Employee Motivational Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Employee Motivational Strategies - Essay Example Add that to the fact that sometimes, employees think that the compensation that they receive on a monthly basis (or maybe even more frequently, depending on the agreement between the employee and the employer) is just enough or maybe even not enough for their daily needs. Most companies have perceived this problem, realizing that manpower or more specifically the employees themselves are their most important resource. Employers also have realized that like any other resource, manpower should be continually replenished or renewed in terms of loyalty, trust and overall satisfaction from the work they are currently employed in. The concept of employee motivation comes into mind, wherein the company adapts certain policies that will motivate their employees so that they will remain not only financially satisfied but also emotionally, physically and mentally contented. The introduction of fun in the workplace is a welcome idea, and many companies are jumping on this idea for the improveme nt of their employees. Employee motivation techniques are now most often done in many forms in modern workplaces and usually revolve around the concept of rewarding satisfactory effort with the appropriate reward or set of rewards that are given either immediately or at a designated time depending on certain situations. Employee motivation is a new keyword today that states that employees have the need to be motivated and satisfied in order to maintain their level of work and positive attitudes towards the company. This topic is very significant and very much applicable in today's high-stress work environment, as it sees that employees as a very important resource that needs to be nurtured and developed. The relationship between the employer and their employees are also discussed as well as their parts in the creation of solutions pertaining to employee motivation and satisfaction. There are several theories and methods of employee motivation discussed herein, as well as recommendations on how to implement employee motivation methods and improvement of the said system if it is already implemented in the workplace. Employer and employee relationships A very fine line exists between the employer(s) and the employee. One thing for certain is that the employer is the employee's superior and the employee must comply with the work that his or her employer demands. With this, it can be thought of that the employee is bound to the service of his or her employer within the contract that they have agreed between themselves. This is not unlike the relationship between master and slave of yesteryears, in which the slave is not just bound to its master's service but also treated as that person's property. Times have changed and so do employee rights. Treating employees like slaves would not do an employer any good, and this has been shown with the creation of employee rights and privileges laid down upon each country's constitution. One of the basic tenets of this is the provision of salaries to the employee by their employer according to the existing minimum wage rates. Other benefits such as health benefits, bonuses and other financial an d non-financial perks may or may not be given again depending on the agreement set upon between the emplo

The impact of E-technologies on competition --river isaland Essay

The impact of E-technologies on competition --river isaland - Essay Example The involvement of e-technologies in business activities is reviewed in this paper. Emphasis is given on a particular industry, the clothing industry. The firm River Island, an important competitor in the global clothing industry is used as an example in order to explain the potential value of e-technologies for the clothing industry, especially in regard to the industry’s competitiveness. 2. The impact of e-technologies on competition – River Island 2.1. Impact on consumers The use of e-technologies in business activities has been related to a series of benefits. E-commerce is a term used for showing the network of technologies available to businesses that choose to use Internet for expanding their operations (Morley and Parker 2009). Through e-commerce consumers have a series of benefits: a) they can have access to ‘a higher range of products and vendors’ (Bushry 2005); b) they are able to make their shopping without leaving their home (Bushry 2005); the convenience related to e-commerce has been characterized as one of this scheme’s major advantage; c) as noted above, through e-commerce consumers have access to a high range of products; as a result, the range of prices involved is also high (Bushry 2005); this means that e-commerce offers to consumers the advantage of choosing among products of various prices (Bushry 2005). In addition, through e-commerce consumers are able to compare among products of different prices and identify the products of the desired price (Bushry 2005). The comparison of products in regard to their characteristics and price is one of the most important features of e-commerce (Qin 2009); it seems that due to this feature the popularity of e-commerce as a business tool has been significantly increased the last decade (Qin 2009); d) Another important feature of e-commerce is the following one: because of e-commerce consumers can have access to valuable information in regard to products/ services avail able online (Bushry 2005). This type of information would not be retrieved unless through appropriately customized websites. From this point of view, it could be stated that e-commerce has led to the increase of power of consumers, an issue that is also discussed in the next section. 2.2 Impact on Pricing & Profits The use of e-technologies can highly affect the performance of clothing industry. However, in order to understand the potentials of the industry to increase its competitiveness it would be necessary to present and evaluate the industry’s competitive environment. The Five Forces model of Porter would be used for developing this task. In the context of the above model, the global clothing industry has to face five forces: a) pressures from suppliers; there are specific countries that are involved in the global apparel industry; in fact, China and EU are the industry’s major exporters, Figure 1; still, the industry’s prices are kept at standard levels; t he industry’s suppliers are not expected to press for an increase in price, at least since the number of potential suppliers is high, as indicated in Figure 1 below. Figure 1 – Exports in the apparel industry (Source: Fernandez-Stark, K., Frederick, S. and Gereffi 2011, p.10) b) Consumers; e-commerce has allowed consumers to become more independent in regard to the review and ordering of products/ services

A project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A project - Essay Example Lindt and Ferrero both play in a big commercial scale (Ferrero in the world) & (The Lindt & Sprungli Group). . However, the weakness of these brands lies in the fact that they only aim at the top section of the society, probably due to the high costs associated with packaging and advertising. Our brand is considerably different Undoubtedly, our brand is different from the competitors in the fact that we are not confined only to the upper class of the society, but we are catering all sections of the society; al income groups, all age groups, and both genders, and even geographical difference will be taken into consideration. In addition, we will be introducing products that will be aimed at people with various health problems, like fat-free items, and sugar-free items. Our target group The strategy of our brand is to address all demographic groups as all people, irrespective of caste, creed, color, sex or age, love chocolates. However, our products will specialize on each demographic group by meeting their group-specific needs and fantasies.

