Spring 2015

BSE Best Student Essays

Futile Sacrifices

Applying Girard’s Scapegoat Theory

Altruism and Blood Donation A Scientific and Historical Approach

All Well and Good Confusion Regarding ‘Well’and ‘Good’

Chivalry Is Dead

A Brief History of ‘M’lady’ in Neckbeard Culture

BEST ESSAY WINNER:

Women’s Social Advancement in Mexico Sexual Perspectives and Intersectional Solutions

Matters of Ideology The Historical Account of Two Communist Spies in Los Alamos

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FREE Spring 2015 Vol. 27 - No. 1

The University of New Mexico’s

Best Student Essays Vol. 27 - No. 1 Spring 2015

Correspondence may be addressed to: Best Student Essays UNM Student Publications Marron Hall 107, University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-0001 (505) 277-5656 bse@unm.edu www.beststudentessays.org Copyright 2015 by the University of New Mexico Student Publications Board.

Best Student Essays is published biannually by the University of New Mexico Student Publications Board.

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Best Student Essays

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A Word A Word from the Editor Melissa Rinkenberger

This is my second semester as the Editor-In-Chief of Best Student Essays, and the fourth semester that I have been on staff with BSE. I can’t say enough how much I appreciated the opportunities I was given while working on this publication. The experience was one of a kind and so were the people I met along the way. I’d like to start by thank my brilliant staff, John, Maria, and Kendra, who have supported me through this whole process, and I could not have made it through this semester without them, at least not with my sanity intact.

I also want to thank the contributors and nominators. We got some very unique and interesting submissions this semester, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading each and every one of them. We had two submissions from students in Dr. Bethany Davila’s English Grammars course. These pieces, “All Well and Good: Confusion Regarding ‘Well’ and ‘Good’ by Quentin Chirdon,” and “Chivalry is Dead: A Brief History of ‘M’lady’ in Neckbeard Culture,” by Rio O’Neal were probably the most unique pieces I’ve seen in my 2 years working with BSE, and both of them made it into the magazine. I enjoyed the more informal tone of these pieces and I learned quite a bit from both essays. Judy Bieber also nominated two pieces that made it into the magazine. “Altruism and Blood Donation: A Scientific and Historical Approach” by Hannah Stromberg was very interesting to me personally because I use to give blood as much as I could. Reading about why our society does this and the history behind the technology involved was amazing. “Matters of Ideology: The Account of Two Communist Spies in Los Alamos” by Casey Dowling was also a page turner.

Although I knew New Mexico’s very own Los Alamos played a major role in WWII, I had no idea there were spies amongst them and that they sometimes conducted their spy business right here on the UNM campus! “Futile Sacrifices: Applying Girard’s Scapegoat Theory” by Olivia Carpenter was nominated by Renee Faubion. I enjoyed that it took two pieces of literature that I love and tied them together in a way I had never thought of. It was very informative. And finally, the winner of our Best Essay award was “Women’s Social Advancement in Mexico: Sexual Perspectives and Intersectional Solutions” written by Alexandra Stewart and nominated by Kenneth Carpenter. This piece was extremely well written and our staff was blown away at how articulate it was. There is so much going on in the essay, but it managed to tie everything in very well. The topic itself was also very interesting and it made a lot of very good points that have really opened my eyes about women and gender roles. All of the pieces published this semester were wonderful and very diverse, with something for everyone to enjoy.

I would also like to thank our cover artists Alanna Apodaca and Kendra Williams. The photos they submitted are stunning and show just how diverse the New Mexico landscape can be.

And finally, I’d like to thank the UNM publication board members for being there when I had questions. Together, the staff, the publication board, the contributors, and the nominators make up an amazing collection of people, without whom this magazine would not exist. However, there is one more, very important person I’d like to thank, and that is you, the reader. Thank you so much for picking up this magazine and for reading this letter, and I hope you enjoy the Spring 2015 issue of Best Student Essays!

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Contents Contents

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A Word from the Editor Futile Sacrifices: Applying Girard’s Scapegoat Theory Written by Olivia Carpenter Nominated by Renee Faubion

Altruism and Blood Donation: A Scientific and Historical Approach Written by Hannah Stromberg Nominated by Judy Bieber

All Well and Good: Confusion Regarding ‘Well’ and ‘Good’ Written by Quentin Chirdon Nominated by Dr. Bethany Davila

Chivalry is Dead: A Brief History of ‘M’lady’ in Neckbeard Culture Written by Rio O’Neal Nominated by Dr. Bethany Davila

Women’s Social Advancement in Mexico: Sexual Perspectives and Intersectional Solutions Written by Alexandra Stewart Nominated by Kenneth Carpenter

Matters of Ideology: The Account of Two Communist Spies in Los Alamos Written by Casey Dowling Nominated by Judy Bieber

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Cover Art

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Do You Want to be in Next Semester’s Issue of Best Student Essays?

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Submission Guidelines

Submitted by: Alanna Apodaca

Best Student Essays

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F utile Sacrifices A G ’ S T pplying

irard s

capegoat

heory

Written by Olivia Carpenter, Nominated by Renee Faubion

In both “The Rape of Proserpina” – a Roman version of the story of Persephone from Greek myth tradition found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses – and Bram Stoker’s Dracula – a nineteenthcentury Gothic novel in which Mina becomes the object of Dracula’s affection– it is clear that the main protagonist experiences an expulsion from her community that is devastating both for herself and her family, marking both situations as profoundly negative. Since both these narratives involve the sacrifice of an individual on grounds that this sacrifice will have implications for a larger community, both are often read as scapegoat narratives. This makes both narratives marvelous candidates to explore under René Girard’s theory that asserts the futility and negativity of scapegoating, defined as an effort by a community to purify itself through sacrifice. At first, it seems that Proserpina (Persephone) and Mina do not fit this definition of the scapegoat since both are taken away against their will by outside forces rather than sacrificed willingly by their communities, but further analysis complicates this. Reevaluating each narrative finds that both characters’ communities do, in fact, treat them as scapegoats at the same time in which outside forces pull them into this role. This manifests, for both characters, as their communities’ efforts to restore normative patriarchal values. Working beyond the restriction that the scapegoat must be sacrificed by his or her own community reveals narratives in which outside forces cause scapegoating, due to the phenomenon Girard terms mimetic competition. In any case, whether the scapegoating force comes from within or outside the victim’s community, each narrative contains an inherent criticism of the scapegoating practice in general; each and every time it occurs, the results are disastrous

and ultimately contrary to their original intent.

René Girard presents a compelling alternative understanding of the scapegoat narrative by challenging the validity of scapegoating as a practice, working with a definition of the scapegoat as an innocent who is sacrificed to purify a community. Girard asserts that no true purification is possible through this process, and that scapegoating narratives actually call upon the reader to arrive at the understanding that this action is an inherently negative and futile undertaking.

He finds that scapegoating is a type of violence that can result from the phenomenon he terms mimetic competition, a situation in which communities compete solely on the basis of desire for one another’s possessions. In Girard’s model, members of the community want others’ possessions simply because others want or have them. Thus, mimetic competition arises from selfish desires to be as rich or as powerful as someone else, rather than from a need for something someone else has. Together, these ideas complicate and ultimately refute any notion of the scapegoating practice as a necessary sacrifice (Faubion).

Applying Girard’s theory to the respective narratives of Proserpina and Mina might then seem problematic at first glance, since neither woman seems to fit the definition of scapegoat perfectly. In Proserpina’s case, this happens because the community for whom she presumably provides a sacrifice (i.e. farming humanity who seek a bountiful harvest) does not actually enact that sacrifice. Instead it is Pluto (Hades, in the Greek tradition) who acts as an outside force and removes Proserpina from the community of her mother and friends against her will, when he “no sooner espied than he loved her and swept her away, so impatient

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/ is passion” (Ovid 5.395-396). Similarly, a traditional reading of Dracula makes Mina’s narrative difficult to engage with in terms of Girard’s theory. Like Proserpina, the process by which Mina is sacrificed occurs not at the hands of her community, but at the hands of the outside force that is Dracula. Furthermore, the sacrifice of Mina by this outside force is intended not to purify her community, but to contaminate it by making its most loved member a vampire. Both Proserpina’s and Mina’s narratives must then be reevaluated to make Girard’s theory applicable to them.

...both gods and humans alike undergo changes because they cannot continue as they are...

Girard’s theory is much more applicable to Proserpina’s narrative when it is read, not as a sacrifice to ensure farmers’ harvests, but as the scapegoating action of her divine community.

This community treats Proserpina as a scapegoat by sacrificing her to Pluto in order to ensure and reaffirm normative patriarchal values concerning marriage and sexuality. It is Venus (Aphrodite, in the Greek tradition) who initiates the sacrifice of Proserpina by causing Pluto to fall in love with her, leading him to carry her forcibly away from her community and into the land of the dead. When Venus explains why this is necessary, she tells Cupid (Eros), “You can see that Minerva and also the goddess of hunting, Diana / have firmly rejected me. So will the virgin daughter of Ceres / if we allow it to happen” (Ovid 5.375-377). By favoring the examples of Minerva (Athena) and Diana (Artemis) in rejecting sexual activity, Proserpina makes her own choices about her sexual identity and behavior. This marks a crucial deviation from normative patriarchal expectations of female sexuality that demand the surrender of a woman’s personal sexual choice in favor of her marriage to a man who will make these decisions for her. Standing in opposition to these normative values makes Proserpina vulnerable to scapegoating at the hands of Venus and several other gods including the Fates and Proserpina’s own father, Jupiter (Zeus), all of whom side with Pluto. It seems that Proserpina is doomed to be a scapegoat of 6

sexual normalization as she suffers for her nonnormative behavior.

However, applying Girard’s theory of the scapegoat to this understanding of Proserpina’s narrative reveals a story that is essentially a criticism, rather than a celebration, of the scapegoating practice. The entire process ultimately results in several metamorphoses, including that of a rude young boy who “acquired a tail / and shrank to a tiny size” (Ovid 5.455-456), and that of the Sirens who are given wings by the gods “in order to show the sea how deeply they felt their bereavement” (Ovid 5.557). In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, such changes usually occur in response to some sort of chaos; both gods and humans alike undergo changes because they cannot continue as they are after an encounter with a deeply chaotic situation. This happens in “The Rape of Proserpina” not merely once, but several times, revealing hers as a situation of such great upheaval that several beings cannot continue as they are and must undergo metamorphoses in order to cope. Presumably, in using Proserpina to reinforce patriarchal values, the gods’ intention was to create order by displaying the importance of sexual normativity. However, these metamorphoses prove that treating Proserpina as a scapegoat ultimately creates far more chaos than it does order. Not only does this act fail to solve problems for the divine community, it actually causes new ones.

Suddenly, the application of Girard’s theory to this narrative makes much more sense.

Similarly, Mina’s story in Dracula can be reconsidered to reveal a narrative that engages with Girard’s theory more easily. As was the case with Proserpina, this requires a reconsideration of who treats Mina as scapegoat and why. As their work with Dracula becomes more dangerous, the male members of Mina’s community decide that Mina must no longer be involved their hunt for Dracula and that all information about their work must be kept secret from her. Dr. Van Helsing is the first to suggest this, saying, “after tonight she must not have to do with this so terrible affair […] is no part for a woman” (Stoker 201). Mina’s community here decides to expel her on grounds that she is its most vulnerable member. They claim that her gender specifically makes her unsuitable for the task they must complete, even though she has hitherto been an active and valuable participant in all their

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endeavors. It becomes clear that the expulsion of Mina from her community sets her up as a scapegoat. As a woman and full participant in the battle against Dracula, Mina engages in actions that are non-normative with respect to her community’s patriarchal values and gender roles. Under such values, the agency that is required to battle dark forces belongs only to men, with women’s place being little more than that of a mascot. By refusing to include Mina in their future battle against Dracula, these men expel her from their community in an effort to return to the normative patriarchy— to remove the stain of feminine agency from their community and return power to men, and men alone. Suddenly, the force that makes Mina a scapegoat is both her own community and Dracula when the men expel her from their inner circle in order to create an environment of pure masculinity.

Girard’s theory of the scapegoat also reveals Mina’s narrative as one that criticizes the scapegoating practice instead of celebrating it.

Mina receives her first bite from Dracula shortly after the men announce her future exclusion.

By expelling her from the community, keeping information from her, and robbing her of agency in matters concerning Dracula, they ultimately leave her vulnerable to him. Pushing Mina out was originally intended to make their community better, but the act instead allows for Mina’s contamination, creating even more problems for the community.

Girard’s assertions regarding mimetic competition are also highly relevant and applicable to both narratives. While both can be understood as scapegoating occurring from within the community, there exists a simultaneous phenomenon that each woman becomes a scapegoat through an outside force consumed by mimetic competition. Both women succumb to this end when outside forces use them in an effort to colonize another group. In Proserpina’s case, this force is Venus; in Mina’s, it is Dracula. Deeper analysis and exploration of this manifestation of scapegoating still finds it to be an extremely negative and ultimately futile practice.

