Mens Lifestyle Magazines Analysing Gender Identities Media Essay

Mens Lifestyle Magazines Analysing Gender Identities Media Essay Mens lifestyle magazines are interesting research for analysing gender identities. As mass cultural texts they have the potential to affect or maintain cultural norms and values in the society (Taylor and Sunderland, 2003). They have the ability to construct masculinity or femininity in a positive way or in a negative way. They could also alter or change cultural norms that have been in existence over time. In the 1980s, males in mens magazines were constructed as emotional, sensitive people. They were also constructed as narcissists that dwelt on fashion whereas females were constructed as powerful, independent beings that were respected by the men. (Gill, 2003). Over recent years, however, the representation of masculinity and femininity has changed due to the introduction of New Lad magazines. Mens magazines have moved from constructing men as narcissistic people to representing them as pleasurists who enjoy sex, alcohol, sport, cars, games and the viewing of sexualized images. The women, on the other hand, were constructed as sexualized objects to be gazed at. Edward (2003: 139) points out that, women with successful careers have been equally undermined through salacious spreads of them stripped of their clothes. These representations make up the characteristic images of the New Lad magazines. For this essay, I will examine the construction of masculinity and femininity in one of these New Lad magazines: FHM magazine. My plan here is to critically describe and analyse the visual images and the texts within the publication. For the first analysis on visual images, I will adapt a multimodal approach taken from Van Leeuwen (2008) and Machin (2007), and for the second analysis on the language, I will use a critical discourse theory described by Van Leeuwen (2008) to examine the construction of men and women through writers linguistic choices. THE MENS MAGAZINE My analysis for this study is a magazine called FHM magazine (For Him Magazine, the January 2010 edition). I chose FHM magazine because, as written by Jackson et al (2001), it has a mass circulation with monthly sales hitting the hundreds of thousands. Due to this wide circulation, the magazine has the power to influence a large number of readers. Launched in 1994, FHM Magazine is targeted at a particular audience: single men between the ages of 17 and 35 (Stevenson et al, 2001). As observed, the magazine addresses single men as if they were friends. This friendly manner is all achieved through the giving of advice on relationships, the discussion of sports, parties, music, movies and other topics normal to typically male conversations. FHM Magazine deals with themes relating to the male lifestyle. These themes include sex, sport, alcohol, movies, women, sexual jokes, food, music and clubbing. The magazine also includes sections such as: letter to the editor, articles, interviews with celebrities and advice sections (containing advise on romantic as well as purely sexual relationships) The articles in the FHM magazine primarily focus on sport and stars. Interviews mostly include soap opera stars, actors, actress and models. These celebrities are used to promote and market the magazine because of their status as public figures. On the cover of the magazine appears a semi- nude woman complemented with the glossy effect of the magazine that serves as an eye catcher to the readers. Additionally, within the magazine there is the dominance of black, red and white colours against which advertisements are able to stand out. (Advertisements, on the other hand, are) The majority of these advertisement feature (male-related products) aimed at men, including cars, mens toiletries, gadgets, phones, blazers, movies, computers and mens wrist watches. Mens magazines are characteristically male because of the emphasis on sport (football), drinking, women and, most importantly, sex. Advice on relationships found in mens magazine, for example, often deal with sex in the headlines: How to talk your missus into the lingerie of your sordid dreams Sentences such as the one above serve as an eye catcher and may lure a man to buy such magazine. Such sentences as well as the sexualized images of females, is the major reasons why male readers buy these publications (Jackson et al, 2001). The magazines narrative structure adopts a storytelling technique. The story telling approach is employed for various topics including the discussion of women, sexuality and stars. The use of language within the magazine is generally informal with hackneyed words such as wow, sexy, foxy and hot or vulgar words such as bitch, shit, damn and fuck. These words, however, are used figuratively to create an ironic effect and without the intention to spite anyone. The use of irony runs throughout the magazine. Jackson et al (2001:104) point out that the use of this literary device is a warning against taking anything that is said to seriously, adding that it allows the readers to receive advice in respect to sexuality, indulge in fantasies of successful manhood and consume representation of beautiful women in a guilt free way. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK AND THEORIES CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS. Critical discourse analysis, as defined by Van Dijk in his paper, Critical Discourse Analysis, is a type of analytical research that primarily studies the way social power abuse, dominance, and inequality are enacted, reproduced, and resisted by text or talk in social and political context This definition by Dijk therefore means that CDA helps to reveal inequalities in a written and spoken text. Such inequalities may include gender, politics, power, and race. In previous research, CDA has proven to be a great tool in identifying gender inequalities. The works of Caldas-Coulthard (1996) and Sunderland and Taylor (2003) drew on the critical discourse analysis in order to examine what linguistic choices are given to the social construction of women and men in a magazine. The first, Caldas-Coulthard (1996), centres on the representation of women while the second, Sunderland and Taylor (2003), centre on representation of men. Writers and speakers use vocabularies and grammatical structures to describe participants or appraise social events as observed in the articles of newspapers or speeches on television. The main issue of Discourse analysts is to examine the writer or the speakers choice of words in order to bring out more clearly inequalities that surround the texts. More importantly, the Discourse analysts pay close attention to what vocabularies and grammatical structures were not used but would have logically been used. In this paper, I will analyse the language of the FHM magazine and will answer the questions below: Which gender is activated and which is passivated? Are there any gender divides through the language used? What linguistic choices have been made to represent the male and female gender and are they represented in a negative or positive way through the language choice? In order to answer the above questions, I will draw upon the analytical framework of Van Leeuwen (2008) that uses such terms as role allocation. This term examines which social actors are active and passive in a sentence. Also, there are various terms such as role allocation, funtionalisation, individualisation and collectivisation. I will discuss more about these terms in relevant sections. MULTIMODAL APPROACH I also intend to use a multimodal approach for the analysis of images in the FHM Magazine. This approach deals with all communicative modes in an image. These communicative modes include colours, social actors, language, pose, objects and many other semiotic resources. The approach also focuses on how these modes are structured to make a meaningful whole. In this paper, I intend to analyse images in the FHM magazine paying particular attention to a social semiotic known as social actor analysis Machin (2007). This approach allows me to examine the ways men and women are represented in the images of the magazines. It also allows me to study how men and women are positioned for the readers in the images. ANALYSIS OF FHM MAGAZINE To be a man or a woman is not the outcome of biological determinism; cognitive structure. Gender is historically and culturally specific, subject to radical discontinuities over time and across space. This does not mean that one can simply pick and choose gendersrather, we are gendered through the power of regulated and regulatory discourses. Foucault quoted by Baker (2008:291) Which gender is more activated and which is more passivated? In order to answer the above question, I will examine role allocation, a term used by Van Leeuwen (2008) and Halliday (1994). Role allocation shows the position where social actors are located. It