Power and Conflict - Hunger Games (2012)

Power can control the conversation. People use power to influence others and events. Everyone can grant power to affect the situation. In the video presented in the class, the character Katniss, who was only a normal citizen with no influence in the society, was an example. She had no voice to fight against the government and its cruelty through the killing game called the Hunger Game. However, when her sister Prim was chosen to be the participant in the game, Katniss shouted in the middle of the crowd that she would volunteer to replace her sister. Depends on the individual, the power can be ethical or unethical. The government in Katniss's world represents for the unethical power. Especially, they use their influence to run the killing game with their own interest and force citizens to participate. Although Katniss has the power to change the event, she can't stop it from happening. The Hunger Game still on and she can do nothing about it. In this case, the power between the government and Katniss is imbalanced. The government and the noble grant their power through the resource currency, which means their properties help them gain influence.

Eurus Thach.

Some Thoughts About Society In The Photograph I Took

The road to my home is also a piece of art because it sparks joy to me. When my fiance was stopping for the red light on the way home, I looked outside. The cars, the sunset, the traffic lights, and the trees had created a harmony altogether. Their presences support each other's original beauty. Every object in the scene presents its own kind of grace. With no doubt, I ensure each of them can be well solo in a frame. However, the viewer (or the photograph taker) decided to zoom out the lens to see a bigger picture. She sees different individuals co-exist in society with their own unique style. A small group of identification, personality, or same thinking can survive without the others but it is the others who help elaborate on the success of a whole community in various ways. 

Variation is bittersweet. Me and my fiance, two ordinary individuals were on the same moving vehicle. My gut tells me that together, we're a team. I felt the warmth, the affection sitting next to the person with whom I would start a life journey. Although there are always influences under many circumstances from other groups of individual, one more happy moment is one more bag of treasure. The influences might leave good or bad effects. No matter what they are, we decide to co-exist with them. Well, we can't elaborate the strength with only joy. The strength elaborated would be a masterpiece.

 It's 5 minutes from this location to my home, it's long enough for me to expect and imagine all the hugs we were about to give to each other after a long day at school.

Eurus Thach.

Power and Conflict - Domestic Violence

Apparently, we can't change how people grant or use their power. However, we can learn who to grant power to influence and change events. For example, in a long-lasting relationship, we have a male partner who has more control to ask and expect the other partner to satisfy his needs. The other partner can't either fight against him or deny his power. The suggested solution is that the victim should learn how to grant power with a power currency which the perpetrator can't expect. The victim can contact their family, friends, or seek help from the community to get them protected. In this case, the victim grant power through the social network currency.

Eurus Thach.

Threat of Bacteria and Gene Defects on Pharmaceutical Value of Cow Milk in Producing Human Antibodies, Proteins that Fight Pathogens (Part. 2)

Results

     The success of the USDA/Agricultural Research Service is revealed through the numbers:

“71 percent of the mammary glands that were exposed to S. aureus from nontransgenic animals became infected--compared to only 14 percent for the transgenic animals” (Bliss, 2005, par.8). 

The scientists from the article of the Times (2017) report that “when calves that were modified were tested, they showed an increased resistance to the TB bacterium” (par. 6). In Xu et al. (2011)’s experiment, after introducing the environmental impact in transgenic cows, a report records on page 1044 that:

“GE–cows expressed high content of these three proteins, the highest content was up to 25.96 μg/ml of lysozyme (paper being submitted), 3.4 mg/ml of lactoferrin (Yang et al. 2008), 1.55 mg/ml alpha lactalbumin (Wang et al. 2008).”

While the proteins in human milk are 0.03–3 mg/ml (lysozyme), 2.0–5.8 mg/ml (lactoferrin), 1.8–3.1 mg/ml (alpha-lactalbumin). The proteins of the milk from transgenic cows after the experiment is utterly higher than the ones in bovine milk whose amounts are 0.05–0.22 μg/ml (lysozyme), 0.03–0.49 mg/ml (lactoferrin), and 1.47 mg/ml (alpha-lactalbumin).

