ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Historically, humans and many other living beings have been divided into males and females depending on a set of physical features typical of this or that gender. In fact, gender is one of the first labels an individual receives (Thomson). Nevertheless, currently, there is a tendency to raise gender-neutral children, which means that a baby is not identified as a boy or a girl at birth. On the one hand, society is disturbed that these children can have problems with self-identification when they grow up because the impact of gender-neutral parenting is not discovered yet. On the other hand, the supporters of gender-neutral parenting claim that they are raising children free from the pressure of gender stereotypes. Background The problem of gender-neutral parenting is relatively new. Although parenting as a concept does not have strict rules and is influenced by the cultural traditions of the society, it usually follows a pattern accepted in a community. Traditionally, parenting styles may differ for boys and girls not only in upbringing. Clothes’ color or gender-divided toys and games are integral to traditional parenting. Gender-neutral parenting opposes such stratification. Already in 2011, a Canadian couple became the first who claimed not to reveal the gender of their baby. Later, in 2016, newspaper headlines announced that a Swedish family decided not to disclose the gender of their baby and apply a “genderless” approach to raising their child (Godden). Since then, more and more parents were making a decision not to force gender stereotypes and allow their children to observe the world and come to a self-identification. This parenting style is gaining popularity both among celebrities and common people. Moreover, this tendency is spreading to other spheres of life including education. Thus, gender-free teaching is accepted in some schools (Godden). It is implemented through gender-neutral uniforms, refusal of separating toys in primary school and gender division of physical training lessons, and gender-neutral bathrooms. The study by Granger et al. (498) investigate teachers’ facilitation of gender-neutral activities and come to a conclusion that they are used less frequently than masculine ones, which is evidence of the lack of working interventions in the field of education aimed at resolving the problem of gender-neutral education. The Issue of Gender-Neutral Upbringing The major claim of gender-neutral parenting supporters is that it is important to raise a child in a gender-free environment with a focus on the health and happiness of a child (Barr). The major problem is that already at the stage of definition gender-neutral parenting is interpreted in the wrong way. Selecting this parenting style does not mean refusal of gender or stimuli to change the biological sex of a child. Usually, it presupposes the provision of opportunities for a child’s cognition of diverse
Introduction The Punk movement of the 1970’s is often regarded as a British working class movement, born out of the frustration of the politics that ruled the time and the influx of popular culture most of which was heavily back by America. American popular music has made its impact globally and has and will always be listened to all over the world; along with this, fashions and attitudes that are associated with it have also made their mark. This dispersion of American influences whether cultural, political or economic is often referred to as Americanisation. Many scholars argue that the masses are passive in their consumption of popular culture tend to resemble a zombie mob which follows and enjoys whatever commodities are dished out to them. In comparison to high culture, popular culture is often seen as a dumbed down material as opposed to the apparent highbrow elements in elitist high culture. It is often argued that a lot of what is deemed as mass culture braches out from the United States, which in turn is relative to Americanisation. ‘The fears and anxieties expressed by critics of mass culture have been equally directed at the threat of Americanisation’ (Strinati, 2004, pg 19) the British punk movement could been seen as a conscious alternative to just that, though in order to understand this argument we must first understand where and what punk came from. Main Text During the early 1960s, the Americanisation of Britain was in full swing; with the war days out of sight the American way of life had become increasingly popular. The big Hollywood blockbusters, luxury items, commercial advertising, and glossy high life magazines had whetted the public’s appetites. ‘American society had the most developed mass culture, and thus represented the future towards which other comparable societies, such as Britain, were heading’ (ibid, pg 22). The Americans had seduced both Britain and the world with its self-promotion but at what price? On the other hand, too many the American way of life offered opportunities that Britain could only have dreamed of, the hope of a bigger, better more entertaining way of living, and the hope for a more prosperous future. The music industry of the early 1960s was very much alike in both countries, with little or no distinction in terms of variety as ‘the excitement of rock ‘n’ roll is replaced by standardized music industry products such as Fabian in the United States and Cliff Richard in Britain’ (Longhurst, 2007, pg 107). In 1963 the beginnings of Beatle mania had manifested itself; the Beatles were Britain’s answer to the cries of the hungry youth of the day, who had grown tired of Cliff’s rigid summer holiday and Lonnie Donegan’s skiffle. Although for Britain the Beatles were exciting and fresh ‘in many resp
