Misrepresented Cultures :: Essays Papers

Misrepresented Cultures Horace Mitchell Miner spent much of his life educating himself on anthropology before writing his confusing but brilliant article on American culture. He was born in Minnesota and then moved to Kentucky, where he became a museum curator before becoming an associate professor of anthropology and sociology at the University of Michigan at one point in his career. Although he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Sociology Department he was not very active due to the fact that his work was mostly field based. For this reason many of his peers did not utilize his expertise. (website) It is also evident that he was an expert in his field by his history in the anthropology field. It is quite possible Miner was offended at the fact no one cared to consult him on issues or discuss things with him, and he wanted to show them that his opinions were worth hearing. This is probably the reason he proceeded to write the article â€Å"Body Rituals Among the Nacirema.† He was quite brilliant in his writing of this article. In it, Miner writes about the people who take human behavior to an extreme, The Nacirema, who present many unusual aspects but yet they are poorly understood. Though their origin is unknown they are a North American group who is devoted to economic pursuits whose days are spent mostly in ritual activity. According to Miner, these activities are towards the human body. â€Å"They believe it is ugly and its natural tendency is to debility and disease.†(Miner) Each home contains at least one or more shrine. The shrines are accompanied in particular rites. The focus of the shrine is a charm box in the wall which contains all the medical potions. Each day every member in the family at different times must bow and perform a rite to this shrine. Since, they believe the mouth has a supernatural influence and a daily mouth-rite must be performed. Once or twice a year the people seek out the holy-mouth-man. When people get sick the visit a medicine man at their temples called latispos. Many temples will not accept people if they do not give a rich enough gift. Most will not even allow a person to leave if they do not give another gift. The ceremonies involve much discomfort and torture. Another type of person in the culture is called a â€Å"listener,† who exorcises devils from children. Misrepresented Cultures :: Essays Papers Misrepresented Cultures Horace Mitchell Miner spent much of his life educating himself on anthropology before writing his confusing but brilliant article on American culture. He was born in Minnesota and then moved to Kentucky, where he became a museum curator before becoming an associate professor of anthropology and sociology at the University of Michigan at one point in his career. Although he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Sociology Department he was not very active due to the fact that his work was mostly field based. For this reason many of his peers did not utilize his expertise. (website) It is also evident that he was an expert in his field by his history in the anthropology field. It is quite possible Miner was offended at the fact no one cared to consult him on issues or discuss things with him, and he wanted to show them that his opinions were worth hearing. This is probably the reason he proceeded to write the article â€Å"Body Rituals Among the Nacirema.† He was quite brilliant in his writing of this article. In it, Miner writes about the people who take human behavior to an extreme, The Nacirema, who present many unusual aspects but yet they are poorly understood. Though their origin is unknown they are a North American group who is devoted to economic pursuits whose days are spent mostly in ritual activity. According to Miner, these activities are towards the human body. â€Å"They believe it is ugly and its natural tendency is to debility and disease.†(Miner) Each home contains at least one or more shrine. The shrines are accompanied in particular rites. The focus of the shrine is a charm box in the wall which contains all the medical potions. Each day every member in the family at different times must bow and perform a rite to this shrine. Since, they believe the mouth has a supernatural influence and a daily mouth-rite must be performed. Once or twice a year the people seek out the holy-mouth-man. When people get sick the visit a medicine man at their temples called latispos. Many temples will not accept people if they do not give a rich enough gift. Most will not even allow a person to leave if they do not give another gift. The ceremonies involve much discomfort and torture. Another type of person in the culture is called a â€Å"listener,† who exorcises devils from children.