In Proserpina’s narrative, scapegoating occurs because of mimetic competition when Venus allows Proserpina to be taken out of Venus’s own desire to colonize Pluto’s territory.

Explaining to Cupid what must be done to Proserpina, Venus says, “why not extend the

/ empire of Venus and Cupid?” (Ovid 5.369372). Mimetic competition is Venus’s motive for causing Proserpina’s expulsion from her home. Venus desires power in the underworld simply because she does not yet have it, and the maltreatment of Proserpina is the resulting violence. It is Proserpina who must suffer because Venus wants something from Pluto.

However, this process is not entirely successful.

Proserpina does not fulfill the destiny Venus attempts to map out for her. Instead, Proserpina now, as the only divinity common to both realms / spends six months on earth with her mother and six with her husband / once she returns, her heart is so light and her face is so happy”(Ovid 5.566568).

Instead of representing Venus’s triumphant conquest of the Underworld, Proserpina returns eagerly to her mother for half the year, meaning whatever hold Venus gains over the Underworld through Proserpina is somewhat fragile and only lasts half the desired time.

Venus’s blame of Proserpina is the result of mimetic competition, which manifests in needless violence that is not effective in bringing about Venus’s desires.

...these men expel her ...to remove the stain of feminine agency from their community and return power to men, and men alone.

Mimetic competition plays an equally important role in Mina’s narrative. Like Venus, Dracula turns Mina into a scapegoat in an effort to colonize someone else’s territory. When Van Helsing explains why Dracula has come to England, he says, “[Dracula’s] glimpse that he have had, whet his appetite only and enkeen his desire” (Stoker 275). After seeing the wealth and resources available in England, Dracula decides that they must be his and that he will infiltrate this land to appropriate its contents.

His violence toward Mina comes from his desire to infiltrate not only Mina’s body and soul, but also that of her culture. However, violence towards Mina proves to be an inappropriate and ineffective means of infiltrating her culture.

Dracula fails to take into account the fact that

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Mina’s culture is drastically changing even as he tries to appropriate it, making way for concepts like the ‘New Woman,’ whom Mina facetiously describes in her journal by writing, “New Woman writers will someday start an idea that men and women should be allowed to see each other asleep before proposing or accepting […] the New Woman won’t condescend in future to accept; she will do the proposing herself” (Stoker 77). When Mina reflects on this concept of the “New Woman,” she highlights the fact that her society’s values are changing to make room for redefined notions of female agency, gender equality, and what constitutes appropriate sexuality. When Dracula attempts to infiltrate England by infiltrating Mina, he infiltrates the ‘New Woman’ and thereby a new England that possesses more strength, selfdetermination, and agency than ever before.

As the ‘New Woman,’ Mina does not accept her disempowerment and fights back in her new role as man’s equal—and is successful.

In the end, Dracula’s actions lead him to his doom when he learns that using Mina is not an appropriate way to achieve his desires.

Girard’s theory of the scapegoat applies to both Proserpina’s and Mina’s narratives in intriguing, surprising, and relevant ways. This works best when we consider their stories not as sacrifices, but as narratives in which the reader evaluates why these women are treated in this way regardless of how and why this occurs, each text reveals a discourse that criticizes and refutes the validity of scapegoating, just as Girard asserts.

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Works Cited

Faubion, Renée. “René Girard’s Theory of the Scapegoat.” University of New Mexico. Mitchell Hall, Albuquerque, NM. 2 October 2014. Lecture.

Ovid. Metamorphoses. Trans. David Raeburn. New York: Penguin, 2004. Print.

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. New York: Dover, 2000. Print.

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Altruism and Blood Donation A Scientific and Historical Approach Written by Hannah Stromberg, Nominated

by

Judy Bieber

“Studying altruism can be personal…we all want to understand the origins of goodness.” (Dugatkin 2007)

In the late 1960’s an interesting question arose: Why do people donate blood? Originally based in a discussion on economic necessity and organizational infrastructure, this debate was developing concurrently to attempts in evolutionary biology to clarify the origin and typology of altruistic behavior. It is not surprising, then, that the language used to explain blood-donating behavior has, to this day, been dominated by evolutionary terminology. By following the development of evolutionary thought and its intersection with the discussion concerning human altruism in blood donating, a clear picture – that of a modern model that supports current societal donation practice – can be seen. It is critical, however, to also take into account the historical experience of donors and the development of medical technology through history; this would further nuance the argument as to the development of this medical procedure. By evaluating present scientific understandings of altruism in general, recognizing current theories as to the nature and motivations of presentday donation behavior, and following the motivations of donors throughout history, light can be shed on how humans have collectively managed to overcome serious medical risks to develop the science of transfusion, and have come to maintain stockpiles of life-saving blood donations.

Developments in Evolutionary Thought From the beginning, altruism posed a major challenge to evolutionary theories. Darwin, in his well-recognized On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, stated that animals subscribing to these self-sacrificial behaviors presented “one special difficulty, which at first appeared to me insuperable, and actually fatal to my whole theory” (Darwin 187). The reasoning he used to resolve these conundrums laid the groundwork for theories of group adaptation thought, which would remain unchallenged for the next century.

From the creation of calculus to achieving flight, there are periods in history during which a cohort of intellectuals converge on a single topic and enormous gains are made in one particular area of thought. The 1960’s were that period for evolutionary biology, and echoes of this period’s discoveries still resonate in classrooms today. One particularly important development was the 1966 deconstruction of group selection theory in George C. Williams’ book, Adaptation and Natural Selection. This was arguably “the most important book on evolutionary theory written since The Origin of Species” (Alcock 21). In it, Williams pointed out that natural selective pressures must always work exclusively on individuals and would inevitably trump any possible “grouprelated adaptations” (Williams 93). As long as

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one individual survives, all of their offspring would be more likely to evade the “grouprelated adaptation,” regardless of whether that sacrificial drive might be better for the group as a whole.

After Williams conclusively made his point that altruism must be evaluated from an individual perspective, altruistic behavior became increasingly interesting to biological researchers. When the ultimate drive of every being should be – as natural selection would indicate – to survive to reproduction, how could any trait be passed on that would permanently decrease that ability? Modern biologists have attempted to deal with this complex question by breaking altruistic acts into a set of categories that describe a set of relative costs experienced by an altruist, as well as the potential motivations that might exist for performing the action (Alcock 463).

In a necessarily brief overview, the description of altruism can be broken down into the sub-categories of mutualism, kin selection, facultative altruism, obligate altruism, and reciprocal altruism. Many of these terms – as well as the mathematical and statistical models that support them (like Hamilton’s rule) – were also proposed during the late 1960’s (Alcock 479).

...blood donation is motivated by a sense of duty...

Blood Donation: Is it Altruistic?

The original discussion as to the qualification of blood donation as an altruistic behavior also began during the late sixties. In 1968, Michael Cooper and Anthony Culyer produced a book that discussed the market for blood and “suggested that a competitive market would be an effective means of blood collection” and that “the monetary incentives involved would increase the amount donated” (Wildman and Hollingsworth 2009). The idea that blood donation was something that could, or even should, become a monetarily based interaction provoked swift philosophical debate. In 1970 Richard Titmuss pointed out that, “unpaid blood donation, due to its altruistic foundation of voluntary behavior, would be safer than paid 10

donation” (Wildman and Hollingsworth 2009).

Thus from a debate originally centered around the economic and organizational challenges of blood-donating organizations, the debate as to the altruistic nature of human blood-donating began to heat up.

In 1976, Richard Alexander articulated an idea in his book, The Biology of Moral Systems, that was key to developing our current perspective on the topic. He highlighted the possibility that “giving blood may be sufficiently important as a social criterion as to yield benefits, for those who are known to be blood donors, that are independent in all other regards from the blood service itself” (Alexander 157). This understanding has been crystallized and refined into the modern concept of indirect reciprocity, wherein acts of an altruistic nature benefit the individual by the acts of others who have observed their altruistic deeds (Alcock 508).

There is, in the proposition of the model of indirect reciprocity, an understanding that donors would require a way to broadcast their participation to the rest of society.

This, evolutionary biologists argue, has been provided for with many cues from modern blood-donating organizations. The use of bright bandages wrapped very visibly around a donor’s arm, as well as the gift of pens, T-shirts, and pins all act as signals that can work to broadcast the admirable behavior of donors to the rest of their communities.

There have been an astonishing number of studies nascent of the debate as to the motivation of humans to donate blood. Several studies – by evaluating individuals’ willingness to anonymously state their disinclination to donate and by determining how likely individuals are to assist others “known to be generous” – have worked to support the indirect reciprocity hypothesis (Alcock 509).

Others looked for psychological motivations.

One attempted to prove, through evaluation across the multitude of variables that might affect donating behavior, that blood donation is motivated by a sense of duty (Wildman and Hollingsworth 2009). Another study, done in Australia in 2007, found strong correlations between family tradition and blood-donating habits (Alessandrini 2007).

Cultural expectations, family traditions, personal experience, and understanding of the dire medical need for donations are all factors that

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should not be undervalued in assessing overall donor motivation.

All of these studies, whether clearly supporting the indirect reciprocity model or taking more psychological and cultural evaluations of the behavior, help to indicate the importance of the tradition and organizational bases of modern blood-donating. As such, it becomes particularly important to determine what blood donators at the beginning of this tradition felt their motivation to be.

At a time when the risk-to-benefit reward was significantly lower – even non-existent relative to the rewards and systems of today – motivation should be taken into consideration.

Additionally, as all of the prescribed benefits (social treatment, affirmation, and psychological satisfaction) depend on that tradition and ability to broadcast compassion, what were the risks that people were willing to take before the system that allowed for indirect reciprocity existed? To determine this, we must go back and evaluate the historical bases of blood donation as well as the motivations of donors throughout history.

A History of Blood Donation The concept of blood as a “life-giving source” is an incredibly ancient concept. Original attempts at capturing this life-force, seem to have been limited to “transfusion” by oral ingestion of blood or by bathing in it. Reports of these practices range in location from Egypt to Norway (Learoyd 308). Pliny the Elder, of the first century AD, recorded Roman spectators rushing into the arena to drink the blood of dying gladiators; they believed that “the gladiators’ qualities of strength and bravery were present in blood and could be transmitted by drinking their blood” (Learoyd 308). References to the concept of draining a patient’s blood and replacing it with other substances can be found in sources dated back to before the Common Era (Learoyd 308, Ovid 243-293). Another famous example of ancient blood transfusion attempts concerns Pope Innocent VIII, who – it is believed – drank the blood of three boys purchased for this purpose, in an attempt to treat a medical ailment (Gottlieb, Learoyd 309). These cases are interesting and reflect the development of social thoughts about blood donating, but our original “donors” were all rather involuntary and the technology supporting such transfers was minimal.

Original attempts at capturing this life-force, seem to have been limited to ‘transfusion’ by oral ingestion of blood or by bathing in it.

More modern attempts at transfusion required an elementary understanding of the circulation within the bloodstream. In 1628, William Harvey made this discovery, dispelling the earlier myth that blood washed back and forth, like the tide (Learoyd 309). The earliest injections, not of blood – though the authors suggested that it could be applied to such – took place around the year 1640 (Learoyd 311).

After the advent of reliable injection methods, transfusions began to be attempted between animals, and then to humans from animals. One of the most famous scientists who attempted these exchanges was Richard Lower. He was the first scientist to prove “that a dog could be exsanguinated to the point of death and then be ‘completely restored’ by transfusion” (Learoyd 311). In 1667, Lower moved on to the first attempt to transfuse animal blood into a human. The subject, Arthur Coga, was a man who was “cracked a little in the head” and had been hired for the purpose of being bled and transfused with sheep blood (Learoyd 312).

Dr. Jean Denis was carrying out similar experiments in France at very nearly the same time as Lower, and performed transfusions on a total of three different individuals (Learoyd 311). While a majority of these experiments were rather miraculously free of problems, particularly given our modern perspectives on medicine, things went south on Dr. Denis’ third subject. This patient was a man whose “mental state involved him running through the streets of Paris clothed ‘…only in nature’s garb, followed by an admiring throng,’” as the patient died after his second transfusion of sheep’s blood (Learoyd 312). Denis was taken to court by the widow and the jealous physicians in the Faculty of Medicine of Paris, but exonerated as the widow “was shown to have poisoned her husband using arsenic” (Learoyd 313). The publicity and backlash of the trial in Paris resulted in widespread distrust of the methods of transfusion in

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France and England. By 1679, transfusion was illegal in France, the Royal Society in England had backed away from the practice, and the Pope had banned it as well (Learoyd 313).

While significant advances in the development of technology for blood donations occurred during this period, the donations themselves – either taken completely involuntarily or from other animals –can be seen as having little to do with our modern concepts of “donation.”

