The Purpose Of ICT In Schools Education Essay

The Purpose Of ICT In Schools Education Essay Introduction: ICT stand for Information Communication Technology is widely spread and essential to play in changing and modernizing educational systems as well as the way of learning. As we know, it is part of many aspects of our daily lives. ICT includes any product that will store, restore, operate, or receive information in a digital form. The computing industry (the Internet, hardware, software); telecommunications (cellular phones, teleconferencing); electronic display (calculator); and other services (including radio, video, television and so on) are just some example of the ICT tools. Studies in ICT include design, physics, information systems and so on. At the same time, many businesses use ICT because it is fast access, storage requirement, allow more than one person access the data at a time, better security, fewer staff etc. In the other hand, ICT is expensive to buy and we may need to be trained before using it as well as the computers may fail to work. Moreover, there are some differences between countries and between schools within countries. In some countries, ICT used into the curriculum, and establish high levels of power. It also appropriate ICT use to support teaching and learning world wide. Schools are in the early phase of using ICT in other country. ICT is characterised as an important way of the learning process and some developments of e-learning. ICT enabled learning but not necessary help to improve in the learning and teaching world. Broadly, there have three major types of ICT. It induced studies that can be identified. 1. ICT has tried by many students of integration into education that consists of infrastructure, such as the pupil-computer ratio, an average number of computers per school and levels of connectivity. There are almost all secondary schools had access to the Internet. Based on the report of European, it shows that ICT performs in schools is continuously increasing. 2. A few studies have taken some time to analysis it to the next level: to existence the benefit of ICT in educational world and also the home use of ICT for educational aims. Here is the example from the research that ICT use in schools is still quite low overall, despite the investment: In most EU countries ICT is not used very frequently using by students at school. But the students had the opportunities to use ICT everywhere. (Pelgrum, 2004). 3. The third level is about the cause and effect: the impact of ICT on learning and teaching. As the authors of the most recent study that they point out the impact of the ICT: it is difficult to identify a causal relationship between computers and educational outcomes (Machin, 2006). There is some evidence to prove that investment in ICT impacts on learning and on teaching. However, there are even fewer studies find that there is no evidence of a positive relationship between computers and educational outcomes. On the other hand, there are theories and studies to describe the implications of ICT for education: education that using ICT which can brings new capabilities to learning. For example, ICT has the potential enabling teachers and students to create an environment that provide an unlimited teaching and learning. As a result, ICT in education can also be broadly categorized in the following way as a subject (computer studies), a tool to support traditional subjects (computer- based learning, presentation, research) and as an administrative tool (education management information systems/EMIS). Contents: Great Impact on teaching, learning and attainment For education, the purpose of ICT is generally to familiarise students and teachers with the use and workings of computers, related social and ethnical issues. It is generally believed that ICT can empower both teachers and learners. It promotes change the development in 21st century. ICT is not only transform teaching but also learning processes. The transformation gets to increase learning gains for students that provide learner an opportunity to develop creativity, communication skills, and other thinking skills. Besides, smart solutions for the future including laptop learning, e-learning, smart classrooms, didactic equipment and stimulations is the key on education today. An entire learning environment is needed in which students, teachers, administrators, and parents can easily communicate and collaborate with each other, share secure information around the clock, and, ultimately, access a world of knowledge beyond classroom walls. http://www3.hants.gov.uk/lit_objectives.gif Follow the picture above, we can see that ICT is very useful to the society especially to the students in colleges. According to ICT adviser Harriet Price, it is benefit that an ICT-rich educational experience brings to the students. She says that technology is an important part of students everyday lives. She makes sure that the necessary software and hardware is available for students to use, while also helping them develop their own ICT skills. As we know, more than half of the students in the groups have a computer or laptop at home as well as access in College that they can search for information regardless of time and place. ICT making all schools smart. That means everyone get different information and knowledge from ICT. As we know, computers are provided in every area in the schools, colleges or labs. Students get the chance to do assignments or group projects by using it. It also increases students knowledge at the same time. Besides, students who have laptop themselves can bring it with them. Training is provided in any colleges as well as to make students to learn more independent in their work. ICT provides quick and easy way in the research to train the society especially for the students today. It has a great impact for the students to have an easy for research and information compare to the earlier period. ICT is saving our time in doing the work. When we have to do our work and search information or example for our assignment in the earlier time, we have to go to library to collect those staff. It is not only to waste our time but also limited in the information we get. On the other hand, we can have our self-test before the exam coming. Besides buying the books for exercise, we can get the question from the internet. It makes students more comfortable to have a test. Moreover, group assignment always assigned by the teachers or lecturer. ICT are like a learning centre that could help to share ideas and understanding to the students. It also teaches us the grammar and improves our English by ourselves. For example, we know that working in pairs was the most useful practice, by using ICT that students can experience with collaborative learning. ICT empowers students to engage in the learning process and giving them an interest in their personal education. By integrating ICT into the classroom, students have the ability to learn more effectively, collaborate with each