Sociology - The Comparative Method Essay Example for Free

Sociology The Comparative Method Essay Sociologists have embraced what is known as the comparative method as the most efficient way to expose taken-for-granted truths or laws that people have adopted. But what is this comparative method and how does it work? Are there any advantages/disadvantages to exposing these false truths. What forms or variations of the comparative method exist? In the pages to follow I will attempt to give you some insight and understanding of what the comparative method is, and how it works. The comparative method, simply put, is the process of comparing two things (in our case societies, or the people that make up society) and seeing if the result of the comparison shows a difference between the two. The comparative method attempts to dereify (the process of exposing misinterpreted norms. Norms that society consider natural and inevitable characteristics of human existence) reified (the human created norms or truths) beliefs. Obviously there are various ways in which a nomi (a labeled, sometime constructed, norm or truth) can be exposed. Which form of the comparative method should one use however? The answer, whichever one applies to the truth in question. For example, you certainly would not do a cross-gender form of comparison if you wished to expose whether or not homosexuality has always been feared and looked down upon by most people throughout history. No, rather you would perform a historical comparison of two or more different societies to see if these beliefs always existed, or, whether or not this is a newly constructed belief. Lets look at little more closely at the above mentioned historical comparison and see how the comparative method works with a specific example. There is no question that in todays western society there is a lot of fear and trepidation towards people who are labeled homosexual. The question we will attempt to answer however is whether or not it has always been like this and is this a universal truth. In ancient Greek societies people had a very different opinion of men that slept with men. For example, it was considered quite an honor for a family with a young boy under the age of 10, to be given the privilege on an older man of high society taking their son into his house. The young boy would go and live with this older man. The older man would have sex with the young boy on a regular basis until the boy developed facial hair. It was not until then that the boy was considered a man. Society thought that an older mans, of great reputation, semen would help the boy develop into a fine young man. Once the boy developed the facial hair, the sex between the two would stop. The older mans job was finished. Obviously this would be considered an atrocious and disgusting act these days. The older man in this case would certainly go to jail for the crimes that he had committed. However, in Ancient Greece this was not only considered perfectly normal, but as I already stated, it was an honor and a gift that not every boy was lucky enough to be given. Therefore, we can conclude from this comparison that homophobia, as we know it, is not a natural truth, nor is it a universal belief. Rather it is a socially constructed belief that many people have taken for granted as an inevitable part of human existence. It is important at this point to clarify something however. It is said that the role of the sociologist is a descriptive one as opposed to a prescriptive one. That is to say that the sociologist should describe the various practices, customs and structures that exist in various societies rather than suggest to people which one is actually the correct belief or the real truth. Cross-gender comparisons is another commonly used comparison used to reveal socially constructed truths. In Carol Gilligans book In a different voice we find a fine example of a cross-g ender comparison. She states that most people believe that the majority of people, both men and women, view morale issues in the same way. However, through empirical data collection, Carol Gilligan concludes that this is not most often the case. Rather, she states that men tend to approach moral issues quite differently than women. Where as men view morale issues with a dont interfere with my rights view, women focus more on the responsibility end of the morale involved. Thus we can conclude, thanks to the comparative method, that the constructed truth that all people view morale issues the same is not a correct one. Another quick example of a cross-gender comparison would be that of the house-wife. Still today most men view the role of the married woman as one that involves being a house-wife, in the traditional sense of the term. However, women today certainly would not view themselves in the same manner. The data collected from a comparison such as this could help to dereify this socially constructed truth. Cross-class comparisons is also a comparison commonly used when attempting to expose constructed truths between two classes. i.e. lower-class, upper-class, middle-class. For an example I refer to my lecture notes. Our professor gave us a fine example of a cross-class comparison involving his own life. He was from a middle-class family and attended a public school where he got involved with various kids from the middle and lower class. He grew up in this type of environment and accepted it as the his life as the way society was. To him, there was not another lifestyle. This was life. Several events occurred and because of these events our professor was moved, by his parents, to a private school. This private school and the new society that accompanied it resulted in a form of culture shock for him. All of a sudden he was placed in a new world, a world that he never even knew existed. As you can see, our professor socially constructed the view that society was like the one that he lived in when he went to his public school, hung around with middle and lower-class friends, and did what middle and lower-class kids did. When he was afforded the chance to compare that type of lifestyle to one of the upper-class he dereified his constructed view and his eyes opened to a new reality and a new view of the way society was. Another major comparative form is that of the cross-generational. This one is fairly straight forward. The name basically says it all. In fact, its much like the historical comparison method but on a much smaller scale. I believe that in order for it to be termed cross-generational, the generations that are being analyzed have to be living at the same time. Otherwise it becomes a historical comparison. Karen Anderson gives an example of a cross-generational comparison in her book Sociology : A Critical Introduction (1996, pg. 12). Canadians pride themselves on their tolerance and lack of prejudice. But we do not need to look very far into our history to find examples of taken-for-granted understandings that have led to discriminatory and prejudicial treatment. Some segments of the population have been classified as undesirable and thus as unwanted or undeserving outsiders Anderson is pointing out that the constructed view in Canada is that we pride ourselves on the fact that we have very little prejudice in Canada. She goes on to point out that this is not at all the case. She gives the example of Canadas history of immigration. She discusses the fact that a lot of Chinese people were allowed to immigrate to Canada, much to the dismay of current residents and already established European immigrants, during the time when the transcontinental railroad was being built. Sir John A. Macdonald was the Prime Minister at this time and defended his reputation by telling the people of Canada, who were very disturbed by his actions, that the Chinese immigrants would live in Western Canada just temporarily. To reassure the people further Macdonald said no fear of a permanent degradation of the country by a mongrel race. This would be considered horrific these days. Most Canadians would not even realize that their country was very closed to the idea of the immigra tion of certain types of people. The social idea that Canada is, and always have been, a very tolerant country is exposed as a false, constructed truth through this cross-generational comparison. Finally we come to the last major comparative form. That of the cross-cultural. Cross-cultural comparison consists of comparing two societies or cultures in an attempt to reveal and expose some socially constructed truths in order to prove that they are not universal but rather they are relative to each society. There are literally thousands of differences between almost every culture that people would be surely shocked to learn of. For the next example I will show how the cross-cultural comparative method dereifies some of the constructed so-called universal-truths that people in our society may have. India differs in its customs considerably from that of Canada or Northern America. For example, in Western Civilization families sit together when they attend church, in India this is not acceptable at all. Men and women must sit on opposite sides of the church. Men and women in India for the most part will not eat together, whereas in Western civilization it is a common practice and is actually looked upon as a good time for a little family bonding. In India it is considered rude to eat with both hands at the table. The right had is solely used for eating and the left for drinking. Obviously we have a completely different practice in Western society. Another shock that a Westerner might face if he/she were to travel to India would be the fact that it is still considered a major social impropriety for a man to even touch a woman in public. In North America public displays of affection can been seen everywhere. . (Stott, John. Down To Earth. 1980. Pg. 12-15) These are all prime examples of Western universal truths that are exposed when compared to another culture. One of the major benefits for exposing these truths through the comparative method is the fact that dereifying accepted truths leads to a decrease in ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is the act of interpreting all societies through ones own cultural lenses and believing that there idea of truths are the only correct ones. This could lead to the imposing of ones own beliefs onto other societies. In other words, comparing, exposing, and dereifying helps educate and eliminate ignorance when it comes to social truths. However, there is a danger to exposing social constructs. It could lead to one taking on the perceptive of a radical relativist (all truths are correct) or a nihilistic view (the belief that all truths are relative and therefore there are no truths). Obviously this is a very negative, and possibly a destructive, way of thinking. As you can see, the comparative method is an essential part of a sociologists practice. Without it there would be a lot of confusion and misunderstanding between people and societies. Hopefully I have shown by example the various forms of the comparative method and how each of them applies to society and how they attempt to expose falsities.

