How do feminists explain inequality between the sexes and how do they seek to remedy it?

Feminism is the only ideology that believes that gender is a form of discrimination, if not the strongest of social boundaries compared to race, status, and nationality. For this reason feminists focus on gender inequality and the specific roles that men and woman lead in every day life as a result of gender discrimination. Feminism can be traced back to 1405 in the book by Christine de Pisan's â€Å"Book of the City of Ladies†. This book contained the basic skeleton of thought that is present in modern day feminism, as it celebrates and highlights women and their contribution through out history, similar to cultural feminism. This clearly shows that from long ago there has always been a demand for equal rights between the sexes. In the last century many schools of feminist thought have emerged as a result of this question of equality and many different remedies have also come as result. Today feminism is an ideology that has a very broad horizon, which is only normal for an area as vast and amorphous as gender. Liberal feminism emerged in the 1850's and was the school of thought that dominated first wave feminism. Liberal feminism is the belief that focussed on woman enjoying the same rights as men, and for this reason first wave feminism focussed on the public sphere of politics. Liberal feminists believed that the problem was in the political sphere of life, as woman at the time were literally not allowed in the public sphere of life. The British suffrage movement lead by mother and daughter Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst in the 1903 organised many forms of protest that were aimed at achieving the goal of the female vote. The feminists at the time thought that gaining the vote would be the most important right that women needed, and as a result the other gender divides in society would disappear. For this reason it is understandable to see why feminists at the time thought gaining the vote would solve inequality between the sexes as the external rights would affect everyday life, and internal affairs. Legislation was the only way that woman could gain the vote, and bring equality. Once the bill had been passed than it would be the responsibility of the ruling body to implement and protect that laws and this would mean woman having the same protected rights as men, or so they thought so. The methods that the suffragettes used to achieve this ranged from handing out leaflets, chaining themselves to property, and even to the use of hunger strikes. These methods no doubt gained media attention, but not necessarily positive media attention. However these forms of protests did increase awareness among other woman, and also inspired others to join the movement as well. The movement grew through out the 19th century, and had the clear focus of gaining the vote. Despite woman's obvious contribution to society it was only until the start if the First World War when they could prove they were just as capable as men were. When the war was over and won in 1918, woman over the age of thirty were given the right to vote in 1920. This right to vote was given for many reasons, woman had proved that they could do the men's jobs, and were just as capable. Also the government realised that as growing power in the world, the British workforce would be stronger if women were a part of the workforce as well. The voting franchise was further extended to woman aged 18 in 1928. The goal of first wave feminism had been achieved, woman had the vote and but this caused the movement lose the impetus. But it was clear that inequality still remained between the sexes, gaining the female vote had raised the political status of women slightly, but failed to achieve the original goal of bringing equality between the sexes. . The feminist movement did not stop here, but instead the opposite happened, feminists had to look at the bigger picture and not just rely on one piece of legislation to solve inequality. Where did inequality start? How is it maintained? But mostly, if gaining the vote didn't end equality than what would? These questions were the main focus of second wave feminism, which emerged decades later in the 60's. Second wave feminism aimed at achieving the goals that first wave feminism failed to achieve, and for this reason the movement this time was dominated by a more contemporary approach, radical feminism. In 1963 Betty Frieden wrote â€Å"The feminine mystique†, and the first chapter was called â€Å"The Problem With No Name†. This problem was what most women were going through at the time. Trying to live up to the perfect images of a housewife, but at the same time feeling empty and not knowing their true identity. The problem with no name took the idea of true liberation for woman. If woman were liberated in their personal lives, and then this in turn would liberate in the public sphere. Betty Frieden stressed on the message that women should not coup themselves up at home, and should broaden their horizons through striving for true liberation. Radical feminists like Kate Millett took this new perspective of focussing on woman's everyday lives further, when the concept of patriarchy was discussed in her book â€Å"Sexual Politics† written in 1969. Patriarchy literally means rule by the father, but feminists use this term to describe men's general dominance in society. Radical feminists believe that patriarchy is how men maintain the position over women in society. When looking at patriarchy radical feminists like to focus on everyday relationships between men and women. For example when a woman irons her husband's clothes, this can show how men for their own benefit use women and also how woman are confined to the house. It also shows that patriarchy starts from the home, and is built in the family structure â€Å"rule by the father†. Women are socialised into believing that they are inferior to men, they are socialised to be weak, and as Simone de Beauvoir said â€Å"Woman are not born they are made†. Thus the only way to get rid of patriarchy is summarised in the statement â€Å"The personal is the political†, meaning woman should liberate themselves in their personal lives as well. Gaining the vote didn't bring equality, because patriarchy starts from the family (the heart of society), patriarchy is maintained through socialisation, and patriarchy in turn shapes society. The radical feminist Shulasmith Firestone looks at how women are biologically weaker than men, and how this makes it possible for men to dominate women. She argues that woman have the ability to have babies, this links to menstruation, breast- feeding, and childbirth, which are all disadvantages as they limit what a woman can do in her life. These biological characteristics also take away large amounts of freedom from women. One of the reasons why woman are mostly in low paid, part time work, is because they have other commitments at home. Most of the high well-paid jobs, are dominated by men, this may be because of the gaps in employment that woman take when pregnant and so fail to get promoted. Her solution to this is to defy women's nature with the aid of modern technology. Ideally women should have complete control over their ability to give birth and this will mean that children will be born outside the womb. However women taking control of their biology will only be the first step towards women being completely in control of every aspect if their lives. Radical feminism goes against Liberal feminism in one way, liberal feminists believe that the state and legislation is the solution to gaining equality. However radical feminists believe that the state is used as a tool that keeps women in an inferior position in society. Radical feminism also believes in the concept of sisterhood, and this is shown through how Shulasmith Firestone, stresses that the biological family is present in all societies. Showing that all women are suffering, and weak as a result of their biology. This is why radical feminists believe that woman should all be united in their struggle, against men, and towards true liberation. Sisterhood is important to radical feminists, as it strengthens the movement, and woman will be able to seek strength in each other rather than rely on men. The other schools of feminists thought that have come about after the 60's is Marxist feminism, which focuses on how woman are abused by the capitalist system. Marxists feminists like Sue Sharpe states that women are used as a surplus labour force ready for to be used and disposed of easily. Also that women are drained of their energy and time, through maintaining the present workforce (their husbands), and also at the same time rearing the future workforce (their children). Marxist feminists stress on how woman are used and abused in both the home and the workplace, and men dominate both environments. Another school of feminist thought is ecofeminism, which looks at the link between nature and females. Ecofeminists like Van Plumwood believe that the world would be a better place if women were in charge. The reason for this is that woman innately are more caring than men, they have they ability to raise children and nurture human life. Ecofeminists also focus on the state of the world today, pollution, global warming, the dumping of toxic wastes, and other environmental issues. But some feminists argue that this form of feminism is reactionary, meaning that it takes woman backwards away from progress, as it is taking the female role back to biology. This is similar to pro-womnism that also focuses on the positive side about women's role to reproduce. These two schools of thought would clash with radical feminist who believe that women are handicapped due to their nature. Black feminism is a school of feminist thought, which mixes race with gender. It is the argument that white woman dominates the feminist movement and political scene mainly. This may be true as it was the middle class women, that had the time and the money to involve themselves in politics, and they were usually white. New feminism can be viewed as the third wave of feminism but it hasn't really come crashing like the other two previous waves. Maybe because the movement has passed its use but feminists would argue that the movement still has its aims. New feminism believes in breaking the link between the personal and the political hence â€Å"the personal is less political†. This has been done because many women are put off by the obtrusive nature of the slogan. The statement shows that new feminism is trying to make women more comfortable with being feminists. This is ideal for women who do not want the their public life to mix with their private life. New feminism also looks at issues like abortion, pornography, which are controversial and affect woman greatly. This shows that it is not the end of the line for feminism because women constantly face new problems in a modern growing society, and need organisations that will help them. The feminist movement has changed greatly through out the past century, and no doubt a great deal has been achieved. Feminism by having these different stages has shown the world that it is almost evolutionary, and will be around for a longer time. Organisations like NOW are one of the biggest in America, and lobby a vast range of issues concerning women. Women today are still benefiting from the work of the past feminists, in areas of education, work, and politics. Overall the feminist movement has been a success, a remedy for true equality and liberation may not of been found yet. But instead many have been put forward, which have caused women to think further and also think for the future of â€Å"personkind† as well.