The socio-cultural concept refers to a range of various social and cultural factors. The concept encompasses several values, beliefs, attitudes, and lifestyles that individuals practice in a given community. In several cases, the concept is a guide that governs the behavior and character of people living in a respective region or community. Social values relate to a collection of factors that control the behavior of individuals and how they relate and interact with others in society (Sharma, 2004). Conversely, cultural factors comprise beliefs, customs, and norms that people from a particular community have concerning life and personality. Remarkably, culture is influential and determines the social setting of a community. It is fundamental to highlight that a combination of both factors results in the socio-cultural concept. In tourism, the socio-cultural concept relates to the beliefs, attitudes, customs, behaviors, religious orientations, and lifestyles of tourists and host communities. While the host communities believe and practice certain values and customs, visitors have different cultural orientations and social beliefs. According to Richards and Hall (2003), the concept is very pronounced in the field of tourism since the field entails movement of individuals to different locations away from their homes or places of work. A good example can involve people, who travel from places such as Europe to areas like Africa or Arabia. These individuals from Europe have unique lifestyles, whereas the hosts in Arabia or Africa have different socio-cultural values. As a result, their interactions can initiate culture shocks. Due to the high mobility associated with tourism, the level of interaction with different communities is high. The diversity in the magnitude of inclination towards socio-cultural values transpires from the differences in income levels, exposure, and religious orientations. Therefore, several individuals in various communities experience a range of culture shocks when they interact with individuals from other communities either as hosts or as tourists. One of the major socio-cultural factors that affect tourism negatively is culture shocks. The factor concerns the shock that tourists and hosts experience when they interact. Sharma (2004) explains that because tourists and hosts have socio-cultura
Choosing the basic strategies for revising, rewriting, and editing Writing is, indeed, a very challenging and daunting process taking much time and effort. Apart from using an appropriate choice of words and word combinations, it also involves such important activities as rereading, revising, and rewriting (Thurman, 2008, p. 15). These processes entail evaluating higher levels of composition, such as tone, organization, and main ideas, and lower levels of composition, such as vocabulary, grammar, style, spelling, and punctuation. While considering all these aspects, it took me more than one revision for analyzing all writing lapses and for improving my research paper properly. My specific concerns were also connected with using specific techniques and strategies for making my paper errors free where one idea smoothly transits to another. Particularly, I was inclined to use a combination of revising, rewriting, and editing, starting with considering higher levels of the organization and ending with correcting typos, formatting, and grammar. Such a scheme has helped me overcome time management issues and have endowed me with several useful composition skills. Revising and editing strategies Considering the higher level of organization Before proceeding with writing a research paper, much attention was paid to brainstorming ideas under the topic to be analyzed. The primary concern was focused on the analysis of interesting ideas and fresh insights because the topic itself was initially discussed by many other researchers. Therefore, I tried to incorporate all ideas into coherent and interdependent paragraphs where one idea is closely related to another. While revising the paper for the first time, I was focused solely on the content of my paper to make sure that all ideas are supported by arguments, evidence, and facts. The second step consisted of analyzing the structure of a research paper to define whether there were any declinations from the thesis statement. I also paid specific attention to a paragraph structure that should begin with a topic sentence, reinforced by authors’ ideas and facts, and concluded by my assumptions and conclusions. Considering lower levels of the organization While revising the paper for the third time, I paid attention to grammatical and syntactic filling of sentences. Particularly, I looked at word choice, appropriateness of transition phrases, and parenthesis to cut the redundancies or replace them with more relevant phrases. Certain sentences, or part o