other, and explore the world around them. Anytime, anywhere access to internet-based tools is necessary to encourage learning inside the classroom and beyond. Today, by using ICT brings many benefits to the young generation especially for the students. For example, some of the students who working part time also has some time to do their College work. In addition, most of the times the students like to use word processing from the processor itself. It is quick and easy to edit their work and improve their presentation by using ICT at a time. Somehow, web is the only way to have quick and easy way to search the information on any topic. ICT is the one to make us easy access a world of knowledge. With a range of ICT equipment, the benefit for students is that a higher quality lessons through greater collaboration between teachers in planning and preparing the resources. It is more focused teaching, tailored to students strengths and weaknesses as well as through better analysis of attainment data. By using ICT, it improved the behavior management through better tracking of students. It is not only gain in understanding but also analytical skills which including improvements in reading comprehension as well as increase the knowledge. Moreover, ICT unknowingly help students improve in their development of writing skills such as spelling, punctuation, editing and grammar, it will become more fluency and originality. Based on the research of Software and Information Industry Association 2000, students who used educational technology in colleges are more successful because they have more active to learn and increase their self-esteem. ICT then enhances and extends the possibilities of learning across the curriculum. Thus, ICT provide more opportunities to show their hard work to an audiences or teachers as well as it is 24 hours. Most students reported that ICT was positively helping them with homework and many pupils indicated that access to internet resources was particularly important. Students also reported that writing was the most common use for ICT outside the colleges and schools, followed by researching. ICT would be important to their future career or to employment. Students get to gain confidence because they could do things and show things they had not been able to do before, that students could explore more and share more ideas with others. In fact, ICT also gives educators the opportunity to transform the way learning happens, and enable student development. ICT present a range of tools that teachers or lecturers use to present and display as part of their teaching and help educators interact with students as well as engage them in a more meaningful way. These technological tools can be determinate designed for education way that it can be software or hardware used in the contexts such as word processors and spreadsheets. The computer tools help the students and teachers manipulate complex data-sets. This then provides context for effective discussion that help to develop subject understanding. ICT is benefit for teachers to sharing of resources, expertise and advice. It is also easier planning and preparation of lessons and designing materials to the students. Sometimes, ICT helps teachers to access to up-to-date students and school data, in any time and anywhere. Enhancement of professional image projected to colleag ues is easier to get by teachers in using ICT. From a teaching point of view, teachers used these devices to deliver to a whole class, could use the digital content effectively that was available to them. Teachers also reported that ICT offered them enhanced resources to support learning through teaching. The levels of interaction, the immediacy and the ability to refresh work, were all indicated as ways in which ICT could enhance the range of teaching approaches taken. In some colleges, teachers were expecting more of the students used ICT- whether this was due to the higher pace in lessons, work being done more quickly. Negative impact on teaching, learning and attainment http://www.game-development.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/online-games.jpg On the other hand, there is some negative effect of the ICT on education way. In college, computer is not enough for teachers to make the best use of ICT in the classroom. Based on the research of Sandhoitz, it will take a lot of time in the classroom even up to a year with the support of experienced team. Teachers sometime always depend on the information that searched by the web. It may make a mistake. Information from the web or internet that mostly came or wrote from personals opinion. It is not all facts by the way. Teacher who depend more on the ICT do not perform well as a teacher. Students, however, feel lazy to attend the class if they can easily get the study material from the web. It will change their behavior to become more irresponsible. Lets say lecturer give an assignment to the students, they may not understand if they never attend that class. The technological reliability was important and yet the students could respond negatively to a resource, both of teaching and technology. Across the school or colleges, students might not value ICT that spent too much time on presentation needs and copying without reading and understanding. At the same time, students will search the information from the web and caught by cutting and pasting. Through the behavior like this, it will cause their result and their reliability by other. By then the students will access the internet for other things, for example, facebook, MSN, Yahoo, Twitter and others. While the lecturer having the lesson in front, they will not pay more attention to the lecturer. The cause of the res ult will affect them to retake the whole semester. Money will become the issue right now. Then, it had created severe problem to the students. To those who always play computer and using the instant message that they will choose online communication rather than having real life conversation with the teachers. For example, when they having flu and will not be attending the class or lesson, they might e-mail the lecturer rather than call the teachers. When the problem deteriorates, students will become unusual when they meet outsiders. Furthermore, the students sitting in front of the computer for a long time may cause health problem. Health problem such as stress and eyes strain can effect a student in their education way. By then ICT also created more illegal act such as pornography. Those students who affected by the pornography may cause the effect on their education. The students will waste time by using ICT better than study on their work. Overall, the evidence on the impact on attainment of learning through ICT remains inconsistent, however. Great impact on practitioners and schools http://edutechdebate.