ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Naturally, cultures blend and merge when people from various backgrounds interact or come together—such interactions and merging lead to different wonderful creations and inventions. However, there is a thin to be drawn when the dominant cultural group borrows aspects of non-dominant culture in a way perceived as exploitative by the non-dominant group. Failure to consider the aforementioned measures causes the unfolding of cultural appropriation. The utilization of elements and objects of non-dominant groups in a way that depicts a lack of respect for the original meaning, and lack of acknowledgment reinforces stereotyping and results in oppression. On the contrary, cultural appreciation refers to the respectful borrowing of objects from another culture to share ideas and self-diversification. The main challenge with cultural appropriation is a nuanced and layered phenomenon that individuals might not comprehend or even realize when doing it. Media event portraying Christina Aguilera in braids is a clear illustration of cultural appropriation. The media’s appropriation of culture is not always apparent to most consumers, although the members of the affected culture are quick to realize and often conceal their culture. In particular, the appropriation of the Black culture in many cases quite often leads to harmful or destructive results for the Black community. Christina Aguilera gained most of her notoriety during the X-rated era of her career, a time she completely changed her entire crew to comprise primarily the Black people. Her music was most explicit in her album Stripped, where she had box braids and weaves (Lockhart 15). Moreover, during this time, she dressed much riskier and took on a darker tan. The use of braids by Christian Aguilera is a cultural appropriation of the African hairstyle, which takes the form of Fulani braids, Bantu-knots, cornrows, and plaits. Her much more risqué attire and darker tone are an attack on the non-dominant African American lifestyle. The dominant or majority group could easily get away with appropriating a particular lifestyle and making it trendy without necessarily understanding the experiences that led to the invention of the lifestyle. Whereas a person of color will get discriminated against based on hairstyle relating to their culture, the majority group gets away when they choose a similar hairstyle. This scenario can get termed scapegoating, where the dominant group displaces their unfocused aggression onto the minority group. “Many states have enacted laws to disenfranchise immigrants; these laws are popular because they let the dominant group scapegoat a subordinate group” (Lumen). Christina Aguilera, therefore, scapego
Introduction Sara Bartman worked in Europe as a freak show entertainer. She was born in South Africa and shipped to Europe as a slave. Bartman’s “unique” feminine features made her an object of human interest. Therefore, after her death, Europeans preserved some of her body parts for scientific research. Besides her treatment as an object of racial inferiority and medical research, Bartman’s experience manifested the intersection of various forms of discrimination, such as, gender, race, nationality, and class discrimination. This paper explores how these forms of discrimination intersected in Bartman’s life. Class and Nationality-based Discrimination Bartman’s experience represented the class imbalance between colonialists and their subjects. Concisely, Europeans treated Africans as a commodity for European imperialism (Maseko, 2011). Most African colonies were objects of European imperialism because Europeans shipped many resources from Africa to Europe to uplift the economic well-being of the colonial empire. African colonies were therefore inferior to their masters. Stated differently, South Africa was inferior to Britain. That way, Europeans exported many commodities from Africa to Europe. Bartman’s experience was a manifestation of that imbalance because Europeans treated her as part of a collection of African commodities. Therefore, Bartman’s arrival in Britain resembled the importation of other commodities, such as, Flora and Sauna (used for the advancement of European imperialism). To that extent, Bartman’s experience manifested a severe form of nationality-based discrimination. Europeans also treated Bartman as a slave because of her poor status as an immigrant from Africa (Crais, 2009). That form of class discrimination occurred because the Europeans treated Bartman as their servant. Nationality-based discrimination supported Bartman’s class exploitation. Indeed, Britain considered South Africa to be an inferior state that should have supported its imperialistic agendas. Consequently, Britain did not treat its colonies as equal partners. Bartman’s master exploited her on that ground. Race and Gender Bartman’s experience embodied racial and gender discrimination because her masters treated her as a racially inferior person (and an object of female sexuality) (Maseko, 2011, p. 1). These two forms of discrimination complemented one another because Bartman’s journey to Britain was part of an ongoing slave trade. In fact, Bartman was a slave to a Dutch nationalist, Peter Cezar (Crais, 2009). Her relationship with her master represented racial and class discrimination. Furthermore, because Bartman was female, her sexuality exposed her to gender discrimination (since people treated her as an object of amusement and human curiosity). Therefore, by being a woman, she was not only a racially inferior person, but also an object of human research and amusement. Conclusion Bartman’s experience manifested the relationship between different forms of discrimination. Somewhat, every form of discrimination experienced by Bartman c