The science of transfusion died out until in the early 19th century, when there was a rekindling of interest. Dr. James Blundell performed some of the first experiments attempted in the 17th century, such as bleeding and then transfusing dogs (Blundell 58). In December 1818, he recorded the very first definite instance of attempted human-to-human transfusion on an individual posthumously diagnosed with gastric carcinoma (Blundell 299, Learoyd 373). At first, Blundell was unsure about whether or not to attempt the procedure, even though it was the “‘only and doubtful’ remedy” (Blundell 299). However, “on seeing the patient… my reluctance presently gave way; his truly helpless and hopeless appearance was such as might have moved compassion, even in those who are most familiar with disease. He was evidently at the point of death” (Blundell 299). The transfusions were delivered in waves through immediate transfusions pulled from donors in the room.

...there were still advocates for using milk as a substitute for blood in transfusions up until 1878...

In the records of the ten transfusions attempted between 1818 and 1829, Blundell gives little description of his donors, generally only describing them as assistants. For some, he gave a brief statement as to their physical characteristics and heartiness, or how much they each donated. Dr. Blundell’s lack of other information about the donors leaves us able to only as to the motivations of these subjects.

There are many possible reasons for their compliance. In addition to motivations of an intellectual sort and a possible desire to please 12

their employer, it seems not unlikely that they might have been moved to the same levels of empathy as Blundell was in the presence of these patients. Blundell himself seemed to fiercely believe that the ability to truly understand and master the art of blood transfusion would “confer no inconsiderable benefit on mankind” and that this “consideration offers a noble incentive to exertion, and cannot want its due influence over an elevated and truly benevolent mind” (Blundell 311). Motivation for many of Blundell’s donors may have originated from the desire to promote human understanding and health, and for the thrill of scientific discovery.

Scientific curiosity was only one of the motivations hinted at in some other records of the period. From Dr. Waller comes the account of a post-partum hemorrhage patient who was transfused by her husband (Learoyd 373).

Another donor was the coachman to a woman again bleeding post-partum in 1872 (Learoyd 375). In both these cases, the donors had a direct connection and potential emotional relationship with the recipient prior to their donation.

While early sources leave much to be desired in terms of describing possible donor motivation, they do at least allow us to see trends of scientific curiosity and empathy as possible motivating factors. Furthermore, they give us considerable insight into how the technology of transfusions originated.

A series of later scientific discoveries paved the way for the development of blood banks in the 20th century. These findings included the development of knowledge concerning disease, blood typing, and anticoagulation. In 1880 Robert Koch published his four postulates, still in use today, clearly defining the steps required to link individual microorganisms to individual diseases (Murphy 23). Karl Landsteiner made the discoveries that led to understanding basic blood typing in 1900 (Simonis and Hertzenberg 124). These intellectual developments helped lead to a more scientific understanding of the requirements for successful blood transfusions.

The one problem that would continue to seriously limit the potential of blood donation was blood coagulation. Issues with coagulating samples had been so significant that, despite serious complications from the procedure, there were still advocates for using milk as a substitute for blood in transfusions up until 1878; this was simply because of the enormous

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difficulties presented by trying to transfer large amounts of blood or store donations for any amount of time (Learoyd 376).

Before methods that compensated for blood coagulation were developed, an ingenious method was created to circumvent the restrictions that clotting imposed on the transfusion amounts. However, as it was especially dangerous, it brings particularly interesting evidence to our discussion on potential donor motivation. In August of 1906, twenty-three-year-old Joseph Miller was hovering near death after lengthy bleeding (Nathoo et al. 2009). After the hurried arrival of Dr. George Crile and his wife, both still dressed for a dinner party, the patient’s brother Sam Miller offered to act as a donor to save his brother (Nathoo et al. 2009). Following the numbing of their wrists and utilizing a linen needle, Dr. Crile managed to sew together an artery from the brother to a vein in the patient’s arm in a water-tight manner and opened the clamps that allowed their circulatory systems to become linked (Nathoo et al. 2009). “The effect of the blood transfusion on the dying patient was so clinically dramatic that the physiological effects on the donor were temporarily forgotten…. The donor nearly went into hypovolemic shock” (Nathoo et al. 2009). In the words of one onlooker, they “witnessed the miracle of resurrection…[as] the patient[’s]…cheeks, his lips, even his ears, took on a rosy glow, his eyes resumed a normal expression and he began to talk and jest almost like a man intoxicated” (Nathoo et al. 2009).

A second transfusion was required a few days later, provided by another brother due to further loss because of the patient’s continued medical complications. These combined transfusions no doubt saved the patient’s life, and as of 1962, all three brothers were still living and able to “show off their scars from the historic blood transfusion” (Nathoo et al. 2009). This method of voluntary vein splicing prevailed from this first instance until 1914, when the first non-direct transfusion was performed by Dr. Albert Hustin (Mollison 2000). Donors willing to undertake the considerable risk of tying their own systems to that of a patient were necessarily motivated by extremely strong ties to the patient. Particularly in the case of these immediate and daring volunteers, donating was a true act of love and desperation.

The First World War spurred the developing understanding of anticoagulation methods and

indirect transfusions greatly. Oswald Robertson managed to create the first blood bank in 1917 for the Allied Forces (Mollison 2000). He used citrate, glucose, and iceboxes to help store the blood (Mollison 2000). In this case, the donors “were chosen from men with trivial wounds or from those who had recovered from slight wounds” (Mollison 2000). Already, the effects of germ theory could be clearly seen, as they were sure to exclude “donors with a history of malaria, trench fever or syphilis” (Mollison 2000).

Dr. Crile managed to sew together an artery from the brother to a vein in the patient’s arm...

After the conclusion of the First World War, the first modern, volunteerbased donor and transfusion organization was established in London in 1921 when “the British Red Cross members all decide[d] to give blood” (History of Blood Transfusion 2015). At the time, many recognized the need for an organized method to get blood on demand. Sir Geoffrey Keynes who, along with Percy Oliver, developed the organization that would become part of the British Red Cross in 1926, said that “this prevailing uncertainty as to how or where to obtain a blood donor… [is eventually] forestalled by [the patient’s] death” (Keynes 613). He goes on to describe the recent, tragic death of “a member of our own” for whom a frantic broadcast request was sent out for a donor and “a number of generous individuals….responded, only to be told that the patient had already passed beyond their aid” (Keynes 613). Potential donors knew of the need generally through personal networks and experience, but there was no organized way to call donors to arms at that time. After the creation of the volunteer blood bank in London, similar services began to pop up across Britain and the world, all seemingly based on donations from altruistic volunteers (History of Blood Transfusion 2015). This pattern, as a generality, continued until World War II when massive propaganda campaigns were launched to encourage people to donate (Whitfield 2013).

This change may have resulted in creating that sense of “duty,” which scientists of the time were attempting to investigate.

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Where Does This Leave Us? The scientific explanation of modern blooddonating behavior has been explained via the model of indirect reciprocal altruism. This model is heavily imbibed with the scientific language of the period in which these theories were given form. While that model serves to explain some of the mechanisms by which donation has been propagated in today’s societies, it does demand a reward system maintained by established donation organizational systems.

By evaluating the reality of early experiences of blood donating, we can see other variables that assisted in the creation of this modern treatment. From the kindness of scientific assistants in the 17th century to volunteers responding en masse to desperate pleas over the radio in the 20th century, there is a clear pattern of human empathy and scientific curiosity in the participation of blood donors.

These foundations could not rely on the modern sociological expectations that support the modern concept of indirect reciprocity.

Brothers, husbands, friends, comrades, and employees all subjected themselves to the dangers of poorly understood medical processes in an attempt to save others that they felt compassion and affection towards.

As the need for blood grew – through the work and desperation of those closely associated with suffering individuals – organizations were born and grew. Modern explanations of scientific thought and altruistic models grew alongside them and have been able to aptly describe the current place of the blood donation system in our modern society, in terms of its impacts on the biological patterns of altruism ingrained in us all, as well as in the psychology and morality of our communities. This modern medicine has a history strongly based in an admirable struggle to make scientific discoveries and alleviate future suffering, as well as the records of countless attempts by donors to save the lives of those they love gives us a poignant indication as to the nature and motivations. This is the heart, if you will, of how medical treatments develop over time.

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Works Cited

Alcock, John. Animal Behavior: an Evolutionary Approach 9th Ed. Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates, 2009. Print.

Alexander, Richard. The Biology of Moral Systems.

Hawthorne: Aldine de Gruyter, 1987. Print.

Alessandrini, Megan. “Community Volunteerism and Blood Donation: Altruism as a Lifestyle Choice”.

Transfusion Medicine Reviews 21.4 (2007): 307316.

Blundell, James. “Experiments of the Transfusion of Blood by the Syringe”. Medico-chirurgical transactions 2 (1819): 161-166.

Blundell, James. “Some Account of a Case of Obstinate Vomiting, in which an attempt was made to prolong life by the injection of blood into the veins.” Medicochirurgical transactions 10. 2 (1819)) 296-311.

Print.

Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species. London: Ward Lock and Co. Limited, 1910. Print.

Dugatkin, Lee Alan. “Inclusive Fitness Theory from Darwin to Hamilton.” Genetics 176.3 (2007): 13751380. Print.

Gottlieb, A. M. “History of the First Blood Transfusion but a Fable Agreed Upon: the Transfusion of Blood to a Pope”. Transfusion Medicine Reviews 5.3 (1991): 228-35.

“History of Blood Transfusion”. National Blood Service.

Give Blood UK. N.d. Web. January 2015.

Keynes, Geoffrey. “Blood Donors”. The British Medical Journal 2. 3327 (1924): 613-615. Print.

Learoyd, P. “The history of blood transfusion prior to the 20th century- Part 1 and Part 2”.

Transfusion Medicine (2012): 374-376.

London Medical Gazette. “Mode of Performing Transfusion”. Medical Magazine (Boston, MA), 8.

(1835): 419-420.

Mollison. “The Intoduction of Citrate as an Anticoagulant for Transfusion and of Glucose as a Red Cell Preservative”. British Journal of Haematology 108.1 (2000): 13-18. Web. Murphy, Kenneth. Janeway’s Immnobiology: 8th Ed. St Louis: Washington University School of Medicine, 2012. Print.

Nathoo, Narendra, Lautzenheiser, Frederick, and Barnett, Gene. “The First Direct Human Blood Transfusion: The Forgotten Legacy of George W. Crile”. Neurosurgery 64.3 (2009): ons20-ons27.

Print.

Ovid. Metamorphoses: Book VII. Trans. Anthony Kline.

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2000. Print.

Simonis, Doris and Hertzenberg Caroline. Scientists, Mathematicians, and Inventors: Lives and Legacies: an Encyclopedia of People Who Changed the World. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1999. Print.

Whitfield, Nicholas. “Who is My Donor? The Local Propaganda Techniques of London’s Emergency Blood Transfusion Service, 1939-1945”. Twentieth Century British History 24.4 (2013): 542-572. Print.

Wildman, J. and Hollingsworth, B. “Blood donation and the nature of altruism”. Journal of Health Economics 28.2 (2009): 492-503. Print.

Williams, George. Adaptation and Natural Selection; a Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought.

New Jersey: Princeton, 1966. Print.

Volume 27 - Spring 2015 - N0. 1

All Well

and

Confusion Regarding ‘Well’ Written

by

Quentin Chirdon, Nominated

When I was in elementary school, I remember my teacher stressing the importance of distinguishing between ‘well’ and ‘good.’ ‘Well,’ she said, “is how you do things. Good is how things are.” She told us (only half-joking, I’m sure) that every grammar teacher’s nightmare is to hear one of their students say with pride, “My English teacher taught me good!”

While the clear, prescriptive distinctions my elementary school grammar teacher laid out for us all those years ago still hold true in many cases, a closer look reveals a much more complicated set of rules defining their correct usage. What’s more, a descriptive look at current speech patterns, definitions, and the history of ‘well’ and ‘good’ indicates that these rules are not so easily defined. ‘Well’ and ‘good’ prove to be in many prescriptive scenarios interchangeable, and even more so in common descriptive usage.

A quick look at the 2006 MerriamWebster’s Dictionary will back my old grammar teacher’s assertion. ‘Well’ is an adverb. ‘Good’ is an adjective (465, 1184). ‘Well’ modifies the verb of a given sentence (She speaks well).

‘Good’ modifies a noun (She practices good grammar).

The stigma surrounding the incorrect use of ‘good’ as an adverb is incredibly welldocumented; it hardly requires elaboration.

In the aforementioned anecdote, a student claiming to have been “taught good” would most likely seem to have been taught poorly.

Specifically in a formal, written context, the use of ‘good’ as an adverb remains to many a sure sign of ignorance. Even in an informal, spoken context, to say for example, “My car is working good” with a Southern or urban accent, may incite regional or ethnic prejudices in some listeners, regarding the educational level and

by

Good and

‘Good’

Dr. Bethany Davila

overall intelligence of the speaker. In addition, such ‘misuse’ of good as an adverb may be seen as new ‘slang’ by older listeners.

But a closer look at the Michigan Corpus of Academic English (MiCASE) indicates that the conversational use of ‘good’ as an adverb is fairly common in all quarters, regardless of how well the speaker was taught. Consider this MiCASE conversational dialogue from a native English-speaking senior faculty member identified as being over fifty-years-of-age: “Their stuff works pretty good, the problem is that it’s so general that I can’t see that there isn’t anything that isn’t a blend.”

