Symposium The Ithaca College Honors Undergraduate Research Journal
Work from Ithaca College Honors Seminars
Volume 2 Spring 2013
Vol. 2 Spring 2013 1 Symposium Editorial Staff and Contributing Writers Table of Contents Contributing Writers Editorial Staff and Contributing Writers 3 Adrienne Cocci ’13 Rachel Siptroth ’16 Letter from the Director 4 Health Science, B.S. Exploratory
Letter from the Editor 5 Kelsey Fons ’16 A. Maureen Tant ’13 Psychology, B.A. Cinema and Photography, B.S. “Jake Leg: A Mystery Solved Through the Blues” 6 Highway 61 Revisited: Adrienne Cocci Abigail Lind ’13 Olivia Timmins ’16 Exercise Science, B.S. History, B.A. “The First Step: Poverty 101” 12 Why Are We Here? Student Culture and the Problem of College: Kelsey Fons Renee Metzger ’14 Casey Wayman ’15 Clinical Health Studies, B.S. English, B.A. “The Use of Music During Exercise: Is it the Next Legal Performance Enhancer?” 20 Music, Math, and the Brain: Abigail Lind Hannah Sellers ’16 Megan Zart ’16 Integrated Marketing Integrated Marketing “Music and Movement: Music’s Ability to Allow Parkinson’s Communications, B.S. Communications, B.S. Patients Freedom of Movement” 29 Music, Math, and the Brain: Renee Metzger
“Harnessing the Agricultural Past for a Future of Fresh Food” 35 Facing Nature; Facing Ourselves: Hannah Sellers Editorial Staff
“Athenian Government: Divine Law Overrides State Authority as Seen in Crito and Antigone” 42 Dr. Robert Sullivan Shelby Abrams ’15 Language and Power in Classical Athens: Rachel Siptroth Faculty Advisor Michelle Ammirati ’14 Adrienne Cocci ’13 “Your Word Has Been Chosen, The Words Have Been Spoken: Gretchen Hohmeyer ’16 Authorship and Fires in the Mirror” 46 Chloe Wilson ’14 Stephanie Krail ’14 Staging History: A. Maureen Tant Editor-in-Chief David Owens ’15 “Fear of the Maddened Woman: A Study of Male Fear of Women in 5th Century Attic Drama” 52 Language and Power in Classical Athens: Olivia Timmins
“The Relationship Between Classical Blues and Black Female Sexuality” 63 Highway 61 Revisited: Casey Wayman
“Native Americans: Scientists or Savages?” 70 Facing Nature; Facing Ourselves: Megan Zart
2 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 3 Symposium Letter from the Editor Letter from the Director Letter from the Editor
Let’s start with a quiz! What is the most frequent number of issues in the run of any undergradu- Dear Readers, ate journal? What’s that? A hand up asking for clarification? Okay…when a group of undergradu- ates begin a journal, what is the most common number of issues that they publish before it folds? It’s hard to believe that this is only the second volume of Symposium! Got it? Good. Pencils down. Answer: 1. This journal would not be possible without the support of many people, ranging from the That’s just one of the reasons I’m so happy to be writing this introduction to Volume 2 of Sym- writers to the editors to the readers, but Symposium can mainly be credited to one person – posium: The Ithaca College Honors Program Undergraduate Research Journal - we’ve already Program Director Bob Sullivan. exceeded the life expectancy of this type of publication! Why do undergraduate journals so often fail so quickly? Well, for one thing, they’re really hard to do. You need to have a dedicated staff, willing contributors, and enough structure to get the job done. Secondly, most schools just don’t Bob, this volume of Symposium is dedicated to you. Thank you so much for everything have enough focus on undergraduate research to generate sufficient interest in publication. Final- you’ve done as the Honors Program Director – you’ve changed a lot of lives and, though ly, and perhaps most importantly, most undergraduate journal editorial staffs suffer from a lack your office is moving, us Honorites will still seek you out. The Ithaca College Honors -Pro of continuity; dedicated editors graduate, people lose interest, everybody forgets everything over gram would not be the same without you and, speaking from personal experience, I would the summer…you get the picture. Happily the editors of Symposium have navigated around all of not be a member of this program had you not extended the invitation. these thickets and the journal has come out in great shape and in a timely fashion. Congratula- tions to Chloe Wilson and her terrific editorial staff! Thank you, Bob, for everything.
The other reason that I’m happy to be writing this introduction is that once again I get to be That said, we are so excited to work with the new Program Director, Thomas Pfaff, who has struck by the great variety of interests as well as the quality of the writing evidenced by our pro- shown nothing but support and excitement for us. Welcome to the fold, professor! We’re so gram’s scholars. In this issue of Symposium we find articles on the use of music as an aid to exer- excited to have you. cise, the depiction of “Jake Leg” paralysis in American blues music, the ethics of food production, recommendations regarding teaching about poverty in New York high schools, the theoretical problem of authorship in Anna Deavere Smith’s Fires in the Mirror, the scientific validity of Native Symposium has always been a forum for learning and discussion, and we continue this with American theories of nature, violence against women in the Classical era, female sexuality in early our new volume. I encourage you to read these pages with an open mind. You’ll never know blues music, opposition to democracy in ancient Athens, and the effects of music on patients with what you might discover. Parkinson’s disease. This variety is a mark of an engaged and vigorous program full of students vitalized by that most wonderful virtue, curiosity. Best,
I’m sure that this time next year I’ll be reading Volume 3 of Symposium with the same sense of excitement and pride.
Cheers, Chloe Wilson Editor-in-Chief
Bob Sullivan Director, Ithaca College Honors Program
4 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 5 Symposium Jake Leg: A Mystery Solved Through the Blues
51). A bottle of Jake cost about thirty-five cents and “stewbums, boozegobs, hooch histers and drunks” Jake Leg: A Mystery Solved Through the was available in pharmacies and groceries. Some (Baum 51). It was not far fetched to think that stores would even have a room in the back were the paralysis had to do with some form of tainted Blues people could drink Jake so as not to draw attention alcohol. When investigators discovered that it was Adrienne Cocci to themselves (Baum 52). Usually, Jake’s side effects specifically Jake that had been tainted many rumors Class of 2013 Health Science, B.S. were no different than regular alcohol. Since it had began to take hold. Many believed that Jake had been used for so long, there was no reason to think been contaminated with lead, arsenic or petroleum Jake Leg was a condition that rose to epidemic levels during prohibition. Thousands of people become para- at first that this strange paralysis had anything to do alcohol had been used instead of grain alcohol lyzed when bottles of Jake or “Jamaican Ginger Extract” were contaminated. People were drinking it for its with Jake. (Baum 54). high alcohol content, and since it was legal, it became a popular substitute. Although this epidemic seems like Jake Leg was first discovered in Oklahoma Maurice Smith, a pharmacologist discovered something that would be discussed in a history or epidemiology class, information about this condition is near- City by a physician named Ephraim Goldfain. On the mystery behind the poisoned Jake. He headed ly nonexistent except for blues lyrics. The voices of blues artists both black and white of this time period sang February 27, 1930, an unknown patient walked into the National Institute of Health’s investigation of about the horrors of Jake Leg. It is possible that we would know little to nothing about this epidemic if not for the hospital and was described as having, “feet dan- Jake and was assisted by the chemist Elias Elvolve the survival of this music. gle[ing] like a marionette’s, so that walking involved (Parascandola 362). Smith published a paper enti- “Jake Leg, Jake Leg what in the world you primary data. Morgan believed that one of the swinging them forward and slapping them onto the tled “The Pharmocological Action of Certain Phenol trying to do? Seems like everybody in the city’s main reasons that the epidemic fell off the radar was floor” (Baum 50). The patient explained to Goldfain Esters, with Special Reference to the Etiology of So- messed up on account of drinking you” are the because of class. Most of the men who were affect- that he wasn’t in any pain, but his legs were literally Called Ginger Paralysis” the same year the paralysis words of Ishmon Bracey, an African American ed by Jake were migrants and were seen as poor just useless below the knee. In the 1930’s, paralysis was discovered, which summed up the mystery of Delta Blues musician. Jake Leg caused thousands of drunks. With that stereotype working against the usually meant polio but Goldfain knew that it didn’t the paralysis. In his paper, Smith concludes that the people in the United States to become paralyzed in victims, many never received justice (Baum). look like polio, so he was forced to look for another substance that caused the disease was that, the early 1930s, but today most people have never The “Jake” part of Jake Leg is the common cause. He thought that it might be lead poisoning, Tri-ortho cresyl phosphate, and in so far as the present evidence goes, it alone can produce in even heard of it. Although this epidemic seems like name for Jamaican ginger extract. Jamaican ginger but those blood tests also came back negative. That experimental animals a specific type of motor something that would be in American History text- extract had been available in the United States since patient was not the only person who came in with paralysis of the extremities in every sense com- books, the information was almost lost because of 1863 as a patent medicine as a remedy for headaches those symptoms that day, five more patients by the parable with that which occurred recently in the lack of recorded evidence during the time. Most and digestive problems (Morgan 804). However, end of the day had the same type of paralysis. One human victims who drank of an adulterated fluid extract of Jamaican ginger (Smith 2520). of what we now know about this disease came from Jake was mostly used for its alcohol content, which of his patients was a podiatrist who thought he had Tri-ortho cresyl phosphate (TOCP), the chemical the lyrics of blues artists both black and white from was about 70% (Parascandola 361), though other gotten the disease from one of his patients who were compound that led to Jake Leg is being studied even the 1930s. Current research suggests that without sources claim that Jake could be up to 85% alcohol experiencing the same type of leg problem. He gave to this day. In technical terms, “Jamaican ginger the lyrics from the blues music of this time, this (Baum 51). This became very important during Goldfain a list that had a total of 65 people on it that extract adulterated with TOCP led to organophos- epidemic may have been forgotten entirely. Prohibition because the Volstead Act of 1919 did not had similar symptoms. The paralysis did have some phate (OP) compound-induced delayed neuropathy Dr. John Morgan a professor at New York stop the distribution of alcoholic beverages for me- range; some could walk on crutches, some couldn’t (OPIDN)” (Rainer 780). OPIDN means that there Medical College and a Blues enthusiast began to dicinal purposes (Okrent 193). While the wealthy move their legs, and others couldn’t use their legs or is an effect on the nervous system (sensory-motor investigate the claims of a new type of paralysis sung got their alcohol from Canada and the hillbillies hands (Baum 51). Goldfain knew that something signals degenerate) that does not occur immediate- about in the 1930’s. He likes to think of himself as had access to stills out in the country, the urban and was going on, but he did not know what. ly. For example, after somebody drank Jake they a pharmaco-ethnomusicologist for his work on Jake small town poor were reduced to getting their alco- There were no children and hardly any wom- did not have immediate paralysis. As described in Leg. He researched Jake for almost twenty-sev- hol through means rubbing alcohol, hair oil, Ster- en who got this paralysis. Also, all of the men came Rainer’s paper, OPIDN usually starts with sensory en years and even tracked down victims to gather no, doctored antifreeze and, of course, Jake (Baum from a seedy part of town and were described as,
6 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 7 Symposium Jake Leg: A Mystery Solved Through the Blues impairment, ataxia (lack of coordination in muscle they looked at was ethylene glycol which was also to serve his two year prison sentence. For a reason the music of African American blues singers of the movements) and weakness, eventually leading to a clear oily chemical which had been suggested to that is not fully understood, the judge would not 1930’s. paralysis of the extremities (Rainer 780). This is them by Martin Swanson who was unaware of their hear the case against Reisman, so he did not have to One such singer was Ishmon Bracey. Ish- consistent with what doctors described in the 1930s. intentions. Ethylene glycol burned off too quickly. serve his jail sentence (Parascandola 363). All in all, mon Bracey was from Mississippi and was a known Though investigators had found the chemical Why does this matter? Gross was actually these men got off lightly considering how many men associate of Tommy Johnson, another delta blues causing the paralysis, they still had to find out how replicating a test that the government would use if they permanently injured. singer (Oakley 141). Johnson and Bracey are the it got into some bottles of Jake. The tainted Jake they tested his Jake. To test Jake, the entire product But exactly how many men were injured? first recorded artists who sang about Jake Leg. Their was traced back to Harry Gross and Max Reisman, would be weighed then the alcohol would be burned The exact number is hard to estimate, but there were Jake songs were recorded in Grafton, Wisconsin by bootleggers and brothers-in-law from Boston. For off and what remained would be weighed. The thousands. According to Parascandola, there were Paramount Records in March of 1930 right after instance, in 1921 they got there Prohibition Bureau remaining amount was important because it de- enough people that were effected by Jake that some the first case in Oklahoma City was discovered in Permit revoked when they shipped five gallons of termined how much alcohol was burned off. Since of the victims founded the United Victims of Ginger February of 1930 (Baum 52). The two songs that pear extract to an Indian reservation which was the ethylene glycol burned off with the alcohol, the Paralysis Association which claimed to have 35,000 were recorded were Jake Liquor Blues and Alcohol prohibited. They were under investigation of being government would not have been fooled. Ultimate- members (363). Areas that were hit the hardest and Jake Blues. However, a copy of Tommy John- bootleggers since 1926 and continuously changed ly, this was good for people who drank jake because were New England and the South. New England son’s song has never been found and it is possible their business name. In 1928, they changed their ethylene glycol was also lethal (Baum 56). Finally, was hit hard because it was close to where the Jake that it was just never released (Morgan 806). Bracey business name to Hub Products whose main pur- at a loss for why his suggestions weren’t working, was made and the South because there was a larger lived close to Jackson, Mississippi so it is possible pose was to be a full-time producer of Jake. They Swanson suggested Lindol which is the trade name market for it. One of the hardest hit areas was John- that Jackson is the city that he is referring to in his shipped Jake throughout the United States and had for tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate (TOCP). Swanson son City, Tennessee where one Jake victim com- song. According to Baum, there were at least one the containers labeled “liquid medicine in bulk” had been told that TOCP was not lethal and as a re- mented, “You can go to the streets of Johnson City… thousand cases of Jake Leg in Mississippi. The fact (Baum 56). Since it was liquid medicine, it was con- sult his clients were very happy. Reisman and Gross you can count three or four hundred people in the that black blues artists were singing about Jake Leg sidered legal even though it contained high amounts bought a hundred and thirty-five gallons of TOCP. same condition that I am” (Baum 51). Jake Leg was implies that they had a personal connection with it, of alcohol. It is estimated that this much TOCP could have not something that just a few of the town drunkards therefore it was most likely very present in the Afri- Gross and Reisman wanted to make a bigger been put in six hundred and forty thousand bottles were getting; it was a full blown epidemic. Accord- can American community. profit by making Jake less expensive to produce as of jake (Baum 56). ing to a study done by Leblanc, most victims were Bracey and Johnson were not the only Afri- well as not taste so bitter (56). During Prohibition, Eventually, an employee of the company men around the age of 48 that worked blue-collar can American blues singers that recorded Jake Leg the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) stated that stepped forward and exposed the two brothers-in- jobs (Morgan 805). However, there were very few songs. The Mississippi Sheiks and Willie Lofton the liquid extract was legally marketable mainly law. The consequences, however, were not that se- black men that were reported to have the disease. both had songs called Jake Leg Blues. The Missis- because of the taste. Jamaican ginger extract had vere. When they were finally brought to trial in Feb- The lack of African Americans reported sippi Sheiks song came out in June 1930 while Willie high amounts of the oleoresin of ginger which gave ruary of 1931, they were charged with conspiracy to suffering from Jake Leg was very low, not because Lofton’s song was not recorded until 1934. The Mis- it a very bitter taste (Parascandola 361). In the USP’s violate and with violations of both the Prohibiton they were not drinking Jake, but was due to the fact sissippi Sheiks were actually one of the many names view, nobody would want to drink it for the alcohol Act and the Food and Drug Act. Under a plea-bar- that they were not being treated for it. Some reports that the Chatmon brothers Sam and Bo went under content because it tasted so bad. gain they were both fined $1,000 and sentenced to say that poor African Americans were more likely (Oakley 52). They were Delta Blues musicians like The first compound they ordered to replace two years in prison, which was changed to two years to drink moonshine, but the prevailing view is that Bracey and Johnson. Their song is fairly long and castor oil was dibutyl phthalate which was a clear of probation. The FDA was unhappy about the sen- they were not being admitted into the hospitals and places the blame of Jake Leg on prohibition, “You liquid with a high boiling point (which is what was tencing so they worked to acquire new evidence. As were not being counted in the statistics (Morgan thought the lively man would die when you made needed to replace the castor oil). However, this was a result of the FDA’s efforts, Gross was charged with 805). One of the reasons that researchers know that the country dry/ When you made it so that he could deadly so it was rejected. The next substance that violation of his probation in 1932 and was ordered the black community was hit so hard is because of not get not another drop of rye.” The Mississippi
8 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 9 Symposium Jake Leg: A Mystery Solved Through the Blues Sheiks believed that if prohibition had never been Jake Leg are brought up in the songs. “Jake Leg” it’s gonna leave you with the limber leg.” The wom- Works Cited passed, then this unfortunate incident would never or Jake Walk” were terms that newspapers used to an is upset because her man cannot perform for her have occurred. People getting paralyzed seemed describe the awkward gait that people with the pa- anymore. In the second part, the doctor is telling Allen Brothers, “Jake Walk Blues.” 1930. MP3 file. a lot worse than people drinking alcohol. There ralysis had. Other nicknames like “ajkeitus, jakeral- the man that if he doesn’t stop drinking Jake, he Baum, Dan. “Jake Leg: How the Blues Diagnosed a Medi- would have been no market for Jake beyond the use ysis, and gingerfoot” also persisted. All of the songs will remain impotent. This was a concern for men, cal Mystery.” The New Yorker 15 Sept. 2003: 50-57. Print. of medicine if liquor had been readily available. would mention this kind of walk. For example, a because impotence made them seem lesser men. While the African American artists were all line that is shared between the Allen Brothers song, Morgan also talks about how the artists felt Bracey, Ishmon. “Jake Liquor Blues.” 1930. MP3 file. Delta Blues musicians, there were white performers Jake Walk Blues and Asa Martin’s Jake Walk Papa about the Jake Leg Epidemic. He believes that The Leggett, Steve. “Willie Lofton.”AllMusic . Web. 22 Apr. who had a different sound and still sang about Jake. is the opening line, “I can’t eat, I can’t talk, Been Ray Brothers and the Allen Brothers were, “cynical 2011.
black and white, saved the knowledge about Jake that are most explicit about this side effect were Ish- them as thousands of men woke up and realized Ray Brothers. “Got the Jake Leg Too.” 1930. MP3 file. Leg epidemic through their music by referencing mon Bracey’s “Jake Liquor Blues” and Willie Lofton’s that they could no longer walk. The epidemic was symptoms, locations of the epidemic, and individu- Jake Leg Blues. Ishmon Bracey sings, “Aunt Jane, caused by a few bootleggers just trying to cut down Smith, Maurice I. “The Pharmacological Action of Cer- tain Phenol Esters, with Specific Reference to the Etiolo- als who had the disease. As is seen in blues music, she come runnin’ and screamin’, tellin’ everybody in their production costs. Even though Jake Leg is not gy of So-Called Ginger Paralysis.” Public Health Reports many lines are shared among the songs which rein- the neighborhood/ That man of mine got the limber as well known as other epidemics that the United 45.42 (1930): 2509-524. Jstor. Web. 10 Apr. 2011.
