Saturday 24 April 2010
Ariel how can you say you love someone when you don't ?
Well what can i say i have a friend on Second life hes Name is Kaboom Coba i follow hes Blogs i enjoy reading hes blogsand about the places and pepole on second life and a while back he told me he had partner with ariel and he told me she writes blogs to i decide to have a look at Ariels blogs she talk about him in some of her blogs but she talks more about beening with other men in her blogs and how she misses them and how she is hurting and how she is spending alot of time with them and there is one blog i looked at i was she was tell how she feeled trapped beening with one men and thats she can't do it and she perfers her freedom so how can she say she loves a man when she misses her Exs to much and perfers her freedom http://asexualawakening.blogspot.com/?zx=da8392f9517ddbb0 have a look you know what i mean then you can make your own mind up <a href="http://http://demonsadventure.blogspot.com/">
Death
Death
The human skull is a universal symbol for death
A dead Confederate soldier sprawled out in Petersburg, Virginia, 1865, during the American Civil WarDeath is the termination of the biological functions that define a living organism. The word refers both to a particular event and to the condition that results thereby. The true nature of the latter has for millennia been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical enquiry. Belief in some kind of afterlife or rebirth has been a central aspect of most, if not all, religious traditions.
Phenomena which commonly bring about death include predation, malnutrition, accidents resulting in terminal injury, and disease. Death of an entire species is known as extinction. Human activity has increased the number of extinctions in recent times, one cause being, for example, the destruction of ecosystems as a consequence of the spread of industrial technology.
All animals fortunate enough to survive hazards to their existence eventually die from senescence. Rare and remarkable exceptions include the hydra and the jellyfish turritopsis nutricula, both thought to be, in effect, immortal. Causes of death in humans as a result of intentional activity include suicide, homicide and war. From all causes, roughly 150,000 people die around the world each day.
Physiological death is now seen as less an event than a process: conditions once considered indicative of death are now reversible. Where in the process a dividing line is drawn between life and death depends on factors beyond the presence or absence of vital signs. In general, clinical death is neither necessary nor sufficient for a determination of legal death. A patient with working heart and lungs determined to be brain dead can be pronounced legally dead without clinical death occurring. Precise medical definition of death, in other words, becomes more problematic, paradoxically, as scientific knowledge and medicine advance.
Signs and symptoms
Signs of death, or strong indications that a person is no longer alive are:
Ceasing respiration
The body no longer metabolizes
No pulse
Pallor mortis, paleness which happens in the 15–120 minutes after death
Livor mortis, a settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body
Algor mortis, the reduction in body temperature following death. This is generally a steady decline until matching ambient temperature
Rigor mortis, the limbs of the corpse become stiff (Latin rigor) and difficult to move or manipulate
Decomposition, the reduction into simpler forms of matter, accompanied by a strong, unpleasant odor.
Diagnosis
Problems of definition
What is death? A flower, a skull and an hour-glass stand in for Life, Death and Time in this 17th-century painting by Philippe de Champaigne For those who define death as a state following the state of life, one of the challenges in defining death is in distinguishing it from life. Death would seem to refer to either the moment at which life ends, or when the state that follows life begins. However, determining when death has occurred requires drawing precise conceptual boundaries between life and death. This is problematic because there is little consensus over how to define life. It is possible to define life in terms of consciousness. When consciousness ceases, a living organism can be said to have died. One of the notable flaws in this approach is that there are many organisms which are alive but probably not conscious (for example, single-celled organisms). Another problem with this approach is in defining consciousness, which has many different definitions given by modern scientists, psychologists and philosophers. This general problem of defining death applies to the particular challenge of defining death in the context of medicine.
Other definitions for death focus on the character of cessation of something.[5] In this context "death" describes merely the state where something has ceased, e.g., life. Thus, the definition of "life" simultaneously defines death.
Historically, attempts to define the exact moment of a human's death have been problematic. Death was once defined as the cessation of heartbeat (cardiac arrest) and of breathing, but the development of CPR and prompt defibrillation have rendered that definition inadequate because breathing and heartbeat can sometimes be restarted[citation needed]. Events which were causally linked to death in the past no longer kill in all circumstances; without a functioning heart or lungs, life can sometimes be sustained with a combination of life support devices, organ transplants and artificial pacemakers.
Today, where a definition of the moment of death is required, doctors and coroners usually turn to "brain death" or "biological death" to define a person as being clinically dead; people are considered dead when the electrical activity in their brain ceases. It is presumed that an end of electrical activity indicates the end of consciousness. However, suspension of consciousness must be permanent, and not transient, as occurs during certain sleep stages, and especially a coma. In the case of sleep, EEGs can easily tell the difference.
However, the category of "brain death" is seen by some scholars to be problematic. For instance, Dr Franklin Miller, senior faculty member at the Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, notes "By the late 1990s, however, the equation of brain death with death of the human being was increasingly challenged by scholars, based on evidence regarding the array of biological functioning displayed by patients correctly diagnosed as having this condition who were maintained on mechanical ventilation for substantial periods of time. These patients maintained the ability to sustain circulation and respiration, control temperature, excrete wastes, heal wounds, fight infections and, most dramatically, to gestate fetuses (in the case of pregnant "brain-dead" women)."
Those people maintaining that only the neo-cortex of the brain is necessary for consciousness sometimes argue that only electrical activity there should be considered when defining death. Eventually it is possible that the criterion for death will be the permanent and irreversible loss of cognitive function, as evidenced by the death of the cerebral cortex. All hope of recovering human thought and personality is then gone given current and foreseeable medical technology. However, at present, in most places the more conservative definition of death – irreversible cessation of electrical activity in the whole brain, as opposed to just in the neo-cortex – has been adopted (for example the Uniform Determination Of Death Act in the United States). In 2005, the Terri Schiavo case brought the question of brain death and artificial sustenance to the front of American politics.
Even by whole-brain criteria, the determination of brain death can be complicated. EEGs can detect spurious electrical impulses, while certain drugs, hypoglycemia, hypoxia, or hypothermia can suppress or even stop brain activity on a temporary basis. Because of this, hospitals have protocols for determining brain death involving EEGs at widely separated intervals under defined conditions.
Legal
In the United States, a person is dead by law if a Statement of Death or Death Certificate is approved by a licensed medical practitioner. Various legal consequences follow death, including the removal from the person of what in legal terminology is called personhood.
The possession of brain activities, or ability to resume brain activity, is a necessary condition to legal personhood in the United States. "It appears that once brain death has been determined ... no criminal or civil liability will result from disconnecting the life-support devices." (Dority v. Superior Court of San Bernardino County, 193 Cal.Rptr. 288, 291 (1983))
Misdiagnosed
There are many anecdotal references to people being declared dead by physicians and then "coming back to life", sometimes days later in their own coffin, or when embalming procedures are about to begin. From the mid-18th century onwards, there was an upsurge in the public's fear of being mistakenly buried alive,[7] and much debate about the uncertainty of the signs of death. Various suggestions were made to test for signs of life before burial, ranging from pouring vinegar and pepper into the corpse's mouth to applying red hot pokers to the feet, or even into the rectum.[8] Writing in 1895, the physician J. C. Ouseley claimed that as many as 2,700 people were buried prematurely each year in England and Wales, although others estimated the figure to be closer to 800.
In cases of electric shock, CPR for an hour or longer can allow stunned nerves to recover, allowing an apparently dead person to survive. People found unconscious under icy water may survive if their faces are kept continuously cold until they arrive at an emergency room.[10] This "diving response", in which metabolic activity and oxygen requirements are minimal, is something humans share with cetaceans called the mammalian diving reflex.
As medical technologies advance, ideas about when death occurs may have to be re-evaluated in light of the ability to restore a person to vitality after longer periods of apparent death (as happened when CPR and defibrillation showed that cessation of heartbeat is inadequate as a decisive indicator of death). The lack of electrical brain activity may not be enough to consider someone scientifically dead. Therefore, the concept of information theoretical death has been suggested as a better means of defining when true death occurs, though the concept has few practical applications outside of the field of cryonics.
There have been some scientific attempts to bring dead organisms back to life, but with limited success. In science fiction scenarios where such technology is readily available, real death is distinguished from reversible death.
Causes
The body of Pope John Paul II lying in state in St. Peter's Basilica, 2005The leading cause of death in developing countries is infectious disease. The leading causes of death in developed countries are atherosclerosis (heart disease and stroke), cancer, and other diseases related to obesity and aging. These conditions cause loss of homeostasis, leading to cardiac arrest, causing loss of oxygen and nutrient supply, causing irreversible deterioration of the brain and other tissues. Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds die of age-related causes.[3] In industrialized nations, the proportion is much higher, reaching 90%.[3] With improved medical capability, dying has become a condition to be managed. Home deaths, once commonplace, are now rare in the developed world.
In developing nations, inferior sanitary conditions and lack of access to modern medical technology makes death from infectious diseases more common than in developed countries. One such disease is tuberculosis, a bacterial disease which killed 1.7 million people in 2004. Malaria causes about 400–900 million cases of fever and 1–3 million deaths annually.AIDS death toll in Africa may reach 90–100 million by 2025.
According to Jean Ziegler, who was the United Nations Special reporter on the Right to Food from 2000 to March 2008; mortality due to malnutrition accounted for 58% of the total mortality rate in 2006. Ziegler says worldwide approximately 62 million people died from all causes and of those deaths more than 36 million died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in micronutrients.
Tobacco smoking killed 100 million people worldwide in the 20th century and could kill 1 billion people around the world in the 21st century, a WHO Report warned.
Many leading developed world causes of death can be postponed by diet and physical activity, but the accelerating incidence of disease with age still imposes limits on human longevity. The evolutionary cause of aging is, at best, only just beginning to be understood. It has been suggested that direct intervention in the aging process may now be the most effective intervention against major causes of death.
Autopsy
Rembrandt turns an autopsy into a masterpiece: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes TulpAn autopsy, also known as a postmortem examination or an obduction, is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a human corpse to determine the cause and manner of a person's death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present. It is usually performed by a specialized medical doctor called a pathologist.
Autopsies are either performed for legal or medical purposes. A forensic autopsy is carried out when the cause of death may be a criminal matter, while a clinical or academic autopsy is performed to find the medical cause of death and is used in cases of unknown or uncertain death, or for research purposes. Autopsies can be further classified into cases where external examination suffices, and those where the body is dissected and an internal examination is conducted. Permission from next of kin may be required for internal autopsy in some cases. Once an internal autopsy is complete the body is generally reconstituted by sewing it back together. Autopsy is important in a medical environment and may shed light on mistakes and help improve practices.
A "necropsy" is an older term for a postmortem examination, unregulated, and not always a medical procedure. In modern times the term is more often used in the postmortem examination of the corpses of animals.