Spirit Bound Chapter Seventeen

THE ENTIRE ROOM SEEMED to hold its breath. Yet even in the face of miracles, guardians–or Strigoi, for that matter–were hard to distract. Fights that had paused now resumed with just as much fury. The guardians had the upper hand, and those of them who weren't engaged with the last surviving Strigoi suddenly leapt toward Lissa, trying to pull her away from Dimitri. To everyone's surprise, she held on to him tightly and made a few feeble attempts to fight off those crowding around her. She was fierce and protective, again putting me in mind of a mother defending her child. Dimitri was holding on to her just as intently, but both he and Lissa were outmatched. The guardians finally pried them apart. There were confused shouts as guardians tried to determine whether they should kill Dimitri. It wouldn't have been hard. He was helpless now. He could barely stand when they jerked him to his feet. That woke me up. I'd simply been staring, frozen and dumbstruck. Shaking off my daze, I sprang forward, though I wasn't sure who I was going for: Lissa or Dimitri. â€Å"No! Don't!† I yelled, seeing some of the guardians move in with stakes. â€Å"He's not what you think! He's not Strigoi! Look at him!† Lissa and Christian were shouting similar things. Someone grabbed me and pulled me back, telling me to let the others handle this. Without even thinking, I turned and punched my captor in the face, discovering too late it was Hans. He fell back a little, seeming more surprised than offended. Attacking him was enough to attract the attention of others, however, and soon I had my own group of guardians to fight off. My efforts didn't do any good, partially because I was outnumbered and partially because I couldn't take them on the same way I'd attacked Strigoi. As the guardians hauled me out, I noticed then that Lissa and Dimitri had already been removed from the room. I demanded to know where they were, yelling that I had to see them. No one listened to me. They dragged me away, out of the warehouse, passing a disturbing amount of bodies. Most were Strigoi, but I recognized a few faces from the guardian regiment at the Court. I grimaced, even though I hadn't known them well. The battle was over, and our side had won–but at a great cost. The surviving guardians would be doing cleanup now. I wouldn't have been surprised if Alchemists showed up, but at the moment, none of that was my concern. â€Å"Where's Lissa?† I kept demanding as I was shoved inside one of the SUVs. Two guardians slid in with me, one sitting on each side. I didn't know either of them. â€Å"Where's Dimitri?† â€Å"The princess has been taken to safety,† one of the guardians said crisply. He and the other guy stared straight ahead, and I realized neither was going to acknowledge the question about Dimitri. He might as well not exist for any of them. â€Å"Where's Dimitri?† I repeated, speaking more loudly in the hopes that might get an answer. â€Å"Is he with Lissa?† That got a reaction. â€Å"Of course not,† said the guardian who'd spoken before. â€Å"Is he†¦ is he alive?† It was one of the hardest questions I'd ever asked, but I had to know. I hated to admit it, but if I were in Hans's place, I wouldn't have been looking for miracles. I would have been exterminating anything I perceived as a threat. â€Å"Yes,† said the driver at last. â€Å"He†¦ it†¦ is alive.† And that was all I could get out of them, no matter how much I argued and demanded to be released from the car–and believe me, I did a lot of that. Their ability to ignore me was pretty impressive, really. To be fair, I'm not even sure that they knew what had happened. Everything had occurred so fast. The only thing these two knew was that they'd been ordered to escort me out of the building. I kept hoping someone I knew might join us in our SUV. Nope. Only more unknown guardians. No Christian or Tasha. Not even Hans–of course, that was understandable. He was probably afraid I'd accidentally punch him again. When we were loaded up and on the road, I finally gave up my badgering and sank back into the seat. Other SUVs had left with ours, but I had no clue whether my friends were in them. The bond between Lissa and me was still numb. After that initial shock where I'd felt nothing, I'd slowly regained a slight sense of her, telling me we were still connected and that she was alive. That was about it. With all that power that had blasted through her, it was almost like the bond had been temporarily fried. The magic between us was fragile. Each time I tried to use the bond to check on her, it was as though I'd stared too brightly at something and was still blinded. I just had to assume it would reestablish itself soon because I needed her insight on what had happened. No, scratch insight. I needed to know what had happened, period. I was still in a bit of shock, and the long ride back to Court allowed me time to process what few facts I had access to. I immediately wanted to jump to Dimitri but needed to start at the beginning if I really wanted to analyze all that had occurred. First: Lissa had charmed a stake and withheld the info from me. When? Before her college trip? At Lehigh? While captive? It didn't matter. Second, in spite of her failed pillow attempts, she had gotten the stake into Dimitri's heart. It had been a struggle, but Christian's fire had made it possible. I winced, recalling the burns Lissa had suffered during that ordeal. I'd felt the pain of those before the bond blanked out, and I'd also seen the marks on her. Adrian wasn't the world's best healer, but hopefully his magic would be enough to take care of her injuries. The third and final fact here†¦ well†¦ was it a fact? Lissa had stabbed Dimitri and used the same magic she would for a healing†¦ and then? That was the big question. What had happened, aside from what felt like a nuclear explosion of magic through our bond? Had I really seen what I thought I'd seen? Dimitri had†¦ changed. He was no longer a Strigoi. I felt it in my heart, even though I'd only had that brief glimpse of him. It had been enough to allow me to see the truth. The Strigoi features were gone. Lissa had done everything Robert had sworn she needed to do to restore a Strigoi, and certainly after all that magic†¦ well, it was easy to believe anything was possible. That image of Dimitri came back to me, clinging to Lissa with tears running down his face. I'd never seen him so vulnerable. Somehow, I didn't believe Strigoi cried. Something in my heart twisted painfully, and I blinked rapidly to stop from crying too. Glancing around, I tuned back into my surroundings. Outside the car, the sky was lightening. It was nearly sunrise. The guardians with me had signs of weariness on their faces, yet the alert expressions in their eyes never faltered. I'd lost track of the time, but my internal clock told me we'd been on the road for a while. We had to almost be back at Court. Tentatively, I touched the bond and found it was back but still fragile. It was like it flickered in and out, still reestablishing itself. That was enough to put me at ease, and I breathed a sigh of relief. When the bond had first come about years ago, it had been so strange†¦ surreal. Now I'd accepted it as part of my life. Its absence today had felt unnatural. Looking through Lissa's eyes, at the SUV she rode in, I immediately hoped I'd see Dimitri with her. That one glimpse at the warehouse hadn't been enough. I needed to see him again, needed to see if this miracle had truly happened. I wanted to drink in those features, to gaze at the Dimitri from so long ago. The Dimitri I loved. But he wasn't with Lissa. Christian was there, however, and he glanced over at her as she stirred. She'd been asleep and still felt groggy. That, combined with the aftereffect of that searing power earlier, kept our connection a little hazy. Things shifted out of focus for me off and on, but overall, I could follow what was happening. â€Å"How do you feel?† asked Christian. His voice and his eyes as he peered at her were filled with so much affection that it seemed impossible she didn't notice. But then, she was a little preoccupied right now. â€Å"Tired. Worn out. Like†¦ I don't know. Like I've been thrown around in a hurricane. Or run over by a car. Pick something horrible, and that's what I feel like.† He gave her a small smile and gently touched her cheek. Opening myself to her senses more, I felt the pain of her burns and that he was tracing the skin near one, though being careful to keep away from it. â€Å"Is it awful?† she asked him. â€Å"Is all my skin melted off? Do I look like some alien?† â€Å"No,† he said, with a small laugh. â€Å"There's not that much. You're beautiful, like always. It would take a lot for that to change.† The throbbing pain she felt made her think that there was more damage than he was admitting to, but the compliment and the way he'd said it went a long way to soothe her. For a moment, her whole existence focused on his face and the way the rising sun was starting to light it up. Then the rest of her world came crashing down on her. â€Å"Dimitri! I need to see Dimitri!† There were guardians in the car, and she glanced around at them as she spoke. As with me, no one seemed willing to acknowledge him or what had happened. â€Å"Why can't I see him? Why'd you take him away?† This was directed to anyone who would answer, and at last, Christian did. â€Å"Because they think he's dangerous.† â€Å"He's not. He's just†¦ He needs me. He's hurting inside.† Christian's eyes suddenly went wide, his face filling with panic. â€Å"He's not†¦ You aren't bonded to him, are you?† I guessed by the look on his face that Christian was recalling Avery and how bonding with multiple people had pushed her over the edge. Christian hadn't been there for Robert's explanation of the soul going to the world of the dead and how restored Strigoi didn't get bonded. Lissa shook her head slowly. â€Å"No†¦ I just know. When I†¦ when I healed him, we had this connection, and I felt it. What I had to do†¦ I can't explain it.† She ran a hand through her hair, frustrated that she couldn't put her magic into words. Weariness was starting to overtake her. â€Å"It was like I had to do surgery on his soul,† she said at last. â€Å"They think he's dangerous,† repeated Christian gently. â€Å"He's not!† Lissa glared around at the rest of the car's occupants, all of whom were looking somewhere else. â€Å"He's not Strigoi anymore.† â€Å"Princess,† began one of the guardians uneasily, â€Å"no one really knows what happened. You can't be sure that–â€Å" â€Å"I am sure!† she said, voice too loud for the small space. There was a regal, commanding air to it. â€Å"I know. I saved him. I brought him back. I know with every single part of me that he's no longer Strigoi!† The guardians looked uncomfortable, again not speaking. I think they were just confused, and really, how could they not be? There was no precedent for this. â€Å"Shh,† said Christian, putting his hand on hers. â€Å"There's nothing you can do until we're back at Court. You're still hurt and exhausted–it's written all over you.† Lissa knew he was right. She was hurt, and she was exhausted. That magic had ripped her apart. At the same time, what she had done for Dimitri had created a bond to him–not a magical one, but a psychological one. She really was like a mother. She felt desperately protective and concerned. â€Å"I need to see him,† she said. She did? What about me? â€Å"You will,† said Christian, sounding more certain than I suspected he was. â€Å"But just try to rest now.† â€Å"I can't,† she said, even while stifling a yawn. That smile flickered back across his lips, and he slipped his arm around her, pulling her as close as the seat belts would allow. â€Å"Try,† he told her. She rested her head against his chest, and his closeness was a type of healing in and of itself. Worry and concern for Dimitri still coursed through her, but her body's needs were stronger for the moment. At last, she drifted into sleep in Christian's embrace, just barely hearing him murmur, â€Å"Happy birthday.