Monday, January 27, 2020

Psychoanalytical Approach To Disney Films

Psychoanalytical Approach To Disney Films This essay will consider how Disney films can be regarded as projecting a range of stereotypes in film which seek to define what is normal and natural in society. I hope to reveal that these images actually are consciously constructed to adhere to and reinforce dominant ideological values and are a part of the Disneyfication process where everything is homogenized and turned into a product (See Bryman 2004). This entails the repetition of stereotypes from film to film in the arena of gender, sexuality and race, and while these roles vary slightly throughout the years, they remain largely consistent between 1923 when Disney was founded and 2010 when their most recent film Tangled (Greno Howard, 2011) was released. The fact that these stereotypes are so conservative has prompted a range of writers to criticise the impact Disney has had on American and even global society. Giroux stated in The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence (1999) that There are few cultural icons i n the United States that can match the signifying power of the Disney Company (2001: 123). He is not alone in his criticism of Disney; writers like Wasko (2001) and Bell (1999) have joined the ranks of those seeking to elucidate how pervasive Disneys influence has become. I will consider the impact these films potentially have on children, especially in the way their world views are formed. Methodology I will consider several Disney films in seeking to explore these stereotypes: Tangled, The Princess and the Frog (Clements Musker, 2009) The Lion King (Allers Rob Minkoff, 1994), Aladdin (Clements Musker, 1992) and The Little Mermaid (Clements John Musker, 1989) as I believe these all can be seen as very reflective of the societies in which they were produced and reveal Disneys world view. I will argue how the fact that these films are aimed at young people make them even more powerful. The Disney film seeks to naturalize these stereotypes, presenting them as part of the natural order, when in fact they are nothing of the sort. The world that Disney has constructed has historically tended to be defined and largely populated by white heterosexual characters, even when the narratives reside in the animal world. I will show how some of these more contemporary texts offer partial challenges to these norms while simultaneously reinforcing the predominantly hegemonic world view. I intend to approach the films from a semiotic, sociological and psychoanalytical perspective in an attempt to deconstruct the role these films play in society. In doing so I have attempted to look at the texts in as objective a manner as possible and read them as artistic artefacts to suggest what they say about the times and the culture in which they are made. I would argue that films are the most powerful of all artistic texts with a tremendous ability to move and motivate people in ways they often cannot understand or even register. Governments have regularly put the cinema to use in mobilising the public to support their political ideas, both in an explicit fashion (see the Soviet propaganda films made by Eisenstein and Pudovkin during the aftermath of the revolution in Russia in 1917) and in more implicit ways (for this we could consider how Hollywood films have continued to promote a variety of versions of the American Dream especially in the 1930s and 1940s). A lot has been written about Disney, especially in the fields of race and gender and these texts have been very useful in informing my critical approach to Dis ney as a company and a signifying entity. The Central Question How do Disney films and other Disney products influence young people and their lives? I would argue that far from being a benign and harmless relationship the connection between Disney and its consumers, as that is what they are, is a powerful one which starts at a very early age. Children are exposed to Disney images almost from birth on Disneys television channels and then at the cinema, then on home DVD. I suggest that this surreptitiously informs their world view in quite significant ways. This is especially perfidious because these texts are deliberately targeted at the young and impressionable who lack the defences and reasoning skills adults have developed which enable them to resist such strong images. The world view that Disney normalises for them is one in which certain behaviours are depicted as being the norm and even certain races, sexualities and gender roles are assigned with positive and negative attributes. A key aspect of these process is the way in which Disney fil ms market themselves as safe, innocent and even morally educational, suggesting to the parents that to entrust their children to Disney is to embrace something that is more than a company but something akin to a family. I hope to show in this essay that this is just another cynical marketing ploy that Disney employs to engender support for the company, and ultimately generate more revenue for the corporation. Sexism Since 1923 Disney has become an almost unrivalled multi media empire. However, Walt Disney did not believe his films were culturally influential, he suggested they were just entertainment (qtd in Wasko 2001: 3). Critics like Ward disagree and assert that such films aimed at young people can shape the way children think about who they are and who they should be (2002: 5). Disney films can be considered to promote sexist or even misogynist values to young women as the roles women are afforded are very limited and the narratives place men in positions of power. Here it is clear that Disney fits into stereotypes that reach across the breadth of Hollywood into all of its genres. Laura Mulvey argued that Hollywood reproduces the hegemonic and patriarchal society by presenting certain roles and images as the norm. In her analysis women are portrayed in a very reductive manner and presented as scopophilic objects for the purpose of being looked at by males and in the process dominated. In Mu lveys understanding Hollywood is part of the systematic process which reinforces the patriarchal ideology and we can see this at work from early Hollywood until now. Her works poses a lot of questions for audiences? Why do women get so few leading roles? Why are they relegated in films and cast as sex objects for the male oriented narratives? Why are women that transgress the natural order punished in Hollywood cinema? We can observe that this process works on two levels: the films both recreate and perpetuate dominant ideological values. Mulvey commented, There is no way in which we can produce an alternative [to the conservative values that Hollywood reproduces] out of the blue, but we can begin to make a break by examining patriarchy with the tools it provides, of which psychoanalysis is not the only but an important one (Mulvey 1989: 15). I would argue that Disney films are an effective embodiment of many aspects of Mulveys central thesis. In the history of Disney films women have largely tended to be defined as either perfectly pure princesses (to be valued, idealised and cherished and ultimately married), villains (who transgress unspoken laws of society by being corpulent, unattractive or refusing to submit to patriarchal dominance), mothers (who give up their independence, sexuality and individuality to be subsumed into the male defined family unit), or variations of these archetypes. Despite often being the protagonist (and having the film named after them), they are relegated to subservient positions in the narrative or rely on men for their ultimate salvation. Attractiveness is a key feature in Disney and it has been since even before Cinderella (1950) and Sleeping Beauty (1959). Women are categorized by whether they are attractive or not and beauty becomes a key to their moral status and their happiness. The goal for a woman in Disney films is often love, not a career or intellectual growth, and these visions o f womanhood are presented as something every woman should aspire to, without exception. If a woman departs from this stereotype she is shunned within the diegesis and presented as a corruption. Bell suggested there were only three predefined roles for females in Disney texts 1) beautiful young heroines, 2) cruel mother figures and 3) harmless, asexualised elderly women. (See Bell 1995) Here we see the imagery and ideology young girls are exposed to before they are old enough to understand and be critical of it. They are informed that to be a whole and happy person they must be beautiful, define themselves through relationships with the opposite sex and be submissive to their fathers and then their husbands. For me this is far from a healthy ideology to promote to young girls and offers up a disturbing and unbalanced gender relationship at a very important period in a young persons life. We can see examples of this paradigm in the majority of Disney texts produced over the years. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarves we have Snow White as the beautiful heroine and The Wicked Stepmother as the cruel mother archetype. Cinderella contains the eponymous character as the beautiful heroine, the sisters as cruel figures and the fairy godmother as asexualized elderly woman. If we consider some more modern examples we can see how far things have changed, or discern whether they have not changes at all. The Little Mermaid (1989) features the heroine Ariel, a beautiful young woman and mermaid at the centre of the narrative, she is slightly more independent than the antecedents that came before her, but she too is defined by her pursuit of love. She challenges her father, Triton, at the beginning of the narrative, eager to not be a part of a show being performed for him. Near the end of the film Ariel even gives up her identity for the sake of her true love. So despite minor chang es, she is still forced to make sacrifices that men in Disney films are not asked to make. It is no coincidence that the heroine of the film is beautiful and young and the villain of the film is the old, overweight and unattractive Ursula, who seeks to steal identity and power and by going outside of the norm can only be thought of as a corruption. This implicitly connotes that if a woman is not young, attractive and compliant she is then a threat to society. Supporters of Disney will suggest that these texts are just films, harmless entertainment for young people, but what moral lessons are they to draw from the ideologies presented? In my opinion they are far from innocent texts devoid of cultural meaning, they are immensely powerful artefacts that structure how young people look at the world. The Little Mermaid was also accused of racism on its release, the character of Sebastian the underwater crab was felt by many to be a stereotype of a Jamaican man who enjoys a lazy life under the sea which he prefers to the surface. The song he sings is suggestive of this Up on the shore they work all day, Out in the sun they slave away, While we devotin, Full time to floatin, Under the sea! This is just another example of how Disney chooses to frame certain characteristics in distinctly racial terms. The choice to have the character a black man embody this aspect perpetuates the racist stereotype that has remained pervasive in the society and here it is projected at children. Disneys newest film, Tangled, makes an interesting addition to the Disney oeuvre as it both subverts and reinforces some of these archetypes. It concerns the familiar fairy tale story Rapunzel, but like many modern adaptations (See Dreamworks Shrek, 2001) it deconstructs its tropes and its codes and conventions. Bruno Betelheim in his influential The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales suggested that stories like this imparted powerful notions of ideology to generations through the ages and reflect what a society arbitrarily decides is moral and just. We can see this approach very much apparent in the work of Disney who often draw on these fairy tales in their films and see they role as some sort of unofficial moral educator for generations of children, whether they state this or not. The protagonist of the Tangled, Rapunzel, is a young woman who is, as per usual blonde, white and slim. One could ask what kind of messages this sends to young women? They sug gest that the way for happiness and success is through youth and beauty. That being young and looking a certain way makes you normal and fit into society. If you do not fit this paradigm then you are relegated from the narrative or cast as the villain. The way Disney promotes these messages is so veiled that the youths watching may never regard the issue so explicitly, but it is so deeply ingrained in our culture that it is hard to ignore. In this way films and the way people identify with the cinema screen can be associated with French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacans idea of the mirror stage. Lacan suggested that the child at the age of between six and eighteen months see themselves in the mirror and believe it not to be a reflection but the self in its entirety. Thus the way a spectator identifies and subsumes itself into the characters it sees projected on the cinema screen is just as illusory as the process the baby goes through. This is only one example of how a psychological appr oach to Disney is useful in coming to understand the film as texts with cultural resonance. Whether one holds with this theory or not it is clear that these images of princesses hold a distinct fascination for young girls which can be seen in the amount of merchandise that is sold across the world focusing on characters like Snow White, Cinderella and Ariel. Disney presents these figures as iconic characters that girls of the world should aspire to be like instead of doctors, authors, scientists and politicians. Rapunzel is more independent than Disneys usual heroines; she is not averse to action and combat, in fact when she first comes across Flynn, the dashing hero of the film she knocks him out. Rapunzel is also intelligent, quick witted and humorous, attributes that are not always connected to women in Disney films. Here we see evidence of Disneys ability to move somewhat with the times and identify that the needs of their audiences have changed since the 1950s, but I would argue that this is performed in a cynical fashion, seeking to anticipate what would sell to an audience rather than a desire to present more balanced role models for young women. The antagonist of the film is much more predictable, a cruel mother figure called Gothel who has kidnapped Rapunzel and imprisoned her in a tower, leaving Rapunzel unaware of the fact that she is a princess. Gothel uses Rapunzels powers to keep herself young. By being ignorant of her royal lineage the film places Rapunzel resolutely within th e fantasy of young women discovering they are princesses, an enduring trope particularly relevant in the last few years given media fascination with the courtship and eventual marriage between Prince William and a commoner Kate Middleton. Not only is Rapunzel a princess, but she secretly has magic powers and later we discover her tears can heal wounds and even bring the dead back to life. The character of Flynn embodies many archetypes familiar to the Disney canon, his swaggering posture denotes that is the handsome and dashing rogue with a heart of gold. It is worth pausing to consider that, while males are given more variety of characterization in Disney films than women, they still are forced into certain stereotypes of attractiveness, bravery and what constitutes masculinity. Disney makes one or two concessions to new millennial masculinity in portraying that underneath Flynns brash exterior he is sensitive. In a sequence where they both believe they are about to die Flynn reveals his real name is the considerably less dashing Eugene Fitzherbert. Yet despite these progressive aspects to Rapunzels character the film also has her life given meaning through her love for Flynn. Flynn proves the catalyst for her self-discovery and she is rarely a casual narrative agent of her own. She is the latest in a long line of Disney heroines that require a man to save her and teach her what true love is. The film ends with Gothel being killed; by moving outside of what is regarded as normal and moral behavior for women she must be punished. Rapunzel then marries Flynn and in doing so she has achieved the ultimate goal, in Disneys eyes, of what young girls must aspire to. At the beginning of the new millennium Disney believes that it is appropriate and right to suggest to young women that what they should dream of above all else, above a career, education, excitement, travel or adventure, is marriage with a young man. Racism The other prominent arena that Disney has been criticised for is its depiction of racial stereotypes in its films. From its very early days Disney films were permeated with racist characterisations which were delivered in the same way: as harmless depictions of how things really were and in no way a moral statement at all. One could point to how the crows in Dumbo (1941) or the Arabs in Aladdin are framed in distinctly racial and pejorative terms. It wasnt until 2010 that Disney produced a film with a black princess, The Princess and the Frog and the film emerges as a very interesting and ambiguous text. The film is set in New Orleans in 1912 and it too is a reinterpretation of a familiar fairytale updated for modern audiences. The princess is Tiana and, on the outside, she seems like a fairly modern construction. When her mother reads her the fairy story The Frog Princess at the start of the film unlike her friend Charlotte La Bouff, she rejects it, stating that she would never kiss a frog. This is one of many ways the film ironically comments on its own status as a fairytale text and allows the film-makers to make gestures towards contemporary attitudes and values. When the narrative moves to 1926, Tiana is far from what might be considered an ivory tower princess, as she works two jobs in an effort to save money and open her own restaurant. By portraying her as an industrious young business woman the film seems to be suggesting that there is more in life for young girls to aspire to than becoming a princess, wife or mother. However despite this the film relies on the old fashioned stereotypes that