Women In Reality Television Dating Shows Film Studies Essay

Women In Reality Television Dating Shows Film Studies Essay Reality television is viewed as a form of factual programming. It is easily identified by its apparently unscripted discourse, untrained actors, and the ability to voyeuristically watch events develop. Reality television deals with a variety of subject matters and issues but dating shows in reality television are presumably seen as a way of sexing it up. Nevertheless, the dating shows turned reality television into another media outlet which intuitively suppresses women for the sake of entertainment. Seemingly, the clichà ©, sex sells, is proven to be true in reality dating shows because the media profits from womens degradation as well as promotes casual sex. Reality television dating shows typically portray women as desperate, promiscuous, gold-digging, and dim-witted individuals on a quest for love. In America, televised dating has been around for approximately 30 years. With shows such as the Dating Game and Love Connection playing matchmaker, viewers considered the most entertaining part of the shows to be the follow-up stories that were told by the previous contestants. It gave the audience an inside-view of what actually went on during the dates and how the contestants actually felt. Meanwhile, these shows also gave the television industry an early look into audiences capacity to root for an unhappy ending. The best laughs and fun in dating games often arise from painfully uncomfortable matches and from the ensuing tales of dating disaster, or even simply from the anticipation of such disaster. Overtime, shows continued to follow the prototype and the genre of reality television dating shows began to emerge. As the show type grew more popular, by the year 2000 shows such as, Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire and Temptation Island made their way to primetime television. Temptation Island had fairly poor ratings; however, over the next few years it proved itself as a model for shows such as Cupid (2003) ,NBCs Average Joe (2003-5) and For the Love or Money (2003-4), FOXs Joe Millionaire(2003), and ABCs The Bachelor. This type of dating show, still popular today, takes a single male or female and houses them with numerous admirers of the opposite gender that are all on a quest to win the aforementioned single male or females love. More often than not, all contestants are housed together for a period of weeks or months in a luxurious mansion in which they compete to stay in throughout a process of elimination. These arrangements of the shows seem to glorify infidelity as we ll as promote casual sex. Unconsciously, viewers are tuning into a fairy tale parallel. A casual look at reality dating shows might suggest an appalling gallery of female stereotypes and a patriarchal fairy-tale ethos. According to this ethos, Girl (not Woman) meets Man in a magical setting, and Man eventually chooses her above all other suitors, thereby validating her as a person, completing her, rescuing her from a humdrum life, and giving her a chance to become princess of Reality TV-Land. The Bachelor is probably the prime example of this fairy-tale ethos in its incorporation of ball gowns and glorifying this luxurious and idealistic standard of living. The relationship between ethics and reality television is problematic. One writer claims the reason viewers continue to watch these shows is because these shows frame their narratives in ways that both reflect and reinforce deeply ingrained societal biases about women, men, love, beauty, class and race. The genre teaches us that women categorically are certain things for example, no matter their age, theyre hot girls, not self- aware or intelligent adults. By portraying the woman as ill-witted, it simultaneously makes them appear inferior to the man. Even if a contestant on the show is intelligent, after editing, the shows producers will make sure that the intelligence not be conveyed on television. For the sake of ratings, characters that are pathetically unintelligent remain on the show for longer periods of time due to their likeability. Their unintelligence gives them a distinct personality on the show which makes the shows seem more like serve for entertainment purposes or a co mpetition for character likeability rather than the proposed purpose. This is probably why producers cast for type, choosing contestants they can mold into a predetermined slate of characters. Dating shows all too often render the date, and more specifically the woman as spectacle. Overall, the women are treated unfairly. Women are presumably promiscuous when sign the consent form to come on the show. Being that it is a competition, the women are expected to be consensual to the bachelors requests in order to remain on the show. Those who do not comply definitely stand out. For example, in the reality show The Bachelor, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in the finale of the series, it became apparent that become sexually intimate with these womenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. One woman in particular had found his advances unwelcome à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦She explained, He was trying to get me into his room and I said no. And then at four in the morning drunk, in his pants, with a hard on, he tried to help himself to me.These actions took place off camera so there was no evidence to support the accusations. When it comes to reality shows such as The Bachelor, [women] deserve to be treated in an ethically informed manner. The finale is an example of how women can be unfairly treated in reality television. The practice of informed consent needs to be discussed by programme makers and programme regulators in order to ensure the participants are treated with the respect they deserve. If reality TV portrays women as whores, then the networks are their pimps, providing men with sexy singles in hopes theyll get frisky on cue. Depending on the subgenre, the women casted in the shows are oversexed according to what type of woman is portrayed as the most seductive and flirtatious female of that class. VH1 seems to special in [dating shows with] wild premises and a carnivalesque atmosphere. In VH1s Flavor of Love, the women were extremely oversexed and promiscuous. Dating shows have made gratuitous displays of women cavorting for the camera, a regular occurrence. Overtime, what is considered sex on television has changed drastically and definitely become more risquà ©. FOXs Joe Millionaire aired an episode which involved a man and woman going into the bushes and dialogue being flashed across they screen stating what they were saying as well as describing what they were doing. Including slurp and gulp in the text suggested that the female was indeed performing oral sex. With that night being the final episode, FOX attracted forty million viewers which was the largest in the networks history. Coincidentally, this was the same night viewers believed they had probably witnessed the first time oral sex had been performed on network television. The female repudiated the scene saying is misled viewers claiming theyd added the sexual text to make it seem as if they were doing something more than they actually were. Some people think Reality Television walks a tight rope with being pornography. Episodes of the Reality show Blind Date qualify as pornography pointblank. The episodes could be sold at video stores in that section. Blind Date also features text bubbles appearing throughout the couples date as a constant element of their show. This is believed to help the female member become viewed a sex object. For example : In a typical episode, a young woman named Leila, who had participated in a previous segment