equally shows how social actors are represented, e.g. if they can be seen as a person who is active (busy), dynamic, passive, unchanging or benefiting. For this type of analysis headlines from FHM have been selected: Commander Ryan Ramsey captains nuclear attack submarine HMS Turbulent. The best way to learn about relationship is to be in one. This month we are going steady with India. (FHM Magazine pp 120 169). The man (Commander Ryan Ramsey (appendix 5)) and the pronoun we (referring to the men writers) are actors, and the woman (India) is the goal. In the sentences above, the males are activated because of the material processes, captains and going. This is quite different in relation to the female, India, however, who has no process. She is treated as an object of representation, represented as a subjected social actor or a passivated participant. Other headlines in the magazine include: Male World Triathlon Champion Alistair Brownlee knows at least three things about getting fit.: The man, Alistair Brownlee, is activated as senser in relation to the mental process Knows (FHM Magazine pg 160) Female FHMs girl of the decade is Rachel Steven: Rachel Steven is passivated. From this, we cannot conclude, however, that all women in the magazine are passive; some are equally activated as in the sentences below: She was Walfords wild child in East Enders, now Louisa Lytton is heading for Hollywood: She is activated because of the existential process was. Rachel Steven is our cover girl of the decade: The woman is activated as a carrier in relation to the relational process is (FHM Magazine pgs 80106) The question, then, is what type of process is used to represent men and women. In my earlier analysis, the men appear activated either in a material or mental process. The material process depicts them (men) as active people, undergoing activities, and the mental process depicts them as people capable of thinking and evaluating. On the contrary, women are activated in relational and existential processes. The relational processes, as Machin (2007) points out, are carriers of meaning rather than actors. They are not active. This inactiveness is also observed in the visual images of women (appendix 3 and 4) they carry meaning through [her] postures and dress Machin (2007:133). Additionally, the existential process means that the woman appears in a place that does not allow them to be active as is the case of material processes. These representations depict men as active and functional individuals, while the women are represented as passive and objects. Are there any gender divides through the lexical choices used? In the magazine, linguistic choices differentiate women from men in terms of work. Applied linguist, Van Leeuwen, puts forward the terms, functionalisation and identification to identify how social actors are represented. The term functionalisation, as he explains, occurs when social actors are represented in terms of activities, occupations or roles. The second term Identification occurs when social actors are represented in terms of personal relations such as auntie, husband or in terms of physical descriptions such as young, pretty and many other descriptions (Van Leeuwen, 2008). Table 1 lists the ways females and males are represented by FHM. In the majority of cases, men are represented in terms of roles and occupations as observed in the previous section while women are described in terms of physical identification and relational identification. MALE FEMALE Director Guy Richie Foxy Lady Elisabetta Canalis DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio High street honey Charlotte Shaun White, World- famous Snowborder Kerry Katona, blonde, fun and top- heavy Jeff Zuker, the chief executive of NBC Universal. Rachel lives with new husband Alex. Jamie Oliver and Gwen Stefani are her neighbours (Relational Identification) Warren Buffet, the billionaire US investor George Clooneys arm candy, the exotic sounding Elisabetta Canaliss (Relational Identification) Movie maestro, James Cameron Anna Skellernanother pretty victim in the Descent. Dennis Wise, the clubs then Executive Director Cecilia Peckaitisthe hot girl in the lynx Dry ad India is 19 and lives with her folks in Reading. (Relational Identification) Based upon the above data, it is possible to observe two strong discourses that are evident in the magazine. The first is the business discourse and the second is the sexuality discourse. This business discourse is achieved through the use of words such as directors, executive(s), editors, chief, chairman, billionaire US investor and maestro. This discourse suggests power and professionalism. The sexual discourse includes terms such as foxy, pretty, hot, sexiest, candy, exotic, blonde and fun as well as many other physical identifiers associated with women. These two main discourses serve to divide gender in terms of work. What linguistic choices have been made to represent the male and female gender and are they represented in a negative or positive way through the language choice? As written earlier, the writers choice of linguistic words has been a focus of discourse analysts. Working from existing theories in Critical Discourse Analysis, I have selected three articles from the magazine to examine what choices of words are used to represent both genders. The first article centres on a male, music executive, Simon Cowell. The second and third articles centre on two female actresses, Elisabetta Canalis and Rachel Steven. Tables 1 2 lists the lexical items used to describe the social actors along with their frequencies. FEMALE Frequencies MALE Frequencies Pretty 1 Huge star 2 Princess 1 Giant 1 Girl next door 1 Impresario 2 Five foot force of nature 1 master 2 Sexist 5 Boss 2 Hot 1 Success 3 Candy 1 humble 1 Exotic 1 strong 1 Formaggi (cheese) 1 High profile 1 Dolly bird 1 shallow 1 Foxy 1 reckless 1 beautiful 1 cocky 1 Actress 1 Harsh 1 Presenter 1 Hairy 2 model 1 A close look at the linguistic choices in table above shows that the man, in majority of the time, is described in terms of status or function. For example, we have the words boss, impresario, huge star, master, high profile giant (connoting power or importance), and strong. On the contrary, women are described in term of physical appearance such as the words pretty, beautiful, Like language, social actors are represented in images to communicate ideas to the viewers. According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996), producers of images use social actors to demand an imaginary social response from the viewers. In order to analyse the social actors of images in the magazine, Kress and Van Leeuwens (1996) three dimensions of the positioning of viewers with the participants would be considered. The first is the image act or Gaze that shows how a social actor relates with the male viewers. S/he may give a demand gaze that is aimed directly at the viewers or an offer image. The second is the social distance that depicts how a social actor is close or distant to the viewers and the third is the angle of interaction that shows the various angles from which viewers see participants. It could be horizontal angles that symbolize involvement, vertical angles that symbolize power or oblique angles that symbolize detachment. In the FHM magazine, about 47 per cent of all the editorial photographs are females while 53 per cent are males. In the section that follows, I will examine how the women and the men (social actors) are constructed in the visual images of the magazine. I will begin by looking at the angle of interaction, image act and social distance of both men and women and, equally, study how they both relate to the male viewers. I will, then, consider which gender is excluded, included, individualized, and grouped. VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF FEMALE AND MALE GENDER About 25% of the pictures of women are demand images, while 22% are offer images. The offer images of the women make no contact with the viewers. They therefore allow male viewers to accentuate on their semi naked bodies, appendix (2b). This representation depicts women as sexual object to be gazed at. Apart from the offer images, a high percentage of the demand images are seductive, communicating sexual intentions to the male viewers (appendix 2a). Pose combines with the womens gaze to bring out a complete meaning. The combination of both the gaze and the pose depict women as making sexual requests to the viewers. This sexual request and intention may, in turn, evoke erotic feelings in the male readers. So, apart from the fact that women are linguistically represented as sexual objects in the magazine, the women are also visually constructed as sexual temptresses. 