Observation #7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Observation #7 - Essay Example They were discussing new trends in hairstyles and makeup. I could sense that they were very formal with each other, as their gestures were showing. Their language was also very formal. They greeted each other with â€Å"Good day!† and departed with â€Å"Have a nice day!† kind of statements. I heard the conversation closely, and I did not hear even one slang or abusive word. I guessed that they were meeting for the first time, and that is why there were being so formal. 3. I observed a male and a female in the school setting of my younger brother. The male was a child’s father, and the female was the teacher. The man was complaining about her child’s progress, and was blaming the teacher for not paying attention. I could hear phrases like â€Å"You people don’t care†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , and â€Å"Is this your system?† The teacher was being apologetic, and was convincing the man that they were not at fault. I could sense this as I heard phrases like â€Å"Look Sir!† and â€Å"With due respect†¦Ã¢â‚¬  etc. The man’s language was aggressive; while, the teacher’s language was

Research Methodology - Research Findings of Etisalat Telecorporation Dissertation

Research Methodology - Research Findings of Etisalat Telecorporation and the result - Dissertation Example The research methodology has been discussed below. The aim of the research is to find the role of IT outsourcing in enhancing the profitability, growth and sustainability of Etisalat. The research has been undertaken with the help of qualitative tools and quantitative tools. Qualitative tool used in this research includes design of questionnaires keeping the objective of research into consideration and then undertaking surveys with target group of people. The target groups for carrying out the surveys are selected in such a way that the responses obtained are reliable and not random. Firstly the questionnaire is designed such that it contains a comprehensive set of questions. The questions prepared addresses the validity of the strategy of IT outsourcing adopted by Etisalat, whether outsourcing of IT could be considered as a key asset to the business of Etisalat, whether IT outsourcing has helped to reduce the cost of operations of Etisalat, whether improvement of services occurred a s a result of outsourcing, whether effects on profitability and sustainability of business have taken place. Responses to the questionnaire were obtained in a â€Å"Yes† or â€Å"No† or â€Å"Don’t know†. The survey using the questionnaire has been carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the questionnaire was used to undertake a survey through responses from the responsible employees of Etisalat. The senior managers, sales managers and the operations managers were surveyed with the fixed set of questions. Responses obtained from the senior and middle management of Etisalat were considered to be reliable as they could readily understand the differences in daily operations of Etislat, the convertibility of the sale pitch and service responses of the clients and customers (Burgemeister, 2003, p.11). The senior manager would certainly have the feedbacks and reports on the implementation of strategic outsourcing of IT by Etisalat. A sample of the respon ses received was taken into consideration and a second phase of survey was conducted with the help of the same questionnaire. This time the questionnaire was used to undertake a survey among the clients, customers and representative of Etisalat in UAE in order to justify the responses of the selected sample with the responses of the beneficiaries of Etisalat. The two clients of Etisalat who were surveyed using the questionnaire are American University of Sharjah and Sharjah Islamic Bank. The same set of questions was asked to the customers, clients and representative of Etisalat. The respondents answered the questions in specific categorical responses which were based on their experience of services of Etisalat and any notable changes felt in the services and operations due to IT outsourcing by Etisalat. The representative responded to the survey based on the feedback available from various stakeholders of Etisalat. The findings of the survey were then matched with the findings of a quantitative analysis (Kolb, 2008, p.16). The quantitative findings were obtained by the use of a quantitative tool based on the financial statements of Etisalat. Considering the fact

