Shouldn't Organ Donation Be Good for All?

In the West, especially in America, we have come to accept the donation of organs as a “gift” of life. If death were to come, what’s the point of keeping an organ that could benefit others? This practice of organ donation is not only an act of humanitarianism or selflessness but also an act of practicality. We tend to associate all we do as “rational” and “progressive,” making our ways seem “right.” If this gift of life seems to be so prevailing in the West and especially in the U.S., then why would some people have second thoughts about organ donation?

In Japan it is assumed that family decisions regarding organ donation can overrule the individual decisions (Lock 9). Perhaps this way of thinking resonates beyond the Japanese practices since many non-western cultures put much more value in the family than the individual. Although this conflicts with the Western ideas about individual rights, does it not make more sense for the people who have to deal with the death of their family members to have control over how they make of the death? Different ways and places of burial bring about different meanings and significance for each culture. If the process of organ donation allowed people to have more contact with their “dying” family members without being in a formal setting in which technology indicates that the organs seem to matter more than the person, then maybe a compromise could be made. Making “brain-dead” people “cadaver-like” with advanced technology commodifies human body part, separating the “personhood” from the body. Despite how “selfless” we may be, it is very difficult to deny that we do have to belittle the human body parts in order to “save” a life.


Many cultures including the West have urban legends that warn people not tamper with the dead. In the case of organ donation-would we say that the persons were already dead when they lost conscious? Lock’s indication that “brain-dead” is not “legally dead,” unless they have signed up to be a donor (3) evokes questions about how being a “donor” could be a ticket to early death in which the body is only preserved for later surgical mutilation. If it is assumed that “personhood” is lost because the mind is no longer able to control the body and use “life” to the fullest, then there is legitimacy in which the body should not go to “waste.” Cartesian dualism which held the mind and the body as separate is at work here, in which the mind "makes" a “person” and the body could be discarded or used as “objects” to be swapped. The value of “personhood” in the mind seems to persist with how we have asylums for the severely mentally unstable persons, in which anything the person desires could be treated as “harmful” to the individual or those around them. This assumption that the person is not “the body and the mind (holistic being)” opposes cultural ideas that are against dismemberment of the body. Cultural beliefs against the dismemberment of bodies is prevalent in beliefs about “life” after “death” in the spirit realm, in which the spirit could be missing a “heart” and the metaphors associated with the organ. This particular “heartless” soul would suffer from not being able to find “warmth” and “care” from other spirits. The “stealing” of an organ is to be condemned since spirits should be free from anxieties and enjoy reunion with other souls. In fact, such sins could be considered very sever because spirits could come to haunt “sinners,” including family members. It is obvious from these beliefs that organ donation seems to be out of question for people trying to make peace with the dead. Once again even this particular belief stresses how death and burial rituals are to be held important for the peace of surviving kin. The fear of being a "sinner" and becoming cursed work as agencies to reinforce this belief. This belief persists in people because the uncertainties about what death is and means actually provides a room for stabilizing the assumed ideas or the invention of what death could mean. Even when a certain view becomes "common sense" or "belief" and other view about the same idea could germinate.

Besides cultural factors, individual choices could hinder people from donating their organs. There is simply that fear that doctors may pull the plug too early. Disturbing issues take the form of not knowing exactly where organs end up from donation. Many more of us may find more appreciation in knowing that our organs helped a needy patient rather than for scientific research. It is arguable though that donating organs to research could be far more beneficial as it is provides more outlet of possibilities in finding cures for the entirety of society than to one individual needing a specific organ. Perhaps our fear lies in not knowing what type of research our organs could help to fuel. If documents were to specify where organs could end up, would people only donate their organs to needy patients? If these speculations were already made, would it not only make sense for official documents to not make discreet options for how organs are to be used? Moral questions regarding the nebulous purpose of research and its implications of “playing” God also cloud discussions on Abortion rights. Does an embryo have as much cognition to be considered a “person” or should they be regarded as a “cadaver” to be commodified? It seems to be that our fear of uncertainty, in which we have to create a belief for our own peace has been recognized by all societal institutions, in which political controls gain be gained with that some relief to individuals. Is this a win-win situation?

It is obvious that this title spurs many questions about whether or not biomedicince is the only authority over the effort to "cure" AIDS. Despite the wealth of knowledge and speculation that Dr. Rath Health Foundation presents in this book, the splintering views about how to approach the spread of AIDS itself contributes to uncertainty. Uncertainty creates a niche for the incorporation of already dominating views to spread to another discipline, in which alternative views bud or get transferred. The transferred views are liable to change and recreation to fit it's new "host."

According to Lock “Specialized respiratory care units were established during the 1940’s, largely as a result of polio epidemics… (59).” Despite the obvious and seemingly manipulative process in which scientific institutions must create technology to “make” diseases and treatments before publicly announcing the discovery of a “new” disorder or disease, it is essential to also remember the merits of technology. We have lost thousands of people from polio and tuberculosis. Our technology budded from trying to prevent any more immediate deaths. Although we unanimously agree that technology should be more advanced to prevent outbreaks, where do we place boundaries of how much research is to be done in specific areas of medicine and technology? In today’s context, it is not possible to separate the monetary value of commodification from scientific endeavors to “save” or “bring comfort” to lives unless we learn to not give monetary values to things. With boundaries we have to mull over how much restraint is necessary to uphold ethics and find cures to human diseases we previously thought did not exist. The boundaries have to become fluid to allow changes. Once again this "fluidity" of assertions creates uncertainty that tends to give more meaning to a dominate notion as it is applied to medical science, warranting competition with alternative notions. Once again uncertainty is inevitable with competing assertions. How far are we willing to investigate life and death to cure HIV/AIDS? On a more sentimental note: Why not do all we can to save innocent Children from HIV/AIDS? Given the possibility that each one of us could contract diseases deemed "incurable" wouldn't we want to exert as much effort as possible to save ourselves and family members?

Sources

Lock, Margaret. 2002. Twice Dead: Organ Transplants and the Reinvention of Death. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Sources of Images listed in order presented

"one to many people." 2009. Gift of Life. 22 July 2009. <http://www.giftoflife.org/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1>.

