LOVE AT FIRST LICK PART II [For a Pop Culture of Ice Cream]: Is it More 'Tasty' in the Philippines? Magnolia's Tastebud Citizenship Question

         In a time where OFW-ism is at its height (as a choice and as an ideology*), and paired with this is the program with the objective of increasing tourism statistics in the Philippine setting; there was the creation of DOT’s catching mantra ---- “It’s more fun in the Philippines”. Products from varied industries caught on the craze through the legal and not-so-legal adaption of the famous line. Two years later, an ice cream line under Magnolia was created appearing to complement this under their phrase ‘Ang sarap makilala ng Pilipinas!’
 

         Released under the label The Best of the Philippines, it is Magnolia’s innovative strategy of promoting tourism through food. In the case of flavors and tastes, regions are known for their specialties and their people become respectively defined by these [Lupton1998(2012): 25]. For tourists, the conversion of these tastes into ice cream was a conservative way to experience local specialties since it is without intimidation. It is local specialties presented in a familiar form. This ice cream line is one good defining example of what Bell & Valentine [1997] conveniently dubbed as ‘consuming geographies’ ---- we are indeed where we eat [ibid]. In a geographic synesthesia of sorts, Baguio is Ube Keso, tasting like purple yam with a twist of cheese. Batangas is either Tsokolate Tablea, a mix of chocolate and crunchy rice crispies, or Coffee Crumble which speaks to coffee lovers and those fond of the Batangas blend. Guimaras is a giant mango, a tantalizing fusion of their famous mangoes in rich vanilla ice cream. Laguna, her summer waterparks and breathtaking mountain views, translated into Macapuno Langka --- a yin and yang of coconut and jackfruit together in a creamy ambrosia; and Macapuno Banana with Crème Brulee bits; while Pampanga tastes of pandan and pinipig.

A Cultural Ecology of Ice Cream. 

       

           The question now is how to go about ruminating on the role ice cream can play in culture along the terms of group identity minus the cultural-economic shapings which tend to be attributed from the political economy of the sign. To adapt a cultural ecological standpoint, this ice cream can play a role in inculturation through unconscious food socialization. This is to say that children may be programmed to favor tastes within the Filipino flavor spectrum, as early as their pre-natal stage. In studies conducted by Beauchamp & Menella [2009] and Menella & Trabulsi [2012], they discovered that amniotic fluid as well as the breast milk is flavored by foods and beverages that a pregnant woman has eaten within the last few hours. These are influences to the shaping of flavor memories as well as preferences. The child will tend to look for these flavor tones and prefer them over some others upon having weaned to chewable foods, and as he or she matures into an adult. In accordance to evolutionary theory, since mothers tend to feed their children what they themselves eat, it is nature’s way of introducing them to the foods and flavors that they’re likely to encounter in their family and in their culture as they grow. It provides information to the baby about who they are as a family [Menella: 2011].

        To consume Magnolia’s best line for cultural, flavor programming is an innovative approach at the literal internalization of culture as it operates on the basic instinct humans have. And to lift directly from Lupton [1998(2012): 95]: Taste may be said to unite as well as separate individuals. It distinguishes in an essential way, since taste is the basis of all that one has…

       We can also say that the incorporation of local flavors into an international dessert/sweet is an alternative way of telling a narrative of the nation [Bennett & Frow 2008(2010): 30] through edible stories. Food is a vehicle, symbolic and material, for negotiating and constructing a sense of who we are. Practices around food unfold in a multiplicity of social spaces, each having implications for identity [Bryant and peck 2007(2008): 21]. The ice creams are not just frozen water buffalo milk with flavor, but infused with ideas of landscapes and scenarios. These are contained in tubs which are decorated with images, shareable with anyone who shows even the slightest interest. The Best of the Philippines, while an ice cream line, is a type of national history-telling which begins in the present, using a universal medium which only makes (symbolic) sense in the present. Foods can reveal dramatic social change… the rebirth of nationalism [Bryant & Peck 2007(2008): 20].