Euphemism: Social Linguistic And Psychological Aspects

Euphemism: Social Linguistic And Psychological Aspects According the New Oxford Dictionary of English (Oxford University Press 2001) euphemism is a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. In the Wikipedia encyclopedia (February 2007), a euphemism is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word phrase it replaces, or in the case of doublespeak to make it less troublesome for the speaker. When a phrase is used as a euphemism, it often becomes a metaphor whose literal meaning is dropped. Euphemism may be used to hide unpleasant or disturbing ideas, even when the literal term is not necessarily offensive. This type of euphemism is used in public relations and politics, where it is sometimes disparagingly called doublespeak. Sometimes, utilizing euphemisms is equated to politeness. There are superstitious euphemisms, based (consciously or subconsciously) on the idea that words have the power to bring bad fortune (for example, not saying the word cancer) and religious euphemisms, based on the idea that some words are sacred, or that some words are spiritually impelling. In Euphemism and Dysphemism: language used as a shield and weapon (1991), Allan and Burridge claimed that euphemism is characterized by avoidance language and evasive expression, speaker uses words as a protective shield against the anger or disapproval of natural or supernatural beings. It is an expression that seeks to avoid being offensive. But because our background relies on linguistics euphemism is not merely a response to taboo: it also functions where the speaker avoids using a distasteful expression and/ or an infelicitous style of addressing or naming. 2-Etymology: The word euphemism comes from the Greek word euphemos, meaning auspicious/good/fortunate speech/kind which in turn is derived from the Greek root-words eu (ÃŽÂ µÃƒ Ã¢â‚¬ ¦), good /well + pheme (à Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ®ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¼ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ·) speech/speaking. The eupheme was originally a word or phrase used in place of a religious word or phrase that should not be spoken aloud; etymologically, the eupheme is the opposite of the blaspheme (evil-speaking). The primary example of taboo words requiring the use of an euphemism are the unspeakable names for a deity, such as Persephone, Hecate, Hemesis or Yahweh. By speaking only words favorable to the gods or spirits, the speaker attempted to procure good fortune by remaining in good favor with them. Historical linguistics has revealed traces of taboo deformations in many languages. Several are known to have occurred in Indo-European languages, including the original Proto-Indo-European words for bear (*rtkos), wolf (*wlkwos), and deer (originally, hart). In different Indo-European languages, each of these words has a difficult etymology because of taboo deformations a euphemism was substituted for the original, which no means honey eater. One example in English is donkey replacing the old Indo-European-derived word ass. In some languages of the Pacific, using the name of a deceased chief is a taboo. Amongst Australian Aboriginal people, it was forbidden to even use the name or the image of the deceased, so that today the Australian Broadcasting Commission publishes an apology to indigenous people for using names or images of people who have recently died. Since people are often named after everyday things, this leads to the swift development of euphemisms. These languages have a very high rate of vocabulary change. (Dyen, Isidore, A.T. James J.W.L. Cole. 1967. Language divergence and estimated word retention rate) The Euphemism Treadmill Euphemisms often evolve over time into taboo words themselves, through a process dubbed the euphemism treadmill by Steven Pinker. (cf. Greshams Law in economics, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1566). This is the well-known linguistic process known as pejoration. Words originally intended as euphemisms may lose their euphemistic value, acquiring the negative connotation of their referents. In some cases, they may be used mockingly and become dysphemistic. For example, the term concentration camps, to describe camps used to house civilian prisoners, was used by the British during the Second Boer War, primarily because it sounded bland and inoffensive. However, after the Third Reich used the expression to describe its death camps, the term gained negative connotation. Since then, new terms have been invented for them, such as internment camps, resettlement camps, etc. Also, in some versions of English, toilet room, itself a euphemism, was replaced with bathroom and water closet, which were replaced respectively with restroom and W.C. Connotations easily change over time. Idiot, imbecile, and moron were once neutral terms for a person of toddler, preschool, and primary school mental ages, respectively. As with Greshams law (1566), negative connotations tend to crowd out neutral ones, so the word mentally retarded was pressed into service to replace them. As a result, new terms like mentally challenged or special have replaced retarded. A similar progression occurred with Lame à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ crippled à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ handicapped à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ disabled à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ differently-abled. Although in that case the meaning has also broadened (and hence has been narrowed with adjectives, which themselves have been euphemised); a dyslexic or colorblind person would not be termed crippled. In the early 1960s, Bill Veek, who was missing part of a leg, argued against the then-favored euphemism handicapped, saying he preferred rippled because it was merely descriptive and did not carry connotations of limiting ones capability the way handicapped (and all of its subsequent euphemisms) seemed to do. It can apply to naming of racial or ethnic groups as well, when proposed euphemisms become successively corrupted. George Carlin (Propaganda Critic: Word games à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ º Euphemisms, September 2002) gave a famous monologue of how he thought euphemisms can undermine appropriate attitudes towards serious issues such as the evolving terms describing the medical problem of the cumulative mental trauma of soldiers in high stress situations: Shell shock (World War I) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ battle fatigue (World War II) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Operational exhaustion (Korean War) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Vietnam War). He contended that, as the name of the condition became more complicated and seemingly arcane, sufferers of this condition have been taken less seriously as people with a serious illness, and were given poorer treatment as a result. In the same routine, he echoed Bill Veeks opinion that crippled was a perfectly valid term (and noted that early English translations of the Bible seemed to have no qualms about saying that Jesus healed the cripples). 3- Classification of euphemisms. (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, February2007) Many euphemisms fall into one or more of these categories: à ¢- ª Terms of foreign and/or technical origin (derrià ¨re, copulation, perspire, urinate, security breach, mierda de toro, prophylactic, feces occur ) à ¢- ª Abbreviations (SOB for son of a bitch, BS for bullshit, TS for tough shit, SOL for shit out of luck, BFD for big fucking deal) à ¢- ª Abbreviations using a phonetic alphabet (Charlie Foxtort for Cluster fuck, Whisky Tango Foxtort Oscar for What the fuck, over?, Bravo Sierra for bullshit) à ¢- ª Plays on abbreviations (barbecue sauce for bull shit, sugar honey ice tea for shit, Maryland farmer for motherfucker, catch (or see) you next Tuesday for cunt) à ¢- ª Use in most clinical settings (PITA PT for pain in the ass patient) à ¢- ª Indirections (behind, unmentionables, privates, live together, go to the bathroom, sleep together) à ¢- ª Mispronunciation (goldarnit, dadgummit, freaking) à ¢- ªLitotes (not exactly thin for fat, not completely truthful for lied, not unlike cheating for cheating) à ¢- ª Changing nouns to modifiers (makes her look slutty for is a slut, right-wing element for right-wing, of jewish persuasion for jew). There is some disagreement over whether certain terms are or are not euphemisms. For example, sometimes the phrase visually impaired is labeled as a politically correct euphemism for blind. However, visual impairment can be a broader term, including, for example, people who have partial sight in one eye, a group that would be excluded by the word blind. There are three antonyms of euphemism: dysphemism, cacophemism, and power word. The first can be either offensive or merely humorously deprecating with the second one generally used more often in the sense of something deliberately offensive. The last is used mainly in arguments to make a point seem more correct. 