Carol Gilligan: interpretation of “Feminine Ethics” Essay

To start with Carol Gilligan is considered to be one of the most famous psychologists in the United States and in the world. The author of the â€Å"feminine ethics† was born in New York in 1936. Her career as a future psychologist started with the presenting of the doctoral thesis at the Harvard University in 1964. For a decade she was working with the great theorist of moral development, Lawrence Kohlberg, but then she began criticizing his works. In her famous book â€Å"In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development† (1982) Gilligan presents a revolutionary idea, she gives women rights to choose and she associates them with care and in some cases with the motherhood. Still, there were some reasons why Gilligan began to criticize Lawrence Kohlberg’s work. Firstly, she considered him to have rather a narrow approach to the problem of moral values. Secondly, Lawrence Kohlberg examined only men’s moral principles and paid no attention to women’s feeling and in such way, Kohlberg showed â€Å"biased opinion against women†. Thirdly, Gilligan felt that women should have the voice and she wanted to present a controversial approach to women’s rights and moral values. Fourthly, Kohlberg in â€Å"terms of influence on a human relationship† considered men’s rights and rules to be at the higher stage than women’s (Gilligan, 1982). Lawrence Kohlberg was not the only scientist whose works gave Gilligan ground for her future work. She laid her research on Freud’s and Erickson’s works. Thus, while discussing women’s moral senses Sigmund Freud, stressed that they are underdeveloped, because of women’s dependence upon their mothers (Lawrence, 2008). Another famous moralist and theorist, Erik Erickson believed that the process of women’s development is successful only in case of separation from the mother and the family. Thus, the board schools for girls are a good possibility for a young lady to develop moral senses. Still, Erickson thought that if a woman did not come through the process of self-development she would be lacking some major senses, which make her a real woman (Boeree, 2004). Criticizing the above-mentioned theories Gilligan understood that her goal was to present a new approach to the women’s moral senses. Her theory comprises three aspects of women’s moral development: selfish, social and principled morality. According to Gilligan (1982) â€Å"Women must learn to deal with their own interests and to the interests of others†. The above-mentioned theory has laid the basis for the Gilligan’s Ethics of Care and Feminine approach to the women’s role in the society. I look closer to the proposed three-stage theory some similarities to Freud’s one will be found. Thus, Gilligan presents the following ideas as for the first level – the level of â€Å"self†: â€Å"†¦ the self is the sole object of a woman’s concern. This self is a beleaguered self: a powerless and disappointed self, so afraid of being hurt that it prefers isolation to connectedness†¦.this is a self that wants above all to survive† (Gilligan, 1982) Still, the first level is the level of â€Å"wish†; and when the woman makes the transition from â€Å"wish† to â€Å"necessity†, from â€Å"the selfishness† to â€Å"willful decision† and to â€Å"the responsibility of moral choice† she will reach the second level – the level of moral development. The main motive which leads the woman to move from the first to the second level is a desire to establish connections with others and to participate in social life. According to Gillian â€Å"†¦the woman of the second level is the conventional, nurturing woman who equates goodness with self-sacrifice and who tries to subjugate her wants to those of other people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gilligan, 1982). The moral development of a woman according to Gilligan can continue to the third level in the case when a woman suppresses her wants and as a result, she reaches a destructive boiling point. Thus, Gillian writes: â€Å"†¦to avoid becoming a resentful, angry, even hateful person, a woman needs to push beyond level two to level three of moral development, where she will learn how to care for herself as well as for others†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gilligan, 1982) So in case when a woman moves to the third level the process of making decisions is a two-sided procedure. From one hand woman takes into consideration her own desire and from the other hand she looks at others’ interests and tries to find a happy medium. Gilligan characterizes the move from the second level to the third level as a transition from goodness to truth. She writes: â€Å"A woman moves from pleasing others – being the conventionally good, always self-sacrificing woman – to recognizing her own needs as part of any relationship. In sum, a woman attains moral maturity when she stops opposing her needs in favor of others’, simultaneously recognizing the falseness of this polarity and the truth of her and others’ interconnectedness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gilligan, 1982). As it becomes clear Gilligan believes that women look at moral senses through the prism of caring about others and responsibilities to others. Still, Gilligan uses rather a narrow approach to the women’s moral senses. It is obvious that women are living in society and fulfill their roles according to the choice made. But Gilligan ties ethic of caring with the relationship and responsibility and here is the greatest confusion. Thus, from one hand women make choice on their own from the other hand they are to look at their family, relatives, and friends. Can there some misunderstanding be found? Nevertheless comparing the Gilligan work â€Å"In a different voice† with the feminine approach which is presented in the work, it should be stressed that everything is circling around care, which the woman is obliged to give. But is it a real feminism? It can’t be so. Still, it should be stressed that Gilligan’s work influenced a lot of works in the sphere of womenà ¢â‚¬â„¢s morality and feminism. Analyzing Gilligan’s work Omonia Vinieris, the representative of idealism, writes that proposed three-level development of moral senses cannot be applied to the modern society because of the masculine â€Å"competition and self-interest†. She stresses that â€Å"sensitivity and kindness were never equated with human goodness† and as a result presented â€Å"feminine approach cannot be applied to the rational and intellect male-world† (Vineries, 2002) Using Gilligan’s ethics of care Brenda Green proposes to apply feminist care to the nursing practice. She thinks that care can be applied to politics and can be associated with gender and power. Moreover Green advocates the idea that the ethics of care should be rooted in the moral frameworks of responsibility and relationships rather than rights and rules and that any care orientation is inseparable from contextual circumstances rather than being a formal and abstract system of thought. Additionally, care should be grounded in the daily activity of life rather than a set of universal principles. (Green, 2012) Houser, Wilczenski, and Ham (2006) using the â€Å"Ethics of care† suggest that feminism ideology includes two primary streams of â€Å"woman-centered† approaches which are relevant to care ethics: the feminine and the feminist. ‘Feminine’ refers to the exploration of women’s unique voice and advocates for an ethic of care. ‘Feminist’ refers to the resistance against male domination and advocates for equal rights. Both approaches seek to validate the importance of experience, understand the destructiveness of oppression, and eliminate gender and social inequality. Halwani (2003) in his turn suggests that while using care equal weight should be given in our moral deliberations. The main aim of the family from his point of view is responding to the needs of the loved ones. Such an approach implicates partialism or discrimination in care to others. Although partialism seems arbitrary, it does assign greater importance to the protection of one’s own interests and to the interests of those the person cares about, over the protection of the welfare of others, particularly those who are strangers. Coming to conclusion it should be stressed that Carol Gilligan has presented the new approach to the development of women’s moral senses and feministic ideas as for the women’s role in the society. Beside Gilligan’s works influenced further studies in the sphere of morality and the women’s place in the society. References Boeree C. G. (2004) Personality theories: Erik Erikson. Psychology Department Shippensburg  University.  Retrieved  from  http://www.ship.edu/%7Ecgboeree/perscontents.html Gilligan, C. (1982) In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Green B (2012) Applying Feminist Ethics of Care to Nursing Practice. Journal of Nursing & Care. Retrieved from https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/applying-feminist-ethics-of-care-to-nursing-practice-2167-1168.1000111.php?aid=6557. Halwani R (2003) Care ethics and virtue ethics. Hypatia, 18, 161-192. Houser R, Wilczenski F, Ham M.A. (2006) Culturally relevant ethical decision-making in counseling. Sage Publications, California. Lawrence A. (2008) Gilligan and Kohlberg: Implications for Moral Theory. Blum Source: Ethics, 98 (3), 472-491 Vinieris O. (2002) On the feminist theory of care. QCC. Retrieved from http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/SocialSciences/ppecorino/ETHICS_TEXT/Chapter_12_Feminism/What_is_it.htm

How Has Voting Changed Over Time? Essay

Over time, as America promoted greater civil liberties for all of its citizens, voting rights have also undergone change. When the United States was formed, citizens with voting rights were mainly Caucasian males. African American males that were freed could vote also, but slaves however, were considered property and could not vote. States could administer poll taxes, which often left poorer people without the ability to vote if they couldn’t afford the tax. Women didn’t have voting rights and voters in most states had to be 21 before being able to vote. There are many people that are loosely aware of the difficult battle for votes beginning with the history of the United States. Both major political parties have taken numerous steps toward increasing voter turnout so that more people will participate in this right of all citizens. For much of American history, voting qualifications were such that very few people actually had the power to vote. These qualifications have changed greatly since then to grant nearly all Americans this important democratic privilege. In the eighteenth century, the right to vote was reserved for wealthy white males over the age of 21 and in many cases, those that belonged to the accepted religion of their community. The reasoning was that these people were the only ones educated enough to make a wise decision although women, slaves, and those without property certainly had a lot to say on the matters of the day. Today, through Constitutional Amendments, voting restrictions concerning gender, race, religious affiliation, and wealth have all been eliminated. The minimum age to vote is now 18. All voters must be citizens of the United States.

