Literature Review Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Literature Review - Dissertation Example Policies, for example, imposing tariffs on some goods and products are issues that make many organizations uneasy. To try and correct this issue, there have been several articles that criticize the moves that the WTO is currently employing. This paper will review some of the issues raised by authors and their take on the policies by the WTO. Authors’ criteria Faridul Islam, David McArthur, and Ian Wilson are the authors of â€Å"Globalization and the World Trade Organization: The Challenges Ahead.† This article reiterates what was said earlier by author Martin Khor on the troubles that the WTO faces in today’s trading economy (Islam, McArthur, & Wilson, 2007). Martin Khor is the Executive Director of the South Centre. It is an intergovernmental organization that aids developing countries in research. Previously, he used to be the head of the Third World Network. He criticized some of these policies, claiming that they do not consider developing nations in interna tional trade, and their stake in the global market. Khor implies that the WTO is biased towards the richer countries. This point is supported by the authors of the article on globalization. What people do not seem to realize is that there are poor countries that need to participate in trade. This is in order for them to help their economies grow and develop. The economies in third world countries keep going down the drain, and the people suffer due to the policies put in place by the WTO (Islam, McArthur, & Wilson, 2007). The difficulty with such strategies is that the vast population of people in the developing nations has nobody to look out for their interests. In the interests of the population in the developing nations, the policies that exist are out to serve the people of more developed countries. Their products reach a vast area of other continents, and they also get products from other areas. However, they do this at a much cheaper rate than the manufacturer used to manufact ure their products (Davey & Jackson, 2008). This is what has many organizations up in arms trying to figure out a way through these policies, and help the different economies in the member countries of this organization. Levels of analysis What the authors of the article claim is the point that developing countries lack the capacity to follow negotiations by the WTO. This presents a problem to these countries. In order to comprehend what goes on, they need to be an intricate part of the international community. This is when it comes to trade and the problems associated with trading internationally. Having high import duties on countries that can barely afford to export their products is not fair. This is as the authors suggest in the article and bring Martin Khor’s point to light. In order for there to be a fair chance for all countries to trade freely, the stipulations should be changed to suit the current situation (Khor, 2007). It is vital that everyone has the potential t o understand what impact such policies have on them and their economy. Trade cannot be trade if only one country or a selected few are involved in it. There has to be the fair exchange of commodities, products, goods, and services so as to call it trading. The creation of barriers in trade should not be out to benefit one country, while leaving some out in the cold (Krueger & Aturupane, 2000). International trade enables the coming together of people of different ethnic, cultural, and

Advises for incoming Freshman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Advises for incoming Freshman - Essay Example However, it offers opportunities for growth and perfection through its dynamic nature. For starters, at a university level, the course borrows many ideas from high school thereby requiring students to maintain an attentive personality with the capability to conceptualize ideas and therefore develop them with time (Evans 31). Additionally, writing is secondary to other discipline. Depending on the different writing categories that one may choose to develop interest in, primary information on the subject is paramount. The discipline therefore relies on other primary knowledge and skills such as interviewing skill and research skills which are two important skills in the information gathering process. Writing in collage is more advanced than the high school. While in high school students learn the basics to writing and developing their grammatical prowess, the collage writing goes beyond the ability to construct effective sentences and extends to the development of constructive sentence s that communicate effectively. Additionally, in college students major in smaller sub categories within writing such as fictional writing and plays among many others (Duras 12). Each of these requires different category of writing skill and specific knowledge to perfect. It is at collages that students develop such patient aspects of writing thereby developing careers out of their passions nurtured in high schools. Besides the obvious difference, high school plays an integral role in the development of effective writers since it is at this stage that students identify their skills and writing abilities. Writing, just as stated earlier, is an art and therefore relies on interests and the abilities of the students. High school helps students identify their abilities and interests thereby giving them opportunities to express and develop. Majoring in writing presents the students with different opportunities through which they can develop their careers. The course has a number of major ing options key among which include fictional, scientific, play writing and poetry among others. The course gives its majors an