4-The evolution of euphemisms. Euphemisms may be formed in a number of ways. (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, February 2007) Periphrasis or circumlocution is one of the most common-to speak around a given word, implying it without saying it. Over time, circumlocutions become recognized as established euphemisms for particular words or ideas. To alter the pronunciation or spelling of a taboo word (such as a swear word) to form a euphemism is known as taboo deformation. There are an astonishing number of taboo deformations in English, of which many refer to the infamous four-letter words. In American English, words which are unacceptable on television, such as fuck, may be represented by deformations such as freak even in childrens cartoons. Some examples of Cockney rhyming slang may serve the same purpose-to call a person a berk sounds less offensive than to call him a cunt, though berk is short for Berkeley Hunt which rhymes with cunt. Bureaucracies such as the military and large corporations frequently spawn euphemisms of a more deliberate (and to some, more sinister) nature. Organizations coin doublespeak expressions to describe objectionable actions in terms that seem neutral or inoffensive. For example, a term used in the past for contamination by radioactive isotopes is Sunshine Units. Military organizations frequently do kill people, sometimes deliberately and sometimes by mistake; in doublespeak, the first may be called neutralizing the target and the second collateral damage. Violent destruction of non-state enemies may be referred to as pacification. Two common terms when a soldier is accidentally killed (buys the farm) by their own side are friendly fire or blue on blue (BOBbing) (Buy the farm has its own interesting history). Execution is an established euphemism referring to the act of putting a person to death, with or without judicial process. It originally referred to the execution, i.e. the carrying out, 3f a death warrant, which is an authorization to a sheriff, prison warden, or other official to put a named person to death. In legal usage, execution can still refer to the carrying out of other types of orders; for example, in U.S. legal usage, a writ of execution is a direction to enforce a civil money judgment by seizing property. Likewise, lethal injection itself may 3e considered a euphemism for putting the convict to death by poisoning. Industrial unpleasantness such as pollution may be toned down to outgassing or runoff- descriptions of physical processes rather than their damaging consequences. Some of this may simply be the application of precise technical terminology in the place of popular usage, but beyond precision, the advantage of technical terminology may be its lack of emotional undertones, the disadvantage being the lack of real-life context. 5-Euphemisms for the profane. (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, February 2007) Profane words and expressions in the English language are generally taken from three areas: religion, excretion, and sex. While profanities themselves have been around for centuries, their limited use in public and by the media has only slowly become socially acceptable, and there are still many expressions which cannot be used in polite conversation. The common marker of acceptability would appear to be use on prime-time television or in the presence of children. The word damn (and most other religious profanity in the English language) has lost its shock value, and as a consequence, euphemisms for it (e.g. dang, darn-it) have taken on a very stodgy feeling. Excretory profanity such as piss and shit may be acceptable in adult conversation (provided that they are used in a literal sense rather than a figurative sense), while euphemisms like Number One and Number Two are preferred for use with children. Most sexual terms and expressions, even technical ones, either remain unacceptable for general use or have undergone radical rehabilitation (penis and vagina, for instance). a- Religious euphemisms Euphemisms for God and Jesus are used by Christians to avoid taking the name of God in a vain oath, which would violate one of the Ten Commandments. When praying, Jews will typically use the word Adonai (my master). However, when in a colloquial setting, this is deemed inappropriate, and so typically one replaces the word Adonai with the word HaShem, which literally means, The Name. It is notable that Adonai is itself a word that refers to the Jewish Gods name, but is not the name itself. Traditionally, Jews have seen the name of God as ineffable and thus one that must not be spoken. Even in English, some religious Jews will write God as G-d, in imitation of most Hebrew writing which does not include vowels. Because of this, the name of God in ancient Hebrew writings is transliterated as JHVH, YHVH, or YHWH, the four letters collectively known as the tetragrammaton. The vowels of Gods spoken name are therefore unknown, though such pronunciations as Yahweh and Jehovah are common guess es. Euphemisms for hell, damnation, and the devil, on the other hand, are often used to avoid invoking the power of the adversary. b- Excretory euphemisms While urinate and defecate are not euphemisms, they are used almost exclusively in a clinical sense. The basic Anglo-Saxon words for these functions, piss and shit, are considered vulgarities, despite the use of piss in the King James Bible (in Isaiah 36:12 and elsewhere). The word manure, referring to animal feces used as fertilizer for plants, literally means worked with the hands, alluding to the mixing of manure with earth. Several zoos market the byproduct of elephants and other large herbivores as Zoo Doo or Zoopoop, and there is a brand of chicken manure available in garden stores under the name Cock-a-Doodle Doo. Similarly, the string of letters BS, or the word bull, often replaces the word bullshit in polite society. There are any numbers of lengthier periphrases for excretion used to excuse oneself from company, such as to powder ones nose or to see a man about a horse (or dog). Slang expressions which are neither particularly euphemistic nor dysphemistic, such as take a leak, form a separate category. c- Sexual euphemisms The Latin term pudendum and the Greek term ÃŽÂ ±ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¹ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ´ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¿ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¯ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¿ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ½ (aidoion) for the genitals literally mean shameful thing. Groin and crotch refer to a larger region of the body, but are euphemistic when used to refer to the genitals. Euphemisms are more common in reference to sexual practices or orientations, particularly non-heterosexual ones, as shown in this quote from the UK version of Queer as Folk, which includes both euphemisms and dysphemisms regarding male homosexuality: Because Im queer, Im gay, Im homosexual, Im a poof, Im a poofter, Im a ponce, Im a bum boy, batty boy, backside artist, bugger, Im bent, I am that arse bandit, I lift those shirts, Im a faggot-arsed, fudgepackin, shitstabbin uphill gardener. I dine at the downstairs restaurant, I dance at the other end of the ballroom, Im Moses and the parting of the red cheeks. I fuck and am fucked, I suck and am sucked, I rim them and wank them, and every single man has had the fucking time of his life, and Im not a pervert. Virtually all other sexual terms are still considered profane and unacceptable for use even in a euphemistic sense. d- Euphemisms referring to profanity itself In the French and Spanish language, words that mean swear word are used as exclamations in lieu of an actual swear word. The Spanish word maldicià ³n, literally meaning curse word, is occasionally used as an interjection of lament or anger, to replace any of several Spanish profanities that would otherwise be used in that same context. In French (especially Canadian French), the word sacre, meaning religious profanity, is sometimes used as a substitute for an actual religious profanity (most commonly sacrament). 6-Euphemisms for death. (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, February 2007; Dead and Buried: Death Euphemisms, March 2007) The English language contains numerous euphemisms related to dying, death, burial, and the people and places which deal with death. The practice of using euphemisms for death is likely to have originated with the magical belief that to speak the word death was to invite death; where to draw Deaths attention is the ultimate bad fortune-a common theory holds that death is a taboo subject in most English-speaking cultures for precisely this reason. It may be said that one is not dying, but fading quickly because the end is near. People who have died are referred to as having passed away or passed or departed. Deceased is a euphemism for dead, and sometimes the deceased is said to have gone to a better place, but this is used primarily among the religious with a concept of Heaven. There are many euphemisms for the dead body, some polite and some profane, as well as dysphemisms such as worm food, or dead meat. The corpse was once referred to as the shroud (or house or tenement) of clay, a nd modern funerary workers use terms such as the loved one (title of a novel about Hollywood undertakers by Evelyn Waugh) or the dearly departed. (They themselves have given up the euphemism funeral director for grief therapist, and hold arrangement conferences with relatives.) Among themselves, mortuary technicians often refer to the corpse as the client. A recently dead person may be referred to as the late John Doe. The terms cemetery for graveyard and undertaking for burial are so well-established that most people do not even recognize them as euphemisms. Contemporary euphemisms and dysphemisms for death tend to be quite colorful, and someone who has died is said to have passed away, passed on, checked out, bit the big one, kicked the bucket, bitten the dust, bought the farm, cashed in their chips, croaked, given up the ghost (originally a more respectful term, cf. the death of Jesus as translated in the King James Version of the Bible Mark 15:37), gone south, shuffled off this mortal coil (from William Shakespeares Hamlet), or assumed room temperature. When buried, they may be said to be pushing up daisies or sleeping the big sleep or taking a dirt nap or six feet under. There are hundreds of such