HW 58

Chase , Age 17
What do you expect prom to be like?
" I don't really know , I just want to go to see what its like. It only happens once"

How do you feel about the typical expectations of prom? ( loosing you virginity , partying, hotel rooms)
"That shit is mad corny, that only happens in far whack lonely places like Utah or Oklahoma."

Are you planning on going home prom night?
"Fuck no"



Amber , Age 18
What do you expect from prom?
" I hope that it goes smoothly ! I want everything to be perfect my shoes, hair, makeup, dress, accessories. I'm excited but the wait it a drain. "

How do you feel about the typical expectations of prom? ( loosing you virginity , partying, hotel rooms)
"That's only in like small towns, in the city its not like that, its mostly about the after partying than the prom. It's all so exciting though."

Are you planning on going home prom night?
"Probably not"

Analysis- They both have different view points, altough they arent as excited as someone would expect they are anticipating for the day prom comes. They both view the stero-type of loosing virginity's at prom as a "small town thing"




Asha Age 19
How was prom for you?
'' It was fun , I was stressed out though. So much to do in so little time ! Everything was last last minute and the you finally go and have fun and then its over."

Would you do it all over again?
"Uhhh yea I think I would , I would change my dress though I spent so much money on it, and I'm never going to wear it again. Kinda like a wedding dress. "

Kelly Age 21

How was prom for you?
"It was terrible , it rain and the DJ was whack but the after party was the best part. We had so much fun and went to the beach and watch the sun rise" (they rented a shore house for the night/day)

Would you do it again?

No, prom only happens once for a reason

Samantha 26

How was your prom , do you remember it?
"Yes it was a lot of fun , we all were so excited to get our dresses and prepare and makeup. I definitely got drunk that night.

Were you excited for your prom?
"Yes, waitng to get asked was annoying but it happend in a cute way it was more about who you were going to end up in a hotel with  "

HW 57

       I was never really interested in prom , there seemed like there were so much controversy and drama involved with it. It seems like prom is only big in small towns, its suppose to be the highlight of senior year. Theres a lot of stero-types that girls loose theyre virginity on prom night or get knocked up. As the years go by prom (in my opnion) is becoming less and less important.
 
    I noticed that a lot of prom themed movies only come to theathers during prom season.Theres a lot more work into preparing for prom for girls compared to boys, its almost like a mini wedding and is definitly seen as a milestone in life. The proms in the 60s compared to today are extremely different, I've seen movies where they wont allow the kids to touch eachother while they dance (Grease) or when they "greasers" or "bad kids" spike the punch.

Questions
Who invented prom, came up with the concept?

When and where was the first prom?

What are the pregnacy rates on prom nights?

Why is prom seen as a sexual thing?

HW 55

Coments

Leah- 
I loved this, I was actually really interested in the topic you chose to do your project on. I think that the Hindu culture focuses more on the morning and celebration of the deceased life rather than appearance of the burial ground and or cost. I thought it was interesting that they crack the skull in order to release the soul from the body , even though it seems a little gore-ish it makes sense. Its almost as if a person's soul is trapped in the vessel(they're body) once they die so they need to be released. Religion really plays a huge role in the Hindu culture and its shown by they're social dominant practices.
"In the Hindu culture, they will bring their sick loved ones home with them to die peacefully instead of hospitals. It is Hindu custom for the family to build a shelter and perform a fire ritual (homa) in order to bless nine brass pots and one clay pot. In absence of a shelter a fire is made at home. Relating back to the cremation only men can attend it, women are forbidden."
They're social dominant practice with funerals seems to be a home funeral, which seems far fetched in the states and most people don't know about them.

Steph-
I liked christina's and Salathen's views on death, you wont know what hurts or whats being done with your body cause your dead and wont feel it. I think that puts ease to my mind (and possibly others) when I think about death. I like how you question your own actions when it comes to drawing a cross on your chest and kissing your hand to the sky. I also wondered why people did this and will probably ask or do some research on it. Your video was nicely put together and was interesting to watch.
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Comments left on my blog. . .

Larche
Ally,

I liked your elevator speech, which brought me to your blog. I liked that you decided to make an informative brochure on the alternative burial options compared to a conventional one. I liked that the brochure had pictures of each one and and little story and info on the burial and why it was chosen.

Jay
Seeing your brochure for a few seconds in class made me want to come to your blog. I thought the idea was very original and I liked that you decided to go your own way with it. The simplicity of your brochure is great and something like this should be implemented in the funeral society. Something like this could be of great use to families who are in too much grieving to research care of the dead option. They could simply pick up a brochure like this and learn more about different techniques quickly, and they could then research further into the ones they are interested in.

