Feminism A Feminist Perspective - 1904 Words

Since the 19th century to the present day, feminism has evolved over periods of time, shaped and molded our structure of society into what it is today. Feminism, the exploration and critique of male power that challenges traditional sex roles has always played a major role and been expressed in classic and modern literacy. From press articles, to film productions. From plays to books. Along with this, feminist literary and cultural theories were born from feminists who also challenge and analyze the expressions and resistance between women’s roles and views and patriarchal, or the dominant power given to men over women, oppression. One way that such feminists observe and analyze this resistance is through the feminist analysis, a text that draws on and influences the various applications of women’s roles in society such as gender and class, sexuality, race/ethnicity, psychology, literary form, etc. But how can one text appeal to and demonstrate every possible perspectiv e in feminism? The feminist analysis isn’t alone. Over time, various authors and feminists publishing well-known literary texts demonstrate a theme and challenge feminism that tests society’s structure. Authors such as Kate Chopin and her novel â€Å"The Awakening† include the everyday roles of women in a common household during the 19th century, with Chopin knowing to have been living in this time in America. Smaller texts such as â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, a short story by Charlotte Gilman, are enough to demonstrateShow MoreRelatedFeminism : A Feminist Perspective1505 Words   |  7 PagesDate Feminism is a movement that is targeted towards a common goal which is, achieving equal rights for women in each sector; cultural, economic, social and personal. Its main aim is to seek to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. A feminist advocate is in charge of supporting the rights of women and advocating for equality. The feminist movement on the other hand campaign for women rights and protect girls and women from being mistreated (Adel 56). Feminism beganRead MoreFeminism : A Feminist Perspective1083 Words   |  5 PagesFeminism is an interesting topic to cover. Feminism is often associated with or assumed to be radical feminism, despite the fact that they are two different mindsets. Feminism, in its purest sense, is the seeking of gender equality in society. It seeks to go against the idea of male supremacy and gender stereotypes, saying that both of the two are oppressive and uncalled for. Radical feminism tends to have more to do with the concept of patriarchy, saying that female dominance has been â€Å"historicallyRead MoreFeminism : A Feminist Perspective1168 Words   |  5 Pagesactivism has influenced my intellectual journal through feminist theory. Feminism is a contentious topic with matters that pertain to contemporary feminism, including the following: reproductive rights; equal access to education and employment; marriage equality; violence against women; and the sex trade. While these are only a fe w of the issues faced by feminists, it is evident that feminism has great value in today’s society. My journey with feminism began in high school when a professor shared negativeRead MoreFeminism : A Feminist Perspective2541 Words   |  11 Pagesignored in criminology. After this, the second wave of feminism interest came mid-twentieth century. This wave led to renewed interest in female offenders. Feminism is a set of theories and strategies to make gender the central focus in social change. This will help in attempts to understand relationships, institutions and processes. To broadly summarize, feminism is the belief that women are inherently of equal worth to men. Many feminist views believe women suffer from oppression and discriminationRead MoreFeminism : A Feminist Perspective1667 Words   |  7 PagesModern Feminism Before we begin, I want you to create a picture in your head. You read that there is going to be a feminist rally in your local city this afternoon. What does your mind picture? Lots of pink I’m sure. Who is there? Why, a bunch of women, of course! And what could they possibly want this time? I’ll let you keep that one to yourself. We all know that in today’s world, feminism is often seen as a joke. Just a bunch of white women prancing around with signs expressing their angst forRead MoreFeminism : A Feminist Perspective1567 Words   |  7 PagesTo Be or Not to Be a Feminist Not identifying as a feminist, I have become oblivious to some of the things that go on where thousands of women fight for on my behalf. I have identified myself as a non feminist and believe in the things that I have always been taught. Yet, there is many in my life who have identified themselves to be feminism or follow in the beliefs of feminism. With this subject being one that everyone already has their opinion about; we have no use trying to argue it, despite whoRead MoreFeminism : A Feminist Perspective1321 Words   |  6 Pagesthen congratulations -- you re a