Being a doctor has severaldisadvantages that makes it a questionable Research Paper

Being a doctor has severaldisadvantages that makes it a questionable career choice - Research Paper Example small percentage (0.5%) can perform hemodialysis with special equipment at home and this is risky due to the increased possibility of infection and the requirement of having a very motivated patient. ESRD facilities are reimbursed mostly by Medicare part A (after the first 30 days). In fact, the vast majority of over 90% of dialysis patients covers this way. The patient’s physician is reimbursed through Medicare part B. Reimbursement coding at the facility is done using the International Classification of the Disease, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM), while the physicians submits for reimbursement using the Healthcare Common Procedural Coding System (HCPCS). Data collected by the facility and physician play a critical role in the patients ongoing treatment plan. These environments are a uniquely challenging setting too many due to the very nature of the population needing services. Another challenge our health care doctors face is the deficit of nurses who assist them in treatment of patients. Part of this shortage is due to the lack of infrastructure. In the academic year of 2010-2011, 67,563 qualified students were not admitted into nursing schools due to the lack of faculty, training facilities and other budget constraints and this is a clear indication that unless there is improvement in the infrastructure, such as state and national funding, that there could be a collapse in the nursing educational system (Dunham, 2009). An increase in population has also caused the need for more doctors. The number of nurses is not growing at the same rate as that of the population. The lack of younger students moving into the field of nursing is also a primary concern. The current age of a Registered Nurse is between 43 and 45 years of age. In the next ten to fifteen years, these nurses will reach retirement age, which will only add to the current shortage (Williams & Torrens, 2010). Higher spending costs. The development of new treatments for previously

Evaluate the Range of Alternative International Assignment Forms Essay Example for Free

Evaluate the Range of Alternative International Assignment Forms Essay An international assignment of 3-5 years is usually considered as Long Term Assignment. One of the reasons that it is becoming extremely more expensive for MNE’s is due to the nature of the job scope and the International Assignee’s (IA) personal considerations. Interestingly, according to the 2009 Global Relocation Trends Survey [ (Brookfield Global Relocation Services, 2009) ] report, when multinational companies are relocating their employees for assignments overseas these days regardless of short or long term, they tend to dispatch older and more experienced employees due to the low risk of assignment failure. This is one of the reasons why it has become increasingly and extremely more expensive for MNE’s [ (Harzing, 1995) ]. Following the expatriate demographic provided by the survey, family concerns sit on top of the chart which remain the most overwhelming reason of 92% for assignment refusal and also the top reason for early returns from assignments which recorded at high of 27%. Historically, the top five challenges over the years of the survey have been family adjustment, partner resistance, difficult location, children’s education, and partner’s career [ (Borstorff, 1997) ]; [ (Brett, 1995) ]. These are also the reasons why it is difficult to find the right candidates with the right experience to fill the vacancy for long term assignment [ (Shaffer, 2001) ]. Antidotes for the Poisons Exploiting Other Alternatives Due to the above dilemma faced by most of the MNE’s, they are now looking at other alternatives which can provide them with the best ‘antidotes’ to the ‘poisons’ that are stinging them. The ranges of alternatives of international assignments that the multinational companies can consider apart from the long term assignment include short term, self-initiated, commuter, and virtual assignments. Short term assignments This type of assignments can last from a few weeks to months. According to the PricewaterhouseCooper’s survey 2001, there is a sharp increase of almost 60% in the popularity of companies implementing this approach in their respective organizations. This is due to the nature of these assignments which give the companies an ‘instant’ solution in resolving skills shortages and are in general easier to manage [ (Solomon, 1999) ]. Apart from that, in comparison with the long term assignments, short term assignments imposed lower cost to the companies due to the assignment length and duration. In addition, companies do not need to spend on relocation on their entire employees’ family and it is also a good means to circumvent family-related problems which can be seen in most of the traditional assignments such as family upheavel. Self-initiated assignments Over the years, there is this trend that is growing in numbers where the assignees make their arrangements to find work abroad and are employed on local work contracts. According to [ (Suutari, 2000) ], they have identified a series of distinct characteristics of the self-initiated assignees as compared to traditional expatriation. These characteristics, which may not be that ‘bull’s eye’ accurate, however does speaks most common assignees may have and practice. These include young