David
After seeing your presentation in class I wanted to learn more on different types of burials. I really liked the brochure you made on introducing alternative burials to those that aren't familure with them. For my project I also looked into Home Funerals which made me want to look more in depth about it and from your brochure I got some extra information like the prices of a Home Funeral. I really liked that you made your brochure easy to read, included the key information, and had three burial types instead of the dominate practice.

Extra Credit

• Spend at least a half hour each walking around two or more cemeteries. Post 3-5 paragraphs of your reactions and thoughts and include a small photo with you in each cemetery.

     Javon Lucy and I decided to go to the two cemeteries near the brooklyn bridge, one was next to the trinity church and the other was on Broadway. Walking through a cemetery wasnt as scary as I expected it to be, it was interesting to read the tomb stones and find out information about the person who died. Most of the dates were in the 18 hundreds and surprisingly many of the people who were buried there died very young. The tomb stones were very old and gritty and had no flowers, I didnt expect the tombstones to be very pretty since they been there for so long but I did expect to see flowers and candles.

      While we were at the cemetery by the Trinity church we saw a group of children playing and running around the cemetary which I found very interesting. It made me think back to Skip's visit and how he thought that children should be exposed to death and not be taught to fear it. Although you shouldnt shove death in a childs face but I think its important to know that death is real and it happens. They seemed to be on a trip or a play date with a babysitter and I wondered if theyre parents knew that they were there, and how they would feel about that. I also wondered why the chaporone took them there, did they ask about death? Did they decide that they wanted to visit one or did they have absolutly no idea that they were running around and over a dead person.

    Seeing the cemetery actually convinced me that the social dominant practice of a funeral and or burial isnt something I want. In a few years I would be walked over and that thought doesnt sit well with me. The tomb stone writting fades and deterierates, and sooner or later people will stop visiting and leaving flowers and candles. I wouldnt be thought about, I'd just be rotting underground.

HW 55

For this assignment I decided to create a brochure that would typically be found at a funeral home that introduces the public to alternative funeral arrangments, most Americans are ignorant when it come to alternatives to dominant social practices.

HW 54

I was unsure on how to do this post so I decided to ask my grandmother her views on eternal life and haven, shes a Jehovah's Witness and has been one for most of her life.

Heaven


"Jehovah Witnesses believe that everyone has a chance at being resurrected, the bible says that only 144,000 will be resurected and go to heaven to be apart of the heavenly goverment and the rest will be ressurected to a paradise earth.

Why 144000?

"Why does our goverment have a specific number of people running the show? Because thats how many people they need. God needs that many people to run the Kingdom of God."

Eternal Life

"Jehovahs witnesses believe that no one has enternal life, when they die theyre dead until god sees fit to ressurect them."

Like the candle goes out?

"They exsit only in God's memory"

HW 53

I read an article online about death and dying on Maxzip.com called "Sociology of death and dying" and this particular passage stuck out to me


 LINK"the sociology of death and dying is concerned with the role of mortality in social life. Many social thinkers believe that death poses the fundamental threat to the integrity and continuity of society. Social structures must provide a symbolic canopy which guards against the terrors of extinction by providing meaning to human activity. Societies respond to this threat in a wide variety of ways ranging from the collectivist, death accepting, rebirth orientation of the East, to the personal, death defying, hedonism of the West. The sociology of death and dying, therefore, provides a unique perspective to investigate the core values of a culture."

The author of this article seems to think that many "social thinkers" think that death is a threat to the world so we fabricate the harsh reality of it. Our society uses the fabrications to guard themselves of thought that the human race would be extinct (according to the article) We make the continuous rituals that we preform seem meaningful so that we feel our life has meaning. We live in a society that's taught to deny death, there are two things that go along with death in our society and thats hope and fear. We hope that we can postpone death and fear that we wont. Death isnt really taught to be accepted in today's society, your suppose to deal with it when it happens.


LINK

 The next article I read was called "sociological perspectives on end of life care"  it was long and draining but this passage caught my attention

 "The experience of suffering is universal across time and cultures, and reminds us of our human vulnerability, and the fact that one day we all must face dissolution through death. There is a long tradition of philosophical and sociological perspectives on death and dying, with many proposing that our shared awareness of our inevitable mortality, and by implication the possibility of suffering, is the key factor in how we construct the very fabric of society, how we understand what it means to be human and how we negotiate the business of living (Clark and Seymour, 1999)"

Death reminds us that we can go at any point in time which can make someone feel vulnerable. This article somewhat ties together with the previous one but the 1st article speaks more about societies defense mechanisms to ignore death and the 2nd article tells why we build up these defense mechanisms and its simply because were scared and feel vulnerable. 