In spoken conversation, even the distinguished and well-educated occasionally employ ‘good’ as an adverb.

If the spoken use of ‘good’ as an adverb seems to fly in the face of prescriptive grammar, the prescriptive rules describing the proper use of ‘well’ vs. ‘good’ as an adverb can be no less confusing. An online visit to GrammarBook. com sums up the convoluted state of ‘well’ and ‘good’. Contributor Jane Straus writes: “So, how should you answer the question, ‘How are you?’ If you think someone is asking about your physical well-being, answer, ‘I feel well,’ or ‘I don’t feel well.’ If someone is asking about your emotional state, answer, ‘I feel good,’ or ’I don’t feel good.’”

‘Well,’ according to Straus, is a description of how one feels in regard to their physical health, while ‘good’ is how one feels in regard to their emotional state. Leaving aside the notion that health and emotional state might be inseparable more often than not (I don’t feel well, but I feel good?) one response in the comments asks a very good question:

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“[B]ut health is not a verb, so why would you use well? In the [Q] and [A]: how are you, [I] am… the questioner is asking you to describe your condition.

[T]he answer should be an adjective.”

Much of this prescriptive confusion stems from the implied verb in the question, “How are you?” In this question, there is the implication that some progressive verb is invisibly attached at the end: How are you doing? How are you feeling? How are you faring? How are you getting on? With this in mind, ‘well’ makes much more sense as an adverb modifying how the responder is doing/feeling/faring/ getting on. ‘Good,’ on the other hand – even in describing how one feels in regard to their emotional state – seems out of place, in terms of prescriptive rules. Still, as Straus points out, prescriptive rules in regard to ‘good’ and ‘well’ bend to descriptive usage. At another point in the comments, someone asks, “Can we answer, ‘I’m good’ if someone asks ‘How are you?’” To which Straus responds: “Technically, when referring to health, we should use ‘well.’ However, so few people answer this way that ‘good’ is becoming more accepted as a response.”

After all that, it seems everyone is using ‘good’ these days anyway.

Well-soaked in the well, a goodly portion of the goodly maid’s goods were no good.

Even those clear definitions that seemed so decisive become more confusing the closer one looks. Turning back to MerriamWebster’s Dictionary, it turns out that the third definition of ‘good’ is as an adverb: “In a good or proper manner: WELL” (466). A closer look at the definition of the adverb ‘well’ is just as confusing: “in a good or proper manner” (1184). What’s more, ‘well’ is also defined as an adjective used to describe a state of good health.

Finally, as if contemporary notions of ‘well’ and ‘good’ were not convoluted enough, there is the complicated variety of meanings regarding these modifiers. Consider that an archaic derivative of ‘good’ was ‘goodly.’ It’s 16

a modifier constructed with an -ly ending like many adverbs, but is nonetheless another adjective describing someone who is attractive.

Goodly is also an adjective used to describe a large amount. Add to this that ‘goods’ and ‘well’ are also nouns. All of this makes possible the following sentence: “Well-soaked in the well, a goodly portion of the goodly maid’s goods were no good.”

And then there is the phrase, “All well and good.” It is a phrase used to describe something that seems great, but is actually in some way lacking. (Johnny’s math scores were perfect.

All well and good, but he failed grammar.) For all the prescriptive contortions over the correct use of ‘well’ and ‘good’, it is ironic that the two used together in this phrase are prescriptively acceptable and found in many published academic articles, always in describing something that is ultimately neither well nor good.

It is easy to see that my elementary school teacher’s clear and decisive rules for ‘well’ and ‘good’ are far from concrete. ‘Well’ is an adverb, unless you are describing someone’s health as ‘good.’ Then it’s an adjective. ‘Good’ is an adjective, unless it’s describing something as ‘well.’ Then it’s an adverb. ‘Good’ and ‘well’ together in the phrase, “All well and good” mean neither well nor good. A descriptive analysis of how these words are used conversationally indicates that ‘good’ is becoming more widely accepted as an adverb. Where once someone may have said, “All is well,” it is much more common in contemporary English conversation to hear, “It’s all good.”

Works Cited Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus.

Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2006. Print.

“Micase Online Home Page.” Micase Online Home Page.

N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2015.

Straus, Jane. “ Good vs. Well.” GrammarBook.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2015.

Volume 27 - Spring 2015 - N0. 1

CHIVALRY IS DEAD

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ‘M’LADY’ IN NECKBEARD CULTURE WRITTEN BY RIO O’NEAL, NOMINATED BY DR. BETHANY DAVILA

A Word from the Author This piece serves as a cultural examination of the meme’d internet sub-culture known as neckbeards.

The exploration is largely guided by the word “M’lady” and how--in an incredible act of functional shift — it pertains to the faux-chivalry that epitomizes neckbeard culture. Moreover, this piece provides an indepth look at the unsettling and often overlooked communities that fester on the internet.

The aim of this predominately experimental piece was to push the boundaries of traditional academic writing. It assumes an informal and satirical tone, features screenshots from online chat-logs, humorous photos, and a few sprinkles of profanity. Because the neckbeard phenomenon occurred primarily through the power of the internet, it was only fitting to provide some of the most colorful and telling pieces of evidence, straight from the horse’s mouth; this meant plundering the vast and vulgar archives of 4chan, reddit, Encyclopedia Dramatica, Urban Dictionary, and Know Your Meme, among others.

Had I not participated in these internet communities for the past 5 years (*tips fedora*), this piece may not have been possible.

A Word from the Editor The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BSE or the UNM student publication board or any of its staff. For the sake of curtailing censorship and preserving the soul of the piece itself, we tried to maintain as many of the experimental elements of this piece as we could.

‘M’lady’—it’s a respectful term that carries medieval or otherwise chivalrous connotations. When someone hears it, they probably think of a noble knight confessing his love to the woman of his dreams (alternatively, the “damsel in distress”). Or maybe they think of a Ryan Gosling-esque male, lanceequipped and clad in shiny, steel-plated armor. Surprisingly, there is a group of noble lords who still use the term “M’lady” today, but instead fighting in rival castles or the lairs of giant dragons, they have taken their front to the vast cyberscapes of the internet. Embracing trench coats, fedoras, and the power of “euphoria,” these keyboard warriors no longer need religion, physical health, social interaction skills, fashion sense, deodorant, or their own places in order to win the hearts of their helpless subjects—at least, that’s what they think. Come, as we explore this glorious and greasy transformation!

The origins of ‘lady’ as “a woman who is the object of (esp. chivalrous) love or devotion” dates back to 1393, when it was first used by John Gower in Confessio Amantis.1 As protagonist Aman confessed his sins to Chaplain Genius, he attributed his problems to a woman he labeled as “Medusa.” He went on to say, “Min herte is growen into Ston / So that my lady thereupon / Hath such a priente of love grave, / That I can noght miselve save”.2 (Be sure to remember this theme of so-called “wicked” women turning men’s hearts to stone.) A little over 100 years after Gower’s work, Stephen Hawes’ Pastime of Pleasure created the very first ‘knightly, example of M’lady when the young Graunde Amour proclaimed to the beautiful la Bel Pucel, “You are my lady, you are my maysteres / Whome I shall serue with all my gentylnes.”3 Luckily for many women, M’lady is still being used today. The only problem is… it’s still being used today. I’ll explain why soon enough, but first, some more background.

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On the internet imageboard 4chan (meme pantheon and home of ‘Anonymous’), women users frequently face sexual harassment—most commonly through the “Tits or GTFO” ultimatum. Whenever a poster indicates that she (or sometimes he, in an act of ‘catfishing’) is a woman, males deluded by the idea that ‘girls don’t internet’ request ‘proof’ in the form of inappropriate images. This is accomplished through the phrase ‘Tits or GTFO,’ with GTFO meaning ‘Get The Fuck Out.’4 Here’s a visual of the process5:

Despite many occurrences like these on 4chan, there are a number of aptly-named individuals who kind of aid the attacked women: white knights.

White knights are paradoxical in their nature, posing concern for women, when really they’re just trying to get in their pants. These peculiar behaviors were elaborated by Encyclopedia Dramatica on their white knighting wiki page: Boiled down to simple terms, white knighting is when some idiot protects some other idiot on the internet, presuming doing so will make them look better or doing so will earn them respect/attention from the maiden. The most stereotypical form of White Knighting is some basement-dwelling nerd on a popular social networking/camwhore site like Stickam, or JewTube (YouTube) defending some popular girl he has a crush on in order to possibly win her favor, and thus get her to fuck him.6 Because of this façade, and effectively making it harder for sexually frustrated users to obtain inappropriate pictures, white knights carry a stigma amongst many groups, with 4chan’s hatred being notoriously adamant. In fact, white knights on 4chan are treated roughly the same as sex offenders in American prison facilities. White knights can be easily spotted through their pseudo-chivalrous-but-secretly-devious acts, as well as another unique sign: a fedora.

Since early 2012, fedoras have been the sacred headpiece for the Order of White Knights. Their origins trace back to a white knight discussion thread from 4chan’s /v/ (video game) board7:

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Numerous notions of resistance like above followed in their midst, a (presumably) female poster replied the following (note: a “femanon” is a female 4chan poster):

Obviously smitten by the lovely maiden’s endearing pixels, a young, noble sir reacted by uttering a statement of chivalrous gratitude that would later become legendary:

Whether this statement was mocking or written by an actual white knight remains uncertain, but one thing we do know is that when combined with the aforementioned white knight stigma, this small post sparked the kindling for a bonfire. For several years since, this bonfire has roasted the hindquarters of our tale’s central character: the neckbeard.

(The above headshot is of neckbeard poster child, Jerry Messing8. Online, many people use this image as a standalone comment/reply to insinuate that neckbeard activity is present.)

Urban Dictionary defines neckbeard as a “[d]erogatory term for slovenly nerdy people who have no sense of hygene (sic) or grooming. Often related to hobbies such as card gaming, video gaming, anime, et. al.”9 Moreover, they are typically portrayed as heterosexual virgins, aged 25 and over who live with their parents, and despite being college-educated and computer-fluent, they’re stuck working menial, low paying, low stress jobs, such as a night shift manager or phone support technician.10 Additional Best Student Essays

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stereotypes of neckbeards are that they are are socially withdrawn, autistic, atheists, pseudo-intellectuals, sophisticated in the written sense, frequent Reddit, are fascinated by Sonic the Hedgehog and/or My Little Pony, often major in philosophy, and, as a whole, experience euphoria on the daily. The following images of these transcendent noble lords will help you better understand their mindsets11 12 13:

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Now that we are familiarized with the noble lords of today who use ‘M’lady,’ we should now analyze some instances in which the term itself is used. This was taken from the dating website OkCupid14:

Aside from the part about age difference at the end, any unsuspecting person would struggle to differentiate this man from the swooning, chivalrous knights of yesteryear. This is only a fragment of the noble lord’s confession to a woman he’s never met, but it still stands as an impressive attempt at womanizing, even if she’s 30 years younger than him. (The woman never did respond to him, in case you were wondering.)

This is a more explicit example15 of the prescriptivism and ridicule that noble lords face when they speak the taboo of ‘M’lady.’ As this example features the same glorification of looks found in the previous, one could infer that beauty is a surficial concept for most neckbeards. Notice how after saying that he’s among the nicest people on the planet, the neckbeard breaks his white knight ‘nice guy’ façade with a variant of the ‘Tits or GTFO’ ultimatum. Perhaps if he really wanted to be chivalrous he would have let the woman speak her mind.

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Our last example16 features yet another case of glorifying looks, coupled with the excitement of finding someone who shares a mutual, common neckbeard interest: video games. Just as neckbeards feel that ‘women don’t internet,’ the same sentiments apply to video games as well. Watch as the neckbeard acknowledges his strangeness by saying, “[n]ot to be a freak, but…” It’s almost like saying, ‘not to be rasist, but…’ before making a slanderous remark. (This female never responded either, by the way.)

Because of instances like these, M’lady has grown from an awkward neckbeard utterance to a term that encompasses any conversation in which a man is behaving awkwardly or strangely with a woman.

Observe the following example of how to use ‘M’lady’ in a conversation17:

Even though ‘M’lady’ doesn’t explicitly appear in the example, it’s definitely implied through context.

(Note the sophisticated writing that the neckbeard uses in his offbeat approach.) Like the previous example, this neckbeard expressed amazement at the sight of a woman gamer. Observe how he told his helpless, little snowflake (as they all are, supposedly) not to be intimidated by a male actually talking to her. He also applies his unconventional attitudes to gender stereotypes by saying that he will be the one in the kitchen. You know, because it doesn’t matter if it’s his introduction. He’s still going to her house.

