Category: 21st Century

As I entered the mosque, the maulvi was winding up his Friday sermon that is shortly followed by the jummah prayer. He concluded by praising Allah and the Prophet for teaching us, the Muslims, about how to be safe from epidemics and diseases. He emphasised that wudu, the obligatory Islamic ablution before each of the five daily prayers, was the best way to stay safe from the Coronavirus aside from one or two specific prayers in Arabic that he’d already mentioned. I did not look at the faces of other devotees but I am sure a good number of them were convinced.

And why not? Just two days ago, Professor Javaid Akram, vice-chancellor of Lahore-based University of Health Sciences announced in a seminar that daily five times wudu could provide the protection. He even claimed the particular form of ablution was now being taught in Wuhan, where the virus originated. On Friday, a leading Urdu daily, Dunya, published a long Op-Ed titled, The cure of the incurable Coronavirus in China. After several paragraphs of quotes from Islamic texts, Amir Hamza, the author, suggested that a Chinese translation of a specific verse from the Qur’an should be provided to the neighbours for them to listen to it. “God willing, they will be cured”, he anticipated.

Sabir Shakir, a celebrity TV host and writer, in his column, Coronavirus: From China to Pakistan, produced a farrago with a religious tinge that advanced blame on the US for using the crisis to its advantage. He also lamented: “Like the deadly Coronavirus our political system is also laden with a fatal virus. Despite 72 years, Pakistan is unable to free its politics, political system, political parties and the country’s system from it”.

Thankfully, all is not left to prayers. According to a news report in Dunya (30.01.2020), Captain (Retired) Anwar-ul-Haq, Deputy Commissioner of Rawalpindi district had ordered tests of all the Chinese working at the Karot Hydropower Project. The project is building a dam at Karot village to produce electricity under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. According to Mr Haq, none of the Chinese was found to be infected. In Karachi, the prestigious Aga Khan Hospital also tested dozens of Chinese expatriates, who were given assurances and counselling sessions after being declared virus free.

That is very positive news! But apparently, these tests, if at all they were conducted, were duds. The newspapers reported that the first testing-kits donated by Japan will arrive on Friday, 31.01.2020. Some reports suggested the kits from China were to arrive on Thursday, a day before the tests of Chinese workers at Karot or Karachi were supposedly carried out. A health spokesman of the Sindh Government also confirmed that by Wednesday, 29 January, Pakistan had no testing-kits for the deadly virus. Brigadier (Retired) Waheed-uz-Zaman Tariq, a professor of virology who is currently associated with Chugtai Labs, a well-known health diagnostic company, claimed that any kits available in the country were for research and not the diagnosis. In the circumstances, this is anyone’s guess how the people were issued with all-clear guarantees.

But not many Pakistanis seem to be bothered. According to Siraj-ul-Haq, ameer or head of the largely discredited Islamist political party, Jamat-e-Islami, corruption and high commodity prices were more lethal that the ongoing contagion. Another politician from the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Afzal Khokar, who is also a parliamentarian, described Prime Minister, Imran Khan, as more dangerous than the virus.

The Islamist Urdu newspaper, Ummat, that has run a concerted campaign to discredit the government on the crisis, in a small news item, obliquely referring to the ongoing anti-Muslim crackdown in East Turkistan that is now known by its Chinese name, Xinjiang, ranted that those who banned Muslim women from wearing niqab or face-veils were now having to wear face masks all the time. Ayaz Khan, the group editor of Express News, a multi-edition Urdu newspaper, commented that the crisis was “as serious as our relationship with China”. He suggested that WHO should try to change the food habits of the Chinese, of course, with their collaboration, for their eating habits were spreading viruses.

Meanwhile, the Punjab province’s Forest, Wildlife and Fisheries Department announced it would install safety mechanisms for the wild animals under its care. It officially directed its staff to subject all the Chinese visiting zoos or wildlife parks to “special checking”. With no trained personnel or testing-kits at hand, what this means remains an unguarded mystery!

Music is sound that is composed in such a way that contains rhythm, song, and harmony, especially sounds that is produced by instruments and can produce rhythm. Although music is a kind of intuition, phenomenon, to create, improve and present it is an art form. The reason I chose this topic is because music is important for the balance of our minds, music is also art and as an entertainment. There is a difference in the type of English used in writing songs in 20th century and 21st century is the type of music in the 20th century is more varied and very free to express and imagine, not fixated on certain rules. The music today is usually created by technology that is considered to be more advanced, the average tempo of the music is faster and uses the national language.

To begin with, some differences between the 20th century music and the 21st century music is that music in the 20th century basically like infertility and the use of everyday sounds. For example, the discovery of gramophone, radio, tape recorder, television, synthesizer, to the computer. Meanwhile in 21st century, they have their patterns and movements without reducing the value of the song, the accompaniment is already using modern musical instruments. By different centuries there will be different uses of words for the song lyrics like the lexis that is used in songs nowadays are more detailed. For example, the song ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Dolly Parton and ‘I Love you, Goodbye’ by Celine Dion. Celine Dion’s ‘I Love You, Goodbye’ has more detailed choice of words, even though both songs have the same meaning.