Final project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Final project - Essay Example A harmonious combination into the use of these instruments fell into categories such as metal, stone, clay, bamboo, wood, bone, string, and gourd. The instruments gave symbols to Chinese people. These instruments were rudimentary and played about five notes out of the seven musical notes. The most recognized instruments in this episode include the Guzheng, the Zhong Ruan, the Liuqin, the YangQin, the Erhu, the Dizi, the Pipa, the Zheng, the Rattle drum, and the Xun, which was a wind musical instrument, and one among the ancient and oldest instrument used in China, approximately 7,000 years ago. In the past, the Xun was played in the open and provided the main part of the entertainment. It dates back to the Neolithic age. It has six holes at most and a very simple structure. Its sound creates a unique artistic feeling that inspires (Jin, Li & Rong 65-73). The changes in time and rapid development of musical instruments led to more instruments that were played in china to about over 70 instruments. Among them as recognized in the episode were the Qin, which is the oldest instrument of its time in the world, and can take on many shapes and accommodate many sounds. It was produced in the imagery of a cloud, and playing it required good manners by the players; hence, it was reserved for scholars. This instrument was mainly used to cultivate the mind and character of the player. The other instrument is the chime whistle used by ancient hunters, the pottery drum, the pottery whistle, and the chime stone, which originated from a simple farm tool, and resembled an ancient plough. Other instruments identified include the Shao Jingqun, the Piano, and the Chime bells, which were large and had complex shapes. The bells comprised 65 in total and weighed about 5 tons. There was also the chime stone that is recognized for being predominant in the musical industry of the Chinese, the giant drum found in the excavated tomb, and perceived as

Effective Managment of Change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Effective Managment of Change - Research Paper Example The change process was initially started by chairman Vanvelde who was employed in 2000. However, his policies remained quite successful in first 2 years i-e 2001 – 2002 but then failed to eradicate structural issues in the company. The company continued to expand its business operations in both domestic and global markets with the passage of time and diversified its business. The chairman enabled the firm to operate in new markets and improve its financial position by 2004 but internal inefficiencies had still remained a headache for strategic planners. As far as changes in the later period of 2005- 2008 is concerned, it is worthwhile to mention that M&S developed and implemented PLAN A in 2007 under guidance, supervision and leadership of Mr. Stuart Rose to eradicate structural problems and restore its competitiveness in the marketplace. The policies of Mr. Stuart helped in eradicating many management and administrative inefficiencies and restoration of employees’ confidence over strategic planners in M&A. The report will critically evaluate the overall change management and implementation process followed by a detailed SWOT analysis of Marks and Spencer in 2010. The report will also include forecasts about any future changes (and their management) and will finally end up with a conclusion. Change Management is a technique adopted by strategic planners and top managers to improve organisational efficiency, productivity and environment. The strategy is widely used as a part of Restructuring and Reengineering Program within an organisational context to ensure a discrimination organisational culture, open information sharing, shared values and experimentation so that employees can contribute more for goal accomplishment and financial gains. Our company Marks and Spencer is a leading manufacturer / producer, marketer and seller of top quality ready-made garments or apparel, shoes, food

Reflective paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Reflective paper - Essay Example Thus, as a group, the reward power made us to create a strong relationship that resulted to improved performance. When analyzing at an organizational level, the reward power improved the profitability of the organization due to the improvement in the performance of the employees. As the result of the improved sales for Peytons, the firm attained a competitive edge. Thus, when analyzing at a global level, the firm was able to compete with other firms in the international market. During my duties, the managing director was very supportive especially when I was new in the company. This improved my attitude towards my work. At the individual level, improved attitude made me to have a positive view towards my duties that I once depicted as challenging. My attitude towards my workmates who were new to me also improved, thus I was able to ask for assistance. This implies that at the group level we viewed each other with positive attitude. Organizationally, the assistance that the MD provide d to me made me to significantly contribute to the success of the company. When looked at the global level, I became a person with strong willingness and positive attitude anywhere in work in the various parts of the world. The team I was involved was focused at meeting the deadlines by initiating a good communication system where each one of was closely connected to another. One of the notable positive behaviors of my team was that there was a clear division of duties and each one of us was able to complete the duties on time. This was a good experience that we will adopt in our future endeavors as managers and leaders. Completion of the duties also made the team to effectively work towards the achievement of the team goals. The negative team-related behavior was that there were two members who were aggressors. Every new idea that the team leader