Prevention
Life extension refers to an increase in maximum or average lifespan, especially in humans, by slowing down or reversing the processes of aging. Average lifespan is determined by vulnerability to accidents and age or lifestyle-related afflictions such as cancer, or cardiovascular disease. Extension of average lifespan can be achieved by good diet, exercise and avoidance of hazards such as smoking. Maximum lifespan is determined by the rate of aging for a species inherent in its genes. Currently, the only widely recognized method of extending maximum lifespan is calorie restriction. Theoretically, extension of maximum lifespan can be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage, by periodic replacement of damaged tissues, or by molecular repair or rejuvenation of deteriorated cells and tissues.
Researchers of life extension are a subclass of biogerontologists known as "biomedical gerontologists". They try to understand the nature of aging and they develop treatments to reverse aging processes or to at least slow them down, for the improvement of health and the maintenance of youthful vigor at every stage of life. Those who take advantage of life extension findings and seek to apply them upon themselves are called "life extensionists" or "longevists". The primary life extension strategy currently is to apply available anti-aging methods in the hope of living long enough to benefit from a complete cure to aging once it is developed, which given the rapidly advancing state of biogenetic and general medical technology, could conceivably occur within the lifetimes of people living today.
Society and culture
Death haunts even the beautiful: an early 20th-century artist says, "All is Vanity"Death is the center of many traditions and organizations, and is a feature of every culture around the world. Much of this revolves around the care of the dead, as well as the afterlife and the disposal of bodies upon the onset of death. The disposal of human corpses does, in general, begin with the last offices before significant time has passed, and ritualistic ceremonies often occur, most commonly interment or cremation. This is not a unified practice, however, as in Tibet for instance the body is given a sky burial and left on a mountain top. Proper preparation for death and techniques and ceremonies for producing the ability to transfer one's spiritual attainments into another body (reincarnation) are subjects of detailed study in Tibet.[ Mummification or embalming is also prevalent in some cultures, to retard the rate of decay.
Legal aspects of death are also part of many cultures, particularly the settlement of the deceased estate and the issues of inheritance and in some countries, inheritance taxation.
Gravestones in Kyoto, JapanCapital punishment is also a culturally divisive aspect of death. In most jurisdictions where capital punishment is carried out today, the death penalty is reserved for premeditated murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries, sexual crimes, such as adultery and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy, the formal renunciation of one's religion. In many retentionist countries, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offenses such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny.
Death in warfare and in suicide attack also have cultural links, and the ideas of dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, mutiny punishable by death, grieving relatives of dead soldiers and death notification are embedded in many cultures. Recently in the western world, with the supposed increase in terrorism following the September 11 attacks, but also further back in time with suicide bombings, kamikaze missions in World War II and suicide missions in a host of other conflicts in history, death for a cause by way of suicide attack, and martyrdom have had significant cultural impacts.
Suicide in general, and particularly euthanasia, are also points of cultural debate. Both acts are understood very differently in different cultures. In Japan, for example, ending a life with honor by seppuku was considered a desirable death, whereas according to traditional Christian and Islamic cultures, suicide is viewed as a sin. Death is personified in many cultures, with such symbolic representations as the Grim Reaper, Azrael and Father Time.
In biology
After death the remains of an organism become part of the biogeochemical cycle. Animals may be consumed by a predator or a scavenger. Organic material may then be further decomposed by detritivores, organisms which recycle detritus, returning it to the environment for reuse in the food chain. Examples of detritivores include earthworms, woodlice and dung beetles.
Microorganisms also play a vital role, raising the temperature of the decomposing matter as they break it down into yet simpler molecules. Not all materials need be decomposed fully, however. Coal, a fossil fuel formed over vast tracts of time in swamp ecosystems, is one example.
Natural selection
It is considered that organisms less adapted to their environment are more likely to die having produced fewer offspring, thereby reducing their contribution to the gene pool. Their genes are thus eventually bred out of a population, leading at worst to extinction and, more positively, making possible the process referred to as speciation. Frequency of reproduction plays an equally important role in determining species survival: an organism that dies young but leaves numerous offspring displays, according to Darwinian criteria, much greater fitness than a long-lived organism leaving only one.
Extinction
Dead as a dodo: the bird that became a byword in English for species extinction Extinction is the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point). Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "reappears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence. New species arise through the process of speciation, an aspect of evolution. New varieties of organisms arise and thrive when they are able to find and exploit an ecological niche – and species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing conditions or against superior competition.
Evolution of aging
Inquiry into the evolution of aging aims to explain why so many living things and the vast majority of animals weaken and die with age (a notable exception being hydra, which may be biologically immortal). The evolutionary origin of senescence remains one of the fundamental puzzles of biology. Gerontology specializes in the science of human aging processes.
The human skull is a universal symbol for death
A dead Confederate soldier sprawled out in Petersburg, Virginia, 1865, during the American Civil WarDeath is the termination of the biological functions that define a living organism. The word refers both to a particular event and to the condition that results thereby. The true nature of the latter has for millennia been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical enquiry. Belief in some kind of afterlife or rebirth has been a central aspect of most, if not all, religious traditions.
Phenomena which commonly bring about death include predation, malnutrition, accidents resulting in terminal injury, and disease. Death of an entire species is known as extinction. Human activity has increased the number of extinctions in recent times, one cause being, for example, the destruction of ecosystems as a consequence of the spread of industrial technology.
All animals fortunate enough to survive hazards to their existence eventually die from senescence. Rare and remarkable exceptions include the hydra and the jellyfish turritopsis nutricula, both thought to be, in effect, immortal. Causes of death in humans as a result of intentional activity include suicide, homicide and war. From all causes, roughly 150,000 people die around the world each day.
Physiological death is now seen as less an event than a process: conditions once considered indicative of death are now reversible. Where in the process a dividing line is drawn between life and death depends on factors beyond the presence or absence of vital signs. In general, clinical death is neither necessary nor sufficient for a determination of legal death. A patient with working heart and lungs determined to be brain dead can be pronounced legally dead without clinical death occurring. Precise medical definition of death, in other words, becomes more problematic, paradoxically, as scientific knowledge and medicine advance.
Signs and symptoms
Signs of death, or strong indications that a person is no longer alive are:
Ceasing respiration
The body no longer metabolizes
No pulse
Pallor mortis, paleness which happens in the 15–120 minutes after death
Livor mortis, a settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body
Algor mortis, the reduction in body temperature following death. This is generally a steady decline until matching ambient temperature
Rigor mortis, the limbs of the corpse become stiff (Latin rigor) and difficult to move or manipulate
Decomposition, the reduction into simpler forms of matter, accompanied by a strong, unpleasant odor.
Diagnosis
Problems of definition
What is death? A flower, a skull and an hour-glass stand in for Life, Death and Time in this 17th-century painting by Philippe de Champaigne For those who define death as a state following the state of life, one of the challenges in defining death is in distinguishing it from life. Death would seem to refer to either the moment at which life ends, or when the state that follows life begins. However, determining when death has occurred requires drawing precise conceptual boundaries between life and death. This is problematic because there is little consensus over how to define life. It is possible to define life in terms of consciousness. When consciousness ceases, a living organism can be said to have died. One of the notable flaws in this approach is that there are many organisms which are alive but probably not conscious (for example, single-celled organisms). Another problem with this approach is in defining consciousness, which has many different definitions given by modern scientists, psychologists and philosophers. This general problem of defining death applies to the particular challenge of defining death in the context of medicine.
Other definitions for death focus on the character of cessation of something.[5] In this context "death" describes merely the state where something has ceased, e.g., life. Thus, the definition of "life" simultaneously defines death.
Historically, attempts to define the exact moment of a human's death have been problematic. Death was once defined as the cessation of heartbeat (cardiac arrest) and of breathing, but the development of CPR and prompt defibrillation have rendered that definition inadequate because breathing and heartbeat can sometimes be restarted[citation needed]. Events which were causally linked to death in the past no longer kill in all circumstances; without a functioning heart or lungs, life can sometimes be sustained with a combination of life support devices, organ transplants and artificial pacemakers.
Today, where a definition of the moment of death is required, doctors and coroners usually turn to "brain death" or "biological death" to define a person as being clinically dead; people are considered dead when the electrical activity in their brain ceases. It is presumed that an end of electrical activity indicates the end of consciousness. However, suspension of consciousness must be permanent, and not transient, as occurs during certain sleep stages, and especially a coma. In the case of sleep, EEGs can easily tell the difference.
However, the category of "brain death" is seen by some scholars to be problematic. For instance, Dr Franklin Miller, senior faculty member at the Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, notes "By the late 1990s, however, the equation of brain death with death of the human being was increasingly challenged by scholars, based on evidence regarding the array of biological functioning displayed by patients correctly diagnosed as having this condition who were maintained on mechanical ventilation for substantial periods of time. These patients maintained the ability to sustain circulation and respiration, control temperature, excrete wastes, heal wounds, fight infections and, most dramatically, to gestate fetuses (in the case of pregnant "brain-dead" women)."
Those people maintaining that only the neo-cortex of the brain is necessary for consciousness sometimes argue that only electrical activity there should be considered when defining death. Eventually it is possible that the criterion for death will be the permanent and irreversible loss of cognitive function, as evidenced by the death of the cerebral cortex. All hope of recovering human thought and personality is then gone given current and foreseeable medical technology. However, at present, in most places the more conservative definition of death – irreversible cessation of electrical activity in the whole brain, as opposed to just in the neo-cortex – has been adopted (for example the Uniform Determination Of Death Act in the United States). In 2005, the Terri Schiavo case brought the question of brain death and artificial sustenance to the front of American politics.
Even by whole-brain criteria, the determination of brain death can be complicated. EEGs can detect spurious electrical impulses, while certain drugs, hypoglycemia, hypoxia, or hypothermia can suppress or even stop brain activity on a temporary basis. Because of this, hospitals have protocols for determining brain death involving EEGs at widely separated intervals under defined conditions.
Legal
In the United States, a person is dead by law if a Statement of Death or Death Certificate is approved by a licensed medical practitioner. Various legal consequences follow death, including the removal from the person of what in legal terminology is called personhood.
The possession of brain activities, or ability to resume brain activity, is a necessary condition to legal personhood in the United States. "It appears that once brain death has been determined ... no criminal or civil liability will result from disconnecting the life-support devices." (Dority v. Superior Court of San Bernardino County, 193 Cal.Rptr. 288, 291 (1983))
Misdiagnosed
There are many anecdotal references to people being declared dead by physicians and then "coming back to life", sometimes days later in their own coffin, or when embalming procedures are about to begin. From the mid-18th century onwards, there was an upsurge in the public's fear of being mistakenly buried alive,[7] and much debate about the uncertainty of the signs of death. Various suggestions were made to test for signs of life before burial, ranging from pouring vinegar and pepper into the corpse's mouth to applying red hot pokers to the feet, or even into the rectum.[8] Writing in 1895, the physician J. C. Ouseley claimed that as many as 2,700 people were buried prematurely each year in England and Wales, although others estimated the figure to be closer to 800.