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/system-wide-apporach.jpg The introduction of ICT into schools has had an impact on teachers in terms of their overall workload that including planning, lesson preparation as well as on the ways in which these are coordinated and managed within the school and wider educational context. The availability of ICT itself has sufficient to enhance learning and teaching. Teachers have to be confident in their own ICT capacity and understand the potential benefits of using ICT in a planned. In advance, using ICT is to support teacher development for e-learning. Like students, teachers learn in different ways and they need to be able to access support when they needed. The provision of improved connectivity, among other developments, has allowed teachers to take advantage of online access to resources. As a result of access to resources at a time, teachers have greater control over the planning and preparation. By then teachers have expressed concern about knowing which resources are worthwhile and more research on the impact and availability of online resources. Such case studies provide evidence of changes in the ways in which teachers are approaching their role within the classroom. It is a better understanding of how teachers interact with the online environment. Then, there is an impact of ICT in the classroom on the teachers role. While gaining confidence and competence in the use of the technologies is to support e-learning, evidence is on the impact of using ICT on other aspects of the teachers role. Some forms of learning through ICT, the use of shared resources and collaborative learning, where the teachers facilitates rather than direct learning, might be difficult for some to accept. It is an impact of ICT on administration and overall workload. Once teachers have brought the technicalities involved with classroom- related hardware and software resources, they can enhance their teaching. This can be used to create additional teaching resources. Use of ICT for assessment purposes can also release valuable teacher time. Within schools, those specific technological developments such as connectivity via broadband access to internet will regard to the personalization of the learning experience. A key strand to embed ICT in schools has been and that of networking within schools and also across the education sector. Broadly speaking, schools recognize that systems can improve effectiveness and reduce costs. Across schools, using ICT to manage data was found to promote teaching and learning by facilitating more effective timetabling. The most effective tools were found to be school- devised systems and the use of Excel spreadsheets. As we know, school data was in forming the setting and in compiling reports to parents. Improved access to ICT, schools networks for teaching and planning were also identified as potential strategies. Use of ICT in schools tended to be raising the quality of the work produced by teachers such as presentations and reports, rather than saving time. ICT was also the key factor to improving efficiency, along with staff by using the software and hardware. Furthermore, teachers also perceived benefits in managing, storing and other work such as preparing reports with the time saved. Looking ahead, ICT would make teachers more effective in their work over 12 months. In order to be in the use of ICT to support learning and teaching, schools need to be e-confident. That means displaying a number of characteristics at a level. Thus, the internet has increased significantly the range of resources to support and stimulate learning and teaching across the curriculum and at all levels. It has also provided the means by which access to range of services, including libraries and careers services, can be brought together in one place. As ICT becomes part of the everyday life of the schools, there is a need to ensure the participation in the learning opportunities provided. Here, teachers can identify their own professional development needs and find solutions. Conclusion In todays interconnected world, information and communication technology (ICT) is widely used by our nation and it affects our lives every day. ICT gives great impact in education for the learners and teachers. ICT has become a key driver in education way. ICT has been identified by a range of important wider benefits of ICT on learning. The positive impact of ICT on students skills and teamwork are included. ICT also help student and teacher with activities that provided in the websites. That kind of activities gives ideas to the teachers in their teaching, so that students enjoy the class. Students learn more independently at the same time. They will take more responsibility for learning process. As seen, ICT can benefit both strong and weak students with their special needs. By the way, they especially improved the performance in students English and on writing skills. ICT is a part of socially system integrating meaningful communication within an education system. We can use it for analyzing the processes, meanings and functions of ICT in education. ICT also provided the research for us when we have to do the assignments. ICT is also one of the tools that have easy communication to other in foreign country. It saves the cost and time. Schools use ICT to make both students and teachers an easy way to their work. Different information and opinion can get from the web-sites. In addition, ICT provides wide array of information and effective lessons. That is also easy for students to do their work by using word processing. It makes our projects or assignments more neat and tidy. From the education system point of view, e- could mean enhanced education rather than electronic education. Consequently, ICT has a great impact to the society especially on education. On the other hand, ICT also has a bad impact on education system. Teachers will more depend on the ICT and not giving their knowledge to the students. The information and knowledge are not necessary correct from the web-sites. We have to more careful when having the research from the web. Teachers, however, will not increase their vision. Moreover, it will cause the effect on the students. Students may not be interested in the way teachers teach. They will more focus on the web such as Facebook, MSN, and Twitter. It unknowingly influences their result in the class. It also changes their behavior to the teachers in school. Students who generally communicate with friends by the ICT will caused a problem in communicate face to face to other. It is not only has an impact on character but also their attitude. Somehow, it will become more rebellious when influence by the illegal staff. Today, we can seen that have many teenagers use two or three phones. It will cause them not to pay attention in the lesson time. In a conclusion, ICT can be both advantages and disadvantages on education sector. We have to careful by using it. Internet, TV, radio and others are the ICT that provide the news and information to us. We can increase our vision when we have it. But, when we too focus on these staff, we may cause health problem by using it. We have to be wise in using it.

