Indigenous health as an important issue in Australia

Indigenous health as an important issue in Australia Perspectives on Nursing Health, Culture And Society. This essay will discuss Indigenous health as an important issue to the Australian community and the problems that Indigenous Australian may experience within the current health care system. This will firstly analysis in depth the historical, cultural, social and political factors that have affected the healthcare for the Indigenous Australians. Secondly, some strategies that may improve the health care system. Indigenous Australians culture is complex and diverse. The indigenous culture of Australia is the oldest living cultural history in the world dating back at least 50,000years. The reason why its survived this long is their ability to adapt and change over time. Aboriginals keep their cultural heritage rich and alive by passing their knowledge, arts, rituals and performances the passing from one generation to the next. The fundamental wellbeing of the Aboriginal people is their land, its environment that sustained by the people and culture, full of spiritual wellbeing. Aboriginal people were hunter-gathers who foraged for uncultivated plant and wild animals. The traditional diet was high in carbohydrates, proteins and nutrients and low in fat and sugars. However, modern Aboriginal diet are heavily westernised and tend to be high in fat and sugar but low in carbohydrate, fibre and nutritional value. The World Health Organisation, social determination of health (SODH)are defined as the fundamental structures of social hierarchy and the socially determined conditions these structures create in which people grow, live, work and age. The structural organisation for the Aboriginal people is to settle them with housing, employment, educations and health services so they can live in a well presented environment. Health interventions have a clinical focus on individual behaviours such as diet, condom use, exercise, alcohol, etc despite the fact that when structural issues such as poverty is not addressed. Poverty, as represents most Indigenous people as lower socio economic status shows unhealthy behaviour, smoking, poor diet and physical activity which put a risk for numerous health problems. Indigenous people have been victims of societal and racism since colonial times. The dominant culture promotes exclusion, inclusion, inferior conditions or assimilation (loss of individual, unique culture). Though education is available it is often unmet to the needs of the indigenous children resulting to have low enrolment rate, poor school performance and high dropout rate which increase the vulnerability to child labours. It is important to have tradition Indigenous education to be acknowledged and valued. Literacy for the Indigenous must be proficient in their own languages but also to the nation language. Also education should include the land establishment forms of livelihoods that usual involve the land to understand the tradition competencies. The underinvestment in health care in areas in which Indigenous people live is due to rural/remote nature. There are a number of cultural barriers that prevent access to health care. Indigenous languages are often difficult leading to poor communication between nurse and patient. The may experience discrimination by the staff. The traditional land is vital source of material and spiritual well being serving a crucial resource for their reproduction. The loss of land due to polices of dominant culture creates a social problem. The restored relationship to the land is central to restore sense of identity, social status and political power as well as economic, food security, rehabilitation of land. It is important for health care workers to have a degree of cultural competence and work with traditional healing modalities to make cultural safety. In 1788 European settlers colonised Australia. Upon settlement, the aboriginal people lost their land, their social and economical structure and in general, their way of life. Since colonisation Indigenous Australians have experienced extreme levels of loss, grief, disempowerment, cultural alienation, and loss of identity (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2002, 2003; Hunter, 1993) The trauma suffered by the stolen generations as a result of the assimilation policies of the Australian Government has direct relevance to the psychological adjustment of indigenous Australians when considered within the framework of attachment theory. Attachment theory is the quality of early parent-child bonding, as well as the infants actual experience of the relationship with their parents has important implications for psychological and emotional adjustment later in life. (Strahan, 1995). There is enough evidence to suggest that Aboriginal people do not have the same degree of access to many of the health services as other Australians. This implies negative implications for the outcomes of Indigenous health. The access of primary health care is compromised or obstructed as they are more likely to present care later stage meaning more unhealthy state. I was shocked by the poverty, disadvantage and a medical model of care working downstream patching local people up and sending them home again without any longer term, preventative care. The issues are not only health services offering primary health care but also acute care providing in hospitals and specialists services. Issues such as distance, transport, affordability, availability, language, and cultural stability are all potential hindrances to access health services. Transport, long waiting time, cost to be some of the most commonly cited barriers. Indigenous people also feel disempowered and are less likely to use health services. It is also very important to note that communication difficulties come from those living in remote areas. However the presence of an Aboriginal health worker can be a strong determinant in whether an Indigenous person will access health services. It is important that primary health care services are run by Aboriginal communities to aim to offer health care in a culturally appropriate setting. This causes to a major source of providing education and training for staff. Indigenous health workers and nurses are to provide primary care services based to interlinked with a holistic Indigenous specific definition of health that states: Aboriginal Health is not just the physical well being of an individual but is the social, emotional and cultural well being of the whole community in which each individuals is able to achieve their full potential thereby about the total well being of their community. It is a whole -of- life view and includes the cyclical concept of life- d eath-life (NAHS, 1989) It is also important to build a shared understanding of how community input will inform policy or decision making processes. Numerous attempt to define Indigenous mental health concepts, the common theme has consistently been the holistic nature of health and wellbeing. The word punyu (Ngaringman) encompasses both person and country. In fact caring for the country has been associated with improvements in wellbeing. Suggesting that for Indigenous people our identity as human beings remains tied to our land , to our cultural practices, our systems of authority and social control, our intellectual traditions, our concepts of spirituality, and to our systems of resource ownership and exchange. Destroy this relationship and you damage- sometimes irrevocably-individual human beings and their health'(cited in Burgess et al.,2008,p.2). On February 13 2008, the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Kevin Rudd, offered an apology to members of the stolen generation. The apology attracted words and gestures of gratitude, relief, pride and sorrow. Also for some closure to a painful emotional wound. This let the healing begin it was an act of hope, dignity and respect acknowledging the existence and impacts of past policies and practices of forcibly removing indigenous children from their families. The apology represented that the past of mistreatment and blemished chapter in our country to reconcile indigenous and non indigenous people to a better future. The Prime Minister and opposition leader Brendan Nelson both pledged to close the 17 year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non- Indigenous Aboriginals by 2030. Promising that Indigenous Australians to have access to same quality health services. As Mr Rudd said he is determined to make a difference. Curtins University professor of health economics, Gavin Mooney sa id it is important that Aboriginal people are involved in the process It is important to involve the indigenous and ask what they want. As it is important to ensure that the voice of ordinary Aboriginal people to be heard and what it is that they want. In conclusion à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. the services of Aboriginal health à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples health disadvantage needs to be considered in the broader context of social disadvantage, inequality and exclusion, political marginalisation and the historical currents of colonialism. In order to find strategies for health services for the Indigenous Australian need to take account of historical, social, cultural and political factors in order to understand the health disadvantage faced by Aboriginal peoples in contemporary society. This enhances our knowledge of unequal health outcomes between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal people by focusing on the impacts of social structures and cultural appropriateness of health care services.

