Recent orders
Proactive versus reactive
Proactive versus reactive
Institution
Name
Date lecturer
Mostly referred to when dealing with business and entrepreneurship, an individual can be proactive or reactive. Reactive is defined to be more active about past events more than the future. A reactive person is more concerned about the past and lives his or her life based on the past events. Proactive on the other hand refers to acting to a situation before it happens. A proactive individual act before a situation occurs, before it becomes a confrontation or disaster. Ability to come up with better solutions to problems and to innovate is an advantage of being reactive. Being proactive on the other hand assists in preventing damage that might be caused by a certain event, for example, setting up security during a presidential address prevents chaos erupting. The essay will entail being proactive and reactive and how it assists or what role it plays in life.
Philosophers and psychologists believe that it is essential for a person to be more proactive than to be reactive (Davis, 111). It is significant to know when it is appropriate to be proactive and when to be reactive all dependent on the situation. Being proactive means thinking ahead of time and creating ways by which the crisis or confronting situation can be handled. Being reactive means evaluating past events, separating what is right and what is wrong so as to come up with an effective decision. Being proactive helps improve one’s health and relieves people from stressful situations. This gives a sense of control in life. However, being reactive leads to more stress since an individual’s thoughts linger in the past. A separate group of philosophers believe that a reactive personality can lead to feeling powerless over life’s events and reduces effective decision making. At any point in life unpredictable events occur which require a person to have plans or ideas on how to handle the situation but being a reactive individual prevents one to posses such ideas. This leads to inability to handle or deal with situations once they occur. Chronically reactive individuals acquire stress and become unaware or powerless when events from the future catch up with them (Hirsch, 224). A proactive individual takes the necessary steps required and develops the habit of coming up with ideas to deal with future events or what he or she is anticipating. For example an entrepreneur develops goals and objectives which he or she hopes to achieve. A manager plans and includes alternatives while creating solutions based on anticipated risks in the organization. Being proactive is more appropriate than being reactive.
Personally I am a proactive individual. Factors such as the kind of anticipated events force me to be proactive. Human beings would prefer to be ready for an anticipated situation rather than face the consequences of that event. As a business person, one is bound to face losses and other risks in the organization. Being proactive assists in coming up with plans and ideas to handle such mishaps. Through decision making process it is easy to identify the problem or anticipated risk, to come up with a solution for the problem and to also develop alternative ideas to back up the main solutions. Proactive thinking assists in innovating new ways of manufacturing products, promoting and selling the products. Proactive thinking also assists in identifying opportunities hence one can come up with ways of taking those opportunities and making the best out of them. Comparison between being proactive and being reactive assists in knowing which personality is best both personally and professionally. Reactive versus proactive aids in identifying and measuring the benefits of the two aspects as well as the cons hence one can decide which is best. Through data based on comparison of reactive way of life to proactive ways of life, it is more appropriate being proactive as it aids in making life decisions. Proactive thinking gives one the chance to shape their way of life and dictate where to be or where to go. It is best to learn through past experiences rather than dwell on it since it is impossible to change what has already happened. It is much easier to improve the future. Reactive thinking acts as a barrier to achieving future goals and it ruins the lives of many people.
Being proactive creates an advantage in the business or in the workplace, managers are expected to think proactively and they also expect their employees to do the same. There are five ways of improving proactive thinking in an individual. Predicting is the first way to improve proactive thinking. It is the ability to foresee what will happen in the future. An individual should have the ability to see whether the anticipated event will be an advantage or a disadvantage. One should be able to understand the normal routine of events and the events that are involved. This will assist in knowing or having an idea of what to expect. Preventing is the second step to improving proactive thinking. An individual should be able to come up with ways of overcoming the identified event. Coming up with ways to prevent the anticipated crisis assists in avoiding its consequences. Planning is the third step to improving ways of proactive thinking. Developing step by step procedures of how to handle the future situation assists in developing long term solutions to the problems that one might face in the future. Decision making requires one to plan so as to enable the achievement of the goals and objectives of the business. Participating is the fourth step. Proactive thinkers should be actively involved and not idlers. One should be part of the solution and one is required to provide solutions based on curbing future risks (Pierre, 24). Performing is the last effective action to take while aiming at improving the ability to be a proactive thinker. One should be able to put into action what he or she has come up with. One should be willing to decide and carry out the necessary actions as planned. These are the five steps required to improve on proactive thinking. They follow a sequential order with each holding great significance in improving on proactive thinking (Pierre, 24).
