Cultural Encyclopedia of the Body by Victoria Pitts-Taylor

By Victoria Pitts-Taylor

Popular culture and the media this day are saturated with the point of interest at the aesthetics of the human physique. Magazines and infotainment indicates speculate even if this or that actress had breast implants or a nostril task. americans aren't simply targeting celebrities yet on themselves too and at the present time have exceptional possibilities to transform what nature gave them. possible now drop in to have plastic surgery on the neighborhood mall. considering the superficial nature of all of it grows tiresome, and dad tradition vultures and scholars can get a greater repair for his or her fascination with the physique appealing throughout the cultural perception supplied during this outstanding set. Cultural Encyclopedia of the physique is a treasure trove of essays that discover the human physique alphabetically by way of half, detailing practices and ideology from the earlier and current and from all over the world which are occasionally incredible and eye-popping.Body components are tested via a multifaceted cultural lens. Readers will discover how the components are understood, what they suggest to disparate societies, how they're controlled, handled, and reworked, and the way they're depicted and represented. The entries draw from many disciplines which are involved to some extent or one other with human our bodies, together with anthropology archeology, sociology, faith, political historical past, philosophy, artwork historical past, literary reports, and drugs. The encyclopedia proffers details on a few cultures, tribes, and customs from East and West. old practices to the newest fad, which in reality may possibly proceed historic practices, are illuminated. different issues that come up within the essays contain comparisons between cultures, the altering perceptions of the physique, and problems with race, gender, faith, neighborhood and belonging, ethnicity, strength buildings, human rights.

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The fourfold composition of blood was documented by early medics, who noticed that as (drained) blood coagulated, it separated into four layers which corresponded in both color and consistency to the four humors. Humoral theory, and the related bloodletting and purging treatments, dominated medicine— despite the discovery of circulation—until well into the nineteenth century, and was only finally dispensed with following the scientific revolution. Blood as Cure and Danger The modern era of science and medicine may suggest an end to some of the mystical associations between blood, purity, and danger.

Anthony, American feminist, who decries the corset as an impediment to women’s equality. xxxiv CHRONOLOGY 1820s. English astronomer Sir John Herschel suggests methods for grinding and molding glass lenses to be placed directly upon the cornea. 1825. Clitoridectomy is first formally reported as a viable medical treatment in an edition of the British medical journal The Lancet. 1827. Karl August Weinhold, German physician and scientist, advocates mandatory infibulation for all those deemed unfit to reproduce.

Ca. 10000– 5000 BCE. Earliest known efforts at trephination, or drilling a hole in the skull, often to cure various ailments. 8000–1000 BCE. Oldest specimens of deliberately mutilated or modified teeth found in North America. 5300–4000 BCE. Earliest forms of body piercing including ear piercing in ancient China, nose piercing in the Middle East, and lip piercing in the Aleutian Islands. 4000–3500 BCE. Figurines from Egypt depict tattoos. 3500 BCE. € Otzi the ‘‘Iceman,’’ the frozen mummy found in Italy in 1991, is adorned with tattoos.

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