Critical thinking process Essay

Critical thinking often involves the creation of alternative plans, solutions, approaches, etc. , then comparing original with the alternatives. Creative thinking requires some critical evaluation during and after the creative phase. Critical thinking depends upon that little known and seldom discussed characteristic of the human nervous system—self-reflexiveness. Usually it also depends upon that remarkable human creation and tool—self reflexive language. Humans not only know about their environment, they know that they know; they can think about how they think, evaluate their evaluations. Languages, too, have this self-reflexive characteristic. They enable us to talk about talk, to make statements about statements, to write books about writing books. The self-reflexiveness of language and the human nervous system provide us with an open minded system: we can make statements about statements, indefinitely; we can react to our reactions to our reactions indefinitely. At no point can we say, â€Å"That’s the last word on the subject† or, â€Å"No further reaction is possible† (since, in doing so, we have said more, reacted further). However, believing that we have said the last word may cut of the self-reflexive process. This open ended, self reflexive system makes it possible for us to conduct scientific research, write poetry, plan enterprises, spin out complex tales of fiction—or spread rumours, spin webs of delusion and talk ourselves into insanity or war. Which we will do depends in part upon our motivation, but also upon our understanding of the thinking process and some aspects of the working of the nervous system. General semantics provides a meta-linguistic or ‘second order’ approach to critical thinking. It enables us to use self-reflexiveness systematically to monitor on-going evaluations. The principles and devices it provides call attention to either-or and ‘allness’ statements, to inferences treated as facts, to overgeneralizations, to statements unrestricted in time, to overly-simple statements of causality, etc. The tools work, whatever the order of abstraction, whatever the source of the statement (Johnson, 1991). How language empowers or limits the expression of our thoughts. Along with most of his contemporaries, Blair defines language in terms of a relationship between signs and thoughts: â€Å"Language †¦ signifies the expression of our ideas by certain articulate sounds, which are used as the signs of those ideas† (cited 1:98). Elaborating on this interdependence, he asserts that â€Å"when we are employed†¦ in the study of composition, we are cultivating reason itself. True rhetoric and sound logic are very nearly allied. The study of arranging and expressing our thoughts with propriety, teaches to think, as well as to speak, accurately†¦ so close is the connection between thought and the words in which they are clothed† (Ulman, 1994). Language can empowers and limit the expression of our thoughts. Talking about something that reinforces it, therefore say what you want to be true. Language has power, and by knowing this, you can select words that allow others to hear and understand you. Certain words provide a way of maintaining the focus of what you want. They can assist you to be in the state of mind that you desire. Looking for positive language patterns, gives your brain the opportunity to find alternative ways expressing your experiences to yourself and others. These tools get you off automatic pilot and in control. Having choice means you can regulate how an experience will affect you. You can choose to use your old patterns of expression which produces certain results, or use empowering language to give you different results. Now it can be you who decides. Labels limit is another concept that we’re dealing with here. When we label something or someone, we put a meaning on it that can limit our awareness, experience, and understanding. Labels are a form of beliefs, and like all beliefs, they filter our perceptions. Our beliefs only allow us to be conscious of things that are in agreement with them, and we unconsciously filter everything else. It can be tremendous evidence of the opposite to penetrate the belief filters. But with negative labels, the effects can be very destructive (Kaufman, 1998). The role of critical thinking in persuasion. What is the value of critical thinking? When someone else writes or speaks a peace of reasoning, they are trying to persuade us of something. Persuasion is an attempt to get us to believe something. People want us to believe things so that we will act in certain ways. Action requires some effort. There are choices involved. We could be doing something else. Because of this, it is very useful to be able to evaluate reasoning, for some pieces of reasoning should be accepted while others should not be accepted. If persuasion occurs in advertising, we could be doing many other things with our money. Take buying a car, for example. A lot of money can be involved, so what kind of car to buy can be a pretty big decision. Whether to marry a certain person or which of a couple of job offers to take are still bigger decisions. Almost every reader will eventually get some serious illness. There may be several different treatments available. One’s comfort, health, even ones life may depend on the decision as to which treatment to undertake. To make these decisions well, we will need to gather our own reasons to support various alternative conclusions. At that time, we could make an irrational decision, or a sheep like decision to follow some other person’s advice. The values of critical thinking, specifically how to recognize and evaluate reasoning, are the following: †¢ It help us arrive at true conclusions and therefore †¢ it increases our knowledge. †¢ It should help us make better decisions. †¢ It should help us persuade others and †¢ explain truth to them. †¢ Contribute to a happier life (Cogan, 1998). References Johnson, K. G. (1991). Thinking creatically: a systematic, interdisciplinary approach to creative-critical thinking. Englewood: Institute of General Semantics. Kaufman, R. A. (1998). Anatomy of Success. New York: Ronald A Kaufman. Robert Cogan. (1998). Critical thinking: step by step. Boston: University Press of America. Ulman, H. L. (1994). Things, thoughts, words, and actions: the problem of language in late eighteenth-century British rhetorical theory. New York: SIU Press.