of the show, returns for a second date, this time with a guy named Anthony. As soon as Leila appears, a large red arrow pops up on the screen and points at her breasts alongside the statement, Breasts 14% larger than last time, followed a minute later by the comment, Get a load of them melons. Later in the episode, the porgrams producers further objectify the woman by letting an article of her clothing have its say; a drawing of Leilas blouse pops up on the screen and tells Anthony, Youre two buttons away from heaven. Blind Date is ultimately accused of placing too much importance on the physical aspects of relationships just as many of the other dating shows do. Womens bodies are portrayed mainly as sex objects. Men are given a sexual power when it comes to reality dating shows as well. Physical attraction is highlighted in the shows, giving off the image that beauty is on the outside or that a man looks at the exterior first. The women come dressed scantly during the eliminations or around the house, doing what they see as being attractive to the male. This survival of the fittest way of thinking highlights casual sex in its creating an environment where the male can virtually choose whoever who wants to sleep with. In all shows, the woman who denies his requests is almost always the one to be eliminated in the near future. Highlighting casual sex also perceives reality dating show as doing nothing to educate individuals on sex, it only adding to societal problems associated with sex even more. Creating awareness of condoms, HIV tests, or STDs in general would definitely help the way sex in conveyed in these reality television dating shows. None of the shows cannot change their messages theyve been conveying because the race to be more outrageous, more salacious, and more sensational will continue. In short , sex sells. Low self-esteem definitely plays a major role in reality television dating shows. All of the women are usually of a proportionate height and weight and are frequently considered to some extent attractive. Women at home would probably look at their size and extent of attractiveness before trying out for the show which forces some women to judge and compare themselves to the women on the dating shows. With the bachelors being who they are, it may also force these women to think they are not worthy or eligible of acquiring a bachelor of such stature. The cast of the show are forced to deal with self-esteem issues as well. They women are forced to relieve themselves of all communication from the outside world in the place of alcohol and constantly being around attractive women with the same goal. The specific character types are clearly expressed by Jennifer Pozner: Theres the Antagonizer, who declares shes not here to make friends; the naive Waif, whos searching for my Prince Charming; the Slut who plots to take our connection to the next level in the fantasy suite; and the wretched Weeper who wonders, when shes dumped, Whats so wrong with me that someone cannot love me? Although these types exist in the real world, for the sake of television, the characters are somewhat formed by the producers and each character type definitely suggests low-self esteem. The anatagonizer is almost always oversexed and comes from a hard background. Always reluctant to make friends their trust issues are always effortlessly conveyed in the show which eventually forces their sketchy past be revealed. The naÃÆ' ¯ve waif is always the desperate character who uses the reality show as a last resort. Unable to find men in the real world, they turn to the reality show and truly accept it as their own personal fairy tale. This character type is often always intimidated by the other characters as they are more competitive because the other women seemingly throw a wrench in their plans for a fairy tale. The slut is always easily recognized on the show and extremely comparable to the anatagonizer in their being oversexed and a possibly a background worthy of note. The slut see ms not to care that they are on television and most of the time they are conveyed as being a gold-digger so they use their sex in exchange for money they hope to get from the eligible bachelor. The slut is also always constantly bashing the other woman which is mostly conveyed as jealousy they attempt to hide through a tough faà §ade. They use their sexual appeal they have to their advantage by making the other women believe the bachelor likes them more. The character with the most clearly stated low-self esteem seems to be that of the wretched weeper. In many cases, the wretched weeper could be any of the aforementioned character types. The weeping comes from their self-assurance and confidence they built up throughout the show after making it past many eliminations or what they believed to be a good date or intimate conversation with the bachelor , which in their mind creates a sense of security. After they are eliminated their entire persona changes and more often than not, the real person comes out. The wretched weeper is also seen in the reunion shows which are aired after the final episode. It shows each womans course on the show as well as the elimination. The Bachelor s cheerfully cruel teaser, Who will get sent home brokenhearted? Find out! is repeated ad nauseum, and in reunion specials, alumnae rejectees are forced to watch mortifying montages of their most pitiful moments (Im a loser!), while the host says in mock concern: Wow, that must be uncomfortable for you. Also, in most cases, during this point the producers make this portion of the show as comedic or humdrum as they can depending on the situation or character at hand. The slut however, is not the only one who is conveyed as a gold-digger, it seems to be a large percentage of the cast. Most of the women sign-up according to who the bachelor is and the other percentage signs-up for a chance to be on television in hopes that the reality television show will be their big break. A classic example of that would be Tiffany New York Pollard from VH1s Flavor of Love with rapper and personality Flavor Flav. Taking an obviously physically unattractive man who the women would not have been attracted to and surrounding him with beautiful women who repugnantly compete over him was pure pleasantry in terms of entertainment. New York was portrayed as both the antagonist and the slut which made her character even more interesting. In the end, she was also conveyed as the wretched weeper when she made it all the way to the final two contestants as well as sleeping with Flavor Flav the night before as a way to secure her position. After his relationship did not work out with the woman he chose, he received another show in which New York appeared in the middle of the season. She entered the house with the same character types, made it to the bottom two contestants and was not picked. Ultimately, she received a spin-off show of her own, VH1s I Love New York in which she played the single bachelorette in a hunt for love. After two seasons of her show, she received another show, New York Goes to Work which shows her performing different task and being paid for them in order to fund her acting career. The entire time, New York was an aspiring actress on the hunt for her big break, which she received in due course. And so it can be seen, women are forced to face the reality of yet another media outlet providing a dismal and unpleasant image of them in what is supposed to be reality television. Reality television dating shows typically portray women as desperate, promiscuous, gold-digging, and dim-witted individuals on a quest for love. By promoting casual sex, choosing a well-off bachelor, and highlighting their more unintelligent moments, reality dating shows are in essence a poor representation of women.