and single, be more motivated in moving abroad due to interest in internationalism and poor employment situations at home, working for companies at lower hierarchical levels, and receive no repatriation promises and view their relocation as a more permanent move. The benefit of recruiting the self-initiated assignees is that it can offer companies the potential of not having to undertake preparation. In fact, the assignees recruited could have been resident in a particular location for years where they are well blend with the socio-cultural of the place. One of the drawbacks is that the assignees are not familiar with the organizational culture which until a certain extent where such familiarity is important will be driven by the nature of the assignment. Commuter assignments This type of assignment involves employees commuting from their home to an office in another country by means of travelling by land, sea or air. One of the examples would be employees travelling by airplane on a weekly or bi-weekly basis [ (Assignment types explained, 2012) ]. In contrast with short term assignments, the commuter assignments allow company to fill in the skills shortage without disrupting the employee’s spouse’s career or the children’s education or family affair. This gives the assignees the opportunity to work abroad without leaving their home when carrying out their assignments. However, the drawbacks of the assignment are the quality life of the assignees may be affected. This is due to the likelihood of the assignees returning late from work due to the unspeakable distance of commuting and not to mention the fatigue due to the travelling journey. This affects the communication and the quality time between the assignees and their family which further prolong may affect their emotional and indirectly affects their productivity in the company. Virtual assignments The assignees manage the variety of international activities across several countries which do not require the assignees to be physically relocated to a foreign organizational unit. Although relocation is not necessary but extensive travel is inevitable. The advantages of a virtual assignment seem to be overwhelming over the traditional expatriate assignment. Firstly, the assignees are less expensive due to their wages are paid on local basis (without expatriate allowance) but perhaps with travel expenses. With the increasing use of video conferencing and other communication development, it has narrow down the possibility of this approach and making it less necessary in the future. Secondly, there is no need for any special scheme for the assignees such as insurance, foreign social security, and pensions as they can stick back to only local scheme. This gives the company another cost saving solution and as well as cutting on the unnecessary procedure in establishing a new scheme for the assignees. Lastly and most importantly, the assignees work-life balance is not tremendously affected. The assignees do not need to move their family abroad and their children’s education are not affected. The current trend of expatriation 2011 As the global economy continues to improve, more and more companies are increasing their presence in the emerging market where international assignments have become key aspect in the global economic recovery. Following the reliable source from the 2011 Global Relocation Trends Survey published by Brookfield Global Relocation Services [ (Brookfield GRS 2011 Global Relocation Trends Survey Report, 2011) ], China is where they are heading. According to the survey, China ranked the most common new destination followed by Brazil, India and Singapore. In terms of difficulties, China still sits on top of the list followed by India, Russia and Brazil. This gives a good reflection of the assignee volume going into these locations and the competition for housing and schooling will create delays and difficulties to the relocation and at the same time giving negative impact on the relocation experience. Conclusion In order to draw a bottom line on the above discussion, I personally view that self-initiated assignment would be the acceptable form of assignment from my generation. The current trend is leaning more towards modern thinking and not being hold back by the conventional belief and thinking. Take for example, the young adult nowadays do not rush through their marriage at early age and the average marriage age have increased to over 30 years old in contradictory with 18-22 years old during the olden days. This has indirectly give an impact to the working trend where employees remain single till the age of over 30 years old and they tend to be mobile and not restricted to family pressure or spouse’s career. Coming to this modern generation, we are starting to adapt to a very competitive environment where the local market is getting more and more saturated. In order to overcome this matter, we have to go out from our home country to get a well-paid jobs rather than saturating further in the local market. Therefore, this type of assignment is some kind of ‘killing two birds with one stone’ where companies can expect to save cost by hiring these assignees on contract basis and the assignees can expect to earn higher foreign exchange rate wages overseas compared to working in their home country. Considering the mutual benefits from this type of assignments, in the coming future we can expect to see the self-initiated assignment to gain popularity among the companies and also the prospective employees.

