A Brief Review of Creativity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A Brief Review of Creativity - Essay Example The idea that creativity is a result of brain function is based on observations of patients who experienced the split-brain operation (in them, corpus callosum was cut completely). The authors of the article present brief descriptions and examples of how patient with split brain behave in different situation. Then, the authors describe the fundamental finding that the hemispheres can function both independently and simultaneously. In this regard, Bogen and Bogen present their views on creativity and lack of creativity in the end of the article. More specifically, they state that corpus callosum plays an important role in creativity for it transfers information between the two hemispheres. For creativity, a partial hemispheric independence is important as well due to the fact that it is responsible for the dissociation of different stages creativity goes through in its development. While the above-mentioned stages of creativity take place in different hemispheres, corpus callosum passes the information obtained at these stages from one hemisphere to another, and it is this transfer which results in creativity. Bogen, J. E., and J. M. Bogen. "Split-Brains: Interhemispheric Exchange in Creativity."California Institute of Technology. N.p., 2003. Web. 18 May 2015.

George IV: The Prince Regent (1811-1820).

George IV: The Prince Regent (1811-1820). When George IV died, on 26th June, 1830, The Times (founded in 1775) published a scathing obituary saying, as Hibbert (1975) quotes: ‘There never was an individual less regretted by his fellow-creatures than this deceased king. This was not an idiosyncratic view, for both as Prince Regent and later as King, George had been roundly criticised. Although he encouraged the idea that he was ‘the first gentleman of Europe and was doubtless a ‘patron of the Arts- notwithstanding the somewhat mercurial and superficial nature of this ‘patronage, in some cases his faults far outweighed his virtues and from his own family to the general populace he was the object of scorn and derision throughout his life. This is widely reflected in the Art and Literature of the era, where George sat as uneasily as Humpty Dumpty atop a mountain of creativity: not so much its head but its target. Prince George Augustus Frederick reigned as Regent from 1811 until the death of his father, George III, in 1820, when he ascended the throne. George III had bouts of perceived ‘madness (now generally thought to have been due to porphyria, which ironically his son inherited) and more than once his ability to rule was called into question by the parliaments of the time. When it was finally realised that he was unable to function sufficiently even to open Parliament, the nine year Regency began. A time of huge political change, encompassing riots, revolution and the abolition of slavery, and against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, the years of the ‘Regency have come to be associated with an artistic renaissance in which architects such as Nash, encouraged by the Prince, would redesign London; artists like Reynolds and Gainsborough would significantly develop portraiture and the powerfully influential ‘Romantic Movement in Literature, which encompassed the work of poets as diverse as Blake, Byron and Wordsworth, began. Crucially, it was also the time when the novel became widely recognised as an important genre, with the writing of such perennially popular novelists as Sir Walter Scott and Jane Austen. Indeed, it is interesting to consider how Austen, not usually regarded as a ‘controversial writer, reflected the contemporary view of the Prince Regent. Austens novel, Emma, was first published in 1815, and ‘given a lavish supply of three Royal Highnesses in its dedication (Tomalin, 1998). However, Austen was not in favour of this effusive wording, since she disliked the Prince Regent intensely, principally because of his treatment of his wife. In a letter to Martha Lloyd, dated February 16th, 1813, (cited in Le Faye, 1997) she wrote: Poor woman, I shall support her as long as I can, because she is a Woman, because I hate her Husband but I can hardly forgive her for calling herself ‘attached affectionate to a Man whom she must detest the intimacy said to subsist between her Lady Oxford is bad I do not know what to do about it; but if I must give up the Princess, I am resolved at least always to think that she would have been respectable, if the Prince had beh aved only tolerably by her at first. Given that this was Austens profoundly held, if ‘private, opinion of ‘His Royal Highness it can only have been a source of great distress to her to accept the ‘invitation, otherwise ‘command, of the Prince, as an admirer of her work, to offer any dedication at all. Austen really had no choice but to agree, as was explained by his intermediary and librarian, John Murray. Her acquiescence is indicative of the Regents power; his failure to acknowledge the work personally, when published and sent to him as a gift, evidence of his rather superficial, vain nature, especially since he offered the suggestion that she write an ‘historical romance based on his family! Yet, more importantly, perhaps, this telling vignette reveals much of the general opinion of the public, if we take Austen as representative of such. Clearly, the Princess is not thought guiltless, yet she is held less culpable than the Prince: ‘she would have been respectable, writes Austen, surely an indictment against Regency Society in general. Certainly, she had parodied the excesses of the Regency mores in Mansfield Park (1814), where the Crawfords have been literally corrupted at the home of their uncle, ‘the Admiral. Austen simultaneously criticises the practices of Regency Society and the Prince Regent, since he is ‘the First Gentleman and director of this. Being privy to her naval officer brothers stories, she is able to show just how indelicate ‘polite society has become, when Mary Crawford makes use of a rather risquà © double-entendre when dining with the Bertrams. Her reference to having seen more of ‘admirals and rears and vices is shocki ng to both the meekly pious heroine, Fanny Price, and Fannys cousin, the future clergyman, Edmund Bertram. Austen also shows the difference between city and rural life when Edmund criticises Marys abrupt dismissal of the influence of the clergy by saying that, ‘We do not look in great cities for our best morality. The Court, at the centre of ‘City life, with the Prince Regent at its head is thus neatly and obliquely criticised. The fact that the Prince was an ‘admirer of Austens work, notwithstanding, displays her subtlety and his obtuseness. It also shows how wrong it is to think of Austen as uninterested in the ‘important events of her time. She is more than aware of the social evils of the Regency period and in no small measure lays the blame for this at the feet of the ‘immoral Regent himself. Criticism of the Prince is of necessity frequently subliminal, though he was often criticised openly, especially in the contemporary caricatures of such as George Cruikshank and James Gillray. These anti-establishment artists contrast strongly with the ‘official view evidenced in the commissioned portraits of the Prince Regent, and later the King, in the work of portraitists like Sir Thomas Lawrence. Peter Ackroyd, in his London: The Biography (2000) records George being referred to at his coronation as being ‘obliged to present himself, as chief actor in a pantomime. Since the coronation cost a small fortune, the Regents ‘play-acting may be seen as akin to Marie-Antoinettes and almost as dangerous. After all, this was uncomfortably close, chronologically, to the French Revolution, of 1789 and the earlier ‘defection of the Americas, in 1776. Indeed, there was a genuine fear of revolution in England at this time, especially after the assassination of the Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, in 1812, who the Prince had, surprisingly given his previous difficulties with him, confirmed in office. Events such as the Luddite Riots (the backdrop to Charlotte Brontà «s novel of 1849, Shirley) proclaim the unrest which the disparity between the rich and the poor, nowhere more clearly displayed than in the extravagances of the Prince of Wales, was beginning to provoke. The introduction of the Corn Laws, in 1815, made wheat too expensive for the ordinary people whilst increasing the wealth of the nobility via their land and they were simultaneously increasing their workers rents whilst decreasing their wages. As a result, riots erupted throughout the country and led to the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester where eleven people were killed and 400 wounded; an ostentatious heir to the throne was clearly the last thing that was wanted. The early Romantics, stressing emotion over reason, reflected this social unrest and the initial impetus for the writing of such as Blake, Wordsworth, Byron and Shelley was politically radical. Later, when the work of Wordsworth became so imbued in the â⠂¬ËœEstablishment that he was, after Robert Southey, created Poet Laureate, he was severely criticised by his contemporaries and earlier, in the ‘Dedication to his unfinished epic poem, Don Juan (1819-1824) Byron, whose political leanings were towards social reform (he even wrote ‘Song for the Luddites, in 1816) lampooned Robert Southey and, by extension, the Regent, referred to in the poem as ‘Fum the Fourth, our royal bird: Bob Southey! Youre a poet Poet-laureate,   Ã‚  And representative of all the race, Althought is true that you turnd out a Tory at   Last, yours has lately been a common case; And now, my Epic Renegade! what are ye at?   