Sweet, Edible, Patriotism

          The commercial ends with the line ‘Wag maging dayuhan sa sariling ice cream’. This proves Williams’ [1961/1993] premise that advertising is the official art of the modern capitalist society. Downing [2004(2009)] explains that …advertising is a capitalist realist art which possesses a special cultural power for it picks up some of the things that people hold dear and represents them to people as all of what they value. It appears to play on the idea of patriotism, which is defined by Bennett & Frow [2008(2010): 05] as a feeling for the nation. This works tremendously well for Filipinos locally and abroad as a psychocultural marker. It is able to stir the emotions of the latter most specifically; while it is a “storehouse of meaning” based on personal nostalgia [Stern 1992: 19] as well as geographic belongingness, it plays on the sensations of ‘longing for home’. And with ice cream being a milky comfort food, the product also attempts to be a form of re-creation; a closest emulation to a craved experience. Magnolia has been known to export to Australia, Taiwan, Macau, Japan, Brunei, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for the longest time [Magnolia: 2013]. In the case of the local, it hints being properly Filipino by consuming this good which is deemed appropriate.

*The usage of the term 'Ideology' in this treatise has more to do with consciousness. I have been acquainted with people who still think going abroad is best even though they already have a really high salary and a high position in a company they work in. These are people who absolutely have it made but still prefer to leave because it is the popular choice (it is "sosyal" and "big time"), and not because they need to. 

[References will be posted in the third segment of LOVE AT FIRST LICK]


LOVE AT FIRST LICK PART III [For a Pop Culture of Ice Cream: Conclusion 

LOVE IN THE TIME OF ZOMBIES: The Juxtaposition of the Sporty Body and the Comic Body

As a matter of personal opinion, Zombies are the second idea which comes to mind upon hearing the word ‘undead’. They cannot be on equal footing with the Vampire because of the apparent differing characteristics, and most especially due to the races’ age differences. Commonly, these two are figures of popular culture; and in recognition of this, the question of who came first is based on who reached popular mention before the other. Zombies are known to have a complicated literary history, having been first mentioned in The Epic of Gilgamesh, roughly dated 18^th century before Christ. But it was only in 1936 that its existence was acknowledged on H.G. Wells novel and film; and its full recognition was not until 1968 with the George A. Romero redefinition which carried on to this date. These are the zombies we know today. This was a 71-year age difference with Bram Stoker’s Dracula which again, was popularly introduced in 1897. 

This is a discussion of Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride & Prejudice & Zombies read under the lens of comedy theory as well as (physical) anthropology.

Why Do We Like Zombies?

            We like them because of our subconscious fascination with the grotesque. This is likely to be partly due to the thanatos instinct which is naturally curious on the ideas of gore and mayhem. Zombies, as “Elvira” says, are a cinematic creation, the first portrayals of man as an evil, destructive force to be dealt with [20:10 Love/Lust and the Undead 2012]. According to Max Brooks, these were in themselves chaotic because they did not have a master, and these were global [14:59 Love/Lust and the Undead 2012].

            In the Romero typification, no one has an idea of how these zombies came about. But the point underscored the idea of a more solid otherization (compared to that of the vampire who are capable of mainstreaming to the point of near perfect discreteness).

Zombies in Netherfield

          Despite the spread of some mysterious disease which turns people into the “stricken” or “sorry stricken”, daily life went on in Netherfield. Penny McGregor was still tasked to deliver oil to various estates within thirty miles of Meryton until her death by ambush of the stricken [Grahame Smith 2009: 50]. Balls were still held and attended as the merriest possible diversion to temporarily escape the darkness the country faced. There was Mrs. Bennet who did not allow her daily business of (gossiping) to be affected. And she was still very much concerned with the act of matchmaking; still having the same interest of finding the financially appropriate men for her daughters. This, while Mr. Bennet as always was in the company of his beloved books in the comfort of his Longbourn library. Their five daughters, however, have been consistently busying themselves in the skills of combat and martial arts. These were the influences of their father who insisted they be socialized in this fashion, so as to become an honorable mini-army of zombie hunters.  

            The Bennet sisters are portrayed as having a unique role in this story as defenders of Hertfordshire, as commanded by the King [Grahame-Smith: 2009: 214]. As typically this role would be masculine, this is softened to an extent with the addition of the need to find love during the most complicated of times, a time of death and chaos. 