24% of images of men are demand images, while 29% of them are offer images in the magazine. Of the offer images, most of the men, with the exception of some found in advertisements, make this offer because they are involved with an activity or work. For example, appendix 2d2e shows the men staring away from us because they are busy doing an exercise. These images allow male viewers to observe male characters as they work, unlike the offer images of women that allow the viewers to gaze at their semi-naked bodies. Here, males are depicted as functional and active people while females are portrayed as non-functional and passive. Just as observed on a linguistic level, the visual portrayals of women and men divide genders in terms of work. For the majority, men that are inactive are seen to give demand images. Their gazes may reveal a serious, calm or joyful expression. Most men with serious expressions communicate a form of power. They are seen folding their arms to depict them as authoritative (appendix 2c). The calm expression communicates to the viewers the experience of a trouble-free lifestyle. Unlike the first, they are seen with their hands in their pocket that portray them as collected and easy-going people. Surprisingly, there is a difference between the demand images of the men and the women. I believe the females are portrayed as more demanding that the males. For example the woman in appendix 2a demands sex from the male viewers whereas the man in appendix 2c does not demand anything, rather he boasts to the male viewers. The woman may be saying, Come sleep with me, while the man is saying, I am in charge. SOCIAL INTERACTION. Looking at the angle shot of images in the magazine, I have observed that, when sexualized, women are shot more at vertical angles than any other angles (appendix 2a). This vertical angle depicts them as powerful and superior to the male viewers. However, Machin (2007:75) points out that vertical angle shots of sexualized women work by metaphorical association. He writes: .images of women wearing very little clothing may make them appear vulnerable, or objectified as sex objects. But this effect is reduced by using a low-angle shot. The viewer therefore looks up at the womanSo she is given status and power through being looked up to. This reduces the power of the viewing position and therefore reduces her vulnerability as she looks down dominantly on the viewer. Of course this does not really increase her power over us but works by metaphorical association. Despite the fact that sexualized women are represented as powerful by the use of vertical angles, this representation as Machin (2007) noted is a false sense of power. Unlike the images of women, men are shot mostly at horizontal angles as well as vertical angles. Oblique angles of men are mostly seen in the advertisements within FHM. The horizontal angles symbolize involvement with the imaginary male readers while the vertical angles symbolize superiority. While the vertical angles used for women metaphorically depict a false sense of power, those used with men depict as the male as having a true sense of power. (Appendix 2c). The vertical angle portrays men as powerful and women as powerless. SOCIAL DISTANCE Photographic shots of women and men are very interesting to consider. Some women, especially celebrities, are more often shot using an extreme long-shot than any other shots. They lay on the floor so that their whole body is bold, enlarged and can occupy two pages (Appendix 4). This leaves the upper part of the body to occupy the left page and the lower part of the body to occupy the right. This extreme long shot is done to give the imaginary male viewers a clearer and bolder view of the womens body. Long shots of the women suggest, however, a distant relationship between the viewers and model (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 1996). Thus, we may conclude that the woman in appendix 4 has a distant relationship with the viewers. But, the enlarged and bold figure of the woman draws her body nearer to the male viewers to create a more intimate distant, distant that make touching possible (Kress and Van Leeuwen 1996:251). Such extreme long shots were not used for the male participants. There are no emphases on the mans body and they do not occupy two pages. Here, we could see that the women are offered as sexual objects for mens desire. HOW ARE MALE AND FEMALE ACTORS REPRESENTED. This section will focus more on how the males and the females are depicted. I will examine which gender is individualized, categorised, excluded and included. INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP. Pictures taken by photographers could depict people as individualized or as grouped. Van Leeuwen (2008) shows us how middle-class oriented newspaper tends to individualize elite people and group ordinary people in a verbal discourse. It is easy to see, in the appendices, that both genders are individualized and not grouped. Thus, another observation I made is that women are also grouped. There is a huge difference between women that are individualized and women that are grouped. Individualized women are seen improperly dressed with the grouped women appearing well clothed. This difference tells us that the magazine tend to individualized sexualized women and group ordinary well-clothed women. Examining appendix (3a), we see a group picture of two women and four men discussing in an eatery. These people are cast of a major television programme known as Skins. If we examine appendices 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, the four men of the television programme are introduced here and more importantly, individualized. This is totally different to the two women cast members. As depicted in appendix 3f, they are grouped. Both give an offer that suggests lack of communication with the viewers. Also, they are properly dressed and not opened to sexualize reading which emphasis my previous point. I believe that these differences serve to construct the men as independent and the women as dependent. EXCLUSION Exclusion means not acknowledging a certain kind of people that live and work in the same society. (Van Leeuwen, 2008). To take an example from the magazine, appendix 3a, as written earlier are cast from the television programme Skins. The four male cast members, as noticed, were properly introduced, for example, appendix 3b and 3c introduced the men and the characters they play in the Skins: 1b) Jack OConnell, 20. Plays: James Cook. 1c) Luke Pasqualino, 19 Plays: Freddie Mclair However, no proper introductions were given to the female cast members of Skins. They are introduced as shown in appendix (3f). The readers are not provided with their names or what characters they play in the show. They are ignored or excluded. The effect of this exclusion, I believe, is to foreground the women as Other. CONCLUSION This essay has examined the gender differences found in the language and images of the new generation mens magazine, FHM. In this magazine, particular linguistic choices and the representation of gender in images has shown a level of social inequality between females and males. The women analysed in this essay have been seen to be negatively constructed. This construction depicts them as subjected or passive individuals within society. In addition, the linguistic choices relating to these women, as observed in most articles, present one particular discourse the discourse of sexuality. However, the use of the sexuality discourse is not presented for men. Rather, the magazine focuses on the business discourse, which portrays men as active and functional individuals within society. Furthermore, through an analysis of the social actors found in the images, I have shown that women are represented as non-functional individuals, powerless dependent creatures, sexual objects for mens desire and lustful temptresses. These negative representations of women are, however, not portrayed in images involving men. They are, alternatively, represented as powerful, successful and confident people, or people undergoing activities. These portrayals create gender imbalances within the magazine. With the use of the CDA and the multimodal approach, I have shown that, in FHM, women are poorly constructed and men are positively constructed, making the magazine an example of hegemonic masculinity. Wheaton (2001:214)

Effectiveness of Social Model of Health

