Friday, September 6, 2019
Managing Change in the Workplace Essay Example for Free
Managing Change in the Workplace Essay To begin the critical analysis of how a change of event in the work place reflects upon, not only the management of the change process but also the impact that change can have upon the organisation and the quality of the service provided. Firstly it may be worth nothing the definition of ‘change’ is quoted in Webster’s English Dictionary as †¦. â€Å"Change (transitive verb) to make different, to alter; to transform; to exchange; to put fresh clothes on. (2006 p73) As a manager of a setting one’s personal experience would tell that there are many different types of ‘change’ that can arise in a private day nursery, one example has recently occurred where two qualified members of the team, who both worked together in the baby room, terminated their contract of employment within weeks of each other. This became a problem as it only gave the company four weeks to: advertise the position, interview candidates and compare them to the person specification required for the job, then upon occupying the positions the new recruits needed to learn the everyday practices and bond with the children and of course the parents, who maybe understandably concerned with the issue. Therefore the process of change has to be organised to make the transition a smooth one. However as people we exist within contradiction. On the one hand, we need stability and security to perform well but on the other hand we can become stagnant, complacent and uncreative when we shy away from change or even when we find we simply cannot cope with it. It seems that we are more interested in the process of change and what the implications of change actually are. As there is no way of predicting when change will happen, as a manager it is better to be equipped to deal with it when it does. Any manager will tell you that in the nursery world staff turnover can be high. Therefore being better equipped will also create an environment where change is a natural and exciting organic process. (Cole 2006 p.111) Consequently a manager needs to begin looking at the limitations they unconsciously place upon themselves. The greater our own understanding of how we are affected by change and how we react to it, the better prepared we will be to deal with it whether that change is by our own choice or someone elses. (Mabey and Mayon-White, 1993 p8) Before looking at change management, it is important to mention that some people thrive on change. They can not stay in one job, in one relationship or in one country for very long. They need to shake up their own status quo. They sometimes create change just for the sake of it (Cannon. 1994 p 246) This on the other hand can cause problems to other people within the setting; people are pattern-making mechanisms. In general, our systems are more comfortable with pattern and routine than with change. Once a pattern is established, the left side of our brains (the logical, analytical, pattern-making sphere) will quite happily keep marching along that path. (Veccio1988 p 34) Any type of change that occurs asks us to change a point of view and adopt a way of seeing the world that is at odds with the way we are used to seeing it, thus causing us to tap into our insecurities. We can develop a feeling of unsure-ness, a sense of not quite knowing what the is ‘right’ thing to do. There is no longer a predictable, reliable pattern to follow, and where children are concerned, parents have to deal with these insecurities and worries immediately, simply being a voice for their children. One of the challenges with ‘Change Management’ is to maintain the current business operations while the changes are being implemented. A framework needs to be created and maintained within a positive environment, this will help people accept the changes leaving them prepared and committed to assist with implementing them. Employees need to feel empowered rather than feeling they are being manipulated or coerced, and focus needs to be on the long-term goals rather than on a quick-fix to the situation.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Location Privacy in Wireless Networks
Location Privacy in Wireless Networks ARUN TEJA KANUKOLU Introduction: In the past decade we have an enormous development of different wireless technologies a lot of wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth are being implemented. With the development of wireless technologies and the convenience they provide in the aspects of space and time they are being widely used and there comes numerous security issues. A lot of work has been done in the areas of wireless network security but all of which has done only on securing the content or data that is being transferred between devices. The Location privacy has been ignored from the initial stages of development of wireless networks. If the location privacy has been ignored, the users of the wireless networks has to face serious problems. The attacker may not steal data because we use a lot of security techniques like encryption to protect the data but the user and the physical location of the user is always in danger. The attacker may take advantage of this and may threaten him physically