Beauty Pageants May Not Be Safe Essay Example for Free

Beauty Pageants May Not Be Safe analyzeWhile pageants are said to present a sense of self-esteem and value for the participants, these competitions often cause damaging emotional issues for an already trying puerile life. One early days participant anonymously said, I used to think I was pretty, but once I got on stage and didnt hear my anatomy called the world came to an end and from then on, Ive called myself ugly everyday (Anonymous, 2010).When a girl feels as if she is being valued solely on her looks, she may change her genius and dietary habits to an unsafe level to continuously garner attention. The peach tree pageant process is far from the safe harmonious competition it attempts to promote. As the rest of this taste suggest, damaging emotional scars often remain after the competitions are long gone, and pageants themselves harbor predatory dangers to young naive girls. The first kind of emotional injure young girls face is an overemphasis on physical appearance and a willingness to maintain beauty at any cost.When a pistillate participates in a beauty pageant, she is taught to win by looking attractive. These young girls are conditioned to believe that the only way to look pretty is to starve themselves so that they stinker strive a perfect figure. Although thither are many different types of eating disorders in the world, the biggest one of all for beauty pageants is anorexia. Anorexia is the third most vernacular chronic illness among adolescents (Mirasol). Outside of eating disorders, anxiety and stress are common for participants.In a 2009 interview on Good Morning America, Brooke Breedwell, a pageant queen at the age of five, now twenty, explained there was a price to pay, Pageants have put a lot of stress and anxiety on my life I feel the need to be perfect at everything, and I hunch thats non realistic. You cant be perfect at everything. Brooke Breedwell withal claimed her mother pushed her too hard. When a mother enters he r daughter in a pageant she expects her to win.Most girls receive the no other girl is your friend here speech, which cause them to be untruthful by offering fake smiles and false hugs around other participants. It also creates a distant form of interaction do the females to be shallow, hyper-competitive adults who are never satisfied. The second kind of emotional damage young girls face is an uncharacteristically elevated ego for a teenage or even pre-teenage girl. When a female wins a pageant, she may conclude that she is better than everyone all of her peers.While some might believe it to be healthy to compete in pageants because it creates confidence and it builds character, its not. Pageants teach young girls that self worth is in physical beauty only. Parents encourage their daughters to compete in these competitions and do whatever it takes to win. In some cases, mothers try to live vicariously through their daughter, by entering their daughter in such competitions. This c onfuses many girls because they dont know if their mother is their coach or their parent.With young girls participating in televised beauty it is hard to keep pedophiles away. Some pedophiles are driven out to live their fantasies and with young girls on air exploiting themselves its easy too. When girls participate they put on clothing that is meant to look sexy and inviting. Girls prance along a stage in alluring clothing welcoming anyone to watch. Girls in pageants have yet to develop their own sense of self and are conditioned to be more lovely to adults for attention and rewards. An entire television show is dedicated to young girls beauty pageants.Each week, viewers are able to watch belittled girls dress up in bikinis, mini dresses, and other revealing clothing that their mothers choose for them to wear. In conclusion, beauty pageants cause self-hatred and uncertainty of a females own body, which could create shallow adults who are never satisfied. Carleton Kendrick, a fami ly therapist says, the hard fact remains they are called beauty pageants and they have been and ever will be based on using arbitrary standards of beauty to make one contestant better than all the rest (Kendrick).Beauty pageants can cause eating disorders and unrealistic expectations of a females own body. Beauty pageants can also cause a female to self-hate if she doesnt win, or enlarge an ego to an unhealthy level. Unfortunately, if a child participates in beauty pageants that may air on television, anyone can watch including pedophiles. Females should love their own bodies and not care how others judge them upon their appearance.

Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) Overview

Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) OverviewComing Soon to a Doctor Near YouAt the current rate, in 2017, half a million American children will be taken to their doctors and be newly diagnosed with ADHD. Many of them will receive serious-minded and reasonable evaluations and benefit from medication. Another sizable number will be seen by casual clinicians who either bypass the childs real problems or give in to his frustrated p arnts and teachers. Some of the adolescents will be faking ADHD just to get Adderall for themselves or others. Whatever the actual breakdown, there will be 500,000 new diagnostic visits, millions of follow-ups, ten of millions of pills, and hundreds of millions in sales. Lots of business for everyone.Apparently, this market must expand. The same folks who built todays ADHD machine the same doctors, the same drug companies are already working on tomorrows. A new disorder is being buffed and burnished as you read this. Its name sluggish cognitive tempo, or SCT.It s assortment of like ADHD, but not quite. SCT is a syndrome marked by daydreaming, lethargy, and slowed thinking or behavior. Some SCT researchers claim that they are simply trying to resolve some(prenominal) long-standing confusion about ADHD. SCT attempts to rename the merely inattentive children who arrest never quite fit the ADHD construct. They say that a many as three million children fuddle the disorder half of them already diagnosed with ADHD. Anyone who gets diagnosed with SCT will find help ready and waiting. Eli Lilly has already enlisted Russell Barkley and other doctors to investigate how Strattera would treat SCT, too.***Most countries have cringed at Americans approach to difficult children. They have viewed ADHDs explosion as an American travesty borne of parental impatience and corporate greed. International experts concluded that diagnosing and medicating the approximately severely hyperactive kids really could be justified. But the criteria for pharmacologi cal intervention were kept far much restrictive. The international community has rejected the APA definitions and instead relied upon what the population wellness Organization defines as hyperkinetic syndrome. That diagnosis requires a child to have significant problems in all three of ADHDs symptom groups hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention and includes other barriers to loose-fitting diagnosis. When applied appropriately, this definition results in 1 to 2 percent of children being told they have the disorder. Some nations, such as Brazil, France, Italy, and Sweden, remain very conservative toward the diagnosis, and curiously the medications in cases anything slight than dire. The United kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany have been more liberal in accepting the ADHD concept, to the point that some estimates of diagnosis rates in those countries have reached about 5 percent.As for ADHD drugs, no country has anywhere near the enthusiasm of the United States, which h ad prescribed more than 90 percent of the worlds f number and methylphenidate. But the rest of the world is catching up. From 2000 through 2010, its consumption of ADHD drugs almost doubled.Concerta had geared up its advertising in Europe. Shires has taken a less direct route to growing its offshore market, educating doctors about ADHD itself so that prescriptions follow.In a medical conference at the National Institute of Health in 2015, Keith Conners spoke at a panel called ADHD Around the World. He recounted his decades in the field, from his work with Leon Eisenberg to minimal brain dysfunction to what he directly declared were outrageous rates of ADHD diagnoses. He warned against the imminent world-wide influence of pharmaceutical companies, and all but apologized from his having worked on their behalf for decades.***Meanwhile, some health officials in tabun were concerned about how many young children in the state were on ADHD medications. Georgias rate, 6.1 percent, was gr owing, and disturbing. They called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and asked Dr. Susanna Visser, the epidemiologist for ADHD, to run the numbers on four- and five-year-olds. Visser discovered that more than ten thousand toddlers kids ages two and three, still in diapers across the United States had been diagnosed as ADHD and put on Adderall, Concerta, and the like. She wrote up a formal floor and presented it at a conference on childrens mental health at the Carter Center in Atlanta. The report begged a response from government health agencies to holler what was going on here. A few days later, Dr. Tim Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, responded in a blog post, saying that most of the prescriptions for arousal drugs were not from psychiatrist. Insel was right. Most diagnoses in children are indeed made by pediatricians and family doctors, rather than better-trained and more experienced child psychiatrists, who must receive two purposel ess years of schooling in order to practice. But the United States has only about eight thousand practicing child psychiatrist. Its no wonder that parents prefer sightedness someone closer, cheaper, and more familiar with their child their pediatrician.Unfortunately, most pediatricians were taught about ADHD and stimulants for only a few hours out of the entire seven years in medical school. Two longtime members of ADHDs horn section, Peter Jensen, and Ned Hallowell, have joined Keith Conners to hold seminars across the nation to teach pediatricians how to diagnose ADHD, and how not to diagnose it.