Birmingham International Airport

Everyday around 5. 00 p. m. , in an interval of 30 minutes, around 20 flights land and depart from the Eurohub Terminal. At the same time, in the Main Terminal(next to the Eurohub), air-craft will arrive and leave. There are 7000 staffs from 150 organizations works there in all the departments, such as baggage handling, ground crews, airline’s ticketing staffs, and information desk. All these activities are coordinated by BIA’s Operating Director, Richard Heard. He explains his role as an Operating Director where he have to oversee about 600 employees from the total. not only that he have to manage the terminal buildings and other facilities. Not only that, he have to provide infrastructure for all the other organizations and provide leadership and coordination’s for them. He elaborate more about the real secret of managing operations. There are many secret for that. For example, work together as a team and built up a strong community spirit. Moreover, we must make sure to have a really good processes and procedures in place. Another key is operational planning where its about making the operation as efficient as possible. Like all other airport, BIA also usually ends up with some minor problems. But all these problems are settled by the terminal manager. Terminal manager need to keep their ears and eyes open all the time. They also have to deal with major incidents such as bomb threats, stranded passengers. Their real job is to sort it all out and make sure everyone knows what is happening. BIA’s mission is the be the best regional airport in Europe. To achieve this state, they need to improve everything that they do. For example, try to encourage other airlines to fill in the off-peak times. Running an airport is an exciting and magnificent challenge because can make a real difference to their customers and making a major contribution to the impact on the local economy.

English SLP 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

English SLP 4 - Essay Example s an evidence that a few decades back, the society considered women specially the wives to be an alien species who would silently perform all the activities required to manage everyday household functions and at the same time they are expected to have multi-tasking abilities. In her essay Brady states that she wishes to go back to the school and she wishes become financially independent. She explains that she too needs â€Å"someone† who will do all the works in her house and will prepare her for the school. â€Å"Someone† who will look after her kids during the period when she will be attending the school. She needs someone who will keep all the records of the children’s doctor and dentist and would contact him in case the children fell sick. At the same time that someone would take care of Judy’s doctor and dentist records too. â€Å"Someone† is needed by Judy who will â€Å"make sure my children eat properly and are kept clean† (drsterlingellsworth.com, n.d.). The â€Å"someone† would also look after the clothes of her children. The â€Å"someone† is also expected to prepare the kids perfectly for their school, â€Å"someone† should have a social life with whom she should visit the zoo, fu rther that â€Å"someone† must not forget to take care of the children in the mean time and should provide them with â€Å"special care† during the times they fell sick. She must also earn money but she must not dedicate all her time towards her job. She should keep the house neat and clean and she is also expected to wash and iron my clothes. She would ensure the arrangement of my personal things in a manner that whenever I would look for a thing I would find it instantly. Further she must be a good cook and she must save money while shopping for groceries. She should not get tired after cooking because it is her duty to serve the cooked food with a smile on her face. She must also cleanse the tables after the dinner and lunch without complaining. Judy adds that while the

Jean Paul Guode - The Queen of Seoul Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Jean Paul Guode - The Queen of Seoul - Essay Example â€Å"So Far, So Goude† details his work from the late 1960s till the present times. The writings and descriptions are autobiographical in nature. Apart from other merits, latent humor is an aspect that is worth highlighting about his art. In the art world, he is like an octopus that grows in all directions. He arrived in the art-world like an avalanche, and specialized in its various branches. He was not an old-fashioned individual and adopted the latest trends with mesmerizing effect. The book contains 350 illustrations in full color that appeal to lovers of art in all genres and also to the commercial world. The commercial design and the advertising world will love this book as Goude has made a mark in this area by working for Lee Cooper, Cacharel and Chanel etc. The book is candidly autobiographical. To sum up the merits of the book in one sentence, the book can be compared to an artwork and the author terms it as yet another opportunity to describe his life, so far. He is the creator and the critic of the artistic achievements in his life. He terms it as the personal archaeological dig, meaning thereby he goes deep into his self-assessment and the depth of artistry in him. Though he never missed the commercial viewpoint, to him work of art was a mission, not commission. It was not just an aggrandizement to amass more and more wealth. He acknowledges the great influence his mother had on him and she was the inspiration behind his artistic pursuits and achievements. He terms her as ‘the real star of the family.’ When putting into canvas the artistic talents, a genius artist always remains in communion with his soul. True art according to Jean Paul Goude, must reflect the total personality of an artist, his strengths and weaknesses, values and obsessions. The microscopes with which one examines oneself needs to be thoroughly impartial and should not spare the societal failings, and he should never exclude himself for own shortcomings. Besi des, this book includes hundreds of little-known photographs and previously unseen drawings. I refer to the photograph of 1994 done in Paris and named ' The Queen of Seoul. When he was on working on his feature film, he was introduced to a girl named Karen, by his friend. It was love and admiration at first sight. Admiring her beauty in that first meeting he wrote, (2006) â€Å"What a lovely little character!† It was a genuine outburst of inspiration that had materialized all of a sudden-a feeling I hadn’t experienced in a very long time.† Karen proved to be his inspiration. She was a Korean, and her association kindled curiosity in him to know more about Korea. He made a thorough reading of the biography of Meungsunghwaunghoo, the last queen of Korea and a martyr of the Korean resistance against the Japanese invasion. As he continued with his study on Korea, Karen inspired him with another idea. That was about meeting the challenge of violence of Japanese invasi on, through non-violent methods, like Mahatma Gandhi, who believed and practiced non-violence. Within the limited scope of this essay, I would like to take up just one of his work. She is wearing a western crown. Her costumes are of Korean tradition. She has a sword in her right hand and baton in her left hand. She has an angry look and stares to generate fear in the mind of the viewer. Baton symbolizes the power to control. The inscription on the stand (box) below the photograph reads in Korean, â€Å"

How Postmodernity effect my work(packaging design),how does it impact Essay

How Postmodernity effect my work(packaging design),how does it impact on my practice - Essay Example This paper analyses these two concepts as well as providing a discussion on how they impact the packaging design & consumer behavior discipline. Postmodernity is basically refers to the movement of the global economy a new sophisticated information age in which the way people and consumer behave are react to different spatial and visual stimuli has changed as well as the activities society performs on a daily basis. Postmodernity implies the movement of the individual from a cognitive world into a semiotic world in which knowledge acquisition and production is manipulated by new signs and symbols (Venkatesh). Visual style and aesthetics are two attributes of importance for graphic designers creating packaging alternatives based on consumer behavior which is influenced by forces such as values, beliefs and perception; characteristics that are integral components of a postmodern society (Scott). The article Playing with Pictures, Postmodernism and Advertising discusses how postmodernity is highly influential in many of the new jobs generated by the new knowledge economy. In the packaging design business the distribution channe ls and the medium used for mass marketing purposes are connected to a single network fueled by high speed broadband information transferring systems. The ads, album covers, table setting, magazine layouts and music ideas are all tools used by designers which are associated with postmodernity (Scott). In certain parts of the world in which many professionals practice packaging design postmodernity has influenced the work of packaging designers more than in the western hemisphere. In China the effects of postmodernity were more imminent to society as a whole due to the radical internal changes in the economic, political and social systems of the country. The article Chinese Modern Design: A Retrospective depicts the social atmosphere in China and the influence of

The Role of a father. A Rogerian Argument. Is a father's participation Essay

The Role of a father. A Rogerian Argument. Is a father's participation in a child's growing up more significant in a son's or in - Essay Example It is the relationship with the father that decides daughter’s confidence in her womanhood, her identity, her relationships and her self-esteem level. It won’t be wrong to say that it is the father who builds the path of success, contentment and happiness in daughter’s life as it is he, who gives her the confidence to survive strongly and with dignity in the male dominated human society. Father’s role in child development It is a typical assumption that children become well adjusted adults if they live with same sex parent as same sex parent becomes an appropriate role model for them (Newman and Grauerholz 465). This assumption is strengthened with a research by Hosley and Montemayor (1997), who found that fathers have less contact with their daughters and engage more in activities of their sons (Lamb and Lewis 290). Larsen and Richards (1994) found that due to the communication gap with fathers, daughters remain uninfluenced by them while sons are influen ced a lot (Lamb and Lewis 290). However, a review of literature on child psychopathology by Phares (1997) revealed that even though fathers do not interact with their children as much as mothers, they still have a powerful indirect and direct impact on the social and emotional adjustments of children (Lamb and Lewis 290). This shows that fathers play an important role in the development of both, the male and the female child. ... of 2433 teenagers living with single parent, sociologists Brian Powell and Douglas Downey (1997) revealed that there is no base to the assumption that same sex parent are better as they are better suited to become appropriate role models (Newman and Grauerholz 465). In fact, they found that the chances of teenage girls becoming pregnant are more when they live with their mothers (Newman and Grauerholz 465). This proves that the assumption that same sex parents prove to be better role models for adolescents is wrong. According to Freud, daughters have an unconscious desire for their fathers and in order to resolve the conflict of the internal desire, they identify with mother’s feminine qualities and model her (Sigelman and Rider 353). This shows that daughter’s modeling of mother is not ‘natural’ but is an attempt to impress her father and to win his appreciation. In this way, it is the father who reinforces the feminine behavior in his daughter (Sigelman a nd Rider 353). According to Parke (1996), Freud’s notion that father makes an important contribution in the development of the gender based role in daughters, is confirmed (Sigelman and Rider 353). Also, acceptance and encouragement by father plays a crucial role in healthy development of daughters. Sons do not depend on fathers to develop their masculine identity. They find the masculine identity through competitive achievement and acceptance by male group (male friends, peers etc.) (Kohlberg 163). However, daughters gain confidence and strength in their feminine identity only when they are accepted and approved by male (Kohlberg 163). As father is the first male in daughter’s life, the foundation of her future male-female relationship is based on her relationship with her father (Shearin Karres 165).

