William A. Shea and His Impact on New York Research Paper

William A. Shea and His Impact on New York - Research Paper Example He was honored by naming the stadium after him, and the team New York Mets played in the stadium for approximately 45 years (Wade 150). Shea had immense political connections as well as money in New York City, he weathered the pressure from the major league owners to come up with the third league after the Giants and Dodgers moved on. William Shea made significant contributions on the New York through making the Continental league a reality in the City. Moreover, Shea was revered for introducing a junior league that promoted the growth of talent in Baseball. Besides his career as a lawyer and huge interests in Baseball. Shea was involved in philanthropic activities. This paper discusses William A. Shea and his contributions toward New York. Discussion William A. Shea was born in Washington Heights in Manhattan on June 21, 1907. Shea attended various public schools after which he studied at New York University on a sports scholarship for basketball. Later, he transferred on another sp orts scholarship to Georgetown University. In 1931, Shea was admitted to the bar at District of Columbia after which he joined the New York bar (Margolick). While in New York University, Georgetown University and Harvard Law School, Shea had a huge interest in Basketball and was a team member in these institutions. Shea graduated from the Harvard law school and worked for insurance bureaucracies after which he entered into private practice. As a lawyer, Shea garnered political influence by working voluntarily on influential boards in Brooklyn. In his legal career, Shea was a lawyer who was trusted by powerful men due to his efficiency (Margolick). Career as a Lawyer Shea held close ties with political bigwigs although he never held an elective office (Margolick). Moreover, Shea was on numerous occasions cited bragging that he had never practiced his profession in a conventional sense. Nevertheless, his career, which spanned for a period of five decades, was a period when Shea became a confidant of mayors, governors and corporate chieftains. These ties enabled him to build Shea & Gould, which is New York’s most influential and largest law firm. Shea and Gould clients included the Apple, The Mets and The Yankees among others. For a large part of his career, Shea maneuvered around banquet halls and boardrooms and was only brought to a public role when the New York Mayor enlisted his help to return the league to its glory (Margolick). Shea obtained New York’s baseball franchise via a combination of street smarts, threats, bluffs and charm that he was particularly suited in given his career as a lawyer, and not as a zealous sports fan. Moreover, his credentials may have been ridden with official appointments, encomiums, affiliations and awards but they omitted his important attribute of bringing people’s interests together (Margolick). Caliendo(2010, 18) highlights that Shea was a power broker with huge experience and spent 40 years turning sit uations facing bankers, realtors, underwriters corporate heads, cement barons, sports impresarios and politicians into profitable cases. Moreover, Shea was labeled as the unofficial chairperson of the unofficial government, who had spent a significant part of his career laboring quietly in political twilight between the public good and private interest. Shea had survived many regimes at the Shea Stadium from the reign of Casey Stengel to the reign of Bud Harrelson and during the opening days of the leagues, he presented a flowery horseshoe to the manager as Mets. Similarly, he survived many political vicissitudes during his career at the City Hall. He became a close confidant of Mayors John Lindsay, Abraham Beame

