Saturday, August 10, 2019
Does the term organizational culture infer that an organization has a Personal Statement
Does the term organizational culture infer that an organization has a healthy culture - Personal Statement Example The term organizational culture does not imply health. Instead, it implies any behavior by the workforce in the organization. These behaviors are mainly products of the organization history, market, the style of management, or type of employees working in the organization. Some organizations that have a negative history of poor management or handling of employees find it very hard to eradicate the negative cultures that erupted during these times (Alvesson 13). However, even when elements of these cultures are remaining, the organization cannot be said to be healthy. Therefore, an organization with a healthy culture is one that has been able to eliminate negative culture either through introducing change or replacing a generation of employees with new ones. Some of the positive cultures that makes the organization to be referred as healthy include; innovation, emphasis on outcome, emphasis on customers, teamwork, etc. However, these can be tarnished by negative cultures such as discr imination. Therefore, the top managers have a role of ensuring that the organization has a positive
Friday, August 9, 2019
Assignment prompt Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2
Prompt - Assignment Example ââ¬Å"Cask of Amontilladoâ⬠bears a setting of a city which is anonymous and probably the time period is somewhere in or around 18th century. The point that triggers a query regarding this story in mind is about its anonymity. Is this anonymity deliberate or just for the sake of plot development? The question that ââ¬Å"The Tell-Taleâ⬠raises is about the extreme use of psychological element in Gothic and what exactly the symbol of vulture, or the eyes of a vulture to be more precise, stands in the story. A thorough and a close introspection into the stories will easily inform its readers that the plots of both the fictions are constituted deliberately in a format that will arouse the feeling of suspense among them. In the story, ââ¬Å"Cask of Amontilladoâ⬠, the use of flashback is to put stress on the episode on which the total mystery of the story is banking upon. Montresorââ¬â¢s motive of murder is for the readers to solve and detect the mystery without a detective in the story and hence, the use of flashback in this regard becomes more essential. The last few sentences of the story clarify the motive of the writer. The expression of Montresor and his mentioning about the period of murder builds horror in the story and recalling of the hanging of Fortunatoââ¬â¢s body from the chain in the niche, where Montresor abandoned it, almost takes the breath of the readers. All these effects are incorporated in the plot of the story through the help of the flashback mechanism. I n ââ¬Å"The Tell- Tale Heartâ⬠, the revelation of the crime and the recovery of the body also take place by the use of flash back which is brilliantly represented and would not have been at all possible to wind up the story so brilliantly without the mechanism of flashback. Imagery in Poeââ¬â¢s story can definitely be compared to the images of Keatsââ¬â¢ poem. The only difference with the images of the great romantic Keats with that of Poe is that Poeââ¬â¢s images
A Biblical Perspective On Calling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
A Biblical Perspective On Calling - Essay Example Schreiner agrees that this Paul also got appointed two times, as pioneer cathedral farmer and as the priest of freshly created worshippers, subsequent to being changed by Christ when he was heading towards Damascus. 2) Universal of the team calling: God chose Moses with Aaron as well as 72 Israel elders (to become worshippers) separately. Within the NT, in the book of Mark chapter 6 verse 2, Christ ââ¬Ëcommissioned the 12 apostles in pairs and granted them power against demons.ââ¬â¢ Theyââ¬â¢re generally appointed depending on the demands of their surrounding world. c) An individual calling to become a lover keyboardist: God grants gifts towards humans, subsequent to calling people to Christianity, i.e., inside Romans chapter 12:5-9, for fulfilling the mission God requires them doing, like within the prophecy ministries, serving, ministering, motivating, giving, controlling as well as showing compassion. Within my understanding, the Lord had implanted the talent of piano pla ying inside my spirit the time I attained eight years. Throughout the decades, He placed me in different training: initially in traditional tune and afterward inside praise and worship. Also, God refined my capabilities still more the time I turned into cathedral pianist. Moreover, God didnââ¬â¢t choose me because I am capable; however, He prepared me to a valuable tool at the appropriate moment. This perception verifies what Milson has articulated that ââ¬Ëthe Lord grants his talents just after one takes the work where he will require them.