Keeping Close to Home Essay

Bell Hooks essay â€Å"Keeping Close to Home†, describes her struggles after she was accepted at Stanford University to further her self-realization. In this essay Hooks talks about her journey to educate herself and no losing her sense of where she came from as African American woman from a working class background. Hooks parents wanted her to go to a school close to home, a non-diverse like Stanford was. They wanted her to go to a school no just close to home but were the majority were black too. Her family biggest fear was her daughter changing her mind or losing her values and the connection with them. They knew college change people. However Hooks found the way to keep close to home by visiting every year, sometimes when she couldn’t go home because she didn’t have the money to travel, she had to stay at school, she expresses in a passage how her family wasn’t happy or supportive about her decision about her going to Stanford. As she said â€Å"My pa rents had not being delighted that I had been accepted ad adamantly opposed my going so far from home. At the same time, I did not see their opposition as an expression of their fear that they would lose me forever, â€Å"Like many working-class folks, they feared what college education might do to their children’s even as they unenthusiastically acknowledge its importance† (101). Most kids have a very strong knowledge about were they come from like Hooks was, opposite to some others which doesn’t, this make them to be weak, they could change their values and they might forget about their families and community. . When kids go to college they are in touch with many different people from different backgrounds. It is normal that their parents could be afraid of their kids changing their minds afterwards they will be living away from home and this could happen. This changes depend on how strong their roots are. Having no contact with no contact with their families that could happen, like Hooks explains on her essay when she said â€Å"Often I tell students from poor and working-class backgrounds that if you believe [that] what you have learned and are learning in schools and universities separates you from your past, this is precisely what will happen. It is important to stand firm in the conviction that nothing can  truly separate us from our pasts when we nurture and cherish that connection† (108). The best way to maintain the values our family gave us when we go away from home either to college or to live far from our families is keeping in touch with them for this purpose talk to our families once in a while will be good also never forget were we came from. When I read Hooks essay, this send me back in time to the year of 1979 when I graduate from High School. As I was reading her essay I felt that Hooks and I had the same struggles. Before I graduate from High School I had my mind set about going to college. My family was very poor. My mother was always a very hard worker woman, she ironed all the neighborhood clothing. I am very proud of my mother being a single mother she was capable to race my little sister and I all by herself after my dad past away when I was twelve years old Hooks’s talks about how proud she was about her father too when she said â€Å" â€Å" I never knew how poor we were until I needed to go to college. I knew I will need to find a job to fu rther my education. Hooks reveals all the pain and struggles she had after she was accepted at Stanford, how her parents were not supportive. I had the same exact struggles. My mother was very upset when I told her about my decision on going to school, she argues with me about how her friend’s kids never came back to their homes and how they stop visiting their parents after they went to school. My mother was not being very supportive like Hooks parents were. She teaches us to how to be loving, caring, how to respect each other in the family and everyone else. She wanted for me just to find a job close to my house, she even talked with the owners of this pharmacy on the corner of my house to give me a job as a cashier. She said I should stay home and help her with the house chores, she never thought I could be anything more than a housekeeping. We lived in a very small town called Villa Canales which was eight hours away from the college I decided to go. That was the most painful decision I had ever made. After all I was the first generation going to college. My family was very tight with very strong values. My sister and I used to spend all our summers vacations at my grandma’s house when we were little, we loved to listen all the stories she had to tell us, while we grow up. This made my family very similar to Hooks’s family. However my mother was afraid of me being far from her and my little sister and forget about them which didn’t happen. Even when the communication was not easy in Guatemala where I grow  up, I did all my efforts maintaining communication with my family. Distance was not enough reason for me to stop keeping in touch with them the same and never forget about all the instructions she gave me. The same way Hooks never stopped her contact and communication with her family. The purpose of her essay is to argue about that students coming from a working class background should not be ashamed where they come from nor either forget about their families. Going to school far from home shouldn’t change people, at least no their values. To keep this values intact people needs to keep the connection as Hooks did by keeping in touch with her family and community. Universities separates families this should not happen because the only way we keep our values is being tight with our families.