Dwight Eisenhower Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dwight Eisenhower - Term Paper Example ncomparable with other military leaders after him and it is only a few generals that were before that could possibly match his tremendous leadership skills. When he became the thirty-fourth President of the United States, his exemplary leadership skills played out as he efficiently carried out his obligation as the democratic leader of the US. As a result of the warnings of an impending war, Eisenhower was given the mantle to lead the Allied Forces in Europe as he became the Supreme Commander of the army alliance during the Second World War and the first supreme commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces (U.S. Army Center of Military History). It should be noted that it was his adept leadership skills that availed him this opportunity. The great General Dwight David Eisenhower is one of the greatest military leaders that history has ever known as this man was right there when the world needed his great leadership qualities as he helped save the world from the tyrannical Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler and this was achieved in collaboration with other great minds like himself. Eisenhower was a great military leader that had an unparalleled leadership quality and these attributes made him go through the ranks of the United States Military at a volatile period in world history. The period before the Second World War was a critical period in the history of the world and the United States of America and indeed a man in the mould of Eisenhower was needed to save the world from the shackles of tyranny and oppression as would have been the case if Hitler had succeeded in his bid to rule the world. Eisenhower made stern decisions that had an extensive effect on the United States and the world at large. He rose from obscurity to the platform of leadership and his ability to act as a mediator between two warring parties in the political and military spheres was top notch. As a Chief of Army Staff of the United States of America in 1945, the

Influnce of greek mythology on the modern world Research Paper

Influnce of greek mythology on the modern world - Research Paper Example This corpus of materials includes a huge collection of narratives, some of which explains the origin of the world and others that detail the lives and adventures of various gods and goddess, heroes, heroines, and mythological creatures. These accounts were initially disseminated in an oral poetic tradition primarily referred to as written Greek literature in modern world. Tames (2009, p 40) notes that Greek mythology is rich in stories of heroes and heroines who were victorious, gods and goddess that quarreled frequently and also creatures that were usual and mysterious. The Greek mythology provided entertainment to the Greek people while at the same time trying to offer answers to question about how the world and human beings came into existence .This tales were very powerful and provided a great inspiration to ancient Greek arts and materials for their play. In additional, these tales provided important and valuable records of history and provide encouragement to the Greek to take pride in their cultural past that was very vibrant. Tames states that the Greek myths were traditionally passed from one generation to the other orally. Also many at times, poets were paid in order to make a recitation of poems which they had memorized. Later on, these tales were put down onto written .documents. Tames (2009, p 40) The influence of Greek mythology on modern society According to enotes.com, (2011), Greek mythology has continued to exert an extensive and profound influence on various fields on modern society for hundreds of years. The impacts of Greek mythology in today’s modern world can be noted in various areas including; language, sport, literature, psychology, Astronomy, modern Art, Films and Drama. The influence of Greek mythology in the aforementioned areas will be dealt with below in a detailed and comprehensive manner and where possible appropriate examples provided. enotes.com, (2011) Language Even though few people speak Greek language internationall y, Greek mythology has shaped English and other languages over the world. For example, the phrase â€Å"Herculean task† means a task that requires great input and effort. The drug which is known as morphine derives its name from the Greek god of sleep; Morheus.The concept â€Å"venereal disease† has specific reference to god Venus. The term â€Å"aphrodisiac†, which refers to any substance or circumstances that arouses sexual desire originates from the goddess of love In modern days, a woman who may not be beautiful can be called a â€Å"happy†, that is, a winged monster with a woman’s torso and birds feet. On the other hand, a man who is handsome is referred to as â€Å"adoris†, that is, the mortal man who was so handsome that Aphrodite goddess fell in love with him. Computer viruses known as â€Å"Trojan â€Å"have their comparison to the Greek –built Trojan horses, that were used by the Greek to gain access to Troy and end the Tr ojan war.Myth-and-mythology.com,states that the impacts of Greek mythology on language is not confined to individual words in modern world but extends to many other expression, proverbs and clinches . For example, the expressions â€Å"caught between a rock and a hard place† and â€Å"between the devil and the blue sea† both came from the tales about sailors being caught between the monsters Scylla and Charybdis of the Greek mythology.(enotes.com,2011) Some of the other commonly used expression that demonstrate the impact of Greek mythology in modern society include; on Achilles heel meaning a single fatal

Endangered Species Should Not Be Protected Essay Example for Free

Endangered Species Should Not Be Protected Essay Protection from extinction of endangered species has always been one of the more popular advocacies of environmentalists. So popular is this cause that any expression of indifference, or more than that, opposition, is certain to elicit a public uproar. This paper intends to argue against the protection of endangered species, citing three supporting arguments: (1) protection is against evolutionary theory, (2) recovery plans are vague relative to cost and time, and (3) laws pertaining to protection are biased. With regard to the first argument, the extinction of a species of flora / fauna is a natural occurrence that is necessary for the maintenance of balance in the world. Having said this, the protection of endangered species from probable extinction is unhealthy in the sense that it is an act of interference to nature’s way of upholding the natural disposition of things. Such a stand is not cruel, nor is it misguided, as most environmental advocates might propose. In fact, the statement is a practical application of the (in)famous theory of natural selection by Charles Darwin, wherein he purports that the extinction of a specie is not random nor wrong because it is an expression of the specie’s inability to survive in its current environment. This is exactly what is happening to the endangered species at present. It may be argued that Darwin’s theory is acceptable only in so far as extinction due to â€Å"natural causes† is concerned. But what is a â€Å"natural cause† for extinction? In response to this anticipated objection, let us digest the argumentation and its logic. If causes attributed to man can not be considered natural then it may be said that at present, no cause will ever be considered a â€Å"natural cause†. If there is no â€Å"natural cause† then, one can say that all incidents of extinction are unnatural. Following this line of argument we must then conclude that Darwin’s theory is therefore false, since it is implied in his work that change is constant in the environment, and with every change there is a species that is at the brink of extinction because it cannot adapt to the change. But Darwin’s theory of evolution has been proven to be true; hence, what is the most logical line of reasoning one can pursue? Since man is a species, his activities, albeit identified by environmentalists as the cause of the endangerment of species, can be construed as the â€Å"natural cause† of extinction of certain plants and animals. Hence, in â€Å"Causes of Endangerment† (Kurpis) the three major factors / causes (with a fourth one being a conjunction of minor factors such as pollution and limitations in distribution) advocates of specie protection have determined as causes of extinction due to man, namely: habitat destruction, overexploitation, and introduction of exotic species, are not â€Å"wrong† or â€Å"evil† but manifestations of the adaptation the human specie has undertaken and is undertaking. It is â€Å"survival of the fittest† at its finest. The second argument of this paper utilizes the report of the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) entitled â€Å"Endangered Species: Time and Costs Required to Recover Species are Largely Unknown†. Succinctly put, the second point against the protection of endangered species is that time and resources which may and should have been channeled to other causes are poured into an advocacy that has no time limit and has no definite budget. Such an investment is an obvious waste of resources, resources that could have benefited the greater good. In the report, dated April 6, 2006, the GAO specified that under the Endangered Species Act, all recovery plans are required to â€Å"incorporate, to the maximum extent practicable: (1) site specific management actions, (2) time and cost estimates for completing site specific management actions, and (3) recovery criteria† (â€Å"Endangered Species†, 11). Of the 107 plans under scrutiny by the GAO, an overwhelming 73 plans had no definite time-line relative to recovery of the endangered species they represent, and of the remaining 34, 27 indicated a timetable of 10-50 years before the species are recovered (â€Å"Endangered Species†, 18). Aside from that, 87 of the 107 plans failed to indicate cost estimates (â€Å"Endangered Species†, 19) – with the â€Å"cost† here excluding other financial concerns which may be attributed to the protection of endangered species. These facts present the alarming reality in the realm of endangered specie recovery, reality which points to evident wastage of resources with unpredictable results. It is one thing to commit to a cause; funding a futile exercise of human sympathy to the brink of foolishness is another. The third and final argument of this paper states that laws pertaining to endangered specie protection and recovery are biased. As a disclaimer, the author has not had the opportunity to peruse all the laws concerning endangered species; what is meant by â€Å"laws† here is the usual steps undertaken by any government to protect endangered species, such as placing them in an enclosure and passing bills that protect them from hunting (regardless of purpose) by man. To begin, the website â€Å"www. endangeredspecie. com† provides an essay that answers the question of why endangered species should be saved. In a nutshell, the site purports that â€Å"plants and animals hold medicinal, agricultural, ecological, commercial and aesthetic/recreational value† (Kurpis) and hence, should be protected â€Å"so that future generations can experience their presence and value† (Kurpis). As previously mentioned, â€Å"protection† more often than not consists of placing a specie in a reservation, and under a security blanket of laws that defend them from being hunted for any reason. With regard to the farmer, it is but common sense to arrive at the conclusion that the maintenance of a reservation, or an enclosure is financially straining and is a waste of viable land (in the case of reservations) which can be utilized for the greater good. The main reason for protecting an endangered specie is its promise of possessing medicinal, agricultural, or any other beneficial attribute; what if the specie turns out to be â€Å"useless† after years and years of protection? The whole project, then, of protecting it because of its â€Å"promise† is reduced to being a waste of an exercise. The land and other resources used could have been channeled elsewhere. Extinction of certain species who can not adapt to change should not be regarded as injurious to nature, it is a mere natural progression in the evolutionary theory. In the consideration of natural causes to extinction we must regard all species as equal, including man. Despite the efforts of environmental advocates to either place man on a pedestal as protector or belittle man as a cause of destruction, in the natural consideration of things, man is nothing but a very successful animal in the environment. Meaning all species of flora and fauna have the natural opportunity to adapt and change as the environment requires it. If certain populations of man gain power of the land, it is not an effect of unnatural causes but a normal progression of change and survival. The acts of man are not unnatural, they are only acts using complicated tools and structures. As such, those species that can not adapt and survive are not victims but rather those that can not transition into the changed environment. Exhausting resources to protect such weak species is not only futile, as Darwin already explains that the weak will not survive, it is also reckless in that resources, limited as they are, can be allocated to more productive causes. Acts of protectionism in a false hope of finding usefulness is a gamble very similar to the lottery. While these individuals gamble resources in a blind pursuit, man and many other stronger species suffer. Works Cited Kurpis, Lauren. â€Å"Why Save Endangered Species? † EndangeredSpecie. com. 13 April 2009 http://www. endangeredspecie. com/Why_Save_.htm This is an essay that highlights principal values of flora and fauna and the reasons to which endangered species should be saved or protected. Among the reasons cited for the protection on animals are medicinal, agricultural, ecological, commercial and aesthetic value of plants and animals. Through this essay it is meant to communicate that because all flora and fauna can be found to contribute a purpose, even aesthetic, then they are useful or potentially useful and should be protected. Kurpis, Lauren. â€Å"Causes of Endangerment. † EndangeredSpecie. com. 13 April 2009 http://www. endangeredspecie. com/causes_of_endangerment. htm A discussion on the reasons for the occurrence of endangerment of species, this is a discussion of the responsibilities of man as a protector of species and as the major cause for the occurrence of endangerment. The discussion here centers on the act of man that invade the environments of fauna and flora causing an imbalance. The author claims that man is the principal cause of imbalance in the environment victimizing other species, as such the protection of such species should be the responsibility of man. U. S. Government Accountability Office. â€Å"Endangered Species: Time and Costs Required to Recover Species are Largely Unknown. † 6 April 2006. U. S. Government Accountability Office. 13 April 2009 http://gao. gov/ This report focuses on the evaluation of the laws and regulations enacted under the authority created by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. This evaluation focuses not on the successes of the act but on the efforts of protection launched under its authority and how these projects were particularly created and enacted. This report examines 107 protection plans as regards its goal, planning and achievement.