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Effects Of Organic Waste Pollution On The Natural Environment Essay
Effects Of Organic Waste Pollution On The Natural Environment - Essay Example Water cycle that consist of material flow on earthââ¬â¢s surface to water masses are some of the causes of water pollution as the flows collect materials into water bodies and are vulnerable to intentional pollution through domestic and industrial waste disposal. This paper discusses environmental effects of organic waste pollution and reviews an article that uses toxicology to investigate the impacts of water pollution on the natural environment. Effects of organic waste pollution on the natural environment Organic discharge into water bodies has varying effects on the environment. One of the effects of organic pollution is the disintegration of organic matter to changed odour and taste of water. Effects of continuous degradation are accumulation of compounds such as hydrogen sulphide and mercaptans and this leads to gradual increase in changed odour and taste of water that may not be suitable for sensitive flora and fauna. Organic pollutants also destabilize oxygen concentration in water masses. Many factors lead to this shift from equilibrium of water concentration. Processes of organic components of water such as photosynthesis and respiration uses oxygen and may change oxygen concentration in water. Photosynthesis may increase concentration beyond its equilibrium while respiration may reduce the level of concentration. Anaerobic respiration and oxidation of organic pollutants are other factors that can reduce oxygen concentration in water. ... Insufficient oxygen in water may also cause death of aquatic animals. Such deaths further leads to accumulation of organic compounds in water and worsen the problem with oxygen concentration. Death of plants and animals in the water bodies also generate aesthetic effect besides increasing water turbidity (Goel 2006, p 116- 120). Organic pollution also affects levels of production of aquatic plants and animals. As the pollutants begin to invade water bodies, aquatic plants and animals benefits from nutrients that the organic pollutants may contain and this leads to high rates of photosynthesis and respiration among other processes. Increased concentration of organic pollutants however have adverse effects on aquatic lives as respiration rates increase and this leads to aesthetic effect and instability in oxygen concentration. Accumulation of organic pollutants also increases concentration of chemical compounds such as hydrogen sulphide and ammonia, chemicals that have adverse effects on some plant and animal species such as phytoplankton. High levels of organic pollution are also a threat to biodiversity. At normal water conditions, without organic pollutants, all aquatic plants, and animals are able to survive and their populations are constant. High levels of pollution however threaten the lives and less tolerant plants and animals die. Some plants and animals may however be tolerant and survive the harsh conditions due to the pollution. Consequently, aquatic life will consist of the tolerant species that may only be few. Loss of biodiversity from the pollution can also be permanent, unless artificial measures such as reintroduction of the extinct species upon resumption of normal condition in the polluted aquatic environment. Organic
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Pressure Sores Essay Example for Free
Pressure Sores Essay The basic philosophy of palliative care is to achieve the best quality of life for patients even when their illness cannot be cured. Palliative care is provided through comprehensive management of the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs of patients, while remaining sensitive to their personal, cultural, and religious values and beliefs. Hospital palliative care services are often provided through an interdisciplinary team of health care professionals including, but not limited to: Doctors, Nurses, Healthcare Assistants, Psychologists, Social Workers, and Priests. FATIGUE Fatigue is a common, distressing and debilitating symptom experienced by people with cancer. In those receiving palliative care it is probably the most frequently reported symptom and is experienced by more than 90 per cent of these patient. However, it represents the most commonly unrelieved cancer symptom. Cancer related fatigue can have a number of factors that can be difficult to establish, however despite these problems advancing research will help to promote the problem as a palliative care symptom that can be assessed and managed. In patients with advanced cancer, the prevalence rates of various symptoms are approximately as follows Pain 89% Fatigue 69% Weakness 66% Anorexia 66% Lack of energy 61% Nausea 60% Dry mouth 57% Constipation 52% Dyspnoea 50% Vomiting 30%. (Donnelly 1995) Defining Cancer-Related Fatigue Cancer-related fatigue is a complex phenomenon with physical, cognitive and affective methods of expression. A clear understanding of what it means is essential before it can be assessed and managed, or healthcare Assistants are able to discuss it with patients and colleagues. After exploring fatigue from the perspective of patients, Ream (1996) derived the following definition: a subjective, unpleasant symptom which incorporates feelings ranging from tiredness to exhaustion, creating an unrelenting overall condition which interferes with individualââ¬â¢s ability to function to their normal Causes and effects. The causes of cancer-related fatigue is still unknown, and lack of success in treating it at the end of life stage is in part due to this lack of knowledge. Quality of life is related to symptoms, functioning, and psychological and social well-being, while during end-of-life care, spirituality is a major issue, patients become too tired to participate fully in their roles an d activities that make life meaningful, fatigue therefore significantly affects their quality of life. Patients/Family Perceptions One of the barriers to treating fatigue at the end of life may be patients, families and Doctors perception of it as an unavoidable, untreatable symptom (Johnson, 2004).Many people experience fatigue, but studies have shown that fatigue experienced by patients with cancer is more rapid in onset, more energy-draining, more intense, longer-lasting, more severe and more