Race, Class And Gender Essays - Gender, Social Constructionism

Race, Class And Gender Race, Class and Gender issues are commonly brought up. Throughout history many groups have been stigmatized not just for their race, but for their sex, and class as well. People of lower class incomes get slandered for where they live and for not having the economical means to purchase most common goods. Women have been considered the weaker sex for centuries, and currently, some of the old fashioned and ignorant theories on women being subordinate to men prevail. In the article Rethinking Womens Biology the author position appeared to be that society dictates what a woman means and teaches it from childhood. The old concept of blue for a boy and pink for a girl starts out from birth and is consistent throughout childhood and into adulthood. The clothes we wear, our activity level, what and how much we eat, the type of vocation we are in, all these variables occur due to society. Society has norms that are expected to continue. Even though society has these notions of what is normal and natural it is the concept people have of themselves that is also a primary dictator on their lives. (Hubbard 1990). The Social Construction of Gender touched on how Western society views gender. This article pointed out historically how women and men appear to be separate species entirely. And that even though physiologically we are similar, male and female, we are of an opposite class. The male and female class should not be labeled how our bodies function for we are all individual and unique. If a scientist views a female to be female based on the fact that physiologically she menstruates, than what is a female that ceased menstruation or never began to? Is she only half woman? Is a male not a man if he is not capable of producing sperm? (Lorber, 1992) The article also mentioned how sports glorified men and ignored the female athlete. Only giving women 5% of television coverage opposed to men receiving 92%. Sports can trivialize women symbolically. For example, College sport teams may name the male team tigers and the womens team kittens. (Eitzen societys prescriptions for those of their gender status because the norms are expectations get built into their senses worth and identity as a certain kind of human being and because they believe that their societys ways are the natural way. (Lorber,1992, p.42). Ah, Ya Throw Like a Girl was similar to the above to articles. It suggested how roles of society predict female and male roles. He referred to personal childhood memories. Reminiscing how while playing sports, his father, would encourage him to throw hard ball overhand. And how if he didnt he was throwing like a girl. He would be teased and taunted by friends and family if he did not play the sport hard and rough, because thats how boys do it. He also pointed out that his sister was more talented in sports than he but could not play. Basically, this authors position was traditional roles needs to be deleted with a new modern way of thinking. We know more now than we did when traditional male and female roles were established and we should all concur with the new age liberation and equality. (Messner, 1992) In A Male Centered World, Female Differences Are Transformed into Female Disadvantages was an article that stressed how because female and male persons have different body types this is what predicted the roles that would follow. Males being strong and dominant in stance and female averaging to be smaller and more petite than men led societys to think women were less capable. The authors position appears to be that because society think males are strong and women are weak this is indented into others positions and continues the cycle of a male centered world. Only by speaking out and protesting for our Civil Rights when we feel they have been disregarded will women take a stand. She uses the term Gender Polarization which refers to the scripts laid out for us within our society.

Analsys of the Ethical Challenges faced by E-Commerce essays

Analsys of the Ethical Challenges faced by E-Commerce essays There is no single, well-established, and widely accepted definition of However, this is not a serious impediment. For present purposes it is sufficient to follow the OECD view of eCommerce as: "Business occurring over networks which use non-proprietary protocols that are established by an open standard setting process such as the Internet." (OECD, 1998). Ecommerce provides a tremendous opportunity for any business, whether it's a private enterprise looking to market great new ideas or a large cooperation looking for new methods to increase its sales. But selling goods and services on the Internet have their own set of challenges that include methods to set up and maintain secure, reliable and cost effective system for authorizing payments and managing transactions. [1] Challenges for the future of ecommerce A major challenge for ecommerce is whether they have the financial resources to invest in technology and other related costs for developing an E-business, or including E-business as a strategy to their existing operations. Human resources need to be in place to meet the demands, so having staff to develop a new type of business, having the appropriate skill base within the organization, attracting and retaining employees with applicable skills are all critical. This may be very difficult in today's business climate but it is essential to operate E-business properly. Finding sufficient time to invest in the development and implementation of an E-business package is also a critical factor. Risk taking can be daunting compared to larger organizations, particularly in ventures that are still relatively new, unfamiliar and uncertain.[2] Thus we can conclude that ecommerce has yet to overcome many hurdles and ...