Analysing Fedex’s Historical Performance

Analysing Fedex’s Historical Performance FedEx stands for Federal Express Corporation, was founded by 28-year-old Memphis, Tennessee, native Frederick W. Smith in 1971. Smith, who was a former Marine pilot, developed his idea for an overnight delivery service through a term paper that he wrote for Yale University in an economics class. Smith felt that air freight would provide another form of employment opportunity in the aviation sector of the economy instead of making it an added service to the passengers. In his views, a company should specialize in air freight rather than making it an add-on to passenger service which would make it a more lucrative business niche. Speed was more important than cost, in Smiths view, and access to smaller cities was essential. His strategies included shipping all packages through a single hub and building a private fleet of aircraft. Company-owned planes would free the service from commercial-airline schedules and shipping regulations, while a single hub would permit the tight control tha t got packages to their destinations overnight. In making his dream a reality, Smith selected Memphis as his hub: it was centrally located and despite inclement weather its modern airport rarely closed. FedEx began its operation in 1973 with a $4 million inheritance that Smith got from his father and with a $91 million in venture capital. Service was provided in 25 cities with a fleet of 14 small Dassault Falcon aircraft and 389 employees. At this time, FedExs operations basically involved collection of packages from airports every night and taking them to Memphis, where they were immediately sorted. They were then flown to airports close to their destination and delivered by FedEx trucks the following morning. Like every normal start-up ventures, FedEx had a lot to contend with ranking from the high cost of operation and the expensive advertisement that Smith proposed. This led to a financial loss of $29 million in its first 26 months of operation thereby prompting Smiths investors to consider removing him from the helm of the fledgling company, which was rejected by the companys president Arthur Bass. Bass helped the company to improve its delivery schedules thereby made FedExs de livery volume to climb up to a point where it was profitable. Companys profit hit $8 million on sales of $110 million by 1977. This was due to the fact that FedEx had 31,000 regular customers, including giants such as IBM and the U.S. Air Force, which used it to ship spare parts. It also shipped blood, organs for transplant, drugs, and other items requiring swift transport. Expanding FedExs operation to 75 airports and 130 small cities was the major strategy effected by Smith and Bass that sparked up the companys growth. While the major airlines gave the company stiff competition on heavily traveled passenger routes, there was virtually no competition on routes between smaller cities. Its principal competitor, Emery Air Freight, used commercial airlines to ship packages, giving FedEx an important time advantage. Airline deregulation gave FedEx the much needed growth in its operations which resulted from the Smiths led legislative fight to end regulation, and a bill doing so was passed in 1977. Deregulation meant the company could fly anywhere in the United States anytime, and use larger aircraft like 727s, and using its Falcons to expand into small- and medium-sized markets. Prior to the enactment of this bill, FedEx had to fly up to eight small Falcon jets side-by-side to bigger markets when as the use of one larger jet would have saved money. Because payloads for airline operators were less than 7,500 pounds which was a major set-back for FedEx at that time but with the deregulation FedExs operational cost would reduce. The enactment of the bill prompted FedEx to go Public through the New York Stock Exchange. This move raised needed capital and gave FedEx the chance to gain back a portion of their initial investment. The raised capital was used to acquire its fleet 32 Falcons, 15 727s, and five 737s and operations was expanded. Profits for 1979 were $21.4 million on sales of $258.5 million. By late 1980 FedEx was well established and growing at about 40 percent a year. It had 6,700 employees and flew 65,000 packages a night to 89 cities across the United States. During 1980, FedEx gain more market share based on the fact that there was a decline in the reliability of the U.S. Postal Service that caused even more companies to switch to FedEx for important packages. This prompted FedEx to announce a new product that would bring it into direct competition with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) which was the introduction of the overnight letter. This document-size cardboard envelope, which could contain up to two ounces, would be delivered overnight for $9.50 at that time. This further resulted to FedEx having the largest sales of any U.S. air freight company, unseating competitors like Emery, Airborne Freight, and Purolator Courier, which had gone into business about two decades earlier. Most companies shipped packages of all sizes using regularly scheduled airlines, and their services was not speed oriented which was the bargain power for FedEx. FedEx offered speed-oriented service and thereby won over many of the markets customers. This self led action forced other operations in the industry to copy FedEx operational strategy. Emery copied FedExs strategy, buying its own planes, opening a small-package sorting center, and pushing overnight delivery. Airborne also entered the small-package air express business. United Parcel Service of America (UPS), the leading package-shipper by truck, moved into the air-express business in 1981. The USPS began heavily marketing its own overnight-mail service after FedExs Courier-Pak began eating into its revenues. FedEx, the market leader in the America overnight package-delivery industry would be strict competitor of DHL Worldwide Courier Express Network with its entry into overseas services. To this effect FedEx made its first acquisition, Gelco Express, a Minneapolis-based package courier that served 84 countries in 1984. Hoping to recreate its U.S. market dominance overseas, the company made further acquisitions in Britain, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates. Also UPS also began building a competing overseas system. Price control was the major strategic interplay in the 1990s between key industrial players.UPS are key player in the U.S. market introduce volume discount, a strategy that its previously resisted. In response to this, FedEx began company-wide cost-containment policies to reduce waste and overhead, as well as gain increased efficiency in meeting the needs of its customers.. Even with its cost-cutting measures, employee-related expenses rose when FedEx became mired in over two years of contract negotiations with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The huge salaries and benefit packages were not enough to keep the threat of unionization at bay, which ultimately resulted in the 1996 unionization of FedExs 3,100 pilots. National Labor Mediation Board resolves this because leading analysts doubted ALPAs continued influence over FedEx budgetary policy. Aggressive international expansion was deployed by FedEx through acquisition of some companies in the same line of business operations. This aggressive expansion was witnessed throughout 1999 till date. 2.2 FEDEXS PROFILE 2.2.1 FEDEXS ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE The above diagram shows the top management position within the FedEx Corporation. Each of this above list management position functions as a separate entity based on the fact that FedEx corporation has three different basic line of businesses and in that regard the presidents of FedEx freight, FedEx ground and FedEx express have additional personals in charge various operations. A more detail descriptions of these lines of businesses shall be covered in the following sections. 2.2.2 MAJOR LINES OF BUSINESS. FedEx Corporation has undergone different stage of development which involves change of name, acquisitions of different companies before finally being name as FedEx. It was through these developmental stages with strategic acquisition that actually helped FedEx to develop it lines of businesses. FedEx Corporation includes the following business segments which functions as a separate entity of its own; FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Office, FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Trade Networks and FedEx Services But all these business segments function as a whole under the FedEx Corporation. FedEx Express was the first and solely lines of business operation that FedEx Corporation ventured into when it started operations. FedEx Express was then over seeing all the operation of the corporation as whole. In order to function as a market leader in the globe market, FedEx Express acquired various companies. Some of FedEx Express acquired companies from 1999 are as follows  [2]  , 1999 FedEx Marketplace launches on fedex.com, providing easy access to online merchants that offer fast, reliable FedEx express shipping. Federal Express launches its EuroOne Network, opening a hub at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport. FedEx Corp. acquires Caribbean Transportation Services. 2001 FedEx Express and the U.S. Postal Service forge a public-private alliance. FedEx Express provides air transportation of some U.S. mail and places FedEx Drop Boxes at post offices nationwide. 2007 FedEx Express builds its service capabilities in Europe by acquiring UK domestic express company ANC (later re-branded FedEx UK) and Flying-Cargo Hungary Kft, now a wholly-owned operation in one of Eastern Europes most dynamic markets. FedEx Express expands its presence in India with the acquisition of Prakash Air Freight Pvt. Ltd. (PAFEX). FedEx Ground began operation in 1985 which was then registered with the name Roadway Package System (RPS). This later became Caliber System Incorporation in 1996. The company was the first in the ground shipping business to use bar coding and automated sorting system and tracking system to help customers get relevant information about their packages. FedEx ground was formed as a subsidiary company to handle the ground delivery operation of FedEx Corporation which became effective through launching of FedEx Home delivery and a business-to-consumer service which was designed to help catalog and online retailers meet their markets  [3]  . FedEx Freight is the leading U.S. provider of next- and second-day regional, less-than-truckload (LTL) freight services. FedEx Freight is known for exceptional service, reliability and on-time performance. In 1966, Viking Freight opened its doors in 1966 as a courier service within selected areas of California and rapidly grew to be the states leading intrastate trucking carrier. By 1986, Vikings service area covered 10 western states, including Alaska and Hawaii.   In 1988, Viking became a subsidiary of Caliber System Inc. During the next ten years, Viking solidified its position as the market leader in the West and periodically expanded its reach beyond its western regional territory. In January 1998, Federal Express Corp. acquired Caliber System and created FedEx Corporation, a global provider of transportation, e-commerce and supply chain management services. Meanwhile, American Freightways (AF) was founded in 1982 by Sheridan Garrison. Despite regulatory and economic obstacles, AF quickly became the fastest-growing, independently-owned regional LTL carrier in the nation. In 1989, AF became a publicly-held corporation and by 2001 had developed a wide network of customer centers providing 100 percent direct coverage to 40 contiguous U.S. states.   American Freightways was acquired by FedEx Corporation in 2001. By combining Viking and AF, FedEx Corp. created FedEx Freight to offer one-stop shopping for LTL customers who require top-quality, highly reliable regional freight service. In June 2002, FedEx re-branded AF and Viking as FedEx Freight to accelerate growth of regional LTL freight business through a common branding system. Through a comprehensive network of service centers and with timely, accurate information systems, FedEx Freight is committed to delivering reliable, responsive LTL service throughout the U.S. and beyond.   In 2003, Caribbean Transportation Services-acquired by FedEx Corp. in 1999 and aligned to FedEx Trade Networks in 2001-was realigned as a freight-forwarding subsidiary of FedEx Freight. Caribbean Transportation Services is the leading provider of airfreight forwarding services between the United States and Puerto Rico. It provides door-to-door and airport-to-airport shipping with services ranging from next-day delivery to four-to-five-day delivery. Today, these companies make FedEx Freight the less-than-truckload shipping industry leader in the U.S. In 2006, FedEx Corp. acquired Watkins Motor Lines, a leading provider of long-haul LTL services.   Watkins was rebranded FedEx National LTL and now operates as a seperate network within the FedEx Freight segment.