The Pros And Cons Of Video Games Media Essay

The Pros And Cons Of Video Games Media EssayThe world of electronic gaming has undergone radical transformation since it was conceived more than ii decades ago. At the beginning, games like Super Mario Brothers, and Pong were ripe childish, enjoyable, and essentially harmless. However, today, television gaming has become a thriving industry that has a wide roam of customers, spanning various ages, genders, nationalities, and moral beliefs.Just like books, television, and movies, more or less television receiver games argon aiming at the older audience through the use of wildness, sex, and adult content. Despite the human beings of a rating system and recognition for plenty wishing to purchase adult video games, some politicians and p bents claim that video games arrest a hugely shun impact on the young generation. In efforts to locate the blame about the content of video games, politicians and developers alike seem to rent forgotten that parents have a responsibility to thread decisions on the type of material that is suitable for their children.Farrales observes that Video game content appears to have become an issue for the first clock time when Mortal Kombat was released in 1993 (12). M either parents complained the uplifted degree of violence evident in the graphic depictions of blood, fighting, and death. The ESRB (Electronic Software Ratings Board) was formed by the Entertainment Software sleeper with the aim of coming up with a rating system for monitoring the content of video games.Fernandez indicates that video games stand accused of bringing about violence, obesity, and shitty grades (3). However, some people beg to differ, pointing out that the games are ideal for childrens mental salutary being. Video games are non just hard, they are adaptively hard. The games tend to take exception the players at the edge of their mental abilities. As players become better and score higher points, they are challenged to move up the ladder of m ore demanding play levels. This adaptive challenge base be stunningly powerful in the case of entertaining video games.Scientists point out to the importance of video games in ascertaining the design to which the human brain is malleable. In this regard, fast-paced video games that are action-packed have been proven, in different studies, to boost spatial perception, visual acuity and the ability to cull out objects soft in a scene. Complex games that are strategy-based give the gate significantly improve more cognitive skills, including reasoning and memory. These findings fit in swell up with the scientists increasing understanding of the malleability of the human brain. Researchers are now aware of the behavior in which practicing and learning an extremely challenging task can sort the human brain.The question of generalizing gaming daubs to non-game situations remains one of the main issues that surround many emerging game software being marketed as a guidance of keepi ng the human neurons spry as we continue to age. It is still unclear whether these games are helpful in situations that are outside the context of the game.However, in a promising study carried out in 2008, senior citizens who began contend Rise of Nations, a game devoted to nation building and acquisition of territory, started improving on many cognitive abilities, thereby performing impressively on various subsequent tests of memory, multitasking, and reasoning. The tests were administered after training was carried out for eight months. Unfortunately, no follow-up interrogation was carried out to determine whether the gains lasted or not.There are attempts by researchers to concentrate on the nearly crucial formulations of off-the-shelf games, potentially allowing designers to come up with many new games that can boost the human brain power. In the identical light, there has also been some focus on determining how video games can be used to promote socially acceptable behavi ors, especially actions that can be of help to other people.Unlike, say books and movies, video games do not just have content, they are also defined by rules that are clearly stipulated. In every video game, certain actions are rewarded tour others are punished. For this reason, they watch an immense potential to train children about values and ethics. However, the same games could also be used to reward antisocial behavior just as easily as the pro social behavior. A significant number of off-the-shelf games contain strong pro-social themes, for instance, the Oregon Trail or The Sims. These two video games make the players fully responsible for the well being of each other. A big challenge for developers of new games will be to figure out ways of wrapper virtuous features into a highly engaging package. Ultimately, quips Gallagher, every video game should be an entertaining experience (2).On the other hand, it is true that some of the most popular video games are the waste one s. The reason why the market is flooded with untrained games is that violence sells. People enjoy action-packed violent games most. It is rarely a matter of contention whether a game is violent or not. The contention arises regarding how violent the games actually are.In an interview with Dr. Craig Anderson, a leader in the rate of flow research on the various effects of prolonged exposure to violent computer and video games on aggressive behavior, the General Aggression Model was discussed at length. Dr. Anderson pointed out that he was motivated to research about aggression in video games by the work he did on the model as well as on media violence literature.Dr. Anderson pointed out that although there were hundreds of studies on aggression and violent video games, many questions remained unanswered. Students were looking for compelling and publishable research topics, and in this way, they were able to come up with many gaps in the literature. In the beginning, Dr. Anderson lo oked at priming issues in the context of media violence effects. However, after debating with cognitive psychologists, the researcher design about modifying the Stroop test, although he chose to adopt reading reaction time tasks among participants.Dr. Anderson pointed out that many researchers in the media violence generally think that everyone who is high on character aggression is influenced more by exposure to media violence than by anything else. In other words, the conviction among many scholars is that highly aggressive people are the ones who are most susceptible to the video games harmful effects.In the early years of video gaming, violence used to be cartoonish. In games such as lacuna Invaders and Wonder Boy, when a player killed an enemy, this would be shown by the unfortunate subject disappearing in a small explosion or a blur of smoke and debris. At the time and with the technology that was current, these games were considered violent. Today, with improvements in te chnology, people no longer disappear in a cloud of smoke and debris. Today, enemies have to phlebotomize before they die. The grotesque image of the corpse also has to appear, complete with a gunshot wound.A game such as Metal Gear consentaneous 2 portrays enemies performing elaborate maneuvers when a player shoots them. It is always thoroughly entertaining to shoot them at the limbs and to see them go limp, or to shoot at their radio, rendering it useless.Some people say that what has increased is the level of realism and not violence, since the aim has always been to shoot and kill anything that comes in ones way. However, this very aspect of realism makes some forms of violence appear acceptable, for example, in Wonder Boy, and others unacceptable, for example, in