Furthermore, songs these days are created using lyrics that doesn’t show the meaning of the song directly, it uses words that gives hint about the meaning of the song. In the 20th century there are lyrics that directly give the meaning. For example, in the 21th century, like Billie Eilish’s song, which is called ‘Bellyache’, it is difficult to perceive the meaning behind it. With vague lyrics such as “My V is for Vendetta” and “now I got bellyache”, one would not expect that the real meaning of the song is actually about she felt played by people who are the closest to her and acted on impulse trying to kill them. After that she realized, the guilt took over her and could no longer distinguish the truth from the guilt and it started driving her insane the regretting it soon. Meanwhile in the 20th century with the song ‘Ain’t She Sweet’ by The Beatles, the meaning is clearly visible, it’s a song about how he keeps talking about this girl and how the girl acts sweet.

Lastly, songs back then are songs with actual meaning, songs that tells you about a story, but in a song like a love story, sad story and others. For example, The Beatles’ song ‘Ain’t She Sweet’ talks about a girl that he saw and how he thinks that she is sweet. Songs now are sometimes used in different things, not just a song with story, but it also can be a song to offend a certain person, which is called a diss track, and they are usually created with an inappropriate words, slangs and others. For example, Eminem’s diss track called ‘The Sauce’, and it is written to offend another person name Benzino. The track explain how he tells him not to pick a fight with him or the person will be in trouble.

The pollution in European nations is reducing day by day due to lock downs because of corona virus. People are staying home. The causes of pollution are no more. People are not going out to through wastes that is a cause of pollution. They are not burning fuels. Hence the rate of pollution is being lowered. People are not using vehicles. Hence exhaust fumes are also not produced. Industries and factories are closed so they are not giving out smoke.

In Europe there is a large decrease in the concentration of many air pollutants like Nitrous Oxide etc. It is actually a by product of corona virus crisis. It is all because of the lock downs that are done for controlling the coronavirus. People are not going out. All these measures decreased the pollution in European countries. European government has taken hard and strict measures to slow the rate of air pollution. Corona virus is actually destroying the whole world because of which countries are using protective measures. These measures are indirectly controlling the environment in a positive way. The emission of green house gases is also reduced to a great level.

Many researchers have made the maps of nitrous oxide to show the positive effect of lock down due to Corona virus on pollution. The pollution is decreased to a great extent. NO2 concentration has also been reduced as compared to the previous years. It is all because people stay at home to stay themselves save and as a result the country is also save from pollution.

S5P was launched in October 2017. It possess only a single instrument known as Tropomi. Actually it is a spectrometer that observes the light that is reflected from the Earth. It observes different colors. In this procedure, it finds the atmosphere that has less air pollutants. The spreading of Corona virus is directly proportional to the lowering of air pollution. The atmosphere will be pollution free if corona virus spreads or vice versa.

Air pollution causes many diseases like heart disease, blood pressure issues, cough, fever. So if people are having these diseases coronavirus will attack them easily. If there is decrease in air pollution the attack of corona n virus can also be reduced. The health risk for people by air pollution in countries is increasing the death rate from coronavirus infections. But this is only the one side of the picture. No doubt that coronavirus crisis is showing a positive effect on our atmosphere but it is also doing a great damage to the whole world. Many people are losing their lives full stop some people are becoming psycho due to the threat of coronavirus. The whole world is at the verge of chaos. People are not going out of their homes. All the industries and factories have been closed full stop the economy of every country is decreasing alarmingly.

Now as far as the whole world is concerned corona virus played a positive effect on atmosphere. Air pollution decreased to a great extent. The concentration of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide which are the important gases of greenhouse is reduced. Hens global warming is also decreased. Furthermore, nitrous oxide is also reduced. The overall application has been reduced to a great extent.

As a culture, the human race has been plagued by various problems in both general well-being and relationships. We have fought wars of the humankind, wars born of greed and disunity. We’ve also fought wars of nature, battles against our own biology. The human race is fighting one such war right now. But all wars have something in common. After the war is done with, comes the peace. The peace is usually brought on by an agreement or realization of some sort. And after the order enters unity, everyone coming together, building up what was lost or destroyed by the conflict. We always realize that we are one in the end.

The coronavirus is a war that no one saw coming, and no one country can defeat it alone. States are already asking one another for help; we’re all realizing that we can’t do it all by ourselves. The Flowcode is a method of enhancing life as we know it. It’s a way to optimize our perception of the world, a way to increase our focus on the things that really matter. It’s a state of enhanced focus, a place where everything becomes possible, and nothing is out of our reach. In the flow state, there is endless potential for improvement. There’s no stress, no doubt, no self-consciousness, and no self-critique. There’s only purpose and happiness.

Athletes call it the being ‘in the zone.’ But this state has also been referred to in Buddhism and across many different cultures and religions. Unlike most concepts, the flow state isn’t separated by tribe or race or any other divide. If you’re human, you can achieve the flow state. Getting into this state is something everyone can experience, and that’s why it serves as a great unifier. We desire many things as humans, and these desires can cause disunity. Project Unity is striving to use the flow state as a basis for new and unprecedented growth in human civilization and development. It seeks to share flow principles to the world and integrate it into our learning institutions. This would create a flow culture, with everyone knowing and understanding the concept and principles of flow and incorporating it as part of their everyday lives.

