Portrayal Of Women In Womens Fashion Magazine Advertisements Media Essay

Portrayal Of Women In Womens Fashion Magazine Advertisements Media Essay Considerable numbers of research and commentary have shown that there are differences in female and male portrayals in print advertisements which are not exactly similar to the reality (Davis, 1970; Douglas, 1976). Generally, they include negative representations of women which effects mostly the younger generations (Matlin, 1987). According to Bardwick (1967), since the 1960s, there have been growing concerns about the womens portrayal in the media. Furthermore, Rakow (1985) stated that there was a renaissance of womens movement created awareness to the portrayal of women in the media in 1960s. In advertisements, there is a tendency to portray women as sex or fashion objects and homemakers (Wortzel et al, 1974). These stereotypes mostly do not acknowledge women in work or that they can be more than homemakers or sex objects. Furthermore, it may be concluded that stereotypes still exists since then and seems to reflect what behaviours are acceptable in the society. Media can play an important part in societies. Perse (2001) illustrated the effects of media illustrated as `cognitive, affective or behavioural`. Similarly, Lippmann (1922) discovered that mass communication can also be foundation of people`s perspective of the world. Therefore, people may also acquire values, norms and customs through media, in our case stereotypes. Baker (1996) one said When experiential knowledge does not exist, we often assume that images we see in film reflect reality. Moreover, Lippmann (1922) presented stereotypes in his book `Public Opinion` while describing them as pictures in our heads which help us to understand the world. Similarly, Bootzin (1991) described stereotypes as mental symbols which illustrate different kinds of people. These include all the knowledge that people have or believe to be largely true. One of the most perplexing and complex issues currently facing advertisers is how best to portray women in advertising. Feminist critiques were mostly focuses on the limited and unrealistic portrayals of women such as being dependent on men or under representation of women with their careers (Courtney et al, 1983; Wolf, 1991). Other critics, on the other hand, focus on the sexual representation of women in advertisement which objectifies women to sell the product (Reichert et al, 2004; Ford, 2004; Lambiase, 2003). Moreover, there are further accusations towards the advertisers about the womens dependency to men and promoting about something called ideal beauty and the increase in the sexual portrayals. Since advertising is a powerful tool for creating and spreading cultural ideals, and people are exposed to it constantly, it is not surprising that advertisements are targeted to such comments. The reason why I chose this topic is both by personal interest and desire to analyse the eff ects of stereotyping in women magazines. This study will investigate the stereotypes which exist in todays world connected with women in fashion magazine advertisements and measures to what extend female students in UK associates themselves with these portrayals. 1.1. Research Background Advertising may have developed over time and became a tool for endorsing the consumerist society; however it is also a tool for exchange of meanings by using products and services in todays world. According to Pawlowski (2007), in the world of branding, products are representation of certain meanings or beliefs and consumers are purchasing them in the belief that they are actually buying into a lifestyle or an image. Womens fashion magazines have become a common advertising tool because up to 95 per cent of the space in the womens magazines filled with advertisements (McCracken, 1993). The power of magazines may be coming from the variety of interest and needs that people have. As a result, we can conclude that this has created a demand for magazines with different focuses, such as general interest, automobile, fashion or women. In addition, Sanders (1985) suggested that there are different buying behaviours and motivations among men and women. According to Calder (2003), magazines c an be considered as brands and concluded that they have apparent individual character profiles that audiences appreciate as well as matching these characteristics to their own. It has been suggested that young women choose to read womens fashion magazines to learn about style and beauty (Levine et al, 1996). Calders (2003) research about magazine readers experiences ranked the most important motivations which make people read magazines. Table 1. Motivations for Reading a Magazine 1. I get value for my time and money 2. I like it (i.e. negative correlation with It disappoints me) 3. It makes me smarter/cleverer 4. Its my personal timeout 5. I often reflect on it 6. The stories absorb me 7. I learn things first here 8. Its part of my routine 9. I find the magazine high-quality and sophisticated 10. I trust it 11. I feel good when I read it 12. Its relevant and useful to me 13. Its brief and easy for me to read 14. I build relationships by talking about and sharing it 15. I find unique and surprising things 16. It improves me, and helps me try new things 17. I save and refer to it 18. I keep or share articles 19. I think others in the household would enjoy the magazine 20. Its for people like me Source: Calder et al. (2003: 13) Furthermore, the same study also investigated womens attitudes to womens fashion magazines and discovered that 69% of women sees advertisements in magazines as a source of information and trust the advertisements in the magazine (Calder et al, 2003). 1.2. Research Objective Based on the literature, this research will try to answer the question of how do female students relate themselves to the portrayal of women in womens fashion magazine advertisements. This question is designed to fill a gap in literature which exists among the analysis of portrayals women in advertisements and if advertisements reflects the female students in the UK. The study is focused on UK; however there are referrals to researches from other countries where they discovered proofs of a kind which may not be applied in the UK. Main objective for this thesis is to answer the research question by analysing the aim and the effectiveness of advertisements and gender stereotypes, and responses of the participants. Structure of the Dissertation Chapter 1 starts with providing an introduction to the subject, briefly explains the reasons behind magazine advertising and presenting the research objective as well as describing the structure of dissertation. Chapter 2 discusses the previous studies related with the subject and reviews the concepts of advertising, gender, gender stereotypes, gender portrayals in advertisement and feminist critique. Chapter 3 introduces the method this research will adopt and explains the reasoning behind the selection while providing information about research process and data analysis. Chapter 4 reports the findings of focus group research and links the concepts to the theory. Chapter 5 presents the conclusion of the research in accordance to the analysis of the findings and discuss the implications and limitations to provide a direction for future researchers. Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1. Introduction to Literature Many studies about advertising and consumer research analysed variety of reactions toward an advertisement (Derbaix, 1995; Sengupta et al, 2008). Similar to this case, researchers such as Goffman (1979), have investigated the gender representation in advertising, especially sexual representation of women different than men, researchers has tried to explore the responses of women as well as the effect. However, can women associates themselves to these representations? Do they perceive these images negatively or positively? According to Sengupta (2008), responses of men and women to the use of stereotypical portrayals in advertising, mainly the magazines, have hardly been explored. A relative research of womens magazine emphasising on sexuality could introduce new results, specifically if it illustrated womens perceptions in positive or negative light. This study will attempt to fill the gap in the literature with investigating these questions. Goffman (1979) defined advertisements as `commercial realism`, which means the portrayals are hyper ritualized and edited,  and Hammer (2009) suggested that advertisements are portraying the world `in ways that could be real`. On the other hand, Schudson (1984) said that abstraction which is not dependent of characteristics, associations or managing something as a concept, is vital in advertising in terms of meanings and aesthetic. This could mean that advertising relies on these meanings. Furthermore, designing a world in advertisements does not have to be real or purely fantasy which he defined as `capitalist realism`. In contrast, realism defined as a fact which characterizes a person, an object or a circumstance that is true or accurate. These two concepts, abstraction and reality, can be combined in advertisements. Advertisements may create a balance between different concepts; gender and sexuality seems to be more effective in our culture. According to Hammer (2009), advertisements are promoting the questions of gender and sex in a cultural discourse. These concepts will be analysed further in this research. Relevant analyses have provided an insight for the context of this analysis. It has been suggested that in terms of reaching the consumers, especially the younger generation, there has been a shift toward modern and innovative forms of marketing (Schmitt, 1999) such as social networks. However, rationality may not always be the case in advertising (Fill, 2009). The review of literature in this study has focused on these subjects; advertising as a form of communication and its affects to the society, existing stereotypes of women, the way advertising portrays women according to this stereotypes and the feminist critique. 2.2. Advertisements Advertising images are a central part of the experienced visual world. Reality and advertising do not constitute two separate spheres acting upon one another; advertising and the mass media contribute to the visual landscape that constructs reality. Schroeder et al, 1998 Advertising is a tool to form gender identities as well as culture. Likewise, McCracken (1987) explained that advertising is reflecting cultural values and presents them through media, and Kernan (1993) suggested that advertising mainly shapes the gender identity. According to Berger (2004), advertising can be regarded as a type of communication that is influential and effective which can also use sexploitation of the female body as an instrument. According to Wilson (1995), the beauty stereotypes were promoted in a sexual way through advertising media which has the motivation (profit), the means (media exposure) and the instruments (language and photos). Although these stereotypes can be considered as unrealistic, it is accessible to every woman. Furthermore, Pawlowski (2007) argues that these stereotypes have been created to maintain `dominant ideologies` for preserving commercial interest. On the other hand, Holbrook (1982) suggested that tangible benefits which describes utilitar ian meanings of goods and services also been widely used in advertising same as experiential perspectives which presents symbolic indications of subjective attributions. Similarly, according to Schroeder (1998), the visual images could create meanings to consumers in different ways. To create a relation between the images and meanings, Berger (1989) presented four processes: cause and effect, signification, resemblance and convention. Moreover, to create resemblance in targeted consumers mind, advertisers probably use `typical` people in advertisements. Schwartz (1974) discussed the aim of designing an advertisement. According to him, it is the creation of `pleasurable emotions` which will be prompt by the product in the market. He also said that `I do not care what number of people remember or get the message. I am concerned with how people are affected by the stimuli` (Schwartz, 1974). Davidson (1992) argued that advertisements in many womens magazines, aims to promote the idea of material needs and anxiety to women within the construction of the good life. He defines the idea of good life as a mythic world which contains perfect people enjoying numerous of product. Jhally (2000), on the other hand, claimed that these ideas are unattainable and advertising is not supposed to show how people should act but reflects how people desire; which is a paradox, because these unattainable desires are the reason why women are attracted to womens fashion magazines (Pawlowski, 2007). On the other hand, Brierly (1995) argues that advertising is about a form of fantasy and escapism which means that it does not describe the reality. Some contemporary advertisements does not even state the product or service such as Levi`s commercial `Kevin the Hamster` from 1988. The ad considered as one of most surreal ads ever which introduces a hamster running in his wheel named Kevin. In the end, the wheel breaks and Kevin dies of boredom. Until the Levi`s logo shows up, nobody knows what product or which brand was being promoted. Williamson (1978) explained that abstract connections can be made among lifestyles and brands that consumers transfer meanings in the advertisements onto the product. Cultural perceptions also dictate a prominence on the `intertextual nature` of advertisements and their correlation to the wider cultural discussion on gender identities and