           

Breaking the Skull

The whole combination is comedic, and as there are a variety of themes waiting to be discovered, hidden in folios and folios of text and pictures. This article concentrates more on the idea of the types of bodies which were mentioned in the novel as well as what they stand for.

 Its diligence to the canon as regards the idea of love and marriage during the time of a zombie outbreak is fitting, especially if examined in the context of physical anthropology paired with comedy theory. This is with specific mention of the courtship of Elizabeth Bennet by Misters Collins and Darcy.

             Mr. Collins and the Comic Body.  Grahame-Smith may have not intended it, but he has literally shaped Collins in accordance to the structure of the comic hero. Recent comedies

seemed to have left out the subject of bodies, as there are thin and beautiful people trying their luck at comic material. Is this transition a successful one? On certain occasions it is, if the material is brilliant enough. But the classic approach never dies. Following a traditional preference, Collins may not be the hero but a supporting character; but it is his fatness that is of importance as a staple of comedy in such a dark storyline.

            If Collins was thin or average, it is highly doubtful that there would be a comedic affect to his ridiculousness. Andrew Stott [2005] mentioned Jerry Seinfeld who once said that conventionally attractive people do not make good (stand-up) comedians. The audience distrusts beauty in comedy and wants their clowns to be imperfect. An ideal of physicality must exist against which the comedian can be found lacking, thereby reassuring an audience that comic substance will be found in departure from those ideals [Stott 2005: 79]. 

 As a permutation to Maurice Charney [1978 cited in Stott 2005: 79], Collins’ fatness shares in that of the comic hero where it is the declaration of himself as the patron of everything real, physical, material, enjoyable, and the enemy of abstractions and seriousness. The comic body is exaggeratedly physical, a disproportionate, profane, ill-disciplined, insatiate organism [Stott 2005: 79]. The character can be a disproportionate caricature him or herself; and this is the same case with Mr. Collins who is mentioned to be ‘uncommonly round’ [Grahame Smith 2009: 65]. And this portrayal is perfect because the comic body privileges the facts of physicality over the ideal of the physique, and its functions over poise [Stott 2005: 79].

            As fans of the original Pride & Prejudice as well as of the numerous canon-loyal, fan fiction will know, Mr. Collins as suitor came about as a thought up remedy to the estate dispute. Perhaps Collins was guilty about the Longbourn house and gardens passing directly to him instead of one of the Bennet daughters. And so to marry Elizabeth would be the most legal solution. On normal days, this would not only be a typical solution, but stripped of its comical value.

As Evolutionary Theory would have it, the act of finding love and marriage in the time of zombies would primarily have to do with survival. In an interview with fitness philosopher and weightlifting enthusiast Abner Bondoc [2012], he says: People have been programmed to look for characteristics which would signify health as well as clues hinting at the high survival rate of offspring if they choose to have them. To take this and apply it in the case of PP&Z, there was a relationship between the variables of physique as well as defense capabilities.  The humor in his act of courtship towards Elizabeth has to do with irony because of orientations during socialization. Society finds it strange for a man to be passive and unskilled in any form of combat or defense. Society’s word for men lacking this knowledge or capability is that they are ‘sissies’. It is therefore ironic that Elizabeth, who has exceptional knowledge of these fields could be considerably more manly than Mr. Collins; even more so when he hid behind Elizabeth

as she killed the zombies during one of their walks [Grahame-Smith 2009: 49-51].

          In PP & Z, concomitant with the idealization of beauty is a cultural insistence on mastering the body, and making it conform to ideas of deportment and appropriate behavior, regulating its functions and odours according to what is considered acceptable, and what must be suppressed as crude or bestial [Stott 2005: 81]. This idea of the beauty and the body is taken in the context of cultural refinement, just like in the canon, and this is developed even more specifically in the PP & Z fan fic where “accomplishedness” involves an excellent if not an exceptional mastery of the “deadly arts” [Grahame-Smith 2009: 117].

