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Sunday, December 29, 2019

Mass Incarceration And The People Church - 3627 Words

Mass Incarceration and the People Church. The Solution for Mass Incarceration in the US. â€Å"I’m not racist, I’m colorblind†. To many people, racism had ended since the civil right movement, when we no longer accept Jim Crow’s ideology. Nowadays, many people in our society believe that racism is no longer a problem of our society. They believe that people are no longer being judged base on the color of their skin, but it is based on their skills, their characteristic. It is the false belief that race is no longer exist and that people are treated equally in our society with President Barack Obama or Oprah Winfrey as an example. However, people don’t realize is that racism is still exist inside America. As President Barrack Obama says, â€Å"racism deeply rooted in America†. In fact, ignoring race doesn’t end the problem of race since the problem doesn’t get addressed as racial problem, but rather the problem of the individual. In other words, the society fails to reco gnize the existence of racism. It fails to recognize the fact that racism has become the system of America. More importantly, racism has become the controller of our criminal justice system. Instead of crime control, the justice system has become a system of racial control. It has become the new tool for the White Supremacist to maintain its power. Incarceration is no longer the issue of crime, it has become the racial issue. That being said, it’s the People Church that has the power to resolve this problem. It is theShow MoreRelatedMass Incarceration And Its Effects On Society1492 Words   |  6 Pages (The Editorial Board) The standard way of thinking about mass incarceration has it that mass incarceration is putting a stop to crimes. Today it has become common to dismiss the truth about mass incarceration. The Editorial Board of New York Times Magazine acknowledge that America`s imprisonment population has progressed to about 2.2 million (the Editorial Board). The Editorial Board is basically saying America is locking up more people than any country nationwide. What`s the solution? This hasRead MoreMichelle Alexander Mass Incarceration1601 Words   |  7 Pagesand legal scholar. In recent years, she has taught at a number of universities, including Stanford Law School, where she was an associate professor of law and directed the Civil Rights Clinics. Alexander published the book  The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. In it, she argues that systemic racial discrimination in the  United States  has resumed following the  Civil Rights Movements gains; the resumption is embedded in the US  War on Drugs  and other governmental policiesRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Great Migration Essay1211 Words   |  5 Pagesfood† many other historical events are discussed in this movie. The Great Migration, according to Black Past, â€Å"†¦was the mass movement of about five million southern blacks to the north and west between 1915 and 1960†¦to major northern cities such as Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and New York, New York.† (Christensen). One large reason for the mass migration was the to escape the southern states’ poor economy in the south. After the end of slavery, the southern economyRead MoreThe Movie Soul Food By George Tillman Jr. Essay1535 Words   |  7 Pagestradition. This film covers the basis of the Great Migration, when people from the south migrated to the north and Midwest in search of work and freedom from southern oppression. George Tillman Jr. does a good job at creating well rounded characters and depicting the positives and the negatives of each character’s role in the movie. Soul Food is a representation of the numerous benefits and the disadvantages of being black in America. When people hear the term â€Å"soul food† they immediately think of the arteryRead MoreThe Incarceration Of Rehabilitation Programs1319 Words   |  6 PagesTheHuffingtonPost.com, 15 Apr. 2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2017. This source talks about the benefits of post-incarceration employment as a form of rehabilitation and education in prisons. It emphasized how there is less rehabilitation in prisons than there has been in the past and how important it is to bring it back into prisons. There is also statistics in this source about the amount of money spent on incarceration. I could use this source to help show how important rehabilitation is. Because this source explainsRead MoreMass Murderers : A Diverse Group Of People1724 Words   |  7 Pages Mass murderers are a diverse group of people. They are a danger to society and it is important to understand the wide variability among these people. The kinds of mass murderers revolve around two central types that branch off to several subtypes. The profile of a