HW 52

Precis- A plain pine box, backyard burial, burial at sea and an memorial reef are four alternatives to the social dominat practice of a "normal" funeral. They are both inexpensive compared to the dominant practice, both of these alternatives have been around longer than the traditional funeral but yet are but on the back burner.

Quotes
"The EPA requires that you scatter ashes at sea at least three miles from the nearest shoreline, excpet in California, where ashes may be strewn as close as five hundred yards." - pg 83

"New York allows ashes to be dropped right off the docks jutting into Great South Bay" - pg 83

- Learned about the Clan Water Act

"No federal or state law prohibits you from preforming either tyoe if sea burial yourself, as long as you obey the pertinent laws"- pg 84

"When you boil it all down there are just three things you can do with someones ashes. You can inturn them, whether in an urn, niche, columbarium, or just up on a shelf. You can scatter and that can be blasthing the ashes in fireworks or sprinkling in the ocean. Or you can reef them."- George Frankel pg 87

"When my 7 year old daughter Alison died in the hospital, there weas one thing that I knew for certain in all the turmoil and tumult that surrounded my family: I was not letting her out of my sight; I was not surrendering my last vestige I had of her vibrant and loving being to the care of strangers. I would continue to care for her myself as I had always done" - Beth Knox ( thoughts on her daughters home funeral) pg 103

"All states except New York, Connecticut, Nebraska, Indiana, Michigan, Utah and Louisian permit families to care for their own dead at home." - pg 118


"One customer from Sioux City commissioned us to build him a simple. pine casket. Rope handles, no finish, no hinges, no interior. Just a bare-bones box. He told me he wanted to make a statement: the casket is simply a vessal for another vessal that were done with, Theres no reason to get carried away. "- Loren Schieur pg 125

"A few states- including California, Indiana and Washington - require their residents to bury their dead in established cemeteries." - pg 156 

"No state law requires that a body be buried in a casket or other container."- pg 157

HW 51

Cremation is a form of burial that is starting to become more and more popular, its cheaper and takes up less space. There are multiple things that you can do with the ashes once the body is cremated. The average cost of a cremation is 1,800 which is way cheaper than the 12,000 dollar price check on a burial.

"A crematory is not likely to allow you to wittnes the actual cremation, out of respect for the dead and because few modern cremation units boast windows looking into the retort."- pg 67

"You pay less if you make arrangements with the crematory directly, instead of working through a funeral home. Through special arrangements with local lcrematories or funeral homes, funeral cosumer groups can soemtimes offer members no-frills cremations at rates as low as $500.00." - pg 67

"Most states allow you to remove remains from the place of death adn deliver it to the crematory yourself, but youll generally need to gain a number of documents including a death certificate from the attending physician."- pg 68

HW 49

My comments

Brandon- I noticed that everyone has accepted death and they know its apart of life. Throughout my interviews no one mentioned suicide maybe because its a taboo but your cousin seems to have a very open mind when it comes to death.

Bryanna- This interviewed seemed short and sweet , is it because speaking about death with them was odd? Or is it because they just never thought about it. How did you feel about asking your mother and your sister how they wanted theyre funeral to be? It's kind of a way for you to know how to deal with them when they pass. Was that hard for you to come to terms with?

Kristen- I like how you started to explore this history of being "haunted" or "haunting" and compared your mother and fatheres traditions. The traditions were more family based than religion based which is an example of the social dominat practices. I also thought it was interesting that your father already has his place to be burried picked out. Do you find that odd or is that normal to you ?

Peer's comments

Bryanna-
I think that you found something in this book that I did not see or even thought about. Which know that I think abouty it I think it does "explores the alternative to the dominant social pratice of a funeral and how they prep the body". But I think is that you can give more of what the book is about in more words.
Bryanna-
Hey ally,
I like how you posted it up to show that it is something you really talked to your friends about. I think that the comments that they made showed that some of them know how they feel about death and other don't really know how to feel. And I think that the questions that you asked are some questions that had me thinking as I was reading your blog. Good job keep it up

HW 50

This book explores the alternative to the dominant social pratice of a funeral and how they prep the body. The cost of a green burial is far less expensive than the typical funeral (In America).

"The total cost of embalming, funeral and burial of Jenny Johnson comes to $12,376."- pg 14

"Arterial embalming perserves Jenny's tissue and skin by creating an unwelcome enviorment for bacteria. It leaves largely untouched, however , the many billions of bateria that reside- and thrive- within and around her visceral organs. In the early days of embalming, practitioners eliminated those decay-causing microorganisms by cutting open and "eviscerating" the corpse,pulling out abdominal organs and flushing the cavity." pg 22


"Embalming is a three-stage process of preserving a cropse fro viewing:setting the deceased's "features" as they will appear in the casket, draining the body of blood and replacing it with a formaldehyde-based perservative, and then inserting a sharp-pointed "trocar" into the abdomen in order to puncture the body's inner organs, vacuum up the released bacteria and surrounding visceral fluids, afterward flooding the "cleared" area with more preservative."- pg 27

"Hawaii prohibits the embalming of a body infectted with any of half a dozen communicable diseases, including smallpox and yellow fever."- pg 28

At first I thought the book was boring, but the author was only giving the reader background information and examples so that we understand the book. I never realized how much time and effort and money went in for caring for the dead. The business of funeral homes would never go out of business because everyone dies at one point, its a bit of a scam in my opinion. Everyone would of course want the best for theyre dead loved one which means more money.