Cost, Profit and Cost Function Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cost, Profit and Cost Function - Essay Example did not have adequate information regarding cost, profit and the various nuances of cost of the company, the profit and also cost functions. So in order to give them a complete understanding of the various methods of determining the cost function, relationship between cost and profit have been discusses, the basic concepts of cost function has been explained and then the methods for determining cost function has been evaluated. Cost, Profit and Cost Function There are many factors that are included in profit planning, such as cost, profitability and volume. Here the focus would be only on cost and profit. Cost is inversely proportional to profit, that means lower the cost, higher the profit (Jayapandian 2008, 393). The revenue curve is controlled by the customers, while the organization can only control the cost curve. The fluctuations in the variable cost changes the slope of the cost curve, but the increase of fixed cost may totally wipe out the profits of the company. Variable cos t has high frequency of fluctuation than fixed costs. When the cost of the company equals its generated income, then it is termed as breakeven point. The margin above this point is the profit of the company (Kolitz, Quinn, and McAllister 2009, 301-303). Cost functions are nothing but economic formula that replicates the functions of the output and input prices. In a layman’s language we can say that it simply involves finding the cost of materials for production of a particular quantity of goods. Cost function is actually a mathematical explanation which estimates the changes in cost with the levels of change related to such cost. For example: actives involved in preparing the operating machines and production runs. Cost function can be explained through graphical representation in which measurement of activity levels, such as machine hours required or the total amount of goods produced in the given time can be assessed (Horngren 1967, 308). There are various methods of calcu lating cost function, such as engineering, visual fit, regression, and account analysis. The engineering analysis is past experienced based review of cost in a systematic manner. Visual fit as the name suggest is a representation of data in a scatter diagram. Regression analysis includes mathematical formula to ascertain the cost equation that fits the data best. High low method utilizes linear algebra for the determination of fixed and variable costs, but the results are not reliable. Lastly, account analysis deals with analyzing the accounting records and determining the behavioral patterns (Whittington and Delaney 2007, 398-399). Conclusion Cost and profit go hand in hand. Cost of the company needs to be reduced to increase profit. Cost functions include functions like planning and controlling the various activities of the organization and accurately estimates the projected fixed and variable cost. There are various methods that are utilized to estimate the cost function such as regression method, engineering method, account method, visual fit method, high-low method, etc. The usage of each of these methods depends on the data available and the type of analysis required by the manager. Presentation 6 Introduction In this presentation the relationship between volume, costs and price would be explained so as to show the effect of changes in each element on the other. Bond & ltd. wanted to project the changes in profit figures due to fluctuations in volume and cost. So in this presentation an explanation of all these terms would be sated for the management to understand the concepts carefully. Cost, profit and volume can be represented graphically and also in the form of equation. Graphical representation is easier for managers to understand, as they can easily