The acceptance of the flow culture will create a sense of unity in diversity. And the Coronavirus pandemic might be the push to realizing that we are all one. Deep down in our biology, in our core, we are all human, and we are all the same. This is the central concept we all need to reinforce, and the coronavirus, while destructive, is helping us to see that while we all live differently, we still need each other when it really counts. Project Unity is working towards pushing the principles of flow to various channels and spreading it across the world. The coronavirus has made it glaringly apparent that we need to unite. Using the flow to do so will not only better us as individuals but make us stronger together.

Although gender equality can be measured in many ways, we must question what the possibilities are. Women can be discriminated against in the work place by not being allowed to perform the same duties as men, and if they do these jobs, they do not always receive the same pay. Women have long been trying to earn their place in the political world, whether it is a city council seat, state senate or vice president position. Yet society uses various sources of visual media including television, internet, and videos in advertising to attract attention using young, attractive, thin models; and this is sending the wrong message to our youth. Even though beauty pageants are held to find the most beautiful woman in the universe, this could still leave our young ladies thinking they should continuously strive to have the perfect body. Women can be beautiful as well as talented and intelligent. They should be recognized by society, especially in terms of equality and opportunity.

We need only stroll through a local mall or walk down a street on a weekend afternoon to see the effects this is having on these young ladies. They are trying to imitate the cover of the current popular magazine on the store shelf. The model is very thin and dressed in little clothing. Our daughters and granddaughters are feeling all this peer pressure, thinking maybe this is what they need to look like to make it today. This could possibly affect their self-esteem and self-worth. They need to be more realistic and find peace with their own bodies. So many girls and women are involved in the social media craze like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram; they see all these perfectly shaped women, so it makes them feel unhappy. This is another reason they feel compelled to go along with the crowd.

Magazines, television, and movies should not promote unrealistic body images to pre-teenage girls and young women. Continuous reminders and repeated access to these videos, movies clips and, advertising could possibly lead to anorexia, bulimia, and the abuse of dangerous medications to lose weight. Bulimia is where a person eats and then throws up or takes laxatives to get rid of the food. This can cause very serious problems. A lot of times bulimia and anorexia will go hand and hand. The person will binge eat, then purge or use laxatives or enemas to excrete the food. They go to the bathroom as soon as they eat, hoping they will pass the food. They might also do very extensive exercise. It can cause dental problems, depression, and bone loss along with many other health issues. This psychological study done on the self-image of adolescents is showing that they feel the need to change their body image to fit in with the crowd. The authors feel that social networking and the internet need to do more to change this image and help these children with their health issues. If they help cause the problem, they should help repair it (Copetti and Quiroga 161-177). This disease is so very deadly and can attack anyone. As soon as it grabs a good hold, it becomes a parasite. It will cause high blood pressure and other medical conditions. Women in their late twenties can be on as many as four blood pressure pills a day. Doctors can do many, many tests and still not find the underlying cause of medical problems. This disease can affect every organ in the body. The organs start shutting down one by one. It will cause a stroke, then the kidneys shut down, the liver quits working; eventually weeks before her thirtieth birthday she has died.

Although the beauty pageants have talent shows, this does not always show intelligence or education of the contestants; it shows they are still exposing their bodies. This is not to say some of these models do not have a college education, or they might be working their way through college by posing for the pictures. Some beauty pageant contestants start as children competing. Before they know it, they have missed out on a normal childhood. All they know is to live for the competition. We, as a society, need to mentor this younger generation. They must understand the big companies are out to make money. We must show them there is a better way. Whether or not they go along with the crowd, they should stay in school and work for a better life. These are decisions that children need help with; after all it could affect the rest of their life.

As soon as a woman applies for a job as a construction worker, heavy equipment operator or other positions that have been considered man’s work for years, people either think she is not capable of doing the job or that she has no business even trying because she is a woman. They think women are much too fragile to be handling large machinery. A woman might be a truck driver, crane operator or airline pilot. A company more than likely would contract a man operator before hiring a woman contractor to haul a load of freight, they might be concerned about the safety of the load under the care of a woman. If the woman is a crane operator, a company could possibly choose a man, thinking they have more experience, would be safer, and would be smoother with the crane. This is not always the case. A huge airline, such as United Airlines, might hire a man pilot over a woman with the idea if they ran in to rough weather during a flight the man would be more capable of handling the airplane. Women are trained to handle the same situations as their counterparts.

