albionidaho (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
albionidaho) wrote2008-09-04 04:58 pm
albionidaho) wrote2008-09-04 04:58 pm
the reason for living, or it all comes down to sex, but really not
Once upon a time I was an anthropologist. That is to say that I was paid money to do anthrogeekery sorts of things. Actually, to be more specific, I was a Medical Anthropologist, focusing on women's and children's health issues. To be even more specific I focused on Native American and Hispanic women's health issues. My personal primary research was on cervical cancer, which we now know is caused by HPV. At the time this information was just coming out and wasn't commonly accepted knowledge, primarily because of the stigma involved.
When one is studying topics like cervical cancer, which is a result of an STD, and women's health issues, one ends up talking about human sexuality. A lot. With a lot of different types of people. Just by being in anthropology I talked about sex a lot. Sex is important to people, I studied people, so, well, there you go.
When working with general education students taking anthropology survey courses it was always important to incorporate humor. Hell, it was important to start with funny and keep the lighthearted funny going through all the lectures. One good way to begin, at least at the time, was by saying, Salt-N-Pepa. "In the famous words of Salt-N-Pepa, let's talk about sex," . It was a line guaranteed to fill the room with laughter and reduce tension. (If I ever teach again I'll have to find a new line since no one taking such classes has any idea who Salt-N-Pepa ever were.) Once one was working with straight anthropology majors one could jump right into the topic. But then we also spent a lot of time discussing penis fencing, and after one has talked about penis fencing for the first time one can talk about any bloody old thing with a room full of people.
But then one is sent out into the real world to talk about human sexuality with real women with real world problems, concerns, and fears. Slap a gold band on my ring finger and I was a good person to send out to work with Hispanic and Native American women. I'm of average height and no matter what size I am I am always curvy. My genetics guaranteed I was meant to carry and birth babies. I have dark hair and eyes, and my facial structure reflects my maternal Indian heritage. My skin is pale, but the women I worked with seemed to get past that quickly. In general, I looked a lot like the women I worked with. But to elicit essential information one had to have qualities that when beyond phenotypic characteristics. There's an attitude and a body language -- there's what the medical community would call a "bedside manner", and this was similar to that. I was known for my bedside manner (so well known that colleagues and professors often tried to talk me into going into obstetrics or midwifery -- HAH! -- can you even imagine?), and after establishing a relationship with women I could always get the information necessary to help them and the other women in the area receive good quality, culturally competent health care.
It didn't hurt that, as a general rule, when it comes down to it people do often like to talk about sex. Penis fencing is, however, a different matter. But I digress.
I don't need to tell you that sex is a huge part of most people's lives. I don't need to tell you how so much of our mass media revolves around and is motivated by sex. I think about sex, you think about sex, we're all motivated by it. It's there, all the time. (Not that I'm complaining.) And many will argue that sex is what motivates absolutely everything we do. (Well, sex or hunger.) The sociobiologists are a good example of this. (Talk about sexy science, but that's a story for another time.) I discount the motivating factor for sex -- due to my professional training, experience, and personal experience that would be stupid. And I know people like to eat. People need to eat, for a wide variety of reasons. (I also did a significant amount of nutrition and dietetics, particularly from an anthropological point of view.) But I'd also like to add human connections and intimacy that isn't motivated by a desire for sex or food.
I have always believed love is a huge motivating factor, though an abstract, intangible one. People want to love and be loved, people want to feel close to others. (Okay, this isn't 100% true, but bear with me.) People want to connect with other people and have satisfying relationships. I have always known this. I have always believed this. But nothing has driven this home more than my time at Clarion West. There was a significant amount of intense love and affection that occurred there that was not motivated by the desire for sex or food. We found our tribe, we connected, we became eighteen parts of one great whole. It was bigger than the need to reproduce and eat.
You see? In the end it all comes down to the writing.
With some sex. And really good food.
***
Jeez, if I actually went through and edited this and tied it all together and had a thesis and crap there might be an essay here.
When one is studying topics like cervical cancer, which is a result of an STD, and women's health issues, one ends up talking about human sexuality. A lot. With a lot of different types of people. Just by being in anthropology I talked about sex a lot. Sex is important to people, I studied people, so, well, there you go.
When working with general education students taking anthropology survey courses it was always important to incorporate humor. Hell, it was important to start with funny and keep the lighthearted funny going through all the lectures. One good way to begin, at least at the time, was by saying, Salt-N-Pepa. "In the famous words of Salt-N-Pepa, let's talk about sex," . It was a line guaranteed to fill the room with laughter and reduce tension. (If I ever teach again I'll have to find a new line since no one taking such classes has any idea who Salt-N-Pepa ever were.) Once one was working with straight anthropology majors one could jump right into the topic. But then we also spent a lot of time discussing penis fencing, and after one has talked about penis fencing for the first time one can talk about any bloody old thing with a room full of people.
But then one is sent out into the real world to talk about human sexuality with real women with real world problems, concerns, and fears. Slap a gold band on my ring finger and I was a good person to send out to work with Hispanic and Native American women. I'm of average height and no matter what size I am I am always curvy. My genetics guaranteed I was meant to carry and birth babies. I have dark hair and eyes, and my facial structure reflects my maternal Indian heritage. My skin is pale, but the women I worked with seemed to get past that quickly. In general, I looked a lot like the women I worked with. But to elicit essential information one had to have qualities that when beyond phenotypic characteristics. There's an attitude and a body language -- there's what the medical community would call a "bedside manner", and this was similar to that. I was known for my bedside manner (so well known that colleagues and professors often tried to talk me into going into obstetrics or midwifery -- HAH! -- can you even imagine?), and after establishing a relationship with women I could always get the information necessary to help them and the other women in the area receive good quality, culturally competent health care.
It didn't hurt that, as a general rule, when it comes down to it people do often like to talk about sex. Penis fencing is, however, a different matter. But I digress.
I don't need to tell you that sex is a huge part of most people's lives. I don't need to tell you how so much of our mass media revolves around and is motivated by sex. I think about sex, you think about sex, we're all motivated by it. It's there, all the time. (Not that I'm complaining.) And many will argue that sex is what motivates absolutely everything we do. (Well, sex or hunger.) The sociobiologists are a good example of this. (Talk about sexy science, but that's a story for another time.) I discount the motivating factor for sex -- due to my professional training, experience, and personal experience that would be stupid. And I know people like to eat. People need to eat, for a wide variety of reasons. (I also did a significant amount of nutrition and dietetics, particularly from an anthropological point of view.) But I'd also like to add human connections and intimacy that isn't motivated by a desire for sex or food.
I have always believed love is a huge motivating factor, though an abstract, intangible one. People want to love and be loved, people want to feel close to others. (Okay, this isn't 100% true, but bear with me.) People want to connect with other people and have satisfying relationships. I have always known this. I have always believed this. But nothing has driven this home more than my time at Clarion West. There was a significant amount of intense love and affection that occurred there that was not motivated by the desire for sex or food. We found our tribe, we connected, we became eighteen parts of one great whole. It was bigger than the need to reproduce and eat.
You see? In the end it all comes down to the writing.
With some sex. And really good food.
Jeez, if I actually went through and edited this and tied it all together and had a thesis and crap there might be an essay here.