Aesthetic Labour Within The United Kingdom

Aesthetic Labour Within The United Kingdom Within recent years it has been found emotions play a large part in todays work place, with the same now being said in regards to aesthetic labour. Postrell (2003) even suggests that we are on verge of entering an aesthetic economy, bring forth an era of appearance and feel. With the fundamental feature of this economy predominately being employees appearance developing the notion that style is strategy, Postrell also suggests that the look of employees can also determine the ambience of a room as much as the furnishings or decor. Aesthetic labour itself is a modern term in regards to recruiting staff whom look the part (Witz et al, 2003). The concept of aesthetic labour was developed based on employers impression that parts of the service industries were portrayed as the style labour market this includes the following service areas; bars, hotels, events and retailers, who require aesthetic skills in addition to social and technical skills from employees (Nickson et al, 2004, p.3). Todays research shows that within the UK, service jobs now accommodate around three-quarters of all jobs, with them predominantly coming from the retail and hospitality sectors. With a 17 percent growth between 1979 and 2003 within these sectors alone it can be seen from current examination of employers trends that the selections of employees with self presentation skills have a higher preference than experience or technical skills. For example a current survey of one hundred human resource experts within the United States of America accountable for employing hospitality industry employees publicized that their top two criterias were pride in appearance and a good attitude (Martin and Grove, 2002), the hospitality training foundation (2001) also confirmed that these top criterias are also shared by the industries within the UK. Once again both within the UK and USA it has been found that once employees have been employed their appearance continues to influence and help them, with sug gestion that service, profession and pay are all subjective to employees appearance. Within the UK this is most prominent in the service sector however it can be seen in most areas (Harper, 2000). Nick et al (2004, p.3) argues that aesthetics within interactive service work is also becoming a major input however this trend has not yet been confirmed by policy markers. Other authors also suggest that the aesthetics within interactive service work is extremely significant with trends coming from interrelationships as well as from human and non human elements that are found with the workplace itself. In which aestheticization process can present them through fundamental actor network theory, these are transitions of redevelopment identifying how systems come together to act as a whole (Deepdyve Beta 2010). In particular in many customer facing jobs a large amount of importance is placed on a persons characteristics to a degree in which employers specifically look for people who are passionate, stylish, confident, tasty, clever, successful and well travelled (Warhurst and Nickson, 2001, p.14). It is essentially that all employees portray the right image for the company, irrespective of the skills they possess. Grugulis et al (2004) argues that many managers may try to control how their employees feel and look, as well as how they behave, so that they can expose the correct emotions, aesthetics and productivity needed within a specific working environment. Moulding employees appearance is a very well known process used by employers to maintain a business like image; this includes the use of uniforms and dress codes. In a recent survey it was found eighty percent of organisations surveyed enforced a uniform policy or dress code, principally to keep up a corporate image. Due to employee ap pearance and aesthetic appeal being considered an essential part of any companies branding or competitive approach (Grugulis et al, (2004). In addition another survey within the UK based around the retail sector detailed that ninety percent of employers rated appearance as a crucial recruitment and selection process, with sixty one percent of them subsequently offering training in dress sense and style (Nickson et al, 2005). This is also true for emotional labour, Hochschild (1983, p.7) explains how emotions manages the feelings of employees to create the right visual appearance from their facial and body expressions. However other authors have observed that image is theoretically becoming stopped due to the lack of up to date research and debate (Witz et al 2003). It has been thought that aesthetic labour is opening a new kind of discrimination based around people being turned down or employed for different jobs solely because of their looks. Oaff (2003, p.7) stated if your gender and your race havent kept you off the short list, your physical appearance still might. Aesthetic labour has also been seen to have neglect on gender, with an acknowledgment of body work within the service industry (Adkins 2000). Adkin reports that there is a large attention placed on gender and sexuality within the origins of the aesthetic components of labour. Many authors feel there is a thin line between sexuality and gender within a job role. For example research has shown within the service industry there is a 63 to 37 percent female to male split and within the hospitality sector there is a 59 to 41 percent female to male split. Kerfoot and Korcznski (2005, p.388) identifies that the majority of service jobs have female based employees whose jobs are linked to low wages and less to none job prospects. From this it has also been found when advertising for jobs many companies purposely gender stereotype their adverts to list soft skills that are exclusively feminine based. The gender stereotyping of jobs also links to the thought that customers in particular males prefer the female touch that is brought to the initial meeting. Aesthetic labour has led to large social changes within the majority of sectors leading to an increase in seasonal, part time and temporary job openings, allowing a high level of younger workers to gain experience especially those within the tourism industry. The main reason for this is younger people are often aesthetically closer to consumers customers. Baum (2008, p.81) explains this by saying the sector seeks to attract employees who..