From the comparison and information gained from research it is appropriate to conclude that proactive thinking is the most suitable form of action. Reactive thinking causes greater harm both personally and professionally hence it is recommended that proactive thinking is most suitable. Proactive thinking plays a significant role in our lives as teachers, business men, parents and any other form of career. Each individual is required to come up with ways of handling the future, through predicting, preventing, planning, participating, and performing one can improve on proactive thinking.
References
Davis, R. Wayne. Best of proactive thinking: the most positive ways of managing behaviour. Valdosta, GA: Accelerated Human Development, 1988. Print.
Hirsch, Michael. Creative response deficit in process and reactive schizophrenics. S.I: 1967. Print.
Pierre, Michael. Crisis management in acute care settings: Human factors, team psychology, and patient safely in a high stakes environment. Heidelberg: Springer, 2011. Print.
The film Mary Shelly Frankenstein is significantly diverse from the book
Name
Institution
The film “Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein” is significantly diverse from the book. The heading of the movie ought to have merely been “Frankenstein.” The initial change that one can notice is when the team initially met Victor Frankenstein. According to the book, the crew initially came across the monster and after that met Frankenstein. Conversely, according to the film, Frankenstein was being pursued by the monster while they merely heard him following their previous meeting with Victor. The next alteration that could be noticed was the degree of Victor and Elizabeth’s connection. Their connection in the volume depicted that they were unloving to one other yet. In the film, Victor had previously proposed to her before his departure for Ingolstadt. The additional change that could be observed was the way Victor’s mother passed. According to the volume, Victor’s mother had plans to adopt Elizabeth sternly with the intention that Victor could get married to her. Moreover, Victor’s mother died from ruby fever after Elizabeth had also suffered from the same illness. In the film, Victor’s mother passed away after conceiving and then Victor’s father settles on adopting Elizabeth.
Even though, Frankenstein is convincing in itself, it as well functions on a figurative degree or degrees, with Frankenstein’s monster positioned in the industrialization emergence, in Europe, and passing away and annihilation that the monster reeks depicting the downfall that Shelley dreaded industrialization would finally bring. The novel includes numerous “framing devices” that are tales encircling other narrations, positioning them up in one means or the next. The letters that Robert Walton’s dispatches to his sister outline the narrative, which Victor Frankenstein notifies Walton. Moreover, Frankenstein’s tale encircles the tale that the monster narrates, which in sequence outlines the fiction of the De Lacey community.
Frankenstein is a gothic work of fiction. Gothic narratives concentrate on the unexplained or paranormal; occur in dark, frequently exotic, surroundings; and gives way to uneasiness if not horror to readers. The double is a recurrent characteristic of the Gothic work of fiction, and in some logic Frankenstein, as well as, his monster are also doubles. A number of fictional historians also believe Frankenstein the original science creative writing novel. A prominent distinction between the volume and the film was the Monster’s education. They together center around the Monster’s time expended examining the De Laceys. In the film, his time was concentrated typically to just scrutinizing the family, as well as, the manner they acted towards one another. He learned relatively speedily how to talk and read and learned to appreciate the dissimilar sentiments people obsessed. The simple explanation of the Monster’s speedy learning course is that, in a film, huge periods of time could be used up on this otherwise the film would tow along.
There is also a noticeable difference between the book and the movie concerning the learning of the monster. Despite both works focusing on the time the monster spent on watching the De Lacey’s, the movie showed how he devoted most of his time in watching the family and learning the different emotions that people went through in life. He also learned rapidly how to read and speak through his observations. The movie does not spend time on the learning of the monster excessively since the movie would seem to drag on, and this justifies how the movie spent less time on the event.
In the book contrastingly, the author went into detail on the learning of the monster. This is highlighted in the narrations of his stay near the De Lacey’s, and how he came across four books. The first book, the Volney’s Ruins of Empires, the monster was given insight on religion and governance of countries (Powrie and Stilwell, 2006). He also learned about man’s origins. The Plutarch’s Lives, the monster got to appreciate the heroes of before. Te monster also through this book was enlightened on politics and its effects. The third book was the Sorrows of Werter, and this was instrumental in educating him on domestic life. The last book the monster came across was paradise lost by the author Milton. This book was significant in his learning since he was educated on the cosmic world. He became aware of his creator, and he was able to compare his existence with characters like Adam, Satan and Eve who are synonymous in religion. The knowledge from these books educated the monster, and enabled him to interact with his surroundings and understand humanity (Powrie and Stilwell, 2006). The book depicts the monsters education process better since they indulge into the subject in depth. As for the movie, the event passes on too rapidly, denying the author a chance to reflect on the subject.