Art history formal analysis Renoir luncheon of the boating party Essay Example for Free

Art history formal analysis Renoir luncheon of the boating party Essay The subject matter of the painting consists of a group of people assembled on an outside deck that has a wooden railing and a red and white striped canopy. The deck is surrounded by marsh grass and some trees with a river visible beyond them. Upon the river a few boats can be seen, one of them a sailboat. In the immediate foreground there’s a square table with a white tablecloth on which rests several empty wine glasses with apparent red wine residue. A few plates are also visible with fluted glasses upon them, discarded morsels of food and silverware can also be seen. A centerpiece dish of fruit composed of Grapes and pears is flanked by several bottles of  red wine. A few discarded white cloth napkins have been casually cast among the dishes. Seated to the left of center at the table in the foreground is a young woman wearing straw hat with a red flowered hat band. She wears a fine black dress with white lace edging at the neck and cuffs, a dark red scarf draped over neck and down the front of the dress. She wears a black choker around her neck. She’s holding a small brown furred dog close to her face from under its forelegs the dog sits upright upon the table facing her. Behind her to the left standing and leaning with his backside against the wooden railing of the deck, his right arm gripping the railing stands a large man, his face in profile as he looks to the right and slightly back. He wears a dome shaped straw hat with the brim curved upwards its edge trimmed in blue. He has close cropped reddish brown hair and has a full beard and mustache of the same color. He wears a white tank top shirt and white pants. To his right along the railing several feet behind the foreground table stands a woman bent forward, her left arm and right elbow resting upon the railing as she faces the table. She wears a straw hat with a blue hat band the brim curved down. Her dresses is off white and trimmed in red that the neck and cuffs. Facing her with his back to the table sits a man wearing a brown suit and a brown and bowler hat. Behind the woman at the railing at the far left corner of the deck facing forward stands a man wearing a brown jacket with a light blue shirt wearing a cap. Facing him standing with his back to the viewer facing left is a man wearing a black overcoat and a black top hat with a beard. In the right foreground seated facing the table on a wooden chair that is turned backward is a man who looks left toward the railing of the deck, his face in profile. He faces the woman seated opposite him who holds the dog. He is wearing a straw hat with a flat top and black hatband its brim turned up at the back. He has brown hair and a light brown short mustache. He wears a white tank top shirt and dark colored pants. His arms rest forward on the reversed chair back; in his right hand he holds a cigarette. To his right seated at the table is a woman wearing a white brimless hat with a few blue stripes. Her dress is blue with white ruffles trimmed in red at the neck and white cuffs. Her hair is brown a small round earring can be seen hanging from her right ear as she looks up and to the  right. Standing behind her over her left shoulder is a man wearing a cream colored jacket with wispy blue stripes. He wears a white shirt and a black cravat. His hair falls over his forehead and is reddish brown. He has a small mustache and a goatee beard. He is leaning over the woman’s shoulder with his hand resting on the back of her chair, looking down at her. Behind him in the background over his left shoulder is a woman standing facing left, with black gloved hands raised to the sides of her face. She wears an ornate black hat with feathers and a black dress. Standing next to her with his arm around her is a man with a straw hat with a red hat band, wearing a red and white striped shirt. He faces forward looking at her intently. To his right stands another man facing the woman he has his arm around. This man has a full beard and wears a black hat. Behind him seated at the back table is a woman in a flowered straw hat who is drinking from a glass, she looks directly out of the picture plane past the table in the foreground at the viewer. A man seated to her left is barely visible in profile and past the shoulder of the man in the cream colored jacket. The entire scene is brightly lit with ambient light from the open sides of the porch the majority of which were enters from the front left of the picture plane. The white tablecloth on the table in the foreground glows with reflected light and the glasses and bottles on the table twinkle in the light. Part IV – Examination of the Art Objects Medium/Technique/Process Used: The medium used is this painting by Renoir is oil on canvas. The work was painted en plein air (outside) utilizing the alla prima (wet on wet) technique and also the classical layering technique of oil painting employed by the old masters. In these processes the first step would require the preparation of a surface on which to apply the oil paint. A linen canvas would be stretched around a wooden frame and tacked into place. The surface of the canvas would then be protected from the acidic qualities of the oil paint by applying layers of rabbit skin glue and chalk known as a ground. Next a primer of white lead paint or glue mixed with chalk â€Å"gesso† is added to provide a base layer for the painting. A rough outline of the scene would then be sketched onto the canvas as a guide for painting. Next the creation of a palette from which to paint from would require selecting the proper pigments. (Eastlake pg.234) For the portions of this work that were painted en plein air in the alla prima technique in the Impressionist style such as the tableware in the foreground Renoir would have used portable tubes of pigmented paint. Other portions that were executed in his studio employed classical oil painting techniques of layering colors and then glazing which creates a lustrous glow and provides the three dimensional quality of modeling. This technique is evident in the modeling of the forearm and the hand holding the cigarette of the man seated at the table in the right foreground. Colors would then be applied to their proper regions according to the sketch starting with the darkest and ending with the lightest, a mosaic upon which the details and highlights could then be painted. Finally upon completion the painting would be sealed with a varnish to protect its surface. (Sanders pg.11) Part V Examination of the Art Objects Composition (its Form Organization): 1. Identify and describe a specific incidence of composition from the list found below: A. Line: Renoir uses a sharp clean line to define the arm of the man seated at the table in the right foreground. The precise outline of the arm adds to the contrast of color between the arm and the man’s white shirt, the white tablecloth, and chair adding perceived depth to the shape of the arm. In contrast Renoir’s use of line in creating the marsh grasses outside the balcony is loose and diffused, giving the grass a perceived movement and depth. B. Shape: The semi circular shape of the awnings scalloped edge is distorted into curving points giving the illusion that the awning is swaying in the breeze adding a sense of movement to the air that is picked up by the grasses beyond it. C. Space: The open space left of center, framed by the two men in white tank tops allows for an unobstructed view of the landscape beyond providing perspective and contrasts the densely populated right side of the picture adding to the intimacy of the assembled group. This open space also directs the viewer gaze to the centerpiece of the table which is the symbolic heart of this painting. D. Color: Applications red are spread about the painting accenting the amorous qualities of the subjects depicted. Most evident in the women in varying profusion and intensity, the color red highlights the garments at the cuffs and necks, in the flowers they wear on their hats, and on their lips. Although more subtle, accents of red are present on the men as blushes to their face or on their lips. The most overtly amorous male in the right to the back wears a shirt and hat both striped with red. The most overtly sexual female seated, at the table in the left foreground has red tracing her neck and an explosion of red in the flower on her hat. Finally the red striped awning with its tong like flaps covers the entire flirtatious scene. E. Texture: Renoir employs variations in color, shadowing, and white highlights to render the textural appearance of the straw hat worn by the man seated at the table in the right foreground. F. Pattern: The diffused lines of blue/green create a layered pattern in the marsh grasses outside the porch rendering the effect of overlapping leaves with combined density. G. Time and Motion: The motion in this painting is imparted by the marsh grasses and awning gently swaying in the breeze. The aspect of time slowly passing is expressed through the sailboats gliding along the river and in the leisurely poses of the subjects along the railing. 2. At the end of this set of paragraphs identify any art elements you think is not found or used in the art objects composition.

