Advertising and Women and Their Objectification in Media

Advertising and Women and Their Objectification in MediaAdvertising and Women and Their Objectification in MediaSince the introduction of advertising many centuries ago, women have been objectified, and in some instances, insulted or degraded. Despite the efforts of many people, its apparent thatsociety is still seeing the same patternsof objectification and the mindless use of sexualized women in advertising campaigns. In many respects, the aufgabe has escalated. With the proliferation of photo retouching software, womens bodies are elend just flawless, they are anatomically impossible. This is harmful on many levels. Advertising False Ideals Advertising, marketing, and the fashion industry have created a new type of woman that does not exist in the real world. The Barbie Doll look theyre selling has some recognizable features She has no wrinkles, blemishes, or scars.She has long, smooth, and shapely legs.Her waist is quite small.Her ample breasts and buttocks defy gravity.Her r adiant hair looks like CGI.Her eyes are dazzling and bright.Her teeth are shining white and perfectly straight. Exploiting Learned Desires At an early age, men are programmed to desire the Barbie Doll woman. This is the woman featured in ads for perfumes and lingerie. She is the centerfold in Playboy. Women, from the same early age, are told they must look like this woman. They should aim to have long legs, perfect skin, beautiful hair, and an impossible body. The problem is That woman does not exist. She is the product of hours in the makeup chairand days of photo retouching, even if shes a supermodel. Every woman has imperfections because every woman is human. A primary goal of advertising is to create a need so that a company can provide a product or tafelgeschirr to meet that need. For example, men may drink certain brands of beer because they associate them with advertisings objectified women. On the other hand, women might buy certain clothes, foods, and makeup products in an attempt to resemble thebeer-drinking girl on TV. Real-World Results Men are taught (programmed) to view women as objects. It may have led in part to the way men view women as objects at work. The extent of this became a public focus in late 2017 with the birth of the MeToo and Times Up movements, which sought to expose the culture of sexual harassment and abuse in Hollywood, and by extension, in the culture. Early Feminists Take When Our Bodies, Ourselves was publishedin 1970, it urged women to love and honor their bodies. Betty Friedan, who passed away in 2006, and Gloria Steinem- alive and active at 84 as of January 2019- were founders of the feminist movement. Both had envisioned and worked toward an egalitarian and enlightened world by the 21st century. That has not happened yet. However, if todays feminist leaders are successful in achieving their goals, advertising will not objectify women moving forward. Changes in Advertising Several brands, including Dove an d Aerie, have moved away from the images of perfection of the past. They claim to be Photoshop-free and celebrate real, diverse women. Beer brands are moving away from semi-naked models. The craft beer movement is on the rise, and they dont need Playboy bunnies to help them sell inventory- although, sadly,the majority of men will still be attracted tocliched sexy images. If you work at an agency, you can try to steer clients away from Photoshopped images of Barbie Doll women. Veer away from the skinny size 2 models, and champion the use of normal-sized women as models for the products you sell.

3D-printed Lithium-ion Battery Could Power Electric Vehicles, ...

3D-printed Lithium-ion Battery Could Power Electric Vehicles, ... 3D-printed Lithium-ion Battery Could Power Electric Vehicles, ... 3D-printed Lithium-ion Battery Could Power Electric Vehicles, Drones We rely on lithium-ion batteries every day to charge our smartphones, laptops, and many other electronics. One day they could power our electric vehicles. But the energy-storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries has struggled to keep up with the surging demands for their use.Now, engineers at Carnegie Mellon University say theyve found a way to significantly extend lithium-ion battery life by using a new method to print 3-D electrodes.The lattice printing 3-D method could not only extend battery life, it could serve to create batteries made from materials like silicon, which would give the batteries faster recharging times and, when used in electric cars, longer sortiment time. The low-weight and high-energy-capacity batteries the printing method create could also power small, light de vices, like drones.For You Making the Next-Generation Lithium-Ion Batteries Safer, Longer-LastingAll batteries contain two metal electrodes, a negatively charged anode and the positively charged cathode, separated by a substance called the electrolyte. A lithium-ion battery, or Li-ion battery, is a rechargeable battery in which lithium ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode during discharge, and then move back when chargingLithium-ion battery electrodes 3-D printed with a lattice provides channels for lithium to move effectively into the electrode. Image Rahul Panat / Carnegie Mellon UniversityThe Carnegie Mellon teams electrodes are printed using Aerosol Jet technology, which assembles droplets one-by-one to create electrodes with lattice-like, interlaced structures with complex geometries that can be created using the current electrode-printing methods, said Rahul Panat, associate professor of mechanical engineering at the university.Right now, lithium-ion battery electrodes are 3-D printed through an extrusion method that lays down fingers of the material one atop the other to form a solid block of material. Lithium has a hard time penetrating that solid block to charge the electrode, Panat said.Lithium has to penetrate throughout volume of electrode for it to be fully utilized, he said. In todays commercially available batteries, you have about 30 to 50 percent of the lithium used.The chemical, on the other hand, can easily diffused throughout the channels and pores of the latticed electrode to completely saturate the electrode. The researchers have found that lithium saturates 100 percent of the batterys electrode when its printed using their technique.A 3-D printed, latticed electrode can make for a smaller battery that leise carries the same charging capability of its larger, solid-electrode counterpart.Prof. Rahul Panat, Carnegie Mellon UniversityPanut worked with Jonghyun Park, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering a t Missouri University of Science and Technology to develop the new printing method.Because it has more energy storage capacity, the latticed electrode can be used to make a smaller battery that still carries the same charging capability of its larger, solid-electrode counterpart.Or it could make the same-size battery that would hold much more charge, Panat said.Another benefit of the new process is that electrodes could now be created from widely available materials like silicone and oxide, which can store five to ten times more energy than the graphite lithium-ion batteries used today, Panat said. But that poses its own set of problems.Because silicon can hold 10 times more lithium atoms, it expands significantly when charged.In the very first charging cycle, the silicon-electrode battery inside the test vehicle would expand to three times its original volume and crack. The battery would be dead, Panat said. The very fact these materials can hold more lithium becomes the reason for their cracking. Its ironic. So stress relief is extremely important.To overcome that, the team added channels and pillars to the electrodes, which keep the battery from expanding. The lithium saturates the electrode, so it has no need to expand.The new electrode-printing method could be commercialized in about four years, Panat said.Right now, were evaluating different materials, different use conditions, and looking at how many recharge cycles these batteries would work for, he said.Jean Thilmany is a freelance writer in St. Paul who frequently writes on engineering topics.Read More Battery CapacityGets a Boost 4D Printing Advances Additive Manufacturing Building Better Batteries