femininity (Sandikci, 1998). While the concepts are intertextual, which they are based on prior texts; meanings of ads are also connected with other cultural texts (Goldman, 1992). According to Sandikci (1998), this occurrence was mostly disregarded by many empirical researches about portrayal of women in advertising. Then again, women are constantly subjected to different kinds of images and portrayals of femininity. These portrayals are also taking place in other media forms and the effect of such exposure influences how any specific representation will be interpreted (Sandikci, 1998), which could mean that audiences may transfer meanings from one media form to another through these interpretations. On the other hand, some researchers proposed that there many possible reactions and women can actually resist or alter the meanings of these meanings (Davis et al, 1993; Wilson, 1985). The effect of advertisements in the society was mentioned in this research and similarly, Moschis (1978) explained that gender role portrayals in the ads are influencing self-concept, achievement aspiration and self-images of the members` in a society. Since the 1960s, gender stereotypes in advertising are subjected to many debates (Odekerken-Schroder et al, 2002). Furthermore, these portrayals appeared to be increased in many ways recently (Ferguson et al, 1990). 2.2.1. Sex in Advertisements Previous researches discovered that women are portrayed as `heterosexual masculine desire` in magazine ads (Reichert et al, 2004; Baker, 2005). Ford (2008) defined the gender portrayals and sexual practices as abnormal, pathologic, and deviant and associated them with the political economy and social culture. In the western cultures sex is a natural behaviour of a human biology but `normal gender roles, sexuality, and sexual practice` can be varied among cultures (Foucault, 1988). Furthermore, Rubin (1984) described sex as a natural force that exists prior to social life. On the other hand, Ford (2008) argued that gender and sexual norms shaped by ` material bodies` within the cultures which they exist. Similar to Foucault, Hofstede (1998) also suggested that the womens objectification and sexuality in magazines can be different based on cultural values and equality of the sexes. In advertising, the perception of sex sells is still widely popular (Reichert et al, 2004) and sex has been used extensively to sell more than just products. Ford (2008) explained that advertisers also promote trends, ideas and stereotypes which could mean that they can give sexual meanings, implicit or explicit, to every product as well as attracting consumers with the fantasy of sex. According to the study of Cosmopolitan Magazine, the idea of sexual freedom, lower political authoritarianism and using models from the western countries have caused more sexuality in magazine ads (Nelson et al, 2005). Based Lambiase`s (2003) research about erotic rhetoric in advertising in magazines, it can be concluded that these messages which are assembled visually are extremely persuasive. On the other hand, these researchers were only selected advertisements which include sexual contents that are not related to the products` attributes or usage; but it was found that these ads either implicitly o r explicitly offers the promise of sexual benefits (Liambiase et al, 2003). However, these analyses create more in depth understanding of the messages behind advertising visuals. Some researchers discovered that level of sexuality, in fact, increased over time (Pawlowski, 2007). Reichert (2004) measured the level of sexuality in magazine based on an extension of a research about advertisements in 1983 and 1993; analysed them from 2003 by using Goffmans coding analysis. This coding analysis includes five categories as relative size, function ranking, feminine touch, ritualization of subordination and licenced withdrawal (Goffman, 1976). Findings of the study revealed that women are still portrayed in the same stereotypes and being objectified; however the level of sexuality rose over time. According to Jacobsen (1995), sexual contents are being used more than before to reach consumers. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the degree of nakedness remained at the same level in the ads (Soley at al, 1986), number of models who are objectified sexually in the images increased over time. (Kilbourne (2005) argued that young and beautiful individuals are mostly po rtrayed as sexual objects and especially, young adolescents are exposed to these sexual images through the media. Furthermore, she concluded that it is not possible to measure the effects of these exposures. Particularly, products such as clothing or fragrance are advertised in more sexualised way due to their nature. (Reichert, 2004). 2.3. Research on Advertising and Gender Schroeder (1998) explained that in media images, social psychologists agree that there are differences in gender portrayals. According to Pollock (2001), visual images have a significant part in the creation of gender identities, which may not display the reality. Belkaoui (1976) suggested that previous empirical researches had been very limited with the purpose of portraying the role of women in advertisements and the changes in the view female roles. Similarly, Schroeder (1998) explained that the differences in male and female portrayals and their effects are being subjected to researches recently. In advertising, most of these differences can also affect the level of gender stereotyping of a given country. Although there are no such laws yet, EUs Womens Rights Committee and European Parliament suggested that any kind of gender stereotyping in the media should be banned (Rice, 2012). In addition, media researchers showed their concerns about stereotyping of women previously and som e of them approached to the subject empirically. 2.3.1 Advertisements, Arts and Gender In order to find out the presentation of women in advertisements, Schroeder (1998) analysed the relationship between arts, gender and advertising. He concluded that descriptions are the basic point of interpretation which both arts and advertising includes. It could mean that descriptive images such as a light, genre and subject are the basic point of interpretation. Advertising has also been described as ` aesthetic objects` (Schroeder, 2004). According to Lury (1996), consumption was `aestheticized` through fashion, style and incorporation of arts through the creativity inside the advertising campaigns. In addition, Schroeder (1998) suggested that advertising acquired some methods form art history, to portray the women and highlight the difference between genders. Schroeder (1998) suggested that representation of gender differences in arts involves the nudity, women in captivity, and portrayals of male leaders often with armours. According to Bohm-Duchen (1992), in terms of cultural standards about looks and attractiveness, female body is the main interest. Berger (1972) also highlighted the connection between art and advertisements. There is a similarity between women portrayal in arts and advertising; and Berger (1972) explained this theory by quoting from art history sources. He concluded that the way of seeing women and images which portrays them has not changed since then. Schroeder (1998) agrees Bohm-Duchen by suggesting that women are perceived ` voyeuristically` and being `fantasized`. In addition, women seem to be characterised in a passive way in both art and advertising. Berger (1972) concluded that women are portrayed different than men; the reason is not because of the difference between femininity and masculinity, but the main focus is to be appeal to male audience. It has been concluded that advertising uses many methods from art portray women and mostly, this supports the inequality between ge nders. 