Myriad Meanings Research Articles

Risk Perception Among Women at Risk for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer

This paper is a summation of selected history and literature on risk perception as it pertains to genetic counseling and testing, with a focus on hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, the area which has seen the greatest focus of research. Risk perception is a complex and incompletely understood concept which seeks to capture the myriad meanings that an individual attaches to the experience of being at increased risk. It is now evident that "risk", as perceived by the patient, is different from the objective, quantifiable risk estimate often provided to them during genetic counseling. What is also clear is that the complicated set of factors influencing risk perception are not yet well understood, nor are the mechanisms the lead from perceived risk to behavioral change in the patient. In situations where specific behavioral changes such as increased cancer screening are an inherent goal of the genetic risk assessment and counseling process, gaining a better understanding of the specific factors motivating change will be essential.

Identified Indian Objects: An Examination of Category

In writing this article, I am responding to issues made apparent by my own research on the representation of Native American culture in public spaces, specifically, on the exhibition of objects in museums and culture centers. What began as an interest in gaining a better understanding of how American Indian objects are identified in the written materials that often inform museum didactic labeling and text panels, resulted in my realization that such terminology was applied inaccurately and inconsistently. This misapplication contributes to a prevailing ignorance of the complexities of Native cultures and lifeways. The myriad meanings associated with terms attached to current descriptors have confounded the task of writing about American Indian material culture and/or representing it in public space. My research—based on data gathered from scholarly and professional texts in the areas of fine arts, culture studies, art history, museum studies, public history, folklore, artists’ biographies, anthropology, archaeology, and American Indian studies—and my work as a trained artist, museum consultant, and scholar indicates a need to clarify the terminology and, perhaps, to standardize it. Writing and teaching about the representation of culture leads to some perplexing questions. Once in a museum-studies course a student asked me, “What is a traditional Native object?” The question was prompted by the use of the word on an exhibit label. This seemingly simple question led me to an exploration of the profound philosophies and pragmatic ramifications underlying the use of certain terminology. The answer became more of a philosophical quagmire than an actual response. As I conducted my own inquiry, the same questions continually arose about words such as authentic, genuine, and Indian-made. What did all of this terminology really mean? Was it

The Tale with a Thousand Faces: "Beauty and the Beast"

The Meanings of "Beauty and the Beast": A Handbook, by Jerry Griswold. Peterborough, ON: Broadview P, 2004. Fairy tale studies have come a long way in the last few decades: the scholar who wishes to study these stories as literature now has a small library at his or her command rather than just half a shelf or so. Yet most full-length studies still tend to be broad in the selections of the tales they consider, surveying several tales at once rather than only one or two in close detail. In fact, only three specific fairy tales have been the sole focus of book-length literary study: "Cinderella" (Alan Dundes's Cinderella: A Casebook); "Little Red Riding Hood" (Dundes's Little Red Riding Hood: A Casebook, Jack Zipes's Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood, and Catherine Orenstein's Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked); and "Beauty and the Beast" (Betsy Hearne, Beauty and the Beast: Visions and Revisions of an Old Tale). The fairy tale scholar today might then wonder why, with such a plethora of tales still to be analyzed, another full-length study of "Beauty and the Beast" is necessary. Griswold's "handbook," however, is indeed a useful addition to that scholar's library. The Meanings of Beauty and the Beast: A Handbook grew, according to the introduction, out of Griswold's personal obsession with this tale and is the result of more than ten years of thinking about its myriad meanings and forms. The aim of the text is to view "Beauty and the Beast" through a multifaceted lens, beating the bush, as Griswold describes it, to get to the heart or center of this story. In chapter one, citing as evidence the many ways in which the central theme of "Beauty and the Beast" is part of American popular culture, Griswold argues that "Beauty and the Beast" is the "dominant myth of our times" (18). Griswold postulates that the story appeals to modern society because it speaks to both men and women about our lost "wild side," what it means to be civilized. It also speaks about "Otherness" and helps us work out our cultural and personal reactions to Otherness in all its forms: what does it mean to be a "beast"? How do we define that nature, [End Page 214] and what is appealing about it? How do we define "beauty" and why do we value it? Chapter two, "The Tale and Its Author," focuses on the version of the story that was penned by Madame LePrince de Beaumont in 1756, which Griswold calls "definitive and most influential"(27). Griswold first offers his own version of Beaumont's tale, then follows with a brief examination of the character roles in her story. The chapter ends with a brief analysis of how the story reflects Beaumont's own experience with arranged marriages and as a governess. Griswold argues that Beaumont's story takes a middle position in the cultural debate of her time regarding arranged marriages: Beauty's free will plays a major role in the resolution of the tale, and she agrees to the marriage to the Beast because of her feelings of gratitude and affection, not romantic passion. Griswold argues that Beaumont's story can be viewed as "not only written by a governess (Beaumont herself) and told by a governess (Mrs. Affable), it also echoes the familiar Story of a Governess," later immortalized in Brontë's Jane Eyre (52). Chapter three is a brief, readable, though somewhat oversimplified survey of the three main critical approaches to "Beauty and the Beast": psychological, sociohistorical, and feminist. Griswold neatly sums up the Freudian and Jungian approaches to the tale, then moves to theories put forth by Jack Zipes as to how Beaumont's story reflects class conflicts and the historical issues of its time. He then takes up feminist critiques of the tale, noting that such opinions can be split into two camps: those who...