unrelenting when compared with typical fatigue. Advance care planning and establishing goals of care are essential because they enhance the control patients have over their care and assure autonomy if the patient is unable to communicate their wishes or make decisions at later stages of illness. Patients want a voice in their healthcare, they want to know what to expect and how to plan for their treatment and their future. Establishing goals early on for current and future healthcare helps to avoid future unnecessary harm and inappropriate prolongation of dying. It is well recognized that interventions focused on curing dying patients result in increased suffering, with little or no benefit for the patient. This suffering may even extend beyond the patient. Nurses also struggle ethically and emotionally when care for dying patients is focused on technology rather than on comfort and quality of life. In addition, twenty-per cent of patients relatives develop a physical illness in response to the stress of coping with their loved on es poor health. Treating Underlying Causes Before a patients fatigue is simply attributed to the cancer it is important to identify and treat easily reversible underlying physiological and psychological causes of fatigue. For example, this may involve reducing non-essential medications, treating infections, correcting hypercalcaemia and electrolyte disorders or treating pain, depression, sleep disorders or anaemia .A link between fatigue, sleep and anxiety can be readily identified, and the approach to management is a general one. In palliative care, efforts are directed at alleviating symptoms, as well as toward preventing or treating the underlying cause when that is possible interventions should begin with the promotion of sensitive communication, giving patients the opportunity to discuss their fatigue in the context of living with a terminal illness and its impact on their lives , found that enabling patients to talk about their fatigue both facilitated professional assessment and helped them to explore the meaning of th e cancer and fatigue experience for themselves, and for their family and friends. This can help patients regain a sense of control and freedom to focus on other important aspects of their lives, so restoring their self-esteem .Patient and family education can be of great value in understanding cancer-related fatigue. Family members may interpret fatigue as a sign that the patient is giving up, when it is actually beyond her or his control. Complementary medicine embodies the principles of palliative care by helping to ease the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual effects of illness. It aims to control symptoms and to enhance quality of life for patients and their families. Relaxation, visualisation, massage and aromatherapy are currently being evaluated as part of a global intervention known as Beating Fatigue. There is already evidence of the beneficial effect of massage and aromatherapy on depression and other symptoms including fatigue. CONCLUSIONS/EVALUATIONS Whilst undertaking this assignment certain words keep coming to mind. Words like empathy, caring, stress, burnout, teamwork many more but I have learned to respect all patients, promote dignity, to be a better team player be confident in my abilities, but mostly I have realised that to further a career in any area of palliative care will require more training, more understanding of different patients conditions and there requirements on a daily basis and to be more conscience of the responsibilities of healthcare assistants when caring for all patients. As said previously I will seek further training in this area not only to be of greater benefit to the patients but also to seek training in some form of grief counselling to be of greater assistance to relatives and friends of patients, to empathise more and to just be able to listen when needed. Despite the high prevalence of cancer-related fatigue among patients in palliative care, its treatment is less successful than treatment for other symptoms at the end of life. The causes of fatigue in patients with advanced cancer are often unclear, multiple factors may be responsible and little is known about its causes. The specific goals of palliative care are to improve the quality of the last stages of patientââ¬â¢s lives, control symptoms, and provide support to family members and to pay attention to patientââ¬â¢s perceptions of purpose and meaning of life. The experience of cancer-related fatigue has a major impact on patientââ¬â¢s motivation as it means they are unable to undertake physical activities and that they lose interest in activities and life in general. Although it is difficult to conduct research on patients who are highly distressed, have severe symptoms or who are dying, there is the potential for such research to have a therapeutic benefit for those taking part. Providing patients with cancer an opportunity to discuss their feelings associated with symptoms such as fatigue provides information necessary to develop professional understanding and can also help patients to make sense or come to terms with their condition. Future research should focus on determining effective solutions including alternative and complementary therapies rather than on reassessing need. More focused fatigue assessment tools and targeted fatigue interventions for patients at the end of life are required, as is training in fatigue management so that healthcare assistants are more knowledgeable and skilled in assessing and managing fatigue. By understanding the physical, psychosocial and emotional needs of an individuals experience of advanced cancer, palliative care research demonstrates that health professionals can help patients to adapt to living with cancer-related fatigue. Such intervention can empower patients to maintain control over decisions relating to their care and can assist them to understand and find meaning in their fatigue. REFERENCES Donnelly S, Walsh D.(1995) The symptoms of advanced cancer. Semin Oncol 1995; 22(2 suppl 3):67ââ¬â72. Johnson, C. (1992). Coping with compassion fatigue. Nursing, 22(4), 116, 118-120. Ream E. (2007) Fatigue in patients Nursing Stand.2007: 21(28)49-56
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
The Main Characters of Pride and Prejudice Essay Example for Free