have permeated Disney since the very beginning with regards to how women should look. Tiana is black, yet she is beautiful, slim and pale skinned and thus contributes to the inculcation of a certain stereotype that Princesses must look a certain way. Again we must ask, how would young girls who do not look this way respond? When a prince is changed into a frog she agrees to kiss him in exchange for enough money to open her restaurant, but is surprised when she too turns into a frog. So while Tiana spends a large section of the film asserting her individuality through her hard work and feisty attitude she finds herself completed by the love of a man. The film does offer some variations on the stereotype of the male hero, in more or less the same way as Tangled, near the end of the film it is the sensitive prince Naveen who states that he is willing to give up his dreams for her, an act that is usually given to the woman to perform. When they are initially unable to change back to human form, they proclaim their love for one another and state that they will be happy to live as frogs as long as they are together. However, when they kiss Tiana becomes a princess and thus breaks the spell turning them both back into humans. Like Tangled, the film offers both improvements to Disneys traditionally conservative portrayals and also it perpetuates some of the same old stereotypes. I would argue that the film uses racial stereotypes in a different way to the way Disney has historically. By dwelling on voodoo, in particular in the character of the voodoo master Dr. Facilier, it relegates African identity to a crudely stereotyped Other. He is a malicious and evil characterization who, by transgressing the natural order, must be punished at the end of the narrative. The film Aladdin was also accused of perpetuating racial stereotypes on its release in 1992. As Disney moved into depicting an Arab culture in one of its films many predicted it would conjure up similar antiquated and racist characters. It too takes a familiar fairy tale and deconstructs it as became the trend in the 1990s and into the new millennium. The story follows a young boy, Aladdin, and his relationship with an evil wizard, Jafar, as they battle for the powers of a magic lamp which contains a genie. Critics felt that the film dwelled on images of barbarism and cruelty by Arabs which audiences would equate with the contemporary Muslim world. A particular song in the film was targeted by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee as being an embodiment of the attitude of the film towards the Middle East, its lyrics went Where they cut off your ear if they dont like your face/Its barbaric, but, hey, its home. In subsequent releases on video and DVD they were changed to Wher e its flat and immense and the heat is intense/Its barbaric, but, hey, its home. It is quite obvious that those with lighter skins are placed on the side of good and those with darker skins are evil. Giroux states that the bad Arabs in the film are determined by their thick, foreign accents and the good Arabs like Jasmine and Aladdin speak in standard American English. (1999: 105) The film was criticized for something Disney has historically done with many of its non white characters throughout the years, that is anglicize their features. We can see this in the case of not only Aladdin and Jasmine in Aladdin but Pocahontas and Mulan. Disney takes non-white characters and makes them appear more white in appearance than they actually are and thereby less threatening for the audience who they presume might be offended by watching an non-white character as a protagonist. The case of Aladdin and Jasmine is quite clear as they are changed from looking like Arabs to almost twentieth centur y American who happen to have healthy tans. It is no coincidence that the character was Aladdin seems to have been modeled on perhaps the all American symbol of the 1980s and 1990s, Tom Cruise. Such Manichean and racist accounts of morality can be found across the whole of Disney where the idea of evil is encapsulated by the dark skinned and obviously Arabic wizard Jafar. One of Disneys greatest critical and commercial successes in the modern era is undoubtedly The Lion King. It too is an example of a film which, arguably, embodies both the sexism and racism in inherent in the Disney world. It is an original rites of passage drama about a young cub Simba, who sees his father the King Mufasa killed. Scar tricks Simba into thinking he was responsible for his fathers death causing Simba to flee the kingdom in shame. The throne is claimed by Simbas cruel uncle Scar who had orchestrated the kings death. Throughout the course of the narrative women are almost entirely marginalized from the film and the realms of power and responsibility are only occupied by men. This is another way that female roles are constructed in Disney films, by legitimizing gender power relations and naturalising such imbalances. Here one might ask whether Disney are being sexist or just reflecting existing social structures in the real world? However this process of legitimization r esults in further exacerbation of such existing structures by reinforcing them. Like other Disney films this process is deemed as normal and part of the natural order, attention is not drawn to it within the plot and it is depicted as historically inherent and normal. The only female characters of note are Simbas mother who is relegated to the sidelines and the young cub which Simba grows to marry. Her only function is to act as a catalyst to prompt Simba to return to do his masculine duty and reclaim the throne. At the end of the film she has another role and that is to provide a son and heir for Simba when he becomes King. The villain of the film, Scar, has conspicuously darker skin than his biological relatives in the film and he is distanced from them by the fact that he speaks with an English accent. The creation of such a racial Other has been a historic strategy by Disney throughout the companys history. In modern films their racism is not so obvious as it once was but there is still an assumption that a villain must deviate from what society regards as normal, that is he or she must be non-white, overweight or old. Perhaps the films most racist element is the army of hyenas which Scar commands are also depicted as distinctly part of a racial minority in the way they speak: inner city, jive talk. When finding a group of characters supposed to represent menace and evil, Disney falls back on the same hackneyed stereotype it has used for more than fifty years. Critics of the film charged that The Lion King made racism and sexism acceptable and part of the natural order. Ward stated when racism and se xism becomes the norm that appears to represent reality, then Disney has lost its moral high ground (2002: 32). In recent times outside of Disney films directors like George Lucas and Michael Bay have been criticised for using the same stereotypes in their films. In The Phantom Menace (1997) the character of Jar Jar Binks was criticised by being a bumbling and foolish character who happened to speak with a Jamaican accent. In Transformers 2 (2009) the characters of Mudflaps and Skids were regarded as racist for the same reason. Many Disney films have come under a lot of criticism for including subliminal messages in their films in particular hidden erotic images like a phallus from The Little Mermiad, the word sex across the sky written in the clouds in The Lion King, and nudity in The Rescuers and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. After these criticisms Disney often removed the offending images from the video and DVD release of the films. They were mostly done by disenfranchised animators during the long and laborious process of animating a film which can last for several years. The powers of subliminal messages are well documented and it might be argued that this is another reason why Disney films should not be handed over to children to be watched without care and attention. Techniques like this have been used in advertising for decades to sell products and here in films targeted at families and children it is hard to tell what the effects may be. These stories of images in Disney films inspired the episode in th e satirical Fight Club where the protagonist Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) splices images from pornography into family films. The audiences do not ever know consciously what they have seen, but somewhere in their brain it registers, the scene ends with a shot of a little girl crying for a reason she doesnt understand. A concept which I feel has been largely neglected in most academic studies of Disney that I have read is the fact that children growing up in the Disney era being introduced to fairy tales through the Disney process rather than in one of their original forms. Of course this is a considerable shame for a variety of reasons: 1) that the stories are distinctly Americanised and populated with white characters and lack the diversity which can be found in many of the original texts. 