Standpoint Theory

I was just thinking about how we were talking about the Garland Thomson reading in class and standpoint theory earlier when I was talking to one of my best friends. She has Interstitial Cystitis. She's been extremely frustrated lately with the doctors here because her doctor where we're from in Columbia has seen and dealt with IC before but none of the doctors here seem to know what she's talking about and even when they get her medical records they are pretty much unable to help at all. She just said something that made me think of standpoint theory when we were talking about all of this because she said, "I know that it's not all that common, but I just forget that a lot because my mom has it, and my sister has it, and one of her friends has it." I just know we were talking about how when you're not in the majority you see things in a different light. It's not like it's an incredibly common problem and yet it's harder for her to see the problem with diagnosing and treating this because she feels like it is much more common than it really is.

Man with suicide victims heart take his own life

"Man with suicide victims heart takes his own life"
I found this article awhile ago, it is from April 2008, but it is an interesting aspect of organ donating that we didn't get a chance to discuss.
In the article a man receives a heart transplant and ends up dying the same way that the donor did, as well as marrying the wife of the donor. The cause of death was a self inflicted gunshot wound.
This article is an example of something we see in movies and television and sometimes hear about in the news, when the organ recipient begins to take on traits of the donor.
I wonder if there is any medical truth behind this phenomenon or if it is something that is thought up in the mind. Can an organ of one body really transfer the thoughts and feelings into the new body?
To me this really just seems like a coincidence, not a medical miracle. Also if the donor had killed himself then I believe it is safe to assume that he suffered from some sort of mental disorder or disease. Then the recipient dies the same exact way, is it possible for mental disease to cross over even when the source of the disease was not located in the transplanted organ? I really can not believe that this is possible.
These types of stories begin to blur the line between mind and body. There's the idea of qualities associated with the mind being associated with the body, and maybe proving that there is an even greater connection between mind and body that was previously thought.

Research Project

The Bad Girls Club

Above is the link that takes you to the home page for the Oxygen show "The Bad Girls Club" that I have chosen to do my project on.  I'm really excited about it because I often find myself either loving the show or hating the women because they continually perpetuate crazy stereotypes about women.  On the one hand, they show bodies as being tools of destruction, while some of the girls seem to use their bodies as tools of empowerment.  I'm a little confused about how I'm going to tie everything together.  Any thoughts??

12-16: small, average, or large?

Yesterday, I was in Greenville with my roommate because she needed new shoes for something or another. While we were there, we stopped by a Circuit City because she wanted to see what deals she could find. When we pulled into the parking lot, I noticed the buildings next to it: Sizes 12-16, Weight Watchers, and a fitness store similar to weight watchers. When my roommate saw it, she said “isn’t it kind of funny seeing a plus size store next to all these other stores geared towards fitness?” It was funny seeing these three stores side by side and hearing her comment. It made me think of in class how we talked about how back in the day, Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 and that was perfectly acceptable. It wasn’t considered as being big. I think it’s funny how things change. A size 12-16 is not large, but more average. However, it was portrayed as being large sizes because of where it was located. Put it next to a Cato’s with real plus sizes then it would be considered a store for smaller people. Funny how people think these days.

House

I don't usually watch TV because I don't have cable (I found that when I do have cable, my homework suffers even more than it does without the distraction) but since Santa brought me a digital converter, I get more channels than I did with just my rabbit ears. Hurray for modern science! So I've watched House (link to the episode) a couple of times because he's a jerk but he's always right so he gets away with his attitude and accompanying problems. Tonight, they got a little boy who had an extra y chromosome but they couldn't find 'his' uterus. Since he had passed out after basketball practice, his parents brought their beloved little freak of nature to the hospital for testing, certain it was because he was...different. He preferred dancing to basketball but the mother couldn't handle it so she forced him into more masculine sports and insisted her son wasn't ready to know the truth. In the end, he was sick because the mother was so over-protective. It was nicely done; House's closing words were that the boy was fine, just dehydrated. All the testing messed him up. "Just because you gave birth to a freak of nature doesn't mean you have to treat him like a freak of nature". Harsh, but so true. I blame myself when certain things happen to my son (he got into his first playground fight at school last week; I'm still traumatized). Parenting is difficult even in the most normal, conventional times with Perfectly Normal Kids (and Perfectly Normal Parents, of course) so how would I compensate for a genetic defect? Even if it isn't a defect so much as an abnormality, a diferent-ness, in your first or only child when you have no idea what you're doing? Bill Cosby says parents with only one child aren't really parents; if something is broken, you know who did it. It's not challenging enough. With a Perfectly Normal Child, that is. You don't notice the abnormalities as much when there are more children since every child is unique in different ways, each abnormality makes each child special in a different way. When there are more, it's easier to overlook the individual difficulties and see the bigger picture. Or maybe I just enjoy short bursts of chaos. I find it easier to deal with the big picture when there are several kids visiting rather than just my one needing entertainment; that's when I look for things to worry about.