or mentally. In order to preserve the location privacy of the user, here I propose a transactional based model in which all the send and receive operations performed from an user are not related to each other hence the location privacy is preserved. TRACKING THE USERS LOCATION: Many localization algorithms have been implemented and are in use which can be used to trace the approximate location of the user based on the packets sent and received. A users many transmissions will simply be correlated if all the transmissions come from an equivalent supply address, and therefore the aggressor will read the supply addresses from every packet. During this section, we have a tendency to demonstrate another supply of knowledge by assumptive that associate degree aggressor cannot decode a users packets, however still needs to be ready to track users around the network. For instance, a user could use sturdy coding, or the aggressor could have insufficient sophistication to create custom Hardware for packet secret writing, however will live the signal and noise levels at a spread of locations. Existing localization algorithms permit every transmission to be narrowed right down to a specific location. These individual transmissions will then be correlate using a quality model, as we have a tendency to describe below. Here I discuss some of the existing algorithms. LOCALIZATION USING RSS (received signal strength): Received signal strength is the reliable and free of cost way of tracking the user’s location. Where, PT Transmitted power calculated in dB RSS is the received signal strength in dB P(d0) is the Path loss in dBm at a distance of d0 N is the Path loss exponent There are several other ways of tracking the user location. Many of the previous researchers used the probability functions to find the location of the user. Although the exact location cannot be found using these probability models an almost approximate location can be easily found. Suppose we trace a location and there are 10 suspects, we can filter them to find the original wireless user that is being attacked. Controlling access at base stations: Since the readying of base stations has an associated price, the network operator should be stipendiary for the employment of the network. One way of achieving this results to want every licensed network node to carry a bit of secure hardware with a isosceles key shared by all network users. A network of affordable size cannot utterly believe on this mechanism to stay a determined aggressor from collaborating in the network. As a result, we have a tendency to explore techniques for confirmative that a user is a component of the network. We use blind signatures in an exceedingly manner that parallels their use in electronic cash: a legitimate user generates variety of public keys, each of that we have a tendency to decision Associate in Nursing identity. The user blinds them (so the network supplier will sign them while not seeing them), and presents them to the network supplier. The network supplier signs these keys and returns them to the user, United Nations agency unblinds them. every key signed in this manner could be a kind of certificate that proves that the identity corresponds to a legitimate user, although the actual user cannot be determined. Secured routing: In order to forestall a malicious node from disrupting routing, the ad hoc networking analysis community continues to explore secure routing protocols Any of those protocols might be slightly modied to figure inside our spec. Depending on user necessities, AN anonymous routing protocol, such as ANODR, might give additional fascinating properties. To show however wed adapt a secure routing protocol to our design, we must take into account AN on-demand routing protocol. We must allow a base station to reply to any Route Discovery; but, because there are a restricted range of base stations and their keys are easily pre-distributed, they will simply send and demonstrate RREPs. We should additionally adapt the prevailing protocols to settle on routes which will traverse a base station; in hop-by-hop routing, one technique is to own a node forward the packet to the nearer of the destination node or the nearest base station, unless the packet is distributed by a base station, in which case we tend to neer route it to a base station. once a base station receives a packet, it forwards it to the suitable base station supported the destinations geographical address. the bottom station with that the destination is associated then encapsulates the packet so forwarding nodes apprehend that the packet has already traversed the bottom station. Periodic protocols will use constant forwarding logic. UNLINKABLE WRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS: In this section I propose a transaction based model in which any send and receive functions are not co-related to each other which preserves the location privacy of the user hence our goal is accomplished. Location can only be tracked if the senders address is the same for a period of time. We create a phenomena called random silent period for a node. In that time the sender will not send any thing. The mobile node keep on changing its addresses between different transactions it performs. It