War in Iraq Essay Example for Free

War in Iraq Essay The name of the Second Gulf War has often been referred with the Iraq War, which has begun from March 20, 2003 and is still deteriorating lives of millions of people in the Iraqi region of the world. In the year 2003, invasion of Iraq was led by the United States of America, and this war is still ongoing, which has affected the world adversely. Development of weapons of mass destruction was one of the main rationales that were presented by the government of the George W. Bush, as well as, his supporters in the form of different Democratic and Republican parties. (Danchev, 2005) According to the Bush government, allies and interests of the United States posed a threat from the development of abovementioned weapons by the Iraq. In the year 2003, it was claimed during the State of the Union Address by the President George W. Bush that there was no time to wait for the imminence of the threat from the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. However, such weapons were not found by the United States after the invasion of the Iraq. In order to support the decision of the Bush’s government, connection was made between the al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein by the citing of their claims. (Murray, 2003) Another reason for the invasion of Iraq that was given by the George W. Bush was the democracy in the Iraq, which was necessary for the development, as well as, stability of the country due to the abuse that was being done by the government of the Saddam Hussein in the Iraq in terms of human rights before the invasion. In addition, it was been claimed that the non-military options were limited, as oil supply of the Iraq possessed economic importance in the region. However, all these claims, citations, and reasons were regarded as a technique for the invasion in the Iraq for the personal interest of the government of the George W. Bush. (Moore, 2004) March 2003 witnessed the beginning of the war in Iraq. In March 2003, Iraq was attacked by a force of American, as well as, British forces. In addition, small Australian, Dutch, and Polish contingents supported this invasion of the Iraq. Subsequently, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was overthrown in this invasion by the abovementioned forces. Iraq was occupied by the coalition that was led by the United States, and a new democratic government was established in terms of attempts by these forces. (Murray, 2003) However, order in the Iraq was not restored by the coalition forces that were led by the United States successfully. Asymmetric warfare resulted in the unrest with the insurgents of the Iraq. In addition, Sunni and Shia of the Iraq began a civil war between themselves. In order to keep in pace, operations of the al-Qaeda were also observed in the Iraq, which are still ongoing in the region and worsening and affecting lives of thousands of Iraqi civilians, as well as, the soldiers of the coalition forces. (Moore, 2004) In the result, Iraq has witnessed withdrawal of an increasing number of nations that have withdrawn their soldiers and troops from the region due to a high rate of growth of mortality of the soldiers due to a number of reasons during the war in Iraq. In addition, extreme and controversial causes, as well as, consequences have been found in remain in this war. (Danchev, 2005) Criticism As we have discussed above, Iraq War that has begun by the Bush government with the support of troops and forces of supportive countries, has been unsuccessful. In the result, a number of losses have deteriorated the United States in different and various ways. In this paper, we will try to discuss and analyze the losses that have been confronted by the United States, due to the Iraq’s invasion in March 2003 until present. Casualties of the War Many forms have been observed in the casualties of the war in Iraq since March 2003 until present. In addition, great variation has been noted in the available information, as well as, its accuracy and validity regarding the occurrence of different types of incidents that have resulted in different types of casualties in the Iraq. Daily and careful updating and tracking of the death toll of the coalition forces that have been led by the United States is done. In this regard, wide publication has been distributed and telecasted for the names and photographs of the wounded, injured, and even dead soldiers and members of the coalition forces. (Moore, 2004) However, less accuracy, reliability, and validity has been observed in the casualties of civilian, as well as, military forces of the Iraq in the war. Bias and partiality has been observed in the recording and updating of the death tolls of these forces in the region. In this regard, a number of reporters on the scene have been able to provide the estimates and other related information regarding the casualty levels of the forces in the region. In addition, organizations that are involved in the incidents and operations have also been contacted for the statistics. (Murray, 2003) Even in the great variation, it is confirmed that the Iraq War has deteriorated and terminated thousands of lives and damaged houses and habitats of many lives in the region, which has resulted in the opposition and criticism of the war by a number of experts, professionals, critics, and even the Americans. On June 28, 2004, interim government of the Iraq was handed over with the official authority over the area; towns across Iraq have shown a number of unending attacks on the coalition forces and troops. The casualty numbers of these soldiers and troops of the coalition forces are still increasing and updated by a number of different resources that shows that the Iraq war is continuing to worsen the lives of thousands of people in different parts of the world. In the result, it has resulted in the opposition for this war. (Murray, 2003) Over nineteen thousand casualties have been suffered by the military of the United States, as the fourth year started on March 19, 2006 during the war in Iraq. The numbers of wounded soldiers in the war came out to be more than seventeen thousand in the Iraq, and approximately two thousand three hundred bodies of the U. S. soldiers were sent to the United States from the Iraq. In April 2003, a number of insurgents in the Iraq performed various operations that resulted in ninety-five percent of the abovementioned casualties of the soldiers. The fall of Baghdad in the Iraq is claimed to be one of the causes of the insurgency in the region. Signs of consistency and ferocity were showed by these Iraqi insurgents, especially during the violent period of September 11 in the same year 2003. (Moore, 2004) (Michael, 2006) In Fallujah, a bridge was used to hang the bodies of four contractors of the United States, who were killed by the Iraqi insurgents and mutilation of their bodies was done by the insurgents’ lethality was dramatically increased by this incident. In the result, the efforts for the Iraq war were escalated by the Bush government, and more costly war was the result of this escalation. In the second year of the war, wounded soldiers were 8,454 and 936 died by the operations of the opposition. (Danchev, 2005) All these casualties included a broken leg, or a broken arm, which created a sense of fear and opposition in the Iraqi, as well as, American civilians. A number of American soldiers were sent to their homes with one leg, or one hand that changed their lives from their scratch. A soldier, who used to protect the country, now can look in the sky and dream of doing the same, while sitting on his wheel chair. This was the condition of many soldiers in the United States. This resulted in the hatred towards the Bush government, and towards the decision of sending American soldiers in the Iraq. (Abrams, 2003) In this regard, the unsuccessful result of the Iraq War has resulted in a number of losses for the United States government, as well as, for the civilians of the Iraq, as well as, United States and other supportive countries that are engaged in the war in Iraq. (Michael, 2006) A range of serious health issues, as well as, mental disorders has been reported by many veterans of the Iraq War in the United States forces. Tumors, migraines, blood in urine, muscle pains, dysfunction of the sex, and a number of issues have been reported by the coalition forces in the Iraq. In this regard, utilization of radioactive depleted uranium has been found to be causing the abovementioned health issues and disorders in the coalition forces, which cannot be stopped during the war. Thus, the Iraq War has provided a number of serious losses to the United States government. (Murray, 2003) In addition, posttraumatic stress disorder has been found in a number of soldiers according to the New England Journal on Medicine that has published a study by the U. S. veterans in the year 2004. Before the deployment of these soldiers, 5 to 10 percent of the soldiers in these troops were already suffering from the abovementioned disorder, as the lethality of the insurgents and the Iraq war has tend the soldiers to face this disorder in them. On December 25, 2006, the total deaths of the 9/11, that is, 2973 deaths were equaled, and even surpassed by the death toll of military deaths of the United States in the Iraq. For instance, it was reported by an article in Newsday that the death toll of September 11 was pushed down by an explosion that occurred on the Christmas Day in the Iraq. The Iraq War has resulted in amputees of approximately five hundred American soldiers, as of January 18, 2007. A 24-year old corporal is considered the 500th victim of the Iraq War according to an article of the Time magazine. On January 12, 2007, a roadside bomb explosion resulted in the amputation of both of his legs. A number of soldiers have gone through the same situation and confrontation due to the war in Iraq, which tends to go for the opposition of this war. Mental illnesses, brain injuries related to the trauma have also been reported and found in the American soldiers due to the war in Iraq. Some level of care has been received by nearly two thousand soldiers that have injury in their brains due to several different reasons and causes related to the war in Iraq. (Abrams, 2003) This shows that the war in Iraq has deteriorated not only the lives of the Iraqi civilians and military, but has also resulted in the deterioration of the American civilians and lives of thousands of military officials and soldiers in the United States.

