Denmarks culture: Womens rights, education and family

Denmarks culture: Womens rights, education and family Culture is one of those rare inheritances that a follower receives from his/her ancestors. It determines beliefs, perception, and morality .Those values shape a man’s identity making him dependant and loyal to those principals. Every culture has its own history and traditions, which makes the world a place with variety types of people. The cultures are represented by its followers allowing them to be strict and bias towards its constitution and moral behaviors without the followers a culture could disappear joining the anthology of the dead cultures. Denmark has a culture with recognized principles and values that specializes them over traditions. They have their own point of views and ways of dealing with traditional aspects of life such as customs, education, marriage, family life, as well as women’s rights. Denmark, being a small country in northern Europe it is rich with customs and traditions. Food, Festivals, Music, and Religion are important aspects in the customs of Denmark. The Danish people believe that meals are important for the families to be together and not just for filling their need. (Pateman 113). The main food which the Danes usually eat is bread for their breakfast and they have many different types of bread in which they eat some are crusty and some are cold toasted. (Pateman 114). Although in the summer the Danes usually go to the park to get sunshine as sometimes during the winter they never get sunshine, their meal usually are meatballs which are made of pork, this is the most common meal in Denmark. (Pateman 115). On the other hand, there are only two main drinks in Denmark which are coffee and beer; these are the main two which the Danes drink throughout the year. They also have a traditional beer for them only which is made by mainly potato which is called Snaps which is served usually served cold. (Pateman 116-117). The Danes celebrate many days during a year of which some are Religious and others which are important events. The Danes like other Christian countries celebrate Christmas and Easter. The celebration of Christmas starts from the beginning of December up to New Year, although the main part starts at December 23 which the Danes decorate their home which hearts and other religious items. The Danish families’ celebrate Christmas Eve together and they also have a special dinner which is made of rice pudding. Although the importance of Easter is no longer there in Denmark, holiday is given to them which the Danes go and visit families and friends in exchange of Easter eggs to children.(Pateman 108-110).Other important events which the Danes celebrate during the year are the Queen’s birthday, Liberation Day, Copenhagen Carnival, alongside Fastelvn. These are the main days in which the Danes celebrate throughout the year. During the queen’s birthday, it is a national holiday for the Danes from work and school which they gather outside the queen’s palace and hear its speech and ends with cheers from the crowd. Although in Liberation Day’s night the people put candles on their windows to celebrate the day in which they were liberated from Germany on world war two, which the Danes still celebrate it today because this day means a lot to the old Danes who lived during world war two. Copenhagen Carnival is a carnival day which celebrates throughout Copenhagen; people wear new customs and party on the street for the whole day. Lastly, Fastelvn is a special event which is held at the end of February were children play a game using sticks to hit a barrel which is filled up with gifts. Although it seems to be a fun event it has a history, because for a long time they used to place a cat and hit it until it dies.(Robert 106-107). The Danes enjoy nearly all types of music, but mainly pop m usic. They also have festivals each year, but the main festival they have is named Rolkside Festival, it is the hugest music festival in northern Europe. In this festival musicians from all around the world come to play on the stage. (What would Roskilde Festival be without partners? 1). Education in Denmark is compulsory for people aged seven up to people aged 16. When the teenagers reach their age to 16 they can choose to continue school or stop. There are also two types of school which are common in Denmark which are government and private schools. Government schools are free schools which they have from grade one up to grade nine. The Danes who choose to go to them are to stay with the same teacher for nine full years. The classes in government schools do not change and the students are together for the full nine years. Due to the government having up to ninth grade the people have to then go to a secondary school, being that people in ninth grade are usually 15 years old and that the compulsory age to go to school is from seven to 16. People who pass ninth grade are usually smart students who go to secondary school to continue school. Although some who are not ready are the students which do not get good grades stay for an extra year when they are 16 and then th ey are free to do what they want either go to secondary school for three years or stop. (Pateman 60-61). Similarly, most private schools have up to ninth grade only. The education in the private school is a little better than the government’s free school, although approximately 16% only of the students in Denmark go to private schools. However, government still helps private school and is not out of the