The Main Characters of Pride and Prejudice Essay Most people have seen the movie played by Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen or read the book, pride and prejudice, wrote by Jane Austen. We may be moved by Darcy and Elizabethââ¬â¢s love. Though there are full of hardships, they have a happy ending. Then I will introduce the difficult but beautiful love between them and give a analysis to this couple one aspect by one aspect. Firstly, the family backgrounds of Darcy and Elizabeth is the basic things that we should know. Darcy is a noble descent and he inherits an enormous amount o f property. It is said that ââ¬Å"his annual income is assessed at ten thousand pounds. â⬠? So he never worries about his own food, clothing, shelter and transportation. He dislikes making friends with common people; he is a self-willed man and he likes to dominate his close friends. But he is a fine, tall person with handsome features. However, compared with Darcy, Elizabethââ¬â¢s family is really poor, though they live a better life than the ordinary people. There are five daughters in this family. Unlike other sisters, Elizabeth likes reading, and she is ââ¬Å"the apple of her fatherââ¬â¢s eyeâ⬠.? And it is the same reason that she looks things in a different way and makes her so unique. Secondly, it is the turn for me to introduce the characteristics of Darcy and Elizabeth. Different from Bingley, Darcy is not talkative in front of the strangers. He only asks the familiar women to have a dance, because he can not speak sugared words to the strange women. People who do not know about him will consider him as a pride man. Actually, pride is not his characteristic. It is the education he has received that he is superior to the people. That is the reason why he has a proud and hypercritical character. There is no doubt that the proud and hypercritical character depends on a lot of property, noble social status and strong power. Events force Darcy to modify identification of social desirability and social status.? For the reason that he is fastidious,he has only a good friend, Bingley. It is not difficult to understand he must be particular about his wife. The woman who can make him fall in love must be not only beautiful, but also special, well-educated and knowledgeable. â⬠? Elizabeth lives in a society of stationary characters in its conditions and outlook. Generations are born, and die and are succeeded by their descents, living in the same places and doing the same things. There is so little change of ideas: democracy has not yet raised her horrid head money is a potential problem; courtship has its own drama. People around her are almost all foolish, passive and reposeful, though there are a few exceptions. Her father, Mr. Bennet is a country gentleman in whom irony is the most salient quality and who by wit, quick common sense and appreciation of character makes some amends for the selfish indifference, which is the ground of his character. â⬠With no doubt, Elizabeth is her fatherââ¬â¢s daughter in taste and intellect, As well as in possessing a strong critical judgment, though there is indeed some likeness in her character with her motherââ¬â¢s warm feeling, hasty judgments are common to both; Mrs. Bennetââ¬â¢s feelings, impulsiveness, judgments and speeches are generally wrong, and Elizabethââ¬â¢s are generally right; but there is as much likeness between mother and daughter as may exist between a lively and sensible woman and a lively fool. In a word, in her character, to a large extent, there is a mixture of her father and mother. ââ¬Å"Capability for judgment is one of the charming, strong points of Elizabeth. â⬠? She has more quickness of observation and is capable of both complex impressions and complex ideas. Her sensibility and intelligence rarely fail her in her reading of human minds, observing life and drawing out her correct first impression. Her first impression about Darcyââ¬â¢s house is accurate and authenticated and of figures like Mrs. Collins, Lady Catherine is right. However, her first impression is wrong. It is partly owing to Darcyââ¬â¢s own deportment, his proud manner and insulting proposals, partly to her too quick response and partly to her guilt of credulityââ¬âshe puts too much confidence in Wickhamââ¬â¢s entirely false, slanderous remarks. Human life is a complicated thing, this is one of the reasons we can find. Thirdly, I will show Darcyââ¬â¢s pride and Elizabethââ¬â¢s prejudice clearly. Let Darcy be the first one to be introduced. One reflection of Darcys proud behavior is at the very beginning at the ball in Merton. In just a couple of hours people begin to dislike him. Mr. Darcy soon draws the attention of the room by his fine, tall person with handsome features. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man till his manners gives disgust for he was discovered to be proud. The other reflection of Darcys pride is his first proposal scene. After months of struggle and consideration, Darcy chooses to open his heart to Elizabeth and tells her all his love. However, ââ¬Å"Darcy neglects the proper words on a proposal occasion though his feeling is more of tenderness rather than pride. â⬠? His honest confession of all his thoughts doesnt win him the pleasure of marriage; instead, it arouses the argument involving Janes happiness and Darcys responsibility in Wickhams case. When he treats his door keeperââ¬â¢s son, Wickham, he is also so arrogant. He says nothing or says ââ¬Å"helloâ⬠in front of the girls at the sight of Wickham who has not seen for a long time. It is the result that he is above meeting Wickham. However, the girls may regard him insolent and rude. At the same time, when Elizabeth refers to Wickham at party, Darcy does not make any explanation. He does not speak it out the facts that Wickham is not kind because he believes that people will find it out on themselves. Of course,he will not communicate with Kerens who like to flatter. ââ¬Å"He goes away with no word when he meets Kerens. ? Now it is the time for Elizabeth. The first time that they meet is at the party. When Bingley introduces him to Elizabeth, he only says that she is not so beautiful to attract my attention and he will not dance with other women.. he must know that Elizabeth can hear it when he is saying that. Darcy is proud enough to speak it out without care and it is easy to find out he is quite a pride man. In fact, Darcy is attracted by Elizabethââ¬â¢s beautiful eyes at the first sight of her. When he answers Bingley, he has