Lifestyle Presentation

Hey everyone. The second (and final) class on lifestyle will be a presentation based on these two articles:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/24/us-vampires-odd-idUSTRE70N4FK20110124
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/real-life-vampires-lifestyle-secret/story?id=9173328#.ULhj7We5W8R

We'll also talk about possible final exam questions time permitting. In case you're interested, here's a couple of links from the stuff I had you read in class last Thursday:

http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/discontents.aspx

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/02/27/torches-of-freedom-women-and-smoking-propaganda/
 http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/10/30/the-new-science-behind-your-spending-addiction.html

Popularity of vampires spawns subculture, scholar says

By Laura Zuckerman

SALMON, Idaho | Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:10pm EST

(Reuters) - They work as doctors and lawyers by day but lurk as vampires by night. While they may not wish to suck your blood, there are plenty of willing victims on tap, according to a top U.S. scholar on a subculture that emulates the undead.
Idaho State University sociologist D.J. Williams, newly hired as a consultant for a proposed television documentary about "self-identified vampires," said true modern acolytes of Dracula seek consensual blood-sharing relationships.
The popular fascination with vampires dates back to the 1897 publication of Bram Stoker's "Dracula", and later books such as Anne Rice's "The Vampire Chronicles."
But it exploded in recent years with the best-selling "Twilight" series of novels by Stephenie Meyer and movie adaptations. The seductive vampire character Edward Cullen in the movie, played by actor Robert Pattinson, became a teen idol and made vampires cool.
VAMPIRE MANIA
Vampire mania has spawned an international subculture that strongly relates to traits associated with mythical vampires. They are believed to be seductive beings unafraid to explore the dark side of human nature that is usually masked for the sake of social acceptance.
"Self-identified vampires realize humans are a mix of light and dark," said Williams. "There is the socially desirable self that people show in public and then there is the shadow self that may not be as nice, not as optimistic. It varies from person to person, but generally vampires don't pretend it's not there: they acknowledge it and try to manage it."
What separates them from mere vampire wannabes -- the guy in a cape who sleeps in coffins or believes he is capable of morphing into a bat -- is an internal lack of energy that makes them seek energy from external sources such as the high that comes from the crowd at a rock concert or from the blood of a willing donor.
"They call it feeding," said Williams, who also moonlights as an FBI consultant for investigations involving violent criminals who are claiming to be vampires.
SUCKING BLOOD
Williams says self-identified vampires seek significant others with an abundance of energy willing to allow them to suck blood from a small incision made high up on the chest by a scalpel.
"Quite often, they are in a relationship with a donor, where one person has energy blockages and the partner has excess energy; it's a perfect, symbiotic relationship," he said.
The arrangement is legal because it is struck between two consenting adults and aims to have no ill effect, said Williams.
He is pioneering the study of such alternative lifestyles. It took years for the scholar in forensic social work, criminal justice and leisure sciences to gain the trust of self-identifying vampires, whom he says are widely misunderstood.
"The negative discourse out there about blood and the transmission of infectious diseases just drives them underground," said Williams, who advises vampire acquaintances to abide by safe blood-drinking practices like having donors tested for HIV and other ailments transmitted by blood.
And with American serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed 17 young men and boys in a frenzy of necrophilia and cannibalism between 1978 and 1991, billing himself as a vampire, what's a law-abiding vampire to do?
"The vampire community would argue that Jeffrey Dahmer and others aren't real vampires, they're murderous criminals," Williams said. "Those high-profile cases damage the image of self-identified vampires."
Vampire myths span the centuries, with some pinned to real-life figures like Vlad the Impaler, a 15th-century Romanian noble known for the fearsome punishment he inflicted on enemies.
MOST ADMIRED MONSTERS
Pointing to a UCLA study that ranked vampires as the most admired of monsters, Williams said self-identified vampires wage an uphill battle with stereotyping.
The subculture sometimes sinks its teeth into debates about proper vampire attire and etiquette, with some clans requiring black clothing and others insisting on beverages like blood.
Surveys circulating among vampires ask questions about their energy level, whether they heal quickly from wounds and whether blood bothers them.
Williams said virtually every age, race, religion and profession is represented in the subculture, which is strongest in urban areas.
"They see themselves as normal, regular people in normal regular jobs: they are teachers, lawyers, accountants, they may be parents," he said. "They have normal lives but there is this aspect to needing to take energy from time to time and in certain ways."