Comparing Love in the Film, Secrets and Lies and Toni Morrisons Belove

Possessive Love in Secrets and Lies and Beloved  Ã‚        The word â€Å"freedom† is subject to various degrees of interpretation in the sense that it can be used in more than one context.   One definition of freedom is the idea of having your own sense of self without the control of others.   On the other hand, a lack of freedom is the idea of feeling trapped and smothered in a situation one has no control over.   Freedom can relate to school, relationships, or even within oneself.   A lack of freedom can have nothing to do with other people but with the ball and chain that can be placed on by oneself.   Of course the outside world will be involved, but the pain of feeling trapped comes from the frustration that fills one’s soul.   A lack of freedom can result from a twisted circle of other events and other people.   In the novel Beloved and the film Secrets and Lies, the enslavement that Roxanne and Denver feel result from their mothers’ possessive love.   Sethe and Cynthia both have horrific pasts , leaving them in captivity and causing them to have unhealthy relationships with their daughters.   Sethe and Cynthia love the only way the know how, possessively and dependently, causing Denver and Roxanne’s mental enslavement.   In the film Secrets and Lies, both Cynthia and her twenty-one year-old daughter Roxanne, live a life of captivity.   Cynthia’s is due to her unexplained past, while Roxanne’s is in result of her overbearing mother.   Cynthia’s lack of freedom does not result from another’s actions, but from her own past.   The trauma and lack of love she has experienced, has been blocked out and instead of dealing with it, she lives off of the attention of others.   When she meets her daughter Hortense, whom she had given up for adopt... ...or a life as it is now under Beloved’s control, she chooses a life for herself.   By having support for the first time, freeing both of her daughters, and restoring her sense of self, Sethe is on her way to a life of happiness and trust, rather than dependence on others.   Although their backgrounds are completely different, both Cynthia and Sethe battle the same demons.   Their pasts have consumed them and dependence on others, or complete isolation is the only way they know how to deal with it.   This causes the mental enslavement of Roxanne and Denver.  Ã‚   In order to overcome their emotional scars, they must learn to stand on their own two feet.   Only when they do this will they be able to release their daughters, and restore their own self worth and freedom for all.       Works Cited Morrison, Toni.   Beloved.   New York: Penguin Books, 1998.      

Interest Rate :: essays research papers

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) carried out the zero interest rate policy. The decrease of the interest rate was expected to work for recovery of the Japanese economy. The interest rate was already very low and the analysts wonder its effectiveness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Due to the collapse of the bubble economy, the Japanese economy became sluggish and suffered from six trillion dollars debt. The increase of the government bonds caused the increase of the loan rte. It also caused the appreciation of yen and damaged the Japanese export companies because the stocks of the Japanese export companies were increasingly sold. Because the Japanese economy is largely supported by the Japanese export companies, this situation worked against Japan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In January, 1999, the Japanese government issued twice as much government bonds as usual. Soon later, the BOJ decided to decrease the interest rate to zero in short-term money market. Consequently, life insurance companies, which lent money to banks and earn money by its interest before, were forced out of business in short-term money market. Life insurance companies instead began to buy government bonds. Due to the increase of the demand of the government bonds the value of the government bonds remained the same even though the government issued bonds too much. As a result, the interest rate did not rise and money supply did not decrease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The zero interest rate policy was to some extent successful this time, but the interest rate cannot be decreased more than zero when the value of the government bonds decreases next time. Besides, most companies did not borrow from banks to invest new facilities even the interest rate is zero. Most companies had to downsize the organization and reduce employees and corporate bonds to survive in the recession. Even if they started new business and made new goods, Japanese consumers would not buy such things.

A Poetic Tragedy Essay -- Literary Analysis

Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, accepted to have been in written between 1599 and 1601. Perhaps the most famous tragedy ever written, the plays is about Prince Hamlet’s revenge for his father’s murder which eventually leads to his own death. The central character of the play is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Hamlet becomes the tragic champion who successfully makes his reprisal for his father's death by murdering the antagonist, monarch Claudius, but he furthermore misplaces his own life as well as the inhibits of those dearest to him in the end. At the opening of the play, Hamlet’s dejected for his father's death and the quick remarriage of his mother and King Claudius motives his attempt to find out the truth, and furthermore, his dead father informs him about his murder as a ghost, which determinants him to revenge (Edwards 52). Hamlet’s madness, hesitation to action, demand for visual proof, and final revenge are conventions of a dramatic form called revenge tragedy. All through the play, from searching the killing to justifying the truth, and finally revenge, Hamlet is bent on avenging his father’s death. Claudius is in alignment to come to his aid of revenge, which is the principal theme all through the play. The play, focused in Denmark, explains how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius for killing the historic King Hamlet, Claudius's own male sibling and Prince Hamlet's dad, and then marrying Gertrude, the King Hamlet's widow and mother of Prince Hamlet. The play vividly journals the path of natural and pretended madness—from swamping failure to seething rage—and discovers topics of deceit, revenge, incest, and lessons in fraud (Hoy 99). Throughout the play, Hamlet has numerous opportunities’ to ave... ...William. Literature for Composition. Longman, 2011. Print. 908-1011 Edwards, Phillip. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. New Cambridge Shakespeare ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. 52-63. Hoy, Cyrus. Hamlet. Norton Critical Edition ser. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1992. 99-111 Lott, Bernard. Hamlet. New Swan Shakespeare Advanced ser. New ed. London: Longman, 1970. 72-88. Ronald Knowles. Renaissance Quarterly. Vol. 52, No. 4 (Winter, 1999). 1046-1069 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Article Stable : http://www.jstor.org/stable/2901835 Spencer, T. J. B. Hamlet. New Penguin Shakespeare ser. London: Penguin. 1980. 67-81 Wells, Stanley, and Gary Taylor. The Complete Works. By William Shakespeare, The Oxford Shakespeare. Compact ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1988, 231-241.