expressions in use. (Old Burma-Shave jingle: If daisies are your favorite flower, keep pushin up those miles per hour!). Euthanasia also attracts euphemisms. One may put one out of ones misery, put one to sleep, or have one put down, the latter two phrases being used primarily with non-humans. There are a few euphemisms for killing which are neither respectful nor playful, but rather clinical and detached. Some examples of this type are terminate, wet work, to take care of one or to take them for a ride, to do them in, to off, frag, smoke, whack or waste someone. To cut loose (from U.S. Sgt. Masseys account of activities during the American occupation of Iraq) or open up on someone, means to shoot at with every available weapon. To terminate with [extreme] prejudice originally meant to end ones employment without possibility of rehire (as opposed to lay off, where the person can expect rehire if business picks up), but now the term usually means kill. Often (though not always) an adjective is added for emphasis. In the movie Apocalypse Now, Captain Willard is told to terminate Colonel Kurtzs commission with extreme prejudice. The Dead Parrot Sketch from Monty Pythons Flying Circus contains an extensive list of euphemisms for death, referring to the deceased parrot that the character played by John Cleese purchases (the sketch has led to another euphemism for death: pining for the fjords, although in the sketch it was used by the shop owner to mean the parrot was not dead, but was merely quiet and contemplative). A similar passage occurs near the beginning of The Twelve Chairs, where Bezenchuk, the undertaker, astonishes Vorobyaninov with his classification of people by the euphemisms used to speak of their deaths. Also a scene in the film Patch Adams features Patch (Robin Williams) dressed in an angel costume, reading out various synonyms and euphemisms for the phrase to die to a man dying of cancer. This evolves into a contest between the two men to see who can come up with more, and better, euphemisms, ending when Patch comes up with and if we bury you ass up, well have a place to park my bike. 7- Euphemism in politics (Doublespeak) What, distinguishes doublespeak from other euphemisms is its deliberate usage by governmental, military, or corporate institutions. Doublespeak is in turn distinguished from jargon in that doublespeak attempts to confuse and conceal the truth, while jargon often provides greater precision to those that understand it (while potentially confusing those who do not). An example of the distinction is the use by the military of the word casualties instead of deaths-what may appear to be an attempt to hide the fact that people have been killed is actually a precise way of saying personnel who have been rendered incapable of fighting whether by being killed, being badly wounded, being captured in battle, being psychologically damaged, being incapacitated by disease, being rendered ineffective by having essential equipment destroyed, or having been disabled in any other way. Casualties is used instead of deaths, not for propagandists or reasons of squeamishness, but because most casualties ar e not dead, yet nevertheless useless for waging war. This type of euphemism may be found often in policy debate, such as the use of affordable to mean subsidized or the use of homeland for United States. (Lutz, 1987. Doublespeak: From Revenue Enhancement to Terminal Living. How government, business, advertisers, and others use language to deceive you. New York). Common examples WORD EUPHEMISM janitor custodian custodian building engineer crippled disabled disabled physically challenged retarded Mentally challenged retarded special, exceptional used second-hand Second-hand pre-owned victim survivor Died, dead passed away, passed Old person senior citizen, senior problem challenge problem issue product solution Illegal drugs illegal substances addiction substance abuse beggar panhandler panhandler the homeless (http://www.nyu.edu/classes/copyXediting/euphemisms.html)

Luxury Brand Is An Illusion Cultural Studies Essay

Luxury Brand Is An Illusion Cultural Studies Essay What is a luxury fashion brand? To understand the luxury we have to have a taste for it. Hallmark of the taste re ­sts in sensitivity, from feelings. Every one has a different taste, but it is indispensable for eve ­ryone. Someone has a taste of luxury, and he can not afford to buy cheap thinks. Luxury brands work on an equal basis. We are not born with the right taste as well as there are no born masters in the right taste for fashion. Perfect luxury fashion brand consist of many ele ­ments, as a result of harmony. People wear different brands to express their personal style but also social and class relationships. Luxury brand can help them to be on higher social level, but is it true? Someone can buy one luxury model and to imersonate for rich people in the upper class. A lot of people can buy a Louis Vuitton bag, because it is the Louis Vuitton bag. They do not buy it, because of the quality. These people buy it because of the brand. But it everything depends on the taste, someone will buy the bag because of the quality, another one, because of the brand. The purpose of this dissertation is to clarify the identity and advertisement of the brands and to find out how they make the luxury illusion. The thesis traces the basic growth of the luxury. It depicts not only the growth of the luxury, but mainly the luxury fashion brands as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dolce Gabbana and Chanel. Their brand image, advertisement and placement in the luxury world. Buying the luxury products can represent that less people use to buy luxury products comparing to products concerning the physiologic needs. Paradoxically, the luxury products have become the property of the general public. Every star has a connection with monogram LV. Why this or the other luxury brands change the world? Why everyone want to be stigmatizing by the logo LV? To own the luxury Vuitton bag is a dream of a lot of women. It can be fetisch, prestige, snobbery, fashion, lust for luxury, quality or just not to be different from the other world. Vuitton is the McDonalds of the luxury industry, says Dana Thomas The logo LV is known worldwide as the logo of McDonald ´s. 2. The concept of luxury What is the definition of luxury? The perception of luxury is relative. People from various cultures can define luxury differently. The role of the luxury has been important from the beginning of civilisation as it is in modern society. Earlier, the usage of luxury was confined to the elite classes. The meaning of luxury was pretty clear. The elite classes could be defined as luxury, whatever the poor. Nowdays, it is often interpreting luxury as a phenomenon structured by rivalry for social position and social rivality. Therefor the luxury for some people may be ordinary for othrers. Luxury evokes feelings of uniqueness and exclusivity, and is characterised by products of high quality, controlled distribution and premium pricing (Okonkwo, 2009). Luxury can be also defined by something expensive and extravagant. According to Tungate (2009) theluxury can be a basic human need. People want to taste the luxury. The luxury brand endeavour to connect contrary requirements: to continue with tradition and innovation, to be authentic and at the same time to be modern. The emphasis is placed on dynamic development of the brands and primary demand for renovation and creativity. Luxury brands play an everyday role in our live. But if the luxury good can be found everywhere it loses its exclusivity and becomes ordinary. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾The current definition of a brand has however evolved from marks, names, logos and shapes to elaborate marketing development and strategies. The result is the creation of something powerful and consistent, which has the ability to produce emotional and psychological attachment with consumers and financial value for the brand owner. (Okonkwo, 2007:9) The luxury fashion brand is created by marketing communication, an excellent quality of the product and fashionability. Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci and Dolce Gabbana are very well established and succesful luxury brands.The primacies between luxuries keep the Louis Vuitton form the beggining of origin, without questions. Brand image Brand concept/identity We are what we buy, so for some of us fashion is way to express identity. Hancock, 2009 Okonkwo (2009) proposes that the brand can not be created only by name. In implication the branding concept depend on customers their feelings and perceptions from different messages from each brand. She also introduced that the brand concept and name are the main elements of the identity. The concept could be inconquerable and catchy for customers. The traditional brand concept should be always related to logo, sign or label for physical differentiation. Okonkwo defined luxury fashion brand as brand strenght, differentation, exclusivity, innovation, product craftmanship and precision, premium pricing and high quality. Brand concept and image is essentially how the consumers perceive the brand identity. The brand image is an important for consumers, how they feel about a company. Two men and one vision If Cinderella ever needed to replace her fairy godmother, she would call Dolce Gabbana. This design team creates products that sparkle and has managed to change the staunch and uptight image of luxury fashion, making it fun and exciting for everyone. (Hancock, 2009:53) In the year 1985 Domenic Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have gone down to the fashion scene. The connection of sociable Stefan and more serious and sedulous Domenic began in 1980 when they met in the design company when they worked. Their relation