2) That children are being (and have been for many decades) effectively raised by the television and having these stereotypes inculcated into them from a very early age. 3) That these rich stories are being manufactured to act as devices through which to sell products to children which, I would argue, perverts the important role which fairy tales play in our society. One must consider Disneys power as a cultural signifier in this first decade of the twenty-first century. Disney now has television stations that are projected into peoples living rooms everyday rather than once or twice a year when people take their children to see the latest Disney film at the cinema. This changes things in the sense that the company achieves an even greater intimacy with the consumer from an even earlier age. Fortunately this has coincided with what we might regard as greater awareness on issues of media culpability, although how much of this has filtered into the mainstream audience remains to be seen. I believe that the majority of parents regard the Disney brand as an example of safe and sincere entertainment that is automatically suitable for young people. Disney has branched out to produce hugely successful shows aimed at the wide spectrum of different demographics within the family audience from the very young, those dubbed tweens, into the early teenage years and beyond with shows like Hannah Montana which fit into the mould established within Disneys animated films. These shows are vibrant and aspirational and on the surface have positive messages for young people. However, as we have seen with Disney films this fails to account for what they leaves out of these narratives. There are very few characters from ethnic minorities, or with disabilities, or those who have different sexualities, or children who look different from the bright, predominantly white, clean teens that occupy the central positions in these shows. One might ask how relevant these characterisations are around the world? Or to children living in America who do not come from so obviously affluent families? Disney might argue that these shows are inspirational, but for many they ignore the realities of a large part of their audience forced to identify with characters very different to themselves. There can be no doubt that Disney has changed, to a certain extent, with the times both on the cinema screen and in the home entertainment arena. Many of Disneys television shows and films pay lip service to issues of political correctness as we have observed in films like The Frog Princess and Mulan. But I think it is still clear to see that a fundamental shift in Disneys approach to the social and political realities of the world has yet to happen. Disney has continued to perpetuate many racial stereotypes even in recent films, when they must have been aware of the impact of these issues and how important they have become to many parts of their audience. Conclusion It is clear to see that Disney are one of the most influential media companies in the entire world and to deny their influence on successive generations of youths is impossible. Once this influence is accepted one asks, what kind of influence is it? Peter and Rochelle Schweizer in Disney: the Mouse Betrayed: Greed, Corruption, and Children at Risk (1998) argue that Disneys image of wholesome and nostalgic Americana is a self-consciously created one that is only formed to generate income for the company. Disney films are not benign artefacts, but texts full of extremely potent symbols rife with meaning and ready to be decoded by people willing to look a bit deeper for these sorts of message in cultural texts. The images of gender and race we have seen in this essay seem harmless on the surface, but when considered closely one sees that the kind of ideals and norms they present to children they might not be as benign as they first appear and for this reason alone they are worthy of fur ther study. These images have tended to be ignored in the mainstream media as Giroux comments The more liberal critiques often entirely ignore the racist, sexist and anti-democratic ethos that permeates Disney films (1999: 85). Here we must identify something that often slips by parents in their relationship with Disney, the fact that it is a capitalist corporation designed to earn money for its shareholders. This is often lost in the fondly remembered nostalgia consumers have for the films of their childhood. This is perhaps one of the most effective marketing strategies in the history of modern America, how the company has sought to convince consumers that it does not real

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Francine du Plessix Gray’s: At Home with the Marquis de Sade: A Life :: Biography Family Papers

Francine du Plessix Gray’s: At Home with the Marquis de Sade: A Life In 1998, Francine du Plessix Gray, prolific author of novels, biographies, sociological studies and frequent contributions to The New Yorker, published her most acclaimed work to date: At Home with the Marquis de Sade: A Life. A Pulizer Prize finalist that has already appeared in multiple English-language editions as well as translated ones, Du Plessix Gray’s biography has met with crowning achievement and recognition on all fronts. Accolades have accumulated from the most acclaimed of eighteenth-century luminaries, such as Robert Darnton, in a lengthy review in The New York Review of Books that compares her biography with Laurence Bongie’s Sade: A Biographical Essay, to the list of scholars whom she thanks in her acknowledgements for having read the manuscript: Lynn Hunt, Lucienne Frappier-Mazur, and Marie-Hà ©là ¨ne Huà «t. Surely, any scholar can appreciate the vast amount of research that undergirds Du Plessix Gray’s narrative, and indeed, she takes g reat pains to meticulously inform the reader who might care to look at her sources and read her acknowledgements that she has done her homework and knows every inch of the scholarly terrain. Du PlessixGray wisely begins her acknowledgements with a debt of gratitude to Maurice Lever’s studies, which rest on years of archival research. However, what really frames Francine du Plessix Gray’s biography is not so much the â€Å"fin du dix huitià ¨me sià ¨cle† but the â€Å"fin du vingtià ¨me sià ¨cle† and the â€Å"reality† material from Sade’s life that made it possible to represent the Marquis, his sons, his wife, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and uncle as so many of the people who populate the running narrative of criminals, deadbeat dads, incestuous relatives, date-raping playboys, and battered women that fill soap operas, day-time talk, women’s magazines, talk radio, and the tabloids. This paper, then, explores Sade’s biography not as a narrative of (the Marquis de Sade’s) his life, but as a narrative that pleases today’s reader because it serves up a voyeur’s view of (in) his â€Å"dysfunctional† family life â€Å"at home† that we are all too familiar with. This becomes abundantly apparent when du Plessix-Gray’s rend ering of the Marquis and the Marquise’s lives are superimposed over the rà ©cit of lives that we read about all the time in the popular press and observe in television soaps and other series. Ultimately, we are interested in what such a reading, writing and representation of Sade’s life does to Sade’s persona and status, both in the world of letters, but more importantly, in the world at large.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Tips for Pam and Sue

Multiple Regression Project The is the only deliverable in Week Four. It is the case study titled â€Å"Locating New Pam and Susan’s Stores,† described at the end of Chapter 12 of your textbook. The case involves the decision to locate a new store at one of two candidate sites. The decision will be based on estimates of sales potential, and for this purpose, you will need to develop a multiple regression model to predict sales. Specific case questions are given in the textbook, and the necessary data is in the file named pamsue. ls. Assuming that you are reasonably comfortable with using Excel and its Analysis ToolPak add-in, you should expect to spend approximately 2-3 hours on computer work, and another 3-4 hours on writing the report. It is a good idea not to wait until the last day to do the entire project and write the report. Content of the report consists of your answers to the case questions, plus computer output(s) to support your answers. Please keep the entir e report – including computer outputs – under 8 printed pages.Thus, your write up should be concise, and you need to be selective in deciding which computer outputs to include. You can use your discretion in formatting your write up, but use good writing practices and try to make it look professional (more on the report format below). Project Hints and Guidelines It is assumed that you have access to 1. Microsoft Excel with Analysis ToolPak (do NOT use stepwise regression for this project even if it runs on your computer). 2. Data file named pamsue. xls in the DataSets. zip folder.Basic Excel skills you need are the ability to construct histograms and scatterplots, to create dummy variables, copying or moving columns of data in a spreadsheet, and the ability to use the Correlation and Regression facilities under Data Analysis (available when Analysis ToolPak has been added in). Remember that Analysis ToolPak requires contiguous ranges of data for correlation or regress ion. 1. Open the file pamsue. xls. First, move the column for sales so that it is the rightmost column (it is now to the right of comtype).If the old sales column remains but appears empty, delete that column. 