With all the Lakers, in and out of place?   A nest of tuneful persons, to my eye   Like four and twenty Blackbirds in a pye. Southey had mourned Robespierre as ‘the benefactor of mankind on his death (Storey, 1997) but had, like Wordsworth (and even the Regent himself, once a ‘supporter of the French Revolution) modified his views. Byron here castigates his erstwhile fellow reformer and puns on the word ‘pye to link it with the previous Laureate, Henry James Pye, in order to emphasise the satirizing of the principal role of the Poet Laureate i.e. to ‘flatter the ruler, in this case the Prince Regent. Moreover, in the nursery rhyme, the king and queen are diverted by money and pleasure, ‘the counting-house and the ‘bread and honey, a clear link to the excesses of the Regency court. It is worth noting that Byrons ‘Dedication was never published with the Cantos of Don Juan in his lifetime and that the original nursery rhyme is thought to satirise an earlier Kings greed, immorality and excesses, Henry VIII, whom Byron would use to attack the Regent in his poem, ‘ Windsor Poetics. Byron is also scornfully derisive about ‘the Lakers, obviously the ‘Lake Poets, such as Southey and Wordsworth, who Byron saw as having, in modern-day parlance, ‘sold-out to the Tories, having been ‘Renegades in their youth. Byron thus reflects the need for change and the corrupting nature of the Regency court which diverted men from reform by the temptations of the gorgeous trappings of wealth with which the Regent surrounded himself (such as the indulgent ‘Xanadu of the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, largely the work of John Nash). Byron was not altogether wrong to criticise his former ‘allies, for it is certainly true that Wordsworth, in line with the roots of the Romantic ideal crystallized by the ‘spirit of the French Revolution (i.e. to discard an outdated way of life and of thinking when it was illegal then even to speak or write of this) changed his ‘radical views ‘radically. In ‘The Prelude (begun in 1805) Wordsworth e xclaimed, ‘bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, echoing the feeling that this was the herald of a new spirit to be embraced: Yet in the regal sceptre, and the pomp Of orders and degrees, I nothing found Then, or had ever, even in crudest youth, That dazzled me, but rather what I mourned And ill could brook, beholding that the best Ruled not, and feeling that they ought to rule. The idea clearly expressed is that ‘the pomp/ Of orders and degrees is empty, vainglorious and unfair. The poet sees the injustices of the world and that ‘the best/Ruled not; nothing could be more critical of the Regency excesses of early Nineteenth Century England. It was, as Byron, Shelley et al believed, a ‘U-turn of epic proportions for Wordsworth, in later life, to ‘re-assess his work and take an Establishment view, and the mockery of Southey in ‘Epic Renegade is thus largely justified, though Byron was not wholly free of hypocrisy himself, of course, nor was Southey alone in his ‘defection to an altered interpretation of the term ‘Romantic, placing the emphasis far more on the harmony with nature which is nowadays usually associated with the movement. Quite the opposite was true of the early Romantic, William Blake. Never ‘in tune with any ‘movement per se, Blake retained a bold, idiosyncratic, reforming and largely anarchistic line throughout his life. In his poem ‘London, from Songs of Experience (1794) Blake openly criticises every level of authority, even the throne: I wander thro each charterd street, Near where the charterd Thames does flow, And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. In every cry of every Man, In every Infants cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban, The mind-forgd manacles I hear. How the Chimney-sweepers cry Every blackning Church appalls; And the hapless Soldiers sigh Runs in blood down Palace walls. But most thro midnight streets I hear How the youthful Harlots curse Blasts the new born Infants tear, And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse. T. S. Eliots famous remark that Blakes poetry has ‘an honesty against which the whole world conspires because it is unpleasant is clearly evidenced here. His view of London is characterised by being taken from the level of the ordinary man and woman. Like Dickens, later, he opted to be the ‘voice of the ‘common man not the ‘mouthpiece of the Establishment; his ‘sensibility causes him to react to the ‘blood on the ‘Palace walls and though a ‘great London visionary (Ackroyd, 2000, p.15) not blind to its faults. Blakes black ‘streets are ‘charterd, hence, governed, under rule, and therefore intended to be protected. The fact that they are not criticises the entire society from the throne down, encompassing the ‘blackning church which seems oblivious to the social evils embodied in ‘the Chimney-sweepers cry and ‘the youthful Harlots curse. The ‘double-standard of this corruptly led society is loathed by t he poet and he does not shrink from proclaiming his abhorrence. Moreover, in the ‘mind-forgd manacles he sees the hand of the monarch (especially since he first wrote ‘German forged links). The poet exemplifies the reforming zeal which informed early-Romanticism. Blake was a consummate uncompromising artist, whose written work was always accompanied by a painstakingly created engraving on bronze, colour washed, then printed. However, his art was as different from his contemporaries as his writing. The Regency saw the development of detailed Landscapes expressing profound emotional depth. This was very much encouraged by the Prince Regent, who developed his own collection and urged the government to do likewise, inspiring the later foundation of ‘The National Gallery. Samuel Palmers simplicity of style combines with the visionary religious feeling derived from Blake; John Constables peacefully, idyllic rural landscapes, innovatively created in the open air, evoked an England already felt to be slipping away and to be the more so with the coming of the Industrial Revolution. Indeed, much Victorian Literature, written in the mid-nineteenth century, is set in the time of the Regency. For example, Emily Brontà «s Wuthering Heights, published in 1847, begins in 1801, with ‘flashbacks in the dual narrative to the late eighteenth century and Lockwood, the ‘intruder from London, and portrayed as a snobbish ‘dandy, represents the Regency idea that ‘the City was ‘the centre of the Universe. (Interestingly, the Brontà « sisters almost certainly took their models for the ‘wild, untamed heroes of their novels from the writing of this era, too, being ‘Byronic in nature; they were also influenced by their admiration of the Duke of Wellington, a critic of the Prince Regent.) This was quite widespread in the mid nineteenth century, to be found in the works of George Eliot and Thomas Hardy amongst others. Turners wild and deliberately indistinct ‘seascapes influenced later authors as well as artists and the Regents sensitivity to the importance of Art is evidenced in his patronage of it throughout his life. Like Kenneth Grahames ‘Toad, he often became obsessed with fads only to drop them without further thought but it is a testimony to its importance to him that this was not the case with Art, to which he remained devoted in his support and appreciation despite the many deprecating caricatures which satirised his life and reign, calling him, in later life, ‘the Prince of Whales (Le Faye, p. 44) due to his corpulent build; Keats even referred to him as ‘fat George'(Gittings, 1970). Indeed, to some extent, he lampooned himself more successfully, albeit unwittingly, by commissioning ridiculously flattering ‘official portraits by such as Sir Thomas Lawrence (1816). ‘Prinny, as he was known by his inner circle, was equally interested in architecture, commissioning John Nash to renovate Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, as well as to reshape London. In the course of this, the eponymous Regents Park was developed, initially for private use only, from the former Royal Hunting Grounds (Ackroyd, 2000); this, however, was unlikely to endear him to the starving populace of whom he seemed largely oblivious. Even his brother, William IV, later remarked that the Prince Regent had, ‘damned expensive tastes in ‘knicknackery (Brown Cunliffe, 1982, p. 148) but given his uneasy relationship with his family, it was inevitable that any aspect of his life that could be criticised, would be, especially since acknowledgement of Georges defects could only add to the popularity of his successors; the moral and sober replacing the immoral and facile. (This would culminate in the extravagantly ‘wholesome and respectable, Queen Victoria, who is recorded as having