(deliver) aesthetic labour(so are in) much closer proximity with their customers. These types of people are known as style workers, they are those who physically and emotionally match their working environment and therefore closely identify with the products, being able to understand their customers needs and wants. In a previous Singaporean context a process was referred to in which service workers are highly brand conscious, Gurrier et al (1998, p.34) states the modern young Singaporean is disinclined to work in service unless the image of the pro duct accords with their own sense of fashion. Working in Gucci means that the product becomes part of her own accessory range. Within todays hospitality sector it is easy to see the vast social different between the employee and consumer it is understandable why employers employ the correct type of people for their organisations that matches their emotion and the aesthetic requirements. The term aesthetic labour first appeared in 1999 when Chris Warhurst and a team at the University of Strathclyde compared the term to an older medieval Italian term called sprezzatura. This has since become a fundamentally piece of research in terms of human resource management or hrm. With people such as Mulford et al (1998, p.1585) making claims that the attractiveness of people is dependent on their opportunities to develop socially and cooperate with others. Making it is easy to see where the pressures of recruitment and retention of employees based on their image has affected hrm. The idea of aesthetic labour may cause conflict within the sense that ethnical problems may arise if someone is employed solely on how they look. This has since developed tension based on what people feel management ought to or should do. The ethics of aesthetic compare this to management viewing us up against a framework allowing them to judge right and wrong. The ethics and morality of aesthetic has been address by many authors for example it is suggested that the business background produces its own unique moral standard (Nash 1990, p.5). However Fisher and Lovell (2006, p.42) feel that ethics is based around doing well, in which wrongs are prevented or masked if done. With a variety of different views in the air, for hrm the challenge to retain professionalism is key due to the thought and actions of aesthetics causing pain and worry to their organisations employees. Emotional labour has a direct link to aesthetics the term emotional labour was first identified by Hochschild in 1983 and is used to depict the actions of service workers that goes beyond their usual physical and mental roles. In which the employees show actual worry for the customers needs. Examples of this include customer facing roles in which employees use the term service with a smile, they help solve complaints and change the customers mood. Hochschild (1983) uses the term management of feeling to create a publicly facial and bodily display. The use of emotional labour is a good practice especially used in the face of angry or unhappy customers when employees may need to hide their really emotions. It has been found that organisation have since place a large amount of strategic orientation on this, so that employees know how to handle themselves not only in front of customers but also other employees and internal customers. It is easy to see how emotional skills will also place any potential employee further up the recruitment ladder. Having both emotional and aesthetic skills will help employers complete their aim to have oven ready employees which are ready to go straight into the job with little training. This strategy is extremely useful in minimising costs, but employing these types of people based solely on these particular skills also places knowledge by the employer that the characteristic of the employee cannot be necessarily trained. Looking directly within the service based sectors the importance of aesthetics as well as self presentation skills is effortlessly demonstrated. However the problems caused is also very noticeable. Although many businesses strive to maintain competitive advantage, the evidence from many forms of research places this dependency on the new style driven niche in which many managements attempts of controlling their employees expands beyond the usual aspects. Nevertheless the positives and the potential of aesthetics on an employee to customer based ratio evidently are flourishing, unlike that of the employer to employee ratio within any organisation which is under strain with new forms of discrimination being found. Although academic skills are clearly not a major part of any recruitment or selection processes, the aesthetic skills are now becoming a requirement do help the utilisation of any organisation. Furthermore it can be seen the large difference between aestheticised labour and a esthetic labour, in which employees have preserved certain characteristics and appearance to both maintain and secure their employment. With reference to a employees specific wage being dependent on the employees gender/sexuality or image there is little evidence to completely agree with this however it can be seen that employees do receive other kinds of payback in the form of benefits such free clothing or make overs. It can also be found that the emotional skills work particularly well along side aesthesis, helping organisations gain oven ready customers who will fulfil the companies needs to place the employee straight into the heart of the business. At present self presentation skills is not currently predominant in the learning market, due to the shortage of approval by the policy makers. This may be because of the concerns of moulding employees appearance or because they are unsure how to integrate it into the training agendas. Whichever it may be it is easy to see the impact it will and is already having on organisations human resource management team, as there are so many different points of views on the right and wrong ways to go about aesthetics when recruiting and maintaining employees.

