Transfer From Hofstra Essay Example for Free

Transfer From Hofstra Essay I have come to a point in life that many people have not.   I have made a firm decision to recommit myself to pursuing my dreams.   While there are those who believe that with an ounce of luck and a ton of persistence anything can be accomplished, I believe that there is no reason to expend so much energy and rely on luck.   Life is simply too short and too precious to be left to luck alone.   After serious investigation and reflection I am convinced my educational goals will be far better achieved at this prestigious University. It is not an easy decision for me, as I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Hofstra University a   and made the most of it.   One of the many wonderful concepts I have learned from my parents is to strive for academic excellence while balancing life with other activities and contributions.   I am proud of my academic record at Hofstra University, where I maintained a 3.35 GPA, as well as my extracurricular involvement in campus activities, part-time employment and community service.   Yet I feel that in order to reach my full potential I need to be in an environment that best caters to my interests and goals. The world is fast becoming a borderless place.   Cultures, races, beliefs and ideologies are blend together and interact because of the growing advances in communications.   In order to succeed in this world, one needs to be able to adapt to the various cultural differences as well as be able to maintain a certain sense of individual identity.   My former school, Hofstra University, did not have the same diversity that I see environment where cultural diversity is promoted.     This is why I believe that this educational environment is the perfect place for me.   Not only does this University exceed my expectations but it is also enjoys a global reputation. I have learned from my parents two â€Å"laws†: the law of learning and the law of giving. I believe the more you learn the more open you become for learning. I am convinced this University is a great fit for â€Å"the law of learning.†Ã‚   That is why I believe that this move is a crucial step for me.   My success and my accomplishments here will herald the beginning of the fulfillment of my personal and professional goals. It is said that the one thing that nobody can ever take away from you is your education and that is the one thing that I plan to not only gain for myself but for others as well.   I have learned from my parents the critical importance of the law of giving, and I am both attracted and committed to this model of community service, particularly that â€Å"students apply business skills to effect social change.† I bring to this campus a variety of assets and commitments. I have benefited from a multi-cultural mentoring program in high school.   As an open-minded student, I believe I am able to contribute to not only the cultural diversity, but also the global views of the learning community.   My experience and perspective will greatly benefit those that I will be able to interact with on campus.   I look forward to the rich academic and cultural experience that this fine University has to offer. I have also always been committed to community service and campus government, and plan on continuing these important activities.   I will bring to the campus what others have considered in me an infectious â€Å"joy of learning, excitement for the future, and need for world contribution.† That is in essence my philosophy and I believe it will be able to contribute to the campus community if given the opportunity to do so. While I personally believe that â€Å"there is no such thing as a free lunch† and that everything a person has in life must come from hard work and perseverance.   There are those, however, who are unfortunate in life and therefore I also believe in helping others who do not have much in life.   I believe in helping people regardless of their nation, race or creed.   I believe in being a better person so I can best help myself and others around me.   I believe that this academic environment is the best place for me to turn these beliefs into realities.   I am fully aware of the significance of being considered for acceptance, and I am sincerely grateful for your time and consideration of my application.