disliked being near ‘Uncle King, as she called George IV, saying it was: ‘too disgusting because his face was covered with greasepaint.) Nowhere was this more evident than in the Princes private life, which both as Regent and King, was always ‘very vulnerable; so much so that most of his correspondence was destroyed on his death (Aspinall, 1963). His ‘first love, Mary Robinson, an actress whose stage name was ‘Perdita, received passionate love letters from him in his youth signed ‘Florizel (probably a reference to Shakespeares A Winters Tale where characters so named fall in love: Florizel is a prince, Perdita a royal brought up by a shepherd). Cannily, given the Princes relative penury in later life, she extracted a financial ‘bond from him to be redeemed on his coming of age; surprisingly, the Regent honoured this but then, he was usually generous to his mistresses rather than his wives. Maria Fitzherbert, a twice-widowed Roman Catholic and the love of his life was much less successful financially. Indeed, the Prince frequently borrowed from her and hid from his creditors at her house. Her religion forbade their marriage, but George married her in secret, in 1785, without the consent of the King, thus rendering the union illegal. Nevertheless, he remained close to her to the end of his life and after his death, Wellington, not an admirer of the Prince but keen to preserve the dignity of the monarchy, made it his personal task as executor to burn his correspondence with Mrs. Fitzherbert. This was an exercise in retroactive ‘damage-limitation, because much of the criticism of George had surrounded his ‘marriages and liaisons. His indiscretions made it even easier for the popular press to lampoon him and continue to hold him in very low-esteem, although much of what he achieved was conveniently overlooked or regarded as ‘frivolous. The Times wrote of h im that he preferred ‘a girl and a bottle to politics and a sermon but overlooked the fact that he had this, at least, in common, with most of his contemporaries. George had been compelled by the King, for financial reasons, to marry his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick, in 1795. Caroline, it appears, was popular with everyone but the Prince despite her indiscretions, for which many, like Jane Austen, blamed George (when the Prince first saw Caroline, he supposedly called frantically for brandy). They were separated immediately after the birth of their daughter and George banned her from his elaborate coronation. Caroline, not easily deterred, attempted to force her way in but was repelled by the boxers George had hired as pages (Brown Cunliffe, p.234). Nevertheless, she remained very popular with the general public. George was apparently incapable of achieving similar ‘popularity; indeed, he appears to remain largely indifferent to it, even though his coach was physically attacked in 1817. Instead of reacting positively to the unrest, he chose instead to ‘set styles, taking up Regency ‘dandies like ‘Beau Brummell and using them as his ‘model then dropping them in response to trivial quarrels. (Brummell famously retaliated by responding to a royal snub with the question: ‘Whos your fat friend? but paid for it.) George abandoned the use of wig powder when it was taxed, is largely credited with having spread (on Brummells advice) the adoption of the dark simplicity in male attire which replaced the more elaborate and colourful silks and satins of earlier times and he inspired the wearing of ‘tartan. However, in a time of revolution, war and social upheaval, with his people starving, it is, perhaps, easy to see how ‘accomplished tastes could not be acc epted as any kind of serious substitute for strong, moral leadership. Therefore, although much of the criticism of the Regents appearance was itself superficial, behind it lay a deep disquiet about the future monarch which was in no way dispelled when it became a reality. Byron wrote, in ‘Windsor Poetics, of seeing the Regent standing between the coffins of Henry VIII and Charles I, in the royal vault at Windsor (Byron, Poetical Works, p. 73): Famed for contemptuous breach of sacred ties, By headless Charles see heartless Henry lies; Between them stands another sceptred thing It moves, it reigns in all but name, a king: Charles to his people, Henry to his wife, In him the double tyrant starts to life: Justice and death have mixd their dust in vain, Each royal vampire wakes to life again, Ah, what can tombs avail! since these disgorge The blood and dust of both to mould a George. Byron traces an unhappy lineage to its present ‘sceptred thing: a combination of the arrogance of Charles I, ruling, he thought, by ‘Divine Right, and the corrupt, immoral and headstrong, Henry VIII, who tore the country apart for his own vain fulfilment. These ‘royal vampires, feeding in the style of contemporary Gothic horror from the ‘blood of their people, find a hideous reincarnation in the Regent, ‘the double tyrant, George. Byron does not paint a pretty picture but seems, overall, to reflect a common belief. As The Times printed on his death: What eye has wept for him? What heart has heaved one throb of unmercenary sorrow? If he ever had a friend a devoted friend in any rank of life we protest that the name of him or her never reached us. The birth of the future King George IV, initially announced as that of a girl to his disappointed parents, culminated in a more widespread disappointment. Wellington, Georges polar opposite in most things, called him ‘the worst man I ever fell in with in my whole life but later referred to him more appropriately, perhaps, as a ‘medley of a man. Certainly, both as Regent and King, George presided over a period whose influence is still much in evidence but little of this was due to its ruler. A study into the Indifferent Employee: A study into the Indifferent Employee: To Address the Issues of Indifference in the Workforce and to Consider the Motivational Remedies. Rationale for study Indifference can be described as a lack of interest in doing something, the perception of a task being unimportant or work being carried out with a reduced emphasis; sometimes no emphasis on quality and effort. An indifferent individual could be described as apathetic, with the suppression of emotion. Many companies and human resource departments simply do not acknowledge indifference as the widespread problem it truly is. It is difficult to see what a person or organisation is not doing; it is hard to monitor or observe and therefore the better the knowledge and understanding we have the more effectively we can combat the issue. There is little existing research in the area of indifference amongst the workforce, yet it has been highlighted as a contemporary HR phenomena. EVIDENCE Indifference is a term that is used in many different contexts, Indifferent attitudes and behaviour amongst pockets in the workforce ultimately cost organisations time, money and resources. Indifference cov ers a wide range of subjects such as psychology and sociology as well as business and management. It can no longer be ignored. The research aims to give us a better understanding of efficient and cost effective solutions that ensure successful short and long term motivational harmony for the indifferent elements consisting in the workforce. I will investigate and critically analyse the techniques of motivation and how effective they are in tackling todays generation of indifferent attitudes, this will assist me on making recommendations to quash the effect and impact of indifference. Implications Indifferent individuals reverse productivity and reduce efficiency, inevitably influencing others attitudes. I want to highlight the issue of indifference and suggest the appropriate combatant techniques required to effectively tackle and efficiently resolve the problem. Motivation as a subject has been widely debated over the years and the development of theories have allowed us to gain valuable insights and adopt best practises. Yet it is still important to debate the contemporary thoughts and beliefs on the subject as we enter a new age of indifference we need to think about contemporary motivational solutions, I will be considering the relevance of existing theories. Adopting the right motivational drivers and incorporating effective company culture is ever more helpful for successful business. Indifference and motivation have implications for a number of key functions and areas within all organisations; human resources, culture and performance to name but a few. There simply isnt enough contemporary theory considering the scale and implications of the widely disregarded indifferent employee. Although the subject is relatively new, there is literature in relating fields, motivational tactics may provide us the answer; motivation as a subject has had a great deal of literature over the years. However with ever increasing globalisation and interconnectivity; divisions of labour attitudes, more mixed views and a more wide variety of people we need a more coherent and current idea of contemporary issues like indifference; motivation theory needs to evolve with the 21st century. Motivation and Engagement Through examining the different motivational theories I can gain a better understanding