† Twenty minutes later, our convoy arrived back at Court. I thought this meant instant freedom, but my guardians took their time in getting out, waiting for some signal or directions that no one had bothered to tell me about. It turned out they were waiting for Hans. â€Å"No,† he said, firmly putting a hand on my shoulder as I shot out of the car and tried to race away to†¦ well, I wasn't sure where. Wherever Dimitri was. â€Å"Hold on.† â€Å"I have to see him!† I exclaimed, trying to push past. Hans was like a brick wall. Considering he'd actually fought a lot more Strigoi than me tonight, you'd have thought he'd be tired. â€Å"You have to tell me where he is.† To my surprise, Hans did. â€Å"Locked away. Far, far out of your reach. Or anyone else's. I know he used to be your teacher, but it's better if he's kept away for now.† My brain, weary from the night's activities and overwrought with emotion, took a moment to process this. Christian's words came back to me. â€Å"He's not dangerous,† I said. â€Å"He's not a Strigoi anymore.† â€Å"How can you be so certain?† The same question Lissa had been asked. How could we really answer that? We knew because we'd gone to incredible pains to find out how to transform a Strigoi, and when we'd completed those steps, there'd been an atom bomb of magic. Wasn't that enough proof for anyone? Hadn't Dimitri's appearance been enough? Instead, my answer was like Lissa's. â€Å"I just know.† Hans shook his head, and now I could see he actually was exhausted. â€Å"No one knows what's going on with Belikov. Those of us that were there†¦ well, I'm not sure what I saw. All I do know is that he was leading Strigoi a little while ago, and now he's out in the sun. It doesn't make any sense. No one knows what he is.† â€Å"He's a dhampir.† â€Å"And until we do,† he continued, ignoring my comment, â€Å"Belikov has to stay locked up while we examine him.† Examine? I didn't like the sound of that. It made Dimitri seem like a lab animal. It made my temper flare, and I nearly started yelling at Hans. A moment later, I got myself under control. â€Å"Then I need to see Lissa.† â€Å"She's been taken to the medical center for treatment–which she needs very badly. You can't go there,† he added, anticipating my next response. â€Å"Half the guardians are there. It's chaos, and you'd be in the way.† â€Å"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?† â€Å"Go get some sleep.† He gave me a wry look. â€Å"I still think you've got a bad attitude, but after what I saw back there†¦ well, I'll say this. You know how to fight. We need you–probably for more than paperwork. Now go take care of yourself.† And that was that. The dismissal in his voice was clear, and as the guardians hurried around, it was like I didn't exist. Whatever trouble I'd been in before seemed long forgotten. No more filing in the wake of this. But what was I supposed to do? Was Hans crazy? How could I sleep? I had to do something. I had to see Dimitri–but I didn't know where they'd taken him. Probably the same jail Victor had been kept in, which was inaccessible to me. I also needed to see Lissa–but she was deep in the medical center. I had no power here. I needed to appeal to someone with influence. Adrian! If I went to Adrian, maybe he could pull some strings. He had his royal connections. Hell, the queen loved him, in spite of his slacker ways. As much as it killed me to accept, I was realizing that getting in to see Dimitri right away was going to be nearly impossible. But the medical center? Adrian might be able to get me in to see Lissa, even if it was crowded and chaotic. The bond was still blurry, and talking to her directly would allow me to score faster answers about Dimitri. Plus, I wanted to see for myself that she was all right. Yet when I reached the housing Adrian stayed in at Court, I was informed by the doorman that Adrian had already left a little while ago to–ironically enough–go to the medical center. I groaned. Of course he'd already be there. With his healing abilities, they would have summoned him out of bed. Weak or not, he could definitely help. â€Å"Were you there?† the doorman asked me as I started to turn away. â€Å"What?† For a minute I thought he was talking about the medical center. â€Å"The battle with the Strigoi! The rescue. We've been hearing all sorts of things.† â€Å"Already? What did you hear?† The guy's eyes were wide and excited. â€Å"They say almost every guardian died. But that you captured a Strigoi and brought him back.† â€Å"No, no†¦ there were more injuries than deaths. And the other†¦Ã¢â‚¬  For a moment, I couldn't breathe. What had happened? What had really happened with Dimitri? â€Å"A Strigoi was changed back to a dhampir.† The doorman stared. â€Å"Were you hit on the head?† â€Å"I'm telling the truth! Vasilisa Dragomir did it. With her spirit power. Spread that around.† I left him with his mouth hanging open. And like that, I had no more options, no one else to get information from. I went back to my room feeling defeated but far too keyed up to sleep. At least, that's what I initially thought. After some pacing, I sat on the bed to try to come up with a plan. Yet before long, I felt myself falling into a heavy sleep. I awoke with a start, confused and aching in parts of my body that I hadn't realized had taken hits in the fight. I peered at the clock, astonished at how long I'd slept. In vampire time, it was late morning. Within five minutes, I had showered and put on non-torn, non-bloody clothes. Just like that, I was out the door. People were out and about their daily business, yet every couple or group I passed seemed to be talking about the battle at the warehouse–and about Dimitri. â€Å"You know she can heal,† I heard one Moroi guy say to his wife. â€Å"Why not Strigoi? Why not the dead?† â€Å"It's insane,† the woman countered. â€Å"I've never believed in this spirit thing anyway. It's a lie to cover up the fact that the Dragomir girl never specialized.† I didn't hear the rest of their conversation, but others I passed had similar themes. People were either convinced the whole thing was a scam or were regarding Lissa as a saint already. Every so often, I'd heard something weird, like that the guardians had captured a bunch of Strigoi to experiment on. In all the speculation, though, I never heard Dimitri's name come up or knew what was really happening to him. I followed the only plan I had: Go to the guardian building that held the Court's jail, though I was unsure what I'd actually do when I got there. I wasn't even entirely sure that was where Dimitri still was, but it seemed the most likely place. When I passed a guardian along the way, it took me several seconds to realize I knew him. I came to a halt and turned. â€Å"Mikhail!† He glanced back and, seeing me, walked over. â€Å"What's going on?† I asked, relieved to see a friendly face. â€Å"Have they let Dimitri out?† He shook his head. â€Å"No, they're still trying to figure out what happened. Everyone's confused, even though the princess still swore up and down after she saw him that he's not Strigoi anymore.† There was a wonder in Mikhail's voice–and wistfulness too. He was hoping that it was true, that there might be a chance for his beloved to be saved. My heart ached for him. I hoped he and Sonya could have a happy ending just like– â€Å"Wait. What did you say?† His words drew my romantic musings to a halt. â€Å"Did you say Lissa saw him? You mean after the fight?† I immediately reached for the bond. It was gradually growing clearer–but Lissa was asleep, so I learned nothing. â€Å"He asked for her,† Mikhail explained. â€Å"So they let her in–guarded, of course.† I stared, my jaw nearly dropping to the ground. Dimitri was seeing visitors. They were actually letting him see visitors. The knowledge lit up the dark mood that had been building in me. I turned away. â€Å"Thanks, Mikhail.† â€Å"Wait, Rose–â€Å" But I didn't stop. I ran to the guardians' holding building at a full-out sprint, oblivious to the looks I got. I was too excited, too invigorated with this new info. I could see Dimitri. I could finally be with him, back the way he was supposed to be. â€Å"You can't see him.† I literally came to a halt when the guardian on duty in the front reception area stopped me. â€Å"Wh-what? I need to see Dimitri.† â€Å"No visitors.† â€Å"But Lissa–er, Vasilisa Dragomir got to see him.† â€Å"He asked for her.† I stared incredulously. â€Å"He must have asked for me too.† The guardian shrugged. â€Å"If he did, no one's told me.† The anger I'd kept back last night finally awoke. â€Å"Then go find someone who knows! Dimitri wants to see me. You have to let me in. Who's your boss?† The guardian scowled at me. â€Å"I'm not going anywhere until my shift is over. If you've got clearance, someone will let you know. Until then, no one without special permission is allowed to go down there.† After taking out a fair portion of Tarasov's security, I felt pretty confident I could easily dispatch this guy. However, I felt equally confident that once I got to the depths of the jail cells, I'd run into a lot more guardians. For a second, taking them out seemed very reasonable. It was Dimitri. I would do anything for him. A slight stirring in the bond made me see reason. Lissa had just woken up. â€Å"Fine,† I said. I lifted my chin and gave him a haughty look. â€Å"Thanks for the ‘help.'† I didn't need this loser. I'd go to Lissa. She was staying at almost the opposite end of the Court's grounds from the holding area, and I covered the distance at a light jog. When I finally reached her and she opened the door to her room, I saw that she'd gotten ready almost as quickly as I had. In fact, I could feel that she'd been pretty close to leaving. Studying her face and hands, I was relieved to see that almost all of the burns were gone. A few red spots lingered on her fingers, but that was it. Adrian's handiwork. No doctor could have made that happen. In a pale blue tank top, with her blond hair pulled back, she didn't look at all like anyone who'd been through such a major ordeal less than twenty-four hours ago. â€Å"Are you okay?† she asked. In spite of everything else that had happened, she'd never stopped worrying about me. â€Å"Yeah, fine.† Physically, at least. â€Å"You?† She nodded. â€Å"Fine.† â€Å"You look good,† I said. â€Å"Last night†¦ I mean, I was pretty scared. With the fire†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I couldn't quite finish. â€Å"Yeah,† she said, looking away from me. She seemed nervous and uncomfortable. â€Å"Adrian's been pretty great healing people.† â€Å"Is that where you're going?† There was agitation and restlessness in the bond. It would make sense if she wanted to hurry over to the medical center and help out too. Except†¦ further probing gave me the startling truth. â€Å"You're going to see Dimitri!† â€Å"Rose–â€Å" â€Å"No,† I said eagerly. â€Å"It's perfect. I'll go with you. I was just over there, and they wouldn't let me in.† â€Å"Rose–† Lissa looked very uncomfortable now. â€Å"They gave me some bullshit about how he'd asked for you and not me and that that's why they couldn't let me in. But if you're going, they'll have to let me.† â€Å"Rose,† she said firmly, finally breaking through my chatter. â€Å"You can't go.† â€Å"I–what?† I replayed her words, just in case I'd misheard them. â€Å"Of course I can. I need to see him. You know I do. And he needs to see me.† She slowly shook her head, still looking nervous–but also sympathetic. â€Å"That guardian was right,† she said. â€Å"Dimitri hasn't been asking for you. Only me.† All my eagerness, all that fire, froze up. I was dumbstruck, confused more than anything. â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I recalled how he'd clung to her last night, that desperate look on his face. I hated to admit it, but it kind of made sense why he would have asked for her first. â€Å"Of course he'd want to see you. Everything's so new and strange, and you're the one who saved him. Once he comes around more, he'll want to see me too.† â€Å"Rose, you can't go.† This time the sadness in Lissa's voice was mirrored through the bond, flooding into me. â€Å"It's not just that Dimitri didn't ask to see you. He asked specifically not to see you.†