fallen in love with Elizabeth. However, he can reject Bingleyââ¬â¢s advice in an impolite way, which is talked to her friends as a joke by Elizabeth. Then Mrs. Bennett lets her oldest daughter riding a horse to Bingleyââ¬â¢s home in order to attract Bingleyââ¬â¢s attention. The oldest daughter gets a cold, so she must stay at Bingleyââ¬â¢s house for a few days. When Elizabeth visits her sister on foot, she comes across with Darcy. During those days, Darcy has realized that he loves Elizabeth. But he does things still arrogantly instead of baring his heart to her. When he extremely wants to ask Elizabeth to have a dance, he says thatââ¬Å" he will give her an opportunity to have a dance with him. â⬠? It is too rude for a woman to accept it. It is just like charity and no woman wants to dance with him after hearing that. Finally, the development of relationships between Darcy and Elizabeth will be told in details. At first, there are something unhappy between Darcy and Elizabeth. When Elizabeth visits the Kerens, Elizabeth meets Darcyââ¬â¢s cousin ,Colonel Fitzwilliam,she knows hat from him it is Darcy who has prevented Bingley from marrying Jane and privately hinks Jane does not lose heart to Bingley who, he thinks, could get little benefit and happiness from the bonnet. So Darcy covers up that Jane has gone to London to have a visit to Miss Bingley. But Darcy does not know that Jane is a girl who is not good at expressing her feelings. He could not imagine that his self-opinionated action has made great hurt to Bingley and Jane. It h as a vivid and incisive description of his pride in this novel when Darcy decides to propose marriage to Elizabeth; it is also the climax of the novel to describe Darcyââ¬â¢s character. After thinking clearly, Darcy makes an offer of marriage to Elizabeth in a special way. He says thatââ¬Å" Elizabeth is born in a poor family and it is her honor to marry him. â⬠? He thinks that Elizabeth should accept it and repay him for his precious love. He guesses that Elizabeth would love him and accept happily just as Bingley should not marry Jane. But they are all his private thoughts. She repulses his offer of marriage, which really gives a hit to Darcyââ¬â¢s pride. However, it is a good opportunity for Darcy to introspect what is wrong and also foreshadows their happy ending. Then Mr. Darcy helps Mr. Bingley and Jane eliminates their misunderstanding; He also solves Lydiaââ¬â¢s scandal and rescues her and the entire Bennet family from disgrace. Finally, they have a happy ending. It is the turning point of their relationships. I have introduced Darcy and Elizabethââ¬â¢s beautiful love story and also witness a couple from strangers to from a family. Their love tells us that marriage is not only based on the property and social status, but also built on the adoring each other and respecting each other.
Monday, August 5, 2019
The Transgender Subculture in Malaysia
The Transgender Subculture in Malaysia 1. Introduction According to a privately-sponsored survey conducted in 2001, there were estimated at least 50,000 transgender people in Malaysia. Other than that, the number of transgendered people in Kuala Lumpur alone was estimated to be 50,000 which show 200 individuals in Malaysia is transgender (Wong, 2005). The study of the transgender subculture mentioned here is an explorative inquiry into the existence and the intricacies of the subject. The objectives of this study is to provide an in-depth look into the transgender subculture usually described by the term Pondan or Mak Nyah, which is much commonly used in Malaysia. Beforehand, pondan is actually a derogatory term for shemales and trangenders, whereas the term May Nyah is from the word mak, which means mother in Malay language. Both terms is used to describe a man who wants to act or dress like woman. Due to peoples limited understanding and misconceptions, some slang is publicly used to tease transgender individuals. In fact, it may cause a lot of negative impacts on them such as decreasing their self-esteem and self-efficacy. Likewise, transgender is defined as a state of an individual gender identity not matching their actual sex which they were assigned at birth, and also takes in cross dressers and transsexuals. Cross dressers are hetero males who like to dress as women on occasion whereas transsexuals is people who are born in one gender but identify with the other. The cause of transgender ideals can be both nature and nurture factors. Biologically, the factors includes differences in how the human brain functions, neurochemical pathways, and the endocrine glands. However, the nurture factor does play an important role to active the inert gene of an individual to become transgender. Sociologist strongly believes that there are influences from cultural and environmental of the local community on transgender (Zhou, Hofman, Gooren, Swaab, 1995). Moreover, transgender had been practiced long ago before it was being identified in 19th century which is 1880s in Germany. During 1886, Richard von Krafft-Ebing which is a German doctor began studying the occurrence of gender divergence. At first, transgender was coined gynandry and later he described it as metamorphosis sexualis paranoia in 1902 which mean a homosexual that truly believed him or herself to be the different from his or her assigned sex. Furthermore, Krafft-Ebing believed that homosexuality was a mental illness and delusion (Hunnicutt, 2004). In fact, the first true pioneer that involve in the field of transgender was Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld which is a gay physician that dedicate himself to the studies on the fields of sex and gender. He was the first to coin the most two popular terms to describe transgender which is transvestism and transexualism (Melville, 2004). In addition, transvestite has become kind of archaic expression and one many transgender people take the exception to.