Coming Out of the Coffin: Vampires Among Us

By DENISE MARTINEZ-RAMUNDO and JOAN MARTELLI

Nov. 27, 2009

They roam our streets and tend to the sick. People who describe themselves as real-life vampires have found ways to live quietly among us.
"I'm not going to worry and waste sleep at night over who might think I'm a little kooky, because I think I'm a vampire," said Kiera, a registered nurse who works in a hospital in Atlanta. She did not want to be identified by her real name.
Throughout the country and all over the world, a hidden subculture of people believe they are real vampires. They claim to have an "energy leak," which makes them feel sick and lethargic. To offset this energy imbalance, they say they need to feed on other people's energy or blood.
"I try to be very ethical about what I do. I feed predominantly from crowds, so as not to cause harm," said Kiera, a founding member of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance.
Kiera considers herself a "psychic" vampire. Other vampires known as "sanguinarians" or "blood-drinkers" claim to feed on the blood of consenting donors. Kiera said she has tried this before.
"I have bitten people and had a very small taste of it, but I don't seek out blood donors to collect blood from and ... drink," she said.
Doctors caution that ingesting or donating blood without the proper medical equipment is very dangerous, as it puts participants at risk for infectious diseases like HIV and hepatitis.
In fiction from the classic novel, "Dracula" to the HBO hit series "True Blood," vampires are portrayed as immortal predators with supernatural powers. When they feed on human blood, they kill.

Misfits May Embrace Vampire Subculture

"Some people are misfits. Some people are just creative people who don't feel they fit into normal society," said Katherine Ramsland, professor of Forensic Psychology at DeSales University and author of "The Science of Vampires," who spent two years undercover investigating the vampire subculture. "Some people find the vampire a very empowering figure, and they want to identify with that." People who identify as vampires often meet at underground clubs, but "they're all over the place," said Ramsland.
"I met people who were in professions, like attorneys, stockbrokers, jewelers, fashion models," she added.
Being a vampire for Kiera is not a choice; she believes it's passed down genetically.
Many say being honest about their "vampiric" nature can be a tricky balancing act.
"My family and I have a 'don't ask don't tell' policy. They don't really want to know, and I'm OK with that," said a freelance writer and mother of two who calls herself Sylvere. She lives on a quiet street in Kansas City and says she doesn't really discuss her vampirism with her 8-year-old son, at least, not yet. "I probably won't sit him down and say, 'OK honey, look, I'm a vampire. You need to know.' It will be more if he asks, I will answer."

'20/20' Observes 'Psychic' Energy Feeding

Like Kiera, Sylvere, who likes to feed on creative energy, agreed to demonstrate her typical feeding.
As her husband started painting, she began the feeding process in front of "20/20's" cameras.
"I wait until he's so focused on his art that touching him is not much of a disturbance," she said.
Sylvere put her hand on her husband's chest and bit him on the neck -- not hard enough to draw blood because she said she only needs the energy.
"The more physical contact I can have with him, the easier it is to draw his energy. It's not sexual necessarily," she said, "but it will often lead to something of a sexual nature just because we do have such an intimate bond between us."
Some self-described vampires have formed councils and associations through which they network with one another. They say they are convinced they are different from the normal humans they call "mundanes" and hope one day medical science will find out why. 

Lifestyle

Hey there, our next topic is Lifestyle. You may have missed it, but Black Friday was just celebrated in the US so our main article for this week will be this one:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57553768/why-must-we-buy-black-fridays-powerful-pull/

If you don't know what Black Friday is there's tons of stories about it along with tons of crazy videos. It's probably worth doing a little google search. To get a better idea on the concept of consumerism as a lifestyle you might want to watch this documentary, probably the best thing out there.