Socio Cultural Impact Of Television On Youth Media Essay

Socio Cultural Impact Of Television On Youth Media Essay This study has analysed Socio-cultural Impact of Television on Youth. The purpose of this study is to find out the impact of television programmes on youth. As a communication technology, television has a great acceptance and is being used extensively in India. Television viewership is no more restricted to the upper and upper-middle class of India as it used to be a few years back. Being inexpensive and easy to access, television spread rapidly in India. It has become one of the common household commodities. Therefore, this study attempted to understand whether demography influenced the viewership patterns of respondents or not. Television provides a variety of local and foreign channels and helps people in selecting programmes according to their taste and choice. Therefore, the first part of this study explored respondents preferred channels and kinds of programmes, reasons for watching television, preferred time of watching and control over the remote. It justified the application of Uses and Gratification Theory. This theory identifies television consumption patterns according to needs and satisfaction of targeted segment. The gratification factor leads to the exposure of programmes which in turn can generate impact. Main part of the present research comes under the impact tradition. It demands discussion on theories based on observational learning and information processing emphasize lasting impact of exposure to media contents. Thus, the study also applies Cultivation Theory in terms of impact through exposure and Social learning Theory which says that viewers attend and learn from models which are attractive, powerful, rewarding and similar to themselves. They do not act immediately on what they learn from television. Instead, they store such knowledge to be used when their own circumstances elicit it. Hence, the framework of this research is based on the set of three theories i.e. Uses and Gratification Theory, Cultivation Theory and Social Learning Theory. These theories are discussed below in relation with the present study in brief. 2.1Uses and Gratification Utility Theory, often known as the Uses and Gratification Approach offers another way of explaining why people expose themselves to some communications and not others; why they perceive a fraction of these to which they are exposed and why they remember- correctly or incorrectly. Blumler and Katzs Uses and Gratification Theory suggest that media users play an active role in choosing and using media. Users take an active part in the communication process and are goal oriented in their media usage. Theorists say that media users seek out source that best fulfils their needs. Uses and Gratification Theory assumes that users have alternate choices to satisfy their needs (Griffin. 2000).55 Uses and Gratification Theory takes a more humanistic approach to looking at the media usage. The theory takes out the possibility that media can have an unconscious influence on our lives and how we view the world. The idea that we simply use media to satisfy a given need does not seem to fully recognize the power of media in todays society. 2.2 Cultivation Theory Cultivation Theory in its most basic form, suggests that television is responsible for shaping or cultivating viewers conceptions of social reality. The combined effect of massive television exposure by viewers over time subtly shapes the perception of social reality for individuals and, ultimately for our culture as a whole. Thus, cultivation research is in the effects traditions. Cultivation research looks at the mass media as a socialising agent and investigates whether television viewers come to believe the television version of reality the more they watch it. Gerbner and his colleagues argue that television drama has a small but significant influence on the attitudes, beliefs and judgement of viewers concerning the social world. The focus is on heavy viewers. People who watch a lot of television are likely to be more influenced by the ways in which the world is framed by television programmes than are individuals who watch less, especially regarding topics of which the viewer ha s little first-hand experience. Light viewers may have more sources of information than heavy viewers. 58 This study has used Cultivation Theory by George Gerbner as a guide in exploring the consequences. Under guidance of this theory, this study may be able to emerge as a new theory. Essentially, the theory states that heavy exposure to mass media namely television creates and cultivates attitudes more consistent with a media fabricated version of reality than with what actual reality is. The cultivation theory asserts that heavy viewers attitudes are cultivated primarily by what they watch on television. Gerbner views this television world as not a window on or reflection of the world, but a world in itself (Mc Quail. 1993: 100).59 Cultivation theorists are best known for their study of television and viewers and in particular, for a focus on the topic of violence. However, some studies have also considered other mass media from this perspective and have dealt with topics such as gender roles, age groups, ethnic groups and political attitudes. Cultivation theorists argue that heavy viewing leads viewers (even among high educational/high income groups) to have more homogeneous or convergent opinions then light viewers (who tend to have more heterogeneous or divergent opinion). The cultivation effect of television viewing is one of the levelling or homogenizing opinion. Gross considered that television is a cultural arm of the established industrial order and as such serves primarily to maintain, stabilize and reinforce rather than to alter, threaten or weaken conventional beliefs and behaviours (Boyd. Barrett. Braham. And Peter, B. 1987: 100).60 2.3 Social Learning Theory The principle understanding of social learning theory is tied the social context of learning. According to Bandura, behaviours and responses that are repeated, perceived as real, distinct, functional and salient are more likely to be attended to, thus more likely to be learned. When observing an event, which receives some kind of reward like social approval, pleasant experience and when the observer feels confident to perform, its symbolic imitation is facilitated. The social cognitive principle has been widely employed to explain in television effects on a variety of social issues such as aggression, ethnic stereotypes, alcohol, attitudes and behaviour. It also stresses the importance of viewers cognitive activities when consuming television messages (Bandura. 1977). 63 Socialization process of person is influenced by innumerable factors such as family, school, environment factors etc. Direct experience and participation are important parameters which shape the youths impressions of the perceived structure of their environment. Mass media, particularly television plays a crucial role in bringing the outside world into homes. As an important institution, mass media enters the socialization process of an individual. De Fleur and Sandra (1989) stated despite general in nature, social learning theory is particularly relevant to study the impact of mass communication because the description and portrayal of social life is a frequent subject in media contents. The most common (and pervasive) examples of social learning situations are television commercials. Commercials suggest that drinking a certain beverage or using a particular shampoo will make us popular and win the admiration of attractive people. Depending upon the component processes involved (such as attention or motivation), users may model the behaviour shown in the commercial and buy the product being advertised. Actions of characters in the audio-visual media can serve as a model for others to imitate. Modelling Theory is also useful for describing the application of general Social Learning Theory which explain how new behaviours are acquired by people from media portrayals. An individual observes a character, identifies him/her as a mo del and remembers actions of model and performs them when confronted with similar circumstances (DeFleur and Sandra. 1989).64 In light of all these theories stated above, it is important to mention that the researcher has formulated a combination of the three theories in order to assess what is the main reason of their watching, their preferred channels and programmes. While on the other hand, it has also measured what kind of impact are taking place in the lives of the sample under study? If there are some affects that are changing attitudes of youth under the study. Are these effects long-lasting or short term. Hence, the researcher intended to explore all this for which the base of above mentioned theories was most suitable and required. It was also assumed that the youth (aged18-25 years) are vulnerable to influences and tend to be inclined towards change. Youth would serve as a barometer to assess the influence of television. Hence, youth of age 18-25 were selected for the study to determine the degree to which their attitudes were influenced by television. Now, with the availability of the foreign channels, an important question arises: does a youths behaviour reflect what his/her has watched on the television screen? The impact of foreign television programmes on youth involves a number of indispensible factors such as interest in the programmes, viewing pattern, reasons for watching, attitude towards programmes and models of social reality that these programmes promote. The study aimed at finding out whether and to what extent television affect youth in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts. The researcher aimed at finding answers to questions such as what youth think about these programmes in terms of their preferences and relevance. Is there any restriction on youth for watching television channels? Whether they experience an impact of these programmes on their attitudes or not?