Issue 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Issue 4 - Assignment Example Robert Ramsey, an author, illustrates that embracing the religious perspectives of employees, can result to the never ending unnecessary requests by employees that results to decreased productivity and profitability. The author stresses that business organizations should always keep their interests and objectives top priority, without diverging to non-core activities like allowing employees to wear faith symbols (Susan, 2012). The current workplace is greatly diversified, mainly due to the concept of globalization. This illustrates rich mosaic or integration of staffs from very different religious affiliations. Majority of the multinationals have employees who are Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Christians and Hindus. International employment laws existing currently prohibit religious discrimination at the employment place. A major workplace dilemma for human resource managers presently is if employees should be given the chance to religious and other external symbols (Rao, 2013). The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) during 2008 explained that 64% of the companies under study have diverse religious workforce. This shows that a great number of employees are religiously diverse, due to immigrants from different world faiths. Demographic experts illustrate that people and hence employees from other faiths like Buddhists, Islam and Hindus, continuously increase with a likely effect of turning the protest ant faith look like the minority. Supporters of the workplace faith diversity explain that it is unfair for managers to expect the employees to ignore religious expressions and values during work. Organizations can effectively accept the diversity and ethnicity of their staffs, through adequate acknowledgement and understanding of their faith. Majority of the leading multinationals have adopted religion-friendly methods of operation. Companies like Ford Motors and also Coca Cola have given employees

The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin Essay

The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin - Essay Example Composition of the narrative "Shot" belongs is very interesting and highly complicated by through its multilevel character that is created by means of several narrators usage and complexity of plot. On the top stage of compositional ladder is Pushkin by himself. ("A.P."), formally delivered the authorship to Belkin I.P. and accordingly turned himself into a publisher. We get to know about the late Belkin from the letter addressed to "A.P." written by Belkin's neighbor and elder friend who preferred to be nameless. Content of all 5 stories was told to Belkin by witnesses of the events one way or the other related to those people who participated in narrated events. All suggested for the reader correlated straight out with the true life. From the other side the story content may be essentially revised as all in all it is narrated by the third persons. Still the less implication of author's presence in narration and hence the superior social reliability and realistic portrayal of life dominate possible inaccuracy of facts. In Pushkin's stories the system of relationship between narrators looks like a pyramid: Pushkin A.S. Such a solution of composition and fixing up of imaginary authorship accounted for creation of multileveled text gives an opportunity to seize reality, to describe Russian folkway and to narrate about characters' destinies and being bent on more deeply and widely. First-hand narrators are not pococurante of what they are telling about as all the occurred events could easily happen to any of socially close to them person: understrappers, philistines, officers, provincial ladies etc.As a general rule the names of narrators and heros of stories, as well as the scene are not nominated. That is made in order to emphasize the breadth of narrative scene that expanded almost through all the Russian land.The feature of artistic method is as follows: presumptive picture of reality is represented out of the ordinary events background. Moreover out of the ordinary events themselves obey the laws of everyday reality. So here we have specific time and extent features. With an eye to understand in what way the narrator himself perceive people and events that he describes let us consider the correspondence of story and plot of the narrative "Shot" meaning that the story is a natural course of events and the plot is a course of their presentment.We can see that both the story and the plot are distinctly divided in two pieces. These pieces are compositionally repeated. Graphically it is designated by two chapters division. Artistic focuses of both chapters are represented by two duels that are symbolized by shots. Each chapter consists of three notional parts. In first part it is narrated about Silvio and officers'

Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted Essay - 1

Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act Would you make the same decision again - Essay Example Having been brought up from a Christian background, I do not doubt God, but it was worth to build up some level of skepticism. My action was instigated after having read an article on how one of the biggest Christian churches that I always believed in was being suspected to perform fake miracles. At first, it was not very much convincing, and I thought the writing was simply compiled by nonbelievers who were out to contradict just to contradict Christianity and presence of God. However, after a proper investigation I was meant to understand that indeed there are some churches that are out to confuse people and reap at the expense of the followers. Moreover, it was pointed out that some of the Christian based churches perform fake miracles just to draw attention of the believers and to gain recognition that they are the true churches of God. Since then, I have formed some level of skepticism as to which is the true church. If I am given a similar opportunity today, I will defend my position to doubt the presence of a Christian based independent

Public Health Advocacy And Preventive Medicine Essay

Public Health Advocacy And Preventive Medicine - Essay Example This encompasses upholding individual rights and freedoms in relation to accessing healthcare services (Landesman, 2005). To me, health advocacy also entails speaking out for minority groups, and further airing my views and opinions that are highly likely to reform healthcare system for the better. Health advocacy has had a significant impact on my personal life. This issue has shifted my healthcare concerns from an individual perspective to a social and global context. In other words, there are diverse and dynamic healthcare issues that remain unaccounted for by health advocates. If every advocate plays his or her role, then the outcome will without doubt be overwhelming. Health advocacy has, therefore, resulted in self-actualization in the advocacy pursuit. In my own community, Hospital Acquired Infections HAIs constitute a health advocacy need. While many patients have succumbed to HAIs among other hospital errors, inadequate attention is directed to them (Landesman, 2005). Personally, I would actively become involved in advocacy activities related to HAIs since few or no patients understand their