Introduction Screening for terrorist has acquired a special importance after the events of 11 September 2001, and reflecting on the consequences of the events of those sad days it seems that any measure which would help to minimize the risk will help for raising the level of security in the air. The lives of thousands of civilians are under the risk; thus, any possible measure is good enough and its price is a secondary question. Of course, it is important to understand what is behind the security measures as economy is the very important point in any issue; still, when it comes to lives of people what can be more important than life? With regards to the above-mentioned argument, screening for terrorist for aviation security seems to be an important measure which would help to significantly minimize the risk of terrorist attacks in the air. The issues that screening for terrorist is connected with Speaking about the measures which are rife in connection to security in the air, screening for terrorist should be discussed. Without a doubt, this measure is connected to serious expenses, but it also has a row of very important advantages which seem to justify such high costs. First of all, this measure has already shown itself as an effective way of identifying some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world including those ones form the most risky countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen (Terrorism and International Transport: Towards Risk – Based Security Policy 2009). Some people would disagree and mention some cases when this technique did not work, and terrorists managed to succeed in their guileful plans. Wel
In the essay by Brent Staples, “Black Men and Public Space,” Brent highlights the challenges African Americans go through in society. By using imagery, Staples narrates his life experience and the challenges faced as a black man when even at times, he was branded as a rapist and a mugger. The author uses strong words to vividly show society’s strong view of his race. For instance, at the start of this article, the playwright uses words such as oppression, victim, fear, awkward, dangerous, and ghetto to demonstrate his response towards the women’s reaction. The author’s reaction to women reveals that he stays calm and does not overreact despite demanding masculinity. For instance, Staples remains civil in the presence of his members, making his response unusual as an ordinary man would fight back. Even if society treats him with hatred, he never mentions how society harshly treats him. Brent sets the tone negative; the pathos used spurs the reader with emotions. He uses factual and statistical ethos, making the leader understand how he views the story on both sides. The essay vividly shows the blacks’ plights in society but chooses to remain silent. The article first was published in Ms. Magazine in 1986, where it had the title “Just Walk on by Black Men and Public Space.” The playwright first targeted society as he felt just by a mere presence as a black it would make a black woman take off (Staples 21). From this, the author reflected on the issue of race and gender that were happening in the country. A year later, he changed the article’s title to have more audience coverage to feel the plights the blacks were going through, yet they would take no action against it, and it got published at Herpes. The article begins with Staples narrating how as he walked behind a woman in the streets of Chicago, she would increase her pace with at one moment, she sprinted. His primary target audience is the society, who, despite knowing the blacks’ challenges, takes no action-forcing him to use strong words in his work. It forces him to use words such as victim to show the reader he was experiencing racism discrimination (Staples 20). Throughout the articles, he narrates the various accounts of racist abuse he has participated in as a black man. When the playwright was headed to the magazine’s office workplace, the author got branded as a burglar. The reader can learn from the article how black men are trying to live normally despite the racist abuse experienced. The author chose society to fight against the racism that was happening in the country. Brent Staples was born in 1951, earned his Ph.D. from the University
Self Awareness Self awareness is defined as the understanding of one’s personal characters and behavior. It is necessitated by the fact that human beings are unique and each person has a distinct behavioral pattern. Nowadays, it has become necessary for managers to be trained in a move meant to ensure that good leadership qualities are imparted in them (Huxley, 2008). It should be noted that self awareness can really help me in becoming a better manager because of the several advantages that are associated with it. According to Huczynski and Buchanan (2010), self awareness will enable me to improve relationships and live a more fulfilling life both at work and at home. Gill (2006) argues that one can have good interactions with workmates which enhances openness through self awareness. In that regard, self awareness will make interaction with my juniors friendlier thus improving the morale of other employees. Buelens, Sindig and Waldstrom (2011) also argue that self awareness is vital in embracing the variance in behavior of human beings. As a result, self awareness will enable me to change personal perceptions in order to positively interact with others. On top as a manager, I will highly need self control on several occasions. Consequently, self awareness comes in handy because it will help me understand issues that irritate me and how I can manage the same. Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell (2007) also state that managers who are aware of themselves can easily get feedback from their juniors and do not get annoyed; however unpleasant the feedback may be. Moreover, through self awareness, I can be able to know how to deal with my weaknesses and use them as stepping stones towards personal goals. It is important to note that the way people perceive their roles and personalities influences the degree of success in their endeavors. In this regard, self awareness will be crucial to help me understand that I need to accommodate other views too. Consequently, this will help me approach various issues objectively and with an open mind. Furthermore, self awareness will enable me to understand personal preferences and how to deal with them to avoid conflict of interests. In the words of Rollinson (2008), my qualities as a manager are improved through self awareness. Continuous Self Development On the other hand, continuous self development refers to the process through which people advance their self-knowledge, build or renew their identity, develop their strengths and weaknesses and fulfill their aspirations among other aspects. Gates and Hemingway (2000) argue that it is not unusual to get organizations ensuring that their employees are highly trained t