full of emotion, passion and love in fashion created the key of their succes. Stefano loves colours and patterns. While Domenico loves sharp cut shapes and a perfect style. Their brand shows lifestyle of modern live on the based of tradition. Dolce Gabbana has very strong brand image. Dolce Gabbana ´s advertising campaigns have added to their controversial image. (Hancock, 2009:54) Their identity celebrates women and their sexiness, although they are homosexuals. Hancock (2009) states that the stories of this brand are intended for people who were not expected to wear the luxury fashion. It can be for unusual people who do not wear the brand, but their own image. Dolce Gabbana branding story is about taking the nontraditional fashion costumer and demonstrating how they can be stylish and sophisticated in their own way. (Hancock, 2009:53) According to Hancock, Domenico and Stefan are sometimes part of their own advertisements and campaigns as models. They want to reflect the spirit, reputation and image of the brand. Gucci Italian named Guccio Gucci had a passion for horse, from this reason he decided to establish a business with leather accesories designate for the purpose of riding horse, in 1921. While Guccio attend his passion throughout his life, his three sons aspired along something bigger and more succesful. For several years the Gucci brand became famous. The brand had a brilliant and classic identity represented with elegance and style. Until then Tom Ford became the creative director. He had a major influence of Gucci ´s succes, he radically change it from base. With Tom Fords vision Guccis image was reinvented. Ford has displayed highly sexual images through his design, fashion shows and advertising. The importance of the Gucci brand positioning is that is distinctive and has an aura of exclusivity amongst its target audience. Gucci has a wide range of products ranging from shoes, watches, jewellery, clothes, perfumes, eyewear, baby wear, home goods (including furniture, bedding and wallpaper), luggage, handbags and gifts (even including gadgets for pets). The brand identity of Gucci can include the double G symbol, the Gucci webbing the red and green pattern, the horse bit, the Gucci ´s signature, the monogram whit the double G symbol and a flower print called the Flora print. Everything from these attributes is visible in each of the collection. Gucci use different promotional strategies than for example Louis Vuitton. Gucci incorporates shocking issues in their marketing strategy to promote brand imagery, Louis Vuitton use celebrity. The image and aura of prestige surrounding Gucci gives added value to the products. This is created through advertising, innovative designers and the whole experience of buying Gucci à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾A great dress exist just for an instant maximum, until the end of the party. Fashion is all illusion. Appearance is all illusion. And this moment of perception of beauty is what matters most. But this moment goes away, it wears off. Tom Ford Louis Vuitton The history of modern luxury goes down to the foretime. In 1854 Louis Vuitton and his wife established their own company with travelling case. Louis was made famous for crafting the luggage for Napoleon. It is reason why the brand has become synonymous with luggage and in particular handbags. Louis opened his store and established Maison Louis Vuitton. Always a visionary, he invented the first flat trunk, a model that was ingenious, elegant, and strong the first modern luggage. Travelling took on a luxurious attribute. A legend was born. (Pasols, 2007:51) The succes of this brand became immediatelly. (Pasols, 2007:54) Nowdays, the handbags and suitcase Louis Vuitton are rhe symbols of social situation over the world. LV monogram design can be considered as the first brand on the product. It was developed in 1896 to prevent from falsification. Nevertheless Louis Vuitton is the most counterfeit brand in the fashion history. This company carefully cultivates celebrities and had used famous models and actresses in their campaigns. LV has a strong support of brand images. Last ten years was very succesful for Louis Vuitton mainly because of Marc Jacobs, the creative director from 1997. The charismatic designer assumed by simplicity and colour scheme. The principal leather goods lines of Louis Vuitton are: the Monogram line, a historical canvas created in 1896, also available in Monogram vernis, mini, satin, multico and denim; the Damier line in three colours, ebony, blue azur and the Damier Graphite line for men, launched in 2008; the Cuir Epi line, offered in nine colours, the TaÃÆ' ¯ga line for men in four colours (LouisVuitton.com, 2010) The symbol of Louis Vuitton is the monogram that appears on each of the products of Louis Vuitton provides. This symbol has an international success and represents the key symbol of the brand. One point that influences the reputation of LV is their communication and marketing strategy. Louis Vuitton does not use TV and radio to communicate. They publish commercials in fashion magazines, but not in the public places. Chanel Nothing is more beautiful than freedom of the body. (Bott, 2007:28) Emancipated liberal but also angry and egocentric Frenchwoman delivers woman ´s body from corset. Coco Chanel has enforced princip of elegance and simplicity. In 1909 Coco opened her first hatter ´s in Paris. From 1913 she started to produce also fashion and opened fashion houses firstly in spa centers. In 1919 has founded her own butique in Deauville and Biarritz with the financial help of Arthur Capel. The butique is still there. Coco has enriched the fashion world. Chanel ´s iconic symbols are Chanel No. 5, jewelry, and of cource the black dress. The fashion icon Chanel died in 1971, fortunately, her brothers adopted the brand and they have kept the great reputation of Chanel. Succesfull fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld is the creative director from 1983. Lagerfeld has observed the stylish elegance and unconvential themes of famous Coco Chanel. The monogram double C has been still the most famous brand of haute couture. The timeless Chanel brand is a perfect illustration of the house ´s determination and talent for  ´suprising without shocking ´. (Bott,2007:7) Promotion, place of distribution Promotion plays an important role in communicationin luxury fashion idustry. Understandably, one of the main indicators of promotion is advertising. Advertising communicate via message of the brand. Promotion has an enormous influence to costumers, through the images, colourful composition, design and atmosphere of the campaigns and even the store and architecture connected with the luxury brand. Okonkwo, 144 The advertisement of luxury fashion brands is placed mainly in fashion and lifestyle magazines, because of there are the target audience. The stores are also very important for promotion. Stores of these luxury brands are located on expensive high street locations. For example the window of Gucci ´s store portrait a provocative images. But the interior of every luxury fashion brand have a free flow layout as its visually appealing and allows consumers to browse comfortably. Everything including dà ©cor is rich and classic to add to the atmosphere of the store. The sleslaidies are often dressed all in black and ready to assist consumers in any way. Even the security guard is suitably dressed to add to the image. Advertisement Advertisement is all around us. It becomes a strange in marketing communication, psychology and design. It can be a key method in building of identity of luxury brands. It helps to create the illusion of luxury. Design should be about creating the advertisement or campaign with a purpose. In addition, the advertisements of luxury brands are means of communicating the brands ´story, starting from their history and development to their personality and image, products and service (Okonkwo, 2007:145) SEX SELLS Sexual context and provocative pose are in the advertisement for everything nowdays. From parfumes and underwear up to food. But nobody take exception to this. Sex in the advertisement occuring the media. Costumers want to see this. In every fashion magazines is at least one sexy advertisement. The fashion adverts in fashion, or lifestyle magazines are given mainly for woman. These fashion campaigns do not degrade woman as an object for men ´s pleasure.The fashion industry wants to captivate. This kind of advertisement can be shocking, but not original. Dolce Gabbana ´s campaigns go hand in hand with their image. Advertising must reflect a company ´s capability to convey strong brand images to the global market. (Hancock, 2009:65) The controversial campaigns are the key of their succes. Their campaigns tell a story with an Italian character, sensual and unique style. The main illusion of any luxury brand creates the image of various campaigns. The photographer has an enormous influence on the branding process. (Tungate, 2008:103) The photographers create the image that brings the brand to life. (Tungate, 2008:105) Stephen Klein photographed spring campaign for Dolce Gabbana in 2008. The luxury products are defined by the quality and uniquenees. Photos and advertisement from the campaigns could have the quality and uniqueness as well as the products. Steven Klein ´s pictures are original, unrepeatable and unique as Dolce Gabbana. What is the real signification of his work? He is almost perfect master in coloured interpretation of pistures and light moods, dark, erotic, surreal and visual aesthetics. All of these images have an atmosphere and feelings. Klein ´s specialisation of his work can be focused mainly on the colours. The colourful representation of Klein ´s pictures is the one part which makes it perfect. Colorful precision create