Enacting Neighborhood1

Defining the concept of neighborhood has long been a goal in urban research. In this paper, I trace the various meanings of neighborhood articulated by scholars, from neighborhood-as-community to functional and demographic typologies, to examinations of the effects of residential environments on human behavior. In identifying the myriad meanings of neighborhood, this paper highlights the contingency and flexibility of the concept. I argue that it is precisely because of its blurriness and flexibility that neighborhood has salience: The concept of neighborhood is primarily a social and political product, created through activism, and through research on sociospatial relations. Rather than seeking a fixed definition that can apply to many circumstances, I argue that research on neighborhoods ought to focus on how neighborhoods are produced socially and, in turn, physically, through cooperation and conflict. I apply this framework of enacting neighborhood to a brief case study of neighborhood conflicts in Athens, Georgia.

Dreamscapes: portrayals of rectangular spaces in Doris Lessing's Memoirs of a Survivor and in dreams.

In my dreams, I often encounter rectangular spaces that seem to carry elusive meanings. These spaces have been tremendously evocative for me, and have found their way into my poetry as recurrent allusive images, almost captured. As a result, I was particularly intrigued to encounter similar images in Doris Lessing’s novel Memoirs of a Survivor (1974), in which both narrator and reader are tantalized by the imminence of meaning lurking in the hidden spaces within. In this novel, set in a futuristic world in which the normal boundaries of “civilized existence” are breaking down, the narrator experiences the breaking down of her interior walls as well, as her reverie takes her beyond the walls of her actual domicile, into the spaces beyond/within the wall, in which images of memories of self and other, and self-in-other, await. These experiences have the uncanny air of waking dreams: It would seem that at times entry into this realm is beyond the narrator’s control, whereas at other times she appears able to move into it at will. However, even if she can imagine herself into this world, she has little control over the landscapes themselves, which seem to change according to their own rules and regularities. In many ways, this novel takes the form of a dream within a dream, of a life that has been led by a woman who must both undream and redream her self in order to come to accounts with her life: its myriad meanings and possibilities. Multiplicity of meaning both obscures and reveals (Ricoeur, 1970). As we communicate through interactive metaphors, the distance of perspective is introduced, providing a “potential space” (Ogden,

The Changing Room: Sex, Drag and Theatre. By Laurence Senelick. New York: Routledge, 2000; pp. 540. $29.95 paperback.