Misc-En-Scene Sin City

For my essay on mise-en-scene, I will be talking about Sin City, written and directed by Frank Miller, Robert Rodriquez and Quentin Tarantino. In this film, there are many unique techniques used by the directors to portray emotions, hidden meanings and to determine mood. Sin City is a bold and brutal adaptation of the graphic novels written by Frank Miller. Mise-en-scene is a cinematic term, which refers to techniques used by directors to help construct a specific onscreen representation. It consists of the setting of the film, costume and make up, lighting, staging, and last of all, time and space. The scene that I will be analyzing would be the scene in which Marv confronts Cardinal Roark and forces him to confess, after which Marv kills him. Marv, a brute of a man, is one of the protagonists in this film. He wakes up after a one-night stand with a prostitute ‘Goldie’ and she lies beside him dead. Marv realized that he has been framed and goes on a vengeful rampage to uncover the truth. He kills Kelvin who is a cannibal who murders and consumes people, and finds out the Kelvin was the cardinal’s ward. The setting of this scene is in the Cardinal’s room where it is dark and we can barely make out the furniture present inside. Color symbolism is extreme in the entire film; the film is almost entirely inked in black and white. The directors created the film using the visually stunning black and white style of film noir to emphasize cynical and extreme attitudes and sexual motivations. Film noir is used to depict the darker aspects of modernity, and is usually set in a criminal milieu; exactly what this film needed. The narrative and existential angst that drives a male protagonist and a voluptuous femme fatale who seduces the protagonist for her own benefits are the gist of film noir, which are present in Sin City. Goldie used Marv for his huge size and brute strength to protect her, while Marv had feelings for Goldie. Her murder drives him mad and fuels his rage to find her killer. Sin City can be classified as a neo-noir film, which possesses elements of film noir, but with updated themes and visual elements that were absent in classic film noir. However, it is the color rendering in this film that is unique. The retained or added color to certain objects is an amazing technique, bringing out the emotions of the character or empathize the significance of the object. In the confrontation scene, the eyes of Cardinal Roark are painted green and it is the only other color present in that picture of black and white. The color of the eyes shown would make the audience focus on Cardinal Roark as he confess, and to be drawn to ponder on his sick thoughts and emotions. Green color may have been used to depict a sense of evil and perverse present in the Cardinal, and true to the saying â€Å"The eyes are the windows to a person’s soul. The color red is rendered many times in the strikingly monochromatic film, mainly in the form of bloodshed or love objects like the heart-shaped bed where Marv and Goldie had their one night affair. Red is meant to depict extreme violence, death, love and vulnerability in Sin City and it plays an important role in stimulating the emotions of the audience. In spite of this, red is only used when it is required and not all blood is painted red. In some scenes, the blood is left as white colored to show that it is not as significant in the film. There is a scene in the flashback during Cardinal Roark’s confession, in which Goldie is fully colored from her yellow locks to her fiery red dress and the color of her skin. The idea was to illustrate how beautiful Goldie was in Marv’s eyes and how full of life Goldie was to Marv in the dreadful Sin City. Besides the color in the scene I have chosen, there are flashes of brilliant color at different junctions of the film. There is one scene where the prostitutes in Old Town, depicting justice served in a crude way, stain the skies red during the massacre of mercenaries. One very distinct color I would like to point out would be the Yellow Bastard’s skin color at the last part of the film. The connotation of yellow in this case, will be to represent dirty, pungent and obnoxious, so true to Yellow Bastard’s character that even his blood bleeds yellow. The costumes and makeup play another important element of mise-en-scene. As in the case of the dressing of the prostitute Goldie, the elegant and sexy dresses that she dons in the film help her play the part of the seductress. The blonde locks along with the blood-red lipstick she possess give the audience the vibe that she is a femme fatale. On the other hand, Marv is clothed throughout in a black trench coat with a white singlet inside, displaying his heedless of caution attitude. The actor playing Marv, Mickey Rourke is portrayed as the graying behemoth embodied underneath a ton of facial make-up to make him look grotesque and fierce. Besides that, Kelvin wears a pair of glasses to invoke the look of a creepy psychopath killer. All this costumes and makeup contribute in building the personalities of the characters in Sin City, empowering them with attributes the directors require them to have. In the lighting context for Sin City, low-key lighting is utilized throughout the film. Low-key lighting or chiaroscuro is present in the scene that I mentioned, with artificial light shone through the windows of the Cardinal’s room. The room is supposedly pitch dark and the only light present comes from outside the window. Thus creating a dimly lit scene, which gives the audience a feel of the impending doom of