every detail and tone for the final view. All of these details and tones have their own reason. Most of the campaigns photographed by him make the dramatical colorful impression. Light as the most important component for creating of the photographic image, is one of the fundamental parts for the author ´s handwritten. Play of lights and shadows make the campaign clear and readable. The other significant part for creating of the photographic image is undoubtedly the composition. Particular components create the composition. Campaign for Dolce Gabbana 2004 can be the clear example of the perfect composition. The whole gathering of people and object has never been accidental, rather on the contrary. The composition is very specificly elaborated from the beginning. For viewer the picture is clearly arranged across a lot of components. At the photography are ten people in the space of an attic apartment with various objects. The coloured carpet, pictures on the wall, lamps, books and magazines. Despite of the image is synoptical. In the left part of photography is a man standing next to the window. Later became visible his violent yellow shoes, which is given to the space by view through underneath the table. On the table is another man standing, this time with blue shoes. The blue is given to the space in the composition again. Girls on the sofa have their legs m atted together. Therefor their figures are not deformed. The girl in front of the image is outstanding mainly because of the colourful shoes, which she wears. All of the images and people from the photography sophisticetely look out and the models do not appeal brokenly. The feeling from this campaign can be random people just accidentally met there. The women from Klein ´s photographs have enormous long legs, their countenance is lost in dreams and stress the clothes. The women ´s body is exponentiated by motion. Their gesture should express a specific dynamism and earnestness. The models are often captured in a motion of walk, moving of their hands, or beckward bend. Backswept create an excelent effect the position can be very unnatural, but the issue is more interesting. In Dolce Gabbana 2006 campaign Klein use the powerful motion. The image applies dynamism, however not dramatically. The detail was seeting to model ´s hands, concretely their fingers. It adds the appropriate elegance. The persons are mutually affected and tell a story by this. According to Hancock (2009) each of the ads is a story that increases the brand ´s mysterious image. Hancock also proposes that their campaigns are almost cinematic. Steven Klein as well as Dolce Gabbana has found an inspiration in some celebrities in between we can include Maddona. The woman of a lot of faces, already the whole world admires, has always wanted to be an idol of women and men. Nowdays, Madonna indicates a trend not only in music, but also in fashion and style. And she is inspiration for others. It was a good step to use Madonna as an icon for their campaigns. Madonna created a perfect illusion for the brand in the new campaign 2010. The images should showcase an intimate, real aspect to the ultimate icons life.   She was interprated as a typical Italian, maybe perfect woman, wife and mother. Woman want to be like her, in spite of that it is not real. The whole campaign radiates an energy, Italian temperament and strain. Maddona was portrayed during everydays situation shopping, washing dishes, and other housework. But openely, is it real Madonna? No, it is just the perfect illusion of the new campaign. Another luxury fashion brand with very sexual advertisement is Gucci. Tom Ford started in 1990 as a designer for Gucci. After four years he became the creative director and he had a responsibility about all of the product lines fashion, perfumes, the brand image, advertising and campaigns and even design of shops. Gucci creates controversial advertising such as the promotion of Opium perfume with a naked photo of Sophie Dahl. This caused uproar in Britain and was banned by the advertising standards, as it accounted for a third of all complaints about poster adverts. However this campaign managed to win advertising awards throughout Europe. Gucci under the direction of Tom Ford had a several scandals campaigns. Really good example of the shocking sexual and scandal campaign was spring/summer 2003; model Carmen Kass and logo Gucci in the place where it would not be. She is  pulling down her knickers and showing off body hair shaved into the letter G. This campaign was photographed by Mario Testino. We can give him a name: realism of luxury. He is known for his highly sophisticated, stylish, clear and fresh images; sometimes he used exotical or sexual undertone photos. But he always shock people by his controversial eyeview on the world. Testino shoted more campaigns for Gucci, but the G is the most memorable. Supermodels and sexuality sells Mario Testino worked also for Dolce Gabbana ´s, he shoted the campaign Fragrance. Models from the campaign represent a personality attached to the fragrance. For example Naomi Campbell should represent the star, while Claudia Schiffer should figure the dreamer and Eva Herzigova with Fernando Fernandes figured the players. The other significant photographer for Gucci is Terry Richardson. Richardson ´s lurid, funny, blatantly sexual pictures famously shot on an old Instamatic continue to provoke controversy today. Tungate, 107 Terry was drug addict and punk. Only these facts can be controversial in the contrast with the shiny luxury world. This man likes to take photos of nude models. It is Terry Richardson; he brought a shock, pornography, confrontation, energy and roughness to the fashion photography. The very nude woman wears nothing, just the product, placed between her legs. His images are perverse as this campaiign for Gucci ´s fregnance. Gucci campaign spring 2010 is all customary a part of a coherent themed. The pictures were probably taken in the same environment with the same overall expression. The environment, bright colours and lightening is confusing. It is not absolutely clear what time of the day is. The lightness is focused on models than the rest of the image. It may be an early morning after party, because the models are dressed for occation. Everything from these images has an element of luxury. The campaign is provocative a s most of Gucci ´s adverts. The long legs, sexy pose and dress is lifestyle and glamour as Gucci. CELEBRITIES According to Okonkwo (2007), celebrities play very important role in luxury fashion sector. These icons must be famous around the world, they have to be the best and talented in their field of producing, the personality of the celebrities must reflect the brand and of cource they should look beautiful almost everytime. Therefore the celebrity must not disguise the brand. The brands used the celebrities to make the brand communicating through their message. The icons show a connection with brand and people want to be like them. Other personality attributes that the celebrity may have such as glamour, beauty, talent and style will also be ultimately linked with the brand. (Okonkwo, 2007:160) The brand shows the connection between the celebrities and brand. The gorgeous people in the magazines and on television unconsciously speak to you, telling you that their lifestyle and material possessions like their clothes and accesories can also make you beautiful and help you become a part of their world. (Okonkwo, 2007:7) Louis Vuitton fall/winter campaign 2002 2003 called Faity Tale figured Eva Herzigova as Cinderella. Photographers of this campaign were Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. (Pasols, 2007:380) The big companies often use big celebrities into their campaigns. When they also used a big photographer for their advertisement, the succes must be guaranteed. Louis Vuitton is not exception. For a few years the famous photographer Annie Liebovitz creates visuals for LV. She has already externalized the actor Catherine Deneve, politics Michaela GorbaÄ ov or the famous tennis couple Steffi Graf and Andrà © Agassi. The face of their campaign in 2008 was also guitarist of Rolling Stones Keith Richards. He looks like timeless man with a wild live. Simultaneously, he is still on the roads, almost an ideal icon. Annie Liebovitz was able to catch the emotion and story in this camapign. The campaign was devoted to trevelling. It should display a way over self knowledge. Jennifer Lopez, Kate Moss, Scarlett Johansson, Diane Kruger, and Uma Thurman have all embodied the Louis Vuitton woman: desirable, elusive, changeable, and elegant, according to fashion and season. (Pasols, 2007:380) Madonna is an icon, so it is clear that she appeard also in Louis Vuitton campaign in 2008. The campaign has an excelent atmosphere as all of the Vuitton ´s campaigns. The atmosphere is like from the old french movie. The smoky bistro, the luxury handbag and a beautiful woman in mini and hight heels it is the other presentation of one of the richnes singer in the world, entirely for different luxury brand. Famous fashion photographer Steven Meisel shoted this pictures. Steven Meisel can be known as a genious of fashion photography. Consequently it is not an accident that he photographed campaigns for Louis Vuitton. The new campaign of LV 2010 was also shoted by this genious. It can looks like the era of celebrities in fashion campaigns is over. Only DolceGabanna used Madonna for their 2010 campaign. However, the other luxury fashion brands went back to the charm of supermodels. Christy Turlington, Karen Elson and Natalia Vodianova are the new faces of LV campaign. Meisel shoted this campaign in atelior in New York. They wanted to show a beauty of women ´s body, diversity and more adult aesthetics. It can be paradoxial that the most influental and luxury