interesting introduction with a basic elaboration of each of the major options. At the elementary stages of the course, students study generally often trying their interests in the different majoring options. The course introduces the students to the different requirements for majoring in the different career options. It further compels students to choose from the different major options thereby encouraging specialization. Specialization is a process through which students develop careers in the specific elements of the course that they portray their best abilities and interest in. However, writing is relative and some students portray interest in more than one major option. The course gives the students the freedom to major in different options thereby creating dynamic writers with multiple skills. Different classes use writing differently. The course is c losely related to journalism, which is also a writing major. However, journalists report facts to their audiences who portray different abilities. They therefore write in a particular conventional manner that improves readability among their diverse readers. This type of writing differs with writing stories such as fictional narratives, poetry and scientific writing since unlike in journalism, the other writers have specific audiences. Writers therefore often consider their audience in developing their pieces. This implies that writing is diverse; everybody with knowledge can possibly write. However, professional writers possess knowledge and portray this by first understanding their audiences and therefore developing pieces that are

Industrial Relations Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Industrial Relations - Article Example In simple terms industrial relationships can be called multidisciplinary field that refers to the employment relationship. Sometimes it is also named employment relationship because of the negligible importance of non industrial employment relationship. But to consider it just as labor relations is an oversimplification because it has much more to it. Technically speaking Industrial relations defined in business terms as â€Å"Employer – employee relationships covered specifically under collective bargaining and industrial relations law.† ... hnically speaking Industrial relations defined in business terms as â€Å"Employer – employee relationships covered specifically under collective bargaining and industrial relations law.† Industrial relations not an outdated topic There are a number of researchers who assume that Industrial relations study has become obsolete and proposed closure of UK’s most study centers on the subject as (Darlington1 (ed.) (2009). They believe that academic industrial relations are obsolete and are no more required. It has been replaced and dealt better in newer subjects such as HRM, Human resource management and OB organizational behavior. These subjects deal with the human factor while industrial relations study focuses on the collective approach. Collective institutions and processes (trade unions, strike and collective bargaining. Three aspects of employment relationship Those who believe in industrial relation perspective identified three important aspects. They are as un der. (Trevor Colling, 2010) Indeterminacy Inequality of employment relationship Dynamism Indeterminacy Indeterminacy in the sense, that unlike other contracts it does not involve physical exchange of goods and services for money. But the contract is made on the basis of the capacity to perform and produce the desirable and the potential to purchase those goods services. In the labor contract a worker or employee only sells his ability to work which is intangible which can only be materialized when the actual work is done and the worker is involved in the production process. A gap can exist between the perceived, expectation standard of performance and the actual one. Inequality of employment relationship Inequality exists in the relationship between the employee and employer. An employee is not usually in

NURSING (MANAGING A VENOUS LEG ULCER) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

NURSING (MANAGING A VENOUS LEG ULCER) - Essay Example Between 2004 and 2010, the management of venous leg ulcerations cost the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) an estimated  £400 million per year, most of which was spent on community nursing services (Milic, Bogdanovic & Jovanovic 2010, p. 797). Basing on the budget, the disease calls for evidence-based practice (EBP) in its management and this paper will discuss the effectiveness of compression systems for preventing its recurrence and treatment using three sources of evidence. This article was chosen because the Cochrane Collaboration is a reputable body in the field of organization of systematic medical researches that facilitate proven and evidence-based medical and nursing practice. The cost effectiveness of stockings and bandaging in compression treatment of venous leg ulcers has been covered by a Cochrane review basing on randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with definitive results. Medical literature in the regularly updated Cochrane database opines that most cases of venous leg ulcers are brought about by the improper functioning of the venous valves, although other known contributing factors include obesity, diabetes, immobility, arterial disease and trauma. There is also evidence that persons wearing high-compression hosiery are less likely to have ulcer recurrences than those wearing moderate-compression ones. Venous ulcers can be prevented by using compression stockings on long-term alongside regular exercising, elevating legs when possible and losing weight (Gohel, Barwell & Taylor 2007, p. 83). Venous leg ulcers usually recur after healing and this can be prevented by regularly wearing compression stockings for at least five years after healing. Following the systematic reviews and meta-analyses conducted on 22 trials identified in the Cochrane review, it was consistently shown that the healing of venous leg ulcers is encouraged by compression. It was