 

This is an article by Adam Curtis, also a very interesting read especially for fans of the TV show Mad Men -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2010/08/madison_avenue.html 

Here's the first article copy and pasted (sorry, the paragraphing gets lost):

Why Must We Buy? Black Friday's Powerful Pull

Gravy was still warm. Dallas Cowboys were still in uniform. Thanks were still being given across the country as the pilgrimages to the stores began, heralding a new era of American consumerism. Lured by earlier-than-ever Black Friday sales, people left Grandma and Grandpa in search of Samsung and Toshiba. They did not go blindly: In dozens of interviews, people acknowledged how spending has become inseparable from the holidays. Older folks pined for the days of Erector Sets and Thumbelinas while in line to pay iPad prices. Even some younger shoppers said it felt wrong to be spending money instead of quality time on Thanksgiving. "But we're still out here," said Kelly Jackson, a paralegal who was standing inside a Best Buy store in the Pittsburgh suburbs, a 32-inch television ($189) in her cart. It was a consolation prize: Despite four hours on line, she missed the cheaper 40-inchers ($179) that she had heard about while listening to Internet radio. Jackson's resignation was common among those who flocked to capitalism's temples for the consumer equivalent of genuflecting. Many said that this Black Friday bled into Thursday crossed a line, that merchants should not intrude like this. Christmas is about the message of Jesus, the feeling went — not about the gold, frankincense and myrrh. Yet amid these protests, people still talked about feeling powerless beneath the moment — as if they had no choice but to shop. "You have to have these things to enjoy your children and your family," said Jackson's friend Ebony Jones, who had secured two laptops ($187.99 each) for her 7 and 11 year olds. Why must we buy? To demonstrate our love for others? To add a few more inches to our televisions? To help America recover from a vicious recession that itself was born of the desire for more? Such questions make Jones wince. "It shouldn't be that way, but in a sense there's no way around it," said Jones, a nurse. "Everything ends up with a dollar amount. Even your happiness." Retailers have long capitalized on the holiday season's perfect storm of emotion and tradition. "We all want to be loved, we all like to give love," says Roger Beahme, director of the Center for Retail Innovation at the Wake Forest Schools of Business. Through a flood of advertising on TV, radio and newspapers, he says, retailers can create emotions. "Will Rogers said it's the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have on something they don't need," Beahme says. Although advertising can serve useful purposes, he says, "there's some truth to that." Many embrace the feeling — and have, in accelerating ways, for a generation and more. Without legions of believers, Black Friday never would have gotten this bold. Despite a surge of resistance as the sales drew near, with scolding editorials and protests by retail employees and reminders of frantic tramplings past, Black Friday's grip on America may have been proven stronger than ever this year. "It's all part of the holiday — part of the tradition," said Dennis River, a truck driver who was in line for a television at the Walmart in Beaver Falls, a small community outside of Pittsburgh. Last year, he went out alone at midnight Thursday. This year, he brought his wife and daughter. They were in place by 7 p.m. "You get up in the morning, cook, do your dinner and your football, then you go shopping," River said. "It's the new thing now. Everyone's afraid of change." "If they wanna have sales today," he said, "I'm gonna go shopping today." Walmart's cavernous store is always open, but the deals began at 8 p.m. As with most big retail stores, a police car was parked near the Beaver Falls store entrance. A uniformed officer was at the door, near a stand holding maps to "featured products" such as bikes, cookware, sheets, video game consoles, and eight different TVs. The witching hour approached. Yellow CAUTION tape cordoned off the bargains and funneled a few thousand supplicants through aisles of ignored items — yarn, shower curtains, party hats, clocks. Balloons printed with dollar signs followed by low numbers floated above the treasures. As the cell phones struck eight, a din arose. Excited voices mixed with the sound of boxes dropping into metal shopping carts. The balloons danced as people dug into stacks of leather ottomans ($29) and 5-by-5 foot bins of $5 DVDs. The temperature climbed. An old man inched through the throng using a folding chair ($11.88) as a crutch. Traffic jammed. Complaints and a few curses echoed. "I'm not an angry person, but I was angry for the 20 minutes I was in there," Danyel Coyne, a college student, said as she loaded a child booster seat ($12.98) into her trunk. She and her boyfriend, Mike Yanke, had not come to shop. They needed a spare car seat to take Yanke's daughter back to Pittsburgh. Yet Yanke still had bought a red, battery-powered convertible ($129) at his dad's request. "I wouldn't say Black Friday has taken over," said Dave Davies, a music producer who was part of the national parade of TVs (his was 50 inches and $399). "Shopping IS the holiday. That's all people care about — what are you gonna get?" For some, the items themselves can even take a back seat to the simple act of shopping. Childhood friends Jesse Bredholt, Ryan Seech and a few other buddies have camped out at Best Buy for four years straight. This year, they arrived a full week early, with a tent, sleeping bags, deodorizing mist sprayer, propane heater and battery power for their gadgets. They had no idea what they would buy. That was not the point. For this group of single men in their early 20s, part of a generation who mark the passage of time by their first cell phones and video games, the point is spending time with each other at the source of the products that have always defined their lives. "Our family is here," said Bredholt, who works for a health-care company. "With five guys on one mattress, you gotta be family." Karen Jefferson, 49, also has found family on line at Best Buy, beyond her husband and three children. She was there Wednesday, seated on a folding chair, clutching a rolled-up circular. "I'm missing Thanksgiving, and my husband thinks I'm crazy," said Jefferson, who works at a mortgage insurance company. "But I do this every year . because I enjoy meeting people and the people that come when I do. I mean, you see the same people year after year. And I do get some very good deals." What about studies that have shown better deals are available at other times of the year? "Oh, really?" Jefferson said. "You just think, Black Friday! Oh, my gosh, that's the deal of the year." "Maybe that's something I need to look into," she continued. "Because, I mean, if these aren't good deals, then what are we DOING then?"