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SUMMARY Amazon.com, Inc. (hereafter referred to as â€Å"Amazon†, â€Å"it†, â€Å"the business†, or â€Å"the company†), is an online retailer that has branched into content creation and web services. Its main competitors include retail giants Wal-mart and Target, as well as entertainment providers Netflix and Barnes and Nobel. Recently, it has found itself competing with technology giant Apple as ventures into cloud services. Amazon was incorporate in 1994 and was offered publically in 1999. It has grown rapidly into the world’s number one online retailer, with millions of products. To achieve this, Amazon has acquired a global network of distribution centers and used technology to provide consumers with access to the best products at the lowest rates. Amazon’s services have become integrated into the modern consumer’s demands for immediate (or near immediate) gratification and investors are highly optimistic about the company’s prospects. Amazon has recently been demonstrating growing revenues in a time where overall sales in the retail industry are growing much more slowly. However, this is not all that is important to an investor. While the company’s revenues are high, it reports losses as it continues to spend to expand rapidly. Investors should carefully analyze past financial statements to determine whether the growth rate in sales is sufficient to match the current expectations and market prices for the retail giant. Such an analysis will reveal that Amazon’s current method of operation plans for the company’s long term profitability, so the company may not be an ideal choice for the more short-term investor. Additionally, Amazon has increased its areas of operation by branching into content and web services and the investor should be aware... ...e Amazon its positive image in the eyes of consumers. Recently, much has come to light that shows less than stellar working conditions for Amazon’s employees. In December 2013, Amazon workers in Germany walked off of their jobs and went on strike claiming â€Å" We are people, not robots†. Claims across the world state that Amazon pays its workers in its distribution warehouses only a little more than the appropriate minimum wage for work that is more demanding than typical retail work. The BBC even found that working conditions at Amazon warehouses could be linked to higher rates of mental and physical defects. If Amazon does not provide better worker’s rights and benefits, it may lose its competitive advantage as employees turn to other employers. However, it is possible that this will just push Amazon to pursue technological improvements to replace human workers.

Gmr Case Study: Managing Hr in a Global Environment Essay

I. TERMS OF REFERENCE This report is a case study of GMR International Company, which analyzes the different components and challenges of Human Resources Management faced by GMR in a global environment and through a theoretical review, establishes possible improvement strategies towards the creation of best practices. II. METHODOLOGY This report is part based on the interview held with the HR manager of the company complemented with primary research from books and electronic sources listed at the references and lecture and seminar’s contents. 1. INTRODUCTION In a global market, how companies manage and handle their employees determines a key strategic role that ultimately creates a competitive advantage. Companies operate on an international operational level locating outbreaks in different countries and facing different cultural challenges. â€Å"Managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business.† (Torrington, Hall and Taylor, 2008, p.3) A company through any domestic and internationalization process must identify the basic needs of its employees in relation to their business guidelines, creating a balance between strategic and operational resource management. Businesses are valued for their intellectual capital and are projected by the management of intangible assets The purpose of this report lies in the evaluation of the different variables that a global company such as GMR must study, understand and reflect on its corporate strategy for the optimal development of their global operations, based on a adequate personnel management and the creation of sustainable policies for the management and development of intangible capital. 2. GMR INTERNATIONAL: COUNTRY PROFILE GMR Group is a Bangalore headquartered global infrastructure major with interests in the Airports, Energy, Highways and Urban infrastructure, with its International Headquarters based in London. GMR holds interests, directly and through its part ownership of InterGen, in 15 operating power plants with over 8,800MW of generating capacity. In addition an impressive portfolio of approximately 12,000MW of gas, coal and hydro plants are in various stages of construction and development both in India and internationally. GMR has shareholding interests in 4 international airports (New Delhi International (P) Limited; GMR Hyderabad International Airport; Sabiha Gokcen Airport LTD; GMR Male International Airport Ltd)) handling 40 million passengers p.a and 9 road projects exceeding 700 kms of paved roads. GMR is fully committed to the development of infrastructure assets, and in the past two years has raised over US$ 3 billion for the development of airports and another US$ 2.2 billion for the development of power and infrastructure assets including US$1.1 billion for the acquisition of 50% of InterGen N.V, a global power generator. The Group through the dedicated GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, manned by committed professionals is actively engaged in Education, Health, Hygiene and Sanitation, Empowerment & Livelihoods and Community-Based Programs, reaffirming its grass root presence as change agents of society in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility. 