Nineteen Minutes

The nature versus nurture conflict has continuously been a controversial subject for the public. People want to know what effects our development, personality, and especially our behavior, which seems to overlap the two. The nature side of the argument believes that a human is developed by the genes that are hard-wired into them. In other words, the reason why this human behaves the way he or she does today is because of the genes he or she were born with. On the other hand is nurture, which says a person is formed into the person they are by the environment. This suggests that a person is born with no inborn tendencies and acquire traits off of the setting and the people they are around. In Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult, Peter Houghton, the main teenage character, suddenly snaps. Prior to Peter’s murders, he showed no aggression or violence whatsoever. Even his childhood best friend, Josie, who eventually became a member of the popular crowd in school, made efforts to back him up. The sudden outburst from Peter clearly demonstrated that his environment shaped him into the killer he became. An adolescent can be bent and twisted into a completely different person. Hostile environments, like Sterling for Peter, could distort any type of personality and shape the person in undesirable ways. A famous psychologist, by the name of Sigmund Freud, believed that there was evil built in us all. People, after his time, ran with this naturist belief and also said that it is in one’s human nature to do wrong. It is a pessimistic view on the matter, however, they also say that the evil, or wrongdoing, may be brought out with time. Nonetheless, this side of the debate still thinks people are born as thieves, criminals, or in Peter’s case, murderers. Josie‘s mother, Alex, has a strong first impression, from Peter‘s childhood, as she recalls the day when Peter and Josie were playing with the firearms. Alex states, â€Å"I keep thinking about him as a little boy†¦sometimes I can still see him handing you that rifle-â€Å" (Picoult 170). Alex references the time she walked in on Peter and Josie playing with the firearms, accidently left out by Peter’s father. She associates him as a little boy and relates it to why she thinks he killed his peers in high school. This is an easy way to blame Peter, despite the fact that he has been tested before by bullies, and never showed any aggression at the time. Also, instead of blaming Peter, the finger should be pointed at Lewis Houghton. He is the one who made Peter knowledgeable about the guns at a young age, and also was irresponsible by leaving them out with kids around. If Peter’s biological genes were a factor, his aggression should have been presented at a younger age, when the bullying was excessive then too. In contrary to Freud’s theory on human development, comes behaviorism. This theory, which was created by psychologist John B. Watson, essentially states that every infant is born with a blank slate. Meaning that any personality can be molded into what its educator or environment makes it to be. The most influential element of a child’s life is clearly the parenting. This makes the child-parent bond the most important relationship a child has. The way the child is shaped dictates how he or she will view the world, and more importantly themselves. The bullying was immediate for Peter. His first day, on the bus to school, resulted in a lost lunchbox and a few tears. The bullying continued and Peter’s parents were notified. How Lewis and Lacy Houghton handled the situation is vital. After the unpleasant incident, in a conversation with Peter, Lacy replies, â€Å"I know about the lunch boxes. I know what’s been going on with [the bullying]†¦The next time it happens, you have to stick up for yourself. You have to, Peter, or I†¦I’m going to have to punish you† (Picoult 73). The sudden change in Peter’s guidance is drastic. This new approach for Peter suddenly makes violence acceptable. Even though Peter doesn’t show it right away, due to shyness, a seed is planted which ultimately grows into the violence he displayed the day of the massacre at Sterling High. This type of shaping taught the child to become violent since he was not already. Due to the young age, the child will obey the parenting without question, or any conscious conflict. When a child reaches adolescence, physical maturity plays a major role in a human’s development. The dramatic changes of the body are a big change for any teenager. If one’s physical development becomes delayed like Peter’s, then it can become complicated to live an ordinary high school life. During adolescence is when one determines their identity, and with Peter’s difficulty to fit in, he had trouble finding who he was. With the stress and anxiety building for Peter, he can’t even decipher if he is straight or not. The narrator states, â€Å"He just wanted to know what it was like to be among guys who were gay, and totally okay with it. He wanted to know if they could look at him and know, instantly, that Peter belongedâ€Å" (Picoult 231). It’s not that hitting puberty late was a bad thing for Peter, it just made it harder for him to uncover himself. He had to resort to the extreme by surrounding himself with homosexual men. Also, a run in with Mr. McCabe, a gay teacher at Sterling High, aided the discovery Peter needed to experience that he was straight all along. The confusion and delay of puberty makes it easy for a low self esteem to take place. Bullying can be another significant factor in social development. A victim