G-20 and other Global Organizations Research Paper

G-20 and other Global Organizations - Research Paper Example G-20 initiates close cooperation with other international organizations like World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Financial Stability Board, and Basel Committee on Banking Supervision; moreover, experts from private and governmental organizations have been invited to the summit on an ad hoc basis (www.g20.org). New financial policies adopted by the core committee have evoked severe response from the public in many countries, particularly, Canada. Toronto was the hot potato during this jolt as it gathered world’s major financial leaders amidst warnings that their failure to cooperate on core financial and economic issues cold cost tens of millions of jobs across the globe. The inapplicability of the policies of G-8 resulted in framing a more powerful G-20 to overcome the financial crises the world face at the moment. The G-20 richest countries in the world gathered to facilitate discussions on international financial meltdown and finding out repairs to international capitalist system. The problem starts when the G-20 meeting is announced as the protestors keep in focus the issues related to continued lockouts and strikes at factories, job cuts, pension destructions, eviction of houses, rise in unemployment, uncertainty and homelessness of employees. The meeting essentially takes place to discuss only problems such as recession, bank failures, regulatory wreckage, falling trade, rising unemployment and anti poverty targets. Whenever there is a G-20 meet, it is common to see a large crowd of people gathering at the spot to protest the meeting with various reasons of their claims. As reported by Schneider & Wilson (2010), Toronto’s policy intended to further exploit the environment and people sing a system that sustains colonialism, wars and displacement was opposed largely by a gathering of tens of thousands of people at Toronto. The activists were capable of demonstrating their struggles

Discussion board forum Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Discussion board forum - Assignment Example Concurrently, it is domineering that ethical issues are considered during the formulation of the evaluation plan; likewise, the most common and essential considerations during the process include: informed consent, voluntary participation, do no harm (Beneficence), respect for confidentiality and anonymity, respect for privacy and assessment of only the relevant components. Informed consent is considered to be the most major ethical issue in conducting research and most of the experienced researchers give it the definition of a person expressively, willingly and logically, and in a clear and manifest way gives his consent (Deborah 2003). Basically, it is one of the most outright ways that a person’s autonomy is protected as it circles around that particular person being fully informed about the evaluation being conducted. The informed consent ethic seeks to integrate the rights of self-governing participants through autonomy and also prevent assaults on the integrity of the patient and protect personal freedom and genuineness (Johnstone 2009). Any additional information should also be provided in any event that the participant becomes distressed in any way since the main purpose of informed consent is that the participant is able to make informed decision as to whether they will participate in the evaluation or not. Normally, voluntary participation goes hand in hand with the informed consent ethic and means that the people participate in the evaluation free from intimidation and they are free to withdraw their participation at any time without negatively impacting on their involvement in future services or the current program and relationships with any of the researchers or research bodies involved (Deborah 2003). Sometimes there can be a lot of challenges especially in situations where one has the task of encouraging high risk youth to become engaged in a program hence making the situation difficult mostly when the