Women have been in the trucking industry for many years. When our troops had to fight in World War I and World War II, the women were left to fulfill a lot of the jobs that were always considered men’s work. The first woman to receive a chauffeur’s license, now called a commercial driver’s license, in the United States was Elizabeth Drennan in Texas in 1929. She hauled explosives and oil field equipment. Seven percent of the professional truck drivers on the road today are women (qtd. in Marsh 1). A lot of them do specialty, heavy hauls, explosives, and refrigerated loads that require demanding expertise and care of the load as well as transporting the freight. Women are still being criticized for doing a man’s job, but they can do it just as well and make just as much money if they are working for a respectable company. Many women own and operate their own trucking companies with much success. “Women are under represented in decision making positions worldwide. However, gender equality and diversity are recognized to have beneficial effects on organizations, institutions, and the overall economy. This article provides evidence that removing the glass ceiling, the invisible barriers which prevent women from reaching upper level positions may produce not only more equality but also substantial efficiency gains” (Profela 34-37). Even though a lady might have the same doctorate or master’s degree from a reputable college or university, the man may get the job because the employer might think that he needs a long-term employee. He may also be thinking that a few years down the road, this woman might decide to marry, have children, and become a stay at home mother. He, in turn, has invested years working with this employee and lost her. She, on the other hand, has performed her job efficiently and has gained several high-profile clients to the company’s portfolio during her employment giving the stockholders a hefty profit.

As soon as a woman runs for public office, people tend to think she is giving up her home. The old way of thinking is that all women should stay at home, have children, get up in the morning, send their husband and children out the door, and clean house all day. Those days are long gone. Women want to have a say in what goes on in their town, country, and government. After the Anita Hill and Judge Clarence Thomas conflict in 1991, women decided it was time their voices should be heard. In 1992, one hundred and seventeen women ran for Congress, far surpassing the 1990 record of seventy-seven. In Washington state, Patty Murray, whose only experience was serving on a school board for six years and four years in the state senate, decided to run for the United States Senate after their senator retired. Her opponent once belittled her and called her “merely a mom in tennis shoes”. She picked up the phrase and used it as her campaign slogan, and she won the election by fifty five percent (qtd. in Morin 128). As soon as the Hill, Thomas hearings were finished, women that had long since been mistreated started coming forward. As soon as one person makes that effort, it will give others the strength to follow. We need to encourage anyone that is being mistreated, no matter who it is, to seek help. You can always find a friend, police officer, doctor or social worker that is willing to help.

Still with everything that is going on in today’s world, we need to help all the other people around us. It is a fact that not only our adolescent girls, young women, and young boys are all affected by the internet, television, and movie industry’s decisions to display less than honorable products; some of the explicit things that are shown and viewed by them today are unreal. Possibly if enough concerned citizens appealed to the advertising community these ethics could be changed. Laws are changed in our government system daily by people sticking together, why should this be any different. We might consider getting laws passed to have the ratings on advertising better controlled. Women need to stand up for the rights they have earned. We have come a long way by earning the right to vote, the right to defend our citizens as police officers, and become fighter pilots. We are equal, and we can be whatever we want. Women no longer must stay behind closed doors, stay uneducated, untrained and prevented from seeking high level positions and earning decent wages. They are equal to their men counterparts whether society wants to face that fact or not.

Works Cited

1. Copetti, Aline and Quiroga Carolina, “The Influence of Media on Eating Disorders and the Self-Image in Adolescents.” Revista de Psicologia da IMED vol. 10. no. 2, 2018, pp.161-177. Article 26 June 2016, Directory of Open Access Journals, GALILEO.
2. Marsh, Aaron, “Driving Forces: Women Taking on More Lucrative Trucker Jobs.” Fleet Owners Exclusive, 19 March 2019, p. 1. Business Source Complete, GALILEO.
3. Morin, Isobel, “8: The Year of the Woman: 1992.” The Year of the Woman: 1992, Oliver Press. 1994. p. 128. Book Collection Nonfiction, GALILEO.
4. Profeta, Paola, “Gender Equality in Decision-Making Positions: The Efficiency Gains.” Interconomics, vol. 52. no. 1. 2017, p. 34. Business Source Complete, GALILEO.

Feminism in the twenty-first century has come to be the redefinition of politics. It challenges the assumption of an easy distinction between the public and private sphere, specifically on how “women seek equality in all spheres of life and use a broad array of strategies to achieve that goal” (Fiss, 1994). With today’s society being marked as a generation that conducts most of the activism online, along the side of offline components, the strategies used are often reinforced through the development of the internet and communication technologies. Such an example may be seen when US feminists contributed to the #YesAllWomen campaign on Twitter in May 2014. Within four days, the hashtag quickly gained global recognition and have sparked a large narrative of feminist discussions. In this essay, I argue that digital platforms can help feminist activism, by identifying and analyzing how online platforms shape and disseminate new modes of discourse about feminism through hashtag activism, as well as how it can connect women of different constituencies, allowing physical acts of resistance to emerge on a global scale.

The social constructivist view believed that the stereotypical role for a woman is to rely on men for both sustenance and status (Cook 1993, 59). However, considering the fact that feminism comes in different waves involving different commitments, challenging those longstanding sexist assumptions can essentially come as a struggle. The first wave was the women’s suffrage movement, where women fought for the right to vote, education, and property equality. The second wave was the women’s liberation movement from the domestic sphere, striving to achieve and gain equality in all aspects of life. The third wave was the politics of difference with a focus on enhancing women’s individual agency. Lastly, the fourth wave is where the society of today is now at. It mainly focuses on the interconnectedness of diverse identifications of women via the internet, and how it creates new alternative forms of activism. This is where the #YesAllWomen feminist campaign emerged into the digital world, surfacing as “a key moment in the genealogy of feminism that underscores the old-in-the-new and suggests an urgent course of action for feminist media scholars.” (Rodino-Colocino 2014, 1).