of bullying usually is incapable of having a high self esteem, and sustaining a healthy lifestyle. If bullying is suspected, it is important that the victim has someone to go to. In Peter’s case he had no one. He learned early in life that he had to stick up for himself, so his parents were ruled out the equation early. If a victim of bullying cannot seek help, the bullying can cause emotional, social, and even academic problems. Peter clearly had problems in these three areas. Combine the pressure built from the bullying with no one to talk to, and Peter was a balloon ready to pop. However, Peter shows no remorse after the incident. When talking to his lawyer he states, â€Å"Why is everyone so upset that those jerks are dead? I mean people are crying over them†¦and they were assholes, Every one’s saying I ruined their lives, but no one seemed to care when my life was the one being ruined† (Picoult 134). It is clear to see the damages given to Peter over time. What once seemed like a kid who wouldn’t hurt a fly, is now a kid who shows no remorse and is forced to play survival of the fittest. With Peter Houghton as a prime example it is evident that nurture takes its course. It’s not that Peter became one of the bullies, rather than he adapted to the dog eat dog world. Any parent imagines the potential their baby boy or girl can have when it is born. Some kids may be ignored, steered in the wrong direction, or bullied at school. No one can say what his or her child will be like before he or she is born. Nonetheless, every infant learns. What they learn makes up the world, but they must make up their selves first. The environment around a child is critical to the learning and shaping he or she endures.

Feminism and Gender Roles in Old Literature - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2661 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/04/16 Category Sociology Essay Level High school Tags: Gender Roles Essay Did you like this example? It is no secret that women have always been looked down upon in society throughout the years, it has been going on for many decades now and is not a shock to anyone. There are even stories written in old literature portraying just how strong the use of feminism and gender roles are, two very important critical lenses, by showing the womens roles, personalities and fate in the tales being told. Many people actually think that feminism doesnt exist,and women are already treated the same. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Feminism and Gender Roles in Old Literature" essay for you Create order In the stories of old literature it supports the evidence to just how unequal women are treated and relates to women even today. Many authors are trying to bring attention on the use feminism and gender roles in their pieces to show their belief on how unequal women are treated and viewed to society. The purpose of the use of the critical lenses is to bring light without actually focusing on the womens roles unless you look at the writing as a whole and critiquing the language of literature. A few famous tales from the Middle English 1500s ,Hamlet, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wife of Bath, illustrates just how strong feminism and gender roles were used to affect how the story flowed and how the women were perceived as back then. Many people have most likely heard of the name William Shakespeare, often called the English national poet and considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time. He is well known for his famous play of the iconic love story of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare also wrote another play with a storyline unlike his typical romantic tragedy, but was based originally on a Danish revenge folktale told by a man called Saxo Grammaticus. In the version told by Grammaticus, a young prince fakes being crazy in order to get revenge on his uncle for murdering his father. In Shakespeares version he introduces a twist from the passed down fable in which he called the piece, Hamlet, a tale of a young prince who actually seems insane and determined to get his fathers revenge on his own uncle, who is in charge of his fathers murder. Throughout the whole story, Hamlet is so focused on trying to kill his uncle, he does not realize how many peoples lives he has put in danger: he fails to check up on Ophelia, the girl he likes, and her fate ends up ending her own life because of how unimportant she felt to everyone, including to Hamlet,who killed her father because he thought he was King Claudius. The story ends in a shocking tragedy, which seems to be common in Shakespeares work, where everyone in the royal family dies, including Hamlet and King Claudius. Although getting vengeance may seem like the main focus of the story, since they mainly centralized the story on men, it also portrays just how little they cared about the women in the story. The first obvious evidence is that there were only two characters who were women throughout the whole story, Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, which are only included in the story because they have intimate relations to the men characters. It occurs that Queen Gertrude was only used to portray her unfaithfulness to her late husband King Hamlet, when she married his brother, King Claudius. On the other hand, Ophelia, was a young lady who had a romantic relationship to the younger Hamlet, even Ophelias brother and father thought she was being used by Hamlet for her chastity. Justifying how frequent men back then used women for their bodies and