Customer Relationship Management Dimensions

Customer Relationship Management Dimensions Purpose The primary objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that depicts the impact of customer relationship management (CRM) dimensions on employee job satisfaction within the customer contact center industry. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a qualitative methodology that comprises of a comprehensive literature review of both academic researches and industry reports. Findings Evidences from the extant literatures have suggested that effective implementations of the four dimensions of CRM (Customer Orientation, CRM Organization, Knowledge Management and Technology Based CRM) will positively effect employee job satisfaction within the customer contact center industry. Research limitations/implications Given that this paper is based on qualitative approach, there is need to embark on empirical data gathering to validate the conceptual model presented. Practical implications The paper suggest that to achieve operational efficiency together with employee job satisfaction, there is need for customer contact centers to integrate CRM dimensions into its operations and measurement practices. Originality/value This paper primarily conceptualize a measurement model that would assist in determining the impacts of CRM on employee job satisfaction and performance within the contact centers. It generally provides contact center Executives with CRM focus, by complementing recent works that have been conducted on the role of CRM constructs in improving employee job satisfactions and organizational performances. It concluded by proposing a model for future testing. Keywords Customer Relationship Management (CRM), contact centers, call centers, employee job satisfaction, caller/customer satisfaction, service quality Paper type Conceptual paper Introduction Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as referred is a concept that derives its popularity since 1990s. It is said to offer a long term changes and benefits to businesses that chose to adopt it. CRM has been argued to enable companies to successfully interact with their customers in a dynamic and profitable manner (Aihie and Bennani, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005; Gummesson, 2004; Sin et al, 2005). However, many scholars still debate over what should exactly constitute CRM; some says CRM are nothing more than mere software, while others says it is a modern means of satisfying customers requirement at profit (Soon 2007; Nguyen et al, 2007; and Eric et al, 2006). CRM was also defined by Nguyen et al (2007) as information system that allows organizations to track customers interactions with their firms and allows employees to instantly pull up information about the customers such as past sales, service records, outstanding records and unresolved problem calls. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a unit of a bigger Marketing Management which is the art and science of choosing target markets and building profitable relationships with them by delivering superior customer value and satisfaction (Dean, 2007, Eid, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005; Gummesson, 2004; and Fox and Stead, 2001). McNally (2007) defines CRM as a system which allows both internal and external customers of an organization to critical information through the integration of companys telephone system, Chat groups, Interactive voice response, facsimile transmission, electronic data interchange, Voice over internet, Web sites and e-mail touch points that will result in satisfying customer self services for new product purchases, assist in up-selling and cross selling and creating customer loyalty, value and profitability. While different researchers believed that there is no one correct definition of CRM, this research would like to define CRM as Organizations ability to efficiently integrate people, process, and technology in maximizing positive relationships with both current and potential customers. Authors such as Sin et al (2005) argued that CRM is a strategic business process that involves an efficient management of detailed information about current and potential customers channeled through a carefully arranged customer touch points that assist in maximizing customer loyalty and minimizing costs. Other scholarly arguments have also established that the cost implications in CRM implementations are double sided, from one from the company and the other from the customers (McNally, 2007; Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005, Yim et al., 2005). On one hand, the customer is able to reduce the cost of traveling to the respective companies to get what they need, while the companies are able to save cost on both their human resources, processes and promotions (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005). To strengthen their arguments, Sin et al (2005) explained that whatever orientation that an organization might have put in place, the primary role of marketing management is to create a positive relationship with customers. Exploring CRM literatures Findings from recent researches have been indicating the enormous opportunities CRM is availing employees of several organizations in getting detailed customer information to make quick and intelligent business decisions that will resolve issues and provide efficient service to the customers (Soon, 2007; Rajshekhar et al., 2006; Yim et al., 2005; Adam and Michael, 2005). Similarly are arguments from both academic literatures and industry reports which have established the importance of customer relationship management in marketing activities, specifically in the customer contact centers where it has helped in digitalizing staffs knowledge about organizations customers through computer telephony integration, fax, email, web chatting etc (Dean, 2009; 2007; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005; Roland and Werner, 2005). While this current study cannot disconfirm the available arguments in favor of CRM applications on employee job satisfactions and performance, there are reliable data that shows a range of major issues that is globally affecting contact centers such as shortage of skilled employees, high abandonment rate, high average speed of answer, employee job dissatisfaction, high attrition rate, high cost of operations, and customer dissatisfaction (Chen eta l., 2010; Callcentre.net, 2008; 2003; McNally, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005). The model that is created from the literature review From the findings in the extant literature reviews, below is the proposed conceptual model. Relevant literatures in support of each constructs are detailed under the elements of each variable. + + + + Figure 1: CRM Dimensions and Employee Job Satisfaction Model Independent Variables: CRM Dimensions Based on the review of past related literatures on CRM and detail interview with some selected CRM managers, Sin et al (2005) hypothesized that the concept of CRM is a multi dimensional construct which consist of four broad behavioral components in every implementing organizations: key customer focus, CRM organization, knowledge management, and technology based CRM (Sin et al, 2005). They argued that their findings is in accordance with the general notion that a successful CRM is primarily designed to address four key areas in the implementing organization: corporate strategy; people; technology; and processes (Sin et al, 2005; Fox and Stead 2001), and that it is only when all these four components works according to target that a company will experience a superior customer related capability. It was equally argued that for a company to be able to maximize its long term performance in metrics such as customer satisfaction, employees trust, satisfaction and commitment, and return on investment, such a company must build, maintain, and do everything possible to establish the four dimensions of CRM (McNally, 2007; Bang, 2006; Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al, 2005; Yim et al., 2005). Customer Orientations Evidences from marketing literatures, IT literatures and Industry practices agreed to the fact that customer centric focus is a pre-requisite to any successful CRM Projects, particularly in shaping the minds and actions of the employees in becoming customer oriented (Dean, 2007; McNally, 2007; SQM, 2007; Roland and Werner, 2005; Callcenter.net, 2003). Looking at it from the contact center perspective, Dean (2002) defined customer Orientation as the degree to which an organization emphasizes on meeting customer needs and expectations for service quality. Dean (2004) went further to argue that customer orientation should incorporate commitment to customer needs and utilizing the available resources in gathering and efficiently managing customer feedback for effective decision making by the employees. Over the last twenty years, the concept of customer orientation have started to be very critical in the field of marketing management practices and theories, with apparent conclusions in support of the statement that any organization that adopts customer orientation approach are more likely to establish the required customer quality, increase its employee and customer satisfactions, and able to achieve the desired organizational objectives more efficiently than its competitors (Chen et al., 2010; Dean, 2007; Roland and Werner, 2005; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005; Brady and Cronin, 2001; Lukas and Ferrell, 2000; Narver and Slater, 1990). To Sin et al (2005), they argued that although it is observed that most empirical studies have been concentrating on the degree and measurements of the concepts, but the extant literatures have long neglected the variations in the customer orientation dimensions or the features of the concepts as exhibited by each organizations (Sin et al., 2005). Therefore the general literatures on customer orientation could be argued as not been widely practiced specifically by the contact center professionals in the manner advocated by Sin et al (2005) and supported in other literatures such as Roland and Werner (2005) and Dean (2007) were they all have empirically established a positive linkages between customer orientation, perceived service quality, employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Similarly are previous researches such as Kohli et al (1993) and Berry (1995) that cites several empirical studies that have suggest a linkage between the customer orientation and customer satisf action. Sources from other extant literatures have suggested that customer orientation (CO) is positively related to CRM adoption and customer relationships outcomes (Dean, 2007 and 2002; Eid 2007; James 2004). Customer orientation is said to reflect a companys culture on customers focus, needs and feedbacks (Dean 2007). In a very developed customer oriented approach, it is argued that there should be a continuous ongoing information collection and dissemination about customer and competitor for better decision making process by the employees (Kohli and Jaworski, 1993). The culture of customer orientation in a firm is considered to be very significant in the successful adoption, implementation and acceptance of CRM technology by its employees (Nguyen et al, 2007; Dean, 2007; and Eid 2007). Several other studies have also emphasized that there exist a stronger relationship between customer orientation and employee satisfaction, especially in the service industries where employees are the firs t contact with the customers and taking into consideration the length of time employees spend with customers in the contact center industry (Bhimrao and Janardan., 2008; McNally, 2007; Soon, 2007; Wang et al., 2006; Bang, 2006; Sarah and Meredith., 2006; Roland and Werner., 2005; Feinberg et al, 2002). Given the aforementioned evidences and many more empirical findings that have establish customer orientation as an important antecedent of competitive advantage and business profitability (Brady and Cronin, 2001; Narver and Slater, 1990), probing and measuring the impact of this orientation on employee job satisfaction is said to have captured the attentions of researchers (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al, 2005; Yim et al., 2006). This research postulates that: H1: Customer Orientation of the customer contact center is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction. CRM Organizations CRM organization has been argued as an essential means through which fundamental changes in terms of how firms organized and conduct its business processes around employees and customers can be actualized (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). Implementing firms are encouraged to pay necessary attentions to the inherent organizational challenges in the CRM initiatives (Rajshekhar et al., 2006; Adam and Michael, 2005). Both Wang et al (2006), Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) have all empirically tested and established that there exist a positive relationship between CRM organization and customer satisfaction, with serious emphasis on the positive roles of the employees. They argued further that the key considerations for any successful CRM to be implemented within the whole firm are organizational structures, the organization wide commitment of available resources, human resource management policies and employee job satisfaction that positively worked together t o influence customer satisfaction (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005., Yim et al., 2005). By organizational structure means that CRM applications requires that the entire strategic business units in such firms be design to jointly work together towards achieving a common goal in terms of building a strong long-term customer relationships (Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). For better efficiency of such organizational structure, it was advised that firms should incorporate productive process teams, cross discipline segment groups and customer focused departments (Aihie and Bennani, 2007; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). All the aforementioned structural designs are said to require a strong inter-functional coordination between the different departments, a statement that further confirms the existence of a positive relationship between CRM organization and employee job satisfaction and performance (Rajshekhar et al., 2006). Due to the high cost involvement of CRM applications, Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) conceptualized and established the importance of organizations wide commitment of resources to the intended design of CRM structures as having a positive relationship with employee satisfaction, performance and customer satisfaction. Also very important in their findings are the argument in favor of CRM organization as the established link between the human resources and the marketing interface (McNally, 2007; Sin et al., 2005). Also relevant in this area of studies are literatures such as Dean (2007) and Roland and Werner (2005) that empirically established that there exist a positive relationships between CRM dimensions (specifically customer orientation), employee job satisfaction, perceived service quality and customer satisfactions. Dean (2007), Roland and Werner (2005), Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) all empirically argued that this is a stage where firms need to logically instill in its customer service representatives the utmost importance of the CRM dimensions in order to positively influence employee job satisfaction, first call resolution, customer satisfaction and organization overall performance. In their concluding remarks they emphasized on four significant firms internal marketing processes, which includes employee empowerment, effective internal communications, standard reward systems, and employee involvement as efficient means of actualizing CRM organizations on employee job satisfaction and performance (Sin et al., 2005). In view of this, this research Hypothesize that: H2: CRM Organization of the customer contact is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction Knowledge Management With reference to the knowledge based view theory of the firm, it states and I quote that the primary reason for any companys existence is to possess the ability to create, transfer, and efficiently utilize its available knowledge (Acedo et al, 2006; Meso and Smith, 2000; Miller and Shamsie, 1996). Whereas, looking at this from the angle of CRM concept in Marketing, knowledge can be describe as whatever a company or individual has learnt from experience/practice or any empirical study of consumer data (Nguyen et al., 2007; Sin et al., 2005). This will bring us to the key facets of knowledge management dimension which includes a companys knowledge learning and generation, its knowledge dissemination and sharing, and finally knowledge responsiveness (Wang et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). As previously discussed that Knowledge about key customers in a company is important for a successful CRM application (Rajshekhar et al., 2006), because it could be use as a master plan to developing a learning relationship between the employees and companys current and potential customers (Nguyen et al., 2007) and thereby availing each organization the opportunity to a successful establishment of a stronger competitive strength in the market through employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction (Roland and Werner, 2005; Dean, 2004). It is premised on these arguments that both Sin et al (2005) and Yim et al (2005) have conceptualized and empirically established a positive relationship between employee knowledge acquisition and usage, employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Also very important under this heading is Customer information, such as customers needs and preferences which may be captured by both directly or indirectly, via a two way communications in the compa nys interactive feedback system (Sin et al., 2005). As argued that the primary reason of knowledge generation is for affording a 360 degree customer view, through an appropriate business intelligence tools such as data mining, data warehouse, and data mart all which could assist a company to incorporate a customer information into its strategic business intelligence (Rajshekhar et al., 2006; Sin et al., 2005). Therefore, it became very important for organizations to develop a sound mechanism for sharing the existing customer knowledge that will facilitate the concerted actions that could positively influence employee knowledge, satisfaction and performance in all the strategic business units of every organization (Sin et al., 2005). Finally it is arguable that marketing is now more concerned with better means of responding to customer demand, with the general believes that actions taken in a prompt manner not only enhance service quality, but also foster positive long-term relationships with both employees and the customers (Dean, 2007; Roland Werner, 2005; Antonio et al., 2005; and Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). This leads to the following Hypothesis: H3: Knowledge management of the customer contact center is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction. Technology Based CRM Although it has been established that consumers do complained about the time and efforts that is required in getting their individual questions or problems solved whenever they interact with contact centers (SQM, 2007; Call Centre.net, 2003), but equally important are arguments in favor of careful implementations of CRM Screen Pop-Up as an effective means of improving customer service representative satisfaction and performance, first call resolution, and caller satisfactions while simultaneously reducing the contact center processing costs (SQM, 2007; Yim et al., 2005; Call Centre.net, 2003). This is because most of the findings in the existing literatures and industry reports aptly depict that the major cost of running a call centre is the labor cost (Levin, 2007a), a strong need why every organizations must efficiently link is technological applications to its employee acceptance, satisfaction and performance (McNally, 2007). Meanwhile, not only within the contact centers that CRM technologies and systems are beneficial (McNally, 2007), there are enormous evidence in support of CRM systems as complements to other systems such as enterprise research planning systems etc (Nguyen et al, 2007; Dean, 2007; and Eid 2007). Evidence from existing contact center literatures shows that several authors have argued in favor of FCR technology enablers through intelligent skill based routing as a good means of achieving FCR, employee job satisfaction and caller satisfaction (SQM, 2007; Callcentre.net, 2003). This is because through the application of CRM technologies such as first call resolution enablers, contact centers can match their customers and/or their call types with the appropriate customer service representatives knowledge and skills (SQM, 2007). Equally observed in the extant literatures is the suggestion that there are two aspects of CRM systems integration that are pertinent to the adoption of this technology. Eid (2007) describes the first part as integration into the existing organizational systems and applications, while the second integration is done across other functional customer contact touch points. Part of the available evidence as identified by this research is that it is widely possible for researchers and practitioners to determine if an organization has put in place CRM technologies, but the major issues starts from measuring the effectiveness of CRM technology utilization in terms of user acceptance, and the desired operational performance which is argued to have since been neglected and has been confirmed as very vital to the success of the implementing firm (Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005; Ravipa and Mark, 2004). The existing academic and practitioner literatures on CRM are mostly in the areas of cust omer database, contact centers, online chatting systems, e-mails, Internets and some organizational group support systems, further creating a vacuum for future research in determining the impact of CRM technology on employee job satisfaction (McNally, 2007; Nguyen et al, 2007; Adam and Michael, 2005; Sin et al., 2005; James, 2004). Furthermore, some literatures contend that a companys ability to link the CRM system to different strategic business units such as marketing, finance, distribution, operations, and human resources will provide additional value to both internal and external users, and more importantly to the achievement of both employee and customers satisfactions (Aihie and Az-Eddine, 2007; Coltman, 2007; Nguyen et al 2007; Roland and Werner, 2005; Yim et al., 2005). If efficiently managed, CRM system is argued as having the capacity to assist organizations in handling customer queries and complaints more professionally with both accurate and timely information that would assist in reducing employee role stress, attrition rate and subsequently increasing employee job satisfaction, first call resolution and customer satisfaction (McNally, 2007; SQM, 2007; 2005). Also very important in this area of research is the a benefit inherent in the integration of every unit of the customer contact centers whether inbound, outbound or web enabled via CRM technology that provides a great opportunity for seamless and transparent services in customer touch points (Yim et al., 2005). In relation to the above, the extent of a companys CRM integration will strengthen its ability to resolving customers request in the first call resolution, and also give opportunity for achieving both employee and customer satisfactions (Dean, 2007; SQM, 2007; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005). The above has led this research into hypothesizing that: H4: Technology based CRM of the customer contact center is positively related to Employee Job Satisfaction. Dependent Variable: Employee Job Satisfaction Issues on employee satisfaction are very much available in several studies, in which the majority postulates a positive relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction (Florian et al, 2007; Dean, 2007; Bernard and Stephen, 2004; Gummesson, 2004). These are so because employee and customer satisfaction are often measured in different ways by marketing researchers, where the majority has stated that employee job satisfaction has a clear effect on customer satisfaction (Eric et al, 2006; Coltman, 2007; Christian, 2005; Gummesson, 2004). Evidences from other recent researches have also confirmed that the relationship between employee satisfaction and performance could be strengthened if there is a high frequency of customer interaction with the employees (Dean, 2007; Florian et al, 2007; Christian, 2005; and Kode et al 2001). Whereas two major existing literatures in the contact center industry by Roland and Werner (2005) and McNally (2007) have empirically established that there exist a positive relationship between customer orientation, employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction. In Roland and Werner (2005), they argued, tested and established that employee job satisfaction positively mediate the link between customer orientation and customer satisfaction of the contact center industry. A critical look at the foregoing information shows that all the above conditions currently exist in the customer contact centers. Because customer contact center employees enjoys a high level of customer interaction and the existing services within the contact centers shows that there is integration between external factors and the service delivery processes. A review of the reasons behind the relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction is often argued on the premise that the positive effects on every customer satisfaction are mediated by an existing positive effect on working performance (Florian et al, 2007). Importantly, the service marketing literatures have shown that there exist a positive effect of employee satisfaction on employees working performance and perceived service quality (Sarah and Meredith, 2006; Rodoula, 2005; Zeithaml et al, 1985). With evidences from the above extant literatures, this research supposes that employee job satisfaction positively goes along with the psychological state of organization customer orientation, CRM organization, knowledge management and technology based CRM. Conclusion, limitations and directions for future research Despite increasing acknowledgement of CRM importance, disappointedly very little studies have focused on the impacts of CRM dimensions on customer contact center performances (Soon, 2007; Bang, 2006; Yim et al., 2005). In support of the above emphasis are ample of evidences provided by several sources on the severe employee job dissatisfactions and customer dissatisfactions with contact centre systems and services across the globe (Callcentre.net, 2008; 2003; SQM, 2007; Feinberg et al., 2002; 2000; Miciak and Desmarais 2001), and that the major problems are stemming from factors such as lack of established customer orientation, CRM organization, knowledge management, and technology based CRM (Chen et al., 2010; McNally, 2007; SQM, 2007; Wang et al., 2006; Bang, 2006; Sin et al., 2005; Yim et al., 2005), The findings in this research indicate that there is strong reason to modifying the existing CRM implementations and organization performance measurements within the contact center in dustry. More importantly in areas such as measuring employee job satisfaction, first call resolution, customer satisfactions and dissatisfactions. Beyond these findings is a main limitation in the qualitative approach that was applied in this research, a strong factor that is limiting the ability to generalize its findings and recommendations to all industries and countries. Importantly, suggestions from this research are not quantitatively backed by empirical data and appropriate statistical analysis that could validate the proposed theoretical linkages that exist between CRM dimensions and employee job satisfaction, thereby further limiting its diagnostic power of predictions. To rectify the observed limitations, this research suggests that there is need for future study to embark on empirical data gathering to validate the proposed model. However, as could be noted that this research has conducted a detailed literature review to establish the positive relationships that exist between CRM dimensions and employee job satisfaction, it is important for future researchers to conceptualize and if possible determine other construct s for measuring employee job satisfaction within the contact centers, specifically the inbound call centers.