The Power of Truth Essay Example for Free

The Power of Truth Essay Novelist Tim O’Brian once said â€Å"A lie, sometimes, can be truer than the truth, which is why fiction gets written. † In his novel The Things They Carried, O’Brian argues that â€Å"story-truth is sometimes truer than happening-truth† (171). O’Brian opposes the idea of absolute truth, and believes that all truths are subject to change. He believes that a fictional story can be more true than an actual event. However, a story, no matter what story, cannot be more true than an actual event; a â€Å"story version† of an event is merely a shadow of that event—a make-up-caked, dramatized, Hollywood shadow. It is impossible for â€Å"story-truth† to be truer than â€Å"happening-truth. † In The Things They Carried O’Brian creates a daughter, Kathleen, for the fictional version of himself. O’Brian, however, does not have a daughter in real life. While it may be a â€Å"story-truth† that Tim O’Brian had a daughter, it will never be a â€Å"happening-truth. † A made-up daughter will never be more real than O’Brian’s actual son. In the novel, O’Brian â€Å"return[s] with [his] daughter to Vietnam† where he buries a belonging of a fellow soldier (173). This story can never be more true than an actual event solely because of the involvement of a fictional character. A man can tell a story about his last trip to the grocery store, and most people would count it as true. However, if the man told a story about going to the grocery store with a magic genie, it would be assumed that he is lying, even if every other facet of his story was believable. This is no different than O’Brian weaving a fictional character in to his novel. The â€Å"story-truth† of Kathleen can never be more true than â€Å"happening-truth. † Furthermore, in a crime investigation, it is illegal to interfere with evidence involved with a case. Any disruption or corruption of evidence is termed â€Å"falsifying evidence. † This is a serious offence because it could seriously disturb the process of solving a crime. Devoid of sound evidence, it is difficult to determine how a crime was committed. Evidence is an example of â€Å"happening-truth;† it conveys without any bias, exactly what happened at the scene of a crime, or at the events leading up to a crime. Investigators cannot solve a crime based solely off of â€Å"story-truth,† such as the testimonies of witnesses, because of the numerous individual accounts of a crime which are subject to dishonesty, human error, and prejudice. Therefore, investigators rely on â€Å"happening-truth† because it is trustworthy, whereas â€Å"story-truth† is inconsistent. Moreover, the popular film The Titanic is bursting with examples of â€Å"happening-truth† and â€Å"story-truth. † Director, James Cameron, designed many of these â€Å"story-truths† to provide an increased dramatic tone in the film. He created a grand staircase on the ship while in reality this staircase was so small passengers had to go up and down single file. A Pablo Picasso painting is featured in the film, although Picasso was not popular during the time of the Titanic, and his work was not widely distributed. The diamond necklace in the film, titled â€Å"The Heart of the Ocean,† never existed, much like the love story between invented passengers Rose Bukater and James Dawson. These creations served Cameron’s purpose to paint a theatrical telling of the event, but the movie was just that—theatrical. Although these â€Å"story-truths† indicate the sinking of the Titanic was a romantic event, it is the â€Å"happening-truths† that send chills through the viewers’ astonished bodies. The most powerful aspect of the film The Titanic is not the love story. It is not the grand staircase, or the luxurious dining room. It is not the interaction between characters, or the extravagant â€Å"Heart of the Ocean. † The most powerful aspect of The Titanic is that it actually happened. At the end of the film, there were 1,502 dead bodies sinking and in the freezing salt water of the Atlantic. No â€Å"story-truth,† no matter how elaborate, could create a greater tragedy than a â€Å"happening-truth. † Why not? Since â€Å"story-truths† are not as true as â€Å"happening-truths. † Therefore, the notion that a story could ring truer than an actual event is in the wrong. A lie cannot reveal a deeper truth; only truth can uncover truth. Stories provide an escape for the imagination. They allow the reader to imagine a different reality and to glimpse into an alternate world. However, stories are only stories. They are not real. The only way the reader can understand a true reality is to read a true account of that reality. Although this account may be less dramatic than the â€Å"story version† of the reality, it is in fact the reality. It is the truest truth; the â€Å"happening-truth. † Works Cited OBrien, Tim. The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. Print. Tim OBrien Quotes. Tim OBrien Quotes (Author of The Things They Carried). N. p. , n. d. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. . Titanic Facts vs. Titanic Fiction. HubPages. N. p. , n. d. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. . The Titanic Gazette: R. M. S. TITANIC vs. Titanic Movie. The Titanic Gazette: R. M. S. TITANIC vs. Titanic Movie. N. p. , n. d. Web. 18 Feb. 2013.