not for their personalities, a strong trait of gender roles. An author, Elaine Showalter, showed her point of view of the use of the character Ophelia, an insigni ficant minor character,to only show the object of desire to Hamlet (Representing Ophelia). Nevertheless, there are acts in the scene that directly show how Shakespeare, showed how women were treated unequally. More specifically, in Act 3 during scene 1, Ophelia tries to talk to Hamlet, to remind him about the feelings they have for each other, instead of giving in to her attempt, he tells her off. He uses harsh phrases like get thee to a nunnery: Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? implying to become a nun in order to control her feelings or what he says is lustand that he would never feel that way about her because he does not wanna be a sinner(Shakespeare, William). This scene is particularly important because it shows a contradiction between the different gender roles with how the behavior of women are only showed as wanting lust. This is a false accusation, since Hamlets attitude towards the women in the play as sexist, and all they want is lust. Women back then were categ orized as only objects of sex, showing the strong use of gender roles. Hamlet is an example of men even today, using women for their own time and not the womens time is being selfish, and when the women gives the same energy back they get blamed on for their such called lust. In present day, men are just as careless about women as they were back then, Hamlet couldnt even take a second out of his self-absorbed revenge to check up on Ophelia, after he went off on her and caused the death of her father. If he would have checked up on her and was there for her, she would not have felt so alone causing her to end her own life. Consequently, William Shakespeare wasnt the first poet to bring light to the stereotypes of women. Although the real name of the poet who wrote the inciting masterpiece still remains anonymous, some people refer to this author as the Gawain Poet, since this story is one of his most successful work. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written in the late 14th century while also surviving in a late 14th century manuscript, along with three other stories written by the same author. The tale is about a questionable warrior being put to the test to show if he has all the characteristics to become a heroic and noble warrior. To go in depth, the story is about a knight named Sir Gawain who accepts a deal from the Green Knight, who shows up at a local feast, the proposition was that he got to chop off the Green Knights head only if he could do the same to Sir Gawain a year later but although he was hesitant, Sir Gawain ended up accepting the deal. As a year passes, Sir Gawain is on his way b ack to where the knight said to meet him,but on his way back, a lord decides to welcome him into his castle for a few days. Sir Gawain was only allowed to stay in the castle if he accepted the lords one condition; where the lord and his men will go hunting while Gawain stays inside the castles door and whatever Gawain gets behind his castle they will exchange with each other. Thinking that it was a win for him, Gawain agrees. The first three days Gawain stays at the castle, the lords wife gives him kisses each day, but on the fourth day an old lady mentions she has a silk girdle that would protect anyone who wears it from death. So later that day the lord asked him what he acquired but did not give the lord the girdle.Keeping in mind that Gawain thought the girdle would save him from the Green Knight. Gawain leaves the castle the next day to fight. The Green Knight later reveals himself as the lord, and planned Gawains whole stay, including the old lady giving him the girdle, it sho wed dishonesty in Sir Gawain. In the story not only did they use women as another sexual duty they also only put women in the story if they are queens or mysterious witches such as the old lady with the magical girdle, which is a big characteristic of feminism. The men in the story use women to restore their masculinity and control over them, Karras, an author who wrote a article about gender roles, goes in depth by saying the knights [masculinity] was defined in a large part in relation to women. The achievement of manhood depended on mastering the sometimes conflicting, sometimes complementary ideals of prowess (successful violence) and love (successful commodification of women) (Karras, 25). The men used battles and women to remind themselves about their masculinity, showing the inequality of the purpose of women in the story. The women are only objects to restore the reminder of how manly they are, when women are actually more powerful than men if they need women in order to show how strong they are. This was back in the 1500s and even in todays society, men still use women to show how masculine they are, and its even worse now than back then.In todays society, many guys will stunt with how many girls they talk to and how many relations they have had with them, as if women were just trophies to their collection.Whereas if women talked about how many men they talked to or had relations with, they would be considered a tramp. How does that balance out? Which is what many people who claim that inequality doesnt exist fail to notice. Lastly, the Wife of Bath, is one of the most famous stories included among the twenty-four stories in the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The individual prologue was written in the late 1300s but not only is it the oldest story