can be in synchronization with the base station and mobile station. When a user starts data exchange between other node, it keep on updating the change of address for every send and receive operation and it also makes aware of the new change in address with the receiver. For this system implementation, we should make changes in everything like user registration with the base station and addressing and giving the access to the mobile users. For addressing these nodes we completely change our ip addressing scheme from ipv4 to ipv6. If we use the ipv4 addresses, they are limited in number and hence they may cause collisions. These ipv6 addresses comprised of base station addresses and a reference variable to the users identity. A legitimate user generates variety of public keys, each of that we have a tendency to decision AN identity. The user blinds them so the network supplier will sign them while not seeing them, and presents them to the network supplier. The network supplier signs these keys and returns them to the user, UN agency unblinds them. Every key signed in this method could be a certificate that proves that the identity corresponds to a legitimate user, although the actual user cant be determined. REFERENCES: http://www.comm.toronto.edu/~kostas/Publications2008/pub/proceed/133.pdf http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~wouyang/Received%20Signal%20Strength-Based%20Wireless%20Localization%20via%20Semidefinite%20Programming.pdf http://www.ee.washington.edu/research/nsl/Imote/vanderstoep_thesis.pdf http://jeroendoggen.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/ecumict2010presentation.pdf
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Online Shop Web Design
Online Shop Web Design Shop Online Web Application system, allows the customer to shop online for their required items, and also represents an associated window for the orders selected by the customer. Each Customer will be having their desired page when they login or signup into the Shop Online Web Application. The Customer can select the required items into the cart without logging into their account. But the purchase of the items in the cart has to be done using their registered account in the System using either credit or debit card, they can also cancel the payment or return the items purchased only after a detailed specification of the reason for it. The Logged In customers will be having a wish-list function so that they can put the items they wanted to buy in the wish-list and can buy later. There is one more function price checker, which intimates the customer regarding the item selected by them whenever there is a cut-off in the price of that item, but only for a few selected items. There is also a desired page for the history of items bought by the customers. The customer can maintain their account and address details. The customer also can reset their password if forgotten by getting a link to reset password to their concerned web mail. Requirements for the system are we will be using Ruby On Rails for the development, and for the web design HTML, Javascript and CSS. The Backend is managed by MySQL. The Database for the System consists of shop online development database which consist of tables for categories, products, product images, users. The Columns for the categories are id, title, weight, products_counter, created_at, updated_at, ancestry. The Columns for products are id, category_id, titile, status, amount, uuid, msrp, price, description, created_at, updated_at, lprice. The Columns for the product images are id, product_id, weight, image_file_name, image_content_type, image_file_sizee, image_updated_at, created_at, updated_at. The Columns for the users are id, email, crypted_password, created_at, updated_at,activation_state, activation_token, activation_token_expires_at, remember_me_token, remember_me_token_expires_at, reset_password_token, reset_password_token_expires_at, reset_password_email_sent_at. Entity Relationship Diagram: FIG. 1 (Relationship between the tables) In ruby on rails the web application code is divided into model, view, controller. Model represents the database access, View represents the html pages before and after access of the database, and controller represents the action to be done once the we get a request from the Web Application. Model Code: (Category) class Category < ApplicationRecord  validates :title, presence: { message: Empty name! }  validates :title, uniqueness: { message: Repeated name! }  has_ancestry orphan_strategy: :destroy  has_many :products, dependent: :destroy  before_validation :correct_ancestry  def self.grouped_data    self.roots.order(weight desc).inject([]) do |result, parent|      row = []      row { where(status: Status::On) }  module Status    On = on    Off = off  end  private  def set_default_attrs    self.uuid = RandomCode.generate_product_uuid  end end (product image): class ProductImage < ApplicationRecord  belongs_to :product  has_attached_file :image, styles: {      small: 60^x60,      middle: 200^x200,      big: 960x  }  validates_attachment_content_type :image, content_type: /Aimage/.*Z/  validates_attachment_size :image, in: 0..5.megabytes end (User): class User < ApplicationRecord  authenticates_with_sorcery!  