History of Standards Of Beauty

History of Standards Of Beauty We live in a consumer culture and we are bombarded with advertising, retailing and entertainment industry. It is forcing us to buy and consume products, promising us happiness and self-transformation. Media is ever present in our lives. We look to the media to help us define, explain, and shape the world around us (Kellner, 2003). We make comparisons of ourselves, those close to us, and situations in our lives after seeing images in the media. And as a result, after these comparisons we are motivated to try to achieve new goals and expectations. In the contemporary world, messages about goods are all pervasive- advertising has increasingly filled up the spaces of our daily existenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ it is the air that we breathe as we live our daily lives (Jhally, 1990: 250). The important thing is that we cannot avoid comparisons of ourselves to the images which we are surrounded with from media and most of us will find ourselves inadequate when we do this (Kellner, 2003). How many times have we after seeing some beautiful woman in a magazine or on TV, thought: I want hair, lips, body, breasts or something else like she has?! Media is our most important information source. But I think we are not educated by it. We believe in everything that media serves us. This essay seeks to address so many women who feel they just dont measure up when it comes to their looks. Women who believe their thighs are too big, their breasts too small, their hair boring, their skin flawed, their body shaped funny, or their clothes outdated. We are surrounded with women who believe their life would improve if they could only lose 15 pounds; if they could afford contact lenses, that new perfume or anti-cellulite lotion; if they got a nose job, a face lift, a tummy tuck, etc, women who feel shame or unhappiness when they think about some part (or all) of their body. In other words, every day we see there is a great majority of women who feel this way. We all want to be beautiful. But I want to write about what lies behind that, behind that beauty myth. In this essay I will try to explore and to explain, how media plays a dominant role in influencing females perceptions of the world around them, as well as helping them to define their sense of self. I will try to examine the influences that media has on females feelings towards their place in society, sexuality, self-esteem and body image. I hope will give some answers to some questions. What media does in terms of imposing the beauty myth? How standards of beauty changed over time and yet beauty for women is still compulsory? What can we say about pressure on women as opposed to men when it comes to looks? How is beauty being sold to women and what the consequences of these issues are? I will try to show you who is getting the profit in this non-ending battle. In other words I will try to answer these questions that at one point we all should ask ourselves. STANDARDS OF BEAUTY THROUGHOUT THE PAST The cultural standard of beauty, when it comes to body shape, is always changing. Womens bodies is not what changed, it is the ideals (Kilbourne, 1995). Advertising, retailing and entertainment produce notions of beauty that change over time. These notions place pressure upon women who try to be in vogue (Wykes and Gunter, 2005). Between 1400 and 1700, a fat body shape was considered sexually appealing and fashionable (Attie and Brooks Gun, 1987). By the nineteenth century, the fat shape was replaced by voluptuous figure, centered at a generous breasts and hips and narrow waist (Fallon, 2005). The voluptuous shape for women persisted through the early part of the twentieth century, and eventually was replaced by the slender shape of the 1920s (Mazur, 1986). The curvaceous ideal continued through the 1940s and 1950s (Mazur, 1986). By the mid-1960s, however, fashions shifted once again towards the idealization of slender body shapes over curvaceous ness. Since then the only slight shi ft from extreme thinness as the feminine ideal was the muscularization of the still very thin body during the 1980s (Mazur, 1986). We are bombarded today with images of the perfect woman. She is usually a gorgeous blonde, although brunettes, redheads and exotic women of color are also shown. She is tall and skinny, weighing at least 20% less than an average woman weighs. She rarely looks older than 25, has no visible flaws on her skin, and her hair and clothes are always immaculate (Kilbourne, 1995). In other words, one perfect woman looks pretty much like the next. Like Kilbourne (1995) said in Slim Hopes it is likely that these women we see are not real. BEAUTY AND WOMEN The beauty myth tells a story: The quality called beauty objectively and universally exists. Women must want to embody it and men must want to possess women who embody it. This embodiment is an imperative for women and not for men, which situation is necessary and natural because it is biological, sexual, and evolutionary: Strong men battle for beautiful women, and beautiful women are more reproductively successful. Womens beauty must correlate to their fertility, and since this system is based on sexual selection, it is inevitable and changeless. None of this is trueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Wolf, 1990: 12) In the near past as the new wave of feminism emerged women have broken trough many of the material and legal obstructions. And finally they got out of their houses and became emancipated. But then more strictly and heavily and cruelly images of female beauty have come to burden upon us (Wolf, 1990). And now we are in the middle of a strong reaction against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against womens advancement and success. According to Wolf (1990) beauty is a money system. Like economy it is determined by politics. It is not about women at all, it is about institutional power. I will show you later where the money goes. It seems like we are a good way to make money. We are vulnerable when it is about our self-worth and self-esteem. The ideal of womens beauty contradicted womens freedom and power by moving the social limits to womens lives directly onto our faces and bodies ( Wolf, 1990). And the consequence is that we now ask the questions about our bodies, skin, hair, clothes etc, which women a generation ago asked about their place in society. After so many