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September13_2012

Page history last edited by Dundee Lackey 11 years, 6 months ago


 

Today's Agenda: Discussion of readings

 

Field trip survey:

If you were unsure last time, please indicate your intention (going or not) as of today. We need to finalize bus(es). Thanks!

 

"Pinning down" "male" and "female":

  • Pinboard: Pretty Is…  AND/OR Pinboard: Board of Man.
  • blog responses (In any writing assignment, make sure you address the WHOLE prompt!)
    • Can you tell the different author's audience(s)? purpose(s)?
    • What caught your attention?
    •  What's "missing"? 

 

"Himba..."

Himba reading notes/resources (There are lots of good resources to explore here! This is also an excellent example of a facilitation response, so I've included the whole thing, as it was sent to me.)

  

  • Why is the title so significant in this particular text?
  • What was the purpose of the author writing this story? 
  • How did the author describe Namimbia in the beginning? 
  • Why is the grandmother important in this text?
  • In which ways are the Himba resilient? How is it shown in the text?
  • How did the fact that the Namibia’s survival in the 19th century depended on them “marauding (raiding or looting) ethnic groups from the south” affect your view of the Himba people?
  • During the section about the exorcisms, the women are portrayed as irresponsible teenagers, why is this? 
  • The writer seems to think that the possessions are just ways to deal with the stress in the last twenty years. My question is, are the possessions relatively new, or do they date back for a while?  
  •  How did you feel about the belief Himba women held about the spirits of dangerous animals and the dead being able to enter their bodies and afflict physical illness? Do you agree with the Anthropologist’s interpretation of this event? Was there anything particular about this event that stood out to you?
  • In general, how did the article and the information presented to you make you feel? What words or specific examples contributed to this feeling?

  

I also saw in the first page of this story that the women were wearing some type of wig, I suppose, so I decided to look for more images and came across a couple that were quite similar. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eaglella/230142091/http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/5471864

I suppose this is part of the culture and the women wear these. What I don't understand is what makes the head pieces significant; how is the clothing significant? 

 

"Anatomy of a Burmese Beauty Secret":

Content:

 
  •  How did you first react when you saw a Giraffe Women picture? What was your first thought?
  • Did any particular section of this article stand out to you? Why did this catch your interest?   
  •  Before the article described the pushing down of the collarbone and ribs, what did you think was the effect of wearing the iron rings on the body? 
  • How did you react Padaung Tribe’s the punishment for adultery?
  • Did the coils seem to be empowering or burdensome after hearing the pros and cons to them?
  • What did you find most shocking about this custom? 
  • Do they truly know what harm the rings can cause?
  • Is beauty more important to them than their health? 
  • Is it truly considered beauty to them, even though their women have to waddle to go anywhere, and they have to lean forward to drink out of a straw, because they can't drink properly?

 

Context: 

  •  Why do you think John M Keshishian wrote this article?
  •  Who do you believe was meant to be the audience of this article?
  • Why is the title significant in this text?
  • Why is it appropriate that this was written by a medical doctor and not an anthropologist or historian?
  • How is the title ironic?
  • What is the tone being used in the text?
  • Where does the author show how he feels about this culture?
  • How does, "the land of the giraffe women," come across? 
  • Do we do anything in our society, that could also be considered harmful? 

 
What caught my attention right away was the way an explorer named Vitold de Golish described the Padaung women. He compared them to giraffes by saying, "The land of the giraffe women." This was probably the authors way of trying to describe to the audience the way the Padaung women looked. Yet, I don't find it right to compare a human being with an animal. I went online to look for explorer Golish and found an interesting photo. http://www.flickr.com/photos/54729153@N07/5694691682/

By looking at the woman's face expression to being photographed, she does not look upset; she is actually smiling. I believed she smiled because she is happy about the way she looks; she knows she's keeping the Padaung tradition alive. As for the image on the first page, the woman looks proud; she is proud to be Padaung tribeswoman. Also, she has a lot of brass around her neck meaning she has been having the brass for a years now. 
 
I find these woman very brave to put their bodies, in what would be for me, in pain. What I do not understand is why little girls as young as five years old are being put the brass. Do they have the choice to put the brass or not? Or do they think it's "cool" because their mother or older sisters put the brass as well so they go ahead and approve of the brass? 

Debate Time!

  • To prepare:
    • Discuss ways that contemporary women mutilate their bodies in order to be considered more attractive. Do you think they do this for the same reasons the Burmese women wear the coils?
    • Investigate how women in other countries have been mutilated in the name of beauty and status?
    • Do men, here or elsewhere, do this kind of thing? How? Why?
  • Debate question: Should (self) mutilation be banned? Take a position and be ready to defend it! 

For Tuesday: LOTS of samples!

 

 

 

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