Positivism Vs. Classicism

In this essay, Classical and Positivist theories of criminology will be explored and critically discussed to explore the impacts that they have had on modern day policing, introduction of laws, and police practice. The essay will first look at the history of the Classical Theory looking at Beccaria and Benthams classical school of criminology and its effects in a brief section. Positivist theorists will then be identified and the theory will be discussed, outlining the main thesis and beliefs of both of the theories.How each theory defines a criminal will then be taken into consideration and the relations of theories like the broken windows theory (Wilson and Kelling 82), labelling theory (Becker 1982), strain theory (Merton 1957) and rational choice theory (Homos 1961) will be used throughout the essay to explore the effects that the classical and positivist theories have had on police concepts like public order policing and community policing, touching on criminal justice systems a nd modern day police practice.Classical Criminological though can be traced to the criminal justice system and the penal system. Beccarias 1764 Publication on crime and punishments introduced a serious consideration into the harm caused to society by crime, and ideological outline of the basis for punishments and the relationship between the state and the offender (Beccaria 2003). Beccaria Stated in his approach to the prevention of crime that it is often distilled down to three ideas, and that it is fundamentally a product of Certainty; how likely punishment is to occur.Celerity; How quickly punishment is inflicted. and Severity; how much pain is inflicted (Newburn 2007). Another later criminologist; Jeremy Bentham, then published writings on the penology and notions of â€Å"rational free-willed character of offenders† (Maguire et al 2002) and forwarded the study of crime in that the central concerns of free will and rational choice came together to attempt a more logical a nalysis of crime and suitable punishment.In the twilight years of the 19th century the emergence of the Italian school of criminology sparked a departure in thinking on the study of crime the schools founding member Cesare Lombroso introduced a holy bible of sorts into the criminological world in that he contributed to the introduction of scientific methodology in regard to the study of crime. Lombroso most notably introduced a biological positivism into the study of crime.An â€Å"Atavistic Heredity† (Lombroso 1911) in relation to the cause of offending where physical features were viewed as evidence of an innately criminal nature in a kind of criminal anthropology. His work was then continued and elaborated by two other Italian scholars Ferri (1856-1929) and Garofalo (1852-1934) (Newburn 2007). Ferri and Garofalo elaborated on the environmental factors that can also effect criminal behaviour in relation to positivist criminology. Positivism carries the main assumptions that the methods of the natural sciences should and could be applied to the social world.Suggesting natural sciences should be used as the method base to analyse and conduct research in relation to policing and policing concepts. Positivists believe that research should consist of social knowledge and scientific knowledge through observation and scientific data. Facts must be separated from values and usually, there is a preference for a use of quantitative data over qualitative (adapted from Bottoms 2000, cited in Newburn 2007). in 1913 Positivist theorist Charles Goring published a book called The English Convict.This book logged the study he undertook which took place over 13 years, the study involved examining 3,000 British convicts against a controlled group of non-convict males to try and find out if the criminal could be categorised to a certain type of person, no significant physical differences were found between the two groups. (Goring 1913) Critical of this study and convince d that the criminal is organically inferior (Quoted in Brown et al 2004) Earnest Hooton conducted his own research into the criminal as a certain type of person and introduced Somatyping into positivist criminology.Somatyping involves the belief that evolution was dominated by superior types, arguing that a criminal had a certain type and evolution could eventually eradicate the criminal. Hooton was criticised for having poor data and an unrepresentative control group. However Hooton's work then sparked this idea in the Positivist Criminology theorists as William Sheldon then looked into Somatypes further in 1949 (Newburn 2007) and concluded that there were three types of body a person has; Endomorph, Mesomorph and Ectomorph.These body types were basically short and fat, Large and muscular and Lean and fragile. Sheldon argued that each of these body types was related to particular personality traits and that all individuals possessed varied traits however certain traits were more pr edominant than others. In modern day policing and criminology we use a theory called the labelling theory. This theory was first put forward by Howard Becker in 1963, Becker claimed that criminal elements are associated with physical appearance and the criminal becomes a label attached to a certain type of person.In 2011 it was common belief that a criminal wore a certain type of clothing which was a hooded jacket or ‘Hoodie'. Articles were even published in the newspapers like the Guardian (Guardian 2011) under title â€Å"The power of the Hoodie†. Amplified by the media this piece of clothing became an instant link to criminal behaviour and deviance. Positivist theory can be linked in here with the labelling theory to show the development in the idea of a ‘Criminal type' and show how in modern day policing we are using these theories to determine and define the word criminal.Following the work of Emile Durkheim, Robert K Merton's Strain theory (1957) can also be linked into this concept as the positivist belief is that criminal behaviour can be encouraged by social physical and biological elements, the strain theory thesis is that pressure from social surroundings can encourage an individual to commit crime. If an individual is singled out by Somatype or through labelling theory, they may feel social strain or believe that they should become deviant which could actually