The variables of the round body and martial arts as played in the PP & Z version are influenced by old fashioned martial arts films. There was the tendency for the author to adhere to stereotypical images of the fat coward. Notice how since Bruce Lee, the Chinese martial arts stars are thin. There is habit to assume that a guy who could kick is automatically of thin built [Bondoc: 2012], and this is speaking from a westernized perspective. This was until 1979 where Sammo Hung became identified as the face of a new kind of kung fu which challenged the ‘fat is slow and immobile’ equation.   Still, Mr. Collins is no Sammo Hung.

Elizabeth According to Critics. I am honestly wondering what possessed Grahame-Smith to include a discussion guide at the last two pages of his book. On the plus side, question number five would be an interesting subject for this segment.

Elizabeth’s fierce independence, devotion to exercise and her preference of wearing boots has led her to be called the “first literary lesbian” by some critics. Whoever shared that opinion has clearly no knowledge of gender categories. These criteria mentioned do not suffice as basis for deciding the gender of any character, living or dead, fictional or existing. As for the matter of her “penchant for boots”,  for this to be said as a fashion of a lesbian is a chauvinistic statement. To select boots over heels or doll shoes is a selection based on comfort and practicality.

The anti-boots attitude the critics had are more or less based on some unofficial shoe-buying psychology which maintains that women are particular with style because of certain aesthetic properties being sought.  What critics are overlooking is that aside from loyalty to the canon, Elizabeth Bennet is one of the first recognized nonconformists in the history of literature. She embodies agency.

            Her sense of independence stems from the fact that she has no known insecurities; she is confident. Further, her zealous interest in exercise is beyond the normal degree in comparison to other women. And the critics were able to use this to describe her because most women are known to not have an eager attitude when it comes to exercise [Bondoc: 2012]. As society labels the activity of workouts and exercise through contact sports and the like as masculine, this would make any woman who is interested in this stuff considered as tomboy, not lesbian [Bondoc: 2012]. This is also in recognition of the fact that there are lesbians who do not like masculine activities, and that there are lesbians who have feminine interests such as wearing makeup. And this is perfectly valid with Elizabeth, because if she was a lesbian, Grahame-Smith’s book would discuss her (discrete) merry wars with Caroline Bingley; and not Fitzwilliam Darcy.   

            To my mind, critics were able to receive this impression due to a great part of the psychology of the visual. The novel has portions which show details in graphics, and I had been amused to find how masculine Elizabeth’s face had been portrayed, especially during combat scenes. Page 15 exemplifies the definition of her chin area as well as her cheek bones. Her brows also did not suit her eyes. This is repeated in page 150, and this time the angle of her face further defined her jaw line; making her appear like a combination of Jeffrey Bryan Davis and Christopher Walken wearing an up-do. Elizabeth at her softest was on page 303 when she was holding hands with Darcy just before they decided to behead a set of zombies. This page alone already negates the whole lesbian label.

            An insight from reading the fifth question  is how people tend to forget that gender categories do not necessarily have an age requirement.  I was quite surprised with their forgetting that Lady Catherine was just as extreme as Elizabeth was. In fact, she was portrayed to be even more masculine.  This was both implied in the text as well as in picture [Grahame-Smith 2009: 291]. Lady Catherine’s portrayal on page 291 is reminiscent of a Rustom Padilla dressed in drag with the added element of age. I along with others who may agree with what I have to say of this can only wonder why Lady Catherine was overlooked.   Was it because she’s an old lady?

Much Ado About Darcy. In contrast with Collins, Darcy is physically perfect with combat skills to match. These traits guarantee the survival of his lineage, and considering this, makes him without a doubt a wise choice.

The Success Behind Pride & Prejudice & Zombies

            It was against the ideals of beauty and manners that physical comedy is produced. The perversion of the socially tolerable body provokes laughter [Stott 2005: 82]. Abjection helps us understand the place of the body in comedy, and to borrow from John Limon, there is the psychic worrying of some of the aspects of oneself that one cannot be rid of that seem but are not quite alienable --- for example blood, urine, feces… and the corpse [Limon 2000 cited in Stott 2005: 82]. 

