The Berdache Tradition

The idea that the native americans have basically three genders is really interesting to me. I have never heard of the berdache gender before this article. One of the points that i think really reigns true in our culture is that gender is directly defined by your physical anatomy. I recently read an article that commented on the children who are born one gender but early on in their lives associate with the other sex. The question is do you let your child live they way they identify the most with or the gender that they are physically. This is actually a really refreshing article that shows someone, who we would call transgendered, as someone who is somewhat looked up to in the society. It said that in the Native American society the berdaches are considered the dreamers and visionaries in the society. I was impressed by this article. I think we as americans need to read this article and think more about how we treat everyone in our society.

First Person Plural

The movie "First Person Plural" was a really interesting movie that was sad yet happy at the same time. I cannot even imagine the fear she must have felt when she got off the plane in the United States. All of the sudden she was forced into a completely new culture and new family. The adoption part of the movie was really happy! She was able to get a family who loved here. In my own life I have seen the great things that can be gotten through adoption. My neighbors recently adopted a little girl from korea. She is so happy it makes me really glad to see that my neighbors have such a huge impact in her life. My aunt and uncle also adopted four children from Colombia. They were unable to get pregnant and decided they wanted to adopt a child. After speaking with the adoption agency they were put in contact with this family. My oldest cousin was around 12 when he was adopted. It is amazing to me that my aunt and uncle adopted these children that were already so old. Most people want to adopt babies, instead, they adopted a 12 year old, a 10 year old, a 8 year old and a 6 year old. I think this example shows the true beauty in adoption
The sad part about this movie was the fact that she had a family in korea that had to give her up because they couldn't afford to feed her. No mom should have to give up her own baby due to lack of resources. The moment in the movie when they met was really heartbreaking. The thing that made me the most sad was the fact that her biological mother can never make up the time that she lost with her daughter. Regardless if they see each other a lot now she can never make up that time. This was the most heartbreaking part of the movie. Overall I thought this movie did a really great job at explaining a tough situation.

Elderly In America

This article brought up a really interesting point about how Americans treat the elderly. It is crazy almost criminal the lack of respect that american have for the elderly. You too often hear people talking about putting their elderly parents in a home. Like she said in her article this would have never even crossed a japanese person's mind. There they are held with such high respect and regarded as someone who can give wisdom. I think a lot of the problem is that the US government acts as though the elderly dont exist. When I went to visit my great aunt and uncle in the Netherlands I was astonished at just how good they were taken care of. They government pays for most of their medical bills, some of their rent and utilities. They even make sure that each elderly household has high-speed internet. The government needs to take better care of the elderly after all they raised us!

In Sickness and in Wealth

The movie we watched called "In Sickness and in Wealth" highlighted a lot of good points about health in America. I too think there is a huge distinction between classes health wise. The fact that someone who makes six digits has a life expectancy around 7 years more than someone who is below the poverty line is amazing to me. People who are below the poverty line have less resources medically than someone who has more money. This is really unfair in my eyes. It is really sad that someone who has so much stress in life because of their money problems has to be physically sick. The stress put on lower income families is immense. They always have to wonder about having enough money or providing enough food for everyone. One thing that made me really upset though was when the lady who was living in SSI and Disability said something about how she didn't want to find a job because she didn't want her healthcare benefits to be taken from her. I think this is a big problem in todays society. The government offers programs such as medicaid and some people decide that they would rather not work because they like the benefits. Why can't these services be offered as an incentive for employment? Someone who works minimum wage to support their family probably deserves those programs more than someone who just sits by and waits for her check. This scene opened up a huge loophole in the government that I think needs to be fixed!