years fighting to get our rights to everything, we are now prisoners of our body. And beauty image presented in time is our tormentor. Once again we have to fight for our rights and freedom of choice. Throughout the years, there have been forces in culture that attempt to punish women who tray to succeed in their lives, in other words to get control over their lives and environment (Wolf, 1990). There is a strong cultural reaction against women that uses images of female beauty to keep women in their place. And we have to ask ourselves where men in that strong reaction against women are. MEN AND WOMEN Media pressures women to strive for the very thin look. For example, magazines for women celebrate the very thin look, but magazines for men do not do that. In fact, there are not so many that skinny women in mens magazines. Women have low self-esteem because they are surrounded with male idea of beauty that is linked with media representations. We all think that men want to possess the beautiful women we see every day in magazines or on TV. That is the thing that Wolf (1990) claims to be the beauty myth. We all have to strive for beauty because men want to possess women who have it. In other words women are being sold to themselves in order to achieve a self whom the men in the future might choose. But Loaded magazine said that women do not have the difficulty of living with the male idea of beauty shown on the catwalk. John Perry in Loaded magazine stated: No, men fancy models because they have beautiful faces, not because they look like theyve been fed under a door. Sleeping with a supermodel would be about as pleasurable as shagging a bicycle. The truth is it is women themselves who see these freaks as the epitome of perfection (2002: 79). We all think that men want to possess beautiful women like the ones shown on TV and in magazines. And the key point is that a womans sense of her body actually has not been hers but mans view of her body. Women see themselves trough mens eyes. But Berger (2005) notes that this is not an equal and opposite phenomenon. Men are pressured to be thin and well-toned too. But they can get away with imperfection as long as they have charm and humor (Gauntlett, 2002). Levels of skinniness are irrelevant. Almost all of the beautiful women in both womens and mens magazines are thin, not fat, and this must have an impact. Magazines impose us standard of beauty and women feel inadequate after seeing men longing for some perfect woman represented by media with flawless face, big breast, narrow waist, long legs, beautiful tan etc. Our culture teaches women they cant be happy unless they are beautiful, but I have to emphasize that it also teaches men they cant be happy unless they are rich and/or powerful (Wolf, 1990). But the difference is that rich and powerful men come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. Men can get away with every small imperfection. But when Julia Roberts was seen to have armpits at the premiere of Notting Hill in 1999, the worlds press went crazy with excitement over this (wholly natural)  ´outrage ´ (Gauntlett, 2002). So we have to face the fact that there is a difference between media representation of women and the one of men. We all are pressured because media does not just reflect our world but also shapes it. And it sells us all kind of solutions to improve ourselves. SELLING BEAUTY We are all bombarded every day with messages from television shows, movies, advertisements, magazine articles that we need to look a certain way in order to be accepted (Kilbourne, 1995). For many of us, these images are neither realistic nor achievable. The result is that we feel bad about ourselves if we dont measure up. This gives a sense of insecurity among women, and this drives sales in the beauty industry. In Slim Hopes Kilbourne (1995) argues that some could say we cannot blame only advertisements, but they are the most persuasive aspect of media power to influence us culturally and individually. Girls are extremely desirable to advertisers because they are new consumers, are beginning to have significant disposable income, and are developing brand loyalty that might last a lifetime (Kilbourne, 1999: 259). Girls of all ages get the message that they must be flawlessly beautiful and thin. They get the message that with enough effort and self-sacrifice, they can achieve this ideal. And the result is that young girls from the early start to feel bad about them. Kilbourne (1999) argues that these images of perfect women that surround us would not influence us so much if we did not live in a culture that imposes us the belief that we can and should remake our bodies into perfect ones. These images play into the American belief of transformation and ever-new possibilities, no longer via hard work but via the purchase of the right products (Kilbourne, 1999: 260). Magazines represent a strong insistence that women of all ages must do their best, and that they must spend their money in order to look as beautiful as possible. Some of their content is the fashion and beauty material, which takes up many pages in the magazines. But womens magazines today construct women in a social way too. As Beetham and Boardman say, magazines not only address women as consumers but also as readers, as in search of entertainment or in need of instruction in various social roles ( 2005: 41). We can say that magazines for women took the task of defining what it meant to be a woman, or what it meant to be a particular kind of woman. Through advertising women are told clearly what women should be, and what particular product they could use/buy to help. Women are suggested an identity and told they are not good enough being natural. We can say that women are asked to buy themselves. As Berger puts it, the publicity image steals her love of herself as she is, and offe rs it back to her for the price of the product (2005: 43). A massive worldwide industry is eager to tell women that there are products for sale which can improve their looks. And we all buy them, dont we!? And the worst part is that identity is understood as something that could be reworked, improved upon, and even dramatically changed. There are so many magazines that promised every girl the chance to get a stylish and attractive look that fashion models and famous women have. Spending money on clothing, cosmetics, and accessories are presented as necessity if we want to construct a desirable