equation, they subsidize them by giving them some money to help them improve their teaching facilities and have better teachers. Yet, they are not responsible for anything that happens to the student, the student’s parents are held responsible for everything according to the teaching standards or anything similar to that. (Hansen 1). Finally, the universities in Denmark are good universities which people come to study in from around the world. Although, in Denmark, there are only five main universities those universities can teach many subjects in both English and mainl y in Danish. For example the university of Copenhagen which is the first university to be built in Denmark and the second in Scandinavia which is still there standing for more than a half of a millennium, it teaches not only the main subjects such as Math, English, and Danish, it teaches subjects such as music, business, and even social studies.( Pateman 61). In Denmark, there is also adult education, which is that adults that are working can have evening lessons. This type of education is popular in Denmark as by now it can be considered as part of their culture. This type of education helps the Danes in many ways, they can possibly learn a new language which most people usually learn German or French. There are also Danes who study subjects which they might be interested in such as social science which might help them in their future in case they would want to switch jobs. Marriage in Denmark is not as popular, the average Danish man usually marries at the age of 33 and the woman usually marries at the age of 30, being that the legal age for marriage is 18.( The Ceremony 1) The reason behind this is that in Denmark it is being advised by the parents of the bride and the groom to live together for some time, to see if the relationship is going to work in a good way. However, also after the couple get to have a long relationship before marriage, the divorce rate in Denmark is high. Studies show that the divorce rate is half the marriage rate, which is really high. In Denmark there are two different types of marriage, one of them is the traditional marriage which the church marriage. This type of marriage is similar to the marriage that happens to other Christian countries the bride wears a long white dress and the groom wear a suit, and the bride is escorted by her father. The only difference is that frequently if there is a close female friend can escor t the bride, and at the end as the couple leave, the guests usually raise the Denmark flag.( Pateman 64-65) The other way which the couple can marry each other is the civil wedding which is a wedding taking place at any place that the authority in charge of the marriage allows to, it can be held in a town or even a forest. Meanwhile, Danish women who get married are allowed to change their last name, which most of them do not change their name as they are expected to divorce, and if they do want to change their last name they would have to do it before the marriage officially takes place due to a document form should be proposed first.( The Ceremony 1). Family life is an important aspect to the culture of Denmark, the Danes are unlike the other neighbouring countries when it comes to families. In neighboring countries like Germany and Belgium their social life is based around pubs and usually being outside the home. In Denmark their social life is mainly at home, the Danes take care of their home and a major amount of the income they would get usually is used to improve the facilities at their home. (Pateman 66). The Danish life is usually based around work and family for adults and school and family for the children who are being balanced equally by the people in there. The Danes usually travel or during holidays or go to a summer house. Summer house is popular in Denmark, which many Danes go to which their family friends. (Steed 1). Also due to Denmark government focus in improving family life, families get to have many benefits. The government takes control of giving the child if a family has one an allowance, the government give s extra allowance to the number of children the family has, and also the families also get to have free birth. (The Ceremony 1). Houses are not cheap in Denmark, but having a family helps because if a couple just married and are not able to afford a house, they are given an apartment by the government to use until they can manage to buy a home for themselves. (Pateman 66).The Danes usually consider their country the best country in the world not only due to the free education, but mainly due to the importance of family life which has been shown when Denmark and the Danes won the ranking of having the most amused people in the world. (Lundberg 1). Women rights are not affected as much in Denmark, and it can be said that they have nearly the same rights as the men. Studies show that women in Denmark work the same as men and have the right to vote and elect themselves. Denmark is one of the few countries which now have women at the parliament with a high rate at over 30%. Saying this, the women do not have all the rights as men, they still have to do the home work alongside men having the better jobs in society and a higher wage, but they still have as many rights as the men. The reason behind women having a lot of rights goes back to 1915 when there was a movement which made them have a huge part in the politics.