Effectiveness of Social Model of Health Anna Wei Models of Health Health is one of the most vital and valuable aspects of human life, as without one’s health we are unable to enjoy our day-to-day activities and have the energy to pursue physical activities. There are two well-known models of Health and Illness that focus on different aspects of health; they are the Biomedical model and the Social model. This essay will discuss the relevance of the Social model in today’s society as opposed to the Biomedical model and the effectiveness of this model in clarifying the obesity epidemic, a medical condition that is dominating the globe and bringing with it many other illnesses that today, are some of the leading causes of death. The Biomedical model believes that biological factors are the main cause of disease (Browne, 2005). It has been the main model for health care in the past century, due to its assistance in the discovery of countless medical advancements as it was able to decrease the amount of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (Borrell-Carrio, Suchman Epstein, 2004). This framework is based on the concept of health as being without disease and focuses on finding cures that will successfully eliminate the biological factors that caused the illness (Cleland Cotton, 2011). Although the Biomedical model has been valuable in the discovery of many techniques to successfully treat numerous diseases, it is no longer the dominating model of health in today’s society. This model has been scrutinised for being too narrow-minded resulting in its inability to analyse different forms of sickness (Borrell-Carrio et al., 2004; Cockerham, 2007). Over the years, there have been massive health reforms, from infectious diseases such as puerperal fever, gonorrhoea, malaria and scurvy to the dominating chronic illnesses that affect society today such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes (Tulchinsky Varavikova, 2000). The transition from infectious to chronic illnesses indicates that as time changes, strategies that have previously worked may not be as effective as they had once been. Hence, the social models were introduced. A psychiatrist named George Engel first proposed the Social model, as he wanted to put a stop to the dehumanisation of the practice of medicine, and to give patients the power over their own health (Borrell-Carrio et al., 2004). Engel believed, that the social and physiological aspects of an individual played an important role in relation to the illness procedure and hence, this model acts as an aid, to guide us through the numerous levels of organisation that affect diseases, ranging from the social aspects to factors at the molecular level (Alonso, 2004; Borrell-Carrio et al., 2004). Since Engel first proposed this model, there have been many variations of this model created such as the Dahlgren and Whitehead’s model of health and the WHO social determinants of health framework. Social models place a strong emphasis on not only the biological aspects of disease but also the social and the psychological aspects of sickness, whereas, the Biomedical model is built around the evidence and the symptoms of the disease of interest (Brown, 2005; Cleland Cotton, 2011). Hence, Social models of health have become more relevant over the last 150 years because of the changing society. As time passed, infectious diseases were no longer the major problem, with the problem now lying within the degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease present in today’s society (Cleland Cotton, 2011). Therefore, the Biomedical model is no longer relevant as the development of these non-communicable diseases is multi-factorial and hence is not due to straightforward biological causes, nor can they be cured easily (Cleland Cotton, 2011). For people in society today, the experience of suffering from a disease is not just about the biochemical processes behind it, but als o about how the patients identify with this disease in terms of the things they are able to or unable to do, their emotions and the unmet requirements as a result of this disease (Jackson, Antonucci Brown, 2003). Hence, Social models are more widely accepted and relevant in society, as it recognises the multi-factorial causes associated with diseases such as obesity. Obesity is defined as the extreme build-up of fat due to energy input being greater than energy expenditure, in technical terms, a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or over means that the individual will be considered obese (World Health Organization [WHO], 2014). The rates of obesity have been rapidly increasing since the 1980s and not only the prevalence of obesity has been increasing but the incidence of diseases associated with obesity has also been increasing (Finkelstein, Ruhm Kosa, 2005). Health consequences associated with obesity are non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and other musculoskeletal diseases (WHO, 2014). The obesity epidemic is a major issue in society today and in 2008, of the 1.4 billion adults considered overweight, over 200 million males and nearly 300 million females were considered obese (WHO, 2014). In the early twentieth century, obesity was only thought to be present in developing countries such as China, Thailand and Mexico and only affected those with higher socioeconomic positions in the population; however, this disease has shifted to affect those of lower socioeconomic position and globally, there is now more than 10% of the world’s population of adults considered obese (Callabero, 2007; WHO, 2014). The improvement in people’s living and working conditions has resulted in society having longer life spans due to the eradication of infectious diseases (Cockerham, 2007). However, the major issue facing society today is non-communicable diseases such as strokes, heart disease and cancer which all stem off obesity (Cockerham, 2007). Non-communicable diseases were originally thought to affect only the rich, but there is now an increasing trend in developing countries. If this trend continues to increase at the same pace, it is estimated by the year 2020, for every ten deaths, seven will be due to non-communicable diseases (Boutayeb, 2006). This transition from infectious diseases to chronic illnesses meant that the use of medicine became increasingly important in order to tackle these health issues and therefore, there has been little success in tackling these non-communicable diseases as the approaches they took in the past via the Biomedical model proves to be unfitting for t he current situation (Cockerham, 2007). Social models have been effective in preventing this problem, as it takes into account not only the biological causes of these health conditions associated with obesity, but also social factors such as dietary intake and physical activity. An individual’s lifestyle is vital towards their health as it is a relevant social mechanism that needs to be considered when approaching these diseases (Cockerham, 2007). Over the years, the dietary intake of individuals has increased, with people consuming more sweetened beverages and processed meals and consuming less healthy wholesome foods such as fruits and vegetables (Callabero, 2007). Research reveals an inversely proportional relationship exists between the availability of fast food outlets and the socioeconomic status of the individual, with individuals in lower socioeconomic areas being 2.5 times more exposed to fast food chains compared to those in higher socioeconomic areas, and this social gradient indicates that a decreasing s ocioeconomic status results in an increased chance of obesity (Reidpath, Burns, Garrard, Mahoney Townsend, 2002). This brings about inequality between those of low socioeconomic status and those with high socioeconomic status, further reiterating that there must be other factors apart from biological components, which bring about diseases. Physical activity has also decreased with people opting for more sedentary lifestyles, for example, it was predicted that less than 30 percent of the US population had a suitable level of exercise, another 30 percent were involved in physical activity but not enough, while the remainder had adapted to sedentary lifestyles (Callabero, 2007). It is habits such as these that has attributed to the individual’s susceptibility or resistance to these illnesses (Cockerham, 2007). Only Social models of health can take into consideration of these habits as well as the social gradients shown to help us to understand their influences towards these ill nesses that stem off obesity. Many complex factors are interacting with one another, causing the increase in prevalence of health conditions associated with obesity (Candib, 2007). Therefore, Social models are effective in explaining this phenomenon as it recognises the importance of social factors and how they contribute to health conditions such as cardiovascular disease. Social factors such as the individual’s surrounding environment can either reverse or increase the biological risk of diseases making the Biomedical model inadequate as it does not consider anything but the biological cause (Cockerham, 2007). An environment that has contributed hugely to this increasing prevalence is an obesogenic environment; this is essentially a setting that encourages sedentary lifestyles; promoting food consumption and discouraging exercise, which eventually leads to an increased risk of obesity (Reidpath et al., 2002). Social models are therefore efficient as it considers how we can eliminate such influences in