Visual Anthropology

The idea of visual Anthropology is an interesting one. The article "Applying Visual Research Patients Teaching Physicians Through Visual Illness Narratives" made me think a lot about how pictures and movies can be used in the study of Anthropology. It is one thing for an anthropologist to ask questions, observe and even take their own pictures but another when the people of a certain culture take pictures. The results provide anthropologists a whole new look at each culture. Before they were just observers of a certain culture now they are a part of that culture. This method of visual anthropology also allows people of a culture to take pictures and videos of what was really important to them. By giving sick people a camera they can choose what they define their illness as. When they anthropologists can see what is important a person who is sick they can begin to formulate what might be important and try to tailor needs and treatments towards these people.

Healthcare

I thought the article brought up a few good points about healthcare. I personally believe that everyone should have equal access to healthcare and I think our country is falling behind in this aspect. I once saw a documentary about people who lived in Canada but near the border between the US. They refused to ever set foot in the US because they were afraid if they got hurt they would have to pay a lot more than the government provided healthcare that Canada offers. I think that people shouldn't have to "wait till it gets bad" in order to go to a doctor just because they can't afford it. The stories from the people in the article were heartbreaking because no person should have to suffer with an illness just because they can't afford help or they don't get treated right at a community hospital. The opening few paragraphs of the article bothered me though. They cited some (to me) extreme quotes and data. Like: "the risk of premature death is higher, with uninsured non-elderly adults being 20–50 percent more likely to die than those with health coverage." This bothered me first of all because everyone is going to die and what makes people who are non insured more likely to die early? Are they genetically programed to get sick because they don't have healthcare? I guess it might make sense in the fact that people who don't have healthcare are less likely to go to the doctor therefore more likely to get sick. However, there are a lot of lurking variables that might come into play in some of these statistics.

Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? - Response

This article brought up a very interesting topic of ethnocentrism. Often, as Americans we believe that our culture is far superior and therefore is the "right" way to do things. That of course is not to say that other cultures aren't just a ethnocentric towards our culture. This example shows a strong discrepancy between our American culture and the Middle Eastern culture. I thought it was really interesting what Laura Bush said about how one of the main reasons for starting the war was to "liberate" the afgani women. To me it seems that these women cover because they want to respect their family, their culture and their religion. I bet if you asked an afgani woman if she liked to wear the burka she would talk about how it is respectful to her family. I think this is very commendable. The burka might be viewed here as a restrictive, oppressive piece of clothing but in the middle east the women who wear them are high regarded. This article really hits home the point that different isn't always bad.

Tattoo Juicing

This article was interesting as well as pretty comical. I always considered a tattoo parlor as a place where I really wouldn't want to spend much time. Now that i've read this article I think it would be fun to see what a tattoo parlor is really about. A tattoo parlor is a culture of its own. I am not a tattoo person so the thought of going to a tattoo parlor scares me a little bit. I thought the concept of juicing was really interesting. It makes sense that they would have to be extra nice and cautious when it comes to such a permeant thing like tattooing. The idea of juicing made me a little upset though. If I were to go and get a tattoo I would always be wondering if they were being fake and "juicing" me. I understand that tattooing is just as much a business as selling clothes but I would want the person who was about to permanently mark my body to be sincere. This article was interesting but it made me much less likely to get a tattoo because of the juicing concept.

Communication and Anthropology

This article brings up a lot of good points about communication and how it has evolved over time. Now that we have all this technology it is like having an entirely new culture to explore. From cell phones and texting to skype and "web lingo," a whole new culture has been born. This article caused me to think a lot about how I use technology. I find myself texting people because its easier and then I don't have to have a lengthy conversation with them. This article points out that texting and IM provide continuous conversation throughout the day. The thing that I like about texting is that I can respond when I want to but also I can get directly to the point of what I need. If I want to have an actual conversation with someone then I will call them. I also thought the information about how immigrants use technology more creatively was really interesting. Since I can't go home a lot, I find myself using skype to talk to my parents. Its really nice to actually see them as opposed to just talking to them on the phone! Overall, It was really interesting to learn about how technology is being introduced into our society. Technology is quickly advancing and I know in 10 years our iphones and computers will be considered old and out-dated.