(Pateman 62-63). After 1915, the women started getting rights they first had the right to vote and then right for opportunities same as the men. The women then started getting more rights after the Second World War when the economy was going down which lead to the need for women to work. This was the start of women bein g allowed to work and started the increasing rate of them working in Denmark, which at that time was mainly in labor market. (Larsen 1). Going back to working women, the Danish women have a high working rate just over 70% of them do work, which is slightly lower than the one of men which is approximately 75%, which shows that Denmark is a fair country and the women in Denmark’s rights are not affected and are close to have the same rights as the men in Denmark.(Housing-Denmark 1). Denmark has certainly earned the right to have a culture as big as it has now. The customs and traditions, education, marriage, family life, along with women rights are one of the most important aspects of culture which makes Denmark have a big culture as it is now. They celebrate many days which means to them a lot such as Christmas. The education is free in government school which is definitely which makes it one of the most intelligent countries in the world. Marriage that they have even though the divorce rate is high, what they do in marriage make them unique, as well as the family life which is important for them. Lastly, women’s rights in Denmark are not affected which is why it is a fashionable society. Work Cited 1) Pateman, Robert. Cultures of the World Denmark. Tarrytown, New York 10591: Library of Congress Cataloging, 1995. 2) â€Å"What would Roskilde Festival be without partners?.† Roskilde Festival’s collaboration partners, 3) Hansen, Thomas. â€Å"Grants.† Education, The Ministry of Education. 4-6) â€Å"The Ceremony.† Family, AngloINFO. 2014. 5) Steed, Richard. â€Å"Work/Life Balance the Danish way.† Meet the Danes, 7) Lundberg, Jan. â€Å"Denmark: Small, Happy Prosperous Families In Contrast to U.S.† Culture Change, July 27, 2012 8) Larsen, Jytte. â€Å"The women’s movement in Denmark.† All About Gender in Denmark, KVINFO. 9) â€Å"Housing-Denmark.† Denmark in Detail,

Do People Who Are Trafficking Human Organs Help Other People? Essay

Do People Who Are Trafficking Human Organs Help Other People? (Campbell & Davison, 2012), say that the unlawful business in human organs special kidneys has advanced quickly and unexpectedly. The reasons why selling kidneys has advanced quickly is that nowadays many countries have wars so there are many poor people who need money to live a good life. Also, after wars, there are many sick people that felt desperation because they lost their organs in the war and no one donated to them, so they needed to buy organs to stay alive. Other reason is because people have two kidneys so when they sell one kidney for important reasons, they won’t die. Most countries punish those people who sell their organs that are why in those countries there are many illegal trafficking of human organs, but in some countries trafficking human organs is legal like Iran. People who are trafficking human organs help other people to live a good life, also help sick people to feel healthy again and not to die. The desperation of many people needing transplantation s urgery and the poverty of many people with healthy organs often results in the trafficking of human organs. It’s a trade where the two persons win, because trafficking human organs help many poor people who don't have money to buy food or clothes by selling their organs that they can live without for money to the sick people who need this organ to stay alive. Selling organs can help the sick person to stay alive and give the poor person money to help his family from humiliating life. I read something posted on (ALL THINGS PAKISTAN blog, 2007) about a poor Pakistani guy who holds with his hand a paper with a sign that says â€Å"Would you buy my kidney please?.† I think that poor guy needs money t... ...ngs pakistan blog. In (2007). Retrieved from http://pakistaniat.com/2007/10/17/would-you-like-to-buy-my-kidney-please/ Caplan, A. R., & Arp, R. (eds.) (2013). Contemporary debates in bioethics. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.kw/books?id=-RsoAAAAQBAJ&dq=how much does the middle man make trafficking organs&source=gbs_navlinks_s Denis, C., & Davison, N. (27, May, 2012. Illegal kidney trade booms as new organ is 'sold every hour' Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/27/kidney-trade-illegal-operations-who Gross, R. (2008). Noblesse oblige blog. Retrieved from http://noblesseoblige.org/2008/01/12/egyptian-man-sells-wives-kidney-on-black-market/ Parry, W. (2012). How poverty, false promises, fuel illegal organ trafficking. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/19237-illegal-kidney-organ-trade.html