There is evidence of a similarity between the two works when the monster is shunned by the De Lacey’s. The monster interacts with the eldest member first due to his blindness and they are able to interact without being judged on his appearance (Powrie and Stilwell, 2006). This is, however, momentary when the rest of the family returns and fear for the safety of their blind member due to his interaction with the monster. The appearance of the monster caused havoc among the family members who could see. The monster due to their reaction accepted the actuality that the family will never acknowledge him. The rage during this realization resulted in burning down the De Lacey’s cabin leading to his predicaments as Frankenstein in the movie.
Reference
Powrie, P., & Stilwell, R. (2006). Changing Tunes: The Use of Pre-Existing Music in Film.
Aldershot: Ashgate.
The film Fifty Shades
How 50 Shades of Grey Reinforces Negative Masculinity and Negativity
Student’s name
Institutional Affiliation
Introduction
The film Fifty Shades of a Grey is a classic fairytale where a basic girl falls in love with a handsome and rich man. Pop culture is an agent of socialization depicting the transfer of norms and values to people in culture. Gender, sex, and pop culture are interconnected and their effects are far-reaching. Fifty Shades of a Grey is a movie about erotic and progressive fiction. It operates under the pretense of encouraging women to explore their sexuality to empower them. However, the films do not live up to this expectation as it reinforces power dynamics and gender roles that are traditional and conservative. The film has received backlash for romanticizing mental health issues, domestic violence and for using childish repertoire words to describe sex, experiences, and body parts. We claim to live in a period of self-proclaimed post-feminist equality for girls and women in all public spheres of life yet in the film, we encounter fetishization in a narrative of feminine sexual pathology and masculine sexual dominance. The question of ongoing sexual double standards and gender equality is raised in regards to the impact it has on sexualizing femininity and the self-esteem of girls. The purpose of this text is to discuss the aspects of negative masculinity and femininity as presented in the film Fifty Shades of a Grey including destigmatizing sexual practices (BDSM), the issue of consent, sexual and emotional abuse and the use of mystery to reinforce negative masculinity.
Depiction of destigmatizing Sexual Practices
Popular culture, as depicted in the film Fifty Shades of a Grey has brought new meaning to the values that people hold when it comes to exploring their sexuality. The main protagonist, Anastasia Steele, is a college student who is rather inexperienced in matters of sex. She is infatuated and can barely resist the charms of Christian Grey. Anastasia is willing to do all it takes so that she can be with him. Anastasia is willing to engage in practices that are new to her just to please Grey and this includes Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, and Masochism (BDSM). Masculinity is evident from the onset of the film. Anastasia is presented as a naïve Christian girl while Christian is a sexual prowess with successful businesses. He uses them to lure Anastasia and dominate her sexual life. As has always been the case, women have a subordinate status in society compared to men. Women’s subordinate position is reinforced by actions such as seeing Anastasia kneeling for Grey in their initial meeting (Barrenetxea, 2017). Anastasia had gone for a meeting at Grey’s offices when she trips and falls. We see Grey standing over Anastasia which paints a picture of the level of power and control men have over women in society. Anastasia’s naïve and Christian background makes it easy for Grey to possess more power to make her do as he pleases. Before meeting Grey, Anastasia was a motivated and determined student but upon meeting him, she became obsessed with him. She lost focus and was always fantasizing about Grey while in class. Anastasia’s main focus becomes how she will capture the attention of the successful, powerful, and handsome young man.
The Issue of Consent between Partners
Another issue that shows inequality for women in the film is the issue of consent. This has to do with the fact that Anastasia is expected by Grey to sign a non-disclosure agreement before they start the relationship. The agreement stipulates the conditions which Anastasia must abide by if she wants to have a relationship with Grey. The documents serve to mainly protect the interests of Grey including his reputation as a respected businessman and his finances (Kocur, 2016). It seems like Anastasia does not have much of a choice but to agree to the terms. She wants to get the attention of Grey so bad and is willing to do just about anything, including signing the non-disclosure agreement. The main issue is that the contract is designed to satisfy the needs of one party; the dominant. This arrangement allows Grey to control Anastasia’s behavior while doing whatever he pleases with her body. If consent was there, this would not have been the case. So long as the dominant stays within the limits of what the submissive has agreed to, the arrangement would work as both parties are contented. As such, Fifty Shades of a Grey uses this situation to negatively demonstrate power dynamics, sexual relations, and femininity. The film gives the illusion that it empowering women while in the real sense, it reinforces the negative representation of masculinity and femininity.