In cases of electric shock, CPR for an hour or longer can allow stunned nerves to recover, allowing an apparently dead person to survive. People found unconscious under icy water may survive if their faces are kept continuously cold until they arrive at an emergency room.[10] This "diving response", in which metabolic activity and oxygen requirements are minimal, is something humans share with cetaceans called the mammalian diving reflex.
As medical technologies advance, ideas about when death occurs may have to be re-evaluated in light of the ability to restore a person to vitality after longer periods of apparent death (as happened when CPR and defibrillation showed that cessation of heartbeat is inadequate as a decisive indicator of death). The lack of electrical brain activity may not be enough to consider someone scientifically dead. Therefore, the concept of information theoretical death has been suggested as a better means of defining when true death occurs, though the concept has few practical applications outside of the field of cryonics.
There have been some scientific attempts to bring dead organisms back to life, but with limited success. In science fiction scenarios where such technology is readily available, real death is distinguished from reversible death.
Causes
The body of Pope John Paul II lying in state in St. Peter's Basilica, 2005The leading cause of death in developing countries is infectious disease. The leading causes of death in developed countries are atherosclerosis (heart disease and stroke), cancer, and other diseases related to obesity and aging. These conditions cause loss of homeostasis, leading to cardiac arrest, causing loss of oxygen and nutrient supply, causing irreversible deterioration of the brain and other tissues. Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds die of age-related causes.[3] In industrialized nations, the proportion is much higher, reaching 90%.[3] With improved medical capability, dying has become a condition to be managed. Home deaths, once commonplace, are now rare in the developed world.
In developing nations, inferior sanitary conditions and lack of access to modern medical technology makes death from infectious diseases more common than in developed countries. One such disease is tuberculosis, a bacterial disease which killed 1.7 million people in 2004. Malaria causes about 400–900 million cases of fever and 1–3 million deaths annually.AIDS death toll in Africa may reach 90–100 million by 2025.
According to Jean Ziegler, who was the United Nations Special reporter on the Right to Food from 2000 to March 2008; mortality due to malnutrition accounted for 58% of the total mortality rate in 2006. Ziegler says worldwide approximately 62 million people died from all causes and of those deaths more than 36 million died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in micronutrients.
Tobacco smoking killed 100 million people worldwide in the 20th century and could kill 1 billion people around the world in the 21st century, a WHO Report warned.
Many leading developed world causes of death can be postponed by diet and physical activity, but the accelerating incidence of disease with age still imposes limits on human longevity. The evolutionary cause of aging is, at best, only just beginning to be understood. It has been suggested that direct intervention in the aging process may now be the most effective intervention against major causes of death.
Autopsy
Rembrandt turns an autopsy into a masterpiece: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes TulpAn autopsy, also known as a postmortem examination or an obduction, is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a human corpse to determine the cause and manner of a person's death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present. It is usually performed by a specialized medical doctor called a pathologist.
Autopsies are either performed for legal or medical purposes. A forensic autopsy is carried out when the cause of death may be a criminal matter, while a clinical or academic autopsy is performed to find the medical cause of death and is used in cases of unknown or uncertain death, or for research purposes. Autopsies can be further classified into cases where external examination suffices, and those where the body is dissected and an internal examination is conducted. Permission from next of kin may be required for internal autopsy in some cases. Once an internal autopsy is complete the body is generally reconstituted by sewing it back together. Autopsy is important in a medical environment and may shed light on mistakes and help improve practices.
A "necropsy" is an older term for a postmortem examination, unregulated, and not always a medical procedure. In modern times the term is more often used in the postmortem examination of the corpses of animals.
Prevention
Life extension refers to an increase in maximum or average lifespan, especially in humans, by slowing down or reversing the processes of aging. Average lifespan is determined by vulnerability to accidents and age or lifestyle-related afflictions such as cancer, or cardiovascular disease. Extension of average lifespan can be achieved by good diet, exercise and avoidance of hazards such as smoking. Maximum lifespan is determined by the rate of aging for a species inherent in its genes. Currently, the only widely recognized method of extending maximum lifespan is calorie restriction. Theoretically, extension of maximum lifespan can be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage, by periodic replacement of damaged tissues, or by molecular repair or rejuvenation of deteriorated cells and tissues.
Researchers of life extension are a subclass of biogerontologists known as "biomedical gerontologists". They try to understand the nature of aging and they develop treatments to reverse aging processes or to at least slow them down, for the improvement of health and the maintenance of youthful vigor at every stage of life. Those who take advantage of life extension findings and seek to apply them upon themselves are called "life extensionists" or "longevists". The primary life extension strategy currently is to apply available anti-aging methods in the hope of living long enough to benefit from a complete cure to aging once it is developed, which given the rapidly advancing state of biogenetic and general medical technology, could conceivably occur within the lifetimes of people living today.
Society and culture
Death haunts even the beautiful: an early 20th-century artist says, "All is Vanity"Death is the center of many traditions and organizations, and is a feature of every culture around the world. Much of this revolves around the care of the dead, as well as the afterlife and the disposal of bodies upon the onset of death. The disposal of human corpses does, in general, begin with the last offices before significant time has passed, and ritualistic ceremonies often occur, most commonly interment or cremation. This is not a unified practice, however, as in Tibet for instance the body is given a sky burial and left on a mountain top. Proper preparation for death and techniques and ceremonies for producing the ability to transfer one's spiritual attainments into another body (reincarnation) are subjects of detailed study in Tibet.[ Mummification or embalming is also prevalent in some cultures, to retard the rate of decay.
Legal aspects of death are also part of many cultures, particularly the settlement of the deceased estate and the issues of inheritance and in some countries, inheritance taxation.
Gravestones in Kyoto, JapanCapital punishment is also a culturally divisive aspect of death. In most jurisdictions where capital punishment is carried out today, the death penalty is reserved for premeditated murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries, sexual crimes, such as adultery and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy, the formal renunciation of one's religion. In many retentionist countries, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offenses such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny.
Death in warfare and in suicide attack also have cultural links, and the ideas of dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, mutiny punishable by death, grieving relatives of dead soldiers and death notification are embedded in many cultures. Recently in the western world, with the supposed increase in terrorism following the September 11 attacks, but also further back in time with suicide bombings, kamikaze missions in World War II and suicide missions in a host of other conflicts in history, death for a cause by way of suicide attack, and martyrdom have had significant cultural impacts.
Suicide in general, and particularly euthanasia, are also points of cultural debate. Both acts are understood very differently in different cultures. In Japan, for example, ending a life with honor by seppuku was considered a desirable death, whereas according to traditional Christian and Islamic cultures, suicide is viewed as a sin. Death is personified in many cultures, with such symbolic representations as the Grim Reaper, Azrael and Father Time.
In biology
After death the remains of an organism become part of the biogeochemical cycle. Animals may be consumed by a predator or a scavenger. Organic material may then be further decomposed by detritivores, organisms which recycle detritus, returning it to the environment for reuse in the food chain. Examples of detritivores include earthworms, woodlice and dung beetles.
Microorganisms also play a vital role, raising the temperature of the decomposing matter as they break it down into yet simpler molecules. Not all materials need be decomposed fully, however. Coal, a fossil fuel formed over vast tracts of time in swamp ecosystems, is one example.
Natural selection
It is considered that organisms less adapted to their environment are more likely to die having produced fewer offspring, thereby reducing their contribution to the gene pool. Their genes are thus eventually bred out of a population, leading at worst to extinction and, more positively, making possible the process referred to as speciation. Frequency of reproduction plays an equally important role in determining species survival: an organism that dies young but leaves numerous offspring displays, according to Darwinian criteria, much greater fitness than a long-lived organism leaving only one.
Extinction
Dead as a dodo: the bird that became a byword in English for species extinction Extinction is the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point). Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "reappears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence. New species arise through the process of speciation, an aspect of evolution. New varieties of organisms arise and thrive when they are able to find and exploit an ecological niche – and species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing conditions or against superior competition.
Evolution of aging
Inquiry into the evolution of aging aims to explain why so many living things and the vast majority of animals weaken and die with age (a notable exception being hydra, which may be biologically immortal). The evolutionary origin of senescence remains one of the fundamental puzzles of biology. Gerontology specializes in the science of human aging processes.
Dragon
Where I got my info from i have look it up but i done it for your pleasure of reading about it i hope you enjoy it
Dragon
Dragons are legendary creatures, typically with serpentine or otherwise reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures.
The two most familiar interpretations of dragons are European dragons, derived from various European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern mythologies, and the unrelated Oriental dragons, such as the Chinese dragon (Traditional: 龍; Simplified: 龙; Pinyin: lóng). The English word "dragon" derives from Greek δράκων (drákōn), "dragon, serpent of huge size, water-snake", which probably comes from the verb δρακεῖν (drakeîn) "to see clearly".[1]
Overview
Dragons are usually shown in modern times with a body like a huge lizard, or a snake with two pairs of lizard-type legs, and able to emit fire from their mouths. The European dragon has bat-type wings growing from its back. A dragon-like creature with no front legs is known as a wyvern. Following discovery of how pterosaurs walked on the ground, some dragons have been portrayed without front legs and using the wings as front legs pterosaur-fashion when on the ground.
Although dragons occur in many legends around the world, different cultures have varying stories about monsters that have been grouped together under the dragon label. Some dragons are said to breathe fire or to be poisonous. They are commonly portrayed as serpentine or reptilian, hatching from eggs and possessing typically scaly or feathered bodies. They are sometimes portrayed as having especially large eyes or watching treasure very diligently, a feature that is the origin of the word dragon (Greek drakeîn meaning "to see clearly").[2] Some myths portray them with a row of dorsal spines. European dragons are more often winged, while Oriental versions of the dragon resemble large snakes. Dragons can have a variable number of legs: none, two, four, or more when it comes to early European literature.
Dragons are often held to have major spiritual significance in various religions and cultures around the world. In many Asian cultures dragons were, and in some cultures still are, revered as representative of the primal forces of nature, religion and the universe. They are associated with wisdom—often said to be wiser than humans—and longevity. They are commonly said to possess some form of magic or other supernatural power, and are often associated with wells, rain, and rivers. In some cultures, they are also said to be capable of human speech. In some traditions dragons are said to have taught humans to talk.
