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.