"Spirit." SoultoGod.com. 22 July 2009. <http://web.mac.com/soultogod/Soul_to_God/Gods_Transcendent_Soul-Spiritual_Art.html>.

"End AIDS!" 22 July 2009. <http://17thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com/>.

East vs. West: Show Down or HandShake?

http://evelynrodriguez.typepad.com/crossroads_dispatches/2005/05/why_women_blog.html

No Speak, No Hear, No Seeing Changes In Japan?

A happy Japanese family. All females have the possibility of dealing with Konenchi symptoms the same way across a span of generations.

What is Konenki? According to Margaret Lock “we are forced to talk about konenchi and its linked concepts, because physical changes or difficulties that occur at this time are attributed by most to larger, more encompassing events, internal and external to the body, not simply to observable changes in the menstrual cycle or declining estrogen levels (22).” Lock’s observation of the how Japanese women and doctors describe konenki unveils that “konenki” is more than our ideas of what menopause entails. Konenki describes more of a holistic experience of mind and body changes that are associated with diseases of old age, but because it is also heavily associated with the menstrual irregularity of middle aged women; Konenki can easily be confused with menopause in the Western thinking. Lock’s interviews were conducted to ultimately discuss possible ways to deal with this stage in life (3).

Not only what do, but to "Say?"

The meaning of “konenki” has not only been described broadly by Japanese women, but also by doctors. Lock mentions that “Many women have a good scientific grasp of the menstrual cycle and are well versed in simple endocrinology…when talking about menstruation, however, the majority take a broad approach to what it represents (22).” How could it be that these women do not talk about their experience as more of a personal matter if the language used to talk about menstruation is not confined to medical practice?

We could approach this question by examining the contemporary approach to how middle aged women are dealt with in medical practice. Unfortunately, this particular sector of the Japanese population does not have much presence in the realm of medical priority. The lack of the “medicalization” has brought much “haze” into questions of whether or not konenki is actually a serious condition. For this assumed reason, sixty percent of women have never talked about konenki with a doctor (Lock 258). The notion that konenki is a natural process because it is seems to happen to women are “on the verge of starting to get old” makes konenki such a mundane transitory stage in life that it needs not to be mentioned as a serious problem. Some women have noted that konenki itself is something that can be controlled by the how “you let yourself feel about it (7).” This quote invokes an argument that diminishes the value of konenki in medical science, and on a grandeur scale: in society.

The collection of moods is a reminder of how people look like according to their moods. It also gives a sense of the types of moods we could have and how easily our moods could change because there are so many different moods. Although it is normal for people to have these moods, how many people can you recall as "moody?" Would you consider "moodiness" a serious condition in society? How do you treat or react to "moody" people? Do you tell them to get a grip of life? Would you treat people going through midlife crisis this way? Why might we treat the moodiness of midlife crisis differently?

The assumption that konenki is controllable by individuals embraces the idea that konenki is a mood disorder that doesn’t call for societal or cultural reformations to “correct” or alleviate konenki. In fact, because not every middle age women can or cannot control how she feels about it, why should there be a need to go through the process of “medicalizing” it? The avoidance of “medicalizing” konenki not only makes it permissible to neglect the uncomfortable experiences of the middle aged women by society and for her to down grade her own experiences, but also helps to shift attention away from condemning cultural and political factors. Cultural and political implications from “medicalizing” konenki inevitably address reform and new agenda for the entire country to embark. Will Japan allow women to have equal footing as men in all aspects of society? The answer to this question can project whether or not konenki will be “medicalized” and how its meaning can change if it were to be “medicalized.” Afterall, konenki will have to have definite meanings as part of an instituted effort on part of medical science's diagnostic approach. Furthermore, the social implications regarding how the middle aged Japanese women is to be treated is questionable since cultural agenda’s have an adaptable component.

Contemporary cultural beliefs about middle aged women have aided both women and medical science to speak about konenki experiences in broad terms. Coining the stereotype that konenki is a “luxury disease (276)” perpetuates the false impression that konenki is only a problem when middle aged women have too much time on their hands to think about their experiences. Women become the culprit for making konenki a “disease” when it shouldn’t have to be through making better use of time. Konenki in this context stems from a class issue, not of Japan’s political and socio-cultural coercion of women. If the middle class, middle aged women could only adopt the productive attitudes of lower class women, then it is presumably better for the women’s health and also helps the nation to have a stronger workforce. Due to the negative connotations associated with this stereotype, women of lower status should actually feel proud of being able to “endure” konenki without any complaints. This sentiment flourishes not only among women, but also among physicians. All women can get a hold of medication for her aches and irritability, but creating a public outcry is perhaps the monumental issue.

Ignorance about how Konenki happens and inconsistent explanations also come from the ranking of menopause as a “low research priority” in which there are “few teaching hours [of the topic] in medical schools (Lock 293).” The few hours of study of this topic forces the physician to use his/her own “clinical mentality” in which the “clinicians bring to each clinical encounter their own culturally infused preconceived notions about what the transition represents morally, symbolically, and politically (Lock 293).” If the clinicians preconceived notions conforms to social norms then, it is likely for konenki to be a "minuscule" problem to society. The lack of specialty and psychologist to help middle aged women talk about their problems shows an overall lack of resources for middle aged Japanese women to cope. Perhaps, an immediate concern for Japan would be to have more psychologists so women could speak about their stresses in life mentally and physically. Gynecologists can then better focus on their job description and direct approach to issues may be taken (Lock 264). The contemporary approached has been to use herbal and prescribed pharmaceutical medicines which only ensures that the market for drugs stays prosperous without any change to social establishments of norms. Can anyone really question motives of pharmaceutical companies and the physicians who promotes pharmaceutical products if physicians tell middle aged women to not ‘worry about what other people think’ because what really counts is ‘if it makes you feel better (Lock 291)?’ The individual experience is emphasized to increase pharmaceutical drug sales. This way Japan can still stay at the top of scientific research without unfavorable consequences for the patriarchal order. It is difficult to separate whether or not physicians are more or less determined to prescribed drugs because of patient care ethics or for profit reasons.

