Saturday, January 25, 2020

Sexism in the Media and Music Industry | Essay

Sexism in the Media and Music Industry | Essay Introduction Sexism is the type of behavior created by a society through gender conditioning which equally degrades both men and women. â€Å"Sexism is the subordination of one sex, usually female, based on the assumed superiority of [another] sex† (Kendall, 2004, p. 76). It refers to a system of beliefs that objectifies and lowers the status of one sex and that creates reason of discrimination on the basis of this status. Examples of this attitude are sexist humor, sexist naming, sexual violence and employment discrimination. At personal level sexism refers to behaviors and attitudes that are used in everyday interactions. Gender or sex role related to the difference between men and women that are society or culture originated. SEXISM IN MEDIA In the few last years we have read and watched women who are not afraid to talk out about sexism attacks, abusively written about , threatened with hostile actions and being send aggressive and sexually detailed tweets, Facebook messages and emails. Almost every women have been on the receiving end of such abuse and I think every women should stand up for herself and be heard, writing this assignment can be just one small part to achieve change, people should realize how the media degrades women or the impact it has on individuals and our society. SEXISM IN MUSIC Popular culture takes everything to an extreme exaggeration, including this type of sexism, to earn profit. As the mainstream music industry that have grown over the last 10 years, the majority of the songs that are being played on the radio and channels are not appropriate, even the inappropriate words is replaced with something cheesy and age-appropriate ,it does not help or change the message hidden in this songs. In the article written by Tricia Ross â€Å"There are Bitches and Hoes,† she is addressing that rap/hip-hop and urban culture has often promoted the demeaning of women in the music industry. Popular old hip hop artists like Too Short, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, and Snoop Dogg are among the few hip hop artists that are allowing the degrading of women. Snoop’s popular lyrics â€Å"Bitches ain’t shit, but hoes and tricks,† and Too Short’s song â€Å"Gangstas and Strippers† are so inappropriate for being released on the music industry. The hi p hop culture advertises the idea that being a pimp to a woman is completely fine. Their defense being that â€Å"they are talking about a reality of life and dare people to deny it† (Rose 322). Popular artist like Snoop tries to justify his song by saying he is not talking about all the women even though even though they don’t specify the type of women they sing or rap about. â€Å"There is no question that the sexism that‘s in our hip-hop videos is a reflection of how sexist men are in the world today. It‘s just that in the past things weren‘t so obvious† (Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def. Jam Records). Since its birth in 1974 till today’s popularity worldwide, hip-hop music has extremely changed. Nowadays in the hip-hop music and music videos, there is many explicit words that degrades women. In many music videos women have no individuality and are promoted as sexual playthings and eye candy. Artists, such as Eminem, Ludacris, R.Kelly, Lil Wayne, Robin Thicke and Chris Brown are among the many artist who describe women as objects of harassment or male controlled world by communicating that submission is a desirable action by woman. Most of the messages in their song glorify sexism against women including rape, abuse and advertise gender objectification and dehumanizes women mainly. Robin Thicke and Pharell Williams’s popular song in 2013 â€Å"blurred lines† created a controversy with the lyrics such as† I know you want it, But youre a good girl ,The way you grab me, Must wanna get nasty† ,well you cant know they want it unless they tell you they want it, he assumes she want it. It advertises and promotes attitude towards sex and consent. Many people have called the song a rape song, the song would have escaped censure if the music video, that had Robin Thicke, Pharell Williams and T.I all three of them dancing and goofing around with barely dressed girls and that is the clean version, the other version had topless models, this has generated its own separate but also overlapping controversy. People who have been calling this song completely offensive to women have a strong case. Nevertheless, the song is about setting a good girl free by telling and showing her that she really wants some crazy sex that she is not even asking for. Robin Thicke keeps repeating the lyrics I know you want it while his rapping partner T.I. raps Ill give you something big enough to tear your ass in two. In GQ magazine when Robin Thicke was interviewed, he said, We tried to do everything that was taboo. Bestiality, drug injections, and everything that is completely derogatory towards women. Because all three of us are happily married with children, we were like, Were the perfect guys to make fun of this. What underlies Robin Thicke’s depressing statement this that if the men respect their women, it is alright for them to degrade their women. The artist makes it sadly clear when he explains: People say, Hey, do you think this is degrading to women? Im like, Of course it is. What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. Ive never gotten to do that before. Ive always respected women, not only is he saying it totally fine to degrade women, it’s actually fun. All issues in the world exist within these lines. The thought that it’s a â€Å"pleasure† to demean women after he had lived all his life respecting them is ridiculous. That it’s even funny or that he could do that because he is happily married with woman and has children is the thought of someone completely deluded, who has been living his complete life in a bubble of entitlement. Kanye West’s latest album has been accused for its sexist words against women, it also has been criticized by male and female critics alike as a very amazing, brilliant and bold album. Most of the attention and reviews focused on Kanye West’s potential sacrilege and harmful use of racism, few people called out his offensive and degrading attitude towards women. â€Å"Took her to the Bleau, she tried to sip the fountain/ That when David Grutman kicked her out/ But I got her back in and put my dick in her mouth.