Assess the contribution of Social Action Theory to sociology Essay Example for Free

Assess the contribution of Social Action Theory to sociology Essay Social Action Theorists, or Interactionists are also known as micro sociologists, this is because instead of looking at the bigger picture in society, and how the large structures and institutions such as the education and judiciary systems affect individuals, which is what Marxists and Functionalists (macro sociologists) look at, Social Action Theorists look at the opposite, how us, individuals, act by our own accord, and how we make up society. This is known as a ‘bottom up’ view of society. They see people as having a much more active role in society, as opposed to the passive puppets that Structuralists make us out to be. They reject the view that our behaviour is the product of these organisations and structure. Although Social Action Theorists do look very much as individual behaviour, they also take into account the fact that we are aware of the people around us, they argue that our behaviour is influenced by how other individuals react to us and behave, so society is made up because people come together and interact. We are able to react to each other’s behaviour in this way because we have learnt how to expect what people should and shouldn’t do, and how to interpret behaviour. We have meanings for various symbols during interactions, for example, someone frowning may show confusion or anger, and someone swearing with a hand gesture may be insulting, because of these codes and symbols, we are able to anticipate behaviour, and judge how people are feeling. This also gives us a knowledge about what behaviour is and isn’t appropriate in certain situations. These different situations can also affect how we behave and what behaviour is acceptable, for example shouting and swearing may be seen as acceptable at a football match, but this would be highly inappropriate in the middle of a supermarket or library. These behaviours and expected ways of carrying ourselves, or norms and values, (especially the basic ones, such as how to act around others) are learnt from the family at a young age. However education teaches us how to act in a larger range of social situations. The acquiring of this knowledge is what leads to us gaining our identity. Social action theorists suggest that there are three main parts to our identity. The first of these parts is the things that make us individual, such as name, signature and photograph. The second aspect is social identity, which is made up of the personality characteristics that are associated with our role in society. For example, I am seen as an older brother, which society may make me out to be annoying and protective of my younger sibling, but I am also seen as a student, who is perceived to be hard-working and well-behaved. The final part of our identity is the concept of ‘self’, or what we think of ourselves, and how we think we play our respective roles. This concept of ‘self’ has been developed further by social action theorists, who believe that this can be further broken down into two components, the ‘I’ and the ‘me’. The ‘I’ is the private inner self, what we truly think of ourselves, whereas ‘me’ is the social self, and is the one that carries out the roles of brother and student. Goffman referred to society as a play, and that we are all as individuals, actors in this play, or in the drama of everyday life. The expected ways of behaving, or social norms are the script, for example, greeting someone with ‘Good morning’ is expected. He suggests that the roles we carry out are simply a performance designed to create a particular impression. For example in front of grandparents, I put on this performance of being exceptionally well mannered (believe it or not). Another part of social action theory is the concept of labelling. This is when someone is put into a group, or stereotyped, because of the way they look or act. For example a young person may be labelled as a ‘goth’ because they have pale skin, black hair, and listen to a certain type of music. Becker came up with the idea of a Master Status. This means that an individual can have a status (normally negative) which overrides all other labels. For example, someone may be a very good brother and son, but then may be arrested for robbery, and then the label of ‘criminal’ will become his master status, and people won’t see the brother or the son they saw before, they will simply see him as a criminal. It is believed that these labels lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. This means that someone will react to the label they have been given, and this label will become true. For example, if a teacher (very wrongly) labels a student as ‘dumb’ they may think they genuinely are dumb, and will not do well at school. However it has been argued that the opposite can occur, and people may go out of their way to disprove their label, to carry on with the example before, the ‘dumb’ student may try exceptionally hard at home and at school, to prove the teacher wrong, the label may act as motivation. There are many criticisms of Social Action Theory, one being that they tend to be very vague when describing who is responsible for creating these norms and values, and interpretations that mean we know how to act around people and in certain situations. They fail to explain power, and factors which may affect these norms such as class or gender.

