Portrayal of Women Changed in Horror Films Since The 1920s

Portrayal of Women Changed in Horror Films Since The 1920s Portrayal of Women Changed in Horror Films Since The 1920s Introduction: Fear is the most powerful emotion in the human race and fear of the unknown is probably the most ancient. Youre dealing with stuff that everybody has felt; from being little babies were frightened of the dark, were frightened of the unknown. If youre making a horror film you get to play with the audiences feelings. The main purpose of horror films is to entertain, frighten and to invoke our repressed worst fears, in a terrifying and shocking way, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time. Horror films feature a wide range of styles, from the use of shadows and mise-en-scene within the early classic horrors films to the psychotic human serial killer and CGI monsters and aliens present in todays horror movies. The horror film genre is nearly as old as cinema, with the first silent short film directed by Georges Melies in 1896: Le Manoir du Diable. It only lasted for a few minutes and the audience adored it and it left them wanting more due to the way he made supernatural events the main aspect of this film. German filmmakers started to produce horror films and the first feature length vampire horror film was F.W Murnaus Nosferatu released in 1922. However it was down to the genius work of Robert Wiene director of The Cabinet of Dr. Calligari released in 1920 that lead the way for the serious horror films. In the early 1930s the Universal studios created the modern horror film genre and brought a series of successful gothic-horror including Dracula directed by Tod Browning and Frankenstein directed by James Whale and both were released in 1931 followed by numerous sequels. In the 1950s the horror film genre shifted from gothic to more modern horror. Aliens and monsters threatened to take ov er the world and humanity had to try and overcome the threats of these invasions. In the late fifties horror films became gorier which saw the remakes of traditional horror stories such as Edgar Allen Poes The Fall of the House of Usher The Raven which starred the iconic actor Vincent Price. The early 1960s took the audience much deeper into the world of horror films, with the release of Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho in 1960 which used a human as the monster and killer instead of a supernatural one to scare audiences. According to Prince (2004), the deeply disturbing admission, which undermines the audiences belief in rationality, with an existence where terms can be controlled or at the very up-most understood. With its savage attack on the audience and belief system, Psycho provided the path for modern horror and for our contemporary sense of the world. It seems that Monsters today are everywhere, and they can not be destroyed. (Prince, 2004.p. 4) The psychological aspects that this can cause on the viewers is it can allow them to find their Dark, unnatural, hidden self. (Skal, 1993, p.17).This is because: So much of our imaginative life in the twentieth century has been devoted to peeling back the masks and scabs of civilisation, to finding, cultivating and projecting nightmare images of the secret self (Skal, 1993, p.18) This means that changing and developing the monster into a psychotic killer, externalises the viewers fear as the murderer could be anyone they know, right down to the person sat next to them in the audience in the cinema or at home. It makes the film seem more realistic and that it could actually happen to them. Tudor 1989, uses key words to explain how the viewer is feeling and shows how they move from an external threat, monsters are not real, so this wont happen to me, to an internal threat, the killer seen as a human and could be anyone they know. This moves them from a sense of security to paranoia. In 1975 a young Steven Spielberg directed Jaws, which became the highest grossing film to that time period. In the late Seventies filmmakers started to produce disturbing and gory films such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre directed by Tobe Hooper in 1974. This saw humans being ripped a part by other humans who have psychotic tendencies. Women seem to be portrayed within these horror films as merely sexual damsels in distress who usually get murdered within the first few minutes of the film. This is clearly demonstrated in the film Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1975 where a young drunken girl goes skinny dipping in the sea and gets eaten by the great white shark that haunts the waters of Amity Island. Scream shows a blonde, naive young girl (played by Drew Barrymore) who is home alone with no neighbouring houses near, wearing only a jumper and pyjama bottoms. The killer sees this as a weakness due to the girl being at her most vulnerable and uses it to ring and terrorise her. She is unaware of his intentions and talks back to him on the house phone until he tells her he wants to know her name so he can know who he is looking at! She is the perfect horror victim because she is defenceless and weak and the attack is unexpected. She continually screams at the top of her lungs for someone to rescue her when she is confronted by the killer, but who is she screaming to? No one is around her or within hearing distance of her cries for help, so they seem wasteful, useless and unnecessary even though in a situation where your life depended on it, It would seem necessary and practical that you scream helplessly for your life no matter if anyone could not hear or help you; it is a part of our survival techniques. This girl does not clearly demonstrate any survival techniques or skills. Instead it takes her a while to hang up the phone. When she eventually does she doesnt phone anyone she knows for help or comfort, like family or friends or even the emergency service who would be reliable sources of help and survival. Instead she chooses to scream and run around the house and garden where no one can hear her as a better option for survival, which it is not, as it ends abruptly with her hanging from a tree with her internal organs hanging out. The film/scene portrays women as being merely weak and incapable as she struggles to run for her life in order to get away from the killer. She falls over constantly and trips over her own feet. The character also portrays the image of the dumb blonde as well being stupid and incapable of looking after her self. Horror films rarely seem to feature women in a non- exploitative way. Even in modern movies such as Jennifers body directed by Karyn Kusama, released in 2009 and exploits women in a sexual manner, as it shows Megan Foxs character Jennifer as a loose sexual canon who is thirsty for men, but with a murderous twist. With all this in mind this dissertation intends to look at how the portrayal of women has changed in horror films and if it has at all. This dissertation intends to look at some of the films listed in this chapter to see if the portrayal of women in horror films has changed or developed over time from some of the first horror films to present day. In chapter one I intend to look at early horror films and the portrayal of women within them. I will analyse Tod Brownings Dracula 1931, Rob Reiners 1990 Misery with the award winning Kathy Bates, Bride of Frankenstein, Murnaus 1922 Nosferatu and Robert Wienes 1920 The Cabinet of Dr.Calligari and explore the way in which women are portrayed and represented within these films. Then in chapter 2 go on to look at more recent films such as Alien, Scream, and Psycho and see whether or not any changes have taken place or if women are still portrayed in the same way. This dissertation intends to explore and find out about the role of which women where and are portrayed in within horror films. This dissertation seeks to developed the depiction of whether or not women were or are now being treated fairly within the film industry and If there are any changes in the portrayal of them and if not why not. Chapter 1: Early Portrayal of Women. A horror film in which isolated psychotic individuals (usually males) are pitted against one or more young people (usually females) whose looks, personalities, and/or promiscuities serve to trigger recollections of some past trauma in the killers mind (Hutchings, 2004, p. 194). The stylish, imaginative and eerie 1920 film The Cabinet of Calligari explores the mind of a madman, set against an evil doctor who falsely incarcerates a hero in a lunatic asylum. Robert Wienes clever framing means the audience is never quite clear who is mad and who is sane. Wienes distorted take on reality is a disturbing experience, heightened by the rugged and harsh asymmetry of the mise en scene. If viewers were to watch this film nowadays they might find the pace slow, with long takes and little cutting between scenes. This is because the diegetic world is entirely artificial. The film takes the audience on a twisted, dreamlike tale, where all the scenery and objects take on a menacing new shape. It is not reality, and the stylised performances reflect that. Nosferatu the first successful adaptation of Dracula is the first vampire movie, and presents Bram Stokers novel, Dracula. Murnau changed the main character name to Count Orlok. He did this because the studio could not obtain the rights to the original novel. The Count is grotesquely made-up, with long curling fingernails that can curl around the limbs of his helpless victims. Nosferatu gives us a far more frightening movie than any other of its time by using an early mastery of lights and shadows along with the stop motion special effects which created a very eerie and haunting film for its audience and for its time period. In both of these movies the female character is portrayed as merely a weak, dependent individual, who constantly runs for her life but in the direction that will lead her to the villain/ killer, and when she is confronted with what she was running from she faints. Instead of running in the opposite direction and trying to save her own life it is as if she just gives up. This is showing women as weak, unintelligent and incapable of looking after themselves. It seems that all they are capable of doing is running, screaming and falling down: In our culture men are taught the need for dominance and competence while women are taught warmth and expressiveness. The reciprocal stereotype thus develops that men are competent and assertive while women are submissive, and that women are warm and gentle while men are cold and rough (McKillip, DiMiceli, Luebke, 1977, p. 82). It seems that the female characters within these early classical films do not seem to be able to think critically and/or logically when it comes to trying to solve their problems, even when it comes to a matter of life or death. Its seems instead they rely on their emotions to guide them rather than their logic. They often choose to run into dark rooms and hide in places where the killer can easily find them or get to them. Even when there is a large group of people that could help them they seem to run in the opposite direction, which results in their ideas for salvation failing and makes them come across as damsels in distress who cannot think for themselves. In the early years of filmmaking, movies that were produced seemed to operate under a social value system to control and monitor womens sexuality. It seemed that the female roles were to be kept as virgins for men to use them for pleasure and to dominate them. They were merely there to serve the male desires. Feminists identif ied the way that women were portrayed in film as sexual objects, a concept called male gaze. The male gaze is in some aspects the power that men have over women. This is very much a male dominated profession, directors, camera person, and runners are mostly male. It seems that without knowing and meaning to be, they are being sexist. They do bring the male gaze by making assumptions about what the audience want to see which female directors may not do or may do differently. It can also be classed as a form of visual harassment where men can watch women and fantasise over them in private or in public. Women in early films used to wear tight fitting corset dresses which clinched them in at the waist giving then an hour glass figure, giving them curves in all the right places, whilst also lifting and bringing together their bust making their assets seem much bigger and thus drawing the main focus in on