3. RECRUITMENT â€Å"Recruitment is defined as searching for and obtaining potential job candidates in sufficient numbers and quality so that organization can select the most appropriate people to fill its job needs.† (Dowling, Engle and Festing, 2008) â€Å"Recruitment is the discovery of potential applicants for actual or anticipated organizational activities. Two conditions must exist for selection to occur, (1) the organization must have a candidate whom it is willing to employ; (2) the candidate must be willing to accept an employment offer. Recruitment is the process of finding applicants who meet both of these conditions.† (Andrews 1993) â€Å"Organizations do not operate in a vacuum, and recruitment drives are one of the times an organization has direct contact with the outside world. Amongst other factors affecting recruitment, are the framework imposed on legislation and that no organization will want to spend money on unnecessary activities.† (Foot and Hook, 2005) 3.1 Recruitment Strategies There are 4 recruitment strategies, which are defined as such. These are 1. Ethnocentric 2. Polycentric 3. Geocentric] 4. Regiocentric Ethnocentric| Polycentric| Geocentric| Regiocentric| Ethnocentric is a belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group. The firm basically believes that parent-country nationals are better qualified and trustworthy than host country nationals.| Polycentric is a belief that local people know the local environment better than outsiders.| Geocentric is the notion that the best people should be employed, regardless of their nationality.| Regiocentric is the variation of staffing policy to suit particular geographic areas.| 1.Based on Paul Coldwell’s seminar slides, 2011. GMR International uses all four of the above-mentioned strategies, depending upon factors mentioned below, * The requirements of the job position to be filled in. * The position of the job in the hierarchy of the firm. If the job were a high position one, they would use the geocentric approach; and if it were for a more junior position, they would probably use a polycentric approach. * They would not like to waste too much time or money on the hunt for the right candidate. * Even when they are looking for a candidate for a high position job, they have certain restrictions to be cautious about from the UK Border Authority and the Government. When using the geocentric approach. E.g. The Head of Airport is an Italian working in South Africa and would report to the UK. Because he was an expert on airports, he was hired for the job. E.g. recently, when trying to bring in a Malaysian to UK, the UK Border Authority refused his sponsorship, so it did not work out. When using the polycentric approach. E.g. When looking for administrative support, GMR looks for local people to do the local jobs, as they would not like to waste the time and money to do a whole UK or EU based search for something small such as skills. 3.2 Challenges for hiring people at GMR International * GMR, as a brand, is not that well known in the UK and tit is also not as strong as some of their competitors, therefore, there is a hurdle of recognition. * GMR International is a non EU and non US organization * People are varying of working for a company, which is Indian by origin, yet headquartered in London. * People are not prepared to leave their jobs to work for a company with less work experience; limited recognition as a brand; and with limited track record. 3.3 Outlining the Recruitment Process â€Å"In the process of recruitment, in the first instance, sources of prospective employees are located. In other words, from where the employees would be available. Thereafter, these sources are approached and efforts are made to attract the interested people to the organization.† (Foot and Hook, 2005) The recruitment process at GMR International is not too different from those of other companies in UK. They look at the activities set out for the year ahead and map it out according to the capacity that they have in their organization. When they do this, there are obviously, some gaps that need to be filled in, in order for them to work on some projects. In order to fill in these gaps, the organization makes certain decisions as to how to do this. This can be done by 4 methods, 1. They could recruit temporary people 2. They could get people on contract 3. They could get that particular piece of work done somewhere else (outsource) 4. They could hire someone to do that job When they go ahead and choose the fourth option, they look at as to how to approach the market, in the following ways, * E- enabled vehicles – for the more junior staff as a lot of such recruitment takes place on web based applications. * They do not give much importance to the employees referral program * They tend to use agencies; search firms for the bigger, more senior positions * For the more junior staff, they recruit within UK. * As the position increases with seniority, they tend to engage colleagues from other offices to help them out, in case it can be managed within the GMR family. 