brand Louis Vuitton introduced an advertisement, which was consequentlly forbidden. According to Advertising Standard Authority in UK the advertisement could bring the costumers in mistake. The customers could think that all of the Louis Vuitton products are hand made. While, in fact the bags were made on the sewings machines. These ads were made by Oglivy and Mather. There was figured a woman stitching the handle of a handbag, or a woman creating the folds of a wallet. It could look that the women made the handbag by hand, but it was not true. As well as Louis Vuitton, the other luxury brand use celebrity for their campaigns Chanel. Although they have similar marketing strategy many celebrities and supermodels, Chanel is more clasic in the producing of its brand. From the nativity of perfume Chanel no. 5 it became the most famous and the most selling perfume over the world. This famous perfume has everything what is typical for Chanel femininity, courageousness, fashionableness, black and white. However, today it is not just a perfume, it is much more. Chanel No. 5 is part of our collective counsciousness, it represent a legend and exteriorize of luxury. In the new advertising spot actor Audreu Tatou became a sixth muse of Chanel No. 5. She goes in the steps of Vicky Hilbert, Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet, Estelly Warren or Nicole Kidman. Audreu Tatou represents a woman with free and equal mind. She can do what she want, to travel by herself in luxury night train. This spot has an atmosphere of luxury. It is story about man and women, libidinous met in the train.They attract together Chanel No. 5 is killing. In the new campaign for Chanel lighted up the British singer Lilly Allen. Lilly has considered as a muse of Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of Chanel for a long time, but now she became the icon of Chanel. Karl Lagerfeld photographed this campaign by himself. The campaign is elegant and clasic, black and white, yet the campaign can feel very playful. As I mentioned before, Chanel does not need shock. Therefore Chanel does not produce only classic and elegant advertisement Kate Moss wear only long beads with cap in one of their campaigns. Kate Moss is known for her acces to drugs. In spite of this, she is an icon for pretty much luxury brand. Conclusion This dissertation has aimed to provide a basis explaining of the luxury fashion brands, and the illusion which the luxury create. We buy the luxury fashion as a demonstration of our social situation and desire for recognition. Fashion is a symbol of society. It is probably a tool for satisfaction of our sences. The luxury brands could create the illusion by helps of their tradition. Surely, brands as Louis Vuitton, or Gucci have the aura of luxury deservedly. But sincerely, vast majority of the costumers buy product of this brand on the score of the brand. Luxury fashion is not just about the most faked brands. (Okonkwo, 2007:238) says that definition of luxury can be also a dream for someone. To buy a luxury brand is a way to obtain status and enhance the self, satisfying ego needs. A necessity for consumers buying luxury can be that the products brand image is concurrent with their own self-image. The fashion status and aura of exclusivity is of primary concern to these exclusive luxury brands. The advertisement and campaigns help the brands create the illusion. The advertisement has an enormous influence for people. In the advert are beautiful women, or men, celebrities or icons. It is the dream in hidden reality. And if we talked about luxury fashion brands, the dream is bigger. People want to live in dream as the people from images. It is evident that for example Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Chanel use different promotional strategies. For instance Gucci as well as Dolce Gabbana incorporates controversial and even shocking, sexual issues into their marketing strategy to promote their brand imagery. On the other hand Louis Vuitton use celebrity as their promotion, whereas Chanel especially try to concentrates on the classic and elegant style as mention of history and tradition of this brand. Every brand bring different dream, but it is still dream or illusion. Wheter the luxury brands have a perfect quality, tradition and exlusivity or not, they create the illusion. Ilussion for people who feel better, more luxurious or highly sociable owing to the brand. But maybe why not? Illusion can make the people feel better.

The Theme of Hopkins Sonnet, The Windhover Essay -- Sonnet Essays

The Theme of Hopkins' Sonnet, The Windhover "'The Windhover' is one of the most discussed, and it would seem least understood, poems of modern English literature." These opening words of a Hopkins' critic forewarn the reader of Hopkins' "The Windhover" that few critics agree on the meaning of this sonnet. Most critics do concur, however, that Hopkins' central theme is based on the paradoxical Christian principle of profit through sacrifice. Although most critics eventually focus on this pivotal concept, each one approaches the poem from a different analytical perspective. The various critics of Hopkins' "The Windhover" find woven throughout its diverse levels expressions of Hopkins' central theme: all toil and painful things work together for good to those who sacrificially love God. The research of Alfred Thomas provides an interesting place to begin a study of the major critical approaches to the dominant theme in "The Windhover." Thomas chooses to view the poem's theme through what he feels are its sources, citing as the major source Hopkin's life as a Jesuit. Thomas' articulation of the central paradox of the poem, then, is in the terms of the ascetic life which the Jesuit poet would have experienced: Hopkins, the priest, desires to obtain spiritual glory/gain through sacrificing a secular life for one of religious tasks. Thomas suggests that this priestly life is metaphorically pictured in two distinct manners, one in the octave the other in the sestet. Within the octave, Thomas believes that the chivalric terms suggest the first metaphorical picture-a religious man as a knight of Christ. He adds, further, that both the terminology and the picture itself have their source in the Jesuit handbook Spiritual Exercises. ... ...giving paradox of salvation history. The apostle Paul chose to explain this essential principle through the science of exposition. Hopkins, however, decided to express the hidden heart of the gospel through the art of poetry. Both men were master communicators: Christ Jesus, who being in the form of Daylight's dauphin, thought it not robbery to be equal with the King-: But emptied himself of all pride, and took upon himself to buckle to the form of a ploughman. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto galling, even the gold-vermillion death of the cross. For this reader, Hopkins has chosen the favorable mode of expression. The poetics of "The Windhover" reverberate with the resonance of the fundamental principle of the gospel: "The Windhover" represents "what oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed." Â  

Impact of the Internet on Relationships and Community During Adolescence :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

From birth, humans seek connectedness. Regular social interaction is almost as important as eating or sleeping, and is achieved through social activities and relationships with family and friends. Creating and maintaining these relationships is a process that occurs throughout an individual’s lifetime. Yet, during adolescence these interpersonal relationships start to have a particularly important function. Interactions with family and peers are vital to adolescent identity formation, and the crucial role of these relationships places additional stress on the bonds during this life stage. As Steinberg mentioned in a recent paper, â€Å"Adolescence has long been characterized as a time when individuals begin to explore and examine psychological characteristics of the self in order to discover who they really are, and how they fit in the social world in which they live†(Steinberg, 2001). The idea that adolescence is a time of â€Å"role experimentation† and a â€Å"stage of identity formation† (Erikson, 1956) has existed for decades, dating back to Erikson’s definition of the life stage: Identity vs. Role Confusion. In this stage, as the adolescent begins to be conscious of how their identity is perceived by others, a heightened level of identity awareness develops. Although Erikson’s idea of a life stage with perfect delineated boundaries is now fairly obsolete, the struggle to define one’s identity during adolescence is still very present and relevant. With the advent of the internet, the possibilities for defining the self have expanded dramatically. The youth sector latched onto this technology, using it to help ease and facilitate connections with others. Email and Instant messenging allowed people to communicate quickly in a non-confrontational fashion, and weblog communities encouraged individuals to share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions with others online. All of these methods of communication allow the individual to assume multiple identities. According to (Lenhart, 2001) almost one quarter of teens admit to pretending to be someone else over Instant messenger or email. Thus, it is undeniable that this online medium is forum where the expression of role confusion and diffusion can occur freely. But, what impact doe s this have on the formation of a single identity that is congruent with the ego? An important part of the adolescent identity formation process is the recognition that others notice the outward expression of the self, and that this outward expression must agree with others in order to fit into a social group.