of how motivation has helped engagement and improve employee commitment. Ultimately I will be seeking to how appropriate these techniques are to todays managers with reference to tackling indifference in the workplace. Classic management theory such as Taylor (1911) based the early ideology of motivation. I will talk about the different needs based theories such as Maslows hierarchy, including extensions of the theory. Theories focused on extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, having a wider knowledge base of motivation will aid our understanding and provide better direction and through informed tactics to enable managers to adopt the best practise for the indifferent employee. This will help resolve the issues highlighted. Motivation is the driving force for productivity and efficiency within the workforce. Henri Fayol, an early pioneer of management theory, suggests there are four key elements of management; planning, organising, directing and control. Motivation would be categorised under directing, very similar definitions; directing is leading workers to accomplish the organisations goals and making them perform effectively. Theorizing the phenomenon of indifference will help managers eliminate the problem through motivational implementation they will create more competitive human resource base Cui, 2004 emphasises this point, explaining the; need to groom people to become a source of competitive advantage. The existing research directly regarding motivation contrasts with that of indifference; there is a great amount of literature and a variety of views, however the theory is dated and the methods by which some research was tested is ever increasing coming under scrutiny. The study of motivation w ill aid managers in distinguishing the indifferent employee and enable a higher level of understanding and considerations to effective resolutions for an engaged, committed and motivated workforce. Research Questions To examine the implications, gain a more coherent understanding and properly acknowledge the special needs for the indifferent attitudes amongst employees. To investigate the broader aspects in surrounding theory relating to indifference; to better our knowledge of the phenomena. To support the discussion of indifference and new age motivation resolutions, acknowledging the contemporary problem and considering the application of contemporary motivational theory. Discover the techniques adopted to enhance performance and satisfaction of the workforce and find out which motivational factors will influence the indifferent employee best. Literature review The literature review concerning this investigation leads us to various writings of opinions. Some of these opinions express continuity with one another, but other opinions convey more diverse views. The subject itself is multifaceted and carries a great deal of subjectivity through the questions what exactly is an indifferent employee, how can an organisation identify indifference within the workforce, and what are the best solutions to the problem? Indifference needs to be addressed, as Cuming highlights; what is good for the individual is good for the organisation as well (1993, p. 6). So eliminating indifference will benefit an organisation as a whole, its in the organisations intereset that its work force is engaged if not devoted. Indifference and its Repercussions on the Organisation Radwan, 2009 explains Indifference is the state of feeling where you just dont care about taking an action, the problem with indifference is that sometimes you are aware that doing that thing or taking that action will get you much benefit but still you do nothing, indifference is not like lack of motivation because you may lack motivation if you are not aware of the importance of the activity, however if you are aware but still take no action then you are indifferent. What causes the people to surrender and become indifferent is profound and pro-longed dissatisfaction (Geezla, 1998, 136). It is vital for employees to be engaged in their job and have a positive attitude towards their work and their contribution. I will be seeking to understand why and how indifference comes about in the workplace and from my findings conclude with an effective resolution for the problem. Eslami (2010) states people with (indifference) do not care about the future, because as far as they are concerned, there is no difference between present, future and past. This highlights the problems organisations face with elements of an indifferent workforce; how can an organisation implement tactics and strategic vision with employees that are not engaged in their work and sub sequentially do not conform to organisational culture? Indifferent employees deteriorate in behaviour; this has a negative effect on other colleagues and can slow productivity. The scope of indifference in an organization describes the behaviour of someone who carries out the organizations activities without using their talent or creativity. Indifference threatens to destroy encouragement of the employees; reducing their effort and acceptance of responsibilities (Tabaeian, 2001). Whereas Murphy, 2002 highlights indifference as having a more significant effect on organisational culture, he carried out a stu dy that revealed a perceived discrepancy between the official espousal of the values by the company and their actual enactment  The ambivalence of this group towards such values is reflected in the indifference of staff, for whom the values have little salience as drivers of company policy or practice. He then goes on to state the embedding of company values is represented as part of a larger descriptive framework of salience. It is also argued that political considerations, including powerful, unofficial cultural and sub cultural norms, will override the impact of officially espoused, but unembedded, values. Further highlighting the need for a better understanding and contemporary acknowledgement through his statement; Organizations that look to land a fast fix or play politics, rarely bridge isolated silos of discipline, culture, gender or beliefs. To fully understand the idea of an indifferent individual, I will be touching commitment and focusing on engagement. Literature relating to this field will help provide a better understanding of the motivational remedies.Commitment is a kind of devotion including feelings such as trust and reliability that organisations wish to gain from their employees. Whilst not a lot has been directly written on indifference, there is much literature on commitment. The employee should be a productive member of an organisation, rather than enter an employment relationship on the basis of submission and obligation. Submission and obligation can lead to feelings of indifference. Price states that employees should be committed to the organisations mission and values. Price explains that employees will show dedication and enthusiasm only if they want to, and not out of compliance. Prices model is based on an anti-authoritarian viewpoint, so his view is interesting when compared to managerial methods o f motivating indifferent employees. Price attributes the importance of commitment to an individual level. P15 Indifferent employees do not expect much from their organization, except a pay check and in some cases, benefits. Highly indifferent employees see their life as existing separate from work. Those employees who are low in indifference are generally believed to have orientations contrary to the highly indifferent workers. Behaviour plays a key role in understanding this problem. A reason why there has been so little research on this topic is because even if organisations acknowledge indifference they cannot tell what percentage of their workforce are indifferent; people are aware of its existence but they dont feel it occurs at a wide enough level to be taken seriously and have the perception of appropriate procedures in place to counter act the effects. (Grzybowska 2005) A recent study found that 68% of customers who leave do so because of a company employees indifference. How To Get Your Employees To Treat Customers Better Lisa Earle McLeod,  04.26.10, 01:21 PM EDT Indifference not only slows the company operations and efficiency down but can also lead to consumers having a negative experience with the organisation. Writing in an article regarding organisational brainpower, Weber (2010) explains that an organisation opting for a quick fix strategy for resolving issues regarding organisational discipline, culture and beliefs will not work, He stresses the importance of involvement from higher level management; It takes involvement from an institutes top leadership, a willingness to invest time, and talent within teams that come from many sectors of society. He suggests a balanced variety of workers will help engage individuals and improve performance. Indifference needs to be tackle head on, more interaction between low level workers and their superiors is important in reducing the problem, creating a culture that acts as a disincentive to indifference is important but actually noticing and monitoring the problem of indifference and understanding the wider implications and affects is the only way to implement a successful