The Ongoing Objectification of Woman

The Ongoing Objectification of Woman Men look, women are looked at, said John Berger in his seminal 1972 documentary series Ways of Seeing, and in this one sentence, Berger summarised the relationship between men and women, and the objectification of women by men. From Susannah being looked at by the Elders, to Manets Luncheon on the Grass, women in art have been continually portrayed as not only objects of desire, but objects to be owned. One might like to think that feminism, and women, have come a long way, not only from the bra-burning days of the 60s and 70s, and the power-suited days of the 80s, that saw women in positions of power in the city, and in politics; even from the days of early suffrage. Yet one has only to look at a daily newspaper, a womans magazine, a Hollywood movie, let alone a mans magazine, to realise that the objectification of women is as rampant (and I use that word deliberately) as it has ever been. Even in the world of High Art, paintings such as Lucien Freuds of a pregnant Kate Moss still portray woman as something that can be looked at, desired, owned. One would most definitely like to think that women have come a long way since Rousseau stated, in typically succinct fashion, that the doll is the peculiar amusement of the females; from whence we see their taste plainly adapted to their destination. One presumes Rousseau was talking about baby dolls, little girl dolls, to be played with and dressed up in pretty clothes, to sit quietly, prettily and well dressed in a corner, unobejcting and unobjectionable, good practise not only for motherhood but womanhood; but he could equally as well have been talking about that most contemporary of dolls, the Barbie curvaceous, well dressed and pretty, with a wardrobe of clothes that would enable her to follow any career, from astronaut to vet, sexy but sexless, epitomised by the most recent addition to the sisterhood, Burqa Barbie, so that all girls feel represented in a globalised 21st century. All girls that are curvaceous and well dressed, pretty and sexless and quiet, anyway. Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of European feminism, believed that as long as men saw women as trophy wives, and took mistresses, that the oppression of women should continue, yet she did not solely blame men, believing also that women were complicit in their own objectification, and referring to them as clay figures to be moulded by men. Girls, Wollstonecraft believed, were enslaved to men through their social training. With the coming of post-feminism, one could hope that women had finally broken this male-oriented patriarchal perception of them, but it seems in fact to be the reverse. Young women expose more and more of themselves, stating that they are in control, and they may show as much flesh as they wish in this post-feminist world, but one cannot help but think that Wollstonecraft was right women still base their worth on how much a man values them, and on precious little else. Barbie may be a 21st century astronaut, but unless she is busty and beautiful, Ken will not be i nterested, and Barbie will be worthless, both in her own eyes and those of society. In this essay, I propose to explore how feminism and post feminism have influenced my development as an artist, and to question how the medias continued portrayal of women as a commodity has affected other contemporary artists, both positively and negatively. The goal of feminism, said an early spokeswoman, was to change the nature of art itself, to transform culture in sweeping and permanent ways by introducing into it the heretofore suppressed perspective of women. Barbie as a symbol of woman as object can be found not only in contemporary art, but also in contemporary literature; she has moved into everyday speech as a contemptuous comment on glamorous women (Shes nothing but a Barbie doll! is a derisive criticism aimed at a woman perceived to be beautiful but dumb, ironic when one considers how it is precisely this image that is being sold to us by the media!) Mattel may market Barbie as a modern career girl, far more independent than the original 1950s clothes horse, but is she as complicit in the objectification of modern women as Mary Wollstonecraft stated over 200 years ago? The London based photographer Alex Kliszynski would seem to agree with Wollstonecraft, and has directly questioned such attitudes in a body of work that combines the imagery of pornography with Barbie dolls. (http://areyoushaved.net/2009/10/art-culture-nude-human-barbie-dolls/) The instant reaction of the spectator is one of revulsion, a feeling that something is not right. Such a highly sexualised childs toy is obscene, but maybe that is the intended point of the artwork? Barbie is the ultimate commodified, sexist, male-fantasy view of what women should look like. She has a tiny waist, long legs, and enormous breasts. However, oddly, if you think about it, this highly sexualized body actually lacks sexual parts, or the parts of the body we would see if she were fully nude. She has no vagina. Her breasts have no nipples. In addition, Action Man, an idealized, sexualized male specimen, has no penis and no scrotum. By placing a sexless doll in a lascivious and crude position that should show all the sexual organs but doesnt, Kliszynski is making a comment on the dehumanising of women (and men) by media led objectification; it is his intention to call attention to that disconnection , to make the viewers aware of the sexualized images of women and men that Bar bie and Action Man dolls trade in. However, I think there is another, yet more sinister, way of reading Kliszynskis art work. The dolls are a monstrous combination of human and plastic; even the title of the work is Human Barbie Dolls, suggesting an abnormal mixture of the two. It is possible to understand Kliszynskis piece as a comment on the modern phenomena of body dysmorphia, a disorder that causes a person to believe there is something terribly wrong with an aspect of their face or body, and which often leads them into a series of cosmetic surgeries. Kliszynskis human Barbies symbolise this body dysmorphic tendency prevalent in so much of (western) society, this desire to turn the human body into a work of art, a perfection of flesh and plastic to match the abnormal perception of idealised beauty encouraged by the media. In her poem, Barbie Doll, Marge Piercy makes much the same point: This girlchild was born as usual and presented dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy. Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: You have a great big nose and fat legs. She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity. She went to and fro apologizing. Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs. She was advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile and wheedle. Her good nature wore out like a fan belt. So she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up. In the casket displayed on satin she lay with the undertakers cosmetics painted on, a turned-up putty nose, dressed in a pink and white nightie. Doesnt she look pretty? everyone said. Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending. Both Kliszynski and Piercy have recognised the detrimental effect on the mental and physical health of women (and men) of societys objectification of the human body. By constantly portraying an idealised myth of not just the body but the very role of women in society, the media (and sections of the art world) have created a culture which views the body in its natural human state as somehow wrong and abnormal. Equally, both Kliszynski and Piercy have recognised the complicity of women in this culture; the girl in the poem is healthy and intelligent, born as usual, presumably normal in all respects, and yet she accepts the truth of her low value in society because she is not perceived as physically perfect. Only in death, with her nose cut off and a cosmetically enhanced putty nose in place instead, can she be seen as pretty. Her value as a strong and useful member of society is non-existent in a world that refuses to see past her face. Kliszynski himself has said that the main body of my work is a number of human-dolls that aim to raise questions about the numerous images of the objectified and idealised body that we see in the mass mediaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I came to make this work as a reaction to the lowest-common-denominator approach to masculinity taken by the media which serves and perpetuates the lad or raunch elements of our culture. Curiously this lad/raunch culture seems also to be embraced by many young women; a phenomenon which seems contrary to a properly progressive understanding of gender and identity in a post-feminist era. (http://lostinasupermarket.com/2010/09/barbie-porn-seriously/) Lad magazines such as Maxim, Stuff and various other UK-based magazines intended for teenage boys and young men are notorious for endorsing a highly commodified view of the world men and boys are encouraged to buy lots of bling like cars, stereo components and expensive suits etc. By their very placement in such magazines, in glamorous soft-porn poses, female models become as much merchandise as the gadgets featured in the articles; and as the reader must own the right phone to attain status, so he must have the right woman. Yet this attitude of the body as commodity is ironically trapping men as much as women, and both sexes are in a crisis of identity. Men are met on a daily basis with conflicting images of themselves, from the traditional Action Man role of husband, father, provider, patriarch, to the more sensitive, metro sexual Ken, whose status, like that of Barbie, is defined by how he looks and what he owns. This crisis is as important for men as for women; statistics show that young male suicides are increasing, there is a high rise in cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in males, crime statistics are rising, divorce rates are going through the roof, and with mothers routinely given custody of the children even the role of fatherhood itself has come into question, exacerbated by the rising number of fertility clinics and the ability for women to so easily be single parents. Role models such as Ken and Action Man are without doubt as harmful to young men as a role model such as Barbie can be to young women. No longer seen as breadwinners, or the head of the family in a patriarchal society, men are frequently represented in the media by characters such as Homer Simpson, a chauvinistic, ignorant man who is depicted as very lazy and obsessed with food; his son Bart, often cruel to his sister, is discourteous and ill behaved. He alternative is often portrayed as Ken, an idealized, de-sexualized male with only the acquisition of material items his goal, fast cars and fashion his only interests. Even television shows like Sex and the City imply that men are just there for the sexual gratification of women. It portrays men as tactless, stupid beings that are only there for female entertainment and pleasure. These negative portrayals are as damaging to both genders as the comparative attitudes to women, rooted as they are in gender objectification and the denial of identity. Alternatively, could we welcome this shake-up of traditional gender images? Could it not be that multiplicities of roles are now establishing themselves in modern society? Toys such as Action Man often stereotype men in aggressive roles, and this convention has been questioned in the work of Susan Hiller, who explores social conditioning and attitudes to childhood in her work Punch and Judy. Punch and Judy looks closely at the brutality of slapstick comedy. First filming segments of live Punch and Judy shows the artist then transposed these images on the walls of a square room inviting the viewer to stand in the room with the puppets images looming over them, the puppets acting out violently as so often seen in their performances. Hiller examines how such stereotypical role-play in toys reinforces the assumptions placed on boys and men and how they should act in society. Where feminism fought against such patriarchal, capitalist belief systems, post-feminism seems to be buying right into the raunch culture that Kliszynski highlights. I would define Raunch culture as the whole juvenile, laddish culture that includes the lads magazines as well as strip clubs, prostitution and the celebration of prostitution, highly sexualized adverts and a general