self (Ouellette, 1999). How many times have we as we read some magazine or watch TV advertisement and thought I have to have that? We all have products in our homes that we bought because of some add on TV or magazine article that told us that it is the best product for our hair to be astonishing , for our face to be immaculate, our figure to be fit, our lips to be attractive etc. And the important thing is that it seems like women get the messages/promises from magazines full of articles telling us that if women use these product they will improve their looks and, theyll have it all-the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career. But actually there is no link between these things. I think that it does not mean that we will be happy in our life if we try to change our looks using some product. One of the most powerful disciplinary practices for women is that of dieting. By dieting women are disciplining their bodies to only consume a certain amount of food. By doing this women feel they are becoming more like the image of the perfect (properly feminine) woman. Media activist Jean Kilbourne concludes that, Women are sold to the diet industry by the magazines we read and the television programs we watch, almost all of which make us feel anxious about our weight (Kilbourne, 1995). Many women tend to over diet which leads to anorexia and women who dont diet are mocked by society or they feel guilty for not doing that. After filling up the women audience with images of super-thin models, television networks then proceed to show hours and hours of commercials on weight-loss, dieting and fitness programs (Kilbourne, 1995). We can se that this is a marketing strategy. Firstly, media makes us feel bad about ourselves by showing us stereotypes of beautiful women that we are not and then they offer us the best solution to improve ourselves, to change our looks into prefect commodities of beautiful women. Another disciplinary practice that is given by the media is that of skin care and make-up. A womans skin must be soft, hairless, and smooth and ideally it should not show any sign of wear, experience, age, or deep thought. Magazines can give you page upon page of makeup tips and skin care strategies that women should follow in order to conform to the universal feminine standard (Wykes and Gunter, 2005). Cosmetic products are being sold to women to achieve those attributes that makes a women desirable. An unwrinkled face, thighs without cellulite, and large breasts have become the metaphor for female success because reaching these female symbols needs a lot of sacrifice, hard work, and self-control ( Wykes and Gunter, 2005). But I have to mention one thing that could lead us women to a completely different era when it comes to beauty. Theres a very different approach from Dove with its revolutionary campaign for real beauty that has received enormous publicity by using women of all shapes and sizes wearing white bra and pants to advertise their products. The whole point is to make beauty more accessible, as accessible as it can be, explains Alessandro Manfredi, vice president of Dove. So by widening the definition of beauty, we believe that more women will gain the confidence, because they will see beauty is closer to them than the beauty of a supermodel that is so far, and people could give upà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦We dont want women to give up, we want to tell them; beauty, its at your reach (Austen, 2006). Dove is launching a major initiative in order to encourage discussion and debate about the nature of beauty. The Campaign for Real Beauty asks women to give serious thought about beauty issues such as societys definition of it, the quest for perfection, the difference between beauty and physical attractiveness, and the way the media shapes our perceptions of beauty.  [1]  Dove has established the Dove Self-Esteem Fund to raise awareness of the connection between beauty and body-related self-esteem.The Dove Self-Esteem Fund in the US helps build self-confidence in girls ages 8-14. The Dove mission is to make women feel more beautiful every day by challenging todays stereotypical view of beauty and inspiring women to take great care of themselves.  [2]  But we have to face the fact that Dove, is the No. 1 personal wash brand nationwide. One in every three households uses a Dove product.  [3]  That includes bar cleansers, body washes, face care, anti-perspirants/ deodorants and hair care. Dove is available nationwide in food, drug and mass outlet stores. So we must ask ourselves, is it really about women or again some beauty industry is manipulating us and making money from our pockets?! BEAUTY AS PROFIT All this beauty selling leads us to the question: who benefits from this beauty market! Is it really about women or are we tricked by those who have the power? Media and beauty industry including diet, surgery and cosmetic industry is manipulating us by making us throw our money on reworking our looks. That leads me to one conclusion that it cannot be about women, for the ideal is not about women but about money. We should ask ourselves how much money we spend on the best thing that will make us desirable and beautiful. The cosmetic surgery industry in the United States takes $300 million every year, and is growing annually by 10 percent (Wolf, 1990). One reason why media is so influential is that advertising is 130 billion dollar a year industry. The average American watches 30 hours of TV a week and spends 110 hours a year reading magazines (Wolf, 1990). It is very unfortunate that the media influences society to the point that it defines the ideal woman. Advertising is a powerful force in our culture that informs us but does not educate us. Economics is also a significant factor in the development of the ideal image. There is a wealth of businesses that depend upon the American desire for thinness to survive (Wolf, 1990). Exercise and diet companies are an example. In order to create a market for their product, they attempt to make women feel inadequate about their own bodies through advertisement. According to Wolf, the diet industry has tripled its income in the past 10 years from a $10 billion industry to a $33.3 billion industry. When we compare some results with UK we can see that there is also a lot of profiting going on. The UK beauty industry takes  £8.9 billion a year by selling products to women. Magazines are financed by the