How to Encourage a Discouraged Employee

How to Encourage a Discouraged EmployeeHow to Encourage a Discouraged EmployeeManagement 101 dictates that an employee who has become discouraged will leid perform at the level he or she is capable of. Additionally, they often grip and start to bring other employees down to their level. It is important for a manager to know how to recognize a discouraged employee and figure out how to help them return to their former level of production. Signs of a Discouraged Employee There are many reasons an employee becomes discouraged and the symptoms can be as varied as the causes. Here are a few of the signs to look out for to identify an unhappy worker in need of your help. They complain that work is no longer funThey overreact to minor hassles and are easily irritatedThey complain about being overwhelmedThey question the value of the tasks they performThey are lethargic and often comment about feeling unfulfilled at work Ways to Determine Why an Employee Is Discouraged After you have identified a discouraged employee, you have to find out why they are dissatisfied. Very often employees are afraid to tell their boss, so youll need to be konstant or innovative in your approach. Sometimes even the employee cant pinpoint why theyre discouraged, which makes communication all that much more critical. Here are some steps to take to ensure your team members avoid feeling discouraged Be direct and ask them but pick a quiet time and keep it private.When they make a comment about their job try to really listen, which means listening between the lines, not just to the words coming out of their mouth.Ask their colleagues. The other members of your team may be more aware of the situation than you think.If your efforts fail, ask the Human Resources (HR) Department to get involved. Someone the employee sees as a neutral third party may have better luck than you did.If all else fails, refer the employee to your Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) if your benefits plan includes one. Encourage Open Dialogues and Adjust Workloads, If Needed A discouraged employee may be suffering from burnout, may be suffering from a lack of confidence, or maybe bringing their outside to work. Based on the cause, here are some common suggestions for helping your employee If theyre burned out, and you cant reduce their workload, try to vary it. Give them different tasks or give them more latitude in regards to how they can complete their tasks.If they lack confidence in performing their tasks, give them tasks with some degree of difficulty but make them assignments they can do. Letting them be successful will motivate them to take on more challenging work.Encourage them to talk with you. This will give them a safety valve for their frustrations and help boost their confidence. Dont be afraid to refer them to the EAP if they need professional help. Your job is to keep them a productive member of the team, not cure mental health problems. Take Preventative Steps to Keep Your Group Happy Rather than identifying a discouraged employee and figuring out the cause and cure for their condition, its always preferable to prevent discouragement. Here are some things proactive steps to take to reduce the likelihood of a staff member becoming discouraged Keep your team motivated. Communicate openly and freely with all your employees. Let them know what is going on in the company and inform them why their job is essential. Whether in staff meetings or one-on-one explain to your staff how their efforts contribute to the overall success of the department and the company.Listen, and then listen some more. Listen to what employees say about each other, about their jobs, about the department, and the company in general. If an employee has a grip, let them know youll help them out to the extent that you can. Get out of your office. The best way to keep employees motivated is to be among them. The time you spend out of your office and walking around the department will afford you the time to listen and observe and squelch a potential problem before it arises. Bottom Line Be an Active Manager You can do a lot to prevent discouraged employees, but you cant avoid it completely. Be alert for symptoms of the problem and take action to help the employee as quickly as you can. It will benefit both the employee and the rest of the team.