Uniformity's true self.

What comes to your mind first, when you're being asked about 'uniform'. If you're a school going child, the first thing you would think about is probably about the everyday dress you wear to school. And if you are doing a job or working somewhere you might think about being punctual. 

Now, forgetting everything, if we focus on the word 'Uniformity', we find that it's not only about dresses or punctuality. The word 'Uniform' itself means so much more than we could probably think of. 'Uniformity' might many-a-times be seen as an invaluable aspect of our daily lives and soceity. Let's imagine a world without rules and regulations. I agree, it might seem a bit fun at the beginning. But, as days passes, we would be able to understand it's value and what impact it had on us. 

For example, if we imagine a world that functions un-uniformily then all the other things such as a country, cities and villages would suffer altogether. The country would have no constitution, cities would have no judiciary, villages would malfunction. And there are a great many disadvantages that we are bound to face. Such as if I give you a situation where you and your neighbour could have no privacy and their are no such things as rules and regulations, you would find the system fun at first. But as you proceed the days, it would become indistinctly uncomfortable for you. Your neighbour might take your valuable items and not return them. Now, you can't go to the police as there would be none in a unruly society; and the same theory goes to the judiciary also.

Thus we come to a conclusion that although rules and regulations seem to make no difference in our lives and looks a bit boring, they are actually the base of a Constitution, it's the base of society and moreover the base of the structural functioning of the world. So, the next time you think of useless rules and regulations think of a life without them. You would understand their true value.....

Fairy-tale and stereotypes

Almost every girl child we come across, her childhood dreams are more or less based upon a fairy tale character. We ourselves had many-a-times played the role of various fairy tale characters in plays and fancy dress competition. Starting from the beautiful Cinderella with her glass slippers to the rosy cheeked and sweet Snow-white, it was very hard to imagine how else could have we spent our childhood or how the future children would spent their free time. Dressing up, reading the fairy-tales over and over again; this was, is and will be bound to be in a child's daily routine. It's true. 

But, the question that arises here is that is fairy-tales creating a kind of stereotypical image in the minds of the people? Although it might not have been occurred at our minds in our childhood, fairy tales truly seems to make an outline of stereotypes at our minds. Say for instance, in a purposive sample of two English and two IsiXhosa fairy tales were selected for intensive analysis among the popular fairy tales. The discourse analysis was used to analyze and deconstruct the texts with regard to how female and male characters were portrayed. The results indicated that both genders were frequently presented in stereotypical terms. The females were portrayed as submissive and dependent on men to rescue them. On the other hand, boys were portrayed as having power, bravery, strength and wit. This has implication for teaching reading in the Foundation Phase as this portrayal is stereotypical and not likely to be an accurate representation of many women today in the New South Africa. Similarly, if we reverse the pattern of thinking or if we think of another fairy tale such as Mulan, we find that the theme of this tale was completely opposite to the first example. Here, Mulan was shown as brave, strong and daring while the men were shown to follow her footsteps.

From this point of view, it becomes clear that certain aspects of fairy-tales thus seem to have a background of stereotype but it does not apply to all. So, whaddya say, let's grab a story book and enjoy the moment; but wait! don't get too serious on the conflicting facts....

Social Media:- Friend or Foe?

Social Media is a tool that is becoming quite popular these days because of it's user-friendly environment. Social Media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp, etc. are giving people a chance to connect with their kith and kins all over the world and allows them to express their point of views to the masses. The youth is especially one of the most active and dominant users of Social Media. Now, an individual may come up with a question that what are the impacts of social media on our society and the youth. 

When we look at the positive aspects of social media, we find numerous advantages. Say for instance, students from various corners of the world could educate themselves on various topics because of social media and we could ve updated with the everyday news. But, despite having such unique advantages, social media is considered to be one of the most harmful elements of the society. These days, cyberbullying, dispassionate about studies, fake news, etc. are common situations that the youth is facing. In other words these could be easily thought as one of the disadvantages of social media.

In short, as everything else, social media also has both advantages and disadvantages. But it all depends on the user at the end. The youth must particularly create a balance between their academic performances, physical activities and Social Media. Excessive use of anything is harmful and the same theory applies to social media.