HW 48

Family member
Ally- How do you feel about death?
FM- You can escape it for only a short time but eventually its going to happen
Ally- Do you believe there is an after life
FM- I'd like to but I'll wait and see and if there is I'll leave you little clues to let you know I'm there
Ally-Do you fear death?
FM- sometimes

The conversation drifted off topic , death isnt something I want to talk about with my family members. I highly doubt I will interview them at all if the topic is about death.

HW 47

Interviewee- Dominican female, 17 years old, lives in Manhattan
Ally: Can I interview u
Nicole:Yea
Ally: How do you feel about death
Nicole:Its another part of life
Ally: Do you believe there is an after life
Nicole:No
Ally: How do you feel about your own eventual death
Nicole: It can happen any minute so I live to the fullest and I don't fear it
Ally: Would you consider being in a relationship w| someone who is dying
Nicole: Only if I found out they were dying after I've fallen inlove/ learned to love them
Ally: Do you think the dominant social practices of morning and wearing all black at a funeral is the correct way to go about death
Nicole: No
Ally: What do you think is the correct way
Nicole: white shud be the color worn and its ok to morn but I think its better to celebrate bc they're out of their misery if they were slowly dying and if other wise den knowing their in a better place den the hell we live in
Ally: How do you want your life to be remembered
Nicole:Happy cheery person who never took no for an answer
Ally: Anddddddd scene ! Ty for answering my questions
Nicole: Lol np

Interviewee- West Indian female, 17 years old, lives in Harlem

Ally: You bored ?
Raivyn: Yuuuup *trey songz voice*
Ally: Lol can I interview u
Raivyn: Lmao for whaat?
Ally: Hw, its about death tho
Raivyn: Lol interesting ok
Ally: How do you feel about death
Raivyn: I feel that itss scary :/. Idk lol
Ally: Do you believe there is an after life
Raivyn: Yuppp
Ally: How do you feel about your own eventual death
Raivyn: I don't wanna die I'm scared lol
Ally: Would you consider being in a relationship w| someone who is dying
Raivyn: Idk
Ally: Do you think the dominant social practices of morning and wearing all black at a funeral is the correct way to go about death
Raivyn: Nope
Ally: What do you think its the correct way
Raivyn: People are going to be sad anyway but having to dress in all black just makes everything in a bad mood so I think you shouldn't have to wear black just because someone died
Ally: How do you want your life to be remembered
Raivyn: U mean like what do I want 2 be remembered as ?
Ally: Yea sure
Raivyn: Umm
Raivyn: Damn idk
Ally: That's fine too lol thanks for participating

Interviewee- Malaysian female, 17 years old , lives in Bangkok

Ally: nadinnn
Nadin: Allyy
Nadin: (:
Ally: Sooo I have to interview ppl for hw nd its about death o_O you up for it ? Its only 6 qs
Nadin: Hahaha suree :3
Ally: How do you feel about death.
Nadin: Like in general?
Ally: Yea sure , your answer can be whatever comes to mind
Nadin : Mm well I feel like death can't be avoided. To be honest I'm not very worried about it. Its happens to everyone.
Ally: Do you believe there is an after life
Nadin : Yeah I do
Ally: How do you feel about your own eventual death
Nadin: I feel like it can happen any point of time. You can't prepare yourself for it. I'm not afraid of dying.
Nadin: Sorry my answers are quite vague
Ally: Lol its fine I'm not expecting a novel
Ally: Would you consider being in a relationship w| someone who is dying
Nadin : Yeah I would. I feel like it doesn't matter how long you have to spend with someone but the quality of the time u spend with them.
Ally: Do you think the dominant social practices of morning and wearing all black at a funeral is the correct way to go about death
Nadin: I personally don't think there's a definite correct way to go about death. So I don't really have a preference
Ally: How do you want your life to be remembered
Nadin: I would want to be remembered as a person who simple carried out a joyous life
Ally: Alll done , thanks
Nadin: Hahaha okies cool

Interviewee- 16 Male , Swedish , Lives in Manhattan NY

 

Ally-How do you feel about death? 