Taiwanese National Health Insurance Card :: Insurance Coverage Taiwan Essays

Taiwanese National Health Insurance Card Taiwanese government has been providing health insurance coverage to all its citizens since 1997. Initially, the National Health Insurance Agency managed and tracked citizen's medical usage via four versions of paper national health insurance card. The health insurance card, the newly born handbook, the pregnancy handbook, and major disease/handicap certificate. Whenever a citizen visits health clinic, the visit is recorded on the back of the appropriate ID. When the card is full, the citizen exchange the used card for a new one at the local NHI office. The NHI also receive medical records from medical establishments when they file for claims. Starting July 2003, the health insurance agency began its modernization process. It started consolidating four paper versions with the digital version-- a smart card containing IC chip. By Jan. 1, 2004, the entire country was upgraded to the digital NHI card. The goal of the modernization process is to reduce the NHI's operational overhead so that more resources may be directed toward medical care. It is expected to save over 42 billion NTD or roughly 1.2 USD over the period of seven years.5 In addition, visits to the health care provider will be more convenient, as patients no longer need to bring multiple ID/handbooks with them to medical facilities. And there will be no need to visit local NHI office for new ID cards. For health care providers, the digital card provides a electronic infrastructure that allows them to streamline the claim filing process avoiding mistakes. It also allow NHI to provide a more efficient collection mechanism to gather accurate information regarding ove rall citizen's health and disease statistics. Despite its well intention and the ambitious plan, the modernization plan has serious ethical consequences. When the modernization process is completed, the NHI will has the most extensive online database of Taiwanese citizens. The database will contain nearly every citizen's medical record for his or her entire life. It will also contain the most up to date personal information such as home and work addresses. Because of the extensive nature of the database, if the database is misused, the consequence will be severe. Furthermore, Several human rights advocacy group has pointed out the infrastructure is insufficient to protect citizens' privacy rights as well as the lack of will on government's side to protect individual's personal information. And there is fear that there is risk that the leaked medical information can be used to persecute a specific segment of the population.