Discussion

    Genetically engineered cows with diseases are the biggest liabilities in pharmaceutical development. Being aware of this, scientists have tried their best to control the loose of bacteria attack.

     One of the common diseases, tuberculosis, can now be prevented by using “gene editing tool called Crispr Cas9 to remove and replace pieces of the genetic code, opening up the prospect of a future where culls may not be necessary” (Whipple, 2017, par. 3) with no side-effects. Another common disease is the “widespread bacterial infection called mastitis” (Bliss, 2005, par. 1) now have a positive, temporary solution. With the use of gene-transfer technologies, Robert J. Wall and his team were trying to build “a transgene--genetic material” to produce “a naturally occurring, antimicrobial protein called lysostaphin” (Bliss, 2005, par. 4). Although this results in more than 80 percent animals and cows are protected, the milk containing lysostaphin will have to pass to the careful food safety testing by the government. This reveals that not all transgenic cows who are treated can provide standard medical products.

     Why vaccines are no longer the top priority of development and studying? Many institutions such as Tractor Supply Company (n.d) suggest using various antibiotics and vaccines for the cattle: “Biologicals are products designed to stimulate an animal’s immune system in response to an invasion of viruses or bacteria” (par. 6). Despite that, not every bacteria can be prevented by this way, especially the mastitis-causing bacteria. Rosalie Marion Bliss (2005) writes that “vaccines, antibiotics and a cow's own immune system cannot effectively fight the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, a major cause of mastitis” (par. 3). Therefore, the gene assessment is more focused on than the development of biologicals and antibodies.

     Besides the diseases, gene deficits also cause problems for the medical products of transgenic cows. Interpreting this phenomenon, Xu et al. (2011) points out that transgenic cows can be affected by the environment, especially bacteria from soils, because of their gene system (p. 1044). Moreover, the cause can be from the gene of their families. How can we produce a transgenic cow without the gene deficits?

     The results from Xu et al. (2011)’s paper have proved the efficiency of assessing “the potential environmental impact of transgenic cows” before introducing them into the environment. This makes up the gene that naturally helps them survive in the environment like other animals. The experiment successfully shows the number of high proteins in transgenic cows milk. Another suggestion from the Veterinary World (2008)’s paper is to “mate ‘normal’ cows with genetically modified bulls so that the next generation of calves will produce the desired protein” (p. 319). Although this sounds ideal, this method contains a high risk of being attacked by the bacteria. According to Xu et al. (2011), the appropriate method is to insert the extra gene into cows:

“The most likely environment for HGT (Horizontal gene transfer) to occur is the gastrointestinal (GI) tract (Farthing 2004), because many species of bacteria may develop natural competence, or the ability to take up naked DNA, in the GI tract (Kelly et al. 2009).” (p. 1044)

Both of the papers mention this method. Since then, there is more support for inserting the extra gene is an ideal solution for this problem.


     The further work in this paper is to study the development of gene assessment effect on transgenic cows. The reason is gene assessment can solve both problems from the threat of bacteria and gene deficits. By studying and researching about this topic, pharmaceutical development will have an evolution of natural medicine.

_________________________________________
References:

Bliss, R. (2005). Transgenic Cows Resist Mastitis-Causing Bacteria. USDA/Agricultural Research Service. Retrieved from https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2005/transgenic-cows-resist-mastitis-causing-bacteria/.

Magnus, P. (2008). Transgenic Milk. Veterinary World, 1(10), pp. 319-320. Retrieved from http://www.veterinaryworld.org/2008/October/Transgenic%20milk.pdf.

Potenza, A. (2016). Are These Genetically Engineered Cows The Future of Medicine? The Verge. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/3/13819482/genetically-engineered-animals-drugs-sab-cows-pharming-future.

TestBiotech. (2017). Genetically Engineered Cows. TestBiotech. Retrieved from https://www.testbiotech.org/en/limits-to-biotech/cow/basic_paper.

Tom Whipple Science Editor. (2017). Genetically Engineered Cows Are Resistant to Tuberculosis. Times [London, England], p. 12. Retrieved from GALE.