Free Tempest Essays: Treacheries and Rebellions :: Tempest essays

  Treacheries and Rebellions is The Tempest  Ã‚   The Tempest consists of â€Å"a series of rebellion, treacheries, mutinies and conspiracies against authority† but the overall view of the dramatic action is much more complex. Many other aspects and themes such as illusion and the supernatural (magic) also play a very important part in shaping the plot. Power struggle is evident from the beginning, way back when Prospero’s brother, Antonio, seized his status as Duke of Milan and banished him to a barren place and left for dead. â€Å"In scene 2.1, pg 141, Sebastian remarks, â€Å"I remember/You did supplant your brother Prospero.† And Antonio replies, â€Å"True;/ And look how well my garment sit upon me,†. Antonio betrayed Prospero, and yet he feels no remorse for his treacherous act: ‘I feel not/ This deity in my bosom†, his conscience is not bothered by what he did to Prospero. Another sibling conspiracy in the play came in Act II when Sebastian is encouraged by Antonio to kill his brother , Alonso, which would put him next in line for the throne but first, they attempted to kill Gonzalo, the Alonso’s faithful advisor. Scene 2.1, pg â€Å"Draw together,/and when I rear my hand do you the like/TO fall it (the sword) on Gonzalo.† Their evil plot is interrupted and plans ruined as Ariel wakes the sleeping party (Alonso and Gonzalo). But perhaps the most prominent resistance against authority comes from Caliban, the slave of Prospero who feels that the island is rightfully his, â€Å"The island’s mine by Sycorax my mother,†. He goes on to state that Prospero â€Å"tak’st from me.† In order to regain or gain his rulership, Caliban plots with Trinculo and Stephano to kill Prospero and take over the island. Act 3, scene I, pg 160 â€Å"Why, as I told thee, ‘tis a custom with him I’ th’ afternoon to sleep. There thou mayst brain him Having fisrt seized his books; or with a log Batter his skull, or paunch him with a stake Or cut his weasand with thy knife.†    An important factor in authority struggle is the illusion of authority, who is ultimately in charge? Illusion of authority becomes evident from the start when the boatswain speaks to the king in the storm; â€Å"What cares these roarers for the name of king?†¦if you can command there elements to silence, and work the peace of the present, we will not hand a rope more—use your authority.