or der to reduce the multi-factorial effects associated with the obesity epidemic by combining the formerly separated characteristics of illness (Cleland Cotton, 2011; Jackson et al., 2003). It helps us to efficiently comprehend the significant contributions of multiple factors outside the biological sense that drives the increasing prevalence of health conditions associated with obesity. To conclude, health is one of the most important aspects of human life and can be affected by factors that are not always biological components. As a result, the multidimensional Social models were created to allow a better understanding of the diseases, such as obesity, that affect our society (Borrell-Cario et al., 2004). However, because society is constantly changing – there is no perfect model for health that exists and therefore we must seek new ideas that we can incorporate in our models with the hopes that it will be applicable to the changing society. Reference List Alonso, Y. (2004). The biopsychosocial model in medical research: the evolution of the health concept over the last two decades.Patient education and counseling,53(2), 239-244. doi: 10.1016/S0738-3991(03)00146-0 Browne, K. (2005). Health and Illness. An introduction to sociology, 3, 397-415. Retrieved from http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/ereserves/2144315b.pdf Borrell-Carrio, F., Suchman, A. L., Epstein, R. M. (2004). The Biopsychosocial Model 25 Years Later: Principles, Practice, and Scientific Inquiry. Annals of Family Medicine, 2(6), 576-582. Retrieved from http://www.annfammed.org.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/content/2/6/576.full.pdf Boutayeb, A. (2006). The double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases in developing countries.Transactions of the Royal society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,100(3), 191-199. Retrieved from http://trstmh.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/content/100/3/191.full Callabero, B. (2007). The Global Epidemic of Obesity: An Overview. Epidemiological Review, 29, 1-5. doi: 10.1093/epirev/mxm012 Cleland, J., Cotton, P. (Eds.). (2011).Health, Behaviour and Society: Clinical Medicine in Context. SAGE. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.nz/books?hl=enlr=id=BuZpuJSlNRMCoi=fndpg=PP2dq=Jennifer+Cleland,+Philip+Cotton.+(2011).+Health,+Behaviour+and+Society:+Clinical+Medicine+in+Context.+ots=CSbguqMTZlsig=TvNhB4GJdQnp8m-enuFPer6J2Qg#v=onepageq=modelf=false Cockerham, W.C. (2007). The social causation of health and disease. Social causes of health and disease, 1-24. Retrieved from http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/ereserves/2130941b.pdf Finkelstein, E. A., Ruhm, C. J., Kosa, K. M. (2005). Economic causes and consequences of obesity.Annu. Rev. Public Health,26, 239-257. doi: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144628 Jackson, J. J., Antonucci, T. C., Brown, E. (2003). A cultural lens on biopsychosocial models of aging.Advances in cell aging and gerontology,15, 221-241. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.nz/books?hl=enlr=id=kBXLPaaXPKcCoi=fndpg=PA221dq=%22biopsychosocial+models+of+health%22ots=ToNciaJ7sosig=fZmma3Fai9VhqZm5xhCPS1oEy_w#v=onepageq=%22biopsychosocial%20models%20of%20health%22f=false James, P. T., Leach, R., Kalamara, E., Shayeghi, M. (2001). The worldwide obesity epidemic.Obesity research,9(S11), 228S-233S. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/doi/10.1038/oby.2001.123/full Reidpath, D., Burns C., Garrard J., Mahoney, M., Townsend, M. (2002). An ecological study of the relationship between social and environmental determinants of obesity. Health and Place, 8, 141-145. doi: 10.1016/S1353-8292(01)00028-4 Tulchinsky, T. H., Varavikova, E. A. (2000). The New Public Health: an introduction for the 21st Century. San Diego: Academic Press. World Health Organization. (2014). Obesity and Overweight. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/ 1

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Learning Development Essay

Critical thinking and problem solving are skills required to increase the growth in children’s learning and development, especially if our goal is to prepare a community of effective life-long learners. Researchers find that the definitions of each of these skills vary among the education community, but the necessity of student acquisition of these skills is demanded in the learning process. Critical thinking and problem solving offer an extensive, fundamental skill to the educating of children. This skill set is necessary for student understanding, development, and learning. It has been found that the internalization and automatic use of these skills would greatly increase student opportunity as future learners provide insight of understanding of concepts and provide an alternative way of thinking to a demanding world of self-monitoring, reflecting, and knowing. If these skills are necessary, we ask, why is it that all students don’t have them? In my paper, I will define critical thinking and problem solving. Then I will elaborate on the necessity of teachers teaching students critical thinking and problem solving. I will conclude with the importance of these skills as it pertains to the development of student learning and effectiveness of student performance. Provided are the three working definitions of critical thinking and problem solving. In 2008, Sezer’s research defined critical thinking as, â€Å"the evaluation and reflecting of what you know to be true† (p. 349). Later McCollister and Sayler (2010) defined it as, â€Å"carefully analyzing the way we think, with the purpose of improving it† (p. 41). The definition for problem solving will stand alone and is simply stated by Martinez (2006) as â€Å"problem solving is what y... ... K., & Sayler, M.. (2010, January). Lift the Ceiling: Increase Rigor With Critical Thinking Skills. Gifted Child Today, 33(1), 41-47. Retrieved 23 Nov. 2015, from Education Periodicals. (Document ID: 1950190601). Sezer, R. (2008). Integration Of Critical Thinking Skills Into Elementary School Teacher Education Courses In Mathematics. Education, 128(3), 349-362. Retrieved 21 Nov. 2015, from Education Periodicals. (Document ID: 1460776461). Shure. M. (2006, April). Helping Children Solve Problems. Scholastic Early Childhood Today, 20(6), 10-11. Retrieved 23 Nov. 2015, from Education Periodicals. (Document ID: 1013090421). Zemelman, S., Daniels, H. & Hyde, A. (2005). Best Practice Todays's Standards for Teaching & Learning in America's Schools Third Edition. In H. D. Steven Zemelman, The Principles of Best Practice Learning (p.7-22). Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Madeleine Neveus Epistle To My Daughter :: Neveu Epistle Daughter Essays

Madeleine Neveu's "Epistle To My Daughter" Madeleine Neveu eloquently gives words of wisdom to her daughter Catherine in her piece entitled, "Epistle to My Daughter." Madeleine is quite aware of the attitude surrounding educated women in her time period. Yet, she abandons those opinions to express her own for her daughter. Her epistle embraces the need for a woman to be true to herself and to stand on her own two feet, as opposed to relying on a man to hold her up. Madeleine’s epistle is quite straightforward. Her message to her daughter is very sincere. She starts her epistle by referring to traditional views on how one should live their life. "Ancient lovers of learning, / Said that to God one must do one’s duty, / Then to one’s country, and a third to one’s lineage" (ll.1-3). But Madeleine is quick to refute those opinions. She then states that while she does honor God, she is completely helpless when it comes to public service affairs on the other hand because men have all the power. "I revere the Lord God; as for my country, I lack all power, / Men have full authority" (ll. 7-8). It is here that Madeleine refers to the Salic Law, the law that excludes women from the throne. But Madeleine’s duty to her "lineage" or daughter is taken much more seriously. Since Madeleine has no control over Salic Law, she takes control of the matters she has a say in. Her daughter is under her control. She feels the need to provide the best life for her daughter as possible. And thus she writes this piece as a guide for her. After Madeline refutes the ideas of the old, she presents ideas for the future. The piece seems to pause just before she focuses solely on her daughter. The tone of the first nine lines is snobbish almost. Madeleine seems to be raising her nose to ideas of the old. But as she begins to focus on her daughter, the tone changes. The snobbish tone becomes softer, gentler, as if she’s raising her daughter’s chin to meet her gaze and speak to her: But as concerns you, my daughter, who are so dear to me / I would be liable to great blame and reproach / If I were to lead you on the beaten path, / Seeing that your heart is born into virtue.