British American Tobacco Company Products Essay

British American Tobacco Company Products - Essay Example BAT Company is listed in the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company reports that as of December 2011, it had market a capitalization of ?59.2 billion. Then, it was ranked sixth largest company listed in London Stock Exchange. The company is not only listed in London Stock Exchange but also in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (South Africa) and the Nairobi Sock Exchange in Kenya (Britannica Educational Publishing and Rogers 2011 p.177-198). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the demand and supply factors that affect the sales of BAT products. It will also explore what the company needs to do to be able top operate profitably in this market. The essay will also discuss the impacts of the macroeconomic factors: economic growth, unemployment, inflation, the balance of payment and business cycle on the products. Demand and Supply Demand and supply are the most fundamental concepts of economics and the backbone of a market economy. This is due to the fact that they determine how a particular product or service is sold in the market. Demand by definition refers to the quantity of a service or product desired in a market by buyers. The quantity demanded on the other hand refers to the amount of product that buyers are willing to purchase at a given price. Price and quantity demanded exhibits a relationship known as demand relationship. Supply refers to the quantity that the market can offer. In this regard, the quantity supplied means the amount of a given products suppliers are willing to supply at a certain price. The relationship between price and quantity supplied in the market is referred to as the supply relationship. Based on this definitions, it is evident that price is a reflection of demand and supply. Microeconomic Factors Price Price is one of the main factors that affect the demand and supply of a product, which in turn determine the quantity of a product that is sold (Carbaugh 2010 p. 28-42). With regard to deman d, the price charged determines to a great extent the quantity of a product that consumers will buy. This is due to fact that that quantity demanded and the price have an inverse relationship. This implies that the higher the price, the less will be the quantity demanded of the product. This is one factor that has affected the sales of BAT tobacco products. The company management argues that as the cost of product used in the manufacture of tobacco products increases due to drought, they have been forced to adjust their process upwards (Cox 2000 p. 16-39). However, this increase in price did not go well with regard to turnover as many customers reduced the quantity they could purchase. This is probably due to a shift to other cheap close substitutes. The company managers are, however, quick to assert that they are projecting a decrease in price which would enable customers to purchase more, thus increasing their sales. On the other hand, an increase in supply of the company’s product usually lead to a reduction in price, resulting in an increase in sales as consumers are now able to afford the products. Substitutes The price and availability of close substitutes also affects demand for a product. When a product has a close substitute, it is a matter of fact that consumers will be willing to shift in case of an increase in price (Carbaugh 2010 p. 28-42). This is what has affected sales of BAT’s tobacco products. The company managers argue that many people nowadays prefer other forms of depressants

Poverty in the United States Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Poverty in the United States - Research Paper Example Individuals born in the United States usually have better prospects and access to resources than people born in poor societies (Chappell 2010, 45). Thus, they benefit from a better quality of life and bigger earnings. Similarly, impoverished children who reside and go to school in communities with more affluent families will likely have greater opportunities than children who reside in communities where they intermingle only with other impoverished children (Aliprantis & Zenker 2011, 1). This essay tries to discuss the current condition of poverty in the United States by taking into account several factors, particularly the impact of welfare programs on poverty. The American Dilemma The Census Bureau in the United States specifies a group of income thresholds that rely on household composition and size, and members of a household are regarded poor if the overall income of their household is below the correct threshold (Iceland 2003, 20). However, it is important to point out that thi s description computes income before transfers and taxes, and thus there is much disagreement about whether it might be more useful for future assessments to classify poverty as regards to consumption (p. 20). Rates of poverty have fluctuated between 11% and 15% of the population over the recent decades (Aliprantis & Zenker 2011, 1). Statistics from 2010 exhibit a noticeable increase in the rate of poverty during the most recent economic depression (Bishaw 2011, 2-3). Even though the rise was distributed across racial groups, the eventual patterns in poverty differ when divided by race. Figure 1. Percentage of the People Living in Poverty Areas by State: 2006-2010 *graph taken from Bishaw (2011, 3) Prevalence of poverty among the white population have somewhat remained the same over the recent decades. Prevalence of poverty among the Asian population dropped in the latter part of the 1990s and has been the same as that of whites over the recent decades. For instance, the rate of pov erty for the Asian population in 2010 was 12% (U.S. Census Bureau 2010, 694). Poverty rates for the Hispanic and Black populations have differed; although the prevalence of poverty for these populations dropped significantly all over the 1990s, they are situated at a noticeably higher point than other populations (U.S. Census Bureau 2010, 694). As revealing as figures of individual-level poverty are for identifying the earnings accessible to individual members of a household, they fail to generate data about the resources accessible to individuals through their community. This is significant since it is not difficult to think of numerous explanations that the poverty in a specific community might be similarly significant to the poverty of an individual’s household (Aliprantis & Zenker 2011, 2). An impoverished household residing in an affluent community could have greater opportunities for it might have access to more quality education, more accurate and updated information a bout employment availability, or better access to public services than an impoverished family residing in a poor community. Figure 2. Distribution of People by Race and Ethnicity and by Poverty Level of Tracts: 2010 *taken from Bishaw (2011, 7) The United States put into effect in the 1960s one of the most aggressive social policy programs of the 20th century by declaring an all-out ‘