Analyse How an Adaptation of Your Choice Deals with Gender †Catwoman Essay

The representation of female super heroes in the media can be said to have had huge institutional, political and social influences that would suggest those in power are favoured at the expense of those without. Female super heroes tend to promote sexualisation and stereotypical gender roles of women, throughout comic books and super hero movies, but why? In this essay I will look at the character of Catwoman, and her representation as a female, particularly in the 2004 adaptation film â€Å"Catwoman†. Originally, she is an iconic character in the batman series. Created in 1940 by Bob Kane (batman creator) and Bill Finger, she has had a strong presence in batman comics and adaptations since then. Her role as a mysterious burglar and jewel thief led her to just miss out on a place in the top ten, ranking 11th in IGN’s ‘Top 100 comic book Villains of all time’ (2009) and 51st in Wizard magazines ‘100 greatest villains of all time’ list (2006). The character has been used in hundreds of comic books, as well as video games, radio stations, TV series, animated series and films. Although she is featured in mostly batman productions and texts, Catwoman was given her first comic book series in 1993, written mostly by Jim Balent. Several years down the line, Catwoman stared as the lead role in the feature film, made in 2004. The movie was an example of post feminism at its best, as in the 1970’s, only 15% of action adventure movies cast female leads. The movie was directed by Pitof and was released on July 23 by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures. The cast members include Halle Berry, who plays Catwoman, Benjamin Bratt, Sharon Stone and Frances Conroy. I have chosen to analyse this movie because females are not usually given dominant roles in superhero movies, especially as the lead character. There are many stereotypes that surround women, and I believe this movie challenges those. The film was inspired by the DC comics villain of the same name, however stars a new character, Patience Phillips. There are several similarities to the original character. For example, she has similar office job and is killed by someone she works for. In the 1992 movie staring Michelle Pfeiffer, she uncovers a dark secret in the company and is thrown to her death from a great height. The plot for the more recent movie is very like its predecessor. In both versions she is brought back to life by a group of wild cats. However the most relevant similarity is her appearance and costume. Throughout the film, Catwoman is dressed in a tight black latex costume, black connoting mystery and evil. This material is often associated with sexuality; it clings to her body and shows off her curves. Over the years her costumes have become even more provocative, with this Catwoman being more fetish than ever. These clothes represent Catwoman as a sexual image to be looked at by the opposite sex. Laura Mulvey describes this as the Male Gaze. She explains â€Å"In their traditional exhibitionist role, women are simultaneously looked at and displayed with their appearance, coded for strong visual and erotic impact so it can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness. † (1975, p33). It is arguable that woman in the genre of action, drama and super hero are not represented as women, rather an object of sexual desire. The women featured in such genres are slim, pretty, and all wear tight clothing. Lillian Robinson refers to woman super heroes as a pin up girl in a cape, rather than genuine characters (2006). The skimpy outfit has great erotic significance (Richard Reynolds 1994) and could create a negative portrayal of females, as well as being a very bad influence for the young women and girls who watch the movie, or read the comics. Clearly, the media heavily influences teenagers already. They follow the latest fashion trends from celebrities, coolest haircuts, and they diet and loose weight to look like the people they see on TV and in magazines. They look up to the people in the media, and the image of Halle Berry in the cat suit, may encourage young girls to objectify themselves in a similar way. Already, Playboy as a brand has become a fashionable thing, for young girls even at the age of 8. They have the playboy bunny pencil cases, posters and duvet covers. Just like this, cat woman may encourage youthful girls to dress inappropriately with increased sexuality. Even Catwoman’s make-up connotes sexualisation. Her lips are painted scarlet red, which draws your attention straight to her mouth, as well as being the colour of lust to stimulate sexual arousal. This idea is due to the fact men and women have more blood flowing through their lips whilst aroused, turning them a darker shade. Halle Berry was most likely cast because of her beauty. Her eyes, lips, body and sex appeal come before everything else in the movie, (Roger Ebert, 2006). The director of this movie has chosen to portray her as an object of sexual desire for men, rather than a role model for the power and liberation of women. Typical of Hollywood movies, the overtly sexualised view of women is rooted in the darkest chamber of male desire, (Kevin Maher, 2005). She appears powerful and dominant, however, she is in fact the opposite, and inferior to the gaze of men. Laura Mulvey says in her book Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, â€Å"Women as image, men as bearer of the look†, (1975). Personally this idea is predictable and brings nothing new to the genre. Wonder Woman first appeared on screen wearing a gold bra and blue knickers, and in those 36 years gone by, you have to ask yourself, why do superheroes need to be dressed so provocatively? Why can’t the action hero fight crime and ‘kick ass’ in a baggy jumper and a pair of dungarees? Kevin Maher, 2005). I believe the reason behind this is due to the fact that the representation of characters such as Catwoman and Wonder Woman where created by those with power over women. The institution DC comics created both in the 1940’s, which was largely if not entirely controlled by men. Women had no control over their creation and as powerful as Catwoman may be, she is still just an image of the male gaze. Created in a time where females had no authority, they where not able to argue against what could be considered as an unfair representation. Angelia McRobbie has a theory in defence of this sexualised representation, and believes men did not create this image. Women have gained the equality they where fighting for, and now they are using their assets to their advantages. In this case, Catwoman is willingly showing of her body to attract the male gaze, because