10 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 11 Symposium The First Step: Poverty 101
Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America about some weight that five meals a week are not enough to The First Step: Poverty 101 of her coworker’s situations. One woman lives in her keep me going. I just pray to God I can survive. I keep praying I can have the will to save some Kelsey Fons truck: of my food so I can divide it up and make it last. But you can’t live in a truck in the summer, Class of 2016 Psychology, B.A. It’s hard to save because I am so hungry that I since you need to have the windows down, want to eat it right away. On Friday, I held over which means anything can get in, from mos- A majority of the privileged population does not understand how poverty effects children, leading to the socio- two peas from the lunch. I ate one pea on Satur- quitoes on up… But guess what? She reports to economic gap in schools, and the continuation of destitution in the future. Many people have made suggestions day morning. Then I got into bed with the taste me excitedly later that evening: Phillip has given of food in my mouth and I waited as long as I that regard the end of penury. All of these potential solutions cannot be effective without first educating indi- her permission to park overnight in the hotel could. Later on in the day I ate the other pea. viduals about the issue. To graduate, a class should be required that shows high school seniors how difficult life parking lot, as long as she keeps out of sight, Today I saved the container that the mashed and the parking lot should be totally safe, since is for people in destitution. In addition, as a prerequisite for teachers to become certified, a course that conveys potatoes were in and tonight, before bed, I’ll lick it’s patrolled by a hotel security guard! With the the sides of the container. When there are bones the hardships that students struggle with because of poverty should be taken. Hearthside offering benefits like that, how could I keep them. I know this is going to be hard for anyone think of leaving? (Ehrenreich) you to believe and I am almost ashamed to tell Poverty is the dirt and dust Society conceals ually eased the minds of the upper classes. They This friend shows the enormous difference between you, but these days I boil the bones till they’re with its brand new area rug. In this case, dirt and establish an “us versus them” mindset, causing the what is important for the privileged and what is soft and then I eat them. Today there were no dust are defined as, “the state of having little or no privileged to feel like their help is not needed. As a important for the impoverished; where higher-class bones. (“Old and Hungry”) money, goods, or means of support; the condition student states in Liza Featherstone’s article, “Out of people would want benefits such as paid vacations Her story is particularly effective in portraying the of being poor”(“Poverty”). Similarly, in society’s Reach: Is College Only for the Rich?”, “People feel and health insurance, and lower-class individuals horrifying conditions people in poverty must en- gigantic walk-in closet, tiny skeletons are piling up. the need to say, ‘this isn’t me; it doesn’t affect me’” would want a safe place to live, or anything at all to dure. Most importantly, anyone can find themselves This act of pushing child penury into the dark, un- (Featherstone). Richard Rothstein further analyzes eat. After Ehrenreich’s second job, she remembers, in these terrifying situations. From “Rising Out of touched corners of people’s minds is creating a gap these beliefs in his book, Class and Schools: Using “I am enormously relieved when Carla announces a Homelessness” a man reports: in academic achievement between high and low- in- Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close ‘Spare any change,’ asked this 39 year-old man. half-hour meal break, but my appetite fades when I ‘Sorry, I’m homeless too!’ I said. ‘But look how come students. The only plausible first step toward the Black-White Achievement Gap. He says that this see that the bag of hot-dog rolls she has been car- you’re dressed, I know you have money,’ he narrowing this divide is eliminating the country’s “perspective is misleading and dangerous. It ignores rying around on our cart is not trash salvaged from said. I walk on. Looks may be deceiving, for the vast unfamiliarity with destitution. To minimize how social class characteristics in a stratified society clothes I have on cost me no more than $5. My a checkout but what she has brought for her lunch” slender body isn’t sexy. It’s malnourished. I’ve this ignorance of certain socioeconomic classes, the like ours may actually influence learning in school” (Ehrenreich). This image reveals the horrible mea- suffered. I’ve suffered more than the so-called Poverty 101 program needs to be a requirement in (Rothstein 2). This lack of awareness of the hard- sures members of the working-class go to in order to average 30 year-old person has. I’m only 16 and which all high school seniors are obliged to partic- ships low-income people and their children have to refrain from being hungry. Another elderly person you probably wouldn’t think 3 years is a long ipate, in order to graduate. In addition, it should overcome is what leads to the misunderstanding of time being homeless. Well if you were under 18 living in poverty tells her story in, “Old and Hun- and cannot get a job because you have no guard- be a prerequisite for all educators to partake in the where the educational gap originates. gry”: ian, it’s a long time! And all I hear from adults is variation of this program, Child Poverty 101, before One factor that has a huge impact on that I’ve had no income and I’ve paid no rent for go and do something with your life. (“Rising out becoming a certified teacher. gap is the perception and self-contempt that ac- many months. My landlord let me stay. He felt of Homelessness”) sorry for me because I had no money. The Fri- Many people in America believe that pov- companies poverty and nothing is more difficult This teenager’s story depicts how sometimes it is day before Christmas he gave me ten dollars. For erty is a figment of the imagination. If any person to understand for people from higher classes. To days I had nothing but water. I knew I needed not possible to change one’s socioeconomic status works hard enough, they can defy their low-income explore low-income experiences, one journalist, food; I tried to go out but I was too weak to walk simply with willpower. Many people cannot say they situation and change their socioeconomic status. Barbara Ehrenreich, went undercover in Florida and to the store. I felt as if I was dying. I saw the accurately realize what life is like for these indi- mailman and told him I thought I was starving. viduals or how deeply it affects them. Even though Rags-to-riches stories that feed these presumptions attempted to live off of minimum wage. She reports He brought me food and then he made some are a part of America’s culture and have contin- in her article, an excerpt from her book, Nickel-and- phone calls and that’s when they began deliver- these stories describe some difficult moments for ing these lunches. But I had already lost so much the impoverished, their hardships and the threat of
12 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 13 Symposium The First Step: Poverty 101
those obstacles apply to low-income people as well. when reading to them. All of these beneficial differ- their courses. This instability causes them to achieve setbacks, people are trying to come up with ways to More importantly, however, is how these situations ences in how privileged students are raised stimulate less than they would have if they stayed at the same eliminate this academic divide. influence children, and how it begins the academic their minds at an early age and have an impact on institution. Depending on their location, as well, A group of solutions that have been pro- gap in the country’s educational system. their future abilities in school. these individuals may not easily be able to get to posed to narrow this gap involve programs in these The individual repercussions depend on the This future can also be tainted by health after school activities or programs in the summer, educational institutions. One of these suggestions specific situations of children coming from low-in- problems that go undiagnosed because of unafford- further hindering how much their brain is stimu- is a preschool for low-income students. There they come households. With the right circumstances, able health insurance. Rothstein reports that fetal lated and therefore their ability to be as successful as would be able to learn what privileged children some do have the ability to rise in class, though alcohol syndrome, “is 10 times more frequent for their privileged peers. already do from their parents, but in an artificial others do not. For instance, a young student is given low-income than for middle class children, and 30% Lastly, some situations within these institu- setting. This simulation would allow them to enter homework. When she arrives home, however, her of poor women smoke, compared to 22% of non- tions themselves can hinder the student’s academic kindergarten on the same level as their higher-class single mother is working and she finds herself left poor women” (Rothstein 42-43). This environment performance. As Stephen J. McNamee, and Robert peers. Another similar recommendation is an after alone to care for her five younger siblings. Their affects the success of the student. Other health fac- K. Miller, Jr. report in their book, The Meritocracy school program for children living in low-income house has no heat and their mother has not had tors include malnutrition, vision problems, Atten- Myth, “teacher expectations build upon these ini- households to receive extra help. Furthermore, it time to go to the grocery store. The student has to tion Deficit Disorder, lead poisoning, hearing issues, tial advantages [or disadvantages]: Teachers expect has been proposed that these institutions imple- somehow find a way to feed her family and keep and larger medical conditions that could require more of children from higher-class backgrounds” ment free clinics for students and their families who them warm through the night. Survival, not home- prescriptions for which low-income families may (McNamee and Miller 104). These presumptions ei- cannot afford health insurance and programs that work, is going to be her first priority. not be able to pay. ther build up the student’s confidence, or deteriorate provide them with food. Lastly, separate educational A factor even more out of the individual’s Financial difficulties also have an effect on it, affecting their performance academically. Fur- institutions for lower-class students have been sug- control is genetics. In Rothstein’s book he writes where the children grow up, which further adds to thermore, Azua Echevarria, a working poor mother gested. For instance, “The Education Trust lists what that, “this has been confirmed by ‘adoption studies,’ the academic gap. In an interview, Dr. Yvette Jackson says the most difficult aspect of being low-income it calls ‘high-flying’ schools: 1,320 schools, at least in which children brought up in different socioeco- reports that she used to work in a dangerous part of is, “perception. I would have to say that people think half of whose students were both poor and minority, nomic environments from their biological parents Chicago. She found that for every homicide in that that financial difficulties look a certain way”(Eche- and whose test scores in math or reading were in are more similar in their academic achievement neighborhood, a student lost a week of learning. In varria). Educators have unfortunately been shown the top third of their states.” These ratings, howev- to their biological parents than to their adoptive that particular location there was at least one mur- to subconsciously play into this stereotype. One er, were only in one grade and on one topic, which parents” (Rothstein 17). Right away people from der a month, which lead to about two months worth example is recounted in Sue Books’ book Poverty is less than impressive (Rothstein 75). Segregating low-income backgrounds, even if they moved to of education to be erased during the school year and Schooling in the U.S.: Contexts and Consequenc- students based on class would be unbeneficial. Roth- a higher class, have less of a chance for academic (Jackson). Parents will also move to a different town es. She tells the story of a girl named Heather whose stein reports that, “a striking finding of the Coleman success than ones born into higher-income families, to protect their kids from this violence. Rothstein shirt was too small and shoes too big. Heather report was that who sits next to whom does matter. because of their genetics. writes, “a 1994 government report found that 30% would also steal food from the cafeteria every Friday Ambitions are contagious; if children sit next to Adding to this initial setback, other factors of the poorest children (those from families with because she could not get free lunch from school on others from higher social classes, their ambitions regarding how the students are raised contribute annual incomes of less than $10,000) had attended the weekends and would be hungry. Therefore, her grow”(Rothstein 130). All of these proposals have to their scholarly performance. Studies show that at least three different schools by third grade, while teacher thought there was a problem with her and been applied to some degree across the nation. The parents who are from a higher class surround their only 10% of middle-class children (from families sent her to get special help during the math lessons. gap, however, has yet to narrow. In addition, the children with more books, are more open to under- with annual income of over $25,000) did so” (Roth- The teacher was not helping, but instead making her main problem with all of these solutions is the re- standing why they do something wrong when pun- stein 46). Moving to a new neighborhood interrupts even more behind in math (Books 110-111). The sources it would take in order to make them a real- ishing them, speak more words on average to them, the student’s studies, both by having to deal with the ignorance of educators is one of the many obstacles ity, one of the most important being transportation. and are more likely to ask critical thinking questions stress of making new friends and by breaking up low-income students face. Even with all of these Poor people are less likely to own cars, and therefore
14 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 15 Symposium The First Step: Poverty 101
cannot get to the programs without assistance. Bus who focuses on this topic, emphasizes in her book, to Poverty 101 and some of the discussion points will also ask questions such as the following: What systems also cost more money than many individu- Pedagogy of Confidence: Inspiring High Intellectual have been altered in order to make the topic more is poverty? What does it feel like? How would being als can afford and do not always stop at convenient Performance in Urban Schools, that educators need broad and applicable to poverty in general. impoverished affect your everyday life? How many locations. Therefore, the program would need to to find out what the individual’s specific culture and In the program, each participant is given of you were able to get enough nutritious food for provide transportation, and other costly recourses, interests are in order to encourage those and in the an envelope with various items. One component your family? How did the activity make you feel? Do to the students involved. They would also have to process build up the areas where the person lacks is an information card. For example, a person gets people really experience poverty like you did? What be implemented in every school across the nation ability, while having them acquire critical thinking a card with the name Maria Alveraz. Under their elements are missing? The leader will give real life because poverty “exists in every county in America” skills. This technique would then better prepare new name they read the description: ‘You are a examples of destitution as well, similar to the ones (“Feeding America”). Furthermore, each of these them for college and beyond, rather than focusing 45-year-old widow. You are now a single mother shared above. Every high school student should be possible answers would not be a full resolution on on their negative aspects and attempting to improve of two. You are also an immigrant from Columbia required to participate in this simulation in order their own. All together they may be, but individu- upon them (Jackson). Schools in low-income areas, and do not speak English well. You currently earn to graduate. If every person becomes aware of what ally they each address only a specific hardship that however, have a harder time retaining their skilled $1,300 a month from a waitressing job, with $80 life is like living in penury, then people will be more people living in poverty have to overcome. teachers because they cannot afford to pay educators dollars taken out for taxes. You pay $185 a month inclined to break their overemphasized idea of Other solutions have been suggested con- as much as privileged institutions can. More money for daycare. Rent is $610 a month, with $70 a month independence and help others, taking the first step cerning the atmosphere that surrounds children in would therefore need to be spent in order to train for electricity and heat. You also pay $200 a month towards ending poverty. schools. As stated before, tracking, which groups these individuals to teach this way and keep them in for gas, and $35 a month for a cell phone. You have The version that teachers would be required students by academic ability from an early age, is the educational systems that need them. To enforce no health insurance’. Other hardships could include to participate in would be called Child Poverty 101. not beneficial because if the ones who do poorly this resolution, there was “a bill that demanded ev- health problems and unemployment. Using this This simulation would address obstacles that hinder are surrounded by ones that do well they are more ery school in the nation abolish social class differ- information, Maria fills out a budget form, finding children academically because of their low-income likely to succeed than if they are segregated. This ences in achievement within 12 years. It was enacted that she only has $4 to collect from the bank for that situations, such as undiagnosed Attention Deficit process, however, is an important part of the edu- as the ‘No Child Left Behind’ law” (Rothstein 21). day’s food for the family. Also in her envelope is a Disorder, educator’s bias because of the student cational system, having the purpose of benefiting It created a Band-Aid over the problem instead of card that tells her what help she is eligible for, such appearing to be poor, vision problems, homicides in the students who do thrive academically and can- addressing its core issue: the ignorance of the upper as welfare from the Department of Social Services. their neighborhood, the inability to do homework, not easily be eliminated. People have also recom- classes. Slips of paper are included as well, which show her and dyslexia. The simulation would take place in a mended classes for low-income parents that focus Even though all of these suggestions have what is already in her refrigerator. She then contin- classroom setting, with the leader of the program on how to raise their children in the best possible the potential to eventually help end poverty, at this ues on to the Department of Social Services to fill as the teacher. It would be taught over an hour-long way, but it is likely that the parents will not have point they are not resolutions. Only discontinuing out the 31-page application for help, in a language period, with half of the time dedicated to learning time to take the course, be able to get to it, or pay ignorance is a plausible first step. The Atlanta Com- she does not understand. Lastly, she goes to the food basic math, and the second, basic history. Each for it. Furthermore, people have suggested tests that munity Food Bank had this idea as well when they pantry and grocery store to try and make the $4 person in the class would get an envelope that has assess non-cognitive abilities, such as interpersonal created Hunger 101. “The Hunger 101 Curriculum enough for the three of them that day. Through this various items in it depending on their particular sit- and communication skills, which are arguably just materials were developed in the early 90s with the exercise, the participants learn what it is like to live uations. The student would receive a hat if they had as, if not more important, than cognitive abilities, help of Emory University’s School of Public Health day-by-day with low-income and they experience undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder, and there- such as memory and hand-eye coordination. The and recently updated with the help of Georgia State how difficult and stressful it really is. fore would periodically be yelled at by the instructor problem with this answer is that non-cognitive skills University’s School of Social Work” (“Hunger 101”). A discussion then follows the activity. The for being disruptive and sent out of the room for five are a lot harder to evaluate and standardize than The program creates a simulation of the various leader of the program will explore each station, ask- minutes. Another item that could be in the envelope cognitive ones. Lastly, changing the way teachers hardships that low-income people must overcome. ing where the food pantry is in their area, and what would be a collar to represent the student looking teach is also a proposed solution. Dr. Yvette Jackson, In this article, however, the name has been changed the Department of Social Services does. The guide as if they were poor, because of which, they would
16 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 17 Symposium The First Step: Poverty 101
always raise their hand to answer questions, but need to be able to answer any questions about pov- the teacher would never call on them. They could erty that may arise, as well as direct the simulations Featherstone, Liza. “Out of Reach: Is College Only for the Rich?” Nation 10 June 2009: 12-14. The Nation. Web. also acquire glasses that make it hard for them to accurately. They will be able to become accredited 28 Nov. 2012.
receive earplugs, which simulate experiencing a lations are supposed to look like, all the facts they “Feeding America.” Feeding America. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 homicide in their neighborhood, where they would will need to answer any questions, and the printable Nov. 2012.
A discussion then follows where the director Child Poverty 101. Most importantly, no money “Old and Hungry.” Food First Curriculum (2000): n. pag. asks the following questions: What did it feel like to would be required of the people participating or Rpt. in Experiencing Hunger. N.p.: n.p., 1984. Capital be in this situation? How did these hardships affect leading the activity. All that is needed is time and Area Food Bank. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. you academically? What other factors influence the space, such as a community building, or school. “Poverty.” Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. children’s performance in school? Do you feel like Therefore, the Poverty 101 and Child Poverty 101
from low-income households and how it affects Echevarria, Azua. Personal interview. 20 Nov. 2012. them academically so they can cater to their pupils’ needs and therefore begin to shorten the educational Ehrenreich, Barbara. “Nickel-and-Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America.” Harper’s Magazine 1999: 37- gap in schools. 52. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. In order to carry out this program effectively,
18 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 19 Symposium The Use of Music During Exercise: Is it the Next Legal Performance Enhancer?
that it helps to regulate arousal. Arousal can be was able to increase performance. Subjects of this The Use of Music During Exercise: Is it the defined as “the amount of mental and physical re- test cycled 10 kilometers, either while listening to sources invested in a response” (Bishop). One’s level music or while listening to nothing at all. He found Next Legal Performance Enhancer? of arousal can dictate the level of skill execution that the music elicited higher heart rates and in- Abigail Lind because it alters one’s mindset. If an athlete is overly creased speed and power output. This indicated that Class of 2013 Exercise Science, B.S. excited for a game, for example, he may suffer from the heightened arousal, as prompted by the music, impaired performance because he is too worked up. helped subjects perform more efficiently (Harmon Music is everywhere around us, especially in the realm of exercise. If you look around a gym, the vast majority On the contrary, an athlete who is not motivated and Kravitz). Hall and Erickson looked at the effect of people have headphones in. But why is this? Is it for the pure enjoyment of music? Does it serve as a distrac- enough will not perform as well because he lacks of a popular motivational song on a 60-meter sprint. tion from exercise? Or does it amplify performance? This paper examines the effects of music on various com- the proper intention; because he does not care, his Participants listening to the music beforehand ponents of exercise and offers suggestions on how to maximize performance simply by selecting the right music. performance will more than likely suffer. Fortunate- showed higher heart rates, increased respiration, Almost anybody who works out listens to first that impacts performance is the moderation of ly, these levels can be altered rather easily by the use and most importantly, faster times of completion, all music, but why is this? Is it because it helps one levels of arousal (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .An of music. Olympic mid-distance runner Dame Kelly of which are clear signs of amplified arousal. Studies work more efficiently? Is it because it makes work- Update”). In other words, the right music has the Holmes routinely listened to Alicia Keys ballads be- have also been shown that stimulating music may outs more fun? Or is it because people genuinely ability to either stimulate or sedate a person, alter- fore an event to calm down her nerves. She figured have implications during sprint exercises on a bike. enjoy music? All of these are valid reasons as to why ing mindset and thus performance (Bishop). Next, out what worked for her, and listened to the songs Yamamoto completed an experiment in which sub- music is so prevalent in the athletic world, and the synchronization implies that the rhythmical com- religiously before each race. Generally, faster tempo jects listened to music, either excitable or relaxing, science behind it backs up this idea. Anyone who ponent of music and the innate rhythm of the body songs elicit higher levels of arousal, whereas lower for 20 minutes before completing the sprint. Those has ever been an athlete can also admit to using synergize, resulting in improved athletic capacity tempo songs can help calm nerves and in turn lower listening to stimulatory music had increased heart music in some way before, after, or during perfor- (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .Part I”). Furthermore, levels of arousal (Bishop). A common measure of rates prior to the test, as well as improved perfor- mance to change his or her state of mind. Whether enhancement of motor skills is the idea that mu- arousal is that of heart rate: increases in heart rate mance capacity during the test. This suggests that it was used as a way to “psych up” before an im- sic can activate areas of the brain similar to those are associated with higher levels of stimulation, athletes can listen to stimulative music as a way to portant game, to calm nerves before a big moment, used during the performance of specific skills, thus while a lower heart rate is indicative of relaxation prepare the body before engaging in high-intensity or simply while training at the gym, the reality of warming up neural pathways and improving the (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .Part II”). exercise. Finally, a study by Szmedra and Bacharach the situation is that music is everywhere. As will be task at hand. Similarly, the attainment of flow, the Numerous studies have been conducted looked at the effect of relaxing music, as opposed demonstrated throughout this paper, it is clear that next influence, is based on the idea that music helps that prove that arousal is indeed affected by mu- to stimulative music, while running at a moderate music has the distinct ability to improve particular athletes to “get in the zone,” better focus their at- sic. An experiment by Karageorghis and Drew, for pace. Participants listening to this kind of music aspects of performance. Additionally, songs that tention, and facilitate performance. Finally, the last example, compared the effect of stimulative music yielded lower heart rates and blood pressure. This exhibit certain characteristics may help to further factor, dissociation, refers to music’s ability to inter- versus sedative music on grip strength. They found suggests that music helps to relax the muscles and enhance performance efficiency. fere with the physiological and attentional aspects of that the excitable music yielded higher measures of produce less tension, resulting in increased efficien- Through vast research in recent years, five exercise; by serving as a distraction, it helps divert strength, whereas relaxing music caused subjects cy of the body despite working just as hard as those distinct areas have been identified to impact perfor- feelings of fatigue (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .An to display scores not only lower than the excitable who were not listening to music (Karageorghis and mance in the exercise and athletic world, including Update”). Much research has been done to support music, but also lower than the white noise control Priest, “ . . .Part I”). moderation of levels of arousal, synchronization, these concepts, therefore strengthening the relation- condition. This demonstrated that the nature of a Music also has the ability to increase per- enhancement of motor skills, attainment of flow, ship between music and performance. song can directly affect one’s force output (“Effects of formance by means of synchronization. Repetitive and dissociation. As previously mentioned, the The first claimed benefit of music is the idea Pretest Stimulative”). Similarly, a study by Atkinson exercises such as rowing, cycling, and running are et al. concluded that music with a stimulatory effect all performed better when the body settles into a
20 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 21 Symposium The Use of Music During Exercise: Is it the Next Legal Performance Enhancer?