combatant strategy to effectively eradicate the problem whilst ensuring. Motivation Application and Engagement Effectiveness There has been an enormous amount of literature produced regarding motivation over the last century. Motivation theory was first introduced to the world of business by early pioneers such as Taylor. Latham, 2007, explains Taylors research found money was the primary incentive for motivating the workforce. The classical management theory suggests managers should adopt a militant style, authoritarian technique. I do not believe this attitude should be embraced by todays mangers for tackling indifference, although money may be a primary incentive for an indifferent employee, management need to intrinsically motivate, getting the individuals more engaged; this strategy was proven inefficient and not as productive as alternative methods. The importance of motivational factors and the needs of the employee lead to better management resolution, managers cannot go back to this perspective it will not work on a long term basis Prior to Maslow, researchers generally focused on separate motivational factors separately. Maslow (1954) developed the hierarchy of needs, this introduced a fundamental change to the way employee productivity and motivation was perceived and built the foundations for further motivational theory. The hierarchy of needs is a triangular dimension with five elements; Physiological needs, safety/security needs, need for belongingness, self esteem and finally self actualization. Maslow claims all employees will move along the hierarchy. In order to progress you need to fulfil the requirements a particular element to move up the hierarchy. The indifferent employee in many cases is a former team member and was at some stage a substantial contributor, this theory is not applicable with the indifferent employee due to them being at different levels of the hierarchy when the attitude sets in. Existence-relatedness-growth theory similar to Maslows hierarchy suggests motivation is a result of pe ople attempting to satisfy basic needs, unlike Maslows 5 needs Alderfer (1969) suggests there are three needs; existence, relatedness and growth. This theory is more appropriate for tackling indifference. Existence needs would cover the lower aspects of the hierarchy; physiological and safety needs. Related needs would come under esteem and belongingness and growth needs would tend to be towards the top of the hierarchy at the self actualization level. One conflicting view in this theory is that the needs are not progressive in the way that there is no hierarchy; managers having a more productive role in engagement and employee progression will reduce the potential for indifferent attitudes to establish themselves within employees; resolving the issues before they become a problem. Alderfer suggests people may work on satisfying all needs at once rather than satisfying one need to move on to the next. Process theories of motivation focus on relations between performance and satisfaction; Equity theory was introduced through Adams, J, S. (1965). According to Jones R, G. George, J, M. (2003) the equity theory is defined as a theory of motivation that focuses on peoples perceptions of the fairness of their work outcomes relative to their work outputs. The theory is based on a ratio of input and output. The theory argues that inputs such as training and skills will result in outcomes such as pay and fringe benefits. Similar to performance related pay, equity theory suggests the ratio will create absolute fairness. Having the opportunity to earn on a level playing field will satisfy employees and motivate them to better their performance. Equity theory supports the view performance will increase as a result of increased job satisfaction. With successful application of Alderfer; the equity theory will be more effective or justified. Financial reward is not the best incentive for fully engagement of the indifferent employee; intrinsic motivation is more desired and more beneficial for the organisation as a whole. In contrast to this Vroom developed expectancy theory. His views based on that of Lewin (1935) and Rotter (1955) suggest people expect a certain level of effort or performance to achieve desired objectives and goals. Increasing job satisfaction will come as a result of increasing job performance. Vroom (1964) defines two key elements to the theory: expectancy; a momentary belief concerning the likelihood that a particular act will be followed by a particular outcome. Valence; affective orientations toward particular outcomes valence either comes negative or positive, for example a person who prefers attaining an outcome rather than not-attaining the outcome has positive valence. Expectancy theory suggests motivation depends on how strong the expectancy is and how valiant the person finds the task. This is aligned to that of the indifferent employee; one that has lost their way. This indicates job design is crucial for effective performance. Forde Whiddett, (2002) explain the concept of Instrumentality, also developed through expectancy theory, unlike expectancy; instrumentality suggests one outcome will lead to another important outcome. Porter and Lawyer (1968) researched expectancy theory and their findings supported that of Vroom. One criticism they did have was the theory did not take into account ability and job clarity, expectancy theory focused on extrinsic motivation rather than intrinsic. The indifferent employee needs a shift in philosophy to a more intrinsically motivated state of mind in order to resolve the issue indefinitely. McClelland Atkinson (1965) introduced achievement motivational needs theory, the theory is based on behaviour in achievement orientated activities, there are three specific motivational conditions; willingness to participate, ability or perception to achieve the goal; expectancy and there must be an incentive to carry out the task. Achievement theory categorises everyone into different personalities and needs. McClelland found three different types of need; the need for achievement, need for power and the need for affiliation. All have specific traits and tendencies which are explained in detail. This could be a solution, a balance between fairness and progression will help engage indifferent attitudes. Task motivation theory, or better known as goal setting theory was developed through Locke (1968) his study found three important points, Precise goals which can be measured are a much better tool of motivation rather than just giving general goals. More difficult goals lead to a gre ater level of performance compared with easy goals, Peoples decisions are influenced by their behavioural intention. Indifferent attitudes will be hard to stimulate progressive goals setting may have a negative impact for indifferent individuals yet is an appropriate motivator for the common worker aligned to the organisations culture and has a reasonable level of commitment. Latter theories of motivation include Herzberg (1987) who describes motivation as a function of growth from getting intrinsic rewards out of interesting and challenging work. Herzbergs two factor theory is separated between causes of job dissatisfaction named hygiene factors and positive elements of the job leading to satisfaction, named motivators. In his research he points out the opposite of job dissatisfaction will not lead to job satisfaction rather no job satisfaction. The same is true with the other side of the theory regarding motivators. He highlights extrinsic motivation as hygiene factors which will inevitably lead to no job satisfaction or job dissatisfaction. He also suggests the motivational factors i.e. motivators will lead to motivated or unmotivated workforce. Forde, Whiddett. (2002) explain If job satisfaction leads to greater productivity, it makes sense that any improvements in motivators should lead to an improvement in performance. Satisfaction for the job is c rucial, early motivational remedies can help solve the problem. A paternalistic managerial stance will improve communication and the manager can re-bridge the commitment and increase the performance enabling an all round more vigorously engaged individual. More recent theories and expansions on motivation include the development of emotional intelligence, Goleman (1995) deriving from early ideas on social intelligence from Thorndike (1937). Butler and Waldroop acknowledge the importance of four dimensions of relational work: intelligence, interpersonal facilitation, relational creativity and team leadership. This more common theory should be adopted in order to abolish the indifference before it arises. It can provide the employee with more responsibility and a new calling so to speak although risky in the hand sof the indifferent it may have an outstanding affect on engagement and motivation, management intuition and general people skills and assessment should provide an inkling into what needs the indifferent employee is requiring and what can possibly help drive them and reinstate a good level of commitment. Conclusions and Recommendations for further research Classical Management theory and Maslows Hierarchy of Needs are not best appropriate if wanting to motivate the indifferent