Banco Compartamos Case Study

Social innovation and enterprise is one way of eradicating poverty and illiteracy in society. The model that an enterprise takes determines their social impact in the long run. While some organizations maintain their social values over time, others abandon or diminish those values and venture into more financially profitable activities (Yunus 205). The paper addresses how the micro-finance business model used by Compartamos Bank compares with the village bank model of Grameen Bank. Microfinance in this sense refers to the supply of small loans, insurance, savings, and basic financial services to poor people, who are often unable to access such in conventional banking institutions. It looks at the shift of Compartamos Bank to a commercial bank, impacts of the shift to its initial mandate, and the effectiveness of both models in poverty alleviation. When the need for profit making and scaling competes with the need to alleviate poverty, the social motive often diminishes. Sustainabilit y of any social enterprise lies in maintaining its initial social values. Commercialization drives capitalism, which is often incompatible with social good. Making profound and lasting impacts on poverty alleviation requires consistency in social orientation.Comparison of Microfinance ModelsCompartamos Bank is a commercial microfinance while Grameen Bank is a village bank. The main difference between the two models is their funding methods. As a village bank, Grameen is primarily funded through local funds from community saving deposits, while Compartamos is funded as traditional commercial banks, engaging in IPO as one way of fundraising. Both models aim at reducing poverty, reaching scale, and financial sustainability though by applying different approaches. In place of collateral required by traditional banks, Grameen Bank uses voluntary formed small groups of five people for mutual and morally binding guarantees (Volkmann, Kim and Kati 253).The banking system is based on account ability, participation, mutual trust and creativity, a complete reverse from requirements of conventional banking. Village banking offers women equal access to financial aid, as they have been recognized as very enterprising. Operations of Grameen Bank are executed by bicycle bankers in various community branch units (Fotabong).Group members meet weekly for collection of the repayments and are accountable for each other. Compartamos Bank as a commercial bank offers loans, insurance and savings to its clientele. It operates as a conventional bank targeting the poor. It is for-profit organization that charges higher rates and opened up to public and private investors in a bid to scale up its profitability and financial sustainability. Compartamos started as a not-for profit organization and its shift to a commercial enterprise has been received with mixed reactions. The major concern of the shift is not in the high interest rates charged but on the importance placed on profitability m ore than social good. With all the profits and scaling the people who benefit most from such a set up are the already rich investors at the expense of poor borrowers.Evolution of CompartamosFounded in 1990 as a non-government organization, Compartamos aimed to eradicate poverty by giving credit to small businesses, especially poor women. It was initially supported by international donors and philanthropists to serve indigenous people in the poorest parts of Mexico. The company turned into a for-profit organization in 2000 in order to increase their funding (Carrick-Cagna and Santos 4). The company began accessing capital markets in 2002 raising millions of bonds over the next years. It slowly involved private investors and further obtained a commercial banking license in 2006 to enable them offer more services to its clients such as savings and insurance.The need to scale made the company raise hundreds of millions from a successful initial public offering (IPO), earning huge return s from private and public sectors without using any additional capital according to Carrick-Cagna and Santos. The profits allowed Compartamos to achieve financial self-sufficiency, no longer relying on donor aid. Thirty percent of the company was given to private investors and in essence the founders, with their visionary social goals have no complete control over the organization. The commercialization of Compartamos may seem to emphasize profit making over social good. Currently it offers microcredit services such as loans, insurance, and savings to low income earners and is among the largest and most profitable microfinance institutions in Latin America (MFI Solutions, LLC, USA and La Colmena  Milenaria, A. C., Mà ©xico 13).Investors in the bank make enormous profits, which is a good thing for any organization but for a microfinance dedicated to improving lives of the poor, it is seen as a problem. The extent to which Compartamos benefits the already-rich private investors far outweigh the benefits accrued to poor borrowers. It charges up to 100 percent interest rates per year to borrowers. In the perspective of fundamental values of microfinance, the actions of Compartamos are not pro-poor.Social ValuesIn the social enterprising context, the stand of Compartamos Bank is controversial. While to others it is a pro-poor initiative, others see a shift in its operation no different from conventional banks which are often anti-poor, anti-illiterate and anti-women according toYunus. Inequalities between the rich and the poor are a question of access to financial credit. Compartamos allegedly charges very high interest rates to its borrowers, who struggle to the rate while investors highly profit. Most of the poor people are also illiterate and few understand the idea of interest rates. What most borrowers focus on is how much they have to repay weekly but calculated in real sense, the interest rates are much higher than those of common commercial banks. The re sult is confining the poor in a never-ending cycle of poverty where they borrow more to service their credits.Implications for Increased CommercializationCompartamos IPO was a huge success in financial markets but majority of the shares went to hedge fund managers and commercial investors rather than the socially-responsible investment entity. According to MFI Solutions and La Colmena Milenaria, the lending capacity of the Bank increased after the IPO, though the interest rates charged went higher and higher with time. The bank has more than doubled its reach to clients in need of financial services in Mexico. In order to cater for the expansion and operating costs, the bank charges interests above the normal commercial Mexican rate.It has however continued to expand and retain many of its clients. It is a major concern to microfinance, on the appropriate balance between the goal of providing access to financial services to the poor and profitability and sustainability of microfinan ce institutions. The shift of microfinance from  social investors to commercial investors is a threat to social enterprises aimed at alleviating poverty. The IPO has sent a message that social service and profitability go together.It is a message that will definitely attract more private investors into microfinance. Compartamos IPO does not exclusively have implications on the company but to the entire microfinance entity. As a non-profit organization started off by grants, the implication is that society may have a different view of social enterprises. Some would question ethical, moral, and social values of such establishments.The Future of MicrofinancePlayers in the sector are uncertain about the future of microfinance, especially with the move of Compartamos to commercialize its operations. Commercialization of microfinance is seen as an opportunity to expand access of the poor to financial services. The high profit margins will attract more investment into microfinance, there by availing more money to extend to people to help them out of poverty. Additionally, it is felt that if other microfinance players shift to commercialization, the profit maximizing behavior will further take advantage of the poor. This would worsen the existing gap between the rich and the poor, profiting the rich and sending the poor into more poverty.Initiatives of the past two decades to make businesses socially responsible will also have been a waste. Communities and socially-responsible investors may shy away from initiatives aimed at addressing serious social issues. Microfinance faces a danger of turning into how well investors are doing of how profitable microfinance institutions are instead of actively focusing on ending poverty. In conclusion, those who founded formal microfinance intended it for the social good, but when more people got involved, the objectives and intentions of social enterprises shifted. The best model that is well adapted to create wealth for the poor is Grameen’s village model. With commercialization it becomes difficult to determine where microcredit ends and loan sharking ends.Involvement of private investors, whose main aim is often profit making would make social enterprises in microfinance serve more the interests of investors at a disadvantage of poor clients. It would turn microfinance from an area where non-profits and donors effect beneficial social and economic change into a haven for profit-maximizing investors. We  are living in a capitalist society where the need to satisfy personal interest overrides social good. In view of microfinance and addressing poverty, it is better to operate on the traditional approach of such initiatives other than commercializing it.

Jose Rizal Movie Essay

Reaction Paper on the Movie Rizal The movie â€Å"Jose Rizal† is all about our National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal – Hislife and works, his struggles in order to free his countrymen from abuse, until hisdeath under the hands of the Spaniards who occupied our country for a very longtime.Most of the scenes of the film took place during Rizal’s imprisonment atDapitan wherein he meets Taviel, a Spanish officer, who will eventually defendhim on his trial in court. During their meeting, Taviel asks Rizal everything abouthim and his works through various questions. Every answer that Rizal broughtout from his mouth made Taviel realize that Rizal was indeed an innocent man. On the course of their conversation, Rizal talks about the making of hisTwo Novels â€Å"Noli Me Tangere† and its sequel â€Å"El Filibusterismo† which are bothanti Spanish Novels that depicts how the Spaniards rule the Philippines and howthe rights of the Filipinos were abolished. Rizal portrayed himself on the saidNovels – as Crisostomo Ibarra on â€Å"Noli Me Tangere† and as Simeon on â€Å"ElFilibusterismo.†Going through with the movie, while Rizal is telling his story to Taviel, thescene on the movie switches from his life story then to his portrayal on hisNovels. Sometimes the scene gets very difficult to follow because of the suddenswitches during the scenes on the movie most especially during the time that hisfirst novel was on the process of writing. Rizal, a brave and a man of his word, was never afraid whatever theconsequences he may suffer because of his writings that are against the friarsand also to Spaniards. His goal was to free the Philippines from the unjustgovernment of Spanish colony.In summary, the movie talks mostly of Rizal’s life until his death and thecreation of his great novels. The actors and actresses who acted on the moviedid a great job presenting how it was during Rizal’s time even though the saidevents in Rizal’s life were just written in books

Animals in Cosmetic Testing Essays

Animals in Cosmetic Testing Essays Animals in Cosmetic Testing Paper Animals in Cosmetic Testing Paper Every year, millions of animals suffer and die at the hands of scientists who perform outdated and inaccurate tests that prove no benefit to humans or animals whatsoever. Before these animals die, they are routinely burned, scalded, poisoned, starved, given electric shocks, addicted to drugs, subjected to near freezing temperatures, dosed with radioactive elements and driven insane. They are deliberately inflicted with diseases such as cancer, diabetes, oral infections, stomach ulcers, syphilis, herpes, and AIDS. Their eyes are surgically removed; their brains and spinal cords damaged, and their bones broken. The use of anesthesia is not mandated by law, and consequently, it is rarely administered. Cosmetics companies attempt to justify all of this cruelty by claiming that the tests are performed to determine the possible dangers of cosmetics for human use. Substances such as eye shadow and soap are tested on rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, dogs, and other animals, despite the fact that the test results do not help prevent or treat human illness or injury at all. Experimentation on live animals, or vivisection began as early as the 17th century. During that time period, Philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) rejected Philosopher Rene Descartes theory that animals are not able to reason and therefore do not feel pain and suffering. Bentham held that living creatures can suffer and enjoy and that their inability to reason is irrelevant to the moral issue of how animals should be treated. Benthams philosophy on animals was: The question is not, can they reason? nor, can they talk?, but, can they suffer? The practice of testing cosmetics on animals began in 1933, soon after a woman used Lash Lure mascara to darken her lashes. The womans eyes first burned, then she went blind, and eventually died. Because of this incident, the Food and Drug Administration passed the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (which supported the use of animals in cosmetic research) in 1938 to protect the public from unsafe cosmetics. Cosmetics are not required to be tested on animals and since alternatives exist it is hard to understand why some companies continue to use these types of tests. Cosmetic companies kill millions of animals every year in the quest to improve their profit margin. According to the companies that perform these tests maintain that they are done to establish the safety of a product and the ingredients. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which regulates cosmetic products, does not require animal testing. Among many others, some of the tests used on animals are eye irritancy tests, acute toxicity tests, and skin irritancy tests. In eye irritancy tests, a liquid, flake, granule, or powdered substance is dropped into the eyes of a group of albino rabbits. The animals are often immobilized in stocks from which only their heads protrude and they usually receive no anesthesia during the tests. After placing the substance into the rabbit’s eyes, lab technicians record the damage to the eye tissue at specific intervals over an average period of 72 hours. The tests sometimes last between seven and eighteen days. Reactions to the substances can include swollen eyelids, ulceration, bleeding, swollen irises massive deterioration, and blindness. During the tests, rabbits eyelids are usually held open with clips, because of this, many animals break their necks as they attempt to escape. Acute toxicity tests, commonly called lethal dose or poisoning tests, determine the amount of a substance that will kill a percentage, even up to one-hundred percent, of a group of test animals. In these tests, a substance is forced by tube into the animal’s stomach or through holes cut in their throats. Experimenters observe the animal’s reactions which can include convulsions, labored breathing, malnutrition, skin eruptions, and bleeding from the eyes, nose, or mouth. The test was developed in 1927 and the testing continues until at least fifty percent of the animals die (this usually takes 2-4 weeks). Like eye irritancy tests, lethal dose tests are unreliable and have too many variables to have a constant result. Skin irritancy tests are conducted on rabbits, guinea pigs and other animals. The process involves placing chemicals on the animal’s raw, shaved skin and covering the skin with adhesive plaster. The animals are immobilized in restraining devices to prevent them from struggling. Meanwhile, laboratory workers apply the chemicals which burn into the animal’s skin. Despite all of this pain and suffering on the animal’s part, not a single disease has been cured through vivisection in this century. The overall adult cancer rate has risen in the past 40 years and a fatal heart attack strikes a person every 45 seconds. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that 70-80% of the common diseases killing humans are preventable given a responsible diet and lifestyle. 40-50% of the animals used in experiments come from companies who breed these animals for just this purpose. The remaining animals come from animal shelters, the free to good home ads in the newspaper, some from unsuspecting people who allow their animals to become pregnant, or even worse, some have been stolen directly from their own front yard. Imagine your pet one day being crammed into a cage no larger the average refrigerator with ten other animals waiting to die like approximately 20-100 million other animals do each year. Alternatives to cosmetic testing are less expensive and generally more reliable to perform. Animals have different biological systems than humans therefore the tests can’t be as accurate as the animal free tests. Some alternatives include cell cultures, tissue cultures, corneas from eye banks, and sophisticated computer and mathematical models. Companies can also devise a formula using ingredients already proven safe by the Food and Drug Administration. Most cruelty-free companies use a combination of methods to ensure the safety of a product. Lobbying by animal welfare groups has resulted in federal, state, and local legislation severely restricting animal experimentation. For example, under the Animal welfare act, all animals used in biomedical research must be bought from vendors licensed by the Department of Agriculture. The Department of Agriculture inspects laboratories where animals are used and enforces federal laws regarding treatment and care of the animals. Biomedical scientists have also taken action to prevent the abuse of the animals, mostly because abused animals may not provide reliable data. The Physiological Society, the National Institutes of Health, and many other scientific organizations have joined forces to lay down guidelines for the use and treatment of experimental animals. Now, there are also many universities with animal welfare committees. In countless surveys, it has been found that most people are against the use of animals in cosmetic testing. Hundreds of companies have responded by switching to animal-friendly test methods. To help put an end to animal testing, people can stop buying products that were tested on animals. You can also call and write to these companies, or write to your local government representative about the alternatives that can be used. Just weeks ago, the European Union (EU) moved closer to an agreement that would enforce a ban on the use of animal testing to develop beauty products in the EU. Negotiators for the EUs 15 national governments and the European Parliament reached a compromise that would introduce the ban in 2009, giving cosmetics companies’ ample time to find and implement alternative ways of testing. The ban will cover animal tests in Europe and also calls for a ban on imports of cosmetics produced outside the bloc that have been tested on animals. The compromise still needs to be approved by the full European Parliament and ministers from the 15 nations. While this sort of action takes us one step closer to banning animal testing outright, it is a long and painstaking process. More drastic measures must be implemented if we are going to wipe out the suffering of animals at the hands of scientists and researchers. More emphasis must be put on hard line tactics, and harsher penalties must be enforced for those who subject animals to any treatment that contravenes the global Animal Cruelty Act. Sophisticated alternatives to the use of animals in consumer product testing are readily available. For example, Skintex, an in-vitro method assesses skin irritancy uses pumpkin rind to mimic the reaction of a foreign substance on human skin. Skintex can measure 5,000 different materials, so there is no excuse for companies. Most of the large producers of personal care and household products could adopt these methods which are more cost effective, better predictors of human injury, produce far quicker results, and do not involve animal cruelty. There are two main reasons most companies do not take a cruelty-free stance; the fear for human safety and the fear of product liability suits. We as consumers can help our animals by purchasing only products that have not been tested on animals. By changing your shopping habits a bit, it is easy to become a caring and conscientious consumer. When you shop, look for products that say Cruelty-free or not tested on animals. This time tomorrow there will be approximately 275,000 animals dead that were not dead today. The numbers are real and this is happening in our world every day merely because it is a multi-billion dollar income for some people and is legal in most countries. The National Institutes of Health, the world’s largest recipient of funds used for research, must be pushed to fund more preventative programs and human based research. The problem that we are faced with today is not a difficult one to fix. The technology is available for us to use and we should take advantage of our superior alternate methods.