Firstly, digital platforms of today are able to help shape and disseminate new modes of discourse about feminism through hashtag activism. Hashtag activism comes as an example of how online platforms are able to influence and shape the twenty-first century way of activism “by giving rise to changing modes of communication, different kinds of conversations, and new configurations of activism across the globe, both online and offline” (Baer 2016, 18). #YesAllWomen was created as a response in light of the Isla Vista shooting rampage where six undergraduate female students were murdered. Prior to the incident, the shooter, Elliot Rodger, posted a youtube video in which he expressed his idea to punish women for rejecting and leaving him an outcast, claiming “If I can’t have you, girls, I will destroy you.”. The misogyny and victim-blaming of the incident became the motives behind the Twitter trend #YesAllWomen, where the movement was meant to empower and encourage women to share similar experiences.

Not only does the #YesAllWomen campaign re-discuss the old feminist debate of human rights, but they also renegotiate the feminist political theory into a more neoliberal dimension by diverting attention towards a more gender-specific violation. According to feminist scholars, today’s exposure to digital feminist activism acts as “a departure from conventional modes of doing feminist politics” (Baer 2016, 18), arguing that it represents a turning point in the feminist movement. As feminists today are more “primarily concerned with hierarchy, not discrimination” (Fiss 1994, 416), the new millennium approaches feminism attempts to divert the “liberal feminism” into a much more ambitious goal of ending the subordination of women as a social group. For instance, the #YesAllWomen campaign aims to inhibit the universality of misogyny by acknowledging and sharing all kinds of post-sexual harassment or violence due to women’s oppression. They question previous longstanding debates of both male privilege and white privilege (Baer 2016, 29) as the campaign ought to contend a “counter-narrative to exceptionalist discourses by insisting that these spectacular tragedies are logical manifestations of a system of gender oppression which condones and facilitates male domination by normalizing gender violence and sexual entitlement.” (Thrift 2014, 1). Many young feminists are also responding to the fourth wave of feminism through online protests, hoping to re-signify pop culture and reframe the orthodox media representations of feminism.

Secondly, the digital platforms of today are able to create portals that connect women of different constituencies across global terrains, thereby promoting those feminist ideas. As today’s generation is mediated in the digital era, feminisms are able to flourish via the enhanced connectivity. Women of today are likely to gain more access to the narrative agency through hashtag activism, allowing them to share personal stories of sexual harassment and violence through intersectional conversations:

“The Internet provides a space where feminists can learn from each other about why things some feminists see as harmless can be hurtful and offensive to others. Most feminists know about intersectionality, but far from all of us know every way in which intersectional oppression works.” (Fredrika Thelandersson 2014, 529).

As the barriers to access feminist conversations are much lower, feminist ideas are naturally much more collective and accessible on a global scale. Four days later to when #YesAllWomen was first used, the campaign had received a huge media cover worldwide as there were over 1.7 million tweets with personal stories and demands for a more ‘just’ society. Thus, it may be seen how as being one of the most popular digital platforms, Twitter is a crucial platform in building networks within trans-local and transnational boundaries. As stated by Clark, “by linking together numerous individual voices without relying on organizations, hashtag activism enabled a more intersectional movement against domestic violence than that of previous generations.” (Clark 2016, 10). One does not need to be in a women’s studies class or go to a consciousness-raising group as they can just simply go on a computer to learn and speak out to be a part of the movement. Subsequently, this allows younger generations to be more politically engaged as the digital world is known to be perfectly natural for the young.

The individual and the collective interplays through the demonstration of how women of today are able to share stories of oppression under #YesAllwomen, which enables “active audience participation as opposed to passive consumption” (Kreiss, Meadows, and Remensperger 2014). Alongside the shift in the general society’s attitude towards women, the commitment to collective activism via necessity increases the potential of the awareness to transform into a real impact for women issues legislation transnationally. Blogs are also an example of today’s generation’s form of the consciousness-raising group where such medium is inclusive of all the social justice needs. The increase in collectivity and connectivity of feminist activists had also allowed acts of resistance to emerge on a global scale. In June 2014, the American Revolutionary Communist Party had organized a series of demonstrations supporting the #YesAllWomen trend in several states of the US such as New York, Philadelphia, Portland, and San Fransisco, where the street protest aimed to turn the digital protest into a physical offline act of activism. Feminists in Germany had also contributed to #YesAllWomen by sharing their experiences and stories on Twitter, which included the hashtag #Aufschrei or ‘outcry’, creating “a transnational digital connection between two locally founded protest actions” (Baer 2016, 17).