employee. Alderfers three needs of existence, relatedness and growth are more applicable, indifference could occur from a lack of these needs, building and growing predominately worse over time as a result of managers failing to acknowledge potential capacity for improvement and an individuals workplace progress or even evolution. For effective engagement and sufficient commitment addressing these needs will help the employees stay focused and committed to the job at hand and ensure successful and proud representation. Equity Theory can in some cases help stimulate the employee and reengages them back into good work ethic. Performance related pay structures for example will motivate employees in the short term, with a less impact on that of the indifferent however financial reward is not top priority for routing out the cause and permanently eradicating indiffere nt attitudes within employees. Intrinsic motivation theory provides the best answer; Herzberg 1987 for example, the motivators on this two factor theory can be adopted and utilised in attempting to reverse the effect of indifference. In order to resolve the issue it is necessary to reverse the growing entrenchment of negative work ethic as soon as possible. A number of motivational drivers should be adopted finding the one that works for the employee swiftly is advocated. Managers need to be effective in reforming the philosophy, ethics and morality of its indifferent employees; it is of the upmost importance; Murphy, 2002 states. leaders need charisma to generate the awareness and sentiment. Indifference in employees based in customer faced roles will have a profound negative impact on the customers perception of the organisation. Helpful and useful customer interaction is ever more desired if not required in todays business world. It improves the organisations competitiveness, retains custom and advocates the reputation of the business. Ensuring customers are more than satisfied with their experience is a top priority; the point of interaction with representatives of the organisation plays an important part in credibility. Evidence Without managerial acknowledgement and a suitable, proactive, response; departments will not be as fully efficient and will suffer from poor representation. This low morale should be addressed through changing managerial tactics and applying different motivational engagement tools. There needs to be a change; one of which implements more desire and passion for indifferent members. Motivation drives the workforce; influencing capacity and capability, it is also crucial for implementing the companys mission and image throughout all levels of organisational structure. Motivation enables employees to better embrace the organisations culture. The indifference issue is very real; individuals will persist and their attitudes will free fall. Failing to resolve the matters effectively will result in a wider and more severe impact over time. Changing the mindset of the individual employee in order to fully engage them will reverse any entrenched attitudes. Through the correct motivational and managerial manner they can become exceptional employees once again. Returning the sound work ethic and standard will result in a noticeable and improved individual contribution; a benefit all human resource managers like to see. Managers should have the opportunity for a more decentralised, motivational policy in order to tackle indifferent attitudes. More managerial discretion for methods that will bridge the needs of the indifferent with that of the goals of the organisation should be promoted. There needs to be a change in perspective away from the mainstream motivation, that of one predominate policy applying to all employees is not the path for the solving the indifference problem. When tackling indifference we need to change the motivational approach for different cases; the manager should be able to pick up on key indicators and measures; productivity for example. (Bratton and Golds, 1999) quest model also highlights main functions of HR and provides other aspects and indicators such as absenteeism. Indifferent employees need to perceive management as sufficiently addressing their needs and wants whilst balancing the organisational or departmental goals, desires and expectations, in a fair way. This i s not best done through an appraisal structure but more similar to that of an informal meeting. Individuals are unique and indifference is best tackled when treating cases individually; assertiveness for individual needs will result in a better management practise and are more likely to settle the issue amongst the individual indefinitely. Further research Relatively long term case studies into finding, observing and documenting individual cases will provide a clearer understanding. Implementing different techniques spoken about can truly test the theories; accumulating a wealth of indifferent strategies for individual types perhaps. I recommend these further research ideas; Comparing Indifference in a number of public and private sector organisations will enable a better insight; revealing the issue to see if it is more prone to certain structures, management styles or sectors. A case study observing different effects of a range of motivational tactics using set trial periods for each. Doing this on indifferent employees would be enlightening; By researching further and obtaining these findings this could enable us to categorise different levels or types and potentially identify key catalysts for indifference amongst the workforce. Ethical considerations may have to be taken into account; if observation is carried out without employee knowledge and consent, it will cause concern. Some will argue this is necessary so the outcome is not manipulated; in order to sustain more accurate findings. There are also many variables to take into account, company culture for example, but identifying indifferent employees needs to be acknowledged. if managers are well equipped with the knowhow and can differentiate between a lack of progress or temporary spells of poor performance with an actual indifferent employee then they can see what works best and gain a wider knowledge base for the themselves and the field of interest. Through using productivity measures and observing progress the issue can be studied effectively. Implementing other comparative and assessable variables will enable a more solid base on which findings can be assessed more reputably; ultimately attaining more conclusive and accredited research will drive the issue into the mainstream.

Examine The Ways In Which Lang :: essays research papers

Examine the ways in which language and identity are treated in ‘Translations’   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ‘Translations’ is set in 1833, in County Donegal, which was soon after the time when Britain had claimed Ireland as part of its empire. The British and the Irish therefore had differing languages, so the British decided to go through the process of naming or renaming Ireland’s geographical features. In ‘Translations’ language and identity are used more as a plot device and plot feature rather than as part of stylistic technique, which is their most common role.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the play was first performed by Friel’s own theatre company it was performed in the Irish language, and at the start of the play, all the characters speak Irish as their first language, the English language comes into the script a lot later, which reflects the course of events in Ireland over the past two centuries. All these characters have been brought up speaking the language and it is a fundamental part of their life, culture and identity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  English is the second main language in the play. It represents the future to Maire and Owen, and ‘a mistake’ to Hugh and Manus. The two English speakers come as part of the same assignment, to make a map of the country and to ‘see that the place names are ... correct.’, but they have greatly differing attitudes towards Ireland and its identity. Captain Lancey sees the Irish as inferior to the English, which is evident when he is willing to evict a whole village of them, over the disappearance and probable death of one Englishman. Yolland however falls in love with Ireland, its language and culture and he feels that ‘something is being eroded’ by his task of renaming the geographical features of Ireland. Yolland is not the stereotypical English male of the time, because he ‘missed the boat’ to India and that stereotypical way of life, which would be following his father’s wishes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The other two languages used in the play are Greek and Latin, which are spoken only by Hugh and Jimmy. These two classical languages create an identity of intellectualism in their users and it is significant that it is the Irish rather than the English characters who can speak them contradicting Lancey’s view of them being inferior.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Friel shows us the use of language in several different forms. The first scene where Manus is teaching Sarah to speak shows us that language is used to create communication.