Jasper-I don't like death it makes me sad because I don't want to see the people I love go and I know that everyone is going to die eventually. 

Ally-Do you believe there is an after life?

Jasper-I have no idea, I don't really think so, I think your just dead, everything is over..  Not in a bad way though.

Ally-How do you feel about your own eventual death?

Jasper-I don't really know, but something about it seems comforting and peaceful to me.. Like one day this will allllll be over for me.  

Ally-Do you fear death?

Jasper-"My only fear of death is reincarnation" - Tupac lmao.  I don't really fear death because it will come eventually anyways and like I said in the previous question something feels comforting/peaceful about it.  But in my dream last night when I set myself on fire, as soon as I was on fire and burning I regretted it and I wanted to live and life seemed like something I never wanted to let go of.    

Ally-Would you consider being in a relationship with someone who is dying?

Jasper-Yes because I think that would only make the little time that you have with them much more meaningful and real because we take our time alive for granted and no one actually lives each day like its their last.  

Ally-Do you think the dominant social practices of morning and wearing all black at a funeral is the correct way to go about death?  If not what's the correct way?

Jasper-No, I think that is the wrong way of going about death.  I think that way just makes you more depressed then you already must be from losing a person you love.  I think the life of the person should be celebrated and remembered. 

Ally-How do you want your life to be remembered?

Jasper-I don't really care just as long as I'm not remembered as a pain in the ass to be around.

 

 

Over Spring break I hung out with a friend of mine named ashley, throughout conversation the death of her bestfriend came up and I decided to take the opprotunity to write down what she said about they way they mourn his death. Instead of moruning his death they celebrate his life, talk about him together , still write on his facebook wall. They want to keep his spirit alive, play songs for him daily and they even took a trip to Puerto Rico together (12 of them) on his anniversary.

 

Death is something that everyone thinks or thought about, we all know its going to happen and most of the people I interviewed think that we should celebrate the life of the one who passed. Death isnt taken lightly but its accepted.

HW 46

1.Your experience with the topic.

I've witnessed a few suicides and seen a few dead bodies but only been to one funeral. Death isnt much of a taboo to me since its inescapable, I think someone could drive themselves mad trying to understand death and why it happens. The care of the dead isnt something I think about, I think of cinco de mayo and how the Mexican culture treats death. They celebrate the live instead of dwelling on the fact that the person is no longer "here" I think celebrating the life of that person is better then mourning 

 

2. The way you've been taught to think of and act towards dead people.

I haven't been taught to think or act a certain way towards dead people, I think its common sense of what to do and what not to do at a funeral. There really isnt a way to act or think of dead people since they're dead but afterlife is something that I'm interested in. There are so many different opinions on afterlife and if an afterlife even exists. Heaven or hell , reincarnation etc

3. Social norms around the treatment of dead people in your/our culture(s).

Mourning, dressing in all black , burying the casket 6 ft under (why 6 ft?), tomb stones, cremation, spreading ashes or even keeping the ashes at home, burying the persons favorite things with them.

4. Your family's perspective regarding people who have died.

It's very sad but it happens and you have to move on but appreciate all the good times you've had with that person.

HW 44

 Jay's Post
I love how the opinion of this woman completely goes against the hospitals beliefs. I dont think it was a bias opinion because she works there and she has the first hand point of view.

My favorite part was,
JM: Do you think it's right that doctors are trained to think every birth is a high risk, emergency/surgical procedure?
N: I think doctors are not educated enough in the natural birthing process. OB/GYNs need more education. When I was in school, we trained with midwives, it was mandatory.

The fact that doctors are actually trained by midwives is really interesting but yet its like the battle of the fittest and they try to out bid one another, they try to prove why they're better than one another. I actually enjoyed reading this post.

Lina's Post
I was hopping to read about  postpartum depression but this post was interesting as well, I think its gross that the hospitals are trying to use celebrities to convince expecting mothers to do what they want. One of the things I found most interesting was the quote by a midwife,
""We need celebrities to endorse what we do," the midwife concluded. It was what she claimed would solve the current and literally largest problem of the birthing business."
It shows that midwives aren't all about holistic births and being one with your body, they're also about the money. Its seems like both doctors and midwives have different intentions then we thought.

Michelle's Post

 “Traditional women in India will act subservient to their husbands and will not make their own decisions…Women from India are modest and will prefer to be draped and covered during procedures and during childbirth.”

I noticed this person said prefer instead of taught, we dont really know if they like covering themselves or not but they have to or else they would be judged by they're community.  I found this post to be interesting it doesn't agree with the research I did on Indian birth rituals but that was with the Hindu culture and this may be apart of a different culture. I thought it was cool how you compared it to the traditional birth rituals of Americans.