mass murderer generally contains a specific set of traits. These people are often driven by one of a series of different motives. In order to achieve their goals, mass murderers have plenty of different methods and weapons at their disposalRead MoreThe Criminal Justice System Is Viewed As A Black Problem993 Words   |  4 PagesThe current crime and incarceration trends have declined since early 1990s, which in part is due to the current reforms that takes place within the criminal justice system, such as early release dates for drug charges and non -violent crimes (Mauer, 2011). The incarceration rates in the United States are â€Å"three to four times that of other industrialized nations,† and the punishment scale is viewed as â€Å"out of proportion to that of other industrialized nation† (Mauer, 2011). Mauer (2011) reportedRead MoreThe Slavery Of African Slaves913 Words   |  4 PagesOne of the reasons that people were okay with this situation was because they viewed Black people as an inferior race. The slave codes stated, â€Å"Slaves were not considered men. They had no right to petition. They were ‘devisable like any other chattel.’†¦ The slave owed to his master and all his family a respect ‘without bounds, and an absolute obedience.’† (Du Bois, 10). W.E.B. Du Bois asserts that the slaves were seen as less than human. The slave owners and other White people saw slaves as animalsRead MoreCreating A Clean And Safe Environment882 Words   |  4 Pageschurches play in the community. The Market Square Presbyterian Church is a historic institution that attracts individuals from throughout the Harrisburg region (N. Sheets, personal communication, March 17, 2017). It conducts a variety of social service programs and its clergy leads the Downto wn Clergy Ministries, a group which works with the Housing Urban Development to serve men experiencing homelessness who are mentally ill. The church reaches out to individuals from all backgrounds, as demonstratedRead MoreThe Topic Of Religion ( A Focus On Pastafarians ) Rough Draft729 Words   |  3 Pagesbeen adopted by teenagers, pranksters, atheists, and true-believers alike. The church’s website, venganza.org states â€Å"Some claim that the church is purely a thought experiment, satire, illustrating that Intelligent Design is not science, but rather a pseudoscience manufactured by Christians to push Creationism into public schools. These people are mistaken. The Church of FSM is real, totally legit, and backed by hard science. Anything that comes across as humor or satire is purely coincidental.† It of

Saturday, December 21, 2019

The Tragic Hero Of Euripides Medea - 1080 Words

Nafisa Asad Honors English II Melie Period 5 Tragic Hero in Euripides’ Medea Aristotle cites that, A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall. Consistent to Aristotle’s characteristics of a tragic hero, the tragic hero must fit the requirements of being noble and employed in a high standing position of society. There should be a tragic flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall, and those reading the play must feel pity for this character as he goes through necessary changes as a result of his flaw. Aristotle illustrates a tragic hero as one who falls from grace into a state of acute misery. In Euripides’ Medea, the tragic hero is Jason, a man of noble birth who falls from being honored and respected due to a flaw in his character, that flaw being adultery. His adultery leads to terrible outcomes, the deaths of many people, and his loss of all the things he loved.His character is an excellent example of the heroes who rise high, then ultimately fail due to their own nature. By the end of the play he realizes his er rors and becomes negligible. Some may argue that Medea is the tragic hero in the play, but this reasoning is flawed because Medea has no single flaw, she has exuded a sadistic nature from the start, from her actions involving the Golden Fleece to her killing her own offspring. Jason suffers from the fatal flaw of adultery that ultimately destines him for ruin, making it is clear that he serves as the tragic hero in Euripides Show MoreRelatedThe Concept of the Tragic Hero: an Analysis of Jason and Medea in Euripides Medea1442 Words   |  6 PagesIn ‘Medea’, Euripides shows Medea in a new light, as a scorned woman that the audience sympathises with to a certain extent, but also views as a monster due to her act of killing her own children. The protagonist of a tragedy, known as the Tragic Hero is supposed to have certain characteristics which cause the audience to sympathise with them and get emotionally involved with the plot. The two main characters, Medea and Jason, each have certain qualities of the Tragic Hero, but neither has them allRead MoreThe Concept of the Tragic Hero: an Analysis of Jason and Medea in Euripides’ Medea’1429 Words   |  6 PagesIn ‘Medea’, Euripides shows Medea in a new light, as a scorned woman