attr_accessor :password, :password_confirmation  validates_presence_of :email, message: Email cannot be empty!  validates_format_of :email,message: Email format mistake!,                      with: /w+([-+.]w+)*@w+([-.]w+)*.w+([-.]w+)*/,                           if: proc { |user| !user.email.blank? }  validates :email, uniqueness: true  validates_presence_of :password, message: Password cannot be empty!,                        if: :need_validate_password  validates_presence_of :password_confirmation, message: Password confirm cannot be empty!,                        if: :need_validate_password  validates_confirmation_of :password,message: Password not right ,                            if: :need_validate_password  validates_length_of :password, message: Password at least 6 digits, minimum: 6,                      if: :need_validate_password  def username    self.email.split(@).first  end  private  def need_validate_password     self.new_record? || (!self.password.nil?||!self.password_confirmation.nil?)  end end Controller Code: (Category) class CategoriesController < ApplicationController  def show    @categories = Category.grouped_data    @category = Category.find(params[:id])    @products = @category.products.onshelf.page(params[:page] || 1).per_page(params[:per_page] || 12)                    .order(id desc).includes(:main_product_image)  end end (Product): class ProductsController < ApplicationController  def show    @categories = Category.grouped_data    @product = Product.find(params[:id])  end end (Session): class SessionsController < ApplicationController  def new  end  def create    if user= login(params[:email],params[:password])#loginsorcery      flash[:notice]=You have logged in!      redirect_to root_path    else      flash[:notice]=Emails or Password mistake      redirect_to new_session_path    end  end  def destroy    logout    flash[:notice]=You already logged out!    redirect_to root_path  end end (User): class UsersController < ApplicationController  def new    @user = User.new  end  def create    @user= User.new(params.require(:user).permit(:email,:password,:password_confirmation))    if @user.save      flash[:notice] = sign up successfully! Please log in      redirect_to new_session_path    else      render action: :new    end  end end (Welcome): class WelcomeController < ApplicationController  def index    @categories = Category.grouped_data    @products = Product.onshelf.page(params[:page] || 1).per_page(params[:per_page] || 12)                    .order(id desc).includes(:main_product_image)  end end
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Report On Westside Gym :: Papers
Report On Westside Gym Introduction This report will be research and development of a gym called â€Å"Westside Health & Fitness Club†. I will talk about the location of the gym, price per customer, offers, new ways to improve the gym, and research into what the customer wants. This report aims to use research and development to create innovative ideas that will set this gym apart from others in the area. Findings With regards to the location of the gym, the evidence suggests that the location is well placed, due to the easy accessibility of the facilities. It is also located next to a supermarket, so can be seen by many shoppers. Place is an essential tool of the marketing mix and if achieved a business can do extremely well for itself. Price is also an essential tool of the marketing mix. A survey showed that 81% thought that the price of the gym was fair for the quality of service that is received by the customers. The other 19% believed the price was too high but were willing to pay for the facilities. A good pricing strategy is a must for a business to succeed, too high and customers will go elsewhere for the service. Too low and the business may not make enough profit to succeed in the long term. Cost of Gym Membership: Student Rate Adult Rate Joining Fee  £40.00  £50.00 Monthly payment  £28.95  £38.95 Pay As You Go  £2.50  £5.
Australopithecus :: Informative, Anthropology
Australopithecus There are many types of the hominid called australopithecus, which means southern apes. These were small ape-like creatures(with a height between 107cm and 152cm) that showed evidence of walking upright. It is difficult to tell whether these begins are "humans" or "apes". Many of their characteristics are split between humans and apes. The many species of australopithecus include A.(australopithecus) ramidus, A. anamenesis, A. afarensis, A. africanus, A . acthiopicus, A. robustus, and A. boisei. The oldest known and identified species of australopithecus that roamed the earth was a. ramidus who lived about 4.5 million years ago. Next came A. Anamensis, A afarensis, A africanus, A. acthiopicus, a boisei and a. robustus. Ausralopithecus boisei roamed the earth as early as 1.1 million years ago and was on earth at the sametime as homo habilis and homo erectus. Most of the australopithecus fossils that have been discovered have been found in eastern africa and have been dated between 4.5 million and 1.1 million years old. There has also been evidence that the australopithecus "man" lived in australia where fossils have also been found. The first discovery of an australopithecus fossil was made in 1924. The body of the australopithecus is smaller than humans, but biffer than chimpanzees. Also, The brain size of australopithecus is bigger than humans at about 475 cubic centimeters. This is also biffer than the chipanzees, but the brains were not developed in most areas. For example speech. The australopithecus species all had mostly the same features with a low forehead, a "bony ridge"over the eyes, a