Natural Selection Essay Example for Free

Natural Selection Essay Natural selection, according to Gulick, is the process through which heritable attributes that are beneficial or vital for survival and reproduction become a common thing in a population, whereas harmful characteristics become rare (p, 27). Natural selection occurs as a result of successful reproduction by persons who have advantageous traits (Darwin p, 39). This results in adoption of beneficial traits by the subsequent generation. Over a number of generations, adaptations take place through successful combination of small, random alterations in traits, as well as natural selection of the changes best suited for a particular environment. Genetic drift on the other hand results in production of random alterations in the number of characteristics in a population. Genetic drift occurs as a result of the role played by chance in determining whether an individual will live on and reproduce (Starr, Taggart, and Starr p, 415). The greatest controversies of biology are found in the unity and diversity of life. Naturalists have greatly employed Darwins explanation of unity or organic forms in order to resolve this controversy. Darwin applied the concept of evolution to every living thing including human beings, and claimed that all individuals, who belong to the same species, reveal some sort of variation between them (Goodenough, Wallace, and McGuire p, 9). According to Darwin, individuals who have advantageous features, for both reproduction and survival, pass them down through genetic inheritance from one generation to the other. Darwin teaches that variation, on which natural selection plays a role, is basically of small magnitude and that indefinite variation in all directions as well as the progressive accumulation of a particular series of variations, all resulting in the production of a novel species, occurs as a result of natural selection (Gulick, 28). In his theory of natural selection, Darwin stated that only those organisms that have the advantageous characteristics that suit a particular environmental condition are selected by nature. Natural selection, therefore, turns out to be a vital aspect in the evolution process (Darwin p, 45). Unity and diversity of life comprises of the dual facets of life on earth. Natural selection gives an account of the relatedness among organisms in a population by revelation that different animal species are related through descent from a common ancestor (Gulick p, 25). Modern animals, including man, are believed to have originated from a common simple ancestor. However, as a result of increased complexity, modern species appear different from the ancestral species. Nevertheless, a remarkable evidence of unity of life is revealed by the similarities in the molecular structure of species. Modern molecular studies reveal biochemical similarities between different species. Comparison of DNA sequences between human beings and apes reveal a close genetic similarity. This reveals that these two species probably had a common ancestor (Starr, Taggart, and Starr p, 410). Natural selection also gives an account of the great diversity that is displayed by modern species. Organisms that have distinct traits that enable them to live in environmental niches not occupied by similar organisms, according to Starr, Taggart and Starr, possess a greater chance of surviving (p, 410). Over generations, species which originated from a common ancestor have diversified in addition to occupying more and more environmental niches in order to take advantage of unutilized resources. Modern species are a phase in the progression of evolution, and their diversity results in the development of a series of speciation as well as extinction. Diversity of life, according to Gulick, does not result in development of a completely new and unique organism, but rather in organisms that share certain morphological similarities (p, 27). Vestigial characteristics that have no specific role resemble functional ancestral characteristics, and as a result, organisms can be categorized using these similarities into a ladder of connected groups. Work cited: Darwin, Charles. Natural Selection: The Global Struggle for Existence, ISBN 1565430824: Lulu. com, 2008 Goodenough, Judith. Wallace, Robert. and McGuire, Betty. Human biology: personal, environmental, and social concerns, ISBN 0030012813: Saunders College Pub. , 1998 Gulick, John. Evolution, Racial and Habitual, Controlled by Segregation, ISBN 1115895672 BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2009 Starr, Cecie. Taggart, Ralph. and Starr, Lisa. Biology: the unity and diversity of life, 10th edn, ISBN 0534388000: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2004

Michel Foucault And Judith Butler Influencing Queerness Film Studies Essay

Michel Foucault And Judith Butler Influencing Queerness Film Studies Essay In this essay I will be looking at the work of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler seeing how their work has influence queerness. I will start the essay by looking at the man, Michel Foucault, followed by studying his work on sexuality and homosexuality. I will then look at Judith Butler and her work on gender performances. I will also be giving contemporary examples of homosexuals in the modern day by looking at three different homosexual television presenters to show how the construction of homosexual figures has taken place in recent years. I will also be looking at how gender performances take place in these examples of homosexuals. Michel Foucault The Background Michel Foucault was born in France in 1926. He was known as a philosopher, sociologist and a historian. In all three of these areas he was very influential, pioneering many different concepts that helped revolutionise their certain fields. Foucault continues to be one of the most important figures in critical theory. Foucault is best known for his critical studies on social institutions such as the prison system, medicine, the human sciences and for his work on the history of human sexuality which I will be discussing later. His theories have been largely concerned with the concepts of power and the relationship among power, knowledge and discourse, and his influence is clear in a great deal of post-structuralism, post-modernist, feminist, post-Marxist