Body Mutilation and Adornment :: essays research papers

Body Mutilation and Adornment There are various aspects through which people, especially youth, identify themselves. People are always sending some sort of communication out at all times, whether it is subconscious or not. Images and styles are adopted which communicate meanings about the individual to his/her peers and to society. Styles of dress, language, music, and dance are some of the ways that portray one's own unique symbols, values, and meanings. One other such signifier of identity is through body modification, particularly tattooing and body piercing. In today's society people have adopted the new style or trend of body modification. There are many reasons in which people obtain piercings and tattoos. Those who modify, manipulate and mutilate their bodies do so for many reasons. Some say it's simply exciting and pleasurable, or part of the latest fad. Others place it in the context of art, ritual or self-expression-they say it's an act with cultural and social significance. In contrast, many people can 't understand why someone would choose to put so many holes in her body or cut their skin. They see body modification as self-destructive, much like anorexia or bulimia. I am a prime example of youth urge toward body modification. Below I will talk about why, what, where, and how people modify their body and how people look upon them. Youth and adolescence is one of, if not the most, significant and influential moments in one's life, when youth are seeking their identity of who they are. Tattooing and piercing are one of the many ways through which youth may express their identity, for they are symbolic representations of how the self is conceived or understood. People may also want themselves to be portrayed as someone who they are not. For example, someone gets a tattoo or earrings just to look "tough" or "cool". I remember when I was young; I thought having an earring was the coolest thing and at the age of sixteen I couldn't take it anymore and pierced my ear against my parents will. Getting a piercing or tattoo symbolizes a certain change in ones life. These changes, no matter how miniscule they may seem, have a huge impact on a person's identity. Usually when a youth gets a tattoo or earring, they are symbolizing their maturity by finally being able to make a decision on their own and taking matters into the ir own hands.

World Trade Organization

The courage and dedication that was displayed by the protestors in the video was what I took to heart. It was something else to see a group of people come together to protest something that they believed so strongly despite being pepper sprayed, shot at with rubber bullets, and thrown into jail†¦.. But why would anyone go to these lengths to protest against an organization? The World Trade Organization was created in Jan. 1 1995 and has 140 member countries. According to their official website www. wto. org the organizations main purpose is to, â€Å"help trade flow as freely as possible-so long as there are no undesirable side-effects. This partly means removing obstacles. † However the organization isn’t a democratic organization. Instead the WTO rules are written by and for corporations with inside access to the negotiations. Citizen input by consumer, environmental, human rights and labor organizations is consistently ignored as WTO meetings are held in secret. According to the video, out of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are corporations and only 49 are countries. As a result it is no wonder why so many came to protest this secret meeting held in Seattle, WA. According to the video many protestors argued that the WTO and its motto of free world trade is stomping over labor and human rights in countries throughout the world as the use of cheap labor and child labor are continually ignored by the WTO. The magazine Global Exchange states that the WTO is blocking human rights abuses since they have ruled that, â€Å"1) It is illegal for a government to ban a product base on the way it is produced and 2) Governments cannot take into account the behavior of companies that do business with vicious dictatorships such as Burma. The protestors in the video also felt that the WTO was destroying the environment. Evidence of this, dates back to 1993 when according to the Global Exchange, â€Å"The very first WTO panel ruled that a regulation of the US Clean Air Act, which required both domestic and foreign producers alike to produce cleaner gasoline, was illegal. Recently, the WTO declared illegal a provision of the Endangered Species Act that requires shrimp in the US to be caught with an inexpensive device that allows endangered sea turtles to escape, and the WTO is currently negotiating an agreement that would eliminate tariffs on wood products, which would increase the demand for timber and escalate deforestation. As a result I believe that these corporations should not be allowed to continue to get away with such actions. The people in Seattle honored their legal right to assemble. The actions taken by the city of Seattle against these protestors were too extreme and I’m still unclear for what reason they took such extreme measures against the protestors. These were peaceful protests and the city freaked out over a few broken windows at corporations such as Starbucks and Nike. In my point of view the steps taken by the city of Seattle was way over the line and its disgusts me that peaceful protestors were thrown into jail for demonstrating a legal right in the constitution.