The Role of the Amygdala in Fear and Panic Essay -- Biology Essays Res

The Role of the Amygdala in Fear and Panic The definition of fear has proved to be an elusive mystery plaguing scientists. While there is much agreement as to the physiological effects of fear, the neural pathways and connections that bring upon these effects are not well understood. From the evolutionary standpoint, the theory is that fear is a neural circuit that has been designed to keep the organism alive in dangerous situations (1). How does it all work? Learning and responding to stimuli that warn of danger involves neural pathways that send information about the outside world to the amygdala, which in turn, determines the significance of the stimulus and triggers emotional responses like freezing or fleeing as well as changes in the inner workings of the body's organs and glands (1). There are important distinctions to make between emotions and feelings. Feelings are "red herrings", products of the conscious mind, labels given to unconscious emotions (2) whereas emotions are distinct patterns of behaviors of neurons. E motions can exist of conscious experiencesas well as physiological and neurological reactions and voluntary and involuntary behaviors (3). But the components of fear goes beyond feelings and emotions. It is also the specific memory of the emotion. After a frightful experience, one can remember the logical reasons for the experience (e.g. the time and place) but one will also "feel" the memory, and his body will react as such (i.e. increased heart and respiration rate, sweating). In one recent case, after a near drowining incident, the victim could not only vividly remember each detail, but when doing so, his body reacted as though he were reliving the experience. These feelings of memory are stored in an ... ... of being harmed at this particular moment. The three emotions can diffuse into one single diffuse state (5). Internet Sources: Isaacson, Robert. The Limbic System. Plenum Press, New York, NY, 1982 Thompson, Jack George. The Psychobiology of Emotions. Plenum Press, New York, NY, 1988 http://academic.uofs.edu/department/neuro/fear.html Van Goozen, Stephanie H. M. (ed.). Emotions: Essays on Emotion Theory. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Hillsdale, N.J., 1994 Kavanaugh, Robert. Emotion: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, Hillsdale, N.J., 1996 Muller, Jeff, "Functional Inactivation of the Lateral and Basal Nuclei of the Amygdala by Muscimol Infusion Prevents Fear Conditioning to an Explicit Conditioned Stimulus and to Contextual Stimuli". Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol. 111, No. 4, pp. 683-691, 1997

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Essay -- Fantasy Literature, L. Frank Baum

People start their lives with open eyes and open hearts, but society corrupts them, turning them into shadows of what they once were. Children enter the world not judging anyone, and having no limitations; they believe anything is possible. As they grow and mature, they loose this valued quality in exchange for limitations, and settling into the status quo set by society. Children, at an early age, are fascinated with fairy tales, featuring princes and princesses living â€Å"happily ever after† and are instantly drawn to beauty and bright, colorful worlds, which in reality have been shaded by society. Authors began to grasp the imaginative quality we all once embodied, and channeled those thoughts and desires into fantasy novels, creating utopias and ideal societies for characters to experience. These fantasy novels address the American dream as well- living a successful, blissful life, and usually, finding love. Authors such as L. Frank Baum, J.M Barrie and J. K Rowling wrot e these fantasy books to capture the desires and reams of Americans. Fantasy novels blossomed into an ideal method for authors to express the ideal society and American dreams of the era in which they were written. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L Frank Baum, a young girl, Dorothy Gale, is thrown into Munchkin County, a small city in the Land of Oz, when a cyclone comes ripping through Kansas, her hometown. She is immediately greeted by the munchkins, and Glenda, the good witch of the north, who informs her that she has killed the Wicked Witch of the East. Dorothy only wishes to return to her farm in Kansas, however, this is only possible if she travels to â€Å"Emerald City† to plead for help from the mighty Wizard of Oz. Along the way, she encounters various o... ...so courage in themselves to speak up, and the Tin Woodman’s desire for a heart typifies Americas want for compassion from a leader and from each other. Another classic children’s book, Peter Pan and Wendy, commonly known as Peter Pan also presented a new, limitless world, where there was eternal youth and innocence, and good triumphed over evil. In addition to these early classics, the Harry Potter series, written by J. K Rowling, also created a magical world where good and innocence defeated evil and corruption. Harry Potter, an honest and clever young boy is idolized for his intelligence and power; Two commendable traits every leader should possess. Americans have been drawn to fantasy novels, similar to fairy tales all through history, and even today because they amuse their desires for innocence, the past, and the domination of good over evil- a greater world.

The Importance of Respect in John Steinbecks Cannery Row Essay example

The Importance of Respect in John Steinbeck's Cannery Row Cannery Row is a novel John Steinbeck wrote after World War I. At first, the novel almost seems like a humorous book, written in a style commonly used by Steinbeck. The book has its main plot, but also has side chapters that periodically interrupt the main idea, which adds to the story. One would think that these side chapters are there to universalize the book, but in fact that is not true. The side chapters tell their own story, and they have a message that Steinbeck was clearly trying to show through his book. The novel has a main point about respect. In Cannery Row , Steinbeck is trying to say that respectability is the destructive force that preys on the world. Steinbeck uses his characters to tell this story about respect and its effect on society. The central figure of the whole book, Doc, better explains this point by saying, "It has always seemed strange to me . . . The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the con comitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitive, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second" (131). In chapter three, the respect issue is brought up and is closely related to chapter four. Chapter three introduces Dora and her prostitutes. It also introduces a character named William, who is the bouncer at Dora's Bear Flag Restaurant. William finds out that the tight society of Cannery Row rejects him and laughs at him. William had no friends and no respect from others, so he thought that suicide was his only way out. Chapter four talks ab... ...s respect was at the lowest it had been in his life when he explained to Doc, "It don't do no good to say I'm sorry. I been sorry all my life" (119). Respect is something everyone wants in their society. If one is respected, it also brings on a self-comfort in that society. Mack and the boys showed that they had respect even though they were nothing more than bums. Doc always showed unselfish respect and was admired for that. Steinbeck does a perfect job of showing how respect from individuals has an affect on society. Cannery Row is a very humorous book, but it also has its points about respect hidden inside of it. One can find many places where Steinbeck shows the differences of respect in Cannery Row, and there are many more that are hidden in this humorous novel by John Steinbeck. Work Cited Steinbeck, John. Cannery Row, Viking Press., New York: 1973.