Metal Gear Solid 2. Yet others do not notice any difference in various types of violence, insisting that violence of whatever nature brings about the same effect on society.Farrales highlights the views of General Eve rett Koop, a U.S. surgeon, who once claimed that domicil and arcade video games are among the top three reasons where there is family violence (4). There are many instances that would perfectly make Koops statement on the negative impact violent video games on behavior agreeable. However, there are also many instances that portray violence as having little or no any negative effects on the individuals playing them. Some kids play video games and end up becoming violent people. Others play them but do not become increasingly aggressive. These varying outcomes make it difficult for the effects of video violence on all players to be determined accurately.Meanwhile, the most unenviable aspects of violence in video games include lack of punishment for killing, constant killing and hurting of other people, and perpetual justification for killing other people. This situation makes players to start accepting killing as an acceptable means of solving problems. They are also made to believ e that there is nothing wrong with violence. In other words, violence is desensitized, and players start seeing human beings as mere objects rather than human beings, thus drastically lowering their empathy levels.Of course older players can differentiate in the midst of fantasy and reality, but children cannot. Surprisingly, argues Anthes, these older people are affected by video games as well, though not in the same way as kids. Among kids, the violence contained in video games leads to increase in aggression. A common effect of video games is to make players developed abnormally high adrenaline rates, which may result to hyper-aggressiveness together with the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder. Increase in adrenaline rates leads to stimulus addiction, a common response among children who are often immersed in violent video games. People who suffer from stimulus addiction require stimulation that is increasingly strong in order to affect the same emotional experience. Someti mes, this search for stimulation leads them so go looking for more violent video games.Meanwhile, the question of whether video games result in violence in the real world remains unanswered. Many parents are worried that violent games will not only bring about restlessness in their children, they will make them more violent their behavior as well. Farrales points out to the research that was done in 1998 on a group of children aged between 5 and 7 years (9). In this study, the children were observed to imitate during free play whatever they had experienced in video games. Children who had played games with violent themes were aggressive, while those who played active, nonviolent games reflected their experiences in their play. The level of stimulation in both cases appeared to be more profound in girls than in boys. This could be because, generally, males are heart-to-heart to violence more, making a significant increase in aggression to be more profound in females.Unlike TV or mov ies, which sit a predominantly passive viewing experience, violent video games require an individual to shoot, stab, rob, and kill enemies actively. With a movie, even if one was to watch it several times, some additional details may be obtained but it is fundamentally about the same thing. With a video game, many things can be changed according to ones way of thinking, level of play, and dexterity in pressing the control buttons.Fernandez points out that Cho Seung-Hui, a student who killed 32 people at the Virginia Tech Campus back in 2007, is report to have been played video games obsessively, and many commentators have been instinctively linking game violence with the killings in the campus. Claims of Cho Seung-Huis stint with obsessive video games were debunked by the campus panel that investigated the killings.The taken for granted(predicate) problem with the desensitization claim made on video games after the Virginia Tec incident is that millions of adults and kids play vio lent video games every day and they neer engage in any violent behavior. In fact, during the past decade when video games have surged in popularity, violence by youth has declined. According to a study that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released, the number of school killings reduced considerably between 1992 and 2006. However, this is not where the debate ends. Although video games may not directly result in school shootings, it is undoubtedly strongly linked with aggressive feelings.Those who are opposed to computer and video games would want to see them censored. These people cite many reasons for their stance. They insist that over-dependence on video games fosters social isolation, since in some cases the games are played alone. They also point out that women are visualized as the weaker sex, sexually provocative and always helpless. Moreover, game environments are always based on gender bias, aggression and plots of violence.Additionally, video games have ins pired blame because of the way in which they fail to provide actions that require creativity and independent thought. Instead, they confuse fantasy with reality. In most of these games, there is no alternative roadway to winning other than being a violent player. Furthermore, not surprisingly, academic achievement tends to be negatively related to the overall time that is spent playing computer and video games.Anand indicates that there is a correlation between use of video games and academic performance, if the grade-point average (GPA) and scholastic aptitude tests (SAT) on students who use video game are anything to go by (555). According to Anands study, there is a negative correlation between the time spent by student playing video games and the students SAT and GPA scores. The research findings presented by Anand suggest that video and computer games could be having a detrimental effect on the GPA of the individual, and possibly, on SAT scores as well. Although the results p ortray statistical dependence, it still remains rather difficult to prove a cause-and-effect relationship. This difficulty arises from the complex nature of academic performance as well as student life.In a New York Times article published on the November 15, 2010 edition, the question of whether stores should sell violent video games to minors was raised. Indeed, the question was not of the article writers own making, it was being debated by the Supreme Court in an attempt to determine what the writers of the Bill of Rights would have thought about a violent video game like Postal 2.In the New York Times Article, Adam Liptak wrote that the justices struggled to define the manner in which the First Amendment ought to apply to video games. A suggestion was made on the imposition of a $1,000 fine on all stores that continue to sell violent video comes to minors. The violence in the computer games, according to the Supreme Court, is characterized by acts of killing, dismembering, maimi ng, and sexually assaulting a human beings image, in a manner that is patently offensive, lacks right artistic, scientific, political or literary value, and appeals to the deviant and morbid interests of minors.In summary, the cons of video games by far outweigh the pros. There is a need for these games to be regulated, particularly with regard to access by minors. The regulation standards imposed by the ESRB should be revised to reflect the need to protect children and students from being lured into the world of aggressive video games.