pressure said individual into committing criminal acts.An example of where this kind of concept was familiar was when the London riots happened in 2011. Classical criminology however argues against the concept of a criminal being defined by a certain type. Bentham stated that every person has free will and is able to make a rational choice based on the situation they are in at the time and what they feel would be the appropriate action to take. Classicism disagrees with the positivist view of a criminal only being a certain type of person and believes that the criminal deri ves from within any person.Everybody has free will, and the ability to make an informed decision on their actions in any situation they may be in, therefore believing that the criminal is an element every person has the possibility to exploit instead of positivist theory of the criminal element being biologically woven into a persons DNA. Classicism had a major effect on the criminal justice system and penology, punishments were believed to be best given on account of the appropriateness of the crime in question. This idea became the basis for our criminal justice systems today.With the introduction of the classical school of criminology the use of capital punishment and torture was on the decline and in their place the introduction of prison systems as core elements of the justice systems and punishment systems we have today. The abolishment of capital punishment has had an indescribably huge effect on our modern penal systems, the effects are vast however include the introduction of fundamental law like the Human Rights Act (HRA 1998). Acts like this are incredibly important in criminal trials and allow every person to have rights to things like the right to a fair trial and the right to prohibition of torture.Classical criminology influenced these modern day laws as its theorists believed in the concept that the punishment for crime should be based on the scale of what has been done and should be appropriate to the crime itself. Classical Criminology has influenced the constructions of our prison systems as becoming the core element of the way we punish criminals instead of using inhumane methods through capital punishment by considering the scale of the crime and deciding on an appropriate sentence for the criminal.Here another theory can be looked at which has been shaped by the classicism theories and beliefs. This theory is the Rational Choice theory (Homas 1961). the theory is based around the assumptions that criminal activity is committed by an indiv idual after weighed up the risk and reward of an action, if the person believes that the reward is greater than the risk they may be more likely to commit a crime than if the risk was greater than the reward. This theory is supportive of Benthams notes of free will and rational choice.Free will and rational choice can be used to help explain the way we police through public order. In a public order policing situation, like a protest or a riot every person who attends and participates does so out of their own free will, a protester may not riot because they may believe that the risk of being arrested is greater than the reward of violently voicing their opinions. However positivism argues that a criminal is a definitive type of person and can be influenced by social physical or biological surroundings. These assumptions can be seen in the cases of rioting and community crime.The London riots happened in 2011 and they escalated throughout the country with riots happening in places lik e Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester as well as other locations. The reasons that these sparked off is because of the social influence that was pressuring younger people to join in, here the broken windows theory (Wilson and Kelling 82), labelling theory (Becker 1982), strain theory (Merton 1957) and rational choice theory (Homos 1961) can all be related through classicism and positivist views to our modern day policing methods.Broken windows theory states that a run down or derelict area can encourage crime, this relates to the positivist assumption of criminal behaviour being encouraged by the physical surroundings and the evidence of this happening in the London Riots is when all the shops had been broken into and fires had been started. The streets were wrecked and this would have encouraged acts of violence.Merton's strain theory and Beckers labelling theory are also applicable here as the social strain of most young youths committing the crime would encourage more young peop le to commit crime, because the individuals could see crimes being committed around them without any action being taken, this would have further encouraged deviance as rational choice theory says the risk is lower than reward. These positivist based theories meant police in the London riots and most public order situations would target younger individuals to try and find criminal activity and arrests.The Classicism side of influence on Public Order would then come after the arrest in trial where they would be questioned why they had committed these crimes out of their own free will and then put through the justice system, being sentenced on the classical assumption that the punishment should be appropriate to the crime committed. Positivist assumptions can also be linked into the concept of community policing. Positivists believe that crime and criminal behaviour can be influenced through social and physical surroundings.Wilson and Kelling (1982) also believe this is the case as the ir broken windows theory looks at how the area a person lives in can affect their attitude towards crime and committing crime. Through the Classicism belief of community deterrence police practices have been introduced to arm the police with powers that they can use to their advantage against the war on crime. The Police and Criminal Evidence act (1984) and The Police Reform Act (2002) has seen the introduction of new police powers and a new national policing plan.These police practices include powers like stop and search. Stop and search gives the ability for any police constable to stop any citizen and search them if they believe they have reasonable grounds to do so. Classicism and Positivist theories have also had an effect on the way that we police our communities. PCSOs (police