2. Obtain a scatterplot of the sales on the vertical axis against comtype on the horizontal axis. This will give you a good idea of whether different categories of comtype appear to differ in sales. In the scatterplot, you should see that sales in the middle categories 3 – 6 are in similar ranges on the vertical axis, but 1 and 2 have somewhat higher sales, and category 7 appears to have somewhat lower sales.This implies that, when you create dummy variables for comtype, dummy variables for categories 1, 2, 7 are likely to be statistically significant in the multiple regression model (and dummy variables for categories 3 – 6 are likely to be not significant). Although it would be desirable to also obtain the scatterplot of sales against every other X variable, yo u can omit these if you do not have time, and use the correlation coefficients instead (see step 4 below). 3. Insert seven new columns immediately to the left of comtype, and in these columns, create seven dummy variables to represent the seven categories of site types.Name them comtype1, comtype2, †¦ , comtype7. At this point, you have 40 columns of data in the spreadsheet with comtype and sales in the last two columns. 4. Use the Correlation facility under Data Analysis to obtain the correlation coefficients between sales and all of the other variables except store and comtype (why exclude comtype? ). This will produce a matrix of correlation coefficients between sales and every X variable, as well as between every pair of X variables. To make them easy to read, you may want to format the cells to show numbers with 2 or 3 decimal places. . Write down the names of 10 quantitative X variables having the highest correlations with sales. From the correlations worksheet, move to t he data worksheet. Select the following columns: sales, plus the 10 quantitative X variables you wrote down, plus comtype1, comptype2, comptype7 (here, you could include up to three more dummy variables, but they are likely to be statistically not significant, so you can save some work – see 2. above). Copy these onto a blank worksheet. Make sure there are no blank columns in within the data range in the new worksheet.Note: To prevent unexpected changes in copying data when formulas are involved, use Paste Special with Values selected when pasting data into a new worksheet. 6. Use Regression under Data Analysis to obtain the regression output table for sales using the variables in the columns you had selected, making sure that Labels and New Worksheet Ply checkboxes are checked, and leave the other boxes unchecked. On the name tab of the output sheet (at the bottom), change the name of the worksheet to Model1. 7. Using appropriate statistics in the regression output table, se e if any of the X variables is statistically not significant.If there is at least one insignificant X variable, write down the most insignificant variable, move to the data sheet and delete that column, and re-run Regression without that variable. Repeat until there are no insignificant X variables. Name each output sheet Model2, Model3, and so on for easy identification. 8. When you get to a model in which all remaining X variables are statistically significant, you will have found the final regression equation for predicting sales. Re-run the last model, but this time checking the Residuals checkbox.This will reproduce the last regression table, but below it, you will see columns for Predicted sales and Residuals. Obtain a scatterplot of Residuals against Predicted sales. Also obtain a histogram of Residuals. 9. Use the final regression equation you found in the last step to predict sales at the two sites under consideration. You have just completed all necessary computer work for your project report. Now you have to write a report to present your answers to the case questions (see pages 388-389 of your textbook), and the reasons for those answers.In terms of physical organization, a reasonable format for the report is described below. Content and Format of the Project Report Cover page Include the report title, your name, course, section, facilitator, and date. Go to a new page, and use the following subsection headings for the report. Introduction One paragraph (two at most) describing the subject and context of the project. Data One or two paragraphs describing the data in plain English (number of variables, number of observations, units for data values, etc. ) Results and Discussion This is the main body of the report.It is where you will describe what you have done, what you found, and answer the case questions with the reasons for your answers. These reasons should be based on the analytical work you have done using Excel. Depending on how concisely yo u write and how many tables and graphs you include, this page could be 3-4 pages long. Conclusion One or two paragraphs discussing any remaining issues (e. g. shortcomings and possible improvements of the analyses in the report). In the Results and Discussion section, you should include a few informative tables or graphs derived from your computer analyses.DO NOT include anything that is not absolutely necessary. DO NOT include entire worksheets form Excel, but only the parts you need. For example, do not include the entire correlation matrix found in step 4 above, but you can make a small table to show the 10 variables having the highest correlations with sales. You should include the scatterplot of sales against comtype, relevant portion of the final regression output table, the final regression equation, and the two residual graphs you obtained in step 8. Please keep the total length of the report under 8 printed pages (5 to 6 pages should be sufficient in most cases).

Friday, January 3, 2020

The Brownie Camera Changed the Future of Photography

The next time you point your smartphone at a sunset, snap a group of friends on a night out or position yourself just so for a selfie, you might want to give silent thanks to George Eastman. Not that he invented the smartphone or the myriad social media sites to which you can instantly post your images. What he did do was set in motion the democratization of a pastime that prior to the turn of the 20th century  was solely reserved for professionals well-trained in the use of heavy large-format cameras.   In February of 1900,  Eastmans  company,  Eastman Kodak,  introduced a low-priced, point-and-shoot, hand-held camera, called the Brownie. Simple enough for even children to use, the Brownie was designed, priced, and marketed in order to bolster the sale of roll film, which Eastman had recently invented, and as a result, make  photography  accessible to the masses.   Snapshots From a Small Box Designed by Eastman Kodaks camera designer Frank A. Brownell, the Brownie camera was little more than a simple  black rectangular cardboard box covered in imitation leather with nickeled fittings. To take a snapshot, all one had to do was pop in a cartridge of film, close the door, hold the camera at waist height, aim it  by looking through the viewfinder at the top, and turn a switch. Kodak claimed in its advertisements that the Brownie camera was so simple they can easily [be] operated by any school boy or girl. Though simple enough for even children to use, a 44-page instruction booklet accompanied every Brownie camera.   Affordable and Easy to Use The Brownie camera was very affordable, selling for only $1 each. Plus, for only 15 cents, a Brownie camera owner could buy a six-exposure film cartridge that could be loaded in daylight. For an extra 10 cents a photo plus 40 cents for developing and postage, users could send their film to Kodak for development, eliminating the need to invest in a darkroom and special equipment and materials—much less learn how to use them. Marketed to Children Kodak heavily marketed the Brownie camera to children. Its ads, which ran in popular magazines rather than just trade journals, also included what would soon become a series of popular Brownie characters, elf-like creatures created by Palmer Cox. Children under the age of 15  were also urged to join the free Brownie Camera Club, which sent all members a brochure on the art of photography  and advertised a series of photo contests in which kids could earn prizes for their snapshots. The Democratization of Photography In just the first year after introducing the Brownie, the Eastman Kodak Company sold over a quarter of a million of its little cameras. However, the small cardboard box did more than just  help make Eastman a rich man. It forever changed the culture. Soon, handheld cameras of all sorts would hit the market, making possible vocations like photojournalist and fashion photographer, and giving artists yet another medium with which to express themselves. These cameras also gave everyday people an affordable, accessible way to document the important moments of their lives,  whether formal or spontaneous and preserve them for future generations.