Negative effects of Social media Essay

1.Intro – Negative Effects of social media A. Raise your hand if you use any type of social media? I.e.: twitter Facebook Instagram (Get audience involved) B. Negative effects of social media C. I am going to inform you of things you might not know about the harmful effects of social media D. This topic can affect you in your social life & physiologically. E. Today I am going to focus on the negative effects on you and social skills, the effect on your relationship& beauty. see more:positive effects of social media on teens 2. Body A. Changing who you are – laziness – becoming more of an introvert, if you are already more of an introvert you are basically losing all social skills B. Relationship – becoming addicted to social media – Ruining relationships professional and intimate C. Pre conceived idea of â€Å"beauty† – promoting conform – suggest drastic unhealthy ways to â€Å"fit in† i.e.: thigh gap epidemic 3. Conclusion A. (review A-C) B. Reinforce negative the effects C. social life & physiologically. D. I hope you all have a better understanding and realize how effective interacting really is to a person. After all we depend on it†¦ Works Cited Taylor, Julia. The Body Image Workbook for Teens: Activities to Help Girls Develop a Healthy Body Image in an Image-Obsessed World. Print. Jung, Brian. â€Å"smallbusiness.chron.com.† . N.p.. Web. 2 Apr 2014. . Tennant, Kyle. Unfriend Yourself: Three Days to Detox . Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2012. Print. Gilbert, Roberta. Extraordinary Relationships: A New Way of Thinking About Human Interactions. Canada: John Wiley & Sons Inc., Print. Informative Speech Who here by a show of hands has any type of social media or gets on the internet on a daily basis? Now I wonder how many of the same people who raised their hand knows the reality of the negative effects of social media. Today I hope to show something you never really would have thought twice about. Although this doesn’t seem like a big deal trust me when I say this can affect you socially physiologically. More specific to the negative effects on you and your social skills, the effect on relationships personal and professional, and beauty in an image obsessed world. The term â€Å"social media† is an oxymoron. There is nothing social about tapping into cyberspace. The addictive activity doesn’t promote real interaction with other human beings. It isolates individuals. Engaging in social media is the opposite of being social. The dictionary defines this as â€Å"relating to or involving activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other.† Being social means enjoying the companionship of friends and associates. It means forming cooperative and interdependent relationships, preferring community to living alone. But those who live for social media connections don’t need community in the traditional sense. They can text, email, tweet, and post by themselves. They can connect with Facebook â€Å"friends† and never leave home. Actual  face-to-face conversation with actual eye contact is unnecessary. Instant messaging makes personal contact irrelevant. The book Unfriend Yourself: Three Days to Detox by Kyle Tennant â€Å"Now let’s be clear I have Facebook account and I check it 3 to 5 times daily so I haven’t given up on social medial entirely but what I have come to see is that one of the dominant cultural metaphors of our time is not to be trusted nor is it to be lauded. In fact it may be our generation’s greatest enemy. Though social media promise us relationships and community, they may in truth be promising a lie. â€Å" This could clearly be linked to the dangers of false relationship online social media can bring also can be known as cat fish. We as human being need real human interaction to have any type of communication or social skills. An article called -The Negative Effect of Social Media on Society and Individuals by Brian Jung, says that social media gives us a false sense of connection and decreased productivity in the workplace. A False Sense of Connection According to Cornell University’s Steven Strogatz, social media sites can make it make it more difficult for us to distinguish between the meaningful relationships we foster in the real world, and the numerous casual relationships formed through social media. By focusing so much of our time and psychic energy on these less meaningful relationships, our most important connections, he fears, will weaken. Decreased Productivity while many businesses use social networking sites to find and communicate with clients, the sites can also prove a great distraction to employees Wired.com posted two studies which demonstrated damage to productivity caused by social networking Social media is causing us as humans to have very little to no real interaction. I think Roberta M. Gilbert says it best in her book about human interaction called â€Å"Extraordinary Relationships: A New Way of Thinking about Human Interactions†. She says that It would be difficult to overestimate the  importance of human relationship. If love does not make the world go, then surely relationships do. Now im sure we all know or someone have heard of the effects of social media and how if creates an unhealthy body image. In the book -The Body Image Workbook for Teens: Activities to Help Girls Develop a Healthy Body Image in an Image-Obsessed World by Julia V. Taylor MA  it states that  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Like most teens; you want to feel good about the way you look. But what happens when the way you look just doesn’t feel good enough? Whether it’s online, on TV, or in magazines, images of thin, beautiful—and often Photo shopped—young women are everywhere. As a result, you may feel an intense pressure to be â€Å"perfect.† Hope that you take away a new idea of how social media is really affecting you, whether it be social skills ruining and relationship or giving yourself a bad body image, you now have a better knowledge of how it can affect you and other people around you.

Media Representatin of Women in Sport

Major Essay Current society is built upon stereotypes and constructions that are predetermined by previous generations’ views. One of the most recognised historical constructions is the patriarchal theory, that the female is subservient to the male. However, this construction of gender power is slowly equalising, with the rise of feminist groups in the latter part of the 20th century giving reason for this occurring. Nevertheless, gender battles are still occurring, particularly in the sporting industry, which remains male dominated. Female sport has been given much notoriety over their uproar in the past decade, but is finding in a male controlled industry it is difficult for women to receive help from governing bodies. Female sport is marginalised compared to male sport, largely due to the sexualisation of the athletes themselves. Professionally they are receiving very little media coverage in comparison to males and in an amateur sense; females are being stereotyped as a result of the images of ‘athletic’ sexualised women displayed in magazines such as Zoo, Sports Illustrated and Alpha. The media has evolved female sport into sexually appealing entertainment and doesn’t give the sports that have not been sexualised, enough coverage. (Maria Sharapova Bikini) The media have constructed their own image of what a female athlete ultimately looks like by posting images in their magazines, â€Å"characteristics favoured in visual media are those commonly associated with feminine beauty, such as smiling, unblemished skin, slender and toned physique, and long blonde hair† (Schell n. d. ). Maria Sharapova pictured below is the perfect example, and even though she isn’t the number one female tennis player and hasn’t been for some time, she is still one of the most popular and most followed players in the women’s circuit, she was the highest paid female athlete in the world come 2006, earning more from endorsements than prize money (Carr 2006). We see in Australia the sexualisation of sports like Netball, where women in the ANZ Championship wear skin tight, short dresses to play, making it appealing to male audiences. We often see at the Australian Open, similar length dresses or skirts that leave little to the imagination. Venus Williams sent the media into frenzy in 2010 with her skin colour underwear visible as soon as she moved around the court, to which she designed herself (Eurosport 2010). Tennis uniforms are becoming a fashion statement more and more every year, which is always judged by the media when someone wears something even slightly risky or sexy. Anna Kournikova was the pioneer in making tennis ‘sexy’ with her risque photographs in the magazine Sports Illustrated (Cover pictured below). Former tennis player and feminist rights activist Billie Jean King gave a response to the Anna Kournikova Sport illustrated photographs with this, â€Å"It doesn't bother me at all if some of the guys come out to watch women's tennis because they want to see a beautiful woman. Who could hold that against Anna? Still, it's unfortunate when others with a high skill factor don't win the endorsements. Sure, the good-looking guys get more endorsements, but the difference in men's sports is that the ugly ones get their share, too. †(Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles 2000) In America, ‘sexploitation’ is taken to another level at a professional level, particularly in the sports of wrestling and in the gridiron league Lingerie Football League. In these competitions, females wear very little, going down to the bare minimum. Pictured below is an image of the Lingerie Football League, clearly the uniforms (Lingerie Football League 2009)(Anna Kournikova 2000) leave little to be desired, but are used to entertain to a male dominated audience. These sports are both considered to be female sports in their own right, but we also see the