Do not need to divide it Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Do not need to divide it - Coursework Example If it is used to store an account object, it is known as the domain container. In certain cases it is used to indicate the Windows structure by means of the concerned directory. (Schmidt 2008) The domain structure has gone through various changes and the environment and structure of Windows has changed when compared to the past. The domain structure depends on the operating system and hence the domain structure must be modified each time the operating system is changed. Windows domain is completely different from that of other operating systems. Initially domains had the ability to store the user accounts pertaining to a company. But this often led to problems related to data access, since the company in a different city was deprived of its chances to access the required data. (Tiensivu 2008) In this stage, Microsoft altered the usage of domains by introducing domain trusts that helped in the easy access of data. The domain trusts help the employees to access the data only if they ar e directed form a trusted domain source. In this case, the domain which allows the access is known as trusting domain. In the initial stages of development, domains were individual components that were isolated from each other. The changes in the Windows environment changed the entire structure of domain and created a separate structure for these domains. The Windows NT domain structure is completely different from that of Windows 2000, 2003 or 2008. (Posev 2007) The use of domains does not end with database account management; instead they are also used for resource management. The domain structure includes domain controllers and domain name spaces. Domain names are initialized by the Domain Name Servers (DNS) which acts as an intermediary between the systems in a network. The use of domains and their structure varies according to the operating system. (Comer 2006) Domain Structure The domain structure is composed of several domains where they are considered in a hierarchical patte rn. The domains are grouped into a single tree with a root domain. Even a single domain can be made into a tree by including the sub domains from other systems. If the numbers of domains are more, then they are treated as a forest where the first domain is known as forest root. The domain trusts also form a part of the domain structure. In simple terms domain trusts are described as the relationship between two different domains. (McNab 2007) The trust relationship might be either one way where one domain permits the users to access another domain, or two ways where users have the accessibility to both the domains involved in the trust relationship. Role of Domain Structure Windows 2008 allows both one way and two way trust relationship between the domains. In this way it is advantageous, since the users can have an access to both the databases. Cross link, transitive and explicit are the other types of trust relationships that can be established between the domains. The next import ant aspect of domain structure is the domain controller. The domain member of a tree can be made as a domain controller by specifying certain commands. This domain controller manages the other domains in the system. It ensures that the domains perform their operations in a proper manner. (McClure 2009) Windows operating system uses Primary Data Controller(PDC) (McNab, 2007) which controls the entire operations of the domains included in the system structure. Windows can

Caveolin protein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Caveolin protein - Essay Example l of three (3) variants known as the caveloin-1 (CAV-1), caveolin-2 (CAV-2), and caveolin-3 (CAV-3) (Gussak and Antezelevitch 234; Williams and Lisanti). CAV-1 and CAV-2 can be found in most cells whereas CAV-3 can be found in muscle cells of the heart (Yuan, Garcia and Hales 275). Having a complete sequence status, the size of amino acid length of CAV-1 is 178 (UniProtKB). As a 21- to 24-kDa protein, CAV-1 is composed of 16 amino acids longer than CAV-2 and additional N-terminal 27 amino acids as compared to CAV-3 (Fielding 177). CAV-1 has two variants known as CAV-1ÃŽ ± (contains amino acid tyrosin 14) and CAV-1ÃŽ ² (does not contain the â€Å"first 31 amino acid present in CAV 1ÃŽ ±) (Mercier, Jasmin and Lisanti 18). Both CAV-1ÃŽ ± and 1ÃŽ ² can be found in the lungs whereas CAV-1ÃŽ ² can be found in the epithelial cells (Yuan, Garcia and Hales 275). With regards to internalization of the material, Garcia and Hales (275) explained that CAV-1 can be phosphorylated in â€Å"Rab4-labelled, Rab5-labelled or the early endosome antigen-1-labelled compartments which then subsequently move to the Rab11-associated compartment†. Tang, ZhaoLan, Philipp E. Scherer, Takashi Okamoto, et al. "Molecular cloning of caveolin-3, a novel member of the caveolin gene family expressed predominantly in muscle." Journal of Biological Chemistry 271.4 (1996):

Seat belt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Seat belt - Essay Example The UK government tries to enforce the seat belt policy which was first implemented in 1983 (BBC News, 2009). Seat belts have saved 35,000 lives in the UK in the past 25 years. In 2007, 1432 car occupants were killed in car accidents out of which 34% had not belted up (BBC News, 2009). Seat belts and child restraints are secondary safety devices designed to minimize and prevent injury to the car occupants when a crash occurs (FIA Foundation, 2009). They reduce the contact with the interior of the vehicle thereby reducing the severity of the injuries if it occurs. They also prevent the occupants from being ejected from the vehicle in addition to preventing injury to other occupants of the vehicle. Studies conducted throughout the world have shown conclusively that seat belts if worn properly can save lives. Usage of seat belts reduces the probability of being killed by 40-50% of the drivers and front seat passengers and by about 25% for the rear seat passengers (FIA Foundation, 2009). Seat belts have been found to be most effective in frontal impacts and in run-off-the-road crashes. However, even though the seat belts have been suitably designed and the law formulated and implemented, valuable lives are still lost as people ignore warnings. Wearing the seat belt can increase the chances of survival in a crash or reduce the likelihood of serious injury (National Accident Helpline, 2010) but most people do not pay heed to such warning especially for short journeys. Seat belts limit the forward motion of the occupant which slows down the occupant’s deceleration in a crash. This prevents the occupant’s ejection from the vehicle. Both drivers and passengers in the UK have to follow the national seat belt law (Hartman, 2012). If the car is equipped with seat belts the driver and the passengers both in the front and back seats have to wear the seat belts. If the passenger violates the law the passengers is ticketed and not the driver. However, the driver is

Resident Evil Afterlife. A critique of a movie Review

Resident Evil Afterlife. A critique of a - Movie Review Example This is the fourth movie in the whole series and it is based on Capcom’s video game by the same name. The movie is a third dimensional movie and it is also the first 3D movie in the series. Alice is a star in the game but it is hard to say the same for the movie. The initial 3D scenes have been repetitive and are hardly impressive, a weak beginning was not well received by the audience and as a result of which the movie failed to live up to the expectations of the fans. The paper will expansively present the other important aspects of the movie. The materials used in the movie are quite unique and one of its kind, the movie is a 3D movie and it involves animation and special effects. The effects however have not been presented as the fans expected it to be. The artist is trying to present a world in which Zombies grow by leaps and bounds, a virus is affecting the human race and annihilation has been portrayed in the movie. A. Visual Arts 1. The movie bears no resemblance to re ality; it is purely a fictitious flick. It is based on human beings turning into Zombies because of a virus and it has nothing to do with reality. 2. The artists is portraying the future in the movie, a virus which would affect our human race might end up making us all Zombies as shown in the movie. It represents the future. 3. The work of the artists is without a doubt good but the movie is purely a fictitious movie and bears no resemblance to reality so the work can never be believed. B. Artistic Concept 1. Being a 3D movie the visual artists have done a good job, Alice stood out for her performance; she is much more adored by the fans in the game than in the movie. Nevertheless her performance was a tour de force, she loses her supernatural powers when she is injected in the movie, she becomes human again but she single handedly carries the movie, the movie would have done very badly had it not been for her. Other characters were merely present in the movie but had no effect what soever. The performance of the characters is fine but being a fictitious movie it is hard to believe the scenes in the movie, it is fair to say that the movie is entirely fictitious. 2. Viewer interaction fails in this movie and as an inevitable result of which the movie also fails, the movie does not present enough opportunities to the viewers to interact and get involved in the movie. 3. The work does not appeal to the emotions because it is fictitious, it would have appealed to the emotions of the audience had it had any resemblance to the reality, on top of that it is not a job well done. C. Use of Lighting in Creative Designs 1. The use of lighting has been good in the movie; the character of Alice has been presented very vividly in the movie. The presentation has been certainly special because the movie is a 3D movie, being a third dimensional movie it had nothing stunning in it, several other 3D movies are way better than this movie. The opening scene in which Alice and her e ntourage enter into Umbrella’s headquarters is good, it resembles the opening scene of the game and this made the fans happy and they also started expecting a lot out of the movie but their expectations were never fulfilled as the movie progressed. This is another problem, a movie which begins with an amazing scene must follow it up because the expectations rise up but this movie failed to live up to the expectations of the fans. 2. There was nothing unusual about the utilization of light, it would have been unusual had it been the first 3D movie but it was not hence it was not unusual in any way. 3. Colors have been used very vividly in the movie, almost all the 3D movies present the use of colors vividly, and it is fair to say

Poet’s emphasis Essay Example for Free

Poet’s emphasis Essay Although poem A contain a thematic unity but it is manifested that poet’s emphasis remained on creating a homogeneous lyrical whole instead of developing the theme in an elaborative way and in an elevated poetical manner. There is weak sentimentality that pervades the whole poem. The most important defect of the poem is that it takes into account a wide range of human roles in life and tried to culminate this human experience into the ultimate reality of death. In this attempt, poet fails to create a unifocal and forceful impact about death in the mind of the reader. Although the main though is not traditional or orthodox but poet does not present any philosophical facets, psychological impact or any other unique reflection about death. Furthermore, he is unable to manifest a great skill in making use of the arts and artifices of verse. So poem is an abject failure. Poet is unable to enjoy the visual delight of death or suffer from it pain and terror. He only changes from one role to another role with the sad demise of the first. Personal Preferences Ranking Poem F Poem C Poem D Poem E Poem B Poem A Poem F The theme is same as other poem ranked above but thematic expressions is the most important thing that elevates this poem above all other poems. Thematic expression manifested in a subtle and delicate way. So delicacy of thought mingles with height of literary expression. Subtle metaphorical attributions to seasons are another important feature of the poem. He does not rely on a single set of metaphors or symbol but he uses the financial symbols in the next quatrain to covey his message and skillfully relates it to the main theme of death and destruction. The most beautiful line of the poem is line 7 where he terminates the effect of death. He is of the view that by reproduction and regeneration, one can produce a replica of his own self, so death can not destroy him. He can conquer the death and destruction. Hence these off-spring(s) will make â€Å"thee living†. So poet has pitched the though at a higher level as compared with other poet and have utilized his language skills to create an effective expression to convey that style. Poet does not show any mystery or fascination about death. If death results in despair and terror, it also brings rest and peace. Poet negates both these conventional concept and gives a new idea that death does not terminate life if one wishes to. He can reproduce siblings like him and this is a continuation of his life. There is not magical abstraction in the poem and everything is presented and represented in clear manner with the help of concrete imagery.