Patriarchal constructions are embedded in family relations. It is likely that Japanese middle aged women do not have much authority to express their complaints about emotional and physical changes. The Japanese women live through a life of being an obedient daughter and daughter in-law, wife, and mother. Even if the Japanese women acknowledges that her family is the cause of making her konenki experience more stressful, she may still have to delay divorce because of her monetary resources (Lock 274). It is assumed that divorces are “not good” for children so Japanese women maybe less likely to immediately leave a marital relationship (Lock 282).” Women are susceptible to having a difficult period with konenki when family life taxes them of their emotional and physical health.

Perhaps we will learn of what “konenki” really is when further studies in its medicalization is underway. Current gynecologists like Dr. Sasake who diverts from the trivializing “the biological changes…and dimiss[es] patients as being weak-willed and self-indulgent (Lock 280)” have been part of the new effort to approach konenki differently. Can this approach of looking at the konenki in a more complex perspective give pharmaceutical drugs less significance in the lives of middle aged Japanese women? Can any real changes be made if the aim of reducing stress of konenki involves changes in family values and governmental reform of itself and medical establishments? How much can ethics change in a society in which women were “sacrificed for the good of the country (Lock 277)?”

Sources

Lock, Margaret. 1993. The Turn of Life-Unstable Meanings AND The Doctoring of Konenki. IN Encounters with Aging: Mythologies of Menopause in Japan and North America. Pp. 3-30, 256-298. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Sources of images listed in order presented

"Japanese family in the living room the Grandmother passing a gift to her granddaughter." 2009. Online Image. Fotosearch: Stock Photography and Images. 12 July 2009.

http://www.fotosearch.com/UNA146/u15280400/.

"Oh What to to, what to doo." 2009. Making Decisions. Online Image. 12 July 2009.

http://kunaljanu.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/making-decisions/.

"Mood Faces." 2008. Online Image. The Celt Athens Online. 12 July 2009.

http://www.celt.edu.gr/mood_faces.htm.

The Inside Story of Modern Day American Productivity

Starbucks or Adderral?

What types of routines do you pick up to begin your productive day? For most Seattlelites, the omnipresence of coffee shops speaks for itself. The many cups of coffee consumed to keep up with morning meetings and job demands eventually forces many to think how else could focus and sleep deprivation be balanced? Well as long as there is a problem to be solved, a quick fix strategy is usually found.
The new hope for managing a competitive edge while juggling many responsibilities including a social life has come in the form of “miracle” pills. Adderal, Ritalin, and Prozac are a few of the most popular labels of such drugs that have fallen into the hands of those with psychiatric disorders and those wanting a boost in mental strength. Both clinically and self diagnosed patients of these drugs feel more mental control to meet demands of the competitive world of productivity; however, who is in control of individuals if the drugs have become a temporary solution to keeping up with the circuits of productivity? What higher authority is creating the demands and anxiety citizens have to “deal with?”

The improvement of technology to reach beyond “seeing” the body has brought about the visualization of neurochemical transmitters and genes to prove how mood and behavior patterns are stimulated and indicate psychiatric disorders and diseases (Rose 194). This new age in technological advance is a source of comfort on the surface level. By the end of the 1960’s science had an explanation for psychiatric disorders and finding a “cure” was to be the next program to pursue. Disorders and diseases could be easier detected according to assumed behavioral patterns and phenotypes. Early detection can be stressed to improve the lives of children with mental disorders. Both parents and schools could have less compulsive, more focused children to raise and teach. These children are “promised” the equal opportunity to be “normal” to pursue the competitive job market. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and a number of other organizations for the mentally ill has “embrace[d] a conception of mental disorders as diseases with a genetic component and argue this association will reduce stigma associated with such conditions and lead to effective treatment (Rose 216).”

The surge of usage of psychiatric drugs by college students prepping for their careers to mid aged professionals becoming dependent on Adderal and Prozac have unraveled the side effects and insight to the prosperous underground economy fueled by the selling of prescription drugs. The prevalence of psychiatric drugs for cognitive enhancement has become a “norm” on college campuses and continues to be used as a strategy to “keep up” and some have managed to “stay ahead” with productivity. We do not have time for healthier, natural ways of mental boosters (Talbot 4). The drug enables students to not only write extensively on a particular topic, but also induces another contemporary, but common mental disorder: compulsive obsessiveness disorder, in which one student said he will “organize my entire music library! I’ve seen some people obsessively cleaning their rooms on it (Talbot 3).” Adderal has worked no different from Paxil in becoming the source of the disease itself (Rose 213), in this case another disease.

Is this the individual problem or a societal issue? Everyone in society is caught within the sticky web of industrial production and campaigning whether or not we are aware of it. "Psychiatry have became transformed by its capitalization (Rose 220)," in which medical institutions have more incentive to diagnose anyone with a disease or disorder. Each diagnosis spawns further profit for the economy since pharmaceutical industries, mental hospitals, clinics, and GP Surgeries become agents to refer and contact each other for extended business. It is not only one industry that benefits, although the pharmaceuticals inherently gather more income from supply demands (Rose 221). The “promise” of a drug to “normalize” people must also be created before advertisements about the drug effectiveness could be made public and before physicians and psychiatrists can recommend the specific drug as the “best” treatment. It seems that there is also ways to entangle consumers even if pharmaceutical drugs were proven harmful or ineffective. As Rose puts it, the “ethical shift was actually to increase investment in the education of their potential consumers…a move widely regarded as an attempt to regain public trust after adverse publicity (215).” Can we come to accept public educators on health as part of this vicious web of capitalism if we inherently instill much trust in disease campaigns to keep us “safe?”

Technological advances have so far enabled physicians and the public sphere of commercialism to invade the both the body and the mind. The “attempts to visualize psychiatric disorders in terms of lesions in the brains of dead patients-extracted, sliced, stained, and magnified-were much mocked by psychoanalyst in the early twentieth century (Rose 195).” It seems that we have made it thus far with equipment, but still use psychiatric diagnoses for the medicalization of “deviance” to uphold the “norms of a patriarchal social order (Rose 194).” The function “patriarchal social order” teams up with the commercial industry to coerce citizens to keep up with creating a productive economy. In fact, because commercialization is heavily associated with industries it is very easy to overlook the political bodies that make the practice of commercialization in the medical sector permissible.

