Sunday, May 24, 2020

Beauty Standards in Heian Japan, 794â€1185 CE

Different cultures have varied standards of female beauty. Some societies prefer women with stretched lower lips, or facial tattoos, or brass rings around their elongated necks; some prefer stiletto-heeled shoes. In Heian-era Japan, an elite beautiful woman had to have incredibly long hair, layer after layer of silk robes, and an intriguing make-up routine. Heian Era Hair The women of the imperial court in Heian Japan (794–1185 CE) grew their hair as long as possible. They wore it straight down their backs, a shining sheet of black tresses (called kurokami). This fashion began as a reaction against imported Chinese Tang Dynasty fashions, which were much shorter and included ponytails or buns. Only aristocratic women wore such hairstyles: Common people cut their hair at the back and tied it once or twice: but the style among noble women persisted for nearly six centuries. The record-holder among Heian hair-growers, according to tradition, was a woman with hair 23 feet (7 meters) long. Beautiful Faces and Makeup The typical Heian beauty was required to have a pouty mouth, narrow eyes, a thin nose, and round apple-cheeks. Women used a heavy rice powder to paint their faces and necks white. They also drew bright red rose-bud lips on over their natural lip-lines. In a fashion that looks very odd to modern sensibilities, Japanese aristocratic women of this era shaved off their eyebrows. Then, they painted on misty new eyebrows high on their foreheads, almost at the hair-line. They achieved this effect by dipping their thumbs into black powder  and then smudging them onto their foreheads. This is known as butterfly eyebrows. Another feature that seems unattractive now was the fashion for blackened teeth. Because they used to whiten their skin, natural teeth ended up looking yellow in comparison. Therefore, Heian women painted their teeth black. Blackened teeth were supposed to be more attractive than yellow ones, and they also matched the womens black hair. Piles of Silk The final aspect of a Heian-era beautys preparations consisted of piling on the silk robes. This style of dress is called ni-hito, or twelve layers, but some upper-class women wore as many as forty layers of unlined silk. The layer closest to the skin was usually white, sometimes red. This garment was an ankle-length robe called the kosode; it was only visible at the neckline. Next was the nagabakama, a split skirt that tied at the waist and resembled a pair of red pants. Formal nagabakama could include a train more than a foot long. The first layer that was readily visible was the hitoe, a plain-colored robe. Over that, women layered between 10 and 40 beautifully patterned uchigi (robes), many of which were adorned with brocade or painted nature scenes. The top layer was called the uwagi, and it was made of the smoothest, finest silk. It often had elaborate decorations woven or painted into it. One final piece of silk completed the outfit for the highest ranks or for the most formal occasions; a sort of apron worn at the rear called a mo. It must have taken hours for these noble women to get ready to be seen in court each day. Pity their attendants, who did their own simplified version of the same routine first, and then helped their ladies with all of the necessary preparations of a Heian-era Japanese beauty. Sources Cho, Kyo. The Search for the Beautiful Woman: A Cultural History of Japanese and Chinese Women. Trans., Selden, Kyoko. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2012.  Choi, Na-Young. Symbolism of Hairstyles in Korea and Japan. Asian Folklore Studies 65.1 (2006): 69–86. Print.Harvey, Sara M. The Juni-hitoe of Heian Japan. Clothesline Journal (archived April 2019).

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

The Life Of Harriet Tubman And Sally Hemings - 2156 Words

Perseverance Often times when talking about the institution of slavery in the United States of America, men are at the center of the discussion; whether they were owners or slaves, men are presented first. Black women are pushed in the background except for the most famous like Harriet Tubman and Sally Hemings. In North America, specifically the United States, more than six hundred thousand slaves were brought in from Africa and the Caribbean between 1620 and 1865, the laws regarding slaves were condensed into slave codes that varied from state to state. Female slaves usually received the worst of it. Abusing them was legal, since the were considered property and as long as the owner wanted, he could have his way with any women he chooses on the plantation. Female slave were subject to harsh punishment for refusing the advances of the master. As one of, if not, the most vulnerable group in America at the time, female slaves had more threats to their existence than black men. While th e majority of black women accounts are lost to history due to anti-literacy laws, we do have a good idea of what their lives were, through slave narratives and other records. The life of a female slave in pre-civil war America was characterized by sexual assault, physical and mental abuse along with harsh treatment both in the fields and inside the master’s house. Female slaves were treated as property with no regards to theirShow MoreRelatedAbolitionism and William Wells Brown987 Words   |  4 PagesAlso, in Clotel; or, The Presidents Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States (1853), the first African American novel, Brown relates the story of Thomas Jeffersons relationship with his slave mistress Sally Hemings (1773–1835). Originally published in England, the novel eventually came to U.S. readers, but only after it had been significantly revised, with references to the president removed. Much like the evolution of Douglasss anti-slavery agenda, Brown began his career as aRead MoreBibliographic Essay on African American History6221 Words   |  25 PagesThe History of Black Business in America: Capitalism, Race, Entrepreneurship (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1998) is a general historical overview of blacks in business across time. Of a more limited scope is A’Lelia Bundles’ On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker (New York: Scribner, 2001), touted as a definitive biography of a black woman entrepreneur before 1919. Africans in North America Between 1619 and 1808, less than one million Africans were transported involuntarily

