Thursday, March 19, 2020

Free Essays on Male Dominance Exposed!

Male Dominance Exposed! It’s a hot, sunny day and two beautiful women with humongous breasts, slim waists and long luscious legs, rip each other’s clothes off while splashing around in a shallow pool of water. The preceding sounds like an accurate depiction of just another day on the job for a porn star, however in this context it is not. Take this scenario and throw in an argument over beer tasting great or being less filling and you have the latest Miller Lite commercial. Sex appeal is one of the most effective forms of advertising in modern popular culture. Sexually influenced materials have normally been created for and by men and have a particularly overwhelming masculine theme, (Harris 91, 214). This androcentric view of a woman, measured only by her ability to stimulate and satisfy the male’s sexual appetite, continues to perpetuate three specific aspects of our modern Western society: male’s dominance over females, the phenomenon of eating disorders among women and t he increased amount of violence against women. An androcentric position can easily be seen through any number of popular magazine publications. I conducted a study of five different magazines, all accessible to buy while in line at the supermarket. The magazines: Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Shape and Maxim, are typical purchases for many of my friends and much of the United States. Of the five magazines, I choose twenty-five different advertisements to examine: ten of women only, ten of men only and five that were mixed sexes. Through comparison of the male and female’s physical appearance in each advertisement, I have found much evidence supporting androcentrism in mass media. There were many similarities among the advertisements. All of the models would be rated high on any physical attraction scale. They all are of average or less than average weight, average or above average height, have firm, clear skin, and healthy, beauti... Free Essays on Male Dominance Exposed! Free Essays on Male Dominance Exposed! Male Dominance Exposed! It’s a hot, sunny day and two beautiful women with humongous breasts, slim waists and long luscious legs, rip each other’s clothes off while splashing around in a shallow pool of water. The preceding sounds like an accurate depiction of just another day on the job for a porn star, however in this context it is not. Take this scenario and throw in an argument over beer tasting great or being less filling and you have the latest Miller Lite commercial. Sex appeal is one of the most effective forms of advertising in modern popular culture. Sexually influenced materials have normally been created for and by men and have a particularly overwhelming masculine theme, (Harris 91, 214). This androcentric view of a woman, measured only by her ability to stimulate and satisfy the male’s sexual appetite, continues to perpetuate three specific aspects of our modern Western society: male’s dominance over females, the phenomenon of eating disorders among women and t he increased amount of violence against women. An androcentric position can easily be seen through any number of popular magazine publications. I conducted a study of five different magazines, all accessible to buy while in line at the supermarket. The magazines: Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Shape and Maxim, are typical purchases for many of my friends and much of the United States. Of the five magazines, I choose twenty-five different advertisements to examine: ten of women only, ten of men only and five that were mixed sexes. Through comparison of the male and female’s physical appearance in each advertisement, I have found much evidence supporting androcentrism in mass media. There were many similarities among the advertisements. All of the models would be rated high on any physical attraction scale. They all are of average or less than average weight, average or above average height, have firm, clear skin, and healthy, beauti...

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Optics Is in the Eye of the Beholder

Optics Is in the Eye of the Beholder Optics Is in the Eye of the Beholder Optics Is in the Eye of the Beholder By Mark Nichol How does optics- employed as a buzzword synonym for perception, not a reference to the study of light and sight- look to you? What’s your view? Do we see eye to eye? This post discusses a not-new but newly trending term whose increasing popularity says something about the way we see ourselves and our culture- and institutions that significantly influence the way we live. Optics ultimately derives from the Greek word optikos, meaning â€Å"pertaining to sight,† which in turn comes from optos, meaning â€Å"seen† or â€Å"visible,† and, as mentioned above, refers to the science of light (and therefore of sight), but it has acquired an additional sense- and, if you are familiar with the word, not as recently as you might think. The use of optics as shorthand for â€Å"the way things look† seems to have spiked in usage, but it dates back several decades, from a government official’s comment that a gesture of appreciation would be â€Å"a nice optical step†- that is, it would look good and reflect well on the person making the gesture. A newspaper editorial, in response, criticized the fact that â€Å"optics†- doing something to make a good impression- would not resolve an underlying problem that the gesture seemed to attempt to obscure. Ever since then, optics has served as a substitute for perception, especially in politics and business, which are all about perception. Until recently, the term was more common in Canada than in the United States, perhaps thanks to the influence of the equivalent French term optique in the bilingual nation. (German has the similar word Optik.) But as our society has increasingly come to value show over substance, the word is becoming more prevalent south of the border. Businesspeople and politicians alike often express concern about how an action will appear, at the expense of focus on actual ramifications. â€Å"What are the optics?† they ask each other. Whether customers and constituents improve their own eyesight will determine the future of this jarring jargon. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:English Grammar 101: All You Need to KnowA While vs AwhileHow to Style Legislative Terms