Psychiatric drugs have not only been prescribed for childhood disorders, but have been used to control "overactive" inmates (Rose 210). The very idea that the same drugs have been used to coerce prisoners are advertised as a form of control for individuals shows how entangled we are in believing that we could really gain our lives back with "miracle" pills. We are as much imprisoned by "miracle" pills as inmates are, even if we may not be aware of it. Despite not having a definite answer to whether or not these drugs are more effective than harmful to individuals, the sales of psychriatic drugs such as Provigil have increased by 9x from 2002 to 2008 (Talbot 5). Internet chatrooms and college campuses have provided mediums for obtaining popular psychiatric drugs like Adderal. The usage of these drugs by successful businessmen and women only to prove to the general population that these drugs are worth consuming despite consequences of having “zombie-like” numbness, loss of appetite, speaking difficulties, and numerous other side effects that may still need to be discovered.

Sources

Rose, Nikolas. 2007. Neurochemical Selves. IN The Politics of Life Itself: Biomedicine, Power, and Subjectivity in the Twenty-first Century. Pp 187-223. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Talbot, Margaret. 2009. "Brain Gain: The Underground World of 'Neuroenhancing' Drugs." The New Yorker.

Sources of Images listed in order presented

"Starbucks coffee in hands." 2009. Online Image. Starbucks. 10 July 2009. <http://investor.starbucks.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=99518&p=irol-irhome>.

"Adderral." 2009. Cognitive Enhancing Drugs. Online Image. Sor Bor. 10 July 2009. <http://www.sorbor.com/blog/college/cognitive-enhancing-drugs/>.

Are We Responsible for Our Own Societal Oppressions?

The face of Fashion: Sex Appeal

Ever since the 1860’s Western European physicians have contested about the nature of homosexuality: innate or socially produced (Terry 42). This topic of discourse, like that of the discourse about the one and two sex model overshadows the strife to maintain societal structural control at its foundational level. Medical and scientific research has much autonomy in provoking or inciting the general population to have fears about health matters on a local, regional, and nationwide scale. These institutions that have the power to publish writings on sexing are “situated in relation to cultural anxieties about protecting and managing modern democratic societies from disturbing incursions, inversions, and perversions (Terry 71).” To protect society from “disturbing incursions” a hierarchal power structure is necessary to maintain the powers of the government, followed by medical and scientific institutions. This power structure encourages prejudice towards those lower in the pyramid and creates tension within the layers of social groups.

Our democratic government has the authority to create, curb, amend, and eradicate laws that influence our decisions to change our lifestyles. We have seen the difficulties of transitioning laws into material reality during the Civil Rights movement and we are currently still debating about the issues of abortion with the emphasis on the impacts of the illegalization and the legalization of it. Therefore, the government can only maintain its power through helping to support sentiment that is already in place or growing. The problem with sexing in medical and scientific discourse was determining when it was appropriate to shift from one perspective to another. Science in general is about “discovery,” and “learning about the natural order,” and this, can very much conflict with already grounded cultural beliefs about sex and assigned gender roles. The government could not mandate laws to support already grounded cultural beliefs nor the growing beliefs, but medical and scientific institutions could mediate discourse through coming up with scientific evidence to support grounded cultural beliefs and dissenting views.

How does class fit into this platform? It so happens to be that women progressed from the one to two body model through the representation of being the alternate male (having the same organs as men, i.e. female penis and the “penis like” vagina-Laqueur 64) and then to being the comparative figure to men. How can this serve to “humanize” women, if women were seen as the “imperfect man (Laqueur 92)” subject to investigation to search for what makes her inferior? A purpose was already established and what was needed was material evidence; her uterus, the cradle of generation. The removal of ovaries for too much and too little sexual appetite were said to be the causes for barrenness, so how can oppositional claims serve to explain one thing (Laqueur 177)? The non-sterile surgical operations (Laqueur 181) without knowledge of when ovulation occurs (Laqueur 182) served to prove postulates that were rooted in cultural beliefs of female inferiority. If it is assumed that conception only occurs from female orgasm then this connotes that women can only achieve happiness or elation from becoming a mother. This popular notion in which biologist couldn’t easily dismiss (Laqueur 185) heavily fixates biological reproduction as the foundation of society, in which the reproduction of persons creates a society to produce a distinct civilization. Our distinct civilization was founded upon the Puritan ideals which gave men the political sphere and women the domestic sphere to revolve within.




The establishment of two sexes spurred the “beginning of a long research program to find sexual reproduction everywhere (Laqueur 172).” Laqueur had insisted that plant biology was “so extremely gendered at its core (173).” The reproduction of the biological sex is still replicated in contemporary mainstream advertisements today. These advertisements ranged from clothing lines to food advertisements. Although today’s advertisement does not seek to advertise for population increase, advertisements promote their products through “sex” appeal. These advertisements seek to reflect the norm of heterosexual relationships, in which women increasingly play the seductive roles. Advertisements are supposed to reflect our desires, but it also “teaches” viewers how to exert appeal to the opposite sex or how to act. If these advertisements are supposed to be a reflection of ourselves then how “real” are these depictions if commercially beautiful actors are hired to sell products? How would we react if we saw more fiesty looking men than women on commercials? Was there a time in which women had a different face in society?


Woman or Man Enough? Lets take a Vote eh?

The 1940’s wartime industries temporarily produced a culture that tolerated women working in the factories for the benefit of production. This shift to the model women as “Rosie the Riveter” was legitimate because although it may have been an abrupt shift to favoring the “working” woman, it was part of a wartime effort that inevitably would pass. When the government and people have a common enemy and purpose, the older cultural norms can be replaced by another norm that propels through society as more of a fad or trend. Cultural norms tend to outlast fads or trends. Trends describe fashion and “Rosie” appealed to young women as the strong, nationalistic woman who fought for her country alongside the men. Unsurprisingly, the language later used by society to describe women during the feminist movement of the 1960’s resembled that of the forties. The momentum of the feminist movement alongside the Civil Rights Movement pressed for publishers to use more masculine terms. The usage of similar words holds different purposes. First of all the words in the 1940’s coerced women into romanticizing about becoming heroes and could have easily been misinterpreted as the beginning of equal footing for young women who were already restless about their place in society. The 1960’s provided feminists a more supportive atmosphere for their efforts and that the language were from women who wanted equal opportunity and treatment within all sectors of life.