Monday, September 2, 2019
Project Management Institute Essay
The main motive of the Project Management Institute is to make the project management indispensable for the generation of the ultimate business results. PMI functions in over 170 countries having members more than 265000 at their advantage, thus making it as a leading membership association for the profession of project management. It is one among the best not-for-profit and non-political organization which conducts programs with the governments, industries and organizations to deliver the best project management programs with the best results. PMI education foundation speaks on the knowledge gaining and portraying the skills and the art for educational and social welfare. PMI also promotes research and providing avenues for building up wealth of information and also indulging in offering certification, networking and activities involving the community at large, thus managing to attain its global presence and global certification in their noble profession. Scope of its Membership: Becoming a member of the PMI institute gives an opportunity for the members to get themselves certified as a professional imparting and demonstrating the skills required thereby helping themselves in standing out in the crowd. To become a member PMI has varied plans suiting the different segments based on their needs where in there are plans for an individual – for those willing to learn and update the best practices in businesses, student – those having degree program at a recognized institute, retiree – having retired from active employment and has a good reputation for 5 consecutive years and those interested in renewing their memberships (renewal). The various benefits which the memberships provide – include the vast knowledge sharing and information search happening in generating the opportunities for themselves and the institute. It gives immense openings for capturing on the capability of getting them networked through the different PMI communities there by getting nurtured with respect to the leadership qualities and being an active participants as volunteers in the various communities, certification programs, research programs, standard programs etc. The members also have scope of getting accessed to the knowledge resources of PMI known as the Project Management Body of Knowledge and also their career frameworks. Along with this opportunity which the members can acquire, they also have an edge over non-members in terms of getting access to the various publications, journals, e-links, virtual library, eReads and References which are set by PMI. The reason one should join PMI is to allow them to be build relationships, improvise on once skills, gain the latest and the first hand information and learn some of the best known practices. Memberships in PMI showcase certain features and characteristics to the peers which indicate their enthusiasm in quality, productivity and return on investments, their seriousness about their own individual development and their own profession and finally their commitment to the ethical business practices shown by the institute. The services which PMI provides to its members – With respect to the career development provided to the members of PMI, the association helps in availing the Certification and the Credentials, providing an extensive job search database which is availed by Career Headquarters at PMI, Making themselves groomed by undertaking various Training and Events happening by seminar worlds, to e-learning initiatives and providing the ultimate solution to the best practices and opportunities in the field of learning and in turn meeting up to the schedules, goals and the interests of the institution. PMI also guides the members in customer services, flexibility in changing and viewing orders, information on payment, pricing and promotions opportunities, shipping and handling assistance, privacy and security all under one umbrella known best for its marketplace. PMI has a strong Business Solutions concept which keeps the members get going by the challenges they have in career framework, Business and Government solutions on a global front to build up the institution on a worldwide basis and providing Organizational maturity in terms of managing the projects, programs and portfolios to generate and plan for its growth. This PMI provides project management implementation and consultancy services to their members and customers by providing added benefits in terms of the latest releases, news archives, articles of interests etc. The five major groups which PMI builds upon its profession are Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling and closing phases and the various knowledge areas which they address to are integration, scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communications, risk management and procurement.