rhythm; this can be facilitated by the use of music to music out of time with the pace of the bike (Kara- advance progress of patients with motor skill disor- are temporary effects on muscles after listening to with a prominent beat and specific tempo (Kara- georghis and Priest, “ . . .An Update”). An experi- ders. Schauer and Maritz, for example, found that enjoyable music, as well as stimulation of the corti- georghis and Priest, “ . . .An Update”). Exactly why ment by Waterhouse, Hudson, and Edwards took stroke patients suffering from impairments with mo- co-spinal reflex, which controls motor neurons in the body matches itself with the rhythm of music is a different approach. In this study, the same song tor skills, such as abnormal walking patterns, were the spinal cord. This implies that sports involving not clearly known; there are, however, many hy- was played during a 25 minute cycle test at three able to improve their stride more while listening to explosive actions, such as swimming, can be en- potheses. The first is known as timeform. Developed different speeds: the normal tempo, a 10% acceler- music. They showed greater improvements in step hanced by listening to music immediately before an by Ron Campbell, the theory claims that just one ated tempo, and a 10% decelerated tempo. As the length, pace and overall functioning. This success event because of the lasting increased stimulation of rhythm command to the brain, generated by the tempo of the music increased, participants pedaled was attributed to the idea that music helped stimu- the muscles from music (Bishop). sound of music, can initiate a continuous repeat- further, faster, and even claimed that the activity late the motor, cognitive, and perceptive pathways Helping to attain flow is another way in ing pattern that lasts without having to consciously was more enjoyable. Interestingly, despite not being involved during walking (Harmon and Kravitz). which music can improve performance. During this think about it (Campbell 127). Another theory is told to pedal in time with the beat, all of the subjects This shows the potential for application in the realm music-induced state, movements become com- that music serves as a neural pacemaker within the naturally pedaled at the same cadence of the music of rehabilitation sciences, suggesting that music may pletely automated; the body becomes so involved in brain. Similarly, the last hypothesis (and the most at hand, evidence that the body unconsciously syncs be a useful tool used to expedite the healing of the the task at hand that it is able to function without widely accepted) is the idea that music activates with the beat. Finally, another study demonstrated body. consciously thinking about it (Karageorghis and certain areas of the brain that help to initiate move- the potential implications of music in setting a pace Music’s proposed ability to enhance motor Priest, “ . . .An Update”). Greg Louganis for exam- ment. Neural structures associated with these areas without its presence. Music was played either in the skills goes hand in hand with synchronization, in ple, an Olympic diver, reported using specific songs fire when induced by rhythm (Karageorghis and first 5 kilometers or the second 5 kilometers of a that it is based on the notion that its rhythms can with beats that helped him visualize his dives. This Priest, “ . . .Part II”), resulting in psychophysiolog- 10k cycle test; those participants who listened to the help generate movement patterns (Karageorghis and association not only increased his mood and regu- ical changes in the body (Karageorghis and Priest, music in the first half of the race were able to antic- Priest, “ . . .An Update”). The beat helps to stimulate lated his arousal, but also created a better “emotional “ . . .Part I”). The premise behind this hypothesis is ipate and carry over the pace they originally set to motor effectors in the motor cortex, thereby result- flow” (Mesagno, Marchant, and Morris). Similarly, that music helps to regulate movement and to make the second half of the race. This suggests that music ing in improved locomotion (Harmon and Kravitz). in a study among netball players, athletes not only it more automatic, especially throughout endur- can have a transient effect on pacing. It is important Incoming afferent signals coordinate with outgo- showed improved accuracy, but also reported in- ance-based activities. When locomotion patterns are to note the difference between tempos within a song ing signals to sync rhythm and movement (Kara- creased flow upon listening to music of their choice. more engrained in the mind, individuals no longer versus pure rhythmical sounds. A study that exam- georghis and Priest, “ . . .Part I”). Music can also By prompting the right emotions for the task at have to think as much about trying maintaining a ined this variance looked at times until the onset of heighten movement and skill performance due to hand, the music helped the athletes “get in the zone” pace (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .An Update”), fatigue while holding a weight in front of the body its ability to elicit pleasure; when someone is enjoy- (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .An Update”). resulting in increased neuromuscular efficiency. The and found that those listening to music displayed ing a task, they are more likely to learn it better and Music’s final ability is called dissociation. muscles are more relaxed throughout the duration increased times, as opposed to those listening to a perform it more effectively. Additionally, songs with This term is based on the idea that the brain can of the activity because the brain is able to anticipate pure drumbeat. This implies that even though the strong motivational lyrics, such as Eminem’s “Lose switch its attention from one task to another, allow- the next movement. Thus, the body is able to use less rhythmical component of music is very important, It,” help to increase arousal and thus improve upon ing different aspects of the task to be emphasized energy for the same movement task (Karageorghis it does not have the same effect by itself. It is the motor patterns (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .An (Ives). During low to moderate exercise in particu- and Priest, “ . . . Part I”). whole package of the music, in combination with Update”). Studies on reaction time demonstrate this lar, music provides just enough of a stimulus to shift Direct evidence of the power of synchroni- its unique rhythm, which activates the parts of concept. Improved times after listening to stimulat- attention. Incoming signals that would have origi- zation was found in a study by Bacon, Myers, and the brain involved in movement and performance ing music suggests that the pleasure derived from nally indicated fatigue are instead overridden by the Karageorghis: subjects who biked with music that (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .Part I”). the music helped to increase activation of the brain music, which then allows one to experience plea- synced to the cadence of the cycling used 7% less The implications for this factor are vast; and improve performance. Similarly, an electromy- sure. It is important to note that this ability of music oxygen to complete the test than those who listened they can even be translated to a clinical setting to ography showing bicep activity reveals that there does not apply to higher intensity workouts. This
22 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 23 Symposium The Use of Music During Exercise: Is it the Next Legal Performance Enhancer?
is because music is no longer enough of a stimulus knowing it (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .Part I”). the second half, music was added. Three personal suggested target heart rate for this task. Likewise, to overtake the overwhelming sensations of fatigue “Choking” during high pressure situations accounts stood out to researchers: Participant “A,” during moderate intensity exercise, the beat should that occur during this type of exercise. Despite the is another prime example of the dissociation effect for example, noted putting forth more effort when remain around 125-140 bpm. Although this is not fact that music cannot improve performance at such at work. Oftentimes, when athletes face a stressful she was shooting under the pressure, which she then necessarily in line with the typical heart rate found high levels, it has been reported to still have the challenge, such as penalty shots, they crack under attributed to her choking. Then, with the addition during higher intensities, studies have found that ability to make the activity more pleasurable, regard- the stress. This can be attributed to two main the- of music, she claimed that it served as a “good” anything over 140 bpm is no longer preferred (Kara- less of the intensity (Karageorghis and Priest, “An ories: the Distraction Model and the Self-Focus distraction, helping her to block out the audience. georghis and Priest, “ . . .Part I”). Finally, during cool Update”). Model. The former states that when one’s arousal Participant “B” reported that the music allowed her down, tempos should go down to 60-70 bpm, which The telltale sign of dissociation during ex- levels are increased as they are during times of high to isolate herself and the basket from the audience; is equivalent to resting heart rate (Karageorghis and ercise is exemplified in the form of Borg’s Rating of pressure, attention moves from relevant cues to ir- she was able to concentrate on the music rather than Priest, “ . . .Part II”). Figure 1 demonstrates the rela- Perceived Exertion (RPE). This scale, ranging from relevant ones. The athlete no longer pays attention to the people that were watching. Finally, Participant tionship between heart rate and the preferred speed 6-20, serves as a way for participants to indicate how the right things and therefore performance suffers. “C” stated that music helped her to get into a rou- of music. It can be seen, as stated, that tempo does hard they feel they are working. It is meant to corre- The latter theory attributes choking to increased tine while taking the free throws. She eventually did not quite increase linearly with heart rate, peaking spond to exercise intensity, with each level correlat- anxiety and self-awareness, causing one to con- not even have to think about her technique despite at about 140 bpm (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .Part ing to an estimated heart rate (intensity and heart sciously go through the motions in their head. This the pressure; it became automatic. In the end, the I”). rate are linearly related). A score of 6, for example, overthinking and increased effort often put forth athletes’ free throw percentages increased an average equates to a heart rate of about 60 beats per minute to compensate for the pressure ultimately results of 19.4% with the addition of music. Researchers at- (bpm) and is considered an extremely light work- in decreased execution of the skill. This can also be tributed this to music’s ability to embody the idea of load. A score of 18, on the other hand, would be the linked to the Skill Acquisition Theory, which states dissociation: by distracting the athletes (by causing equivalent of 180 bpm and would indicate a very that during high levels of performance, motor skills them to focus on the lyrics), the music prevented intense stage of a workout. This being said, many should be almost automatic because at this point them from focusing too much on themselves and studies have found lower RPE’s among individuals they are known beyond working memory. For this their actions. Instead, it allowed the movements to despite performing more work. For instance, an reason, when one places too much attention on spe- be automated despite the added stress, and perfor- experiment conducted by Potteiger, Schroeder, and cific details during high-pressure tasks, it will only mance issues were resolved (131-147). Goff evaluated the effects of self-selected, classical, result in detrimental performance. Clearly, music has an impact on perfor- and jazz music while cycling at a low intensity. All Music is a solution to this problem, since it mance. How much of an effect it can have, however, of the subjects who listened to any kind of music can divert one’s attention. By concentrating on the is dependent on the song choice. Specifically, there reported lower RPE’s, proving that music was a good lyrics instead of the motor skill, the brain is able to are four elements to consider when choosing the distraction during exercise (848-854). Another study self-organize and perform the action as it would appropriate song for a workout: rhythmic response, by Elliot et al. found that both motivational and normally. This was demonstrated in an experiment melodies and harmonies, socio-cultural factors, and Figure 1: Relationship between heart rate and the pre- oudeterous (music that is neither motivational nor lead by Mesagno, Marchant, and Morris. After association factors. Rhythmic response goes along ferred speed of music relaxing) music caused participants to cycle further classifying athletes, they chose to look at several with the idea of synchronization: a song’s tempo with no increase in RPE. This implied a distracting girls of a relatively high skill level who were flagged should match the desired intensity, or heart rate, Similarly, a song should contain a melody effect of music for the cyclists because they were not specifically as “likely to choke” when shooting a free of the exercise being performed (Karageorghis, “ . or harmony that is pleasing and causes a change in aware that they were working harder, despite going a throw. Participants had a total of 60 free throws to . .Theory and Practice”). It has been recommend- mood or arousal (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .An longer distance. Furthermore, this demonstrates that perform in front of an audience. During the first ed, for example, that a tempo of about 120 bpm Update”). Increased arousal, as was noted earli- music can motivate individuals without them even half, they shot as they normally would, but during is appropriate while warming up, since this is the er, typically results in better performance during
24 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 25 Symposium The Use of Music During Exercise: Is it the Next Legal Performance Enhancer?
activities. Interestingly, women tend to rate melody Workout Title Artist(s) Tempo, prove its benefits, there are also many that contra- who is extraverted, for example, is more likely to as more important in their song selection, where- Component in bpm dict these exact findings. An experiment headed by demonstrate improved performance than an intro- as men rate music that has some connection with Mental “Umbrella” Rihanna Ft. 89 Dyrlund and Wininger, for example, found no effect vert would (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . . .Part II”). preparation Jay Zee sports as more motivating (Crust). Socio-cultural on RPE, arousal, or pleasure levels while listening While it is clear that more research has to been done Warm-up “Gettin’ Jiggy Will Smith 108 and association factors, which are closely related, activity With It” to self-preferred versus non-preferred music during in this subject area, it is at the same time apparent suggest that one should choose a song that elic- Stretching “Lifted” The Light- 98 various intensities of treadmill activity. Another that music indeed has some impact on performance. its strong memories of success, whether it is from house Family study by Doiron, Lehnhard, Butterfield, and White- Despite these results, an overarching theme personal experience, remembrance from a mov- Strength “Funky Cold Tone Loc 118 sides tested the effect of music on muscle endurance can be noted throughout the majority of these stud- component Medina” ie, or through the imagery that it provokes. The Endurance “Rockafeller Fatboy Slim 153 by measuring how many repetitions subjects could ies: music has a definitive effect on low to moderate theme songs from Rocky and Chariots of Fire, for component Skank (Funk perform in a given period of time. Loud, upbeat intensity aerobic activities. Aerobic exercises are example, are used to denote amazing feats in these Soul Brother)” music, which supposedly has a stimulatory effect, workouts that can be continued for longer periods sports-related movies; upon hearing them, one Warm-down “Whatta Man” Salt-n-Pepa 88 yielded no results in this experiment (Karageorghis of time and thus include activities like running, activity may be brought back to the movie and believe that and Priest, “ . . .Part I”). A study by Copeland and swimming, and cycling. Even if it may not help to Figure 2: Sample playlist for a workout they too can perform these great accomplishments. Franks had subjects run on a treadmill until the alter one’s physiological capabilities, music does help Additionally, the lyrics of a song are also crucial to point of exhaustion. The amount of time that par- by increasing arousal and the workload that can be to the beat of one’s running. It dictated when one selection. They should contain words or phrases that ticipants could run before the onset of fatigue did completed, as well as by decreasing the sensations needed to run faster to keep up with the pace, and can be associated with exercise, such as “Work that not differ among either music group, nor did heart of fatigue associated with these types of exercise. even changed the music to more “intense” songs body!” and “Gonna make you sweat.” These types rates, showing that music cannot be used as a means Music is an effective ergogenic aid that can be easily when the tempo of running increased. Surprisingly, of songs serve as prominent motivation factors that to increase maximal performance (Harmon and implemented by anyone who exercises. It is evident this device did not gain much popularity. This was can ultimately drive performance (Karageorghis, Kravitz). Finally, another study observed the effects that music plays a vital role in the realm of exercise attributed to the fact that the music it played was not “ . . .Theory and Practice”). A sample playlist for a of music on reaction time by comparing helmet use (Brooks and Brooks). well known and therefore was not well liked by us- workout is pictured in Figure 2. Each component during skiing. There was no difference when the ath- ers, who claimed it was hard to be motivated by un- of the workout has its own unique song, with an lete listened to music compared to when they skied familiar songs (van der Vlist, Bartneck, and Mäuel- appropriate tempo to correspond to physiological in silence (Kopp et al.). er). A similar concept that exemplifies Nike’s idea Works Cited functioning and intensity (Karageorghis and Priest, General inconclusiveness of these studies has has been applied to marathons around the world. “ . . .An Update”). been attributed to many different factors. For one, Bishop, Daniel. “’Boom Boom How’: Optimising Perfor- Called “Run to the Beat,” these half-marathons sys- mance With Music.” Sport & Exercise Psychology Review A device by Nike inspired an interesting it is hard to standardize all aspects of these exper- tematically play songs throughout the race, each of 6.1 (2010): 35-47. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 31 application of this theory. This invention, termed iments. Even though researchers attempt to make Mar. 2013. which are carefully selected and contain the proper MoBeat, was designed to make exercise more en- experiments as realistic as possible, as scientists they motivational, arousing, and pleasurable compo- Brooks, Kelly, and Kristal Brooks. “Enhancing Sports joyable and to get people up and moving. Its entire are forced to control certain variables in order to Performance Through The Use Of Music.”Journal Of Ex- nents. This unique feature creates a fun atmosphere basis was in the idea that aerobic exercise involves obtain data and information. For this reason, it is ercise Physiology Online 13.2 (2010): 52-57. SPORTDiscus that is more enjoyable for all race participants (Kara- with Full Text. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. repetitive, rhythmic, and prolonged movements; unlikely that music will ever have a consistent effect georghis and Priest, “ . . .An Update”). by providing feedback during these workouts, the on sports performance, since sports are anything but Campbell, Don. Music: Physician for Times to Come. At this point, it seems as if music is an infal- creators hoped to encourage exercisers to prolong controlled. It is also hard to quantify mood, a seem- Wheaton: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1991. lible way to enhance performance. Unfortunately, 127. eBook. their workout. Because certain Nike sneakers con- ingly qualitative factor (Karageorghis and Priest, “ . as often occurs with most scientific data, this is not tain a chip that can be linked to an MP3 player, this . .Part I”). Finally, one’s personality type may affect Crust, Lee. “Perceived Importance Of Components Of the case. Just as there have been many studies that Asynchronous Music During Circuit Training.” Journal application was able to adapt the music being played how one reacts to a musical stimulus. Someone
26 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 27 Symposium Music and Movement: Music’s Ability to Allow Parkinson’s Patients Freedom of Movement
Of Sports Sciences 26.14 (2008): 1547-1555. Academic with Full Text. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. Search Premier. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. Music and Movement: Music’s Ability to Allow Harmon, Nicole, and Len Kravitz. “The Effects of Music van der Vlist, Bram, Christoph Bartneck, and Sebastian on Exercise.” N.p.. Web. 31 Mar 2013.
Karageorghis, Costas I., and David-Lee Priest. “Music In appreciate the gift of movement. In its most severe cure for Parkinson’s disease, but some medications Sport And Exercise: An Update on Research and Appli- stages, Parkinson’s can deprive patients of virtually have shown to be effective in relieving symptoms cation.” Sport Journal 11.3 (2008): CINAHL. Web. 31 Mar. all ability to initiate movement, leaving them frozen and possibly slowing the progression of the dis- 2013. for hours at a time. Thankfully, there are certain ease (13). There has also been increased interest in Kopp, M. et al. “Does Listening To Music With An stimuli that can animate these motionless patients, exploring various surgical options to mitigate the Audio Ski Helmet Impair Reaction Time To Peripheral if only briefly. There is increasing evidence that the effects of symptoms (197). However, simple music is Stimuli?.” International Journal Of Sports Medicine 33.12 (2012): 1016-1019. Academic Search Premier. Web. 31 most potent catalyst for movement in patients with known to produce astoundingly drastic and imme- Mar. 2013. Parkinson’s disease is a mysterious force that moves diate relief of symptoms for those with Parkinson’s Mesagno, Christopher, Daryl Marchant, and Tony Mor- us all: music. disease. ris. “Alleviating Choking: The Sounds Of Distraction.” Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative, neu- The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are Journal Of Applied Sport Psychology 21.2 (2009): 131-147. rological condition that primarily affects a person’s caused by a degeneration of neurons in a region Music Index. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. motor control. The characteristic symptoms can be of the brain known as the substantia nigra, which Potteiger, J.A., J.M. Schroeder, and K.L. Goff. “Influence represented with the acronym TRAP: T for tremor, is shown in Figure 1. The substantia nigra is part Of Music On Ratings Of Perceived Exertion During 20 Minutes Of Moderate Intensity Exercise.” Perceptual & R for rigidity, A for akinesia (loss of fluid voluntary of the basal ganglia circuit, which controls motor Motor Skills 91.3 Part 1 (2000): 848-854. SPORTDiscus
28 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 29 Symposium Music and Movement: Music’s Ability to Allow Parkinson’s Patients Freedom of Movement
activity. Normally, when someone wants to make a replacement of dopamine alone cannot restore the move freely. She said, “It was like suddenly remem- mance of daily activities, such as cutting food and movement, motion-planning areas in the premotor proper neurochemical balance (8). bering myself, my own living tune.” However, once dressing (389). The group receiving music therapy cortex and supplementary motor areas send signals Considering the intricate chemical processes her internal music stopped, she would once again also demonstrated improved emotional well-be- to the primary motor cortex (Brown and Parsons behind the symptoms of Parkinson’s, it is especially fall into parkinsonism (Sacks 253). ing and improvement in quality of life (390). The 80). From there, signals are looped between the astounding that a force as simple and pure as mu- One of the most incredible stories Sacks tells group receiving physical therapy did not show these basal ganglia, thalamus, and cerebral cortex for sic can somehow override these disrupted systems is about one patient named Ed M. The movements changes, but did show reduced rigidity (391). The modification before they are sent to the muscles and allow people the freedom of movement again. on the right side of his body were too fast, but the authors suggest that these differences may be be- (Weiner, Shulman, and Lang 133). As the move- Oliver Sacks was one of the pioneers in treating peo- movements on the left side of his body were too cause music therapy, which involves playing instru- ment is executed, the muscles send signals back to ple with Parkinson’s disease and offers some of the slow. Any treatment that improved one side made ments and improvising in group settings, is more the cerebellum and basal ganglia to update instruc- earliest miraculous stories of people with parkinson- the other side worse. But when he played the organ, emotionally motivating and has a higher degree of tions for fine-tuned movement (Brown and Parsons ism. Patients with parkinsonism exhibit the same the music brought the two sides of his body into personal interaction than physical therapy. Mood 80). A simplified schematic of this process is shown symptoms as those with Parkinson’s disease, but unison and synchrony (Sacks 254). and social relationships are important aspects of in Figure 2. the disruption to their neural processes are due to These compelling anecdotes were soon emotional well-being and quality of life (391). Once this process is illustrated, it is easy another cause, such as encephalitis. Sacks describes followed with research studies showing the benefits So why does music induce these seemingly to see how miraculous movement is. The delicate one of his patients, Frances D.: “One minute I would of music in the relief of symptoms of Parkinson’s amazing feats? One of the prevailing theories is that communication between these different areas is see her compressed, clenched, and blocked, or else disease. A study done by Gunther Bernatzky et al music is able to instigate motor activity through dependent on messenger chemicals known as neu- jerking, ticcing, and jabbering – like a sort of human investigated the effects of music on motor coordi- other circuitry in the brain. Daniel Levitin, a promi- rotransmitters. Dopamine is especially important time bomb. The next minute, if we played music for nation in Parkinson’s patients. They were able to nent cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist, says, in this circuit. The neurons in the substantia nigra her, all of these explosive-obstructive phenomena demonstrate that specific stimulating music im- “The deeper we look inside the brain, the more we are largely responsible for producing dopamine. As would disappear, replaced by a blissful ease and flow proved the precision of arm and finger movements, find redundant pathway, latent circuits, and con- these neurons die, the levels of dopamine decrease of movement as Mrs. D., suddenly freed of her au- at least in the short-term. Performance was mea- nections among systems that we weren’t aware of and the circuit is disrupted (Weiner, Shulman, and tomatisms, would smilingly ‘conduct’ the music, or sured with the “Vienna Test System” and patients before” (185). Moroz et al discuss the exploitation of Lang 135). The central mechanism that controls rise and dance to it” (252). Once the music stopped, showed improvement in the subtests “aiming” and alternative circuits in their review of recent research muscle tone is altered, which may result in rigidity. so too did Mrs. D’s freedom of movement. “line tracking” after listening to music. Specifical- studies. Studies have shown that one of the prob- Tremors occur when the muscles rapidly tighten and Sacks claims that the best kind of music ly, aiming error time was significantly reduced, as lems in the motor circuitry in Parkinson’s disease in untighten. The decreased communication between for relieving the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease shown in Figure 3 (Bernatzky et al). is that there is decreased feedback from sensory or- the brain and the muscles due to the loss of dopa- is legato (long and smooth notes) with a well-de- In another randomized, controlled, sin- gans in the body that normally helps give the brain mine can also cause slow or jerky movement (Wein- fined, but not overly-dominating, rhythm (252). It gle-blinded study, Pacchetti et al compared the spatial information in order to refine commands. A er, Shulman, and Lang 9). seems that structured but flowing music is ideal for effects of active music therapy vs. traditional phys- series of studies have had some success in provid- Many treatments for Parkinson’s disease producing controlled, smooth movement. It is also ical therapy on patients with Parkinson’s disease. ing this feedback information through alternative focus on replacing the lowered dopamine, which generally more effective if the music is familiar and Results indicated that over a period of three months visual and auditory cues. Visual cues included floor is reasonable because that is the primary cause of liked by the patient because it restores the listener to of weekly music therapy sessions, patients showed stripes, timing lights, and mirrors, while auditory disruption of the circuit. However, as concentra- a particular groove (253). This may be exceptionally improvement in a measure of bradykinesia, or slow- cues included music and metronomes. Cues gener- tions of dopamine decline, so do the concentrations important for people with Parkinson’s, such as Sacks’ ness of movement (see Figure 4). This effect was not ally improved initiation of movement, gait velocity, of other neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and patient Edith T. Edith, a former music teacher, felt seen in a follow-up two months after the study was stride length, and cadence. It is hypothesized that norepinephrine (Weiner, Shulman, and Lang 7). “graceless” and “unmusicked” by parkinsonism. But completed (Pacchetti et al 388). Music therapy was auditory cues externally replace the damaged basal These changes occur throughout the brain and the even imagining music allowed her to dance and also shown to induce a positive effect on the perfor- ganglia’s internal “time-keeping” function, and that