3.4 Post Recruitment & Selection At GMR, they are not very firm in their services to keep an employee with them. They do not have a support system or an evaluation program. â€Å"Normally, at a firm, there is an evaluation program and a support system for the first 6 months. In this program, they make a check on the new employee on day 1; week 1; month 1; month 6. While, they have tried to be stricter in this aspect and tried different techniques for keeping an employee happy and with them, it has not always worked well with them. 4. EXPATRIATES With globalization shaping our world, organisations are trying to expand their marketplace in order to increase their competitiveness. In the industrialized countries, international working has become a common feature and the contact between different cultures becomes a regular thing in people’s social and professional lives. â€Å"International HRM involves striking an appropriate balance between global integration and local adaptation in terms of resourcing, training and developing personnel, reward and performance management, employment relations including communications, and health and welfare† (Porter, Bingham and Simmonds, 2008, p.400). So in this process of internationalisation, companies need to move people around and they have to make sure that they do it in an effective way because of the high costs involved. Expatriates have to deal with the changing they are going to occur, in culture, workplace, country and many more, the company must be sure to prepare them appropriately in order to get the best from their experience both in the new location and back home when they finish their period. According to Tayeb (1996), some companies such as Natwest in the UK, Philips in the Netherlands and Groupe Total in France conduct extensive international in-house seminars. In these courses they cover national culture differences, family adaptation, local politics and laws and international finance, more over some firms send their future expatriates, together with their family, to special language courses. Paul Colwell, former lecturer and HRM manager at Regents College states that an expatriate cost on average $250.000, or even more, which shows the importance of a good HRM strategy. An expatriate should receive the right support before, in the mean while and after his experience abroad. Before he leaves, the company should prepare him to live in another country, through teaching the culture aspects (food, climate, politics and laws, standard behaviour etc.), suggesting him not to sell his house in his home town, because if something goes wrong with his experience it would be way better to have some place in which he can to return. The language is an important factor in order to make him effective in his new workplace and the company should provide him the possibility of language classes to attend. All of these pre-departure trainings should be joined by the whole family, in fact while for the local employees the company don’t care about their family affairs, when you take in examination an expatriate the whole family becomes the company’s business. Experience shows that the majority failures in expatriate’s program come from family problem and complaints. After the departure, a good way of managing expatriate, according to the theory, is to take care about their house in the origin country (rent it or doing the maintenance needed) and to find a house where they are going to live in the new country, taking in consideration the location and the comfort they might need. A good communication with the expatriate during the whole experience should be maintained in order to prevent possible problems and to show him that the company doesn’t leave him alone. The company should take care of the partner job in the new country (or/and hobbies) and register their children in schools in order to make sure that the employee’s family is comfortable in the new location. The return of the expatriate is an important moment, too often underestimated. The company priority is to make sure not to lose all the money it has invested on him by making him decide to change job. An interview at the return it is a necessary step, as offering him the right position deserved in the company and not the same job he had before he left in order to maintain him motivated and happy, so they are not losing all the know how he gained through his years abroad. The period of the experience abroad it is variable, but following Paul Coldwell experience 3 years is and ideal length, because after that the employee may lose some of the attraction and interest in the job and start to decrease his learning. 4.1 GMR Policy Following the interview with the GMR HRM Manager, we found out that they do very little for their expatriates, mostly because they just started their internationalisation and they are a medium entity in the business. They don’t offer any pre-departure preparation, leaving it to the employee’s arbitrariness, they only thing they offer is a period of time that they could spend in the new country with their family in order to decide or not to go. GMR take about their VISA and immigration laws, moreover they find and pay the house in the new country, making sure that it is nice and well located. Moreover they pay for the double taxation (when it occurs) and they offer help in moving their employee’s furniture when requested, paying for it. Their typical expatriate appointment last 2 years, according with GMR HRM manager. As seen so far their expatriate strategy is very poor and just offer little helps to their employees, leaving a high risk of failure and waste of money. 