The term dragoon, for infantry that moved around on horseback yet still fought as foot soldiers, is derived from their early firearm, the "dragon", a wide-bore musket that spat flame when it fired, and was thus named for the mythical creature.
Origin and etymology
Further information: Chaoskampf
Dragon on the Ishtar Gate, ca. 600 BCThe word dragon derives from Greek δρακων, via Latin draco. It is attested in Middle English from the 13th century, in the context of medieval bestiaries and legends.
The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent, not necessarily mythological, and this usage was also current in English up to the 18th century. Today the great komodo lizard Varanus komodoensis is also known in English as the Komodo dragon. The King James Bible uses the words "serpent", "dragon" and "Devil" in a fairly interchangeable manner.
The association of the serpent with a monstrous opponent overcome by a heroic deity has its roots in the mythology of the Ancient Near East, including Canaanite (Hebrew, Ugaritic), Hittite and Mesopotamian. The Chaoskampf motif entered Greek mythology and ultimately Christian mythology, although the serpent motif may already be part of prehistoric Indo-European mythology as well, based on comparative evidence of Indic and Germanic material.
The "European dragon" (and its Near Eastern and Indic cognates) myth has quite different characteristics and origins from those of the Chinese dragon.
Dinosaur and mammalian fossils were occasionally mistaken for the bones of dragons and other mythological creature; for example, a discovery in 300 BC in Wucheng, Sichuan, China, was labeled as such by Chang Qu.[3] Adrienne Mayor has written on the subject of fossils as the inspiration for myths in her book The First Fossil Hunters, and in an entry in the Encyclopedia of Geology she wrote: "Fossil remains generated a variety of geomyths speculating on the creatures' identity and cause of their destruction. Many ancient cultures, from China and India to Greece, America, and Australia, told tales of dragons, monsters, and giant heroes to account for fossils of animals they had never seen alive."[4] In Australia, stories of such creatures may have referred to the land crocodiles, Quinkana sp., a terrestrial crocodile which grew from five to possibly 7 metres in length, or the 4 tonne Monitor lizards Varanus priscus (formerly Megalania prisca) a giant, carnivorous goanna that might have grown to as long as seven metres, and weighed up to 1,940 kilograms, or Rainbow serpents (possibly Wonambi naracoortensis) that were part of the extinct megafauna of that continent[5].
In the book An Instinct for Dragons[6] anthropologist David E. Jones suggests a hypothesis that humans just like monkeys have inherited instinctive reactions to snakes, large cats and birds of prey. Dragons have features that are combinations of these three. Our instinctive fear for these three would explain why dragons with similar features occur in stories from independent cultures on all continents. Other authors have suggested that especially under the influence of drugs or in dreams, this instinct may give raise to fantasies about dragons, snakes, spiders, etc, which would explain why these symbols are popular in drug culture. The traditional mainstream explanation to the folklore dragons does however not rely on human instinct, but on the assumption that fossil remains of dinosaurs gave raise to similar speculations all over the world.
By region
Greek mythology
Main article: Dragons in Greek mythology In Ancient Greece the first mention of a "dragon" is derived from the Iliad where Agamemnon is described as having a blue dragon motif on his sword belt and a three-headed dragon emblem on his breast plate.[7] However, the Greek word used (δράκων drákōn, genitive δράκοντοϛ drákontos) could also mean "snake". δράκων drákōn is a form of the aorist participle active of Greek δέρκομαι dérkomai = "I see", derkeîn = "to see", and originally likely meant "that which sees", or "that which flashes or gleams" (perhaps referring to reflective scales). This is the origin of the word "dragon". (See also Hesiod's Theogony, 322.)
In 217 A.D., Philostratus discussed dragons (δράκων, drákōn) in India in The Life of Apollonius of Tyana (II,17 and III,6-8). The Loeb Classical Library translation (by F.C. Conybeare) mentions (III,7) that “In most respects the tusks resemble the largest swine’s, but they are slighter in build and twisted, and have a point as unabraded as sharks’ teeth.”
According to Aelian's On Animals, Ethiopia was inhabited by a species of dragon that hunted elephants. It could grow to a length of 180 feet and had a lifespan rivaling that of the most enduring of animals.[8]
European
Main articles: European dragon and Saint George and the Dragon
European dragons exist in folklore and mythology among the overlapping cultures of Europe. Despite having wings, the dragon is generally depicted as having an underground lair or cave, making it an ancient creature of the earth element.
Chinese
Main article: Chinese dragon Chinese dragons (simplified Chinese: 龙; traditional Chinese: 龍; pinyin: lóng), and Oriental dragons generally, can take on human form and are usually seen as benevolent, whereas European dragons are usually malevolent though there are exceptions (one exception being Y Ddraig Goch, the Red Dragon of Wales). Malevolent dragons also occur in the mythology of Persia (see Azhi Dahaka) and Russia, among other places.
Dragons are particularly popular in China and the five-clawed dragon was a symbol of the Chinese emperors, with the phoenix or fenghuang the symbol of the Chinese empress. Dragon costumes manipulated by several people are a common sight at Chinese festivals.
Japanese>Main article: Japanese dragon
Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China, Korea and India. Like these other Asian dragons, most Japanese ones are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet. Gould writes (1896:248),[9] the Japanese dragon is "invariably figured as possessing three claws".
Vedic
In the early Vedic religion, Vritra (Sanskrit: वृत्र (Devanāgarī) or Vṛtra (IAST)) "the enveloper", was an Asura and also a "naga" (serpent) or possibly dragon-like creature, the personification of drought and enemy of Indra. Vritra was also known in the Vedas as Ahi ("snake"), and he is said to have had three heads.
Indian
The following detailed account comes from The Life of Apollonius of Tyana by Flavius Philostratus:
“ The whole of India is girt with dragons of enormous size; for not only the marshes are full of them, but the mountains as well, and there is not a single ridge without one. Now the marsh kind are sluggish in their habits and are thirty cubits long, and they have no crest standing up on their heads, but in this respect resemble the she-dragons. Their backs however are very black, with fewer scales on them than the other kinds; and Homer has described them with deeper insight than have most poets, for he says that the dragon that lived hard by the spring in Aulis had a tawny back; but other poets declare that the congener of this one in the grove of Nemea also had a crest, a feature which we could not verify in regard to the marsh dragons.
And the dragons along the foothills and the mountain crests make their way into the plains after their quarry, and prey upon all the creatures in the marshes; for indeed they reach an extreme length, and move faster than the swiftest rivers, so that nothing escapes them. These actually have a crest, of moderate extent and height when they are young; but as they reach their full size, it grows with them and extends to a considerable height, at which time also they turn red and get serrated backs. This kind also have beards, and lift their necks on high, while their scales glitter like silver; and the pupils of their eves consist of a fiery stone, and they say that this has an uncanny power for many secret purposes. The plain specimen falls the prize of the hunters whenever it draws upon itself an elephant; for the destruction of both creatures is the result, and those who capture the dragons are rewarded by getting the eyes and skin and teeth. In most respects they resemble the largest swine, but they are slighter in build and flexible, and they have teeth as sharp and indestructible as those of the largest fishes. Now the dragons of the mountains have scales of a golden colour, and in length excel those of the plain, and they have bushy beards, which also are of a golden hue; and their eyebrows are more prominent than those of the plain, and their eye is sunk deep under the eyebrow, and emits a terrible and ruthless glance. And they give off a noise like the clashing of brass whenever they are burrowing under the earth, and from their crests, which are all fiery red, there flashes a fire brighter than a torch. They also can catch the elephants, though they are themselves caught by the Indians in the following manner. They embroider golden runes on a scarlet cloak, which they lay in front of the animal's burrow after charming them to sleep with the runes; for this is the only way to overcome the eyes of the dragon, which are otherwise inflexible, and much mysterious lore is sung by them to overcome him. These runes induce the dragon to stretch his neck out of his burrow and fall asleep over them : then the Indians fall upon him as he lies there, and despatch him with blows of their axes, and having cut off the head they despoil it of its gems. And they say that in the heads of the mountain dragons there are stored away stones of flowery colour, which flash out all kinds of hues, and possess a mystical power if set in a ring, like that which they say belonged to Gyges. But often the Indian, in spite of his axe and his cunning, is caught by the dragon, who carries him off into his burrow, and almost shakes the mountains as he' disappears. These are also said to inhabit the mountains in the neighbourhood of the Red Sea, and they say that they heard them hissing terribly and that they saw them go down to the shore and swim far out into the sea.[10]
”
Persian
Aži Dahāka is the source of the modern Persian word azhdahā or ezhdehā اژدها (Middle Persian azdahāg) meaning "dragon", often used of a dragon depicted upon a banner of war. The Persians believed that the baby of a dragon will be the same color as the mother's eyes. In Middle Persian he is called Dahāg or Bēvar-Asp, the latter meaning "[he who has] 10,000 horses." Several other dragons and dragon-like creatures, all of them malevolent, are mentioned in Zoroastrian scripture. (See Zahhāk).
Semitic
In Jewish religious texts, the first mention of a dragon-like creature is in the Biblical works of Job (26:13), and Isaiah (27:1) where it is called Nachash Bare'ach, or a "Pole Serpent".[11] This is identified in the Midrash Rabba to Genesis 1:21 as Leviathan from the word Taninim (תנינים) "and God created the great sea-monsters."[12] In modern Hebrew the word Taninim is used for Crocodiles - however, this is a 20th Century usage unconnected with the original Biblical meaning.[citation needed]
In <Jewish astronomy this is also identified with the North Pole, the star Thuban which, around 4,500 years ago, was the star in the Draco constellation's "tail".[11] However this can also have been either the celestial pole or the ecliptic pole. The ancient observers noted that Draco was at the top of the celestial pole, giving the appearance that stars were "hanging" from it, and in Hebrew it is referred to as Teli, from talah (תלה) - to hang.[13] Hebrew writers from Arabic-speaking locations identified the Teli as Al Jaz'har, which is a Persian word for a "knot" or a "node" because of the intersection of the inclination of the orbit of a planet from the elliptic that forms two such nodes. In modern astronomy these are called the ascending node and the descending node, but in medieval astronomy they were referred to as "dragon's head" and "dragon's tail".[14]
Rahab, as described in Psalms 89:9-10 and Isaiah 51:9-10, also has "dragon-like" characteristics.[original research>?]
Modern depictions
Toy dragons, on sale in a California gift shop, 2005In the early 20th Century sculpture of the Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland, inspired by Medieval art, dragons are a frequent theme - as symbol of sin but also as a nature force, fighting against man.
There are numerous examples of dragons in modern literature, especially the fantasy genre.