Cardinal Roark. Strong shadows engulf both the Cardinal and Marv, generating tension between the both characters. Marv’s face is barely visible at times, only a portion shown by the lighting. I believe by making the room so dark, it forces the audience to focus on what is visible. The weak light shone on Kelvin’s decapitated head also creates an eerie feel. At the final part of the scene whereby Marv presumably cuts Cardinal Roark’s throat, the darkness and shadows conceal the gore that ensues. The low-key lighting acts to dampen the effect of the violence as the details are being obscured. Furthermore, in the flashback during the confession of the cardinal, there is a shot of Kelvin with bright lighting shown from behind him. His entire face is black due to the shadow and his glasses were the only thing white in color. The effect creates such a deviant character and literally sends chills down one’s spine. On the whole, the sinister environment of Sin City is primarily submerged in low-key lighting, except in dramatic epic sequences, where the directors want the audience to see the details clearly. Another important aspect of misc-en-scene used in a film is the staging. Staging refers to the movement and placement of actors and objects. In the chosen scene, Marv breaks into Cardinal Roark’s room, shows him the decapitated head of Kelvin and places it on the table. â€Å"The dog ate the rest†, Marv tells Roark straight in his face. Marv does that to show his hostility towards Roark and to instill fear in him, but it does not seem to work as Roark just got out from his bed to examine the head. The act of Marv drawing his gun from his holster tells the audience that Marv was all ready to shoot Cardinal Roark in the head. His stance is in standing position while Roark just sat there without fleeing. This shows that Roark was ready to accept his fate. Yet, Marv did not blast his head to smithereens. He sat down across Roark to listen to his confession before murdering him. He smokes a cigarette as he listened to Roark, taking his time. All of this staging tells us that he wanted pleasure in killing the cardinal slowly. Expression on the characters is a critical part of staging and in a scene of confrontation as such, it plays a huge role. The expression on Marv’s face in the cardinal’s room remained unusually calm, without showing much rage. It creates a very tense atmosphere in the room, keeping the audience in suspense over when Marv would end Roark’s life. On the other hand, Roark was almost expressionless when he confessed to Marv about his perverse deeds and till the very end when he was killed in cold blood. There was only a slight tinge of nervousness when he saw Kelvin’s head. This scene illustrates vividly about a man who knows he is about to meet his doom and a man who is determined to take the life of another. It is the part where dark truth is revealed. Speech used is another element of mise-en-scene, not only can it invoke thoughts in the audience, it can bring out the true nature of the character. The rampaging Marv finally achieves his maniacal madman majesty when he answers Cardinal Roark’s final question of whether killing him would satisfy him, Marv answers â€Å"The killing? No, no satisfaction. Everything up to the killing, it’d be gas. † From that, we find out that although the diabolical priest and his ward deserve to die, Marv in fact enjoys torturing people and the speech alone reveals the sadistic nature in him. The camera is focused all the time on the closed-up faces of Marv and Roark when either one is speaking. In cinematography, facing the camera is the position with the most intimacy as the character is looking in our direction and we are able to see the expressions on his face, engaging our attention. Hence in a scene like this, the closed-up face positioning would be best. Close ups give the audience time to judge a character and create mood and tension between the two characters present. In the scene, I realize that the camera points upward towards Marc, giving the audience the perception that he is the powerful and dominating character now. The camera is high angled when focused on Roark, the cannibalistic cardinal, making him seem powerless and pitiful. The computer-generated monochromatic landscape of Sin City is both elegant and vivid. Presence of retro sets and vintage cars make the city seem like a city decades again, except when one of the thugs in the film drives a Ferrari from the modern world. This means that it could be a retro-modern world or it could be set today, just that the city is still in the 40s era. The costumes donned by the characters are weird for modern day fashion, from trench coats to stripper wear. It is perhaps pulp noir imagination and visualization of a world found only in graphic novels. The use of shallow depth of field in the scene I choose, allowed the subject to be isolated from the background. It serves to direct the audience’s gaze upon the expressions of the two characters. Depth is also created by lighting, which reveals or hides the parts, which the director want the audience to see. The scene is also set up in a small room to confine the background and focus on the characters. In this essay, I have analyzed how the directors used cinematographic elements of mise-en-scene to convey meaning and stimulate response in the audience in the particular scene. Mise-en-scene is extremely important in filmmaking and has to be incorporated in every film, how well the individual or combined mise-en-scene techniques are used will help create the desired meanings in each scene.