sexualisation of women in male sports, particularly in professional sides in the form of cheerleaders. Cheerleaders provide entertainment during the sporting breaks, which we often see during breaks in male sports, providing a view of females in general as sexual objects and inferior to the male ‘athletes’. So from our perspective it is clear that the media has constructed a view that the amateur female athlete must be ‘sexy’ in order to be able to succeed, we don’t read in magazines or see photographs of less attractive female athletes, they have excluded them for what in their mind is good reason, sex sells. However it is creating an unrealistic image of the perfect female athlete, they are not judged by how good they are at hitting, catching, shooting, running or jumping, but by how much they can get paid for taking their clothes off. (Caple, Greenwood Lumby 2010) Another cause for concern over female sport is that professionally they are not getting anywhere near enough media coverage and money as their male counterparts. The media cover male sport in far more depth; in fact a study in 2006 by South Australian Premier’s Council for Women found just 4. per cent of coverage was about female sport () and on Foxtel approximately 10 per cent was about female sport (Senate Standing Committees on Environment, Communications and the Arts 2006). The chart below shows the volume of news coverage that all the different sports receive, which not surprisingly shows Tennis as being pretty much the main female sport that is being covered, with very little else in comparison to male sport, even horses gain more exposure than females. So while females are being splayed all over the magazines in compromising poses and clothing, they receive very little coverage of them competing within their sports. So even though the â€Å"Australian women’s swimming team at the 2004 Olympic games secured more medals than their male counterparts. The women’s hockey team, the Hockeyroos have frequently dominated international competition, winning Olympic gold and international championships on many occasions. The Australian women’s netball team has won eight of eleven world championships†(Senate Standing Committees on Environment, Communications and the Arts 2006), we still don’t see these teams play, other than at major sporting competitions like the Olympic and Commonwealth games. The lack of exposure can be hurtful to professional female athletes, in an interview with former Australian netball player explains her pain, â€Å"’I went very close to an emotional breakdown’ Ellis said, describing a time when she was struggling to combine her work as a solicitor, a marriage and the daily demands of club training and competing for Australia. (Magnay 2006) So while professional male sportsman have sport as their only profession earning a large salary in doing so, most women who compete at the top levels of their sports don’t actually receive any payment for their services, or if they do, they definitely couldn’t live of it, so majority of them have normal day jobs, which in itself would be stressful, but in conjunction with family, training and games, they must lead extremely demanding lives, which hardly seems reasonable. The inability of female sport to be fully professional and given similar or equal coverage in the media leaves the representation of women very much being subservient in a male dominated industry. The representation of the ultimate female ‘athlete’ projected as a result of the sexualisation that has occurred in higher level sport today has created a flow on effect into the amateur level of sport. Solmon et al. (2003) found that college-aged women who perceive a sport as gender-neutral are more confident about participating than are women who identify a sport as masculine. †(Hardin and Greer 2009, 207) Which is a direct result from media exposure, they see sports on television almost every day; recognize that it is a male sport as the athletes are male and then deem it too masculine to try. There is also the issue of sexuality discrimination when a female becomes involved with sport; because we see the masculine sports on television, any participation in such by a female has become deemed as homosexual, constructed by our culture and media, â€Å"so when a female is called a ‘dyke’ or ‘lesbian’ in a derogatory manner, she may alter her actions and dress to be ‘more feminine,’ downplay her athletic talents, or avoid sport altogether†(Schell n. d. ). This has become a common problem with women’s amateur sport, particularly sports that are deemed to be too masculine for women to try such as cricket (Burroughs, Seebohm and Ashburn 1995, 29) and Australian Rules football (Hillier 2006, 18) that there is an automatic stereotype of being homosexual. The social construction that female participants are labelled as homosexual in male dominated sports is a media formed fallacy. The reason why this has occurred is that in past societies, homosexuality was frowned upon and when a female athlete is found to be a lesbian, then the media reveals it to the world, the stereotype builds. This happened to the Australian women’s cricket team in the opposite fashion when â€Å"it was reported that female cricketer, Denise Annetts, had been dropped from the Australian team and had alleged that her sacking was due to her heterosexual preference and marital status. †( Burroughs, Seebohm and Ashburn 1995, 29) This built the reputation than women’s cricket still holds to this day. Nowadays there has been a movement towards helping women’s sport grow more. There have been the new Australian digital television channels which allowed channel Ten to show Netball during the day on their channel ‘One’. ABC still broadcast lawn bowls and women’s Basketball fairly often, and just this year, channel Nine started broadcasting female Twenty20 cricket that was played before the men’s game. So there has been improvement in the coverage regard, however women across the globe are still victims of sexploitation, which is undermining the coverage solution because we are still able to receive the media’s representation of females in sport as marginalised and subservient to a male industry. Until this is solved and females stand up against this, then there is little chance they have in improving their image in the sporting industry. Reference List Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles. 2000. Sportsletter. 12 (1,2): 2009. Quoted in Messner 2002, 100. Anna Kournikova. Image. 2000. http://sportsillustrated. cnn. com/vault/cover/toc/9744/index. htm (accessed May 20, 2011). Australia. Senate Standing Committees on Environment, Communications and the Arts. 2006. About time! Women in sport and recreation in Australia. Volume 1. Canberra: Senate Printing Unit. Burroughs, A. , L. Seebohm, and L. Ashburn. 1995. Sporting Traditions. The Journal of the Australian Society for Sports History 12 (1): 29. Google. www. google. om. au (accessed 21 May 2011). Caple, H. , K, Greenwood and C, Lumby. Image. 2010. http://www. ausport. gov. au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/356209/Towards_a_Level_Playing_Field_LR. pdf (accessed May 20, 2011) Carr, J. 2006. Maria Sharapova has become the sport’s most marketable icon. http://mariasharapova. wetpaint. com/page/Endorsements (accessed May 20, 2011). Eurosport. 2010. Australian Open – Cheeky Venus outfit shocks crowd. http://uk. eurosport. yahoo. com/24012010/58/australian-open-cheeky-venus-outfit-shocks-crowd. html (accessed May 23, 2011). Hardin, M. , J. D. Greer. 2009. The Influence of Gender-Role Socialization, Media Use and Sports Participation on Perceptions of Gender-Appropriate Sports. Journal of Sport Behavior 32 (2): 207. Questia. www. questia. com (accessed 19 May 2011). Hillier, L. 2006. Safe Spaces: The upside of the image problem for same sex attracted young women playing Australian Rules football. International Journal of Football Studies 8 (2): 18. Google. www. google. com. au (accessed 21 May 2011). Lingerie Football League. Image. 2009. http://www. stuff. co. nz/sport/2834471/New-Lingerie-Football-League-under-debate (accessed May 20, 2011). Magnay, J. 2006. Women deserve sporting chance: Ellis. http://www. smh. com. au/news/sport/women-deserve-sporting-chance-ellis/2006/08/02/1154198205721. html (accessed 20 May 2011). Maria Sharapova Bikini. Image. n. d. http://www. dailybum. com/ (accessed May 20, 2011). Messner, M. 2002. Taking the Field: Women, Men and Sports. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Schell, B. n. d. (Dis)Empowering Images? Media Representations of Women in Sport. http://www. womenssportsfoundation. org/Content/Articles/Issues/Media-and-Publicity/D/DisEmpowering-Images–Media-Representations-of-Women-in-Sport. aspx (accessed May 20, 2011). Short Research Essay Reflection What strengths and weaknesses did you identify in your Short Research Essay? My short research essay was not quite as good as what I had hoped, the topic Sexual Abuse in Sport: With a focus on the AFL was too narrow, it was not a smart decision to give myself such a small focus, which basically narrowed myself down to Australian texts only, which wasn’t easy. I did find a fair arrange of resources, but perhaps didn’t utilise them as much, and just relied on my own theory. The need to rely on stereotypes and overuse of emotive language also hampered my essay. How did you use the tutor’s feedback to improve your work for the Major Essay? I firstly acknowledged the fact that my essay used too much emotive language and made it a conscious focus to not try and use it so much, to what effect I am not sure, it is a habit in my writing that needs fixing for the future. I also rewrote my whole essay, broadening the topic to women in sport, which meant I could find an array of sources. I also have cleared up my analysis and hopefully the referencing has improved. All in all I believe that this essay is a far improvement on the short research essay.