Kotu Fashion Accessories Shop

Vietnam was positioned in 23rd among 30 countries for owning one of the most attractive retail markets globally. The total retail value for clothing and accessories sector in Vietnam was 7. % and held 72. 9% of share in 2009. From 2004 to 2009, there was a growth in the number of clothing and accessories retailers in Viet Name. As predicted in 2010, the number of goods and services would grow 18-19% in 2011.Along with this growth, the rate of retailing goods in 2011 was quite slow compared to previous years due to a decrease in consumption and economic difficulties. However, retailing market like accessories and clothing markets still continued to be the most attractive market ever. According to the Global Retail Development Index (201 1), clothing and accessories retailing is a attention business in Vietnam and stands at a vital position in the market, which influences not only private retailer but also the government's attention.The government has tended to pay more attention to th e local retail market. To be more specific, they have encouraged people to increase the use of local products, which urges the local market to improve. For instances, many campaigns were emerged by the government with the purpose of developing the industry potentially such as the recent campaign named Vietnamese people buy Vietnamese goods'. According to Ministry of Industry and Trade (2010), a report in September ‘Industry and Trade' in 2011 showed that in the first 9 months of 2011, the total sale of goods and services rose more than 17%.Nevertheless, this was still a low percentage compared to previous years, which tended to grow more than 20%. In 2010, the total retail grew to 24. 5% compared to previous year. This shows that Vietnamese demands for accessories have been rising and are more likely to be an upward trend. Hence, the opportunities for an accessories retailer to enter the market and increase the number of customers are very significant. RESEARCH QUESTION How ca n SOOT Shop attract more customers and increase the number of loyal customers?METHODS In order to effectively respond to the team's research question, the research team have examined both primary and secondary research. For primary research, in order to clearly understand the shop owner's problems, on 6 March 2013, the research team visited and had an interview with the owner of SOOT Fashion Accessories Shop, Mrs.. Maim Then Then (See Appendix A). On 5 April 2013, the research team visited Qua Tang shop, one of the most popular accessories shop among the area to observe ND compare SOOT Shop with its neighboring competitors.In addition, the research team visited a competitor's accessories page named V;C on 5th April 2013. Furthermore, a survey was conducted randomly including 10 males and 10 females respondents on 10 April 2013 (see Appendix C). The data was clearly identified with a table of survey results, proportions, bar graphs and pie charts. Finally, on 14 April 2013, the team members had met with Ms. Unguent NCO Line, an online shop owner who has five years experience in doing Internet advertising (See Appendix B).Then, he research team interviewed the expert Do Truing Tuna, an owner of a grocery shop on 15 April 2013 to find out more about special offer strategies (See Appendix B). And on 12 April 2013, the team interviewed Mrs.. Cacao HTH Hung, the owner of Gardenia Hotel in Dalai City about her specialize on membership program (See Appendix B). For secondary research, the research team have searched on REMIT Online Library, government documents, and Google Scholar to find out about the possible problems as well as solution regarding social networking sites, special offer and loyalty program.Figure 1 . Gender of respondents FINDING Social Networking Sites (An) In the interview on 6th March 2013,the owner of Soot shop, Ms. Maim Then Then claimed that she would like to increase the number of customers by using Faceable which she has not had any experienc e in the previous time. Based on the survey that the research team conducted on 10 April 2013 on randomly adolescents a young adults (See), seven out of ten respondents research on Faceable before purchasing (See). On 14 April 2013, in a meeting with Ms.Unguent NCO Line, an online shop owner has five years experience, emphasized that social networking sites are opportune for business to increase customers (See). After researched and visited on a competitor's accessories page named V&C on 5th April 2013, the research team noticed that they often stay online to quickly answer customers' question about the products and have separated albums for each kind of products. Bankcard (2011) indicates social networking sites help to connect nodes and branches.The author states that social networking sites contribute to increase sales, services and brand the products as a major hub. According to the Thou Tree News (2012), there was a growth of approximately 200% from 2. Million to more than 8. 5 million in the number of Faceable users in Vietnam. Unguent (2012) adds that the majority users' ages in 2011 are from 15 to 34 years old which is similar to the target ages of the business. Unguent also represents that Faceable has the highest rate of number users and a large gap comparing to Vietnamese social networking sites in 2011.Special Offer (That) Ms. Then, owner of SOOT shop states during the interview on 6 March 2013 that she has considered using special offer to attract more customers to her shop (see Appendix A). A survey was conducted on 10 April 2013 (see Appendix C), in which 9 UT of 10 respondents would choose to buy goods from accessories shop, especially, which offers them several gifts or discounts. 50% of those like to make purchases on special days if this shop offers ‘5-10%' discount and another 50% refers buying if the shop applies ‘buy 2 get 1 free' (see Figure 1).The expert Do Truing Tuna, a owner off grocery shop states in the interview on 15 April 2013 that special offer is a sales promotion tool which is extremely important for any small business, as it can help the business gains its reputation, prestige and therefore, attracts more customers to grow the profits (See Appendix B). According to David K and John M (2000), special offer is a tool to keep loyal customers and satisfy new customers. The authors claim that a retailer can apply special offers for different customers by recognizing loyal or new customers digitally via Kiosks, Internet and mobile devices.By using it, business can conceive different offers for different customers based upon their historical purchases and preferences. On 5 April 2013, the research team visited Qua Tang shop, one of the most popular accessories shop among the area, which also is a strong competitor of SOOT shop (see figure 2). The team found out that Qua Tang hop offers discounts and other sales promotion strategies frequently. For instance, the shop offered ‘buy 2 get 1 free in the woman day last month and it was high appreciated within new and loyal customers (see Appendix C).According to Wend (2012), some small businesses are now considered special offer through email marketing promotion as an effective way to get more attention of the customers. Special offer can be a way to motivate customers to buy products, it can be occurred with many forms as well, for instances, ‘buy and get discount on the second product', ‘buy one get one free' and free shipping. In order to create an efficient email advertised offer, Wend mentions four advices.Firstly, a business should understand the need of the customers and offers them products with perceived value. Secondly, business has to be well defined their goals, why they do an offer. The reason they make the offer should not be because their competitors do. Thirdly, firms should be clear about their ability, which meaner that they have to make sure they can afford the offer. Finally, a successful busi ness should think about partnering with a non-profit making organization in order to position the business's name in the mind of customers.According to Jim (201 1), some businesses have mistaken the true meaning of special offers, which caused irreparable damages to a company's reputation. He expresses some main ideas help firms to understand more about special offer. One of the most common mistakes that most of small business makes is training the marketplace to wait'. For example, a seminar business applies an early-bird discount to persuade customer to book promptly although customers still buy tickets with the actual price. Then, when the seminar' s date gets close, he offers X% to sell his tickets quickly.Eventually, the business loses it reliability. Secondly, Jim found that famous brand companies are often successful with their special offer strategies. The reason is that big companies often spend quite a