them. It allows the male viewers to fantasise about what lies under her clothing and what it would be like to be with and have a woman like that. The appearance of the female remains youthful, angelic, beautiful, thin, sexy, well-groomed, neat and nicely-dressed throughout the film even in the moments of their death or final struggle with the killer. They even seem to wake up looking beautiful, not a single hair out of place or a bit of their make-up smudged. They look and seem perfect, their clothes are not ripped or tarnished, and they do not sweat during strenuous activity. In the original 1933 version of King Kong, directed by Merian. C. Cooper and Ernest. B. Schoedsack. The character Ann Darrow, played by Fay Wray, Clearly shows the passive female who is constantly screaming to be rescued by her male associates. It seems she is incapable of escaping from the grasp of the monster; she has to call upon the assistance of the stronger male sex. She is symbolised as a sexual object throughout the film for the monster and heroic male characters when her white dress is ripped and torn by the monster, revealing more of her flesh. This allows men to fantasise over her and her body and imagine what is under what little is left of her garments. Tod Brownings 1931 classic, Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi has a similar representation of women. Near the start a male character speaks about Dracula and his wives implying there is more than one and no one seems to be fazed by the comment as if it is something of the norm. Women within the film are heavily made up with make-up, especially around their eyes. Its seems they have tried to make their eyes more bigger looking to make them more eye catching to the opposite sex as it is a well known fact that men are attracted to and like women with big bright eyes. They even go to bed and sleep in full heavy make-up and their hair looks immaculate with not a single strand out of place. The way they lay in bed, in a vulnerable position, one arm above their head, their neck fully on show just invites a vampire to bite down on their sweet fragrant neck. It is no wonder that the role of victims go to Female characters if they leave themselves carelessly open and vulnerable to the killer. Fema le characters clothing is long and floating but fitting around the waist to bring attention to the chest and outline of their upper body. Their hair is kept out of their face so that their facial features can be seen and the vampire women have an eerie persona around them and a not to be trusted atmosphere with there large staring eyes. They do as they are told and instructed to do so by Dracula in order to please and satisfy him. There seems to be not a lot of camera focus or time given to female character roles, except showing them in distress, worry and being vulnerable. The main female role, Mina, is not even taken seriously. She tells her fiancÃÆ'Â © and his associates about a dream she had the previous night and how scared she was and still is. They tell her to forget it, saying it was not real. They do not seem to want to believe her or her thoughts and worries; they dont seem to be valued or cared about. She is then advised by her father, whilst in the middle of speaking t o Dracula that she is to go to her room and to bed immediately and then is said to be crazy by her fiancÃÆ'Â ©. Male characters always seem to interrupt a female character in mid-sentence or in mid-thought as just shown. All major professions in the film seem to be run by men, for example all the doctors are male with female nurses to assist them and the servants and maids are female showing them running around after people and keeping things tidy as if it was a womans job to do so. Women faint and scream at the slightest thing and go to the male characters for comfort, reassurance and safety. Mina screams to be rescued and saved by what has happened to her (being turned into a vampire by Dracula) and cries to show her vulnerability and inability to cope and look after herself in strenuous situations. Women are looked upon as being ditzy, crazed, vulnerable, and unable to look after themselves and needing to be cared for, everything is ok because Im here spoken by Minas fiancÃÆ'à ‚ © in Dracula. This statement shows Minas fiancÃÆ'Â © to believe everything will be alright because everything will be stable and safe when a male figure is around because they are the main source of protection, security and without them women would not be able to cope or be able to live. Its as if women are under a spell or some power as they are attracted to Dracula, sending out the message to the audience that men have a hold and power on women within the film. At the end of the film when Dracula is being killed, Mina is sexualised as she starts to hold and caress her body showing she feels Draculas pain which is giving the male viewers a chance to fantasise over her. James Whales 1935 sequel The Bride of Frankenstein portrays women as either servants or sat around an open fire sewing, which is a stereotypical view of women. They wear long floating floor length dresses that nowadays look as if they are something you would wear to a special occasion not everyday just lounging around the house. This shows that a womans appearance in early horror films was very important. The dress is fitted around the waist and chest area and their hair is swept up out of their face to allow their facial features and expressions to be seen. Women are also seen to do what is right by their man in order to please them; they wont leave their mans side unless they are told to do so by him. They are also represented as being clumsy, careless and unaware and seeming to not have a clue of what is going on around them. For example this can be seen when a young women is faced with Frankenstein the monster and walks backwards off a small cliff resulting in her being vulnerabl e to the monster and having to scream to be rescued by a male passer by. This gives the message that women are incapable of looking after themselves and need to look to a man for protection. The Bride of Frankenstein is very clumsy in appearance; she falls over her own feet and sometimes over nothing. Her balance is very off so she seems unstable and needs to be supported by men and her facial expression is vague. This film portrays women as clumsy, vague individuals who just would not be able to function properly without the help and supervision of a man. This chapter has argued that women had no real main part or position within early horror films, only to be there to act as the main prize for the male leading role that happens to save her life and at the same time look good and give the male audience something alluring to look at. Chapter 2: The new view? Female characters do seem now to be receiving a more positive representation and women can be routinely seen to defeat male villains and showing strength and intelligence, moving from victim to heroine. It seems that women are coming into their own and showing that they are as strong as men and are not just sexual objects tshat they once used to be perceived as, through more strong assertive roles in films such as Ridley Scotts phenomenal and classic film, Alien, released in 1979. This film reverses the traditional role of women from the passive and powerless heroine who is constantly screaming for her life in order to be rescued by the dominant male figure, to an active and more powerful feminine character. The role of the main character Ripley, who happens to be a female despite having a male associated name, is an authority figure on board the ship, whose main task is to guide her seven crew members to a nearby planet to answer an SOS. All the terror and action unfolds around her and she ends up being the only survivor, out-living all the male characters. The male characters are represented as being weak and naÃÆ'Â ¯ve which is shown by the mistakes they make and the failures to properly do their duties and tasks which consequently results in their brutal deaths. As with women in early horror movies these males deaths occur comparatively early in the film. Ripley is the only one who outlives what is trying to kill her and her crew due to the fact that she makes the best judgements and thinks about her actions and plans out her escape. Due to the early deaths of Ripleys crew members, most of the main action of the film is based on and happening around her, making Sigourney Weavers character, Ripley the star and hero of the film as she is the only survivor at the end, along with her cat. The somewhat passive, fearful, and dependent female role figure is continuing to slowly disappear from our screens within horror films with a few exceptions: or has it? Wome n are still being shown as merely an object of desire that needs to be saved and protected by a male figure. This dissertation argues that the role of Ripley is still a female sex icon for the male audience, she seems to be placed there to fulfil the male sexual needs to have a half naked, toned female body strolling around on screen in order for them to enjoy the film more. Has mens taste in women changed? To some extent it may have. There is a media generated image now which sells the idea of healthy toned sexuality. This is partially replacing the previous curved and voluptuous body. Take Marilyn Monroe for instance. She use to drive men wild with her size 12/14 curves, however nowadays some men just dont find this attractive. It seems that men prefer to see slimmer women in films because it allows them to look at and fantasise over another womans body that is maybe different to the one that they have in their own life, be it their wife or girlfriend. This could be why women are concerned with their physicality because it also allows the female audience members to dream and fantasise about the perfect body, which they too could have. The old horror films looked at female and male relationships and it seems that in nowadays horror films there is a new way of seeing these relationships but is it a new way? At the end of the film Ripley strips down to her underwear and wears a tight fitting top with no bra. Her compromising moves and her hot sweaty and toned body gives the male viewers something interesting to look at and fantasise over. It seems to comply with and fulfil all male audiences requirements; it has aliens, fighting, guns, bloodshed and, of course, the hot female who gets semi naked. So has the role of women actually changed or have male expectations of female behaviour changed? Do men find sexually aggressive women attractive in our world? Do men secretly love to be dominated by the opposite sex or does it make them feel inferior? Or is this a tru thful picture of the sexualised feminist role model of our age? According to Lehmann womens lives were dominated by their sexual reproductive functions (Lehmann, p.9) (http://psychology.about.com/od/sigmundfreud/p/freud_women.htm. 20th November 2009) FrFeud believed that women envied men for having a penis; penis envy. He suggests that during the phallic stage (aged 3-5) girls distance themselves from their mother; as they blame her for the lack of a penis and due to this devote their affections to their father. (Budd, Susan .2005. P.142-143) This could explain why the writer wants Ripley to surround herself mostly with a ship full of a male based crew because the writer wants to show the envy women have over men. What the male crew members have and what Ripley is missing and also other females, women may start to become to see it as a disability. Perhaps it is because Ripley starts to realise that because of this disability, she is still able to be one of them and like them if not better. This could be argued that it is proven at the end of the film by outliving all the other male crewmembers. In a paper entitled The psychical consequences of the anatomic distinction between the sexes written in 1925, Freud wrote that: Women oppose change, receive passively, and add nothing of their own. (Freud, 1925) (http://psychology.about.com/od/sigmundfreud/p/freud_women.htm. 20th November 2009) (Budd, Susan .2005. P.142) The slasher film genre involves a repressed male killer who stalks and brutally murders his victims in a graphic and random manner. The unfortunate victim tends to be a teenager or young adult who lives in the middle of nowhere away from any type of civilisation, meaning there is no one around them or there for them to call upon when they need help. These types of films tend