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visual cues help control movement by using alterna- and Parsons 80-81). In other words, this region of rhythm and meter. Indeed, these researchers sug- survival purposes). When faced with a threat, such tive neural networks mediated through the cerebel- the cerebellum is involved in synchronization. gest that music, which activates emotion and memo- as a predator, fear triggers the oft-quoted “fight or lum, thereby working around the damaged basal The same experiment also revealed that ry centers in the brain, may help patients remember flight” response. Often times, these emotions lead ganglia circuitry (Moroz et al S43). a lower part of the auditory pathway, a subcorti- stored movement patterns in their long term memo- to important motor movements: see a lion, run. The cerebellum, which has been shown to cal structure called the medial geniculate nucleus ry (Gunther et al). Levitin notes that “we can run faster and far more respond to auditory cues, may indeed be the key to (MGN), was activated when synchronizing move- Music’s powerful ability to elicit emotion efficiently if we do so with a regular gait – we’re less the inexplicable tie between music and movement. ments with music but not when performing the may be an essential component that allows it to likely to stumble or lose our balance” (183). This is This connection is readily apparent. Humans natu- movements without music. This area was also not produce improved motor control even when it lacks why the cerebellum is so important for these surviv- rally start to tap their feet or bob their heads when stimulated when listening to music without doing regular rhythm. It has long been known that the al activities and why it pays for the cerebellum to be listening to music. In many cultures, dancing is an the tango steps. Therefore, it is not activated when cerebellum is involved in timing and coordination. connected to emotional centers. Action needs to be inseparable part of music and often involves percus- solely listening or solely moving, only when doing However, it has only recently been proposed, and carried out quickly, without the analysis of high- sive sounds that add to the music, as depicted by the the two in combination. This indicates that this even more recently supported, that the cerebellum er-level brain processing (Levitin 183). It is hypoth- dancers in Figure 5 (Brown and Parsons 82). lower section of the auditory pathway is devoted pri- is also involved in emotion (Levitin 175). This esized that the same neural circuits that translated Brown and Parsons conducted a series of marily to synchronization. This pathway serves as a surprised many people who thought emotion was emotional signals to motor responses for survival brain-imaging studies on dancers to see what parts direct projection of auditory signals to auditory and focused in brain regions such as the amygdala, and throughout evolutionary history can now be activat- of the brain were involved in music processing and timing circuits in the cerebellum, bypassing high- that the cerebellum was for timing and movement ed with music to bypass the standard motor circuit- the production of synchronized movement. They er-level auditory processing centers. This may offer and nothing else. Recent studies have shown that ry and produce movement. used a PET scanner to measure activity in subjects’ some explanation as to why unconscious foot-tap- the cerebellum is activated more when listening to While there is still much research needed to brains while they underwent tests involving music ping occurs so regularly when listening to music. music that is favored by the listener, which indicates determine how exactly music affects the brains of and movement, as seen in Figure 6. Their results Foot-tapping is not planned or thought about; it just an emotional aspect. One of the earliest proponents those with Parkinson’s disease to allow movement, high-lighted parts of the cerebellum as associated happens automatically (Brown and Parsons 81). for the connection between the cerebellum and the current body of research suggests that music with music and movement. The researchers had It has long been known that the cerebellum emotion was Harvard professor Jeremy Schmah- is able to activate alternative neural pathways. It dancers perform tango steps with music, and then (shown in Figure 7) is involved in coordination and mann, who found numerous connections between is well known that music lights up many different again without music. They compared brain scans timing, and is able to synchronize movement with the cerebellum and emotional centers of the brain regions of the brain and scientists that some of these from each test in the hopes of finding differences auditory signals. It seems only natural then, that (Levitin 175). It is common knowledge that music regions are able to work around the damaged basal between the two. Most of the activated regions were music can help produce smoother, more controlled produces emotional responses, such as happiness, ganglia motor circuit to produce movement. Exact- common to both scans, but there was a principal dif- movements. However, music does more than act excitement, chills, or even tears. It is possible that ly how this works is unclear, but it may be counted ference in the region of the cerebellum that receives as a “time-keeper” to activate the cerebellum. The when music stimulates the emotional areas in the as another of the mysterious and amazing powers of input from the spinal cord. Both conditions activat- study described above in which music was seen brain, it also kick starts the cerebellum and affects music. ed this area, but having the tango steps synchronized to improve arm and finger movement precision motor activity. Music is certainly no cure to Parkinson’s disease. It to music produced significantly more blood flow used music whose rhythms did not follow a regu- While traditionalist neuroscientists initial- cannot halt the degeneration of dopamine-produc- to the region, indicating that it was operating at a lar metrical pattern. This was done deliberately to ly resisted the connection between the cerebellum ing cells in the substantia nigra. However, it is clear higher level of activation. The authors state that this exclude adaptation to a consistent external acousti- and emotion, it does not take long to understand that music therapy can offer some relief of symp- finding lends some credence to the hypothesis that cal stimulus, such as a metronome (Gunther et al). the evolutionary advantages of having a strong toms related to motor control. It is shown to im- this part of the cerebellum “serves as a kind of con- Clearly, beneficial effects can take place that are not connection between the two. Perhaps the stron- prove a patient’s quality of life by increasing control ductor monitoring information across various brain the result of a restored “time-keeper.” This should gest emotions humans experience are love (which of their own body, as well as by improving social regions to assist in orchestrating actions” (Brown be unsurprising, because music is far more than just is related to reproduction) and fear (which serves relationships with others participating in the music
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therapy. Music must be considered an invaluable Lang. Parkinson’s Disease: A Complete Guide forPatients component of treatment for those with Parkinson’s and Families. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. Print. Harnessing the Agricultural Past for a disease, in addition to more traditional methods of pharmacology and physical therapy. It may be that Future of Fresh Food these methods treat the body whereas music affects Hannah Sellers the body while treating the soul. Integrated Marketing Communications, B.S. The ability of music to influence us is not new. Listening to music moves us emotionally, This paper examines how corporatized industrial farming practices of today have become responsible for the sometimes even to tears. It also spurs our bodies production of mainstream produce. It identifies the arguments that dismiss the traditional, natural agricultur- to entrain with the beat, causing foot-tapping or al practices in exchange for the immediate gratification found in industrial (conventional) farming. And while swaying, or instilling us with the strong desire to the abundance of food is cause for celebration, this paper brings to the forefront conventional farming’s harmful dance. The more astounding power of music is that consequences to the environment and human health, and introduces the promising remedy found in organic it can even move people who cannot move them- farming’s methods, which ironically are grounded in man’s original concept of agriculture. selves. This offers remarkable relief to people with “A certified organic label tells a little story about how the origins as well as the present standing of indus- Parkinson’s who would otherwise remained trapped a particular food was produced, giving the con- trial production of mainstream produce, known as in uncontrollable bodies. sumer a way to send a message back to the farmer that she values tomatoes produced without harmful conventional farming, must first be analyzed. Such pesticides or prefers to feed her children milk from analysis reveals the disturbing circumstances of food Works Cited cows that haven’t been injected with growth hor- production under the conventional farming system; mones.” a system that twists and warps the elements of true Bernatzky, Gunther, et al. “Stimulating Music Increases –Michael Pollan, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” Motor Coordination in Patients with Morbus Parkinson.” farming into a carcinogen-coated, factory-emulated Neuroscience Letters. 361.1-3 (2004): 4-8. Web. 30 Nov. and environmentally detrimental “harvesting” pro- 2012. Who would have believed that a multi-bil- cess. lion dollar industry could be grown (no pun in- Brown, Steven and Lawrence M. Parsons. “The Neurosci- Yet despite the counterintuitive concept of ence of Dance.” Scientific American. Scientific American, tended) out of humans’ earliest basic survival prin- ingesting food generated by such an operation, the Inc., Jul. 2008: 78-83. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. ciples? That is the essence of organic farming. The industrialized nature of conventional farming has organic farming industry returns to our origins, Levitin, Daniel J. This is Your Brain on Music. New York: been and remains at the forefront of mainstream Penguin Group, Inc., 2006. Print. in which food was produced naturally, with a seed crop production, dominating the shelves of grocery being sewn, and over time, a sprout blossoming into Moroz, Alex et al. “Rehabilitation Interventions in Par- store corporations. The ability to feed the masses is kinson’s Disease.” PM&R 1.3 Suppl. 1 (2009): S42-S48. harvestable vegetation. Using this natural process, one of the arguments that helps sustain this com- Web. 30 Nov. 2012. originally everyone to some extent was a farm- mercial form of agriculture. Nevertheless, industrial er, growing enough crops to feed themselves and Pacchetti, Claudio et al. “Active Music Therapy in Par- farming’s antithesis, organic farming, is more than kinson’s Disease: An Integrative Method for Motor utilizing any remaining crops as bartering tools for a trendy inclination destined to fizzle out. Far from and Emotional Rehabilitation.” Psychosomatic Science 62 commercial goods that could not be self-produced. (2000): 386-93. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. it. Organic farming serves not only to feed but to So how did something so ecologically inevitable and satisfy the nutritional needs of humans in an envi- Sacks, Oliver. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. personally procurable as the growth of edible plants ronmentally sound fashion. Its holistic approach, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. Print. become a novel method of innovative farming? To pesticide free (and therefore health-hazard free) Weiner, William J., Lisa M Shulman, and Anthony E. understand this phenomenon of organic farming,
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production and sustainable methods are only a few The goal of these companies, and other ed by Masanobu Fukuoka’s abstention from tilling, mals and people” (Miller 22). The standards include: of many reasons why organic farming ought to be practitioners of conventional farming, is to “squeeze plowing or utilizing any other forms of machinery seasoning manure to destroy pathogens, refraining the preferred method of agriculture rather than as much production out of the land as possible in to farm (Miller 17). from using synthetic or chemical fertilizers and pes- comprising only 2.5% of food sales in the United the most efficient way, in order to maximize profits” In accordance with these philosophies, ticides, banning sewage sludge, prohibiting genet- States (Miller 6). Having said that, an addendum (Miller 12). In other words, conventional farming organic farming engages different techniques than ically modified organisms (GMOS) and obligating must be made. The growth of organic farming is one seeks immediate gratification. To attain these instan- those utilized in conventional farming. The most farmers to provide an “organic system plan” that to be encouraged, yes, but also monitored in order taneous results, nutrient-rich chemical fertilizers are well known difference being that organic farmers do defines their methods of production. There is also a to prevent it from becoming that which organic applied to the soil, as well as herbicides and pesti- not employ the services of pesticides. Instead, they $10,000 fine for those who mislabels their products principles so strongly oppose: an industry of cor- cides, which are heavily employed to prevent weeds, look to more natural methods that achieve similar as organic. While the USDA does acknowledge the porations suppressing the livelihoods of small local disease and insect damage. Conventional farming results without the detriment to consumer or envi- practice of organic farming as legitimate, it holds farmers. also uses the industrial practice of monoculture. ronmental health. Natural fertilizers like manure, that, “No distinctions should be made between Ironically, this is a relatively recent situation. Monoculture refers to the planting of one or two compost or purchasable products are used to en- organically and non-organically produced products Technically, humans have practiced organic farming crops in the same location year after year, a process rich the soil. Introducing beneficial organisms like in terms of quality, appearance, or safety” (26). Thus for the majority of their existence, there just wasn’t that encourages pest multiplication and, in killing earthworms, algae or fungi also causes additional the USDA does not take a position of preferred a label attached, as there was no counter-method of the natural ecosystem’s diversity, depletes the soil of soil nutrients and the breakdown of organic mate- farming methods. cultivation. In fact, as described in Debra Miller’s nutrients without subsequent replacement. Though rial. Moreover, organic farming implements crop However there are some who would argue book Organic Foods, up until the mid-1800s, 75% of failing to encourage biodiversity in the soil or sur- diversity, which is an effort to emulate the biodi- that even having such certification and regulation the US population directly engaged in agricultural rounding environment, the practice of monoculture versity of the environment by planting a variety of for organic farming is a waste, and that the govern- production (29). The industrial farming methods correlates with the belief of conventional farming crops rather than specializing in one or two. This is ment should not recognize a practice that is counter began developing in the late 19th and early 20th that views nature as an obstacle to be overcome by less stressful for the soil, supports a wider range of productive in feeding the masses. Former Secretary centuries as the Industrial Revolution took to the controlling or altering it in the name of increased beneficial microorganisms and promotes farm fer- of Agriculture, Earl Butz, voiced this opinion when challenge of making agriculture more efficient human food production. tility. Also, quite unlike monoculture, crop rotation he put forth the notion that, “when you hear the while transforming society as a whole from agricul- Conventional farming practices and prin- is implemented to prevent soil depletion. A simple word organic, think starvation” (Miller 37). With ture-based to industrial-based. The arrival of World ciples are contradictory to the organic farming conclusion can be drawn in analyzing the methods the world population predicted to reach 9 billion by War II served as a catalyst for further expansion. A approach. Organic farming views farmers as care- of organic farming versus those of conventional 2050, critics of organic farming argue that its meth- mass-production of crops was called upon to feed takers, rather than masters, of the environment, farming: “organic farmers feed the soil, while con- ods are not capable of supporting an increasing pop- both troops overseas and civilians on the home and seeks to achieve a sustainable relationship. ventional farmers feed the plant” (Miller 12). ulation, claiming that it is too expensive, has fewer front. Enabled by government promotion, chemicals Biodynamic agriculture and the Fukuoka method Recently, organic farming transformed from yields and requires too much land and energy to be and technologies created to boost agriculture were are two philosophies that have helped establish this a set of idealistic principles to a legally endorsed a feasible option (77). The issue of land space is one maintained and increasingly applied after the war’s approach to farming. Biodynamic agriculture holds practice. The organic farming industry’s techniques that critics like Dennis T. Avery, director of the Cen- end, replacing the traditionally required manual that farms should be managed as self-contained gained validation in 2002 when the USDA imple- ter for Global Food Issues at the Hudson Institute, labor. By the 1950s, the rural labor force had dimin- ecosystems by attending to and respecting their bio- mented the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 point to as being a major concern for the universal ished to 15%. Continuing promotion of convention- logical elements, and adapting to the environment’s (OFPA), which officially established regulatory adaption of organic practices, saying that “the world al farming has resulted in today’s rural labor force of natural rhythms, like planting seeds during certain standards for organic food, and included a definition would immediately have to clear at least 10 million less than 1% and the present dominance of agricul- lunar phases. The Fukuoka method simply asserts that stated, “…The primary goal of organic agricul- square miles of wild lands for green manure crops tural corporations like Tyson, ConAgra, and Cargill that farmers should adapt themselves to nature, ture is to optimize the health and productivity of like clover and rye” (76). Then again, this is coming (CIA World Factbook). rather than claiming total authority, as demonstrat- interdependent communities of soil life, plants, ani- from the same man who, citing studies conducted
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by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), stated ed and bases its argument for the future on data only and water (Miller 62). This fact is hardly one organic for infants and children than adults. This explains that “people who eat organic and ‘natural’ food are applicable to the present. Industrialized agriculture proponents contest for it only serves to demonstrate why there are higher rates of leukemia, non-Hod- eight times as likely as the rest of the population to creates soil fertility dependent upon artificial chemi- the far-reaching detriment conventional farming gkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, soft tissue be attacked by…E. coli bacteria,” when in fact there cals, and even more concerning, has a history of ren- practices are having on the earth and human health. sarcomas and cancers of the skin, lip, stomach, brain were no such CDC studies (63). Unfortunately, this dering soil entirely inhospitable for growth in places Truly the greatest condemnation of conven- and prostate amongst Mexican-American and other fallacy presented by Avery is often referenced in known as “dead zones” (areas overloaded in nitro- tional farming is its excessive reliance on pesticides, minority groups that account for most farming the argument against organic farming. While the gen). As a result, almost 40 percent of the world’s ag- and therein lies organic farming’s greatest triumph: communities (54). With such fatal risks involved, concerns expressed over land clearance are worth ricultural land is now severely damaged, which will it refrains from chemical application. In addition to logically one would assume a thorough reassessment some consideration, they are misplaced. The real lead to substantial reduction in food production and soil pollution, water degradation has become such of conventional agricultural practices would be un- question with regard to food security (the ability to a likelihood of global food shortages- not exactly the that “toxic chemicals now contaminate groundwater dertaken. But what a miscalculation that would be. feed a population) is not the amount of land but the promised answer to world starvation agri-corpora- in every country, endangering the world’s precious Chemical treatment is only increasing, because pest productivity of the land. tions guarantee with industrialized farming meth- supplies of freshwater” (Miller 66). This is in part, as adaption renders original pesticides less effective Proponents of industrial farming believe ods (Miller 65). And despite the instantaneous and Cornell University professor David Pimentel ex- and therefore clearly necessitates higher dosages. that pursuing organic farming is senseless because impressive yield statistics of conventional farming, plains, because only “0.1 percent of applied pesti- When, in the name of profits, the only way conventional methods will produce higher yields its methods will not provide the higher yields during cides reach the target pests, leaving the bulk of the to render a farm functional is to deteriorate and and therefore have a stronger likelihood of combat- drought or consistent production stability found pesticides (99.9%) to impact the environment” (66). intoxicate all that was originally beneficial about the ing global hunger. Research conducted at McGill with organic farming (80). But why should consumers care? After all, land, it is time to invest in alternative agricultural University indicated that conventional farming does Due to organic farming’s labor-intensiveness, the environment is not an issue many feel necessi- solutions. Enter organic farming. All that is funda- yield more than organic farming, especially when critics sight the price tag as something that, regard- tates immediate attention. On the contrary, human mentally questionable about conventional farming growing vegetables, which require a lot of nitrogen, less of any benefits, hinders its viability. In fact, health is always a relevant issue and presently 101 is countered by the principles of organic farming. Its but in the case of organic fruit yields there is only claims have been made that organic farming is only pesticides used in the U.S. are “probable or possi- methods are not only less harmful to, but help im- a 3% disparity between organic and conventional an option for the wealthy. However, here is merely a ble human carcinogens.” The EPA legally approved prove upon, the environment. Organic agriculture farming (Gilbert np). Additionally, Bill Liebhardt, situation of basic economics: “As demand for or- these “potentially carcinogenic” substances before techniques like composting and mulching create a sustainable agriculture specialist at the University ganic food and products [increases], technological subsequent research linked them to cancer and richer soil that is resilient during high temperatures of California at Davis, conducted studies that found innovations and economies of scale should reduce other diseases. And these chemicals have yet to be and decreased rainfall, and is capable of withstand- major crops like corn, soybeans, wheat and tomatoes costs of production, processing, distribution and reevaluated. Food is “becoming increasingly deadly ing and absorbing intensified rainfall. Such durabil- organically produce yields 94 to100 percent those marketing for organic produce” (FAQ… np). Simply and devoid of nutrition”(49). In particular, straw- ity suggests that organic farming is better suited for of conventional farming. Leibhardt also pointed out put: demand increases, supply increases, and voilà, berries, bell peppers, spinach, cherries and peaches the predicted global warming changes (Miller 72). that “yield figures do not reflect the other benefits price decreases. Moreover, it is predicted that if are the top five most pesticide-laden crops. Straw- Considering the future prospects of the derived by organic producers [like] increased profit one-third of American consumers regularly bought berries especially attract attention for absorbing the environment is a major reason to implement organic per acre and improved soil quality, organic matter, organic goods, prices would reduce 10 to 30 percent cancer-causing pesticide methyl iodide. So buyers farming practices globally. They use less energy and biological activity, water infiltration and water-hold- (Miller 77). beware. generate less waste, therefore offering a cleaner effi- ing capacity” (Miller 80). Leibhardt’s statement iden- Yet the most ironic argument in favor of In addition to the dangers assumed in di- ciency. This is validated by studies like the “Farming tifies the flaw of focusing solely on statistical yields. industrialized agriculture, is one that smugly points gestion of industrial farming products, exposure to Systems Trial” conducted by the Rodale Institute, The yield discussion often slants in favor of out that organic farming, for all its natural princi- the “tools of the trade” have been shown to cause which found that organic farms use 50 percent less industrialized methods, because it focuses on the ples, will never truly be 100% pesticide free because Parkinson’s disease, miscarriages, birth defects and energy than conventional ones (Miller 71). Further- immediacy of crop return. However, it is shortsight- of the wide dispersal of pesticides in the air, land various cancers, with toxicity being 10 times greater more, the “Farming Systems Trial” suggests that