Superstructure In Marxist Cultural Theory

Superstructure In red Cultural TheoryThe oft-cited passage from Marxs preface to A Contribution to the Critique of governmental Economy in which he distinguishs that the economical structure, or mean, of gild is its real basis, on which arises a legal and policy-making superstructure (source) contains perhaps the most contentious aspects of Marxist theory. The implicit ideas within these few sentences concerning the blood between the base and the superstructure have excited scrupulous analysis and fervent debate from within the Marxist give instruction of thought and by critics and opponents alike. The passage proclaims that it is upon the economic base that all other institutions, norms and practises atomic number 18 constructed. This perception was confronted by those who suggested that the base and the superstructure were best interpreted as having a bilateral, dialectical relationship in which the base conditions the superstructure but is in turn affected by it. The metaphor was insufficient for later Marxists, such as Gramsci and Lukacs, who make up a shift away from the rigid dichotomy of the classical position by placing focus on the realm of the superstructure by concepts such as hegemony and totality. come on still, at that place were those who proposed a functional reading of base and superstructure (Cohen). Throughout this narrative, the troubles with the relative understanding of base and superstructure have been consistently exposed, either by those who attempt to navigate around them through reformulation, or by those who suggest that they cause the metaphor to collapse. Most nonably, the notion that the base determines the superstructure is particularly troubling for many critics. There has been a persistent effort to suggest that the relationship between the base and the superstructure chooses an element of economic determinism, which represents the most signifi give the bouncet problem due to its simplicity. A second proble m is the difficulty of separating the base from the superstructure, and defining what constitutes the relations of production. It is the purpose of this essay to make two assertions. The first is that the troubling cause and effect logic is stubbornly parking lot to all formulations of the model, making both practical and analytical application indefensible. The second uses this as the basis for the suggestion that Marxian claims concerning the relationship between base and superstructure are reductionist and that a multi-dimensional approach that respects ideas of complexity would be preferable.According to Marx, in any given historical epoch men collectively organise to score the goods and amenities that will ensure their survival. In doing this they enter into class-based cordial relations independently of their will. The economic base is comprised of the sum total of these socioeconomic relations, termed as the relations of production. The base corresponds, or is conditioned by, the forces of production which we may define as the means at the disposal of the actors involved in said relations. Since the cultural and political superstructure arises upon the economic base, it is therefore the historically specific mode of production that determines and personalityises the rest of beau monde social, cultural and political processes, ideas, institutions and so on. As the forces of production advance, through scientific innovation for example, strain is placed upon the relations of production. Eventually the base is forced to change and since all other aspects of society are determined by the base, the superstructure mustiness accommodate this change through change of its own. The superstructure is said to normalise the antagonism inherent within the class-based social relations since they are expressed through political and legal means, thus preventing the masses from recognising the oppression and exploitation that they are subjected to. This inclinat ion is the basis for the wider perspective of cultural materialism, which itself is part of Marxs theory of historical materialism. To quote Plamenatz, If the Marxian theory is to be called materialist, it is because it asserts that it is how men produce what satisfies their needs, which determines the general character of the moral, political and legal order p. 277 It is the suspect way in which Marx states not only that but how (Antonio Gramsci beyond Marxism and Post-Modernism) base and superstructure are related which shall be the main focus of this essay.Before the problems with the relationship are discussed, it is relevant to briefly outline why such an feat is of importance, in light of the argument that the spatial image is a convenient way of discussing society from a methodological and analytical point of view it is not meant to represent the actual complexity of the real world. (Jakabwski, 1976 quoted in Gramsci new introduction) Whilst it is fair to claim that the ba se and superstructure metaphor can be a useful analytical tool it also seems fair to suggest that the validity of the model should be rigorously examined against the complexities of reality. It is only by defining the limits of the metaphor that we can know its qualification to shed light on relationships between social phenomena, as Marx claims it can.A central issue of the debate surrounding base and superstructure is what our understanding of determination should be. The ineluctable criticism that the base and superstructure metaphor reduces cultural theory to a linear form of economic determinism was prevalent from its very inception (olssen), and I would argue that the persistent, simple economic determinist logic is a major problem with the base and superstructure relationship. To focus first on the language of Marxs passage, Marx and Engels could have used moderate oral communication to merely suggest that there is a relation between production and social activity. Howeve r, as Plamenatz