long time for their wide research and receives advices from their profe ssionals. Membership Card (HTH) Ms. Maim Then Then, the owner of SOOT Shop stated in an interview on 6 March 2013 that she wants to apply sale promotion strategies, which can effectively attract more customers and improve the shop's loyal customers (See Appendix A).The research team's survey on 10 April 2013 shows that 9 out of 10 respondents are attracted to the idea of having a membership card for an accessories shop (See Figure 3) and they would like to make more purchases if the shop provides promotions (See Appendix C). In an interview on 12 April 2013, Mrs.. Cacao HTH Hung, the owner of Gardenia Hotel in Dalai City, implies that membership card is one of the most important promotion tools to keep the loyal customers on track (See Appendix B). However, there are many firms failed to run the customer loyalty programs effectively.She also states that in order to run the customer loyalty programs efficiently, businesses should do surveys and market researches on customer urchin's behaviors and then create an adequate reward for loyalty. According to Dowling and Uncles (1997), a European investigators researching business-to- business marketing in the sass stated that a firm is mostly profitable from their loyal customers. This is because of seeking more profits by lower servicing costs, less price sensitivity and suggestions passed on to other potential customers by loyal purchasers.On 5 April 2013, the research team visited Qua Tang shop, one of the strongest competitors of SOOT Shop and noticed that Qua Tang Shop has paid special attention to improve their customer loyalty programs such as patronage rewards and membership cards. They offered membership cards with different colors and designs aiming to different valued cards. According to Little&King integrated marketing group (n. D), businesses should be aware of the mentality â€Å"one product fits all† because not all of the customers' needs and wants are always the same.Therefore, a hierarchy of valued consumers should be released such as diamond, premium and gold membership cards. Furthermore, ‘lapsed' members, who signed for a membership card, but only use it for one time and never use it again, are also problems dealing with membership cards and challenging almost all genuineness. If the shop provides membership cards for those who will probably ‘lapsed', the shop will not only waste their efforts to maintain the customers, but also suffer from loss of resources such as the cost to make the membership card.According to a survey of professor Worthington (2009), although membership cards often attract widespread customers' interests, they are still likely that it has a large amount of ‘lapsed' members. There is no accessible information that could show the percentage of membership cards that are ‘lapsed' or ‘active'. Nevertheless, professor Worthington survey outcomes indicate that the most frequent reason for not participating in membership p rograms are not attracted by the prizes and a slight rate of people who cited ‘privacy' reasons.RECOMMENDATION Social Networking Site (An) On the survey conducted by the research team, nine out of ten respondents like purchasing accessories on Faceable. The expert, Ms. Unguent, said that having an efficient controlled Faceable page could help to increase the number of customers. Noticed by the research team, the competitor, V&C shop, also had a Faceable page, which had well decorated picture albums and quick service.Bankcard (2011) asserts that by directly using a social networking site and connecting with the customers could collect positive reviews and high reputation as return since customers feel that their feedbacks are important and they are cared. The Thou Tree News (2012) reports that the number of Vietnamese Faceable users increased of around 2 times within one year. Unguent (2012) adds that the significant Faceable users' age are from 15 to 34. Therefore, Soot shop s hould create a Faceable page, which is easy and inexpensive, to increase the potential customers.The expert, Ms. Unguent, advised that the shop should have 2 Faceable pages, which are a personal page and a fan page. The shop can update the information and pictures related to their products, notes, and feedbacks from customers and use the personal page to share this information and add friend. In this way, the shop can be active in increasing the number of users they want to transfer information because users do not randomly like the page unless the shop has a big brand name or high products' prestige. Ms.Unguent also recommended not tagging the customers in the pictures to avoid disturbing them, except the owner's friends if they do not mind. Ms. Unguent added that the pictures should have clear descriptions and be similar to the products because if the products and picture are not matched, the shop could lose their prestige. The most impressive aspect on the competitor's Faceable p age is they have separated albums for each kind of products; this could help customers to save their time for searching purposes. Soot shop should consider this aspect.The most important thing that V&C shop cannot efficiently manage is that there are many other shops' advertising on the page and the host also updates personal statuses and emotions. This could get bad reputation in return and the customer could click on the other's pages, as a consequence, they might lose their customers. Hence, Soot shop should not post any personal activities onto their business pages. On the survey administered by the research team, service is the most importance to the female customers and the second importance to the male customers.In addition, the competitor shop also has the order service for the products that they do not have. Therefore, Soot shop should try often stay online to quickly response to customers. Their strength is to make handmade accessories hence producing stuffs that customers order is also possible. Special offer (That) The research team administered a survey and pointed out that there are 9 out of 10 respondents would like to buy products from accessories shop where offers them gifts or discounts (See Appendix C).Half of the respondents like to make purchases on special days if this shop offers ‘5-10%' discount and another 5 respondents refers buying if the shop applies ‘buy 2 get 1 free' (See Appendix C). The research team observed a well-know accessories shop named Qua Tang, which is one of a SOOT shop's competitor. Qua Tang implements sales promotions strategy frequently to acquire more customers. The latest is ‘buy 2 get 1 free' offers on woman days and it is widely popular among the area. According to Wend (2012), special offer through email marketing promotion is now extremely important to small business.She informs that special offer indeed can be an effective way to prompt customers to buy products. In order to attract custome rs by special offer, Wend argues that a firm has to understand the need of customers and offers them products with appropriate value. Moreover, business needs to know their specific goals and abilities to make a healthy offer. Jim (2011) states that not every business understands clearly the true meaning of special offers, which leads them to several inevitable losses. He mentions an example regarding to his one customer that losses its reputation due to misunderstanding of special offer.According to David K and John M (2000), special offer is an efficient strategy to fulfill loyal customers' and new customers' expectation. The authors infer that a retailer can know more about customer's buying powers and preferences using modern tools such as Kiosks, Internet and mobile devices in order to manage different offers for each group of customers. The positive aspects of special offer are obvious; every customer refers to receive discounts and gifts when they make purchases. Thus, if SOO T shop wants to increase the number of first-time customers and preserve the number of membership, sales promotion as special offer is essential.However, special offer is quite popular among other accessories shop, many competitors also apply special offer to attract more customers such as Qua Tang shop. Therefore, SOOT shop also has to make sure the reason for offering, who to offer, what and when to offer. For example, shop can offer ‘5% discount' for new customers and ‘10%' discount for loyal customers on special days such as Valentine and Mother days. In addition, in order to prevent unnecessary losses, Ms. Then needs to know clearly the ability to offer.If she offers a product value 10,000 vend and sells it 12,000 vend after discount, she would be suffered because she still has to pay money for employers, electricity, and many other fees. Membership card (HTH) A survey released by the research