From our evidence, we can postulate two things about neckbeard tendencies and those given the ‘M’lady’ label: (1) Though they deviate from dominant society through unconventional means, neckbeards ascribe to archaic forms of chivalry that reduce women to ‘distant objects’ while also failing to realize that sexism is a by-product of the dominant society they so despise; (2) to ensure that their schemes go as planned, neckbeards target women who fit their contrived ‘damsel in distress’ ideal (in other words, they’re concerned with helpless women, not helping women); engaging in things that are ‘predominantly male’ such as video gaming or online communities, being young or inexperienced with dating, being easily flattered or swooned, getting hit on by ‘jerks,’ or just being a victim of sexual harassment like ‘Tits or GTFO’ are all probable cause to become ‘nice-guy’ neckbeard prey.

Thus, ‘M’lady’ serves as a strange and powerful example of functional shift. While fictional knights from medieval times tried it to get into women’s pants, it’s now being tried by the foils of modern white knights while they view women through a medieval, gender-rigid lens. John Gower would be amazed to see how Confessio Amantis prophesized the future: each day on the internet, neckbearded males are confessing their love to women and having their hearts turned to stone when the “unobtainable Medusas” don’t reciprocate. Just like the Holy Trinity that Aman confessed his sins to, this new, Unholy Trinity of M’lady—fedora, neckbeard, and white knight—serves as a poignant reminder to avoid stereotyping, treat people equally regardless of their gender, follow Kant’s practical imperative of never using another human for personal gain, and for God’s sake, take a fucking shower. Now if you’ll excuse me, my subscription’s18 here.

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End Notes “lady, n..” OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2014. Web. 27 February 2015. <http://www.oed.com/view/ Entry/105011?rskey=7mwPFt&result=1#eid> 2. Gower, John. “Confessio Amantis.” Project Gutenberg. 3 July 2008. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. L553-556. <http://www. gutenberg.org/files/266/266-h/266-h.htm> 3. “lady, n..” OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2014. Web. 27 February 2015. <http://www.oed.com/view/ Entry/105011?rskey=7mwPFt&result=1#eid> 4. Pumpkin, Deadly, and Brad. “Tits or GTFO.” Know Your Meme. 2010. Web. 27 Feb 2015. <http://knowyourmeme.com/ memes/tits-or-gtfo> 5. “Image #26305 – Tits or GTFO.” Know Your Meme. Digital Image. 27 Feb 2015. <http://knowyourmeme.com/ photos/26305-tits-or-gtfo> 6. “White Knighting.” Encyclopedia Dramatica. Web. 27 Feb 2015. <https://encyclopediadramatica.se/White_Knighting> 7. Anonymous. “No. 134821442.” 4chan. 04 Apr 2012. Web. 27 Feb 2015. <https://archive.moe/v/ thread/134821442/#134822050> 8. “Jerry Messing.” IMDb. 24 Mar 2014. Digital Image. 27 Feb 2015. <http://www.imdb.com/media/rm709413632/ nm0582202?ref_=nm_ov_ph> 9. parttimehanyou.“Neckbeard.” Urban Dictionary. 19 Dec 2005. Web. 27 Feb 2015. <http://www.urbandictionary.com/ define.php?term=neckbeard> 10. rootbeer277. “Neckbeard.” everything2. 31 Jan 2008. Web. 27 Feb 2015. <http://everything2.com/title/Neckbeard> 11. imgur. Digital Image. 27 Feb 2015. <http://i.imgur.com/CY0iACZ.png> 12. Aalewis. Know Your Meme. Jan 2013. Digital Image. 27 Feb 2015. <http://i.imgur.com/CY0iACZ.png> 13. “Cringeworthy”. Know Your Meme. Digital Image. 27 Feb 2015.<http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/619366cringeworthy> 14. behindthespine.”Okcupid.” imgur. Digital Image. 2014. 27 Feb 2015. <http://imgur.com/a/WYwO1> 15. Shrim. “What is your name m’lady?” imgur. Digital Image. 2014. 27 Feb 2015. <http://i.imgur.com/oT2rUga.jpg?1> 16. josejosedragon. “m’lady.” Funnyjunk. Digital Image. 2014. 27 Feb 2015. <http://www.funnyjunk.com/M+lady/funnypictures/5085786/> 17. ““Yes, I added you because you’re a female gamer, ‘tis an awesome thing to see!”” imgur. Digital Image. 2013. 27 Feb 2015. <http://imgur.com/r/cringepics/Z8frO> 18. KaiserZero. “Euphoria Magazine: The Murray Rothbard of Our Time?” imgur. Digital Image. 2014. 27 Feb 2015. <http:// www.reddit.com/r/EnoughLibertarianSpam/comments/1yixg0/euphoria_magazine_the_murray_rothbard_of_our_ time/> 1.

Works Cited

Aalewis. Know Your Meme. Jan 2013. Digital Image. 27 Feb 2015. <http://i.imgur.com/CY0iACZ.png> Anonymous. “No. 134821442.” 4chan. 04 Apr 2012. Web. 27 Feb 2015. <https://archive.moe/v/ thread/134821442/#134822050> behindthespine.”Okcupid.” imgur. Digital Image. 2014. 27 Feb 2015. <http://imgur.com/a/WYwO1> “Cringeworthy”. Know Your Meme. Digital Image. 27 Feb 2015.<http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/619366-cringeworthy> Gower, John. “Confessio Amantis.” Project Gutenberg. 3 July 2008. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. L553-556. <http://www.gutenberg. org/files/266/266-h/266-h.htm> “Image #26305 – Tits or GTFO.” Know Your Meme. Digital Image. 27 Feb 2015. <http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/26305tits-or-gtfo> imgur. Digital Image. 27 Feb 2015. <http://i.imgur.com/CY0iACZ.png> “Jerry Messing.” IMDb. 24 Mar 2014. Digital Image. 27 Feb 2015. <http://www.imdb.com/media/rm709413632/ nm0582202?ref_=nm_ov_ph> josejosedragon. “m’lady.” Funnyjunk. Digital Image. 2014. 27 Feb 2015. <http://www.funnyjunk.com/M+lady/funnypictures/5085786/> KaiserZero. “Euphoria Magazine: The Murray Rothbard of Our Time?” imgur. Digital Image. 2014. 27 Feb 2015. <http://www. reddit.com/r/EnoughLibertarianSpam/comments/1yixg0/euphoria_magazine_the_murray_rothbard_of_our_time/> lady, n..” OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2014. Web. 27 February 2015. <http://www.oed.com/view/ Entry/105011?rskey=7mwPFt&result=1#eid> parttimehanyou.“Neckbeard.” Urban Dictionary. 19 Dec 2005. Web. 27 Feb 2015. <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define. php?term=neckbeard> Pumpkin, Deadly, and Brad. “Tits or GTFO.” Know Your Meme. 2010. Web. 27 Feb 2015. <http://knowyourmeme.com/ memes/tits-or-gtfo> rootbeer277. “Neckbeard.” everything2. 31 Jan 2008. Web. 27 Feb 2015. <http://everything2.com/title/Neckbeard> Shrim. “What is your name m’lady?” imgur. Digital Image. 2014. 27 Feb 2015. <http://i.imgur.com/oT2rUga.jpg?1> “White Knighting.” Encyclopedia Dramatica. Web. 27 Feb 2015. <https://encyclopediadramatica.se/White_Knighting> ““Yes, I added you because you’re a female gamer, ‘tis an awesome thing to see!”” imgur. Digital Image. 2013. 27 Feb 2015. <http://imgur.com/r/cringepics/Z8frO>

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Volume 27 - Spring 2015 - N0. 1

Women ' s Social Advancement in Mexico Sexual Perspectives

W ritten

by

and

Intersectional Solutions

Alexandra Stewart, Nominated

Women’s oppression is not a historical anomaly.

Many societies and cultures have viewed women and female sexuality as powerful, oppressing it at the hand of masculinity.

That oppression, however, is not always immediately visible. Many scholars cite the ‘separate but equal’ argument when discussing the delegation of men and women to different spheres. The truth is, equality is not a feeling.

Certain rights and liberties associated with a particular group do not automatically indicate equality and freedom. The Mexica Empire (commonly known as the Aztec Empire) of modern day Mexico is one such example.

Women certainly possessed power, but it was achieved at the price of their femininity: they occupied traditional female positions (weaving, textile production, midwives), only very rarely participated in long-distance trade (which was a male dominated industry), and were still expected to be wives and mothers (Bieber).

The Mexica treated childbearing as a symbol of bravery, and death in childbirth was the only way women could achieve Chilbalba, the afterlife (Bieber). The comparison of women to jaguars during reproduction was a symbolic comparison to the bravery of men, which was still held to the highest esteem (Bieber).

While Mexica society was certainly foreign to Europeans, and it could be argued that Mexica women held more rights than many European women, the argument that they were liberated is moot due to lack of sexual agency. High status men were expected to take many wives; high status wives were not allowed to take many husbands (Bieber). The expectation of women to use their bodies primarily for childbearing is historically a universal trait, eliminating individual choice from the equation. After the fall of the Mexica Empire and post-conquest,

by

Keneth Carpenter

the same can be seen regarding women in New Spain, but lack of equality is still a widespread problem in present-day Mexico.

Analyzing historical perspectives is necessary in understanding present-day issues. To understand the struggles of modern Mexican women, it is important to first identify the perceived legal liberties regarding the women in New Spain and to understand those liberties as actions arising from disidentification. It is equally important to reinforce the fact that those liberties are not the same as equality. Modern perspectives and experiences draw from historical realities, and historical accounts are useful in analyzing the modern day oppression of women’s sexual agency through reproductive choice, sexual violence, and sexual/gendered expectations.

These oppressions are constructed through the continued presence of machismo (defined as strong or aggressive masculine pride) and marianismo (defined as the veneration of feminine virtues) in modern Mexico. Lastly, it is pertinent to emphasize the necessity of applying intersectional solutions towards the liberation of Mexican women. This can be best achieved by using a sexual lens in both social and political respects.

Historical Perspectives: Historical accounts of women in New Spain (colonial, present-day Mexico) are surprising when viewed in comparison to women in other geographical locations. Women in Spain were in possession of numerous legal rights that gave them some sort of autonomy as individuals, and those rights extended to Spanish and indigenous women in colonial areas. However, those freedoms did not liberate women from the social structures they were still subject to.

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Despite having achieved certain degrees of freedom, women were still oppressed. It is akin to treating the symptoms of a disease, rather than the disease itself.

Despite their surprising legal liberties, women did still live and operate within a patriarchal society.

Women in New Spain brought dowries into their marriages. Their dowries were not jointly owned by their husbands, which provided a source of power and protection against mismanagement (Bieber). Other legal advantages included the ability to enter into independent legal contracts, initiation of lawsuits, inability to be legally disinherited, and a slew of general economic protections (Bieber). Women were also able to manage estates after their husbands’ deaths, run agricultural estates and businesses, manage urban realty, and participate in selling goods at market (Bieber).

In contrast, women in Great Britain lost their names upon marriage and had their property transferred directly to their husbands, losing all rights to their own dowry (Bieber).

They had no legal autonomy, were unable to engage in trade, and if they became victims of a crime, they could not take their perpetrators to court without a sponsoring male (Bieber). Men were also legally permitted to beat their wives and had total legal custody of all children; widows were entitled to nothing following the death of their husbands (Bieber).

When viewed through a comparative lens, the legal liberties of women in New Spain become quite striking. In addition to the legal rights listed before, they also had the ability to take their husbands to court, sue them, and request their arrest in the event of domestic violence or adultery – which were the two leadings reasons behind women’s legal action (Gauderman, 73). Lawsuits were either settled in criminal or religious courts, though it was easier, cheaper, and faster to take the civil law route, as the Catholic Church was incredibly reluctant to intervene in what they considered a divine partnership (Gauderman, 72-73). Men 26

in these situations were often punished with fines or prison time, which was problematic for women that relied on their husband’s income (Gauderman, 76). Therefore, women typically only took their husbands to court in dire situations, as the repercussions could affect the family as a whole.

While women had the ability to take their partners to court, the likelihood of achieving divorce, even in the case of severe physical abuse, was incredibly slim. A study conducted in Ecuador found that of the 24 divorce requests filed from 1750 to 1800, 2 were granted, neither case including maltreatment as the deciding factor (Gauderman, 73). Divorce cases in New Spain were similarly rare. In Mexico City, 12 divorces were granted out of 70 requests between 1790 and 1856 (Gauderman, 74).

Despite their surprising legal liberties, women did still live and operate within a patriarchal society. Men were the dominant decision makers and heads of the households; women were expected to operate in private spheres, as public spheres were dominated by men (Bieber). New Spain social and political structures may have been more decentralized than other societies at the time, but it’s important to remember that legal and political freedoms did not necessarily provide liberties in the social realm. Because women were still delegated roles as wives and mothers, they lacked control over their bodies. In one case, a woman named Rafaela Nunez de Valladolid was raped by her brother-in-law (who was never tried), threatened with murder by her father for refusing a marriage proposal, and later kidnapped by her family and forced to comply with the unwanted agreement (Gauderman, 74-75).

Lack of justice regarding bodily violation and enforcement of legally binding agreements like marriage are indicative of one-sided power structures, which often cause disenfranchisement of ‘inferior’ social groups.

In this case, women were held to be physically and socially inferior to men. Because women drew their power from the fact that they were oppressed, this power was understandably limited, but still used to their highest advantage.