Marketing research is the process of gathering, recording and analyzing information about a given commodity in the market or the general market behavior. There are different ways of conducting marketing research. These methods include; secondary methods, surveys, focus groups, field trials, observations, and through conducting interviews. Surveying involves identifying and administering questionnaires to the target market (Bryman & Bell, 2007). Surveying practice can be done through in-person surveys, which involve travelling to the target areas to administer questionnaires to the prospective customers. Equally, surveying can be done through making telephone calls to consumers in order to gather information about a given product. Additionally, surveying can be carried out through mailing the questionnaires to consumers who then send their responses back to the surveyor. Secondary marketing research method involves gathering information about a given commodity or market from the existing secondary sources. Usually, the surveyor conducts thorough and informed reading about the subject from secondary sources such as journals, newspapers, business magazines and online sources. Also, the firm may hire a surveying firm to collect information on a given commodity over a given time. Personal interviews method is a marketing research approach that involves organizing face-to-face interviews with the prospective customers in order to collect the required information. Usually, the surveyor administers unstructured questions to the consumers depending on their responses. This exercise takes considerably a short time. However, it is associated with the inconvenience of organizing for rooms in which to conduct the interviews. Surveying method has an advantage of a wider market outreach compared to other marketing research methods (Zikmund et al, 2012). The in- person interviews surveying method ensures that the surveyor gets immediate feedback from the respondents. Surveying method also allows the surveyor to collect information on a lot of aspects concerning the market at large as the surveyor has control over the content of the questionnaire. This method is also relatively cheap. However, this method is characterized with low returns especially where the firm uses mailing survey method. It is also susceptible to lots of inaccurate information as the surveyor is not able to test accuracy of the responses gathered from the consumers. This method, therefore, is not suitable for a small business firm which targets a small market as it may prove to be expensive. On the other hand, secondary marketing research method is relatively cheap compared to other research methods. Additionally, research sources are readily available. This method also presents the firm with an opportunity to compare information gathered from different sources. However, information gotten through this method can be quite misleading at times. Surveyor, therefore, needs to use only the updated sources. Secondary marketing research method is suitable for small firms as it is not only cheap but also informing. The information gathered through con
Financial situation in the whole world is not stable now. The crisis has shaken the economies of all countries and the United States of America is not an exception. The specialists try to do all possible to protect economic field from more damages, and to save as much money supply as it is possible in the current situation. The system, which has been working for many years, does not help now, so the new strategies should be developed to overcome the crisis with less loses in the financial sphere. The loans may be of different nature and applying different conditions: the interest rate, payment schedules, fees and other terms are different. But now the situation with loans is very difficult and all loans are in the same situation. This position of business is predetermined by the current financial situation which appeared all over the world. Current financial situation cannot avoid disturbing groups of lenders and mortgage services. The inconveniences, which have touched these sides of financial relations, have created lots of difficulties and have almost put them “on the verge of open warfare” (Dizard). The situation with loans is very complicated. The holders of senior debts were sure that the situation was under the control of professionals, that they were insulated from risks, but they appeared to be mistaken. Their financial capital is locked in the loans, and nobody knows how long they will not have any access to money. A lot of solutions to the problem have already been offered. The special services should take into consideration the points of view and interests of all sides and to create a plan how to come out of the situation. The defenders of the special services, which aimed to maintain order in the situation, insist that the net present value of the loans in work-out should be maximized by special services. The net present value of the investment (NPV) is the difference between the investment’s market and its cost. The net present value of the investment shows the profit which will be gained by investment in this or that project. One fact should be noted that a quick pay back is not a pledge for a good investment. The reason is that the period of repayment has severe shortcomings. It is a rule of net present value of investment, and nothing can be changed in the situation. The net present value of the investment can be calculated by the formula The certificate holders want to get their money back. The services which have to work under the problem do not hurry to do their direct obligations and they have infuriated the lenders. The companies, which responsibilities are to cope with the problems about trou