Sexual and Emotional Abuse
In the film, Fifty Shades of a Grey abuse is visible in nearly all interactions taking place between Grey and Anastasia. The abuse takes various forms including stalking. Christian is seen stalking Anastasia as he used his computer to keep track of her whereabouts and he even goes to the extent of following her around. Emotional abuse is evidenced by acts of intimidation. Grey displays both non-verbal and verbal behaviors that are intimidating to her. Grey routinely commands Anastasia to eat and threatens to reprimand her. Further, Anastasia is in isolation which is also adds to her emotional abuse. Grey puts a limit on her social interactions and contacts. Because Anastasia is naïve and inexperienced, she is willing to do anything to win Grey’s affection. Sexual violence is also pervasive in the film and is evidenced when Grey tries to initiate a sexual encounter while he is angry (Charania, 2016). Further, he occasionally threatens Anastasia that he would terminate the contract and violate her boundary requests. Grey uses alcohol and when drunk, he violates her consent. We see Anastasia going through reactions typical to that of a woman who has been abused. Her identify becomes altered and we hear her describe herself as a pale and haunted ghost. Additionally, the film uses negotiations which Grey terms as safewords which they use in their sexual encounters. He also tells that she is allowed to leave if she wants to and does not give her much of a choice or an opportunity to say what she wants. This paints a picture of how the film demonstrates and romanticizing violence. Overall, the film depicts patterns of reflective persistent intimate partner violence, a major issue of concern in the current society.
Use of Mystery to Reinforce Negative Masculinity
Worth noting, in the course of their relationship, Grey goes to great extents to maintain secrecy and mystery with Anastasia. It takes time for him to finally reveal his desires and sexual tastes to her. Grey takes even longer to open up to her emotionally and to tell her things about his past and himself. It appears that Christian is afraid that if he opens up, it would make him vulnerable or it might scare and push her away. Grey fails to realize that by not opening up, his mysteriousness is what pushes Anastasia away and makes her question the entire relationship (Hayati & Emeraldien, 2019). She is unhappy with the fact that she does not know anything about him or his past, or why he embraces dominant sexuality so much. She feels that Grey is out of reach. He gives her vague details concerning his life, for instance, he refuses to her about the situation that made him leave Georgia and go back to Seattle. When the relationship first began, Anna found it alluring but this changed with time. Anna began yearning for openness and true intimacy from him. Essentially, Grey uses his capacity as a private man to get what he wants from her and to control her life which reinforces the dominant position of men in society.
Conclusion
Without a doubt, the film Fifty Shades of a Grey is a progressive erotic fiction operating under the pretense of encouraging women to explore their sexuality to empower them. The films have received backlash for romanticizing mental health issues, domestic violence and for using childish repertoire words to describe sex, experiences, and body parts. Ongoing sexual double standards and gender equality is highlighted through the destigmatizing sexual practices (BDSM), the issue of consent, sexual and emotional abuse and the use of mystery to reinforce negative masculinity. Anastasia’s naïve and Christian background makes it easy for Grey to possess more power to make her do as he pleases. She is expected by Grey to sign a non-disclosure agreement before they start the relationship. The main issue is that the contract is designed to satisfy the needs of one party only. This arrangement allows Grey to control Anastasia’s behavior while doing whatever he pleases with her body. The relationship is dysfunctional. The film shows violence meted on women and the normalization of emotional and manipulative abuse disguised as romance.
References
Barrenetxea Guerekiz, A. (2017). Hommes Fatals: Masculine Destructiveness in Alfred Hitchcock´s s Rebecca (1940) and Sam Taylor-Johnson´s s Fifty Shades of Grey (2015).
Charania, M. (2016). The Promise of Whiteness: Fifty Shades of Grey as White Racial Archive. Intensities, The Journal of Cult Media, 8, 78.
Hayati, K. R., & Emeraldien, F. Z. (2019). Janice Rodway’s Ideal Romance in Hero (Christian Grey) and Heroine (Anastasia Steel): An Analysis of Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James. Tell: Teaching of English Language and Literature Journal, 7(1), 1-10.
Kocur, D. (2016). The phenomenon of fifty shades of grey: The role of sexual satisfaction and motivation.