Canturbury Tales: Situational Irony in the Pardoner’s Story

Situational Irony in The Pardoner’s Story In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer the Pardoner’s actions of dishonesty and greed are prime examples of situational irony. Situational irony is when something or someone does the opposite of what is expected. ‘In church he was a noble ecclesiast’ (Chaucer 141) The Pardoner is supposedly a man of God, yet he does not act like it. He is disrespectful and even dishonest. However, he comes off as righteous by telling biblical stories and preaching. By being hypocritical and greedy the Pardoner is the perfect example of situational irony. To begin, the Pardoner shows situational irony by being dishonest. He steals from the church constantly. ‘†¦with others I have power to win them from it, I can bring them to repent†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Chaucer 151) Basically, he acts as a salesman by talking people into buying more pardons, and then keeps the money for himself. He uses his talent of thinking on his feet and coming up with great biblical stories to earn money, ‘A yokel mind loves stories of old, being the kind it can repeat and hold†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Chaucer 152) He convinces people the things they have done are worse than they are, therefore they are conned into giving him more money, which he keeps all for himself. As ironic as it is to see the Pardoner be dishonest, it is even more ironic how greedy is. Like mentioned before he makes his living off of selling pardons, even pardons against avarice, yet he is very greedy himself. He admits he’ll go after anyone for money. ‘I mean to have money†¦though it were given to me by the poorest lad†¦ ’ (Chaucer 152) He admits to preaching only because he wants money saying, ‘A livelihood. I do not preach in vain†¦I mean to have money†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Chaucer 152) It is also very apparent that the Pardoner is greedy enough to steal from the collection baskets in church, ‘But best of all he sang an Offertory†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Chaucer 141) This implies he takes the money from there as well. In conclusion, the Pardoner in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a living example of situational irony. He is dishonest and greedy. Instead of doing his duties to the church and helping others with sins, he takes advantage of peoples’ guilt and pockets the money. He does not care about the church and even admits to not liking work, ‘†¦Let me preach and beg from kirk to kirk and never do an honest job of work†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Chaucer 152) This just sums up the situational irony of the Pardoner. He appears to be a man of God helping people absolve there sins, but ironically he is dishonest and greedy.