1980s Essay -- essays research papers

This report is to inform you on the decade of the 1980s. People’s jobs, income, ideas, opinions changed so much from 1980 to 1989. Fewer Americans belonged to labor unions in the 1980s. In 1980 there were nearly 21 million union members; that number had declined to 17 million by 1985. The most important â€Å"aspect† of a job for the majority of Americans was a â€Å"feeling of accomplishment, beating out high pay by a better than 2 to 1 margin.† In the mid-Eighties, 88% of Americans said they were satisfied with their jobs. In spite of this, less than 40% expected to remain in their current job for more than five years. Most Americans didn't think it would be difficult to get another job. This â€Å"indicated general optimism† about the economy and the job market in the mid- and late-Eighties. In the late Forties, Americans went to the movies an average of at least twice a month, but by the 1980s, people only went to the movies an average of five times a year. About 67% of Americans attended a play or a live theater performance at least once a year, and 60% attended a concert or other musical performance. In the 1980s the majority of Americans believed sex education should be taught in public schools. 85% of people who voted were for this. That included 68% of all â€Å"born-again Christians†, 80% of Republicans, and 77% of â€Å"rural people†. One reason that people wanted sex education in schools was that Aids was causing a sense of panic among the general public. Also they felt that if sex education were not available there would be even more unwanted teenage pregnancies. A few years after the Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade, 60% of Americans supported legalized abortions. But by the 1980s that had decreased to 50%. Some Americans compared abortion with murder, and felt that the fetus should have rights. On the other hand, some feared that if abortions weren't legal, more women would die from complications with illegal abortions. But most Americans said they could support a woman's decision to have an abortion if her life or mental health were in danger, or if she had been the victim of incest or rape. And while both Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan were opposed to abortion, and Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist's â€Å"goal† was to overturn Roe v Wade, three-fourths of all Americans were convinced that abortion would never be made illegal In 1981 there were 2,422,0... ...xually transmitted diseases, AIDS in particular. Of the 11 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases reported in America in 1987, only 15,000 were AIDS, while there were 500,000 cases of herpes and 1,800,000 cases of gonorrhea. However, since AIDS was 100% fatal, it was the main concern, and by that year, 50,000 Americans had contracted it, with 73% of these being homosexual or bisexual men, 17% intravenous drug users, and 4% heterosexuals. Only 6.6% of AIDS victims were female. In 1987 there were 63,542,000 children under the age of 18 in this country. Many lived with only one parent. A decade-long National Family Violence Survey revealed that severe violence against children was declining during the 1980s. This was due to tougher penalties against abusers, and the increased likelihood that child abuse would be reported   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From 1987 to 1989 statistics showed that there was a slight change in employment rates, personal income, birth and death rates. This year was full of energy with new and exciting invention such as the car phone and better TVs and computer. Although AIDS is still a growing academic, research for finding a cure is still under way.

Admission Essay for Johns Hopkins Master in Marketing

Everything that a man wishes to happen in life comes at the right time and with a great purpose. As a promising professional in the field of Business, I aspire for higher educational opportunities which will make me more equip in the future.I want to broaden my knowledge and cultivate more of my skills so that I can land to a better and good paying job in the future. I am confident that the Master’s in marketing degree from Carey School of Business at John Hopkins University will make me another step closer to my dreams. It will enable me to meet all my goals in life and share what I have learned through service to people.My name is Amin Khayat a graduate of University of New Haven, Connecticut in 2004 with a degree in B.S in Marketing and Electronic Commerce. The vast knowledge and experience I gained from both my academic and professional life is not yet sufficient to satisfy my craving for education and success.The nature of my job is really diverse and I was astonished by the fact that there is a program   offered by John Hopkins University that will make my professional life more meaningful and productive. I have learning needs in terms of defining product strategy and road map, gathering and prioritizing product and customer requirement, compiling market data to deliver winning products, setting   product prices, pricing strategy and meeting company revenue and profitability goals.There are also analysis and understanding skills that needs to be developed on my part so that I can battle against market competition in the future and be more available for professional opportunities. A state of the art communication and marketing is greatly needed in the business world. I believe that this is also part of my primary needs which made me more motivated to attend the program at John Hopkins University.I have set career goals both in long term and short term. Securing a med level position with a firm that offers me greener pasture and chances of having more opportunities is part of my short term goal. I believe that the program is designed to make promising students like me to be more equipped in the acquisition, competence and scope of responsibility at any marketing firm. I am determined to find a job at a firm that will guide, advice, inspire and counsel me.After acquiring the right amount of experience, I will pursue my long term goals and that is to establish a firm of my own. Through hard work and dedication, I believe that nothing is impossible for me to do because all the things I will learn from the program will be maximized into full potential.I hope to rise in the corporate hierarchy and attain a level of marketing management that would enable me to use not only my undergraduate and graduate studies, but to make use of my own imagination and my creativity to contribute to the financial success of the firm that employs me. I would find a deep and intense personal and professional satisfaction and gratification from eith er of these two career paths.The MBA program of John Hopkins Carey School of Business will provide me with the adequate knowledge and skills far better than my previous academic and work experience. It is an advantage on my part to have diverse personality because I can meet different people from all walks of life.My ability to communicate in my first language, Arabic, and my second language, English, becomes evident from global communication. All these can also lead me to greater heights in my future profession. I anticipate my future with success. Through the MBA program I will meet both my needs and goals in life because this university recruits only the best and finest students.It has wide array of academic resources and competent professor who will teach me the expertise in Business marketing. I feel truly blessed to find myself free to pursue my immediate academic goals to reach my fullest potential, without undue concern about financial support.   Your school can help me ac hieve my goals of competence as a generalist and a specialist in marketing management.