2.3.2. Gender Portrayals It has been suggested that gender role portrayals creates a problem when advertisers prefers to portray a woman (Whipple, 1985). According to Pawlowski (2007), advertising demonstrates a persons role in the society, especially when it comes to gender and sex; and depends onto the established representations of gender. In addition, advertising can also play an important role in shaping the perceptions of the society about gender. It was concluded in the study of Courtney and Lockeretzs (1971) about the portrayal of roles of women in women magazines that women have very limited roles in advertisements. Venkatesh (1994) investigated the perspectives of market researchers and customers about women. According to his research, women tend to be viewed as a wife, homemaker, hostess, mother, or a single girl preparatory to these roles (Davis, 1970). Similarly, Rajagopal (2002) explained that woman has one of three roles in their portrayal in advertisements which are not truly `represent women s diversity: sex or beauty symbol, mother and housewife. ` Furthermore, Scanzoni (1977) highlighted other roles of women outside the family; for instance, business woman or professional employee, which can be called social roles, were taken into little or no consideration. On the other hand, it was concluded that women are regularly be associated with two kinds of social representation; desirability and aggressiveness (Umiker-Sebeok 1981). Similar to Schroeder (1998), Linder (2004) have analysed the effects of gender roles in the media and concluded that stereotypes in gender portrayals are still applied in advertising even today. However, this is a startling outcome since there are social and cultural changes about womens status in the society since 1950s. On the other hand, especially womens fashion magazines such as Vogue, these changes have not been affected; since there are significantly higher amount of stereotypical portrayals. Furthermore, Linder (2004) concluded that stereotypical or sexualized representations are the key method of portraying women. `This portrayal of women as inferior and flawed is a necessity for the existence of a womens fashion magazines such as Vogue, which is primarily a means for advertising and selling products that are suggested to be a cure for womens feelings of inferiority and inappropriateness (Linder, 2004). This could justify the enduring stereotypes in womens fashion magazines throughout time. These unrealistic promises may create insecurities and inferiority complex. Goffman (1979) defines the representation of female body in fashion advertisements as `puckish styling` and explaining it as `a sort of body clowning`. However, MacCracken (1993) argues that these advertisements are within a `dominant moral order`. Although an advertisement sells an image or an idea, women should be able to choose what message they would like to give or how they would like to present themselves to the world. One of the criticisms is about the difference in genders portrayal in advertisements. Schroeder (1998) explained that non-verbal behaviours and abilities vary among genders. Gender representation in advertisements has been subjected to several studies. Rajagopal (2002) also studied the effects of advertisements on portraying different gender images. It has been found that there is a significant bias in representation of both genders. According to Milburn, Carney and Ramirez (2001), males are mainly more knowledgeable, active (such as running) and authoritative; o n the other hand females are more likely to be young and dressed in more revealing clothes and not very active as males (such as sitting). Goffman, in his book Gender Advertisement (1979), argued that `women are treated as children` in advertising. He explained that, in order to identify the difference between men and women in advertisements, parent-child relationship should be examined. In advertisements, men tend to be portrayed as the parent whereas women behave as a child. For instance, Goffman (1979) figured that, in ads, a men`s hands portrayed as strongly holding an item and has the power to manipulate it, while women`s hand is just touching the item and not have the full power to control it. Another example is, in many advertisements, women are mentally wandering away under the protection of a male or women appears in finger to mouth position which reminds a children`s behaviour. Another argument is, in magazine advertisements, womens body was shown more frequently than the images of mens body (Hall et al, 1994). Jung (2009) argued that these objectifications of women are connected with the gender stereotypes wh ich come from the womens portrayal in the media. Similar to Courtney and Lockeretz (1971), Goffman (1979) proposed that standards of femininity and masculinity have been created by the help of advertisements and explained the signs of gender stereotypes in advertising: women have less prestigious profession; men are in control of the situations and making eye contact with audiences while women looking at a distance place or a male model whom can protect her or simply drifting mentally; women self-touching herself which shows the female body as gentle and fragile whereas men grasp, shape or product an item. As a result, women seem to be perceived as objects that are desired by men and these stereotypes are emphasized on sexuality. Furthermore, these images of women body exists predominantly in womens fashion magazines (Ferguson et al, 1990). Evidently, there is a difference between womens sexual representation in contrast to men. Nevertheless, the degree of sexuality in womens magazi nes and consumers reaction has barely been studied (Pawlowski, 2007). Richins (1991) analysed the responses of female undergraduate students to models in ads and discovered that women are constantly compare their bodies with models which results in dissatisfaction of their physical