community support officers) were introduced in 2002 under the police reform act (2002) and help to improve community relations with the police.This police practice supports the positivist beliefs that c riminals can be influenced through social and physical surroundings as better relationships are built with the community and things like team projects are created to improve derelict areas and social situations people may find themselves in by offering things like youth clubs and activities. This deters crime by drawing people away from delinquency and encouraging them to take part in constructive, positive activity.Theorist David Matza outlined that the positivist theory drew on three sets of problematic assumptions; the first being Differentiation; the assumption that offenders can be separated from non-offenders by definitive characteristics, the second being Determinism; the assumption that biological, physiological or social factors affect the criminal and criminal behaviour and the third being Pathology; the assumption that an offender is an offender due to something going wrong in their lifetime (Tierney 1996).The problems of these views are that the fail to take into account the aspect of rationality, choice and human decision making. They define a criminal as a certain person, and if a person falls into the category of what has been defined by the positivist theory as a criminal it means that they must carry the traits of a criminal which is simply not true as proven by Charles Gorings work (1913). Classicism theory argues rational choice and free will, however what if a person has the impaired ability to make decisions and acts without being rational.Power and wealth is also a problem with the theory, if the classicism theory applied to all in the same sense then why is it that people who have less power and wealth tend to be the more predominant resident of the criminal justice system and not the wealthy. there are other factors that both these theories have not taken into consideration throughout their thesis, they are also very much at opposite ends of the scale.The positivist theory says that criminals are a type of person and the classicism theo ry says that a criminal offence can be committed by anybody as well all have free will and rational choice. Without the Classical school of Criminology and The positivist theorists vital procedure and acts would not have been put into place that are fundamental today for the way our society and criminal justice system operates. Classicism changed the way we sentence criminals and the construct of our prison systems which are of prestigious importance to the modern justice system.Positivist theory has influenced the way we police in terms of public order and community policing through the introduction of the Human Rights Act (1998), the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984) and the Police Reform Act (2002). These acts have allowed the modern day police to be able to take the best assumptions from the classicism theorists and the best assumptions from the positivists and use them to create a criminal justice system that incorporates the best of each theory into the police practices and concepts that are used from day to day in modern day policing.

A Little Bit of Stress Is Useful

â€Å"A little bit of stress is useful – it keeps people in their toes. † Discuss. In order to answer this question one must first define the various elements in the question. Stress can be defined as ‘The harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources or needs of the worker’ . One can define useful, as stress making a person happy, productive and efficient. Also in terms of an organisation making it successful, efficient and effective. You should use more industrial words here eg producing more units Millions of people suffer from stress on a daily basis. Stress can affect a person’s physical health such as increased heart rate and rise in blood pressure, and can affect a person mentally such as depression. This in turn for organisations can be devastating and potentially detrimental, as this can lead to poor industrial relations and high absenteeism, ‘IHC estimates that 13. 4 million working days a year are lost to stress’. On the face of it this would suggest that stress is indeed a bad thing. Indeed a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that those participants who experienced chronic high stress on the job had a considerably greater chance of suffering another heart attack than did those in less stressful jobs. Furthermore there were many cases in world war one of sudden deaths to soldiers who had not endured any wounds, these men probably died of shock when responding to stress. In 1967 Holmes and Rahe carried out a study now called the stress scale where they looked at 5,000 medical patients’ medical records as a way to determine specifically which stressful events caused illnesses, in hierarchical order from the most stressful events to the least. Death of a spouse topped the list followed by, divorce, martial separation and a jail sentence. All these events are intrinsically negative and as such it would be easy to conclude that stress is bad for anyone as it is caused by bad events. However Hooshmand conversely states that ‘stress is just another misunderstood term in the medical practice’ he goes on to say that ‘the phrase any stress is bad (is) nothing further from the truth’. Indeed Lazarus mentions how ‘Hans Selyve suggested two types (of stress) distress and eustress. Distress is the destructive stress illustrated by anger and aggression and it is said to damage health. Eustress is the constructive type, illustrated by emotions associated with emphatic concerns for others†¦ ompatible with or protective of good health’ This is significant, according to Selyve and Lazarus there is, as mentioned above, a ‘distress’ type of stress which is bad- this is where there is too much stress. For example if a manager were to give a deadline which was impossible this may over stimulate and de motivate an employee causing them to do no work. But also mentioned is a ‘eustress’ type of stress which can be seen as ‘useful’ and healthy ‘keeping people on their toes’. This would be where there are small amounts of stress for example if a manager was to set a strict but reasonable deadline it may