Tractor Supply Company. (n.d). Livestock Antibiotics and Vaccines. Tractor Supply Company. Retrieved from https://www.tractorsupply.com/know-how_pets-livestock_cattle_livestock-antibiotics-and-vaccines.

Xu, J., Zhao, J., Wang, J., Zhao, Y., Zhang, L., Chu, M., & Li, N. (2011). Molecular-based Environmental Risk Assessment of Three Varieties of Genetically Engineered Cows. Transgenic Research, 20(5), pp. 1043-1054. Retrieved from ProQuest. doi: 10.1007/s11248-010-9477-3.



     Eurus Thach.

Threat of Bacteria and Gene Defects on Pharmaceutical Value of Cow Milk in Producing Human Antibodies, Proteins that Fight Pathogens (Part. 1)

Abstract

     Cows are now a potential source for pharmaceutical development by the values of their milk, which helps human prevent diseases. For that reason, scientists believe cows should be one of the top picks for genetical engineering in order to provide humans with antibodies. Although the results are promising, the process is still running slow. The reason is the attack of bacteria among cattle is still on the loose. Scientists are trying to assess the environmental impact, which is believed to be an effective solution. Besides the environmental issue, transgenic cows also have to deal with gene defects. One of the suggestions that stand out is to use the gene-transfer technology.   

Introduction

     Thanks to the advances of biotechnology, the pharmacy has been developing with more natural aspects. Hence, the pharmaceutical purpose, “animals can now be generated”, according to Xu, Zhao, Wang, Zhao, Zhang, Chu & Li (2011), “ for the production of dairy, meat, or fiber” (p. 1043). Despite that, scientists favor animals that produce eggs or milk (Potenza, 2016, par. 8). Cows, chicken, goats, general cattle are now on running experiments. This paper focus on reporting the dairy production of cow and the problems go with it such as bacteria and gene defects.

     Why cows are medically potential source? Alessandra Potenza (2016) shares that:

“The genetically altered cows are particularly valuable because they create polyclonal antibodies, antibodies that can attack bacteria, viruses, and even cancer cells in multiple areas.” (par. 13)

Cows are natural sources for medicine. The term “natural” doesn’t only mean the origin of this species but only reveals the character of the benefit they carry. Specifically, the polyclonal antibodies created from transgenic cows are “the natural way our bodies fight diseases” (Potenza, 2016, par. 13). The rich source of proteins such as lysozyme, lactoferrin, or alpha-lactalbumin is the reason cow milk is valuable ( Xu et al., 2011, p. 1044). The amounts of lysozyme and lactoferrin and alpha-lactalbumin are especially approximate to the protein value in human milk.

     With such beneficial contribution, still, many cows are not healthy enough for the success of genetical engineering. TestBiotech organization (2017) reports that in 2014, “hundreds of attempts to genetically engineer a cow that would produce hypo-allergenic milk” (par. 2). The reasons include gene deficits and diseases. Since then, scientists have been researching solutions to improve gene system and prevent diseases for transgenic cows. 

Materials and Methods

     Diseases, the attack of bacteria, is the main factor that makes cow milk unsafe for human use. In order to find a prevention for diseases in genetically engineered cows, I find and study the research that contains the keywords transgenic cows, diseases, prevent, bacteria. To deal with mastitis-causing bacteria, Rosalie Marion Bliss (2005) suggests assessing lysostaphin, an antimicrobial protein. This experiment results in success with positive numbers. Another solution for preventing common diseases in transgenic cows reported by Tom Whipple Science Editor (2017) is that “scientists used the tool to insert a tuberculosis resistance gene” (par. 3). This article states that this solution brings a positive result though there aren’t specific numbers for it.

     Gene deficits are also the reasons the milk of transgenic cow can’t reach the basic standards to be released into the market. This means a transgenic cow can’t have a healthy life because of its gene system. The research of Xu et al. (2011) interprets that genetically engineered animals such as cows lack the conditions to survive in the environment, which impacts their transgenic products. These scientists (2011) suggest that “the potential environmental impact of transgenic cows should be assessed before they are introduced into the environment” (p. 1044). There are specific numbers which are easy for me to make comparisons between the protein amount in human milk, bovine milk, and cow milk, which reveals the success of the experiment.
______________________________________________________
References:

Bliss, R. (2005). Transgenic Cows Resist Mastitis-Causing Bacteria. USDA/Agricultural Research Service. Retrieved from https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2005/transgenic-cows-resist-mastitis-causing-bacteria/.