Personal Relations Presentation

Hey there. We'll be having a presentation this Thursday, so please read the article pasted below. Additionally, we should have some time to talk about final exam questions for this topic so please come prepared with some ideas.

The I Do's and Don'ts of Intercultural Marriage

By Rebecca R. Kahlenberg

March, 2003

This article is reprinted from The Washington Post Style Plus Page with permission of the author.

Intercultural marriages — marriages between people of different faiths, races, ethnicities and geographic regions — have become commonplace in American society.

Still, such marriages have complications and such couples see high divorce rates, so the relationships need extra attention. "If someone from Beijing descended upon the dinner table, we'd be conscious of making them feel comfortable," says Stanley Ned Rosenbaum, co-author with his wife, Mary Helene Rosenbaum, of Celebrating Our Differences: Living Two Faiths in One Marriage (1994, Ragged Edge Press, $19.95). "But here we assume that we are all on the same page because we think of America as a melting pot."

Popular culture provides some examples of the challenges presented by an intercultural relationship. In the movie The Way We Were, loud, aggressive Katie (Barbra Streisand) falls in love with excessively reserved Hubbell (Robert Redford). His perception of her as overly serious and brash, and her perception of his friends as excluding her, prove to be too divisive and eventually they separate.

In Annie Hall, Woody Allen plays a Jew from Brooklyn who falls for the WASPy Annie (Diane Keaton). During dinner at her house, he feels completely out of place in the sedate Norman Rockwell-like setting, contrasting it with his all-speak-at-once, chaotic family meals.

In the 1991 movie Mississippi Masala, Dimitrius (Denzel Washington), an African-American carpet cleaner, falls in love with Mina (Sarita Choudhury), the daughter of recent Indian immigrants. Her parents vehemently oppose the relationship, so she leaves home to be with him.

In reality, cultural differences often show up in more subtle and unpredictable ways than in the Hollywood models. Dot Lin, a Washington area lawyer, and her husband, Ben Lin, an economist with the federal government, have been married since 1987. She comes from a Methodist family that can trace its American roots to the 1600s; he was born in Taiwan and came to live here when he was eight. Ben likes anyone entering their house to take off his shoes, a Japanese custom that was brought to Taiwan. Dot disagrees, so they have compromised by having a shoeless rug area; in other parts of the house, she may wear sandals. Ben also cares more about cleanliness at home than does Dot, which she attributes to his Southeast Asian roots. When it comes to vegetables, frozen ones are fine for Dot, but Ben wants his cut fresh and with sauce.