† Those are some lyrics from Kanye West’s first track, â€Å"On Sight,† which seems to refer directly to West’s girlfriend and mother of his baby girl Kim Kardashian and her relationship with Grutman, who is one of the people in-charge of Fontainebleau hotel in Miami, which would means he wrote this disgusting lyrics about the women he allegedly loves and about to marry. West himself was raised by a single working mother, whom he respected and loved. He was raised by a feminist, although she was never named that but She was a strong-willed woman who had raised an artist who both claims to completely inspired and completely, purposely sexist. The most interesting fact about hip-hop artists using this language towards women to be alright is the women’s reactions and behavior while listening to this music .When a young woman, a fan of the certain artist, listens to lyrics in the song like â€Å"bitches and hoes,† the hip hop musician is encouraging fans to imitate the behaviors and acts of these so-called â€Å"bitches and hoes.† Women participate not only in the acts these rappers are rapping about but also are featured in the music videos. These women who participate in this videos are called â€Å"video hoes† or â€Å"video vixen. When a women participates in this behaviors or staring in these rapper’s videos and even singing along in their car points out that they are okay with sexism. Being against sexism in a society or culture that takes advantage of it is not very easy, in a system that rewards us for participating. In another parts of the world, a group consisting of all girl Indian rock band have been disbanded after being targeted online by hate campaigns and have been issued fatwa (Islamic legal opinion handed down by an Islamic religious leader) against them . Pragaash (meaning â€Å"First Light† in Kashmiri) have won the third place in the battle of the bands a competition that’s being held in the Muslim dominated Kashmir, but the attention they gained after their achievement in the competition was so horrible that it caused them not to only stop their performances but to end their ties to the music industry, even one of three band members have fled her city to another. These girls have been called â€Å"whores† and â€Å"prostitutes† by these online hate campaign members and are being called indecent by the issued fatwa against them, while they were all wearing jeans, scarfs and long-sleeved shirts/jackets. While many members of both local and online communities have shown their support for the band members, others have being continuously threatening the girls and their immediate families, and they accused the girls of western-style culture influence. The nature of this matter is obviously affected by culture and religious differences but the main fact remains the same, that sexism is common around the globe. It also asks the question of how much more do we need to develop before it is universally know that this type of act is not simply unfair or harmful but that it is also a crime.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Lester Brown Who Will Feed China Study Guide Essay

1. Who will feed china looks at china specifically but does so in a way of how things happening in china impact the rest of the world. 2. After releasing the article, china gov’t initial response was a disagreement to brown’s hypothesis. They said by 2025 they would double their grain production so it wouldn’t be a problem. But then grain prices soared and they started to have to import grain so then they asked for brown’s help. 3. People understand that the standard of living in the US could not work for the entire world. 4. The earliest constraints in attempting to make this transformation are food supply. 5. Resource constraints are grain and grain production. As well as water supply and quality. 6. In China, if internal constraints are faced by producers, what solution will the state most likely pursue? They are most likely to import scare resources. Is their historical precedent for such a solution? Japan, Taiwan, and S Korea did this but they have nowhere near the populatoni and people to feed as china does. What impacts can be expected from such an approach both internally and globally? Prices will go up around the world! 7. The gov’t wants to keep prices on grain high enough to keep the farmers on their land but low enough so people in urban areas can afford to eat. Based on your reading of Brown, from the standpoint of China discuss the relationship between industrialization, farmland, consumers, and international trade. 8. 6. In some detail discuss the precise relationships between grain lands and industrialization in China. How does this relate to Brown’s statement that grain production will fall not as a result of agricultural failure, but from industrial success. 