Subliminal Perception, Neuropsychology, and the I-Function :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Unconscious Processing: Subliminal Perception, Neuropsychology, and the I-Function In his 1957 book The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard warned the American public that "Large-scale efforts are being made, often with impressive success, to channel our unthinking habits, our purchasing decisions, and our thought processes... Typically these efforts take place beneath our level of awareness; so that the appeals which move us are often, in a sense, hidden" (1). Packard was convinced - perhaps rightly so - that advertisers were "professional persuaders" whose marketing techniques were deceptive and overly manipulative. Not only were advertisers becomingly increasingly adept at developing campaigns, pitches, and slogans to send specific messages to targeted consumer populations, but some had gone so far as to suggest that such messages could be effective even if they were presented below the level of conscious awareness. James Vicary, one of the market researchers and entrepreneurs profiled in Packard's book, claimed to have developed a machine capable of flashing such unnoticeable, "subliminal messages" within big screen movies. Vicary had allegedly tested his technique by altering movies so that messages urging viewers to "Eat Popcorn" and to "Drink Coke" were displayed at regular intervals throughout the film for such brief durations that they could not be consciously perceived. Vicary claimed that his subliminal messages resulted in a significant increase in sales of popcorn and coke (1). Although no experiment involving subliminal messages has ever replicated the success which Vicary claimed to have achieved and, in fact, Vicary later admitted that it had been no more than a marketing gimmick, the possibility of subliminal or unconscious perception has not been dismissed. In fact, although the use of subliminal messages is generally considered a foolish and invalid practice, the more general phenomenon of subliminal/unconscious perception deserves to be reevaluated in light of current debates surrounding the nature of consciousness. Subliminal or unconscious perception refers to the idea that stimuli presented below the threshold for conscious awareness can influence an individual's thoughts, feelings, or actions (2). The possibility that an individual can acquire and act on input without being aware of doing so has implications for the study of consciousness and the larger set of processes which characterize the I-function. It is generally assumed that that conscious perception of a stimulus is necessary in order to act on that stimulus, and this conscious decision to act is one of several processes which characterize the I-function.

Mildred Pierce - A Woman’s Place is in the Kitchen Essay -- Mildred Pi

Mildred Pierce - A Woman’s Place is in the Kitchen A woman’s Place is in the Kitchen. Mildred Pierce uses her talents as a cook to manipulate her way through the world. Mildred has her own style of characteristics. She is fast, active, swift and inescapable around the kitchen. She turns out to be wise and brilliant around many things. For example: running her business. Unfortunately, one thing she never did was use her gut to comprehend Veda. She did everything to please her but Veda was never satisfied. In the following paragraphs we will get to know our friend Mildred, her intentions, thoughts and how she handled her way through the world. Mildred has a cooking talent. She is a small woman with gorgeous, attractive legs. She used those attributes to survive a divorce and poverty and to claw her way out of the lower middle class (Cain, back of book). As she divorces Burt, husband, she begins an independent life working as a waitress. As Mildred becomes more and more successful around the restaurant she develops self-confidence and security. Mildred never cooked anything herself now or put on a uniform. (Cain 208) Mildred is always around the kitchen. This seems to be her devotion to life, her enjoyment, and her profession. It is how she gets around and pays the bills. Ahead we’ll see how her hardworking attitude brought her out of poverty and into a high-class businesswoman. In the beginning of the story we are described how she has been earning extra money from baking and designing superb and stunning cakes. Next, she brings out her talent by cooking dinner for Wally, as she tried to impress Wally to marry her so she’ll be able to survive out of her tragic days. She really was a marvelous cook, and he watched deli... ...using skills, tricks, shortcuts, and her proficient talent. Cooking takes Mildred from a quiet desperate woman to a successful business owner. Unfortunately, blinded by Veda, she looses everything she makes and remarries the man she loves or I can say is most comfortable with, Bert. Anyone who is good at something should make the best of it, at the same time should never be a fool for anything or anyone in this case, yes even for your children. Citations Alan, Gary. Kitchens: The culture of restaurant work. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1995. Cain, James. Mildred Pierce. New York: Random, 1941. Nick. www.nicksflickpicks.com/mildred.html. Photos. British Film Institute, http://bfi.org.uk/collections/release/mildred/ Woods, Nialle. Re-Imagining The Liberated Woman. http://showcase.netins.net/web/dendrys/reviews/mildred.html

Faculty Attendance System Using Automatic Image Processing Essay