it gives her power over men. She summarises that post feminism positively draws on and invokes feminism, (1994). However it’s not all negative, Over time things have changed, the presence of female leads in the super hero genre has increased, and to an extent therefore, time has favoured the female lead. Some 50 years ago, males where seen as the hero, there to protect the fragile women. Superman and Lois Lane are a classic example of where the lead role is given to a man, he is strong and courageous, while Lois is inferior to him, she has no special abilities and relies on him completely. However, the number of women in this genre proves a success for the feminist woman and an improvement in today’s society. Iconic actresses such as Angelina Jolie and Uma Thurman have stared as the female lead in modern action movies. Lara Croft, Tomb Raider and Kill Bill are both examples of woman taking active roles, and how accepting it is in this particular genre. Jolie also stared in Mr and Mrs Smith, which showed her as an equal to her husband, just as strong and just as capable of fulfilling the dominant lead. Catwoman has evolved over time, first known as The Cat in DC comics; she then progressed onto TV screens. Her sexual appearance made her an object of desire to the eyes of the male audience, and a role model to girls who wanted to be her, Suzan Colon (2004). In the Halle Berry adaptation, Catwoman is reborn a new woman, sleek, sexy, ambitious and not held back by the restraints of society. She is rebellious and follows her own desires as a feline crime fighter. This representation of Catwoman forces the question that perhaps contemporary women are constrained by the rules of society and are not free. Catwoman challenges the female stereotype and adopts the masculine lead role in this superhero movie. She is a protagonist, independent and capable of standing alone. A crucial scene in the movie shows Catwoman arguing with a large masculine looking man. She demands he turn down his music, which results in her physically attacking him. The argument ends with him lying on the floor with her foot on top of him. This scene portrays her as superior to the man, and the physical pose makes him vulnerable to her. This scene is important, because when she was her human self, known as Patience, the man would not listen to her. As Catwoman, her voice is heard. Simone de Beauvior Invokes ‘the independent women’ who wants to be active, wants to take things for themselves and refuses the passivity men try and want to impose on her. The modern woman accepts masculine values; she prides herself on thinking, getting a job and working to pay her own way, existing on the same terms as man, (1949). Catwoman does exactly that. She completely demolishes feminine stereotypes at the end of the movie when she rejects the love interest and chooses to be a free independent woman. She is not reliant on anyone, especially a man and because of that, I believe this movie demonstrates a victory for women. â€Å"Freedom is power† (Catwoman, 2004). Motivated by revenge, no man stands in her way. However another scene tells a very different story and shows off Catwoman as purely a vision of sexual desire. As she is transformed from patience Phillips, into Catwoman, supposedly now free and independent, we are reminded of her physical qualities. ‘Reminded’ is an understatement actually; it’s thrown in our faces. As she walks across a rooftop the camera angle starts from her feet, moves up her legs and to the top of her body. Paying particular attention to her bum, first impressions are everything! This scene completely confirms Mulvey’s theory, and as Liz Wells suggests, certain films objectify the female star, (2004). However Catwoman is not the only dominant female in this movie. Hedare Beauty is the company Patience works for, and is run by a man named George, or so you are made to believe. Yet in fact, the one calling all the shots is his wife, Laurel. She is controlling the strings of her puppet husband and forces him to her way of thinking. She is an evil, sinister character, full of greed, and in the end she kills her husband in cold blood. She is the villain in this movie, but also a woman in power and free from the constraints of society. In the early 1970’s, after the second wave of feminism, more women were gaining better professions and breaking out of the stereotypical roles. The post modern figure of a female became more appealing to both genders, and resulted in women wanting to achieve higher status in the world of work. An example of such acceptance was seen in the recently released song by male pop artist Ne-Yo, called ‘Miss Independent’. This continues the suggestion of the need for change in the way female super heroes where represented in order to capture the post-modern audience. Catwoman and Laurel Hedare are both great examples of female presence in superhero movies and the result of female empowerment. Judith Butler brings an interesting theory to the table. She believes gender is free floating, rather than fixed, that males and females aren’t simply masculine and feminine. She says that gender is a performance, rather than an aspect of our identity and we behave differently on different occasions. This theory suggests Catwoman isn’t necessarily challenging gender roles by taking on the masculine super hero, but rather an act she’s choosing to play. Women can be masculine because the individual chooses their gender identity. â€Å"When the constructed status of gender is theorized as radically independent of sex, gender itself becomes a free floating artifice, with the consequence that man and masculine might just as easily signify a female body as a male one, and woman and feminine a male body as easily as a female one† (Judith Butler, 1990, p6). Interestingly she suggests that if there where no longer conventional roles for either gender it would be considered the norm for a woman to be in a position of power at work or for a man to stay at home looking after the children. After looking into the history of Catwoman, her creation, and other adaptations in the past, I believe her image is over sexualised. The film is centralised around a beautiful woman, wearing the sexy, tight black costume to do none other than attract male attention. They do however promote that she is a powerful woman and has the freedom to do as she pleases. The fact that a female is the lead role in a movie of this genre is a positive thing. Although the message left behind is that to have freedom and power, you have to entail being objectified. In the end, this movie has done the same as its predecessors, portray woman in a sexualised, unrealistic and in a possibly insulting way.