The Role of Women in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essays -- Heart

The Role of Women in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is more than a mere exploration of the harsh realities of European colonialism in Africa during the late nineteenth century. In fact, it is rich in symbolism as demonstrated by his negative portrayal of women. Conrad chooses his language well, for his prejudice towards women is easily recognizable. To him, women were nothing more than soft, delicate, and naive. However, Conrad's condemnation of women is no longer a valid interpretation of women in the 21st century; thus, we must overlook Conrad's invalid judgment of women and take a modernistic approach in scrutinizing the women's actual representation in Heart of Darkness. When looking at the role of women in Heart of Darkness through a twenty-first century perspective, it becomes apparent that these women represent parts of the European societies that were in the dark about the brutalities of colonialism. Conrad used Marlow to demonstrate his attitude towards the obliviousness of women , who paralleled the unawareness of the European society as a whole. The Europeans' obliviousness was first seen in Marlow's aunt. Before Marlow departed from London, he visited his aunt, who talked about "weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways" (16). His aunt strongly believed that the Company's mission was to enlighten the Africans. Her knowledge about European colonialism was based only on her own assumptions. Marlow's aunt believed only what she chose to believe instead of seeing the real reasons for colonial pursuits. Marlow then goes to criticize women's mentalities: "It's queer how out of touch with the truth women are! They live in a world of their own [..... ...ialist pursuits and trusted the integrity of those who carried out its mission. Revealing the reality of nineteenth century colonialism would have lead to the destruction of the economy. The only way to preserve it was to conceal all scrupling facts about European colonialism. Works Cited and Consulted: Brantlinger, Patrick. "Heart of Darkness: Anti-Imperialism, Racism, or Impressionism?"Â   Murfin 277-298. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Murfin 17-95. Murfin, Ross C., ed. Heart of Darkness: Complete, Authoritative Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary Critical Perspectives. 2nd ed. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. Boston: Bedford-St. Martin's P, 1996. Smith, Johanna M. "'Too Beautiful Altogether': Ideologies of Gender and Empire in Heart of Darkness." Murfin 169-184. The Role of Women in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness Essays -- Heart The Role of Women in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is more than a mere exploration of the harsh realities of European colonialism in Africa during the late nineteenth century. In fact, it is rich in symbolism as demonstrated by his negative portrayal of women. Conrad chooses his language well, for his prejudice towards women is easily recognizable. To him, women were nothing more than soft, delicate, and naive. However, Conrad's condemnation of women is no longer a valid interpretation of women in the 21st century; thus, we must overlook Conrad's invalid judgment of women and take a modernistic approach in scrutinizing the women's actual representation in Heart of Darkness. When looking at the role of women in Heart of Darkness through a twenty-first century perspective, it becomes apparent that these women represent parts of the European societies that were in the dark about the brutalities of colonialism. Conrad used Marlow to demonstrate his attitude towards the obliviousness of women , who paralleled the unawareness of the European society as a whole. The Europeans' obliviousness was first seen in Marlow's aunt. Before Marlow departed from London, he visited his aunt, who talked about "weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways" (16). His aunt strongly believed that the Company's mission was to enlighten the Africans. Her knowledge about European colonialism was based only on her own assumptions. Marlow's aunt believed only what she chose to believe instead of seeing the real reasons for colonial pursuits. Marlow then goes to criticize women's mentalities: "It's queer how out of touch with the truth women are! They live in a world of their own [..... ...ialist pursuits and trusted the integrity of those who carried out its mission. Revealing the reality of nineteenth century colonialism would have lead to the destruction of the economy. The only way to preserve it was to conceal all scrupling facts about European colonialism. Works Cited and Consulted: Brantlinger, Patrick. "Heart of Darkness: Anti-Imperialism, Racism, or Impressionism?"Â   Murfin 277-298. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Murfin 17-95. Murfin, Ross C., ed. Heart of Darkness: Complete, Authoritative Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary Critical Perspectives. 2nd ed. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. Boston: Bedford-St. Martin's P, 1996. Smith, Johanna M. "'Too Beautiful Altogether': Ideologies of Gender and Empire in Heart of Darkness." Murfin 169-184.