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Constructing Feminine Form for Masculine Sake Essay
Fashion provides one of the most ready means through which individuals can make expressive visual statements about their identities. (Bennett, 2005) Constructing Feminine Form for Masculine Sake. Does it make sense to say that sex is at the heart of identity today? The answer is surely yes, and more so than ever before. (Gauntlett, 2008). Introduction. Consider the cover of the December 2011 edition of FHM (Fig. 1). It portrays a constructed ideal of female attractiveness. Aimed at the male market it conveys the attributes of female form deemed attractive to men. Has this identity been constructed by women or imposed upon by men? Butler (1999) suggests ‘the female body is marked within masculinist discourse’ , and women have not had the freedom to create their own identity, ‘women with the ostensibly sexualized features of their bodies and, hence, a refusal to grant freedom and autonomy to women as it is purportedly enjoyed by men’ (Butler, 1999). Macdonald (1995) notes that this enforced construction is neither a new concept nor just present in magazines aimed at a male audience: The body has historically been much more integral to the formation of identity for women than for men. If women had defined for themselves the ideals of their bodily shape or decoration, this would not be problematic. It is the denial of this right in the western cultural representation, in medical practice and in the multi-billion dollar pornography, fashion and cosmetic industries, that has granted women only squatter’s rights to their own bodies. However for the purpose of this essay we will concentrate on the feminine identity constructed in men’s lifestyle magazines and identify from where this was created. Why we enjoy beauty. ‘It is suggested that what makes one thing beautiful and another less so is our psychological attraction, probably unconscious, to some quality in the former that is absent from the latter, combined of course with equally-implicit cultural biases.’ (Lakoff and Scherr, 1984) Considering this, it is hard to determine how a particular portrayal of the female form is universally attractive. However studying the following passage from Sigmund Freud’s study Civilization and its Discontents we can note the possibility that the images constructed of women in men’s magazines are not to portray beauty, but to invoke sexual feeling through lack of clothing and provocative poses: Psychoanalysis, unfortunately, has scarcely anything to say about beauty either. All that seems certain is its derivation from the field of sexual feeling. The love of beauty seems a perfect example of an impulse inhibited in its aim. ‘Beauty’ and ‘attraction’ are originally attributes of the sexual object. (Lakoff and Scherr, 1984) Another psychotherapist Lacan puts forward the idea ‘women are objects for men: men are objects for women: men are objects for men, and women are objects for women. Each of us can only ever be objects for another subject, however much we try. (Hill, 1997) With this in mind it can be said that all identity is constructed to receive the admiration of others, regardless of gender. (Gauntlett, 2008) states ‘sex as being at the core of identity’ further suggesting that male identity is constructed with the same intentions the female. Although ‘it has been women in particular who have been defined primarily in terms of their physical appearance’ (Negrin, 2008). The emergence of new men’s lifestyle magazines. It is interesting to note that men’s lifestyle magazines are not a new concept, neither has their content changed over time. The earliest attempt to launch a men’s lifestyle magazine in the UK was in 1935, it consisted of ‘heroic masculinity with style features and pictures of female nudes’. (Gill, 2007). The 1950’s saw the launch of Playboy, a lifestyle magazine aimed at an emerging class of men who enjoyed consumption as much as their female counterparts. The magazine ‘became the ‘bible’ for the men who dominated this class fraction; its individualistic, hedonistic, consumption-orientated ethic of personal gratification represented a rebellion against the ‘old’ figure of male as breadwinner and family provider and opened up a space of libidinous fun and lascivious consumption, albeit premised on troublingly sexualized and objectified representations of women. (Gill, 2007). The content of such magazines was not necessarily in place to objectify women but to protect the ‘new man’s’ masculinity. ‘Consumption for men was promoted in an atmosphere not threatened by suspicions of homosexuality’ (Gill, 2007) and said of Playboy ‘the breasts and bottoms were necessary not just to sell the magazine, but also to protect it’ (Ehrenreich, 1983.). If we look forward to the 80’s and 90’s we see a new generation of men’s magazines emerging, ‘constructed around an assumed white, working class aesthetic and sensibility, centred on football, (beer) drinking, and heterosexual sex. (Gill, 2007) In circulation terms, figures from 2006 show that over 