Blombos Cave and the Creativity of Early Modern Humans

Blombos Cave (abbreviated in the scientific literature as BBC) contains one of the longest and richest sequences of early subsistence, and technological and cultural innovations of pressure-flaking of stone tools, non-functional engraving, shell bead production, and red ochre processing by early modern humans worldwide, from occupations dated to the Middle Stone Age (MSA), 74,000-100,000 years ago. The rock shelter is located in a steep wave-cut calcrete cliff, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of Cape Town, South Africa. The cave is 34.5 meters (113 ft) above current sea level and 100 m (328 ft) from the Indian Ocean. Chronology The site deposits include 80 centimeters (31 inches) of a Later Stone Age deposit, an archaeologically sterile layer of aeolian (windblown) dune sand, called the Hiatus, and about 1.4 m (4.5 ft) comprising four Middle Stone Age levels. As of 2016, excavations have included an area of about 40 sqm (430 sq ft). Dates and thicknesses presented below are derived from Roberts et al. 2016: Late Stone Age, 2,000-300 years before the present (BP), ~80 cm in thicknessHiatus ~68 ka (thousand years BP), a culturally sterile sand dune which sealed the lower MSA, 5-10 cmM1 - Middle Stone Age Still Bay (64-73 ka, Marine Isotope Stage 5a/4), 6 strata, ~20 cmM2 Upper - Middle Stone Age Still Bay (77-82 ka, MIS 5b/a), 4 strata, ~20 cmM2 Lower - Middle Stone Age, 85-81 ka (MIS 5b), 5 strata, ~25 cmM3 - Middle Stone Age (94-101 ka, MIS 5c), 10 strata, 75 cm The Late Stone Age level contains a dense series of occupations within the rock shelter, characterized by ochre, bone tools, bone beads, shell pendants, and pottery. Middle Stone Age Occupations Together, the M1 and upper M2 levels at Blombos have been designated Still Bay phase, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction suggests the climate during this period fluctuated between arid and humid. Within an area of approximately 19 sqm have been found 65 hearths and 45 ash piles. The stone tools from the Still Bay occupations are primarily made from locally available silcrete, but also include quartzite and quartz. Nearly 400 Still Bay type points have been recovered so far, and about half of them were heat-treated and finished using sophisticated pressure flaking techniques: prior to the discoveries at BBC, pressure flaking was thought to have been invented in Upper Paleolithic Europe, only 20,000 years ago. Over 40 bone tools have been recovered, most of which are awls. A few were polished and may have been hafted as projectile points. Symbolic Behavior More than 2,000 pieces of ochre have been found so far from the Still Bay occupations, including two with deliberately engraved cross-hatched patterns from M1, and six more from M2 upper. A bone fragment was also marked, with 8 parallel lines. Over 65 beads have been discovered in the MSA levels, all of which are tick shells, Nassarius kraussianus, and most of them have been carefully perforated, polished, and in some cases deliberately heat-treated to a dark-grey to black coloration (dErrico and colleagues 2015). Vanhaeren et al. conducted experimental reproduction and close analysis of the usewear on the tick shell beads from M1. They determined that a cluster of 24 perforated shells were probably strung together in a ~10 cm long string in such a way so that they hung in alternate positions, creating a visual pattern of symmetrical pairs. A second later pattern was also identified, apparently created by knotting cords together to create floating pairs of dorsally joined shells. Each of these patterns of stringing was repeated on at least five different beadwork pieces. A discussion of the significance of shell beads may be found in Shell Beads and Behavioral Modernity. Before Still Bay The M2 level at BBC was a period of fewer and shorter occupations than either earlier or later periods. The cave contained a few basin hearths and one very large hearth at this point; the artifact assemblage includes small quantities of stone tools, consisting of blades, flakes, and cores of silcrete, quartz, and quartzite. Faunal material is limited to shellfish and ostrich eggshell. In sharp contrast, occupation debris within the M3 level at BBC is far denser. So far, M3 has produced