However, one should also consider the negatives of online activism. Aside from the digital culture being able to facilitate feminist aims, women are still prone to be radicalized in those online feminist spaces. Later in the year 2014, Twitter became a battleground for transnational activists when the #NotAllMen campaign emerged as an objection to #YesAllWomen as many are starting to believe that the idea of feminism has too often become synonymous with man-hating. Secondly, the success and effectiveness of raising awareness in social media are often dependent on public figures being involved in the online protest: “celebrity and popular culture have figured as key sites in the mediated resurgence of feminism, producing competing and contested articulations of feminism as a ‘popular’ phenomenon” (Kanai 2019, 1). The #YesAllWomen campaign was able to travel far and fast due to a retweet by author, J.K. Rowling, mentioning the hashtag to her 3.2 million followers. Lastly, there is also an overarching neoliberal sentiment of self-surveillance from digital feminism, as the idea of feminism itself is increasingly seen as an identity and not just a politic.

In conclusion, it may be seen how digital platforms have the potential to help feminist activism. The digital culture of today comes as a site of collective consciousness and identity building for women around the world by enabling women to speak against the systematic struggles women face. Hashtags have a narrative logic by connecting individual personal stories to fuel for a greater political change making it the ideal launchpad for modern feminism. Regardless of the factors that limit the empowerment potential through online spaces, many of today’s digital platform is able to help increase feminist activism. #YesAllWomen is an example of how feminist Twitter campaigns are able to provide women with a platform to discuss critical gender-related issues through the power of narrative form. This had lead to the formation of offline protests which can transform online awareness into a real impact for women issues legislation transnationally.

I feel being a man in 2019 is as complicated as ever. Let me start by talking about one of the things I believe are not talked about as much, mental health. Sadness, anger, happiness and fear are the four basic emotions we feel as humans. Of these four emotions, happiness is considered the most acceptable in our modern-day society. Yet anger, fear and sadness are universally felt by everyone. Men throughout history have been told not to express any sort of feelings as it can make us appear weak in front of others. As emotions such as fear and sadness are generally not as accepted, men might try to hide these from themselves and those around them. They feel that they should be able to cope on their own.

Did you know that on average 12 men a day take their own life and that 31% of men said that would be too embarrassed to go and seek help for a mental health problem. We as a society have put this idea in men that we shouldn’t speak about our mental well-being and to even feel embarrassed to seek out help.

A lot of men were taught at an early age to ‘suck it up’, that crying is unacceptable and expressing how one felt could be viewed as weak or whining. Men weren’t given a platform to share how they felt, but instead were quickly told to move past it and ‘stay strong’. This led to a lot of men only knowing how to act tough or hide their feelings in silence. Not a healthy or enjoyable away to go through life. Hiding feelings and not being able to express oneself is a recipe for future health issues, poor communication in relationships, and depression.

There is a lot of confusion these days about what it means to be a man. The blurring of gender lines has made traditional notions of masculinity obsolete. It is not just human beings with a penis that aspire to the traits of sexuality, conquest, wealth, success and authority. A century ago, a man provided, a woman nurtured. Not so much anymore. It is difficult to assign or describe attributes solely to males. Males should not be defined by their behavior any more than females. Anything you can say about the qualities of a man could be applied to a woman, and vice-versa.

Being a man is no different than being a woman, just be the best version of yourself you can be.

Four hundred years have passed since “Romeo and Juliet” was first performed in London during the Elizabethan era, so why is the average student in the 21st century still expected to analysis and study Shakespeare’s historical figures? This is just one dilemma many students are asking. This play explores the highly distinguished themes and concepts such as; love, death, and marriage. These themes make this play relevant to today as it was when it was originally staged. The playwright, William Shakespeare is internationally recognized as the greatest dramatists and writer in the English language hence Romeo and Juliet incorporates an extensive vocabulary and powerful imagery. Shakespeare explores these literary techniques through the play as he conveys the story of two young lovers, “Romeo and Juliet” in the city of Verona who falls deeply in love with each other but sadly ends in an ill-fated death, caused by the century-old feud between the Montagues and Capulets. I believe that the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare is definitely worth studying because it unquestionably resonates with the 21st century, this is demonstrated through the themes of individual freedom versus the accepted values in societies. Shakespeare explores this theme through his characters allowing us to comprehend the two lovers forbidden love and how Rome is constantly departing from societies standards as Shakespeare challenges the stereotypes in both the 15th and 21st century.

The way Shakespeare represents the theme of forbidden love most defiantly allows teenagers in the 21st century to feel connected to “Romeo and Juliet”. Through much of the play, it shows how the lovers face many problems with their relationship as their family and friends do not agree with chooses, forcing them into conflict with the social world around them. The privacy of the night was used to their advantage as this was the only way “Rome and Juliet” could truly express their feelings to each other, due to the feuds undergoing between the two family’s prohibiting them from not seeing each other. Their love for each other was so strong that they consider giving up their names in order to be together. “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and ill no longer be a Capulet”. It is clear that twenty-first-century readers will be engaged by the play due to it’s similarity to Titanic, with Rose and Jack. Although the two stories have different backdrops they have the same fundamental story. Where they both tell a story of tragic love, forbidden by their self-obsessed family’s almost entirely blind to the world around them. The similarity of unforbidden love between the two couples is displayed through the idea of ‘love at first sight’. Therefore, the play of Romeo and Juliet created by Shakespeare is relevant to today’s society because many couples still experience unforbidden love in their personal lives.