attitude that whats best about female empowerment is that more men get to see more women naked. Berger referred to it as the male gaze, Kliszynski as raunch culture, but I believe they are very similar, and it seems to be embraced by many young women, who accept whole-heartedly the entire condescending nonsense of girl power. According to Wollstonecraft, men have widened what should be merely a biological gap of physical differences into a sociological gap: But not content with this natural pre-eminence, men endeavour to sink us still lower, merely to render us alluring objects for the moment. Women, it follows, cannot help but be intoxicated by the adoration which men, under the influence of their senses, pay them. Has Barbie, in representing the most materialistic aspects of modern day culture, encouraging a stereotypical image of womanhood, become a remorseless goddess of modern society? A doll without any social conscience (or conscious), reliant solely on material belongings to bring her happiness, worshipped by millions, representative of a culture that objectifies and vilifies women, no aspect of her suggests any form of spirituality, or higher morality. When Mary Wollstonecraft accused women of their own complicity in this stereotypical view of their gender she caused ripples of anger and irritation down the centuries. How could a so-called feminist turn on her own sex with such accusations? And yet, when one takes the time to think about it, one can see how right she was. Girls play with Barbie dolls bought for them by mothers and aunts, and will, to echo Rousseau, grow up to give Barbie dolls to their daughters, thus fulfilling their destiny. They are complicit in the encouragement of stereotypical values. But what is the alternative? A girl may play with the stereotypical toys of girlhood such as dollies and prams, all pink and sparkly, mass marketed products imposed on them by a performative oriented society, or she may play with the male version of such consumer items, Action Man, cars, trains, guns . . . But what message is actually being sent? If a girl plays with Barbie dolls, she is viewed with contempt for being a typical girl; if she plays with stereotypical boys toys, she attains value in the eyes of society, for being more like a boy. No matter what she does, Barbie girl can never achieve social value by being a girl, and post-feminism has been complicit in such social values. Consuming Passions  was published in the 80s, author Judith Williamsons theory is hardly common knowledge, most likely because it is threatening. She deduces that, contrary to the ideal posed by Mattel and  Barbie, the desirable shape for a woman . . . is that of a  boy.   The highly idealised Barbie has not been without competitors, however. In 1998, Anita Roddick started an Anti-Barbie campaign, under the guise of self -esteem. Roddick started marketing posters of a doll called Ruby: The Real Deal, with posters in the UK shops she owned, all depicting images of the generously proportioned doll with the attached slogan: There are 3 billion women who dont look like supermodels and only 8 who do. With the intention of challenging stereotypes of beauty and countering the pervasive influence of the cosmetics industry, and with a tongue in cheek approach, the underlying message was far more serious and could easily be applied to the stereotypical image of woman and the way western culture objectifies women. Ruby started a worldwide debate about body image and self-esteem, but she was not universally loved. In the United States, the toy company Mattel sent a cease-and-desist order, demanding the images of Ruby were removed from American shop windows because she was making Barbie look bad, an admission surely, that Barbies impossible to achieve figure was detrimental to girls in comparison to the more realistic Ruby? In Hong Kong, posters of Ruby were banned on the MTR (Mass Transit Railway) because the authorities were concerned they would offend passengers. Like Barbie, Ruby was a de-sexualised toy, having no nipples, genitalia or pubic hair; other advertisements on the MTR whic h showed surgically enhanced, partially dressed female models, were allowed to stay. It is hard not to jump to the conclusion that it was the realistic portrayal of the female body that was offensive (and to whom? the male commuters?); in a world where the female body is perceived to be a purchasable status symbol, the male buyers were presumably offended by the depreciation in value of their idealised fantasy. Feminist artist Helen Chadwick (1954-1996) made many works that dealt directly with the role and image of women in society. In Ego Geometria Sum:The Laborers X created in 1984, she had large replicas of childrens wooden bricks transposed with images of her naked self. One may read many meanings into this artwork: is Chadwick struggling with the weight of her own image? By superimposing her naked image onto a childs brick, is she suggesting that she is nothing but a plaything, a toy? She appears to compare herself to a troll doll, held by the hair in a disembodied fist with an inane grin on its face. The troll doll is ugly and deformed looking, and Chadwick is implying that this is how society views her, and womanhood in general, from childhood onwards, if one does not conform to how society wishes one to be. All is not without hope though; Chadwick also portrays a door on one side of the brick, suggestive not only of closure, but also of the potential to open, to allow something in, or something out; a means of escape. As a Jungian archetype, the door also is representative of the feminine, with all the implications of a symbolic opening. In this artwork, is Chadwick exploring issues of entrapment and escape? Several of her works address the role and image of women in society using a wide range of materials, such as flowers, chocolate and meat. She questioned the role of the female body in art as a decorative object; just as decorative and aesthetic ideas about art themselves had been questioned in the 20th century. In 1990, she worked again on themes of sexual identity and gender with her Cibachrome transparencies entitled Eroticism which depict two brains side by side. On the surface, this is yet another apparently simple, if