abundant lithics but no bone tools; lots of modified ochre, including eight slabs with deliberate engravings in cross-hatching, y-shaped or crenulated designs. Stone tools include objects made of exotic fine-grained materials. The animal bone assemblage from M3 includes mostly small to medium mammals such as rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), Cape dune mole-rat (Bathyergus suillus), steenbok/grysbok (Raphicerus sp), Cape fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus), and eland (Tragelaphus oryx). Larger animals are also represented in fewer numbers, including equids, hippopotami (Hippopotamus amphibius), rhinoceros (Rhinocerotidae), elephant (Loxodonta africana), and giant buffalo (Sycerus antiquus). Paint Pots in M3 Within the M3 levels were also found two abalone (Haliotis midae) shells located within 6 cm of one another, and interpreted as an ochre processing workshop. The cavity of each shell was filled with a red compound of ochre, crushed bone, charcoal, and tiny stone flakes. A round flat stone with use-wear marks along the edge and face was likely used to crush and mix the pigment; it fits snugly into one of the shells and was stained with red ochre and encrusted with fragments of crushed bone. One of the shells had long scratches in its nacreous surface. Although no large painted objects or walls have been found in BBC, the resulting ochre pigment was likely used as paint to decorate a surface, object or person: while cave paintings are not known from Howiesons Poort/Still Bay occupations, ochre-painted objects have been identified within several sites of the Middle Stone Age along the South African coast. Excavations have been conducted at Blombos by Christopher S. Henshilwood and colleagues since 1991 and have continued intermittently ever since. Sources Badenhorst S, Van Niekerk KL, and Henshilwood CS. 2016. Large mammal remains from the 100 KA middle stone age layers of Blombos cave, South Africa. South African Archaeological Bulletin 71(203):46-52. Botha R. 2008. Prehistoric shell beads as a window on language evolution. Language Communication 28(3):197-212. dErrico F, Vanhaeren M, Van Niekerk K, Henshilwood CS, and Erasmus RM. 2015. Assessing the Accidental Versus Deliberate Colour Modification of Shell Beads: a Case Study on Perforated Nassarius. Archaeometry 57(1):51-76.kraussianus from Blombos Cave Middle Stone Age levels Discamps E, and Henshilwood CS. 2015. Intra-Site Variability in the Still Bay Fauna at Blombos Cave: Implications for Explanatory Models of the Middle Stone Age Cultural and Technological Evolution. PLOS 10(12):e0144866.ONE Henshilwood C, DErrico F, Van Niekerk K, Coquinot Y, Jacobs Z, Lauritzen S-E, Menu M, and Garcia-Moreno R. 2011. A 100,000-Year-Old Ochre-Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Science 334:219-222. Jacobs Z, Hayes EH, Roberts RG, Galbraith RF, and Henshilwood CS. 2013. An improved OSL chronology for the Still Bay layers at Blombos Cave, South Africa: further tests of single-grain dating procedures and a re-evaluation of the timing of the Still Bay industry across southern Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(1):579-594. Mourre V, Villa P, and Henshilwood C. 2010. Early use of pressure flaking on lithic artifacts at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Science 330:659-662. Moyo S, Mphuthi D, Cukrowska E, Henshilwood CS, van Niekerk K, and Chimuka L. 2016. Blombos Cave: Middle Stone Age ochre differentiation through FTIR, ICP OES, ED XRF, and XRD. Quaternary International 404, Part B:20-29. Roberts P, Henshilwood CS, Van Niekerk KL, Keene P, Gledhill A, Reynard J, Badenhorst S, and Lee-Thorp J. 2016. Climate, Environment. PLoS ONE 11(7):e0157408.and Early Human Innovation: Stable Isotope and Faunal Proxy Evidence from Archaeological Sites (98-59ka) in the Southern Cape, South Africa Thompson JC, and Henshilwood CS. 2011. Taphonomic analysis of the Middle Stone Age larger mammal faunal assemblage from Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa. Journal of Human Evolution 60(6):746-767. Vanhaeren M, dErrico F, van Niekerk KL, Henshilwood CS, and Erasmus RM. 2013. Thinking strings: Additional evidence for personal ornament use Journal of Human Evolution 64(6):500-517.in the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa.