‘amory’ refers to love. Polyamory is a relatively new term coined by modern practitioners, and is greatly preferred by them. Polygamy and the now defunct term bigamy were coined as early as 1800, as the practice of multiple marriages was outlawed in most Western nations. The state of Utah in the USA applied for Statehood three times before finally accepting an injunction against the polygamy practised at that time by the Mormon church. Polygamy is commonly understood as referring to heterosexual relationships where the man has multiple partners. However, with modern polyamory any combination of genders and orientations fulfills the definition. It is not necessary for all parties in a polyamorous relationship to be involved each with the other. Gay During the 1800s and early 1900s, ‘gay’ was simply a state of jubilant happiness. However, during the late 1800s gay was sometimes used to describe prostitutes in much the same way that the phrase ‘happy hookers’ is used today. One theory is that gay came into use to describe homosexual men because of the rise in numbers of male prostitutes during the 1900s. Another theory is that ‘gay’ was

Barrick Gold and the Mine at the Top of the World

Barrick Gold and the Mine at the Top of the World Introduction The purpose of this case analysis is to identify the main communication problem that the world's largest gold mining company, Barrick Gold, is facing in the midst of their major Pascua-Lama developmental project. The following paper discusses the causes of the communication problem and resulting symptoms, along with the key stakeholders that are affected and their concerning issue. Finally, this paper will provide a solution using all the steps of the communication model on how Barrick Gold can deal with all the key stakeholder groups.Main Body Barrick Gold's main communication problem has been formed by Barrick saying one thing, then doing something else; this inevitably caused a lack of trust between its stakeholders and the company. The problem has created hidden agendas and guarded communication, thereby slowing decision making and productivity. For example, Argentina passed a law that protected their glaciers and per mafrost, â€Å"which looked as if it might prevent the Argentinian part of the project from going forward. † (Barrick Gold case, pp. 11).The cause of the problem stems from Barrick Gold not keeping their promise. They proposed to transport the most affected glaciers farther away from the mining site, but did not live up to that promise. The symptoms of the problem include the farmer's unhappiness with the company and the mayor for supporting the mining project. Another symptom is the fact that the Argentinian national legislatures passed the law protecting the glaciers. This desperate move shows that Argentina has a lack of trust that the company will follow through on their promise to deal with the melting glaciers.The 5 main stakeholders include the Chile and Argentina governments, the local farmers, residents of the valley, and the shareholders of Barrick Gold. Each of these stakeholders have separate issues they are concerned with. The Chile government is concerned with w aste the mine is dumping into the river that runs through the Huasco Valley of Chile, specifically cyanide. The Argentina governments concern is based on the fact that the royalties they receive from the mine are ? of the totalGDP of their poor San Juan province; once the mining is finished this will regress back to zero and devastate the economy. The local farmers are concerned with the explosions that cause dust to settle on the glaciers and accelerate its melting; the effects are devastating to the whole surrounding ecosystem. The resident's of the valley share the same concern as the Argentinian government, that once the mining ceases their income will revert to zero. Finally, the shareholders of Barrick Gold are concerned with the idea of huge opposition and lack of productivity that ensued because of it.In dealing with the afore mentioned stakeholder groups, Barrick Gold can use all the steps of the communication model, including: sender, encode, channel, receiver, and feedbac k. First off, the Chilean government: Barrick Gold (sender) needs to think of a method that allows cyanide to be removed from the river (encode), and this idea needs to be presented face-to-face (channel) to the Chilean government (receiver); once the idea is received, Barrick Gold needs to allow for feedback (positive or negative) from this stakeholder.Secondly, the local farmers: Barrick Gold (sender) is responsible for devising a plan for decelerating the melting of the glaciers (encode) and portraying this plan, either in a proposal or in a meeting (channel), to the local farmers (receiver); the farmers need to provide their response of how the government is doing (feedback). ConclusionIn conclusion, Barrick Gold has a communication problem that could potentially destroy its whole project. How the company deals with its stakeholders is very important to its future success in Chile and Argentina. To mend the problem it is of the company's best interest to follow the communication model and make all attempts to repair the damage already done by not keeping their promise.

