Sunday, February 23, 2020

Discuss two or three texts which explore the idea that gender roles Essay

Discuss two or three texts which explore the idea that gender roles are performative rather than innate. Discuss with reference - Essay Example Socially accepted mannerisms and functions are them critiqued through frameworks of understanding that are at once rebellious and radical. These texts open up new ways of understanding the gender relations that exist in patriarchal societies and the influences that such societies have on the people who are a part of such societies. The texts also open up the possibilities for social theorists to understand the ways in which society as a whole is complicit in the victimization of women. The victim’s complicity is also often explored and this results in a better understanding of how the power structures that area associated with patriarchy are able to stifle women’s roles without any voice of dissent making itself known or heard. Film theorists have often been able to locate such discrepancies in the society that is modern and yet patriarchal; they have also been able to locate better the performative aspect of gender because of the very nature of film as a medium. The Gr eat Gatsby is an important example of gender relations in the American society during the 1920s. This was an era when there was a great emphasis on the improvement of the economy and speculative investments were on the rise during this era. As a result of this, there were a large number of people who were extremely wealthy and held a great number of very lavish parties. Jay Gatsby is one such person. His source of income is very mysterious. What the reader knows of Jay Gatsby is what he chooses to tell the narrator Nick. As a result of this, the reader has no option but to accept the version of Gatsby. This passage makes this very clear- The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a s eventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end (Fitzgerald 1995, 16). The idea of inventing for oneself the kind of identity that was in vogue during the twenties is what Gatsby does. What he does is informed by the gender codes of the time and he is able to successfully inhabit such a role. This makes him a successful person for those who are around him. To inhabit a gender role is thus, what makes a person successful in a patriarchal society according to Fitzgerald. This inhabitation of gender roles can also be seen in the women characters of the novel. For instance, the extreme femininity of Daisy is what makes her attractive to the two men who are in love with her. Her rejection of the gender roles that are prescribed then makes room for turmoil and tension within the novel, the kind of tension that finally leads Gatsby to his death. Tom is another character who chooses to inhabit a space that has been socially prescribed. He p lays out an older form of masculinity. According to this role, he is physically strong and is also the provider of the family. Such ideas of gender, according to feminists like Simone de Beauvoir are based on the idea that gender roles are based on the sex of a person. Such roles are then sanctioned by the society and this leads to them being set

Friday, February 7, 2020

SHRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SHRM - Essay Example Satisfaction in the workplace translates into happiness and fulfillment in life. Work and life balance suggests a balance for life and what people do. There is to be a blending equality that includes work, family, pleasure, fulfillment, and satisfaction. Some skeptics argue that there is actually no relation between life and work. What works in the workplace has no correlation with what is happening at home. But recent surveys and experiences revealed that organizations adopting family-friendly and work-life balance policies and programmes motivate workers to be more productive. Work-life balance creates satisfaction among family-oriented workers. Work-life balance has been given much attention lately because this has convinced employers of the economic benefits for organizations. There is a feeling that satisfied workers create satisfied customers. This is linked to ‘valuing’ work and value-added supply chains. But there are a lot of workers who are dissatisfied with th eir jobs. There are arguments and counter-arguments on the effectiveness of work-life balance which can be explained later in the following sections of this paper. Background Our first concept of work can be traced from the Bible. Work is considered a burden and a form of punishment. God imposed work to punish Adam and Eve. Our present ideas and philosophies are still linked to this punishment view. This could be one of the reasons why man continues to build, innovate, and reinvent new things, technologies, robots, etc., to give ease and comfort, to avoid the ‘punishment’, and not ‘to work’ in the process. Archeological findings tell us that mankind had learned to use rudimentary tools as far back as 2.5 million years ago. The tools were used for hunting and making art. Cave hunters were specialists in making tools. Man learned to make machines to enable him to satisfy his basic need for food, and successive inventions would tell us that there are some task s that we would choose not to do if we had the choice and that there are some activities which we would much prefer others to do on our behalf. (Firth, 2002, p. 17) Technological breakthroughs are an outcome of this concept. Computers, the Internet, Information Technology, robotics and other inventions, permit man to be more dependent on machines and technology. The concept of work changed over time but the real meaning is still there. With complexity in the workplace, organizations formed, multinational corporations and now global organizations evolving, the concept of work remains – ‘it is really that tiresome to work’. But man has to work for money in order to buy food, clothing, shelter for his family, and to have a career in the process. The concept of work has evolved. This is where work-life balance was invented. Organizations continue to provide innovations to make life for the workers easier. Definitions and Concepts A definition for work-life balance th at is widely accepted is provided in the website Actnow (2009): â€Å"Work life balance is about people having a measure of control over when, where and how they work. It is achieved when an individual's right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society† (Actnow, 2009). What is stressed in this definition is that the workers have a measure of cont