Even when people think they are marrying someone of the same background, intercultural issues crop up. A forty-five-year-old Chevy Chase mother of two remembers growing up in Texas with her Eastern European observant Jewish father and more assimilated Texan Jewish mother. "I saw them as being from two different worlds — old world and new world," she says. They eventually divorced. "My parents probably said, 'Hey, we're both Jewish,' when really they had bigger cultural differences than my Presbyterian husband and I do."

Though it's hard to know which intercultural matters will surface months or years after the wedding, experts point to three issues that frequently cause misunderstandings and fights. The first is speaking styles. Georgetown University linguistics professor Deborah Tannen, author of I Only Say This Because I Love You: How the Way We Talk Can Make or Break Family Relationships Throughout Our Lives (2001, Random House, $24.95), says intercultural couples often attribute disagreements to other factors when the real cause is a difference in conversational style.

People are so oriented to psychological interpretation that when a wife feels her husband isn't paying attention to her, she doesn't realize it's because he has a different way of listening or of being involved in the conversation," she says. Depending on what culture people are from, they will differ in how loudly and quickly they speak, and how they argue, tease and listen, explains Tannen.

In a high-involvement speaking culture, such as Italian, Brazilian and Greek, people frequently interject comments. Arguing over a minor point may be a way of getting close, while failing to interject may be taken by the speaker as a sign of indifference. In a Scandinavian or Japanese culture, on the other hand, a person may perceive arguing as a verbal attack.

Second, discord frequently occurs over child rearing. According to New York therapist Judith P. Siegel, author of What Children Learn From Their Parents' Marriage: It May Be Your Marriage, but It's Your Child's Blueprint for Intimacy (2001, Quill, $13), couples are often shocked when they become parents and realize that they have very different perceptions of how kids should act.

Specifically, discipline, expectation of appropriate gender behavior, types of toys and the teaching of manners are very much culturally derived. "Two people may be attracted to each other because they found their differences to be a source of pleasure, yet bringing up children differently from the way they grew up raises an awareness of otherness which can create tension, anxiety and even fear of difference," says Siegel.

Linda Caro Reinisch, a local musician who grew up in a Jewish family, and her Chinese American husband, Al Twanmo, an actor, are currently dealing with issues of parental respect and outspokenness as they raise their two children, ages five and three. Reinisch's childhood household was kid-oriented, while Twanmo's was more adult-centered, with a strong emphasis on respect for adults. As a result, they now need to compromise on how deferential they expect their own children to be toward them. Similarly, he is uncomfortable by the attention drawn to him when one of their children has a public tantrum, whereas she views the tantrum as age-appropriate behavior. When their older child recently started kindergarten, they began sorting out "how much to speak up for the child and at what point to be quieter," says Reinisch. This is an issue because Twanmo's cultural instinct, compared with Reinisch's, is to be less outspoken.

Third, disharmony can result from differing cultural attitudes toward the extended family. The Rosenbaums recall hearing from a Hindu-Christian couple; the man's Hindu family joined them on their honeymoon, much to the dismay of the new wife. "To the Hindu family, marriage was not about two individuals but rather about two families. Thus it was incomprehensible why the whole family could not come along and have all their meals with them," says Mary Rosenbaum.

On the other extreme, in-laws may be deeply committed to their cultural identity and unable to appreciate the ways in which their adult child is broadened by or attracted to the partner's culture; thus they limit contact or never warm up to the partner.