team on April 2013 indicated that 90% of respondents are interested in ha ving a loyalty card for a fashion accessories shop (See Appendix C). Mrs.. Cacao HTH Hung, the owner of Gardenia Hotel in Dalai City, mentions in an interview on 12 April 2013 that one of the most significant promotion tools to maintain the loyal customers is offering membership cards (See Appendix B).Nonetheless, there are not many companies can succeed in implementing the loyalty programs. She goes on to suggest that considering the evaluation of customer purchasing behaviors and then generate the accurate rewards of loyalty are the most important factors to maintain loyalty customers. Dowling and Uncles (1997) refer to a research, which was found by European researchers studying business-to- easiness marketing in the sass. The research claimed that loyal customers are the main contribution to a company's profit.It is due to its lower expenses by lower servicing costs, lower advertising costs and advices passed on to other potential buyers by loyal purchasers. It will cost much mo re to persuade a new buyer to make a purchase in the shop than to make a current shopper to purchase again. Hence, SOOT shop should focus more on their current customers and often remind them about the shop through providing promotions and running membership programs. The research team visited one of the competitors, Qua Tang shop, on 5 April 2013 ND noticed that Qua Tang Shop has fully concentrated on improving their membership programs.They provided different colors and designs cards, which distinguished between levels of card members. Little;King integrated marketing group (n. D) states that companies should notice the mentality â€Å"one product fits all†, because there are always differences between every customer's needs and wants. Therefore, a hierarchy of valued consumers should be released such as diamond, premium and gold memberships. Thus, SOOT shop should apply membership cards to its customers (See Figure 3). The differences between membership cards allow the hop to serve a certain type of persons based on their standard of membership.To illustrate, the system can automatically find the names of customers, their mobile phone numbers, email addresses and save their previous purchases when they use their membership cards to make a purchase. Through that process, the shop can easily classify the customers' interested items and clothes in order to introduce different kinds of items, clothes to different types of customers. In addition, the shop can efficiently inform different types promotion information to different types of buyers through their mobile phones or email addresses. One of the difficulties of providing membership cards is ‘lapsed' membership card. Lapsed' member meaner customer who applied a membership card and only use it for one time. According to a survey of professor Steve Worthington (2009), it always has a large amount of ‘lapsed' members in every business. There is still lack of available information that could show the percentage of membership cards that are ‘active' or ‘lapsed'. Yet, professor Worthington examinations results imply that the most common reason for not taking part in membership programs are because they are not attracted by the rewards and a small proportion of respondents who cited ‘privacy' reasons.Thus, SOOT Shop must be aware of their responsibilities to its consumers in satisfying the redeemable prizes and customers' information to remain customers' beliefs. In order to do so, firstly, SOOT Shop should pay more attentions to members who ‘lapsed' through classifying members' last purchases. And then try to find out the customers' reasons of not taking part in the membership programs. Finally, inform different types of promotions to different customers. For example, a shop finds out that a small umber of their customers quit being the shop's loyalty customers because of the low membership cards' benefits.The shop may apply different type of promo tions to those particular members. The shop may send a message to those customers that they fortunately won a randomly contest of the shop and they will receive double points in every purchase by membership card. CONCLUSION In conclusion, SOOT accessories shop should apply the use of social networking sites such as Faceable in order to attract more customers. It should consider launching a Faceable page, which has well decorated products' albums and information because Faceable takes no cost to create and advertise.It also should strike up friendship with Passbooks users to advertise products widely. Moreover, it should stay online over time to answer customer's questions and feedbacks. By that way, customers will probably feel that they are respected and it helps the shop to improve its reputation. The shop also has to make sure that the quality of products is similar to the pictures that it has on Faceable to earn customer's belief. However, SOOT shop should manage to avoid irrita ting people by tagging them every hour with pictures.In addition, most of people like to make purchases when there is a discount or gift offer. Thus, SOOT shop should apply special offer to get new customers as well as to preserve loyal customers. Nevertheless, other accessories shop also apply special offer, so SOOT shop should be considered when applies this sales promotion tool. To be more specific, SOOT Shop should clearly understand the reason for making the offer, who to offer, what and when it should offer. SOOT shop should not forget their ability to make an offer because if it gives customers more than what it can afford, the shop will face difficulties.Furthermore, SOOT shop should be concentrated on keeping loyal customers by reminding them via membership programs because it will save the services and advertising costs. Providing membership cards have different colors and designs can help SOOT shop to easily classify each type of customer through their names, phone number s email addresses and purchasing powers. Therefore, the shop would be able to know more about customer's wants, interests and preferences. One of the difficulties of membership program is that there could be many ‘lapsed' membership cards.Unguent NCO Line, who has a successful online cosmetic shop named Rim Catnap Skincare, to ask for comment on my recommendation for the business that my research team currently working on. An: Hello Line. Thank for spending time to meet me. I'm An from research and report writing class. As I told u before that today I want to interview you for advice on my project. Ms. Line: Hi An. So how far have you been doing? And which problem that you want me to give advice on? An: Ah. The business that I'm working on is a clothing accessories store. The owner wants to increase the amount of customers.The subtopic I'm doing is social networking sites. However it seems totally new to the owner, her shop doesn't even have a Faceable page which is now quite familiar to the teenagers and young adults. Ah one more thing, teenagers and young adults are her target customers. That's why I suggest her to have one. Ms. Line: Oh I see, you are right that Faceable is now getting more popular and it can help to increase sales. But let me ask u this, have u ever been tagged by an online shop in its pictures. An: Yeah, a lot. Ms. Line: How do u feel about that? An: A little bit annoying.At First, I Just ignored them, but there were many notifications and that disturb me. Therefore, if any shop tags me, I will block them or report as spam.. Ms. Line: So why do you suggest the owner to have a Faceable page? An: Ah I'm going to ask her create a fan page. Can you tell me how to increase the â€Å"like†? Ms. Line: k, because she and I work on different kinds of business so you may apply in some ways but not exactly the same k? I suggest having 2 pages, one is a personal page and one is a fan page, because the customers do not randomly like your page unless you have a big brand name or prestige of your product.An: can you please explain in more details? Ms. Line: for the fan page, you update all the product' details there such as pictures, notes, feedback from customers, etc. For the personal page, all you have to do are adding friends and share what you have updated on the fan page. Because the customers are afraid to be annoyed therefore we have to be active by adding friends with them and remember not to tag them, I think you already know why, huh? Maybe you could tag some of your friends if they don't mind. And sharing the stuffs that you updated on fan page that mean the information is transferred to the users twice.An: Ah I got it. Ah I also want to recommend on the pictures that she is going to post on Faceable, it must be clear, close enough to see what the product made from. What else do you think I should suggest her? Ms. Line: ah it's good to do that but you should put the description for the pictures, because pi ctures sometimes are not clear and that could cause misunderstanding about raw materials. Ah it reminds me that the real products and pictures have to be the same because you may lose prestige if the products look different.You could describe in the pictures that the products may slightly different because of the light. And you could also create an album of customers wearing your products on Faceable, which could help to increase the loyal customers and increase sale from your customers' relatives since the products is ore reliable when it is introduced by friends. If you are lucky, your customers could be some hot girls or models etc. , you know, stuffs are worn by beautiful girls maybe look more beautiful (laugh) and their fans could come to buy as well.An: k, it sounds good to me. Thank you very much for meeting me again. I would go back to work on the recommendation. If there is any problem, don't you mind if I call you to ask? Ms. Line: Call me as soon as you have questions. I' m very glad that I can help you. k see way. An: Thank you. Audio script of the interview on 11 April 2013 with Mr.. Do Truing Tuna, owner off rockery shop for over 20 years to ask for some advices for the business That: I m working on a small accessories shop and I intend to ask you some advices for my sub topic which is special offer.Tuna: so its about loyalty program? That: yes and also attract first-time customers Actually, I plan to recommend this shop to apply discount on special days like Valentine and Woman days, specifically, ‘20% discount', what do you think? Tuna: well, on special days? Mum†¦ I think that it s not a good idea. Firstly, every shop especially small shop should not apply more than 5 to 10% on special days because they can ell more of their products within those days; some shops don't even have enough stuff to sell, so why then they apply discount?Why do you choose special days to offer? That: I think that special offer will attract more customers, maybe new customers. Many people don't usually buy products unless it is special days. Those days, they are encouraged to buy something for their friends and family right? Then I think I can focus on new customers Tuna: I think that you should balance between loyal and new customers, I mean it s more about services. If you offer discount for ewe customers the same amount you offer for the old one, they must be upset. Why don't you separate the offer?I mean decide different offer for different customers? For example, offer 5% for first time customers and 10% for old customers. That: but how can we realize who is the new and who is old customer? Tuna: I think the shop should have been applied some of the other sale promotion tools which can help you to recognize customers such as membership card. There are many way to recognize them, I suggest you to research more about how to realize customers digitally through the internet since the internet is necessary for all the business.

Antigone as an Epitome of Female Heroism in Ancient Greeks Essay

It is believed among ancient Greeks that women are seemly to remain at home and not out of the confines of their houses and men should devote themselves to the outdoor pursuits. Otherwise, the opposite of this convention will be considered disgraceful. This illustrates that it is a commonplace in ancient Athens and in many part of the ancient Greece that female citizens are excluded from participation in public affairs. However, there is also a commonplace exception to this, that is, women have a full participation in the religious practices in all levels during the time such as participating in religious rituals. As a matter of fact, the female has the same status as that of men in the religious arena. For instance, the role of priestess was the only public office open to women because there is a belief that women have close intimate connections to divine women. However, despite this, women are still debarred entirely from political and public debate (Blundell et al. , 1998). According to Friedrich Jacobs in his essay entitled The History of the Female Sex, women’s position in Greece were regarded as demeaned with characteristics that are associated and similar to that of the barbarians. It is also interpreted and believed that housewives are little esteemed and loved except that of the hetaeras. This group of females enjoys a high status in the society because of their opportunity to education (Katz,1995). However, for the most part, ordinary women that are secluded and uneducated were regarded in contempt. They are considered as not free and not equal to their male counterparts. Jacobs argues that this is because of the restrictions to home and domestic life was a custom among the Greeks. This is attested in Thucydides, which says that we have limited evidence on women’s education primarily because they are silenced. It is believed that young girls’ education was for the most part entrusted to their mothers. This education would also be restricted to instructions in the domestic arts and womanly wisdom. Furthermore, this so called education will then be continued by the husband. In this sense, Jacobs insists that the ancient Greeks woman’s intelligence and moral sensibility is for the most part developed to be the object of the husband’s contempt. For instance, in the poems of Homer, it is revealed that he intended it that women were regarded as little and secluded (Katz, 1995). Moreover, accordingly there have been several positions Greek women have in the eyes of men. Majority of the scholars think that women is seen by men as a species of slavery. The women were regarded as lower order of beings. When compared to men, they are neglected both in intellectual and emotional capacity. The woman as already reiterated is also incapable of pursuing a public endeavor. They are also considered as prone to doing and influencing evil doings and thoughts reason why they should be kept in the house. The province of the wife is the management of the entire household, and the nurturing of children. The only roles that they have are to propagate the species by reproduction and gratifying the desires and sensual appetites of men. In other words, the only value of women during that time was equal to that of a faithful slave (Katz, 1995). Likewise, in literature and classical Greek theatre, the scenery consists of a building with entrances and exits. The setting of the play is important in making a distinction as to whether the characters were inside or outside the buildings. The stage was a paradigm of the household in the ancient Greeks. Women are supposed to stay inside the building. However, the whole political and city life happened outside. Thus, in the stage alone, the status of women in ancient Greeks is pretty much revealed. Tragic playwrights dramatized that there are two important principles in drama during the classical age. First, women should remain inside the house and should not speak in public. For instance, Aeschylus had authorized the King of Thebes to command that the affairs outside the domestic sphere were the domain of men and women should be kept inside their houses (Tetlow, 2005). As a matter of fact, in the play Antigone by Aeschylus, there is a scene where Antigone herself was permitted by her mother to watch the battle between her brothers. When she was seen by her old teacher, she was chided because this is considered improper. The teacher contends that Antigone should not be seen by any male citizen because it would certainly result to a scandal. Even when there are no men during that time, the teacher still implored Antigone to get out of the roof. Most especially when he saw groups of women approaching the palace, Antigone should already come down because by the women seeing her there, it would create gossips which are in a sense prohibited or suppressed among women. This is because gossip yields pleasure among them and pleasure is at the same time prohibited for them (Tetlow, 2005). Another example would be that of the stories by Euripides where Agamemnon lamented that a man should keep ones wife inside the house because that is where she is useful and would not get into trouble. If a man cannot do this, he should not marry at all. Also, his daughter Elektra was highly criticized because she goes outside often to talk to men (Tetlow, 2005). These examples illustrate that in literature women are portrayed by ancient playwrights in the sense that it upholds the custom of seclusion among them. In Homer’s The Iliad, Andromache described herself as a perfect wife for Hector because she keeps her reputation and honor intact by avoiding any behavior that would make people criticize her. As a matter of fact, she does not go out of the house nor let anyone