Popular culture

Popular culture What is popular culture? Introduction (John Storey, 2006, p.1) â€Å"popular culture is always defined, implicitly or explicitly, in contrast to other conceptual categories: folk culture, mass culture, dominant culture†. â€Å"Popular† and â€Å"Culture† Before we look into more depth about the term ‘popular culture we must first determine what it actually means. Firstly to break the term down, Raymond Williams says culture is â€Å"one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language† (cited storey 2006). To understand what William means we will take a look at his definitions. William refers to culture in three ways, firstly he states culture could be seen as â€Å"a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development†.   The examples storey gives are â€Å"great philosophers, great artists and great poets† which noticeably the word great is used giving a sense of high culture. Secondly â€Å"a particular way of life, whether a people, a period or a group† (ibid). - Popular Culture Now we have determined what the terms popular and culture mean we can now look at the word as a whole. Storey states that Popular culture â€Å"is the culture that is left over after we have decided what is high culture† (Storey 2009, p. 6). Popular culture is therefore seen as â€Å"inferior culture† or ‘low culture (ibid). When you think about popular culture in this way there comes a problem, who determines which category it falls into. Storey states â€Å"to be real culture, it has to be difficult† therefore creating a division to who can and who can not. Pierre Bourdieu argues that â€Å"cultural distinctions of this kind are often used to support class distinctions. Taste is a deeply ideological category: it functions as a marker of class† (Bourdieu 1984).   Popular culture is often taken from culture, diluted and then distributed to the masses for personal gain. Sub cultures are created to help a group of people who feel left out from society, find there place. When looking at sub cultures, they are often associated with the youth of society. It could be argued that sub cultures are made possible because the youth within society have much more leisure time. (Lifestyle) The reason for this is said to be because of the generation gap. Some sub cultures create a moral panic because it challenges the norm and goes against how the people should think and what they should be doing. In doing so they create there ideology according to how they feel about society which is often opposed to the elite. If this is the case then it suggests a political dimension to what popular culture is so therefore it is not just about leisure or entertainment. Popular culture and the mass media go hand in hand because the media creates a distorted image of how the world is and the masses are said to passively consume it. Popular culture is also argued to divert people away from what is important which is said to be beneficiary for the elite, an example of this is capitalism. (Storey 2006) Ideology conceals the reality of domination from those in power: the dominant class dont see themselves as exploiter or oppressors†. More importantly though it works in favour of the elite as Storey states â€Å"Ideology conceals the reality of subordination from those who are powerless: the subordinate class dont see themselves as exploited or oppressed†. One of the most significant ideological practices in recent years has been the categorical dividing of what is popular and what is classical. Storey states â€Å"the division between high and popular culture†¦is absolutely clear†¦and transhistorical-fixed for all time.† Up until recent years the divions of the two were quite prominent but with groups like Escala (who were on Britains got talent) the divide becomes blurry. Groups like Escala play classical music in a different way to the norm but which is still classical and since they were on a popular show they made classical music popular. But that does not mean it will stay that way because if you look at some of the Cds they are bringing out for classical music now with such titles as â€Å"Pure Classical† which may seem innocent but could be argued that the elite are trying to police the boundaries. The real question what has been discussed is, value. As we have look in the first part of this essay, culture is not a fixed thing, it changes over time. A prime example of this would be opera. It started off for working class people but over time soon change and now is for the elite in society. If you were to look at the price it started off at it was only a few pennies but now the price of a ticket is quite high which therefore excludes people from taking part. Another example of this would be of you were to take a look at Pavarotti who had top selling albums and chart toppers, who then went to put on a performance in Hyde park for free and a woman attending give a comment to say â€Å"I cant afford to go to the posh opera houses and folk out  £100 for a ticket†. Yet again you could see some of the elite trying to police the boundaries by giving bad reviews saying â€Å"the park is no place for opera†. When you take that review and think about what they are really mean, they are saying it should stay in the opera hous e and keep its exclusiveness. Ideologies gain persuasive powers to either directly or indirectly influence the way people live, how they behave and how they relate to each other. Ideology can be understood by a set of values and ideas that a certain group shares.