Another way the play encourages teenagers to re-evaluate their attitudes towards males displaying emotions, as Romeo exhibits this effectively through the play. Romeo’s requirement to uphold his manly honor in society does not affect him as he believes in following his heart, this is revealed through his love for Juliet. Although Romeo is fully aware of the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets he still proceeded to marry Juliet as he is a Petrarchan lover. “But soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun! —Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she.” Romeo articulates these famous words in the balcony scene as he watches Juliet leave her bedroom to look out at the night sky. The imagery Shakespeare chooses to represent Juliet is the sun which in the world of mythology is traditionally used to display masculinity and the moon with feminine which challenges the stereotypes of men and women. Romeo exhibits a few stereotypically “feminine” traits. Perhaps Shakespeare is using these sun and moon images to highlight the fluidity of gender roles? Stereotypes are definitely still being challenged in today’s society as it is displayed clearly in the literary text of “The Hunger Games”. In this novel we see the gender roles are reversed through Pete and Katniss, this is firstly portrayed when Katniss volunteers in the place of her sister, this protective action are more typically associated with men. Secondly her ability to complete the game and ultimately being victorious. On the other hand, Peeta portrays the more feminine traits as he displays his emotions more frequently, and is kind and compassionate towards others. This 21st-century example exhibits that stereotypes are certainly still being challenged after four hundred years. Therefore, Shakespeare displays Romeo as an individual who goes against the social expectations of a man and their masculinity.

Finally, the audience of “Romeo and Juliet” in the 21st century can relate to the play as they recognize the value being independent and not following societies standard. The play displays the positives of following your heart although others may not agree with your decision due to a feud. Shakespeare also challenges the idea of feminine and masculine stereotypes through the play.

Print media is an important and cheapest source of communication. The print side of things has declined in recent years. Part of the decline is due simply to technological advancement. The Internet has been one of the major reasons print media has declined in readership in the past decade. Even large daily newspapers aren’t able to keep up with up to the news that can be found on your computer screen.

It came into notice. The debate was started soon after the development was taking place in technology where it is was seen that electronic media will soon take over print media. But still it can be seen clearly that even electronic media has become the central attention, for accurate information people prefer written materials such as books, articles, journals, newspaper written by different authors, journalists or politicians, which basically gives proof to the reader that the point typed in any written material is accurate and authentic. This shows that print media has its own importance as it will survive in the twenty-first century as well.

There are many people who prefer reading books as a joy and passing their free time, which shows that how print media has still a place in the society. There are many historical books that are in their perfect conditions and many historical events have been set in it which is not available on electronic media.

It is impossible that print media will get abolished as through print media such as books, assessment sheets, etc., students learn how to read and write properly, whereas in electronic media where students with young minds are unable to do, as reading material will give their minds a strong impact due to which they will learn faster and for a very long time.

Many universities have started to use electronic media, but still it should be remembered that the use of print media is not yet finished, the greatest proof is the availability of libraries in universities and schools for the students. Not every information on electronic media is correct as anyone can publish their written material on the Internet by using social media, but in print media it takes years for the person to publish books, articles, etc. The publisher confirms that the information is correct and it takes many years to publish a book, which shows its authenticity, for example: the book on India and Pakistan nuclearization took seven years to get published.

It should not be forgotten that the existence of digital or electronic media is because of print media as it has given a main idea for electronic media to make or to develop online articles where students can access them. It has given an idea for locals to read newspaper online which was once read on paper.

Electronic media is where technology can be hacked easily, but print media is available in the form of paper, therefore it can be kept confidential. For example: recently a bank in Lahore was hacked and all the clients’ amount was misplaced as well, no computer was showing the accurate result due to the fact there were print media (documents) which actually showed the actual amount the bank had to pay back.

Print media is a cost-effective tool that can be used by use for daily use, for example: newspapers, magazines, journals, books, etc. There are still many places, such as villages and small towns, where people do not have the access to the Internet, so in that case people use print media to get the daily information about the world or society.

The ads that are given on magazines are more effective then on electronic media as the ads may disappear after some time, but in print media it will last forever and will give a long-lasting effect on the people (readers). Moreover, people are scared to click on ads where they might get virus in their electronic media device, so it shows that some users are unable to see the ad, so in that case, print media takes a higher place. Well, many people who cannot afford ads on social media, so they use catalogs which are then distributed among people, which gives a strong impact on people, for example, restaurant ads or brochures.

Business men who are dealing with other people and want to introduce themselves to different companies will send their printed cards for contacts and brochures so that other companies would get interested and should deal with them. For example, EY Company that deals with accounts, Berger paints who wants to enhance their business.

Newspapers around the world are struggling with the same question of how to change the audience of their websites and cope with the shift in viewers and advertising share.