that the audience sympathises with to a certain extent, but also views as a monster due to her act of killing her own children. The protagonist of a tragedy, known as the Tragic Hero is supposed to have certain characteristics which cause the audience to sympathise with them and get emotionally involved with the plot. The two main characters, Medea and Jason, each have certain qualities of the Tragic Hero, but neither has them allRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Medea By Sophocles1611 Words   |  7 Pagesthe many tragedies that Euripides provides us with, I chose the tragedy of Medea to further analyze, and present a strong argument for why I think Aristotle would find Medea a top-notch tragedy. According to Aristotle, a top-notch tragedy consists of six main elements, a strong plot, storyline, style, morals, ideas, staging and music, with the most important of these six being that of the plot. I strongly feel that in terms of what entails a quality tragedy, Euripides Medea meets a large majorityRead MoreThe Tragic Hero Of Euripides Greek Literature1117 Words   |  5 Pagestragedies tend to have a traditional format: a tragic hero, reversal of fortune due to a tragic flaw, moment of recognition, and catharsis. In order to be considered a tragic hero, the character must be born noble, is usually a ruler, and has a tragic flaw which causes peripety. Typically, the hero’s realization of self-inflicted doom is what allows a release of emotions. This raises a question of who the tragic hero is in Medea. The tragic hero is thought to be Jason, however there is an argumentRead More Euripedes Medea versus Aristotlean Poetics Essay1570 Words   |  7 Pageshuman nature and its relevance to the stage. His rules of tragedy in fact made a deep imprint on the writing of tragic works, while he influenced the structure of theatre, with his analysis of human nature. Euripides Medea, a Greek tragedy written with partial adherence to the Aristotelian rules, explores the continuation of the ancient Greek tales surrounding the mythology of Medea, Princess of Colchis, and granddaughter of Helios, the sun god, with heartlessness to rival the infamous Circe. WhileRead MoreAristotle s The Tragic Hero1561 Words   |  7 Pagesclaims four requirements for the tragic hero. The hero must be good. The hero must have appropriate quality of his or her gender and class. The hero must be true to life. Lastly, the hero must be consistent. These four characteristics are present in many tragic heroes. However, there are so many different authors with different interpretations of the tragic hero, that to define the tragic hero with merely four traits is not plausible. Aristotle def ines the tragic hero in a way too simple manner. Aristotle’sRead MoreJason and Medea Essays893 Words   |  4 PagesThe Chorus delivers these final lines of Euripides’s Medea, â€Å"†¦the end men look for cometh not, / And a path is there where no man thought; so hath it fallen here.† (Euripides, 80) This quotation not only signifies the events, which have transpired in the plot of Medea, it also shows the recognition of a very curious aspect of Medea: that the protagonist of the play, Medea, is not the tragic hero. A tragic hero by Aristotelian standards is one who possesses a driving aspect– or hamartia – whichRead More A Tragedy Makes A Hero Essay1019 Words   |  5 PagesA Tragedy Makes A Hero Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy. A tragedy can be described and executed in many ways, whether it is through cinema, television or a play for theatre, as long as it has a solemn kind of ending. It is characterized as a very sad event, action, or experience for a certain character in the piece. According to Aristotle’s â€Å"Poetics,† a tragedy needs six elements, a plot, character, language, thought, spectacle, and melody, as in many dramas do, butRead MoreFemale Characters Of The Play Medea 1377 Words   |  6 Pages In Euripides’ play Medea, the audience is introduced to a uniquely female perspective often absent in Greek drama. Of course, this perspective, being written by a man, is not absent of the female mythological archetypes common throughout all of Greek literature. Most of the female characters hold archetypal roles to move the story forward. However, during the course of the play, Medea defies a simple archetypal prescription. She fits in between the lines of a â€Å"good† character and â€Å"bad† characterRead More Medea as Woman, Hero and God in Euripides Play Essay2139 Words   |  9 PagesMedea as Woman, Hero and God In Euripides play the title role and focus of the play is the foreign witch Medea. Treated differently through the play by different people and at different times, she adapts and changes her character, finally triumphing over her hated husband Jason. She can feasibly be seen as a mortal woman, Aristotles tragic hero figure and even as an exulted goddess. Medeas identity as a weak woman is emphasised at the very start of the play. It is made very clear that