How can intercultural couples cope and maintain a loving relationship when faced with multiple roadblocks? Here are some strategies:

• Learn all you can about your partner's culture — become familiar with his background with no obligation to change yourself or convert to the other's style. "Go to his church and see what it's like. Experiment with each other's rituals without making any promises," says Joel Crohn, author of Mixed Matches: How to Create Successful Interracial, Interethnic and Interfaith Relationships (1995, Fawcett Columbine, $13).
• Sample foods from your partner's culture or read about it. Look for guidance from a book, Web site, newsletter or therapist. "Don't think you can plan to marry someone of another culture if you're not interested in that culture," says Linda Reinisch. Her husband had many Jewish friends and knew Yiddish phrases when they met. For their wedding, they blended their cultures by using Chinese silk sent by relatives from China to hang over the traditional Jewish chuppah. They had a Chinese banquet for the rehearsal dinner and a mostly Jewish wedding ceremony.
• Negotiate and renegotiate dicey issues. Ideally, the time to discuss and make agreements about intercultural topics is before the wedding. What are each of your commitment levels to your cultures? Does being Greek mean taking pride in Greek culture and history or taking a trip to Greece every summer to visit distant relatives? Does saying you want to raise a child as a Catholic mean going to Mass every Sunday or having a very traditional Christmas? In reality, many such subjects are not foreseen before marriage. "How can one know what it will feel like to have your 4-year-old ask about God?" says Crohn, a California psychotherapist.
• Renegotiation is possible and sometimes essential. "The partner who likes it as is may view making changes as a betrayal, but the longer it's gnawing at you, the tougher it is on the marriage," Crohn adds. The Rosenbaums suggest beginning by saying, "I think we got off on the wrong foot" or "I didn't mean to make you feel X or Y" or "At the time it felt like that, but now it feels different," depending on what the issue is. Frank discussion can go a long way toward healing a wound, whereas silence can cause a slow erosion of the relationship.
• Communicate with in-laws. It is wrong to assume that older people are incapable of change or that they won't talk about cultural issues, says Crohn. Some situations cannot be corrected, but it is important to challenge the assumptions of the older generation if it's causing you marital problems. It is also wrong to assume there's a perfect time to discuss tough issues — there isn't. With in-laws, make it clear that you are not trying to hurt them or undermine all that they hold dear. "There comes a time where both sides have to say there are boundaries and neither is rejecting the other, it's just that we are doing things differently," says Mary Rosenbaum.
• Be tolerant. "You need to allow for more than one right way of doing things," says Dot Lin, the lawyer. She clears dishes off the table to accommodate her husband's desire for a clean table, and he doesn't protest when she leaves them in the sink for a while. Ed and Linda Archer — he a retired and she an active Foreign Service officer based in Toronto — have been married for thirty-seven years. Though he is African-American and she is white and Jewish, neither pushes the other toward one culture, and they raised their children as bicultural. "Linda does not care whether I eat ham, and I don't care if she eats gefilte fish. In fact, I like gefilte fish more than she does," says Ed.
• As a parent, try to anticipate the knee-jerk reaction that you might have when your partner tries to promote his cultural ways or when your child adopts elements of your partner's culture, says therapist Judy Siegel. If you immediately get upset at the prospect of your child saying daily prayers as your spouse does, ask yourself why you are being so rigid.  If you are Christian but your husband is Jewish and you have decided to let the children choose their religion, do not erupt when your daughter says she wants to have a Bat Mitzvah. With in-laws, it's best to do things their way at their homes and your way at yours, experts say.
• Recognize differences in conversation styles. Sometimes it helps to ask your partner if he or she might react differently if you change the way you say something.
• Be optimistic about raising bicultural children. "Growing up in a bicultural family can offer children a rich background," says Brenda Lane Richardson, author of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner: Celebrating Interethnic, Interfaith, and Interracial Relationships (Wildcat Canyon Press, $14.95). It's important not to compete for the children's interest but rather to let them see who you are and where you come from. They will not consider the difference between their parents as a negative if you don't, and they may rejoice in being bicultural. Living in a diverse community such as Washington helps children feel that they belong.

Personal Relations Część Druga

Hey guys,

Here's the article link for this week:

www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/magazine/a-death-row-love-story.html?pagewanted=all

I'll try to copy and paste it later, just wanted to get it up as it is a little bit late. See you Thursday.

Can't find a link to the whole show but this is an interesting little clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFeqXWq5cLY

Plus, here's a link to the documentary mentioned in the NYTimes article:

http://watchdocumentary.com/watch/paradise-lost-the-child-murders-at-robin-hood-hills-video_e671be71a.html