The Origination Of Punk Rock Essays -- essays research papers fc

The Origination of Punk Rock   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The time was in the mid-seventies, there was a void in the music industry that needed to be filled. This need for a new sound was aptly filled by punk rock, a new type of sound that had evolved from mostly rock and a little pop music. The focus of this paper is on punk rock and it’s ample beginnings, early pioneers of the new sound, punk rock listener’s cultural background and their ideas as a whole, bands influenced by the punk rock movement, and the state of punk rock today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The year is 1974, this year marks the birth of punk rock (1974). There is controversy as to where punk started out at, some say it began in London while others say it started out in New York City. It can be safe to say that two very distinct sounds classified as punk originated at about the same in both London and New York City (Punk). Punk rock began in the bars and nightclubs until the bands garnered enough support to receive a record contract.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the punk rock explosion occurred in the mid-seventies, a number of new, excitingly innovative bands burst upon the scene. Bands like the Ramones, The Clash, The Velvet Underground, The Virgin Fugs, Patti Smith, The New York Dolls, Iggy Pop and The Stooges, and the punk band with the most success, The Sex Pistols. The thing that made punk rock so unlike anything the music industry had heard before was the notable lack of talent displayed on the musician’s part. Not to say that all punk bands were devoid of any talent, just that anyone with second-rate instruments and the ability to play at least three chords on the guitar could form a punk band. This is part of what punk’s appeal was, it was a new sound that appealed to many of the youths of that era. As Johnny Ramone, the guitarist for the Ramones, stated, â€Å"We were new at writing songs and new at playing our instruments, so we couldn’t write anything too complicated, really† ( 1974). Punk rock bands often had a flair for the flamboyant, not just with their appearance but with their humor, sarcasm, and often carelessness about society and social norms. For example, The Virgin Fugs, their outlook on life is often displayed in the titles of their songs. Songs like â€Å"I Saw The Best Minds of My Generation Rot†, â€Å"Kill For Peace†, and â€Å"New Amphetamine Shriek† captured the F... ..., Bad Brains were all heavily influenced by the punk revolution (History). Also, bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam seem to have the mind frames of punk rockers and were undoubtedly influenced by them, the sound doesn’t carry over into their own music.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Punk, as it was really intended, will never become commercialized and incorporated as a large part of the music scene. But then again, punk was based on rebellion against mainstream culture and to be publicized and critically acclaimed would be contradictory to the basis of everything punk stands for. True, one can see bands on MTV that claim to be punk, but the true hardcore punk fans will tell you that they are posers. The industrialized, commercialized, mainstream music seen on MTV is really more like punk/pop, it’s good music that may have been influenced by punk, but not true punk rock.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Works Cited â€Å"A History of Punk† http://www.fastnbulbous.com/punk.htm â€Å"Punk† http://www.music.warnerbros.com/rocknroll/cmp/episode9.html â€Å"The Birth of Punk† http://www.pqdweb?TS=953580845&Did=000000042640912&Mtd=1&Fmt=3&Sid=1&Idx=21&Deli=1&3/20/00 The Origination Of Punk Rock Essays -- essays research papers fc The Origination of Punk Rock   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The time was in the mid-seventies, there was a void in the music industry that needed to be filled. This need for a new sound was aptly filled by punk rock, a new type of sound that had evolved from mostly rock and a little pop music. The focus of this paper is on punk rock and it’s ample beginnings, early pioneers of the new sound, punk rock listener’s cultural background and their ideas as a whole, bands influenced by the punk rock movement, and the state of punk rock today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The year is 1974, this year marks the birth of punk rock (1974). There is controversy as to where punk started out at, some say it began in London while others say it started out in New York City. It can be safe to say that two very distinct sounds classified as punk originated at about the same in both London and New York City (Punk). Punk rock began in the bars and nightclubs until the bands garnered enough support to receive a record contract.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the punk rock explosion occurred in the mid-seventies, a number of new, excitingly innovative bands burst upon the scene. Bands like the Ramones, The Clash, The Velvet Underground, The Virgin Fugs, Patti Smith, The New York Dolls, Iggy Pop and The Stooges, and the punk band with the most success, The Sex Pistols. The thing that made punk rock so unlike anything the music industry had heard before was the notable lack of talent displayed on the musician’s part. Not to say that all punk bands were devoid of any talent, just that anyone with second-rate instruments and the ability to play at least three chords on the guitar could form a punk band. This is part of what punk’s appeal was, it was a new sound that appealed to many of the youths of that era. As Johnny Ramone, the guitarist for the Ramones, stated, â€Å"We were new at writing songs and new at playing our instruments, so we couldn’t write anything too complicated, really† ( 1974). Punk rock bands often had a flair for the flamboyant, not just with their appearance but with their humor, sarcasm, and often carelessness about society and social norms. For example, The Virgin Fugs, their outlook on life is often displayed in the titles of their songs. Songs like â€Å"I Saw The Best Minds of My Generation Rot†, â€Å"Kill For Peace†, and â€Å"New Amphetamine Shriek† captured the F... ..., Bad Brains were all heavily influenced by the punk revolution (History). Also, bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam seem to have the mind frames of punk rockers and were undoubtedly influenced by them, the sound doesn’t carry over into their own music.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Punk, as it was really intended, will never become commercialized and incorporated as a large part of the music scene. But then again, punk was based on rebellion against mainstream culture and to be publicized and critically acclaimed would be contradictory to the basis of everything punk stands for. True, one can see bands on MTV that claim to be punk, but the true hardcore punk fans will tell you that they are posers. The industrialized, commercialized, mainstream music seen on MTV is really more like punk/pop, it’s good music that may have been influenced by punk, but not true punk rock.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Works Cited â€Å"A History of Punk† http://www.fastnbulbous.com/punk.htm â€Å"Punk† http://www.music.warnerbros.com/rocknroll/cmp/episode9.html â€Å"The Birth of Punk† http://www.pqdweb?TS=953580845&Did=000000042640912&Mtd=1&Fmt=3&Sid=1&Idx=21&Deli=1&3/20/00

Moral Obligations about Charity views of Peter Singer and John Arthur Essay