and post-colonial theorising (Mills 2003). Foucault suffered from depression and attempted suicide on many different occasions. This could be as Mills says due to the great difficulty at the time about being openly homosexual, but it does suggest that his pronounced interest in psychology stemmed from elements in his own life (Eribon 1991: 27). All though Foucault died of AIDS in 1984, his ideas have and still cause much debate. His ideas have never been simply accommodated by theorists around the world. This is due to the iconoclastic and challenging nature of Foucaults theoretical work (Mills 2003). Michel Foucault The History of Sexuality During Foucaults life, he wrote three volumes of The History of Sexuality. In this essay I will be focusing on his ideas on sexuality and society. The first Volume of Michel Foucaults book History of Sexuality was published in 1978, which was written near the end of a period of time called the sexual revolution in the western culture (Spargo 1999). The sexual revolution was a time where peoples thoughts and opinions shifted in regards to how they viewed sexuality throughout the western world. The book presents a powerful counter narrative to the established story about Victorian sexual repression giving way to progressive liberation and enlightenment in the 20th century (Spargo 1999). For example, Foucault describes how in the 17th century onwards sexuality was hidden from view. People were subjected to a power of repression. But as Spargo describes, this all changed in the 20th century. Sexuality was still there, simmering under the prim surface of 19th century bourgeois respectability, but it was stifled by prohibitions and repressions. Until, that is, it, and we, were liberated in the age of the mini-skirt and the analyst, revealing our legs and our innermost desires, bringing it all out into the open (Spargo 1999). This was easier for some but not quite as easy for others. Some struggled with the free expression they were able to give to their sexual desires. People turned to therapists and counsellors to help gain freedom for the years of prohibitions. Did this mean that sexuality was always waiting for us to free it? In Foucaults opinion no. His view was that sexuality wasnt waiting to be freed or repressed but rather sexuality was and is produced in culture and society. Foucault rejected this repression hypothesis and claimed evidence pointed not to a prohibition on speaking about sexuality but to a remarkable proliferation of discourses about sexuality (Spargo 1999). He didnt want people to assume that the repression from the 17th-19th century was effective. He believed that the repression increased the desire of people to express and discuss their sexuality in ways which were seen as violating the taboos of society. If sex is repressed, that is condemned to prohibition, non-existence and silence, then the mere fact that one is speaking about it has the appearance of a deliberate transgression. A person who holds forth in such language upsets established law and he/she somehow anticipates the coming freedom (Foucault 1986). He didnt believe that sexuality was natural or a normal aspect of life but rather a construction of experiences which has historical, social and cultural beginnings. As I have already discussed Foucault described how the process of restriction had created an increased excitement about sexuality, but he believed that the effect of the repressive discourse seemingly encouraged perverse forms of sexuality and made them more attractive types of behaviour. The construction of homosexuality was one of Foucaults most thought provoking assertions. He believed that the category of homosexuality was created out of a particular context in the 1870s and that it should be viewed as a form of knowledge rather than a discovered identity. Foucault wasnt saying that same sex practises werent accruing before the 19th century but, during this time it was seen as shameful rather than in the 19th century where people embraced same sex relationships and the term homosexual. Foucault said, Homosexuality appeared as one of the forms of sexuality when it was transposed from the practice of sodomy onto a kind of interior androgyny, a hermaphrodism of the soul. The sodomite had been a temporary aberration; the homosexual was seen as being totally suffused with sexuality (Foucault 1978). Since the construction of homosexuality in the 19th century, there has been an explosion of homosexual figures in the 20th century. The media have seemed to of caught the homosexual vibe with television in particular employing homosexuals to present different programmes. These programmes which are hosted by homosexuals are often quite particular programme genres. For example, you would often see a homosexual presenter on entertainment, pop culture and lifestyle programmes rather than documentaries, political shows, or on the news. This shows us that homosexuals are possibly seen as a joke, people who make us laugh by there actions, stories or vulgarity and possibly lack the intelligence or the seriousness to host programmes that require composure and a serious minded attitude towards the subject at hand. Here are three contemporary examples of homosexual TV presenters. The first is guy a called Alan Carr. He has worked on some of the biggest television programmes in the 20th century such as, Friday Night Project, Alan Carrs Celebrity Ding Dong and Alan Carr Chatty Man. Carr is famous for being camp, over the top and having a very unusual laugh that cant help but make you laugh. Despite being openly gay he doesnt consider his sexuality to be a focal part of his act. What am I meant to do? Do I go down the Julian Clary route and talk about fisting and poppers? I dont talk about being gay and I think what better equality for gays than that? (Observer online 2008). Unlike many performers, Carr shies away from unnecessary cruelty, instead relying on his own authenticity to win over his audience. His on-stage persona is simply an extension of his own and therein lies the source of both his charm and his talent. Philosopher, Judith Butler who I will be speaking about later believes that we all put on gender performances and that gender, like sexuality, isnt a vital truth that has come from the bodys materiality