Histological Features of Skeletal Muscle

Histological Features of Skeletal Muscle Objectives The aim of this report is to describe the basic histological features of a skeletal muscle and the differences between type I and type II skeletal muscle fibres. I will also describe the motor neuron unit and explain Hennemans size principle of recruiting motor units. Observations The basic features of skeletal muscle General Structure   Ã‚   The main function of skeletal muscle is to provide support, maintain posture and provide movement. Skeletal muscles comprise of densely packed groups of elongated cells which are known as muscle fibres, which are held together by fibrous connective tissue. Many capillaries penetrate this tissue to enable muscles to be supplied with oxygen and glucose needed for muscle contraction. Skeletal muscle is comprised of bundles of long striated fibres; the striated appearance is caused by the repeated structure of the fibres inside the muscle cell (Page, 2001). Individual muscle cells are called myocytes and muscles are made up of bundles of individual muscle cells. These bundles are called fascicles. Each muscle cell is surrounded by a connective tissue cover called the endomysium, and each bundle is surrounded by a connective tissue covering called the perimysium. Fascicles form muscle which is surrounded by a connective tissue called the epimysium. Skeletal muscles are made up of three types of fibres. Type I (red/ slow fibres), type IIa (red/ fast fibres) and type IIb (white/ fast fibres). Type I fibres are slow-contracting muscle fibres and they have a very dense capillary network, because these fibres have a high capacity for ATP production and a low myosin ATPase activity compared to type II fibres; the main pathway for ATP production is aerobic cellular respiration. Type IIa fibres have a higher myosin ATPase activity than type I fibres, a high capacity for ATP production and a dense capillary network; because of this the main pathway for ATP production is aerobic cellular respiration. Type IIa also has high levels of intracellular myoglobin. Type IIb fibres have a higher myosin ATPase activity than type I fibres but a lower capacity for ATP production and a lighter capillary network; this means that the main pathway for ATP production is anaerobic glycosis, which is fast but not sustainable for as long as aerobic respirat ion which means muscle fatigue happens sooner. There is no intracellular myoglobin unlike type I and IIa, which means that it is white in colour (Types of skeletal muscle Fibres, 2016). The structure of the sarcomere The plasma membrane of the skeletal muscle fibre is the sarcolemma and contains cylindrical structures called myofibrils. The myofibrils practically fill the cells and push the nuclei to the edges of the cell. Each myofibril have light and dark bands and are aligned with each other so that the light and dark bands are next to each other; this gives the cells their striated appearance. The light bands are called I bandsand the dark bands are called A bands. In the middle of the I bands there is a line which is called the Z line and in the middle of the A bands there is a light zone called the H zone. In the middle of the H zone there is another line called the M line. The sarcomere consists of several individual protein elements and some of these proteins are thread-like proteins called myofilaments. There are two main types of myofilaments. The thick myofilaments which are made up of proteins molecules called myosin. The myosin molecules are shaped like golf clubs with long shafts. Myosin forms the thick myofilaments by forming bundles in which the heads of the golf clubs stick out at either end of the filament and the shafts form a bare zone in the middle of the filaments. The heads of the thick myofilaments form attachments with the other type of myofilaments, the thin actin myofilaments and these attachments are called cross bridges.The heads are the areas on the thick myofilaments that use the energy in the ATP molecule to power the muscle contraction. The second type are the thin myofilaments, which are made of the protein actin. They have binding sites to which the heads of the thick myofilaments attach (Hwang, 2015). The triad A triad is a structure that is formed from a T-tubule with a sarcoplasmic reticulum known as the terminal cisternae on either side. Each skeletal muscle fibre has many thousands of triads, visible in muscle fibres that have been sectioned longitudinally (Al-Qusairi Laporte, 2011). Table 1; Comparison of the different types of skeletal muscle fibres (Bushell, 2013) The structure of a motor unit A motor unit is made from a motor neuron and the skeletal muscle fibres innervated by that motor neurons axonal terminals (Purves, et al., 2001). A group of motor units is called a motor pool and the number of fibres in each unit can differ within muscles. This impacts precision and force generation. Differential initiation of single or multiple motor units with a motor pool can therefore control precision and force of movement. Hennemans size principle of motor unit recruitment Hennemans size principle states that; motor units are recruited from smallest to largest and as more force is needed, motor units are recruited in a certain order per the extent of their force output. This means that the smaller units are recruited first which means that it reduces the amount of fatigue an organism experiences by only using fatigue resistant muscle fibres, unless a higher force is needed and then fatigable fibres are used. This means that slow twitch, low-force, and fatigue resistance muscle fibres are activated before fast twitch, high-force, less fatigue resistant muscle fibres (Bawa, Jones, Stein, 2014). The motor unit and the Hennemans size principle of motor unit recruitment The structure of the motor unit A motor unit is constructed from a motor neuron and skeletal muscle fibres, they innervated by the axonal terminals (Purves, et al., 2001). The motor neuron and its muscle unit are inseparable in function, this is because the action potetial in the neurons activates the fibres of the muscle unit (Karpati, 2010). A group of motor unit are gathered in columnar, spinal nuclei and this is called motor neuron pools. The number of fibres in each unit can differ from another and this then affects the force generation and the precision of the movement (Present, 1997). The Hennemans size principle of recruiting motor unit The Hennemans size principle expresses that motor units that are recruited from the smallest to the largest, this is because if more force is needed, then are recruited in a certain order due to the extent of their force output. Therefore, this means that the smallest motor units are employed first and this reduces the amount of fatigue that an organism experiences, by only using fatigue resistant muscle fibres, unless a higher force is needed, then fatigable fibres are used (Bawa, Jones, Stein, 2014). References Al-Qusairi, L., Laporte, J. (2011). T-tubule biogenesis and triad formation in skeletal muscle and implication in human diseases. Skeletal Muscle, 1(1). doi:10.1186/2044-5040-1-26 Bawa, P., Jones, K., Stein, R. (2014). Assessment of size ordered recruitment. 8. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4112781/ Bushell, D. (2013). Muscle-specific hypertrophy: Chest, Triceps and shoulders. Retrieved from TheGymLifestyle: http://blog.thegymlifestyle.com/muscle-specific-hypertrophy-chest-triceps-shoulders/ Hwang, P. (2015). Targeting the sarcomere to correct muscle function. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 14(5). doi:10.1038/nrd4554 Page, M. (2001). Human body: An illustrated guide to every part of the human body and how it works. (A. Baggaley, Ed.) London: Dorling Kindersley Publishers. Purves, D., Augustine, G., Fitzpatrick, D., Katz, L., LaMantia, A.-S., McNamara, J., Williams, M. (2001). The Motor Unit. Sinauer Associates. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10874/ Types of skeletal muscle Fibres. (2016). Retrieved from Ivy Roses: http://www.ivyroses.com/HumanBody/Muscles/types-of-skeletal-muscle-fibers.php