Magnus, P. (2008). Transgenic Milk. Veterinary World, 1(10), pp. 319-320. Retrieved from http://www.veterinaryworld.org/2008/October/Transgenic%20milk.pdf.

Potenza, A. (2016). Are These Genetically Engineered Cows The Future of Medicine? The Verge. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/3/13819482/genetically-engineered-animals-drugs-sab-cows-pharming-future.

TestBiotech. (2017). Genetically Engineered Cows. TestBiotech. Retrieved from https://www.testbiotech.org/en/limits-to-biotech/cow/basic_paper.

Tom Whipple Science Editor. (2017). Genetically Engineered Cows Are Resistant to Tuberculosis. Times [London, England], p. 12. Retrieved from GALE.

Tractor Supply Company. (n.d). Livestock Antibiotics and Vaccines. Tractor Supply Company. Retrieved from https://www.tractorsupply.com/know-how_pets-livestock_cattle_livestock-antibiotics-and-vaccines.

Xu, J., Zhao, J., Wang, J., Zhao, Y., Zhang, L., Chu, M., & Li, N. (2011). Molecular-based Environmental Risk Assessment of Three Varieties of Genetically Engineered Cows. Transgenic Research, 20(5), pp. 1043-1054. Retrieved from ProQuest. doi: 10.1007/s11248-010-9477-3.

   

     Eurus Thach.

Introversion Is A Healthy Choice and An Appreciated Lifestyle

     Susan Cain (2012), a lawyer, shares her experiences transferring into extroverted and thoughts about introversion. “In the 20th century”, she (2012) claims, the world started favoring the charismatic type of personality that the introverted personality has been underrated. Especially, educational institutes always pick teamwork as their top encouragement, even if the activity is individual dependence like creative writing. Obviously, teamwork is what we need in the modern lifestyle. However, according to Susan Cain (2012), too much teamwork has created a lack of balance of the introvert-extrovert spectrum. The first observation of the introverted traits was love soft-speaking and an amount of quiet time on their own. This private time doesn’t have any relation to being mellow, it is just one of the ways people choose to enjoy their life or their youth. Exemplifying for such common, misunderstanding situation, Susan Cain (2012)  recalls her summer camp experience from her childhood. Growing up favoring reading, Susan Cain had her suitcase packed and filled with books for the camp.  When Cain was caught reading books, the counselor expressed her worry about Cain’s introversion. She encouraged Cain to be outgoing with “R-O-W-D-I-E”. One of her campmates even came and wonder if Cain was being so mellow. Through the stories, Cain implies that the world needs to see the importance of the introversion. Specifically, Cain reveals, the introverted are great leaders and deep-thinking individuals, which is as worth appreciating as the extroverted.

     From this video, I have learned that influences on other people don’t only involve extroversion, the introversion also has its unique impact on others through its deep-thinking speciality. Although the introverts have their difficulties communicating with others such as making eye contact or the fear of wasting others’ time, they can make efficient communication thanks to the properly stimulations. What I mean is to create an environment when the introverts can gain confidence as much as the extroverts to express their ideas to the crowd. To this idea, Cain (2012) suggests creating a chatty, friendly meeting in the workplace as well as working privately. This point, I believe, relates to the principles “become genuinely interested in other people” (Carnegie, 1937, p. 74), and “remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language” (Carnegie, 1937, p. 88). Both of these principles can supercharge one’s confidence and the friendliness of a conversation. In doing so, the introverts will believe that they are important and their ideas are listened, which make them comfortable to express themselves in a later communication. Moreover, the emotion- sharing, which is “a form of communication that we talk about our emotional experiences with others” (McCornack, 2014, p. 76), might also be a solution. Interpreting my suggestion, Rosario Cabello and Pablo Fernandez-Berrocal claim in their research that “ the level of perceived social support interacted with emotional intelligence to produce higher positive affect” (2015), which indicates that emotion-sharing is a way to make the introverts feel happier working with others. However, too much emotional expressions, such as venting: “allowing emotions to dominate our thoughts and explosively expressing them (McCornack, 2014, p. 82)”, creates the opposite effect. In her article, Elizabeth Scott revealed that the introverts “are often more affected by the moods of others, which can lead to “contagious” stress reactions” (2018).