           People’s fascination with zombies is a fascination with pollution, something contradictory to society’s notions of civility and culture. Abjection is one explanation as to how the sick and morbid, even toilet humor; literary plotlines concerning violence and pain, how material of these nature are popular. This makes the mash-up effective because Pride & Prejudice is a definition of culture and propriety. And with the grotesque as the embodiment of the abject [Stott 2005: 83], the zombies which are ridiculous, horrifying and bizarre --- these when incorporated into the canon presents the idea of the clash of the extreme opposites.

References:

Bondoc, Abner A.,  Fitness Philosopher & Weightlifting Enthusiast. Interview. 01 October 2012

Charney, Maurice, Comedy High and Low, New York: Oxford University Press, 1978.

Graham-Smith, Seth, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2010

Love/Lust and the Undead, Sundance Channel

Stott, Andrew, Comedy (The New Critical Idiom), Taylor & Francis E-Library, 2005.

HOW AN ANTHROPOLOGIST PLAYS A VIDEO GAME I: American Mcgee's Alice

Unlike the other entries I have posted here in Minerva's, this is more of a laid-back, commentary type. These were my thoughts upon having played the game.

DOWN THE RABBIT'S HOLE, GAZING INTO A BROKEN MIRROR

It has been many years since she had last fallen down some not-so-random rabbit hole, sought advice from a caterpillar, and taken tea as the fresh company of the Hatter, hare, and dormouse. Long ago was there a defense council comprising of more than 52 --- playing cards armed with weapons in relation to their suit: hearts, spades, clubs, or diamonds --- with loyalty to the Queen of Hearts,  the woman who is known for her passion for decapitation.

These were only very few anthropomorphic entities named in the introduction of this entry --- It is not of my attempt to recite them all, but the intention to deconstruct what had been formulated by the so-called Lewis Caroll. A deconstruction, twisted, the literal 'bringing into life', a translation from text to virtual representation, 135 years later --- American Mcgee's Alice.

A meticulous macabre craft designed to take players on the wildest adventure in computer gaming, EA Games and Rogue Entertainment team with American James [the wicked disney] Mcgee in bringing the adored Alice to the computer screen. Alice is thirty-seven levels of three-dimensional madness, puzzles, and dexterity-testing controls running under a philosophical plotline. Audiences find Alice at the peak of approaching ladyhood. This aspect however, does not interfere with her frequent interaction with those of Wonderland. While in the dreamstate, in the middle of taking tea with her friends, she recieves warning of a current danger in the 'real world'. She is told that the room smells of smoke, implicating a raging fire. She awakes to find the words of caution of her friends as accurate, and rushes upstairs to her parents' bedroom with intentions of assisting them. To her mortification, she finds that the door would not budge. The fire rages, and Alice had no other choice but to leap from the corridor window under the instructions of her father who shouted from the other side of the door. Alice lands on a bed of snow, losing consciousness.

The death of her parents and the inability to rescue them had left Alice in a state of guilt, the reason behind her attempt at suicide --- evident through the slashes on the character's wrist and blood stains found on her apron, consistent with the self-inflicted wounds. This attempt was enough to place her in the custody of Rutlege Asylum. She remained there seated on the floor of her empty room, her rocking back and forth only to be interrupted by the appearance of the White Rabbit with disdain, plea of help from Alice to return to Wonderland.

SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL MAKEUP OF ALICE

Beginning with Alice back in the days of the series’ infancy purely under Lewis Carroll (where American Mcgee’s postmodernized visual interpretation of Alice along with the twisted plotline has not yet been perceived), Alice begins as a portrayal of young girls in Victorian England. This premise is partially founded on visual clues concerning the manner that Alice is dressed. The cut of the ensemble is the puff‐sleeved, peticoated dress. Blue is a particular color of preference during that period, a medium to dark shade of blue is preferred over the light tone. The white apron is to keep the blue clean.

Society had placed these children under amounts of social pressure so as to make the transition into adulthood in the soonest time possible. This is the explanation behind the proliferation of varied Finishing Schools whose objectives were to accept girls who would ‘graduate’ later as ladies. Inclusive of lessons taught by this socializing institution vary from ethics, table manners, intellectual activities ‐‐‐ in essence anything which may assist in the development of a lady’s culture. It is this expectation which had caused great acute mental and emotional stress upon many children of this age.