Resocialization Definition, Discussion and Examples

Resocialization Definition, Discussion and Examples Resocialization is a process in which a person is taught new norms, values, and practices that foster their transition from one social role to another. Resocialization can involve both minor and major forms of change and can be both voluntary or involuntary. The process ranges from simply adjusting to a new job or work environment, to  moving to another country where you have to learn new customs, dress, language, and eating habits, to even more significant forms of change like becoming a parent. Examples of involuntary resocialization include becoming a prisoner or a widow. Resocialization differs from the formative, lifelong process of socialization in that the latter directs a persons development whereas the former  redirects their development. Learning and Unlearning Sociologist Erving Goffman defined resocialization as a process of tearing down and rebuilding an individual’s role and socially constructed sense of self. It is often  a deliberate and intense social process and it revolves around the notion that if something can be learned, it can be unlearned. Resocialization can also be defined as a process that subjects an individual to new values, attitudes, and skills defined as adequate according to the norms of a particular institution, and the person must change to function adequately according to those norms. A prison sentence is a good example. The individual not only has to change and rehabilitate their behavior to return to society, but must also accommodate the new norms required of living in a prison. Resocialization is also necessary among people who have never been socialized from the start, such as feral or severely abused children. It is also relevant for people who havent had to behave socially for long periods, such as prisoners who have been in solitary confinement. But it can also be a subtle process not directed by any particular institution, such as when one becomes a parent or goes through another significant life transition, like a marriage, divorce, or the death of a spouse. Following such circumstances, one must figure out what their new social role is and how they relate to others in that role. Resocialization and Total Institutions A total institution is one in which a person is completely immersed in the environment which controls every aspect of day-to-day life under a singular authority. The goal of a total institution is resocialization to completely alter an individual and/or group of peoples  way of living and being. Prisons, the military, and fraternity houses are examples of total institutions. Within a total institution, resocialization is comprised of two parts. First, the institutional staff attempts to break down the residents identities and independence. This can be accomplished by making individuals give up their possessions, get identical haircuts and wear standard-issue clothing or uniforms. It can be further achieved by subjecting individuals to humiliating and degrading processes such as fingerprinting, strip searches, and giving people serial numbers as identification rather than using their names. The second phase of resocialization is attempting to build a new personality or sense of self which is usually accomplished with a system of reward and punishment.  The goal is conformity which results when people change their behavior to accommodate the expectations of an authority figure or those of the larger group. Conformity can be established through rewards, such as allowing individuals access to a television, book or telephone. Updated by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

Demographics Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Demographics Report - Essay Example This has seen an increase in employment opportunities for previously under-utilized labor-force sources like women and generation U. Finally, demographic changes in Europe have created an increasingly global and mobile market. CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FOR BUSINESS Introduction European states face challenges with the composition of their age structure changing substantially now and in the near future. Demographic change also requires development of urgent social policies. The concept of demographic change can be defined as the age structure of a population adjusting to various changes in the living conditions. These changes in the societal age structure composition result from social shifts. The European Union population pyramids show that, after the Second World War, the first two decades experienced especially high rates of birth. However, since the 1970s, professional demographers have begun to observe negative trends in Europe’s population structure. Lo wer rates of birth come, in the present and recent past, with ever-increasing life expectancy among Europeans. Ongoing low rates of birth have seen a progression towards an ageing society, as rates of mortality remain low. Consequently, approximately half of population growth forecasted in Europe between 2005 and 2050 will be because its population is living longer, rather than an increase in birth rates. Furthermore, the baby boomer generation is now coming past its retirement threshold and highlights a turning point in the development of demographics. This paper aims to discuss the impact of demographic changes on business operations in the United Kingdom and the larger European Union. The challenges of demographic change refer to the adjustments or changes arising from a society that is aging. Ageing of the population is a long-term trend that started decades ago in the European Union and the UK. This ageing has been most visible in the age structure development, reflected in the increasing share of older citizens, coupled with a declining share of persons in the working age in the total population. In the preceding two decades, the working age share in the European Union increased by 0.3% while that of the older generation grew by a more significant 3.7%. Because of this, top of the age pyramid for the EU-27 for the year 2012 has become larger as compared to that in the year 1992. This growth in older people’s relative share can be explained by an increase in longevity, which has been in evidence for some decades as life expectancy has also increased. This development is referred to as the population pyramid’s ‘ageing of the top’. On the other hand, low fertility levels have remained across the European Union, resulting in a decreased share of the younger generation. This is referred to as ageing at the bottom. The EU-27s median age development of the population also illustrates an ageing population. The median age has gone up fr om thirty five and a half in 1990 to forty one in the year 2012. The median age has risen in all the EU member states by at least seven years. Impacts of Demographic Changes in the EU and UK Never before has there been such a swift change in demographics, in Europe. On the continent, the

Investment appraisal as a form of management control Essay

Investment appraisal as a form of management control - Essay Example This is then followed by the various investment methods in practice. The traditional and discounted cash flow methods are then discussed in detail. It is essential for the management to choose the appropriate investment appraisal technique to be followed and hence the next section focuses on the selection approach. This section throws light on the merits and demerits of the various investment appraisal techniques as well. In order to understand the importance of security projects (non-financially justifiable), a case study is then taken, where a security team makes a proposal to the management to invest on a security project. It is evident that, in the corporate world, the management takes decision based on financial benefits and hence the security team has to justify the investment. The case study uses two methods, NPV and IRR, to arrive at the benefits from the investment. Based on the results, one of these methods is finalized and presented to the management. In order to understand the need for investment appraisal to management control, it is essential to discuss about the various types of investments and the degree of impact they have on a company’s growth. Any growing company continuously invests on new projects to increase its net worth or value. There are various types of investments made by companies every year. These investments can be as large as setting up an entire unit or as small as buying stationery for the company. The management needs to ensure that all the investments made by the company are justified and are necessary for the business. This is very essential as these decisions directly affect the value of the company and in turn, the shareholders. Management generally classifies all investments into financially justifiable investments and non – financially justifiable investments (Weston and