     If you are worried about someone's lack of outgoing trait, it's ok. However, you don't have to worry that he or she will close his or her heart. How about trying your best to get to know more about that individual and his or her choice of living? Communication efficiency is the key to a person's soul and opens our world. It links people together, either one's introvert, extrovert, or ambivert.

Eurus Thach.

References:

Cabello, R., & Fernandez-Berrocal, P. (2015). Under which conditions can introverts achieve happiness? Mediation and moderation effects of the quality of social relationships and emotion regulation ability on happiness. PeerJ, 3. Retrieved from NCBI https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614904/. doi:10.7717/peerj.1300.

Cain, S. (2012, March 2). [TEDx Talks]. The power of introverts [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0KYU2j0TM4.

Carnegie, D., 1937. (2005). How To Win Friends And Influence People. Cornerstone Publishing, Self-Improvement-eBooks.com.

McCornack, S. (2014). Interpersonal Communication and You: An Introduction. Boston, New York: Bedford. St. Martin’s.

Scott, E. (2018). Stress Management for Introverts. Stress Management, Management Techniques. Retrieved from Verywell Mind https://www.verywellmind.com/stress-management-tips-for-introverts-4065397.

"We Are What We Eat", Woolly mammoths and Neanderthals

"Woolly mammoths and Neanderthals may have shared genetic traits. Findings point to the molecular resemblance in climate adaptation traits of the two species" (Tel Aviv University, 2019).

"We are what we eat". It sounds somewhat creepy. Unfortunately, it happened to Homo sapiens, our human beings.

Specifically, our ancestors, Neanderthals, hunted Woolly mammoths for food. It would be completely normal if these species have nothing in common. However, according to the study of Professor Ran Barkai and Meidad Kislev, Neanderthals and Woolly mammoths have the same "thermogenesis and the regulation of adipose tissue and fat storage throughout the body", keratin protein activity and the genes MC1R and SLC7A11. Another hypothesis also supposes that these species might have " genetic similarities between evolutionary adaptation paths" (Tel Aviv University, 2019).

Thermogenesis is the heat production within a living organism (Busbridge & Rothwell, 1993). Adipose tissue's function is "store energy in the form of fat, although it also cushions and insulates the body". Keratin is a structural protein that makes up hair, nails, or horns (Bragulla & Homberger, 2009). MC1R gene helps to build up melanocortin 1 receptor whose role involves pigmentation which is the natural coloring of a living organism (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2019). Lastly, SLC7A11 "encodes a member of a heteromeric, sodium-independent, anionic amino acid transport system that is highly specific for cysteine and glutamate" (HGNC, 2019).

If the Neanderthals acknowledged this fact, would they find another food source? In Ice Age, mammoths seemed to be the biggest threat to humans because of their size. Also with that reason, mammoths the ideal target for humans. Since then, humans would have a larger amount of food than hunting other species. Plus, the living condition in Ice Age is limited. With these reasons, even if they had been aware of the similarities between them and mammoths, they could hardly replace their habits and food choices.

If the Neanderthals and Woolly mammoths share the same genetic traits, will Homo sapiens has anything in common with Loxodonta africana, elephants?

Eurus Thach.

References:

American Friends of Tel Aviv University. (2019, April 8). Woolly mammoths and Neanderthals may have shared genetic traits: Findings point to molecular resemblance in climate adaptation traits of the two species. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 28, 2019 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190408123240.htm

Bragulla, H., & Homberger, D. (2009). Structure and functions of keratin proteins in simple, stratified, keratinized and cornified epithelia. Journal of Anatomy, 214(4), pp. 516–559. Retrieved from PMC. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2009.01066.x.