Evolution, God and Society :: essays research papers

The Island of Dr. Moreau Evolution, God and Society   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the book The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells, we see a microcosm in which Evolution, God and the society are all represented by something strange. First, Dr. Moreau is playing the role of God. Dr. Moreau is an educated man trying to prove that he can turn an animal into a human form, so that the animal will forget all of its animal instincts and become more and more human. After Moreau created these beast men, he then controlled them through fear. The fear was of pain. The house of pain was were the creatures were created and they all remember the pain and therefore associate Dr. Moreau with pain so they do not have to go back.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Montgomery played the part of an ignorant assistant. Montgomery was not a stupid man, but he was torn between good and bad, right and wrong, and friendships. I think he tried to play the part of the massager or the son, but he did not agree with what Moreau was doing to the animals. The Creatures did not respect him the same as Moreau because he had not caused them any physical pain. Montgomery fit in and got along with the beast people more than Moreau did. If he would have stood up to Moreau and made the experiments stop, he then could have been an angle, or a godlier figure. The only thing that kept Montgomery from going crazy was all the alcohol that made his mental pain go num.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then we have Prendick, the voice of reason. Poor Prendick came to the island after being stranded out at see on his little boat. He thought he was going to die, and his friends and family back at home probably thought he was also dead. But, he was saved by a large boat that Montgomery and normal animals were using to get back to the island. When Prendick steps off the boat onto the island, he can not even begin to understand what creatures are lurking around, some even helping to unload the boat and speaking like humans. Within the first week of being on the island, he knew something was wrong and needed to be done. Prendick thought that Dr. Moreau was turning humans into animals. This in his eyes was wrong and he was ready to do something about it.