Fredrick Douglass

Fredrick Douglass Essay The great civil rights activist Frederick Douglass was born into slavery on a Maryland Eastern Shore plantation in February 1818. His given name, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, seemed to portend an unusual life for this son of a field hand and a white man, most likely Douglass's first master, Captain Aaron Anthony. Perhaps Harriet Bailey gave her son such a distinguished name in the hope that his life would be better than hers.She could scarcely imagine that her son's life would continue to be a source of interest and inspiration nearly 190 years fter his birth. Indeed, it would be hard to find anyone who more closely embodies this year's Black History Month theme, â€Å"From Slavery to Freedom: Africans in the Americas. † Like many in the nineteenth-century United States, Frederick Douglass escaped the horrors of slavery to enjoy a life of freedom, but his unique personal drive to achieve Justice for his race led him to devote his life to the ab olition of slavery and the movement for black civil rights.His fiery oratory and extraordinary achievements produced a legacy that stretches his influence across the centuries, aking Frederick Douglass a role model for the twenty-first century. One reason Douglass's story continues to resonate is that his life embodies the American dream of overcoming obstacles and reaching one's goals. Young Frederick Bailey spent his first twenty years in slavery, first on a Talbot County, Maryland plantation, then in the ship-building city of Baltimore.In the first of three autobiographies, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, published in 1845, he recounts the adversity of his early life. He rarely saw his mother who worked as a ield hand, had barely enough clothes to cover his body, and had to eat from a trough like a farmyard animal. As he grew old enough to work he passed through a series of masters, some kind and some cruel. The influence of Frederick Douglass reaches beyond his symb olic role as America's most famous former slave, although in his lifetime moving from slavery to freedom proved a tremendous accomplishment.He continues to be relevant to both history and modern American culture because he moved beyond enjoying freedom to edicate his life to the principle that struggle is necessary to achieve progress. His desire to make his world a more Just place led him to fght for the abolition of slavery and to support social Justice and civil rights for African Americans and women. We would do well to follow his example, and to take inspiration from his famous words that â€Å"It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. † Fredrick Douglass By Ishman2941

In some countries such as MEDCs population is stabilizing due to low birth rates and low death rates

In some countries such as MEDCs population is stabilizing due to low birth rates and low death rates. However, other countries, mostly in LEDCs, the population isn't stabilizing and instead is increasing. Reasons for this are that people are now living longer due to better health care, while poor education and poor knowledge of birth control means that birth rates are increasing while death rates are decreasing leading to overpopulation. Governments have now begun to recognize the problems caused by population growth and have introduced anti-natalist policies aiming to reduce fertility. Countries suffering from overpopulation are India, Singapore, Nigeria, China and India. Here the governments have implied policies such as later marriages, birth spacing and inheritance laws. Also in India, if a man volunteers for a vasectomy he would receive a free transistor radio. However, perhaps the most famous policy of all is China's ‘one child policy'. China is the third largest country in terms of areas – 9596960 km2. In terms of population it is the biggest nation with 1.2 billion people, who make up 21.5% of the world's total population. The problems China faced were that only 7% of China is land area. While only 50% of this land is farmable and only 13% suitable for arable farming. This situation is then made worse by 94% of the Chinese population living in the badly overpopulated southeast of the country, which consists of 43% of land. While only 6% live in the northwest of the country, which consists of 57% of land. This has led to an imbalance between population and resources. Secondly in 1949, China was made a communist country. At this stage, China sought to maximise its population for military and strategic strength. By 1960 CBR had peaked at 45/1000. The sheer size of the Chinese population put increased demands on services such as food, housing, education and employment. In fact during the 1970s the government feared that further population increases would result in mass starvation by the end of the century. This triggered the government to enforce anti-natalist policies. Options were considered such as: Increase death rate – however not a legitimate government policy. Encourage out migration – too many Chinese for this to be successful. Import more resources – implications for the rest of the world, especially LEDCs. Therefore the only option was to reduce the birth rate, which led to the 1979 ‘one child policy'. This included: Compulsory abortion if a couple already had one child (if a couple managed to escape abortion and have more than one child then there were economic penalties). The introduction of ‘Granny police' – who were older women who went round checking younger women weren't pregnant. Compulsory sterilisation – the government would send in the army to gather men and sterilize them. Later marriages and the use of contraception were also encouraged. The one child policy found greatest success amongst the urban population – where it was more strictly enforced and accepted. Therefore in 1994 the government introduced the ‘new family plan'. This aimed to educate farmers, in rural areas, on the basis that they will naturally come to understand why fewer children means achieving prosperity sooner. The outcomes of the one child policy were that the Birth rate was reduced from 45/1000 to 22/1000. In this respect the policy has therefore been regarded as a success. Couples are wealthier due to economic improvements while they no longer fear the official penalties of increased housing, schooling and medical costs for larger families. However, there have also been a number of problems with the policy. Firstly, there is now an ageing population, which have a number of potential problems in itself. In the early 90s there were about 100 million Chinese people over 60 – which encountered for 9% of the population. By 2030 it is expected to have increased to 25% of the population. This is likely to lead to a limitation in the labour supply. While pensions and retirement benefits are few, and there has never been much state pension for the elderly. Other problems are that most Chinese families want a son. This has led to some female babies being allowed to die after birth through deliberate exposure, neglect or in some areas the feeding of poisonous berries. This leads to a gender imbalance. This could cause problems for China, as it is likely to lead to a considerable amount of unmarried men, causing social instability and a growing demand for prostitution. There is also the tendency for the child to become spoilt. This will be the only child a couple will ever have, therefore all their ambitions and money are channelled into the child's education, well-being and comfort. However, in the course of time such a spoilt child could become the sole support for up to six aged people. In conclusion, without the one child policy china would almost certainly be chaos and an economic mess. Therefore although there are serious problems with the policy, the success of dramatically reducing the population outweighs the potential consequences that China now faces. However, it is not only China who have introduced dramatic anti -natalist policies to reduce the population. Indonesia attempted to even out its differences in population density between its inner and outer islands through a transmigration scheme.

The Study of Human Resource Recruiting and Selection

The recruit and selects is human resources management foundation work, it is the enterprise recruits talented person’s main way. This research intends to compare the human resource planning when carrying out recruitment and selection activities within an organization, as well as the issues of managerial shifts. The purpose of this research is to provide the relationship between the recruitment and selection, no matter it is in traditional firms or high technique company. In addition, some related issues will be addressed to analyze the relationship among variables in the viewpoints of strategic human resource. The aspects of recruiting and selection consistent recruiting methods, the recruiting effectiveness, besides it know how, the supporting staff is more appropriate to be sent outbound of he is more accommodating to the environment. Recruitment and Selection Recruitment is the process of seeking and attracting a pool of qualified applicants from which candidates for job vacancies can be selected. And selection is the linking of selection activities to he organisation’s strategic business objectives and culture. At the first of recruits procedure is human resource planning, make a planning of recruitment involve times, jobs and number of people. The second is recruitment, to acquaintance the market, accepts the application. Then is selecting include preliminary interview, interview and other test, after all of these, the company may consider to make a decision about employ and send a message. At last we should make an evaluation about the programmed decision and efficiency. Recruits and selects contains separately in the human resources plan, takes two important components. ? Recruitment In the recruitment industry there are essentially four ways of recruit new employees. First method: utilization of employment agencies. Which serve as a central location for employers and employees to meet. In an employment agency, one application for employment can be considered for numerous positions with various companies. Second method: recruitment websites. Serve as a virtual employment agency and function in essentially the same way. Recruitment websites have a broader range, however, since prospective employers and employees can be located anywhere in the world. Third method: headhunting Involves the active search for exceptionally skilled, talented individuals for professional and executive recruitment. The â€Å"headhunter† travels anywhere that the potential employee benefits package that is difficult to refuse. Fourth method: in-house recruitment Involves the promotion of employees from lower-wage jobs to higher ones within the same company. Also, in-house recruitment may include the posting of bulletins on lunch room bulletin boards, narrowing the job search to current employees or their families and friends. ? Selection Making the wrong hiring choices is costly and time consuming for organizations of all sizes. An effective way for businesses to identify the best candidates for a position is through a structured, job focused interviewing process, where interviewers have effective interviewing skills and understand the legal aspects of employment practices. For example, the strategy of managerial talent the TCL selects. ? Clear about managerial talent’s quality and ability request: Along with TCL enterprise group's growing strong, is getting higher and higher to all levels of managerial talent's quality and ability request. he final goal, is adapts the high strength market competition, the acceleration and the international market trail connection, thus causes the enterprise to advance to the internationalization. The excavation wisdom, the multi-skill, the highly effective outstanding person managerial talent becomes most important. TCL proposed that , to be a qualified administrative personn el should have the following quality: 1. Specialized quality: Does is faces the world, face future superintendent, must have the high ideological awareness, with good occupational ethics. Has the intense historical mission and the sacrificing spirit, approves the enterprise culture highly 2. Policy-making quality: The decision-making materially is to achieve the organization goal, correct analysis, effective action process. Participates in the critical moment decisive function which in the enterprise competes and grows strong 3. Leadership quality: The leadership is one should say that rallies together to achieve the organization goal the behavior. The outstanding leader has the very strong influence and the rallying point. Has the high prestige in the populace. 4. Intelligence quality: The intelligence is refers to the people to know the objective things, and using understanding actual problem ability. To the administrative personnels, the intelligence quality is engaged in the leadership work the precondition. The administrative personnels pay great attention to strengthen the self-development consciousness, improves own intelligence quality. Thus, can better deal with the market competition. 5. Innovation quality: The superintendent is the enterprise innovative activities initiator. Enterprise innovation including mentality innovation, knowledge renewal and so on. The innovation is the modern competition win sharp weapon. Therefore, the modern enterprise policy-makers should have the very strong innovation ability ? Grasps the science efficient path to select managerial talent 1. Democracy recommendation: The democracy recommendation chooses only then the beginning, it indicates the people to the above-mentioned person to be possible the receptivity. In order to manifest chooses only then the objectivity, fairness, integrity. Therefore, the democracy recommendation throughout chooses only then one of essential methods. 2. Achievement inspection: The working ability determination's most practical method is manifests through the achievement. Usually inspects its work thought to be correct or not, the method of work is whether scientific, working efficiency height. This achievement inspection way, becomes the modern human affairs science inspection the new system. Human resource planning. A human resource plan is a systematic process of matching the interests, skills and talents of individual community members with the long-term goals and economic opportunities in the community. Like all activities, creating a human resource plan needs to involve the relevant community sectors, so that their participation and input will lead to strong community support. A very real need to see results makes planning seem wasteful of time, diverting efforts from doing. Impatience with planning is always a challenge. Public expectations may be unrealistic, looking for jobs as an immediate outcome. Careful assessment may turn up more human resource development needs than the projected or existing resources and funding can handle, and this may require excruciating choices. Conclusion Recruitment and selects has two meanings; first, recruitment with selects is the enterprise obtains the human resources the method; second, recruitment with selects means that chooses the most appropriate staff. Realizes the person hillock match, matches personally with the team, matches personally with the organization. How is the employment recruit work quality to the enterprise the influence often long-term, even decisive. Formulate exterior personnel replacement plan goal is has the plan to buy in the personnel to supplement in the future the vacant job. The exterior personnel replacement plan is not only plans simply needs to introduce any personnel, but also to introduce how many personnel. And must coordinate to work out a series of plans to guarantee that can incur to the appropriate human resources. According to the plan step and the content, may divide into again the exterior personnel replacement plan two sub-plans, namely recruits to plan and to select the plan.