notes, Marx and Engels clearly felt it important to say, as they did so repeatedly, that the character of production determines social life. This is characteristic of much of Marxist theory. That history follows a determinable path in which the changes and developments of society can essentially be predicted is a ordinary theme. There is however much rhetoric from both Marx and Engels to defend their position by acknowledging that quote from Gramsci that superstructure influences base). As such most modern scholars do not accept such a determinist perspective. Raymond Williams for example, describes it as being the simplest and most basic understanding of the relationship. (source) It may therefore be contentious to state that Marx was strong in his conviction that there is a specifically determined relationship between base and superstructure in its simplest (Williams) form, since he and Engels both expressed ideas to the opposed (source). However what is clear is the primary status of the base (which is also reflected by the centrality of economics in much of the Marxist canon) and the implication of the secondary or subjugate status of the superstructure. Whether or not Marx intended to allow for the idea of reciprocal influence, it is clear that the metaphor tended ultimately to posit primary or first causes in historical motion, which would relegate the rest to a secondary, accidental, contingent, dependent status. (Antonio Gramsci Beyond Marxism and Post-Modernism) It is from this that we may confidently argue that the position of classical Marxism is that which favours economic determinism to a significant copious extent to be subject to scrutiny, despite the neo-Marxist claim that economic determinism is not the intended understanding of the base and superstructure concept.The description of determination between base and superstructure as being reciprocal is a common departure from the simple notion of prefiguration, prediction a nd enclose. (Williams) Althusser speaks of the relative autonomy and reciprocal put through of the superstructure. (Althusser, cited in Lapsley Westlake 1988 5) The notion that areas in the superstructure can be relatively distant from the base, and retain a relative autonomy from economic determination is the key feature of the Althusserian understanding of base and superstructure. chemise emphasis away from the base allows for the interpretation that it is in fact not the economic base that is the basis for society but the superstructure, which exercises autonomous influence, in that it exerts pressures on its own terms. In spite of this, to remain true in part to Marxs original thought, Althusser downgrades the concept of autonomy by stating that there is determination in the pull through instance by the preservation. Hall, influenced by Althusser, cites the variety of language in Marxs description of base and superstructure in The German Ideology which varies from connecte d with to created by and in its action as to suggest that the relationship between economic and non-economic activities need to be seen as interactive and orbitual. Williams exertion of pressures. Reformulations of the spatial metaphor such as those depict above are curious in that they seek to account for variety within the superstructure by assigning the idea of autonomy, insofar then retrace their step in a contrived effort to remain true to the original Marxist doctrine. Althusser, Hall and Williams all nod to the complexity of the superstructure and either explicitly or implicitly acknowledge that deterministic attempts to trace clear causal influence between it and the base is problematic, which seems to be the driving influence in their reformulation of the concept of determination, yet the desire to maintain the primacy of the base is paradoxical in that it undermines the acknowledgement of a complex, autonomous superstructure by yet again suppressing its autonomy throug h simple notions of economic practise. This is merely sidestepping the issue and is a fragile (Hirst, On Law and Ideology, London 1979, pp. 75-95) attempt to rescue Marx. If we accept the argument that economic determinism is reductionist, then the circular and reciprocal interpretation may be said to be only partially less simplistic.A second significant problem with the base/superstructure distinction is the softness to theoretically separate the base from the superstructure, and the inferiority of the term relations of production to describe clearly what it is that constitutes the base. If it is unfeasible to overcome these problems, any proposed interpretation of the base and superstructure relationship ought to fail. The debate between G. A. Cohen and John Plamenatz is a useful way of navigating these difficulties. Cohen is a proponent of a functional understanding of the base/superstructure relationship. The argument develops from the idea that the superstructure is construct ed as a result of its function, which is to maintain the base. The existence of the superstructure is therefore dependent on its ability to develop social norms and practises that are conducive to the base and provide social stability. As part of this interpretation, Cohen seeks to overcome what he calls the problem of legality, which is a reassertion of one of the criticisms put forward by John Plamenatz (Karl Marxs Theory of History p.235). As Plamenatz (man and society) notes, detailed analysis of the relations of production reveals that the relations are essentially legal in personality, making the base indistinguishable from the superstructure since the superstructure is supposedly the dominion of legality. Similarly, since the base may only be described prescriptively, it is difficult to assert the sense in which it is separated from the superstructure, as is indicated by the spatial metaphor. Furthermore, Plamenatz identifies that relations of property are supposedly superst ructural, yet have considerable influence over the workings and