In the 1937 fantasy novel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, the major antagonist is a dragon named Smaug. Smaug hoards a great treasure but is ultimately shot down with an arrow by an archer who was told about a soft patch in Smaug's underbelly armor. Other dragons appearing in Tolkien's works include Glaurung, the ""father of dragons" created by Morgoth, along with Ancalagon the Black and Scatha. Also, in Tolkien's Farmer Giles of Ham, a dragon named Chrysophylax Dives is encountered.
Dragonriders of Pern is an extensive fantasy/science fiction series of novels and short stories primarily written by Anne McCaffrey. Since 2004, McCaffrey's son Todd McCaffrey has also published Pern novels, both in collaboration with Anne and on his own. The Pernese use intelligent firebreathing dragons who have a telepathic bond with their riders, formed by mental impressions which the dragons receive when they hatch from their eggs.
Some modern pseudo-biological accounts of dragons give them the generic name Draco, although the generic name Draco is used in real-world biology for a genus of small gliding agamid lizard.
The Dragons of Probability
Stanislaw Lem, in his whimsical Cyberiad, explores the statistical notion of Dragons. His two fabled Constructors, Trurl and Klapaucius, while satisfied with the impossibility of Dragons, are not satisfied to end the discussion at this point. In line with the White Queen's assertion in Through the Looking Glass that one can "Think of hundreds of impossible things before breakfast", an entire scientific community quickly establishes itself around the study of impossible Dragons. Statistically improbable, Dragons are the most likely impossible creature to exist, with a higher (though equally near infinite) improbability assigned to Fairies, Gnomes, Pixies, Witches, and Elves, in that order. With the development of Draconology (the Statistical science of determining and describing Dragon Implausibility in a quantifable manner), developments included determining that Dragons exist within Configurational Space, the same statistical environment in which electrons exist and move. Trurl develops the theory of the Dracotron, and uses it in a manner analogous to the Mossbauer effect to detect a Dragon's tail, which nearly costs him his life. In discovering that Dragons exist in configurational space, this explains how in the (incredibly infinitesimally likely) cases where dragons are encountered, the beast when cornered will slip back into this space-time outside of reality. The Beast, being stupid and obstinate, does so instinctively. Trurl and Klapacius have a few adventures involving their statistical science, which involve the quantum mechanical uncertainties associated with Dragons.
In a similar vein, Terry Pratchett also imagines Dragons to be a statistical type of creature, which are most prone to slip out of their imprisoning space (sandwiched in a three dimensional tesselation whose description is reminiscent of the works of Escher) when they encounter the intersection with L-space, Pratchett's description of the special conditions found within libraries, and most particularly the magical library of the Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork.
Creationists' assertions
Some creationists, including Kent Hovind and Bill Cooper, believe that dragons were a form of dinosaur and still exist albeit they are in hiding.[15]
Cartography
There is a widespread belief that earlier cartographers used the Latin phrase hic sunt dracones, i.e., "the dragons are here", or "there are dragons here", to denote dangerous or unexplored territories, in imitation of the infrequent medieval practice of putting sea serpents and other mythological creatures in blank areas of maps. However the only known use of this phrase is in the Latin form "HC SVNT DRACONES" on the Lenox Globe (ca. 1503-07).[16]
Dominance and Submission
What you are about to read some of can say yeah thats me but i have been looking about for this info for ur Pleasure i hope you like it enjoy
Dominance and submission (also known as D&s, Ds or D/s) is a set of behaviors, customs and rituals involving the giving by one individual to another individual of dominance over them in an erotic episode or as a lifestyle.
Physical contact is not a necessity, and it can even be conducted anonymously over the telephone, email or other messaging system. In other cases, it can be intensely physical, sometimes traversing into sadomasochism. In D/s, both parties take pleasure or erotic enjoyment from either dominating or being dominated. Those who take the superior position are called dominants, doms (male) or dommes (female), while those who take the subordinate position are called submissives or subs (male or female). A switch is an individual who plays in either role. Two switches together may negotiate and exchange roles several times in a session. "Dominatrix" is a term usually reserved for a female professional dominant who dominates others for pay.
OVERVIEW
Dominance and submission, and the inner conflict and surrender connected with these are enduring themes in human culture and civilization. In human sexuality this has broadened to include mutual exploration of roles, emotions and activities which would be difficult or impossible to do without a willing partner taking an opposing role.
While D/s can deal with representations of brutality and cruelty, and the emotional responses to them, adherents are quick to point out that D/s is not about acts of brutality and cruelty. It is a consensual power exchange between the two partners and need not involve any brutality (such as corporal punishment) or cruelty (verbal or emotional abuse) at all. It is primarily based upon trust and communication between the partners. It is also based on a deep ethos of mutual respect in which exploration of the emotions brought up by power exchange can occur in a safe, sane and consensual manner.
A safe word is usually given to the submissive partner to prevent the dominant from overstepping physical and emotional boundaries. The safe word is especially important when engaging in verbal humiliation or playing 'mind-games' because the submissive may not be aware of an emotional boundary until it is crossed. If an emotional boundary is breached and the safe word called, the dominant should cease all play immediately and discuss the emotional breach with the submissive in a tender and understanding manner. Negotiating limits in advance is also an important element in a D/s relationship.
D/s may be ritualised or freeform. It is usually a negotiated lifestyle, with people discussing their wishes, limits and needs in order to find commonality. A D/s relationship may be sexual or non-sexual, long or short term, and intimate or anonymous. Most adherents search for the essential intensity, trust and intimacy that are required to make any deep relationship possible.
Terminology
D/s participants often refer to their activity as "play", with an individual play session called a "scene". The term "top" is equivalent to dominant while the term "bottom" is equivalent to submissive. Another term that is one the same vein is “switch”, a switch is someone who will change from top to bottom in different scenes or with different partners.
The term "vanilla" refers to normative ("non-kinky") sex and relationships, the vanilla world being mainstream society outside of the BDSM subculture. The term comes from vanilla ice cream being considered the "default" flavour.
D/s relationship styles
There can be any number of partners in a D/s relationship, in some cases with one dominant sometimes having several submissives, who may in turn dominate others, or a submissive sometimes may have multiple dominants. Relationships may be monogamous or polyamorous. Romantic love is not necessarily a feature in D/s, partners might be very much in love or have no romantic relationship at all.
Variation in D/s is virtually limitless and the activities take many forms. These may include:
domestic servitude or consensual slavery
enforced chastity of the submissive
erotic humiliation
sexual slavery
verbal humiliation
fetishes, such as foot/shoe/boot worship, uniforms, smoking, latex, heavy rubber, among others are activities considered part of BDSM
dehumanization (pony or animal play) or objectification (forniphilia, becoming an 'inanimate object' such as a foot stool)
cross-dressing
These may be combined with other forms of BDSM. A classic example of D/s is the sissymaid, where an adult male dresses in cartoonish female clothing and performs stereotypical female chores such as housecleaning or serving tea. It should be noted that cross-dressing in D/s does not always involve a desire to be sissified or made into caricatures of women or to serve; for example, others may desire to be made as beautiful as possible and interact on a "girlfriend-to-girlfriend" non-sexual basis.
Some D/s relationships are sexual, others completely chaste. Fantasy role play can also be a part, with partners taking classic dominant/submissive roles, or classic authority figure roles such as teacher/student, police officer/suspect or parent/child. Animal play, where one partner takes the role of owner/caretaker and the other takes the part of a pet or animal, can also be D/s play.
Consent and contracts
Main articles: Consent (BDSM) and legal consent which discusses when consent can be a defence to criminal liability for any injuries caused and that, for these purposes, non-physical injuries are included in the definition of grievous bodily harm.
See also: Contract (BDSM)
Consent is a vital element in all psychological play, and consent can be granted in many ways. Some employ a written form known as a "Dungeon negotiation form", for others a simple verbal commitment is sufficient. Consent can be limited both in duration and content.
Consensual non-consensuality is a mutual agreement to be able to act as if consent has been waived within safe, sane limits. In essence it is an agreement that subject to a safe word or other restrictions, and reasonable care and commonsense, consent (within defined limits) will be given in advance and with the intent of being irrevocable under normal circumstances, at times without foreknowledge of the exact actions planned. As such, it is a show of extreme trust and understanding and usually undertaken only by partners who know each other well, or otherwise agree to set clear safe limits on their activities.
It's not unusual to grant consent only for an hour or for an evening. When a scene lasts for more than a few hours, it's common to draft a "scene contract" that defines what will happen and who is responsible for what. It's a good way to work out what all the parties want, and usually improves the experience. Some "contracts" can become quite detailed and run for many pages, especially if a scene is to last a weekend or more.
For long term consent, a "Slave contract" may be used. BDSM "contracts" are only an agreement between consenting people and are usually not legally binding; in fact, the possession of one may be considered illegal in some areas[citation needed]. Slave contracts are simply a way of defining the nature and limits of the relationship and are not intended to carry legal force.
After a slave contract is drafted, some celebrate the event with a "collaring ceremony", in which the local D/s community is invited to witness the commitment made in the document. Some ceremonies become quite elaborate, and can be as involved as a wedding or any similar ritual.
Relationships
In some D/s relationships a partner only submits occasionally and with definite short-term goals, perhaps for an evening or the duration of a party.
In other relationships, there may be an ongoing (not scene- or play-specific) power exchange between or among partners in a committed relationship, often involving love and servitude and enacted in many different ways throughout the relationship. Some D/s relationships may be compared to the idealized marriages portrayed in older television programs, in which one partner is domestic and service-oriented and the other partner is the provider, protector, and household authority. BDSM may otherwise be deliberately and consciously incorporated into the relationship, or it may focus wholly on power exchange.
Some people may opt for the master or mistress/slave model, in which consent is negotiated once for a long period and the consent given is generally broader. Slave contracts may be used. Where the contract is in effect continuously, the relationship is referred to as "24/7". The limits of the slave contract can vary widely and extend into other areas of BDSM. Some people opt to be purely "sex slaves", while others who prefer domestic service identify as "service slaves". Some slaves allow their masters or mistresses complete latitude as to the demands that can be placed on them. Such a relationship is known as total power exchange or TPE.
People usually only enter into a master/slave contract after they have known and played with each other for some time, often several years. It can be one of the most difficult relationships in the BDSM world to maintain, and requires special skills and experience.
Equipment and accessories
Some people maintain a special room or area, called a dungeon, which contains special equipment (shackles, handcuffs, whips, queening stools and spanking benches or a Berkley horse, for example) used for play scenes, or they may visit a BDSM club that maintains such facilities
Collars
Main article: Collar (BDSM)
A typical D/s "slave collar" Many submissives wear a "collar" to denote their status and commitment. It can be much like a wedding band, except that only the submissive partner wears one. The traditional collar is a neck band in leather or metal, chosen, designed or even crafted by the dominant partner. Some subs wear a "symbolic collar", often a bracelet or ankle chain, which is more subdued than the traditional collar and can pass in vanilla (non-BDSM) situations. It is not uncommon for a sub to have several collars for special occasions. Dog collars are integral for
K-9 roleplaying—pup-play.