Scholars attempting to define the myriad meanings and purposes of the theatre across the centuries have tended to avoid issues of sexuality, particularly those aspects of it that seem to veer from the generally accepted norm. In The Changing Room: Sex, Drag, and Theatre, Laurence Senelick makes a compelling and persuasive case for understanding the centrality of sexuality in all aspects of performance, in all its confusing complexity and glory. In this, the first major cross-cultural study of theatrical transvestism, the theatre is “the changing room,” in its acknowledgment of “the essential queerness of its nature” (509). In over five hundred pages of copiously researched, cogently argued analysis, Senelick charts the role of drag in theatre from its origins to the present, shifting effortlessly through a broad range of cultures and eras. Along with the opportunity of viewing theatre history through a unique lens, drag provides an opportunity for the exploding of familiar stereotypes of gender—and Senelick comes armed with dynamite.

Sudden oak death spurs massive team effort

“California agriculture” has myriad meanings: it is food production and processing of more than 250 crops; it is cultivation of foods with high nutritional content; it is urban horticulture. Because agriculture is inseparable from the natural environment, it is also the study of ecosystems, such as conifer and oak forests. Threats to California’s agricultural and natural abundance arise continually. Scientists estimate that every 60 days a new exotic pest threatens the state’s agricultural, natural and urban environments. New pests and plant diseases can be profound and baffling. One recent example is the emergence of sudden oak death, which has already claimed tens of thousands of oaks in seven coastal counties. This devastation has stimulated the involvement of every component of the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, from Cooperative Extension (CE) advisors to laboratory scientists. It has involved collaborations with state and federal agencies, and consultations with university scientists around the world. The battle against sudden oak death began in 1995, when homeowners living near Mt. Tamalpais reported an unusual tanoak dieback. Marin County CE advisors were instrumental in characterizing the symptoms and progression of this mortality complex. Initial laboratory tests failed to reveal a single cause. Oak deaths spread throughout the North Bay. In 1998, the elevated mortality first appeared in coast live oak and California black oak. Monterey and Santa Cruz counties began to receive similar reports. CE advisors in affected counties developed educational programs for landowners and natural resource professionals. By 1999, the levels of native tree losses exceeded any historical reports. A massive research and education effort was undertaken to find the source of the loss and to develop management recommendations. That year CE specialists with UC’s Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program, backed by special Division funds, established a research team including faculty from the UC Berkeley and UC Davis campuses, and CE specialists and advisors. Today that UC research team is composed of 23 academics in plant pathology, entomology, natural resource monitoring, forest ecology, wildlife, fire management, silviculture and urban forestry. The UC Center for the Analysis and Monitoring of Forest and Environmental Resources (CAMFER), and the UC Center for Forestry have also become active participants in the research effort. By spring of 2000, the USDA Forest Service joined the research effort, and contributed additional financial support to the research team. Shortly afterwards, UC Davis plant pathologists succeeded in culturing a previously unknown species of Phytophthoru, which seemed to be the source of much of the unexplained mortality. UC Berkeley CE specialists in forest pathology began genetic investigations of this newly discovered organism. Based on the work of these two laboratories, scientists concluded that the organism causing the mortality was different from the 60 previously recognized species in the Phytophthoru genus. National and international experts were brought in to broaden the evaluation. Eventually, the same organism was determined to be present in rhododendrons in Santa Cruz County and Europe. Meanwhile, UC Berkeley’s CAMFER faculty developed a Web based monitoring effort in which they systematically mapped the distribution of the elevated mortality. By linking maps and aerial imagery with laboratory detection efforts, CAMFER allows the public and various agencies to see where confirmed cases of the new Phytophthoru were located. With the disease organism identified, and public concern about dying oaks mounting, the state’s Forest Pest Council, a standing committee of the State Board of Forestry, established a California Oak Mortality Task Force (COMTF). This task force included the UC research and extension scientists, as well as state, federal, county, and municipal agencies, and various private groups. Current research is focused on establishing the source of this newly discovered organism, as well as its means of spread. In addition, management recommendations are being developed, to be tested with local cooperators. A risk analysis of the effects of the elevated mortality on wildfire, wildlife habitat, and urban waste disposal (of dead trees) is under development. The breadth of response to sudden oak death illustrates the importance of maintaining not only a strong research capability, but a strong extension capability to deliver research results to those who need them. The local CE offices were the first to draw attention to sudden oak death. They helped ensure that scientists focused on this spreading malady and they transferred research results to the broad audience concerned with sustainable management of the state’s oak woodlands. Effective communication with UC’s partners in various public agencies and private groups was also facilitated by the newly formed COMTF. This issue of California Agriculture presents news and research articles describing UC’s most recent findings and management actions in response to sudden oak death. It is a story of university research and extension marshalled to a critical statewide need, and of close cooperation with government agencies to address that need.