Introduction Reverend Hooper was the chief protagonist in the story, The Ministers Black veil . His sudden change from a normal clergy man to wearing a black veil on his face scared his audience. All along the reverend had never acted crazily before. He was a respected young clergyman. Wearing the veil was the main cause of alienation from the villagers, congregation and his bride to be Elizabeth. The veil symbolized sin which caused many ironic actions amongst the people (Smith 1). Alienation While reverend Hooper wore a veil on his way to church, the congregation was attentive to his teachings as he taught about secret sins. The veil seemed to work miracles. It created a good platform for separation between him and his congregation. It built up fear in them that no one was wishing to approach him after the sermon (Smith 1). Elizabeth, who was engaged to the reverend, was alienated from her loved one because of the mysterious veil he wore. She was the only person who was not afraid of him. She tried to convince him to get rid of the veil. After enquiring why he was wearing the veil he revealed it to her that, “It is but a mortal veil-it is not for eternity” (Bloom 26). The fact that reverend Hooper did not have people to talk or socialize with, could lead to his insanity. At first people thought he was insane but with consistent wearing of the veil, they accepted and tolerated his behavior (Smith 1). Hooper had served in a funeral before proceeding to a wedding. During the funeral, his veil almost fell and he got it back speedily. This action troubled many people. One superstitious woman of age said that at that moment when the veil was falling from his face, she saw the corpse shake and it was like the Reverend was communicating with the corpse. This created more fear to the people (Smith 1). Irony and Symbolism Reverend Hooper used the black veil as a symbol of his message to his church: “Secret sin and those sad mysteries which we hide from our
Compare between morality and professional ethics Ethical relativists have a belief that society or culture determines what is right. Action is seen as bad or good, depending on the moral norms that certain social practices. It implies that actions considered right in one culture may be wrong in another. Therefore, there are no global moral standards. However, some confusion may arise regarding this ethical relativism. One of the unsatisfactory implications is that while societies’ moral practices vary, the main moral principles, which act as a base, are similar. Sometimes, societies are different in the way they apply the fundamental moral principles. However, there may be an agreement in other principles. For instance, some societies had the belief that killing the parents was favorable for their afterlife. Such a tradition was explained by the belief that having died in a good physical form, the person would be active and energetic in his/her afterlife. Societies that were against such a practice were, however, consent on their key moral idea that people had to care for their parents. There is also an argument that, whereas there is moral relativism in some moral beliefs, it is absent in the others. For instance, practices concerning decency and clothes are dependent on the local custom. Other practices, such as political repression, torture, and slavery, are guided by global moral standards. Besides, they are judged unacceptable, irrespective of the differences experienced in other cultures. Some philosophers have concerns about ethical relativism as a result of personal moral beliefs’ impacts. According to these philosophers, the wrongness or correctness of an action may depend on the norms in society. Therefore, it is obvious one will obey the norms of the society he belongs to. Going against these norms will be regarded as an immoral act by the representatives of that society. Consequently, this view advocates social conformity, leaving no space for improvement. Besides, the members of some society can have varying opinions regarding the different practices they have to observe. The rationale behind adoption of normative theories and professional codes of conduct Utilitarianism refers to the moral doctrine, where people should act in a manner that produces a greater good for each person affected by these actions. If the number of people who rejoice from action is greater than the amount of those who do not benefit from it, then that act is right. In organizations, utilitarianism offers a straightforward and precise foundation for testing as well as formulating policies. It offers an attractive and objective manner for self-interest conflicts’ resolution. Moreover, it is used as a result-oriented and flexible strategy for making morally right decisions. There are several critical inquiries associated with utilitarianism. The first question is put regarding the criteria used to assess the various forms of happiness. If there is no criterion to determine it, should a
Process Strategy When you mention Wal-Mart, the word itself makes the competitors of the company from all over the world fear (Vance 1994). Historically, the retail chain has been able to expand its business globally, and in every place or market the retail chain opens a store, it manages to compete, survive and even thrive (Brunn 2006). The success of the retail chain has been achieved due to its business strategy known as ‘pockets’. The retailing has been able to compete effectively because it has been able to manage and identify its niche or unique market (Fishman 2006). At the Wal-Mart, every employee is required to think, and behave like a retail trader, whether working in human resources department, information technology department, or accounting department. Every employee or worker is expected to focus on how he/she can improve the services at the store chain (Fishman 2006). Even workers from headquarters are required to visit their chain’s stores, so that they can get a clear view on problems affecting the company (Vance 1994). Wal-Mart has realized that supplying its stores with the right goods would be a benefit for the company as these products would sell well. Thus, providing a satisfactory service to their customers is an important business strategy that has helped the retail chain to gain its loyal customers (Vance 1994). Additionally, Wal-Mart business strategy has created an exciting shopping environment or experience for the customers or shoppers (Brunn 2006). Both the store managers and the workers of