4.2 Proposed Plan GMR in order to increase their competitiveness should set a better strategy for its expatriates. First of all the pre-departure preparation should be compulsory for everyone who decides to apply for an expatriate experience and should comprehend the whole family (especially for language classes), because they shouldn’t take the risk that their employees arrive in the new country and they are not able to integrate in the new position. GMR services to their expatriates, such as find a house, take care of the VISA and pay for the possible double taxation, are a good starting point but it is not enough if they want to make sure their expatriate’s program will be more effective. The company should take care of their expatriates’ proprieties in their home country, they definitively have to be more connected with their employees’ partners, in order to find them a job in the new country that would fit their current position, or/and taking care about their hobbies and their children necessities (such as school and sports). Eventually they have to develop a better repatriation system with complete feedback interviews and placing them in the position they deserve in order to gain value from their experience. 5. CULTURE â€Å"The collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the member of one category of people from another† (Lewis, 2006, p. 17) 5.1 Organizational Culture â€Å"The culture of an organisation refers to the unique configuration of norms, values, beliefs, ways of behaving and so on that characterize the manner in which groups and individuals combine to get things done. The distinctiveness of a particular organisation is intimately bound up with. (Brown, 1998) It is always said that the knowledge sharing culture is part of good knowledge management initiative. It is said that effective collaboration and communication across a whole organisational structure spreads knowledge throughout. In order to change the current culture of the organisation the change needs to be initiated at individual level. Employees have a sphere of influence along with their own individual knowledge, and this is where he believes a knowledge sharing culture can begin. GMR as an Indian based company, headquartered in Bangalore with offices in different countries as well such as U.K, Turkey, Singapore and Dubai, have identified the need of bring the different cultures together. As this company has to hire multicultural staff as part of their induction programme, most of their staff goes to India, to learn GMR history, values and operations through education workshop and its annual performance reviews. Working for an Indian company, which has strong culture and values and beliefs, employees have to manage the transition from their experiences. GMR has employees from the multicultural regions. Whereas, it is an Indian family business organisation and they glue the bonds whether it is Singapore, Turkey or Dubai. They share their values to India and initially they engage with their employees for first 4-5 years of the company to give them awareness about the company whether they can live by them and able to promote them to other positions. That is how they bring multicultural nationalities under the GMR brand. Therefore, there is a lot of difference between the 2 cultures. There are a lot of differences and similarities between the companies in which people have seen few things before in their previous organisations or the things they haven’t seen before, in GMR. â€Å"Individuals will have to adjust for the organisation but organisations will not adjust for individuals.† As GMR is an entrepreneur company, it has a very high regard for social responsibility. It has a set of values and cultures that can be shared and they are not company confidential. 5.2 Shared knowledge Culture is a shared phenomenon that people develop over time in response to shared experiences, which engender agreed values and mode of behaviours and which foster a similar outlook on the world. Working patterns that encourage people to engage in closed co-ordination and communication, which encourage them to identify the same problem and share the certain solution, and goals will be conducive to the formation of sub culture. (Brown, 1998) In GMR has focused knowledge transference culture among their 500 employees on the multiple layers. Employees have ongoing dialogues with the CEO on the day-to-day basis and once in a month everyone comes over for a breakfast in order to promote feedback in two-way direction. The biggest challenge for GMR is that how they leverage the knowledge within the Indian organisation with international organisation and back and forth. As Indian organisation is very process orientated and has a lot of process put in place around knowledge sharing. It hasn’t gained that much attraction outside India as it could have. The company is still improving in the knowledge sharing aspect. The firm still need to put some enthusiasm in the knowledge sharing as knowledge sharing is not a common concept in UK, Turkey, Singapore and with the Bangalore colleagues and then back to the international locations. Whereas, people think it’s a burden instead of an opportunity. They need to change the mindset of the people that they can learn something by being a recipient of knowledge.