Friday, December 13, 2019

Investigate the ways in which hip hop music appeals to male and female audiences Free Essays

string(75) " records in the first place \(artists such as Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B\." Investigate the ways in which hip hop music appeals to male and female audiences, with reference to 50 cent’s Amusement Park, attempting to account for its popularity despite its sexist representations of women In this essay I shall be investigating the ways in which hip hop songs appeal to both male and female audiences, with specific reference to Amusement Park (released May 8, 2007) by 50 cent (real name Curtis Jackson), and its music video. I will attempt to account for the huge popularity of this artist, and others of the genre, despite the apparent sexism displayed in his songs. Firstly I shall look at how hip hop has gone from primarily an underground phenomenon to having mainstream status, as recounted by Bakari Kitwana (2005). We will write a custom essay sample on Investigate the ways in which hip hop music appeals to male and female audiences or any similar topic only for you Order Now From when hip hop originated, it was always an alternate culture for black youngsters to turn to. During the late 1980s economic recession, many Americans were still living in poverty: unskilled workers faced poorer wages than before, resulting in a sense of alienation from mainstream America. Although they had achieved equality in legal status, there were still plenty of economic and social problems facing black youth. Not only was hip hop an artistic way of expressing and making public these issues, but also provided a sense of culture those less privileged. Concerns could be voiced through the medium of music and radio stations, which, although primarily were by and for black people, still very much of the white working class population, who were also facing similar problems and suffering from the same detachment from the mainstream. In the late 80s powerful black icons began emerging, such as Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, and major bands like Public Enemy who produced ‘politically charged lyrics, criticism of the media, and active interest in the concerns of the African American community’1. It soon became hard for white audiences to ignore hip hop culture. The East-West coast feud between artists from either side of America, leading to the eventual murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious BIG also brought both urban issues and its music in to public light. Gangster rap was a predominant subgenre which was responsible for expressing shocking views (notably rap group N. You can read also Audience Adaptation Paper W. A. ‘s F*** tha police) and portraying the more violent and misogynistic side of hip hop culture. While it still receives a lot of backlash, hip hop has become increasingly mainstream and popular. One way to account for the popularity of â€Å"Amusement Park† is to look at the representations of women in the video on its own, and to draw conclusions from those alone. The girls are shown against a very minimalistic background, only with the â€Å"ride† which they are on. This puts the focus on to their bodies and faces, increasing our sense of their sexuality. Both the shots of the girls and their poses are explicitly constructed, as their poses are unnatural and staged. They often look directly in to the camera, suggesting an awareness of the audience’s voyeuristic perspective. A shot which specifically give a sense of degradation is one in which a girl is shot almost directly from above, her body twisted unnaturally on the ground, looking on command as the camera focuses on her. This appeals to the male audience by making them feel that the girl is putting out her sexuality for the benefit of the viewers i. e. he individual watcher. It might seem that this video is primarily aimed at males however; the huge success of 50 cent in the mainstream implies that his apparent misogyny is not only accepted but embraced by a large audience. One explanation would be to accept the belief of female sexuality being masochistic, and that the gratification a female gets from the video is that of relating herself to the girls in the video who are enjoying being a sexual object. However, French feminist Luce Irigaray questions the idea the traditional view of female sexuality: †¦ omen in the sexual imaginary of Western culture have always been a male fantasy; hence maschocism is something forced on women by culture, not a quality inherent within them. Thus, women don’t define their own sexuality, desire, or pleasure2. If we bear in mind the amount of competition that is around now in the hip hop industry and the selection of media now readily available, through the wide range of music channel, and the relatively