Advantage of Taking a Stress Management Class Essay

Unfortunately, stress is a very normal part of everyday life for most of us. Stress can both be positive and negative. Leaving negative stress to chance, you will encounter serious health problems. Although stress is commonplace, it is far from healthy. Stress management professionals in the industry will recommend stress management classes as a means to better health and wellbeing. Stress management classes are available through employers and health care professionals. These sessions will help you to identify the factors that are causing the stress and help you make good lifestyle choices to reduce stress in the future. The larger companies are realizing that assisting employees to cope with stress will not only result in better health and emotional wellness for the staff; it will also improve the bottom line as well. These stress management classes are offered in multiple formats; from formal lectures by authorities in the field, to weekly training sessions that teach skills like meditation and biofeedback. Studies of these seminars show a marked improvement in employees’ stress symptoms after eight weeks of training. Less stress means higher production for employers, so it becomes a win-win situation for many companies. Individual Stress Management Classes There is several ways to access stress management classes for everyone. Do not think that stay at home mom doesn’t have stress. There are other opportunities for stress management classes. A good resource to begin with is your primary care provider. You can also check books and websites for information regarding stress management classes. Advantages of taking a class are that you will learn to spot the sources of your stress in order to take control of them more effectively. Stress management classes will teach you coping skills such as relaxation techniques and exercises specifically targeted at tension. You will also have the chance to meet others who are facing similar hurdles in their own lives, and build a support network with others who are sharing like burdens. Negative stress can take away your emotional wellbeing and at the same time contribute to general poor health. Therefore, stress management classes can help you identify the source of your stress, learn how to gain control over them, and educate you to reduce your stress symptoms. When feeling the results of constant stress, contact your nearest health provider to find out about a stress management class for you. Many people don’t think about stress management unless they’re already on the verge of burnout. With our busy lives, it doesn’t always seem obviously important to take on the practice of stress management before a worn-out body or an overly taxed psyche force the issue. However, developing healthy stress relieving habits really do pay off in the long run. Not only does a regular stress management practice stave off the negative effects of stress, but it can also bring positive outcomes like increased productivity, better health and more happiness in general. The following are some reasons why: †¢ Your Health: Excessive stress really can lead to poor health outcomes, from relatively minor things like headaches and digestion problems in the short run to major conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke after years of unmanaged stress. (Here’s a more complete list of stress related health problems, and a more detailed description of how stress affects your health.) †¢ Your Looks: Many stress relievers can also make you healthier and even more attractive. For example, taking care of your body by getting enough sleep can make you more productive and healthier, and can help you better manage stress, as well as staving off dark circles under the eyes and a poor complexion. Also, eating right can keep your blood sugar levels even, keeping your emotions in check and making you more resilient to stress, as well as helping you stay in your ‘skinny jeans’ or favorite tee-shirts from college. Getting regular exercise can help you blow off steam when you’re frustrated and keep your body fit and toned. †¢ Increased Productivity: Simply put, when you’re not stressed, you can be more productive because you’re more focused. Therefore, it really pays to keep stress to a minimum. Certain stress relief habits naturally make you more productive. Power napping, for example, can help you catch up on sleep and be more focused and productive, making less sleep stretch further. Being organized can also help you save time and money in the long run, reducing stress and helping you to be more productive in virtually every area of your life. Even limiting caffeine can help, improving your sleep and helping you feel less stressed at the end of the day. Finally, having the right attitude is actually a habit that can be learned. Being an optimist can benefit you in many areas of your life, helping you let failures roll off your back and actually enabling you to achieve more! (Think you’re already an optimist? You may be surprised. Take this quiz to find out for sure, and dis cover the secrets of optimistic thinking.) †¢ Your Happiness: Some stress relief practices just bring more joy. If you want to enjoy life more, you’ll want to adopt some of these stress relievers, and the fun will come more easily. Caring for pets, enjoying music, dancing while you clean, working more laughter into your life, maintaining a supportive circle of friends, and even having sex are all fun activities that double as great stress relievers for various reasons. Read more about them and how they can help you, and remind yourself that you’re never too busy to include these activities in your lifestyle—they’re stress management techniques! †¢ Your Stress Levels—Of Course!: The desire to avoid walking around feeling stressed-out is, in itself, a good reason to bone up on stress management. Certain general techniques that primarily just relieve stress (rather than serving some secondary function) are more than worth adopting because, when you’re less stressed, you enjoy life more. Some of the best stress management techniques available include , and good old [link