feminist! (Kingston). People who advertise feminism in this manner are exactly how feminists have reached the point they are today. Feminists are demonizing men to sexual predators and using popular culture as ground zero for their activism campaigns, to show females as either a victim or the hero who empowered herself as a woman. These absurd characteristics come to mind when someone speaks of feminism today. When a mo dern feminist does not adhere to some ridiculousRead MoreFeminism : A Feminist Perspective2502 Words   |  11 Pagesâ€Å"But, of course, you might be asking yourself, Am I a feminist? I might not be. I don t know! I still don t know what it is! I m too knackered and confused to work it out. That curtain pole really still isn t up! I don t have time to work out if I am a women s libber! There seems to be a lot to it. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? I understand. So here is the quick way of working out if you re a feminist. Put your hand in your pants. a) Do you have a vagina? And b) Do you want to be in charge of itRead MoreFeminism : A Feminist Perspective1965 Words   |  8 Pagespeople think of the words â€Å"feminist† or â€Å"feminism† it sometimes open the doors to a scrutinizing debate. People will go back and forth on their opinions of this delicate topic causing some people to change their minds where as others will just add more fuel to their own fire by making the ir beliefs even stronger for the next time they wish to defend their thoughts and ideas. Those people who stand by their strong supportive thoughts, ideas, and beliefs on the topic of feminism are known as a feminist’sRead MoreSecond Wave Feminism : A Feminist Perspective2232 Words   |  9 PagesWhat is feminism? What makes someone a feminist? In today’s society, a common answer might be â€Å"an angry lesbian that hates men.† However, feminism as defined by the OED, is â€Å"the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.† Simply put, a feminist is someone who believes that women and men should be treated equally, regardless of gender. The rise in feminism is due in part to the multiple waves of feminist movements that have raised awareness concerning

Censorship and Media Free Essays

Censorship and the Media The media provide our access to news and information. The citizens of a nation need to stay informed and thus come to trust the media that brings the news and information they desire without fear that it is a lie, an agency of an evil foreign power or in any other way not the closest to the truth possible. Censoring the media is tantamount to mind control of the citizenry. We will write a custom essay sample on Censorship and Media or any similar topic only for you Order Now This issue is everyone’s problem. Thailand is in many ways a free country. However, a nation that has always tolerated a remarkable amount of censorship, and spawned dismaying numbers of self-appointed guardians of taste and morality. Since governments almost always have an interest in controlling the free flow of information, official censorship is something that must be constantly guarded against. In our society, large corporations are a more common source of censorship than governments: Media outlets killing stories because they undermine corporate interests; advertisers using their financial clout to kill negative reports; powerful businesses using the threat of expensive lawsuits to discourage legitimate investigations. The most frequent form of censorship is self-censorship: Journalists deciding not to pursue certain stories that they know will be unpopular with the boss. In contrast to state censorship, which is usually easy to recognize, self-censorship by journalists tends to be obscured. It is particularly murky and dangerous in the emerging media environment, with routine pressures to defer to employers that have massive industry clout and global reach. In some parts of the world, the media are controlled by the government. This means that no one can broadcast or publish anything that the government considers to be immoral or harmful, or that threatens the country’s stability (i. e. , the government’s own power base). This is what we usually think of when we hear the word censorship. Democratic countries, on the other hand, take pride in upholding the principle of freedom of speech. People are free to speak and write whatever they wish, with some carefully defined exceptions. But there is another controlling power at work in a market economy – the power of money. For example, in North America most mainstream publications depend on two income sources: subscriptions and advertisers. Both influence decisions about content. Readers must find the content relevant, interesting, tasteful, and entertaining or they will drop their subscription. Advertisers will cancel their accounts if they consider the content to undermine or challenge their message about the product they sell. For instance, the tobacco industry has enormous advertising power in the U. S. , with annual expenditures of over $5 billion (or $75 for every adult smoker). Since