recent development of the ability to watch music on sites such as youtube and yahoo, audience could be said to become more active in the way they choose and thus perceive their media. Taking Irigaray’s perspective, female audiences do not necessarily need to read the text in masochistic way, and this broadening of choice in their media allows them to take an alternate stance on such texts: that of a more active one. If this is the case however, it does not necessarily mean that female audiences reject Amusement Park, only that there is room to interpret the representations in a more ironic way and as I shall discuss later on, the text itself encourages this type of reading. The next issue I shall look at is the extent to which 50 cent is taken as a serious role model by his audiences. His background would imply that he is the stereotype of gangster: his mother gave birth to him at 15, was involved in cocaine dealing, and was murdered at the age of 23. 50 cent himself began dealing in crack/cocaine and taking guns to school. Before the release of his first album with Columbia Records, he survived being shot 9 times, including once in the mouth, which led to him being dropped by the record company. This would seem highly ironic, given that to a large extent the idea of an authentic gangster was what selling rap records in the first place (artists such as Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B. You read "Investigate the ways in which hip hop music appeals to male and female audiences" in category "Papers" I. G and Tupac Shakur had a history of crime and drugs; and the murders of the latter two helped to bring hip hop in to mainstream media). It is interesting to ask whether it was the songs that consumers were buying and continue to do so, (his debut album, get rich or die tryin’ selling 12 million albums worldwide) or the now glamorised image of celebrity gangster which is currently present, despite the fact that he currently lives in an $18,500,000 Mansion. He himself admits to the fact that his image portrayed in his music is separate from him as a person: †¦ all the things I say are good, if you watch what I do. What I say on record is entertainment; but what I’m actually doing with my life and the things I’ve had the opportunity to do is what makes me inspiring3 Although evidently he has achieved a great deal for himself, in the media he rarely expresses himself personal side, and even has made attempts to reinforce his gangster image, and example being: I’ve been in situations where either it was me or somebody else, and I handled my business. 4 (2003) However, in the later interview he does deny any assumptions: †¦ people associate me with gun violence, when I was the one who got shot5 This suggest that Curtis himself does have an expectation that audiences will be able to distinguish between his image portrayed in the media, and the reality of his life, but does little to counteract the negative images. Is he also being naive in thinking that the audience will automatically realise this, and not model his violent and sexist lyrics? There is clearly some sort of awareness in public audiences, both black and white, as shown by findings by the Black Youth Project: Over half of youngsters between the ages of 15 – 25 strongly agree with the statement that â€Å"Rap music videos portray Black women in bad and offensive ways. 6 The huge success of 50 cent however, seems to contradict this, which would seem to imply that audiences are in fact able to separate this misogyny from the rapper himself. However, it could also be argued that this is merely a way of excusing such portrayals. Considering the artist’s earlier works, such as Get in my car containing t he lyrics â€Å"I got no pickup lines / I stay on the grind / I tell the hoes all the time / Bitch get in my car† and the highly pornographic music video for Disco Inferno, it is harder to take such things lightly. A widely quoted statistic is that 70% of hip hop consumers are in fact white. Although it is interesting to note that no accurate source has been cited for this statistic, hip hop is undeniably a prominent part of mainstream white music culture. Before, when the genre was a political move as much as it was a music genre, a chance for black underprivileged youth to voice their concerns for the culture, it was something that both black and white people could understand in relation to their own lives. The current state of hip hop is that we ‘look through the keyhole into a violent, sexy world of â€Å"money, ho’s and clothes†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ as described by Justin Ross (2007). This may be an accurate description of the way that audiences perceive such videos, given that 50 cent’s music refers to neither the real problems, past or present, of black culture, nor to the life which Curtis leads. It would also account for the general acceptance of these