Returning to the character of Alice, it may be entertained that this is one of the reasons behind Alice’s mental creation of Wonderland, so as to provide a temporary escape from the psychological demands of society. Ladies like Alice
experience a great sense of hopelessness and identity issues. Although it may be said that a little imagination may refresh a tired spirit, Alice seems to be more participative in her crafted world than in the real‐world setting. She has preferred to be withdrawn, thus discouraging her from interaction with other people within her age range ‐‐‐ something of course which is tremendously unhealthy. In the game, Alice is confronted with the situation where she is somehow compelled to ‘grow up faster’ due to the untimely death of her parents.

MARXIST PHILOSOPHICAL OVERTONES PRESENT IN THE GAME

The game’s visual and traditional literary plotline touches varied philosophical themes, but for the sake of brevity and coherence, this commentary will focus on Marxism.

Two provinces exemplify the central premise of Marxism: Looking Glass Land and Behind the Looking Glass.

Marxism is a catch‐all referring to treatises written by communist proponent Karl Marx, on his perspectives of the relationship and interactions between the working class (proletariat) and the capitalists (bourgeoisie).

It is easily deduced that it is the Mad Hatter who is the portrayal of the capitalist identity. His main limbs are connected to his body through gears, suggestive that the Hatter is not man, but machine. Complementing this feature is his mechanized head filled with gadgetry. The Hatter is the adult authority and personality, wherein being an adult also includes the necessity to be at work or find some useful employment. The Marxist conception of work is equated with toil, a negative connotation of labor wherein the worker is not seen as human, but seen as a machine, operating on a three‐step cycle of sleep‐eat‐work and bound to repeat the cycle on the next day. This is what scholars such as Manuel Dy like to refer to as the ‘corporate slave world’. Hatter’s obsession with time is a similar feature with capitalists wherein that old adage falls in ‐‐‐ ‘time is gold (money)’. It must be clarified that the situation that the Dorm Mouse and the Hare were in, contrary to most LPs or guides done and written, does not insist torture, but mere experimentation. If it was indeed for the purpose of torture, the Hatter would not have the courtesy to use an anesthetic. Players are reminded of the line spoken by the Dorm Mouse, who commented ‘his medicine makes me tired’. 

The Hatter was attempting to develop the first and the ideal man‐machine ‐‐‐ a machine capable of working non‐stop since body parts which easily tire from labor are replaced with metal/mechanical parts. This is also seen in the machine located behind the plate glass where children are taken, smelted with large fragments of bronze or copper, and come from the machine as Robot foes.

The part where the camera pans to view the robot foe-creating machine is an innovative critique which illustrates the transition from innocent child to a grown up conformist who has lost all sense of individuality. Its form insists that it would work for the system, the reinforcement of a cog-like mentality.

I'VE FINISHED MY CUP OF TEA..

Those who have some mastery of the original Alice in Wonderland series are sure to appreciate the postmodernization American Mcgee's Alice had to offer. From its renditions of the characters, morphing of scenes, intellect and will. All of Wonderland is dependent on the player to bring the story to see HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

Anthropological Perspective on the Human Life Course [Ch. 13 Jurmain & Kilgore Questions]

1. What is meant by the analogy “Water is to fish as culture is to humans”? Do you think that humans could survive without culture?

        To begin, no, as human culture is that which differentiates people from different species of animals. I think I can speak confidently of the inseparability of humans from tangible culture at least, because it enables people a certain degree of control over elements of the environment.    

         This is most especially the case now if culture is subtracted from human living, now that there is a high dependency on the gizmo and the gadget, and this is the era of convenience where almost everything is up for grabs at the local grocer or hypermart. Or to look at the scenario simply, most of survival is dependent upon the tangible culture such as clothing to maintain body heat in cold locations. Paired with shelter, it is designed to be a mode of adaptation to weather and climate. As for tools, one simple example would be containers to store water instead of having to constantly walk to a source (others will have to stand a trek!). Humans are also obsessed with the multifunctional device, hence the popularity of Swiss Army knives.