38 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 39 Symposium Harnessing the Agricultural Past for a Future of Fresh Food
organic farming stands to curb carbon emissions, requirements, and allows produce harvesting within Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural explaining that it “reduces greenhouse gas emissions 24 hours of purchase, providing consumers with the History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print. by capturing carbon in the soil, where it stimulates freshest food possible. In light of organic farming’s plant growth” as well as claiming that if “100,000 growing market presence and consumer appeal, medium-sized farms in the U.S. converted to or- farmers and consumers must be mindful of preserv- ganic production, they would reduce carbon levels ing these practices that construct the core of organic about as much as taking 1,174,400 cars off the road” farming’s principles and techniques. It is essential to (73). prioritize what is priceless, like human health and While the prospect of reducing global green- a planet’s rich environment, over the temptation house emissions may seem personally irrelevant to of wealth acquired from glinting dollar signs. As farmers and consumers, the wellbeing of not only organic farming has progressed from an alternative, one’s self but one’s family, friends and community is hippie-associated lifestyle to a marketable method an issue of paramount importance. A neighborhood with economic potential, an attraction to corpo- should not have to hide in their houses for fear of ratize organic farming for optimized profits is also being exposed to chemicals blowing off of nearby cultivated. Thus, while it is critical that our society farms. Farm workers should not have to increase reduce the detriment of conventional farming by their risk of cancer, lymphomas, soft-tissue sarco- embracing the remedy offered in organic farming, mas and a whole host of other illnesses simply to it is likewise crucial that such implementation is be employed. Consumers should not have to look undertaken without compromising principles. A na- at produce and simultaneously look at a long list of tion of industrialized organic farming corporations health risks, many fatal. Industrial farming advo- would truly be the furthest from what organic values cates present the false dilemma between choosing stand for and are striving to achieve. to incur these hazards or mass starvation. When in reality that hardly is the case. Organic farming, Works Cited especially when implemented on the local level, “optimizes yields under all conditions” and does so FAQ: Why Is Organic Food More Expensive than Con- ventional Food?” Organic Agriculture. Food and Agri- without the use of pesticides, herbicides or insecti- culture Organization of the United Nations, 2012. Web. cides, which many allege produces better tasting and 09 Dec. 2012. more nutritious crops (Miller 72). In any event, or- “Field Listing: Labor Force - By Occupation.” The World ganic crops do provide cancer-fighting antioxidants Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 7 Dec. rather than inducing said illnesses. 2012. If implemented locally throughout the Gilbert, Natasha. “Organic Farming Is Rarely Enough.” world, organic farming’s combined safeguarding (n.d.): n. pag. Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, 25 of human health, energy efficiency and promise of Apr. 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2012. Miller, Debra A. Organic Foods. Farmington Hills: Lu- environmental preservation/improvement all guar- cent, 2008. Print. antee a beneficial agricultural state. Maintaining localized manufacturing minimizes costs and energy
40 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 41 Symposium Athenian Government: Divine Law Overrides State Authority as Seen in Crito and Antigone
people will want him to break free, those people eldest brother, Polyneices, dies in battle coming to Athenian Government: Divine Law Overrides do not matter because they do not value authority. attack Thebes while her other brother, Eteocles, dies Those whose opinions do matter will be satisfied in battle protecting the city. Creon declares that Ete- State Authority as Seen in Crito and Antigone that Socrates was punished for breaking a law. Crito ocles is to be given a proper burial but that Polyne- Rachel Siptroth responds to this by assuring Socrates that the people ices must remain where he died and have no burial Class of 2016 Exploratory he considers insignificant are only trying to help whatsoever. This is a direct law made against divine him for the betterment of all people, and that they law, and Antigone, equally loving both of her broth- This piece dives into the government of Athens and its conflicts with divine law. Writings from Plato and are willing to pay for his escape. “Furthermore, if, ers, decides to break the law declared by Creon, Socrates suggest that the Athenian people did hold the state’s power in high regards, but only until someone of in your concern for me, you think I shouldn’t spend and to bury Polyneices anyway. This gets Antigone significance acted against state law. Examples fromCrito , by Plato, and Antigone, by Sophocles, demonstrate my own money, these foreigners here are ready to into a great deal of trouble, and she is sentenced to that the Athenians did not fully support their democratic system despite the outward appearance that they did. spend theirs. One of them––Simmias…has brought death. Haemon, in grief over the sentencing of his In many ways this effect is also represented in modern American society. enough money for this very thing” (Plato 68). The lover, begs for his father to change his mind. Creon The Athenians are one of the first recorded In Plato’s Crito, the main characters are people that Crito is referring to are wealthy in com- stubbornly refuses and in the end loses his wife, democracies that society still has writings from. Socrates and Crito. Socrates is in prison, but is a parison to Socrates, but are very willing to spend his son, and his future daughter-in-law––all the Plato, Sophocles, and others documented dialogues well-known philosopher to the people of Athens. their money on bribes to free him because they have consequence of going against divine law. Ironically, between significant people of the era. Many con- It is not specified what exactly Socrates has done decided to overlook the power of state authority and what is emphasized throughout the play is that the clusions about government and the power of divine wrong, but is made clear that he has broken one of instead find truth in the divine law, or the law of the authority of the state stands. Yet again this is broken law can be drawn based on these words we still have the democratic state’s laws. Crito, Socrates’ life long gods. This is what is not often observed about the when someone of significance is in harm’s way. In from thousands of years ago. It seems in Plato’s Crito and wealthy friend, visits Socrates in jail frequently Athenians attitudes when looking back on their con- this particular instance, Creon only retracts his de- and Sophocles’ Antigone that the general attitudes by bribing the guards, and attempts to persuade Soc- versations about government. Crito references this cree when his family and home are threatened. Tire- of the Athenian people towards the state were those rates to escape and flee from the state. Throughout divine power a bit earlier in the passage when he sias, a prophet, comes to see Creon to declare what of obedience, and that the majority held the state’s the course of the text, Socrates convinces Crito that says, “most people are able to do not just the small- he has seen. “A corpse for a corpse the price, and power in high regard. What may go unnoticed, fleeing would be wrong. From the dialogue present- est evils but virtually the greatest if someone’s been flesh for flesh/one of your own begotten” (Sophocles however, are the other, less overt views the Athe- ed by Socrates, the view of the majority of the people slandered when they’re around” (Plato 67). In other 377). From this, it is implied that Creon’s son will be nians held about the state. In the texts by Plato and is given: one that respects the state’s authority. Crito, words, people are willing to overlook the power of harmed, as he is Creon’s ‘beget’. Tiresias goes on to Sophocles, the state’s authority was only valid until on the other hand, presents the often unmentioned the government and break rules, in this case freeing tell Creon, “Yet a little while and you shall wake/to someone of significance went against a law. When side: that the people of the state change their attitude Socrates, when the law has slandered someone of wailing and gnashing of teeth in the house of Creon” this occurred, the people quietly disagreed with towards authority and law when a high-ranking value to society. They look upon the divine law as (Sophocles 378). It is only after this threat that Cre- the authority of the state, and instead looked to the member of society is imprisoned or has done wrong. the most significant, and aim to do what is correct on dramatically changes his mind and resorts back bigger, overriding power of divine law. This, then, This is clearly presented near the beginning of the in the eyes of the gods rather than what is correct in to divine law in order to save his home and protect shows that the Athenians did not fully support their dialogue. Socrates, arguing against Crito’s idea to those of the lawmakers. Thus, the Athenians did not his family and himself. democratic system although they lived under the break him free from his imprisonment, says “The really respect state authority as much as is portrayed It is clear that Creon’s people, especially An- guise that they indeed did. The Athenian approach most sensible people¬––the ones we ought to hold in many of the surviving works of the era. tigone, felt from the beginning that divine law was is relatable to the behavior of people in America to- in higher regard––will think the matter’s been han- This concept is also very clearly observable supreme to the declaration that Creon made. When day who are unhappy with their current democratic dled just as it should’ve been” (Plato 67). By saying in the play Antigone, written by Sophocles. Antigone Antigone is caught in the act of burying her brother, system. this, Socrates means that while Crito thinks most is the tale of Creon, the King of Thebes, and Anti- Creon questions if “she chose flagrantly to disobey gone, the fiancée of Creon’s son, Haemon. Antigone’s [his] law?” (Sophocles 358). Antigone replies, “Nat-
42 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 43 Symposium Athenian Government: Divine Law Overrides State Authority as Seen in Crito and Antigone
urally! Since Zeus never promulgated/such a law” While Haemon’s side may appear biased, as he is back to the forefront. Many of the parents of the vic- “Growing List of Sheriffs, Associations and Police Chiefs (Sophocles 358). Antigone then goes on that she: engaged to Antigone, the chorus later sides with tims of the shooting in Connecticut are now advo- Saying ‘NO’ to Obama Gun Control.” CSPOA Constitu- tional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. CSPOA, 20 never thought [Creon’s] mortal edicts had such him to confirm the reality: that the crowd sides with cates for stricter gun laws. This, of course, is due to Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. force Antigone. The chorus calls upon Bacchus, the son of the negative effects that guns have had in their lives. they nullified the laws of heaven, Plato. “Crito.” The Trial and Execution of Socrates. Ed. which unwritten, not proclaimed, Zeus, to come to save the town of Thebes. Regardless The Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition released Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas D. Smith. New can boast a currency that everlastingly is valid of the fact that they are simply interested in saving a television advertisement in which the families of York: Oxford UP, 2002. 65-77. Print. (Sophocles 358) their town from Creon and his disastrous leadership four of the victims call for stricter gun laws in order Sophocles. “Antigone.” The Complete Plays. Trans. Paul Clearly, Antigone strongly felt that, although Creon abilities, the chorus asks a god for help, proving to prevent other families from going through the Roche. New York: Signet Classic, 2001. 339-87. Print. was the lawmaker of Thebes, his rule did not over- their valuation of divine law. They cry out, “Son of same tragedy (Foley 1). It is evident that people tend ride the law of the gods and thus held no value to Zeus, O Prince, appear!” (Sophocles 380). By going to base their opinions of laws off of their experienc- her in her circumstance. The rest of the people of straight to the gods, and making no attempt to plea es with them, both today and back in Athens. On Thebes disagree with Antigone. This is seen when to other men for help, the chorus puts their faith the opposite side of the debate, many opposed to the chorus says farewell to Antigone as she is going entirely in the power of divine rule. gun control laws today use guns to hunt or feel that to be locked in the chamber to die. Chorus: While both Crito and Antigone appear to they are necessary for their own protection. It could Perhaps you aimed too high demonstrate that the Athenians value state authority be argued that they are on the side of the law that You dashed your foot on Fate greatly, both works actually prove the opposite. By encourages guns because up until this point, guns Where justice sits enthroned. (Sophocles 370) taking a closer look at the implied meaning of the have only benefitted them. There are currently -fif This continues as they conclude to Antigone, texts, it is made clear that the people of Athens cher- teen state sheriff’s associations that have “vowed to “Self-propelled to death/You go with open eyes” ish divine law more than laws made by the democ- uphold and defend the Constitution against Obama’s (Sophocles 371). They do not pity her for they racy or the king. From this observation, it is possible unconstitutional gun control measures” (“Growing acknowledge that she defied Creon and his power to look into more modern democracies and find out List of Sheriffs” 1). It seems that regardless of the to make the laws, and as a result she must die know- the implications of the way laws are created. Amer- final outcome, the laws and the government’s deci- ing that it was her choice to do so. This implies to ica’s democratic system may be more closely related sions will not suit everyone. Thus, it can be conclud- the audience that the people of Thebes respect the to that of the Greeks than commonly thought, as ed that the Athenian’s democracy is actually very authority of the king and state, when in reality there people tend to value authority only when they are similar to America’s current democracy, especially in are more cues that hint that the people actually have on its side, disregarding its significance when they, regards to the opinions of society on governmental sided with Antigone. When Haemon, Creon’s son, or someone they value, are in trouble. People today, policies. Whether in Athens or modern America, goes to speak with him over the matter, he suggests then, view laws based on their own personal expe- people will generally agree with whichever side of that he knows what the people really think. Hae- riences, much like how the Athenians really viewed the law best supports their lives and those of their mon: As your son, you see, I find myself the authority of state law. This can cause great family members. Marking every word and act and comment of controversy within modern society, and should be the crowd, recognized as an issue that people as a whole have Works Cited to gauge the temper of the simple citizen who dares not risk your scowl to speak his mind. with governmental policy. Foley, Elise. “Sandy Hook Families Urge Gun Control In But I from the shadows hear them: A present example of this in the United Mayors Against Illegal Guns Ad.” The Huffington Post. hear a city’s sympathy for this girl… States is the controversy surrounding gun laws. Fol- TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. (Sophocles 365) lowing the Newtown, Connecticut shooting, many 2013. Americans began to bring the issue of gun violence
44 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 45 Symposium Your Word Has Been Chosen, The Words Have Been Spoken: Authorship andFires in the Mirror
He was rejected from the competition but established Because the piece did not violate the Society’s rules Your Word Has Been Chosen, The Words Have himself as a truly radical thinker and conceptual for exhibition, the sculptor saw the following as the Been Spoken: Authorship and Fires in the Mirror artist. reasons for that decision: “…some contended it was immoral, vulgar. Others, it was plagiarism, a plain A. Maureen Tant Chuck Close (b. 1940) is renowned for his large- piece of plumbing” (Foster, et al). The essential issue Class of 2013 Cinema and Photography, B.S. scale portraits so realistically rendered they appear is the status of the piece as art (or not) because it to be photographs (i.e. photorealism). His technique, was “chosen” and put into a particular context rather Anna Deavere Smith is credited as the playwright behind Fires in the Mirror. Fires in the Mirror examines painting circles in an array of colors to trick the eye than created from scratch. the riots in Crown Heights following the accidental death of Gavin Cato, a young black boy, and the murder at a distance, is not unlike Monet’s strategy of optical Duchamp’s work deals with objects; Anna of Yankel Rosenbaum, a Hasidic Jewish man. Smith recorded interviews she did with members of the Crown illusion. He uses portraits as a means of coping with Deavere Smith’s work deals with people. To call Heights community and performed them verbatim. This essay explores the implications of calling Smith the his Prosopagnosia (inability to recognize or differenti- Smith a playwright merely because she selected “author” of that story. ate faces. Also known as “face blindness”). the monologues in Fires in the Mirror is to ignore In the summer of 1991 Crown Heights, Brooklyn was communities in Crown Heights almost immediately the role her voice has in the play. She has not made a pressure cooker. Its dominant communities—Af- after the riots broke out. She promised her subjects The following essay deals with complications around any claims of absolute authorship. She presented rican- and Caribbean-American black people and the opportunity to see themselves performed, if only categorizing Anna Deavere Smith in relation to Fires the scenes of the interviews on stage with a tedious Orthodox Jews—existed in a state of de facto segre- they gave her an hour of their time for a recorded in the Mirror as well as aims to highlight the neces- eye for detail. Even more importantly, though she gation and profound misunderstanding. Each group conversation. She collected and edited more than 100 sity of specific language and clarity of intention. Is it determined which stories would become the play, could be characterized as suffering from the effects of interviews, 29 of which she performed in a one-wom- acceptable to say Smith is a “playwright” if she lifted she uses her interviews to critique the ideas of being both self-inflicted insularity and a desire to perceive an show she called Fires in the Mirror. In its written the words she performed from pre-existing dialogues? “chosen” or special, as well as notions of authority themselves as “special” or “chosen” people. On Au- form, the interviews are arranged in verse. Fires in She does not consider herself a journalist because she and objectivity. gust 19, 1991, a car in the Lubavitcher Jewish Rebbe’s the Mirror premiered May 1, 1992. Smith, a light- never went to journalism school, but what place do That the monologues were selected is not to (leader’s) motorcade stuck and killed Gavin Cato, skinned black woman, performed as a man, woman, the artist’s intentions and desires have in interpreting be trivialized, of course. In the introduction to the seven-year-old son of Guyanese immigrants, and thus child, black and Jewish person with a high degree his or her work? There is more to writing than mere- 1993 edition of the play, Smith draws attention to the powder keg was lit. Late on the night of the 19th, of verisimilitude. Her performance style emphasiz- ly selecting and arranging words, facts have value criticism she received for donning a particular cos- Yankel Rosenbaum, a 29-year-old Jewish man from es breakdowns in language and the small actions, beyond “true” or “false” and the idea of an “objective” tume. “Some...members of the audience reacted to Australia was stabbed in the street. The resulting riots nervous tics, and unconscious habits of the people she story or “neutral” portrayal of events often has more the sweater by saying it was perfect, others felt it was lasted until August 21st, and stories of violence in chose to present in her play. to do with honoring power structures than respecting stereotyping Jewish people as affluent. In reality, -ac the area were in the news for months. On all sides, the multiple points of view embedded in it. cording to the costume designer, the outfit [that the miscommunication was rampant. Both groups blamed Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) was an experimental ______interviewee] really wore was much more flashy and the other for these tragedies, and all groups were infu- artist closely associated with the Dadaist movement. expensive than the sweater.” (xxxvii) Smith goes on riated at what they perceived to be a blasé attitude on He is famous for his studies of motion, including As a means of putting into context the debate to explain that her choices to keep dollar bills in her the part of the authorities. Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2, which ques- around Anna Deavere Smith crediting herself as the pocket while portraying the Rabbi Shea Hecht and tioned depictions of the fourth dimension in art. He “writer” of Fires in the Mirror (1993), none of which including monologues involving issues some black Anna Deavere Smith (b. 1950), performance art- first made waves with his “ready-made” piece,Foun - she “wrote” in the traditional sense and all of which people have with their hair were true to the person ist, actor, director, playwright and professor, began tain, a urinal he signed “R. Mutt” and entered into a she edited, consider an art historian’s perspective: interviewed. They were seen as controversial, how- conducting interviews in the Lubavitcher and black competition as an original work in 1917, at age 20. In 1917, the Society of Independent Artists reject- ever, when they were embodied in the theater. In ed “Fountain,” Duchamp’s ready-made sculpture. these examples, Smith attempted to remain faithful
46 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 47 Symposium Your Word Has Been Chosen, The Words Have Been Spoken: Authorship andFires in the Mirror
to the sentiments expressed in the interviews. But pauses and stumbles. She also takes time to describe find an aggressive way out. of the play, but it is important to remember what what gave that costume designer the authority to an interviewee’s actions in the script as well as utilize It is important to recognize that all of the constituted the initial communication. To expand an decide Malamud’s sweater would be just as effective stage time to highlight those gestures. The notorious monologues in the text are one side of a conver- earlier argument, conversation only exists between with a less expensive garment? By including por- example is Minister Conrad Mohammed flicking a sation. We don’t always know what prompted the or among people. It has a way of either cutting off tions of interviews dealing with black people who sugar packet. In performance, the sugar packet took speaker to express a particular opinion. Through extremes of emotion and opinion, or heightening have complicated or reverential relationships to their on the qualities of a musical instrument—percus- Fires in the Mirror, Smith argues communication those aspects of our psyches. Early in the play, an hair, Smith was essentially choosing to address that sion accompaniment—as Smith drummed it against is essential, even if it offends. Smith’s monologue Anonymous Lubavitcher Woman corrects herself issue. Even if the interviews were presented in full, her prop table. Her action parallels the content of “Isaac,” quoted from her meeting with Letty Pogre- for assuming a black boy couldn’t be Jewish, as “he we would nonetheless be encountering a selective the monologue: Mohammed beats on the table as bin, underscores that message. Pogrebin observed: was black and he wasn’t wearing a yarmulke” and perspective filtered through Smith’s memory and he relays violent images related to the magnitude of “…nobody listens! Nobody reacts!/To get a head- the Anonymous Girl of Haitian descent asks Smith, personal experience and, more importantly, only see suffering in black history. In the written text, Smith line/to get on the evening news/you have to attack a “You Black?” (8, 16). These moments, like every- the words out of their original contexts. The term inserts detailed descriptions of setting and appear- Jew/Otherwise you’re ignored/And it’s a shame/We thing the people represented in the play said during “playwright” refers to shipwrights, who were “ship ance before each monologue. Furthermore, the text all play into it” (51). Roslyn Malamud, in a mono- their interviews, could only happen in the presence builders.” By building a play, rather than transcribing preceding her presentation of the Reverend Canon logue titled “The Coup” echoes the sentiment: “It of a woman of ambiguous ancestry. Those people her interviews exactly, Smith retains ownership of Doctor Heron Sam notes, “Throughout the talk he is was an accident!/But it was allowed to fester and only realized they might seem ignorant because the title. Who’s to say editing isn’t as much writing trying to get the corner of a calendar to stay down, to steam and all that” (126). Both Pogrebin and Smith, a light-skinned black woman, was in the as recording the monologues in the author’s head? but it continues to stick up. Finally he uses a paper- Malamud understood that the tensions in Crown room with them. Discussion at its best becomes a Smith used her place in the narrative to hone in on weight to keep it down” (74). The details seem trivi- Heights that summer were less about black versus dialectic. If the play suggests resolutions within the a few messages. As the author, she had the power to al, but instead of describing her characters obliquely, Jewish than they were symptomatic of an essential written material, those solutions are recognizing give as dynamic a picture of the community as her she provides the most specific information she has. issue: “self” and “other.” When a group is relegated similarities among marginalized groups, letting go medium allowed and to excise interviews that com- That information might help a reader or actor better to the realm of “other”—as both black and Jewish of notions of “specialness” and being “chosen,” and promised the clarity of her themes. understand the essential problem the Reverend communities often are—the group can sometimes thus minimizing anxieties having to do with the loss There may be a flaw in using the terms is having—a problem many of the people Smith become protective of that identity. As a means of of identity. Just as we emphasize or de-emphasize “performance” and “portrayal” interchangeably to interviewed had. The residents of Crown Heights preserving history and ensuring that past suffering facets of our personalities as we encounter other describe Smith’s acting techniques. A “portrayal” see tension rising between their two dominant is not forgotten, a group may be inclined to isolate people, we must either accept dissolutions of identi- implies condensation, interpretation, and explica- communities, or as the Reverend calls the current itself and protect the “specialness” of its culture with ty in pursuit of the melting pot or encourage sensi- tion, whereas “performance” acknowledges pro- situation in Crown Heights, a “Mexican standoff.” attitudes of exclusivity. No one else can be said to tivity around perceived difference. In fact, “melting cesses of amplification and layering. Rather than They cannot envision a nonviolent solution to the have suffered as much as the group at hand, because pot” shouldn’t even be the ultimate goal. The ideal feeding into character history through portrayal, problem (77). His understanding of it is manifested the group needs to ensure that their loved ones are situation would be to understand and preserve his- the performer enacts the parts of a person she has in his preoccupation with bent calendar pages. “The properly memorialized. That thinking pattern in tories, identities and cultures without depending on the ability to embrace. Smith writes, “Mimicry is people showed their anger…and as a result/I think turn fosters animosity among the oppressed and the alienation of another. These conversations began not character. Character lives in the obvious gap in retaliation/murdered one of the Hasidics/But that prevents recognition of the true sources of their as a means of intervening in a pool of venomous between the real person and my attempt to seem was just the match that lit the powder keg/It’s gon- subjugation. opinion. It was with that goal in mind that Smith like them. I try to close the gap between us, but I na happen again and again” (77). He fixes the bent The titles of the monologues hint at Smith’s molded the discourses paraphrased in Fires in the applaud the gap between us. I am willing to display pages with force, underlining the brutal inevitability opinions in addition to indicating which parts of Mirror. my own unlikeness” (xxxvii-xxxviii). Smith likes to of their circumstances: without proper and direct the interviews she deemed essential. Smith excised Before each interview, Smith said to her sub- emphasize imperfections in speech, such as stutters, communication, the building tension would soon large portions of her research from the final draft jects, “If you give me an hour of your time, I’ll invite