Public International Law

In addition to our syllabus, more of the oral and reporting which is usual in the class will take place. The lessons I learned from my English summer class are not that quite easy to analyze but with the help of our professor, it is more easy to understand because he taught very clearly. The PAP style syllabus which Is about the avoidance of plagiarism help me to know Its Limitations and rules that I should follow for us to know the Limit of exceeding in the line. Actually, there are many different ways to credit the author that you get your sources from, whether it is a book, magazine, newspaper or online research.Back in high school, whenever we are gathering information from different resources, we were always task to do the bibliography properly. Now in college, there were similarity in acknowledging the authors and the creditors, the deference is that when we are studying the PAP styles, it shows how broad the topic Is and how important to follow all the formats that were given In the syllabus. And It is not only we are studying the format in gathering from the book, but there were different given circumstances and example which is very helpful for me.Before, in other subjects when we are task to do some home works and there should be acknowledgements we Just copies the link of it, the thing is back then we didn't know that when we get from the online sites, there are still formats to follow which I knew now already and I'm not Joking that I actually already memorized how to credit the authors or even If here's not, the format of It are now clear In my mind and maybe In the future, the PAP style which we tackled is very helpful for us not to be accused for popularizing.Other lessons we learned, in the reporting area in particular the Narratives conventions and devices, teaching us on how to sequence properly the stories and the importance of order. Second, the Logical fallacies are a fallacy in logical argumentation. For example, Bandwagon Is a cause that has suddenly become fashionable or popular. Suggesting that simply because a lot of others are doing It, you should too.Last example is the Hasty generalizations, which draw a conclusion from insufficient evidence. In the end, the last topic in all the reporting is the writing process, which is a several steps to go through to make up to an essay. First to the last steps are the preprinting, writing, revising, editing and publishing. For me, the importance of reading is very helpful whenever I write reflection papers or essays. Actually It has a significant number of benefits.Beforehand, I'm really not Into instructor would always say to us that for us to be fluent and good in English, we should read every day for us to widen our vocabulary and ideas that will refreshed our minds, and it expands our knowledge and discoveries which is a great help. Since reading is keeping your brain active, it will lessen your forgetfulness which results in better writing skills. So whenever I write some paper works, the ideas and imaginations is more broad that results in composing a good sentences and paragraphs.When the writing process was tackled in the reporting, I listed it down because if you like to be a good composer or a writer, the process and orders are very important to follow. And, following these steps is not only necessary to achieve a good grade; it would also develop your writing skill, and make you able to think in a more organized way. After all, writing is not only a product, rather, a process also. To sum it up, all the topics that we discussed really helped me. Maybe until before or after I graduate I can still use all the lessons I learned. Public International Law In addition to our syllabus, more of the oral and reporting which is usual in the class will take place. The lessons I learned from my English summer class are not that quite easy to analyze but with the help of our professor, it is more easy to understand because he taught very clearly. The PAP style syllabus which Is about the avoidance of plagiarism help me to know Its Limitations and rules that I should follow for us to know the Limit of exceeding in the line. Actually, there are many different ways to credit the author that you get your sources from, whether it is a book, magazine, newspaper or online research.Back in high school, whenever we are gathering information from different resources, we were always task to do the bibliography properly. Now in college, there were similarity in acknowledging the authors and the creditors, the deference is that when we are studying the PAP styles, it shows how broad the topic Is and how important to follow all the formats that were given In the syllabus. And It is not only we are studying the format in gathering from the book, but there were different given circumstances and example which is very helpful for me.Before, in other subjects when we are task to do some home works and there should be acknowledgements we Just copies the link of it, the thing is back then we didn't know that when we get from the online sites, there are still formats to follow which I knew now already and I'm not Joking that I actually already memorized how to credit the authors or even If here's not, the format of It are now clear In my mind and maybe In the future, the PAP style which we tackled is very helpful for us not to be accused for popularizing.Other lessons we learned, in the reporting area in particular the Narratives conventions and devices, teaching us on how to sequence properly the stories and the importance of order. Second, the Logical fallacies are a fallacy in logical argumentation. For example, Bandwagon Is a cause that has suddenly become fashionable or popular. Suggesting that simply because a lot of others are doing It, you should too.Last example is the Hasty generalizations, which draw a conclusion from insufficient evidence. In the end, the last topic in all the reporting is the writing process, which is a several steps to go through to make up to an essay. First to the last steps are the preprinting, writing, revising, editing and publishing. For me, the importance of reading is very helpful whenever I write reflection papers or essays. Actually It has a significant number of benefits.Beforehand, I'm really not Into instructor would always say to us that for us to be fluent and good in English, we should read every day for us to widen our vocabulary and ideas that will refreshed our minds, and it expands our knowledge and discoveries which is a great help. Since reading is keeping your brain active, it will lessen your forgetfulness which results in better writing skills. So whenever I write some paper works, the ideas and imaginations is more broad that results in composing a good sentences and paragraphs.When the writing process was tackled in the reporting, I listed it down because if you like to be a good composer or a writer, the process and orders are very important to follow. And, following these steps is not only necessary to achieve a good grade; it would also develop your writing skill, and make you able to think in a more organized way. After all, writing is not only a product, rather, a process also. To sum it up, all the topics that we discussed really helped me. Maybe until before or after I graduate I can still use all the lessons I learned.