Thursday, December 26, 2019

Media s Influence On Media - 1014 Words

The way that diasporic audiences use media products to give them a connection to their country of origin has been a topic of research for many scholars. The increasing ability to stream content online allows people to keep the same routine in watching content and to watch content which they can relate to and see themselves reflected in, often unlike the content on in their new home country. Online news allows people to keep up with current events and look out for events that may affect the ones they care about and improvements in communications technology allow people to connect directly with the people they love more effectively. Media provides a way for diasporic audiences to find their sense of self and identity in a country where they may not have a lot of representation. Previous models of looking at diasporic audiences have been helpful in allowing us to see the positive impacts that media can have, however they still continue to look at these audiences and their lives as the à ¢â‚¬Ëœother’ which is a step backward in the diverse societies we live in. Sinclair and Cunningham in Go with the Flow: Diasporas and the Media, discuss the way diasporic audiences are often categorized by the scattering of people away from their home countries, while still maintaining strong connections to them (18). These people may resist assimilation into their ‘host’ culture and because of this they may feel marginalized by the culture they have moved into (Sinclair and Cunningham, 19). TheseShow MoreRelatedMedia s Influence On The Media1637 Words   |  7 Pagesdisplayed in the mass media is conditioned by wealth and power, so as a result of the concentration of power and the official censorship done by the government and corporate sources; the media follows the ideas of the elite. In order to deliver messages that support the elite’s beliefs, the media goes through five different filters that determine the information presented, this are ownership of media, funding, sourcing, flak, and fear. First, when referring to the ownership of media, it is importantRead MoreThe Media s Influence On Media Essay1606 Words   |  7 PagesLusby English composition 12/1/2016 The Media s Influence    Can the media really persuade you into thinking a way about a person you have not even meet? The media can make influence you into thinking a certain way about some and also influence a choice that you could have to make about them that could change their life forever. To prove this I have researched into articles that could help me prove that the media can influence these things. First the media in the form of television can give you aRead MoreMedia s Influence On Media2111 Words   |  9 Pagestoday is communicated through media. Media is the most powerful and influential force in the country. The media are powerful agents of socialization and they set the standard that majority follow. The power giving to American media has allowed them to be very effective using propaganda as strategy, the media tend to say they serve to relieve social conflicts into minimum. We clearly see that the media promote social conflicts by separating class. The image that media has created in the mind of massesRead MoreMedia s Influence On The Media892 Words   |  4 Pages In today’s culture, it’s hard not to come across some form of media, whether that is an advertisement on a roadway, a commercial on the television, or even an ad on the portable games you play on your phone. The average 8-18-year-old experiences about 7.5 hours of some form of media a day. [1] Out of the 24 hours in a day over a quarter of it is spent looking at or listening to advertisements for products, the news, video games, television, movies, music, books, and the internet. A common way toRead MoreMedia s Influence On The Media1977 Words   |  8 Pagespushes their political view. News viewers tend to be oblivious when it comes to bias in the media because they would rather hear what they believe is right. There are many ways to find truth in journalism that everyone needs to be aware of for example, going to more than one source and conducting a SMELL test. Biased media has made a big impact on it’s viewers, creating a big division between the two sides. Media plays a big part on how people get everyday news, but ultimately, it is up to the viewerRead MoreMedia s Influence On The Media1986 Words   |  8 PagesWe are a world that revolves around our media outlets. This is because we depend on them to give to us the information that we need to be able to live our daily lives. Whether it is the news on politics or just events that are happening around your area. The real question though is has news changed? And the follow up question to that would be; how do historians think news has changed? The news media has changed throughout history because of the rise of technology. It is now possible to reach peopleRead MoreMedia s Influence On Media1928 Words   |  8 Pages V. New Media In the course of the most recent couple of decades, the media scene has changed drastically. The most essential change is from an old media model of television to another media model of narrowcasting. TV alludes to media speaking to the overall population and is exemplified by system TV, radio, and daily papers. Narrowcasting, made conceivable by television networks, Internet, and satellite radio, is focused to particular gatherings of people. The new media have various essentialRead MoreMedia s Influence On Media1543 Words   |  7 PagesSocial media publicizes a substantial amount of messages about identity and acceptable ways to express gender, sexuality and ones lifestyle, but at the same time, the viewers have their own differing feelings about the issues. The media may suggest certain feelings and actions, but the audiences feelings can never overpower self-expression completely. The media portrays certain things because it is what is being accepted. Neither parties, these being the media and its audience, have full power overRead MoreMedia s Influence On Media1703 Words   |  7 Pagescentury, mass media became widely recognized. In a period of mass availability, people today have entry to more media outlets than ever before. According to media scholar Jean Kilbourne,â€Å"the average American is exposed to over 3,000 advertisements a day and watches three years’ worth of television ads over the course of a lifetime† (back cover). It is all around us, from the shows we watch on television, the music we listen to on the radio, and to the books and magazines we read each day. Media is the numberRead MoreMedia s Influence On The Media Essay1172 Words   |  5 PagesMass media has a very influential part in today’s society. Consisting of radio broadcasting, books, the Internet, and television they allow information and entertainment to travel at a fast pace as well to a vast audience. This vast majority of information can easily manipulate and or persuade people to have certain stereotypes on specific genders. TV commercials are one of the most influential structures in the media. Looking back 20 to 30 years, stereotypes were clearly welcomed on TV and in

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Mcdonald s The International Market Essay - 1567 Words

Nowadays, we can see that there are so many companies that have grown globally and being so successful in the international market. What makes most of the companies can be as successful as today was not just only because of their products’ reputation, but also about how can those companies develop themselves by internationalized the companies in the international market. One example of a successful company that we can use in this case is McDonald’s, which people can find this fast food company around the world. Founded in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald, this company recently has more than 30,000 stores that can be found in more than 118 countries (James, 2009). The simple idea of using â€Å"fast-food serving system† as McDonald’s priority made this company developed widely. As a fact, McDonald’s idea was also solved the problem of preventing people to wait for a long time while waiting for their food in California, where McDonald’s fir stly opened (Success Story, 2016). Yet, all those successful things that McDonald’s has recently will be possible without doing any effort to globalize itself in the wider and global market. There are also some risks that McDonald’s has to take in order to be as successful as today. Thus, this essay will explain about how McDonald’s internationalizes itself and what are the factors that make McDonald’s globalizes internationally. First of all, before explaining about how McDonald’s internationalizes itself, this essay will explain what doesShow MoreRelatedMcdonalds Expands Of Vietnam : Mcdonalds Essay1221 Words   |  5 PagesRunning head: MCDONALDS EXPANDS TO VIETNAM 1 MCDONALDS EXPANDS TO VIETNAM 6 McDonalds Expands to Vietnam Hieu Le Columbia Southern University Contents Expansion Planning 3 International Business Expansion 3 Regional Trade Agreement 4 Affordable Foreign Taxes 4 Financial and Technological Supports 4 Labor Hiring Methods 5 Advertising Strategies 5 StrategicRead MoreImpact Of Globalization On Modern Profit Making Environment Essay833 Words   |  4 PagesLuthans, Doh, (2015) is a firm that has operations in more than one country and engages in foreign direct investment (FDI). MNCs have generated wealth for several â€Å"small† places around the world. Moreover, MNCs can use capital procured in other markets for additional advertising and expansion. The transfer of information is vital for organized economic creations between a series of diverse organizations