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Copyright University Press of Colorado For educational use only The Kiss of Death Copyright University Press of Colorado For educational use only Copyright University Press of Colorado For educational use only The Kiss of Death Contagion, Contamination, and Folklore Andrea Kitta Utah State University Press Logan Copyright University Press of Colorado For educational use only © 2019 by University Press of Colorado Published by Utah State University Press An imprint of University Press of Colorado 245 Century Circle, Suite 202 Louisville, Colorado 80027 All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of the Association of University Presses. The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State Uni- versity of Denver, Regis University, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, University of Wyoming, Utah State University, and Western Colorado University. ∞ This paper meets the requirements of the ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper) ISBN: 978-1- 60732-926- 8 (paperback) ISBN: 978-1- 60732- 927- 5 (ebook) https://doi .org/ 10.7330/ 9781607329275 Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data Names: Kitta, Andrea, 1977– author. Title: The kiss of death : contagion, contamination, and folklore / Andrea Kitta. Description: Logan : Utah State University Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019020022 | ISBN 9781607329268 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781607329275 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Communicable diseases—Folklore. | Communicable diseases—Transmission. | Communicable diseases—Psychological aspects. | Epidemics—Social aspects. | Fear of contamination—Folklore. | Folklore—Psychological aspects. | Health attitudes. Classification: LCC RA649 .K58 2018 | DDC 616.9—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019020022 Copyright University Press of Colorado For educational use only Contents Preface vii Acknowledgments xi 1 Introduction 3 2 The Disease Is Coming from Inside the House! Contagious Disease, Immigration, and Patient Zero 26 3 Supernatural Contagion: Slender Man, Suicide, Violence, and Slender Sickness 46 4 Ostensio Mori: When We Pretend That We’re Dead 69 5 “Why Buy the Cow When the Milk Has HPV?” The HPV Vaccine, Promiscuity, and Sexual Orientation 94 6 The Kiss of Death 110 7 Conclusion 129 Appendix: Reading Guide 139 Notes 145 References 157 Index 183 Copyright University Press of Colorado v For educational use only Copyright University Press of Colorado For educational use only Preface THE WORDS “CONTAGIOUS” AND “CONTAMINATED” are frequently used to describe several thoughts and fears about society and culture, and we attach them to more than just diseases. For example, emotions are contagious; people try to avoid others with bad attitudes, thinking that others’ world- views can contaminate their own (see Hatfield, Cacioppo, and Rapson 1994; Doherty et al. 1995; Totterdell et al. 1998; Totterdale 2000; Barsade 2002; Totterdale and Holman 2003; Christakis and Fowler 2009). We also attach them to noncommunicable diseases such as obesity for the sole reason that we perceive them to be contagious (Christakis and Fowler 2007; Cohen- Cole and Fletcher 2008; Smith and Christakis 2008). Moreover, we avoid those who we perceive have infectious diseases, recoiling from passersby or those in our company every time we hear a cough or a sneeze. At times, the words “contagious” and “contaminated” are even used interchange- ably, indicating that those with contagious illnesses are somehow contami- nated by their illnesses—or that those with noncontagious diseases, such as mental illness, are somehow both unclean and infectious. But what do the words “contagious” and “contaminated” actually mean to people living in the United States and Canada? How do we understand contagion and contamination outside of the biological sciences? Who is at risk, and who is to blame? The Kiss of Death: Contagion, Contamination, and Folklore explores vernacular beliefs and practices that permeate notions of contagion and contamina- tion, with the primary aim of understanding lay beliefs and legends about contamination and contagion. An understanding of health is ideally com- munity based, addresses local anxieties, and involves joint partnerships between populations, investigators, and service providers (Goldstein 2004; Kitta 2012), or what are often referred to as social determinants of health. To come to an understanding of health and health choices, we must explore the diversity of cultural matters and influences that establish risk for the groups and individuals in question. Risk classifications and risk perception are multidimensional and linked to culture; they are intimate and politi- cal (Goldstein 2004; Kitta 2012). Using ethnographic, media, and narra- tive analysis, this book explores the vernacular explanatory models used in Copyright University Press of Colorado DOI: 10.7330/9781607329275.c000 vii For educational use only viii Preface decision-making while attempting to understand contagion and contamina- tion. My research is targeted at understanding the real fears, real understand- ings of risk, real concerns, and real doubts of the lay public. Exploring the nature of contagion and contamination, I isolate areas that require better communication and greater cultural sensitivity in the handling of infectious disease, public health, and other health-related disciplines and industries. Simply put, we cannot have conversations about health and risk without considering positionality and intersectionality. This book is divided into seven chapters; each one examines a dif- ferent topic and how the notions of contagion and contamination affect health and legend. The intent of this book is to inform those studying folklore, especially in graduate programs, of the breadth and depth of the discipline, demonstrating both traditional modes and topics of legend scholarship as well as media, Internet, and popular culture analysis. My hope is to demonstrate the innumerable ways one can study folklore and the many applications of the discipline. Chapter 1, “Introduction,” serves as a primer to the topic, considering past research from folklore and other related disciplines on the topic of contagion and contamination. In it I offer definitions of contagion and contamination along with a discussion of why this topic is important and what other research and fields have contributed to the subject. Chapter 2, “The Disease Is Coming from Inside the House! Contagious Disease, Immigration, and Patient Zero,” looks at narratives of immigration and contagious disease, especially the well-established notion that these nar- ratives reinforce the self and Other. I consider contagious disease narratives, or outbreak narratives, using the concept of “patient zero” and “super- spreader” as a way of contextualizing disease and controlling the outbreak. For example, the Disneyland measles outbreak, in the context of patient zero, demonstrates that in recent years the fear is not only of foreigners but also of those who are already inside the United States. Slender Man, the “first Internet ghost story,” or, more specifically, the illness known as “Slender Sickness,” is the topic of chapter 3, “Supernatural Contagion: Slender Man, Suicide, Violence, and Slender Sickness.” Slender Sickness and bullying share many common symptoms, indicating that Slender Sickness may be a vernacular illness and a way for teens and pre- teens to discuss the topic of bullying. Fan fiction about Slender Man may be an outlet for rage and frustration and an alternative to other forms of violence, which is considered to be contagious by some scholars. Bullying can and does result in more extreme forms of violence, such as suicide, as is demonstrated by incidents on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where several Copyright University Press of Colorado For educational use only Preface ix suicides have been linked to Slender Man and a traditional Oglala Lakota character known as Tall Man by the media. Viral zombies and vampires make up the content of chapter 4, “Ostensio Mori: When We Pretend That We’re Dead.” Vampires and zom- bies in popular culture and legend have becoming increasingly common, in particular the viral supernatural creature. However, these creatures are not only physically viral but also morally contaminated. In more recent years, thanks primarily to the paranormal romance genre of literature and later film and television, we see a different approach to the moral contamination of the viral vampire. Instead of depravity, the vampire now spreads toler- ance and acceptance. HPV legends and spread are discussed in chapter 5, “‘Why Buy the Cow When the Milk Has HPV?’ The HPV Vaccine, Promiscuity, and Sexual Orientation.” In it I consider two primary legends: that the HPV vaccine causes promiscuity in women and that the HPV vaccine is offered only to male children who are perceived to be homosexual. Vaccination has become a political issue as well as a personal medical decision and a choice made for the greater good. The intersection between public and private belief and medical decision-making is explored in this chapter, as are ongoing beliefs about purity, hypersexuality, and vulnerability. Kisses that kill, organized by intention and relationship, are the sub- ject of chapter 6, “The Kiss of Death.” The legend of “The Peanut Butter