The history of homosexuality also suffered through scientific testimonies of contradictions, which continues to part of contemporary debate. The subject of what it means to be “man” and “woman” had already gone through a series of debates, in which the one and two sex model has connoted gender roles and so to have introduced the “discovery” of homosexuality in scientific discourse in the 1860’s proved to be an even more baffling ground that fed into scientific curiosity, but also moral disdain for many Americans. The third sex was a threat because it rendered men to lose masculinity and women to lose femininity by pursuing the same sex (Terry 46); hence, preventing the biological destiny of reproduction. Strangely, even though these men and women were considered to be in the “limbo” state of possessing dual characteristics of both men and women (Terry 54), homosexuality incurred from men becoming feminine and women becoming masculine. Do opposites always have to attract? If this is homosexuality, then how would they have categorized masculine male and feminine female homosexuals? The traditional male-female “biologically determined" attitudes of aggressiveness and passiveness were still perpetuated in the study of a group of people scientistists knew very little of.

To define how homosexuals fit into the power structure, we must discuss who were identified as “homosexual” in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. Not all homosexuals were confined to the lower class status, so scientific discourse had to be sensitive when categorizing the behaviors of individuals. The lower class homosexuals were punishable because they were 'true inverts' who acted upon will and often put the bourgeois at risk of becoming homosexuals (Terry 52). To the contrary, affluent homosexuals were not punishable because they could be conditioned to become “normal (Terry 48).” The protection of the powerful in society and the punishment of the weak in the medical science establishes a couple of goals, even if there may have been no intention for the goals. The first was that homosexuality could be condemned with legal punishment and could be assigned as “immoral” on part of the homosexual even though it was believed to have originally stemmed from hereditary predispositions and unfavorable childhood experiences (Terry 50). The emphasis on limiting homosexuality through fostering “warm” childhood experiences was the responsibility of the parents, so how could “homosexuality” be a “willful act” according to the given reasoning? The second goal lessened the tension between public institutions and the affluent homosexuals in society. The affluent could be "forgiven" in return of having mutual relations with the government and the scientific community. How objective is this practice of diagnosis and treatment? Do we see similarities between now and then? What kind of decisions can be made to bring equal benefit to all people and can all of our decisions be manipulated by the government to maintain control?

Sources:

Laquer, Thomas. 1990. New Science, One Flesh. In Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud. Pp. 63-113, 149-192. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Terry, Jennifer. 1999. Medicalizing Homosexuality and Fluid Sexes. In An American Obsessions: Science, Medicine, and Homosexuality in Modern Society. Pp 40-73, 159-177. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Sources of Images listed in order presented

Calvin Klein Continues to Turn Up the Heat-This time with Scantily Clad Eva Mendes." 2009. Image. Stylist. 8 July 2009. <http://www.stylelist.com/blog/2009/06/17/calvin-klein-continues-to-turn-up-the-heat-this-time-with-a-sc/>.

"Padma (Extended Version) Western Bacon Thickburger." 2009. Online vidoeclip. 8 July 2009. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzwxmy1TWNM>.

"Rosie the Riveter: Women Working During World War II ." Image. 8 July 2009. <http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/home.htm>.

How Much Does our bodies Cost?

What's in canned Chicken Stock anyways?

Food means different things to each one of us. Food itself has a history imbedded in medicine, politics, and socio-cultural structures. Food is unique to each locality, country, region, as it is unique to each individual. If food is necessary as subsistence and also to society in the above aspects, then why is it that the average American does not recognize the ingredients in our food labels? Although globalization has circulated the benefits of cheaper foods with lower prices worldwide, the U.S. still reigns among country with the poorest diets for the average citizen. Particular structural and historical conditions in the U.S. in comparison to other countries like China make the U.S. more prone to consuming narcissistic diets.

Americans do not see food in the same light as the Chinese do. The availability of many foods to the Chinese opens up a way to rebel against Maoist coercions that historically restricted citizens to a diet of cabbage, coupon bought flower, and occasional slices of pork to maximize the work productivity and enforce proletariat simple lifestyle (Farquhar 55). The consuming of a diverse range of foods makes for the growing middle class Chinese in the 1990’s (Farquhar 50) to be better connected with the world. However, this historical significance does not explain the significance differences of the view of food between the East and the West. Like the Chinese, Americans have a range of different foods available- in fact we are coined as the “melting pot!” “The melting pot” is manifested in the diversity of foods we have in local markets and restaurants.

Chinese soups for hunger and health

What continues to happen in China is the reminder of how food functions not only as what we eat daily, but also as the backbone of healing and restoration of the body’s imbalances. The Chinese medicine has always promoted awareness of natural herbs, minerals, and animal products to aid in healthcare practices. Today, resources such as books are readily available and categorized by the illness and symptoms patients could experience. These books are comprehensive and have been noted for having homely advices for types of foods with nutritional and medicinal benefits (Farquhar 51). Individuals are more tempted to be better in tuned with their bodies for preventive healthcare measures. The usage of exotic creatures and the organs of small to large, reptile to mammals and even primates (“The Heart of the Dragon: Eating”) make the medicinal diets of China less of a challenge for locals to obtain the foods compared to places that consider such foods to be too “foreign.” Even though globalization gives the Chinese freedom to consume foods from elsewhere with less dietary, nutritional, and medicinal properties, there has already been a firm cultural identity of healing linked to the usage of natural products that were available within the country.