Euphemism in Cross-Cultural Communication

Cross-Cultural Communication Vol. 8, No. 6, 2012, pp. 66-70 DOI:10. 3968/j. ccc. 1923670020120806. 1356 ISSN 1712-8358[Print] ISSN 1923-6700[Online] www. cscanada. net www. cscanada. org Cross-Cultural Contrastive Study of English and Chinese Euphemisms WANG Xiaoling[a]; ZHANG Meng[a],*; DONG Hailin[a] [a] College of Foreign Languages, Hebei United University, West Xinhua Road, Tangshan, China. * Corresponding author.Supported by Study on Application of Cross-Cultural Teaching Concept in New Standard College English Teaching; Key Project of Ministry of Education for the Year 2010, the Eleventh Five-year Plan for Educational Sciences (Grant No. gpa105030). Received 18 August 2012; accepted 7 December 2012 Abstract The use of euphemisms is a common linguistic phenomenon in all languages. By using euphemisms, people can indirectly and politely express their ideas, without making the listeners feel awkward and unpleasant. As a mirror of culture, the generation and development of euphemis ms are closely related to culture.Euphemisms in English and Chinese are also abundant, but they have both differences and similarities in expressions and cultural connotations. The cross-cultural contrastive study of English and Chinese euphemisms can help people correctly understand the deep meaning in English and Chinese languages and overcome the obstacles in crosscultural communications. Key words: Euphemisms; Culture; Cross-culture; Contrastive study WANG Xiaoling, ZHANG Meng, DONG Hailin (2012). CrossCultural Contrastive Study of English and Chinese Euphemisms.CrossCultural Communication, 8 (6), 66-70. Available from: http://www. cscanada. net/index. php/ccc/article/view/j. ccc. 1923670020120806. 1356 DOI: http://dx. doi. org/10. 3968/j. ccc. 1923670020120806. 1356. â€Å"speech†, so the word â€Å"euphemism† literally means â€Å"word of good omen†. Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics (2000) defines â€Å"euphemism† as â€Å"A kind of expressing method which aims at making people feel less embarrassed by using some words with vague and ambiguous meaning instead of those which may make people feel unpleasant and not respected†.The generation of euphemism has its social foundation. While communicating with others, people often face the situation where they can not directly express what they want to say, or sometimes a direct expression will cause the listeners awkward and unpleasant. In these cases, people tend to choose an indirect and roundabout way to express their ideas and thoughts, so as to avoid the embarrassment. With this purpose, euphemisms come into being. Whereas the use of euphemisms is not only a social phenomenon, it is also a cultural one.The generation of euphemism is also closely related to culture. Due to the low social productivity in the early stage of human society, people were lack of scientific and cultural knowledge, thus there existed a superstitious belief that the direct call of t he name of God or a ghost will bring them bad fortune. Then the names of God and ghosts became language taboo and people found substitutes of these names. These substitutes then became euphemisms of that time. With the development of the society, euphemisms in all languages also changed.And this on-going change has always being relying on culture. Different nations possess different natural environment, social patterns, ideological systems, modes of production and values. All these can be reflected in the use of language, including the use of euphemisms. 1. EUPHEMISM AND ITS RELATION WITH CULTURE The word â€Å"euphemism† originated from a Latin word. Its prefix â€Å"eu† means â€Å"good†, and â€Å"phemism† means 2 . C U LT U R A L S I M I L A R I T I E S A N D DIFFERENCES REFLECTED BY ENGLISH AND CHINESE EUPHEMISMS When we compare different cultures, we will find that theCopyright  © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture 66 WANG Xiaolin g; ZHANG Meng; DONG Hailin (2012). Cross-Cultural Communication, 8 (6), 66-70 similarities and differences of the developing course of human society are manifested in cultures. Language is not only the mirror of culture, but also a part of culture. So the similarities and differences of cultures are undoubtedly reflected by English and Chinese languages, including euphemisms. 2. 1 Cultural Similarities Reflected by Euphemisms Euphemism as a cultural phenomenon has its specific role to play in culture.Cultural similarities reflected by English and Chinese euphemisms can be concluded by the functions of euphemisms. Basically speaking, the functions of English and Chinese euphemisms are the same, which can be divided as taboo-avoiding function, politeness function, and deception function. These functions show the universal characters of human culture. 2. 1. 1 Taboo-Avoiding Function In English and Chinese, there are some words that cannot be directly said out.For example, during the ti me when Christianity was prevalent in the western countries, the name of God â€Å"Jehovah† became the biggest taboo, so many euphemisms were created to replace the name, such as â€Å"the Almighty†, â€Å"the Supreme Being†, â€Å"Holy one†, â€Å"the Eternal†, â€Å"the Creator†, â€Å"the Maker†, â€Å"the Savior†, â€Å"the light of the world†, â€Å"the Sovereign of the Universe†, â€Å"Our Father†, etc.. In ancient China, the names of emperors are also tabooed. For example, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, changed â€Å" † (the first month of a lunar year) into â€Å" † so as to avoid the pronunciation of the character â€Å"? which is the same as the character â€Å"? † used in his name. Another example is the euphemistic expression of â€Å"death†. People generally believe that the greatest misfortune is nothing than death, so there are taboos and euphemisms ab out death both in English and Chinese. The word â€Å"death† cannot be directly mentioned, and euphemisms about death are various. In English, the word â€Å"die† can be replaced by â€Å"to pass away†, â€Å"to expire†, â€Å"to be no more†, â€Å"to breathe one’s last†, â€Å"to come to an end†, â€Å"to join the majority†, â€Å"to go to one’s rest†, â€Å"to sleep the final sleep†, â€Å"to be gathered to one’s father†, â€Å"return to dust†, â€Å"run one’s race†, â€Å"be no onger with us†, â€Å"to be at peace†, â€Å"to be at rest†, â€Å"to be asleep in the arms of God/ Jesus†, â€Å"pay the debt of nature†, etc.. In Chinese, the word â€Å"? † can be replaced by â€Å" † etc.. 2. 1. 2 Politeness Function It is a normal human psychology for everybody to be respected and keep dignity before the others. So to avoid hurting others’ feelings and pride in a conversation, people often use euphemistic expressions in stead of words that will lead to the unwanted result. For instance, in Chinese, people will call those who are physical handicapped â€Å"? ?† in stead of â€Å" . Similarly, in English, the word â€Å"handicapped† is euphemistically expressed by â€Å"disabled† to show people’s respect. The â€Å"deaf† people are described as â€Å"hard of listening†, and â€Å"blind† people are â€Å"the visually challenged†. At present, euphemisms about body figure are more often used than ever before. As more and mo re people pay attention to their figure, you need to be careful while talking to those who have much weight. The word â€Å"fat† could never be used. But you can use words like â€Å"plump, stout, out-size, over-weight† to describe such person. In Chinese, it is also more polite to use words like â€Å" † etc..The politeness function of euphemisms is well demonstrated by the description of these low or humble occupations. To some extent, the occupations people are engaged in can show their social status, so people in the low hierarchy are usually sensitive towards their jobs. A decent and respectful call of their occupation will show respect for such persons. Therefore, â€Å"sanitation engineer† is created for â€Å"garbage collector†, â€Å"cleaning operative† is created for â€Å"road-sweeper†, â€Å"domestic help† is created for â€Å"maid† and â€Å"security officer† is created for â€Å"janitor†. In modern Chinese, there are also similar euphemisms about occupations.For example, people call â€Å" † in stead of â€Å" †, and â€Å" ?† or â€Å" † in stead of â€Å" †. These euphemisms about occupations not only show the raise of civilization level, but also people’s awaren ess of social equity. 2. 1. 3 Deception Function With the development of the society, the use of euphemisms is not only limited in avoiding taboos and caring for the listeners’ feelings. On many occasions, it is also employed to hide the facts, and to achieve some ulterior goals. Euphemisms of this kind are widely seen in political and economic areas to deceive the public or distort the pacts.For example, words used in war, such as â€Å"invasion† and â€Å"raid† are disguised as â€Å"incursion†, â€Å"involvement† and â€Å"military action†; Failure in a war is disguised as â€Å"break off contact with enemy†; The thousands of homeless people in the war are called â€Å"transfer of population†; â€Å"Attack† is disguised as â€Å"active defense†, etc.. These cosmetic words conceal the nature and cruelty of war, and provide reasonable excuse for waging wars. For politicians, these euphemistic words are good tools to whitewash themselves and protect themselves from being excused or charged. Euphemisms in the economic area are also widely seen.For example, â€Å"economic crisis† is replaced by â€Å"depression† or â€Å"recession†; â€Å"poor nations† is replaced by â€Å"underdeveloped nations†, â€Å"developing nations†, or â€Å"emerging nations†. These words all cover up the reality to some extent, and the real meaning of these words need careful thinking. 2. 2 Cultural Differences Reflected by Euphemisms Due to the culture difference between English and Chinese, a topic often being talked about in one culture 67 Copyright  © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture Cross-Cultural Contrastive Study of English and Chinese Euphemisms ay be tabooed in another culture, and something unacceptable in one culture may be quite normal in another. 2. 2. 1 Different Attitudes Towards â€Å"Old Age† The westerners are afraid of old age. In their opinion, old age indicates decay. So in many western countries, inquiring others’ age is seen to be an offense, because â€Å"age† is a sensitive topic. There are many euphemisms describing old age, such as â€Å"senior citizen, advantage in age, the mature, seasoned man, full of ages, be feeling one’s ages, past one’s prime† etc.. On the contrary, it is a tradition for Chinese people to respect the old.As far as Chinese people are concerned, â€Å"old age† stands for wisdom and experience. In Chinese, people often add the word â€Å"? † after a person’s family name to show his respect, such as â€Å" † and â€Å" †. Besides, the word â€Å"? † can also be added before a person’s family name to show intimacy with this person, such as â€Å" †, â€Å" †. If a person has much experience in an occupation and is respected by others, people will call him or her â€Å" ?