stunning, piece of work, but like the brain itself, this piece contains a multiplicity of layers, waiting to be explored and teased out. The work shows two brains, side by side, mirroring each other. On the sides adjoining, the brains are enlivened by what appears to be blue sparks, or flashes, suggesting brain activity. According to The Wordsworth Dictionary of Symbolism, blue is the colour of the intellect, and of spirituality; it is the medium of truth. In Eroticism, Chadwick is playing with the idea of a meeting of two minds, an attraction based on the intellect and the emotions. Yet we also associate the colour blue with something a little bit naughty, a bit risque, like a blue movie, and I would suggest that Chadwick was also bearing in mind the idea that the brain is often referred to as the largest sexual organ in the body. For Chadwick, in this piece at least, it is the attraction of two people based on a meeting of i ntellect and commonality that is important, not the outward appearance so vital to society. In the 1790s, when Mary Wollstonecraft was writing A Vindication of The Rights of Women , she argued for the need for more civil rights for women, a cause which she believed could only be achieved by permitting women a better education. She argued that a woman was capable of any intellectual feat that a man was provided with and that her early training should not brainwash her into deference to men. Wollstonecraft believed that men discourage women from achieving the same education that they receive routinely, and as long as women are denied this education, they can never hope to achieve equality with men. She builds on this lack of equal education for women in her argument adding that all men (contemporary to her) have a general lack of respect. Two hundred years later, in the 1970s, women were still fighting to achieve this basic level of respect and equality in the academic and artistic worlds, and it was the 1970s that saw the beginnings of a new art movement, the Contemporary Feminist Art Movement. The movement was inspired by demands for social, economic and political change and by the desire of female artists to try and force art galleries and museums to establish a fair representation of their work; there were very few female art teachers at that time, though the majority of students were female. It was common and widely accepted for art exhibitions to contain the works of men only, women being discriminated against openly, with some having to face the double discriminatory blow of also being black. Faith Ringgold (b.1930), an American artist, was told she could only exhibit in the museums devoted to African American art after all the black male artists had had their shows. By the 1970s, feminists and artists had started forming consciousness awareness groups that demonstrated at galleries and museums to expose some of these sexist practices, and opened galleries together for more exposure of their works. With feminist artists wanting to go further than equal representation, their works were often full of political and social content crying out for political change. The womens movement in America had one such artist by the name of Judy Chicago. Born in 1939, Chicago often reflected on issues relating to the lack of female representation in her work, saying Because we are denied knowledge of our history, we are deprived of standing upon each others shoulders and building upon each others hard earned accomplishments. Many female artists voiced these opinions at that time, wishing to transform traditional fine art and sculpture to include feminist awareness, with many exploring the female body with the intention of reclaiming the sexualised images that had been created by the male artist that preceded them. Chicagos piece Dinner Party called out for both art critics and establishments (and the Establishment?) To readdress the fact that so many female artists had been and were being excluded from art history texts used to educate the (largely female) art students currently attending the art education. This large work depicts a banquet, the settings embroidered representations of the vulva in a style appropriate to the women being represented, women Chicago wished to honour, with a further 999 women engraved in gold on the floor tiles. The geometric shape of this piece is fascinating, with the table laid out at a triangle, representing the tri-partite nature of women, the maiden, the mother and the crone. Indeed, an upside down triangle has long been used in paganism to represent the feminine. This work has gone a long way in encouraging women artists to reclaim their identity in representing the female form, and readdress the frequent degradation of female genitalia previously represented in male-created art. The Dutch artist Christina Camphausen (b. 1953) is another example of a female artist intent on reclaiming for women the representation of the female genitalia, publishing a book of her work with the vulva as sole subject. Entitled Yoni Portraits, it is filled with delicate drawings revealing the vulva in all its beauty and variety, images that are sometimes realistic and sometimes symbolic. Taken from ancient Sanskrit, the word Yoni refers to the vulva and womb and better describes femininity than its clinical counterpart (vagina) or its crude pornographic variants (cunt); in Indias sacred language it carries an inherent respect for this intimate part of a womans body which is lacking in English. In the books accompanying texts, the artist makes clear that there is nothing about the Yoni to be ashamed of. Rather, it is a body-part which in many cultures has had very different connotations of power, beauty, fertility and delight. Of her motivation, Christina says: With my work, I endeavour to assist in restoring the Yoni to her rightful and original place of honour, and to induce everyone to regard her with respect, to recognize her beauty and magical power. Though the last decades make it seem that our modern societies are sexually liberated, there still rests a taboo on this intimate part of our bodies. In general, women enjoy more freedom than they used to have, yet it surely is no advance in self-determination that many contemporary women have their intimate, lower lips corrected in