The view that secondary socialisation is responsible for the creation of gender identities in the contemporary UK Essay Example

The view that secondary socialisation is responsible for the creation of gender identities in the contemporary UK Essay Example The view that secondary socialisation is responsible for the creation of gender identities in the contemporary UK Essay The view that secondary socialisation is responsible for the creation of gender identities in the contemporary UK Essay In this essay, I shall be discussing the roles of secondary socialisation in both the creation and promotion of existing gender identities in the UK. The two social institutions I will be looking at are education, and the media these both constitute as being ways of how we are socialised into particular roles, in this case through secondary socialisation. Firstly, we need to establish what gender roles are so we are able to discuss the importance of socialisation in education and the media on these roles. Ann Oakley distinguishes between sex (the biological differences between males and females) and gender (culturally created differences), in that she focuses on what society defines as masculine and feminine behaviours, roles, attitudes, expectations and so on. Gender identity is the result of gender role socialisation, unlike sex, which is biologically determined. When discussing masculinities and femininities we need to appreciate that these are not merely two types of gender identities, but that in fact, there are different types of these identities. This has been highlighted by Connell, who illustrated that there are both dominant and subordinate forms of these identities, for example, gay sexuality is a subordinate from of masculinity. So in fact, we should not be referring merely to masculinity and femininity, but to masculinities and femininities. Drawing on the nature/nurture debate, Joan Smith (1997) stated that men and women become different because they are treated differently. In other words, socialisation and upbringing are more important than nature. This suggests that biological differences in fact play no, or little, part in how our behaviour differs, but that in fact, gender identities are actually socially constructed, and then promoted through various social institutions. Evidence to support the social construction of gender identities comes from research into AIS, and also from cross cultural studies which show that different cultures define acceptable gender roles differently, proving that biology is not the main factor in determining male and female behaviour. Discussion of popular culture, including the roles of magazines and books leads us to consider: How are men and women represented in popular culture, and what role does this play in reproducing gender roles and identities? Firstly, we shall look at the idea that the education system is responsible for the creation of gender identities in the UK. Most importantly, we will be looking at how males and females learn their gender identities in education by assessing the role of childrens books in the promotion of, or the distinction between, gender identities. We already know that educational institutions play an important role in socialising children for adult roles, but how exactly do we learn our gender identities from education? Michelle Stanworth (1983) introduced the idea of a hidden curriculum whereby not only do children learn formal subjects such as Maths, English etc. , but from the school experience, they are also receiving hidden messages about their class, ethnicity, and gender. As Stanworth found, this may be from the teachers in a study, one male teacher was quoted as saying, of one of his female students, that she was likely to become: a personal assistant to someone rather important. (I. e. this teacher means a man. ) In addition, it has been found that male students are likely to get more attention from staff than girls, even if girls outnumbered boys. An important way we learn our gender identities in education is through the use of books. Dale Spender suggested that women are made invisible in our culture, in that their lives and achievements are not represented as being as being of any significance, or may even be trivialised. This idea is supported perfectly when we look at childrens books. Many studies, including Lobban (74) and Best (93) have provided us with interesting findings. In the majority of childrens books, male characters tend to outnumber female characters by anything up to three to one. Additionally, when female characters do appear, they are likely to be in traditionally stereotypical female roles. Male characters often appear as being heroes, are adventurous, and out of the home situation. How does this affect the children who are reading the books, and how does it promote gender identities? Young girls are likely to get the impression that they should serve men (happy servitude), and the use of male heroes implies that women need to be rescued. For boys, they learn that men are big, adventurous, heterosexual and also protect women. These effects are a clear example of how this form of secondary socialisation (education) promotes, and highlights the differences between gender identities. The second way we are socialised into gender roles is through the media. This includes books, the radio, television, videos and films, but we will look more specifically at magazines. In Angela McRobbies findings (82), she demonstrated perfectly that the magazines girls read do in fact redefine, or even create, gender identities. When looking at Jackie magazine, she found that it helped to define girls identities and expectations from childhood onwards. She focused particularly on how the magazine constructed a female world based around the ideals of romance, fashion, and pop music. The effects this had on young girls was that it promoted the idea that their primary task was to get a man and that their primary identity would be based on getting a man. Ferguson (85) added to this idea, stating that womens magazines promote the view that women should concentrate on cooking, housework, and childcare. Furthermore, these are seen to be the main roles of women, and clearly define female identity as one which is centred around housework and childcare. Although Ferguson recognises that since her first studies in the 40s, there has been a change in how this message is promoted in magazines, she does reiterate that nowadays, the predominant message is one of femininity being centred on childcare and housework. Taking a more general look at magazines aimed at females, we can draw certain conclusions about how we learn our gender identities through the media. Most magazines aimed at young women, seem to have an unhealthy concern with appearance, health, and beauty. Many of the articles focus on diets, especially so called celebrity diets which are an even more effective way of promoting diets, as young women are more likely to imitate the behaviour of people who they already look up to. This promotes the view that females should predominantly focus on their appearance. Looking at a recent issue of Company magazine, we can see that there are 49 health and beauty articles, compared to six articles on real life issues. This implies to the reader that health, beauty, and physical appearance are more important than real life issues, socialising them into a female gender identity based on these values. When looking at (heterosexual) mens magazines, such as FHM or Loaded, we can see that they are based around the idea that a mans main interest is to have sex. Most of the articles are written in a way which almost give advice on how to get women. The magazine is socialising the reader into what is nowadays seen as typical masculine behaviour. This is done by the content being predominantly about lad-culture, and provides a good source, for young males, of somewhere to learn typical male behaviour from. This shows how secondary socialisation can create gender identities in the UK. To conclude, we need to look at other factors, aside from secondary socialisation, and cannot ignore the main source for our socialisation, (primary socialisation,) which is the family. Our parents are likely to treat us differently from other siblings of a different sex, although it may be unintentional. This can include the way they dress us, they way they may restrain or encourage particular behaviour we display, and may even be evident in the toys they buy us. For example, giving boys tractors encourages them to do manual work and giving girls dolls encourages them to be caring and motherly. This is surely an important institution, and we must acknowledge its effects on the promotion of gender identities. We also need to reiterate that there are different types of masculinities and femininities, and need to recognise how these might be promoted through secondary socialisation. For example, nowadays, there are many different types of men represented in the media. We are shown more traditional men such as Tony Blair who has a high-powered job and has a wife and children. But also, we are faced with images of David Beckham, who, although being a football player, (a typically masculine career,) has challenged typical masculine roles, by toying with feminine identities, without actually being homosexual. He has done this by, for example, wearing nail varnish, or by appearing on the cover of gay magazine Attitude. To conclude, we have seen that both the media, and education do socialise gender specific behaviour into us from an early age. Personally, I do not find one of these institutions to be more effective than the other, but when considering other institutions, such as peer group influence, and the effects of the family, we can see that our gender identity is very much taught to us, and is by no means biologically predetermined, instinctual behaviour.