representations, if the audience is distanced from what is shown in the videos: issues of sexism and violence are far less relevant outside black urban society and it is therefore easier for a white consumer to take the videos solely as entertainment. It is also important to remember that while the majority of hip hop artists are black, it is predominantly marketed and controlled by a white industry, as Bakari describes (p46) in which the importance of an authentic representation of black culture is of little importance compared with supplying the public with texts which they will buy in to, as evidently the sex appeal of the videos is an important aspect. The next thing I shall look at is the level of awareness of the sexism in both the video itself, and the audience it is aimed at. There are many shots which suggest that the images in it, and the lyrics, are not entirely sincere. This is evident in the shots of the girl sitting on a bench next to 50 cent. Unlike the rest of the images, she is not highly glamorised, and her actions appear to be a lot more naturalistic than the others. She directly reacts to his lyrics, often looking away smiling, as though amused by what he is saying. The title of the song could also be referring to 50 cent himself as a celebrity figure: that both his image and his songs are merely an â€Å"amusement;† not to be taken as serious. This creates a sense of bathos juxtapositioned against the more professional looking shots, so that the female audience can relate more to the women shown. Although taking up a lot less time in the video than the glamorised ones, it creates a distance between the hyperreality of the rest of the video, and the ordinary more down to earth shots, so audiences see the video more objectively. The shots of the girl lying provocatively on the car bear even less relation to the lyrics than earlier in the video, being more reminiscent of a car commercial than a music video. The car itself is briefly but distinctly focused on, which makes reference to the importance of money and material values which are present in not only video, but the whole hip hop industry. This hints at the suggestion that both the girls and their representations are merely a product of this, and therefore are not in fact serious degradations of the women. In this shot we see a girl, while impressed; rolling her eyes at the artist at the lyrics â€Å"You know it’s no fun without the magic stick†. In this sense the girls are in fact the more active ones in the video, whilst 50 Cent mostly maintains his position as an entertainer. Instead of them covering the whole screen, two similar shots of the same girl are often slid in from either side against a plain black background, sometimes overlapping each other. Whilst in one sense emphasising the importance of the girls’ bodies, it also is highly self aware as product, as by seeing two separate views of one scene, it reminds us that it is a construction. Instead of taking itself too seriously, it makes explicit its intention of providing a sex appeal. A less prominent but important character in the video is the girl dancing acrobatically, and the only girl who is represented by her skill rather her sexuality – the camera barely focuses on her face. On the surface, she seems to represent an entertainer at a fair (the bright flashing lights help to anchor this meaning), but it is possible to decipher alternate readings of her: certain comparisons can be drawn between the actions of 50 Cent and herself. She and he are the first people we see in the video, and she appears immediately after the artist announces himself: â€Å"50† and â€Å"Ferrari F-50†. The setting she is in is almost identical to that of 50 Cent’s. At times her dance moves mirror the lyrics of his, for example at â€Å"You fear heights when I’m high hell yeah I go low†, she can be seen to do exactly this. In another shot she briefly does a boxing punch, followed by a similar view of 50 Cent looking macho. At the lyrics â€Å"yeah it’s like that† she mimes as though saying the words herself. In this sense she is the female counterpart to 50 Cent, and could be said to hold the power, in that she has little direct engagement with the audience, while Curtis has to explicitly put on an act to keep is position as an entertainer. This could allow women to from the perspective of her instead of the rapper, and thus 50 Cent himself becomes the object of the video instead of the subject. As previously discussed, the initial purpose of this media text is to sell 50 Cent’s music, and this is done by providing the audience with representations they are familiar with: a stereotypical ‘gangster’, highly sexed girls, and also to be considered is the artist’s own sex appeal. Firstly, the subject of the song itself is 50 cent inviting girls (the audience) to attend his â€Å"amusement park†, and the lyrics describe the activities available to those who go, thus