Fragmentation of the body, continued

So, I started posting this as a response to the Will Smith post and Juliane's response about the fragmentation of the body of both an organ donor and recipient, but my response got too long :)

I found Juliane's comment about the fragmentation of the body an interesting viewpoint that got me thinking . . .


We place such a sanctity on the "body" that even after death, the body is still treated with care and consideration. It is dressed in its best clothes and placed in a beautiful box. People gaze at it and cry and say goodbye to the person who had lived in the body. We expect funeral directors to treat the body with dignity. We expect pall bearers to carefully carry the body from place to place. We bury it in the ground and we place a marker on top so that for all of eternity, the body can be located.

Why is the body as a whole sacred? What happens to a limb or organ that is removed? Is it simply discarded in a biologically safe way? It must be, right? Otherwise, we would be attending funerals for body parts? How many of those kinds of funerals have you seen? I can recall one, on the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, when the little boy's arm is buried.

My father-in-law passed away this month and I went to his funeral. He had been embalmed with his wedding band on and the funeral home was having a terrible time getting the ring off of his finger. My ex-husband was livid because they were in danger of damaging his finger in their attempts. I use this to illustrate that a limb, when attached to the whole, is just as sacred as any other portion of the body. So, why don't we have funerals/burials/rituals when just a limb is gone?

Is the body sacred so long as it contains the "life" of the person? Is my hand not as much me as my face? My heart? My brain? Because I can still exist without my hand, my hand is less valuable than my brain, right? But according to one of our writers in the last section (I don't have my book, sorry!), it is the sum of all the parts that make the whole have value. All cannot function without the service of the one.

I just thought this was interesting to ponder.

The Thinker or Hercules . . .

I really don't like how myspace bulletins have invaded facebook, but I can't help but read them. It's like a car accident. It's horrible, but I just can't look away . . .

I was reading a post today and one of the questions was "strong in mind or strong in body?" I thought this was an interesting question because it brought me back to the first days of this class when we were discussing what is a mind and what is a body and which has dominion over the other. The answer to the post was "strong in mind" and my first implusive answer was also "strong in mind." Why do we value this so much?

When I think of the kind of men I'm attracted to, they are always strong in body. I'm totally into the "hero" type (whatever THAT might be!). My ex-husband is a Soldier. Although he's skinny as a rail and probably only weighs 130 pounds soaking wet, he's stronger than a mule and could easily pick me up and carry me around and I outweigh him by . . . well, let's just say I outweigh him :). My most recent boyfriend is a former marine. He's also really into weight lifting. He dead lifts 405 pounds. He amazed my brother by pretty much carrying a dryer upstairs by himself. Why do I tell you these things? Because I say I would rather have someone "strong in mind" when in reality, strong in body is significantly important in my attraction to someone, but even with that reality, I would not say that this is the more important that strength in mind. Why, you ask?

Because these men are also strong in mind. Perhaps these men are even stronger in mind than the majority of the men I encounter and that is why I find them more attractive.

Perhaps "strong in body" is a manifestation of "strong in mind." It is a tangible, extrinsic value we can see and touch. It is evidence that substantiates our initial belief. A person who is strong in body is rarely of natural strength. A strong body implies self-discipline, the ability to sacrifice the hedonist calling of humanity, the ability to put "other" before "self", which, let's face it girls, is a rare commodity in a man. To me, a "strong mind" is one that can exert control over one's actions. A "strong mind" can check impulses, can exercise restraint. A "strong mind" does not act without rationale.

What would your answer to this question be? What do you think "strong in mind" means?