† â€Å" † or â€Å" † etc.. Other words indicating old age like â€Å" † all show respect to these old people. 2. 2. Attitudes Towards Privacy The westerners attach much importance to privacy, which includes age, marriage, income, religious belief, political tendency etc. , and they do not want the others to know much about these contents. For example, a western lady will take an immediate aversion if she is asked about her age and marriage state. While in China, you can often hear people around talking about age, marriage and even income. Topics like â€Å" †, â€Å" †, â€Å" †, â€Å" † are not forbidden either. Inquiring others’ salary or the price of some private belongings is also seen as impolite in the west.If you really want to know the price of an item, you can ask â€Å"It is expensive? † in stead of directly asking â€Å"How much is it? † But in China, you will have no worry to ask the price. Religious belief and political tendency are also private in the west. Questions like â€Å"What party do you vote for? † and â€Å"What’s your religion? † cannot be asked. But in China, these questions are also free to ask. 2. 2. 3 Naming and Appellation Chinese people attach more importance to family than people in the west, and their respect for the elder generation is also shown in naming and appellation.The name of a young should not be the same as his or her elder generation, even the pronunciation should be different. Young people could not directly call the name of the elderly ones; Instead they call them according to the rank in the family such as â€Å" , , , ? ?† etc.. Comparatively, English-speaking people do not have such strong sense of family rank and social stratum. In the western countries, there is no taboo in naming and appellation. People of different rank in the family hierarchy and social status could call each other’s name directly. It is common to hear children call their parents and even grandparents’ names.And it is also very common for a younger person to have a same name with the elder generation. The westerners believe this kind of appellation and naming is a way of showing intimacy and will draw close the relationship between people. To some extent, it reflects the westerners’ pursuit of equality. 2. 2. 4 The Use of Numbers Cultures about numbers exist in both Chinese and English. There are different taboos about number in different cultures. In the western culture, the number 13 is seen as an unlucky number which people tend to avoid in their daily life.For example, it is rare to see 13 people gather around the same table while having dinner or meetings. It is also forbidden to have 13 dishes on the dinner table. House number, storey number and other number marks all avoid using this number. In Chinese, the pronunciation of â€Å"4† is similar to the character â€Å"? † (die) , so people are unwilling to use this number in doorplate, story number, phone number etc.. The pronunciation of number â€Å"3† is similar to the character â€Å"? †, so weddings and birthday parties are not held on this day.Besides, there is a saying in Chinese that good things should be in pairs, so it is also a tradition to hold important things on even number days, so as to wish that good luck could come. 3. EUPHEMISMS AND CROSSCULTURAL COMMUNICATION 3. 1 The Definition of Cross-Cultural Communication Chinese scholar JIA Yuxin and GUAN Shijie defined cross-cultural communication as â€Å"communication between people from different cultural background† (JIA, 1997) and â€Å"communication between people or group from one cultural background and people or group from another cultural background† (GUAN, 1996).Larry offered his definition of â€Å"intercultural communication† as â€Å"Intercultural communication is communication between people whos e cultural perceptions and symbol systems are distinct enough to alter the communication event† (Larry, 2009). In conclusion, inter-cultural communication, which is a kind of communication behavior, is the communication between people from different cultural background, social psychology, and people speaking different languages. 3. The Influence of Culture Differences on Cross-Cultural Communication While communicating with a person of another language, people always carry out the communication process on the basis of their own language and culture. Obviously culture differences will manifest themselves in the understanding and use of euphemisms throughout cross-cultural Copyright  © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture 68 WANG Xiaoling; ZHANG Meng; DONG Hailin (2012). Cross-Cultural Communication, 8 (6), 66-70 communication. Thus cross-cultural understanding barrier or improper use of euphemisms will lead to pragmatic failures. . 2. 1 Pragmatic Failures Cause d by Different Expression Modes English and Chinese euphemisms are typically different in structure and expression mode. Because of these differences, speakers of one language often have difficulty in grasping the information of another language. For example, Chinese speakers will be confused when they hear those English euphemisms consisted by numbers like â€Å"go to the fourth† (go to the toilet) and â€Å"a forty-four† (a prostitute). There are also some euphemisms in the form of abbreviation, like B. O. (body odor), V. D. C. (venereal disease), and T. B. tuberculosis), which will lead to understanding difficulty if the readers are lack of relative background information. Similarly, the profound Chinese culture has given birth to quantities of unique expressions, such as â€Å" †, â€Å" †, â€Å" †, which also make the westerners confused. Besides, the use of twopart allegorical sayings, such as â€Å" — (? )†, â€Å" — à ¢â‚¬ , and â€Å" — (? )† etc. is also a unique feature of Chinese euphemisms. The use of this special structure can help release the mood in an over straightforward Chinese expression, and help readers guess the meaning inside it.But the English readers are not familiar with this kind of Chinese expressions, so they can only sigh towards the contained meaning inside this kind of euphemisms. 3. 2. 2 Pragmatic Failures Caused by Different Value Orientations in Euphemisms The cultural value difference of euphemisms is best illustrated by words in political and social area. Many euphemistic words in political area are used to conceal the real political purpose. For example, in the Vietnam War, the U. S. government called the invasion â€Å"U. S. nvolvement in Vietnam†; The air raid to Libya is called â€Å"surgical strikes†; Civilian casualties in the Iraq War are understated as â€Å"collateral damage†. These euphemisms reflect the subtle attitude of the U. S. government to some extent, and at the same time, they show the handiness and concealment of political words. It is easy to be cheated by these diplomatic words without enough cross-cultural study. For another example, in the western countries, the word â€Å"sexy† is used to describe an attractive and charming person. If a lady is described as â€Å"sexy†, she will take it as praise and will be very happy.But in traditional Chinese culture, the connotation of â€Å"sexy† is somewhat close to â€Å"coquettish†. If a westerner who does not know much about Chinese culture describes a Chinese lady as â€Å"sexy†, she must feel uncomfortable and take it as an insult rather than praise. But with China enhancing its communication with the western countries, more and more Chinese people have accepted the western culture and began to praise others as â€Å"sexy†. 3. 2. 3 Pragmatic Failures Caused by Different Class Concept Many words in our daily life such as â€Å"big and small†, â€Å"high and low†, â€Å"good and bad†, â€Å"rich and poor† all indicates social rank.Compared with Chinese, English euphemisms about social rank are larger in quantity and more alert in usage. For example, in the western countries, people advocate democracy and pursuit gender equality, so they have much difficulty in understanding males in Chinese feudal society calling their wives â€Å" † and â€Å" †. English-speaking people are also alert to the rank below â€Å"the first class†. So in 1989, when West Germany held the 56th World Foundry Congress, the English instruction classified hotels as follows: A) Deluxe B) First Class C) Standard D) Private rooms.This kind of ranking criteria does not define the hotels below the first class into â€Å"the second class† and â€Å"the third class†, thus avoiding people’s psychological gap. At the same time, it upgrades each class invisibly. However this kind of ranking is difficult for Chinese people to understand and use. In cross-cultural communication, in order to avoid these pragmatic failures, language user of both English and Chinese need to sharpen their cross-cultural awareness. It is also necessary to acquire as many as possible euphemistic expressions in another language.The more characteristics we know about the culture and its euphemisms, the less barriers and pragmatic failures we will encounter. Of course, we should also bear in mind the proper situation where a certain euphemism is used; otherwise the overuse of euphemisms will appear to be pretentious and unnatural. CONCLUSION To sum up, euphemism is a common and long-standing linguistic as well as socio-cultural phenomenon in both English speaking countries and China. As a mirror of culture, euphemisms strongly reflected similarities and differences between English and Chinese cultures.These similarities and differences have brought ab out conveniences and difficulties in the process of crosscultural communication. Only when people from different cultures are fully aware of the different cultural background, cultural value orientations and cultural conventions, can they remove pragmatic barriers and carry out smooth and harmonious communication successfully. REFERENCES Bussmann (2000). Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. CAI, Yan (2005). 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Intercultural Communication. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Larry, A. Samovar, Richard, E. Porter, & Edwin, R. McDaniel (2009). Communication Between Cultures. Beijing: Peking University Press. LI, Zhongsheng (1991). Taboos and Customs in Chinese Language. Xi’an: Shanxi People’s Press. PAN, Min (2004).Comparative Analysis of English and Chinese Euphemism. Journal of Huaiyin Institute of Technology, (8), 42-44. XUE, Yan (2001). On English Euphemisms. Journal of Lanzhou Commercial College, (12), 108-111. Copyright  © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture 70 Copyright of Cross-Cultural Communication is the property of Canadian Academy of Oriental & Occidental Culture and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.