Busbridge, N., Rothwell, N. (1993). 6 - Thermogenic Effects of Cytokines: Methods and Mechanisms. Methods in Neurosciences,17(B), pp. 96-110. Retrieved 2013 from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043947113700119.

HGNC. (2019). SLC7A11 solute carrier family 7 member 11 [Homo sapiens (human)]. Gene. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/23657.

U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2019). MC1R gene, melanocortin 1 receptor. Genetics Home Reference. Retrieved from https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/MC1R.

Wikipedia. (n. d). Adipose tissue. The free encyclopedia. Retrieved from ScienceDaily.

Our Beliefs, Religions, and Morality

     People do things by their beliefs. What is the origin of belief? Imagine that at early ages, we learn things from the people we meet and interact without clear interpretations. With a lack of experience, a child can innocently take what he or she learns as "gospel", especially things that satisfy his or her wants and help him or her overcome obstacles. Imagine a sick child who is given sweet treats during his or her ill time. He or she might end up believing that sweet treats can make his or her sickness better. In further walks of age, we step out of the community where people have different notions and judgments. Our “gospel” is now questioned. At that time, the notions that we have been carrying throughout ages are challenged. Till this point, we can either choose to open our mind to correct the “gospel” or fight to protect it. If one chooses the second option, arguments will take place.

     The moment the belief is built-up is the moment the morality is created. In case that a person chooses a religion to be his or her reliable core, morality is set up by the bible. The religious believe in the existence of heaven, the help they might get from the magic of God, etc. They also believe in karma, which motivates them to be a nice individual. Each religion has its own style of bibles and coherence. Despite that, all religions heading in a direction: giving people reliances.

     Throughout human history, religious wars occurred. People have fought for what they believe. They were doing the right thing as they were trying their best to protect their gods, who to them, were the most respectful ones in the world. They have acknowledged it as their human right. However, solving personal problems by causing conflicts with others might make people want to question their morality again.

Eurus Thach.

The Religious and The Box theory

Are we being controlled by the religions? As people keep trying to state the rightfulness of their religions, there is no reason to believe that they are not. However, they choose to follow our Gods and to learn bibles so generally, they choose to be controlled by their most respectful ones. Hence, they might be seen to be controlled by religions but they have their free will to choose to be so.       

In the psychological point of view, religions help people to simplify their lives, which specifically, through the Box theory. The Box theory, which I would like to call, states that we should spend a place in our mind, which is considered as a “box”, for limited amounts of questions of our lives like where we come from or what our purposes of lives are and try to answer them all. The Box theory helps us stay out of distraction when we think about too many or too few things in life. In religious people’s “boxes”, all questions are easily linked to the existence of god. By that way, they don’t have to think hard about the answers. But that doesn’t mean they are lackadaisical. In other words, they just simply answer some of their questions quicker than people who aren’t religious. They also have to give great consideration to their decisions in life. On the other hand, people who aren’t religious would likely to have more various answers to a question as they have no particular reliance, which asks them to be more open-minded than the religious.

Eurus Thach.

A Report About "Manliness & Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States, 1880-1917"

   By the time “whiteness”, “manliness” and “civilization” united and became the popular, standard link in the society, the war of humanity was triggered. Bringing the echo of such dark time to modern life, Gail Bederman released her work "Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender And Race In the United States, 1880-1917". The book investigates the connection between civilization and manliness in Victorian Era and Progressive Era, which was the “turn-of-century”, through the important, historical events and the life events of four main Americans: G. Stanley Hall, Theodore Roosevelt, Ida B. Wells, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman.  Back at that time, fighting for who we are was the battle that could hardly go out with the win. The difference of colors might remind people that many of us were born “losers”: “between 1980 and 1917 as white middle-class men actively worked to reinforce male power, their race became a factor which was crucial to their gender” (4).