à Transgender is the popular expression of the day. The main problem that transgender face in Malaysia is that they are unable to change his or her sex identity in their identification card after they undergo sex reassignment surgery (SRS) or gender reassignment therapy (GRT) although SRS and GRT is legal in Malaysia. This occurrence shows that government are still not being recognized nor accepted. In religion aspect, Islam strictly not recognized or accepted transgender because they do not allow males to wear womens clothing and they were normally isolated. There are a significant number of transgender individuals who have been treated unfairly simply because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. (this also check see got link or not) According to a recent survey done by National Center for Transgender Equality, fully 42 percent of gay individuals say they have experienced some form of employment discrimination at some point in their lives. However, transgender workers face even higher rates of workplace discrimination and harassment. An astonishing 90 percent of transgender individuals report experiencing some form of harassment, mistreatment, discrimination on the job, or hiding from who they are to avoid it (Burns, 2003). Moreover, activists have estimated there are at least 50,000 transgender in Malaysia, many of whom face widespread prejudice and often cannot find employment (Eileen, 2011).à According to Wong (2005), a journalist from The Malaysian Bar, reported that transgender in Malaysia is still being heavily discriminated, understated and misjudged. They face many obstacles and challenges since community of Malaysia was mired in a mindset that transgender is abnormal and should somehow be treated. There are still many bias and stereotyped toward transgender in Malaysia. One of the ways to decrease and prevent bias and stereotype is through education and help more people understand about transgender. To arrive at a deeper understanding of the transgender subculture, we would discover their social relationship such as their socialization with family, peers, education and workplace. In this study, we have collected our data using questionnaires and face-to-face interview. 2. Results/ Findings 2.1 Participant 1 She is Fazura, this is the name after she decided to become a transgender. Her original name was Faiz, she was a normal male during her high school period and there is a personal reason that she decided to become a part of the transgender. During the interview, she explained that during the age of fourteen to fifteen, one of the vital reasons that she becomes a transgender is that she was hurt so deeply by one of the female during her high school years, till the point she decided to become part of it. She was from an average family which consists of four siblings, and she had two sisters that passed away far early before she was born. After years, she found out that her mother wishes to have a daughter but sadly all of her sisters were not fortunate enough to stay longer. The issue made him to think deeply and give him the encouragement to move further into the world of transgender. Family members could not accept the fact of her being a transgender, but slowly getting used to it and being comfortable around her. And from the family background of her that we know, she is the only transgender individual in among her family and relatives. Fazura would not feel concern about how other looks at her being a transgender or planning to go overseas where people would be more open-minded on transgender. She intends to stay here with her family and overcome her problems. Furthermore, being a transgender, Fazura is being very specific on her daily diet, and will go for jogging mostly everyday to keep healthy and fit. Also, she starts to consume contraceptive pills after she decided to become a transgender when she was twenty. She has to keep this as a daily routine in order to have a feminine outlook on her body. She is also planning on a plastic surgery if her financial condition can support her to do so, but she claims that she will not undergo sex reassignment surgery (SRS) because in the later years, she might wish to become straight as a normal male again. As a minority group of the society, Fazura explained that she will only hang out in place like Sunway Pyramid shopping centre and cafà © only with her group of friends. Most of her friends were transgender and PLU (which means people like us), she felt comfortable around them other than walking alone and face conspicuous sight from the public. Sometimes she might join her friends to have a small picnic gathering in Port Dickson once awhile. And as a transgender, finding a partner is not an issue for her because once in awhile she will meet someone who is similar to her or someone who is interested with her, but keeping a relationship to last long is the difficult part. Fazura mentioned that she had six partners before and were not as faithful as seems. She further explained that in the society of transgender, partners were usually come and goes, they never last long because everyone is seeking for something new and exciting rather than staying with an individual. She sees herself as an open-minded, tolerance and patience person. As a transgender Malay, she prefers to meet a partner that is smart, high moral and can financially support her. It is because they can take her equally in every decision and will not be bias just because she is a transgender. For now, she would not concern about any relationship problem at the moment because she has to focus on her work, she need to support her family and moreover a mother who is falling ill. As a twenty six years old Malay transgender, she now works in the company of Sunway Lagoon as a marketing clerk. She has a stable financial income and a flexible lifestyle, as a transgender it does not have any major negative effect on her career. She is also a part time makeup artist for wedding couple. 2.2 Participant 2 Danny is 28 years old from Malaysia. His behaviors are feminine, fashionable, gentle, and well-mannered. He was raised in Perak and moved to Klang in order to further his study in Pengajian Islam at a local university. He stopped his study after 2 weeks because he felt uncomfortable to continue his study due to his shemale identity which is against his religion (Muslim). Currently, he is working as a makeup artist in an international makeup company in Shah Alam. From his past experiences, Danny explained that he changed himself to shemale because of the external environment he was raised and influenced. During that time, the people around him often said his appearance look like a girl. She also used to play makeup and girl thingy when he was young. This is why he wanted to transform into shemale. But, when he decided to become a shemale, his family members could not accept his decision however, as time passes his family slowly accepts who he