url=/od/breathingexercises/ht/breathing_ex.htm]breathing exercises. Read more about the benefits of each, and choose a few to try, and you won’t have to let stress sap you of energy, productivity and enjoyment of life again! Putting in the effort to learn effective strategies for stress relief and low-stress living will pay off in the long run. Because of this, stress management is among the most important subjects to learn! Ideally, stress management needs to begin when we’re young so that we don’t have battered, scarred trunks when we reach mid life and beyond. But, the reality is, most of us never consider stress as damaging †¦until we’ve been reacting to it for a long time. The good news about our amazing bodies is that once we identify the stressors and make some definite life style changes, we can often reverse a lot of the damage. Sort of like being able to get some wood filler, apply it to the nicks on the tree trunk, then sand it down to recreate a smooth finish on your trunk. Stress management can really promote better health. What are some of the benefits of stress reduction? 1. Better immune function 2. Less illnesses and physical complaints 3. More energy 4. Feeling more relaxed 5. Sleeping better 6. Better digestion 7. Calmer mood 8. More focused, more positive 9.   Case Example: Elaine A housewife named Elaine suffered from dreadful panic attacks. She would be in a state of great agitation. She was sure she was having a heart attack, terrified she would die, despite the fact that she had no heart disease and was just 45 years old. Twice she rushed to the emergency room for help. She was suffering acute chest pain, sweating profusely and nauseated. Her heart was pounding, her breathing was shallow and rapid, her hands shook and she had diarrhoea. Real symptoms. The emergency room medics examined her carefully and told her she was reacting to stress and suggested she see her family doctor. Her family doctor checked Elaine over, sent her for a series of tests to rule out disease and prescribed . . . exercise. Whenever she felt acute anxiety symptoms, she was to jog or run or get on her exercise bike until the attack passed. His notion was that to get rid of the bad chemicals, it was imperative to replace them with good chemicals. After a few weeks of doing that †¦it worked. She was able to control the panic and anxiety with exercise. With a lot of practice, she also learned to do relaxation techniques and deep breathing so that Elaine can take control of anxiety whenever she feels over-whelmed at times when she’s unable to exercise. No pills or magic, just using the body and mind to cure itself. Case example 2 Allen was a firefighter for many years. When he had been to a fire, he would come back to the fire station all keyed up and be unable to relax. The adrenalin he needed to fight the fire was still pumping – hours after he was out of the â€Å"fight† mode. The â€Å"tiger† was gone yet seeing flames destroy people’s property bothered him emotionally. When people were hurt or died in the fires, he was even more keyed up and anxious. He felt sad. Soon he had high blood pressure and was prescribed medication. Realizing he had to take action, try to reverse what he was feeling, he started running on the tread milling once he got back from a fire. His family had a history of heart disease, he was determined not to sick. He gets on the treadmill for 30 – 45 minutes while watching TV or listening to relaxing music. He also learned to meditate which took weeks to master. He does tai chi several days weekly. Within just 4 month his blood pressure was under control and he was able to come off the medication. He actively changed his bad stress chemicals to good stress chemicals. A Stress Management Seminar for understanding and Coping with Stress The length of a stress management seminar may vary from several days to some being only half a day. The stress management seminar may be presented by experts ranging from psychologists to scientist and professionals from other diverse fields. With the promise of change and challenge in our growing markets a stress management seminar may provide some answers for people to try and cope with the growing strain put on their lives. Stress may be a life threatening factor for one man and a life enhancing one for another. The stress management seminar can prove to be pivotal in comprehending many apparently paradoxical observations and realize that the difference between negative and positive stress may lie in the perception and handling of stress as well as how best to cope with it. What vital information can be learnt at a Stress Management Seminar? Just some of the keynote presentations that are dealt with at a stress management seminar; †¢ Self-assessment of stress â€Å"triggers† †¢ Four factors of stress mediation †¢ The power of re-frame and focus †¢ The productive and proper use of W.I.I.F.M strategy. †¢ How to do more with less †¢ Circles of destiny †¢ How to master an action grid †¢ Network strength and organizational alignment. Of course, there are many different stress management seminars available and one should choose a seminar that helps participants in identifying the causes of stress as well as enable them to have effective tools to avoid as well as reduce and manage stress, both on and off the job. Some stress management seminars would include written individual as well as group exercises, group discussions and group activities as well as business simulations to make the learning process more effective. Different themes that are presented at the stress management seminar may include; †¢ getting the most from one’s work †¢ Knowing how stress drains the value from one’s life †¢ Nature as well as causes and effects of stress †¢ An attendee’s personal stress profile †¢ Rational as well as irrational thinking and behavior †¢ Effects of positive as well as negative thinking and much, much more. The kind of people who would normally attend a stress management seminar may include executive team members, managers or employees of different persuasion. Some stress management seminars may be customized for group or even firm requirements. Many seminars have also been changed to suit the skills level the company.