Dracula A Breaker Of Sexuality and Gender Roles In the Victorian-era - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2427 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/04/16 Category Sociology Essay Level High school Tags: Gender Roles Essay Did you like this example? For centuries, monsters have been used to portray many bad qualities, personalities, and versions of humans. Monsters are used to help us cope with our fears and worst nightmares in society. According to Patricia Donovan, who wrote an article titled Monster Culture, fear of monsters has brought many communities and cultures together in the past (1). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Dracula: A Breaker Of Sexuality and Gender Roles In the Victorian-era" essay for you Create order Many monsters are created to teach society a lesson in a way that they will pay attention, fear. When it comes to the infamous Dracula, he can represent many societal problems. Such as, sex, sexuality, sexual liberation, and gender roles. Dracula disrupts gender roles by sometimes taking the role of a motherly figure to other vampires. Which is different than the Victorian societal normalities. Dracula also challenges sexuality, by having totally different standards compared to the Victorian-era expectations. Bram Stokers infamous novel, Dracula is what brought Dracula into the limelight. The gothic horror novel was released in 1897, and it introduced Count Dracula. The novel tells the story of Draculas journey to move from Transylvania to England, so he can find new blood and spread the vampiric curse. Upon the release, Dracula wasnt an immediate success. The gothic novel had a lot of mixed reactions, due to the vulgarity and the sexual themes throughout the novel. As many decades passed, the novel started to get praised for the literary themes and concepts. Modern day readers appreciated and understood the importance of the novel, whereas Victorian-era readers seen the novel as a good adventure book. Sexuality has always been a prevalent part of society. Its been a recent hot topic and theres a lot of controversy that surrounds a persons sexuality. Not that there should be, but the world has many different views on sexuality. Whether its stereotypes or assumptions, someones sexuality will always be questioned, even a terrifying monster known as Dracula. This all stems from Bram Stokers Dracula, that sparked the questioning of Draculas sexuality. Sexuality in Dracula is pretty complicated, ultimately pointing out the sexual repression of men and women during the Victorian-era. Women during the Victorian-era were expected to be pure until marriage and not show any sexualbehavior that was considered promiscuous. In Dracula, Bram Stoker writes characters that come face to face with sexuality. Sexual repression is at the core of this theme. Both men and women are sexually repressed. As witnessed by Jonathan Harkers thoughts and actions during his jail time at Draculas castle. His sexual repression is best described in the following quote: I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and saw perfectly under the lashes. The girl went on her knees, and bent over me, simply gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck, she actually licked her lips like an animalI closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waitedwaited with beating heart.(Stoker. Chapter 3, page 8). To add onto the previous point abow, Jonathan Harker is about to be bitten by Draculas three daughters. The vampire women are highly sexualized and sensuous. They are free to act on their sexual desires, which is the exact opposite of men and women in Victorian-era society. When Jonathan is closing his eyes, it demonstrates that his inability to handle an open sexuality. But at the same time, he wants his desires to be met by stating that he was waiting in ecstasy. Jonathan wants the vampiric women to take advantage of him, since he views her sexual expressiveness as desirable. On the other hand, hes feeling shame because her sexual expressiveness is seen as repulsive as well. During the Victorian-era, women were very sexually repressed and werent allowed to be sexual beings. But in Dracula, when the women are turned into vampires their societal rules are different. Vampire women are allowed to express their sexualities and not be sexually repressed. When a character named Lucy, whos a nineteen year old girl whos described as beautiful and angelic. When Lucy is turned into a vampire, this following quote describes the sexual desire that Lucy is creating. her breast heaved softlyand then insensibly there came the strange change which I had noticed in the night the mouth opened, and the pale gums, drawn back, made the teeth look longer and sharper than ever,,, and said in a soft voluptuous voice, such as I had never heard from her lips; Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me! (Stoker, Chap 