experiences. Although, the aim of advertising is to sell the product; products becomes less effective to the desired appearance or audiences are not convinced enough to buy them (Thomas, 2000). Curry (1998) suggested that the ideals of beauty portrayed in the magazines are not attainable and some people think that these portrayals are not realistic. According to Whipple (1985), advertisers tend to ask the question of `What model- product pairings will be most effective in creating favourable consumer attitudes? ` He concluded that the choices are based on the attitude towards the appropriateness of the combinations and previous information about the target segment. As a result, stereotypes become an issue. For instance, men are be portrayed with electronics or automobiles wh ile women are being portrayed with household products (Aireck, 1982). Current studies suggest that female models shown in the advertisements started to embrace male roles such as being powerful and authoritarian (Schroeder, 1998). On the other hand, Stern (1994) discussed that these reversed roles are the result of a strategy, which is showing products more attractive and appeal to men. Moreover, it was indicated that women are more aware of the stereotypes in advertising than men (Odekerken-Schroder et al, 2002). On the other hand, Wortzel and Frisbie (1974) discovered that gender preferences are affected by the functions of a product rather than societies opinion. However, Sciglimpaglia (1979) argues that when womens role in a society is less traditional, criticism towards the current portrayal in advertising is higher. Society members` `self-image, achievement aspiration and self-concept` are influenced by these portrayals in advertisements (Moschis et al, 1998). Myers (1992) associated the ideal body image with the good life image which could drive people to pursue such images whether it is achievable or not. However, Patterson (2002) explained that the reliability of these images as a symbol of femininity is being questioned, if it could be transformed and reconstructed in order to represent the roles. The beauty portrayals have been idealised and exists for al l age demographics. Possibly, teenagers are more easily influenced age demographic and teenagers are possibly the most influenced demographic and older women seem to be kept in the side-line. On the other hand, some campaigns are using more realistic representations and challenging the stereotypes by ` celebrating the diverse, the healthy, the real, and the truly beautiful such as the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty (Patterson, 2006). The Dove ad campaign rejects the conventional beauty stereotypes and instead, shows women in many ages, sizes and shapes. According to Neff (2004), the campaign undermines the basic proposition of decades of beauty-care advertising. The ad campaign portrays average women with variety of images and asking rhetorical questions as wrinkled or wonderful? which is regarded as unattractive in contemporary advertising world. Examples of the ad campaign are shown below. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tuh1CXp_vRM/TzRUfToFpAI/AAAAAAAAAE4/2iLCJqa_bLA/s1600/realcurves1.pnghttp://www.wonderbranding.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/dove_wideweb__430x327.jpg Schroeder (2004) concluded that advertising has function of spreading gender roles and setting identities, while Patterson (2002) explains gender as a dominant concept in advertising. Moreover, Myers (1992) suggested that creation and reinforcement of gender identities has been supported by advertising as well as broadcasting them. Similarly to the recent changes in advertising (Dove campaign or advocates in the EU Parliament), it has been suggested that there has been a substantial improvement in emphasizing womans expanding role as a working member of society (Wagner, 1973); especially with the influence of womens movement in the American society (Venkatesh, 1980). Especially in demographically varied womens magazines, higher female employments resulted in changes in the portrayal of women such as more professional, independent and confident images (Chafetz et al, 1993). As a result, it can be concluded that increasing number of women

Analysis on the role of women and men in vanity Essay

Victorian era literary has produced many different masterpieces from many different writers who focused mainly on the emergence of interpersonal issues involving love, money and social status, usually backdropped by a historical event with national relevance at the time of the story telling. Vanity Fair is one of these types of this kind of work. And even until today, Vanity Fair is one of the materials referenced by critics during literary analysis involving the role of women in the society, the role of patriarchal influence in the Victorian era social politics and the presentation of different women stereotypes in literature. Vanity Fair is a serialized literary material written by William Makepeace Thackeray, published initially in the pages of Punch Magazine in the United Kingdom, beginning at the start of the year 1847, the final instalment appearing a year later in July. The initial title of this masterpiece was Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero. A popular saying describes vanity as the favorite sin of men and women, a line of thought which will be heavily discussed and supported in this particular paper through the analysis of the presence of vanity and the role of men and women inside the society on the propagation and existence of vanity. Vanity Fair is a very interesting book that attacks personal and societal illnesses that causes the corruption and corrosion from the inside of what was believed to be a socially-shared moral right. The author attacked the issues and the personal and social crises by pointing out the role of individuals as well as the role of the structure of the society that influences the lives of the individuals in the story. â€Å"Almost every sin in Vanity Fair can be traced, beyond personal weakness, to the fundamental laws of money and class†¦ The poison in Vanity Fair infects the bottom rungs of the social ladder as well as the top (Dyson, 1973, p. 86). † The role of women in William Thackeray’s â€Å"Vanity Fair† There are many different women found in the novel Vanity Fair. But there are some key female characters that provided significant roles in the story so that the novel can depict the real life situation in the Victorian era and in the process provide whatever moral lesson it can about the aspects of life that it managed to discuss and tackle. The list of key female characters that require scrutiny and analysis is topped by the three women characters that possess any or all of the traits that made them important, like personality, influence, cunning and power: Miss Crawley and the