2. What are some of the major ways in which human health and life course have changed since the origin of agriculture? Do you think that the transition to agriculture has, in general, been good or bad for human health?

        Good turned bad. Good because it was convenient, but took a bad turn when it came to involve techniques which damaged the environment. The requirement of freshwater resources led to shortage. The usage of pesticides as an apparent threat to health is constantly mentioned. Increases in livestock population are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emitters, as well as the driving reasons behind deforestation --- which meant more land for livestock population expansion. Only time will tell what the effects of GMO foods will do to consumers of the products.

3. Consider the following statement: “In the United States, socioeconomic status is the primary determinant of nutrition and health.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why or why not?

         It is logical. One needs money to buy nutritious food or maintain them if growing a garden or keeping animals in an own lot. Dietary supplements and vitamins are also expensive, apparently also the case with assortments of medication and consultations with medical personnel.

4. Do you think that natural selection operates on human behaviors such as parenting and aggression? Provide evidence or examples to support your view.

          On the question of aggression (which has connections with danger and violence), natural selection had an effect on the way humans think (cognition, perception, memory) where the ability to remember a dangerous event that may have resulted in loss of life would be favorably selected if it prevented a person from being caught in a similar situation. Further, aggression is naturally specific in genders, where competition is more male-male (example mentioned in Jurmain is the chimpanzee group). Aggression oftentimes occurs in locations with limited resources, and this reaction would also hold true for humans in present time where wars and riots occur with these causes (same with territorial expansion in the case of colonization, it is all a matter of resources).

         In the case of parenting, it would follow if I subscribe to the Life History Theory and Grandmother Hypothesis. On the first, it maintains that a human’s life cycle is divided into stages where the being has enough energy to for growth, maintenance of life, and reproduction.   

          Certain energy units are allocated per phase, and each phase has a specific amount and not energy invested in one of these processes isn’t available to another. The latter is quite cute, if I may say so freely --- it maintains that nature has placed phase limits as to what age a woman is allowed to give birth and raise children. At the 50 onwards mark, women enter menopause, and the purpose of the menopause to postmenopausal stage is for them to be able to assist in the caring of their offspring’s offspring. I would like to think of this stage as more of the idea of passing on wisdom to children and not the physical act of raising a child (I mean come on! Your parents have graduated from that phase already! Have some shame and raise your own kid!)

5. What evidence is there that humans are still evolving?

       If permitted personal rumination, we can theorize that this evidence would vary upon cultures. If there would be one culture which prioritizes a supermodel-type body, then during pregnancy the child may become malnourished. Keeping the practice may mean more people having that form.
      Darwin Lives! An Excerpt from Time Magazine’s Article on Humans Evolving. According to Yale University evolutionary biologist Stephen Stearns, women’s fertility is affected by the fact that natural selection of fitter traits no longer being driven by survival. Variations in reproductive success still exist among humans, and therefore some traits related to fertility continue to be shaped by natural selection. Women who have more children are more likely to pass on certain traits to their progeny. Stearn had worked with his team in the examination of the vital statistics of 2 238 postmenopausal women participating in the Framingham Heart Study, which has tracked the medical histories of some 14 000 residents of Framingham, Massacheussets since 1948.
      Investigators searched for correlations between women’s physical characteristics--- inclusive of which are the factors of height, weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels--- and the number of offspring produced. According to the findings, it was stout, slightly plump but not obese women who tended to have more children. Stearns explains that women with very low body fat do not ovulate, as did women with lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Using a sophisticated statistical analysis that controlled for any social or cultural factors that could impact childbearing, researchers determined that these characteristics were passed on genetically from mothers to daughters and granddaughters.
           If these trends were to continue with no cultural changes in the town for the next 10 generations, by 2409 the average Framingham women would be 2cm shorter, 1 kg heavier, have a healthier heart, have her first child five months earlier and enter menopause 10 months later than a woman today. That rate of evolution is slow, but quite similar to that seen in plants and other animals.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1931757,00.html accessed 03/25/2012 @ 1849
hrs.