Culture in Everyday Life Essay

I experienced culture shock about 7 years ago, when I became friends with a Philippine woman. Her name is Christeen Humangnan; she was born and raised in the Philippines. It wasn’t until Christeen was 14 years old, that she moved to the United States. She would tell me how spoiled we are as Americans. She lived in the Philippines without electricity, a television, and rarely had money for new shoes. Although those customs are different from ours in the United States, there is one culture she practices that stood out. It is called pagmamano. Pagmamano is a Filipino culture that has survived the times and foreign influences. This is the practice of respect by asking for an elder’s hand and touches one’s forehead while bowing. One usually asks by saying â€Å"Mano po.† Mano po translates to â€Å"may I have your hand please.† In return, the elder blesses the person. In the Filipino culture the elderly, refer to parents and grandparents, cousins, or close family friends. It is usually done when one visits a family, when meeting these people outside of the homes or after a religious activity. It is also common to bring children to their godparents during Christmas time to pay respect with this custom. I found this custom in the Filipino culture to be shocking to me because, I have never seen it done before. I also see so many children act disrespectfully to their elders in this country, so it was a blessing in my eyes to see the elderly being respected. Now that I have learned of pagmamano, I participate, and have taught my own children the meaning of this culture. We do not use it in our own culture, but whenever we visit my friend Christeen and her family, we show enough respect to her and her family by participating in pagmamano. I would say that the value assumption was slightly an issue when I first  learned of this practice. I thought to myself, this is not the Philippines, we don’t do that here. After seeing the custom in person and how respectful the adolescents are to their elders, I realized I was wrong. I was happy to learn of it and see the children learning respect. You don’t see many American children show this type of respect. Since cultural relativism supports the theory that there is no absolute right and wrong. Instead, the morals, standards and behaviors that vary among cultures must be taken into consideration. I was wrong to assume that pagmamano should be practiced in the Philippines. I think it is a great way to show respect. At first I thought to myself, that’s weird! Then, I realized that we do â€Å"weird† things too. She considers some of the things we do as â€Å"weird,† when we considered it normal. We just have to accept the fact that we all live together in this country that participates and allows different cultures. I am thankful that I learned of the pagmamano culture, and I respect it.