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Change Yourself to Change Your World Free Essays

CHANGE YOURSELF, TO CHANGE YOUR WORLD Often times I hear people say â€Å"if I am in his position or status, I will do better and change things for good†. This statement is made when people feel that their boss (es), employers, leaders and government officials are not performing or living up to expectation. They expect so much from these people and get less than they thought or envisaged. We will write a custom essay sample on Change Yourself to Change Your World or any similar topic only for you Order Now There is this axiom that says â€Å"you cannot give or offer something that you don’t have†. The gross indiscipline, misconduct, under-development or deficiency of any Nation or sphere of human endeavour is a sum total or directly proportional to the gross indiscipline, misconduct, under-development and deficiency of respective individuals in the Nation or sphere of human endeavour. People want to change things for good even when they are not changed themselves. How can you change, influence, or make impact in your world when you are not changed, influenced and impacted on your inside? Everybody is crying for change, transformation and development when they are not changed, transformed and developed. How do you expect your leaders and bosses to help you and solve your problems when they themselves cannot help themselves and even solve their personal problems? A good reason is that majority of them have not developed the full mind potential to function effectively in that capacity. If you truly, sincerely, intentionally and passionately want to change and influence your world, you must truly, sincerely, intentionally and passionately desire to change your complete state (i. e. body, spirit and soul). How can you bring about growth and development to your world or the Nation, when you have not/ are not bringing about growth and development to yourself? The attitude and character you display or portray now will be synonymous with your character and attitude when you finally become a leader in any capacity or field (i. . , in Academics, Politics, Business, Ministry, Sports, Entertainment, Tourism, Security, Arts and Culture). The truth is, and still remains that, if you don’t change yourself positively, you cannot change your world positively. In actual sense, you may even end up becoming worst than your Predecessors or perform badly than they did in their time. Leadership is all about changing and influencing people positively! I’m very much enlightened and aware that you have great future career aspirations and ambitions; but you’ve got to tell yourself the truth and ask yourself these simple but all important questions â€Å"are the things I am doing presently in consonance with my dreams, visions and aspirations in life? â€Å"Will I be able to make positive change in my world in 10 to 20 years from now, in cross examination with the things I am doing now? † â€Å"What skills, abilities and potentials do I have that will give me an added advantage over my predecessors and leaders†? Everybody is complaining about bad roads; uncompleted or abandoned capital projects; poor regulation and maintenance of electricity; fraudsters invading our financial and economic sectors amassing wealth for themselves, detrimental to the growth of the people; fallen standard of our educational systems; insecurity in the Nation; poor sanitary conditions; poor response to capital projects from leaders; poor conditions of service for both public and private workers; moral decadence, gross indiscipline, misconduct and indecent dressing amongst the youth; projects completed with sub-standard and inferior materials and equipment; high rate of unemployment; poor remunerative service and fringe benefit for workers; poor standard of living of citizens, and others too numerous to mention: but only very few individuals are willing and ready to pay the prize; and really able to bring about positive change when they are elected or appointed into the different offices. If you are a Student or pup il, your level of success in future will be a product or a reflection of your level of seriousness in your studies now. Why not suffer or bear the pain now to enjoy tomorrow, instead of playing prank and â€Å"enjoying† now to suffer or bear the pain tomorrow? Always have it in your conscious mind that, Success and Excellence come with a prize; you either pay now and play later or play now and pay later: either way, you must pay! Always endeavour to change yourself in order to change your world when the time comes. Ask yourself â€Å"will I do better than my Councilor; Local Government Chairman; Ministers and Commissioners in different capacities; Senators; Governors and even the President, if I am elected or appointed into their position(s)? † â€Å"Not until you are able to change yourself, you will not/may not be able to change your world† This is a clarion call for every individual irrespective of age, status, colour, family background and disposition to take responsibility in changing themselves before they think or talk about changing their world. Let’s all stop the pretence! Let’s all start building and developing our character from where we are. Let’s stop complaining of poor sanitation or environmental hazard when we are the ones throwing dirt on the streets and our environment. Let’s stop disobeying traffic lights and signals in order to avoid accident. Let’s stop crying because of high rate of unemployment, and acquire relevant human capital skills and abilities which will enable us to become self-employed, and become assets to our society/world. Let’s stop criticizing our leaders and bosses unconstructively. Let’s all join hands with the government and other bodies to make our Nation a better, comfortable and convenient place to live in. Let’s all look out for possible means, and harness the resources available in changing ourselves positively, in order to change our world. Let’s all develop positive mental attitude about our religious, political, academic, media and entertainment sectors; and take the bull by its horn in bringing about lasting peace, progress, harmony, growth, development and advancement in our world (spheres of endeavour). Remember, you cannot confidently talk about changing your world when you’ve not changed yourself. â€Å"Change yourself to change your world†! How to cite Change Yourself to Change Your World, Essay examples