The fact that we can afford to provide for ourselves even beyond our basic needs bring an important question. Is it then our duty to provide financial assistance to those who do not have enough to provide for their own basic needs? Peter Singer, in his piece, â€Å"Famine, Affluence, and Morality† would argue that we ought to prevent bad things from happening without sacrificing something of equal importance. Here is the argument Peter Singer presents to us in standard form 1) Millions of people are suffering from hunger every day. 2) Suffering and death from hunger is bad. 3) If it is within our power to prevent something bad from happening without sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought to morally do so. 4) It is within the power of affluent people to prevent hunger by sacrificing only their luxuries, which are of lesser moral importance. However, John Arthur disagrees with Singer’s conclusion in his piece, â€Å"World Hunger and Moral Obligation: The Case against Singer† and believes that although we should help those in need, it is not imperative to do so. John Arthur’s argument in basic form looks like this: 1) Singer says that all affluent people have a moral obligation to give their money to poor people to the extent that the affluent person would be on the same level as the poor person. 2) Poor people have no positive right to our assistance, because affluent people made no contract to do so. 3) Affluent people have a negative right to their property, which weighs against their obligation. Therefore, the obligation that Singer imposes on affluent people is not as extensive as Arthur. I will analyze both sides of this argument and in the end, propose my own position on this subject. Singer’s main point as stated above is that we ought to prevent bad things from happening without having to sacrifice something of equal importance. In other words, we should give to those in poverty as long as we do not put ourselves in a position of poverty. Singer starts his argument by making the assumption that it is a bad thing when people suffer and die from the lack of food and shelter. Since this is a bad thing, we ought to do something in order to prevent these things from happening without sacrificing anything of equal moral importance to ourselves. This point essentially puts the responsibility of the well-being of all people who are in some way suffering from lack of food and shelter into the hands of those who are in a position to do something about it. The fact that it is now our responsibility makes it morally wrong to not care for these people with our financial assistance. Singer does not see the act of giving money in order to prevent something bad from happening as charity, but instead as our duty. With charity comes the moral option to not give and to spend money on luxuries. If giving to prevent bad things from happening is something that we ought to do, to not do it would be wrong. Money that would have been spent on luxuries should be sent to parts of the world that need it on the basis of their lack of food, shelter, and adequate clothing. On the other hand, John Arthur brings up a strong argument against Singer. Arthur contests that a person has a right to do with their money as they please. There is no contract between ourselves and those in need, therefore we are entitled to invoke our own rights as a justification for not giving to those in need. The interesting thing about this argument is that Arthur is not saying that it is a good thing that we ignore the needs of others, but is instead saying that we have to right to not give. Arthur thinks that we are expected to give to those in need, but we also have the right to invoke our own rights of not giving to those in need. Arthur argues that if we were to live by Singer’s moral standards by following â€Å"greater moral evil rule† then we should not only give monetary charity but also give to the extent of donating parts of our bodies to help someone from dying. He says this because if you can survive without a certain body part (like a kidney) then according to Singer you should give it to someone to save their life because the kidney is less significant than a person dying  (Arthur 473). Arthur does not agree with this idea he sees this as a person violating our negative rights to property, protesting, that it’s your body, and you have a right to it, outweighs any duty you have to help. Both Arthur and Singer agree that there are millions of people suffering from hunger everyday and that this suffering causing death is a bad thing. However Singer believes that it is our moral duty to assist the poor not a choice to do so. While Arthur believes that although we should help those in need, it is not required of us to do so. Therefore the obligation that Singer imposes on people is not as extensive as that of Arthur. As a moral person, one is morally obligated to act in a way which will bring about the greatest happiness. Whether that action is positive or negative doesn’t matter to the pain or pleasure that is produced. No distinction is necessary to the morality of the action. Pain and pleasure are still the measure of moral significance that are used to judge whether a given charity is good or bad. Then the given rules of charity are used to judge the morality of an individual’s acts of charity. Arthur argues that duty to help a stranger in need would be some sort of positive right such as an agreement or contract. However when it comes to assisting in the world hunger situation there are no such agreements or contracts between flourishing countries to assist non flourishing countries. Arthur is correct in arguing that there is something more in the terms of Singer’s argument in the case about the drowning child that if we are able to prevent something bad from happening without sacrificing something of moral significance then we have the moral duty to do it. With the example of the drowning child in the shallow pond, even though we might get our clothes muddy if we were to save the child. As a consequence, like this child case, people have an obligation to rescue strangers when they have the ability to do so that it is our moral duty to do something. Arthur argues the point that these rights as well as deserts are important parts of our moral code based on values such as fairness, justice, and respect. From Arthur’s point of view, there are two significant human rights which are â€Å"negative rights† and â€Å"positive rights†. â€Å"Negative rights†, â€Å"rights of noninterference† (473) in another word, are rights not to be interfered by  anyone such as a right not to be killed. The other rights which are also ignored are â€Å"positive rights† same as called â€Å"rights of percipience† These rights are based on agreements. As long as people have an agreement something, they have a right to receive it. In addition to rights, desert is a second form of entitlement. As an example, a hard working farmer is able to harvest a lot of wheat as a result of his great effort. On the other hand, a lazy farmer is starving because of his laziness. In this case, the hard working farmer should not have any obligation to give wheat to the lazy farmer. Thus, the farmer should consider â€Å"fairness, justice, and respect.† (474). In this case is the farmer who worked hard be obligated to give some of his harvest to the farmer who didn’t do anything to secure a harvest to provi de for him and his family. Looking at Singer’s view on charity makes me wonder, He believes that as citizens of affluent countries we are morally obligated to donate most of our wealth to the starving poor of countries unable to provide for their own with their basic needs to survive like food, shelter and adequate clothing. That theory sounds great, however I have a problem with the fact that are focusing on the welfare of the struggling poor in other countries, while we ignore the suffering of our own right here in our backyard. Yes, I said the United States of America should take care of its own first. Before we spend our precious dollars taking care of the rest of the world. Let me say I cannot fathom a world as progressive as ours and yet people are still starving and dying right here in our own backyard. But it is a reality. Billions of dollars are given to aid so many other countries. While less and less is used here to provide relief for our own who are suffering. So, what is my point you say, my point is we spend a lot of money taking care of people around the world. As a society we are generous. Everyday I listen to politicians and others pointing fingers at each other playing the blame game for our economic crisis. Blaming the Republicans, or blaming the Democrats, Blaming the rich or poor, but the fact is all the blame in the world isn’t fixing the problem. Seeing all the dollar amounts being used to fund all these different relief efforts worldwide is simply amazing. But just think how far those dollars would go if they were to keep them here in the United States and use them to help keep a family member or a neighbor from losing  their home or life. Why are we providing billions of dollars in scholarship aid to foreign students when graduates of our own high schools can’t afford a college education? Why are our religious organizations donati ng billions of dollars to provide health care and literacy programs to foreign countries when our own kids are on Medicaid and illiterate? How much money would go back into restoring our own economy and helping citizens of the United States of America if we kept our money here? Will become the nation known for letting its own people suffer while we take care of the suffering in other countries. Will we keep playing the blame game and turn our backs to the pain and suffering of the people on our own soil. If so, maybe we should change our name to â€Å"The United States Charitable Citizens for the Rest of the World.†

Douglasian Cultural Model in Indian Context Essay