9. What is the â€Å"wake-up call†? China’s emergence as a massive grain importer will be the wake-up call that will signal trouble in the relationship between ourselves, now numbering 5.7 billion, and the natural systems and resources on which we depend. It may well force a redefinition of security, recognition that food scarcity and the associated economic instability are far greater threats to security tha n military aggression is. 2. Another Half-Billion  Describe the population trends in China between 1990 and 2045. What will the impacts be of these trends on agricultural land? Population will peak in 2045 at 1.66 billion then start to decline slowly. 1990 they hit 1 billion. In Asia compared to Europe, way more people per hectare. And Europe pops have stopped growing while Asia’s go up and up. Population and birthrate declined with the famine but soon got back up again. More people will be depending on agricultural land. 3. Moving Up the Food Chain How does â€Å"moving up the food chain† affect agriculture in China? Discuss this in some detail. As people acquire more wealth, they go for more variety in their diet which is usually more expensive and puts more stress on agriculture. This also means consuming more livestock. Much more grain is used, a lot of the time as feed for livestock. Can also be used for beverages like beer, scotch, vodka†¦ and of course breads, pasteries†¦growth in meat consumption is one of the best indicators of china’s transformation economically. Mostly pork, not as much beef as the US. More meat = more grain needed. Starting to import grain, sugar, and soy/vegetable oil will put pressure on world supplies and increase prices everywhere. 4. The Shrinking Cropland Base What trends are occurring in China’s total agricultural land and why? Cropland is decreasing due to infertile soil, farmers switching to other crops not grain, construction of industry going up in spots where crops once were, and no longer doing multiple crops. What historical precedent exists to understand these trends? In Japan, Taiwan, and S Korea; those countries had dense population and then turned to industrialized nations. Farmland vs. industries. Need more room for housing, highways,(increasing automobiles means more roads, parking lots†¦) more people more room for their stuff. 5. Spreading Water Scarcity What are the causes? Water use has increased greatly. Due to population growth, irrigation expansion, rising affluence, and industrialization. There are depleting aquifers in northern china. Lots of irrigation to china’s cropland. Very land intensive. Originally came from dams but now it is coming from ground water as well. Farmers need water for their crops, but now they are having to turn to less intensive/profitable crops. Instead of rice they might plant a stable crop like millet, while this uses less water it also is not as good. The increased need for grain import is only going to increase. They are tapping into ground water, but the aquifers can’t replenish fast enough. Is there any hope? The need for water is only going to increase. Agricultural, industrial, and residential needs are all there. Poor distribution throughout the country. Where there is cropland, there is no water (N. China) and where there is water (Yangtze River) there is not as much cropland. This makes water scarcity even more of a problem. Likely to deline the grain production there even faster. Proposed building a canal to bring water to Beijing but it would be very expensive and cross a lot of rivers and streams. 6. Raising Cropland Productivity Is there much room for increased productivity? They need to increase rice, wheat, and corn production. With new technologies they can do it and have somewhat but there doubt that any increases will be very dramatic. Reached a point where farmers using too much fertilizer so not making as much of a profit, much like what happened with the US. As noted earlier, the central question is whether future rises in land productivity will be sufficient to offset the loss of cropland to nonfarm uses as industrialization progresses. Barring some dramatic new technological breakthroughs, this now seems unlikely. 7. Growing Grain Deficit What was the Japanese experience? Loss of grainland due to land being used for other purposes like industry. Wages climbed for non ag. Jobs and so more people moved into the city and out of rural areas. Causing a reduction in multiple cropping. Results in steady decline of grain production. Japan went down 1% per year. Consumption went up and so did import rates. How could the Japanese experience affect China? China will need to import much of it’s grain if it continues to industrialize. But china doesn’t have seafood it can feed it’s people with. It also has shortages in water that japan didn’t have to deal with. So it china’s impact on the world grain market will be much stronger than japans. 8. Competition for Grain What might world markets look like in the near future? Price of grain would rise, but even if it doubled china would be able to pay for it. However there isn’t enough grain available to supply them with of all countries put together. Consumption would likely decrease around the world.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Anna Freud, Founder of Child Psychoanalysis