and adopts this allocation with a detailed frame composition. Lastly, MNCs have an opportunityRead MoreThe Mcdonald’s Case: Strategies for Growth996 Words   |  4 PagesEmail: gianglevn@yahoo.com Abstract: This paper presents a case study of international franchising, focusing on fast-food sector. McDonald s is one of the world s premier entrepreneurial success stories. However, early in 2003, McDonald’s has announced a re-structure plan including cutting jobs, closing many restaurants and slowing down the expansion plan. What went wrong with McDonald’s and what can other international franchises learn from these mistakes are investigated. Result shows businessRead MoreAnalysis Of Mcdonald s S On The Indian Market Essay1237 Words   |  5 PagesInternational business focuses on the significant differences between markets around the world. This report uses The McDonald’s Corporation as an example to show the importance of having a strong knowledge of unfamiliar business environments; in particular, when looking to internationalise. By looking at the case of McDonald’s moving into the Indian market, we can see that internationalising introduces cross-cultural challenges and political risks that must considered both before, during and afterRead MoreI Have Chosen The Burger King Corporation.The Burger King1581 Words   |  7 Pagesused to influence the direction of the firm s growth in the marketplace (Raimundo, 2001). Business strategy enables company to match its internal capabilities and its external environment. Also, their research helps them plan and assist s the company to realize its objectives and mission set at its inception and during the life of the company. The business-level strategy involves organizational decisions on how to compete for customers in the market and industry. It includes choices about the serviceRead MoreMcdonald s Impacts Of Globalization And Technology1315 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract McDonald s is a privately owned company that is part of a food industry that is consistently evolving with strategic management and strategic competitiveness at the forefront. McDonald s goal is to be a pioneer in delivering exceptional customer service in meeting the needs of their customers with quality and affordability. This research will present McDonald s impacts of globalization and technology. The industrial organization model will be discussed to determine steps needed to maximizeRead MoreAnalysis and Description of McDonalds’ Dollar Menu1656 Words   |  7 PagesThe content of this document begin by introducing McDonalds’ and also explains the company’s dollar menu. The document also contains a description of my selected product; ‘the dollar menu’ in terms of the four utilities of customer value, mainly possession, time, place and form. The document also identifies the product’s target market in the US as well as in China, the com petition of the product category in both home and foreign markets, it contains an explanation of how I would apply the segmentationRead MoreIn The Present Time For Any Business To Be A Success, There1243 Words   |  5 PagesIn the present time for any business to be a success, there are two pressures that must be handled with much attention. The two main forces experienced are the development of strategy in international business and expanding market. The strategy is most believed to be keen on the identification and taking actions that will make the goals of the firm be achieved. Strategy in business identifies the primary target of a given company. 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Monday, December 9, 2019

Diversity Management and Discrimination †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Diversity Management and Discrimination. Answer: Introduction In todays business world, there are many factors internal factors considered as the major success factors. Among all those, one of the major factors is Workplace Diversity. In the simplest words, workplace diversity can be considered as the variety of differences between the people within the business organizations (Schermerhorn et al. 2014). However, it needs to be mentioned that there are many other crucial aspects in workplace diversity required to be considered while dealing with it. It can be observed that the managements of the business organizations have been providing major attention towards different aspects of workplace diversity. However, in spite of this fact, major obstacles can be seen for the female employees and different minority groups (Chrobot-Mason and Aramovich 2013). The main aim of this essay is to analyze and evaluate various aspects of workplace diversity in 21st century. This essay takes an honest attempt to explore the main reasons for which workplace diver sity is given large attentions. The next part of the essay involves in discussing the major challenges and opportunities from workplace diversity faced by the managers of 21st century. As per the definition, workplace diversity can be referred to a workforce consists of large mix of workers from different ethnic and racial background of different ages and genders, and of different national and domestic cultures (Rice 2015). It needs to be mentioned that the traditional notion of workplace diversity refers to the representation of genders, races and religious background, but in 21st century, the meaning of workplace diversity is all-encompassing (Wambui et al. 2013). Apart from these, some of the other variables of workplace diversity are personality, cognitive style, age, education, skill set and others. In todays world, the focus of workplace diversity is the promotion of the individuals within the organizations by acknowledging the contribution of them towards the success of the companies (Wambui et al. 2013). Thus, from the above discussion, it can be observe that workplace diversity is a major factor for the success of the companies. Reasons for Giving Large Attention to Workplace Diversity As per the earlier discussion, it can be observed that the employees in the organizations nude females, employees from minority group and others have been facing major obstacles related to workplace diversity (Ewoh 2013). In the recent years, it can be seen that business organizations all over the world have been providing major importance to the implementation of workplace diversity within the organizations. It needs to be mentioned that there are certain reasons behind this process of giving importance (Ewoh 2013). Employees from different background and experience can be seen within the workplace and all of them have different opinions and perspectives toward different kinds of problems of the businesses. Thus, from this diverse workplace, it is possible for the business organizations to get alternative solutions and approaches towards various organizational problems. In the process of workplace diversity, the amalgamation of diverse individuals can be seen and this particular pro cess sets the stage for creativity in the organizations (Ewoh 2013). It needs to be mentioned that all these particular aspects lead to more personal growth of the employees as the employees become expose to major differences culture, opinion and ideas. In the presence of workplace diversity, the employees from different background become able to improve their ability for the adaption of different circumstances in the diverse work background (Barak 2016). In a diverse workplace, employees posses different kinds of skills and strengths and the management of the companies can combine these skills and strengths for greater productivity and performance of the business organizations (Festing and Schfer 2014). Apart from this, the diverse cultural expertise of different employees provides the business organizations with major benefits. In case of the global organizations, the presence of workplace diversity can make optimization in the ability of the business organizations to meet the needs of the customers in a better manner. By taking the advantage of wor kplace diversity, business organizations can pair up the employees from a specific demographic background with the clients of the similar background so that the demands of the customs can be met effectively (Festing and Schfer 2014). Business organizations all over the world have identified the fact that the companies promoting workplace diversity have a special positive value in the marketplace. Most importantly, it needs to be mentioned that the companies can provide the women with better career opportunities with the help of various strategies of workplace diversity. In addition, business organizations can fight with the issue of harassment of the female employees at the workplace (Saxena 2014). Thus, from the above discussion, it can be observed that the business organizations can become majorly beneficial from the adoption of the strategy of workplace diversity. At the same time, the companies become able to fight with different issues like the harassment of female workers, development of minority group and others. Due to the presence of all these reasons, business organizations have been given so much attention to workplace diversity in recent years (Saxena 2014). Challenges of Workplace Diversity From the above discussion, it can be observed that some major reasons contribute in getting major attention of workplace diversity in the business organizations. Despite of the presence of the presence of many initiatives from the companies towards the development of a more diverse workforce, some barriers are still limiting the progress of workplace diversity. These challenges from both managerial and organizational perspectives can reduce the progress of workplace diversity. It can be