As technology grows fast, certain advancements are being developed nowadays and life is getting even better to live with. It makes every task as easy as possible and nothing seems too tiring if human tasks are aided with technology. It can be applied in any aspects of life. Computer technology would be the first on the list that provides great potential for improving effectiveness and efficiency of the information system. The use of computer has not become a major tool to simplify job and task. There is no doubt that computer technology has had a great impact on society and also brought many technical developments with it. It has brought many changes to the way we live as individual as well as members of societies and organizations. It has had major effects and changes on the economy, health, education, industry, agriculture and many other fields. The ability of computers in gathering, processing, presenting and sending large amount of information has had major changes in the way large organizations as well individuals organize their lives. Computers are at work, in schools and many other places. The human face plays an important role in our social interaction, conveying people’s identity. Using human face as a key to security, the biometrics face recognition technology has received significant attention in the past several years due to its potential for a wide variety of applications in both law enforcement and non-law enforcement. As compared with other biometrics systems using fingerprint/palm print and iris, face recognition has distinct advantages because of its non-contact process. Face images can be captured from a distance without touching the person being identified, and the identification does not require interacting with the person. In recent years, face recognition has attracted much attention and its research has rapidly expanded by not only engineers but also neuroscientists, since it has many potential applications in computer vision communication and automatic access control system. Especially, face detection is an important part of face recognition as the first step of automatic face recognition. However, face detection is not straightforward because it has lots of variations of image appearance, such as pose variation (front, non-front), cclusion, image orientation, illuminating condition and facial expression. With the continuous development and progress of science and technology, facial biometric recognition technology has become more sophisticated and perfect. As the world’s most cutting-edge biometric technology and image processing technology, facial biometric recognition technology will play a unique and irreplaceable role in today’s public security prevent, arrest fugitives, network security, financial security and many other areas. It is a milestone of development and progress of human society science and technology. It will be widely used in public security, aviation, ports, customs, banks, large enterprises, large-scale conferences, high-end clubs, important streets, docks and other places of security. It will bring revolutionary changes for safety defend and prevention of the current complicated domestic security situation. Face recognition serves the crime deterrent purpose because face images that have been recorded and archived can later help identify a person. Many citizens express concern that their privacy is being compromised by the use of surveillance technologies by corporations and the state. Some fear that it could lead to a total surveillance society, with the government and other authorities having the ability to know the whereabouts and activities of all citizens around the clock. This knowledge has, is and could continue to be deployed to prevent the lawful exercise of rights of citizens to criticize those in office, specific government policies or corporate practices. Many centralized power structures with such surveillance capabilities have abused their privileged access to maintain control of the political and economic apparatus and curtail populist reforms. Facial recognition can be used not just to identify an individual, but also to unearth other personal data associated with an individual – such as other photos featuring the individual, blog posts, social networking profiles, Internet behavior, travel patterns, etc. – all through facial features alone. Moreover, individuals have limited ability to avoid or thwart facial recognition tracking unless they hide their faces. This fundamentally changes the dynamic of day-to-day privacy by enabling any marketer, government agency, or random stranger to secretly collect the identities and associated personal information of any individual captured by the facial recognition system. Purpose and Description Nowadays, industry is experiencing many technological advancement and changes in methods of learning. With the rise of globalization, it is becoming essential to find an easier and more effective system to help an organization or company. In spite of this matter, there are still business establishments and schools that use the old-fashioned way. In a certain way, one thing that is still in manual process is the recording of attendance. Face detection is a computer technology that determines the locations and sizes of human faces in arbitrary (digital) images. It detects facial features and ignores anything else, such as buildings, trees and bodies. Dealing with this matter, the proponents thought of an easy way to do the checking of attendance. This study entitled is intended to develop an attendance monitoring system to be used inside the school vicinity of Batangas State University JPLPC Campus for better management of employees. We come up with a computerized attendance-monitoring system using image processing. It serves as a timed log-in/ log-out system that is set up as a computerized database. This system maintains a daily record of a faculty’s arrival and departure time from work. Aside from the records of time and date, our system features the name, position and the assigned number of each staff. So it also serves as an identification profile system. The system also protects the employees by providing the exact number of hours they worked, making it much more difficult for employers to cheat them out of their wages. This thesis features all important facts about our system as well as its importance.