48 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 49 Symposium Your Word Has Been Chosen, The Words Have Been Spoken: Authorship andFires in the Mirror
you to see yourself performed” (xxiii). The people be mistaken for objects “for our examination and she underscores moments when she and her subject Nichols, Bill. Introduction to Documentary. 2nd ed. Smith portrayed during her Fires in the Mirror edification. … Often they seem to come before us are unable to converge and retains distance even as Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010. 5-6, 15. Print. performance understood that their words would be as examples or illustrations…” (15) Nichols does she presents herself through them. quoted, edited and embodied by Smith herself. The not judge the practice as either positive or nega- There is another figure in art history whose Smith, Anna Deavere. Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities. 1st ed. New York: Knopf documentary scholar Bill Nichols calls the subjects tive, but he is illuminating the power and authority work might be an appropriate lens for thinking Doubleday Publishing Group, 1993. Print. of a documentary “social actors.” Social actors “re- a subject allots his or her interviewer. The people about Fires in the Mirror. Chuck Close, a contempo- main cultural players rather than theatrical per- Smith interviewed certainly become “evidence of rary painter, has a creative process that shares more formers. Their value to the filmmaker consists not a condition or event,” (as Nichols phrases it) but in common with Smith’s style of translation than in what a contractual relationship can promise but never are reduced or diminished any more than the Duchamp’s method of appropriation. Like Smith, in what their own lives embody. Their value resides interviewees diminished themselves. The Minister Close paints in a photorealistic style. He combs not in the ways in which they disguise or trans- Conrad Mohammed reduces the Jewish people to over, then reconstructs an image until it represents form their everyday behavior and personality but their notion of being chosen, and further reduc- both the person depicted and his own point of view. in the ways in which their everyday behavior and es “the whole theological exegesis/with respect/of During an interview for a documentary about his personality serves the needs of the filmmaker” (5). being the chosen” based upon “…seven verses/in the career Close said, “In an act of extreme generosity, Smith had needs as a playwright and performer that Scripture…” (58). Smith maintains a degree of trans- my sitters have leant me their image, putting aside were solely her own, but she also aimed to address parency in her work. She notes where and when the their vanity without knowing how I’m going to use race tensions and thereby improve the situation in interviews occurred, recognizing that the opinions it or how often I’ll recycle it” A( Portrait in Progress). Crown Heights. Nichols goes on to draw attention presented reflect the thoughts of the person at a Smith’s interviewees gave her that same privilege to the documentary process and its affect on reality: static moment in space and do not define him as he and access. Her decision to include her own voice “The director’s right to perform…threatens to in- currently exists. She wrote that her goal “was to cre- in her work is not only in keeping with the ethics of troduce an element of fiction into the documentary ate an atmosphere in which the interviewee would her project but also a statement of her refusal to ac- process (the root of fiction is to make or fabricate). experience his own authorship. Speaking teaches us cept the artifice of politeness as an excuse for silence. … Modifications in behavior can become a form of what our natural ‘literature’ is. In fact, everyone, in a Fires in the Mirror is one side of a dialogue—a piece misrepresentation, or distortion, in one sense, but given amount of time, will say something that is like of art that has the gall to stare back at its spectators. they also document the ways in which the act of poetry” (xxxi). She provided the time and medium, That the play was considered so controversial upon filmmaking alters the reality it sets out to represent” while her subjects created the poetry as they exam- its premiere is a reflection on the success of Smith’s (6). The relationship between creator and subject is ined closely held beliefs. She acted on notions of argument: she provides the framework, and it is the not so unbalanced in Fires in the Mirror, but Smith the interviewee as beholder of a voice distinct from job of all who encounter it to fill in the rest. does use the dynamics and tension of fiction versus her own rather than the interviewee as provider of nonfiction, self-presentation and preservation versus words to be absorbed in a theme for performance. Works Cited underlying message and the function of language Smith wrote, “A character in a play does not have a as a masking agent. Documentation has the abili- visible identity until the actor creates a body for that Cajori, Marion, dir. Chuck Close: A Portrait in Progress. 1998. DVD. ty, by necessity, to distort reality, but Smith openly character. … Identity, in fact, lives in the unique way admits to prioritizing conversation, communication that a person departs from the English language in a Foster, Hal, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, and Benja- min H. D. Buchloch. “1914.” Art Since 1900. vol. 1. New and resolution over realistic representation. Nichols perfect state to create something that is individual” York: 2004. goes on to point out that it is easy to assume that (xxx). She does not disappear into the characters, “subjects” in a film, for example, can sometimes nor does she become them when she acts. Instead,
50 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 51 Symposium Fear of the Maddened Woman: A Study of Male Fear of Women in 5th Century Attic Drama
ly the domain of women, were boxlike, enclosed was often chosen by the woman as a result of house- Fear of the Maddened Woman: A Study of Male and modest” (Keuls 5). She goes on to say that laws hold tension. It can be deduced from this that do- Fear of Women in 5th Century Attic Drama and restrictions trace back to Solon the great law- mestic tension drove women to self-inflict violence, giver, who “instituted many controls over sexual as abortion was a violent and often deadly event in Olivia Timmins and family life” (Keuls 5). She argues that there is Classical Greece. Tensions that could potentially Class of 2016 History, B.A. enough evidence to implicate Solon as “a codifier of have driven these women to such extremes include the double standard of sexual morality” (Keuls 5). despair over a husband’s infidelity, loss of reputation, The following research paper is written with the purpose of exploring the correlation between real and fictional The double standard she speaks about refers to the or abuse. This brings to light one example of record- violence perpetrated by women in 5th Century Athens. The essay explores the similarities and differences -be power that men had over women sexually. It was not ed, if rare, violence committed by women; however, tween violence carried out by women as told by surviving primary sources regarding life in Athens, and from uncommon for men to take concubines, see prosti- it is self-inflicted, giving men little to fear as it would surviving dramas written by Classical playwrights including Socrates, Aeschylus, and Euripides. My thesis tutes, take on young male lovers, and, in some cases, seem. explores primarily the differences between these kinds of evidence, and how these differences reflect attitudes, exercise rape as a weapon. Lastly, the backgrounds in myth that men customs, and fears involving women. Why then, are women portrayed as fero- were familiar with at the time 5th Century tragedies In primary records of Athenian life, women trayals of women are considered, an establishment cious, cunning, irrational maniacs in Attic Drama? were written must be established. Women in myth are infrequently, if ever, reported to be violent. How- of what was considered normal in Athenian life, Keuls gives us an idea when she writes, “Athenians were often regarded as violent, and goddesses that ever, in 5th Century classical Attic Drama, women especially regarding women, is called for. All wom- apparently feared that any concession to women discarded gender roles were seen as masculine, vi- are portrayed as hysterical, sneaky, or violent; of- en, whether they were citizen wives or slaves, had a would lead to a collapse of the social order that olent, or both. For example, there are literally hun- tentimes all of the above. This discrepancy between role in the oikos or individual household. The role men had built” though there is little or no evidence dreds of surviving paintings of Amazons on vases domestic life and stage suggests that Athenian men of the wife was to produce legitimate children, and that women would have behaved nefariously had or otherwise, which suggests a popular fear and were afraid of a dormant violence in women, or that further legitimize the household name by perform- they been granted more rights (Keuls 4). This fear fascination with violent women. Paintings on these they suspected them of such violence. However, ing her expected duties such as cooking, cleaning, is illustrated in feminine rejections of marriage in vases depict the women stabbing mostly at men’s ab- these violent women, no matter how far removed and weaving. They were sequestered in their own Greek drama, such as in The Suppliants and Tereus, domens and genitals, whereas men stab women on from their real-life female counterparts, are still separate upstairs part of the household, and were and relates to the male fear of losing control over the the breast or near the nipple, “as if to dramatize his held within the family sphere of the woman. From not allowed at symposia, or parties (Demand). Only oikos, thus losing their own legitimacy (Keuls 152). assault on her femininity” (Keuls 4). The fascination Antigone to Medea, there remains the motive of pro- unrespectable women such as slaves or prostitutes With such strong control over women, Keuls argues of Classical Greek painters with the violent women tecting or interacting with the family in some way, were allowed there. Women were confined both on that men had established a “Phallocracy” marked by in the case of the Amazon myth is overwhelming, which drives the women to this violence. There is stage and in real life to the home almost exclusively. “The dominance of men over women in the public suggesting both their amusement and fear with little evidence to corroborate this level of suspicion There are few, if any cases of violence in theoikos , or sphere… the concept denotes a successful claim by the concept. Though these women do not them- and/or accusation in the primary sources surviving anywhere else, committed by women. a male elite to general power, buttressed by a display selves appear in the 5th Century Attic dramas that regarding Classical Athenian domestic life. Further In reality, Athenian women were generally of the phallus…. as a kind of weapon” (Keuls 2). In have been studied, these myths were widely known evidence could bring to light actual instances of kept out of sight, and were held to a different stan- reality, it seems, women were kept from engaging in throughout Greek culture and provide relevant domestic violence perpetrated by women, but in the dard than men sexually and politically. As Eva Keuls social discourse almost entirely. background information. meantime it would appear that portrayals of women points out in her book The Reign of the Phallus: Sex- In childbirth especially it seems that women’s In the case of Goddesses, there are endless as violent in Attic Drama are exaggerations of men’s ual Politics in Ancient Athens, “In the public sphere lives were in danger, not only by the delivery of chil- examples to discuss. Goddesses such as Athena and fears about them. of men, buildings were massive and surrounded dren, but also by the elected abortion of them. Nan- Artemis who take on masculine, chaste roles are Before the implications of dramatic por- by phallic pillars, whereas private dwellings, large- cy Demand argues in her book Birth, Death, and both known to be violent. However, they are most Motherhood in Classical Greece that elected abortion often portrayed as helpful and governing forces over
52 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 53 Symposium Fear of the Maddened Woman: A Study of Male Fear of Women in 5th Century Attic Drama
women. Athena presides over women’s weaving as leader says of her, “Spoken like a man, my lady royal, strates an interesting fear of the enraged or wronged Antigone, and the men who cause harm are appro- well as war and strategy. She punishes and helps full of self-command” (Aeschylus, Agamemnon 116). mother by male counterparts, and a perceived male priately punished as well for their hubris. women as well as men. Artemis is similar. However, She is considered to be more manlike than wom- weakness to a distraught, angered woman. This is Antigone is the ultimate nuisance to author- sexually mature figures such as Hera and Aphrodite anlike, but still suffers female prejudices. When she likely because men, who kept their women entire- ity on several accounts, seeking holy justice for her are portrayed more often as jealous and mischie- announces that the Greeks have won the Trojan War, ly out of social life, did not understand them and brother and martyring herself for her cause. She is vous. After all, it was Aphrodite’s promise to Paris the chorus will not believe her and calls her “gull- therefore feared that of which they were capable. also persistently loud-mouthed and relentless in that sparked the Trojan War. Hera is most often seen ible” (Aeschylus, Agamemnon 120). She expresses This misunderstanding and suspicion of her protests and proclamations. Ismene, her sister, as vicious, jealous, and angry. This hints at the pref- her outrage later at being stereotyped as hysterical the true nature of women is corroborated by Eva calls on Antigone to obey Creon’s law, and says that erence of the virgin woman to the sexually mature and emotionally unstable when she snaps, “You Keuls, who writes “On the stage, these men im- women are not supposed to argue with men. Ismene one, perhaps because the latter is self-realized and made me seem deranged. For all that I sacrificed – a personated… powerful, fearsome women, driven serves as a weaker foil to the strong willed Anti- therefore more powerful. woman’s way, you’ll say” (Aeschylus, Agamemnon by superhuman passions… Murder, incest, rape, gone. Antigone’s self-inflicted fate is one of duty to And now to address the fictional woman in 125). Finally, when she stabs Agamemnon with a cannibalism, all the horrors of the mythological past her brother, but goes so awry because of her refusal various Classical Dramas, the being Clytemnestra dagger she is described as a “lioness” and strikes were trotted out to view… the men went home and to obey the laws governing her gender. The chorus in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon. While Clytemnestra him while he cries in agony (Aeschylus, Agamemnon looked under the furniture for their wives’ supposed Leader exclaims “No man is mad enough to wel- behaves outside of the normal gender role of a 154, 161). This display of masculinity and the use lovers” and goes on to cite Clytemnestra, Medea, come death” in reference to the death penalty placed woman, she is entirely motivated by family; specifi- of a more phallic weapon as opposed to poison or Agave, and Antigone as examples (Keuls 332). The on Creon’s law forbidding the burial of Polynices cally avenging the death of her daughter Iphigenia. a tricky means of extermination casts Clytemnes- fact that men impersonated these women instead (Sophocles, Antigone 350). The use of the word She behaves more tamely than the later mentioned tra in a masculine light. However, she must use her of having women play these roles links to the male “man” highlights the hysterical and irrational quali- Medea or Agave, but still takes on a masculine role feminine treachery to cause Agamemnon to for- misunderstanding of women. In following dramas ties the male chorus is attributing to Antigone’s deci- in that she commits murder and seizes government get his suspicion (Zeitlin 75). She is therefore kept by Euripides, Orestes fears retribution from Clytem- sion to openly defy the law because she is a woman. control. However, the male chorus chides her and somewhat in her role as a woman, but as a tricky, nestra’s grave, which suggests that Athenian men’s No “man” would do this, but because she is a woman speaks often of Helen of Troy, who they claim was ill-willed one that is dangerous to men. The chorus fear of women is irrational but remarkably potent. and inherently irrational, she decides to break the also responsible for the deaths of men. They also of men is appalled by her actions, and she argues In Sophocles’ Antigone, the title character law. The chorus also expresses their confusion and foreshadow Orestes’ return and revenge. Clytem- back “My heart is steel, well you know” (Aeschylus, is also motivated by duty to her family, namely her misunderstanding of her actions here. Creon, too, nestra expresses outrage at the double standard with Agamemnon 162). slain brother, Polynices who was refused proper seems somewhat confused by her boldness because which the chorus regards her act as opposed to Ag- Clytemnestra’s disregard for gender roles burial. She defies authority through both her words he ignores plain reason and divine law in order to amemnon’s murder of Iphigenia. One of her speech- and proper womanly conduct reflects male fear of and her actions. She is warned against this by her make a point that “No woman while I live shall gov- es expresses this exasperation. She is angry with the a vengeful woman, specifically a mother who was sister and others, but is set in her decisions because ern me” (Sophocles, Antigone 360). He takes back chorus for cursing her when Agamemnon was not robbed of a child. Clytemnestra violates the re- of their dutiful and divine nature. She feels a respon- his decision to leave Antigone to die in a cave after chided at all for killing his daughter as if she was an straints of the oikos from the start of the play, thus sibility not only to her brother, but to the gods to it is too late, which further calls attention to the rash animal (Aeschylus, Agamemnon 162). Being a strong casting her as a dangerous woman early on. She is bury him properly. Although she fulfills this duty, decision making and tragedy brought about by his female character, she refuses to back down and tells motivated by her family, namely the loss of Iphige- Sophocles sees fit to punish her still for her intru- fear of the assertive woman, Antigone. He refuses to them, “Threaten away! I’ll meet you blow for blow” nia, to take revenge on her husband. Even when she sion into the male sphere of the polis in search of heed even Haemon because he fears that Haemon is (Aeschylus, Agamemnon 163). steps outside of her femininity in order to commit justice. While women were forbidden from judicial being manipulated by Antigone. The chorus con- Clytemnestra breaks the typical female mold murder, she does it for the sake of her child, which proceedings, Antigone breaks this rule, as well as cludes by placing blame on both Antigone (Soph- not only in her violent acts, but also in the way she effectively keeps her within the confines of mother- directly defying Creon’s law. She is punished with ocles, Antigone 370-371) and Creon (Sophocles, carries herself in speech and manner. The chorus hood and consequently womanhood. This demon- death, and balance is restored to the gender roles in Antigone 384) because the former disobeyed state
54 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 55 Symposium Fear of the Maddened Woman: A Study of Male Fear of Women in 5th Century Attic Drama
law as well as gender roles, and the latter disobeyed Creon and failed to properly bury him. However, and forms an alliance with Agamemnon, which she Polymestor after his blinding, singing, “A man who divine law. this failure also allows her to be free from the guilt forges through his pity for her. Her manipulation of has done shameful things must pay a terrible reck- Because Antigone was unmarried, her loyal- that accompanies it because, as Loraux states, “For him, she says, is necessary: “I could not take revenge oning. [A god who presses hard upon you has given ties fell next with her brother, and therefore she was women there is liberty in tragedy – liberty in death” for my children without this man’s help” (Euripides, you this]” (Euripides, Hecuba 31). This mention of required to either honor him with the proper burial (Loraux 17). Women thus conquer death with sui- Hecuba 21). When Agamemnon expresses doubt of “A god” suggests that women are still not entirely in or be punished for her failure. She commits suicide cide, maintaining some autonomy and power even her plan, she assures him that, “Women in numbers control of their own decisions, that it was the busi- as a result of her failure, caused ultimately by men in their dying actions. This control was evidently are formidable, and when allied with trickery, hard ness of fate that drove them to their actions. Fate, to silence her once and for all. Although she was intimidating to men, as Antigone’s death punishes to fight against” (Euripides,Hecuba 25). This is an or the will of the gods, extends itself further when just in cause, Antigone stepped out of bounds as a Creon even beyond her grave; his son and wife both obvious expression of men’s fear of treacherous, Polymestor curses his assailants and foreshadows the woman, as women were not allowed to speak against destroy themselves as well. vengeful women. They suspect them of trickery, but doom of both Agamemnon and Hecuba as punish- men or in court, and therefore she must be inevita- Lastly, in the category of the less extreme do not see them as a threat unless they gather. It is ment for the latter’s treachery and violent acts, and bly silenced. Here, Haemon takes on the feminine tragic women, comes Euripides’ Hecuba. She too, is seen here again the Athenian man’s fear of losing for the former’s alliance with a woman and betrayal. role here and kills himself after he finds Antigone is motivated by extreme loss of family: her son Hector control when women are allowed into the public Even Agamemnon, who was moved by pity, must be dead, which suggests a fear of men being controlled is killed by Achilles, and her other son Polydorus sphere: when Hecuba forms an alliance with Agam- punished for using treachery to enact justice. by a woman. This is because he kills himself when was murdered by his trusted guardian Polyme- emnon, a man, all goes ill for the men in the tragedy, The women of The Bacchae are the most out- he finds that she is dead, which is usually the role of stor for treasure. Her daughter Polyxema is to be including Agamemnon. standing example of mass terror created by women a woman when she finds that a strong male figure sacrificed on the tomb of Achilles, and her other Hecuba effectively tricks Polymestor into in the surviving tragedies. This statement rings true such as a husband or brother has died. daughter Cassandra is to be Agamemnon’s concu- being alone with his two sons by asking to talk about over other plays such as Hecuba because the larger Because Antigone is required to be loyal bine and whore. In her lamentation she makes clear her business privately and again when she lies about group of maenads is driven by the spell of Dionysus and to grieve her brother, there are certain rules how important her family is to her: “My woe, my where the treasure is and lures him into the female to their madness. However, the overall motivation that she was confined to that she still follows. In woe!/ Who can help me? What child,/ what city? prisoners’ tent. He follows her because of his greed, is still family, as Dionysus is seeking revenge on the Nicole Loraux’s Tragic Ways of Killing a Woman, Old Priam is gone,/ my sons are gone./ Where can I and also because he does not fear women, which house of Cadmus because of an insult done to his she describes one of those rules, where, “The death turn?” (Euripides, Hecuba 5). Odysseus also relays leads to her ultimate revenge. Within the tent she mother. In return for this insult, he makes Aga- of a man inevitably calls for the suicide of a wom- her helplessness to Hecuba by refusing her cries for blinds Polymestor and kills his two sons with the aid ve guilty of the murder of her own son Pentheus. an, his wife” because the death of a man should be mercy when he says, “Do not make us tear [Polyx- of the other women inside. He exclaims, “Women This play exemplifies the male fear not only of a in war, and his wife must then adhere to a “heroic ema] away from you by force… Rather you must have destroyed me,/ captive women!” (Euripides, maddened woman, but also of their own shortcom- code of honor” and take her own life (Loraux 7). recognize how powerless you are and how your mis- Hecuba 31). Earlier, however, when Polymestor lies ings against these women. Weapons do nothing to Also, where men die by the sword, women must die fortunes overwhelm you. In my view it is sensible… to Hecuba about Polydorus’ death, Hecuba confirms stop them, and trickery cannot be used against the the “formless death” by hanging with a rope, which to show good judgment” (Euripides, Hecuba 7). The his treachery, which suggests that when men use maenads because ordinarily that method belongs to Loraux argues is less honorable and “associated with men in this story are initially powerful, but underes- trickery, they are punished for it. This could be for them and therefore will not thwart them. The gender marriage… with an excessive valuation of the status timate the power of the women, which reflects Athe- one of two reasons, the first being that men do not reversal that is seen in The Bacchae says a great deal of the bride – while a suicide that shed blood was nian men’s irrational fear of the dormant emotional know how to use treachery because it is a woman’s about how fragile men perceived their control over associated with maternity, through which a wife, and physical power of women. She breaks down and game. The second is that Polymestor is unsuccessful women to be, especially in the later dramas of Eurip- in her “heroic” pains of childbirth, found complete insists on being put to death with her daughter, but in his lie because treachery is seen as base and dirty ides. fulfillment” (Loraux 9, 15). Antigone dies this form- soon her mood shifts. because it is a woman’s game. Men, when they lower The imagery used inThe Bacchae is espe- less death because she has failed in her duties as a While at no point in the play is she any less themselves to a woman’s level, are punished. cially moving, as it often serves as a metaphor for wife-figure to her brother in that she could not sway desperate for revenge, Hecuba organizes herself The chorus of Trojan Women chastises the male fears detailed previously. There are partic-
56 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 57 Symposium Fear of the Maddened Woman: A Study of Male Fear of Women in 5th Century Attic Drama