visit her in their house (Tetlow, 2005). Antigone as Defiance to the Position of Women in Ancient Greece Antigone is a play written by Aeschylus as a part of the Thebes tragedy. According to German philosopher Hegel, it is â€Å"one of the most sublime, and in every respect most consummate, work or art human effort ever produced†. The protagonist of the play is Antigone himself, daughter of Oedipus Rex. When Thebes was ruled by Creon, the two sons of Oedipus namely Eteocles and Polynices fought with each other during a civil war. They were leading the two opposite sides because of each desire to rule Thebes. However, both of them died in the war. Creon then decided that Eteocles should be buried in an honorable manner. On one hand, Polynices should not be buried and his body should be left in the battle field until it rots. It should be fed to scavengers. This is because he was considered a rebel to Thebes. Every dead person during that time who will not be given a decent burial is considered to be disgrace. Moreover, it is considered even by the gods as the most severe punishment existed (Sophocles, 2003). Antigone and Ismene are the sisters of both warriors. When Antigone found out that his other brother’s corpse are left in the battlefield, she decided to bury it herself. She does not want her brother to suffer the disgrace of not being to be accepted by Hades. She implored her other sister Ismene to help her bury their brother but Ismene was afraid to esuffer the consequences. So Antigone buried Polynices by herself. When Creon knew about this, she commanded that the culprit should be brought to him and be punished. When Antigone was apprehended, she did not deny the accusations. Instead she admitted it. She was even willing to accept the punishment of death. However, her sister beseeched Creon that if he is going to kill her sister, she should die with her, too. Antigone in her part pleaded to Creon that Ismene should be spared because she did not help her in the burial of their brother. Creon was unable to decide so he dismissed them for the mean time (Sophocles, 2003). Creon then decided to punish Antigone and spare Ismene. His verdict is to bury her in a cave alive. However, this did not happen without Antigone defending her rights and her actions. In this case, her loyalty to her brother and to her family was one of the most remarkable and noble rationale that she was able to produce. The Chorus expressed their sorrow for her execution but still this did not happen (Sophocles, 2003). A prophet in the name of Tiresias prophesied that Antigone is supported by the gods. The execution would bring about bad fate to Creon and his family. In particular, he would lose one child. The Greeks and the gods will loathe him to the point that no offerings could ever heal their anger and scorn. The Chorus pleaded Creon to honor the prophesy of Tiresias. He was eventually convinced and decided to spare Antigone of her death (Sophocles, 2003). After this decision, a series of messenger came to inform him that his son Haemon killed himself. In addition to this, Antigone also committed suicide. Furthermore, another messenger came along to inform him that Eurydice, his wife also killed himself. She is blaming and cursing him for the death of their son. Creon then started to blame himself for what has happened. He has become very unfortunate that he only had his servants to help him on things. He is still the King but he has lost everything that he values in his life. The lesson that the Chorus emphasized at the end of the play is that the gods will have to punish anyone that has done wrong against them and to their fellow individual. However, despite this, punishment will bring nothing but wisdom to strengthen the character of those who are punished (Sophocles, 2003). The most notable part of the play would be the character of Antigone. She rebels against the law of the state by performing funeral rites for her dead brother. When King Creon declared that he will not be given a decent burial because he has been a traitor to the kingdom, she still pursued the burial. Furthermore, she was even more than willing to face the direst consequences imposed. Even when her sister Ismene implored that they cannot stand against men, she still persisted. â€Å"Remember we are women,/ we’re not born to contend with men (Sophocles, 2003)†. Creon in his part declared that women should not triumph in any way: â€Å"We must defend the men who live by law,/ never let some woman triumph over us (Sophocles, 2003)†. In this manner, even though Antigone has practiced the traditional roles that are imposed in women during that time such mourning the dead and defending the interest of the family, she is asserting another facet of her personality. In this case, she is asserting herself in a masculine fashion that even threat Creon. As a matter of fact, Creon felt that his own manhood was being attacked and he has already conceded with the strength and esteem of Antigone. Because of this she was condemned to death. Even when her execution has not happened, she lead a life of a living dead where she was locked up and walled in an underground vault (Blundell, 1995). Moreover, another reassertion of her power would be her suicide. When she was walled and led to live a life of a prisoner, she did not in any way showed weakness to anyone. Aside from facing the consequences of her actions, she was consistently defending herself. This is something that is deviant to what should a woman be and how should a woman act during that period. As a matter of fact, she was successful in defending herself that made Creon difficult to decide on what to do with her. When she was already in control of Creon and the law, she did not let them take her life. She stood up and let them know that she is willing to spare her life for the sake of her loyalty to the brother she loved. She was actually the one who killed herself. This suggests that even when she is under the custody of the law and under the control of Creon, they were not successful in seizing her life away from her. As a matter of fact, aside from the imprisonment, there is no other instance where Creon took control of Antigone. Her suicide is the final bold assertion of her masculinity and her defiance over the norm that women should not in any way stand up against men in the society. This is also a contradiction on the perceived notion that heroism is the domain of men. It is noticed that almost all of the Greek heroes are men such as Achilles, Odysseus, Hercules, Agamemnon, and Virgil among others. However, Antigone’s heroism breaks this stereotype. She proved that like just anybody else, a female can actually be a hero and serve a purpose other than reproduction and nurturing. Her heroism is one of the most noble because it was driven by love for the family. Accordingly, her heroism is considered as the â€Å"noblest, and the most profoundly tender embodiment of a woman’s heroism which ancient literature can show (qtd. in Gibbons et al. , 2003)†. Moreover, she is also considered an exemplar hero who holds her integrity bravely and her spirit in isolation. She towers above all the characters in the play as she shares the harshness and intransigence of any Sophoclean character. Because of her nobility and integrity, she brought a terrible suffering to herself but she did not run away from it. She faced all the consequences of her actions boldly and bravely (Gibbons et al. , 2003). In the end, we see Antigone as a dutiful daughter and sister who died for her convictions. Scholars laud her because of her selflessness and grand emotional gesture. She surpassed all kinds of heroism because she do not only acted selflessly towards the sake of her family but also gave up her life for her convictions and her loyalty. Conclusion Women in ancient Greeks are portrayed in roles that are not only demeaning but also impairing to their growth and the realization of their potentials. However, there is always an exception in every case. That would be Antigone. This woman has proven not only to the ancient Greeks but also to the rest of the world that women can be heroes in themselves. The key point to achieving this would be selfless conviction and will power to give up everything—including one’s life for the sake of love and loyalty. References Blundell, S. and Williamson, M. (1998). The sacred and the feminine in ancient Greece. Oxford: Routledge. Blundell, S. (1995). Women in Ancient Greece. USA: Harvard UP. Gibbons, R. and Segal, C. (2003). Antigone. Oxford: Oxford UP. Kantz, (1995). â€Å"Ideology and the ‘status of women’†. Women in Antiquity: New Assessments. Oxford: Routledge. Sophocles. (2003). Antigone. Oxford: Oxford university Press. Tetlow, E. M. (2005). Women, Crime, and Punishment in Ancient Law and Society: Ancient Greece. London: Continuum.