Representation of gender in Wong Kar Wais movies Essay Example

Representation of gender in Wong Kar Wais movies Essay Example Representation of gender in Wong Kar Wais movies Paper Representation of gender in Wong Kar Wais movies Paper Essay Topic: Film Men, who are masculine, physically strong, aggressive, intellectual, active, in dependent, production and rational; Women, who are feminine, weak, submissive, passive, dependent, consumption and emotional. Such gender stereotypes of male and female had deeply rooted in our society and had became a hegemonic definitions between men and women. The hegemonic definitions of Men and Women are more explicit in movies. There are traditional gender roles in movies, especially in main-stream commercial movies, male characters are usually strong, powerful, tough, dominate (female) and heroic; while female characters are usually being- rotected, weak, femme fatale and desire for love and romantic. These traditional gender representations on screen have been generally accepted / accustomed by audiences. Hence, producers and directors tend to follow the gender stereotypes of male and female, no matter they are producing / directing a rom-com, martial film, tragedy or cop-robber film. In this article, Im going to look into Wong Kar Wais movies, which categorized as alternative, and find out hows the differences and similarities in gender representation between his film and other commercial, main- stream movies. Firstly, I want to state some similarities in gender representation between Wongs movies and main-stream movies. Something very interesting is women are always femme-fatale in Wongs movies. Maybe they have no intention to make troubles, but hey are really mentally / physically destructive to men in his movies. For example, in the movie Fallen Angels, the female agent (Michelle Reis) employed by the hired killer Wong Chi Ming (Leon Lai) is obviously a femme-fatale to himself. In the movie, the killer tried avoid to meet or even have connection with his agent because e thinks they could no longer to keep on their partnership if theres any relationship or friendship between them. The agent played by Michelle Reis is totally invisible in the killers life. Before killer Wong Chi Ming meet his agent, he completes every mission assigned by her excellently. However, once the killer meet his beautiful female agent, death comes and knock his door. Hes attracted by his agent and want to terminate his business relationship with the agent. She asks him to kill someone as a parting favor, but Wong Chi Ming turns the hit into a suicide mission and died. Perhaps the pretty agent doesnt mean to make her partner die, but she is obviously a femme fatale in Wong Chi Mings destiny. Other than Fallen Angels, women also acted as femme fatale or trouble-maker in his movies. For example, in the 2 stories of ChungKing Express, 2 cops are lost themselves and deeply hurt after dumped by their girlfriends. In this film, both of the cops 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and 633 (Tony Leung) fell into lovesick after broke up. Cop 223 became a man without his soul and started to addict to canned-pineapples after his girlfriend left. He was hurt by his ex-girlfriend and even cannot thinking logically. He drunk himself, call his old classmates with no reason, run in the rain, meet stranger in bar all of this action mean he has got troubles in his mind and these troubles was caused by his girlfriend. In the second part of the film, Cop 633 also hurt by his girl, he started to talk with Dolls, towel, soap etc. n his house, he lost his sense and just like Cop 223, many crazy thinking blow up in his mind. In this film, women play the role of trouble- maker again that make 2 men become the victim in love and suffer from lovesick caused by women. In Happy Together, a love story about 2 men, we can also see the emme fatale, troublemaker image of women. There is heres no female character in this film, howe ver, Ho Po Wing (Leslie Cheung) is playing the female role in the romance between Lai Yiu Fai and him. In this film, we can see Ho Po Wing is totally rely on his boyfriend Lai Yiu Fai and caused a lot of troubles to him. Ho spent all of Lais money that Lai cannot return to Hong Kong. Ho betrays Lai in love again and again. In the early part of the film, Ho and Lai failed to go Iguazu Fall and lost their way due to Ho Po Wings mistakes. However, in the late part, after Ho left Lai, Lai Yiu Fai travel to Iguazu Fall alone and he could arrive the Fall at last. If you compare this 2 scene, you would find that female played the role of troublemaker again. Except the image of femme fatale, something in Wong Kar Wais films is quite similar to those main-stream movies. That is women are always act as homemakers or helpers for men. In Fallen Angel, killer Wong Chi Mings female agent find business for him and make decision for him. She decides who will be killed, how, where and when. She also go to his apartment and do housework for him when hes not there. In Chungking Express, Faye (Faye Wong) get the key of Cop 633s partment and break into 633s flat while hes away. She cleans 633s flat and redecorated with new bedspreads, new clothes, new toiletries, new food. Faye even drugs 633s bottled water to make sure he gets to sleep. Both killers agent and Faye are playing the tradition role of women as homemaker and helper for men. However, they are doing these works for non-traditional purposes. Traditionally, women are stereotyped as housewives. They do housework and other things for men just because of responsible. But both the killers agent and Faye are not clean and decorate their mens flats because they have to act like housewives. They do housework for men in the purposes of fulfil their suspicions and satisfying themselves rather than acquiescing to the role of the stereotypical homemaker and be a home maid for men. Other than the those similarities mentioned above, we can find some differences in gender representation between Wong Kar Wais films and other main-stream movies. One of those differences is the representation of men. In Wong Kar Wais films, men are no hero or even weak behind their muscular body. In Fallen Angels, killer Wong Chi Ming claims to have become a contract killer because he is lazy and likes to ave others make decisions for him, so he is not presented as a hero. We never know why any of Chi-Mings victims are marked for death, he takes others life because its his job. He kills people just because he completes his duty, like post officer deliver letters, but no relation to any sense of heroism. Moreover, Wong Chi Ming fails to complete his mission and being shot down at last. The scene of Wong killed in action is totally violate to the tradition of heroism that hero are never defeated. So, Wong Chi Ming is not hero but a normal person like you and me. In Chungking Express, weakness of men is more clearly shown. Both 223 and 633 are Cop and they are traditionally supposed to physically and also mentally strong. However, we cant see Cop 223 and 633 act like hero to stop crimes and maintain law and order in the movie. Instead, we can see hows their weak image after deeply hurt by their girls. 223 forces himself to eat a can of pineapple everyday and talk to his dog to release his anxiety, while 633 hugs and chat with his dolls, dreams of his ex-girlfriend will come back soon. All these action shown men can be weak or even weaker than women sometimes. Such weak image of men is far different from the tradition which men hould be tough in physically also mentally. On the contrary, women in Wong Kar Wais films were tough, independent, free-spirited, calm, cool and usually less emotional than men. The most typical example in Wongs film is the drug smuggler (Brigitte Lin) in Chungking Express. Shes in cool style that blonde-wigged, wears long coat, and sun-glasses, always with a gun in her purse. She keeps calm when she is chasing by people want to kill her and shoots down her master and also those drug couriers who double-crossed her. She is actually playing the role of hero and presenting heroism which traditionally played by men. Women in Wong Kar Wais film act active and can say to be aggressive in many aspects, especially in love. Women usually be the active side in romance. They dare to get close to guys they liked and no fear to take action to attract mens attention. Maybe people may think that Wong Kar Wai presents women in this way just because following the traditional patriarchal ideology and fulfilling what men wanted (women play the active role in love) and have no different to the main-steam films. But in my point of view, women be active in love means they are liberated, freed in love. In Wongs movies, women no longer wait for mens love, they are not products on shelf and wait for someone to pick them up. They have rights and freedom to choose, to approach those guys they loved. For example, in Chungking Express, Faye loved Cop 633 from her first sight on him. She doesnt wait for 633 put attention on her, instead, she decides to break into his flat to discover him. She cleans and wander in his flat everyday in order to fulfil her romantic feeling on him. One more example, Baby (Karen Mok) in the Fallen Angels seduces Wong Chi Ming into a sexual relationship. I dont think its presenting the idea of patriarchal, but presenting an idea that women can be active in love or even sex. In opposition, Men are more passive than women. No matter Lai Yiu Fai in Happy Together and Chow Mo Wan in In the Mood for Love, they choose to keep their feeling of love inside instead of tell the person they like. Lai Yiu Fai has special feeling to his co- worker Chang (Chang Zhen), but he chooses not to tell him and let him leave. Similarly, Chow Mo Wan fall in love to his neighborhood Su Li Zhen (Maggie Cheung). But he chooses not to tell how deep he loves her and keep it as secret. To avoid get involve between Su and her husband, Chow leaves Hong Kong and mine his secret (his love to Su) in the tree hole. Obviously, men and womens roles of love in Wongs movies are quite different from other films. In conclusion, gender representation of men and women in Wong Kar Wais films have no bias any side. Neither men nor women are superior to each other. However, binary opposition between two sex is always played in Wongs films. Rivalry between men and women is always the main theme of his stories. We can see mind games between two sex in his films, each of them compete for control, regulate and dominate its other.

Theories of Ideology in Sociology

Theories of Ideology in Sociology Ideology is the lens through which a person views the world. Within the field of sociology, ideology is broadly understood to refer to the sum total of a persons values, beliefs, assumptions, and expectations. Ideology exists within society, within groups, and between people. It shapes our thoughts, actions, and interactions, along with what happens in society at large. Ideology is a fundamental concept in sociology. Sociologists study it because it plays such a powerful role in shaping how society is organized and how it functions. Ideology is directly related to the social structure, economic system of production, and political structure. It both emerges out of these things and shapes them. Ideology vs. Particular Ideologies Often, when people use the word ideology they are referring to a particular ideology rather than the concept itself. For example, many people, especially in the media, refer to extremist views or actions as being inspired by a particular ideology (for example, radical Islamic ideology or white power ideology) or as ideological. Within sociology, much attention is paid to what is known as  the dominant ideology, or the particular ideology that is most common and  strongest in a given society. However, the concept of ideology itself is actually general in nature and not tied to one particular way of thinking. In this sense, sociologists define ideology as a persons worldview and recognize that there are various and competing ideologies operating in a society at any given time, some more dominant than others. Ultimately, ideology determines how we make sense of things. It provides an ordered view of the world, our place in it, and our relationship to others. As such, it is deeply important to the human experience, and typically something that  people cling to and defend, whether or not they are conscious of doing so. And, as ideology emerges out of the  social structure  and  social order, it is generally expressive of the social interests that are supported by both. Terry Eagleton, a British literary theorist, and intellectual explained it this way in his 1991 book  Ideology: An Introduction: Ideology is a system of concepts and views which serves to make sense of the world while obscuring the  social interests  that are expressed therein, and by its completeness and relative internal consistency tends to form a  closed  system and maintain itself in the face of contradictory or inconsistent experience. Marxs Theory of Ideology German philosopher Karl Marx  is considered the first to provide a theoretical framing of ideology within the context of sociology. Michael Nicholson  / Contributor  / Getty Images According to Marx, ideology emerges out of a societys mode of production. In his case and in that of the modern United States,  the economic mode of production is capitalism. Marxs approach to ideology was set forth in his theory of  base and superstructure. According to Marx, the superstructure of society, the realm of ideology, grows out of the base, the realm of production, to reflect the interests of the ruling class and justify the status quo that keeps them in power. Marx, then, focused his theory on the concept of a dominant ideology. However, he viewed the relationship between base and superstructure as dialectical in nature, meaning that each affects the other equally and that a change in one necessitates a change in the other. This belief formed the basis for Marxs theory of revolution. He believed that once workers  developed a class consciousness  and became aware of their exploited position relative to the powerful class of factory owners and financiers- in other words, when they experienced a fundamental shift in ideology- that they would then act on that ideology by organizing and demanding a change in the social, economic, and political structures of society. Gramscis Additions to Marxs Theory of Ideology The working-class revolution that Marx predicted never happened. Nearly 200 years after the publication of The Communist Manifesto, capitalism maintains a strong grip on global society and  the inequalities it fosters continue to grow. Fototeca Storica Nazionale.  / Contributor  / Getty Images   Following on the heels of Marx, the Italian activist, journalist, and intellectual  Antonio Gramsci  offered a more developed theory of ideology to help explain why the revolution did not occur. Gramsci, offering his theory of  cultural hegemony, reasoned that dominant ideology had a stronger hold on consciousness and society than Marx had imagined. Gramscis theory focused on the  central role played by the  social institution of education  in spreading the dominant ideology and maintaining the power of the ruling class. Educational institutions, Gramsci argued, teach ideas, beliefs, values, and even identities that reflect the interests of the ruling class, and produce compliant and obedient members of society that serve the interests of that class. This type of rule is what Gramsci called cultural hegemony. The Frankfurt School and Louis Althusser on Ideology Some years later, the  critical theorists  of  the Frankfurt School turned their attention to the role that art,  popular culture, and mass media play in disseminating ideology. They argued that just as education plays a role in this process, so do the social institutions of media and popular culture. Their theories of ideology focused on the representational work that art, popular culture, and mass media do in telling stories about society, its members, and our way of life. This work can either support the dominant ideology and the status quo, or it can challenge it, as in the case of  culture jamming. Jacques Pavlovsky  / Contributor  / Getty Images Around the same time, the French philosopher Louis Althusser developed his concept of the ideological state apparatus, or the ISA. According to Althusser, the dominant ideology of any given society is maintained and reproduced through several ISAs, notably the media, religion, and education. Althusser argued that each ISA does the work of promoting illusions about the way society works and why things are the way they are. Examples of Ideology In the modern United States, the dominant ideology is one that, in keeping with Marxs theory, supports capitalism and the society organized around it. The central tenet of this ideology is that U.S. society is one in which all people are free and equal, and thus, can do and achieve anything they want in life. A key supporting tenet is the idea that work is morally valuable, no matter the job. Together, these beliefs form an ideology supportive of capitalism by helping us make sense of why some people achieve so much in terms of success and wealth  while others achieve so little. Within the logic of this ideology, those who work hard are guaranteed to see success. Marx would argue that these ideas, values, and assumptions work to justify a reality in which a very small class of people holds most of the authority within corporations, firms, and financial institutions. These beliefs also justify a reality in which the vast majority of people are simply workers within the system. While these ideas may reflect the dominant ideology in modern America, there are in fact other ideologies that challenge them and the status quo they represent. The radical labor movement, for example, offers an alternative ideology- one that instead assumes that the capitalist system is fundamentally unequal and that those who have amassed the greatest wealth are not necessarily deserving of it. This competing ideology asserts that the power structure is controlled by the ruling class and is designed to impoverish the majority for the benefit of a privileged minority. Labor radicals throughout history have fought for new laws and public policies that would redistribute wealth and promote equality and justice.