    In 1910,  the public went outraged. The first reason was that Jim Jeffries, the “White Hope”, was defeated; and the man who won that historical battle was Jack Johnson, “the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion”. This victory, Bederman claimed, strengthened the masculinity of the African American, which challenged the notion of the whole “civilized”, "white" community (42). The notion of "manhood" did not consist of only "masculinity" but also of the “sexual self-restraint, a powerful will, a strong character”. Last but not least, the brighter skin a man had, the more possibilities he got the social recognition of being "manly" (18). In order to change the narrow view of "manhood", Johnson tried his best to be “too good”. He became a successful self-made man and dressed his wives in furs, jewels and “paraded them in front of the press” (18). However, his wish would never come true when “the horrified residents took steps to prevent him” (8). In Johnson’s case, the contradictions and inconsistencies were shaped purposely (24). 

    Another remarkable event in Bederman's book was the 1893 Columbian Exposition. This tribute was to appreciate the glorification of civilization by representing the “highest scientific, artistic, and technological achievements- Manufactures, Mines, Agriculture, Art, Administrations, Machinery, and Electricity” (31). Its aim was showing the world how right human civilization had been put on the track. However, it turned out not to be close to the humane perfection. In other words, the 1893 Columbian Exposition would have been more grateful to all human history if the borderline of racist and sexist had been hidden more carefully. According to Gail Bederman, “all were presented as the domain of civilized white men” (31). The women’s position, however, was not highlighted for this theme of “civilization”. Obviously, this position would be higher than any colored citizen. After “the seven huge buildings framing the Court of Honor”, there came the women’s work. Although the Lady Managers worked tirelessly to qualify women’s civilization to men’s, they finally had to end up understanding the message that “white women’s place in civilization might be marginal, but at least it was moral and safe” (36). Hence, the Columbian Exposition in 1893 is the milestone that creates  “an illusion of white male supremacy”.

    In order to support her view, Bederman presented Ida B. Wells’s work, pointed out the privileges in genders and races. By the time lynching was common, Ida B. Wells made an overturn on what society had defined as “civilization” and “manliness”. She brilliantly threatened white Northerners by stating that lynching was extremely harmful to “both American civilization and American manhood” (46). In response, the white Southerners claimed that lynching is a form of punishment for the African American and that they were in fact “patriarchs, avengers, righteous protectors” of the society (47). It was always tough at the beginning. After the hard battle, Wells's effort to put “the white man’s civilization on trial” was responded positively. This is when the discourses of manliness and civilization took place. Finally, the white men had no other choice but making the argument that the combination of savagery and civilization made an ideal man. 

    In conclusion, Gail Bederman successfully provided readers with closer views on the link between manliness and civilization from 1880 to 1917. Throughout history, the “manliness” and “civilization” identities were turned into messy concepts. From the work, we could see that Gail Bederman was trying to prove that because of the selfishness of the privileges, people even conflicted themselves.

Eurus Thach

Gail Bederman, Manliness & Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States, 1880-1917, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995).

Sigmund Freud, Plato, Homer, and The Views of Civilization [Brief Summary]

Evolution of civilization has been developing throughout human history. In fact, Freud (n.d.) claims, that is the product of the development of guilt or shame: lying under our skin of civilization was a fire of instinctual satisfaction which was patiently waiting for the trigger of provocation to spread out. People have to bottle up their satisfaction for the common benefit of the community. Therefore, the more groups people are in, the more identities they have. If so, would morality likely to be a sense or a rule? Moreover, would it be right that “happiness is a matter of acting in society in particular ways”? To Homer, there is no morality. The moral sense is technically society’s standard acting (Ian, 1999). In his view, people avoid the shame of being a misfit due to society’s archetype. Homer’s theory does reflect our majority lately, people are afraid of standing out especially the young generation since the nervousness of being so different from others.

On the other hand, Plato’s theory states that social arrangements are made due to the agreement of people, which creates exchanges between people to build up common benefits. To Plato, society is built based on the harmony between people. This is familiar to Homeric theory, people have to put a limit on their instinctual satisfaction (Ian, 1999).

References:

Johnston, Ian. (June, 1999). On Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents. Retrieved from http://johnstoniatexts.x10host.com/lectures/freudlecture.htm.

Freud, Sigmund. (1930). Civilization and Its Discontents. Retrived from https://www.stephenhicks.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/FreudS-CIVILIZATION-AND-ITS-DISCONTENTS-text-final.pdf.