This sort of behavioral operation is called disidentification: situating both “within and against the various discourses through which we are called to identify” (Alexander). While women were called to identify with the social

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sphere and submissive tendencies, they were able to adhere to and diverge from that social structure by navigating special and unique legalities available to them at that time.

During the Mexican War of Independence and the Mexican Revolution, many women accompanied their husbands to war. These women, called Las Soldaderas during the Mexican Revolution, often voluntarily accompanied their husbands, but there were certainly instances where they were forced out of their homes as well (Norris). They were subject to slaughter and rape from opposing sides while they were behind the fighting lines. Soldaderas were romanticized and immortalized in La Adelita, a symbol which served to sexualize women in their acts of patriotism; interestingly, she is seen today as a symbol of feminine strength and hope (Salas, 92). It is no coincidence that La Adelita’s sexualized nature is seen as a form of power by many women today. The natural and uninhibited sexuality that La Adelita exhibits is powerful; not specifically because of her sexuality, but because of her freedom and self-agency, which is seriously lacking in many areas of the world today.

These historical perspectives of women in Mexico’s history are necessary to the deconstruction of present-day issues relating to sexuality and how women are controlled using their sexualities. While some of their liberties were considerable in relation to other European women of the same time period, those liberties are not necessarily liberating and were certainly limited. Despite the legal and political leeway that many women had, their social standing was still rooted in their roles as wives and mothers, e.g. their bodies.

When there is social pressure to pursue a life path, particularly one that focuses on control of the body, all other choices are eliminated, and lack of choice is equivocated to lack of agency.

Lack of bodily agency in historical Mexico was an important aspect of women’s social status and oppression, and similar control of the body and female sexuality still manifests today.

Present-Day Perspectives: The manifestation of inequality and oppression through sex and sexuality is important because of the importance body has within culture, the historical significance of women’s bodies, and their lack of agency in regard to it. Even

today, the best way to give a woman control over her own life is through sexual agency and control over reproduction, especially in societies where women are still expected to be primary nurturers, caretakers, and wives.

Choosing to operate outside of traditional spheres is considered a radical concept that is made achievable by changing social norms, globalization, and varying methods of birth control.

Sexual agency in females is largely depicted as negative, even in the case of more liberated western cultures where the consequences for premarital sexual activity is typically negative social labels, like ‘slut’ or ‘whore,’ rather than being subjected to public shaming, whipping, or imprisonment. Sexual liberation among women has been a slow process because male entitlement to women’s bodies has historically prevailed in nearly every culture, as evidenced by rape during conquests, arranged marriages, inability to achieve divorce, lack of independent monetary resources, strict gender norms and roles that reflect a gender binary, and a myriad of other manifestations. Mexico is no exception, especially because the cultural gender aspect is one based around a strong binary, specifically illustrated in the contrast between machismo and marianismo. While it is important to note that increasing liberal ideas regarding women’s rights are finally starting to move Mexican women away from marianismo ideals, the concept and structures causing oppression still affect women today.

Sexual liberation among women has been a slow process because male entitlement to women’s bodies has historically prevailed in nearly every culture At first glance, marianismo and machismo may appear to be two sides of the same coin, but that would imply equality, which is not present in such a strict and controlling binary favoring one specific gender.

Machismo is, at its base, the ideal performance of manhood – characterized by dominance, virility, masculine pride, and aggressive sexual

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performance (Zimmerman). Machismo is certainly the better known of the two, while marianismo has fallen to the side. This is likely because machismo is characterized by possession of qualities that marianismo ideals do not encompass, therefore enabling machismo to achieve the dominant ideal.

Unlike marianismo, machismo is superfluous rather than deficient, creating a submissivedominant relationship.

Marianismo, by contrast, is the ideal feminine performance that is typically characterized by emulation of the Virgin Mary, and as such includes ideals like submissiveness, selflessness, and spiritual strength, which collectively translate into a type of moral superiority (Zimmerman). Machismo is technically defined by marianismo; specifically, its superiority stems from the lack of feminine qualities that are seen in ideal Mexican women. It is particularly relevant that machismo culture is defined by male sexual prowess. Men are seen as possessing insatiable sex drive, but women are expected to maintain only one sexual partner throughout their lifetime and only within their marriage, never before or outside of it (Zimmerman). Both men and women are defined by their sexuality, regardless of whether or not it is embraced and utilized.

Men are seen as possessing insatiable sex drive, but women are expected to maintain only one sexual partner throughout their lifetime and only within their marriage Such aspects of sexual control manifest not only in social and cultural realms, but also in the realm of the female body and autonomy.

While men are expected to have multiple partners, women are pressured and expected to limit themselves to one. This is contradictory to machismo culture, because male necessity for many partners must find release. Therefore, it creates a paradigm: while all women are expected to strive for the marianismo ideal, the impossibility of such a task becomes evident when one considers the needs of machismo.

The high standard of machismo interpretation 28

of manhood is achieved at the expense of women, essentially controlling the outcome and making some women inferior to others via their sexualities. This creates a hierarchy among women that reinforces the marianismo ideal and shames those that don’t encompass it.

Additionally, marianismo ideals also exclude female-identifying members of the LGBTQIA community, including women who celebrate their more masculine sides and attributes, which creates a harrowing and impossible ideal.

Social norms teach women that a respectable woman has no sexual desire and engages in sex only as a means of reproduction. Silvana Paternostro explains in her ethnographic portrayal of Latin American sexual culture, “In our society, women attach punitive attitudes to their sexuality. They associate sex with sin, so they carry a negative emotional burden” (Paternostro, 83). To stray from this image is to risk becoming like the ‘shameless’ women of the streets. Thus, men, as a means of exerting their masculinity, look to extramarital affairs for sexual variety and pleasure is “the primary way in which males prove their masculinity,” which furthers the hierarchy mentioned above, delegating women into two categories: la casa (the home) and la calle (the street) (Hirsch). Though men will sometimes use other men as sexual outlets behind closed doors, their masculinity is publicly proven with extramarital affairs with other women, which often include commercial sex workers (Hirsch).

Interestingly, female bodies in Latin America are highly sexualized in many areas, including media and the workplace, which places their bodies on pedestals. The perceived, overly sexual nature of Latina women in the media is a direct contradiction to their expected marianismo nature, which creates an unattainable feminine ideal. Women are expected to be pure, selfless, and passive by their culture, but the media expects and reinforces sexuality, which is then consumed as a commodity by many men who objectify and commercialize the sexual aspects of women.

Sexual identity in popular Mexican culture is thereby a paradox based off hypocrisy. By holding all women to multiple exclusive ideals, society further perpetuates disturbing and destructive sexual and gender binaries that exclude, shame, and diminish.

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Lack of birth control and rights to abortion only add to the socially imposed regulations placed on women’s bodies. Inability to access preventative reproductive measures translates not only to women’s lack of control regarding their own bodies, but also to a general belief that any decision a woman could make regarding her sexuality and reproduction would be unacceptable, regardless of the necessity and reasoning behind such personal decisions. The widespread inaccessibility to necessary sexual resources (especially regarding reproductive rights and birth/nonbirth options) could be a cultural reflection of women being seen as primary caretakers and mothers, which prevailed in historical contexts.

If cultural tradition and expectation dictates that women should have and raise children, the existence as motherhood as a choice rather than a requirement disappears, leading to lack of autonomy and agency.

Unfortunately, there is a gap that exists between private choices and the public practice that supports them. According to one survey, “approximately 70% of Mexican women in general use some form of birth control” (Larson). The most common method is sterilization, followed by IUDs, oral contraceptives, injectable contraceptives, and traditional methods (Bloom). But there’s a discrepancy between the amount of urban and rural women who are reached with information about these preventative measures. Many women in rural areas lack access to (and/or knowledge about) modern birth control and opt for traditional methods, like herbal tea with abortifaciant properties (Bloom). “In spite of these promising numbers, contraceptive use in rural areas is still far lower than that of urban areas. Approximately 25% of Mexican women live in rural areas and of that 25% only 44% of those use birth control and their fertility rate, 4.7%, is almost twice that of urban women” (Larson).

Despite this range of preventative methods, Mexico has some of the strictest abortion laws in the world. It is a punishable criminal offense in many states, though abortion became legal and free in Mexico City in 2007 (Gaestel).

Mexico’s 31 states all allow abortion in the event of rape, but it is illegal in most other cases, with only 13 allowing the procedure if the pregnancy endangers the woman’s life

(Gaestel). “Since 2008, 16 states have reformed their constitutions to protect life from the point of conception,” two states of which attempted to reform their abortion laws this past summer (Gaestel). The lack of abortion access is likely a reflection of religious (particularly Catholic) ideals, which contributes added complexity to societal roadblocks on the road to individual female agency.

Asking to utilize condoms usually results in instances of domestic violence The use of condoms, despite their availability, has serious implications for women regarding domestic abuse and HIV contraction.

Women are often unable to negotiate condom use to prevent the spread of STDs because it is seen as a sign of infidelity (Olavarrieta). Asking to utilize condoms usually results in instances of domestic violence (Olavarrieta), which isn’t easy to report due to the sexual expectations written into Mexican laws: Mexican laws do not adequately protect women and girls against domestic violence and sexual violence. Some provisions, including those that make the severity of punishments for some sexual offenses contingent on the “chastity” of the victim, contradict international standards. Women who have suffered these types of human rights violations generally do not report them to authorities, while those who do report them are generally met with suspicion, apathy, and disrespect (Human Rights Watch).

Making punishments contingent on how chaste the victim is is another way of policing sexual choices and women’s bodies. By valuing ‘more chaste’ bodies over ‘less chaste’ bodies, it (again) delegates women into categories of societal worth and demeans them for the choices that men are able to make without consequence. By placing those societal expectations in a legal framework, it heightens political climates surrounding rape, women’s bodies, sexual responsibility, and sexual crime.

Often, it is women who are blamed for their own victimization, either through clothing or

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behaving like a ‘slut.’ Additionally, women who choose to operate within a more sexually active framework are considered more ‘rapeable’ or suitable to abuse; thereby increasing instances of sexual crime and making instances of domestic abuse and rape seem acceptable.

According to a 1997 study by Kaja Finkler, domestic abuse “is embedded in gender and marital relations fostered in Mexican women’s dependence on their spouses for subsistence and for self-esteem, sustained by ideologies of romantic love, by family structure and residential arrangements.”

This can easily be traced back to machismo and marianismo ideals, which have powerful gender expectations and roles for both women and men. When women are delegated to the private sphere, their lives become encompassed by what happens at home and the relationships that grow within it. Women who rely on their husbands and have no income due to work in the home are seriously at risk when it comes to instances of domestic violence. Financial considerations are often a primary reason for staying in abusive relationships, as are cultural undertones. Additionally, many women stay with their husbands out of love and perceived familial obligation, not making the connection between healthy and unhealthy forms of affection.

A woman is never just a woman: she has aspects of self that are shaped by race, sexuality, gender, and culture.

Solutions: Solutions to these problematic social and political issues are complex because they have historical roots and are intersectional.

Intersectionality is defined as “the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.” A woman is never just a woman: she has aspects of self that are shaped by race, sexuality, gender, and culture. Therefore, an intersectional structure is necessary to analyze the historical and political 30

implications that affect hurdles to women’s liberation. Increased understanding and knowledge of the complexity of these issues is certainly a first step to finding solutions, as the problems need to be addressed from multiple angles.

It is not the mere existence of marianismo archetypes that is the problem, and neither is the existence of women who fit the marianismo archetype. Just as the existence of a sexually liberal woman is not necessarily a sign of liberation, a covered woman is not necessarily a sign of oppression. Individual choice regarding clothing, sexual agency, and freedom of orientation and gender is exactly what will deconstruct oppressive structures.

That choice, however, cannot exist in societies that demean or shame individuals for making decisions that lie outside the accepted social and cultural boundaries. It is, therefore, necessary for women to make their life decisions based on what they desire and need. This is easier said than done, as our lives and personalities are reflections of the societies we live in, and operating outside of social norms can often be quite dangerous. That makes action in this category all the more important and necessary, even though the road leading to increased social freedom can be quite difficult.

I do believe that this particular social revolution should be aided through political means, both at government and individual levels. Individual politics are certainly powerful regarding identities and personal choice, and taking hold of those choices is inherently a very political decision. Additionally, broader political measures that allow access to reproductive health services, including abortion, are completely necessary to decrease the negative stigma surrounding women’s decisions regarding their bodies. The likelihood of achieving this is currently low, but incredibly important: public knowledge regarding the use of women’s services would normalize solutions that currently seem taboo.

Obviously, these solutions only seem possible in the distant future, but by using existing structures that already allow them freedom, women have the ability to begin deconstructing current beliefs regarding gender by challenging social norms. In a country that ranks 16th in homicides committed against women (CDD), this is no easy feat and must be approached with caution. As with many social

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issues, there is no obvious or easy answer, especially when ideas regarding particular groups are socially embedded and considered acceptable. While marianismo and machismo are both outdated ideals that need to be left behind, it does not indicate that aspects of either are necessarily negative. Rather, it is the pressure for everyone to adhere to them that creates a problem. In order to make progress and change, it is necessary for women to deviate from social ideals that do not uphold and/ or reflect who they are. Only then will other ways of life begin to become normalized and acceptable. Women today owe their progress to women in the past who were willing to deviate from the norm, and it is the women of the future who will owe their progress to the women that act today.

