‘I saw a knock-out’: Fatness, (In)visibility, and Desire in Shallow Hal

Somatechnics ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Wykes
Keyword(s):  
Female Body ◽  
Fat Body ◽  
Western Culture ◽  
Embodied Experience ◽  
Knock Out ◽  
Dominant Meaning ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Female Bodies ◽  
Fat Bodies ◽  
Sexual Body

When the Farrelly brothers' movie Shallow Hal (2001) was released, one reviewer suggested that the film ‘might have been more honest if [it] had simply made Hal have a thing about fat women’ ( Kerr 2002 : 44). In this paper, I argue that Kerr hits the mark but misses the point. While the film's treatment of fat is undoubtedly problematic, I propose a ‘queer’ reading of the film, borrowing the idea of ‘double coding’ to show a text about desire for fat (female) bodies. I am not, however, seeking to position Shallow Hal as a fat-positive text; rather, I use it as a starting point to explore the legibility of the fat female body as a sexual body. In contemporary mainstream Western culture, fat is regarded as the antithesis of desire. This meaning is so deeply ingrained that representations of fat women as sexual are typically framed as a joke because desire for fat bodies is unimaginable; this is the logic by which Shallow Hal operates. The dominant meaning of fatness precludes recognition of the fat body as a sexual body. What is at issue is therefore not simply the lack of certain images, but a question of intelligibility: if the meaning of fat is antithetical to desire, how can the desire for – and of – fat bodies be intelligible as desire? This question goes beyond the realm of representation and into the embodied experience of fat sexuality.

Professional Management in Family Businesses: Toward an Extended Understanding

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Hall ◽  
Mattias Nordqvist
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Competence ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Business Research ◽  
Dominant Meaning ◽  
Case Research ◽  
Professional Management ◽  
Family Membership

Our purpose is to challenge the dominant meaning of professional management in family business research and to suggest an extended understanding of the concept. Based on a review of selected literature on professional management and with insights from cultural theory and symbolic interactionism, we draw on interpretive case research to argue that professional family business management rests on two competencies, formal and cultural, of which only the former is explicitly recognized in current family business literature. We elaborate on the meanings and implications of cultural competence and argue that without it a CEO of a family business is likely to work less effectively, no matter how good the formal qualifications and irrespective of family membership.

Exploring the military mindset: Phenomenological insights for security sector reform in Turkey

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 97-133
Author(s):  
Çağkan Sayın
Keyword(s):  
Historical Background ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Reform Era ◽  
Normative Structure ◽  
Post Graduate ◽  
Dominant Meaning ◽  
The Military

AbstractThis study focuses on the mindset of a group of post-graduate cadets and academic cadres of the Turkish Military Academy and attempts to reveal, explore, and interpret this mindset regarding the normative structure of security sector reform, as well as the cultural and historical background of the Turkish context. While formal structures can be changed rather rapidly, changes in the underlying interpretive frameworks require more time and have no guarantee of institutionalization. Such changes entail the transformation of prevailing norms, perceptions, conceptions, and patterns of thought that underpin the role(s) of the military. If security sector reform aims to transform military culture and the civilian-military relationships in specific contexts, the traditional military mindset also must undergo a substantial transformation. How can we understand such a transformation? To answer this question, the methodological background of the study derives from linguistic-oriented phenomenology as a means for revealing and interpreting the mindset of post-graduate cadets and military academic cadres. The results of the research indicate that there are three dominant meaning clusters in the mindset of the sampled group, involving the parameters of paternalism, old security understanding, suspicion towards the civilian realm, and an understanding of state-society relationships that mark the pre-security sector reform era. The prevalence of these understandings might pose serious challenges to the internalization of the normative aspects of security sector reform and to the compliance to reforms.