cigarette advertising was banned on radio and TV in 1970, most of this money has been spent on expensive ads in the print media. Some will argue that censorship is unconstitutional. In the first Amendment to the American Constitution, all people are guaranteed the right to freedom of speech. For example, censoring of albums and V-chip technology, it does not technically violate the Constitution, it does violate the spirit of the Constitution. The First Amendment in the American Constitution suggests that all people also have the right to have their opinions heard in their original form. It does not say anything about whether or not a person has the right to censor that which offends them, as many attempts at censorship are. If these violations of Constitutional rights continue, dire consequences could result. The censorship of media is helping to sterilize music, television, and books. If this trend continues, we will soon be seeing only one kind of entertainment, light, romantic, insubstantial. All of the daring that has driven all of the great human artistic achievements through history will be lost as promising young artists are squashed by efforts to censor their work. However, today’s parents are too busy to do anything more than set down their children in front of a TV set or stereo and leave the parenting to the media. Education is the key to â€Å"protecting† children, and those who don’t know any better. Some people grew up watching violent movies and reading Stephen King novels, and they have never done anything extremely violent in their lives. At first the use of filtering software may seem like a simple, reasonable solution, free from any threat to the freedom of expression of adults. Once one examines this proposal more thoroughly, serious problems arise when filtering/blocking software providers select the sites and program the categories to be blocked, since this constitutes permitting a private company to make censorial decisions for the public. The frequently proposed alternative solution is to have the filtering/blocking software block sites on the basis of self-classification — what the industry has dubbed self-labeling — by each individual who operates a web site, bulletin board. As residents in a nation, and inhabitants of a global megalopolis, there are questions which the control of content on the Internet forces us to confront regarding the issue of how far we are willing to have freedom of expression and communication in an adult world governed by a standard designed to protect the possible, but apparently indemonstrable harm that might be done to children or other adults: do we really wish to control freedom of access of intelligent teenagers, much less some adults who have access only to public, filtered terminals, from participating in small discussions between a group of interested adult individuals; do we condone restricting in any way access to the online equivalent of libraries, museums, universities, and agencies disseminating news; do we wish to inhibit a multitude of other useful services becoming available on the Internet, to such a standard? That’s why the Internet makes a lot of people very nervous. Because it can’t be effectiv ely, and efficiently, controlled. It is wrong to assume that the Internet has no rules, and is friendly to the exchange of objectionable materials. In fact the Internet is a `virtual community’ of users with a distinct culture incorporating diverse views but finding consensus in opposition to censorship and access control. There is also strong opposition to the exploitation of children; in fact, many Internet users have cooperated in attempts to identify those who create and distribute child pornography. But, consider these possible analogies to the Internet: — The Internet is a vast mail system, like a post office. Would you favor a law that required postal authorities to open each piece of mail and evaluate its acceptability? — The Internet is a huge library system. Would you favor a law that would restrict information a library can provide? — The Internet is a collection of virtual communities. Would you favor a law that required routine searches of your community? I do, however, believe in such â€Å"censorship† techniques as movie ratings and album advisory labels. These, in actuality, are not censorship, but actually help the artist to exercise creative freedom. These warnings help parents to decide if a work is appropriate for them or for their children. Consequently, more is acceptable artistically. For example, an album such as rapper â€Å"Ludacris† would never have been able to be released before the advent of the warning label. So, in that sense, warning techniques help to protect artists’ freedoms, as well as the innocence of children. Bibliography: Johnson, Lorraine ed. Suggestive Poses: Artists and Critics Respond to Censorship (Toronto: Toronto Photographers Workshop and the Riverbank Press 1997) Marotte, Bertrand â€Å"Censorship Hot Topic at Conference† Southam News Background in Depth, February 13, 