push the employee on to work harder, stimulating an increasing the employees energy levels to meet the challenge . This shall be mentioned in more detail later on in the essay. Although Lazarus goes on to mention that this hypothesis ‘has not been adequately supported†¦. by empirical research’ there is other evidence to support this claim of eustress. In 1908 Robert M. Yerkes and J. D. Dodson created an experiential relationship between performance and pressure, now known as ‘Yerkes-Dodson Law ’. The law shows that performance actually increases with pressure i. e. stress: the eustress that Selyve went on about, but only up to a point. When levels of pressure become too high, performance decreases, this is known as distress. The process is illustrated graphically as a rounded, inverted U-shaped curve which increases and then decreases with higher levels of pressure. Clearly according to this law one wants to reach the optimum stress levels which is small amounts of stress to keep one on its toes but not too much as this could lead to depression and potentially heart problems. It is now important to look at specifically how eustress can help and be healthy for you. From ‘Yerkes-Dodson Law’ it would not be unreasonable to suggest that eustress is basically stress in small, not large amounts. Leitnerpg states that ‘according to Allen 1983 eustress represents challenge and stimulation for healthy growth and development’ this would suggest that eustress stress gives you the competitive edge roviding you with focus and determination. There are many examples above of stressors likely to produce distress such as divorce but Leitner mentions stressors which produce eustress such as ‘roller coasters and skiing’ It is important to note that people are actually paying for these stressors, thus they can be considered us eful stresses. Some people even thrive on the excitement of stresses this can be best shown in adrenaline junkies, as they seek activities that increase their hormone adrenaline production. Examples of these stress seekers include racing car drivers, politicians and bungee jumpers. It is well known that many employees will leave there work to the last minute they need the stress and adrenaline to get their work done, if there is no stress it is probable this work would never be done. Indeed it is possible to have stressors which can cause both eustress and distress such as exercise, which can be considered a eustress, but when overdone can lead to injuries and illness. Selye points out that ‘whether an activity produces eustress or distress depends on the participant’s perception of the activity’ this can be supported by a quote from Shakespeare ‘things are neither good nor bad, but thinking makes them so’ . Indeed everyone is different when dealing with stress whether stress is good or bad for someone depends on that person. This can be supported by Type A and B personality theory created in the 1950’s . This puts people into two groups . Type A people are according to Friedman, M. & Rosenman ‘impatient, excessively time-conscious, insecure about their status, highly competitive, hostile aggressive, and incapable of relaxation’ . They established a link between type A people and coronary heart disease after analysing data from thousands of people who had beforehand been placed into either type A or Type B group. Whilst type B people are almost the opposite of type A people, relaxed in nature with no sense of time urgency and less easily stressed. Quote The above evidence would suggest that the amount of stress does not matter to a great extent but what does is the type of person as, according to this theory there are two types of people, type A personalities will deal worse with stress than type B personalities. It would not be unreasonable to suggest that a small amount of stress for type B personalities maybe good for that person ensuring they are focused and have more of a sense of time urgency, however the same amount of stress mposed on a type A personality could caused aggravation, anxiety and maybe even heart problems. Indeed some employers will look for employees who not only can naturally deal with stress but actually thrive on it. An example of this can be given of Alan Sugar who makes it clear in the program the apprentice that he is looking for people who can deal with stressful situations by testing them as part of the recruitment process . An essential part of the recruitment procedure is to be able to keep your nerve and defend yourself in the public forum of the board room, an artificially created stressful environment. In this day and age there is bound to be stress due to the nature of work and the fast moving environment around us, it is how we deal with this stress which can determine whether this stress is useful or not. ‘Yerkes-Dodson Law’ dictates that if there is too much stress this can reduce the performance of the individual, thus it is sometimes important for the individual to be able to reduce this stress in order to produce optimal performance. Indeed Ward states that ‘in learning to manage stress effectively you may come to believe that the experiences of stressful periods may become beneficial to you. There are many different ways of dealing with stress and how well you deal with stress will determine how it affects you. A person can exercise to help reduce stress, ‘exercise creates a sense of confidence and control, which reduces stress’ this does not mean just occasional exercise but exercise on a daily basis if possible. Exercise also directly leads to relaxation of the body which can help reduce stress. Having the required sleeping hours is also vital, this will refresh yourself making you feel better the next morning and ready for work. If one does not have the required sleeping hours necessary it can lead to tiredness which can lead directly to stress. So far mainly people and employees have been looked upon, it is important to look at how organisations as a whole deal with stress and if they find it useful or not. Organisations are becoming more and more aware of the importance of stress and its impact on employees. Ward mentions some ways in which companies are taking action to combat stress ‘more are referring employees for health and fitness tests. Others are running stress management courses and providing stress counselling