to begin with the murder of a young helpless woman and ends with the heroic female character surviving by managing to out smarten the killer after having some sort of life- depending struggle and being psychologically victimised for an extended amount of time by the killer, forcing her into an uncontrollable stage of paranoia and terror. However usually the killer doesnt die or someone else takes over from where the last killer left off resulting in several sequels. The director has a tendency to introduce at the beginning of the film the main heroic female character as being resourceful and determined even thoug h throughout the film she finds her friends and relatives dead. This could almost be the plot summary of what happens in the 1996 teen horror Scream directed by Wes Craven and released in 1996. The main character that just so happens to be female but has a male associated name, Sidney watches as one by one her high school classmates and friends start to be killed off in a sadistic manner. This links in with Ripley in Alien. They both have male associated names and watch whilst the people they care for and those around them are killed and they are left to try and defend for themselves. However, even though Sidney is the only one who outlives the killer(s) and ends up in all the Scream sequels she is still portrayed as a slightly weak female who requires help and comfort from the friends she still has and from those who have not already been mutilated. Where as Ripley relies on her own knowledge and survival skills to save her self from death. Rob Reiners 1990 Misery, starring the award winning Kathy Bates, shows Kathys character, Annie Wilkes, as a very caring and kind women at the start of the film as she rescues a novelist called Paul Sheldon by pulling him free out if his car in the middle of a blizzard storm. As she is a nurse she nurses him back to health by re-setting his legs as he has a compound fracture of the tibular in both legs and the fibular in the right leg is fractured as well. He also has a dislocated arm which she manipulates back into place. Se shaves him, feeds and waters him and also baths him, which shows her taking on the mother role of wanting to take care of and look after him as if he was an incapable child and not a grown man. The audience also learns at the beginning of the film that she is a fanatic fan of this author and that the blizzard prevented her from taking him to the hospital as it has caused road blockages. She starts to become slightly scary when she tells Paul that she would follow him to his hotel where he was staying and stare up at his window and wonder what he would be doing and that is how she found him in his un-conscious state in his car down the side of an embankment. The audience then start to learn that Annie has a very sort temper when she reads his new novel and is upset by the profound language he has used and starts shouting and ordering him to change it but then snaps back into being all nice and apologies, making the audience think nothing else about it. However as an audience when we start to realise that she is very unstable when she informs him that no one knows that he is there with her as she hasnt informed anyone like she says she has and that the roads and telephone are not blocked and that he better hope that nothing happens to her because if she dies then so will he as he will have no one to look after him. Again this is showing her unstable and psychotic side. As the film goes on we realise she is living her life through one of the c haracters within his novels and eventually the film ends with her killing the sheriff who becomes suspicious of Annie and investigates her house and eventually finds Sheldon. Annie kills the sheriff by shooting him and then plans on killing herself and Paul so they can live together in peace without anyone trying to find them and interfering in their lives. However it doesnt end with a happy ending for Annie as she and Paul get in a fight to the bitter death which results in Paul hitting her over the head with his type-writer that Annie bought for him and surprisingly doesnt kill her or knock her out. She attacks him and they end up in a locked fight on the floor leaving the audience in suspense on who is going to win. Eventually Paul manages to grab one of Annies large ornaments that just happen to be lying near by and smash it into her head which eventually kills her leaving him to get free. Misery portrays women as weak, unstable; reliable on men as Annie, who throughout the film always asks for reassurance from Paul along the lines of Am I doing it right? Other women in the film such as the sheriffs wife, works for her husband and does what he tells her, its as if it is expected of women to do what ever is told of them from a male character, as if it is the male characters who hold all the authority. They are also portrayed as being crazy, unsuitable and able of being on their own and looking after themselves. This is shown in the film when the audience become aware of the fact that Annies husband left her (however later on in the film we are lead to believe she may have killed him) which could be because he didnt want to be with her anymore and she couldnt deal with the fact of being on her own not through a choice of her own but that of a mans. Annie becomes suicidal and starts telling Paul she is thinking of killing herself when she gets depressed because of the rain or other reasons or factors that are out of her control, which makes her seem as a cont rol freak who needs to be in control of everything and have things going her way otherwise she is unable to cope and becomes unstable. So let us return to the question of whether the portrayal of women has changed. It may be thought that the role of women within horror films has somewhat developed and changed. There still are movies that wish to show the female sex as weak and insignificant figures within society. This can be seen in the Scream films which show the main female and so-called heroic character screaming to be rescued and looking for comfort by male companions or from those around her. Are the female character roles in films slipping back into the old way of how they were portrayed? Is this a reaction against the up-front controlling woman that was emerging in films such as Alien. Are men reasserting their status? It has been found that men tend to reduce women in television and film to three basic categories: homemaker, professional and sexual object. It has also been found that men tend to fell threatened when certain subgroups, of women, such as feminists or female athletes, express non-stereotypic behaviour in the media. These two subgroups of women in particular can threaten mens economic success and physical strength. ( DeWal, Altermatt Thompson, 2

Analysis of Beyoncés Formation Video (Black Lives Matter)

Analysis of Beyoncà ©s Formation Video (Black Lives Matter) Beyoncà ©s Formation Video (Black Lives Matter)A Literary Analysis Research Paper Abstract Beyoncà © is one of the singers most recognized in the world and United States of America. She assumed a political role since some events aroused against Afro-American People, related with racism and police brutality. She created the musical video Formation to transmit a message to the people in favor of black lives matter. Keywords: Beyoncà ©, Video, Black Lives Matter, Illuminati, Creole, Alabama, Louisiana, Black Culture, Rapper Beyoncà © launched in 2016 her album Lemonade, including one controversial song, the number twelve in the list whose name is Formation. This unique song is accompanied with an award winning, well-produced and elaborated video, released on purpose, next to the birthday anniversary of Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland, whose deaths are well remembered by Afro-American people as victims of brutal law enforcement and racism. Beyoncà ©s Formation messages are about many more things than simple racism and police brutality. This song delivers messages about feminism, Creole culture, Beyoncà © pride, Black pride, Black power, sexism, LGBT, Hurricane Katrina rememberings, and Beyoncà © intention to dispel the rumor that she is an Illuminati. This video masterfully reveals to faces of Beyoncà © at the same time, as an Entertainer and an Activist. (Caramanica Wortham, 2016). All Formation messages could be classified in major and minor messages. This writing only deals only with major messages, and minor will be ignored. The major messages are one of this two possibilities: direct and explicit messages, or in the other hand are ambiguous, subliminal or hidden messages. This visual and musical work apparently deliver inconsistent sentences with multiple meanings, but that aspect is irrelevant to the first time viewer, because the video is very rich on visuals and plays sticky rhythms that distracts him from the powerful hidden and subliminal messages. This video is holistically great, verified by its numerous well written articles and awards received. Under a rigorous and serious analysis, many messages emerge with multiple meanings. Specially two types of messages could be identified: first, direct or non-ambiguous messages, and second, ambiguous messages with multiple or hidden meanings. Any person, not necessarily an expert will be able to recognize that the lyrics and visuals of this video were semantically engineered by a linguist or carefully designed by an expert on semiotics. Some messages are direct and non-ambiguous like: The Hurricane Katrina aftermath, the Police signs, Beyoncà © pride, Black pride, Black power, Creole Culture, and the effort to dispel the rumor that Beyoncà © are an Illuminati. On the other hand, there are ambiguous messages delivered with multiple or hidden meanings about sexism and LGBT. Those messages appear to the viewer to have multiple interpretations, but the final meaning decision is left free to the particular audience, their will, their virginal minds or the predominant psyche of the individual. Every sentence has two interpretations: the vulgar and the non-vulgar, the formal and the non-formal, the explicit and the implicit message. One of the first message delivered is about the Hurricane Katrina, when the video starts with a living phrase of a killed rapper, whose name was Messy Mya. The voice of the rapper expresses: What happened at the New Wilins? (beyonceVEVO, 2016), then the video shows up many scenes related with New Orleans Katrina floodings. Along the video are Police signs delivered with an apparent neutral connotation, but at the end they suggests indirectly a judgement to the collectively subconscious mind, who has been extensively influenced by the media with the events on police brutality. Beyoncà © is laying at the top of a New Orleans white and blue car, with the word police, partially submerged in the flooding water, sitting squatting, while the back scene displays a neighborhood with flooded houses. Some police departments may considered that scene disrespectful. In other scene, after a sequence of images of New Orleans daily living, the observer can see the word police at the back of a man that resembles a guard. Once again, the video attracts the mind of the viewer to the word police. It is unforgettable the scene when the young boy is dancing with a New Orleans Style, in front of an anti-riot line of policemen and they rise their hands, after that the camera shows a graffiti in the wall with the legend Stop Shooting Us (beyonceVEVO, 2016), this could be interpreted in many ways, but one of them, is the triumph of the weak using non-violent methods, over those that represent the governmental power By the end of the video, the police car got totally submerged under the water, with Beyoncà © lying at the top, drowning, giving the impression that the police problem is a lose-to-lose situation. This is confirmed by some critics affirmations that Beyoncà © is not trying to defame the police. (Logan, 2016). Black power is depicted when Beyoncà © shows up in an elegant long black dress with a big black hat, agitating his hand with a piece of his long hair in circles surrounded by Afro-American guys, also dressed in etiquette black clothes, at the door of an antebellum house, the image evoked in the mind of the viewer is about the power and the way that wealthy and powerful black people lives. The Black power is also depicted in the scene that shows a lonely black cowboy with a golden necklace. An explicit message occurs when Beyoncà © try to defeat the rumors