structure of the economic base. He also states that large sides of social life, such as religion or the sciences, cannot be shown to be derivative of the base. Cohens attempt to overcome this is through a reformulation of the base, an ambition which shares parallels with Williams, centres on whether or not it is possible to suffer at a conception of the base which excluds any normative involvement from law, morality or politics. He therefore sought to purge the base of normative elements, or seek to identify a rechtsfrei economic structure (Lukes) Cohens non-normative base is built upon the distinction between relations of power, which can exist without superstructural interference, and relations of rights. However, Lukes finds his conception unconvincing. According to Lukes, power relations are based on social and moral senses of duty that must exist before power relations can be established. In summary of the debate Lukes proposes that Cohen fails through his inability to present reference to roles within his rechtsfrei that do not presuppose the existence of rights of some kind. For Lukes, then, there is no viable distinction between base and superstructure, rendering the metaphor useless, urging that it is high time that the distinction be consigned to the scrap heap. If we are to involve Williams urge to reconfigure our understanding of the base as a dynamic force, constantly occupied and defined by human activity, and not take the base as an abstract entity that is not necessarily defined by human action, then we must accept Lukes argument and the collapse of the distinction.Gramscis concept of hegemony and Lukacs of totality represent Marxist conceptions of society that are altogether more holistic and need not necessarily be interpreted in terms of a base and superstructure separation. For Gramsci, the sourish separation between the economic sphere and the political sphere was unsatisfa ctory, since social relations of civil society interpenetrate with the relations of production. (gramscis political thought p.30) He saw the superstructure as being divided into two parts, political society and civil society and argued that political society organises force, civil society is the organiser of consensus. (Canadian journal) Gramsci maintain that the bourgeoisie maintained control in society through political orientation, sooner than by economic or coercive means. The norms and values conducive to bourgeois control became entrenched as the limits of common sense of the working class, who were therefore distracted from revolution by falsely interpreting their exploitation as a common good. Still, it is the bourgeois control of economic production that allows them to become the hegemonic class in civil society. Similarly, for Lukacs, the economist assumption that consciousness and ideology were determined by the economy could not be shown to be so, since crises that dev eloped in the economic sphere were not reflected in the consciousness of individuals (Lukacs history and class consciousness 1923). Gramsci and Lukacs were both attempting to reanimate Marxism in the area in which they felt was most deficient. Economic determinism, for them, did not privilege an understanding of the vast complexity of the superstructure, which as the realm of consciousness and ideology was greatly important to the cause of initiating historic change. As a model, beyond simply calling this relation dialectical it was deficient in examining the multiple ship canal in which culture and politics or the state produce ideology, authority and power (beyond Marxism and post modernism) They therefore attempted to challenge bourgeois dominance through means that were not strictly economic. While it is more accurate to suggest that the complexity of the superstructure should not be underestimated, in Gramsci and Lukacs ambition to loosen the rigid nature of orthodox Marxism through reformulation, what results is a similarly reductionist or one-dimensional view of society.( The Concept of Cultural Hegemony Problems and Possibilities T. J. Jackson Lears p.569) A total, holistic view of society will always by nature be insufficient to deeply analyse the variation and complexity of culture, particularly if one seeks to study it through the rather narrow lens of historical materialism, with its association with cause and effect history that has yet to manifest itself.The economic determinism present in the orthodox Marxist interpretation of the relationship between base and superstructure is a problem that is difficult to evade. In attempting to do so most neo reformulations seem hampered in some way, as they seek to transcend the oversimplified nature of the linear perspective but never quite manage to explain or predict the complexity of cultural processes and institutions. The circular interpretation of the relationship is admittedly more attractive than the basic understanding, yet crucially still denies the superstructure the complexity and autonomy that it must be said to have. The work of Gramsci and Lukacs is a significant step forward towards a theory of complexity but is still hampered by the simplicity of seeking to define culture and society through holistic, all-encompassing terms. All formulations seem crude in that they either imply a causal influence strong enough to suggest that the superstructure is mechanically reproduced by the base, or a causal influence that is not strong enough to strictly retain Marxs original meaning. To overcome this by speaking in terms of the convenience or usefulness of the metaphor as an analytical device seems dangerous to the integrity of the conclusions that may be drawn from it, since it repeatedly has not and cannot stand up to detailed analysis. What should be sought is a view of culture that analyses it without having to refer to a specific agenda, economic or otherwise. It is only by viewing culture on its own terms that we may we hope to go some way to dealing with its complexity.