but rather a regulatory fiction. The second man is called Dale Winton. Winton has been on television since 1987 and has feature in many different types of television programmes. He is most famous for a programme called Supermarket Sweep which ran from 1993-2001. He was seen as the typical homosexual television presenter, very camp and over the top which is very much a trend in homosexual television hosts. During his time he was iconic for being overtly camp, tanned and often touchy feely with his guests, but he was never as he says a banner waving gay. Im not a banner-waving gay guy, because I actually dont believe its important. People never say vehement heterosexual Michael Parkinson, but it will say camp gay entertainer Graham Norton, or Dale Winton since Ive officially come out. (Times online 2008) The third and final television presenter I will be looking at is Graham Norton. He is arguably one of the most well known television presenters in recent years. Again he has many of the homosexual traits and he describes himself on the channel 4 website as a shiny Irish proof. It does not take long to work out that his sexuality has played a large part in his appeal and success. His exceedingly camp style gives him the licence to be exceedingly rude without being offensive, and his quick wit, put-downs and one-liners have made him a homosexual icon. He has been criticised for being too camp and taking the gay stereotype to an extreme. Some gay men have said he is reinforcing the idea that a gay TV star has to be over-the-top and in the mould of like Kenneth Williams or Frankie Howerd. (BBC website, 2001) All three of these television presenters are examples of the 20th century homosexual. They all share similar traits such as the in your face campness, being over the top and also being drama queens. The homosexual has grown and changed over time since its creation in the 19th century and will continue to change as time goes on. Foucault work on the analysis of sexuality has helped in challenging the preconceived ideas of sexual characteristics. He argues that his study wasnt designed to be a history of sexual behaviours nor a history of representation, but a history of sexuality. Judith Butler The theorist most prominently associated with queerness and queer theory is American post-structuralist philosopher Judith Butler. Butler followed the work of Michel Foucault and used his work so she could investigate models of gender and heterosexuality. Butler argues that gender, like sexuality, isnt a vital truth that has come from the bodys materiality but rather a regulatory fiction. Gender is the repeated stylization of the body, a set of repeated acts within a highly rigid regulatory frame that congeal over time to produce the appearance of substance, of a natural sort of being (Butler 1990, p. 33) Butler argues that the sex you are i.e. Male or female is seen to cause a gender type i.e. masculine or feminine which is then seen to create a desire towards the other gender. This is seen as a continuous series that is constantly reproducing itself. Inspired by Foucault, Butlers approach is to destroy the links between that series so desire and gender are allowed to be flexible and not made to be steady factors. Butler argues that we all put on gender performances, and she says its not a question of whether this will take place, but in what form will this performance take. She believes that by choosing to be different, we might be able to change gender norms and the understanding of masculinity and femininity. Butler says: There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; identity is performatively constituted by the very expressions that are said to be its results. (Butler 1990, p.25). In other words, gender is a performance; its what you  do  at particular times, rather than a universal  who you are. This approach of gender is very similar to that of sexuality. Butler, Foucault and Queer theory all believe that your identity is not fixed but constructed at certain times or in certain situations. Foucault argued that sexuality was produced which overlaps on what Butler says about gender being performed/produced. This idea of identity as free floating and not connected to a real meaning but rather a performance, is one of the key ideas in the creation of queer theory Modern day examples of Butlers theory regarding gender performances are clear to see. The three examples of homosexual figures in television are examples of what Butler calls gender performances. All three of the television presenters that I have mention Alan Carr, Dale Winton and Graham Norton have created a performance of their gender at particular times. All three man perform their gender in different ways with Alan Carr using his over the top campness as a way of engaging with the audience, Dale Winton using his touchy feely sensual approach to his audience and Graham Norton using his homosexuality as a way of making jokes and putting others down without any consequences. The way in which all three act is a performance of some kind to either feel accepted or to gain a reaction from their audiences. Conclusion In this essay I have looked at the work of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler, both of who have influenced the work of queerness in different ways. I have looked at Foucaults work on the repression in the Victorian age and his work on homosexuality. I also looked at the modern day explosion of homosexuals on TV using the examples of three different TV presenters. I then went on to study Judith Butlers work which was influenced by Foucault on gender performances. I discussed how Butler believed that we all go through gender performances but that it isnt who we are, rather a time to time experience. On the back of this I took the example of the three homosexual television presenters and linked their characters to gender performances. Both these theorists have looked at themes in sexuality, gender and society, with some of there ideas overlapping, with both Foucault and Butler looking at sexuality and gender as constructed and performed by individuals. Foucault also looked at the construction of the homosexual figure and I have taken his work on further by looking at the characteristics of the homosexual figure as exemplified by modern day TV presenters.