affirming that she is an illuminati, using a unique phrase: Yall haters corny with that Illuminati mess (beyonceVEVO, 2016). The video exhibits some dual interpretations with sentences like this: Paparazzi, catch my fly and my cocky fresh (beyonceVEVO, 2016). This message could be interpreted as a sexual reference or a pride reference. Also there are some explicit sexual references, like: When he fuck me good, I take his ass to Red Lobster, cause I slay (beyonceVEVO, 2016), and there are ambiguous, hidden or second meaning sexual references, when she said: I got hot sauce in my bag, swag (beyonceVEVO, 2016), this sentence has two simultaneous interpretations: first as a reference to Creole culture in which women carries hot sauce in their purses, or a female sexual reference. The controversial word swag may be used in this video as a synonym of promotional items, stylish confidence, or with a sexual orientation reference, also this word correspond to a very well-known LGBT word that means secretly we are gay. But the most incredible fact is that the word slay is mentioned 49 times along the video, probably, with the meaning of extraordinary or killer performance, but lets consider that is also a well-known urban sexual reference. Beyoncà © pride is evident when she expresses Im so reckless when I rock my Givenchy dress (beyonceVEVO, 2016), or Im so possessive so I rock his Roc necklaces (beyonceVEVO, 2016), or Earned all this money, but they never take the country out me (beyonceVEVO, 2016). It is unavoidable that The Black and Creole culture message earned a strong reference in this video, with direct and explicit sentences like this: My daddy Alabama, momma Louisiana (beyonceVEVO, 2016), You mix that Negro with that Creole, make a Texas bama (beyonceVEVO, 2016), I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros (beyonceVEVO, 2016), I like my Negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils (beyonceVEVO, 2016). There is a direct reference to feminism and women leadership when she says: Okay, ladies, now lets get in formation (beyonceVEVO, 2016). In the second middle of the video there is a black man holding in his hand a newspaper named The Truth, whose cover story displays the phrase More than a Dreamer with the photo of Martin Luther King, suggesting that his Leadership was bigger than his famous discourse I have a Dream. The final conclusion is evident. Beyoncà ©s Formation video direct and indirect messages are multiple and not only about simple racism and police brutality, but also was produced with the intention to reveal some paradoxical aspects of the southern living in the United States. This well acclaimed by the critics video was produced by professionals with the same intention as the Black Lives Matter movement, probably become his Anthem. WORKS CITED [beyonceVEVO]. (2016, December 9). Beyoncà © Formation. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDZJPJV__bQ. Caramanica, J. , Morris, J. and Wortham, J. (2016). Beyoncà © in Formation: Entertainer, Activist, Both?. New York Times, Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/arts/music/beyonce-formation-super-bowl-video.html?_r=0 This is a critical review of Beyoncà ©s Formation Video is made by three recognized critics, in the form of a dialog. They suggest that Beyoncà © is an activist and at the same time she is an entertainer. This source is reliable because its Currency (2016), Relevance (Critical review), Authority (New York Times, Best Recognized journalists), Accuracy (Content reliable and credible), and Purpose (the point of view appear objective and impartial). Logan, B. (2016). No, Beyoncà © is not bashing the police: Heres what her new song Formation is really saying. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/the-messages-in-beyonces-formation-2016-2. This article corresponds to a review of Beyoncà ©s Formation Video and clears out to the audience that Beyoncà © is not ridiculing the police. In the opposite side this video is a call for peace and an altruist apology to the black culture in America. This source is reliable because its Currency (2016), Relevance (Critical review), Authority (Business Insider, Recognized journalists), Accuracy (Content reliable and credible), and Purpose (the point of view appear objective and impartial). Macpherson, A. (2016). Beyoncà ©s Formation review a rallying cry that couldnt be more timely, The Guardian, Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/feb/08/beyonce-formation-review-super-bowl-rallying-cry-black-consciousness This article corresponds to a review of Beyoncà ©s Formation Video that states that the world tour is timely deliveries. This source is reliable because its Currency (2016), Relevance (Critical review), Authority (The Guardian, Best Recognized journalists), Accuracy (Content reliable and credible), and Purpose (the point of view appear objective and impartial). Hoby, H. (2016) Beyoncà ©: Formation tour review defiant, victorious and glorious, The Guardian, Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/28/beyonce-formation-tour-review-defiant-victorious-and-glorious. This article corresponds to a review of Beyoncà ©s Formation Video that states that this is the event of the year, masterfully produced. This source is reliable because its Currency (2016), Relevance (Critical review), Authority (The Guardian, Recognized journalists), Accuracy (Content reliable and credible

Analysis of Analytical Discrimination Essay -- Essays Papers

Analysis of Analytical Discrimination If one was required to put a definition on analytical discrimination, what would it mean? In the article â€Å"Discrimination is a virtue,† author Robert Keith Miller discusses the word â€Å"discrimination† and its true meanings, stating it as just knowing a difference. So if the question were asked once again, would it be possible to discriminate the appeals used in analytical analysis? Miller presents us stories and examples to point out a â€Å"lost† definition of a word often overheard, but never studied. His use of appeals sides with logos, discriminates against ethos, and makes anti-pathos a reality. His writing appeals to the mind, leaving much to ponder, though these thoughts may be lost in the whirlwind of ink ideas thrown into a paperback debate. This article focuses on different situations to discuss the problems within. This topical discussion is effective being as there are no two clear sides for argument, and no steps to concluding a definite answer. This articles presentation leaves it open for logos, the writer seemingly shuns or does not have the use of ethos and pathos. Miller has written for Newsweek, where this article comes from. He has also written writing handbooks, such as Motives for Writing (McGraw-Hill) and Hodges’ HarBrace Handbook (Harcourt College Publishers). He is an educator in argument techniques, writing Informed Argument: A Multidisciplinary Reader and Guide. The audience for his article is people of open mind and education. His appeals to logic show a need to take apart his examples and examine them to find their meanings. When he presents his ideas, there is a need to understand each situation, and... ...f logos is a main theme in the argument. Miller needs people to think about what he is presenting to have an effect on them. To a concentrated audience, his appeals make a good impression and even some realizations. An argument that offers a change in a language may come as hard for the reader to understand, but Miller presents examples in which he change makes sense to arouse the readers mind. This use of examples may be rampant and unconnected in some aspects, but all do serve the main purpose and relate to the main argument. Miller’s techniques form an informative and interesting essay. I believe that he has found his purpose and offered his point in the best possible way considering the subject matter. In interpreting his essay, Miller’s own words seem to sum it up best: â€Å"Let us be open-minded by all means, but not so open-minded that our brains fall out.†

Free Essays - Sanity of Hamlet :: Shakespeare Hamlet

Sanity of Hamlet Is he insane or isn't he? That is the question. What is the answer? Literary scholars have debated that question for over 400 years. Still people wonder. I, for one, don't think Hamlet is crazy at all. I feel that he is very depressed because of his father's death. But especially because of his mother's hasty marriage to his Uncle Claudius one month after his father's death. Hamlet is still in mourning, his mother should be also. He doesn't understand why she isn't in mourning. Upset by his mother unfaithfulness to his father, Hamlet scorns his mother saying, "frailty, thy name is woman" (I.2.46). In act I, we learn that his father's ghost has appeared to Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo. Upon learning that, Hamlet goes with Horatio and Marcellus to speak with the spirit. Besides being depressed, I feel that he is acting like a madman to conceal his motive, revenge for his father's murder. Even though Hamlet barges into Ophelia's room and grabs her by the wrists, without saying a word, sighs and leaves, I believe it's an act to divert suspicion away from Hamlet's true purpose of wanting to kill Claudius, his father's murderer. Ophelia's father, Polonius, believes that Ophelia's rejection of Hamlet's desire has caused Hamlet to go insane. To prove his point, Polonius suggests that he and Claudius set up a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia. I feel that Hamlet is acting strange towards Polonius. He is playing Polonius by telling him he's a fishmonger and acting like he doesn't know him, because Polonius is a weasel and would go back and tell the king. Hamlet might as well give Polonius something to talk about. Hamlet really seems to be sane when he asks the actors to perform a specific act in a play titled Mouse Trap. The scene will resemble the murder of King Hamlet. Young Hamlet expects that if the ghost is telling the truth about Claudius murdering him, then Claudius will react to the scene, admitting his guilt. Hamlet states "The plays the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King." (II.2.581-82). In my opinion, anyone who can plot that, and thing that far ahead, needs to have a clear head. Free Essays - Sanity of Hamlet :: Shakespeare Hamlet Sanity of Hamlet Is he insane or isn't he? That is the question. What is the answer? Literary scholars have debated that question for over 400 years. Still people wonder. I, for one, don't think Hamlet is crazy at all. I feel that he is very depressed because of his father's death. But especially because of his mother's hasty marriage to his Uncle Claudius one month after his father's death. Hamlet is still in mourning, his mother should be also. He doesn't understand why she isn't in mourning. Upset by his mother unfaithfulness to his father, Hamlet scorns his mother saying, "frailty, thy name is woman" (I.2.46). In act I, we learn that his father's ghost has appeared to Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo. Upon learning that, Hamlet goes with Horatio and Marcellus to speak with the spirit. Besides being depressed, I feel that he is acting like a madman to conceal his motive, revenge for his father's murder. Even though Hamlet barges into Ophelia's room and grabs her by the wrists, without saying a word, sighs and leaves, I believe it's an act to divert suspicion away from Hamlet's true purpose of wanting to kill Claudius, his father's murderer. Ophelia's father, Polonius, believes that Ophelia's rejection of Hamlet's desire has caused Hamlet to go insane. To prove his point, Polonius suggests that he and Claudius set up a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia. I feel that Hamlet is acting strange towards Polonius. He is playing Polonius by telling him he's a fishmonger and acting like he doesn't know him, because Polonius is a weasel and would go back and tell the king. Hamlet might as well give Polonius something to talk about. Hamlet really seems to be sane when he asks the actors to perform a specific act in a play titled Mouse Trap. The scene will resemble the murder of King Hamlet. Young Hamlet expects that if the ghost is telling the truth about Claudius murdering him, then Claudius will react to the scene, admitting his guilt. Hamlet states "The plays the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King." (II.2.581-82). In my opinion, anyone who can plot that, and thing that far ahead, needs to have a clear head.