Currently, the USA is known for having two main political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Still, they did not appear simultaneously. In the 19th century, democratic Americans started to emphasize the necessity of slavery abolition. However, they could not come to an agreement considering this point. On the basis of this issue, the Democratic South that was interested in the massive territorial expansion of the country due to economic considerations separated from the North. This paper will discuss these events in detail, emphasizing that the emerge of the Republican Party took place not only because of the conflict between the North and the South considering slavery abolition but due to the combination of different forces that existed in the middle of the 19th century. Social, political, and economic factors will be identified, and two ideologies will be compared. The conflict between the North and the South started in the 1840s, as a tariff for revenue bill was lowered 1 . Such alteration was advantageous for the South because it had a positive influence on their one crop economy, but the representatives of the North considered that such change would have a negative influence on the USA manufacturing. Soon, social tensions became even more critical because the question of slavery expansion arose and the views of Northern Democrats and Whigs were opposed to those their southern cohorts had. During the same decade, the government claimed that it was willing to reach new destinations across the continent. In fact, it even seemed to consider such development to be Americans’ mission to spread their democratic traditions. The victory over Mexico provided an opportunity to fulfill this goal but also made the conflict between the South and the North even worse. It turned into the major political issue of that time because of Mexican-American and the desire to make California a part of the Union (even though they already had good commercial relations) made the government question the possibility of making the states free 2 . A part of the country’s population also believed that the expansion of slavery to new territories along with democratic ideas could have advantageous influences on the economy, while others saw it as the main threat 3 . As a result, a lot of political debates emerged. Some decisions regarding them were even discussed by the court. Still, the creation of the Republican Party was not triggered only by these issues. In addition to them, the market revolution also fuelled the process. The North received an opportunity to unify because new railroads that connected its eastern and western parts started operating 4 . Those people who followed the ideas of Republicans received a chance to gather and develop their political interventions. Increased immigration to the country was considered as a negative experience that prevents America from developing by some populations. Those people who revealed a strong sense of nativism created the Know-Nothing Party. Its views did not coincide with those the Democratic Party had, which led to conflicts. It would emphasize the necessity to have only native-born American
The plot of the movie “clash of titans” is based on Greek myth of the gods; Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. They betrayed their parents, the Titans. With the help of Kraken, a monster born from Hades’ flesh, they drove them away to the underworld and shared out the universe among themselves. The skies were taken by Zeus, the seas were taken by Poseidon and Hades took the underworld. These gods created faithful mortals so as to sustain their immortality. However, this was short lived because the mortals started questioning the gods. To begin with, a myth can be defined as a story about superhuman beings of an earlier age believed to have existed back then (Umiker-Sebeok, 1987, p 357). However, depending on the belief system and approach of the writer, the definition of a myth varies. A myth could be defined as an extraordinary and enjoyable articulation of ethnicity (Ferrell, 2000, p.3). Adaptation of mythology has been used in developing movies. Most movies are developed using a mythical journey where the hero goes on journey to save the society. The journey theme is very popular in modern art (Sowa, 2001, p.1). “Clash of The Titans” is a fictionalized movie where the journey theme has been used. It begins with a fisherman, Spyros, noticing a casket afloat in the sea. The casket bears a baby boy and his dead mother. Spyros takes the baby home and his wife Marmara agrees to raise the baby. The boy is given the name “Perseus”. The movie presents Perseus as the hero who is destined to save the mortals. The heroes’ journey is clearly outlined in the movie; from the time he is rescued to the time when he ends up in the king’s house. While in the king’s house, he is detained after being declared a demigod by Zeus. Later he is released from detention and the king requests him to lead the army assigned to go kill Kraken. Just like in the ancient myths, the scenes in this movie are well arranged to unfold the journey of Perseus. In the centre stage of the journey myth, is the theme death and resurrection. Death can be experienced by a person playing the role of a hero by being abducted; it is an involuntary journey. This is clearly illustrated in this movie by the scene where Perseus goes fishing with the family in a ship. Within the vicinity of their ship, soldiers from Argos city are seen destroying a sculpture crafted to appear as Zeus. Suddenly, Harpies befalls the place and exterminates all of them. After killing the soldiers, these harpies unite to form Hades and turn to destroy Perseus’ ship. His parents