contrasting Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. Becky Sharp – In a novel without a hero, Becky Sharp was the heroine, even if for some she is the anti-heroine. Becky was one of the two lead women characters who are central to the story. The two girls are opposites in many different ways, and their lives continue such path, with Becky becoming the most villainous of the two and Amelia Sedley her exact opposite. Indeed, the character of Becky Sharp was the catalyst for social abrasion. Some might feel that Becky represents everything that is morally bad and undesirable in the society inside Vanity Fair. Sharp’s character also reminds the readers that people cannot ignore people like her and the characteristics that she displays, dismissing it as a characteristic that is a mere product of a fictional character. Her character represents a type of individual who is alive in the real world. In some twisted consideration, Becky can be considered as the source of â€Å"life† – if life means the presence of constant conflict and the consistent surfacing of anything unexpected – inside a society because Becky does not let social norms get in the way of what she wants. â€Å"The woman who goes after money and status but finds that they do not satisfy her – a woman like Becky Sharp – is allowed to be at least morally interesting (Garson, 2007, p. 99). † Whether readers admit it or not, Becky’s character is an important pull to the consciousness of the readers; she provides the intrigue and sin that readers on the outside condemn but diligently follows through in the next episodes of the novel. Becky seduces and elicits the feeling of scorn and hate so much that she makes the readers always eager to know what happened to her, largely because real life readers are as vain as her. Becky taunts the devil in the readers, making them think and reconsider the â€Å"what ifs,† the things that Becky is not afraid to do which the readers are having second thoughts of doing. Becky triggers the fantasies. For the women readers, it is the fantasy of being able to pull of seduction and gain worldly possessions, to bed many different men and feel a different kind of power, to be free from the shackles and restraints the patriarchal society placed upon women and to be largely free and unaccountable to anything. For male readers, the fantasy is to be seduced by a Becky Sharp, to be offered body and lustful obedience in exchange for money and power that not every man can have in his lifetime. Becky made the world go around inside Vanity Fair, even if the sad part is that as a whole, she is still a mere part of the patriarchal society that used her as much as she used it to her advantage. â€Å"And what else creates change in Vanity Fair if not Becky’s subversive sexual behavior? It is she deprives Amelia of a loving husband well before Thackeray has him killed off on the battlefield at Waterloo (Armstrong, 1990. p. 178). † Amelia Sedley – Amelia contradicts Becky in comparison in many ways. Amelia always opts to live in the past and is tied with the memory of past while Becky is always looking ahead into the future. Amelia is always passive and easily contented, while Becky is always on the move, always hunting or scheming so that she can get what she wants. Amelia is the prototype for the docile and meek domestic housewife, during and after her married life with George, while Becky was â€Å"anything but. † Amelia gives the readers hope that there are still people who walk the straight path of morality, while Becky is jumping up and down, always falling far from where morality wants her to be. Amelia’s role in the novel is more than just as an individual who represents everything that Becky is. Amelia, to some extent, was also the symbol of the ills of the life of being meek and sulky. She is the anatomy of the unknowing victim, the unwitting casualty to the moral massacre that poverty, indebtedness, puritanism and being overly morally upright undertakes in everyday life. She was an angel all right, but Thackeray made sure that even with wings it is easily discernable that Amelia is far from being in heaven largely because of her personality. Amelia, as a character, lived a life that was far from being the ideal married life, and the story was as unkind to her as the critics of the symbolism of woman to which she stood for. â€Å"Late-Victorian women writers contributed to the fight for women’s rights by creating representations of women that confronted the self-abnegating, submissive, housebound image of middle-class Ideal Womanhood. This ideal was epitomized at mid-century by William Thackeray’s Amelia Sedley from Vanity Fair (Mangum, 1999, p. 2). † Becky and Amelia: The analysis and profiling of the real heroine The heroine in the story can either be Becky or Amelia, depending on the reader and the reader’s perspective and moral standpoint. This is because the identification of the heroine type between the two female characters in the novel speaks a lot about the personal characteristics of the person making the difference between the two. The reader would be placed in a dilemma wherein the reader has to choose which personality she would approve between the polar characteristics of Becky and Amelia. â€Å"Plot in Vanity Fair is primarily the histories of two women: one, the shrewdly competent Rebecca Sharp, consistently exploits the conventions of high society to rise within it; the other, the compassionate but vulnerable Amelia Sedley, is exploited by Rebecca and others in their campaign to achieve social prominence (Lund, 1992, p. 23). † The author was consistent with what critics call as rule in the creation of fictitious married female characters. The story divides the desire for love and for materials goods between two individuals who are vaguely antagonists or protagonists in the story. The clear idea to the readers is the priorities of the women as human characters, looking at them outside the scope of gender. As a human character, Becky was the one who puts material things above all, while the character of Amelia puts love above all – providing not just a state of realism but also a sense of balance to the presence of contrasting but significant roles in the novel. With this the reader, male or female, would knowingly or otherwise pick one of the two to become his/her heroine largely on the identification of the same grounds where the character and reader stands. A reader will hardly choose both because like the rule of the fiction writing, the reader will only empathize with the predicament of the character with whom he or she relates the most. â€Å"The rule in fiction is that a female character cannot want both love and luxury. Rare indeed is the novelistic heroine who genuinely loves her husband but who at the same time desires and frankly enjoys the goods that he is able to buy her (Garson, 2007, p. 99). † Thackeray makes