There was once a tradition that wearing a collar with an open padlock indicated that one was seeking a partner, a closed lock indicated that one was in a relationship. This symbolism became less common after 1995 or so.
Many people, for example some of those in the punk rock and goth subcultures, wear collars for other reasons such as fashion, so one cannot assume that all people wearing collars are involved in BDSM. Members of the furry fandom may also wear collars as a part of costuming or as a fashion. Use of collars in the sexual aspects of furry lifestyle may or may not be connected to BDSM depending on the individual's preferences.
Safety
There are some risks commonly associated with D/s. Because it is mostly a mental activity, many of the risks associated with D/s involve mental health. Others involve abuses of the trust inherent in a D/s relationship. Some examples are:
Physically or mentally abusive dominant partner
Self-hating subs
Dominant partners who violate the trust relationship by attempting to isolate the sub from society or monetarily exploit the sub
Unstable dominant partners or subs who, through act or threat of calling public attention to the other's private life and their relationship, can cause financial or personal hardship
Emotionally unstable or manipulative subs or dominant partners seeking more from the relationship than the other, as a human being, can give. This can include so-called mind games, emotional vampirism and any other forms of emotional manipulation or abuse present in any other relationship. The extra factor is that D/s relationships are already predicated upon a delicate shift of power, and so rely more than usual on participants being able to handle that well.
Local and regional BDSM organizations typically provide community-based counseling and assistance to dominants or submissives who are in a troubled relationship.
History
There are many writings from the ancient age through the modern that would clearly indicate a willingness to submit for purely romantic reasons.[citation needed]
Another medieval example is the literary convention of courtly love, an ideal which usually required a knight to serve his courtly lady (in "love service") with the same obedience and loyalty which he owed to his liege lord.[citation needed] This convention was submissive and sometimes fetishistic, with the knight performing acts of cross-dressing and self-flagellation.[citation needed] However, the relationship between the literary conventions and actual practices is unknown.[citation needed]
There are also accounts of prostitutes in most major cities that catered to male submissives, as well as masochists.[citation needed] In a male dominated world it was all too easy for a submissive woman to find a strict male dominant,[citation needed] but some women still found ways to leave husbands who were "too soft".[citation needed]
One of the most famous works in this area is Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's Venus im Pelz (Venus in Furs, 1869), in which the protagonist Severin persuades a woman, Wanda, to take him on as her slave, serves her and allows her to degrade him. The book has elements of both social and physical submission, and is the genesis of the term masochism coined by the 19th century psychiatrist Krafft-Ebing.
The Rolling Stones song "Under my Thumb" (M. Jagger, 1966) is supposedly about a D/s relationship. The Green Day song "All By Myself/Dominated Love Slave" (Frank Edwin Wright III or Tre Cool) describes F.E. Wright III's feelings for female dominance.
[edit] Myths
Common myths about D/s:[citation needed]
Dominants are naturally cruel people.
Submissives are naturally weak-willed "doormats."
Submissives are attempting to re-live childhood abuse.
Women who are into D/s are nymphomaniacs, or indiscriminate sex partners.
D/s is usually a case of "role-reversal" with people who have much power and responsibility in real life often preferring a submissive role.
There is little or no factual evidence to support any of these concepts; submissives and dominants come from a broad spectrum of society and most people into BDSM are very selective about who they play with. Considering the risks, this is not surprising. The idea that submissive women are sexually indiscriminate likely stems from pornographic fiction and the appeal of an insatiable partner who will do anything one commands. In real life this is rarely the case.
Dr. Michael J. Bader, author of Arousal: The Secret Logic of Sexual Fantasies, writes: "It is quite common that children who were abused grow up and develop sexual fantasies loosely based on their abuse. ... The adult indulging in a fantasy of sexual surrender or abasement is actually saying to her or himself: 'I'm recreating a terrifying or traumatic scene, but this time I'm in control because I'm scripting the scene ...'" [1]
The "role-reversal" myth likely stems from studies done in the 1950s which found that most of the clients in houses of domination were wealthy, powerful men.[citation needed] This is probably more due to the high fees charged in such houses (often $200–$5,000 a session) than a dearth of impoverished submissives.[citation needed] There are many poor submissives and wealthy dominants.[citation needed]
Some linguistic conventions
Some people in the D/s world capitalize words and names that refer to dominants, and not to capitalize those that refer to submissives, hence the capitalization of D/s; others do not. It was popularized on internet chatrooms, to make it easier to identify the orientation of the writer or the person being written about.
Also, some submissives eschew personal pronouns, instead referring to themselves as "this slave" or "Master Bob's girl". This is sometimes considered an expression of modesty, but it is an entirely optional method of depersonalizing a submissive during "play". It may have roots in the military, where new marines are required to refer to themselves as "this recruit" rather than "I" or "me
Friday 23 April 2010
Dracula and the Frankenstein monster
Frankenstein and Dracula both deal with the issues of death and resurrection, creation and transgression, and the blurring of the boundaries between life and death. This common linkage with death and resurrection increased with time. James Whale emphasizes the significance of digging in a Christian cemetery in his Frankenstein (1931). The pronounced crucifix and an image of the Grim Reaper reinforce the taboos associated with violating sacrosanct burial grounds. These are recurring elements in the vampire original and modern myth but they are only suggested in Shelley’s work.
In Dracula, the necessity of ridding the world of the monster is even greater than in Frankenstein, and dominates more of the textual space. By the end of both novels, the threats that the monsters pose have been overcome. But they live on in myth and in metaphor because the issues of so-called monstrosity that they address are still relevant in the post-tech world.
This raises the question of whether any links be found between the two texts. There is little doubt that Stoker had read Frankenstein by the time he wrote Dracula. After his death in 1912 his library, which was auctioned at Sotheby’s, included a copy of Mary Shelley’s novel. Indeed, in a letter to her son soon after the publication of his masterpiece, his mother said, “No book since Mrs. Shelley’s Frankenstein ... has come near yours in originality, or terror.”
Stoker’s novel contains numerous resonances of Frankenstein, for they both draw upon a common stock of narrative and thematic conventions.
Both monsters attempt to invade the intellectual space of the “civilized” world. The Monster in Frankenstein reads Western literary texts (Plutarch, Goethe and Milton) in order to understand us, while Count Dracula studies English magazines to assist in the process of assimilation. Both texts use geographically identifiable landscapes for symbolic purposes. Shelley’s land of ice and snow is a counterpart to the iciness of abandonment and rejection.
Both Frankenstein and Dracula contain references to Coleridge’s famous Gothic poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” It is not surprising to find allusions to the poem in Frankenstein, for Mary Shelley heard Coleridge read it when she was a child. However, there are numerous parallels: layers of narrative, compulsive telling of tales, Promethean journeys, images of ice and snow, the torture of isolation and the question of guilt. Direct allusions include a stanza from the poem (58). As he runs away from the Monster he has created, Victor Frankenstein recalls:
My heart palpitated in the sickness of fear; and I hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about me:
Like one who, on a lonely road,Doth walk in fear and dread,And, having once turned round, walks on,And turns no more his head;Because he knows a frightful fiendDoth close behind him tread. (59)
Scholars point to a “family resemblance” which includes a link to historical figures (Vlad the Impaler, the alchemist Dippel). Radu Florescu draws attention to a fortuitous historical “connection” between Frankenstein and Dracula. The burial ground of the Evangelical Church in the Transylvanian city of Sibiu contains a number of ancient crypts, including that of Vlad Tepes’ son Mihnea, who was assassinated in 1510. Not too far away, he states, lies the crypt of a Saxon nobleman whose name was “Baron Frank von Frankenstein” (In Search of Frankenstein, 16).
We may add also a concern with transcending the limits of what is scientifically possible (the boundaries between life and death), a portrayal of the monsters as both dignified and pitiable, a suspenseful final chase, and the structure of multiple narrations. Like dark twins, they embody “the war between science and superstition -- Apollo and Dionysus at the Saturday matinee” ( David Skal, The Monster Show, 351).
On the surface, both works are horror novels which revolve around the necessity of destroying a monster. A closer examination shows that many of the qualities which define the monsters are a consequence of the way in which their stories have been passed on to us. Both authors filter their antagonist’s stories through the narratives of characters whose biases are readily apparent.
Frankenstein is constructed from three different narrations. Victor’s story includes the Monster’s narrative, while both of these viewpoints are enclosed in Walton’s letters to Margaret. The most important consequence of this textual appropriation is that, with the exception of the closing remarks over Victor’s corpse, the Monster’s story is embedded in Victor’s text. Thus, Victor asserts his authority over the Monster’s side of the story.
But there are also major differences that set apart each work and associated monster.
While Victor’s text comes to us through Walton, there are crucial differences in how their stories are filtered. Victor has editorial authority over Walton’s notes. At one point, he “asked to see them, and then himself corrected and augmented them in many places” (175). A second major difference is that Victor is speaking to a kindred spirit who has embraced him as friend and who shares a similar Promethean ambition. In contrast, Victor is a reluctant listener to the Monster’s tale, and has formed various conclusions about the speaker before hearing his story. Victor also attempts to control Walton’s response to the Monster’s text, for he clearly wants Walton (and ultimately, us) to repudiate the Monster. Walton’s momentary sympathy for the creature is overshadowed by Victor’s warnings about its powers of eloquence and persuasion. The deck is stacked. In spite of his professions of remorse, Victor never abandons his conviction that he has acted nobly. He continues to justify his right, not only to create but to destroy what he has created. In addition, his refusal to share the secret of his creation is a major cause of the catastrophes that befall his loved ones.
In addition to posing a sexual threat, Dracula is also the supernatural Other, the undesirable challenge to educated, rational Englishmen who privilege science over medieval, pre-Enlightenment irrationality. Dracula is a destroyer rather than a preserver of text; unlike Shelley’s Monster who keeps Victor’s notebook, Dracula destroys any records he finds. This reinforces his image as the antithesis of civilized Western European culture -- the cultural, social, racial, and biological Other. On the other hand, Frankenstein is a product of our Society, Science and Culture; even if he can be considered as a failure, a freak, he is the son of his time contrarily to Dracula who comes from a distant past.
In Dracula, the necessity of ridding the world of the monster is even greater than in Frankenstein, and dominates more of the textual space. By the end of both novels, the threats that the monsters pose have been overcome. But they live on in myth and in metaphor because the issues of so-called monstrosity that they address are still relevant in the post-tech world.