Punishment and Pleasure: Women, Food and the Imprisoned Body

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catrin Smith
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Powerful Source ◽  
Dominant Meaning ◽  
Current Health ◽  
Women's Prisons ◽  
External Forces ◽  
Promotional Discourse ◽  
Depth Interviews

Food assumes enormous importance in prison: for many prisoners it conditions their life in custody and, in many respects, is symbolic of the prison experience. This article explores the complex relationship between gender, food and imprisonment through an analysis of data obtained from in-depth interviews and group discussions conducted in three women's prisons in England. The findings indicate that, in prison, where control is taken away as the prisoner and her body become the objects of external forces, food is experienced not only as part of the disciplinary machinery, but also as a powerful source of pleasure, resistance and rebellion. The implications of such findings for health promotion in the prison context are discussed. Here, the pleasures and consolations of food may well constitute a redefinition of what it is to be healthy in this context, one that challenges the dominant meaning constructed in current health promotional discourse.

What does “corporate governance” actually mean?

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Marie L’Huillier
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Agency Theory ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Connotative Meaning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dominant Meaning ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Academic Publications ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – This paper aims to develop a framework of connotative meanings afforded to the term “corporate governance”. Design/methodology/approach – An examination of academic publications from 1985-2012 containing the term “corporate governance” was conducted. The articles are sorted into the theoretical constructs that influence the contemporary connotative meaning of corporate governance. Findings – That a combination of a weak definitional base coupled with strong motivational forces have aided the development of competing theoretical perspectives of the meaning of corporate governance. The dominant meaning is written from an agency theory perspective. Research limitations/implications – Theoretical analysis was restricted to articles found in academic journals published since 1985. Practical implications – This study provides a very useful analysis into the connotative meanings and theoretical bases used by academic writers in the study of corporate governance. Originality/value – This paper provides an updated and developed analysis to the theoretical dimensions that underpin the contemporary use of the term “corporate governance”.

Towards more Efficient for Web Image Search Engine using Dominant Meaning Technique

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-96
Author(s):  
Yasser Ibrahim ◽  
Mohammed Abdel Razek ◽  
Kamal A ElDahshan
Keyword(s):  
Search Engine ◽  
Image Search ◽  
Dominant Meaning

scholarly journals Chinese Character Teaching and Learning with Marginalized Radicals and Non-radical Components in a Character

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Bianye Li
Keyword(s):  
Learning Process ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Chinese Character ◽  
The Other ◽  
Dominant Meaning

Naming or indexing of a radical in a dictionary will foreground dominant meanings of a radical and, at the same time, marginalize the other meanings of a radical as well as the meanings of non-radical components in a character. More efforts should be made to go beyond the dominant meaning(s) of a radical to have a better knowledge of the marginalized meanings of a radical and to identify the meanings of non-radical components in a character. With the assistance of Oracle/Bone Script, Bronze Script, and Seal script, and reinstatement of the significance of the marginalized meaning(s) of radicals or non-radical components, the Chinese character teaching and learning process will be considerably improved and it will become a fun-generating experience.

Dominant Meanings Approach Towards Individualized Web Search for Learning Environments

2008 ◽  
pp. 2376-2393
Author(s):  
M. A. Razek ◽  
C. Frasson
Keyword(s):  
Search Engines ◽  
Web Search ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Intended Meaning ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Dominant Meaning ◽  
Web Based Learning ◽  
Adaptive Hypermedia Systems

This chapter describes how we can use dominant meaning to improve a Web-based learning environment. For sound adaptive hypermedia systems, we need updated knowledge bases from many kinds of resource (alternative explanations, examples, exercises, images, applets, etc.). The large amount of information available on the Web can play a prominent role in building these knowledge bases. Using the Internet without search engines to find specific information is like wandering aimlessly in the ocean and trying to catch a specific fish. It is obvious, however, that search engines are not intended to adapt to individual performance. Our new technique, based on dominant meaning, is used to individualize a query and search result. By dominant meaning, we refer to a set of keywords that best fits an intended meaning of the target word. Our experiments show that the dominant meanings approach greatly improves retrieval effectiveness.

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