ularly powerful images that draw attention to the der it is that you have wrought with your wretched in the polis. It would seem that Medea breaks the She forges political connections in the women tearing apart or uprooting male objects or hands. A noble victim it is that you have laid low mold cast by her tragic peers because she deliber- surrounding community with Aegeus, which is a other strong standing things. This suggests a fear of for the gods” (Euripides, The Bacchae 349). This is ately kills her children as well as her husband’s new direct contradiction of societal standards of women women gaining power and tearing apart the male yet another example of women who, although out wife and Creon, king of Corinth. The murders are being excluded from the polis. Upon securing her “phallocracy.” When a messenger relays what he has of control of terrestrial men, are still used as pawns premeditated, unlike those in The Bacchae, which potential escape, Medea reveals her intent when she seen the maenads doing to local livestock in partic- by male gods. Agave recognizes this and laments, demonstrates the control and resolve Medea has says to Creon, “Woman in most respects is a timid ular, we see this tearing apart of a male symbol. The “Dionysus has undone us. Too late I see it is” (Eurip- over her own actions. She is, however, somewhat creature… but wronged in love, there is no heart messenger exclaims, “Wanton bulls—forgotten the ides, The Bacchae 350). Agave is still motivated by hysterical because of her frustration with the men more murderous than hers” (Euripides, Medea 43). menace of their leveled horns – were tripped and her family, otherwise Dionysus’ revenge plan would in this tragedy. This is Euripides’ way of keeping her Creon actually admits his fear when he says, “I am dragged to the ground by the hands of countless not have worked if she did not kill her own son and still within the confines of a woman’s realm; she is afraid of you… You are stung by the loss of your young women” (Euripides, The Bacchae 336). He feel shame for it. The distraught woman and her jealous, irrational, motivated by family and hysteri- husband’s love…before anything happens to me, I goes on to say “Women defeating men! There was a husband Cadmus flee in disgrace and in recognition cal because of it. Medea’s hope is that by destroying shall take precautions” (Euripides, Medea 44). This god with them.” (Euripides, The Bacchae 336). This of Dionysus’ victory. her family she may protect it from the corruption obvious admission of fear of Medea is spurred by demonstrates that even when they are unquestion- The Bacchae is reflective of two earlier Greek Jason has brought upon it. Her logic, though might- the acknowledgement that Medea is enraged by ably strong and overpowering, women are still not myths, the first being of the Lemnian women. They ily flawed, is still that of a woman with her family in the destruction of her family, and that Creon fully their own masters. In this case, they have the power were cursed by Aphrodite with an “evil odor that mind. suspects violent action from her. Perhaps it is this of Dionysus at their aid, as the aim of this revelry is turned their husbands against them” (Keuls 338). Medea breaks not only out of traditional admission of his fear and acknowledgement of her to bring revenge to Thebes. They then turned on their husbands and killed all gender roles, but also out of the traditional role of destructive power that dooms Creon. Interestingly Another wrenching and uprooting caused of the men on their island and created a man-free the untraditional woman in Attic Drama because, enough, though Medea almost entirely rejects all by the maenads is the destruction of Pentheus. He is society. The second is the story of the Danaids that simply, she gets away scot-free. She begins as a other female gender restrictions, she accepts and convinced by “The Stranger” to dress in a woman’s were forced against their wills to marry their cous- tormented, miserable, betrayed woman who laments almost embraces the treacherous quality of women clothes and hide in order to observe the maenads ins. They killed all of them in their bridal beds as her unlucky lot. In her grand speech she says, “Of when she says, “Moreover by our mere nature we from afar. Pentheus agrees that this is a good strate- a result (Keuls 338). These two stories of females all creatures that feel and think, we women are the women are helpless for good, but adept at contriving gy, saying, “One does not overcome women by force. violently overwhelming so many men (as a result of unhappiest species…We must pay a great dowry all manner of wickedness” (Euripides, Medea 47). I shall conceal myself” (Euripides, The Bacchae divine intervention or not) are similar to the mae- to a husband who will be the tyrant of our bod- She likely embraces this negative quality because of 341). Again the failed employment of treachery and nads and Agave in The Bacchae and are reflective of ies… and there is another fearful hazard: whether her pride in her nefarious talent in brewing poisons. deception is seen by men when Pentheus is detected a male fear about the collapse of their male-centered we shall get a good man or bad” (Euripides, Medea Medea seems to embrace all of the negative qualities as a witness describes how the maenads, led by Pen- society. 42). She stresses the lack of control that real life attributed to women such as hysteria and treachery, theus’ mother Agave “Applied countless hands to the Finally, Euripides’ Medea gives a unique Athenian woman had over their own lives. She says as long as they give her a more powerful position. fir and wrenched it from the ground… down… falls example of the havoc-wreaking woman who got that a woman that is lucky enough to guess how to Medea goes on to abandon all the expect- Pentheus… His mother attacked him – the priestess away. Medea, the image of a dejected and woebe- please her husband and to have that husband remain ed traditional protective qualities of motherhood commencing the sacrifice” (Euripides,The Bacchae gone woman in the beginning of the play, quickly faithful is rare, and if the woman is unlucky, that she by killing her own children to get revenge on the 345). He falls victim to his mother’s hands and is masters herself and becomes a monster, killing her is better off dead. This is perhaps a realization by weakly portrayed Jason. Jason earlier laments the rent apart by her fellow maenads in a literal disman- own children to spite her husband, Jason. She does the male playwright and audience that women may need for women in childbirth, wishing for a way to tling of male authority. this because he has left her to marry a woman of a not actually be so content with their domestic lives. beget children without the need for a woman. This When Agave is finally brought to her senses with her higher station and assumes she should understand. Upon this realization, Medea makes her turn into a foreshadows the abandonment of motherhood and son’s head in her hands, Cadmus tells her, “Mur- Men were sexually free, politically literate, and active violent, vengeful, angry, and dominant figure. gender roles later in the tragedy, but also serves
58 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 59 Symposium Fear of the Maddened Woman: A Study of Male Fear of Women in 5th Century Attic Drama
as a warning that women are perhaps more pow- In Medea’s case, she gets away with her and men sacrifice their households for fame…The are also limited primary sources regarding actu- erful than they seem and wield more power over crime, riding away on a chariot drawn by serpents boundary between household and state becomes al Greek life concerning the interactions between the oikos than men would like to admit. All of this with her two dead sons. Earlier the chorus warned, spatially and ideologically blurred” (Foley 156-157). women and men, and the advent of new discoveries is done only with revenge in mind, as Medea says “On the man that spills the blood of kinsmen the The reversal described here can be found in nearly would surely bring new and interesting issues to herself, “I don’t mind, now I have got properly under curse of heaven descend” (Euripides, Medea 68) all of the tragedies discussed throughout this essay, light in this investigation. More sources are called your skin” (Euripides, Medea 70). She blames the They also warn that Ino, who tried to kill her chil- and illustrate an investigation of gender roles by for to entirely understand this issue, and more dis- children’s murders on Jason’s infidelity, placing the dren, was driven mad and cast herself into the the playwrights. More importantly, however, is the cussion of it would certainly benefit scholarly under- blame on him for the ruin of his household. Jason is sea killing herself and her children. Where is this attention drawn to the male fear of this reversal and standing of 5th Century Attic Drama as it relates to of course distraught and tells Medea that his actions warning at the end of the tragedy? Are women not the loss of control over their realm, the polis, as well gender relations in Athens at the same time. did not warrant such a vicious retaliation. However, punished the same as men? These questions are as the foundation they require, the oikos. Eva Keuls as Medea says earlier in her resolution to kill her legitimate and raise concern about the consistency also recognizes this exploration and admission of Works Cited sons, “Passion overrules my resolutions, passion that of the argument at hand. What it fails to consider, fear or other suspicion when she writes, “Men’s causes most of the misery in the world” (Euripides, however, is how Medea feels about her own chil- feelings about their mothers, wives, and daughters… Aeschylus. The Oresteia. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Viking, 1975. Print. Medea 63). She recognizes her hysterical state, but dren. Although she kills them, she struggles greatly gushed forth on the tragic stage of Athens” (Keuls ignores it and accepts it which confirms the male with the decision and takes them with her in her 332). ---. Agamemnon. Trans. Robert Fagles. The Oresteia 103- 172. Print. fear that hysterical women cannot be stopped, even escape. These are two clear signs of guilt and grief. In conclusion, violence in women is often by themselves. She is also miserable in the first place and never tru- reactionary, suggesting a lack of autonomy, whereas Demand, Nancy H. Birth, Death, and Motherhood in The theme of abortion could be considered ly resolves this familial woe, as her family remains violence against women is often a means to a greater Classical Greece. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1994. Print. in this tragedy, because as Nancy Demand writes, shattered despite her twisted attempts to save it. In end, which reflects the dominance of men in Athe- “The general suspicion of women’s tendency to seek short, Medea is wretched from beginning to end, nian society. Women frequently employ violence Euripides. “Hecuba.” Trans. James Morwood. “Hecuba.” abortions that is expressed by the author of “Diseas- and although she escapes terrestrial punishment, she when men threaten the stability or values of the Hecuba ; The Trojan Women ; Andromache. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. 1-37. Print. es of Women I” reflects the widespread general ten- will continue to suffer psychologically as a result of oikos, or as a means to another party’s greater end. sion between women and men as it affected married her actions and betrayal. They are often relieved by men or a divine entity of Euripides. Ten Plays Trans. Moses Hadas, and John Har- vey. McLean. Toronto: Bantam, 1981. Print. couples” (Demand 62). Abortion was often elected By looking to a comparison of real life to responsibility for their actions. Men are often vio- by the woman as a result of household unrest, which 5th Century Attic Drama, appropriate conclusions lent towards women to produce a greater end and Foley, Helene P. The Conception of Women in Athenian is the case in Medea. In addition, Medea is similar can be drawn about their relationship to gender in because they see their violent actions as justified by Drama. “VI Women: Domestic as Male: Public.” Re- flections of Women in Antiquity. New York: Gordon and to Hera in that she is violent and portrayed as evil. Classical Athens. Helene Foley argues in her book this end. Women are also violent as a means of pro- Breach Science, 1981. N. pag. Print. More importantly, however, she is a sexually mature Reflections of Women in Antiquity that, “The relation tecting, preserving, or avenging their families in one Keuls, Eva C. The Reign of the Phallus: Sexual Politics in figure. Sarah Pomeroy argues in her book Goddesses, of drama to life and to cultural ideals tends to be ob- way or another. Their hysteria and hidden power Ancient Athens. New York: Harper & Row, 1985. Print. Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical An- scured by its self-conscious and deliberate obsession is what makes them most dangerous, as well as the Loraux, Nicole. Tragic Ways of Killing a Woman. Cam- tiquity that these sexually mature figures cause male with cultural contradictions and crises” (Foley 156). lack of understanding between genders. Ultimately, bridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1987. Print. anxiety about the “fully realized female” through- This conjures images of Medea specifically, as she they are only imaginations or ghostly apparitions Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: out. The only way for these women to achieve their takes a dominant role in Medea and gets away un- written by men, played by men, seen by men, and Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken, 1975. end, she argues, is to “deny her own femininity and punished. With that in mind, Foley also states that, controlled by men. There are less than one hundred Print. sexuality”, further reassuring the male fear of female “Women commit adultery and sacrifice children surviving Greek tragedies out of an estimated one intrusion into their carefully constructed world and the material resources of the household to their thousand, so there is a limited window into the (Pomeroy 4). own desires to rebel and attain power for themselves world of gender relations in Classical Athens. There
60 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 61 Symposium The Relationship Between Classical Blues and Black Female Sexuality
Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. Paul Roche. The Complete Plays. New York: Signet, 2001. 343-87. Print. The Relationship Between Classical Blues Zeitlin, Froma I. “Playing the Other: Theater, Theatricali- ty, and the Feminine in Greek Drama.” Representations and Black Female Sexuality 11 (Summer 1985): 63-94. Print. Casey Wayman Class of 2015 English, B.A.
This essay is an exploration of blues music—primarily considered the domain of African-American, rural men—as it pertains to black females, and particularly their sexuality. The music of women like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and many “blues queens” of the early 1900s questioned the roles of women that permeated both black and white media. Female blues offered instead a woman who was unashamed of her sexuality and just as self-assured as men. The blues woman’s most important contribution was in expressing the thoughts, emotions, and desires of black women that had long remained unspoken, and provided reassurance of their worth.
In the 1920s and early 1930s, the blues in- ant to explore the conditions of the early 1900s. dustry was dominated by women. Singers like Bessie Post-Emancipation, African-Americans were able Smith, Ma Rainey, and Ida Cox created a form of to abandon the land they had worked on for years blues that was polished, elegant, and vaudevillian and travel anywhere, taking work as they found it in theme, and that was popular with white and and leaving whenever conditions were displeasing or especially black audiences. Female blues music was they just wanted to go. This freedom resulted in the similar to male blues, but there were some signifi- “ramblin’ man” stereotype: a lone, free black man, cant differences. While men and women both sang who would traverse the countryside and was never the blues with the major themes of sex and love content to stay in one place. However, women were in male-female relationships, a great many of the more often than not exempt from this newfound women’s blues songs of the 1920s challenged the luxury, and when the men migrated, the women traditional roles of men and women, rather than were left behind (Carby, “It Jus’ Be’s Dat Way Some- perpetuating them. Using female homosexuality, time” 476). As Hazel V. Carby, an influential author role reversal, revenge fantasy, and braggadocio about in the field of black feminism, explained, “There was their sexual prowess, classic blues singers painted . . . an explicit recognition that if the journey were an empowering new image of the black woman. to be made by women it held particular dangers for This woman is brave and unashamed of her sexual them” (“It Jus’ Be’s Dat Way Sometime” 476). As exploits, but as flawed as her male counterparts at a result, the only way a female African-American times. Whether she decided to follow the traditional could travel was by joining vaudeville shows and fol- image of women or fight against it, this “blues wom- lowing their route around the country, giving them an” was confident and unapologetic, inspiring other the freedom necessary to challenge sexual norms, as performers and listeners to follow her example. many female blues artists—nearly all former vaude- Before one can fully grasp the implications ville singers—did (Carby, “In Body and Spirit” 180). female blues had on the time period, it is import- Furthermore, this frequency of abandon-
62 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 63 Symposium The Relationship Between Classical Blues and Black Female Sexuality
ment led to more lenience with the African-Amer- such as pick up tips with various body parts (Carby, included several songs about being left behind. This and 1930s had difficulty understanding was that ican community about sexual relations outside of “In Body and Spirit” 188). As a consequence, many simultaneously allowed women the ability to express women, like men, had desires and reactions to their marriage or in general (Bratcher 72). For those newspapers and other media attacked vaudeville how they felt about being abandoned and, thanks circumstances; female blues helped articulate these living on tenant farms after Emancipation, “[y]oung shows, calling them filthy and degrading (Harrison to vaudeville and the mobility it offered, reclaim the feelings and make them accessible to listeners. In a men and women were not expected to marry early 30). idea of traveling for themselves (Carby, “It Jus Be’s way, it helped tie young black women together by . . . [and] if a young woman became pregnant, . . . However, the denigration of black news- Dat Way Sometime” 476). However, most of the singing about shared experiences and giving them— [s]he did not lose status in the community; neither papers was not enough to dissuade most Afri- songs were not about women going anywhere; many arguably for the first time—a feminine perspective. were her chances for marriage in the future com- can-American women from joining vaudeville and involved her staying at home, like “In House Blues” The blues could be used as a coping mechanism in promised” (Titon 16). This was because parents did being more promiscuous in their personal lives— by Bessie Smith. This song shows that women are this way, both for the singer and the listener, because not want to lose their children to marriage, when which translated into the blues. A large part of this not weak and helpless when their men leave, and il- airing these emotions is a potentially cathartic exer- they could all live and work together. A child would was due, once again, to Emancipation. Slaves had lustrates how angry the wandering (as romanticized cise. only add extra hands (Titon 16). While this explains been sexually exploited by their owners for pleasure in male blues) makes the woman. The lyrics do not Of course, not all songs by female blues the open sexuality portrayed by blues music (sexual and bred to make more slaves; once free, black wom- seem atypical of female stereotypes: she is “wishin singers involved mere discussion of her feelings; freedom was, for many, an accepted part of life), en relished their ability to pick their own partners [sic] that [her] man would come home once more” many also illustrated women doing something it fails to explain the outcry of African-Americans (Davis 10). But just because a woman was free did and feels “so weak [she] can’t walk [her] floor” (Car- about their problems. Revenge was a popular motif against blues music and the promiscuity that it pro- not save her from exploitation, as has been discussed by, “It Jus Be’s Dat Way Sometime” 478). However, in these songs, and the usual method used to do moted. above. Furthermore, the combination of vaudeville lines like “Feel like calling ‘murder’ let the police so was through sexual promiscuity and bragging. Most of the backlash against what was abuse and the general sexism that was alive and well squad get me once more” (Carby, “It Jus Be’s Dat Ma Rainey’s “Oh Papa Blues” is another example of considered sexual immorality was directed towards in the 1920s—despite the commonly-held belief that Way Sometime” 478) hint at the underlying rage that this. Rainey sings that, after her man has left her, vaudevillian stars, and arguably with good reason. whites were superior to blacks, “[m]any black males so many women felt when their men left, and it is he will “find some other man makin’ love to [her], Daphne Duval Harrison, another powerful voice in [in turn] found refuge in the belief that men were Smith’s growly, somewhat-menacing voice that puts now” (Davis xv) should he come back. This is one black feminist literature, describes the situation as superior to women” (Oakley 107)—resulted in the the power to the words. After transcribing the lyrics of three major reactions to a man’s infidelity and/or follows: development of stereotypes about African-Amer- that have been used above, Carby explains how this abandonment, as well as life’s other hardships: one Young black women were often so dazzled by ican women. Female vaudeville singers, as visible is a common theme, and that “[t]he rage of women can get revenge through promiscuity, as discussed the opportunity for freedom, fortunes, and fame against male infidelity and desertion is evident in above, leave the man, or do nothing and accept one’s offered by the stage that they were willing to ac- in the public eye as they were, faced the brunt of cept questionable living and working conditions these stereotypes. Oakley describes this image of many of the blues” (“It Jus Be’s Dat Way Sometime” circumstances. As Daphne Duval Harrison says, to achieve them. Neither the rugged conditions a black woman quite well: they were “[c]onsigned 478). “we have a group of blues that depict the weariness, on the road nor their families’ disapproval could to the roles of mammy or whore by white society” Aside from expressing how a woman might depression, disillusionment, and quiet rage that dissuade them. . . . As early as 1910, black news- paper directed attention to these threats to the and “economically exploited, sexually assaulted, or feel when she is mistreated by a man, blues music seethe below the surface when a woman as reached moral fiber of their citizens, especially females. otherwise abused by whites” as a result (106). can be used to help the singer and listener cope with the end of her rope” (86). For example, “I Hate a (22) Because they lived in such a male-dominat- these emotions. For many, the blues is “the battle- Man Like You” by Lizzie Miles is about a woman Being a singer earned a black woman an ed world, blues women had to reinvent the classic ground on which a woman’s emotional and rational who despises her significant other, but who does not unsavory reputation, and in many cases, the condi- male blues songs in order to make them their own. sentiments fight to control her actions after her plan to get revenge on him or to leave; it is a certain- tions of vaudeville and other theater lived up to that These songs were often responses to male actions, partner abandons her” (Lewis 601). While this is ty that many women who listened to this song could reputation, even if the women themselves did not. many of which made up the content of male blues. describing a poem by Langston Hughes, it could just empathize with a relationship where “[e]nmity has Female performers were debased and asked to do For example, while men wrote many songs about as easily be describing “In House Blues,” as far as its replaced love . . . yet there is no indication of intent appalling things in the clubs in which they worked, hopping onto a train and leaving, female blues subject matter goes. What many people of the 1920s to leave or do violence” (Harrison 87). No matter
64 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 65 Symposium The Relationship Between Classical Blues and Black Female Sexuality
how palatable leaving or taking revenge on a lover song, Smith suggests that women make their men fortunes along with the benefits of this newfound Songs like the ones listed above show a might be, it was not a path taken by every woman, stay at home and do the cleaning as revenge for empowerment. defiance against the norms of society, which was or even desired by every woman; by exploring all being “no-good”—a phrase that could have several Classical blues singers did more than subvert extremely courageous considering Ma Rainey’s de- the options a black woman could take while being implications depending on the listener. By having male lyrics, however. To continue to reinvent the pendence on her listeners. It seems strange for her to mistreated, female blues artists can connect with a him stay at home and her go out and make money, concept of the black woman, female blues artists cre- antagonize those who were responsible for her con- greater number of listeners, touching upon elements Smith is “emphatically counsel[ing] women to find ated their own subject matter. This is most obvious tinued livelihood, and it is difficult to imagine why of all forms of relationships and femininity. ways of supporting themselves financially” (Davis in the lesbian blues songs that, while not plentiful, these artists would continue to write songs that de- Male singers often bragged about their 58). Adopting elements of male blues and re-ap- opened up a facet of femininity that had been long fied custom, however, regardless of the reason, they sexual prowess, and women in blues would try to propriating it for classic (female) blues was a pow- missing from the music industry. The most popu- did so repeatedly. The female blues singers had to outdo them in this regard. Not only would songs erful way in which these artists “redefine[d] black lar of these songs by far was Ma Rainey’s “Prove It fight a society that “discouraged black women’s pub- like Rainey’s “Oh Papa Blues” imply that the man’s womanhood as active, assertive, independent, and on Me Blues.” Carby describes it as “an assertion lic disclosure of their sexuality and . . . created the leaving does not matter, as she can get herself anoth- sexual” (Davis 75), rather than allowing themselves and affirmation of lesbianism” (“It Jus Be’s Dat illusion of sexual openness” that was false empower- er man without trouble, but female blues also poked to be used as sexual objects, the way they were often Way Sometime” 479), and this seems to be an apt ment (Hobson 444). African-American society was fun at men’s masculinity, challenging it with their portrayed. description. The song is about how society rejects so strongly against open immorality because black own sexual prowess and desires. Ida Cox’s “One One of the consequences of making the lesbianism with lines like “They say I do it . . . They people, as a group considered less moral than their Hour Mama” mocks the idea of men being sexually black woman sexually and socially active was that sure got to prove it on me” (Carby, “It Jus Be’s Dat white peers, had to make sure that they were re- superior, making demands about what kind of lover some of the songs made her seem “as bad as a man Way Sometime” 479), where she argues that the way spectable in order to succeed in a white-dominated she wants and sneering at the excuses men make for in mistreating a lover” (Harrison 102). Strangely lesbians are treated is unfair, making her have to world. It is therefore to be expected that songs about not living up to her expectations: enough, this usually earned a positive response sneak around; it contradicts itself, however, by what open sexuality, the reversal of gender roles, and les- I don’t want no lame excuses bout my lovin from audiences (Harrison 102), who perhaps liked is considered an open declaration of homosexuality bianism would not be tolerated. And yet somehow, being so good, That you couldn’t wait no longer, now I hope I’m the idea of a woman not being perfect or passive in with the line “I don’t like no men” (Carby, “It Jus Be’s through the medium of blues music, these themes understood. a relationship. An example of these includes Clara Dat Way Sometime” 479). The other major song that could be recorded, released, and enjoyed by the I’m a one hour mama, so no one minute papa Smith’s “Don’t Never Tell Nobody,” in which Sadie, is considered an embrace of lesbianism also comes general public with minimal complaint or attempts Ain’t the kind of man for me. one of the characters in the song, learns that telling from Ma Rainey, called “Shave ‘Em Dry.” Homo- to shut the industry down. Somehow, blues allowed (Carby “It Jus Be’s Dat Way Sometime” 482) other women about how good a man is will only sexuality was not accepted by African-Americans at women to discuss their desires, sexual and political In songs like this, women turn the tables make them eager to “try some of his good points this time, but somehow these songs slipped through (Hobson 444), and “began the female tradition of on men, singing about using them for sex and too” (“Clara Smith - Don’t Never Tell Nobody onto the radio and records. While “Shave ‘Em Dry” representing love and sex as concrete aspects of daily entertainment; in much the same way as they were Lyrics”), proving that women are just as prone to is not as overtly about lesbianism as “Prove It on life in the Black community” (Bratcher 68). exploited, they are now the exploiters (Harrison 98). commit adultery as men. Another example would be Me Blues,” there are still a few lines that indicate it, Perhaps the reason these songs were created Many blues songs are empowering in their ability Chippie Hill’s “Charleston Blues”—where the wom- including the most likely candidate for homosexual and enjoyed is because their message was important to vocalize the oppression that women of the time an is the one leaving, and she insists that she cannot euphemism: “State Street women wearing brogan enough to be told, and many African-American lis- period faced, while others promote female might bring her man with her, because she has no use for shoes / Eh-heh, daddy, let me shave ‘em dry” (Har- teners found it important enough to be heard. Carby by emasculating men, establishing new balances him (Harrison 102-103). These songs put the wom- rison 104). Some would argue that the songs are not elegantly defines the entire classic blues genre as it of power where the woman gives the commands an in the man’s place, not only granting her access to wholly about lesbianism. However, the fact that even relates to female sexuality: and the man better obey or risk her leaving him. his freedom to leave and power to exploit others, but such vague euphemisms exist at all in a society that What has been called the ‘Classic Blues’ . . . is a discourse that articulates a cultural and political “Safety Mama” by Bessie Smith reverses the typical also placing his blame of mistreating lovers on her so unanimously rejected homosexuality is unusual roles of men and women in relationships. In this struggle over sexual relations: a struggle that is shoulders as well, and forcing her to take the mis- enough to take note of. directed against the objectification of female sex-