Bba International Hospitality Management

Marketing Export Plan International Business Orientation Exporting FEBO to ChinaPart 1 Table of content Introduction4 1. Strategic Profile5 1. 1 History5 1. 2 Strategies5 1. 3 What to do in China6 1. 4 Suppliers6 2. FEBO internal analysis7 2. 1 Product position7 2. 2 Marketing capability8 2. 3 Research and development capabilities8 2. 4 Organisational structure8 2. 5 Human resources9 2. 6 Facilities and equipment9 2. 7 Past strategies9 3. Target market (external research)10 3. 1 Selection10 3. 2 Operating risks10 3. 3 Market potential11 3. 4 Costs11 3. 5 Potential local and foreign competition11 . 6 In-depth analysis12 3. 7 Population characteristics and purchasing power12 3. 8 Basic infrastructure including transportation and communication facilities13 3. 9 Cultural factors13 3. 10 Resource13 3. 11 Government restrictions and regulations on trade14 4. Target group15 4. 1 Market Access Requirements (MAR)15 5. SWOT analysis19 6. Critical success factors21 6. 1 The industry21 6. 2 Comp etitive strategy and industry position21 6. 3 Environmental factors22 6. 4 Temporal factors22 6. 5 Managerial position22 Conclusion25 List of reference:26 IntroductionThis report is an export marketing plan, about exporting FEBO to China. The report is divided into two parts. This is the first part which is more about the company at the moment the internal and external analysis. It concludes a strategic profile about the history, the strategies, and what to expect in China. Than as all ready mentioned the internal analysis, what are their capabilities, product position, organizational structure, human resource and their facilities and equipment at the moment. The target market is the external analysis which concludes their market position, risks, cost, purchase power and PESTEL analysis.Then there will be explained about about the target market, what is it now and which segment do they want to reach in China. The report consist about a SWOT analysis from FEBO now and the possible op portunities and threats for the China market. In the critical success factors the industry will be discussed and the competitive strategy and industry position. The second part is more about the implementation about exporting FEBO to china. The different market entries, sales and marketing plan and the technical aspect. But there over later more. 1. Strategic Profile 1. 1 History FEBO was found in 1941 by J.J de Borst, he started with â€Å"Maison Febo† as a bakery in Amsterdam. The founder learned that quality is the key factor of success. So he was always busy with improving the quality of his products. After a while Mr. de Borst decided to expand his assortment with homemade salads and kroketten which were sold as a take away or to eat them straight away. Since, there was a high demand, he decided to close the bakery and continue with a kitchen. FEBO made all the products in its fabric. In addition, shops opened where the products could be sold, through the famous â€Å"w all†. Mr. J. J. e Borst did not want to outsource the production because then he did not have control over the quality anymore. Because of this successful concept in 1978 the first franchise settlement was opened in Amsterdam. A few years later other FEBO’s opened their doors in; Purmerend, Hoorn and Hoofddorp. Those neighbor cities of Amsterdam were chosen, to keep the existing target group also called an overflow area. In 1990 the son of the founder took over the company and built a big kitchen in Amsterdam were they produced all the products, they own this kitchen as well to keep their production in their own hands.Later, other franchised FEBO’s opened their doors in the rest of Holland. Now a day there are 61 branches and 55 of them are franchised. All of those shops need to be modern and to have the same charisma. Hygiene is very important and the counter is the hearth of the shop. Everything is about the product, high quality and quick stock turnover. All t he FEBO’s need to be located on A1 locations, and what is more, they need to have a certain surface, minimum of 80m2. (Febo) 1. 2 Strategies Strategy formulation can be analysed through the model of the Strategic lenses.This model suggests that there are 4 ways of formulating and implementing a strategy. Namely those are strategy as design, as experience, as ideas and as discourse. Companies that formulate strategy as discourse are using models and analytical tools to carefully analyze the situation. FEBO is not implementing this way of strategy formulation. It is more using the strategy as experience way, as the strategies and way of doing business are based on past experience. This can be seen yet from the begging, when FEBO expanded from bakery to franchise fast food because of the experience that this is what the customers want.Moreover, strategy as ideas is to be innovative and use the full potential of employees’ ideas. This is also what FEBO implemented, when th ey found the food walls. The last lens is strategy as discourse and this is to use language to formulate a strategy. This angle of looking at a strategy can be also found in FEBO and more particularly in its logo- The most delicious. This logo passes the strategy of good taste to both its employees and customers. (Johnson et. all, 2008). At the moment FEBO is number one mark leader of the fast food sector in the Netherlands.This also has to do with their strategy; â€Å"Quality stays†. FEBO is continuously busy with improving their receipts and products. Also freshness is one of the strategies, all the products are made the same day as they are sold. The products are made of the best quality of meat, herbs, butter and flower. After they are made they are transport by FEBO`s own trucks to keep the quality high. What FEBO is also very famous for is the concept of getting food out of the â€Å"wall†. This is a typical Dutch, and only at FEBO’s.People have to put so me coins in the machines and they can choose their snack without ordering it. This is considered as Smart strategy, because it created a better brand awareness and now everybody recognizes the food out of the wall as part of FEBO. 1. 3 What to do in China This report is analyzing and considering the possibility of export of FEBO to China. FEBO is a typical Dutch fast food chain, where people can 24/7 get food out of the wall. When exporting this to China it is important that the Dutch style identity and the same products, quality and the â€Å"food wall† are preserved. 1. Suppliers It is important that the products are kept as much as possible the same as they are in Holland. One of the basic strategies of FEBO’s is freshness, which means that is it not possible to export the products from Holland all the way to China. They need to be made in China, some essential ingredients as herbs can be exported, but products as meat and potatoes have to come from China. Those ing redients have to be prepared according to the typical Dutch receipts. This method also saves money, because the company does not have to fly over all the raw ingredients to make the snacks. . FEBO internal analysis An internal analysis of an organisation is performed to evaluate its current position and recourses and determine the strengths and the weaknesses. In this part of the report internal analysis of FEBO will be done on the basis on evaluating its product position, marketing capability, research and development, organisational structure, human resources, facilities and equipment, past strategies. 2. 1 Product position The current products of FEBO are all fast food, which can be taken from a wall.However, what distinguishes FEBO is that its products are fresh and never a compromise on quality is made. The company is choosing carefully the best suppliers and producing its products every day in a fabric in Amsterdam, in that way there is a direct control on the quality. After b eing produced in Amsterdam, the food is distributed through the companies own logistic channels to the 61 shops in the Netherlands. In order to make the product positioning of FEBO clearer, the company will be placed on the strategic clock which can be seen in the graph below. Evaluation will be made on the basis of quality and price.The product of FEBO is differentiated from the other fast food, but differentiation is not their strategy as they are also keeping the prices low. What the organisation is doing can be named as hybrid as they are offering more quality and low price. The combination of the two is normally difficult to manage and most companies provide either quality or cheap product, but FEBO achieves both by selling big quantities and distributing the costs over a big production. 2. 2 Marketing capability The marketing concept and at the same time advertising promise that FEBO is using is the most delicious.The accent of the company is definitely on the quality of the i ngredients and the freshness of the food offered to the customers. FEBO is also having a cheap price, but this is not directly communicated to the customers as sometimes people consider low priced products as low quality products. That is why the marketing capability is all about the high quality and appeal to the customers. This is also the reason why, no matter that it is a franchise company, FEBO apart from know-how and brand is also providing the franchisee with the in-house produced and distributed food on daily basis. 2. Research and development capabilities FEBO extended its range of products throughout the years of its foundation. However, the concept of high quality is something that stays in the company. It is making research and developing only the new products that fit in the major concept. In addition the company is performing a research for every new franchisee and has certain requirements as opening shops only in A1 locations. What is more, FEBO has done a research an d provided a map with possible locations for new shops. If a franchisee suggests another location, FEBO will conduct research and evaluate if it is suitable. . 4 Organisational structure FEBO was opened as a family business and still the director today is a family member. He is already a third generation running the company. His name is  Mr. JR Breast and he is on the top of the organisation. The structure of the company is kept simple with direct relations, so that it can work effectively and quickly. There are several management departments, performing the basic tasks. Namely those are- Quality manager, Franchise manager, Marketing manager, financial manager and Manager company stores.They are all directed and controlled by the director of FEBO. The Franchise manager is working together with a consultant for franchising and the financial manager has financial administration. Moreover, there are two secretaries working in FEBO as well. With this structure every employee has tasks and responsibilities and there is no confusion about who is doing what. The organisational structure of FEBO helps in achieving quick and fruitful relationships with franchisee. 2. 5 Human resources The employees working in the management of FEBO are professionals and are carefully selected.They all contribute to the process of adding value and producing and delivering high quality products to the customers. The human resources that FEBO employs also include their franchisee and the full and part time employees working in the shops, so that is why the management of FEBO is considering each case separately. An approval to be a franchisee of FEBO is only given to the ones that cover the requirements. Human resource force is important for FEBO because quality products cannot be produced by unqualified personnel. 2. 6 Facilities and equipmentThe facilities and equipment of FEBO are very important part of the competitive advantage. The walls or vendor machines placed at the shops of FEB O are something unique. They help in delivering fast service to the customers and are even considered as an attraction by the tourists. Furthermore, the shops which are also part of the facilities of FEBO are only in A1 location, which means that a lot of people pass by them and this is an advantage compared to competitors who do not have such good locations or at least not for all of their shops.Very important facilities for FEBO are its fabric and trucks without which the company will not be able to control the quality throughout its whole chain and will be highly dependent on outside organisations. 2. 