Course work - consumer behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Course work - consumer behaviour - Essay Example Major portion of their budget is being spent for the same purpose. People today tend to be more selective, alert, enlightened and powerful. The traditional concept of shopping has been effaced and a new slogan emerged â€Å"consumer is the king.† The conventional shops and outlets are at the verge of extinction. This makes the marketers to put their best efforts to categorize consumers according to their response toward the unfamiliar products. According to the studies conducted on the consumer behavior, consumers can be classified in to the following segments like highly dogmatic consumers, inner directed consumers, consumers with high Optimum Stimulation Levels and consumers with high need of cognition. This paper also discusses the various promotional strategies to be employed in the case of consumers who are visualizers versus consumers who are verbalizers. The essay tries to pinpoint the specific consumer traits of each category of consumers with a view to design the most appropriate marketing strategies for each group. The buying behavior of consumers depends upon the individual personality. Many factors can influence the buying behavior of consumers. Culture plays a dominant role as most of the attitude s and beliefs of customers are strongly rooted in their cultural backgrounds. A child as a growing individual is influenced by his/her environment, cultural milieu, parents, siblings and all other right and wrongs that he learns from the elders and the people who come into contact with him/her. These factors are most likely to influence an individual’s purchase conduct too. The economical conditions also have a role in determining the behavior of consumers. Marketing strategies and advertising obviously influence the consumers purchasing performance. Goodwill or brand name of certain products and companies would promote the interests of consumers. Social status of people is yet another important factor that has a

Outsourcing in healthcare facilities Assignment

Outsourcing in healthcare facilities - Assignment Example For effective operation and achieving of the outsourcing objectives, healthcare facilities have to find reliable business associates who will offer cost-effective and quality services that meet patient expectations. Prevalence and trends of outsourcing in the healthcare industry The prevalence of outsourcing in the healthcare industry is low as compared to other industries though it is picking up at a fast rate due to increasing financial pressures and demand for better services by patients. The trends of outsourcing in healthcare are increasing as evidenced by the decreasing restrictions on the types of services being outsourced by healthcare facilities. Many outsourcing relationships now are like long-term strategic partnerships instead of arrangements that are tactical and single-purpose in nature. This indicates increasing interest in outsourcing by healthcare facilities. Hospitals are the main types of organizations in healthcare which utilize outsourcing to a greater extend. Ho wever, there is a difference in the trends and prevalence rates among the for-profit hospital settings and the not-for-profit hospital settings. More of the profit-oriented hospitals are outsourcing as compared to the non-profit hospitals. Currently, profit-oriented hospital settings outsource up to 25% of their services and their non-profit oriented counterparts are expected to reach this level in the near future (Harris, 2001). One of the areas in which outsourcing is utilized in healthcare is medical transcriptions. This is done as a strategy for dealing with the increasing need to document medical records hence it is a more-cost effective way of adding to back offices. Outsourcing in this area is growing at a significant rate of 15% annually. The third most commonly outsourced service in healthcare facilities is linen/laundry services. This is driven by factors like increasing costs of operating a laundry and upgrading efficient laundry equipment. There is also increasing laundr y volumes due to the increasing number of patients (Harris, 2001). Ambulance services, gift stores, and security services enjoy a moderate level of outsourcing in the healthcare sector. The most recent service to be outsourced services is IT services. EHRS outsourcing is picking up even as physicians are being encouraged to adopt and use EHRS. The complexity and urgency of implementing and maintaining EHRS is the driving factor behind its outsourcing. The healthcare industry has also begun contracting for software applications. These services are offered by 3rd party application service providers (ASP's) (Kirchheimer, 2005. Other services that experience varied levels of outsourcing include management of facilities, feeding of patients, transportation, health information management (HIM) and clinical services. One of the companies offering medical transcription services is Chromolume Transcription, a company located in Santa Monica, California. Hospital TeamCare provides physician o utsourcing whereas Precyse Solutions provides HIM outsourcing. Experience of healthcare organizations that have tried outsourcing Some of the healthcare organisations that have tried outsourcing include Launceston General Hospital and Westbury Community Health Centre. These hospitals outsource their linen services to Northern Tasmanian Linen Service

CRITIQUE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CRITIQUE - Essay Example I think comparative grounded theory was appropriate to achieve the purpose of this study. The author used 15 homeless adolescents, who were interested into self-care. All participants were asked two questions: 1) What helps you maintain healthy living as you do, 2) What would you like to tell me about how you take care of yourself? The interviews, behaviors, physical appearance and gestures of participants during the interview were recorded, analyzed and compared to within and between them by comparative grounded therapy.The descriptive theory of self-care for homeless youth was generated from this study. The descriptive theory linked three categories: becoming aware of oneself, staying alive with limited resources, and handling one’s own health. The theory supports Orem’s conceptualization of self-care that personal care of human beings can be modified by self-awareness, environmental conditions, the effect of medical care and other factors. The homeless youths of this study were resilient, because they faced so many obstacles in their lives, but still showed courage to redirect their lives towards health, growth and development. In conclusion, our community is still in need of support groups, which can help homeless youths to develop self-care awareness and behaviors in a high risk environment (Lynn, 2003, p

Four HR Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Four HR Questions - Essay Example However, it is vital to note that the decisions taken under particular situation may not hold good for all situations, in fact they may give negative results under different circumstances. This implies that effective leadership calls for consistently making situation based decisions. From literature, situational leadership advocates for greater participation of employee in decision making on the premise that the more employees participate in decision making the more they will accept the decisions taken. It with this line of thought that Vroom and Yetton (1973) proposed a Situational leadership model called the normative decision model. The normative model identifies five different decision procedures that range on the situation and level of involvement from autocratic to consultative to group-based decisions. Even though, situational leadership advocates for greater employee participation, Vroom and Yetton (1973) identified that not all decision making situations need to go throu gh the process of consultation. To enable leaders isolate the instances where decision making would require consultation from those where consultations would add little value, Vroom and Yetton (1973) formulated seven questions which leaders can use to determine the level of subordinate involvement in decision making. The seven questions touch on problem information, commitment, and decision quality and acceptance. Putting Vroom and Yetton (1973) normative model to use it can be discovered that consultation would be a waste of time in the following circumstances: (1) where the leader has sufficient information to make a high quality decision and acceptance of the decision by subordinates is not critical for its implementation; (2) where neither the nature of the solution nor the acceptance of the decision by subordinates is critical to the implementation of the decision; (3) where the nature of the solution is not critical and whatever the leader decides it is reasonably certain th at his / her subordinates would accept; (4) where the nature of the solution is critical but the leader has sufficient information to make a high quality decision. In this instance even though the acceptance of the decision by subordinates would be critical to its implementation, if the leader is reasonable certain that he / she has sufficient influence over his / her subordinates to the extent that they would most certainly accept his / her decision then consultations would be a waste of time. In conclusion, to enable effective decision making a leader would find using Vroom and Yetton (1973) seven questions and normative model a critical tool that will save him / her time, effort and likelihood of success for the decisions that he / she takes. Identify the potential difference in human resource management (HRM) policies between two organizations where one follows a low-cost strategy and the other follows a differentiated, quality enhancement

Distressed Financing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Distressed Financing - Research Paper Example Both the individual and institutional investors become more cautious about their investments in a particular company when the company is in the state of bankruptcy because the returns for the shareholders are likely to be affected by the weak financial performances of a business. However, in order to fight bankruptcy a company often opts for strengthening and improving its financial performances through restructuring activities rather than dissolving the business. The restructuring process requires a substantial amount of expenses. The traditional funding sources are not often usable in the situation of bankruptcy. However, a new form of financing known as distressed financing has evolved in the business world which is especially used to fund the restructuring processes of a financially distressed company. Distressed financing enables the companies to collect funds for the business restructuring process in the form of distressed debt financing or distressed equity financing. The dist ressed debt financing has formed a large part of the corporate bond market and is considered as a main type of company financing. Distressed financing is a term commonly used in corporate financing activities. Generally when a company is being liquidated and is facing bankruptcy, distressed financing is widely used to enable the company to achieve a turnaround from the existing financing distress through financial and business restructuring activities. The corporate turnaround from the financial distress and bankruptcy can be achieved from a number of methods like corporate valuation, working capital management, debt restructuring, equity restructuring etc. Therefore, the term â€Å"restructuring† in distress restructuring is used from a financial perspective rather than an organizational perspective. Distressed securities are financial instruments including debt and equities in a business which is in the bankrupt stage or is near bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is generally

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

Global Economy - Essay Example support by the International Monetary is a debt relief to developing nations that result to an increased flow of direct financial investments and technology by the private sectors. Globalization is viewed as key force that would promote worldwide economic development while unrestricted regime trade serves to increase the inequality between developing and developed nations. When there is globalized trade, the developing countries are able to acquire skilled labor and modern technology that will aid in economic growth by dealing with problems such as unskilled labor and poverty. Integral of International Monetary and trade regimes in supporting a globalized capitalist economy ensured that consumption and production were not confined within national borders any longer. It also private sectors to increase production since good and services had gained local and foreign market. Globalization of capitalist economy made the developed countries experience so-called ’Golden Age of Capit alism’ between 1953- 1973 as per capital income growth rate in Europe rose from 1.3% to 4.1% while that of U.S rose from 1.8% to 2.5%. They had a spectacular economic growth performance (Jaffe 367). Exchange rate regimes are the main regime managed by the international monetary and world trade organization. The International Monetary Fund has classified exchange rate regimes on the bases of the degree of flexibility of the arrangement or a formal or informal commitment to a given path of exchange rate into eight categories. Exchange Arrangement with No Separate Legal Tender, currency board arrangements, Conventional Fixed Pegs Arrangements, Pegged Exchange Rates within Horizontal Bands, Crawling Pegs, Exchange Rate within Crawling Bands, Managed Floating with No Predetermined Path for the Exchange and Independent Floating. This foreign exchange regime emphasizes the implications on the exchange rate regimes to the independence of monetary policy. However, monetary policy does not

Distressed Financing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Distressed Financing - Research Paper Example Both the individual and institutional investors become more cautious about their investments in a particular company when the company is in the state of bankruptcy because the returns for the shareholders are likely to be affected by the weak financial performances of a business. However, in order to fight bankruptcy a company often opts for strengthening and improving its financial performances through restructuring activities rather than dissolving the business. The restructuring process requires a substantial amount of expenses. The traditional funding sources are not often usable in the situation of bankruptcy. However, a new form of financing known as distressed financing has evolved in the business world which is especially used to fund the restructuring processes of a financially distressed company. Distressed financing enables the companies to collect funds for the business restructuring process in the form of distressed debt financing or distressed equity financing. The dist ressed debt financing has formed a large part of the corporate bond market and is considered as a main type of company financing. Distressed financing is a term commonly used in corporate financing activities. Generally when a company is being liquidated and is facing bankruptcy, distressed financing is widely used to enable the company to achieve a turnaround from the existing financing distress through financial and business restructuring activities. The corporate turnaround from the financial distress and bankruptcy can be achieved from a number of methods like corporate valuation, working capital management, debt restructuring, equity restructuring etc. Therefore, the term â€Å"restructuring† in distress restructuring is used from a financial perspective rather than an organizational perspective. Distressed securities are financial instruments including debt and equities in a business which is in the bankrupt stage or is near bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is generally