Changes In The Representation Of Women In Advertising Essay

Changes In The Representation Of Women In Advertising Essay Advertisements are one of the most cultural factors which mould and reflect society. They are a ubiquitous and inevitable part of everyones life: even if we do not read a newspaper or watch television, the images posted over our urban surrounding are inescapable. The advertisement translates these statements to us as human statements: they are given a humanly symbolic exchange value. (Wiliamson, 1976) Many theorists believe that perceived gender roles form the bases for the development of gender identity and thus it is vital to study the theories used to enforce these gender stereotypes and their shifts. Eaglys social role theory implies that gender roles based on stereotypes have been developed due to sexual division of labour and societal expectations. Eagly (1987) differentiates among the common and age scopes of gender-stereotyped features. The common character is categorized by elements, such as nurturance and emotional expressiveness, mostly linked with household activities, and thus, with women. The age role is categorized by characteristics such as hostility and sovereignty, mostly linked with communal activities, and thus, with men. Gender roles strongly influence behaviour when cultures support gender stereotypes and build up strong expectations based on those stereotypes (Eagly 1987). According to Deaux and Lewis gender stereotypes differ on four dimensions: traits, rol e behaviors, physical characteristics, and occupations (Deaux and Lewis 1983). This work is further developed by Berm who stated that Gender stereotypes are implanted through childhood socialization and are reinforced in adulthood. This thought is supported by Berms Gender schema theory, which presents the idea that children learn how their cultures define the roles of both women and men and then internalize the knowledge acquired as gender schema. (bem 1993) Feminist legal theory is based on the belief that the law is instrumental in womens historical subordination. There are two elements of the feminist legal theory. First, feminist jurisprudence aims to explain the ways in which the law played a role in womens former subordinate status and in the latter, feminist legal theory is dedicated to changing womens status through a reworking of the law and its approach to gender. According to Gunther women in television adverts prior to 1970s were not shown to be in paid work, and when they were, they would be stereotypical jobs such as a nurse or personal assistant. Housewife culture declined after the 1950s, but it was still common during the 1960s and 1970s (Gunther, 1995 :34). Content analysis of advertising in television during the 1970s provided strong evidence of the existence of stereotyping. All adverts which featured women showed three quarters were for kitchen and bathroom products. Men were viewed with powerful authoritative roles and provided the dependable voice-over (Ibid: 35) Research in the late 1970s and early 1980s reinforced a continuation of these trends, with men shown at work and women as housewives and mothers at home. Nonetheless, it became more common for men to be shown at home as well, in the role of husband or father, and the range of womens occupations increased (ibid : 36, 37). This is reminiscent of the Social Learning Theory. During the late 1970s women in advertising played a central focus on beauty, cleanliness, family and pleasing others. In the 1980s TV advertising started to conceptualize the idea of the busy working women by offering solutions to the working woman, who was assumed, would still perform household tasks such as cooking and cleaning. Pg 55Through the early 1990s, a study was conducted of 500 prime-time TV ads in the UK, by Cumber batch (reported in Strinati, 1995: 86),and it was deduced that advertiser had seemingly become vary of many years advertisers were reluctant to do anything different from the conservative stereotypical gender roles until in the 1970s and 1980s feminists took the protest to roads. Pg 55 Television audience are bombarded with images and slogans through advertisements. In 2000 Nielsen Media Research and Radio Advertising Bureau survey concluded that the average U.S. household, watched more than seven hours of television per day (Albarran, 2000). Audience subconsciously memorize slogans and absorb images without questioning them. This is known as the cultivation effect (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan and Signorieli (1980)) .The effect of this exposure produces cultivation, or teaching of a common worldview, common roles and common values. (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan Signorieli, 1980, p.10). In order to understand the change in female stereotypes we must apply a semiotic analysis to the advertisements in the contrasting time frames.Williamson (1978) stated that semiotics studies looks at any system of signs whether the substance is verbal, visual or a complex mixture of both. (Semiotics and Ideology (n.d) para.2). Ideology is the meaning made necessary by the conditions of society while helping to perpetuate those conditions. (Williamson (1978) p.13). We must first discuss intersubjectivity, (OSullivan, Hartley, Saunders, Montgomery, Fiske, (1994) p.157 158) As the audience In order to understand advertisements we must learn how to read them. It is vital to deconstruct them by the use of encoding and decoding. Encoding is performed by the transmitter of the advertisement message and decoding is a process accomplished by the receiving audience. The visual message is the most important element of a television advert because through it, its semiotic system of codes and co nventions it attracts potential buyers of the product. Most female personal care products target consumers by offering them an idealized reader-image (McCracken (1992 p.20). Thus television advertisements attract the audience by selling them visions of how they would like to see themselves. The codes and conventions on the advert have been transgressed by Dove which as a brand has taken a sharp turn away from traditional conventional ideologies of female perceptions. Advertisements must take into account not only the inherent qualities and attributes of the products they are trying to sell, but also the way in which they can make those properties mean something to usà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The components of advertisements are variable and not necessarily part of one language or social discourse. Advertisements rather provide a structure which is capable of transforming the language of objects into that of people, and vice versa. Judith Williamson, Decoding Advertisements, 1978, p.12 (flake doc) According to Gerbner; common media learning has increased television viewing is associated with more stereotypical views, especially of gender (Allan Scott, 1996). Gerbner et al (1980) argued that for frequent heavy viewers, television virtually subsumes and monopolizes other sources of information, ideas and consciousness. Furthermore, the frequent viewers perceive the world as television depictions . (Gerbner, et al., 1980). Dove old advert The advertisements of the early 1960s begin with a male voice over. This man narrates the advert and his claims of Dove being new and revolutionary and this is reinforced through female narration. This can be said to be reflective of male patriarchy dominant at during the late 1950s and early 1960.The key word in the advert is new and is repeated, in each case before the brand name. The readers eye is drawn simultaneously to the models eyes and face, and the text onscreen. The Advert emphasized as the brand name and thus the text anchors the connotative meaning of the product but new is the first word you read. Cosmetics advertisers aim to reduce competition by conveying that their products are the newest product with the latest technological advances. Emphasis in adverts is placed on the new key property of the product. For example, Dove creams and cleanses your skin and boasts that other products only cleanse and dry ; here, there is a strong implication of criticism of other brand s and products and this encourages women to be critical of themselves and their peers in using wearing of out-of-date brands that do not embody the latest key properties or technology. The beginning of the advert contains a picture of the products packaging; this is what the audience is to look for when buying the product. The image of the dove represents Greek connotations of Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love thus representing traditional female beauty and characteristics. Next the audiences see a perfectly manicured female hand , this continues to reinforce female notions of beauty. Once the product is unpackaged the bar of soap is curvy, this could questionably parallel the unpack aging of the female body which like the soap is also curvy. The words completely new are draw upon the eyes of the audience eye drawn and this point is reinforced by the narrative. The audience is introduced to the product by a male voice over. A Female voice over refers to the cleaning of the product cleaning, a subtle reference to the position of women in the home, filling of bar may also be representative of cooking. She continues to talk about cleansing, the product cleans and creams and this is repeated and is reinforced to the audience. The male voice then reinforces the positives of the products; his commentary is similar to that of a scientists new discovery. Its can be argued that the mode in the advert acts as a guinea pig for the experimental use of the product, it is her purpose to serve the male voice over. We are only able to view the models face, and towards the end of the advert her makeup changes as if she were ready to go out, for a date perhaps, and in this transformation she is rewarded by an anonymous male, whose hand we see as he caresses her cheek continuing to reinforce the previous Aphrodite notions beauty and love and desire to please in a patriarchal society and fulfil beauty expectations. The ad consists of a visual subject which in this case is the soap and an object, the soap bar, while subconsciously portraying the subject as the women and the object as her Female curves. This reinforces traditional gender stereotypes as the objects beauty is acknowledged by male presence. I will now introduce and analyze recent Dove television adverts according to semiotics. I am looking to see how the representation of women is conveyed and to see if the operation of patriarchy is apparent. I suspect that I will be able to deduce that all of these adverts operate patriarchy through similar ideologies presented through, images and articles in magazine about their products. The advert then shows the ordinary women having fun at photo shoot. In the new television advert the models are relaxed and it appears as if they are chatting to their girlfriends. The self-touching conveys the impression of narcissism, admiring ones own body and displaying it to others. Furthermore, in the firming body products campaign we are first introduced to the model via an audition we see real women, wearing ordinary clothing, jeans and simple tops and not glamorous silk gowns. They are all different shapes, sizes and ethnicities. The larger women unconventionally and ironically are wearing lower cut blouses. Next the audience views the women using of products in ordinary household environments. The use of a female voice portrays societal liberisation of women and her voice has a relaxed jovial tone as she refers to size 8 women. The female voice of dove, implies that size 8 women note real women but merely fictional supermodels. She refers to large hips and pear shape, this healthy fruit are Dove a promoting a healthier fuller figure. Women are in white lingerie this mirrors the color of the dove which is free and liberated. A twenty first century interpretation of the dove may be interpreted as the present greater liberation, peace and freedom which is reinforced in Doves new ad campaign. During the photo shoot there is a male voice present in the background. He wears black perhaps because he not as free and liberated as women and is confined to the antiquity of black which contrasts the free soaring spirit of Dove. In comparison to the 1960s ad, the earlier is more informative about the product where as the new advert, focuss on the self in comparison to the prior which focuss on the product. In the new advert the narrator only names the products and reinforces that their tested on real women The absence of obvious sex appeal in this ad displaces the use of the product as a method of attracting the male. Instead the womans focus is on attaining for herself the advertised qualities embodied other women shown. The ad uses empowerment to sell the product because the majority of women in their late thirties or early forties who are considering firming products are likely to have already attracted a male. It is the qualities embodied by real women that the ad is making desirable, and then attainable through the product itself. Dove claim they have changed all this by revoloutionalizing societal perceptions of beauty. By presenting real women in their lingerie the brand expresses the societal liberation of female freedom and sexuality. Women in their campaign are not presented with traditional sexual connotations as vixens; hour glass body shapes, long hair, large bust, instead the women in the 21st century ad campaign are perfectly flawed. This campaign broke stereotypical rules and took beauty taboos head on. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty (CFRB) textually reveals that CFRB employs feminist signs to reference a key binary resistance in feminist politics discussing liberation and oppression; in the presentation of an ideology of real beauty. This message promotes Dove as a mechanism of change to the view of societal perceptions of limiting and unattainable female beauty, a position influential feminists support in mainstream media and through corporate partnership. This analysis suggests that real beauty is a new stereotype within the dominant ideology of female beauty; the attributes of thin, young, and blonde are replaced by many shapes, sizes, colours and ages, yet the real women are presented to arouse public dialogue about their physical beauty while promoting Dove and its products; resulting in sexual objectification of their image. Also as the definition of real beauty embraces self-esteem, CFRB produces a demanding, oppressive beauty stereotype for female consumption than the do minant stereotype which emphasizes only physical standards. Ultimately, CFRB support the patriarchal view of female identity as a consumer through the ideological consumption of real beauty and fiscal consumption of Dove products. This analysis provides a history of the relationships between feminists women in advertising, and the assembly of beauty advertising to observe the construction structure of CFRB. In earlier decades the aim for women was to attract a man and be in a loving relationship. The focus has shifted, however, and the goal now is to be slim, attractive, and happy, regardless of lifestyle, and whether or not an individual is in a successful relationship or not. It is through inter-subjectivity that cultural identity is affirmed. Just as advertising influences culture, so too does it reflect trends and cultural values. Advertising in womens products represents a utopian view of the world and sells the product by selling stereotypical aspirations to attain the lifestyles or the looks represented in their texts. Henceforth, Margaret Duffy claimed that advertising, Popular academics have seen it as anti-humanistic, a creator of unnecessary needs and desires. (Duffy as cited by Manca and Manca, 1994, p.5). Unlike big clothing brands like Gucci or Prada for example, self care products cannot be identified by displaying the brand name in the actual cream or soap bar but instea d, advertisements such as this encourage women to look critically at each others physical appearance and gossip about how other women look. The old dove advert exemplifies elements of both the social learning and the gender schema theory. As we are socialized into our gender roles females traditionally have been concerned about their appearance and focuses on trying to please the opposite sex. This is reiterated by doves ad campaign buy the males reassuring hand of the womans soft beautiful skin. This social acceptance is reinforced by the gender schema theory which describes women as gentile creatures. Thus these two work hand in hand in a repetitive cycle. In contrast to this contemporary dove advertisements are influenced by feminist legal theory. The female voice over mirrors social power acquired by women in the early 20th century and after WWII. This is made even more apparent by the partly dressed models that break traditional gender stereotypes of beautiful pin up women as they appear in all shapes and sizes. FLAKE intro the second ad Chocolate seems more decadent than other confectionery because we have been sold this myth. The audience treats the signifiers in advertisements as though they are truths rather than our own constructions, which are enabled by refined publicity teams. This tendency to accept signs stems advertising has signified a cultural scepticism which in return has acted as the signifier for a new system of parody in advertisement which humours the system of unconscious connotations whilst achieving the goal of selling the product within the same system of denotations and connotations which it ridicules. The Cadburys Flake television advertisements of the 1970s and 80s depict young, beautiful white women in romantic dreamscapes, i.e. the poppy field, the Victorian-style bathroom, content in their independence, yet eroticised by the sexual relationship they share with their phallic chocolate bars The advert begins with the flake girls licking her lips, she then holds up the erected chocolate bar which becomes the central focal point for the audience. We are given time to read the name of the chocolate which then is followed by music. As the music proceeds the flake girl begins to unwrap the bar and slowly and places it in her mouth not taking a bite this may be interpreted to mirror the sexual acts. The girl presents traditional beauty appearance, her makeup draws attention to her eyes and lips her straight hair also represents phallic images and traditional beauty connotations similar to that in the Dove adverts of 1960s presenting the beauty of Aphrodite. She places the chocolate seductively in her mouth and as the sun shines behind her she enters into her sexual fantasy a beach with a back horse. This stallion may be representative of a man, strong, learn and being lead by a strong female from the 1960s. She finally smiles as she enjoys the creamy chocolate. Most prominent in this advert is the female voice over, this being representative of political change. . These images appeal to the consumer, who makes connections between the visual subject, the chocolate and the visual object the chocolate bar in contrast to the subconscious subject sex and the subconscious object the lack of the male penis. The substitution of the chocolate bar for phallic images is all the more erotic when the audience is exposed to close-up images of white females rouge stained or gloss-laden lips wrapping themselves around the brown bar. The attributes of the chocolate; its distinctive shape and texture are connoted into a meaning of sexual desire and satisfaction. These myths then become the Flakes identity. Flake has removed the idea of the Flake girl who traditionally has sensually nibbled the chocolate bar since 1959. The new campaign aims to focus on the beauty and delicacy of the Flake bar, as opposed to the Flake girl succumbing to the mouth watering chocolate. The ad features Russian model Yulia Lobova and 200 metres of yellow fabric. The fabric twirls around the model as a yellow dress in an analogy of the Flake bar. For the past seven months the UK Cadbury team have been working on creating a new campaign that helps give Flake a fresh, contemporary approach, said Phil Rumbol, UK marketing director at Cadbury. We wanted to focus on the beauty of the product rather than just the sensuality of eating it we consider Flake to be a truly unique product and its still going strong in its 90th year. The signifiers in the new advert are the colours purple and yellow from which the audience picks up on the significant code and recognises the brand. The floating women in the luxurious material signify the beauty and luxury of the brand and product. The material unwraps a woman where s previously it was the ale phallic. This advertisement can be used for a global audience, the lacking of language ad simple images sounds and colours relates to a wider audience. The models makeup is also subtle in comparison to previous flake girls. The traditional beauty and enhancement of eyes and lips is not as apparent. Flake old advert- influenced by feminist legal theory and like women rebels against the societal perception and position of women. This is exemplified by the female voiceover. Ironically this advertisement presents another female stereotype of the sexual women and not a home maker. This is a stereotype which was not taught during the early 1960s however female presence in society was seeing a change, perhaps Cadbury were attempting to create a new stereotype or perhaps trying to break traditional conventions and set new set new social learning theoretical perspectives. New ad- Cadbury has once again created a new stereotype but this time of not gender but of pleasure , presenting their chocolate not with sexual connotations. However Cadbury still use a female who is lost in some form of desire however this advert focuses on the chocolate rather than its The desirable indulgence in this ad is the chocolate itself rather than the subconscious portrayal of a phallic image. The fantasy is constant however the nature of the new adverts emphasizes on the changes of gender stereotypical roles in comparison to the old one. CONCLUSION Having explored the ideals of femininity in television advertisements we can argue that they are revealed to be carefully constructed in their layout, choice of colour, packaging and the product itself, text, language used, and which model has been photographed to represent the brands ideology through the codes and conventions it adheres to. In some adverts consumption of the product is implied to lead to being loved, cared for and protected by a man and this is portrayed as highly desirable in the case of dove. In contrast the new campaign shows a female empowered to stand alone without masculine approval, and to consume the product as a luxury for herself, not to make her more attractive to a man. Flake In conclusion the advertising has evolved from traditional notions of female stereotypes alternative to that of dove to minimalist advertising which is based on consumers socially acquired knowledge for e.g it will be commonly known for all the audiences the colours of flakes packaging similarly to this the logo of dove and the colours of the packaging. Even though gender stereotypical roles in adverts have tremendously evolved since 1960s while performing the semiotics of both the adverts an interesting pattern of similarity lead to decipher a rare connection between the new dove ad and the old flake ad. In the dove new ad the confidence of women to be comfortable with their appearance no matter how they look without male dominance and the confidence of the flake girl in the old advert to have her own fantasy where she leads the masculine horse figure shows power and dominance portrayed by both then dove women and the flake girls. It could be argued that Cadbury has been ahead of times in modern portrayal of gender stereotyping however it still follows the traditional pattern to gender stereotyping showing a stereotypically beautiful white Russian model while Dove has broken this convention and introduced a new form of gender stereotypical role. Creating new stereotypes. In addition, many television adverts carry an implication of women being confident, successful and strong. From closer study it becomes clearer that this masks the operation of patriarchy which uses representations of women in adverts to suppress the empowerment and independence of women in real life. Again Dove differs here from other advertising campaigns by showing positive images of women who do not conform to the unattainable ideal standard of beauty shown in other ads and Cadbury create a new implication of female empowerment. However such implications were evident in adverts during the 1960s. It is obvious that advertising plays a major part in creating and maintaining the consumer culture in which we live. It can be argued that if the public had greater awareness to the negative images in the mass media in reference to women, they would be able to distinguish between their actual needs and those created by factors such as peer pressure, advertising, and low self-confidence. Cash Pruzinsky (1990, p.51) stated two perspectives which form our appearance, one from the inside and one from the outside. The relationship between these perspectives is central when discussing self-esteem and body image, but it is our physical appearance which provides advertisements with their material. Despite this it is our feelings about how we look from the inside and our insecurities which enable adverts to work. Fiske says, An advert is only the inter textual circulation of its meanings, a set of unfinished meanings in process. Texts are not signifying objects but agents, instances and reso urces of popular culture. (1991, p.124 125) It is only when being read or viewed and its meaning interpreted by individuals that the advert becomes whole and performs the function of selling a product. Without human interaction an advertisement can only be looked at as a manifestation of the world surrounding it.