Works Cited

Alexander, Jonathan, and Jacqueline Rhodes. “Queer Rhetoric and the Pleasures of the Archive: Disidentification.” Enculturation. N.p., 16 Jan. 2012.

Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://enculturation.net/files/ QueerRhetoric/queerarchive/disid.html> Bieber, Judy. “Women in Colonial Society.” Dane Smith Hall, Albuquerque. 3 Nov. 2014. Lecture.

Bloom, Marcy. “Contraception in Mexico.” RH Reality Check. N.p., 24 May 2007. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Católicas Por El Derecho a Decidir (CDD), and Comisión Mexicana De Defensa Y Promoción De Los Derechos Humanos (CMDPDH). “Femicide and Impunity in Mexico: A Context of Structural and Genearlized Violence.” (n.d.): n. pag. 17 July 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Finkler, Kaja. “Gender, Domestic Violence and Sickness in Mexico.” Social Science & Medicine 45.8 (1997): 1147-160. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Gaestel, Allyn. “Mexican Women Pay High Price for Country’s Rigid Abortion Laws.” The Guardian.

N.p., 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Gauderman, Kimberly. “The Authority of Gender: Marital Discord and Social Order in Colonial Quito.” New World Orders: Violence, Sanction, and Authority in the Colonial Americas. Ed. John Smolenski and Thomas J. Humphrey. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania, 2005. 71-91. Print.

Hirsch, Jennifer S., Sergio Meneses, Brenda Thompson, Mirka Negroni, Blanca Pelcastre, and Carlos Del Rio. “The Inevitability of Infidelity: Sexual Reputation, Social Geographies, and Marital HIV Risk in Rural Mexico.” American Journal of Public Health 97.6 (2007): 986-96.National Center for Biotechnology Information. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Human Rights Watch. “World Report 2013: Mexico.”

Human Rights Watch. N.p., 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Larson, Theresa. “Reproductive Rights Issues.”

University of Minnesota Duluth. University of Minnesota Duluth, 2005. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Norris, Laura, and Joseph Reiss. “Why Soldaderas?”

Las Soldaderas: The Battlefield Heroines of the Mexican Revolution. University of Michigan, 15 Dec. 2006. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Olavarrieta, Claudia D., and Julio Sotelo. “Domestic Violence in Mexico.”JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 275.24 (1996): 1937941. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Paternostro, Silvana. In the Land of God and Man: Confronting Our Sexual Culture. New York: Dutton Adult, 1998. Print.

Salas, Elizabeth. Soldaderas in the Mexican Military: Myth and History. Austin: U of Texas, 1990. Print.

Zimmerman, Lisa. Women in Latin America.

Washington, D.C. (1312 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington 20005): Latin America Documentation, USCC, 1975. Tulane University. Tulane University.

Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

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Matters A

The Historical Written

by

ccount of

of

Two Communist

Casey Dowling, Nominated

At the heart of the stories of Emil Julius Klaus Fuchs and Theodore Alvin Hallboth— both World War II-era spies, is the confusing struggle between the United States, Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union during the period between the end of World War I and the 1950’s. World War I and II, the Great Depression, and the rise of Nazi Germany all made for strange bedfellows. Fuchs’ and Hall’s experience of these events from the perspectives in Germany and the United States respectively, as well as their intellectual role as scientists working on the atom bomb projects, put them in a position to perceive inequality and social conflict from a unique lens. Both men saw imbalances in the economic situations of their home countries and the profound imbalance between the world’s super powers which rested on the creation and possession of the atom bomb they were each working on.

Thus, both men felt compelled to do what they could to create a world of absolute equality of outcomes that communism demanded. Both saw the trajectory of the Soviet Union as the path to such a goal. Oblivious to the brutal realities of Joseph Stalin’s Russia, both arrived at the conclusion that tilting the power gradient between the US and Russia through spying for the Soviet Union and handing over secrets from the Manhattan Project was the best way to support their desired end state.

The Influence of Politics on Fuchs Klaus Fuchs was born in Germany near Frankfurt in 1911, and witnessed the rise of the Weimar Republic. The 1920’s were a turbulent time for politics according to Norman Moss, the author of Fuchs’ biography. Many blamed the founders of the Weimar Republic for the country’s losses after World War I, but the real 32

Ideology S L pies in

by

os

Alamos

Judy Bieber

issues that “confronted the citizens were about the kind of state in which they would live and the flag their children would salute,” (Moss, 7).

At the turn of the decade from 1929 to 1930, Fuchs was involved with a student activist group at Kiel University which included members of both the Communist and the Social Democratic Parties (SPD). The election of 1932 in Germany was formative for Fuchs.

The Communist party found themselves at a disagreement with the SPD over candidates.

When Fuchs supported Ernst Thaelmann, the candidate for the Communist party, he was expelled from the SPD and decided to focus his efforts toward the Communist party. Fuchs believed the Communist party was the only viable force against Hitler’s ideology and the Nazi regime. Fuchs and the German Communist party looked to what they knew of Russia as the example they wanted to achieve in Germany.

Yet, in 1932, “the most dramatic horrors of Soviet Communism that were seen from the West—the purges, the mass deportations— were still in the future” (Moss, 9).

Hitler would use his emergency powers to ban Communist Party meetings, and framed the communists for setting fire to the Reichstag, the parliamentary building in Germany, in an orchestrated tragedy that would serve to legitimize persecution of Communists. As a Communist, Fuchs was ultimately forced to flee to Britain and “…all the things that made up the structure of his life—family, friends, career, political activities—[would] vanish[sic],.. he was alone and penniless,” (Moss, 12).

When Fuchs went to live in Britain in 1933 he began work at Bristol University as a research assistant under Professor Neville Mott who was also politically left-leaning. Fuchs then began studying Marxism on his own in

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depth, and widened the context in which he thought of communism from just Germany to, “a worldwide framework.” Fuchs was most, “attracted by Marx’s teaching that Man need no longer be at the mercy of historical forces but could now understand and control them, as he was coming to control the forces of nature,” (Moss, 14). This interest pushed Fuchs closer to identifying more with the Soviet Union than Nazi Germany, and one could also argue that this later influenced his decision to commit treason by giving over information about the atom bomb to Russia, thus, ‘controlling history’ himself.

Fuchs’ new community at Bristol also brought him into contact with the British leftleaning and labor movements. He worked for a committee at Bristol which helped Republican refugees from the Spanish Civil War and, “so far as [Fuchs] was concerned it was a Communist organization and this is why he helped it,” (Moss, 14). Fuchs had to have come into contact with the “wider British Left” who, according to Paul Corthorn, “always took a particular interest in the Soviet Union. At times they seemed almost to define themselves in response to the world’s first socialist state, and it certainly played a key role in shaping their ideology and political culture,” (Corthorn, 179).

Corthorn describes how the labor parties in Britain ignored rumors of Stalin’s totalitarian grip and of the purges, so Fuchs himself might not have known what was really happening in Russia at the time either. The leader of the Labour party, Clement Atlee, “had first-hand knowledge of the show trials,” states Corthorn, and purposefully kept the Soviet purges secret in order to maintain a positive public opinion of the Soviet Union (Corthorn, 181).

Terror from the Nazi party, and a false hope towards Russia’s communism emphasized by the British Left and labor parties blurred Fuchs’ vision of the horrible truth in the Soviet Union. Yet, we cannot be sure whether Fuchs actually heard about events such as the purges and reasoned in his own mind excuses for the Soviet Union, or he completely bought into the British Labor Movement’s propaganda.

The Influence of Politics on Hall The spy on the other side of the Atlantic was drawn to Russian sympathy and Communist ideals from the scope of the United States during the Roosevelt administration. Theodore

Hall was born in 1925 in New York. Hall was a first generation American from Russian-Jewish Émigré parents who left with their families as children to escape the pogroms, the mass persecution of Jews in Tsarist Russia during the 1880’s and 1890’s. According to Joseph Albright and Marcia Kunstel, the authors of Hall’s biography, such events were a harsh memory for Russian Jews, and many supported the revolution which overthrew the Tsar. Hall took interest at an early age for the left-wing literature his older brother Ed brought home from the City College of New York, such as the Communist Manifesto. For Hall, “…seeds of doubts about the capitalist system were strewn already at this early age. They later would grow into a fear that American Capitalism too, could turn down the path of economic stagnation— witness the Depression—and then turn to fascism,” (Albright & Kunstel, 16).

Hall grew up during a time when the larger picture and the public’s opinion of relations between the United States and the Soviet Union turned completely around from the 1920’s to the 1930’s. Before President Franklin D. Roosevelt came to the White House, presidents from Woodrow Wilson to Herbert Hoover held the policy that the United States would not support the Soviet Union unless they paid debts from the old regime and, “cease[d] its advocacy of revolution in the United States,” (Kennan, 675). Yet, once Roosevelt began his presidency in 1933, this “marked, of course, a fundamental turning point in the relationship,” (Kennan, 676). Roosevelt focused on the benefits of being allies with the Soviet Union in their common interests, according to Kennan, against the threats of Japan and Nazi Germany, and diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union were resumed in 1933.

The spy on the other side of the Atlantic was drawn to Russian sympathy from the scope of the United States Kennan goes on to argue that this act by Roosevelt misled the American public to accept the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, this was the dominant political position that likely further

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influenced Hall as he grew up in a left-leaning, Russian-Jewish family. Kennan describes that, even when word of the Russian purges reached the United States during the late 1930’s, there were groups who believed it was just “anti-Soviet propaganda that had been pouring out from reactionary circles ever since the Revolution,” (Kennan, 678). Understandably, Hall’s parents supported the Soviet Union which overthrew the Tsar’s rule. When the United States joined World War II in 1941, the Soviet Union was an ally against fascism. Kennan elaborates, in his opinion, that the images of the Russian purges and ruthless leaders disappeared as Washington “systematically cultivated” the idea of a more relatable and admirable country (Kennan 678).

Hall’s codename was Mlad which also meant ‘young’ according to the decryptions of Soviet intelligence messages.

At the beginning of World War II, Hall began studying at Harvard University at the young age of sixteen. In 1932, he joined Harvard’s John Reed Club, an “intellectual society for studying Marxism,” as Hall’s roommates happened to be the leaders of the club (Albright & Kunstel, 53).

The John Reed Club was named after one of the founding members of the Communist Party in the United States. Influences of the club stemmed from what was called the Proletcult movement that originally started in Russia.

This movement promoted “the evocation from the masses of the art and science latent in them, the creation of the workers’ culture,” according to Michael Gold, one of the original founding members of the club within the United States (Homberger, 222). What is important about Hall’s association with the John Reed Club is that it represents a delayed and disconnected view from the United States of current events in Russia. Eric Homberger points this out by stating, “Americans were poorly informed about events in the Soviet Union and found themselves enthusiastically supporting positions which were being abandoned there,” (Homberger, 222).

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The Influence of Economic Inequality on Fuchs Fuchs experienced the recovery plans of the Weimar Republic and then the Nazi party, briefly. The Nazis implemented policies that would crush “personal freedom and autonomy… in the process of controlling production and wages and distributing the ‘social dividend’ to the populace,” (Temin, 298). The Nazis also crushed unions upon coming to power according to Temin. Fuchs had a front row seat to examples of the power a government can have over its people through economic policy. Though unemployment dropped, wages were extremely low across the board; a type of socialism run by the hand of a dictator. Though Fuchs left soon after Hitler took power, the corruption was apparent. Exiled, with his life on the line for his political views in Germany, Fuchs surely saw Russia as the shining hope for a brighter future against the Nazis and dictatorship.

The Influence of Economic Inequality on Hall Hall saw a different type of inequality in the United States with the New Deal. As Temin describes, “[e]ven though prices rose under the NRA [National Industrial Recovery Act], real wages rose as well, faster than in Germany. By 1937, just before the American recession, real earnings in the United States were 30 percent above their 1933 level,” yet, the disparity was greater between those earning wages and those not (Temin, 301). According to Temin, unemployment fell from 30% to 2% in Germany between 1932 and 1938, while in the United States it only fell from 24% to 14% in 1937. In this case, Hall witnessed a high level of disparity, while Fuchs saw a wide spread of very thin wages, causing evenly-distributed poverty.

Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Weimar Republic, and the Nazi’s methods all left imprinted images of inequality on the minds of Fuchs and Hall, and drove them to seek out the equality Russia seemed to achieve, as seen from their skewed view of the ‘great experiment.’