it more difficult for the readers to pick which is the heroine between the two opposite characters because an important characteristic of the difference between the two is that the author created characters which are neither white nor black. Becky and Amelia are both neither strictly good nor straight-out bad. The differences of the two candidates for heroine-ism also made implications that altered their state of being good or bad as their state of lives moves forward in the story. There is a sense of goodness in Becky as much as there are some things in Amelia which may merit disapproval from the readers. Because the story is centered on domestic life of couples and the complexity that the society and the personalities of the people in it contribute to the lives of married individuals, the personalities of Beck and Amelia as wives are just as important pieces of consideration as much as their own personal characteristics are in the pursuit of defining who is the more suitable heroine between the two. And like their personalities as single individuals, how they were as wives is just as complicated, Thackeray became consistent with the idea of ending up with having no real defined hero (or heroine for that matter). It forces the reader to take a very good look at real life before finally judging who between Becky and Amelia deserved to be raised in the pedestal as the ideal woman and wife. â€Å"The role she plays perhaps most productively is that of the faithful and charming little wife to Rawdon Crawley. Ironically, as long as she finds it advantageous to play this role, she is a much more effective domestic angel than Amelia Osborne, whose devotion to her husband George is heartfelt but sterile, who maternal affection is positively destructive, and who is quite unable to repay Dobbin for his years of devotion. In contrast to Amelia, Becky brings out the best in her husband, transforming Rawdon from a randy roue to a contented husband and a devoted father (Garson, 2007, p. 99). †

Writing Skills Part

Which of the following would be an appropriate way to add variety to your sentences? A. Use questions and answers together. B. Add personal anecdotes. C. Use more close-up words. D. Make your sentences read like a spoken conversation. 2. Nelson's hobby is tinkering with small appliances. Tinkering with implies that Nelson is unskilled at his hobby. You want to change the flavor of this sentence to show that Nelson is, in fact, quite skilled at his hobby. Which of the following should you choose to replace tinkering with so that the reader gets the right idea? A. Selling B. Fiddling with C. Repairing D.Messing with 3. Anna is an exceptional young girl. Anna does any Job that needs to be done. To vary the sentence structure, which one of the following sentences should you insert in the blank? A. Anna is a hardworking and versatile person. B. Anna works hard every day of her life. C. Anna is always working hard at home. D. Have you noticed how hard she works? 4. Which of the following d irect quotations is punctuated properly? A. â€Å"Way to go, Sean,† the coach shouted. â€Å"That was a great run! † B. â€Å"Way to go, Sean,† the coach shouted. â€Å"That was a great run†! C. â€Å"Way to go, Sean†, the coach shouted. That was a reat run†! D. â€Å"Way to go, Sean†, the coach shouted. â€Å"That was a great run! † 5. When we speak of the flavor of a word, we're talking about the extra understood meanings that it carries in addition to its main meaning. These extra meanings are called denotations. ‚ ¬8. shadings. C. connotations. D. definitions. 6. A thesaurus is a book that's useful for finding A. synonyms. B. definitions. C. frequently misspelled words. D. famous persons. 7. Which is the best strategy to follow when you write a report or an essay? A. Get it right the first time and put it aside until it's due. B.Revise it over and over for at least hree or four years. C. Work on it over a seven-day p eriod and rewrite it at least twice. D. Write it in one sitting and revise it only once. 8. Find the sentence with the active voice. A. It was voted by the legislature to pass. B. I was told by the chairman that the bill was passed by the legislature. C. The bill was passed by the legislature. D. The chairman told me that the legislature passed the bill. 9. Of the following methods, the best way to increase your reading is by A. forcing yourself to read subjects you dislike. B. setting a goal to read five new pages every night. C. eading a new book every day. D. Joining a mail-order book club. 10 which ot the tollowing words is most likely to carry a connotation? A C. walk D. stride 1 1 . Of these four words, which one is most likely to have a negative flavor? A. Harangue B. Confound C. Meander D. Distract 12. Which of the following sentences is written in the passive voice? A. The effects of cyanide are well known. ‚ ¬8. Having left the building, Elvis never returned. C. I would not provoke that man if I were you. D. They considered their options. 13. Which one of the following sentences or phrases is most likely to be considered a clich ©?A. How dead is a dead doornail? B. Are you a man or a moose? C. Look before you leap. D. When in doubt, pout. 14. Which of the following sentences uses the best close-up words? A. Sara is pursuing a non-science degree. B. Sara is studying languages. C. Sara is studying French and German. D. Sara is pursuing a degree. 15. Which one of the following statements about making your writing fun to read is not correct? A. Direct quotations should be reserved for characters in stories. B. Give your writing a personal touch by showing that you're interested in your subject. C.The conversation you write must sound natural for the characters. D. An anecdote or humorous quotation is often more convincing than a strong argument. 16. When using direct quotations in your writing, which of the following should be placed outside th e set of quotation marks? A. Semicolon B. Question mark C. Comma D. Period 17. A clich © is a B. new C. worn-out D. wordy expression. A. foreign 18. Read the word in parentheses; then decide which of these sentences most effectively translates an abstract concept into a mental picture. A. (Sunrise) The rising sun transformed the canyon into bright stone and deep shadow.B. (Studious) Lucy ay on her bed reading a back issue of National Geographic. C. (Freedom) On her twenty-first birthday, Lola declared herself a woman. D. (Rumors) Whispers of doubt filled the empty halls like the reek of boiled cabbage. 19. An antonym is a word that's A. the same in meaning. B. pronounced the same. C. defined in a thesaurus. D. opposite in meaning. 20. What is the most important point in the following sentence? My sister, Emily, the tallest girl in her class, has many friends. A. Emily is the tallest girl in her class. B. My sister's name is Emily. C. Emily is my sister. D. Emily has many friends.