Peapod: Online Grocery Shopping

Pea Pod Behaviors and Comparison What behaviors are involved in online grocery shopping? How does online grocery shopping compare with traditional shopping in terms of behavioral effort? The behaviors involved in online grocery shopping are information contact, funds access, and transaction. The information contact â€Å"†¦occurs when consumers come into contact with information, either intentionally or accidentally, about products, stores, or brands†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (J. Paul Peter, 2010, p. 95) Funds access or money â€Å"†¦is the primary medium of consumer exchange. The consumer must access this medium in one form or another before an exchange can occur†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (J. Paul Peter, 2010, p. 198) I do not believe that the store contact or the product contact is applicable here since the purchases are being made online and not in a brick and mortar store which would allow the customer to see, touch, and feel the items they wish to purchase. The behavioral efforts found in a n online grocery shopping can be described as in an emergency case only.Online shopping is used when the customer does not have enough time to get into the supermarket to shop. Yet the success of Pea Pod relies on these types of customers for the success of their continued business. The behaviors of traditional shopping are information contact, funds access, store contact, product contact, and transaction. What both the online and traditional shopper has in common are the consumption and disposition, and the communication. Consumers What types of consumers are likely to value online grocery shopping from Peapod?The type of consumers that are likely to value online grocery shopping from Peapod are the busy consumers, women, older people, people without cars (if the stores are not walking distance) and the â€Å"dual-income families (that) are strapped for time†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (J. Paul Peter, 2010, p. 209) to name a few. These customers may feel as if they have no time to get into a br ick and mortar store. Their careers and quick paced life may make it inconvenient to take time from their day to get this task of grocery shopping done.Yet, with Peapod, they can order whatever they need online and they know that it will get delivered at their specified time. They did not have to drive to a store, park their car, walk into the store, find a cart or a basket, walk the aisles to pick their products, get on line to pay, put the items on the belt, pay for their items, bag their items, walk back to the car, load the car, drive home, unload the car, and put their groceries away. Peapod saves them all of the steps except for going online and picking the items, paying, and putting the items away once delivered.Opinion and Comparison Overall, what do you think about the idea of online grocery shopping? How does it compare with simply eating in restaurants and avoiding grocery shopping and cooking altogether? I will answer this question from a personal standpoint and not from data or information found in the specified reading. The idea of online shopping definitely intrigues me but I cannot find myself doing it. I can understand the need for this type of service based on the convenience but it is not for me.As a 46 year old career woman who is very rarely home, because of my required travels, I am the perfect customer for an online shopping program. Peapod is created and geared towards making my shopping experience easy and effortless but my better judgment goes against it. I am of the old fashioned belief that I need to see, touch, smell, and feel everything I purchase. I cannot find myself allowing someone else to pick the same pack of steak I would. How would the person picking my order know which stalk of broccoli I would pick had I done it myself?Although, I am usually limited for time, a trip to the grocery store, for me, is a fun and relaxing way to get the items I need to prepare the meals while I am at home. Interestingly enough, my grocery sto re of preference is Stop n’Shop which is the owner of Peapod. (J. Paul Peter, 2010, p. 209) Stop n’Shop has a system in their stores to allow the customer on the run to save a few steps and helps them get out the door quicker. They have scanning guns at the entrance of the store that a customer can use to scan their items and allow them to then put them directly into their shopping bag.Once all the shopping is done, you take the scanner to a register where the items you have scanned will download onto a screen which then allows you to pay for your purchase. It saves the time by not having to take all of your items out, put them on the belt, wait for a cashier to scan and charge the items, and then put them into bags. I have found this process to be wonderful and time saving for me. While, as I mentioned above, I am not a fan of online shopping and when compared to eating out; it is safe to say that buying nline will be cost effective as compared to a restaurant. Eating out all of the time instead of buying groceries and cooking at home will become very expensive. Also, the time spent getting to the restaurant, placing the order, waiting for the preparation, eating (if you are staying in), paying the bill, then getting back home will be a much longer process in time as compared to shopping and cooking at home. References J. Paul Peter, J. C. (2010). Consumer Behavior & Marketing Strategy (9th Edition ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Dawn of the (Evil & Symbolic) Dead Essay