Locals bargaining for lower prices at a Shanghai nightmarket

Food is linked to “choice” and “individual” freedom. A wide selection of food is “Democratic,” especially in America. Food should be fast and easy. More time should be devoted to other things besides being in the kitchen. Both American men and women strive to be “productive” as many women work to add income to the contemporary family household struggling to survive in a feeble economy. Fast food restaurants were quick to fill in this niche in the economy. Not only are fast foods, delicious, consists of the grains, vegetables, and meat, but they are also highly affordable. Compared to China, the U.S. is not as lenient in providing a large selection of healthy, raw foods with accommodating prices. The advantages of bartering for everything from foods to clothing, makeup, and etc. help the Chinese to seek out healthier foods that may require more preparation but cost less. Two other cultural factors aid the Chinese to have better diets than the Americans. Firstly, there are not gender roles associated with cooking as the skills to cook are prized for both men and women. Secondly, because of value of cooking, the time spent cook is valuable because younger children learn to cook from observing their parents and family members (“The Heart of the Dragon: Eating”). The cost of fuel and the cramped kitchen corners of the families in China encourage Chinese families to make family meals (Farquhar 53). With families more concentrated on dining together, it is only natural for the families to try to incorporate healthier, medicinal, and dietary foods into the meals.

Analogies about the mundane experiences of life can be described by the humors of Chinese medicine. “Bitterness” can describe the weather, the individual experience of hardships, and the political state of the country (Farquhar 62). Food interconnects so many aspects of Chinese life. In America food interconnects with life on more of personal level. Food advertisements also work as preventive measures against ailments and diseases. Unfortunately, even though we connect to food on a personal level, Americans’ lack of understanding of what we eat feed into the demise of our health. What we eat is better connected to the insecurities we have about our individual beings since most of us are not too comfortable with revealing the foods we consume to our healthcare providers. The culture of “medicinalization” and supplements has always been an alternative to changing eating habits.






Commericialization of a popular item eventually sets up the item to be manufactured in other forms.

Health, beauty, fitness, attractiveness equate to slimness. Slimness is not only for the self to be proud about, but to also elicit sex appeal. With a combination of cultural demands for productivity, the road to slimness should be fast and easy as how fast foods are. Due to our lack of nutritional and dietary knowledge, including the inconvenience of food preparation, Americans tend to only know about the highly advertised nutritional benefits of a small selection of foods. This helps to explain why how common foods become so popularized in media- if the benefits of these foods do not “shock” people then they would not be so highly advertized. The initiation of a type of food into the media automatically sets the food into an experimental course of mixing extracts of the particular food into other common items to boost sales. We tend to not distinguish between the nutritional benefits of processed and foods in their raw form. Americans are also encouraged to equate benefits of foods in raw form with processed or canned foods because of economic and storage life reasons. Many people also have the option of resorting to frozen fruits and vegetable, including precooked frozen meals that seem to match the foods required for consumption by the food pyramid. Our investment to become healthy can make us vulnerable as we come to accept advertisements as truth and fact.


Fast foods continue to gain attention from advertising salads alongside burgers and other high calories foods. As the “leading proponents of fresh vegetable consumption,” fast foods restaurants are a “form of material culture and as a rhetorical force…plays a crucial role in dissemination of meaning: affirming, reinforcing, and transforming cultural beliefs and values (Retzinger 150).” The common saying that “we are what we eat” is materialized by media culture in general. This relation between consumption and ourselves is imminent in commercials that seek to promote health and fitness through milk. Such commercials aim towards women when the shape of a woman’s body dissolves into the hourglass shape glass of milk with a measure tape around the smallest diameter of the glass. Salads and vegetables are generally advertised with the focus on each individual ingredient being “fresh” with droplets of water, bouncing across the screen. Advertisement in America seems to inhibit more capitalistic motives than in China. Both consumers and marketers do not have the same prioritized values enforced by cultural history. It can be argued that China is moving in this particular direction as more and more Western and foreign foods enter the market in China.

Can we give up our shiny apples for health? Don't the pretty qualities of these apple resemble qualities we desire for ourselves?

Do we value cheap and convenience over health? This question touches upon the issues of how well we treat our bodies and the bodies of people providing such conveniences for affordable prices. Although we are well aware about how damaging pesticides could be to the immigrant fruit and vegetable harvesters, how better do we treat bodies in America? The Pesticide Data Program has reported that ‘most likely foods to contain residues of high risk pesticides are apples, pears, peaches, grapes, green beans, tomatoes, peas, strawberries, spinach, peppers, melons, lettuce, and various juices (Retzinger 150).” The above produce constitutes much of the types of fruits and vegetables the average Americans consume to be healthy. Apples and grapes are among the three most favored fruit trinity: apples, oranges, and grapes. The choice to eat fruits and other foods that are presumed to be healthy without the consideration of pesticides fall into accordance with the marketable motto of ‘making smart menu choices is a snap’ and it is ‘cool,’ ‘smart,’ ‘colorful,’ ‘fun,’ and ‘easy.’ Making the smart menu choices is easy until the American consumer has to materialize actual healthy menu choices. Healthy comes to be mean buying “organic” and expensive foods. Healthy could also come to mean buying “locally” grown foods to ensure that they were not from an exploitative immigrant market. Healthy, could also mean changing from red meats to eating poultry and fish, and for some no meat at all. Majority of Americans cannot firmly believe that eating better foods is a healthier choice if the market itself does not care about the value of our health. Demands could be made, but suppliers have to carry the supply. Food shouldn’t define class differences and income levels. Foods shouldn’t also be used as a vehicle to perpetuate gender stereotypes. The many ills foods are associated with in the U.S. projects the idea that food choice not just an individual choice. Greater institutional forces create rules that view the individuals as commodity. Our health and body are valued on the same plane as commercial products and our bodies become second priority.

Sources

Farquhar, Judith. 2002. Medicinal Meals. In Appetites: Food and
Sex in Post-Socialist China. Durham: Duke University Press. Pg 47-77.

Jean, Retzinger. 2008. The Embodied Rhetoric of "Health" from Farm Fields to Salad Bowls.

Kennard, David. 1988. The Heart of the dragon. Episode 3, Eating. New York, N.Y.: Ambrose Video Pub. [distributor].

Sources of Images listed in Order Presented

Downs, Martin. 2008. The truth about 7 food Addictives. 3 July 2009. http://binkis.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/the-truth-about-7-common-food-additives/.

SoupRoast Pork Soup with Chinese Herbs.
<http://heartandhearth.blogspot.com/2008/07/roast-pork-soup-with-chinese-herbs.html>.

Nightmarket in Shanghai. 3 July 2009. >.