Anna Freud was the daughter of Sigmund Freud. While her father was a giant in the field of psychology, Anna Freud was an accomplished psychologist in her own right. She was the founder of child psychoanalysis and extended and further refined her father’s ideas about defense mechanisms. Fast Facts: Anna Freud Known For: Founding child psychoanalysis and work on ego’s defense mechanismsBorn: December 3, 1895 in Vienna, AustriaDied: October 9, 1982 in London, EnglandParents: Sigmund Freud and Martha BernaysKey Accomplishments: Chairman of the Vienna Psycho-Analytic Society (1925-1928); Honorary President of the International Psychoanalytical Association (1973-1982); Founder of the Hampstead Child Therapy Course and Clinic (1952, now known as the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families) Early Life Anna Freud was born in 1895 in Vienna, Austria. She was the youngest of six children born to Sigmund Freud and his wife, Martha Bernays. She did not have a good relationship with her mother and was distant from her five siblings, especially her sister Sophie, who she felt was a rival for her father’s attention. However, she was close to her father. Sigmund Freud, fourth from left, sits at an elegant dining table with the rest of his family, including his daughter Anna, far right. Corbis/VCG via Getty Images / Getty Images Anna Freud graduated from Cottage Lyceum in 1912. While she didn’t go on to higher education, she claimed that she learned more at home from her father and his colleagues than she ever did at school. And, of course, Anna Freud had unparalleled access to information on psychoanalysis, which would eventually enable her to become an important voice in the field. Career In 1917, Anna Freud took a job as a primary school teacher. She also started to undergo psychoanalysis with her father—a practice that would be considered unusual today but was more common at the time. In 1923, Anna Freud started her own psychoanalytic practice focusing specifically on children. This was also the year that her father was diagnosed with cancer and Anna became his caretaker. Shortly afterwards, Anna Freud started teaching at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Training Institute. Then in 1927, she became the Secretary for the International Psychoanalytic Association, and in 1935, the director of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Training Institute. The following year she published her best-known work, The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense, which expanded on her father’s ideas about defenses and the ways the ego works to protect itself. In 1938, when the Nazi threat became too great, Anna and Sigmund Freud fled Vienna and settled in London. World War II started there in 1939. Sigmund Freud died a few weeks later. Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) (second right) arrives in Paris after leaving Vienna en route to London, Paris, France, June 1938. He is accompanied by his daughter Anna (1895 - 1982) (left), wife of Prince George of Greece, Marie Bonaparte (1882 - 1962) (second left), and her son Prince Peter of Greece (1908 - 1980) (right). Pictorial Parade / Getty Images During her early years in England, Freud found herself in conflict with Melanie Klein, another psychoanalyst who was also formulating techniques to use with children. Freud and Klein differed on key points about child development, which led to their different approaches to analysis. In order to resolve the disagreement, they engaged in a series of â€Å"Controversial Discussions† that ended with the British Psychoanalytical Society forming training courses for both perspectives.   In 1941, Anna Freud opened The Hampstead War Nurseries with her friend Dorothy Burlingham. There, they cared for children who had been separated from their families due to the war and documented the children’s responses to the stress of being separated from their parents. After closing the nursery at the end of the war, Freud founded the Hampstead Child Therapy Course and Clinic in 1952. She was its director until her death in London in 1982.   Contributions to Psychology Freud was a pioneer of child psychoanalysis. She developed new techniques to help children, as she found they required different psychological treatments than adults.  She also pointed out that the symptom’s exhibited by children varied from those displayed by adults. She suggested this was a result of children’s developmental stages. In addition, her work on the ego’s defense mechanisms is still considered seminal. It was a major contribution to both ego psychology and adolescent psychology. Freud said repression, the unconscious suppression of impulses that could be problematic if they were acted upon, was the principle defense mechanism. She also detailed a number of other defense mechanisms, including denial, projection, and displacement. Key Works Freud, Anna. (1936). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense.Freud, Anna. (1965). Normality and Pathology in Childhood: Assessments of Development.Freud, Anna. (1966-1980). The Writing of Anna Freud: 8 Volumes. Sources Cherry, Kendra. â€Å"Anna Freud Biography (1895-1982).† Verywell Mind, 11 November 2018. https://www.verywellmind.com/anna-freud-biography-1895-1982-2795536GoodTherapy. â€Å"Anna Freud (1895-1982).† 14 July 2015. https://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/anna-freud.htmlSandler, Anna Marie. Anna Freud. British Psychoanalytical Society, 2015. https://psychoanalysis.org.uk/our-authors-and-theorists/anna-freudSmirle, Corinne. Profile of Anna Freud. Psychologys Feminist Voices Multimedia Internet Archive, edited by In A. Rutherford. http://www.feministvoices.com/anna-freud/Sigmund Freud Museum. Vita Anna Freud. https://www.freud-museum.at/en/sigmund-and-anna-freud/vita-anna-freud.html  Sigmund Freud Museum. Biography Anna Freud. https://www.freud-museum.at/files/inhalte/dokumente/en/anna_freud_biopgraphy_eng_pdf.pdfThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. â€Å"Anna Freud: Austrian-British Psychoanalyst.† Encyclopaedia Britannica, 29 November 2018. https:// www.britannica.com/biography/Anna-Freud