partially placing him as the object of desire. He is shown later in the song without a shirt on, with lighting focused in such a way that highlights his muscular physique. An important issue is that of whether hip hop should be censored, else voluntarily toned down. In April 2007, a controversial incident occurred, involving Don Imus, the presenter of his radio show, which already had a reputation for its crude humour. In discussing a black female basketball team, he referred to the players as ‘nappy headed hos’. After floods of outraged complaints, his show was permanently removed from air, prompting wide discussion over the standards in the media, often with reference to hip hop. 0 Cent himself was involved in the subsequent discussion, but refused to agree to clean up his lyrics, using a politician involved in adult dating websites to make comparisons between standards in hip hop and that in supposedly higher society. While this may be true to some extent, it firstly does not provide a justification in itself; but also it is debatable as to how much of what he said was his own opinion and how many were prearranged arguments by his manag ers (in the video he can be seen grinning in long pauses after phrases such as â€Å"I personally believe†). On the subject of Master P, who made the decision to stop using sexist and violent lyrics, he replies â€Å"Well Master P doesn’t sell CDs anymore†7. From this, and other interviews where he has put the focus on that of entertainment, one could draw the conclusion that the artist in fact, as Amusement Park suggests, concerned with little other than the money involved in the business. In defence to his own lyrics, 50 Cent has also expressed his irritation of apparent double standards in the media, in reference to Britney Spears’ single ‘Gimme more’8 beginning with the lyrics ‘it’s Britney, bitch’. While it may appear to be merely a sore complaint, it is certainly valid to discuss the treatment of women in other areas of the media, and by women themselves. The music video of the song in question consists of Britney Spears, wearing little more than underwear, dancing round a poll in a seedy setting. Similarly, in ‘Dip it Low’ by Christina Milian, the artist is seen allowing herself to have black paint poured over her semi-clothed body, whilst a group of men stand at the side watching and jeering: the presentation of women apparent in male hip hop videos is not a unique one. In all aspects of the media girls are presented, more than anything, by their sexuality and appearance, which can be found in adverts in women’s magazines, stereotypes in film and television (a notable example being Desperate Housewives), car adverts, drink adverts. Although elevated within the genre, this representation could be described as a reflection of attitudes prevalent in both the media and in society and therefore not so shocking to audiences. Another issue described by an internet blogger9 is that by shutting sexism and violence portrayed in hip hop music, it is shutting off a fundamental way of keeping these issues in the eye of the public. He quotes that the leading killer of African Americans is homicide; and that males are five times more likely to be killed than their white counterparts. These issues will still exist even in the absence of offensive hip hop. While this certainly an interesting point, hip hop paradoxically glorifies the very things which it makes an issue of. While artists like 50 Cent may primarily be driven by selling as many records as possible, he still in one sense continues to represent issues which would otherwise be forgotten, if only in a postmodern way. Therefore, in order for hip hop to serve this purpose, it is essential that audiences neither directly embrace the values shown in the videos, nor take it as purely entertainment, as Amusement Park evidently does allow us to do. However, audiences could be said to be becoming increasingly desensitised to these things, with violent films and video games and the huge availability of pornography through the internet, which would make this reading more difficult to achieve. Whether or not the sexism and violence in hip hop is justified or not, if audiences were to take a more active role in their media, it would simultaneously prevent potential influence from such songs, and also make thorny issues in black society more accessible to deal with. How to cite Investigate the ways in which hip hop music appeals to male and female audiences, Papers

Thursday, December 5, 2019

A Streetcar Named Desire Condeming Those Who Treat Others With Harshn Essay Example For Students