66 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 67 Symposium The Relationship Between Classical Blues and Black Female Sexuality
uality within a patriarchal order but which also pendence and empowerment, not all of the songs of African-American women that they had been “Clara Smith - Don’t Never Tell Nobody Lyrics.” Lyrics tries to reclaim women’s bodies as the sexual and had these lessons in them. In fact, just because a pigeonholed into: that of the simpleminded—but On Demand. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. sensuous objects of women’s song. (“It Jus Be’s Dat Way Sometime 474) woman does not choose to leave her man or get innocent and mothering—“mammy”-figure, or that Davis, Angela. Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Ger- revenge on him after being mistreated—as in “Don’t of the savage whore. Blues women used such strate- trude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday. New Carby’s idea is not that sexualizing women York: Vintage, 1999. Print. made them objects, because women could still be Explain” by Billie Holiday, where she decides to stay gies as male emasculation through mockery or role sexual (as evidenced by songs like “Need a Little with her man even after he cheated on her—does reversal, encouraging women to leave their abusive Harrison, Daphne Duval. Black Pearls: Blues Queens of the 1920s. New Brunswick, [N.J.: Rutgers UP, 1988. Print. Sugar in My Bowl” by Bessie Smith, in which she not make her weak. She is instead “choos[ing] to men, being open about their sexuality and sexual says that she “need[s] a little sugar in [her] bowl / act in ways that facilitate [her] interests, whether or encounters, and giving a feminine perspective to Hobson, Janell. “Everybody’s Protest Song: Music as So- not observers, readers, or listeners believe that [she] the themes most often used by male blues singers in cial Protest in the Performances of Marian Anderson and [She needs] a little hot dog on [her] roll” (“Need a Billie Holiday.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and (re)act[s] appropriately” (Lewis 604-605). Female order to slip out of these stereotypes that they had Little Sugar in My Bowl Lyrics”), which illustrates Society 33.2 (2008): 443-48. Print. sexual innuendo); they wanted to define it in their strength comes in multiple forms, and not all blues been forced into. Though there is no definite link women’s songs look like one another; in fact, one between these songs and any political movement Lewis, Nghana tamu. “In a Different Chord: Interpreting own terms. One of the effects that female blues had the Relations Among Black Female Sexuality, Agency, on the time was that it “[articulated] the possibility artist can impart multiple messages, depending on towards female equality, merely voicing the opinions and the Blues.” African American Review 37.4 (2003): 599-609. JSTOR. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. that women could leave a condition of sexual and the song. held by many for an untold period of time allowed The purpose of blues was not, after all, to try a connection between all women, who could be financial dependency, reject male violence, and end “Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl Lyrics.” MetroLyrics. sexual exploitation” (Carby, “It Jus Be’s Dat Way and create a new stereotype for women to fit them- unified by the enjoyment of the blues songs and the Web. 10 Mar. 2012. selves into; in this case the image is a strong, inde- positive messages therein. The importance of these Sometime 479), allowing women to have a life that Oakley, Giles. The Devil’s Music:A History of the Blues. put them in control, the way these singers had. pendent, promiscuous black woman. The primary blues women is not their contribution to the female 2nd ed. New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1983. Print. Bessie Smith’s “Young Woman’s Blues” is an goal of the recording artists was to entertain and sell rights movements of the time period, but in their records, and what appears to have been a secondary creation of a new black woman. While allowing Titon, Jeff Todd. Early Downhome Blues: A Musical and excellent example of what this life looked like for Cultural Analysis. 2nd ed. Chapel Hill: University of many: in the song, “the protagonist maneuver[s] up, aim was to simply question the existing stereotypes African-American women to abandon or maintain North Carolina, 1994. Print. down, and through stereotyped roles set aside for and contradict them. Billie Holiday, for example, the traditional views of femininity, this music also Black women by Blacks who lacked the confidence used her music to help women question their sexual encouraged them to be confident in themselves and to express their ideological or sexual freedom, and roles, rather than define an ideal one. By creating a their decisions, by unequivocally assuring female by Whites who wanted to maintain the status quo” wide variety of characters in her songs, and giving worth. (Bratcher 96). She denies the roles offered to her by them each different perspectives on feminism and society, and instead creates her own—a wandering, sex, “[s]he offered other women the possibility of Works Cited sexually-liberated woman who is happy with her understanding the social contradictions they em- bodied and enacted in their lives” (Davis 179). Bratcher, Melanie E. Words and Songs of Bessie Smith, Bil- life and sees no reason to adopt a more traditional lie Holiday, and Nina Simone: Sound Motion, Blues Spirit, comportment yet. Furthermore, through “Young Classical blues was largely made up of wom- and African Memory. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print. en. Artists like Ida Cox, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Woman’s Blues” she “informs, advises, and even Carby, Hazel V. “In Body and Spirit: Representing Black and others were wildly popular and influential to inspires Black women to be independent and to em- Women Musicians.” Black Music Research Journal 11.2 brace sexual pleasure” (Bratcher 97) through the role blues in the 1920s and 1930s, giving the music credi- (1991): 177-92. Web. 25 Feb. 12. bility and a market that would be able to support the model of the narrator, who does just that without Carby, Hazel V. “It Jus Be’s Dat Way Sometime: The degrading herself. artists that came after them. Aside from arguably en- Sexual Politics of Women’s Blues.” The Jazz Cadence of American Culture. New York: Columbia UP, 1998. 470- Although the blues sent a message of inde- abling the blues industry to form, the women of the blues, in song after song, challenged the stereotypes 83. Print.
68 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 69 Symposium Native Americans: Scientists or Savages?
point that all human beings leave the marks of their lo” (28). Similarly, Grinde and Johansen suggest that Native Americans: Scientists or Savages? existence upon the landscape” (220) – how much the only reason Native Americans ever engaged in Megan Zart and how negative of an effect they had is much more fur trade was because Europeans “imposed mercan- Class of 2016 Integrated Marketing Communications, B.S. debatable. tile capitalism on them” and they were left with little This argument that Native Americans de- choice but to comply if they wished to survive in This essay argues for the validity of Native American beliefs and natural knowledge as compared to Western stroyed the American wilderness is flawed for a va- their rapidly changing environment (29). scientific knowledge and practices, as well as examines the effects of Native American ecological practices on riety of reasons. First, as Baker points out, since “[n] Aside from the likely bias present in Europe- the land. Native American knowledge regarding nature is often discredited, while Western science is widely onnative scientists, explorers, and early settlers are a an reporting, there is much uncertainty over exactly accepted. Additionally, many people blame Native Americans for ruining the wilderness in the United States. primary source about Indian influences on the land, how big of an impact Native Americans could have Through the examination of a variety of sources, I refute the claim that Native Americans had a detrimental ...it is thus appropriate to consider their motives and had on the land, since the number of natives living effect on the land and argue that their scientific knowledge and practices should be taken seriously. understanding before accepting the information in different areas is often estimated to be small, and A theory is generally defined as a tested id as Western “scientific” knowledge and practices they provide” (43). It is no secret that the Europe- many other statistical details are difficult to obtain. hypothesis that is commonly accepted as the ex- – possibly more so. ans had less than friendly relations with the Native As Owens comically notes in response to the claim planation for an occurrence. Two parts of this Before discussing the validity of Native Americans and throughout history proceeded to that natives were responsible for exterminating definition that are especially important to highlight American knowledge as a whole, it is important to claim the majority of their land; therefore it’s not many species of “megafauna,” “considering that rela- are “hypothesis” and “commonly accepted”. These focus on the related argument that Native Amer- hard to imagine that they would have had negative tively small numbers of Paleo-Indians were suppos- phrases imply the often overlooked drawback of ican ecological practices ruined the wilderness in views of the native people. Because of their rocky edly using stone weapons to exterminate enormous theories – they haven’t been proven. Following this the United States because this belief contributes to relationship, Baker asserts that “it is plausible that herds of gargantuan animals and doing so apparent- definition, one could conclude that all of the scien- the negative connotation surrounding many Native early Euro-American reports of burning by Indians ly for the fun of it, ...they would truly have to have tific theories most people in the United States accept American practices and traditions. As William L. could have been exaggerated to paint the Indians been giants of the earth to eat all that megafauna” as true - such as the big bang theory and the theory Baker aptly explains in his article, “Indians and Fire as reckless savages and poor land stewards who did (220). On a similar note, in discussing the impact of evolution – are still only hypotheses, or proposi- in the Rocky Mountains: The Wilderness Hypoth- not deserve to keep their land” (52). While Baker is of Native American burning practices in the Rocky tions. When members of Western society push their esis Renewed,” “[i]t is commonplace today to hear specifically discussing reports of burning started by Mountains, Baker points out that “some 30,000 scientific “facts” on people of other cultures with dif- the generalization that landscapes throughout the the natives, his explanation can be applied to a vari- people, living in an enormous mountain range with ferent beliefs, they often don’t have proof that their world were modified by pre-Euro-American people, ety of generalized European reports regarding native a strong climate-influenced fire regime, could hardly ideas are, in fact, better. Overall, Western science is and wilderness relatively free of human influenc- behavior. Grinde and Johansen go a step further be expected to have much influence on the pattern widely accepted as fact, while the knowledge and es did not exist” (41). There is a long list of Native and point out that many “Native American” prac- of fires outside their heavy-use-areas” (70). It seems beliefs of other cultures, specifically that of Native American practices that supposedly had a detri- tices that are cited as ruining the land were actually likely that in many cases, nature itself is responsible Americans, are often discredited as oral tradition or mental effect on the land; Baker mentions burning the result of European or American practices and for the environmental changes for which Native myth. Many people have also blamed Native Amer- and agricultural practices (41), and in their book influence. For example, while Native Americans are Americans are being blamed. icans for the deterioration of the American land- Ecocide of Native America, Donald A. Grinde and often criticized for killing large numbers of buffalo, However, in the cases in which Native Amer- scape, saying their ecological practices ruined the Bruce E. Johansen discuss the commonly attacked Grinde and Johansen note that “it was Europeans icans clearly did have an impact on the land, were “wilderness”. However, many sources indicate that practices of buffalo hunting and fur trading (28). and immigrant Americans who obliterated the buf- the effects as detrimental as many would argue? Native American practices did not have a significant While it is true that the Native Americans likely had falo herds. The U.S. government at times subsidized Evidence suggests that, in actuality, many of their detrimental effect on the land, and furthermore, that an impact on the land – as Louis Owens notes in his hunters who slaughtered large amounts of buffalo practices have positively affected the land. In the their beliefs, knowledge, and methods are just as val- book, Mixedblood Messages, there is “the irrefutable for their hides... [and] also subsidized the railroads case of the Anasazis of today’s New Mexico, Owens which brought the non-Indian hunters to the buffa- explains that, far from damaging the land as some
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might think, their practices such as cutting and Peat as noting that “...in Labrador there was a tradi- we know more about the environment than they scientists. After examining practices such as these moving trees for use in building and the creation tional Indigenous way to hunt beaver and one that do? Many of their practices demonstrate a detailed that demonstrate such a complex understanding of of irrigation systems and “pebble-mulch gardens” the European trappers used. Today both methods knowledge of the land and how to coexist with it. the natural world, often surpassing that of West- actually helped create a thriving ecosystem that are used, and there is no sense that one method is For example, the “Three Sisters” system of planting ern science, it is very difficult to argue that Native better supported plant growth and, later, habitation ‘better’ than the other, or that one should replace the created by Native Americans displays a very so- American knowledge is not valid. by none other than the Americans (222). Owens other. Rather, both methods are used, side by side” phisticated understanding of the environment. As Although much evidence suggests the legit- additionally notes that “it would seem self-evident (306). Expensive equipment, lengthy experiments, Lee-Anne Broadhead and Sean Howard explain in imacy of Native American knowledge, the view of that a people cannot continue to inhabit a region for or the ethnic background of the researchers do not their article, “Deepening the Debate over ‘Sustain- those who argue that it is not exactly scientific – at millennia while doing fatal damage” (223); “Native automatically validate a scientific idea, so there is no able Science’: Indigenous Perspectives as a Guide on least not in the Western sense – is understandable. Americans managed to live on this continent for reason to immediately discount those with different the Journey,” corn, beans, and squash are all grown If we are to use the term ‘scientific’, we must adopt a many thousands of years without destroying it, poi- investigative approaches. Many critics also consider in the same plot of land, each providing the others broader definition than what most people currently soning it, or making it uninhabitable[,] [while] [i]n Native American beliefs to be based simply on myth with specific benefits: the beans add much-needed use. Broadhead and Howard again quote Peat as just five hundred years, Western man has come close or oral tradition, thereby undermining their credi- nitrogen to the soil, the corn stalks provide support “suggesting that Native American ways of learning to accomplishing that apocalypse” (225). Clearly, bility. Stories do have an important place in Native for the beans to grow on, and the squash covers the about the real world [are] as ‘scientific’ - as effective, Native American practices were far from having a American society; however, many of these stories ground and prevents weeds from growing (309). A organized, fruitful and insightful - as the western detrimental effect on the environment in the United have been passed along countless generations as a system as complex as this would likely be researched way he had been trained in and taught to revere. States, otherwise the European settlers would not way of relaying valuable knowledge, not simply as by Western scientists in a lab, but Native Americans Not scientific in the same way: another way of being have discovered so much fertile land. entertainment. As Vine Deloria explains in his book, were able to discover it through the trial-and-error scientific” (306). This explanation embodies the idea With the discussion of Native American eco- Red Earth, White Lies, “oral tradition represented experience of actually growing their food. Native that science is not a concept restricted to Western logical practices aside, it should be easier to under- not simply information on ancient events but precise Americans also had a much humbler motivation society, and there are countless ways to practice it stand the remaining argument at hand: the dispute knowledge of birds, animals, plants, geologic fea- behind their discoveries; they valued the land and while still getting legitimate results. For example, over whether or not Native American knowledge tures, and religious experiences of a particular group wished to live the most balanced lifestyle possible, many people doubt the validity of Native American and beliefs are scientifically valid. The view that of people” (36). While some native ideas do seem to while Western society places more value on eco- beliefs because of their emphasis on natural spirits they are not is exemplified by Raúl Valadez Azúa’s contradict commonly accepted Western beliefs, and nomic efficiency and mass production. A second and energies. While this belief clearly differs from quote, as mentioned by Owens, explaining that he it is understandable that some may not comprehend example demonstrating the impressive extent of popular Western ideas, Broadhead and Howard “does not seek to associate the level of scientific or embrace difference ideologies, this ethnocentric native knowledge is the practice of salmon fishing as point out that, “[i]n pointing to energy as the fun- knowledge of the Mesoamerican culture with that thought process is biased and invalid. detailed by Grinde and Johansen. They explain that damental basis of the ‘stuff’ of life, Native science is of contemporary science” in his essay discussing the Despite the differences in how the informa- “[m]any native peoples who subsisted mainly on fully in line with modern western concepts” (308). potential of the use of native ecology as a model in tion is obtained and interpreted, Native American salmon runs intentionally let the fish pass after they Western science credits atoms, molecules, and modern society (222-23). The basis of this argument knowledge is arguably as valid as Western scientific had taken enough to see them through the year[,] chemical reactions, while Native Americans point to is that, regardless of how true Native American knowledge. As Owens eloquently queries, “can we ...acting through conscious knowledge that the natural spirits and gods, but both schools of thought knowledge and ideas may be, they do not measure really have the arrogance to believe that we know salmon runs would vanish if too few fish escaped essentially name invisible energies as the basis of life. up to Western scientific knowledge because they more about the world than did Mesoamerican peo- their nets to reach spawning grounds at the headwa- Clearly, sometimes differences are only a matter of were not investigated in the same manner, and they ples or our Pleistocene ancestors?” (223). As dis- ters of rivers and streams” (40). The Native Amer- interpretation. However, even if the above connec- contradict several key concepts that are integral in cussed above, Native Americans clearly had a closer, ican people were able to understand a complicated tion could not be made between Western and Native Western scientific principles. For example, Broad- more balanced ecological relationship with nature aspect of the environment and adjust their practices American ideas, native knowledge should still be head and Howard quote British physicist F. David than most Europeans, so why would we assume that accordingly, something that has challenged Western considered its own brand of science. As Deloria
72 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 73 Symposium Native Americans: Scientists or Savages?
explains, “[t]he non-Western, tribal equivalent of tions of ‘scientific’, we must recognize that our own theories as the irrevocable truth, or do we open our science is the oral tradition, the teachings that have ideas are not irrefutable simply because we believe minds to the possibility and potential of that which been passed down from one generation to the next in them, and similarly, that the ideas of others are is different? Broadhead and Howard query, “could it over uncounted centuries” (36). Native American not ridiculous simply because we don’t believe in even be that there already exist forms of sustainable knowledge and beliefs are the result of thousands of them. Deloria makes an interesting point regarding science overlooked precisely because they do not years of experience with the world, as opposed to this concept in discussing Western culture’s idea of conform to the dictates and presuppositions - set controlled experiments in a laboratory. That doesn’t science as compared to that of other cultures’: and shared by supposedly ‘enlightened’ western make them unscientific; they simply utilize different [W]e are the first society to accept a purely culture – of what science is and should look and be mechanistic origin for ourselves and the teem- research methods and employ different explanations ing life we find on planet Earth. Science tells us like?” (302). As long as we maintain our strict defi- for the difficult concepts. Who’s to say that a Na- that this whole panorama of life, our deepest nition of ‘scientific’, we may never find out. tive American explanation of the cause of a deadly experiences, and our most cherished ideas and illness isn’t truer than Western attempts to identify emotions are really just the result of a fortu- nate combination of amino acids happening Works Cited the cause of cancer? After all, neither explanation is to coalesce billions of years ago and that our proven. most profound experiences are simply electrical Baker, William L. “Indians and Fire in the Rocky Moun- impulses derived from the logical consequence tains: The Wilderness Hypothesis Renewed.” Fire, Native Broadhead and Howard offer some insight Peoples, and the Natural Landscape. Ed. Thomas R. Vale. of that first accident. We thus stand alone against Washington, DC: Island Press, 2002. 41-76. Electronic. into the reasons for many of the differences in sci- the cumulative memories and wisdom of all entific explanations across cultures, suggesting that other societies when maintaining this point of Broadhead, Lee-Anne, and Sean Howard. “Deepening “[i]t is time to recognize that all scientific world- view. We justify our position by accusing our the Debate over ‘Sustainable Science’: Indigenous Per- views are products of the culture within which they ancestors and existing tribal societies of being spectives as a Guide on the Journey.” Sustainable Devel- superstitious and ignorant of the real causes of opment (2009): 301-11. Electronic. are embedded; they are all, in short, ethnosciences” organic existence. (24) (310). This way of thinking can account for many If nothing else, this quote reminds us of the com- Deloria, Vine, Jr. Red Earth, White Lies. Golden: Fulcrum Publishing, 1997. Print. of the differences present between Western and plexity of nature and of life and speaks to the likeli- Native American belief systems. Native American hood that none of us actually have it all figured out. Grinde, Donald A., and Bruce E. Johansen. Ecocide of Native America. Santa Fe: Clear Light Publishers, 1995. culture encourages a much closer relationship with Regardless of the different investigative methods Print. the earth, which is then reflected in their scientific and scientific explanations present among Western, endeavors; as Broadhead and Howard note, their Native American, and other cultures, it is clear that Owens, Louis. Mixedblood Messages: Literature, Film, “explorations of the natural world both represent an Family, Place. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, science is a constantly changing and evolving con- 1998. Print. alternative mode of rigorous, systematic inquiry and cept, so no idea should be counted out just yet. demonstrate the practical potential for truly sus- Overall, it seems clear that Western society tainable science” (303). Western culture, however, is has underestimated Native American culture in a much more focused on technological advancement variety of ways. Not only has the belief that their regardless of ecological impact; in turn, as Deloria ecological practices were unsustainable been chal- puts it, “knowledge is... impersonal for the Western lenged, but evidence has also shattered the common scientist” (38). For many, considering the idea that claim that Native American knowledge and practic- much of science is influenced by a country’s cul- es are not scientifically valid. Now we are left with ture makes it easier to understand and be open to a decision to make: do we continue to invalidate differing views. To understand the different defini- the beliefs of other cultures and trumpet our own
74 Spring 2013 Vol. 2 Vol. 2 Spring 2013 75 Symposium Published April 2013 Ithaca, New York