I know why the caged bird sing essays

I know why the caged bird sing essays I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings In Maya Angelou's autobiographical novel, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", tenderhearted Marguerite Johnson discovers all of the splendors and agonies of growing up in a prejudiced, early twentieth century America. Rotating between the slow country life of Stamps, Arkansas and the fast-pace societies in St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California taught Maya several random aspects of life while showing her segregated America from coast to coast. When Maya was three years old, her mother sent her and Bailey from California to Stamps to stay in the care of their grandmother, Mrs. Annie Henderson. Soon thought of as their real mother, "Momma" raised her grandchildren with the strict Southern principles such as, "wash your feet before you go to bed; always pray to the savior and you shall be forgiven; chores and school come before play; and help those in need and you shall be helped yourself." Bearing those basic principles, Maya and Bailey grew older and wiser in Stamps. However, one day their father rode extravagantly into Stamps and called for his children to return home with him to St. Louis. Bailey, eager to leave the simple family life in Arkansas, agreed immediately, but "tender-hearted" Maya was frightened by the idea of big cities and strange people. In St. Louis, where she was presented an entirely different lifestyle, Maya experienced harrowing moments that caused her yearning for the quiet safety of Stamps. Her mothers boyfriend, Mr. Freeman, sexually abused her twice, and when she testified in court against him, the "important connections" her mother had to the gangsters in St. Louis beat Mr. Freeman to death to disburden the shame from the family. In court, Maya lied, saying that he only touched her once, and the guilt of lying to her closest friend, her brother Bailey, cause Maya to mute herself. Exasperated by a gloomy and morbid girl, Maya and Bailey were ...