Hall’s Espionage Hall’s codename was Mlad which also meant ‘young’ according to the decryptions of Soviet intelligence messages. He began work at Los Alamos in January 1944, at the age of 19, and by the time of his first furlough in October of

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that year, Hall had been working under Hans Bethe and Bruno Rossi, studying the properties of uranium (Albright & Kunstel, 67). On his first furlough, Hall made contact with a Soviet agent named Sergei Kurnakov. In that meeting, Hall handed over “a file folder containing a report he had written on Los Alamos and a list of the scientists there working on the atomic bomb,” (Albright & Kunstel, 95). After making first contact with Kurnakov, Hall’s information was taken seriously and he became an informant.

In December of 1944, Hall’s courier met with him in Albuquerque. According to Albright and Kunstel, Hall most likely passed on information regarding research on implosion, as Hall had been working on the team testing implosion using radioactive lanthanum. Finally, in the spring of 1945, Hall met with a different courier named Lona Cohen, on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque, where he handed over information on the locations of other atomic research sites in the United States, as well as Canada. Hall also gave Cohen details on the configuration of the bomb.

By August 15, 1945, World War II was considered over, but many scientists wanted to continue research as the project incidentally made additional discoveries through research on the atomic bomb. In September 1945, Hall joined Los Alamos scientist Edward Teller’s “Super Group” for interest in the advances of research on the new Hydrogen Bomb idea (Albright & Kunstel, 162). Despite his work on an even more powerful bomb, Hall’s last secret meeting with a Soviet agent was that last spring with Cohen on the University of New Mexico campus. By 1946, Hall went to the University of Chicago to earn his master’s degree and met his wife, Joan. Together, they joined the American Communist Party in 1948 with the dream to achieve “an American phenomenon” where America might become communist (Albright and Kunstel, 177). The Halls then made the decision to cut ties with the Soviet agent because “they knew they could end up under investigation simply by mingling with radicals,” (Albright and Kunstel, 178).

Fuchs’ Espionage Fuchs’ codename for the Soviet agents was Rest. Fuchs began his sabotage of atomic research much earlier than Hall in 1941, when he was hired to “calculate the hydrodynamics of gaseous diffusion for the British atomic

project code-named ‘Tube Alloys’,” (Albright and Kunstel, 78). He made his first contact with an agent through the Soviet Embassy in England in the summer of 1941, and for two years he passed information from the Tube Alloys project before he was even recruited to work at Los Alamos. Fuchs arrived in the United States in February 1944, according to Moss, where he made connections with a new courier named Harry Gold. Fuchs spent six months in New York before being sent to Los Alamos, and during that time he gave Gold information on the “members of the British group working in New York,” as well as information on “a big uranium diffusion plant” that was being built in Oakridge, Tennessee (Moss, 54). In the early part of 1945, according to Moss, Fuchs and Gold made plans to meet in Santa Fe that June.

Up to that point, Fuchs had been working on research regarding the explosion in relation to the implosion device and the fission of plutonium at Los Alamos. When he met Gold in Santa Fe, Fuchs told him about the atomic tests that would occur the next month and “that it would be the equivalent of 10,000 tons of TNT,” (Moss, 80).

Hall met with a different courier named Lona Cohen, on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque After the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Fuchs stayed in Los Alamos briefly, like Hall, working on the beginnings of the hydrogen bomb before going back to England in 1946 to work at the Harwell Laboratory in Oxfordshire (Moss). He made contact with another Russian agent and continued to give over information about atomic research from both Los Alamos and Harwell. Moss speculates that Fuchs may have continued (when Hall did not) because, “[p]erhaps he felt that he still owed it to the cause,” (Moss, 103). At one point, Fuchs accepted £100 “from his Soviet contact…as an assurance of his commitment and his loyalty, after being out of contact for a time,”(Moss, 105). He gave over information that Britain was building their own bomb at Harwell and how many bombs they could produce, as well as information about the

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preliminary studies on the hydrogen bomb done at Los Alamos.

Yet, over time, Fuchs’ meetings with the Soviet agent became more spread out until, in 1949, they stopped meeting. By that point, news was reaching the west that “Russia was consolidating its grip over Eastern Europe, and it had crushed a genuine parliamentary democracy in Czechoslovakia. The Soviet purge and the Moscow show trials of the 1930’s were beating repeated in Prague, Budapest, Warsaw and Sofia,” (Moss, 119). Fuchs began to question his loyalty to an oppressive state and began to feel possible inklings of guilt. Moss put it well: “he was like a man who marries too young, and find[s] himself in middle age trapped by the tastes and the lifestyle he adopted in his youth, which no longer suit him” (119).

During their time working on the Manhattan Project, Fuchs and Hall gave information regarding research on the atom bomb over to Russian intelligence. Neither scientist knew the other was a spy, which was crucial for the atomic spy ring because duplicate information from two independent sources was considered more valid. Yet, for this fleeting moment, Fuchs’ and Hall’s lives became intertwined in the same act of espionage.

Hall was never convicted because the hard evidence found in the intercepted Soviet cables was classified and could not be used in court against him.

Hall’s Confession After the war, there was almost immediate hostility towards communism and the Soviet Union within the United States and England after events such as Russia’s invasion of Finland, the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, and the purges came into full view. Also, the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb in 1949, years before the United States predicted they would figure out how to build one. Additionally, the FBI cracked the Soviet one-time pad system code and found critical information about the development of the atom bomb from the Manhattan Project in cable messages between New York and Moscow. Those messages held hard evidence against Hall and Fuchs, 36

according to Albright and Kunstel. Taking a look at the confessions of Fuchs and Hall shows where they may have fallen on the spectrum of Soviet support during this period of hostility, as well as any revelations or reconciliations they have met in learning of the corruption of communism under Joseph Stalin.

Hall was never convicted because the hard evidence found in the intercepted Soviet cables was classified and could not be used in court against him. Hall never confessed when questioned after the war. In 1962, he took his family to live in Cambridge, England, where he went on to study biology and spend the rest of his life. Hall never came to terms publicly about what he had done until 1995 in a letter to the authors of Bombshell. He claimed, “during World War II, I shared the general sympathy for our allies, the Soviet Union. After they were attacked everybody knew that they were bearing the main load in the fight against Nazi Germany,” (Albright and Kunstel, 89). In his letter, he admitted that he may have been in the wrong in his judgment of the ‘nature’ of the Soviet Union during the 1940’s, as well as in his plan to implement what he thought was necessary to assure a power balance in the world. He elaborated: My political views had been shaped by the economic depression on the 1930s … [I] had seen that in a capitalist society economic depression could lead to fascism, aggression and war… I asked myself what might happen if World War II was followed by a depression in the United States while it had an atomic monopoly? (Albright and Kunstel, 289).

Hall’s situation became unique when he was called in by the FBI for questioning in 1951 because he had already begun to witness the Rosenberg trials and other spies in the atomic ring being caught and persecuted on a number of levels. Thus, Hall reacted differently to being questioned than Fuchs. Hall panicked and attempted to get into contact with his old couriers for help. He barely escaped being caught and lived out the rest of his life in relative peace.

Fuchs’ Confession Fuchs wrote his confession under completely different circumstances than Hall. MI5 (a British intelligence agency) approached Fuchs in December of 1949 with hard evidence against

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The Venona Decryptions, implicating Fuchs as a Communist spy.

him in the messages decrypted by the FBI between the United States and Moscow,also called the Venona Decryptions (shown on adjacent page). Eventually, he confessed to the security officer at the Harwell laboratories in Britain how he passed information on the atom bomb to the Russians, according to Moss. By Thursday, February 2, 1950, Fuchs was arrested

by MI5. In his confession, he wrote of how his affiliation with the party during his time in Germany was a viable influence for him to continue once he left as a refugee. Fuchs made clear in his confession his mindset throughout the 1940’s, when rumors were spreading of the Soviet Union’s questionable moves: I accepted for a long time that what you heard about Russia internally could be deliberate lies… the Russo-German pact was difficult to understand, but in the end I did accept that Russia had done it to gain time, that during that time she was expanding her own influence in the Balkans against the influence of Germany… Russia’s attack on Finland was more difficult to understand, but the fact that England and France prepared for an intervention in Finland at the time when they did not appear to be fighting seriously against Germany made it possible to accept the explanation that Russia had to prepare its defenses against possible imperialism powers, (Moss, 199).

Fuchs then goes on to describe how he began to have doubts, and eventually came to terms with the fact that he did not agree with “many

of the actions of the Russian Government and of the Communist Party,” (Moss, 200). He hoped one day he could return to Germany and stand up for what he thought was right for a new Germany after the fall of the Nazis. Fuchs stated that he got to a point where he knew clearly what was truly going on under Stalin’s rule, and that he felt guilty.

Comparisons Fuchs spent nearly twenty years of his life associated with the Communist Party from the age of 21 when he fled Germany to almost 40 years old when he decided he did not agree.

In comparison, Hall was 16 years old when he became affiliated with the Communist Party, he committed espionage at the age of 18 and 19, but did not talk about his actions until the letter in 1995. Fuchs seems to apologize in his confession in stating, “I know that I cannot go back on that and I know that all I can do is to try and repair the damage I have done,” (Moss, 202). While Hall seems to make it a point that, in looking back on what he did, at least he did what he thought was right at the time. He said: “I still think that brash youth had the right end of the stick. I am no longer that person; but I am by no means ashamed of him,” (Albright and Kunstel, 289). Fuchs confessed, as the first in the spy ring to be caught, in the face of what he knew was a dying ideology to him, whereas Hall’s statement is in the context of reflection on the events of the rest of the 20th century and the Cold War.

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Ideologies Both Fuchs and Hall were drawn to a false ideal held by the Communist political movement, which offered equality on the surface. Both were blinded by propaganda, stubbornness, and secrets to the truth about what it was really like in Russia. Yet, simply to the core, they both wanted to achieve equality in power between countries after having witnessed the storms of economic depression and the effects of the World Wars. One could argue that Hall was more concerned with the threat of a power imbalance from the actual possession of the bomb, while Fuchs was more concerned with economic equality against a dictator. Hall’s mission seemed to end in 1949, when the Russians tested their bomb, while Fuchs went on to live in East Germany after his prison time to work towards more equal socialism, (Moss).

Overall, whether one is guiltier than the other does not matter; these two reveal a snapshot of politically active intellectuals during a turbulent time from seemingly different worlds between the United States and Europe, yet they were drawn to the same movement for reasons that reflected left-wing motivations across the West. Klaus Fuchs and Theodore Hall exemplify espionage based in pure idealism.

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Works Cited

Homberger, Eric. “Proletarian Literature and the John Reed Clubs 1929-1935.” Journal of American Studies 13.2 (1979): 221-44.JSTOR. Web. Albright, Joseph, and Marcia Kunstel. Bombshell: The Secret Story of America’s Unknown Atomic Spy Conspiracy. New York: Times, 1997. Print.

Moss, Norman. Klaus Fuchs: The Man Who Stole the Atom Bomb. New York: St. Martin’s, 1987. Print.

Venona Decryptions (originally intercepted by the NSA) includes February 9, 1944 cable http://www.pbs. org/wgbh/nova/venona/intercepts.html 10/28/14 Hall, Theodore. Letter to the authors of the novel Bombshell: Joseph Albright and Marcia Kunstel. 24 Mar. 1997. MS. Cambridge, England. Accessed from: Albright, Joseph, and Marcia Kunstel. “Aftershock.”

Bombshell: The Secret Story of America’s Unknown Atomic Spy Conspiracy. New York: Times, 1997.

288-89. Print.

Klaus Fuchs original confession to espionage given to MI5 January 27, 1950. Accessed from: https:// www.mi5.gov.uk/home/mi5-history/the-cold- war/ klausfuchs/documents-from-the-fuchs-case.html accessed: 10/28/14 Web. Kennan, George F. “The United States and the Soviet Union, 1917-1976.” Foreign Affairs 54.4 (1976): 67090. JSTOR. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. http://www.jstor. org/stable/10.2307/20039606?ref=no-xroute:02fa 388edc555f94eeac42cb077904ab Corthorn, Paul. “Labour, the Left, and the Stalinist Purges of the Late 1930s.” The Historical Journal 48.1 (2005): 179-207. JSTOR. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.<http://www.jstor.org/ stable/10.2307/4091683?ref=no-xroute:f115b7b9bf b51e4a786208dfa3e0395c>.

Temin, Peter. “Socialism and Wages in the Recovery from the Great Depression in the United States and Germany.” The Journal of Economic History 50.2 (1990): 297-307. JSTOR. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/ stable/10.2307/2123273?ref=no-xroute:c928a916b4 c3cfa3dc655c8474f52652>.

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Cover Art Cover Art

Springer, New Mexico

by Alanna Apodaca On a trip back to Albuquerque in 2013, I shot several photographs of interesting landscapes along the road. I loved editing this particular shot that I took of a cliff in Springer, New Mexico.

Photoshop and Lightroom were never used to edit this. The simple editing that I did use from a Windows PC turned a simple photograph of random scenery into a fine art cloudy sandstorm.

This photograph is by far one of my best that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve shot and edited.

Sandia Mountains

by Kendra Williams This Photo was taken on a hiking trip to the Sandia Mountains with some friends. The different layers of scenery make this a very interesting image.

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