How to Spot a Scam or Fraud in the Medical Field? Essay

There are many way to spot a scam or fraud in the medical field. Medical frauds range from people posing as doctors and practicing without a license, to useless supplements, worthless or dangerous diet aides, fake medicines and cures for cancer. Making good health decisions is hard and sadly some immoral people make it even more difficult by attempting to deceive and cheat the sick. Not everyone knows enough about medicine to spot a medical fraud or scam but this essay will give you some places to start. Avoiding medical fraud is important because a delay in real treatment can create potentially deadly complications. You should know that some medical frauds are simply con artists. Some medical fraud is simply a con artist looking for a quick pay off, so  you must know how to spot a con man. You also have to understand that many medical frauds are victims themselves. Many people who push bad medicine believe that they are actually helping because they have been fooled themselves by someone else. With these people the standard methods of spotting a con artist will not work because they honestly want to help. You should always check for the phrase â€Å"cure-all†. If a person tells you something is a cure-all 99% of the time it is actually a cure-nothing. Real medicine recognizes that each disease is unique and so there is no single procedure or substance that can cure all. Check for a single cause theory will also help. The corollary to the cure-all fraud is the single cause theory. This is simply the claim that all diseases and conditions can be explained by a single cause. Common examples of this fraud include unbalanced energy or toxins. Asking about side effects is important. Anything that has an ability to affect your body positively could also affect it negatively. If a person tells you that their treatment never has any side effects, you are likely dealing with a fraud or scam. You must listen for conspiracy theories. Since they lack scientific evidence to support their practice many medical frauds resort to wild-eyed conspiracy theories regarding other medicines. A popular example is the claim that scientists have cured all cancer, but they keep it secret so that they can make more money selling medicines for the symptoms. Obviously false as a patent on the cure for cancer would be the most valuable commodity the world has ever known. Listen for spiritual claims will also help. Spirituality is great, but it has no place in medicine. If a person claims a spiritual mechanism for how their treatments work, you might be dealing with a fraud of some type. While there  are  links between emotional well-being and physical condition, there is no medically-proven program for treating physical symptoms with mental or spiritual techniques. Pay for it at your own risk. Listen for claims regarding â€Å"toxins†. A popular fraud right now is the claim that everyone’s body accumulates mysterious toxins, usually in the colon or liver but sometimes throughout the entire body. Frauds claim that these mysterious toxins need to be removed because they are the cause of all diseases and ailments. This process often involves enemas, fasting, or ingesting a wide variety of herbs. There is no scientific evidence that the toxins exist, or that the cleansing process is at all beneficial. In many cases it is actually harmful. You should never take any medical advice from a person who recommends this treatment. Ask for their official title and look it up. Real medical professionals have what is called a â€Å"protected title†. This means that laws do not allow just anyone to call themselves by that title, you must first complete recognized training. Many frauds create a title that closely resembles the legally protected title and hope that average people do not know the difference. For example, dietitian and nutritionist. Only dietitian is protected, which means that anyone may call themselves a nutritionist if they wish. People without legally protected titles are not always frauds and scam artists, but they are much more likely to be. You should ask for their opinion on vaccinations. If someone opposes vaccinations it is a sure sign that they are some form of a medical fraud or quack, or at the very least uneducated. Ask a doctor that you trust. If you ever aren’t sure about something get a second opinion from a doctor that you know well and trust.

Augustus Of The Roman Empire - 1365 Words

Julius Cesar, the Dictator of the Roman Empire adopted his grandnephew, also known as Octavian in his will. After Cesar was assassinated Augustus wanted nothing more than to â€Å"claim his inheritance and to avenge his slain â€Å"father†(ColeSymes).† This vengeance left constant warfare that came to an end after the victory at Actium. At this point in time Rome was no longer a republic. Augustus ruled for four years as an independent citizen then accepted his title as â€Å"emperor.† Augustus was the first roman emperor and led Rome’s transformation from republic to empire. Augustus never claimed the title as emperor for himself, but rather tried to lead the country as best as he could, while still leaving limited power to the people. Augustus†¦show more content†¦Augustus also reformed the religious systems in Rome that had been previously destroyed by constant warfare. Augustus thought that such a reform of the â€Å"old religion, and a renewed trust in the traditional gods would help restore the confidence of the people(Wasson, 2016).† Augustus also â€Å"revived the priesthoods in Rome and ended up being appointed as the Pontifex Maximus(Fife, 2012).† This newly acquired position left Augustus as the ruler of the Roman Empire secularly and religiously. Now that Augustus had two highly influential roles he had unprecedented power and control over two separate spheres. This high amount of power could have been easily abused, but it was not. Augustus revived the Ludi Secularse which was a religious celebration that occurred once every one hundred and ten years. Augustus was involved in the revived secular games â€Å"which had been omitted because of the disturbances of the civil war(McDermott).† Augustus also guided the construction of an Imperial Cult. This Imperial Cult was made for worship of the Emperor as a god. 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