Introduction Today’s world is being dominated by daily innovations in technology and increasing globalization which helps organizations to spread and to operate globally in a successful way. Every organisation operating at a global level is trying to improve their financial profits. The success of such organizations greatly depends on their workforce and their decision-making capabilities. Many times the ethicality of such decisions have been questioned because of the profit driven strategies of these organizations. As Nobel Prize winner economist Milton Friedman quotes, â€Å"An executive’s responsibility generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to their basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom.† The decision-making process and hence ethicality of the decisions in such organisations is greatly influenced by the culture of the workforce. Bartels (1967) was one of the first to note the importance of the role of culture in ethical decision-making. There are different studies which discuss the diversity of ethical decision-making based on different perspective for example, Vitell, Nwachukwu and Barnes, 1993 discuss the effect of culture on ethical decision-making with the help of Hofsted’s typology while Patel and Schaefer, 2009 discuss the same with the help of Douglasian Cultural Theory (CT) perspective in the Indian context. Summary Patel and Schaefer’s article discusses the impact of culture on ethical decision-making from a Douglasian Cultural Theory (CT) perspective. It explains the dynamic ethical behaviour of the individual with four solidarities of CT. The Article also discusses the business ethics in the Indian context. Authors argue that applying static conception of culture to the process of ethical decision-making in business results in several problems. The Authors propose CT as an alternative model to these static conceptions to avoid these problems. The Article says that every social system is ethically plural because of the presence of all four solidarities together. An Individual from different solidarities may have a different perception of an issue’s moral intensity which may lead to different levels of moral awareness and hence to different moral judgements. The Article explores the dynamicity and diversity of ethical decision-making in business using the CT framework within the I ndian context with examples of Amul, SEWA, Tata Steel, ONGC and Reliance. Strengths This article offers an alternative approach of CT stating the impact of culture on ethical decision-making process in business. Authors argue that applying the static conception of culture to the business ethics results in different problems like national stereotyping, focus on only national cultural aspect ignoring the other aspects and broad generalisation of culture at national level. This article strongly supports the scholars who challenge the essentialist culture approach like Hofstedian framework. Singh (1990) and Bosland (1985a) have shown that it is possible to have different scores on the four Hofstedian dimensions within the same country. Hence there is possibility of difference in ethical behaviour within the same country. The Authors also talk about the same ethical dynamicity in behaviour. The article powerfully illustrates the diversity in business ethics within Indian context using CT model. The Article talks about the different cultural patterns existing in same corporation at same time. This article supports the argument by Sathe (1985) which says that although, the term â€Å"corporate culture† is used as if organisations have a monolithic culture, most companies have more than one set of beliefs influencing the behaviour of employees. The Article also supports the Thompson’s (1997 a-c) theory who argues that same individual could be a member of different solidarities in different contexts which explains the different ethical behaviour of an individual at a different social context. Also the article studies the ethical practices of different types of companies and business entities to understand the business ethics beyond large private corporations with respect to all the four solidarities of CT. The article debates about the dynamicity of ethical decision-making by citing the examples of all the solidarities existing in different Indian corporations. Also it talks over about the historical and philosophical background for the adoption of different ethical strategies by different corporations. Weaknesses The article explains the process of ethical decision-making in business from a ‘Douglasian Cultural Theory’ perspective only. The article does not identify many other factors beyond culture that may account for differences in work behaviour across nations. Scholars like Parboteeah and Cullen (2003) have suggested the need to include noncultural factors to isolate the influence of culture on ethical behaviour. Also many scholars have talked about the other personal characteristics like education, age, gender and religion that affect the ethical decision-making but they have not put any light on this part in the article. According to Kracher, Chatterjee and Lundquist, education plays an important and positive role in one’s ethical decision-making. Also Singhapakdi et al.: JBE (1996) talk about the relationship between ethical sensitivity and age being significantly positive. Ameen, et al., (1996) suggests that ethical judgments vary according to gender, where females have historically been more ethical compared to males. According to Singhapakdi et al :JBE (2000), there is a positive relationship between religion and perception of an ethical problem. The article has not mentioned all these perspectives while considering the process of ethical decision-making. Patel and Schaefer explained the ethical behaviour in Indian business context with the help of CT and argue that as CT is not limited in its scope of application, what is true for one country should also be true for other countries. This contradicts the findings of the researchers like Tsui which states â€Å"The major contexts that may separate one nation from another include the physical, historical, political, economic, social, and cultural.† This may cause an individual from another country to behave differently in the same context compare to individual in India. My standpoint The research article applies CT model to explain the ethical decision-making process in business within Indian context which allows us to look beyond static and limited conception of national culture. The authors have explained the ethical behaviours using examples of different Indian business entities. Since India is one of the largest growing economies, this research paper will be useful in providing the insights of the ethical practices in India. In my opinion, the authors have raised valid questions about the studies that link static conceptions of the culture to the business ethics. The authors have successfully associated dynamicity in ethical behaviours with the different cultural patterns as per CT which proves the existence of all the four solidarities in every social system. Paper also gives us insights about how all the solidarities co-exist and try to dominate each other. The Authors explain it in an Indian context citing examples for each solidarity. Moreover, authors have highlighted the important fact that managers operating under different cultural patterns may perceive and attend to information about moral issues differently which results in different ethical behaviours. The article considered the very important factors of history and politics that may have influenced while discussing dynamicity of ethical behaviours within Indian context. I am of the opinion that the Douglasian cultural theory is not sufficient to judge the ethical behaviour in business. There are many other factors like education, age, gender and religion which hold a significant role in the decision-making process. The authors have failed to consider these factors. I believe the consideration of the above mentioned factors would have made this research work more reliable. Also I disagree with the authors’ argument of what is true for India should also be true for other countries since every country has a different political, economical, cultural and physical background. Conclusion Taran Patel and Anja Schaefer have criticized the static and limited conception of culture to ethical decision-making in business. They have provided the alternative approach of Douglasian cultural theory to explain the dynamicity and diversity in ethical behaviours with the help of examples from business entities in India. The Authors advocate that the managers should be sensitive to the beliefs of all the four solidarities to be more effective. 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