this retail trade system have been seen to work very hard in making the company to be the destination of choice for shopping for the value-driven customers. Wal-Mart products (goods) and services are tailored or customized to meet the needs of the local consumers, while the price points are sharp. These tailored or customized products (goods) and services give local customers or consumers the feeling of satisfaction, so they do not “shop anywhere else except at Wal-Mart” (Fishman 2006). Wal-Mart retail chain has many stores in different parts of the world, and this has helped the company in negotiating better prices with its suppliers and manufacturers (Vance 1994). And because of its purchasing power, Wal-Mart stores have been able to sell their products (goods) at a price that customers or shoppers can afford. For this reasons, other retail businesses around the world often buy Wal-Mart products to re-sale at their own shops. That is why, it is so difficult for other competitors to sell the same products as Wal-Mart do (Fishman 2006). Wal-Mart Headquarter Wal
One of the reasons why many critics refer to Sherman Alexie’s novel Reservation Blues as such that constitutes a particularly high literary value is that in it, Alexie was able to provide readers with the discursive insight as to what accounts for the very formation of the sense of self-identity, on the part of Native Americans that reside in reservations. In its turn, this explains why Alexie’s novel features a number of characters whose positioning in life appears being reflective of different specifics of their exposure to the experiences of a racial discrimination. In my paper, I will aim to substantiate the validity of this suggestion, in regards to the character of Victor Joseph, as a person whose sense of identity is being equally affected by his visually and psychologically defined ‘nativeness’, on the one hand, and his simultaneous desire to integrate into the White society, on the other. The close reading of Reservation Blues suggests that it is namely Victor’s tendency to succumb to irrational anger, which defines the essence of his life-posture. Such Victor’s tendency can be well illustrated in regards to the fact that, throughout the novel, he never skips an opportunity to refer to other Natives in a particularly sarcastic and even derogatory manner. For example, Victor used to derive an emotional pleasure out of deliberately altering Thomas Builds-the-Fire’s last name, “’Ya-hey, Builds-the-Shithouse,’ Victor said. ‘Ya-hey,’ Thomas said” (Alexei 17). Apparently, Victor’s experiences of being brought up by Catholic priests naturally caused him to despise the stereotypic emanations of ‘nativeness’, as such that in his mind were closely associated with the notion of inferiority. At the same time, however, Victor could never embrace the existential identity of Whites, which is exactly the reason why, along with mocking stereotypical ‘nativeness’, Victor used to expose the utter irrelevance of the White people’s cognitive inclinations, which serve as a foundation upon which Christianity rests. Apparently, Victor never ceased being aware of the fact that the Native people’s tendency to reflect upon the surro
Training and Development Actions to create and nurture a healthy team The first article to be reviewed is the ‘Team training in China: Testing and applying the theory of cooperation and competition’ (2010) by Lu, Tjosvold, and Shi. The authors focus on the competition and cooperation practices applied to the company to improve the performance. For instance, they “fail to develop new and creative solutions because they often focus on consensus and shared information and do not discuss their dissenting views” (Lu, Tjosvold, & Shi, 2010, p.103) because the competition is as important for team members as cooperation. The hypothesis of the research dwells on the cooperative goals that give rise to constructive controversy, from which potency, productivity, and creativity emerge (Lu, Tjosvold, & Shi, 2010, p. 106). As suggested by Rosen, Furst, and Blackburn (2006), one of the effective methods to supervise and support the team includes “coordinating the logistics of teamwork across time and space” (p. 230). Effective performance A healthy team can be composed of the employees that currently work in different departments or the same department though previous training is suggested in the study by Lu, Tjosvold, and Shi (2010) as the major reason for effective performance is the knowledge acquired by team members and motivation of all their activities. The importance of information is one of the factors that predetermines the effectiveness of team performance. In this respect, sharing knowledge is a significant part of the training program that should be adapted to encourage the creation and nurture of a healthy team. It was proven that cooperative goals are more influential than independent goals that give rise to constructive controversy (Lu, Tjosvold, & Shi, 2010, p. 118). Besides, “The results support the reasoning that cooperative goals and constructive controversy provide a foundation on which to understand and develop productive teamwork in organizations (Lu, Tjosvold, & Shi, 2010, p. 124). This means that cooperation and competition policies can be widely used on the international level to ensure the effective creation and nurture of healthy teams to work on various goals set by the company. Why applying various techniques Various techniques such as cooperation and competition policies can be applied to different organizations to create a healthy team and ensure a healthy working environment and the satisfaction of employees. All these factors are sure to add valu