HW 42

For this project Leah and I decided to make a poster focusing on the Hindu birth rituals, its way different from the social dominant practices of Americans. Religion plays a huge roll in India which is (in my opinion) the birth rituals are so different. We are going to present the poster in class on Friday along with an elevator speech

HW 41

http://www.babiesonline.com/articles/pregnancy/home-birth-vs-hospital-birth.asp
home births vs hospital births, They go through the pros and cons of home births and when a expecting mother should consider having one. They dont talk bout hospital births (probably because they think people have prior knowledge) but they do state when a hospital birth would be necessary.

http://choicesmedical2.reachlocal.net/abortion.html
Abortion is also an option and doesn't have to be looked down upon , there's many clinics and hospitals that provide safe alternatives for women who dont want to have children whatever the case may be. "Abortion saves womens lives"

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/firsthour.asphe
The first hour of birth is "undoubtedly one of the most critical phases in the life of human beings" The mothers hormones go rapid after labor,the toxins released in her body causes her to have raging hormones after labor. Many studies "prove" this.

HW 39

Topics- Methods of delivery, tools that were use to help women in labor, techniques of midwives in the 19th century.
Major Insight- The evolution of birth, she talks about previous techniques when it came to giving birth and pregnancy. It was more informational she didnt judge or look down at the old techniques and theories.

5 interesting aspects-   Why dont they target enemas as much as epidurals and pitosin? - pg 178

do ultrasounds affect the baby or harm the baby? pg 172

midwives vs doctors pg135

C-sections being forced on women pg 116- 129

men being apart of the births, they seemed to be excluded its more about the doctor ans wife connection. pg 207-208 

HW 38

How is the book organized?
So far its a narrative, shes sharing her experience with birth and the things she knows. It's as if shes talking to the reader.

The major question the book tries to answer?
Doesn't seem like there's a main question yet. She just seems curious about birth and is sharing what she learned.

 The major insight the book tries to communicate in the first 100 pages
How amazing the female human body is, also how sheltered pregnancy is. She compares the birth techniques and social norms of the stone ages to now. I do agree that the pregnancy is sheltered there's always someone there to help , even strangers lend a helping hand. Woman use to have birth completely natural and sometimes all alone. According to the book some tribes in Africa dont allow anyone to be around while the woman is giving birth.

5 interesting aspects of pregnancy and birth that you (and the author) agree deserve public attention
- Pressure of using medications
- Natural births
- Lucy and her pelvis and the history on the female development

What support does the author build for her/his arguments, how reliable do you find the evidence, how deftly does the author use the evidence without stalling the progress of the book?

She doesn't cite her sources so I dont know where shes getting her evidence from but so far its been based on facts. Its more of an information session then a book about the insights on birth. I wish she included interviews with pregnant women and they're experiences. 

Comments

Brandon

Best: I like how you found out how they felt during the pregnancy,you allowed the reader to get a small understanding of what goes on in the mind of a pregnant women.

Interest: It makes me wonder if there are any social studies about pregnant women and they're common moods, or if they have mood swings and what they think about it.

David

Best : I like that you showed two different point of views, one positive one not too positive.

Interest: Why do they glamorized pregnancy,even though its not as glamorized as it once was they still ignore the dangers of it.

Lucy
Best : I like how you made it more or a conversation instead of an interview, it made me want to continue to read.

Interest: I've seen a television show called "I didn't know I was pregnant" the stories are so odd but it breaks the stereotype of what a pregnant women looks like or should look like.

Bryanna
Best: You showed a different aspect of pregnancy and how it effects people in you interview.

Interest: why is teen pregnancy continued to be glorified

HW 36

Birth story
When I found out I was pregnant with twins I couldn't be more happier. Of course it meant more work but I would do anything for my babies even though they weren't even born yet. One day when my sister and I were driving to the supermarket we got into a car accident, a car rammed into the back or ours and I hit my stomach really hard. Then we saw blood and called the ambulance, I found out I lost one of my babies and couldn't control my anger and sadness. My child did nothing to deserve to die I was disgusted with everyone and everything in the world and couldn't understand WHY. Although I have a beautiful daughter now just to know that she was suppose to have a sister kills me a little bit everyday, Ill never forget about the miscarriage and unfortunately my daughter reminds me of it everyday.
-People don't usually discuss the dangers and risk or pregnancy its something that's only viewed as positive thing , but what if someone gets impregnated by their rapist or looses their life while giving birth. These things are hardly ever discussed. Miscarriage's happen often but aren't  really recognized, being pregnant is more than pink and blue and baby showers its completely life changing and I don't think anyone can really understand that affects of being pregnant unless they are pregnant.