7 Past strategies FEBO started as a family owned bakery and because of the success and interest it started growing. It can be said that the strategies were not carefully planned, but they emerged from the everyday doing business and from the customer needs. Moreover, as FEBO`s strategy is to produce in-house to keep the quality, this was a strategy that was formulated from the gaine d experience.The family saw that the customers value the personal touch. That is why no matter that the range of the products is growing and there are more and more FEBO restaurants, the quality is kept high by still holding the production and distribution in house, because the past experience shows that this is the formula for success for FEBO. 3. Target market (external research) 3. 1 Selection The choice of market selection is a key strategic option in export marketing which provide the basic information for export marketing mix decisions.In general, the selection is through identifying and analyzing different possible markets for export market expansion from aspects such as market size, market growth, competitive conditions and government regulations, etc to determine the most suitable target market for the company to export at the current situation. Therefore, the selection for target market can be seen as a really essential process for the exporting and international marketing . FEBO is a traditional Dutch company. In addition, it is liked by most of people in the Netherlands no matter from which nationality they are.Therefore there are a lot of choices of feasible countries for export marketing. According to Douglas and Craig (1983), by examining the operating risks, market potential, costs and potential local and foreign competition, the list of feasible countries could be evaluated and ranked. As the result, the most suitable market would be selected out. However, it still needs to be further in-depth analyzed later. (Albaum, 1998, P132-133) For the reasons above, the following part would be the assessment of different choice markets for FEBO’s export marketing later in order to select the most suitable target market for FEBO.The assessment had been divided into three possible options: a Central or Eastern-European country, a North-American country and an emerging Asian country and would be test as the above four aspects according to Douglas and Craig. 3. 2 Operating risks Operating risks, which is also called business risks, mean the risk arising from a computer’s business. To be more specific, it includes risks from the change of people, system and process during the business. What is more, some factors like fraud risks, legal risks, and physical or environment risks also could be involved in operation risks. Operating risk definition. (n. d)) At this aspect, the three options have almost the same risks if choose to expand because for FEBO the three options are all new markets. If FEBO wants to open new stores no matter in the centre or eastern-European or north-American country or an emerging Asian country, a lots of risks at aspects like manufacturing, transportation or even customers and suppliers would exist undoubtedly. However, among this situation, the emerging Asian country such as China has low labor costs which could also mean low labor risk and can be considered as an opportunity. . 3 Market potential M arket potential means the potential of the new market for the future development. For instance it could include the potential amount of customers, the potential products demands, and the potential profits. From this point of view, the Central or Eastern-European market and North-American market are not suitable because the lifestyle of people there is almost the same as in the Netherlands, although the majority of people like fast food so that there are a lot of customers and high products demands, the alternative fast food, competition of FEBO is very high.Therefore it can be predicted that the potential profits can suffer. However, in an emerging Asian country, like China traditional food still stands in a leading position. Although many fast food companies such as KFC and McDonalds’ become increasingly popular by people there, FEBO still seems a new kind of fast food for the â€Å"get food out of wall†. Time saving could attract more potential customers which would lead great potential profits as the result. 3. 4 Costs Simply the costs contain material, time, resource, manufacture and delivery of the products or services of the company. Cost definition. (n. d. )) Among the three options, only the emerging Asian country like China has low labor costs and low tax, therefore at this point, China accounted for the most of advantages and could be seem as a good choice for FEBO’s export. 3. 5 Potential local and foreign competition The same as what had already been mentioned in the point of market potential, there are too much competition in the Central or Eastern-European market and the North-American market as there are too many similar industries, so FEBO has lower opportunities and higher threats if choose these two options.On the contrary, China, as a developing Asian country, has scant fast food industries which mean less local competition. Moreover, at the beginning of international business, FEBO could seize the first opportunities an d then could be easier foothold in the China market than the other similarly industries or companies which entered later. To sum up, according to those reasons above which got from careful analysis, the best choice of FEBO’s export marketing could be clearly seen as China. 3. 6 In-depth analysis After market selection, the most suitable option for FEBO’s export marketing is China.For further analysis, a number of variables which could also be called indicators are useful for assessing the export potential of the international market—the China market. In order, to have a more complete and detailed overview of the China market, the potential impact of those variables needs to be examined. In accordance with Albaum, G. , generally speaking, the physical characteristics, political tendencies, socio-culture characteristics and economic factors are the four main elements which would influence the results of in-depth analysis.More specifically, indicators would include a list of for instance the physical geography of the country, the local industries. Since it would be much more difficult and complex to examine every indicator, several relatively important variables are chosen to analysis. Those are the following: population characteristics and purchasing power, basic infrastructure including transportation and communication facilities, cultural factors, resource and government restrictions and regulations on trade. (Albaum, 1998, P136) 3. Population characteristics and purchasing power As all known, China has a large population which can be seen as benefit for export because more people means more demands. Therefore, it will be clear that the first choice for FEBO to export is the bigger cities in China such as Beijing or Shanghai. In those bigger cities, there are more people and especially more rich people who have larger purchasing power in comparison to people in other small cities. In addition, Big cities have more competition and the major ity of people there have a fast pace of life.There is a very high possibility that they would like FEBO’s â€Å"get food out of wall† model. As a famous typical Dutch fast food, FEBO could help people save a lot of time from cooking and there is no doubt that it would be accepted and further loved by most people living in the bigger cities of China. 3. 8 Basic infrastructure including transportation and communication facilities Take Shanghai as an example, there are lists of transportation methods that could be choose for transportation such as bus, truck, subway, train and even plane if necessary.For one of FEBO’s strategies of freshness, the bigger cities in China like Shanghai could be ensure the transport the raw materials or final products in time and always keep fresh as their original quality. Second, the same as Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the bigger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai in China also have complete and sound communication f acilities. The internet system is the bridge between the headquarters and branches both in the Netherlands and China as well as that between stores and distributions or manufactories.In a word, no matter which link has problems, the communication facilities could assume the responsibility for exchange information. 3. 9 Cultural factors For the cultural aspect, people living in bigger cities in China are more likely to want to try international food than those living in small cities. The reason is that there are a lot of foreigners living in the bigger cities in China especially Shanghai and Beijing and the local population there is more opened to European cultures.Since different nationalities are living together, they are influenced by each other and it is obviously that more and more Chinese accept and even love the foreign food. Usually people that live in bigger cities in China often have less prejudice or fear, furthermore, they have a more modern lifestyles, and they treat for eigners more friendly. Most of them can speak English or other languages so that they would probably prefer to talk with traditional Dutch employees in FEBO’s stores in China about the lifestyle or environment if the Netherland.They will be able to communicate in English. 3. 10 Resource As mentioned above, one of the strategies of FEBO is freshness which means it is not possible to transport the products from the Netherlands to China every day. To address this problem, the products sold in China’s stores need to be made also in China. Therefore only some essential ingredients as herbs still can be exported to keep products of FEBO in China also have traditional Dutch taste and at the same time could save costs.As China is large and owns many resources, it is believed that most of resources that FEBO needs to make products could be found in China such as meat and potatoes and so on. In addition, human resource is another significant element. The larger population especi ally in bigger cities of China means that FEBO does not need to worry about labor problems. Moreover, the lower labor costs in China could also help FEBO save money and can be a better option than exporting Dutch employees from the Netherlands. 3. 11 Government restrictions and regulations on tradeWith China’s accession of WTO, the government pays more attention on international trade than in the past. In addition, Chinese are encouraged to develop international business abroad and the government also welcomes foreign investments in China. Lowering the amount of restrictions on trade and formulating stimulating regulations on trade are what the government already did and would further developed in the future. Therefore this is a good opportunities for FEBO’s export marketing plan to China. Many encouraging regulations such as lower taxes could also lower the risks of FEBO’s export. . Target group Since the first target market for FEBO’s export plan had be en determined as bigger cities in China such as Beijing and Shanghai, the next step is to search for the most suitable location for FEBO’s first store. After a list of researches, the first destination for FEBO’s export would be Shanghai, therefore the following part would be about the situation in Shanghai. FEBO is a fast food company; so that the target group of it would of course young people as for example students and office people.The young usually like fashion and could easily accept new products. They like foreign foods better than the older people. Therefore the problem is how to attract them come to FEBO. To address this problem, some research had been done. Through the results, there are a lot of European companies established in every district of Shanghai, so that it can be hardly to circle for a specific district for Europeans. For this reason, the final location of FEBO would be the city centre of Shanghai which also could be seen as the a1 location. Gene rally peaking, people come from other places, especially from other countries always choose the most famous food to eat; however, there is another choice, that is to follow with the local people. That is because the natives would choose the best food among the whole city so that there is no doubt that the tourists could find delicious food with the local people. Therefore, to attract more customers, the target group for FEBO at the beginning should be those European people in Shanghai. When people see a lot of European people come to FEBO, then they would come as well.Furthermore, with a lot of European people, FEBO could have a more European environment as it is expected. 4. 