Bonds, Bottles, Blat and Banquets Birthdays and Networks in Russia

The birthday is one of the most important celebrations in Russia, yet neglected as a topic of scholarly study. The A. focuses on the birthday as a nexus of social interaction by analyzing structured diaries of twenty-seven teachers from St. Petersburg, Russia. The birthday is a highly valued celebration time with important ritual events (birthday presents, a sumptuous table, bottles and toasting, singing and dancing etc.). Celebrating the birthday, however, constitutes only one part of the myriad meanings of birthdays. In fact birthdays mirror a distinct type of Russian sociability, molded by larger social and economic constraints and opportunities. Thus, the birthday has a significant role in building and maintaining social networks that can be further explained by the context of trust. Birthdays also illustrate the importance of informal exchange relations for daily survival in contemporary Russia and show how celebrations are connected to networks, sociability and exchange.

African American males and HIV: the challenge of the AIDS epidemic.

wo of the most contributory and laudable qualities of anthropological research are the freedom to look at human behavior in all of its many variations and the ability to draw on established theories from other academic disciplines. These attributes have allowed anthropologists to cast their investigative nets broadly in their efforts to decode human behaviors and their myriad meanings. They have also propelled me to look across disciplines in order to better understand the relationship between HIV/AIDS and African American males' sexual behaviors. A great deal of early research about transmission of HIV used discrete biomedical paradigms, which adhered strictly to a medical or disease-centered model. Recent knowledge leads us to realize that HIV transmission is as intricately tied to social and cultural factors as it is to biological factors. An understanding of the complex relationships among these factors indicates that no research should be done without the inclusion of a biopsychosocial perspective. Because HIV transmission is strongly linked to sexual behaviors, human sexuality must be examined from the perspective of complex sociocultural meanings that are embedded in social and personal relationships. Sexual behaviors in these relationships are conditioned by such factors as social context and cultural identity. This means that we should examine the emic meanings attached to one's choice of sex partners, the physical and social conditions that surround the sex act, and the sexual roles being assumed by the principals during the sex act. My research on African American males and HIV transmission took on deeper meaning when I examined behavior from this biopsychosocial perspective. It was this holistic anthropological perspective, and its interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological perspectives, which inspired me to throw down the gauntlet and offer an appeal and a challenge to my colleagues in anthropology to focus their HIV research in this direction. Whitehead is to be congratulated for picking up the gauntlet and examining African American males' risky sexual behaviors. While he sometimes uses a broad and thickly saturated brush to develop his theories on gender identity, he nevertheless provides readers with many insights into understanding African males' sociocultural meanings about gender

Coping with Infant or Fetal Loss: The Couple's Healing Process

This book offers assistance to therapists faced with the task of facilitating mourning and recovery in couples who have lost a foetus or an infant. The authors delineate the steps of an effective grief resolution process and explore the myriad meanings of grief resolution, not only on an individual level, but also in the more complicated dyad of the parental partners and in social ecosystems such as the partners' families of origin, friends, colleagues and community. Partners' behaviours and interaction are viewed in terms of gender role expectations, and social support is examined both within and outside of the couple relationship.