Implications of Investor Behaviour on Corporate Strategy and Performance Free Essay Example, 2000 words

It is evidently clear from the discussion that investors can have a critical role in the development of corporate strategies. In fact, they are the investors that decide on all the critical issues that a corporation has to face. The increased power of investors within modern corporations has been explained using the following arguments: a) investors have key interests on their corporation; their participation in the key corporate decisions should be regarded as quite satisfied since they are their interests that are in risk. However, this view could be opposed as follows: investors are not the only individuals who have interests on a particular corporation; employees, customers, suppliers and even the state have interests on the relevant corporation (in the context of their role as stakeholders). For this reason, all the above persons should also have access along with the investors to the meetings involved in key strategic decisions (Morgan et al. 2010), b) through another point of view, corporation, as any other organization, needs to be governed in accordance with a specific strategy; the application of the corporate mission and aims as included in the corporate mission statement needs to be closely monitored on a continuous basis. We will write a custom essay sample on Implications of Investor Behaviour on Corporate Strategy and Performance or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Investors should have the role of the control of the corporation ensuring that all key strategic targets are effectively pursued (Orhangazi, 2008). It is in this context that key corporate decisions are set for verification by the meeting of shareholders, a term commonly included in the memorandum of association. Despite the above issues, it could be noted that the involvement of investors in corporate strategy can have important implications. At the first level, investors are individuals and can be influenced by their personal perceptions. This means that when being asked to participate in the development of a critical corporate decision, investors are expected to express their view, as being aligned with their perceptions on the issues under discussion.

Essay about Alice Munros The Red Dress and The Day of...

Alice Munros The Red Dress and The Day of The Butterfly â€Å"The Red Dress† and â€Å"The Day of The Butterfly† are two very interesting stories, written by an exceptional Canadian author, Alice Munro. Both of these stories are well written and can be associated with what goes on in today’s society. The principal characters, human relationships, and the importance of symbolism exist, in both of these stories, strongly. There are many similarities, and also differences between the two short stories, that compare and contrast what can be viewed upon in our daily lives. The principal characters of â€Å"The Red Dress† is the narrator, who’s name never gets revealed throughout the story, and the principal character in â€Å"The Day of The†¦show more content†¦Myra’s conflicting relationships with her parents are not visible, but can be understood because her parents have left her with full responsibility for her younger brother. Which causes Myra to have no time for herself or the people around her. Another example of this is the narrator and her mother. The mother makes the red dress for her daughters first high school dance out of love, but she doesn’t realize the pain that she’s causing her daughter. The daughter feels that by her mother making her the dress, without any consent by herself, it leaves her with no control, or say of what takes place in her life. The main similarity between both of these short stories is that of symbolism. Symbolism in a short story or anyother kind of story is extrem ely necessary for a greater understanding of the symbolic value of the story. Both aspects of symbolism in the two short stories, reflect upon the main characters life and changes. In â€Å"The Red Dress†, the red dress is the symbolic value. It represents the conflict between the narrator, and her mother. The narrator’s mother makes the dress out of love, but the narrator feels she’s only doing it out of control over her. However in â€Å"The Day of The Butterfly† the key symbolic value is the butterfly broach which was given to Myra by Helen. From the butterfly’s birth to it’s early death, represents the stages of Myra’s difficult life, as she suffered from the childhood disease, leukemia. These