is. At the age of 25, he decided to transform himself from shemale to gay by stop consuming hormone pills and stop dressing up like a woman. The reason why he transforms himself is because: Firstly, after his mother passed away, he does not want his brother feel embarrassed about his identity. Secondly, his company does not accept him as a shemale due to any clients which is Muslim religion will refuse or reject his makeup services to them. Besides, Danny is currently in a relationship with his partner. In fact, he actually had a thought of forming his family by adopting children and raise them. His ideal partner type must be a Chinese, handsome, and has stable income. In contrast, he never expects that his love relationship could last longer. Thus, he does not treat his relationship with every partner seriously. Additionally, he keeps his identity in a low profile whenever he goes out with his partner because he does not want to expose his identity to others. In the meantime, he enjoys hanging out with his clique that consists of gay and shemale to shopping and picnic. He takes his career seriously as a professional makeup artist whereby he does not mix his personal things with his job. However, he still had the thought of transforming back to a normal guy when he becomes old. 2.3 Participant 3 Renee James is 66 years old from Chicago, USA. He was married with a woman, and had three children and seven grandchildren. He became transgender in his 40s and came out to his wife about ten years ago. He did not tell his family about his transgender orientation, only his wife knows. This is because he thinks that it would be a burden for them to carry. He believes that most of his family, relatives and friends would accept him, but he does not want to go there. He frequently stays at home. Renees personality is somewhat introverted, quiet and shy. He will try to avoid conflict with others. Besides that, he likes to write, take long walks with his dog and canoe. He usually spends most of his time with his wife and occasionally has lunch with some transgender friends. Additionally, he has been active in the Chicago trans community ever since. He will attend two or three transgender community meetings monthly and visit with family once a week. Renee is financially secured. Currently, he is a free-lance writer and a magazine editor. His magazine career was not being affected because he never came out as transgender in his professional life. He wrote a novel Coming Out Can Be Murder as a trans woman. He had encountered many barriers to success because he is a transgender and the book is about a transsexual woman. Until now, Renee still lives in two different identities, because it is illegal to change the name. He also feels conspicuous when he presents his female persona. Although he knows that he should not be bother with what others think about him, but still, he is. After he proclaims that he is a transgender, he felt a sense of euphoria and relief. However, that does not last very long because reality sets in for most transgender, transgender is a very difficult struggle for acceptance. The most challenging and difficult part that Renee faced is acceptance. This is because many Caucasian and African male-to-female transgender dont look right. For example, they are too big, too broad-shouldered and others. Renee said that, Male-to-female transgenders in Asia have a different experience that we in the US. In some Asian countries-notably Thailand-the difference in size between men and women is not as great as in Caucasian and African gene pools, so more trans women are able to pass as women. From what Ive read, though, they are just as stigmatized as we are here in the US. Hence, it is hard even for kind people to accept them. Within a marriage, acceptance is also very difficult because his wife feels threatened by his identity. She fears he will transition to full time female, become attracted to himself, have an affair with another person, or somehow embarrass the family. At first, it was very difficult for his wife, but at last she supports him and they go on. About five years ago, Renee began taking small doses of estrogen. It doesnt affect his body because he does not take testosterone blockers. Nevertheless, the estrogen seems to soothe some of the mental conflicts he had. The result is that he had a milder disposition which he dont get mad as often, and dont get as mad as he once did. He liked both boy and girl things as a child and still today. He is comfortable in a male presentation, even though much of the time he would prefer to be a woman. He claimed that he has a mans body and a bi-gender mind. 3. Discussion There are interplay of nature and nurture in transgender. Previously mentioned, there are biological effects in transgender. James (2012) stated that transgender is not a decision they make, it is how their brain develops. In the womb, we all start out female, but our bodies and brains evolve and some of us become male. The brain, including the parts that determine gender orientation, continues to develop after birth. What can decide is what to do about that? Some who born in male dont have the same brain chemistry as other males and end up identifying as female or, in some cases, identifying as both male and female. Some decide to hide their identity, but as time goes on it become impossible (James, 2012). Moreover, in our findings, the participants become transgender due to the influence of family, peers, and society. Besides, transgender concerned about their appearance. They will exercise and diet in order to keep their body fit. They also learn how to makeup from magazine, friends and television shows. Additionally, they consumed contraceptive or birth-control pills such as Marvelon, Levora, and Camilla which contains estrogens to decrease male hormone and increase female hormone. According to Cross (2012), men may experience larger breasts, less facial hair and smaller testicles if they consume the pills. Furthermore, they are materialistic and like branded things such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada. The major struggle for transgender is acceptance. Transgender like to seek for acceptance from society. In family viewpoint, transgender was not easily being accepted by their parents and siblings where they will tend to feel embarrass and confuse. As time flies, family would gradually accept them as who they are. Mostly