Ginseng and Ginseng Extract. 2009. 3 July 2009. <http://www.mdidea.com/products/proper/proper005.html>.

Vitality Herbal Tea 25 bags. 3 July 2009 <http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/661949_Qi_Ginseng_Vitality_Herbal_Tea_25_bags.html>.

Sweet Medicine Essentials. 2007. Anti-aging Skincare. 3July 2009. <http://sweetmedicineessentials.com/antiaging-skincare-c-4.html>.

Glass of Milk. 3 July 2009. <http://www.jilbertdairy.com/content.asp?PageName=Index>.

General Store Merchandise. 3 July 2009. <http://www.applebarncidermill.com/product_detail.cfm?pid=162&cid=25>.

Early Education on the Ideal Male-Female Roles

The early stages of scientific research involved the objective goal of viewing all biological life form as specimens at Carnegie University (Morgan 50). Physicians donated embryos and fetuses of various stages and voluntary hysterectomies were conducted for women ‘married and living with their husbands, intelligent, and to have demonstrated prior fertility by delivering at least three full-term pregnancies (Morgan 51).’ The collection not only showcased the stages of human development, but also how the origin of the fetus did not matter as much as what the fetus itself was to contemporaries; an extraordinary collection of specimens. The human fetus was an object of curiosity that was and still viable to representations that fit into cultural perspectives. The strict guidelines for women eligible for hysterectomy is considered a controlled scientific study in which the “knowledge” of how the fetus develops. This “knowledge” is based on what scientist assumed it to be. The “materialization” of the fetus into a “person” continues to be set within changing cultural frameworks. Everyone, including scientist who study fetuses are part of the larger society who makes science reflect our own cultural values and norms. The very fact that society may not be aware of the tendency for cultural projection onto science makes it problematic to define what “true” knowledge is or what “science” is, especially if science should be objective and neutral. One of the traditional biases projected onto science is the inclination to better understand abstract concept as something tangible in which we could “see” nature at work (“seeing is believing”). This tendency is one example of the values and norms that distinguish humans from other mammalians and possibly the West from nonwestern nations.

The beginning of “materializing” the fetus into a “person” began with the perceived mechanics of “how” fertilization happens. As 21st century scientific technology made it possible to see the egg and the sperm’s interactions, scientist and writers of science for the general public began to describe the phenomenon as a romance story (Martin 490). Science interpreted to the public in a romantic narrative is the manifestation of cultural beliefs. Ideally love is what we expect from relationships and in this context, the egg and the sperm are “material” representations of the relationship between man and woman. To “show” love is to show the greatest human emotion.


Where else can this magnificent emotion be found? If we think back to our earliest years of childhood development, it is evident that we were taught to fantasize about “love” and happiness from fairytales. Fairytales are stories to help children engage in their imagination on the surface level. However even if we regard them as fictionalized stories, than why would each one of our childhood fairytales teach a morale lesson? Fairytales are intangible and fake, but are made “real” as they function to they reflect societal ideals. They represent “real” people and showcase people’s inclinations, deceit, honesty, vulnerability, chivalry, and wickedness. On a grandeur scale fairytales not only represent “real” people, but also the vision of how society should function. Hence, the projection of a vision infers that society cannot fully represent the reality. Society includes and excludes individuals and communities. The inability to be inclusive is attributable from the tendency for culture to change. It can also be argued that it is impossible to fully represent the human thoughts and motivations since everyone does not fit into distinct categories. To highlight the excluded individuals of society, the vision of how society should be must first be addressed. To engage in this discourse fairytale characters and their relationships to each other and society needs to be analyzed.

The structure of most fairytales including stories in general categorizes characters into “good” and “bad” guys. There are a couple things wrong with this representation. If fairy tales are to teach society a lesson then, this particular grouping is an oversimplification of reality. In reality many people are driven by certain rational motives to become “bad” guys, but in fairytales the motives are generally superficial and lack the substance, and complications people face. Even the interpretation of the egg and sperm interaction does not merely fit into the model. The egg has been both described as a “security system (Martin 496)” and “devouring (Martin 498)” sperm. So how has fairytales come to create an analogy to accommodate for opposing views?


The topic of gender is intertwined into this chameleon characteristic of the egg. Who it is that seems to be having these attributes? Women who represent the egg tend to have both roles of being the protagonist and agonist? Women have the role of being the princess but also the evil villains such as Snow White’s stepmother-the Queen. In this particular fairytale, the Queen has everything malignant associated with her. Firstly she is a stepmother, who is usually expected to be ruthless to a the step daughter; secondly she is superficial in that she desires to have the beauty above all; thirdly she practices black magic and is willing to become a crone to seduce Snow white to eat the apple; and lastly she does defies the family structure.


The step mothers in both Snow White and Sleeping beauty are widows who capriciously try to control or enslave their stepdaughters. Why is it that the single female parent is portrayed as manipulative and tyrannical if she is widowed? We do not see Cinderella’s widowed father portrayed likewise. The same imagery of the “spiderlike” quality (Martin 498) given to the female eggs have also been depicted in the Little Mermaid’s evil octopi character Ursula. These descriptions of women which are also applied to the egg suggest that the female “biological processes are less worthy than their male counterparts (Martin 486).” When the male parent is present with the mother, a balance of stability and nurturance is established through the equilibrium of masculinity and femininity. There are never two female parents or two male parents, but the gender roles are also almost never reversed. It is impossible to have the union of the egg and sperm from parents of the same gender from a biological perspective, yet it can also be assumed that human reproduction could not happen if men are not masculine enough to take on his role as the fertilizer; as the heroic figure to save the egg!

Gender stereotypes on a basic level are “stereotypes.” They reflect the norm but not the entirety of what it is supposed to describe. The idea that America itself is democratic, in which the majority rule also reflects the idea of how norms are weighed more heavily than the actual equal representation of the entire body. Therefore how “true” is science if there is a tendency to project cultural norms to biological processes?