Essay --

The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC)The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children is designed by Alan Kaufman and Nadeen Kaufman in 1983 for assessing mental processing and cognitive development in children. It was revised in 2004 as the KABC -II. First edition is used for children between the ages of 2,5 and 12,5 whereas the revised edition is used for children and adolescents between 3 and 18 years of age. in that location be two theoratical models in KABC-II. They are the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) psychometric model of broad and narrow abilities and Lurias neuropsychological theory of processing. KABC-II consists of 18 subtests of two types core and supplemantary. These subtests are grouped into 4 or 5 scales according to age and model. Lurias model has Sequential Processing Scale, Simultaneous Processing Scale, Learning Ability and readiness Ability. CHC model has same scales but it renames them. They are Short Term Memory (Gsm), Visual Processing (Gv), Long Term S torage and Retrieval (Glr) and Fluid cerebrate (Gf) respectively. Also it has one more scale which name is Know...

Bataan Death March Essay -- essays research papers

The Bataan Death March started on April 11, 1942. It was a result of over 70,000 American and Philippine soldiers surrendering to the Japanese on April 9. The Japanese were surprised by this number, having only expected about 30,000. According to soldier Lester I. Tenney, who experienced the Death March first hand, it was unrelenting for the prisoners of war.Japanese soldiers hollered and would prod us with their bayonets to walk faster(on a short walk to the starting point). Once at the main road, we waited for three hours, standing, sitting, or resting any centering we could, but talking was not allowed, Tenney wrote in his book My Hitch in Hell. Those who go away without a mobile canteen had no means of getting water, even if it was available. Those who left with no cap or headpiece walked in the broiling hot sun, with temperatures by midday considerably in the 100s.The Japanese soldiers used different weapons to pang the Americans and Filipinos. For example, the POWs were bayoneted, shot, or slain with a samurai sword. One man fell from exhaustion and was shape by a tank. As his friends and comrades watched this happen, other soldiers were wrap up by Japanese trucks passing by.The soldiers were not forced to walk the entire journey. At one point, they were stuffed into 1918 stick railroad boxcars, which were 40 by 8 in size. There were over 100 men in each car. There was ... Bataan Death March Essay -- essays research papers The Bataan Death March started on April 11, 1942. It was a result of over 70,000 American and Filipino soldiers surrendering to the Japanese on April 9. The Japanese were surprised by this number, having only expected about 30,000. According to soldier Lester I. Tenney, who experienced the Death March first hand, it was brutal for the prisoners of war.Japanese soldiers hollered and would prod us with their bayonets to walk faster(on a short walk to the starting point). Once at the main road, we waited for three hours, standing, sitting, or resting any way we could, but talking was not allowed, Tenney wrote in his book My Hitch in Hell. Those who left without a canteen had no means of getting water, even if it was available. Those who left with no cap or headpiece walked in the broiling hot sun, with temperatures by midday well in the 100s.The Japanese soldiers used different weapons to torture the Americans and Filipinos. For example, the POWs were bayoneted, shot, or slain with a samurai sword. One man fell from exhaustion and was flattened by a tank. As his friends and comrades watched this happen, other soldiers were hit by Japanese trucks passing by.The soldiers were not forced to walk the entire journey. At one point, they were stuffed into 1918 model railroad boxcars, which were 40 by 8 in size. There were over 100 men in each car. There was ...

Invisible Man :: Essays Papers

Invisible ManIn the novel, The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the narrator of the story, like Siddhartha and Antonius Blok, is on a journey, but he is searching to find himself. This is interesting because the narrator is looking for himself and is not given a name in the book. Like many black people, the narrator of the story faces persecution because of the color of his skin. The journey that the narrator takes has him as a college student as well as a part of the coupling in Harlem. By the end of the book, the narrator decides to hide himself in a cellar, thinking of ways he can get back at the snow-white people. However, in the novel, the man learns that education is very important, he realizes the meaning of his grandfathers advice, and he sees the importance of his invisibility. Through this knowledge that he gains, the narrator gains much of an identity.The narrator of the story knows that education is important, however in the novel he learns just how important i t is. The first thing his education brings him is a briefcase made of calfskin, which was given to him by the superintendent for the achievements he had accomplished. Because of this, the briefcase becomes very important to the narrator and he hangs on to it for the whole book, and it is the only thing that he brings with him when he retreats to the cellar to plan against the whites. In the briefcase is a scholarship which was awarded to the narrator to an wholly black college, which he attends. The scholarship made the narrator very happy because he now had the luck to continue his education in an institute of higher learning. Many of the blacks at the time were not well educated and he wanted to do totally that he could to not be included in this bunch. Because of his furthered education, he can now be placed a bit higher in the pecking put together of society, above the other stereotypical blacks who lacked education due to a small amount of funding, or because of anyth ing else. The narrator knew the importance of education and wanted to do all that he could to get everything possible.Another realization that helps the narrator gain more of an identity is the realization of his grandfathers advice.