370,000 copies of FHM are sold per month and almost 300,000 copies of Nuts per week. (Gauntlett, 2008). From this we can see the popularity of such publications and the importance of the portrayal of a new type of masculinity. Considering the content of these magazines; ‘numerous photo-shoots of semi-clothed and topless women appear in the UK magazines’ (Gauntlett, 2008), and speaking of the launch of Loaded ‘the sexual politics of the magazine were in place from the first issue, which featured photographs of Liz Hurley, a homage to hotel sex, porn channels etc., a ‘travel feature’ recounting cheap cocaine and cheap women, and the Miss Guyama bikini contest. (Gill, 2007). The magazines depict the rise of a new type of masculinity or the ‘new lad’, the figure of which ‘became embedded in advertising and popular culture- his multiple articulations in different spaces generating a sense of his solidity and ‘realness’, making him instantly recognizable as an embodiment of a type of masculinity’ (Gill, 2007). This new generation of ‘Lads Mags’ has often been attributed to two factors; firstly the ‘feminine backlash’ occurring in the 80’s. These new publications ‘constructed around knowingly misogynist and predatory attitudes to women, represents a refusal to acknowledge the changes in gender relations produced by feminism, and an attack on it. (Gill, 2007) served to reaffirm male dominance in the gender war and a refusal to change. They are considered by Whelehan ‘a direct challenge to feminism’s call for social transformation, by reaffirming – albeit ironically – the unchanging nature of gender relations and sexual roles.’ (Gill, 2007) Studying the content of these magazines in more depth there is an underlying theme where ‘’feminist’ becomes a pejorative word to label, dismiss and silence any woman who object to the lad mags’ ideology’ (Gill, 2007). Two examples of such; ‘an article concerned with the question of ‘how to get your girlfriend to come in your face’ (FHM, April 2000) any possible feedback is forestalled with the comment ‘now before I get any angry letters from feminists†¦..I have asked women and they agree it can be an incredibly rewarding experience’. (Gill, 2007) and ‘a letter to FHM from a woman called Barbara who wished to object to the magazines portrayal of women as ‘weak, fr ail, obedient, submissive and sexually available’ is dismissed as a ‘blundering rant’ from ‘Butch Babs’ (FHM, May 2000)’ (Gill, 2007.) Two prime examples of where the subject of feminism is dismissed before it has even been raised, suggesting the magazines know their content is anti-feminist, but either dispel the argument before it is raised or ridicule and patronise anybody that dares challenge their viewpoint. The second factor is again a backlash, this time on a type of masculinity, himself more aligned with the ideals of feminism, referred to as ‘The New Man’. (Gill, 2007). Trying to dispense with this, the ‘masculinity they constructed was regarded as true to men’s real selves, in contrast to the contrived image of the new man.’ (Gill, 2007.) As with the issue of feminism this form of masculinity was ridiculed and dismissed, leading the way for ‘laddish’ behaviour to be accepted. ‘New man was derided for his ‘miserable liberal guilt’ about sexual affairs and presented as insipid and unappealing. By contrast, new lad was presented as refreshingly uncomplicated in his unreserved appreciation of women’s bodies and heterosexual sex.’ (Gill, 2007) Are these the views of the average man? So we can deduce how these magazines and images within them came to be but where does this leave the average male? Are these depictions of woman the ‘ideal’ for men? ‘By men’s own admission, the playboy ideology has created conflicts both in men’s view of themselves and in their attitude towards women.’ (Lakoff and Scherr, 1984) Many men insist they do not subscribe to this scantily clad, temptress type identity as being their ideal. (Lakoff and Scherr, 1984) suggest what most men fantasize about is a woman they can connect with and that personality is more important than looks; ‘Many men spoke of movement, gracefulness, a direct look in the eyes, an aura of mystery, attributes which cannot quite be captured by a camera, as what they felt constituted female beauty.’ Their ‘observations seem to contradict what the media not only tell us men want but also what they propose women should look like.’ This seeming indifference to contrived images of female form could be the over production and readily available means to consume them. ‘we are so bombarded with visual images that men are taking refuge and looking for the real thing’ (Lakoff and Scherr, 1984) Also another factor is that as we are increasingly aware of artifice in the production of images it can cause the consumer to be disillusioned with them; ‘And its disappointing to find that the women, when interviewed, don’t sound that interesting really. And it’s disappointing because you see these gorgeous women who wouldn’t look twice at you, but then you remember that they probably look like people you know, really, and it’s the careful styling and makeup and photography that makes them so irresistible’ (Gauntlett, 2008) Where do women fit in? What we have to remember is there always a willing subject to construct identity upon. In this case, a women to present as the ideal to men. Whilst feminists may view the women featured in the magazines as ‘submissive, obedient and sexually available’, do the subjects themselves feel this is the case? Pre-feminist women were programmed to be as attractive as possible to their male counterparts. Anne Fogarty an extremely successful American fashion designer highlights the importance of dressing for men ‘when your husband’s eyes light up as he comes in at night, you’re in sad shape if its only because he smells dinner cooking’ (Fogarty, 1959). It is possible that even now women are still programmed by society to want to appear as attractive as possible to men. With the post-feminist shift in gender relations it is argued that women are now objectifying men in the same way that they have traditionally been; ‘looking at scantily-clad women was clearly quite wrong for a right-thinking man, but have started to change their views as time has moved on and gender relations have changed again (including the development of the new language in popular culture where women can treat men as disposable eye-candy too).’ (Gauntlett, 2008). This seems to have caused a sense of double standards when talking of the objectification of women; â€Å"I used to agree, and I mean I really did agree, with women who said that naked women in magazines was a bad thing. But now-a-days I can hardly remember what the argument was. Women can look at handsome men in films and magazines, and men can look at attractive women†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦it seems fair.†(Gaunlett, 2008) Another reason argued why women cultivate this identity is it can provide means to increase their economic and social standing; ‘denied access to power and status by legitimate means, they had to resort to using their looks as a means of furthering their aims.’ (Negrin, 2008). This was very true of the playboy era where working class women did not have the same opportunities for advancement as their male counterparts. Conclusion. So who is determining this supposed ideal of the female form? Psychoanalysis tells us we all respond to natural sexual urges and have the need to objectify other beings. Yet today’s men’s magazines were not primarily constructed to satisfy their sexual urges. The content was also put into place long ago, not to objectify women, but to protect masculinity from any suggestion of homosexuality. What better way to diminish these threats than by filling the pages with naked women? The tone of the ‘new generation’ of men’s magazines was constructed around a backlash to feminist principles and the emergence of the ‘sensitive, understanding man’. Again what better way to protect these new threats by objectifying women and distancing themselves to ‘new man’s’ ideals? As gender roles have shifted and the issue of equality is facing us, men do not feel that looking at women is a guilty pleasure, as women do it themselves towards men and are compensated for it by the advancement of their social and economic standing. It can be said that this construction of female identity truly is for masculine’s sake, not necessarily for their consumption and enjoyment, but to protect and cultivate the meaning and existence of masculinity, reminiscing of a time where men were secure in their place in society. Fig. 1. Bibliography. Halberstam, J. (1998) Female masculinity. Durham, N.C. ; London : Duke University Press, 1998.:. Bennett, A. (2005) Culture and everyday life. London: Sage, p.95 – 116. Berger, J. (1972) Ways of seeing : based on the BBC television series with John Berger / a book made by John Berger †¦ [et al.].. London: Penguin. Butler, J. (1999) Gender Trouble; Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. London: Routledge. Forgarty, A. (2011) The Art of being a Well Dressed Wife. 2nd ed. London: V&A Publishing. Gauntlett, D. (2008) Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction.. 2nd ed. Oxon: Routledge. Gill, R. (2007) Gender and The Media. Cambridge: Polity Press. Happysocks.com (2011) Happy Socks / FHM UK  « Happy Socks in the Press. [online] Available at: http://www.happysocks.com/press/?p=2851 [Accessed: 2nd June 2012]. Hill, P. (1997) Lacan for beginners. London : Writers and Readers:. Lakoff, R. and Scherr, . (1984) Face value : the politics of beauty . Boston ; London : Routledge & Kegan Paul:. Macdonald, M. (1995) Representing Women:Myths of Femininity in the popular media. London: Edward Arnold, p.192 – 221. Meyers, D. (2002) Gender in the Mirror. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.. Negrin, L. (2008) Appearance and identity: Fashioning the body in Postmodernity. Cowden: Palgarve Macmillan, p.33 – 52. Sturken, M. and Cartwright, L. (2001) Practices of looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press., p.72 – 108.
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