Essay about Napoleon - 1565 Words

In the early 19th century a man by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte led a Coup D’etat that created a new government in France. This new government started out with a tribunal leadership, which Napoleon was first consul, and later changed to an empire with Napoleon as emperor. Some people believe that he made the revolution better and expanded the revolution but this is not true. The facts, when closely looked at, prove that Napoleon effectively destroyed the revolution by telling the people of his country one thing while he was actually planning on doing something totally different. He deceived people so well that he is still convincing people today that he was a defender of the revolution. With this pack of deception Napoleon†¦show more content†¦Napoleon vowed to implement the ideals of the tennis court oath that was the actual beginning of the revolution. He created a legislature and left it powerless. It could not make any laws, it could only suggest what laws the emperor should make and it could not examine the finances of the country. This legislature was the beginning of a large plan to deceive the French people into believing that he was spreading the revolution. The Napoleonic Wars was the largest plan of deceit by Napoleon. These series of wars basically killed off a whole generation of French people. To finance and fight these series of wars Napoleon had to have the support of the French public. To get this he told the people that the rest of Europe was against the revolution and would not let any changes take place so he was going to take a large army and force the rest of Europe to recognize the revolution. The people liked this idea but that was not really the reason why Napoleon was going to invade Europe. He thought that in order to be a great leader he would have to have many victories in battle. All of these battles took a toll on the age group of 21 through 50. As he needed more men he widened the age limitations. One such war that was foolishly fought was with Russia after the relations between Alexander I and Napoleon deteriorated. Napoleon invaded Russia but as the Russian army moved back they burned anything that Napoleon could use. When the harsh winter set inShow MoreRelatedThe Napoleon Complex2927 Words   |  12 Pagesmention Napoleon is the idea of a short, angry, and bossy little man who is aggressive to compensate for being little, in other words having a Napoleon Complex. Ironically the idea that Napoleon was a short man is false as he was average height for his size at the time. A more useful way to look at a Napoleon complex would be to describe it as, a person who is driven by a perceived handicap to overcompensate in other aspects, in their lives. With this definition, we get what Napoleons mentalityRead MoreThe book Napoleon by Paul Johnson is a monograph on the life of Napoleon. 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The notorious Napoleon Bonaparte was born August 15, 1769, the second of eight children, on the little island of Corsica. The industrial revolution in Britain had already begunRead MoreEssay Napoleon Bonaparte1268 Words   |  6 Pages nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Napoleon was born on August 15th, 1769 in Ajaccio (Capital of Corsica) which is an island 70 miles west of Italy. His parents were Carlo Bonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. They got married when Carlo was 18 and Letizia was 14, this was in 1764. Letizia was the one who was always putting food on the table, Carlo was way to lazy. His father was interested in politics. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Napoleon got sent to military school (Brienne Military Academy) in 1778Read More napoleon Essay729 Words   |  3 Pagesnapoleon Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica. His parents, Letiza and Carlo were very strict. He was one of seven children of his prominent lawyer father and strong willed beautiful mother. 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He started and was raised in exile and through determination, hard work, and passion he became the President and then Emperor of France. He accomplished to regain the throne for his family’s name, and was an inspirational, influential, and powerful leader. Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was born on April 20, 1808 in Paris, France. He is very often referred to as Napoleon III, whichRead More Who was Napoleon Essay1166 Words   |  5 Pages Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on 15 August 1769, the second of Carlo and Letizia Bonapartes eight children. In 1778, Napoleon began his education at Autun and later attended school in Brienne, excelling in mathematics and science. Following a years study at the Ecole Militaire in Paris, he was commissioned in the artillery in 1785. 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