How can Malaysia get out of the middle income trap?

How can Malaysia get out of the middle income trap? Malaysia is caught in the middle trap right now and getting it out is going to be tough. With an income that is not too high and not low, Malaysian find it hard to reach a higher level of income. To really get out from the middle income trap, Malaysia needs to change what it has been doing economically for the past 40 years. Middle income trap concept refers to an easy transition of a low income to a middle income economy due to its competitive nature in terms of cheap wages and labour- intensive industries. It is easy to transit from low income to middle income but it will be hard to transit from middle income to high income due to several factors. Malaysia is getting into middle income trap and is likely to experience a small change in factor- price ratio. This means that wages received by both skilled and unskilled labour does not increase a lot and doesnt reach high income level. In our research paper, we will divide into the four main parts. First, we discuss the background of Malaysias economy and then the factors which lead Malaysia to fall into the middle income trap, in this part we find out that there are about six factors which lead Malaysia into the trap. After that, we discuss on people who are affected due to the middle income trap. Lastly, ways or method to escape from the middle income trap is also our main concern. We have some ways to implement to make developing nations can graduate into becoming fully advanced economies. When we look at our economic background, we can clearly see that from independence to the 1980s, Malaysia progressed rapidly. From an agricultural society in the 1950s, it evolved into an Asian Tiger Economy by the 1980s, mainly labour- intensive industrialisation. However, subsequent effort in deepen our industrialisation make our economic to remain stagnant while other countries continue to expand rapidly. Recently, countrys performance has been disappointing with GDP growth rate declining to 5.5 percent in 2002 to 2008 from 9.1 percent in 1990-1997. In the past 1970, about 50% of Malaysian live in absolute poverty but now decrease to less than 4%. However, Malaysian feels that they are stuck from increasing where GDP growth has slowed up. However, when we look at other countries for example Korea, they are at one time the poorest country in the world but they are growing both economic and politic. Reason that their economic can grow is because they have higher purchasing power compared to Malaysia. This is because they receive averagely higher income and with higher income they will have more spending power which will boost their economy. Countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam have very low wages while Malaysia traps in the middle ground. How to get into middle income trap One of the factors Malaysia trapped into the middle income is due to over dependence on FDI and lack of doing research and development (RD). Multinational companies will only provide instant of capital, expertise and technology into Malaysia but they will not develop or improving Malaysias product. Malaysias businessmen seem to be satisfied in making profit by serving the MNCs and maintaining their original, assembly- based business models. Besides, labour productivity is growing quite slow than in the 1990s. Manufacturing in Malaysia has a low value added and had spent a very low RD spending. For example, Malaysia had spent only 0.6% of GDP in RD compared to South Korea which is 3.5%. South Korea is probably the best example of a developing country which shifts to a advance country. Companies in Korea like Samsung and LG dominates in the market. Taiwan is also not far behind. Chinas policymakers are aware that they need to suit with the changes in market if the labor costs rise. With a low tech manufacturing industries and lack of skilled labour compared to country such as Singapore, the production in Malaysia is less competitive and thus less profit which means lower wages paid to the workers. Migrant workers which depress wages also one of the factors which cause Malaysia to fall into the middle income trap. It is a mistake in letting migrant workers to overflow in Malaysia and depresses wages. This will limit the improvements of the productivity. Malaysia has too huge amount of foreign workers which is reportedly has 1.9 million registered workers and another 600000 unregistered ones accounting for nearly one- fifth of the working population. These workers are not confined to the so- called 3D jobs where the jobs are difficult, dirty and dangerous that the locals are unwilling to do those kinds of jobs. Too many of unskilled labour will lead to low value added in the productivity. Malaysian worker are forced to receive low wages since competition with the migrant workers are keen because the migrant workers are willing to accept lower wages and longer hours of working. Besides, when we take account the negative externalities which associates with the excessive presence o f migrant workers, we found that migrant worker is a burden to Malaysias economy as the migrant workforce turns out to be a costly affair. There are cases where the migrant workers cause social problem in Malaysia and there were also cases where the migrant workers are abused by their employer. They are also forced to receive low wages since there is no law to protect their rights. It is not denied that Malaysia needs the services of foreign workers, both skilled and unskilled but government need to ensure that they are well treated and wages should be increased align to the local wages so that Malaysian wages can be raised higher. In the case of Malaysia, high wage need not mean high labour costs if an increase of wages are backed by an increase in productivity. In the other words, low wages does not mean lower labour costs if the productivity declines. Apart from that, over subsidies of the subsidised item leads to middle income trap. Subsidy was implemented in 1961 under the Control Act 1961 and subsidised items include petrol, sugar, gas, rice, salt and other basic items. Subsidy of these items has made the Government spending to increase and it is too heavy for government to continue to bear the cost. For example, the oil price in 1970s was under US$12 per barrel. However, it increases to almost US$75 per barrel which causes a cost that is unbearable to the government. Moreover, over subsidies in local industries for example proton is a burden to the government spending. If compared to South Korea, such industry had do the same thing in the beginning but they were weaned off from the government subsidy much earlier and where Proton is still now subsidised. The high cost of subsidies restrains the government ability to upgrade infrastructures and involve in more research and development which increase the productivity and competi tiveness in order to become a high income country. Price control has been one of the major causes of falling into middle income trap. The policy where government enforced price control in Malaya to avoid hardships after World war2 holds until today. Price control items include basic necessities such as rice, flour, sugar, milk and even taxi fares. Price of commodities in Malaysia is much cheaper because of the controls compared to other countries. The problem with the price control is that workers annual pay raises are linked to the nations CPI which is consumer price index. This mean that with a low CPI, the salary received by the worker remain low and a shift to a higher income will be very hard. Since 1980s, Malaysian wages have fallen behind wages of the rest of the world. For an example, a graduate policeman earn at RM 2300 per month compared to RM4400 in Singapore. Apart from restraining Malaysian wages, price controls also sternly distort domestic economic factor proportions which cause many factories ending up in inefficient economic production processes. When we compared through GDP, South Korea has a GDP per capita of US$16450, Singapore US$34,346, while Malaysia still remain at US$7469. The table below shows that the breakdown weightage allocated for the different categories of items consumed on a daily basis. For example, Food and non- alcoholic beverages and Housing, water, electricity, gas and fuels make up over 52.8% of the weightage. We can see that most of the items are heavily subsidised or price controlled. Apart from the raw materials, value added items such cooked food and beverages are always levied at the market price but not captured in the CPI. Besides, transport which contribute 15.9% of the weightage does not include hire purchase for cars and motorcycle or the cost of imported spare part for repairing. Some construction materials such cement and clinker maybe price controlled but for certain price of rental are determined at market rate. http://greglopez.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/n5-1.jpg?w=300 Low inflation rate causes wages to be artificially suppressed and it creates a wide gap between Malaysian working domestically and those workers who work abroad. With low wages, we will be unable to attract talent from other countries even though our product and services are relatively cheaper. Moreover, low or middle income creates a technology gap making Malaysia to be uncompetitive. Technology goods and services have become more expensive for Malaysian to purchase including items such as Iphone, laptop which it is common nowadays. With a cheap currency, we find it difficult to purchase the most advanced technology to improve productivity. Malaysia was emphasizing on agriculture sector in the early 1950s but when Malaysias economic had shift from agriculture sector to manufacturing sector, agriculture sector had became a drag to the economy. The dominance of oil palm and rubber in the agriculture sector is unfortunately a significant drag and had caused the nations to cease from shifting to a high income economy. Those plantation terrain, paddy harvesting and rubber tapping are not easily mechanised and remaining done by manual. Agriculture sector with high technology and mechanised makes more profit by having much efficient and more productivity. Until today, agriculture with manual worker still remain as low wage activities and most of the agriculture depend a lot on foreign labour. For example, textile industry hires most of the workers from Bangladesh since the local workers are not willing to work in this sector because of the low wages. The mobility of the foreign workers in plantation is also easy and they move from estates to factories which mean it is hard for government to disallow the foreign workers to work in the non- plantation sector. The cumulative effect is that there are now about 2.3 million low- skill foreign workers in Malaysia, making up about 20% of the workforce. They are in the manufacturing, petroleum, construction and domestic- help sectors. Lately, they are also involving in retailing, food and beverage, tourism and hotel industries. Such a massive inflow of foreign workers into those industries will therefore suppress wages in Malaysia and causes middle income trap. Effects of the Middle Income Trap Malaysias caught in the middle-income trap right now give awareness to our policymakers that the export-led growth strategy, according to some, is no longer an optimal development strategy for developing countries especially Malaysia. Continued emphasis on export-led growth will, among other things, increase the reliance of developing countries on the developed world and dampen domestic market growth. Many export-dependent developing countries started tweaking their growth strategies especially after external demand for their exports dried up on account of the current global financial and economic crisis. Though Malaysias growth strategy had started emphasizing domestic demand since about a decade back, it still remains largely dependent on external demand for its economic growth (Quah, 2009). Ex-World Bank chief economist and Brookings Institutions Wolfensohn Centre for Development, Global Economy and Developments senior fellow, Homi J. Kharas, said there was an impetus for change a nd rethinking on policies and strategies in Malaysia every 10 years based on economic developments. Malaysia has been very successful as an exporting nation but has also been very export dependent. About 90% (of products) are being exported to the United States, Europe and Japan, he said, adding that Malaysia needed to diversify its exports (Malaysia needs to be high-income economy, 2009). However, the main challenge is domestic market of Malaysia is too limited due to only 28 million of populations. Thats why we are facing the dilemma of the exploration of external and domestic market. However, 2010 GDP performance sets strong momentum for a robust 2011. Given the marked improvement in economic growth in the first half of the year, domestic demand was clearly the chief momentum driver for the recovery. Moving forward, the country is anticipated to register a robust GDP growth of 5.6% in 2011, with domestic demand once again acting as the back-bone for momentum (RAM Rating Services, 2011). Besides, middle-income trap also lead to declining private investments. The old growth model provided three decades of outstanding performance, permitting Malaysia to provide for the health and education of its people, largely eradicate poverty, build a world-class infrastructure and become a major exporter globally. But the progress we have made over the past half-century has slowed and economic growth prospects have weakened considerably. We are caught in a middle income trap. Malaysia has been susceptible to external shocks, as seen during the past crises. Increases in international commodity prices, like fuel or food, have direct impact on domestic prices. Similarly, unless production costs and productivity in Malaysia can keep pace with those abroad, exports are likely to lose ground with negative effects on national employment and income. Malaysias economic engine is slowing. Since the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998, Malaysias position as an economic leader in the region has steadily eroded. Growth has been lower than other crisis affected countries, while investment has not recovered. Private investors have taken a back seat. Since the Asian crisis, aggregate investment as a share of GDP in Malaysia has continued to decline, with private investment remaining stagnant due to several factors. In some industries, heavy government and government linked company (GLC) presence has discouraged private investment. Cumbersome and lengthy bureaucratic procedures have affected both the cost of investing, and the potential returns on investment. Malaysias place within the Global Competitiveness Index dropped to 24th in the 2010 report from 21st previously, indicating that the country is losing its attractiveness as an investment destination (New Economic Model For Malaysia, 2010) A plunge in exports wounded this trade-sensitive economy in 2009. The impact of weak exports spread to private investment, which fell sharply, and to private consumption, which was nearly flat. Fiscal stimulation packages provided some buffer for aggregate demand. Economic growth will rebound during the forecast period, underpinned by a recovery in exports and rising incomes. Annual inflation is set to pick up from low levels. The government plans renewed efforts to encourage private investment. Fixed investment fell sharply by 5.5%, with many firms cancel ling or deferring investment decisions. Investment acted as the major drag on GDP in 2009. The ringgit, having depreciated by 5.0% against the dollar during the first 3 months of 2009, when increased risk aversion and deleveraging activities by international investors increased the demand for dollars has since appreciated. Economic growth, while impressive, has slowed and private investment, averaging about 30% of GDP just before t he Asian financial crisis, has fallen to around 9.5% of GDP. These indicators point to the need to address deficiencies in the investment climate and to reappraise the role of public sector companies that compete with the private sector. (Rajapakse, 2010) Other than that, the effect of middle-income trap include lack of appropriately skilled human capital caused by brain drainA graduate teacher starts at RM2,500 per month in Malaysia, compared to RM6,196 in Singapore and RM15,661 in Hong Kong. Malaysian wages have fallen behind partly due to the gross divergence between the suppressed Malaysian CPI and that of the world (FONG, 2010). Globalization, outsourcing, offshoring and business process outsourcing gave rise to mobility of resources, investment, companies and skilled workers. Skilled workers flow to locations where they are paid higher and companies move to locations that are more competitive. Many skilled Malaysian workers have been leaving the country, lured by higher pay (Altfa, 2011). Many Malaysians could be found working overseas as they were often adaptable, multi-lingual and inexpensive. In terms of composition of the economy for most developed countries, more than 60% of annual gross domestic product (GDP) came from the services sector, with Malaysia somewhere just over 50%. Deputy director in the Public Private Partnership Centre and Secretariat to the Economic Council of the Economic Planning Unit Dr Soh Chee Seng said: Our productivity levels are not really low, it is just that they are falling behind other rapidly developing countries like China, India, Indonesia and Thailand: According to HSBC Bank Bhd executive director Jon Addis the countrys infrastructure was still patchy such as in terms of public transit, which had some idiosyncrasies. (Min) Malaysia stuck in middle income trap will lead to bring to affect of low value added industries. According to Wikepedia, value added  can be refers to extra features of an item of interest for example product, service, person and etc that go beyond the standard expectations and provide something more while adding little or nothing to its cost. Value-added features give competitive edges to companies with otherwise more expensive products. (Wikipedia) In Malaysia, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have evolved to become a key suppliers and service providers to large corporations, inclusive of Multinational Corporation and Transnational Corporation (MNCs TNCs). SMEs contributed to expanding output, providing the value added activities in the manufacturing sector, creating employment opportunities, contributing to broadening Malaysia export based. Our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has urged SMEs to adopt technology as a core part of their business strategy to gain a sus tainable competitive edge. He said that the SME community in Malaysia was not adopting technology as rapidly as it should. (Adopt new technology, Najib urges SMEs, 2011) For this point, SMI Association of Malaysia president Chua Tiam Wee urged the government should concern about the problem faced by SMEs, such as securing adequate financing at competitive rates for new start-ups, the issue of frequent policy changes in employing foreign workers to overcome shortage, and also the problems in dealing with government agencies to acquire halal certification and other licences. (Mustaza, 2011) Besides that, there are many factors have contributed to the countrys slower growth over the past year among them to caused less invest from FDIs to Malaysia, we are loss of comparative advantage with other emerging economics such as India, Vietnam