Interview

1. How did pregnancy affect you physically, emotionally, or in other ways?

I got fat, but eating was so fun. I didn't expect to feel such a immediate love for someone I didn't know and I didn't want anyone to touch him but me. I love him from the hair on his head to his toes.

2. What did you do, while pregnant, to prepare for giving birth?

I felt like I had a fish swimming around inside me and throwing up was a bitch but after awhile I couldn't see me feet and I wanted the baby to get the fuck out of my stomach. There was no preparing for giving birth, how can I prepare for something I never done I wanted to just go with the flow.

3. What actions and attitudes by specific other people made your pregnancy and birth more joyous? More challenging?

There's nothing joyous about pregnancy until you have the baby in my opinion, you get fat, people keep touching your stomach and sometimes they judge you. Then you have the people that stare or say how big your belly is as if you've magically gone deaf 

4. Would you have waited  to have your baby knowing everything you know now. (stress,money,restlessness)

No because then I wouldn't have the same kid I do now and I love him to bits

5. How do you feel about teen pregnancy 

Shit happens but now a days teens are to dumb to put on a condom, maybe they think that they can get a spot on 16 and pregnant or teen mom.

- My interviewee is a straight forward person and normally always tells it like it is, i like her insights on birth because she doesn't try to sugarcoat it , even though she curses a little to much I like her response to the questions and

HW 34

My thoughts on birth isnt two paragraphs long, unfortunately I only  have "bubble" thoughts when it comes to birth.

Why does it take 9 months for the child to develop
How did they abort babies before they did it with an injection
Who had the first C-section
Why is it possible to have up to 6 children in a womb
Why do pregnant women throw up and get hormonal
What is a doula
How does an epidural work
What enduces labor , spicy foods? soy milk?
When does the average women
Why does a pregnant woman water break
What are the positives and negatives of a epidural
How do different cultures deal with birth
Whats the youngest age you can get pregnant

Extra Credit

I decided to spend a few days with my biological mother since she is ill. I dont know the medical term for her illness but she has to use oxygen to breathe correctly for the rest of her life. Instead of analyzing how she lived I asked her a few questions on her daily life.

How did you feel?
- I'm alright, I just took my pills so I wont be so sore

How many pills do you take a day  ?
- I have about 7 prescriptions, but I dont like to take them all. I just take my pain killers whenever my body aches

Have you ever tried going a full day without pills?
- Yeah but I ended up in the hospital , my body needs the pills now

Do you pay for them?
- No health insurance does thank god or else I'd probably be dead by now

How do you feel when you walk around in public with an oxygen tank?
- I'm use to it now but I use to feel ashamed because people would stare dont you remember?

MY INSIGHTS
My mother has been sick for pretty much my entire life shes always needed an oxygen tank.I remember setting out her pills and getting her glasses of water to take them, I'd give her her shots and get her new oxygen tanks before I turned 10. Whenever lincare delivered new tanks I'd sign the forms. I had a lot of responsibilities at a young age to help her get through her sickness. Which isn't a normal dominant social practice the "grown ups" usually take care of the sick and dont involve the children but my brother and I were fully involved. We knew her doctor appointments when she needed her pills re filled and how many shes allowed to take. I never asked why my brother and I were given the responsibility to take care of her or why we were allowed to know so much. In the African culture its the child's duty to pay dues to their parents, make their beds clean their rooms laundry dishes etc to show they're appreciation towards their parents. My brother and I involvement in her sickness can be considered a dominant social practice but it depends on your cultural background, from the perspective of someone who's involved in African culture we were doing the right thing but someone who isn't involved in African culture might think we were to involved. When in introduced my mom to the terms "holistic" and "allopathic" she identified herself as a holistic , I told her that didn't make sense because she took medicine she replied "with out these pills I would get worse" I wonder why doctors provide medicine that the body becomes dependent on. This doesn't allow them to live well it just allows them to feel better for a certain period of time. Just like when they're trying to revive a patient, yeah they have a chance to survive but they're ribs are broken, if someone was diagnosed with aids or HIV they can survive but they have to take pills for the rest of their lives. There is always a "but" when it comes to social dominant practices. Being around my mother showed me that death can be cheated although she depends on an oxygen tank to help her breathe and medicines to stop her aches and pains shes still living.

HW 32

What's most nightmarish about our culture's practices around illness & dying?

Its almost as if once a person gets old they're no good, its normal to put them into a nursing home or leave them in the hospital. I feel like old people are considered a nuisance, they cant do much for them self and need help getting around almost like a new born baby. Instead of being appreciated and have they're lives celebrated most have to deal with taking numerous amount of pills constantly being at the hospital and pity.