Worldwide, it’s fairly clear that the Internet and mobile phones are disrupting media systems. In particular, print newspapers are in decline, as many struggle to compete with online and news sources. In compare, magazines have benefited from digital technology, capitalizing on role interests and digital platforms. Caught between squeezing expenses and even more rapidly squeezing editorial freedom, print publications are being silenced into becoming something they actually are a cure to, a white noise that drowns the silence, and a social media that looks busy in doing nothing meaningful. Bringing newspapers and magazines online has also not solved the problem. It is entirely likely that the digital age will cause some newspapers to fail. But others will likely continue to succeed, mainly since many advertisers still see print media as the best way to promote their products. Even though digital advertising is cheaper, its value is far lower than that of print advertising. Indeed, there has been an ongoing transformation within the magazine industry that is driven by digitalization, while the printed magazine was previously the center around which all of its other business revolved, magazines are now multi-media brands.

Introduction of Cell Biology

All living things on this planet are made up of cells that are considered to be a living thing’s building blocks. Several cells come together to form a living organism. During their entire lifespan, each living being performs various functions such as respiration, excretion, reproduction, etcetera. Our body has different organs to perform these functions. Such organs are made up of different tissue types, and tissue is nothing more than a group of cells. As we know that the human body is composed of many cells (just like bricks form the vital part of a building), and cells make up an organism. Cells are the fundamental component of life. Cells are the smallest living unit of an organism, and all cells have three things in common a cell membrane, Cytoplasm, and DNA. There are two broad categories of cells, The Eukaryotic cells, and Prokaryotic cells.

In 1665, the first biologist Robert Hooke discovered cells. He used an old basic microscope to detect the dead cells in the cork of a tree’s bark. He noticed a wall’s empty spaces and called them cells because they looked like tiny compartments. Therefore, we can conclude that what Robert Hooke saw looked like a honeycomb-like structure.

Importance of Cell Biology in the 21st Century

The structure and function of cells have now become a blend of basic research and clinical topics. The tools have also expanded with the growth of molecular and analytical techniques. In this Century, especially during the past two or three decades, We also experienced an unparalleled rise in our understanding of the cell, its systemic structure and complexity, its chemical organization, and the specific roles of its sections. This knowledge focused on the efforts that thousands of scientists are working on throughout the world in laboratories.

The importance of cell biology in the 21st Century is that it has helped us in so many ways, and by understanding how cells work in healthy and diseased states, cell biologists are working in the animal, plant, and medical science. We will develop new medicines, more effective drugs, plants with enhanced properties, and a better understanding of how all living things function by increased knowledge.

Eventually, it is and will be more effectively possible to produce a ‘health forecast’ by analyzing our database of genetic and cell information. Using this, we can take more control over our health in a preventive way. (Lodish et al. 2016) Nevertheless, cell biology is not just about disease. It has greatly assisted the human fertility program. Archeological DNA testing is being used to show how a living person is linked to a long-dead ancestor.

In-plant science was used to show that two different-looking plants have the same genetic background. In Forensic medicine, we are using DNA fingerprints, cell biology, and DNA to help solve murders and assaults. Neither the law courts nor the criminals can escape from Cell biology’s importance.

In Biotechnology, we are using cell biology techniques, and information to genetically modify fertilizers to produce appropriate features, to clone animals and plants, to develop and ensure high-quality food is available at lower costs, to manufacture purer drugs and timely organs for the people who are in need for transplants. ( BSCB = British Society for cell biology, founded 1965) (The Company of Biologist )

Cell biology is all about this and is capable of making an exciting career. It is significant for every one of us to feel about how the increase in knowledge about cell biology has affected him or her and our society in general. Our society will need to make informed decisions about such issues as growing organs for human transplantation and growing modified rice to provide nutrients in those areas where vitamin ‘A’ deficiency causes blindness to produce the vitamin.

A fundamental understanding of cell biology for us is as important as having any awareness, including genetics, of computers and the Internet.

Cell Biology of The 21st Century

The cell biology of the twenty-first century will put together many distinct branches of biological researches such as taxonomic studies of many organisms, considerable advancement in molecular genetics, moves towards discovering cellular life processes, and new biological systems that will recognize biological objects concerning their broader environment. The Cell biology of the twenty-first century seeks to better understand the mechanisms of a living cell and the increasingly complex structure of metazoan organisms, up to processes functioning at the organism stage, like species and ecosystems. This comprehension, though, is primarily based on synergies between the interpretation of a process. The Cell Biology of the 21st century frequently ties together theoretical work in the field of empirical work in biology. Empirical research was carried out in laboratory experiments or field findings and has contributed to testing for theories as well as developing hypotheses. Hypothesis analysis is focused on the data provided by empirical work to accept or reject a candidate hypothesis. Data collected in empirical work, however, may also suggest new hypotheses, resulting in exploratory work in nature.

In the Cell biology of the 21st century, computational research provides a variety of methods to help experimental study, but also enables a great deal of process biology by techniques such as simulation, data mining, and microarray analysis — and thus underlies the development of possible candidate theories that need to be checked. It should also be remembered that hypothesis testing applies to both reductionist and process biology in the context that both forms of Cell biology are constructed about theories (about components or element relationships) that may or may not be compatible with analytical or experimental outcomes. (John C Wooley and Herbert S Lin, 2005)