talked about, its the most important story that shows feminism and gender roles. The story begins with a woman, Alyson but in the story they just refer to her as wife, in the story she is in her forties which is particularly unique because the author usually doesnt involve characters who are older because they mostly likely dont even make it to that age, noticed in his other stories. Alyson talks about her past five husbands that she had married, she openly talks about them and is not ashamed of how many husbands she has had, she also includes when her 5th husband dies she plans to remarry a 6th.The wife describes her past husbands, she describes how she has had three good one as well as two bad ones. The three good ones were rich and old and gave her ev erything she would ask them for, however, the other two she talks about how she suffered in marriage. She would deceive them, and wrongfully accuse them because no man can swear and lie like a woman can. The wife also explains from her observation skills that men only like women for their riches, bodies, or by what they can do, and if they are ugly then they will latch themselves to any man they see until one accepts them. She is displeased with them unless they do these general things like admire her beauty, call her dear lady everywhere they go, make her a feast for her birthday, make her happy, and lastly, honor her family. She would reveal that men always say that wives ruin their husbands like worms ruin a tree. Her fourth husband was a reveller, and she was young and playful, but her husband had a mistress, which she was very angry about that he liked another women so she got even by making him very angry and jealous just to get back at him. By treating him that way, she made sure her fourth husband wasnt happy and made sure his life was a living hell. When he died while she was in Jerusalem, but she didnt pay anything to bury him because it would have been a waste to bury him expensively, and she didnt care about him that much to pay her respects to him. Although she hated her fourth husband, she loved her fifth husband the most because his love was standoffish, she never wants his soul to go to hell, yet he was the biggest liar. He was good in bed, yet he was abusive and would beat her, but she would always have a soft spot for him because, he could win back her love in an instant. She would tell all of her husbands secret to her best friend and he would get mad that even told her things. Whenever he went to london she would go out and flirt with men and told them if she was a widow she would marry them. She would give her husband all the land and property but regretted it because he didnt give her anything she wanted. He hit her on the ear for tearing a page out of his book and she became deaf in that ear. She disobeyed and did not listen to him anyway. She did not like the book he was reading because it basically shamed women, and since she knew he would not stop reading it he tore out 3 pages. He became angry and hit her again and she fell to the floor. He got scared because she fell and he thought he killed her. When she awoke they made an agreement and she got all the control and made him burn the book while she remained nice to him. They never argued again. The Wife of Bath is not your standard female character in usual old literature, she is different from the roles of women in Hamlet and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, she knew her self worth and how she wanted to be treated by her lovers. Although, most of her husbands didnt treat her right, she always stood up for herself and gave them the same respect they would give her. Alyson was powerful, but they way men thought about women throughout the story showed feminism, the whole prologue says that wives would ruin their husbands and that men will only care about them if they are rich, look good, and what they do. Womens love was compared to hell and barren land, or to an inextinguishable fire , make the women seem like the villian or horrible people. Alexandra Losonti, in her article Discourse and Dominion in Chaucers Wife of Bath Prologue, argues in the Middle Ages women were identified by their roles in life and society as wives, widows, mothers or maidens and were portrayed in rel ation to a man or group of men(Discourse and Dominion in Chaucers Wife of Baths Prologue). This draws attention to why the Wife of Bath is not called by her name but by wife, portraying that her status as a wife is more important than her real name. Similar events still happen like this till this day, where women will only be defined by being labeled as someones girlfriend or wife, it is unfair because we have names too, just like when a couple gets married its more likely that the woman must change their last name to the grooms. Its a tradition, but is it just because thats what everyone has adapted to throughout the years? Overall, women have been degraded, used as sexual objects, and are stereotyped to receive unequal respect throughout all the years even dating back to old literature stories from the 14th century. Hamlet,Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wife of Bath, shows a point of view on how women were perceived as, and surprisingly has not improved over the years. The feminism and gender roles that happened in the story still happens today, men using women to show their masculinity, being shamed for having feelings and lastly being insulted by saying loving women is like going through hell. What will it take to show how unequal women are being treated by men and show change?