beauty industry (Greer, 2002). They start with young girls and teach them how to use the right product and they establish loyalty that lasts a lifelong (Greer, 2002). We all probably have one cosmetic product that we use for so many years. Cosmetics for teenagers are relatively cheap but within a few years more cultured market will persuade the most rational woman to throw her money on the right product that promises to defend women from their own weakness So we can see that the economy depends on manipulating consumers to buy as much as possible. And we can link the beauty industry and mass media, it is as Wykes and Gunter say symbiotic relationship, because beauty industry depends on mass media and vice versa. It seems there is no limit in how one can be beautiful, or how much money can we spend in order to feel beautiful, completely disregarding our health. And the consequences are harmful or sometimes even devastating. CONSEQUENCES OF MEDIA REPRESENTATION Women learn to reconstruct themselves. It is second nature to disguise them, dress them and decorate themselves with a huge range of materials. Over the past 30 years they have gone further than ever before in this process. They can re-arrange some of the organic material that is their body-sometimes without any harm, sometimes with devastating consequences.(Wykes and Gunter, 2005:48) A research by the British Medical Association has shown that eating disorders have one of the highest mortality rates of all psychological illnesses, and that the level of skinniness enforced by fashion models is both unachievable and biologically inappropriate and gives a wrong picture of an ideal body to young women (Gauntlett, 2002). However, we cannot blame media influences to directly cause eating disorders. There are some others components that play an important role with these consequences. Report notes that eating disorders are caused by genetics, family history and cultural environment (Gauntlett, 2005). But for those who are psychologically and genetically predisposed to anxiety when it comes about body image, media plays an unhelpful role. The American research group Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. reports that one out of every four college-aged women uses unhealthy methods of dieting, including fasting, skipping meals, extreme workouts, laxative abuse, and self-induced vomiting.  [4]  The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute notes that girls even at age of nine are trying to control their weight. Research in the US gives similar results. In 2003, Teen magazine reported that 35 per cent of girls aged 6 to 12 are using at least one kind of dieting, and that 50 to 70 per cent girls of normal weight girls think they are overweight.  [5]   Cosmetic surgeons are making a lot of money with women doing cosmetic surgeries for every imperfection that we can imagine (Wolf, 1990). Women get the message that normal, round womens bodies are too fat; that soft womens flesh is really cellulite; that women with small breasts arent sexy; that women who dont have the perfect face arent attractive; that a women over 30 who in their faces have sings of their ageing are ugly. No wonder women are thinking about or doing cosmetic surgeries in order to be beautiful. In conclusion, what is the result of this sought for perfection? One out of every 4 college girls has an eating disorder. A psychological study in 1995 found that 3 minutes spent looking at models in a fashion magazine caused 70% of women to feel depressed, guilty and shameful. 50% of American women are dieting and 75% of normal weight women think they are too fat (Wolf, 1990). All these arguments lead us to one conclusion: to view ones body from the outside, that is, to put center onto physical attractiveness, sex appeal, measurements, weight, face characteristics has many harmful effects- feelings of shame, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, development of eating disorder. CONCLUSION The traditional definition of beauty, based only on physical appearance, is powerfully communicated through the mass media and has been assimilated through popular culture. It is this ideal that many women measure themselves against and aspire to attain. According to the narrow-minded society we live in, there just doesnt seem to be a limit on how beautiful one can become.Well, someone has given us a definition of beauty that is superior to our mind. Can we hope for a day when mind in body will be a notion of beauty? I hope I have showed that by media presentation of an ideal difficult to achieve and maintain, the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits. I hope I have proved that in our society media has created an environment so image obsessed that those with power( and by those I mean beauty industry and media) have caused emerging of a generation of women so self conscious about their body image, that it is affecting their health. However, women around the world would like to see media change in way it represents beauty. We have to face the fact that wearing makeup, losing weight, having surgeries, dressing up etc, will not change who we are. Our identity is what makes us unique. We should not want anymore to look like someone else. There is nothing wrong in doing things that makes a woman feel good about her as long as we have a choice of doing that because of ourselves not because someone told us it is proper thing to do for a woman in order to be beautiful. So I have to emphasis that I in this essay I did not try to attack wearing make up, having surgeries, working out, dieting etc, as long as we do not feel shame, guilt or anxiety when we dont do these practices. We have to speak out for ourselves. It is wrong to use our looks as our voices. It is not the look that should do the talking. Beauty shouldnt be our weapon for success in life, but also it shouldnt be media and beauty industry weapon against women themselves. Media is always going to be present in our lives, but we have to realize that not everything we are exposed to by the media is real. So what can we do? We can take their power. We can reject political manipulation. Like Wolf (1990) said, we should turn away from them, and look directly at one another. We should look for the beauty in female subculture; try to find music, films, biographies, plays that illustrate women in three dimensions. And perhaps then we will unveil the beauty myth and find the truth about beauty.