observed that there are certain major challenges (Wilson 2014). The first challenge is communication barrier. It needs to be mentioned that the managers of the companies face major difficulties while assimilating large diverse workforce in the business organizations (Wilson 2014). When there is employees in the workforce from different cultural background, the organizational managers face major challenge in avoiding miscommunication in the taskforce. Apart from this, the presence of miscommunication leads to the development of less effective team and affects the synergy of workgroup (Sabharwal 2014). Another major challenge in the development of workplace diversity is resistance to change and it is considered as a different types of barrier of workplace diversity (Wilson 2014). It needs to be mentioned that workplace diversity demands the employees of the companies to become more flexible and evolution towards a boarder culture and this is a major needs for workplace diversity. However, there are many instances where this need meets resistance. In the presence of resistance force, the employees decline to be flexible to be the part of a diverse workplace (Bond and Haynes 2014). Perceived underperformance is regarded as another major challenge faced by the managers in workplace diversity. There are many instance where the managers of the companies consider their employees as less skilled, less qualified and less talented. This particular mentality of the management of the organizations can be considered as another major challenge of workplace diversity as it reduces the pace of progress in the implementation of workplace diversity (Hill et al. 2013). One of the major challenges of workplace diversity is the wage difference. There are many business organizations all over the world where significant gap can be seen in the education level and wage level of male and female employees (Sabharwal 2014). This particular aspect is a concrete proof that there is existence of the barriers of workplace diversity. This particular aspect can be considered as glass ceiling. In the business organizations, the presence of misallocation of human resources can be seen and it is called glass ceiling. This glass ceiling represents an invisible barrier to the employees of minority group (Sabharwal 2014). Thus, from the above discussion, it can be observed that the managers of 21st century face these major challenges while confronting the issue of workplace diversity. Apart from these issues, the managers also face other challenge while developing workplace diversity. Some of them are bulling in the workplace, insensitivity, recovering from mistakes, absence of informal mentoring and many others. The managers are required to develop strategies to encounter these challenges (Hill et al. 2013). Opportunities from Workplace Diversity The above discussion shows the presence of the major challenges in the process of workplace diversity. Apart from these challenges, the managers of 21st century also get some major opportunities from workplace diversity. They are discussed below: The managers of the companies can get the opportunity of obtaining talent, skill and experience from the implementation of workplace diversity (Wilson 2014). It needs to be mentioned that the employees from diverse background possess different talent, skill and experience; and the managers of the companies can use them for achieving the organizational objectives and to boost performance (Wrench 2016). For this reason, it is required for the organizational managers to hire employees from different background and skills. It needs to be mentioned that a diverse workforce include employees from different language and from this, the managers get the opportunity to use them for dealing with the customs from different geographical background (Wrench 2016). Business organizations promoting the aspect of workplace diversity attracts large number of talented candidates towards their organizations. Apart from this, these business organizations will be knows as more progressive organizations towards workplace diversity. With the rise in the number of new applicants, the managers will get the opportunity to find the exceptional candidates. Moreover, this aspect is also useful for the purpose of employee retention (Guillaume et al. 2017). In the business organizations where workplace diversity is given utmost priority, the employees from different background are most likely to feel comfortable and happy; and happy employees are considered as the major factor for the success of the companies (Podsiadlowski et al. 2013). It needs to be mentioned that the diversity in workplace is a major factor for encouraging the employees n achieving their best. Apart from this, it increases the employee morale. With the help of all these, the managers of the companies can get the opportunity to improve the performance of the companies (Podsiadlowski et al. 2013). From the above discussion, it can be seen that the managers of the companies get these major opportunities from workplace diversity. Apart from these, the managers can some other opportunities. The managers of the business organizations can increase the productivity of the organization with the help of workplace diversity (Hays?Thomas and Bendick 2013). Most importantly, they become able to attract and retain talents from different backgrounds. It needs to be mentioned that the managers of the companies become able to introduce synergy and coordination in the team that is good for the overall organization. With the help of all these aspects, the managers of the companies can get the chance to increase the market share of their businesses (Hays?Thomas and Bendick 2013). Thus, these are the major opportunities that the managers of 21st century can get from the implementation of workplace diversity. Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be observed that workplace diversity is one of the major success factors of the companies. The above discussion shows that there are some major factors for which the companies provide great importance to the aspect of workplace diversity. The implementation of workplace diversity provides equal growth opportunities for the personal development of the employees. It also addresses the issues like gender equality, development of female employees and others. From the above discussion, it can be observed that there are some major challenges for the implementation of workplace diversity. They are communication challenge, perceived underperformance, resistance to change, wage difference and others. Apart from the major challenges, the managers of 21st century can get some major opportunities from the implementation of workplace diversity. They are acquisition of major talents, improvements in the performance of the companies, increase in the production of t he companies, retention f talents, coordination among the team members and many others. Thus, based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that the managers of 21st century can become majorly beneficial from the effective implementation of workplace diversity. References Barak, M.E.M., 2016.Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage Publications. Bond, M.A. and Haynes, M.C., 2014. Workplace diversity: A socialecological framework and policy implications.Social Issues and Policy Review,8(1), pp.167-201. Chrobot-Mason, D. and Aramovich, N.P., 2013. The psychological benefits of creating an affirming climate for workplace diversity.Group Organization Management,38(6), pp.659-689. Ewoh, A.I., 2013. Managing and valuing diversity: Challenges to public managers in the 21st century.Public Personnel Management,42(2), pp.107-122. Festing, M. and Schfer, L., 2014. Generational challenges to talent management: A framework for talent retention based on the psychological-contract perspective.Journal of World Business,49(2), pp.262-271. Guillaume, Y.R., Dawson, J.F., Otaye?Ebede, L., Woods, S.A. and West, M.A., 2017. Harnessing demographic differences in organizations: What moderates the effects of workplace diversity?.Journal of Organizational Behavior,38(2), pp.276-303. Hays?Thomas, R. and Bendick, M., 2013. Professionalizing diversity and inclusion practice: Should voluntary standards be the chicken or the egg?.Industrial and Organizational Psychology,6(3), pp.193-205. Hill, R., Pert, P.I., Davies, J., Walsh, F.J. and Falco-Mammone, F., 2013.Indigenous land management in Australia: extent, scope, diversity, barriers and success factors. Cairns: CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences. Podsiadlowski, A., Grschke, D., Kogler, M., Springer, C. and Van Der Zee, K., 2013. Managing a culturally diverse workforce: Diversity perspectives in organizations.International Journal of Intercultural Relations,37(2), pp.159-175. Rice, M.F., 2015.Diversity and public administration. ME Sharpe. Sabharwal, M., 2014. Is diversity management sufficient? Organizational inclusion to further performance.Public Personnel Management,43(2), pp.197-217. Saxena, A., 2014. Workforce diversity: A key to improve productivity.Procedia Economics and Finance,11, pp.76-85. Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole, D., Woods, P., Simon, A. and McBarron, E., 2014.Management: Foundations and Applications (2nd Asia-Pacific Edition). John Wiley Sons. Wambui, T.W., Wangombe, J.G., Muthura, M.W., Kamau, A.W. and Jackson, S.M., 2013. Managing Workplace Diversity: A Kenyan Pespective.International Journal of Business and Social Science,4(16). Wilson, E., 2014. Diversity, culture and the glass ceiling.Journal of cultural diversity,21(3), p.83. Wrench, J., 2016.Diversity management and discrimination: Immigrants and ethnic minorities in the EU. Routledge.