1 Market Access Requirements (MAR) Standardized products and services are considered to be a confidence builder, and that can be perceived as safety, healthy, secure, high quality and flexible. So the standardized products or services are widely accepted, commonly trusted and highly valued. There are several st andards for FEBO to export to China. This part will be discussed by different aspects. In this part, PESTEL will be used to analysis these factors. Political:It is an important economic development strategy for China to bring more foreign investment, so Chinese government offers more preferential policies to foreign companies. The most relative policy for FEBO is tax; it is lower than in Netherlands. Chinese government announced that foreign companies have to pay 25% of income, which is lower than 25. 5% in Netherlands. FEBO will earn more money because of this low tax. And for the new foreign companies, if they want to operate more than ten years, and then in the first two years, they can exempt from corporate income tax. It is a good open policy for FEBO to enter to Chinese market.Economic: Source from official says that the economic in China is optimistic. Generally, Chinese economic is increasing rapidly. Ranked seventh in the world GDP, GDP growth rate is the first in the world . It is suitable for FEBO to develop to China. Social: Although China has a long history, Chinese people are becoming more open to different cultures than other countries with deeply embedded local customs. Nowadays, the educational level is high, and Chinese people can adopt more foreign customs and values. In some big cities, the pace of life is fast, so people prefer fast-food than traditional one.As it can be seen that McDonald, KFC and many more foreign fast-food stores opened in China, FEBO can be next good choice for them. Technological: FEBO has more or less the same technologic as other fast-food stores. But for some sauces and some special traditional Dutch food, FEBO has its own technologic. What is more, FEBO will use this Dutch fast-food technologic also in China. Environment: As food industry is famous and quickly developing in China, FEBO can catch up with the situation, and develop to Chinese market. After FEBO set foot in China, there will be more jobs for local peo ple.It will also bring competitive crisis to relative stores, and this will promote the virtuous circle of competition in the market. FEBO can be an environmental company, and will do more changes on environmental item, so it could be more adopted than other non environmental friendly business. Legal: FEBO has to obey the laws and relative constraints, some important legal issues are described detailed as below: * FEBO first has to obtain the certification of International standard organization (ISO), which is the world’s largest developer and publisher of international standard.FEBO is a Dutch brand, and if it wants to develop to Chinese market, then it becomes an international business. If FEBO gets the ISO application, it will bring a lot of advantages to the business: * Strengthen quality management and improve enterprise efficiency. If FEBO implement at ISO, it can be scrutinized in according to international standard quality system for quality management. It will greatl y improve work efficiency and product qualification rate, and rapidly increase their economic and social benefits. * Access to international trade pass, it is conducive to across international technical barriers.Especially in the â€Å"World Trade Organization†, member countries exclude the tariff barriers each other, so certified is the main way to eliminate trade barriers. * To be an invincible position in the competition of product quality. Quality competition has become the primary means of competition in international trade. ISO certification can help FEBO improve the product quality stably. * What is more, to enter Chinese market, it is essential for FEBO to have Market access barriers for other relative stores. So FEBO has to get certificate from Chinese food industry. FEBO has to meet China`s health, safety, quality and environmental objectives.As it has been mentioned in the previous part, some essential ingredients as herbs can be exported. So the technical trade ba rriers of China can help FEBO realize these policy objectives by restricting entry of unsatisfactory products at the border. The barriers can be divided into mandatory approval and voluntary approval. * Mandatory approval CCC (China Compulsory Certification) is the fastest way to enter Chinese market. It is a system to replace the Compulsory Supervision System for Product Safety Certification and the Safety License System for Import Commodities.Besides, for the food products, FEBO has to comply with the Chinese GB standard. * Voluntary approval FEBO can apply for the CQC(China Quality Certification) Mark certification. This safety products certification system involves hundreds of products divided into over 50 categories, which include protecting consumers’ personal and property safety and safeguard their rights and interests, improving the product quality of domestic enterprises and increasing the product competitiveness in the international market; and also facilitating for eign products accessing into the domestic market.The products categories that not covered under CCC certification can be subject to the CQC Mark certification. So CQC Mark certification can be regarded as the replenishment of CCC certification. There are several items in CQC Mark certification, and what FEBO needs to get are: CQC Safe&Performance Product certification, and CQC Environmental Product Certification. If FEBO can have two powerful certifications to ensure its quality and safety, it will be treated as a European fast-food brand that with very high quality.Strengths * Number one fast food chain in the Netherlands * 61 shops in all big cities in the Netherlands * A1 locations only * Big target segment * longer opening hours) * Unique â€Å"food out of the wall† concept * Large assortment * FEBO mobile * Daily fresh produced products * High owners equality * Own their production (logistics and production)| Weakness * Lot of waste because of large assortment * Lack of control because of all the different franchises * Cost a lot of money / time to manage the hole distribution channel * Only in the Netherlands| Opportunities * Easy expansion though franchising * The pace of life is fast, and people do not have much time to cook and eat. | Threats * Cheap image * People get more aware of healthy food * Not much option for expansion in Holland (, most big towns and cities of Holland already have a FEBO) * Lots of competition fast food restaurants| 5. SWOT analysis In this chapter the swot analysis of Febo in Holland, will be presented in a table. After having the current SWOT analysis of FEBO, further opportunities and threats for FEBO in China are formulated. Opportunities| Threats| * China has joined WTO, it is being economic globalization, and there is a large space market in China. * China is a new market for FEBO development. As the results show – other fast-food brand has created a score higher than the local business in China * Accordin g to the analysis, it will be the golden age in the next 20 years for China’s economic growth; China will continue to grow as one of the most active region of economic growth. So the financial situation is satisfied. * Chinese consumption level and hierarchy of consumption are increasing. * The tax burdens are less than European countries because of China’s open policy. * No special European food in China, especially traditional Dutch food. | * Other fast-food brand has opened chain stores in China and occupied a vast market, like McDonald and KFC. The gap of brand image in the fast-food industry in getting smaller and smaller. * After China joined WTO, more and more fast-food brands keep their focus on the huge Chinese market. They bring advanced production technology, marketing ideas and service modes. So the relative position of FEBO has a lot of competitors. * New technologies and more modern fast food threaten to displace FEBO and its products. | 6. Critical succe ss factors In general, Critical Success Factors (CSF’s) are the critical factors or activities required for ensuring the success the business. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis, and business analysis.Critical Success Factors have been used significantly to present or identify a few key factors that organizations should focus on so that they are successful. As a definition, critical success factors refer to â€Å"the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance for the individual, department, or organization†(Critical Success Factors – CSF analysis, (n. d. ). According to Rockart and Bullen, there are five key sources involved in critical success factors. To better understand FEBO, it will be analyzed on the five parts. 6. 1 The industry In addition to several common CSF within the same industry, there are also many different and unique CSF for different companies.FEBO is a leader in the fast food chain within the Netherlands, so that it has some common CSF like other fast food companies, for instance low price, flexibility and convenient, customer orientation and high quality. Apart from these, FEBO has the unique CSF to be the most famous one among others with its â€Å"get food from the wall†. Because of the revolutionary way of getting the food quickly and easily, FEBO is so successful in the Netherlands. 6. 2 Competitive strategy and industry position Different strategies are used to deal with different situation, and different value/ price position could lead to different markets. Therefore, different strategy and position would gain different market shares and risks at the same time for the company.For example, the values of the company, or the target market and target group the company choose will all impact the CSF’s of that company at a given point in time. FEBO position itself as fast food so that it needs to deliver tasty food to the cu stomers while the service should be quick at a reasonable price and available at any time. Only achieved these can FEBO stand out among the fast food industry. FEBO achieves this with the CSF of holding production and distribution channel in house. 6. 3 Environmental factors The environmental factors mean that any changes in economic, regulatory, political or demographic would affect the CSF of the company. (Critical Success Factors, Guide on How to Write University Essays and Dissertations(n. d. ) This aspect of factors could not be controlled by FEBO, but since FEBO wants to export to China market, so that it already gained a lot of advantages at this point. For instance, China has many regulations to encourage the foreign investments. In addition to that, China is a developing country so that the political development and economic performance of China is very promising. Therefore these all could be seen as the CSF’s for FEBO in the future. 6. 4 Temporal factors These usual ly relate to short-term situation and are influenced by some specific events. These kinds of factors often result in internal organizational needs and changes. A temporary CSF for FEBO can be finding a suitable A1 location and reliable franchisee at a certain destination.This is a CSF which has to be given great attention when expanding to China, because without a good franchisee and good location, there is no way that the shop is successful. 6. 