18,4). This can be seen as a symbolic breaking out of Victorian-era sexuality, because when it comes to the gothic sexuality female vampires are allowed sexual freedom. Whenever women get a chance to express their freedom, men will most of the time challenge or take it. When Lucy turns into a vampire and gets her sexual liberation, Arthur (her fiance) drives a wooden stake through her heart and kills her. In Angel in the House, Devil in the City: Explorations of Gender in Dracula and Penny Dreadful, Lauren Rocha writes, The transformation of Lucy from a creature of purity and sweetness into an inhuman, unholy one exemplifies the threat of the vampire in the novel: that is, the corruption of women into sexual, uncontrollable beings (2). Since this novel takes place during the Victorian-era , Arthur was strongly against the new sexually liberated vampire that Lucy has become. The following quote describes how even in gothic sexuality, the male will always have power over a women. In order to restore Lucy as a holy, and not an unholy, memory,Arthur drives a stake through her heart. Arthur, Lucys fianc, whom she has tried to seduce with her vampiric way s, is the proper character to kill her; in doing so, he restores the gender balance in which men dominate and control the desires of women (Rocha, 2). As a final point on sexuality in Dracula, Count Dracula is also allowed to have sexual liberation (of course). Since Dracula has three brides, its in no question that Dracula does have power over the females in this novel. Which is the same as current and Victorian-era societies. When Draculas sexual orientation comes into question, theres no correct answer for it. It was never stated in Brams novel. A quote from Productive Fear: Labor, Sexuality, and Mimicry in Bram Stokers Dracula by Eric Kwan-Wai Yu, brings a scene between Dracula and Jonathan into the question about Draculas sexual orientation. That ambiguous scene, juxtaposing Draculas claim that Harker belongs to him with his alleged capacity for love, hints that Dracula, like his brides, is a pervert hungry not only for blood but for sexual gratification (Kwan-Wai Yu, 18). This is confirmation that Dracula breaks the sexuality normalities of the Victorian-era society. Any man during this period would never put a spell on another man to make him lustful towards himself. The Count is a monster driven by his bloodlust and hunger, and he does not discriminate the gender of his prey. Which could possibly mean that Dracula can be asexual. Asexual is a sexuality that makes an individual attracted to someone without sexual feeling; meaning Draculas bloodlust makes him attracted to anyone. ALthough, Dracula does indicate to his three brides that he has had a past love, Bram Stoker leaves no details about his past love and theres no future reference made to Draculas past love made again. Not only does Dracula break the roles of sexuality, he also breaks Victorian-era gender roles. Along with Dracula, the novel itself and its characters really challenged Victorian-era gender roles and was a bold statement during the time. Traditional gender roles are exemplified in the novel, Dracula. Men are seen as brave and heroic, whereas women are described as motherly and emotional. However, theres also different gender roles when it comes to the vampires. For example, Van Helsing says that, A brave mans blood is the best thing on this earth when a woman is in trouble when asking Quincy Morris to give blood to Lucy after she has been turned into a vampire. Helsing is expecting Quincy to be strong and protect Lucy during her time of need. Bram Stoker is highlighting Quincy as a strong hero, while labeling Lucy as a maiden in need. To add on too the traditional gender roles in the novel, Van Helsing compliments Mina by saying, Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina! She has mans brain a brain that a man should have were he much gifted and womans heart (Stoker Chap 18, 22). Helsings statement confirms that men are viewed as the intellectuals, while women are emotional and nurturing to men. Mina possesses both of the qualities of the genders, but these stereotypes are withholding a society of men and women that are unable to express themselves freely. For an example on Victorian-era women, Mina is seen as pure and an ideal women during this time period. Mina is the embodiment of what a women was expected to be during the Victorian-era. She is prudent, intelligent, caring, beautiful, and knows her place in society. Van Helsing says, She is one of Gods women, fashioned by His own hand to show us men and other women that there is a heavenso true, so sweet, so noble, so little an egoist and that, let me tell you, is much in this age, so skeptical and selfish, (Stoker, Chapter 14, Page 1). Bram Stoker writes Mina as an ideal Victorian woman, so he can present the unacceptable behavior of Draculas daughters. The three