A Streetcar Named Desire: Condeming Those Who Treat Others With Harshn Essay ess andCrueltyA Streetcar Named Desire: Condeming Those Who Treat Others With Harshness andCrueltyOne of the main themes expressed by Tennessee Williams in his play, A StreetcarNamed Desire, is to condemn those who display cruelty and harshness in theirtreatment of others, especially those who are weak and vulnerable. Threecharacters who demonstrate these insensitive qualities are Blanche, Mitch, andStanley. Whether the cruelty is deliberate or not, it results in thedestruction of others, both physically and mentally. Blanche Dubois, the central victim of mistreatment in the play, was herself,dealing out her share of insensitivities during her younger days. When Blanchewas 16, she had a very handsome lover named Allan Gray. She was very much inlove with him and decided to marry him. But by total surprise one night,Blanche found her lover in bed with another man. She tried to pretend thatnothing had happened. However, she was unable to hold what she saw inside, andtold Allan I saw, I know, you disgust me( p.96). To Allan, Blanche seemed tobe a person who accepted him for who he was in a society where homosexuals arediscriminated against. What Blanche said completely devastated Allan and hefound no reason to continue living. Although Blanche had no intentions ofhurting Allan, enough damage was done to prompt Allan to shoot himself, his mindand body destroyed. The harsh treatment dealt by Mitch to Blanche near the end of the play isstrikingly similar to Blanches treatment of Allan Gray. Mitch is a friend ofStanleys whom Blanche falls for during her visit to New Orleans. Therelationship between Blanche and Mitch had been developing steadily. Bothcharacters felt the need to settle down in life and both saw the image ofmarriage at the outcome of their relationship. It did seem as though the imagewould become reality, until Stan interfered. Stan filled Mitchs mind withunfavourable stories of Blanches checkered past and the relationship quicklyturned sour. Mitch had not believed Stan at first, but when he receivedconfirmation of the truth to Stans accusations, he became heart-broken andenraged. Mitch goes to confront Blanche personally and accuses her of being aprostitute and lying to him. Mitch also says that Blanche is hiding something,as he has never seen her in broad daylight. He then tears the paper lantern offthe light bulb, representing a tearing away of Blanches shield from realism. Blanche admits to the accusations but reasons that she has changed her ways andnever did lie in her heart. Mitch appears to forgive her as he goes to kissBlanche. But in the midst of the embrace, Mitch blurts out, Youre not cleanenough to bring in the house with my mother (p121) This outrages Blanche, whokicks Mitch out of the house. Just as she was to Allan Gray, Mitch appeared tobe her salvation, but when Mitch exposes her vulnerability, she essentiallybecomes broken down mentally. While Mitch delivers the blow that mentally destroys Blanche, it is Stanley, hercruel brother-in-law who orchestrates Blanches downfall with no remorse. First,he digs up all the negatives from Blanches past and hints to Blanche that heknows stories about her, making Blanche feel scared and insecure. Then Stanleyproceeds to spread the news to Stella and Mitch, Blanches two closest people inthe play; One of whom (Mitch) , turns on her. Then, on Blanches birthday,Stan surprises Blanche with a presentbus tickets back to Laurel. The ticketsimply to Blanche that she has worn out her welcome, and makes her feel extremelyuncomfortable. After the incident with Mitch where Blanche becomes mentally andemotionally battered, Stan comes to inflict more damage to her. Stan, knowingthat Blanche would be making up stories about her supposed lovers (ShepHuntleigh) to salvage her pride, pretend to play along with the charade. Heasks peculiar questions that force Blanche to a point where she could no lo ngerkeep up her act. Then, to deliver the ultimate insult to Blanche, Stanleybrutally rapes her, causing Blanche to go insane, totally destroying her. .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 , .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 .postImageUrl , .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 , .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448:hover , .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448:visited , .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448:active { border:0!important; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448:active , .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448 .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u99a3e709ef67325a93d6ca6835d2c448:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Educational Psychology EssayAs shown, vulnerable people who are victims of vicious and cruel treatment feelincredible pain inside and outside when abused. Their minds are like time bombs,ready to go off when the pain becomes unbearable. Unfortunately, there are toomany insensitive people around who fail to see their cruel nature in treatingpeople. Until things change, society can not be deemed a safe place for thevulnerable and fragile.