5 Managerial position It is an additional aspect and is important when considered from an individual’s point of view. It highlights individual contribution for the CSF’s of the company. It is normal that the company would be wholly successful if it has many successful managers in different specific area and take good control of each department. At this point of view, FEBO’s CSF are manufacturing managers took the responsibility of provide good quality of products, and the store managers did well in building good relation ship with customers with offering kinds of services. Strategic capability applied to FEBOThe capabilities of a company can be broadly grouped into four categories- Threshold recourses, threshold capabilities, unique resources and core competences. Each of them will be explained and applied to FEBO (Johnson et. all, 2008). * Threshold recourses Threshold recourses are tangible or intangible assets that the company needs to have in order to fulfil the minimum customer requirements. If a company does not have those resources, the customers will not buy from that brand. However, as this is the minimum and every company in the same business needs to have the same to survive, these recourses do not create competitive or superior advantage (Johnson et. ll, 2008). FEBO has the threshold physical resources of having a fabric, machines and shops for selling. Without this the company will not be able to deliver its offering to the customer. Moreover it has the financial resources of its franch isee and company equity. The human threshold recourses of FEBO comprise of the managers who direct the franchisee and the franchisees and their employees at the shops. These all are the minimum resources and without having them, FEBO cannot exist. However, just the presence of these resources is not important. The customer expects that they are deployed in the right way to deliver value. * Threshold competenceThreshold competences are the abilities that are necessarily to satisfy the basic needs of a customer in this case, the minimum expectations from a fast food restaurant (Johnson et. all, 2008). As FEBO is in the business of fast food shops, the threshold competence that it needs to posses in order to have customers is to deliver tasty food to the customers. Moreover, the service should be quick at a reasonable price and available at any time, because that is what all the fast food restaurants are doing. * Unique resources Unique resources are those tangible and intangible asset s that the company posses and are better or different from the competitors.Those resources give competitive advantage (Johnson et. all, 2008). In the case of FEBO the most obvious unique resource it has are its vending machines in the shops. Those are easily recognisable by customers as being part of FEBO and deliver superior- quicker service. In addition, a unique intellectual resource is the brand of FEBO. It is already for a long time in the market and customers know it and value it. The business system of FEBO can also be regarded as a unique resource as the company is keeping production and distribution in house by having its own fabric and trucks. Those are things that are usually outsourced in the fast food industry. Core competence Core competences are the abilities of the personnel to deploy the resources in a way that delivers more value than competitors. The core competences are the key to achieving competitive advantage as they are more difficult to imitate (Johnson et. all, 2008). The core competence of FEBO is to in-house produce and distribute its high quality food quickly to all its A1 shops in Holland. The achievement of quality and at the same time speed makes it possible to sell fresh products in the shops. What is more, the high quality is achieved by using only the best suppliers and carefully choosing the franchisee that represent the brand.So, the core competence of FEBO is embedded in its supply chain. The whole functioning of the operations of FEBO, synchronizing the work of quality suppliers, employees and machines in the fabric, quick logistics, A1 shops and skilled franchisee add to the process of delivering the best quality to the customer. Through the big volumes, FEBO is also keeping the prices of its products down. Conclusion The idea behind the report is to analyze the possibility to expand FEBO to China. To sum up, FEBO opened as a bakery and the experience showed the successful strategy of producing in house and franchising s hops for fast food. The main strategy of the company is resolved around quality and freshness.FEBO is implementing the hybrid quality/price strategy and it is marketing proposition is the â€Å"most delicious†. The structure of the organisation is flat, which makes it effective. FEBO possesses the key facilities- vendor machines and own production. The reasons why to chosen target market is China is because, the labour cost are low, fast food popularity is increasing, Government is stimulating international investments through low taxes, the competition in the fast food is not that fierce yet, the country has the basic recourses to produce FEBO`s products and because of the large population, the target market is also expected to be bigger.More specifically Shanghai is chosen for the first shops as it has good transportation and communication connections and the people in the city are more open to different cultures, which also have a fast pace of life and tend to eat fast foo d, moreover, a bigger proportion of the population is speaking English. In addition, the early adopters of FEBO in Shanghai will be targeted to be the European people. When there are enough European customers this will built trust in the local Chinese population and they will perceive it as exotic and quality food. In order to enter the Chinese market, FEBO has to obtain ISO, China Compulsory Certification and China Quality certification. Having these will make it easier and cheaper for the company to begin business in China and the local population will see it as a quality chain.The critical success factors for FEBO were found to be the get food out of the wall, tasty food with high quality and good choice of franchisees who keep the traditional way of business and the image of FEBO. And last but not least, the unique resources and core competences of FEBO are the walls, the brand name, the business system, quality and speed at the same time and the coordination of the whole supply chain. List of reference: 1) Albaum, G. , Standskow, J. Duerr, E. Dowd, L. , International marketing and export management, Prentice Hall, 3rd edition, 1998 2) CCC US OFFICE – China AQSIQ, CCC Mark, CCC Certificate, 3C Certificate – Your fastest way to enter China Market. (n. d. ). CCC US OFFICE – China AQSIQ, China CCC, CCC Mark, CCC Certificate, 3C Certificate – Your fastest way to enter China Market.Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://www. ccc-us. com/otherservices. htm? gclid=COaLkoKwy5ICFRmiiQodBRGdmA 3) China Market Access: How to Succeed in this Growing Market. (n. d. ). Bureau Veritas : QHSE-SR Management, Inspection, Certification, Training & Consulting. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://www. bureauveritas. com/wps/wcm/connect/bv_com/group/Home/About-Us/Our-Business/Our-Business-Consumer-Products/our+services/services+and+solutions/china%20market%20access 4) Cost definition. (n. d. ). BusinessDictionary. com – Online Business Dictionary. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://www. businessdictionary. com 5) Critical Success Factors. (n. d. ).Guide on How to Write University Essays and Dissertations. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://university-essays. tripod. com/critical_success_factors_csf. html 6) Critical Success Factors – CSF analysis, formulation and construction. (n. d. ). Rapid Business Improvement Review – Organizational Diagnostic tool – BIR/ change tools/ health check/ diagnostic/ organizational development/ RapidBI. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://rapidbi. com/created/criticalsuccessfactors 7) Homepage. (n. d. ). Homepage. Retrieved November 24, 2010, from http://www. febodelekkerste. nl/ 8) ISO – International Organization for Standardization. (n. d. ).ISO – International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://www. iso. ch 9) Johnson, G. , Scholes, K. , & Whittington, R. (2008). Foundation of strategic c apability. Exploring corporate strategy: text and cases (8. ed. , pp. 95-99). Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. 10) Operating risk definition. (n. d. ). BusinessDictionary. com – Online Business Dictionary. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/operating-risk. html 11) 2) Strategic Management ::  The Areas That Most Businesses Should Analyze. (n. d. ). Strategic Management ::  . Retrieved November 24, 2010, from http://strategy-formulation. 24xls. com/en126

Regionalism in India

On 15th of December 1953, when Potti Sriramulu succumbed to death not able to sustain 52 days of marathon fast that was undertaken to demand a separate state for Telugu speaking people, little did he realize that his death would become a launch pad for the dawn of Political Regionalism in India – that would in course of time alter the whole landscape of India. But the brand of regionalism that evolved after Potti Sriramulu’s death was legitimate, genuine and logical. It reflected the aspirations of people at that time. It stood for fulfilling the longstanding desire of people to have their own linguistic state. Thus, Andhra Pradesh became the first linguistic state of India. Today, Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh is renamed as Potti Sriramulu. After the death of Sriramulu, reluctant Nehru was forced to accede to the various cries from other parts of the country with similar demands. In 1954, a States Reorganization Committee was formed with Fazal Ali as its head, which recommended the formation of 16 new states and 3 Union Territories based on the language people spoke in those respective regions. This heralded a new phase in the Indian politics. The subsequent movements for separate states and territories gave birth to slew of regional parties which eventually became prominent in national level and thus started coalition culture in Indian politics. Regionalism: Meaning Regionalism is a feeling or an ideology among a section of people residing in a particular geographical space characterized by unique language, culture etc. that they are the sons of the soil and every opportunity that exists in their land must be accorded to them first but not to the outsiders. It is a sort of Parochialism. In most of the cases it is raised for expedient political gains but not necessarily. Growth and Development Regionalism in India can be traced back to Dravida Movement started in Tamil Nadu. The movement initially focused on empowering Dalits, non-Brahmins, and poor people. Later it turned against imposition of Hindi as sole official language on non-Hindi speaking areas. Finally, the movement for some time focused on seceding from India to carve out their own Dravidastan or Dravida Nadu. The movement slowly declined and today they have become prominent regional parties after many splits and factionalism. Throughout India regionalism persisted. In Maharashtra Shiv Sena against Kannadigas in the name of Marathi pride and recently MNS activists against Biharis; in Punjab against non-Punjabis that gave rise to Khalistan Movement and earlier Akali Movement; in Andhra, Telangana Movement with an aim of separate state; in Assam ULFA militants against migrant Biharis and Bengalis; in North-East against other Indians. It can be traced that regionalism slowly turned from non violent means to violent means to achieve their goals. From Potti Sriramulu’s non violent means of fatsing to Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena (MNS) and ULFA’s violent means, regionalism has come a long way. Regionalism in present day India is readily used for political gains by petty politicians and secessionist organizations. Economic reasons are exploited for political dividends. When violence is used against people in the name of regionalism it is a criminal act and is punishable. Article 19 of the Constitution of India provides a citizen of India to move freely throughout the territory of India, to reside and settle in any part, and to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business. When ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) militants or MNS(Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) activists used violence against poor migrant workers, they clearly violated law of the land and also the Constitution which is above all, even above the Parliament. Do we need to fear Regionalism? No. Regionalism in India is only a short cut to attain the political ambitions by emotionally exploiting the sentiments of the people. The fear of Balkanization is void of any logic. India is bound by a common culture that has flourished on this land many thousand years ago. I may be Kannadiga or Tamil but I am an Indian first. My identity outside India is that of an Indian. The states which fought for complete independence are now part of Indian Union and they have renounced for some extent violence; they include Mizoram, Nagaland, Kashmir, Bodoland, Tamli Nadu. India is too big for these states to fight against and win. Today regional parties define how the governments are formed and conducted both at the centre and the state level. Indeed it is a good development as some political entities such as RJD, BSP, LJP, DMK, AIADMK, BJD have to some extent represented those people who were neglected in the political process for long time. As long as they thrive for regional development without discriminating against outsiders, regionalism is good for India. Every Indian is a son of this soil. A Bihari becomes Mumbaikar when a bomb explodes in Mumbai and a Mumbaikar becomes Bihari when Kosi wrecks havoc in the plains of Bihar. We are united by an idea called India and that unity is imperative if we want to do a ’Chinese’ thing in future – that of actually walking on the path to becoming a global superpower instead of daydreaming