The History of Midwifery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The History of Midwifery - Essay Example This view has been part of the midwife profession since ancient times (Brucker, 2000) and is one of the most important differences between the roles of doctor and midwife. Another equally important difference is that midwives provide emotional support to mothers, as well as assistance during the birthing process. The word midwife has its roots in old English, and literally means "with woman" (Brucker, 2000), referring to a woman who works with women in labor. The very name of the profession implies that when the term was first used, the role of a midwife was to provide support, rather than intervention. Midwifery is one of the few medical professions that are traditionally dominated by women. It is also one of the oldest known medical professions. The practice of midwifery is clearly referred to in the Bible (Brucker, 2000) and in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, and it is known to have been part of early Greek and Roman society. Certain qualifications for the role of midwife began to evolve during this time - for example, midwives in Greece were required to have given birth themselves before they could begin working with other women. Several cultures still have this requirement for their midwives up until the present day. Midwives are even part of the legends of some ancient cultures. ... Other Athenian doctors became jealous of her success, and thinking she was a man, accused her of corrupting her patients. After revealing her identity as a woman, Agnodice was charged with practicing medicine. The charge was dismissed after many of her female patients protested; stating that without Agnodice's care, many of them might have died. According to the legend, this incident precipitated the overturning of the law against females practicing medicine, however afterwards they were only allowed to have female patients. The Roman physician Soranus of Ephesus practiced medicine during the first and second centuries AD. He wrote over 20 medical books, the most significant of these being Gynecology (Randall, 1997), a highly detailed text about human reproduction. Among other things, the characteristics and roles of midwives were outlined in this text, as well as descriptions of childbirth and instructions for the care of newborns. According to Soranus, a good midwife was "literate, with her wits about her, possessed of a good memoryunafraid in danger andfree from superstition" (Randall, 1997, p6). Midwives were involved in most aspects of pregnancy and birth, from examination of women to determine whether they were pregnant and care of women during pregnancy, to the actual birth itself and care of the mother and child afterwards. Throughout this period and later during the Middle Ages, the skills and knowledge of midwives was passed down through the generations using the apprentice system (Stock-Morton, 1996, p61), where new midwives were trained by being apprenticed to practicing ones. New midwives learned by watching experienced midwives work with women

Advertising and Guerilla Advertising Effectiveness and Comparison Literature review

Advertising and Guerilla Advertising Effectiveness and Comparison - Literature review Example In the process, there are complicated underlying theoretical constructs which play a part in the persuasive process. The message is partially dependent upon graphic design, and psychoanalytic theory is also important. Psychoanalytic theory can help explain persuasion, because it explains how the human psyche decodes and deconstructs ads. Moreover, meaning is ascribed, according to the person’s experiences and identity. Critiques of commercial art verses fine art is also relevant in this analysis, because much of advertising can really be considered to be art. However, as this paper will argue, commercial art is more relevant to society than fine art, because commercial art is more easily interpreted and decoded by society at large.Further, John Hegarty’s ideas will be fleshed out, and applied to the concepts of guerrilla marketing. The basics of advertising persuasion Advertising persuasion happens in many different ways.The use of semiotics is one persuasive devise. Se miotics consists of two parts – one is the symbol, or the signifier; the other is the connotation for the sign. So, for the Nike â€Å"swoosh† symbol, the actual â€Å"swoosh† is the signifier. The connotation is the connection that one makes when seeing the symbol, that connotation being all that Nike represents to the individual person – athleticism, celebrity spokespeople, perhaps sweatshops. Semiotics is basically a "system of signs, and can be verbal, visual, or a combination of the two. The study of semiotics would indicate that the meaning of advertisements is not found within the ad, but its meaning depends on how it operates, how signs and its ideological effect are organized internally (within the text) and externally (in relation to its production, circulation and consumption and in relation to technological, economic, legal and social relations)." (Dyer, 1982, p. 115). The audience are active participants in the decoding of the signs, bring ex perience and social background to the act of semiotic decoding. Returning to the Nike â€Å"swoosh,† how an individual interprets the sign might depend upon the background of the individual. One individual, who has Nike shoes, and love them, will decode the sign differently from somebody who has Nike shoes, and hates them. Another individual, who remembers the sweatshop scandal from years ago, might see the swoosh as a symbol of oppression. Etc. Semiotics are crucial to advertising, because this is the way that one company may differentiate itself from another company. Semiotics has not always been the vehicle for persuasion, however, as, during the 19th Century, advertising relied more upon words than semiotics. Earnest Elmos Calkins, founder of Calkins & Holden advertising agency, in New York City, changed the emphasis from words to semiotics. Calkins used modern art techniques in advertising, such as cubism and futurism, while using graphics designers and magazine illustra tors to design his ads. He was the first to understand that advertisements demand dynamic new designs, and was the first to let the designs themselves do the persuading, without the use of copy (Heller, 2001). Thus, graphic designers produce the semiotics which are used persuasively in advertising. These semiotics allow the advertisement to communicate to the audience, without using a single word. Advertising is very important to society, because of its persuasiveness, which helps goods be distributed smoothly. It is also important because it can convey messages about social issues, while persuading society about the importance of these issues (Heller, 2001). The symbol itself is just one aspect of semiotics, as