Over the past decade, interest in zombies in pop culture has sky rocketed. There have been over 100 games and movies featuring the living dead. George Romero’s 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, sequel to Night of the Living Dead, gives its audience insight into these evil symbolic structures known today as zombies. In this film, there are four survivors that take refuge in a huge shopping mall, sealing the doors and creating a zombie-free hideout. This movie is often referred to as one the best horror films of its time and a door way to today’s interest in zombies. Throughout the film, the four survivors deal with hundreds of zombies and at the climax are also having to deal with a biker gang. Although not all four of these characters survived, the mall was a perfect spot for the movie to take place according to a review done by the Spinning Image Company. â€Å"The mall is a brilliant location, not just for the satirical possibilities it offers Romero, but also for creating some clever, unsettling imagery,† said Daniel Auty in his review. Auty is speaking of the several times throughout the film where Romero would cut to a scene of just zombies roaming random parts of the mall. These zombies were different than what we see today however. â€Å"[The zombies] look silly, they fall over a lot, and Romero mostly shoots them in either broad daylight or the stark fluorescence of the mall† (Auty). The zombies in Dawn of the Dead appeared from the first minute without Romero giving any sort of insight on how it happened. So in order to understand the body in its monstrous state, one must know the origins of the zombie. Many scholars agree that the term zombie originated from the voodoo religion in Haiti. In â€Å"Slaves, Cannibals, and Infected Hyper-Whites: The Race and Religion of Zombies†, writer Elizabeth McCalister discusses these origins in great detail. â€Å"The word zonbi appears in writing as far back as colonial Saint- Domingue, glossed by travel writer Moreau de Saint-Mà ©ry as the slaves’ belief in a returned soul, a revenant†(3). The Haitians still heavily believe that this is a part of the spiritual world. They say that these entities separate the body and the soul and compel one to work without the other, in this case the body without the soul. Over the years, however, these origins have begun to vanish due to new forms of the zombies. In the early 20th Century, films began to show Eurocentric ideas that created African-Americans to be viewed as these zombie creatures. Films such as White Zombie (1932) and I walked with a Zombie (1943) â€Å"invariably cast black sorcerers plotting for conquest of and control over white women, and blackness is unmistakably linked with primitive menace, superstition, and the diabolical† (5). These views began to change by the time Romero’s films came out. Now this monstrous creature is as simple as â€Å"a ghoul who lumbers around trying to eat people.† Today’s society is used to seeing these ghouls in pop culture. Because of the more than 100 shows, movies and video games on the market now, people are more accepting of this idea of a â€Å"zombie apocalypse.† In many places, they have held events, such as 5K races and obstacle courses, that center around a zombie theme. In Muskegon, Michigan they held a zombie apocalypse day where civilians dressed as zombies and chased after those that were dressed as civilians. â€Å"Zombie participants got creative and tore up and stained their clothing. They also added scars and bloody makeup,† said an article in the Muskegon Chronicle. This goes to show how immune today’s society has become to the idea of these flesh-eating monsters. Not everyone is taking it lightly though as some have plans set in stone for when the apocalypse may happen. The CDC, Center of Disease Control, has its own website dedicated to a zombie outbreak. The blog includes a brief history of the creatures, a list of survival tools for a kit and their own plan for survival if it would ever happen. â€Å"If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak.† The CDC tells us that it would be taken just as seriously as any other disease, and thanks pop culture and today’s society in helping to prepare for that day. Christopher Moreman takes a look past the plan in his book Zombies Are Us: Essays on the Humanity of the Walking Dead. The author looks into a world that is already ruled by the dead and sees how society would have to live to survive. He speaks for society as a whole through one line by referencing the graphic novel The Walking Dead: â€Å"In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living† (5). The creatures in Romero’s Dawn of the Dead may not be the scariest or deadliest of monsters, but it is when they are in large numbers that they can cause havoc. It is hard to deal with hundreds of flesh eating monsters at once no matter how fast or intelligent they may be. Much of the films’ audience saw Romero’s zombie as a symbolic structure of other things that could take down America. McCalister analyzes all of Romero’s films on the living dead and the time frame that they were made. â€Å"Night of the Living Dead attacks the nuclear American family, patriarchy, and racism; Dawn of the Dead fastens its attention on the deadening effects of rampant consumerism; and Day of the Dead offers an indictment of militarism and American misuse of science and technology† (17). These things were on the minds of Americans in the time the movies were made. Now they can be related to something different such as the events going on in the Middle East. Stephen Asma takes a look into the torturing of Iraqi soldiers and how the Americans may be the ones viewed as the evil creatures. In his book On Monsters, Asma references Dr. Philip Zimbardo and his theory called The Lucifer Effect. This idea helps to explain how good people can become evil in specific ways. He focuses on the torture of Iraqi soldiers. â€Å"The fact that seemingly normal American soldiers engaged in torture and degradation techniques on Iraqi detainees offers more evidence, Zimbardo thinks, for his view t hat abuse and aggression are not the results of inner character flaws† (Asma 413). He goes on to explain how Zimbardo believes these soldiers were not just a case of just one spoiled apple, but a bad barrel that spoiled anything put into it. In the case of the zombies, one can make the case that everyone on this planet will eventually fall to the disease and it is not because of the one zombie who started it all, but because everyone is infected to begin. These kinds of ideas are what bring the monstrous view of zombies into society. Kyle Bishop writes in his book American Zombie Gothic about how the use of the zombies in Dawn of the Dead creates a connection with the audience. He says that because the zombies look very similar to just another regular human being, it can make the audience feel terrified of the creatures. However, the way that the zombies act can tell the audience obvious differences between one that is still human and one that has turned. â€Å"Romero’s monsters are primarily ‘othered’ creatures, possessing virtually no subject ive, human qualities and encouraging almost no psychological suture with the audience† (Bishop 159). The comparison of zombies to human qualities can go on forever. Asma continues to analyze the psyche of the monstrous through the Id. â€Å"Rage is a powerful force that, along with other socially deleterious impulses, lives like a frustrated virus in the dark cellars of the Id† (354). The Id is the part of the personality that can make decisions unconsciously based off of desire and instinct. In the case of the zombies, all they want and need is food and in this case, the flesh of the protagonists. The zombies in Romero’s film were often times the ones being killed, whether it is a gunshot to the head, a bat to the head, a car hood to the head or a screwdriver through the ear. However, Romero kept scenes where humans were eaten by these creatures to give the audience a clear understanding of what to expect from the movie and who would be the good guys. In David Gilmore’s Monsters, the author discusses of ways on how to approach the monster. â€Å"Mythologistsâ € ¦ have written much about the theme of the Epic Hero who goes out to fight monsters in order to rescue maidens or to save society as a whole† (12). The monster is obvious in film but no Epic Hero is there to save the day. Taken this perspective into Dawn of the Dead, the audience can tell that it is society as a whole trying to fight the monsters to save the world from the dead. There are several ways to see why Romero’s Dawn of the Dead was up for awards. Much of it was not based off the effects and acting but what thought and background was put into the project. The study behind the zombies was thorough and began giving more meaning to the story. The symbolism of these creatures and how the good human being became an evil, flesh-seeking monster were just two of the things to write about. When all is said and done, the zombies may never come, but if they do, it is because of films like this that could help with survival. Works Cited Asma, Stephen T. On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print. Auty, Daniel. â€Å"Dawn of the Dead.† Rev. of Dawn of the Dead. n.d.: n. pag. The Spinning Image. Web. Bishop, Kyle William. American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2010. Print. Gilmore, David D. Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2003. Print. â€Å"Haiti and the Truth about Zombies.† Www.umich.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. . McCalister, Elizabeth. â€Å"Slaves, Cannibals, and Infected Hyper-Whites: The Race and Religion of Zombies.† Anthropological Quarterly 85.2 (n.d.): 457-86. Web. â€Å"Public Health Matters Blog.† Public Health Matters Blog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. .