relatives and peers could accept them as transgender. In societal perspective, the communities are still stereotyping transgender yet they are not easily bothered on how the communities look on them. One way or another, they are more concern on familys view than others on them. Likewise, transgender are not being accepted by most of the religion. In terms of relationship partner, our findings illustrated that transgender relationship usually would not last long. Transgender would not take their relationship seriously because their main concern for both sides is to satisfy their own sexual instincts. So, they will easily feel bored with their partner and always seek to change for another. Nonetheless, there is minority who able to marry (heterosexual) and involve in a long-lasting relationship (homosexual). In addition, transgender also hope to have their own family. According to our results, participants are financially secure and stable in their work. They tend to work professionally in their job and are not easily affected by personal matter. However, there are exceptions. Wong (2005) stated that there are approximately 80% of the transgender in Malaysia become commercial sex workers because of discrimination by prospective employers. Wong (2005) also declared that: Many are academically qualified to hold professional positions but are denied the opportunity for employment. Many end up in the sex industry as well as stereotyped professions such as hairdressing and entertainment. One must question how genuinely free the choice of being a sex worker can be if opportunities for other kinds of employment remain limited. One must also understand and acknowledge the way transsexuals have been [socialized] into seeing themselves and the insidious barriers set up by corporations and prospective employers. From our findings, transgender characteristics are open-minded, soft, tolerate, and non-aggressive. They are more introverts whereby they prefer to stay at home often. In addition to that, transgender usually go out with their clique or with someone who is close with them instead of go out alone. However, being a well-mannered citizen does not mean that they are free from the disturbance of the authorities. In one of the annual events, Seksualiti Merdeka, was being held to represent a coalition of Malaysian Non Government Organizations (NGOs) including Malaysian Bar Council, SUARAM, Empower, PT Foundation, United Nations, Amnesty International and individuals. Through the event, it has disclosed the Malaysian government was unwilling to provide equal rights to transgender and therefore transgender faced difficulties in accessing health care, education, housing, employment, and other rights that shared by Malaysian. For example, the transgender community has reported that they are bei ng discriminated on attempting to open bank account and applying passport. Moreover, 70% of the transgender reported that they are being caught by the police raids and have been treated brutally such as striped their clothes in front of others in the police station. (this also see is what link de) Overall, this study could not be generalized due to the lack of participants and the reliability of our resources. This is because our study only involved three participants. In order to generalize the study, we need a wider population. More participants should be recruited from different culture, races, ethnic and nationality. Moreover, this study was conducted in three weeks. The duration was considered short whereby there are limited time and resources for us to collect our data. More time should be provided in order to collect more dependable and valid information as well as to increase the degree of consistency and reliability of the study. Therefore, further research need to be conducted to obtain more significant and reliable results. In a nutshell, the transgender experiences vary across the region. Some area could accept transgender whereby they do not have to endure a lot of rudeness from others. In other areas, people tend to be very conservative and religiously dogmatic, where transgender individuals live secret lives. Yet, everyone deserves to be free from discrimination, violence, harassment and for their sexual orientations as well as their gender identities. Lastly, we should educate our young generation to be knowledgeable and understanding so that they would not easily discriminate, blames, and judges others without knowing the truth. References Burns, C. (2003). The costly business of discrimination: The economic costs of discrimination and the financial benefits of gay and transgender equality in the workplace. Retrieved September 29, 2012, fromà http://www.americanprogressaction.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2012/03/pdf/lgbt_biz_discrimination.pdf Cross, C. (2012). The effect of birth control pills on male. Retrieved from eHow: http://www.ehow.com/facts_5634953_effect-birth-control-pills-males.html Ee Lynn, Wong. (2005, February 1). Neither Here Nor There: The Legal Dilemma of the Transsexual Community in Malaysia. Retrieved from The Malaysian Bar Web:à http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/gender_issues/neither_here_nor_there_the_legal_dilemma_of_the_transsexual_community_in_malaysia.html (How about this? All need big letter? The title I mean..) Eileen, Ng. (2011, July 19). Malaysian transsexual loses court bid to officially change gender despite sex-change surgery. The Associated Press. Retrieved fromà http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=w7542884 (What mean The Associated Press? Retrieved from The Associated Press: then add?) Hunnicutt, A. (2004). Krafft-Ebing, Richard von (1840-1902). Retrieved from http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/krafft_ebing_r.html James, R. (2012). Coming out can be murder. United States: Windy City Publishers. Melville, R. (2004). Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld. Retrieved from StoneWall Society: http://www.stonewallsociety.com/famouspeople/magnus.htm United Nations Country Team. (2011). Malaysia: The millennium development goals at 2010. Retrieved from http://www.undp.org.my/files/editor_files/files/Malaysia%20MDGs%20report%20clean%200419.pdf Zhou, J.N., Hofman, M. A., Gooren, L.J.G., Swaab, D. F. (1995). A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality. Nature 378: 68-70.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)