This raises the question of whether any links be found between the two texts. There is little doubt that Stoker had read Frankenstein by the time he wrote Dracula. After his death in 1912 his library, which was auctioned at Sotheby’s, included a copy of Mary Shelley’s novel. Indeed, in a letter to her son soon after the publication of his masterpiece, his mother said, “No book since Mrs. Shelley’s Frankenstein ... has come near yours in originality, or terror.”
Stoker’s novel contains numerous resonances of Frankenstein, for they both draw upon a common stock of narrative and thematic conventions.
Both monsters attempt to invade the intellectual space of the “civilized” world. The Monster in Frankenstein reads Western literary texts (Plutarch, Goethe and Milton) in order to understand us, while Count Dracula studies English magazines to assist in the process of assimilation. Both texts use geographically identifiable landscapes for symbolic purposes. Shelley’s land of ice and snow is a counterpart to the iciness of abandonment and rejection.
Both Frankenstein and Dracula contain references to Coleridge’s famous Gothic poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” It is not surprising to find allusions to the poem in Frankenstein, for Mary Shelley heard Coleridge read it when she was a child. However, there are numerous parallels: layers of narrative, compulsive telling of tales, Promethean journeys, images of ice and snow, the torture of isolation and the question of guilt. Direct allusions include a stanza from the poem (58). As he runs away from the Monster he has created, Victor Frankenstein recalls:
My heart palpitated in the sickness of fear; and I hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about me:
Like one who, on a lonely road,Doth walk in fear and dread,And, having once turned round, walks on,And turns no more his head;Because he knows a frightful fiendDoth close behind him tread. (59)
Scholars point to a “family resemblance” which includes a link to historical figures (Vlad the Impaler, the alchemist Dippel). Radu Florescu draws attention to a fortuitous historical “connection” between Frankenstein and Dracula. The burial ground of the Evangelical Church in the Transylvanian city of Sibiu contains a number of ancient crypts, including that of Vlad Tepes’ son Mihnea, who was assassinated in 1510. Not too far away, he states, lies the crypt of a Saxon nobleman whose name was “Baron Frank von Frankenstein” (In Search of Frankenstein, 16).
We may add also a concern with transcending the limits of what is scientifically possible (the boundaries between life and death), a portrayal of the monsters as both dignified and pitiable, a suspenseful final chase, and the structure of multiple narrations. Like dark twins, they embody “the war between science and superstition -- Apollo and Dionysus at the Saturday matinee” ( David Skal, The Monster Show, 351).
On the surface, both works are horror novels which revolve around the necessity of destroying a monster. A closer examination shows that many of the qualities which define the monsters are a consequence of the way in which their stories have been passed on to us. Both authors filter their antagonist’s stories through the narratives of characters whose biases are readily apparent.
Frankenstein is constructed from three different narrations. Victor’s story includes the Monster’s narrative, while both of these viewpoints are enclosed in Walton’s letters to Margaret. The most important consequence of this textual appropriation is that, with the exception of the closing remarks over Victor’s corpse, the Monster’s story is embedded in Victor’s text. Thus, Victor asserts his authority over the Monster’s side of the story.
But there are also major differences that set apart each work and associated monster.
While Victor’s text comes to us through Walton, there are crucial differences in how their stories are filtered. Victor has editorial authority over Walton’s notes. At one point, he “asked to see them, and then himself corrected and augmented them in many places” (175). A second major difference is that Victor is speaking to a kindred spirit who has embraced him as friend and who shares a similar Promethean ambition. In contrast, Victor is a reluctant listener to the Monster’s tale, and has formed various conclusions about the speaker before hearing his story. Victor also attempts to control Walton’s response to the Monster’s text, for he clearly wants Walton (and ultimately, us) to repudiate the Monster. Walton’s momentary sympathy for the creature is overshadowed by Victor’s warnings about its powers of eloquence and persuasion. The deck is stacked. In spite of his professions of remorse, Victor never abandons his conviction that he has acted nobly. He continues to justify his right, not only to create but to destroy what he has created. In addition, his refusal to share the secret of his creation is a major cause of the catastrophes that befall his loved ones.
In addition to posing a sexual threat, Dracula is also the supernatural Other, the undesirable challenge to educated, rational Englishmen who privilege science over medieval, pre-Enlightenment irrationality. Dracula is a destroyer rather than a preserver of text; unlike Shelley’s Monster who keeps Victor’s notebook, Dracula destroys any records he finds. This reinforces his image as the antithesis of civilized Western European culture -- the cultural, social, racial, and biological Other. On the other hand, Frankenstein is a product of our Society, Science and Culture; even if he can be considered as a failure, a freak, he is the son of his time contrarily to Dracula who comes from a distant past.
The Death of Gothicism
Mary Shelley's classic defies strict categorization as either Gothic, Romantic or Science Fiction. While containing elements of each, it moves beyond these genres and transcend time. Despite being very much rooted in the Nineteenth Century, it is thoroughly applicable to our current Twenty first Century. Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus has inspired other literary works which typify the genre more closely such as H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau and The Invisible Man. More popularly, Shelley's novel has inspired robotics sci-fi books and films such as The Terminator.
The 18th century became known as the Age of Reason. The belief developed that humanity could grasp its destiny and build a better world. The idealistic American and French revolutions broke out. The Industrial Revolution led to mass production and faster travel, at the same time that it darkened the urban atmosphere and forced millions to work under severe conditions. In reaction to the forward-looking Age of Reason, the gothic novel developed, set in medieval castles and featuring seemingly supernatural plotlines.
The possibility of a society transformed by individuals seemed less believable. Mary Shelley suffered from this disillusionment, but for different reasons. In his essay on Frankenstein, George Levine discusses the dream Godwin had which inspired the book: "The dreams emerge from the complex experiences that placed young Mary Shelley, both personally and intellectually, at a point of crisis in our modern culture, where idealism, faith in human perfectibility, and revolutionary energy were counterbalanced by the moral egotism of her radical father, the potential infidelity of her husband, the cynical diabolism of Byron, the felt reality of her own pregnancy, and a great deal more" (Levine). The overwhelming reality of Mary’s life was similar to the harsh reality going on in Europe's political events.
The 18th century became known as the Age of Reason. The belief developed that humanity could grasp its destiny and build a better world. The idealistic American and French revolutions broke out. The Industrial Revolution led to mass production and faster travel, at the same time that it darkened the urban atmosphere and forced millions to work under severe conditions. In reaction to the forward-looking Age of Reason, the gothic novel developed, set in medieval castles and featuring seemingly supernatural plotlines.
The possibility of a society transformed by individuals seemed less believable. Mary Shelley suffered from this disillusionment, but for different reasons. In his essay on Frankenstein, George Levine discusses the dream Godwin had which inspired the book: "The dreams emerge from the complex experiences that placed young Mary Shelley, both personally and intellectually, at a point of crisis in our modern culture, where idealism, faith in human perfectibility, and revolutionary energy were counterbalanced by the moral egotism of her radical father, the potential infidelity of her husband, the cynical diabolism of Byron, the felt reality of her own pregnancy, and a great deal more" (Levine). The overwhelming reality of Mary’s life was similar to the harsh reality going on in Europe's political events.
Mary Shelley's classic defies strict categorization as either Gothic, Romantic or Science Fiction. While containing elements of each, it moves beyond these genres and transcend time. Despite being very much rooted in the Nineteenth Century, it is thoroughly applicable to our current Twenty first Century. Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus has inspired other literary works which typify the genre more closely such as H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau and The Invisible Man. More popularly, Shelley's novel has inspired robotics sci-fi books and films such as The Terminator.
The 18th century became known as the Age of Reason. The belief developed that humanity could grasp its destiny and build a better world. The idealistic American and French revolutions broke out. The Industrial Revolution led to mass production and faster travel, at the same time that it darkened the urban atmosphere and forced millions to work under severe conditions. In reaction to the forward-looking Age of Reason, the gothic novel developed, set in medieval castles and featuring seemingly supernatural plotlines.
The possibility of a society transformed by individuals seemed less believable. Mary Shelley suffered from this disillusionment, but for different reasons. In his essay on Frankenstein, George Levine discusses the dream Godwin had which inspired the book: "The dreams emerge from the complex experiences that placed young Mary Shelley, both personally and intellectually, at a point of crisis in our modern culture, where idealism, faith in human perfectibility, and revolutionary energy were counterbalanced by the moral egotism of her radical father, the potential infidelity of her husband, the cynical diabolism of Byron, the felt reality of her own pregnancy, and a great deal more" (Levine). The overwhelming reality of Mary’s life was similar to the harsh reality going on in Europe's political events.
In his study Creature and Creator: Mythmaking and English Romanticism, Paul Cantor claims that Frankenstein and the monster capture “the complex duality of the Romantic soul, the dark as well as the bright side, the violent as well as the benevolent impulses, the destructive as well as the creative urges”.
In common with classic Gothic tales,Frankenstein makes use of the correspondence between theme, character and setting. But the haunted castles and medieval trappings of the classical gothic tales are missing, replaced by experimental science and rationality. Frankenstein transcended Gothic by combining science with the supernatural. Maurice Hindle pretends that Frankenstein is no gothic hero, because he has only assumption and pride. The Monk of Lewis is very similar to Dr Frankenstein, they areboth negative heroes because their passion got the better of them
Like other gothic heroes, Victor Frankenstein is a descendant of Cain, Satan, and Prometheus, heroic in their rebellion but pathetic in their destiny. Their pain and suffering exalt them above the collective and enshrine them in their excruciating settings. Frankenstein’s project can be seen as the ultimate test of the Romantic’s denial of the limits on human creative power. Justifying his efforts to create life in his laboratory, Victor Frankenstein states, “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs”.
In common with classic Gothic tales, Frankenstein makes use of the correspondence between theme, character and setting. But the haunted castles and medieval trappings of the classical gothic tales are missing, replaced by experimental science and rationality. Frankenstein transcended Gothic by combining science with the supernatural. Maurice Hindle pretends that Frankenstein is no gothic hero, because he has only assumption and pride. The Monk of Lewis is very similar to Dr Frankenstein, they areboth negative heroes because their passion got the better of them.
Like other gothic heroes, Victor Frankenstein is a descendant of Cain, Satan, and Prometheus, heroic in their rebellion but pathetic in their destiny. Their pain and suffering exalt them above the collective and enshrine them in their excruciating settings. Frankenstein’s project can be seen as the ultimate test of the Romantic’s denial of the limits on human creative power. Justifying his efforts to create life in his laboratory, Victor Frankenstein states, “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs” (55).
Frankenstein Psycholoy
As depicted by Shelley, the creature is a sensitive, emotional creature whose only aim is to share his life with another sentient being like himself. The novel portrays him as immensely intelligent and literate, having read Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Lives, and The Sorrows of Young Werther. He is driven by despair and loneliness to acts of cruelty and murder.