and China which being supplanted as a low-cost export and services based. (The Middle Income Trap, 2010) Another effect of the middle income trap is that Malaysia providing a low skilled jobs and low wages to attract foreign worker migrant into our countries. To become one of the high income countries, mean that the income of an individual is high. The main goals of the New Economics Model(NEM) are that Malaysia will toward become a high income country with target of US$15,000 until 20,000 per capital by 2020. But now Malaysia stuck in the middle income trap because there are not enough high wages job created in Malaysia. Normally, high wages are often related to the high skilled worker. In fact the share of skilled labour has declined across industries. The figure as shown as below shown that the use of high skilled labour for differences industries for 2002 and 2007. The EE as one of the largest industries contribute in GDP of Malaysia. From the diagram, the use of high skilled labour in EE was declined from 54% to 46%. The regional competition did lead to some minor transformation over the years. Although the manufacturing sector in Malaysia was grew rapidly, but that is resulting shortage of Malaysian workers with higher wages. Therefore, the foreign labours are welcome to Malaysia to fill the gap. So the companies could enjoy low wages and production costs to comfortable profit. The skilled labour force is also linked to education. The labour force with tertiary education for advanced countries is usually high, so many skilled Malaysian worker will leaving the country to pursue a higher pay. The central themes of the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) is encapsulated in 10 Big Ideas, says the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Ministers Department. These 10 Big Ideas, if vigorously and consistently implemented would see Malaysia through the challenging times and enable the nation to be a high-income and developed nation by 2020, said the Unit under the Prime Ministers Department. (10MP Encapsulates In 10 Big Ideas, Says EPU, 2010) One of the ideas of the Tenth Big Ideas is to unleashing productivity-led growth and innovation. Malaysia stuck in the middle income trap will cause lacking in talent and innovation to do so. Malaysian graduates tend to more interested to work in abroad because they offered a high income from the other countries. As they leaving from Malaysia, it will lose the skilled talent needed to make innovation to develop the country. Therefore, Malaysia lack of holistic approach and systematic assessment of innovation. Besides that, the growth model eventu ally runs out of steam. As the incomes increase, so the costs also have to be concern. The low-tech manufacturing industry was undermining the competitiveness. Therefore, Malaysia tend to move up the value chain, into exports of more technologically advanced products, like electronics. The economy has to innovate and use labor and capital more productively. To get to become a high income country, the economy needs to do more than just make stuff by throwing people and money into factories. That requires an entirely different way of doing business. Companies must invest more heavily in RD on their own and employ highly educated and skilled workers to turn those investments into new products and profits. (DAN, 2010) Based on the effects of middle-income trap stated above, we strongly suggest that government has to consider thoroughly before Goods and Services Tax (GST) is imposed. . Such a plan has pros and cons and serious implications and has to be thoroughly studied and extensive consultation made before a final decision is made. Public consultation on this policy that would have great impact on the Malaysian economy and investment is seen as vigorous enough that would have an impact on poorer Malaysians and the government coffers (Altfa, Minimum wage policy can hurt manufacturers competitiveness, 2011). GST wills worsening the poverty condition in Malaysia as well as deteriorates the private consumption in economy. The ripple impacts of GST will deepen the situation of middle-income trap in our country. WAYS TO GET OUT OF MIDDLE INCOME TRAP Brain drain refers to significant emigration of educated and talent individuals to another country. Malaysia being criticised for mismanaging its talent human resources as skilled and talent Malaysian moved to countries whom provide better earnings [1]. The problem grew serious as the statistics of brain drain increasing dramatically. Federal Government stated that between the beginning of 2008 and August 2009, slightly more than 300,000 Malaysians migrated to overseas. It is estimated that in 2009 there were over 700,000 Malaysians living abroad, with up to two-thirds of them are professionals workers. Therefore it effects the economic transformation of our country from a low to a high value-added economy. Therefore to curb brain drain problem, a new Talent Corporation will be formed to find out and deliver top talent from overseas and locally that are beneficial to stimulate economic sectors. The Government will attract Malaysians currently living and working in other countries to return Malaysia in order to build their careers in Malaysia. According to the Minister in the Prime Ministers Department, Tan Sri Nor Mohd Yaacob, this corporation hopes to draw back at least 70,000 Malaysians from overseas over the next 10 years by offering a package of very attractive incentives [2]. Strategies were taken to succeed the talent corporation plan. Three areas have been identified in 10th Malaysian Plan including soft infrastructure investment such as skills development, providing enablers to support concentrated industrial clusters and specialisation and increasing Research Development and venture capital funding [1]. Government scholarships especially Public Service Department scholarship will be given to top students from around the world to further their studies in Malaysia whom later will be encouraged to contribute to the Malaysian talent pool [1]. The civil service will increase its focus on hiring high-caliber young talent and will offer 60,000 scholarships to students in local and foreign universities [1]. Moreover, under the 10MP open visas will be offered to highly-skilled foreign professionals and there will be no time limit on visas for skilled foreign workers whom earns more than RM8, 000 per month [1]. Despite that, living conditions will also be improved in order to attract more world-class talent to make their homes in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur will be set as a city for people seeking quality and diverse lifestyles, in close proximity to nature, cultural richness and excellent infrastructure [1]. Therefore Talent Corporation able to draw back Malaysian talented workforce to stimulate economy of Malaysia and indirectly could help Malaysia get out of middle income trap. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays a significant role in Malaysias economic development. In the 14th century, Malacca had attracted FDIs in services because of its strategic location in the Straits of Malacca [3]. First, FDI has provided an additional source of capital which directly helps host country to expand their production activities and thereby generate more profit.   The profits can be used for the purpose of making contributions to the revenues of corporate taxes of the  recipient  country [4].  FDI assists in increasing the income that is generated through  revenues  realized through taxation [4]. [1] Lee Wee Lian (2010) The Malaysian Insider: Najib bets on move from hardware to software. [2] Malaysian Today online news (2010): Attracting talents back through the Talent Corporation [3] 2010 Foreign Direct Investment vs Domestic Investment. New Straits Times. FDI allows the transfer of technologies. In general, FDI provides the fastest and most effective way to deploy new technologies in developing host countries (UNCTAD 2000). Innovative technologies can help not only increase returns to investment but also improve productivity [4]. FDI also promoted exports and trade. Without foreign capital, Malaysia might not have experienced rapid increase in their exports. Exports have been the main engine of economic growth, especially for Malaysia, where it moved from mainly primary goods exporters to major exporters of manufactured goods. The shift in exports reflects the structural transformation of Malaysia from being agriculture-based to industry-based. Meanwhile, the countries that get FDI from another country can also develop the human capital resources by getting their employees to receive training and learn extra skills on the operations of a particular business. FDI can significantly relevant to boost economy. Therefore, we have to create more opportunities for major investors to invest in the domestic economy as FDI able to help Malaysia get out from the middle income trap. Malaysia will focus and worked out more to strengthen its investment attraction activities to attract both the domestic and foreign investment required. As a beginning, corporatization and empowerment of MIDA announced in the Tenth Malaysia Plan and the expansion of its scope to cover domestic investment [5]. There are two categories of investor attraction. First, targeted outreach to potential investors and secondly, partners as well as broader-marketing campaigns [5]. A Roadmap for Malaysia Targeted outreach activities include identifying and negotiating with specific investors to participate in identified projects will be conducted [5]. [4] Economy Watch: Benefits of Foreign Direct Investment [5] Chapter 1: New Economy Model of Malaysia: Economic Transformation Programmed Fiscal stimulus packages helped increased the spending on green technologies in many countries. Several countries have focused to technologies that help improve energy efficiency. Recently, statistics shows that only 13 percent of Chinas domestic electricity consumption is provided through cogeneration facilities. Meanwhile, when cogeneration facilities are combined with district heating and cooling (DHc) systems, further synergies can be created. Through implementation of a DHc facility and as well as the size and number of buildings the cost of total capital and investment can be lower than the cost of traditional methods for heating and cooling individual buildings. This energy efficiency significantly reduces carbon emissions. (Article: Escaping the Middle Income Trap) Moreover, some green technologies have ability to reduce poverty or inequality gap. For example, renewable energies such as solar power can facilitate rural electrification, which can help to reduce poverty [6]. Investment to keep green technology efficient could help a country to escape from middle income by reducing poverty and inequality. However, public funds get misallocated or finance white elephant projects, with less contribution to the economy. For example, plenty of Chinas green investments are in wind technology. However, some analysts report shows that a high proportion of Chinas current wind assets might be either not in use or not connected to the national power grid. In other cases, promoted new technologies can be far from the economys comparative advantage or their subsidization can harm competitiveness. In this case, measures that allow the market provide guide when subsidizing or investing in green economy are required. (Article: Escaping Middle Income Trap) [6] World Bank. 2000. Energy Services for the Worlds Poor. Energy And Development Report 2000. ESMAP, World Bank, Washington, Dc. There are many ways to Malaysia be escape from the Middle trap income. One of it is by New Economic Model (NEM). NEM is an economic plan in Malaysia discovered on 30th March, 2010 by Najib Tun Razak, Malaysian Prime Minister. It is intended to more than double the per capita income in Malaysia by 2020. According to Najib, the goal of NEM is to transform the Malaysian economy to become one with high incomes and quality growth. The keys to the plas as described by Najib are high income, sustainability and inclusiveness. For the high income key, there are lifting the real growth rate to an average of 6.5% per annum over the 2011-2020 period. Per capita GDP will rise to about USD 17,700 by 2020 and aggregate demand will have to grow at a robust pace as well. [7] Moreover, the high income key in NEM will unlock the value of in Principles of Learning: Overview of Theories Principles of Learning: Overview of Theories Yesenia Zuniga Learning Principles Telling a child to do something is never an easy thing to do because most of the time they won’t listen to their parents. During the age of four to eight years old the only thing a child wants to do is play and bond with other kids. Parents are affecting a child’s academic performances if the only thing a parent is doing is letting their child play and not having any reading time before they start elementary school. There are three learning principles a parent should use to help their child enjoy to read and enhance their academic performances while in school; classical conditioning, operant conditioning and observational learning is what parents can use to motivate their child to read. Although a child might find reading boring if a parent uses the three learning principles a child can adapt to reading and find their child to have cognitive development. The first learning principle is classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is learning to link two stimuli in a way that helps us anticipate an event to which we have a reaction (Psychology book). Parents are going to learn the best method to link two stimuli and help their child learn that reading is a wonderful pastime. During classical conditioning parents are going to have to learn also how to identify the following; neutral stimuli (NS), unconditioned response (UR), unconditional stimuli (US), conditioned response (CR), and conditioned stimulus (CS). Many parents may think how do I know that classical conditioning works? An example of classical conditioning is the experiment of â€Å"Little Albert† led by John B. Watson, during this experiment little Albert had no fear of anything. When he was presented a rat he had no fear, when little Albert heard the noise of the steel bar hit with a hammer he would start crying, after when they combined the rat and the hammer hit the steel bar little Albert became afraid of the rat. The US, was the loud noise, the UR, was the fear response, the NS was the rat before it was paired with the noise, the CS was the rat after pairing; the CR was fear (psychology book pg.247). A classical conditioning strategy a parent could use for their child is for the parent to create a child’s library room in their home, in the wall they could have a painting of their child’s favorite cartoons character reading, have classical music while the child is reading, and also have a comfortable sofa. A child will see that when he or she starts reading is a place they could escape to, is somewhere they could be comfortable and relax and through time the child would think of reading is something peaceful, delighted, and a de-stress zone. In this case the US will be the painting of the cartoon, the UR is listening to the music while the child is reading, the NS is the book, after condition the CS would be the book the child is reading and the CR is the child actually enjoying reading a book. There are many strategies one can use but this would be the best, for a child to want to hear and learn how to read but a parent has to make it fun for them. Making it fun for the child to read is important because if it is fun then the child will find it amusing. The second learning principle is operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is changing behavior choices in response to consequences (Psychology book). During operant conditioning a parent can use a positive or a negative reinforcement. A parent should use both reinforcement and the parent is going to use fixed-interval schedule which is in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed (psychology book pg.279). A strategy a parent could use is read a book to their child, sit them down and make them listen without having any disturbances but the child should understand that it could be rewarding or there could be consequences if they do not listen. When the parent finishes reading the book to their child, the child must explain what the parent has read to them. When the child is not able to explain what they were just read to the parent should take away an hour of playtime and make them read a book on their own. In th is case this would be a negative reinforcement but through time the child would understand that when they are read to they should listen so they could understand and be able to explain what other people are reading to them which would help them when the child is in school because it would also teach them to listen to their teachers. A positive reinforcement could be, if the child is able to explain what the parent just read to them the parent should reward the child with a small dessert. The child will see that paying attention while someone is reading to them it can be rewarding and they will also see that through time reading can be rewarding. The third learning principle is observational learning. Observational learning is acquiring new behaviors and information through observation and information, rather than by direct experience (Psychology Book). This learning principle has a modeling and a vicarious learning; a modeling is the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior (psychology book 290) and a vicarious learning our choices are affected as we see others get consequences for their behaviors. The best decision a parent should use while trying to teach their children that reading is fun would be modeling. Kids tend to copy one another and if a parents teaches their children to sit down for an hour and read to him or her they could be an influence to other children. Not only will this strategy be helping their academic performance it will help other kids with their performances as well. Kids tend to learn so much by observing other people and kids, parents could use that advantage to help their child be an influence to other kids and tell them that reading is something enjoyable. Parents need to teach their children that reading is fun that is something enjoyable so their child could be an influence to other kids and his or her friends. Parents could have difficulties with their children to get them to read but with classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and with observational learning it is possible. The parents have to start taking action because they are the ones that can help improve their child’s academic performance. Instead of letting their children play and waiting for them to start school so they could start learning how to read parents should be reading to them when they are three to four year old so they are used to it. Parents need to expose their children to books at a young age because at a young age a child may listen and through time they get used to reading but if they want to get their child to get used to reading in their teenage years is more difficult. Academic performances are very important in a child’s life because it determines their capability in school and in the world, and if by teaching a child to read at a young age helps them improve then that is what a parent shou ld be doing. Reference Page David G. Myers, D,B. (2013). Psychology 10th Edition, New York: Worth Publishers