Managing Information Technology Essay

Question #1: What would be your prioritized list of IT investments? Four IT investments need to be prioritized; 1. 2. 3. 4. Ecommerce & Web sales Aligning the various systems (legacy, SAP, ERP) together. Hire relationship managers Make IT a â€Å"partner† 1. After only 3 years, KL’s Web sales have reached $156M, equalizing its in store sales, and now represent 15% of total sales. This is very encouraging and exciting. KL needs to continue to invest in Ecommerce & Web sales in order to continue this great growth. Selling via the Internet should be a priority because it’s cheaper than your ordinary brick and mortar sales points, there is less overhead expense, and this market is growing exponentially. The company should work towards gaining the most market share possible developing an industry leading website, timely and dependable delivery, and customer service. Accomplishing the above means getting all the company sharing information and data more efficiently (see point #2). 2. KL has a complex IT infrastructure with various systems in use around the world. The result is a frustrated bunch of employees upset with the fact that communication data sharing is awful. To remedy this the company needs to invest more in training to get the whole company, including the USA, to use SAP as soon as possible. 3. Assign/hire relationship managers to improve information sharing, facilitate plans, priorities, communications, and relationships, and in turn get the whole system to work together. 4. To avoid such problems in the future, KL needs to make IT a â€Å"partner† in the decision making process. In other words, the company needs to better involve IT in company strategy and tactical planning. With the IT team, the company needs to develop and define an Enterprise Operating Model and Architecture that include business strategy, current IT assessment, IT strategy and IT plans. Question #2: Would your colleagues on the executive committee agree with your selection and prioritization? The above priorities should be well received because they solve or improve many of the frustrating employees around the company. This answer will look at each division (upper management, sales & marketing, order fulfillment and distribution, and ITS) and see why the four IT priorities should be well received by the executive committee. The KL upper management is on record stating that the company has IT challenges â€Å"†¦around coordinating the various, and at times conflicting, business priorities across the enterprise. We sure could use better IT tools for this as well as ready access to timely performance data.†, CEO Joseph Campbell. In addition, COO Jens McCreary stated that the company needs to improve global supply-chain management and leverage the expertise to outpace out competitors and cut our operating costs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Considering these quotes it’s safe to assume that the CEO and COO should be accepting of these four IT priorities because will want to see IT provide better services in order to reach their goals. The products, manufacturing and distribution divisions of the company want to see SAP standardized and compatible across the company in order to better share information. Priorities #2 and 3 should please this division. Sales & marketing hope to see inter-operating unit and communications and coordination issues to be resolved and they need real-time data. Priorities #1, 2 and 3 should encourage the sales and marketing team. The order fulfillment and distribution divisions need capabilities to forecast sales and manage our product and cash flows need to be more competitive. They want to be able to deliver in a J.I.T. basis (optimize effectiveness) and have data integration between the legacy systems, SAP, Oracle, etc. These issues should improve with priorities #2 and 3 and this making these priorities acceptable to this division. Finally, the information technology services (ITS) claim that not spending enough on IT (more spent on production and sales), and Web and ecommerce should be priority. Priorities 1 to 4 all favor the ITS team, and therefore should be well received.

Strategic practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic practice - Essay Example A critical view has been presented throughout the essay giving a balanced argument about the pros and cons of strategy formulation and their execution in the presence of complexities. With globalization and thus multidimensional growth, organizations have tremendous opportunities of growth now open to them. Products and services have been expanded, growth is occurring in different countries and regions catering to consumers belonging to different cultures having varied needs. Thus firms are entering the industries as there are opportunities waiting for them. However, chasing these opportunities has is not a simple process and surround firms with complexity (Floyd and Lane, 2000, pp. 154-177). Expansion in such a multifaceted way involves complicated ways and devising strategies that would enable them to overcome the complexity hurdles. These complexity issues make things extremely difficult for the firms and things are disorganized. Taking â€Å"strategic complexity control† according to Hase & Brodnick, (2001) becomes imperative for firms to be able to operate successfully and to pursue their strategic objectives. Complexity theory has been used increasingly to manage firms strategically and to study the internal functions of organizations (Clark, 2004, pp.105–111). These theories enable firms to have a better understanding of their environment both internal and external and thus help them come up with more meaningful strategies (Mainzer, 1994). Complexity sciences are now being used to device and understand strategies and organizations. An American automotive OEM1 after 10 years of product explosion and outsourcing began having prominent operational losses, increase in the coat of warranties and complexities in their five R and D centers. They needed to regulate their product development to counter their increasing complexity costs.