order to conform to some artificial standard prescribed by cosmetic surgeons or professional nude models in glossy magazines. To make artwork with the vagina as your subject is still a very brave act, as it is a subject that is often considered inappropriate and generally thought of within the context of pornography, and, in almost all cases, for the exclusive pleasure of men. Many feminists have attempted to remove these prurient connotations by encouraging us to consider vaginas, something not to be ashamed of, but as powerful and expressive components to be proudly protected as an assertive and positive manifestation of our being. Exhibitions are now starting to show that this has changed dramatically in recent years, with many artists who have incorporated imagery of the Vagina in their works exhibiting together. One such exhibition, organized by Francis M. Naumann and David Nolan, and entitled The Visible Vagina took place on January 28, 2010 at the David Nolan Gallery in New York and included artworks by people ranging from Judy Chicago and Nancy Grossman to Robert Mapplethorpe and Pablo Picasso. The most interesting aspect for me is that there was such a strong male presence in the exhibition, and indeed it was arranged by men, a potent sign of how things have progressed. The most striking work in the exhibition for myself has to be the work of Sarah Davis and the piece Britney (Notorious), for amongst over one hundred artworks, very few of which objectify women or suggest a salacious use of imagery, this piece, a painting identical to a paparazzi-type photograph taken of the music star, hovers between art and porn; indeed, in its representation of both, it beggars the question of how art and porn can be addressed within feminist issues. If we accept that art is intended to stimulate the spectator on many levels, academically and emotionally, and that porn is needed to stimulate on a purely sexual level, I wonder how this transformation from paparazzi photograph and all the connotations of furtiveness, spying and secretiveness to painting can alter ones perception. I would like to believe that the artist who views Britney Spears as a strong, confident, self-made woman is a feminist who has staged the initial photograph to reclaim her identity by exposing her vagina just as in Yoni Portraits, believing there is nothing to be ashamed of by showing the power, beauty, fertility and delight this body part represents. Often in the media gaze, Spears is used as an example to criticise young women today, nothing but a Barbie doll. Her abilities as a mother, her career and social life are frequently held up to public scrutiny. Men that are in the public gaze however, may be criticised for their affairs, heir drug dependency, their fights etc., yet rarely for their dress code or indeed for their roles or abilities as fathers. This is a gender bias that has become commonplace and widely accepted. In addition, when Spears chose to wear a revealing dress and decorate her body with piercings and tattoos, the tabloids turned on her viciously, and accused her of mental illness when she publicly shaved her hair off. I feel though, that Spears was sending a message, via the media, about her sense of identity and her value as a woman. By shaving her hair off Spears was questioning the male perception of femaleness and femininity; she was a Rapunzel trapped by her beauty in a tower created by the male gaze. The only way to take control of the situation and to escape, was, like Rapunzel, to chop off all her hair and reassert her own identity away from social expectations and the medias critical portrayal of women. In Ways of Seeing, John Berger explores the difference between nudity and nakedness, suggesting that when one is nude, the spectator (and there must be one) merely sees the human body unclothed. When one is naked, the spectator (even if that is only oneself) sees the real ess ence of the person. Nakedness is far more intimate than nudity. When Spears cut off all her hair it was as if she had removed a disguise, and showed herself to the world fully naked, expressing her inner self. It is this aspect that Davis has picked up on in her piece of art: Britney Spears as a model of sex positive feminism, the un-Barbie goddess of post-feminism. Sex positive feminism, also known as sexually liberal feminism or sex-radical feminism began as a movement in the 1980s. Many women became involved in a direct response to the efforts of anti-porn feminists such as Andrea Dworkin, as they argued that pornography was the centre of feminist theory for womens oppression. This period is known as the feminist sex wars, a time of heated debate between anti-porn feminists and sex-positive feminists, between the notions of the sex industry as an abusive and violent environment for women and the beliefs in womens ability to choose to be highly sexual beings and raises the question of who is exploiting who? When Spears posed for a statue by American sculptor Daniel Edwards (b.1965) for the pro-life movement, she was once again steeped in the controversy of is it art or is it porn? Entitled Monument to Pro-Life this work is a full size sculpture of a naked Britney Spears in childbirth. The sculpture shows Spears on all fours on a bearskin rug, her mouth slightly open and her eyelids heavy, looking as if she is about to cry out. There is no indication of pain or pleasure; it is not at all indicative of sexual provocation or pornography. Her hands lie wrapped around either side of the head of the bear, as if she is using it to act as a medium to the spirit world communicating with the animalistic urges childbirth conjures up. Yet the media has criticised this piece, stating that: Britneys in a position that most would sooner associate with getting pregnant than with giving birth. I believe that in some ways things have deteriorated rather than progressed: the beauty industry and the porn industry, in their own sometimes-converging ways, have caused a lot of that. Going back to the early 70s, as women began to enter the workforce in larger numbers, some of that earning power was used against them by aggressive beauty product marketing. The result has been an increasing focus in the last three decades on dieting, an explosion in both sexes