Far-Reaching Implications of Global Warming - 788 Words

â€Å"Temperature is probably the single most important environmental factor influencing insect behavior, distribution, development, survival, and reproductionâ€Å". (Bale et al 2002). Since insects are cold-blooded, the environmental temperature plays a very important role in an insect’s homeostasis. Homeostasis is the relatively constant internal physical and chemical condition that organisms maintain. Once the temperature has changed from its norm, an insect’s daily functions would be disrupted. â€Å"It has been estimated that with a 2 degree Celsius temperature increase insects might experience one to five additional life cycles per season† (Yamamura Kiritani 1998). Scientists believe a warmer climate may result in higher insect populations. However, studies have shown that butterflies prefer a cooler climate. The butterfly population is decreasing at sea level but is increasing at tree line as butterflies migrate to cooler areas. For example, the Br own Argus Butterfly has shifted where its populations are most dense; a butterfly that was once predominantly found in Southern Britain, has now relocated to Northern Britain, a dramatic change of 79 kilometers. Butterflies at the highest-elevation site are appearing with increasing regularity. Those that normally breed at 7,000 feet now breed at 9,000 feet. When an area changes from rural to urban or suburban, the greatest butterfly losses occur. This proves that global warming is having an effect on organisms, even if the changeShow MoreRelatedHow Will Global Warming Change Earth?851 Words   |  4 Pages In two recent articles published in National Geographic and NASA Earth Observatory, â€Å"Signs From Earth: No Room to Run† and â€Å"How Will Global Warming Change Earth?†, both articles serve to raise the reader’s awareness and challenges us to see deeper into the serious implications global warming has, not only in our lives, but also into the life of our fragile ecosystem as well. And while both articles share a distinct similarity in delivering to a audience a message that is both omniscientRead MoreGlobal Warming and Environmental Management629 Words   |  2 PagesName: Danyel Cox Instructor: Dr. Ragsdale Date: March 18 Global Warming The 20th and 21st centuries have been characterized by calls of environmental management and conservation from environmentalists. The issue that has been of serious concern has been the gradual but constant rise in the environmental temperatures across the whole world. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as global warming. It is essentially believed that the world temperatures were uniform and constant before the industrialRead MoreTransnational Issues And The Global Community1486 Words   |  6 Pagesby definition, has defied the integrity of states national borders and has extended chaos into far reaching realms—directly and indirectly. While it seems as if much of worlds attention is focused almost exclusively on terrorism—international organized crime, narcotics trafficking, illicit sales of weapons, the spread of disease, internet driven jihadist and the geopolitical implications of global warming are all extremely prevalent and present an amounting challenge to numerous states. Thus, the followingRead MoreDoes Global Warming Effect Hurricane Frequency and Intensity?1489 Words   |  6 PagesDebates over the impact of global warming on weather patterns around the globe have been the source of intense scrutiny in recent years. One such debate that has seen increased attention in the scientific community is: What impact does global warming have on hurricane frequency and intensity? Since the especially intense hurricane season in 2005 that spawned the devastating storms of â€Å"Katrina† and â€Å"Rita† this question has spawned a lot of media attention as well. However before we can even beginRead More Its Time to Move Beyond Fossil Fuels Essay742 Words   |  3 Pagesstations for electricity, heating homes, and providing fuel for transport, have been used for many years. Despite their relative inexpensiveness, fossil fuels have major drawbacks. They introduce a myriad of negative implications including environmental degradation, global warming, acid rain, health problems, and ecosystem destruction. Even though fossil fuels are cheaper today than renewable sources of energy, it is well worth spending the extra money on these more environmentally friendly typesRead MoreParis Climate Agreement Essay1422 Words   |  6 Pagespoor decision is President Trump’s refusal to join the consensus that global warming is threatening our environment. The Paris Climate Agreement was signed by 195 countries. It was created to reduce the release of carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. The participating countries set their own goals and plans to reduce global warming. Many scientists believe that the threshold for temperature rise is 2  °C. If the global average temperature rises up by 2 °C, there could be many problems suchRead MoreGlobal Warming: Causes and Effects1422 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Global warming has been a very contentious issue of late in regards to environmental hea lth and safety. Many pundits and critics alike exclaim that global warming is not as prevalent as individuals claim. One such pundit is that of George Will, whose article, Dark Green Doomsdayers indicates that global warming is simply a hoax. The statistics however prove otherwise. Global warming and its effects are far reaching. Society is affected due to higher frequency of natural disasters and drought.Read MoreClimate Change On The Oceans1581 Words   |  7 Pagesclimate change will have many wide reaching effects the focus of this paper will be on oceans. One of the more obvious effect of climate change on the oceans will be warming of the water. From 1971 to 2010 the upper ocean defined as 700 meters and above warmed, it may have also warmed prior to that time but data was not very well kept or consistent during those times. While the water close to the surface could have the greatest warming, it cannot be ruled out that warming is also taking place at greaterRead MorePolluti on Of The Environment And The Home1208 Words   |  5 PagesPollution of the Environment There is a strong connection between the environment and the home; this implication refers, in one aspect, to a human’s inclination and love towards home. Because of this connection one should be as concerned for the environment as one is towards his/her own home. Pollution can be defined as anything which is unclean. It causes a lot of environmental issues and health problems not only to humans, but to all creatures on the earth. If we more deeply consider the effectsRead MoreClimate Change Is The Global Climate System1369 Words   |  6 PagesClimate is part of our everyday lives. What we experience is the global climate system. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, climate change is, a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity alters the composition of the atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. (Allen, Seaman Delascio, 2009) Australiaâ €™s climate has warmed a lot more since 1910 by the average of