for employees’ . In view of this one can clearly see how important stress is in organisations. Some company’s thrive on stress these mainly seem to be financial orientated organisations. Who are and need to be extremely competitive with other similar organisations, this stress pushes the organisation on to its limits increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the company. It is not uncommon nowadays for organisations to deliberately impose stress on employees; this can be done by paying employees with high commissions, meaning they are not guaranteed money at all. Some employees actually enjoy this stress, they enjoy the challenge and the buzz. Indeed this can be directly linked to job satisfaction. Other organisations in the health field such as hospitals try to reduce stress, as they feel any stress imposed on patients could be dangerous, one of the things they do to reduce stress is painting the hospital walls green as it is proven that green is a low stress colour can decrease stress. Clearly in the health field stress is deemed as bad but maybe in the financial field stress is seen as useful pushing on the company to success. Thus the usefulness of stress depends upon which type of organisation it’s for. Obviously though too much stress in a financial organisation can cause absenteeism which will ultimately lose the company money. To conclude with regards to organisations as a whole, it just depends on the type of organisation to how useful stress is. In terms of individuals, small amounts of stress which Selye describes as eustress can help keep people on their toes, keeping them focused and acting as a stimulant, pushing them on to work. However it can completely depend on the person. A Type A person may not be able to take that stress and instead of ‘keeping them on their toes’ may cause panic and anxiety. Nonetheless, in saying this, as Yerkes-Dodson law dictates some stress is needed to achieve optimum performance and give people a challenge, which increases job satisfaction. Thus it would be accurate to conclude that ‘a little bit of stress is useful – it keeps people on their toes’. You would improve the structure if you cross reference more eg when you are talking about how stress needs to be in the right quantity, it might be helpful if you mention that later on you will be talking about how stress an be controlled. If you need to add any more – you could talk further about the work life balance – ie however stressful the job – outside activities are essential A further element you could talk about – when discussing different personalities – is that what is stressful for some is not for oth ers. A good example might be of mothers who stay at home and look after children – for some this is v stressful and for others it is an ideal environment. You could also add an international dimension eg in France there is huge job security and longer holidays (I think) in America holidays are short and there is v little job security

21st century literacy Essays

21st century literacy Essays 21st century literacy Essay 21st century literacy Essay What is 21st century literacy? 21st century literacy is demanding a literate person that has a wide range of abilities. These abilities must be multiple and forceful. The active, successful participants in this 21st century global society must be able to develop proficiency and fluency with the tools of technology; build intentional cross- cultural connections and relationships with others so to pose and solve problems collaboratively and strengthen independent thought; design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes; manage, analyze, and ynthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information; create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts; attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments (NCTE). This all depends on understanding the difference in media that can make up our high-tech reality and producing the skills to use them forcefully. Literacy then and now has changed a lot. History provides multiple examples of societies trying to make a connection to go into their communication infrastructures two centuries ago. Using the technologies in the past, people pursued methods by which they might be able to communicate faster, easier, and better. To this day we still look for better communication methods, only now we have countless choices, along with new gears and tactics with greater knowledge of effective communication. Digital and visual literacies are the next wave of communication specialization. Most people will have technologies at their fingertips not only to communicate but to create, to manipulate, to design, to dots). Kids are learning this ith technology even when they dont realize it. The lack of education is a problem and the situation is impaired in the field of education.. A common situation today is a classroom filled with digitally well- educated students being led by linear-thinking. There has been a mutual void in professional development for faculty this needs training to increase the necessary computer skills to mix technology into the curriculum effectively. Children now a day learn everything about technology and use technology every minute of the day. We ave to change the way technology is used to teach learning across all departments. This change will slowly come however, without vision combined with practical, familiar goals and motivations that inspire people to grip a new digital and visual literacy skill independently and collectively. Future literacy is a thought experiment about the demise of literacy and the upcoming of other skills, capacities or tools that will effectively and advantageously displace reading and writing. Literacy is a capability we privilege above all others. It s a universal good. It is widely viewed as a prerequisite for success and personal development. By contrast, illiteracy is understood to be an impairment. 21st century is changing everything forever. Work cited The NCTE Definition of 21st Century Literacies. NCTE Comprehensive News. N. p. , n. d. web. 12 sept. 2013. Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century (EDUCAUSE Quarterly) I EDUCAUSE. edu. Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century (EDUCAUSE Quarterly) I EDUCAUSE. edu. N. p. , n. d. web. 12 sept. 2013.