The female model represented by fairytale princesses or princess to-bes are underrepresented as the active participant in the quest to find happiness. Snow White is representative of this stereotype because she becomes “Sleeping Beauty” until prince charming kisses her. Snow White is as passive as the cumbersome, large, dormant egg that relies on the egg to make life (Martin 490). If both the female and the female biological processes are to be pictured this way, then men are to be chivalrous and must win the female emotionally to physically unit with her. There are other depictions of the “heroic” sperm and passive, yet also assertive eggs that add more “human” dimensions to such analogies of societal visions and representations. Disney has come up with other fairy tales to add more variety to the female and male character, but there is still an underlying theme; stereotypes could never clearly be egalitarian, in which the role of both sexes is equally important and valued.


Other stereotypes include the less passive, bookworm, knowledge-craving Bell from Sleeping Beauty. In fact she is said to be “not” normal in the fairytale for not wanting to be with an extremely masculine man who demands to have many children and expects her to be the typical housewife. In the end she finds true love and releases the prince from his beast-character; however, he repeatedly saves her to win her heart. Therefore she becomes a passive character to the prince. This depiction employs the typical female attributes of being too “picky,” which has been used to describe why only one sperm out of the millions would win the egg (Martin 490). The opposite model could also be represented by the male model. The male model does not have to be a muscular, physically intimidating man; he could in fact, be an average man who becomes the “hero” for his bravery and wits such as in the pauper in the Prince and the Pauper. In this particular story the female character is not even present! This imagery parallels Woody Allen’s film “Everything you always wanted to know about Sex…” in which the weak sperm is destined to face his fears of being ejaculated (Martin 491). More modern Disney tales such as Mulan magnify the role of the women, but does this actually bring “equal” representation of male and female and how much of this modern fairytale is historical anyways?

Words similar to “peril” have been used to describe the female reproductive system (Martin 498) while eggs have been described as “old” and vulnerable to “death. This denotes that females are less useful or active. Even the uterus and the vaginal canal become “materialized” into something as “foreign, dangerous, mysterious” territory for the sperm or “prince” to brave through with the above connotations. However, when the sperm is expressed as “barbaric” in which it “harpoons” the egg; the sperm becomes accredited for having this ability (Martin 494). The sperm like the Beast from “Beauty and the Beast” may go through stages of being marginalized before becoming a hero.


The women’s reproductive system has been described as “wasteful (Martin 488).” In Fairytales, the princess and soon to-be princesses are not lavish. In fact, she may start out destitute like Cinderella. The comfortable and extravagant lifestyles are generally given to the evil stepsisters and stepmothers. Historically women have been seen as “wasteful” and men as “productive.” The fairytale reality of the 1950’s came to be the ownership of a suburban home, nuclear family consisting of a husband, wife, and children, and also the collection of material goods by housewives. The man is to “make” money much like he is expected to make sperm, as women were expected to “spend” or “waste”-parallel to how menstruation “wastes” the egg’s fertile potential and “kills” it. The projection of femininity verses masculinity was heavily exaggerated in colors. Wives were to be social and associate with other wives. Her “nature” as women makes her more flamboyant in her choice of colorful bloom skirts.

There are definitely limitations to how much of reality can be portrayed. The human psyches can be unpredictable and our imagination helps us to step out of the real world. If there are such limitations, do we have the authority to blame the exclusiveness of stereotypical portrayals that will always showcase and add new fads to existing stereotypes? Isn't it only natural for society to reflect what it is inclined to like? In fact, even film media have separated genres such as film noir and experimental film that are less popular because they have the potential to "shock" viewer's expectations. There also must be limitations of material aspects that easily sets the path for the egg and sperm to have similar endings as fairytales? Such material aspects include the fact that eggs are significantly larger and must rely on the sperm's travel to fertilize the egg. Representations may hold some truth as much as stereotypes do; however, stereotypes are false since they only portray part of society. There are also other problems underlying the meaning of stereotypes and norms to society.

Today there is still that presumption that such cultural values are inherent. This becomes apparent when a flamboyant man is labeled as a “freak” because of his speech and physical appearance. When he acts and dresses flamboyant he “assumes” the female characteristic of “wastefulness.” In the case of women, lesbians have been harassed and raped for speaking out or “acting” out in public. Although even though cultural values are perceived to be inherent because they are norms, it is also assumed that culture and values can change. It is hard to define where the boundary of a set of cultural values and stereotypes end in a timeline, but it is easier to observe how societies do not adapt too well to changing to one discreet set of norms. Norms do not just appear as something completely new. They continue to be revised with new diction and meaning. Due to observable characteristic of norms as a progression into something similar or different over a period of time, norms do not always completely become too outdated in which no one upholds them. Contemporary norms can be associated and linked to norms of the past. Norms most importantly can obscure the meaning of “truth” when it muddles with what we consider as “knowledge.” What is “real” knowledge if we constantly work to create knowledge with our own biases? Knowledge must come to be accepted as knowledge for us to accept who we are since biases could not be avoided.

Sources:
Morgan, Lynn. Materializing the Fetal Body, Or, What are those Corpses doing in Biology's Basement? In , Morgan, Lynn and Michaels, Meredith. eds. Fetal Subjects, Feminist Positions. (pp. 43-60). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.

Martin, Emily. Signs. The Egg and the Sperm: How Science has Constructed a Romance based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles. (pp.485-501). Maryland: John Hopkins University Department of Anthropology, 1991.

Sources of images listed in order presented

The Human Body. 3 July 2009. < http://www.movie-forumz.org/showthread.php?t=33404>.

"Snow White and Prince." Behind Every Great Woman. 2 July 2009. <http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/2006/>.

"The Queen from Snow White." The Big Life. 2 July 2009. <http://thebiglife.wordpress.com/>.

Veloso, Bryan. "Ursula." Fat feminism. 2 July 2009. <http://curvature.wordpress.com/2007/04/30/plus-size-princess/>.

Fertility-Treatment.org. Causes of Infertility. 2 July 2009. <http://www.fertility-treatment.org/causes-of-infertility.php>.

"One woman, many men." 2 July 2009. <http://aupairmom.com/can-this-relationship-be-saved-our-au-pair-rubs-me-the-wrong-way/2009/04/15/celia%20harquail/>.

Kueber, Pam. "Women in Kitchen." 2009. Time Warp Wives. 2 July 2009. <http://retrorenovation.com/2008/08/09/time-warp-wives/>.