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Leadership Philosophy free essay sample

How I see my leadership philosophy evolving All leadership philosophies evolve over time. Whether it’s from positive or negative experiences a change is inevitable. The purpose of this paper is to explain how my leadership philosophy has evolved from a direct to an organizational-level leader. I will briefly discuss a few areas to support my argument and which I have personally seen growth within myself. My salient points are organizational leadership and focus, self and situational awareness and adaptability. Organizational leadership and focus in my opinion are the key elements to a successful cohesive unit. Leaders develop programs, systems and plans. This has been the easiest trait to identify change as now I’m responsible for implementing the above and making recommendations that will affect battalions under my oversight. It is important to provide focus and a clear intent to aid in execution. As an organizational-level leader, this will/may include providing purpose to a staff to allow them to maintain a pulse of the organization and enable them to understand what is happening higher and to subordinate units. The quote begins with, â€Å"The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude†.As leaders we should always have a strong personality, people should know that we are the leaders, that we can make the decisions. However, a strong personality can come off as rude in some instances; we have to find ways of communicating with others using strong character, without using rude inferences or gestures. The quote then goes on to say â€Å"be kind, but not weak; be bold but not bully†. We have to be kind to people and sympathize with them, they should be able to come and talk to us about anything or any problem they might have.However, we must be strong at the same time, any hint of weakness and people begin to doubt our ability to lead them. We have to be bold in our actions not indecisive and unsure; when everyone is doubtful we should be the one that knows what to do. People have to know that you mean business, but we can’t bully and boss people around. After awhile people begin to resent being bullied and then begin to doubt our ability to lead them. Jim then goes on to say â€Å"Be thoughtful, but not lazy†, now I had to think about this for awhile, and then I figured out that they go hand in hand.We can’t be lazy we have to be proactive, which goes right with being thoughtful at all times. We have to consistently express gratitude, always be thinking of who to thank, who helped out, and who maybe not be feeling well. The next part of the quote is probably my favorite; it goes on to say â€Å"be humble, but not timid†. One of the biggest parts of leadership is being humble, not talking about your accomplishments but the accomplishments of others. When everyone is thanking you and telling you how good of a job you did.Turn right around and tell them how good of a job they did and thank them. This will not only build up the confidence of others, but the confidence within you too. We can’t be timid though, being humble doesn’t mean we have to be quiet, it doesn’t mean we should just sit back not say anything. Rather the opposite we should be the ones they hear, the ones that thank them and let them know how much they are appreciated. Lastly the quote states; â€Å"be proud, but not arrogant†, we have to be proud of our accomplishments; however we cannot be boastful and arrogant.Nothing positive comes from being arrogant it always brings a negative reaction. Being proud also comes with being humble, a lot of times pride simply comes off as arrogance; I believe it is best to keep your pride on the inside. The finale part of the quote says; â€Å"have humor, but without folly†, humor relieves the soul; however it can be taken negatively when directed the wrong way. As leader we have humor, we have to lighten things at some time, but we cannot do that at the expense of others.We also cannot have humor at the wrong time, when the moment is wrong it could be devastating the situation. Jim Rohn states my philosophy of leadership perfectly with his quote. I plan to take this and use this on Troy’s campus, in class or within campus groups, displaying these leadership skills will be useful. In the future when I get a job and a family these skills will be a necessity and I will use this quote as my inspiration to become a better leader.