The Portrayal of Homosexuals in Movies Essay Example for Free

The Portrayal of Homosexuals in Movies Essay In this paper, I will be discussing two movies that portray homosexuals and homosexuality in very different ways. The first movie is The Birdcage (1996), a comedy directed by Mike Nichols, and starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a pair of long-term gay lovers. The second movie is Brokeback Mountain (2005), a drama directed by Ang Lee, and starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as star-crossed gay lovers. A Movie Filled with Stereotypes In The Birdcage (1996), the movie that I have chosen that I feel stereotypes homosexuals, all the typical gay stereotypes are there: the flamboyant physical gestures, the garish color scheme of the decor and the wardrobe, the hysterical emotional reactions, the drag queens, the cattiness, and even the lisps. In brief, Robin Williams plays Armand Goldman, a middle-aged gay man who is the owner of a gay cabaret in Miami. His live-in lover, Albert, played by Nathan Lane, is also the star of the cabaret show, a drag queen named Starina. Armand has a 20-year-old son, Val, from a brief heterosexual relationship, and Val has been raised in Armand and Albert’s household. Val arrives home, declares that he’s engaged to the daughter of an extremely right-wing conservative U. S. senator, and that the senator and his wife are coming to dinner. Albert decides to dress in drag and pretend to be Armand’s wife. The garish decor and wardrobe, which might seem out of place if the setting were Wisconsin or Kansas, doesn’t seem quite as stereotypical as it might since the setting is South Beach in Miami. The bright, neon colors are quite popular there, and although there is certainly an element of exaggeration, I don’t think these colors would be out of place in mainstream Miami. What is really interesting about this film is that even though it is filled with so many gay stereotypes, and even though it gets huge laughs playing to these stereotypes, it is really not a film that refuses to look deeper than the surface. The out-and-proud Armand and Albert are in a long-term, committed relationship, and we see how that relationship plays out. Armand and Albert could be any two people in a relationship, although Armand is portrayed as pretty mainstream gay, minus most of the stereotypical characteristics, while Albert is loaded with these types of characteristics. In fact, he seems to be one, big overacting gay diva in every respect. He is always throwing fits, crying, accusing, locking himself in his room, and trying to lay guilt trips on Armand. I hate to say it, but not only does Lane portray Albert as the complete stereotype of a gay man, but he also portrays Albert as the complete stereotype of a straight woman who has PMS. I think the stereotypes that are portrayed in this movie are just as popular as a set of misconceptions today as they were a decade ago. But on the other hand, the biggest stereotype, the one where people believe that all gay men sleep around with many, many partners, is not even addressed in this film because, as I said, it focuses primarily on a committed relationship between two middle-aged gay men. This, I feel, could be beneficial in showing the public in general that not all gay men jump from man to man. On the other hand, the audience is going to see what it wants to see, and if they believe all the stereotypes going in, this film will probably reinforce their beliefs. But, at least, a gay comedy could get made at all. It doesn’t happen that often in Hollywood. But it seems that comedy makes everything more palatable to middle America. It removes them from the truth of the situation just enough so that they can be absorbed into the story and laugh. That has got to be a benefit, as it’s a start to seeing â€Å"gay people† as â€Å"just people. † A Movie with Positive Images Brokeback Mountain (2005), the movie I have chosen that I feel does not stereotype homosexuals, is about as far away from The Birdcage (1996) as you can get. It’s a romantic drama with a love story between two cowboys as its central theme. Ennis Del Mar, played by the late Heath Ledger, and Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, meet as young men on an isolated assignment herding sheep. Ennis is already married, but Jack is not yet married. The two surprise themselves by falling in love with each other, something that was greatly looked down on in the American West in 1963, where this film begins its story. They keep their love a secret, or so they think, and meet when they can over the years. Jack marries for cover, Ennis grows even more distant from his wife, and eventually Jack meets a violent end after his homosexuality is discovered. In looking at the effect that the images in this film had or might have on mainstream, non-gay America, I’d say that the image of two virile cowboys falling so unexpectedly in love with each other was a positive one. So many of the stereotypes show gays as effeminate and unmanly. But there was none of that in these two men. They were as strong and physically active as most men, and probably in better shape than most straight men, but the fact that they were both buff did nothing to add to the misconceptions that most gay men work out at the gym and are vain and body-oriented. Instead, their good physical forms were the results of hard manual labor. These non-stereotypical images are important to the focal point of the film, which is how the romantic relationship between these two men develops over the course of 20 years. Brokeback Mountain (2005) was really the first big-budget Hollywood movie that took the risk to portray two non-flamboyant, non-stereotypical gay men in a romantic drama, where the gay romance was the theme of the movie. Whereas both men were closeted and married, and it appeared that Jack had other boyfriends while Ennis did not, we see how their love lasts and grows over the years. We see the longing and the yearning and the way they miss each other. Mainstream straight America sat up and thought, they’re just like us! That’s how I feel about my husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend. We could relate to them and what they were going through. I think this reaction was a product of the times. Homosexuality is a lot more out in the open now and middle America is a lot more socially tolerant now than they were even ten years ago. The Comparison In spite of the fact that Brokeback Mountain (2005) was made in 2005, it is set in a time period from 1963 to 1983. So what we see in Brokeback Mountain (2005) is how attitudes and social expectations used to be when America was a much more closed-off society than it is now. We actually get to see what led up to the change in American values by the time of The Birdcage (1996), which is set in 1996. Another difference in the setting is that Brokeback Mountain (2005) is set in the American West, supposedly representing middle American values, whereas The Birdcage (1996) is set in South Beach Miami, known more for it’s nightlife than for it’s middle-class values. A kind of â€Å"anything goes† feeling pervades this setting. In South Beach, a gay man can be as safely â€Å"out† as it is probably possible to be in the United States. In the American West, four decades ago, there were few places that it was safe to be known as homosexual. An image is created of fear and intolerance and keeping your true self hidden. In Brokeback Mountain (2005), director Ang Lee created images that were evocative and memorable. The beauty itself of Brokeback Mountain, where the two men fell in love, was all lush and green and charming vistas. Yet, when the men separated and spent long periods apart, the landscape was dry, dusty, run down and baron. It seemed that this love had just happened to them and that they had no control over it in spite of the strong yearning to be together. In The Birdcage (1996), director Mike Nichols, on the other hand, told a story that was all about a kind of false world created by his two main characters. The settings were primarily indoors, often garish with colors and styles left over from the 1980’s, and literally, audibly loud. It was a world based on illusion, but the illusion was created by the two gay men and it was on their own terms. I think one product of the times in which these films were made was the number of graphic love scenes that were included. Even 13 years ago when The Birdcage (1996) was made, it was very rare to show two men kissing in a mainstream Hollywood movie. But ten years later, Brokeback Mountain (2005) showed not just two men kissing, but two men in love, making love. Times have changed and what we are willing to accept up on the screen has changed with it. However, this may not be just a product of the times, but also a product of the type of film that was being made. In 1996, no one expected two gay middle-aged men to make out or to make love in a comedy, but come 2005, love scenes in a romantic drama were considered normal, although pushing the envelope quite a bit when the protagonists were both males. Conclusion When I saw Brokeback Mountain (2005), I have to admit that I was enchanted, fascinated and a little bit put off. The scenery and cinematography were typical, breathtaking Ang Lee, and the story was so beautifully done, unlike anything that had been done before. But this film also went a lot farther than I was comfortable with in terms of showing physical contact between two gay men. They showed a lot of kissing and love making, and when they showed Ennis spitting on his fingers, I about lost it. I guess I consider myself a socially-tolerant prude: I don’t mind what people do as long as I don’t have to watch it in graphic detail. In The Birdcage (1996), I thought Robin Williams did an excellent job of portraying a gay man without all the usual stereotypical characteristics to fall back on. It could not have been an easy task, especially for someone who can overact anyone under the table, but Williams found a nice middle ground in portraying a man who was clearly gay but also clearly not a stereotype. However, there was one character who was purely a stereotype played for laughs all the way: the butler named Agador, played by Hank Azaria. I have to admit that I thought this character, small though his role was, was the funniest part of the movie. He took just about every gay stereotype out there and exaggerated it as much as humanly possible, and he pretty much stole the show doing it, too. In addition, I was glad that we didn’t have to watch two middle-aged men kissing and making love. That would have been too much for me. I guess there really is something to playing it for laughs and making the audience comfortable. You really don’t want to put the audience too far out of their comfort zone or they will just simply reject the whole premise, or the whole film, in other words. As you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, I believe that motion pictures can help break through to increased social tolerance by easing the medicine down gently. References Nichols, M. , Machlis, N. , Imperato, M. , and Danon, M. (Producers), Nichols, M. (Director). (1996) The Birdcage [Motion picture]. USA: United Artists. Schamus, J. , McMurtry, L. , and Ossana, D. (Producers), Lee, A. (Director). (2005) Brokeback Mountain [Motion picture]. USA: Focus Features.