Executive Pay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Executive Pay - Essay Example While there is diversity across industries, sizes of organizations and countries, executive pay includes the common features of base pay and bonus based on performance. CEO compensation has become one of the most important issues of concern in the field of corporate governance. With ever increasing economic activity and companies transcending all boundaries, geographic, economic and technological, the person in charge of steering the company has been thrust into focus. Typically, huge compensation packages were a phenomenon of the golden days of dotcom glory. The period of Internet boom may safely be termed the era of exorbitant pay-outs. The Internet made millionaires of people in a matter of days. In the Internet-rush' of the late 1990s, a number of small companies mushroomed redefining the principles of economies of scale and scope. The CEOs (as well as the employees) of dotcoms often burnt the midnight oil trying to float their talents. For their efforts, they were compensated handsomely, when the company took off and reaped rewards. However, even after the burst of the Internet bubble and the decline of the software industry from its top position on the list of the most happening industries, huge pay-outs have remained. A quick recap of the origin of CEOs will give us a better understanding of the topic. When economic systems evolved from sole proprietorships to the company form of business, a need for a distinction between the owner of the resources and their managers arose. In some cases, owners stopped playing an active role in managing the business resources and turned them over instead to paid managers. These paid managers acted as agents of the owners and took up the responsibility for the success or failures of the business. As businesses grew in size and scope, the manager attained the glorified title of a CEO. The compensation system also became more complicated, evolving from a simple salary to benefits like bonus, perks and stock options. As time passed, the compensation packages grew in size until t hey attained such astronomical proportions that people began feeling the need for some control. This leads us to the question of whether CEOs merit the huge compensation they receive or not. In the US, historically, CEO's in "utilities earn significantly lower levels of compensation than their counterparts in other industries, while CEO's in financial services earn higher pay" (Ashenfelter, et al, 1999, p. 5). Yet the relationship between firm size and executive pay is weakening. A comparison of executive pay in 23 countries shows that executives in the US receive a greater proportion of their pay from bonuses and incentives than from base salary. Another reason for high CEO compensation was the fact that a major portion of their compensation package consisted of stock options and stock grants. In some cases, nearly two-thirds of the CEO's pay assumed the form of stock options. Some companies offered options packages to compensate for low salary and risk associated with the company, especially in case of a start-up company. Stock options had emerged as one of the most important factors, which made the CEOs salaries in big companies in the US to swell to almost 458 times the

Strengths and Weaknesses of a Theoretical Framework Centered on Term Paper

Strengths and Weaknesses of a Theoretical Framework Centered on Universal Notion of Gender - Term Paper Example Because of the situations presented to them by such a framework, members of the same gender learn to love and help each other in the society. For example, men may learn to work together and help each other as they strive for financial resources to help their families. On the other hand, women also learn to help each other in carrying out household chores. A theoretical framework that is centered on universal notion of gender has strength of helping the society maintain law and order. Once a belief concerning a certain gender becomes universally known, those concerned, that specific gender, tends to abide by what that theory states. Women for example naturally respected men and effectively take care of the family. In this case, gender roles in the society are strictly observed thus maintaining law and order. From birth, each child learns what is expected from him or her in the society. If such children learn that, that is what is universally expected of them, or that is their status in the society, they easily accept and practice it. In most western countries, though women are engaging themselves in professional jobs, they still uphold the universal believe that they are their family’s caregivers. Therefore, they ensure, at all costs, that they observe their roles at home as expected. After work, they go home to take care of chi ldren and cook for the family as men go out to enjoy themselves in bars. The weaknesses of a theoretical framework that is built on universal notion of gender include gender discrimination. In this case, if a certain gender, male or female, is universality viewed as weak, for example females, such a gender will be discriminated universally in every society because such a notion is usually believed to be a fact. The other weakness of a theoretical framework that is built around the notion of gender is that, it hinders self expression and individual strengths. In this case, individuals may fear to come out publicly and express themselves because of fear of the way the society might perceive them. For example, the African woman is believed to be inferior to the man, and is only supposed to care for the family. Such a woman may hardly express herself, and interests in the society, especially political ambitions. In Africa, women rarely stand out in the society for political or education al reasons because they can rarely succeed as almost everyone believes that that is not their role because of gender. Domestic labor among girl children has also had a negative impact on school performance among girls. They are expected to help their mothers as they learn the roles of motherhood instead of fully concentrating on education. Kinship and the Understanding of Gender Kinship is the study of links between different people that is based on descent, adoption or marriage (Vigdis, n. d.). Kinship has been a domain of definition in anthropological investigations since it was incepted in the late 19th century. Major paradigmatic changes in anthropology like feminism, cultural turn and political economy made kinship to undergo many restructuring phases. Detailed complexities in the system of kinship were considered important in the understanding of societies that were not from the west. Anthropological studies of kinship have been used to help in the understanding of gender as w ell as new forms of family, genetic development, lesbian and gay movements. In anthropological history, kinship is seen like a social institution