women serve as the complete opposite of the gender roles that were present during the Victorian-era. Theyre impure, radical, and evil. Everything that Mina, the perfect Victorian woman, is not. In contrast from Mina, the weird sisters are the women that disrupt the gender roles of the Victorian-era. The woman often participate in the act of seducing men, which the novel is clearly arguing against. During this time, women were expected to be the ones pursued by men and shouldnt seek a relationship independently. Men were the ones with all the power. They had the freedom to do what they wanted, when they wanted to do it. Men had sexual freedom, and were allowed to have multiple partners if they wished. The sisters are referred to as monsters by Jonathan, and commit despicable evil acts throughout the novel. On the scale of what defines appropriate female behavior, Lucy falls in the middle. Lucy behaves as a proper Victorian woman should and shows signs of purity, but at the same time, Lucys statements hint that she may be more progressive than other women in society. For example, Lucy says, Men like women, certainly their wives, to be quite as fair as they are; and women, I a m afraid are not always quite as fair as they should be (Stoker, Chapter 5, Page 1). She is aware that women do not fit the expectations of society and may be more aggressive than their male counterparts. This maybe Lucys way of showing her desire to break free from the patriarchal society of the Victorian-era. Later, Lucy transforms into a vampire, which allows her to experience the sexuality that has been so heavily repressed by the Victorian-era society. In contrast from the female gender roles in Bram Stokers Dracula, theres the Victorian-era male role. In the novel, theres a group of men called The Crew of Light. This group consists of five men; Jonathan, Dr. Seward, Dr. Van Helsing, Arthur, and Quincey. These are the five men that are set out to fight against Dracula. During the second half of the book, Jonathan joins the men to fight against Dracula; In doing so, Jonathan seems to gain a lot of the traditional traits of masculinity. Men during the Victorian-era are known for their bravery, intelligence, honesty, activity, and repression of emotion. All of the men are financially stable enough to have their lives surround around the hunt for Dracula. When it comes to whos the leader of the group, Quincey is a notable contender. Quincey is described by Stoker as a moral Viking, and is depicted as the most masculine of all. Despite the importance of masculinity that falls into the gender role of males in the VIctorian-era society, there are contradictions. In the novel, it seems that the Crew of Light must always aim for the moral high ground when they do unlawful activities. These unlawful activities include breaking into houses, breaking into crypts, and desecrating bodies. The men in the Crew of Light also have many emotional fits and can behave hysterically at times. Quincey is the only member from the crew to die. This suggests that an excess of masculinity may be less desirable in the long run compared to Jonathans more obvious blends of both masculinity and femininity. To add onto the male gender role, Dracula takes on the role of the nurturing mother in With his left hand he held both Mrs Harkers hands, keeping them away with her arms at full tension; his right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom. Her white nightdress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the mans bare breastthe vampiric society. When Dracula interacts with Mina, Dracula takes on the role of the mother. In the following quote, Dracula forces Mina to drink blood from his chest, (Stoker, Chapter 21, Page 1). Throughout the novel, Dracula has showed many signs of breaking the male gender role by showing femininity. Such as, Draculas fascination with Jonathan and he expresses that hes capable of giving love. Which, further connects him to the traits f the female gender role. When Dracula is placed into the motherhood role, Dracula is breaking the role of a traditional male during the Victorian-era. In Bram Stokers Dracula, theres many gender and sexuality breaking characters and incidents. During the Victorian-era women were very repressed, while the men always had the power. In the vampire society, women had the chance to have sexual liberation, as well as a little more freedom than the normal Victorian women. Males had to deal with toxic masculinity and always having to fit into the masculine role. No emotions were allowed from men, and they werent allowed to experience love, since they were seen as only something a woman was capable of. Stokers novel has a lot of relevance to todays society, as we still have many gender roles in our society. Sexuality is still a big discussion and a lot of these Victorian-era traditions and qualities are still held to our society till this day.