Free Essays on Montana 1948

Society has many quirks, which are amplified when individual cases are examined. People’s lives have many hidden facets, not seen by the rest of the community, often purposely hidden. While this may be done in order to make an individual or family seem more â€Å"presentable† to the rest of the population, these â€Å"public lies,† as they are called by David Huddle, perpetuate even more, until almost everyone has some sort of hidden aspect of their life. Not everyone is as perfect as they make it seem, but because they make themselves seem faultless, they make others feel inadequate and be self conscious about their faults. More defects are then covered up, leading to more dishonesty in society. In the novel Montana 1948 by Larry Watson, the life of a seemingly perfect family is thrown into chaos by the actions of a family member. David Hayden, the main character of the novel, is forced to grow up within a very short amount of time, when his uncle, Frank, is accused of molesting the local Native American girls, while giving them medical examinations. The accusations are not made public, but to Frank’s brother Wesley- David’s father- who is the sheriff of the small town in which the family resides. Family loyalties are thrown askew as Wesley must decide how to deal with these accusations against his brother, as he is the law and must either act accordingly or decide to protect Frank and the family’s reputation. Wesley ultimately ends up arresting his brother, which he justifies in his own mind as the morally right thing. But Wesley and Franks father Julian becomes enraged at the fact that Wesley has done this, and insists that Frank be let go. He favors Frank, and thinks that Wesley may be making the arrest because of his jealousy that is a result of Julian’s favoritism. However, this doesn’t seem to be the entirety of his anger- Julian has led the family to become â€Å"as close as Mercer County came to aristocracy† (... Free Essays on Montana 1948 Free Essays on Montana 1948 Society has many quirks, which are amplified when individual cases are examined. People’s lives have many hidden facets, not seen by the rest of the community, often purposely hidden. While this may be done in order to make an individual or family seem more â€Å"presentable† to the rest of the population, these â€Å"public lies,† as they are called by David Huddle, perpetuate even more, until almost everyone has some sort of hidden aspect of their life. Not everyone is as perfect as they make it seem, but because they make themselves seem faultless, they make others feel inadequate and be self conscious about their faults. More defects are then covered up, leading to more dishonesty in society. In the novel Montana 1948 by Larry Watson, the life of a seemingly perfect family is thrown into chaos by the actions of a family member. David Hayden, the main character of the novel, is forced to grow up within a very short amount of time, when his uncle, Frank, is accused of molesting the local Native American girls, while giving them medical examinations. The accusations are not made public, but to Frank’s brother Wesley- David’s father- who is the sheriff of the small town in which the family resides. Family loyalties are thrown askew as Wesley must decide how to deal with these accusations against his brother, as he is the law and must either act accordingly or decide to protect Frank and the family’s reputation. Wesley ultimately ends up arresting his brother, which he justifies in his own mind as the morally right thing. But Wesley and Franks father Julian becomes enraged at the fact that Wesley has done this, and insists that Frank be let go. He favors Frank, and thinks that Wesley may be making the arrest because of his jealousy that is a result of Julian’s favoritism. However, this doesn’t seem to be the entirety of his anger- Julian has led the family to become â€Å"as close as Mercer County came to aristocracy† (...

Dissertation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words - 1

Dissertation - Essay Example The findings suggest that price may be the most important determinant of customer loyalty, followed by location. Standard of service and brand name were not found to be as important in contributing to customer loyalty. Hotels are an important part of the tourism industry and with the trend to globalization, there have been an increasing number of hotels cropping up, offering a wide range of facilities to customers. Catered houses are emerging as a cost effective alternative to expensive hotels, especially since they may in some instances provide good levels of service as well, which are comparable to service levels at two or three star hotels. Within the UK, the hospitality industry is highly competitive and service levels are a vital factor in ensuring customer satisfaction with the hospitality services they receive. But customer satisfaction alone may not be adequate; rather it is customer loyalty that can prove to be cost effective and enable an organisation to gain a competitive advantage in the current global marketplace. Travel and tourism are booming today and several studies have already been carried out on the levels of passenger and hotel resident satisfaction across the globe. The impact of services and facilities available at hotels and their impact upon tourist satisfaction have also been assessed in other studies; however the number of studies that have examined the impact of these services in terms of customer loyalty are fewer. In particular, studies on customer loyalty in the context of catered houses is even less; hence this study aims to examine what are the factors likely to promote customer loyalty at a catered house and promote their repeated utilization of the services of the catered house and thereby demonstrate loyalty. This study thus aims to assess customer perception of service one catered hostel in London based upon a survey and thereby determine how likely it is that these customers could prove to be loyal customers, thereby

EMBA 560 Exercise 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

EMBA 560 Exercise 6 - Essay Example ines of communication by which followers can openly send comments and suggestions directly to the leader; this will work only, however, when the leader responds to the feedback in a manner that lets his/her followers know that their messages are given attention to. By understanding them a leader is able to formulate goals and frame his message in a context that is meaningful o them. Relational power is based on the leader’s relationships with others, not only in terms of number but more important in the strength or quality of their relationship. It requires engagement and a measure of investing oneself in relationships. Relational power means building connections between people, which for a leader means getting to know certain people not in terms of their work along but also in other contexts that are meaningful to both leader and follower. One way of building relational power is to create opportunities for contact in a context other than work related, such as company-wide or movie premieres. Another way would be to find common interests between followers and leader where they could regularly associate outside of the work environment. Being members of the same golf club, for instance, or exploring the same interests such as comic strip characters and comicon conventions, would be venues outside of work where people can develop relationships. Sometime attending the same parent-teacher meetings when their children go to the same school could be a starting point for building relationships. While personal power can be develop with groups of people, relational power can be built only selectively, and should be cultivated with key personnel. Positional power is based on the formal position the leader holds in the organization and social environment. While personal and relational power are cultivated outside the organization hierarchy, positional power essentially relates to the organization, either based on the formal title or position one holds, or the