What might you do or address differently as a result of what you've learned this unit, individually and with your family?
I'm curious to know how some of my family members want to be buried or if they want to be cremated and also how they want they're funeral to be. These type of decisions are made after the person dies because no one wants to plan their own funeral, but I want to be able to provide the things they want at they're funeral.  Also I would like to know if they were ever in a vegetable state would they want the plug pulled, this happened with my aunt and it create a huge ordeal with the family because no one could agree on whether or not to pull the plug. Death is something you cant escape from and we cant avoid it yet most of us try. Its something that should be discussed because we never know when were gunna bit the dust.

How do dominant social practices (DSP) around illness & dying connect to DSP around food in our culture?
 Its ignored we know that most foods are processed ,and the animals aren't being treated well and most of the meat is tainted but we ignore it. Death is inevitable its going to happen to all of us one day but we ignore it. The DSP is to ignore it and remain happy citizens we dont have to deal with it until its put in front of us. These units made me understand the saying "ignorance is bliss" I never understood why having lack of knowledge would be a good this but the less you know the less you worry. The less people know about the disgusting food they eat the less they worry. The less people know about what happens to they're sick and dying loved ones and where they actually "go" when they die the less they worry.

HW 30

• What aspect of the dominant social practices around illness & dying did you decide to explore? 

Nursing homes and how they deal with the old and dying.

• What resource(s) or insight(s) from the unit (if any) connect to this aspect?

"Tuesdays With Morrie" how death is viewed by someone who is old and/or dying

• What information did you gather from the internet related to this aspect? Please cite sources.

Not many people want to take care of the old, there are less and less nurses being able to provide care. Sometimes the workers are unhappy with they're job and start to mistreat the elderly.  Theres many nursing homes all over but I dont think anyone really cares about a nursing home until they or someone they care about is being sent there.
(http://www.efmoody.com/longterm/nursingstatistics.html)
(http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20020922nursinghomes0922p1.asp)

• How did you explore? What did you do in the real world? Did you enjoy it, contribute to another, see something new? Give us some flavor, show don't tell.

Went to a nursing home on 72nd and york. The lobby was really nice but once you traveled up  few floors yuck. It smelled but all the nurses were pretty friendly(who were mostly minorities). They had the medication just sitting to the side in a bunch of little cups. A lot of the patients were sitting down in either chairs or wheel chairs. It really quite, I expected them to have activities for the patients like they do in movies but that was definitely not the case.

• What did you learn? 

Getting old sucks and unfortunately the old is mistreated. when people dont want to deal with the sick and old and dying they give the responsibility to someone else. Sometimes they mistreat they're patients and dont pay much attention to them.  The more money the patient has I'm guessing the better they're treated and the nicer the facility. Money makes the world go round.

• What does this show about dominant social practices of illness & dying in our culture?

People dont like to deal with it and want to keep it out of mind, illness and dying is never a positive thing so when it does occur in someones life its depressing. There isn't much control over illness and dying which people strive to change , but if they dont have to deal with it then its not they're immediate problem. If grandma is suffering and dying slowly and living in your house its depressing overwhelming and sad but if shes suffering and dying slowly in a nursing home shes receiving all the care she can get.

HW 29

Facing Terminal Illness - When someone is facing a terminal illness a social dominant is to take as much medication to slow down the process, or to terminate the sickness. Usually the doctors tip toe around the subject of death and make the person feel completely. Comfortable  grieve  for the person who is ill. They pray for the sick and give them their undivided attention when they're with them. They like to focus on the positive and not dwell on the negative. 


Isolation -  When your old sick or dying the usually answer is to go to the hospital to get "the best treatment" or to go to a senior citizen home where your provided "hands on care". The main focus is getting the unwell person better, no one is worried about the mental and emotional and even the physical aftermath of it all. Being constantly injected with medicine, left alone in a dark hospital room being served crappy hospital food, the main focus is to make the unwell person health again. For example when a doctor or nurse is reviving someone, there's a high risk of breaking their ribs even though the person may be brought back to life their ribs are broken. Main focus is to make them better. 


Being sick - Most pop pills when they're sick have a headache? Take a Tylenol a little congestion take some NyQuil. The answer is always medicine. Some people that choose the holistic route by using acupuncture or by not taking medicine. Drinking tea and simply eating healthy and exercising taking medicine isn't always the answer to every problem.

HW 28

To Rossi-  "Doctors fear that they will not be paid appropriately. This was proven to be untrue, since the Canadian doctors make just as much money as the Americans. In short, the United States health insurance system is corrupt, cheap, and not nearly as affective as it could, and should, be. " Cheap is the perfect word to use, the whole issue with health insurance is because people are worried that they won't "get paid" When a question is asked about the health insurance issue there is never a straight forward and direct answer. The reasons never really add up. Im completely agree with what you stated in your post and I think that this is and issue that will go unresolved until someone who has a very high ranking in the government takes a stand.