1996. http://www. southam. com/mmc/waves/depth/tech/censor0213. tml Samson, Gareth â€Å"Illegal and Offensive Content on the Information Highway† Http://insight. mcmaster. ca/org/efc/pages/doc/offensive. html Shallitt, J. â€Å"The Real Meaning of Free Speech in Cyberspace. The Internet: Beyond the Year 2 000,† http://insight. mcmaster. ca/org/efc/pages/doc/b2000. html Sterling, Bruce: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1993 http://www. magnet. gr/internet/guides/bruce. html Theall, Donald: Beyond the Word: Reconstructing Sense in the Joyce Era of Technology, Culture and Communication (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995) 91-109 Wisebrod, Dov: Controlling the Uncontrollable:Regulating the Internet (1995) http://www. Catalaw. com/dov/docs/dw-inet. htm How to cite Censorship and Media, Papers

The World free essay sample

The world’s biggest software maker felt that it had been robbed, so much so that they posted a high-level summary of 235 patents that were allegedly violated by Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), including the Linux Kernel, Samba, OpenOffice. org, and others . Microsoft does not play when it comes to patent infringement, but did they have a case? †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ So if Microsoft ever sued Linux distributor Red Hat for patent infringement, for instance, OIN might sue Microsoft in retaliation, trying to enjoin distribution of Windows. Its a cold war, and what keeps the peace is the threat of mutually assured destruction: patent Armageddon an unending series of suits and countersuits that would hobble the industry and its customers. † (Parloff may 28, 2007). Shortly after that, Microsoft entered into a series of three contracts with Novell, one of which was a patent agreement that basically said, â€Å"Don’t sue us and we won’t sue you. We will write a custom essay sample on The World or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † So now the question is â€Å"At the time of the scenario, some dire consequences were predicted for FOSS. How has FOSS fared since then? † From what I have researched so far FOSS generally has still faired fairly well through the whole ordeal. The GNU still viewed as a pinnacle for open source software and distribution. The Deal with Novell was made to walk around the GPL of the GNU and expose loop holes for Microsoft’s gain but also creating a pressing dilemma for the GNU. The deal struck between Novell and Microsoft was a â€Å"we don’t sue you and you don’t sue us† which indicates that not only was FOSS involved in patent infringement but also Microsoft. The Deal included over 200 million dollars to Novell and 43 Million to Microsoft for â€Å"license distribution† of Novells’ Server software. Linux has grown from its earlier days as a fringe operating, evolving more and becoming more wide spread as a use for servers. What impact have these events made since then, or will they make? The threat of a lawsuit had little if any impact on the free open source market at all. People continued to download just about anything these days. Why you ask? It simple, FOSS has good quality codes that can be changed, shared, copied at will, and downloaded. Its adaptable and it can be tailored to perform almost any large-scale computing job and it is almost crash proof. Software that is free is good to anybody no one can deny that. Many individuals that used open source applications on their smart devices, as well as large companies which use these applications for daily activity for their need in their company. FOSS is great for everyone because it can be shared, copied, changed and of course downloaded. FOSS is not going anywhere just for the reason being that it’s free. Has FOSS been hurt, helped, or neither? Big corporate companies have been changing their philosophy on open source software since Microsoft posted their findings in 2006. Major corporations like IBM, Oracle and Google have been using FOSS. They are big allies to FOSS so in my opinion I think it has helped them because then other small companies that actually look up to these powerful corporations would later start using FOSS. When something is starting to being used and downloaded on a constant basis, this means it’s becoming popular and it is in high demand. So it has helped them since then. Free software is great, and corporate America loves it. What in FOSS’s or Microsoft’s actions against FOSS has changed since then? Microsoft actions towards FOSS since then allegations were published is to get paid, the company is trying to still get royalties from developers that use FOSS. After the deal between Novell and Microsoft, Novell continued getting open source software getting their royalties and charging for them instead of being free. Microsoft did not sued FOSS but are lobbying their hardest (unsuccessfully I might add) in getting most of the large corporations to not join or ally themselves with FOSS. Bibliography Parloff, R. CNN Money, Microsoft Takes on the Free World. Last modified may 28,2007. Accessed July 29, 2012. http://money. cnn. com.