From the beginning the monster is rejected by everyone he meets. He realizes from the moment of his "birth" that even his own creator could not be around him; this is obvious when Frankenstein says "…one hand was stretched out, seeming to detain me, but I escaped…" (Shelley,43). The creature tries to forget about this and move on, but everyone who sees him run away in fear. Upon seeing his own reflection, he realizes that he too cannot stand to see himself. By the end of the novel, he is overcome by loneliness and resentment, swearing revenge on his creator and renouncing all of mankind.
From the beginning the monster is rejected by everyone he meets. He realizes from the moment of his "birth" that even his own creator could not be around him; this is obvious when Frankenstein says "…one hand was stretched out, seeming to detain me, but I escaped…" (Shelley,43). The creature tries to forget about this and move on, but everyone who sees him run away in fear. Upon seeing his own reflection, he realizes that he too cannot stand to see himself. By the end of the novel, he is overcome by loneliness and resentment, swearing revenge on his creator and renouncing all of mankind.
In the 1931 film adaptation, the creature is depicted as mute and bestial. In the subsequent sequel, Bride of Frankenstein, the creature learns to speak and discover his feelings, although his intelligence and capacity of speech remains limited. In the second sequel, Son of Frankenstein, the creature is again rendered inarticulate. Following a brain transplant in the third sequel The Ghost of Frankenstein, the Monster speaks with the voice and personality of the brain donor. This was continued after a fashion in the scripting for the fourth sequel Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, but the dialogue was famously excised before release. The Monster was effectively mute in later sequels, though he is heard to refer to Dracula as his 'Master' in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
Modern popular culture has not stopped this decay. The Monster has grown into a representation for science run amok, black-and-white monster movies, and lumbering brutes with their hands stretched out, among other things, and is now one of the most famous movie characters in history, perhaps the most famous and visually memorable of the Universal Monsters. The Monster's face has become very well known, especially for the electrodes sticking out of his neck and the square head. He has starred in numerous films, book spin-offs, games, and has appeared on shirts, laptops and lunchboxes.
Modern popular culture has not stopped this decay. The Monster has grown into a representation for science run amok, black-and-white monster movies, and lumbering brutes with their hands stretched out, among other things, and is now one of the most famous movie characters in history, perhaps the most famous and visually memorable of the Universal Monsters. The Monster's face has become very well known, especially for the electrodes sticking out of his neck and the square head. He has starred in numerous films, book spin-offs, games, and has appeared on shirts, laptops and lunchboxes.
Frankenstein
Were would i be without out put this one i am putting all the rest of the black arts ones so why not this one Enjoy :)
Frankenstein has enjoyed an afterlife in numerous stage productions and movie adaptations that have reshaped the monster of the original story. Indeed the monster has taken the name of his creator and his archetypal image is still influenced by the 1931 movie poster and movie starring Boris Karloff as a green skinned giant with bolts in his neck.
Frankenstein Description
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Friday, 06 November 2009 17:23
Frankenstein has enjoyed an afterlife in numerous stage productions and movie adaptations that have reshaped the monster of the original story. Indeed the monster has taken the name of his creator and his archetypal image is still influenced by the 1931 movie poster and movie starring Boris Karloff as a green skinned giant with bolts in his neck.
The creature in Shelley's 1818 novel is hardly the grunting, green-skinned behemoth familiar to generations of movie fans. Stitched together from body parts and brought back to life by Swiss scientist Victor Frankenstein, he develops into an articulate, sensitive being who ponders the meaning of life while suffering his miserable existence abandoned and alone.
At the moment he animates his patchwork of flesh he recoils in horror. "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!-Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath: his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriences only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips" (57).I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! -- Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion, and straight black lips.I beheld the wretch -- the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs. He approached; his countenance bespoke bitter anguish, combined with disdain and malignity, while its unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for human eyes.A fiendish rage animated him as he said this; his face was wrinkled into contortions too horrible for human eyes to behold; but presently he calmed himself and proceeded.A ghastly grin wrinkled his lips as he gazed on me, where I sat fulfilling the task which he had allotted to me.As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the utmost extent of malice and treachery. I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged. The wretch saw me destroy the creature on whose future existence he depended for his happiness, and, with a howl of devilish despair and revenge, withdrew. The shutters had been thrown back; and, with a sensation of horror not to be described, I saw at the open window a figure most hideous and abhorred. A grin was on the face of the monster; he seemed to jeer, as with his fiendish finger he pointed towards the corpse of my wife.I entered the cabin where lay the remains of my ill-fated and admirable friend. Over him hung a form which I cannot find words to describe: gigantic in stature, yet uncouth and distorted in its proportions. As he hung over the coffin, his face was concealed by long locks of ragged hair; but one vast hand was extended, in colour and apparent texture like that of a mummy. when he heard the sound of my approach, he ceased to utter exclamations of grief and horror, and sprung towards the window. Never did I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome, yet appalling hideousness. I shut my eyes, involuntarily, and endeavoured to recollect what were my duties with regard to this destroyer. I called on him to stay.
Darconology
A friend wrote a few things about dragons for me here they are :)
Draconology or dracology is a pseudo science that refers to the study of dragons and related creatures. People who study dragons sometimes call themselves draconologists or dragonologists.
There are no evidences that there has ever been people lucky enough to be in close contact with dragons and survive. The present knowledge about dragons is mainly speculation and invention but we hope you will find in these pages some true facts.
There are no evidences that there has ever been people lucky enough to be in close contact with dragons and survive. The present knowledge about dragons is mainly speculation and invention but we hope you will find in these pages some true facts.
What is a Dragon
drag.on \'drag-en\ n dracon-,draco serpent,dragon, [fr.GK drakon;akin to OE torht bright,Gk derkesthai to see,look at]
archaic: a huge serpent
a fabulous animal usually represented as a monstrous winged and scaly serpent or saurian with a crested head and enormous claws.
Dragon Etymology
Tormont Illustrated Encyclopedia
drag'en n.
1. a. A fabulous monster, represented usually as a gigantic reptile breathing fire and having a lion's claws, the tail of a serpent, wings and scaly skin.
b. A figure or other representation of this creature.
2. Archaic. A large snake or serpent [Middle English drago(u)n, from Old French dragon, from Latin draco (stem dracon-), dragon, serpent, from Greek drakon, serpent]
The English word "dragon" derives from Greek δράκων (drákōn), "dragon, serpent of huge size, water-snake", which probably comes from the verb δρακεῖν (drakeîn) "to see clearly".
In Ancient Greece the first mention of a "dragon" is derived from the Iliad where Agamemnon is described as having a blue dragon motif on his sword belt and a three-headed dragon emblem on his breast plate; however, the Greek word used (δράκων drákōn, genitive δράκοντοϛ drákontos) could also mean "snake".
δράκων drákōn is a form of the aorist participle active of Greek δέρκομαι dérkomai = "I see", derkeîn = "to see", and originally likely meant "that which sees", or "that which flashes or gleams" (perhaps referring to reflective scales).
The Complete Oxford Dictionary
dragon 1. A huge serpent or snake; a python. Obs. (exc. in etymol. use).2. a. A mythical monster, represented as a huge and terrible reptile, usually combining ophidian and crocodilian structure, with strong claws, like a beast or bird of prey, and a scaly skin; it is generally represented with wings, and sometimes as breathing out fire. The heraldic dragon combines reptillian and mammalian form with the addition of wings. b. Hence frequent allusions to ancient and medieval tales of dragons, as those which watchfully guarded the Gardens of the Hesperides, those which drew the chariot of Cynthia or the moon, those fought and slain by Beowulf, St. George, and other champions. c. like a dragon: fiercely, violently.3. In the Bible versions reproducing draco of the Vulgate and Spakwv of the Septuagint, where the Hebrew has (a) tannin a great sea- or water-monster, a whale, shark, or crocodile, also a large serpent; or (b) tan a desert mammalian animal, now understood to be a jackal, and so rendered in the Revised Version.4. a. An appellation of Satan, the 'Old Serpent'. b. transf. A devilish person; a 'fiend'. c. An evil power embodied. rare.5. An appellation of Death. arch.6. A fierce violent person; esp. a fiercely or agressively watchful woman; a duenna.7. a. A representation or figure of the mythical creature. b. An ensign or standard, having the figure of a dragon. Obs. c. dragon china, a kind of porcelain decorated with designs of dragons. d. to chase the dragon (slang): to take heroin by inhalation (see quot. 1961).8. Astron. a. A northern constellation, Draco. b. The part of the moon's path which lies south of the ecliptic: see DRAGON'S HEAD, TAIL. Obs. c. Applied to a shooting star with a luminous train. Obs. Cf. DRAKE1 2.9. A paper kite. [Ger. drache.] Sc.10. a. An early fire-arm; = DRAGOON 1. Obs. b. A soldier armed with this; = DRAGOON 2. Obs. c. A very powerful armoured tractor.11. Zool. A lizard of the genus Draco, having on each flank a broad wing-like membrane, which enables it to leap some distance in the air.12. Ichthyol. (Also dragon-fish.) a. =DRAGONET 2. b. The ANGLER, Lophius (obs.).13. A fancy variety of pigeon; = DRAGOON sb. 3.14. (Also green dragon.) The plant Dracunculus vulgaris (formerly Arum Dracunculus); =DRAGONS; DRAGONWORT. Also applied to species of Dracontium.15. A disease of the eye of the horse; see quots.16. (Also dragon cane): see quot.17. slang. A sovereign: from the device of St. George and the Dragon.18. attrib. or as adj. Of or as of a dragon, of the nature of a dragon; dragon-like, dragonish. dragon boat = DRAKE1 5.19. General Combs.: a. attributive, as dragon-bought, -coil, -face, -feet, -hame (covering), -hole, -killer, -kind, -legend, -mail, -race, -scale, -seed, tooth (see 21 b), -whelp, -womb,; b. similative, as dragon-green adj.; c. instrumental, as dragon guarded, -ridden, -wardered adjs.; d. parasynthetic, as dragon-eyed, -mouthed, -penned, -winged, adjs.; also dragon-like adj and adv
Definition of witchcraft
Definition
witch:1. a person believed to have magic power: sorceress2. an ugly old woman: hag3. a charming or alluring girl or woman
The Merriam Webster Dictionary
According to sixteenth-century English lawyer William West:
“ A witch or a hag is she which being deluded by a league made with the devil through his persuasion, inspiration or juggling, thinketh she can design what manner or evil things soever, either by thought or imprecation, as to shake the air with lightnings and thunder, to cause hail and tempests, to remove green corn or trees to another place, to be carried of her familiar (which hath taken upon him the deceitful shape of a goat, swine, or calf, etc.) into some mountain far distant, in a wonderful short space of time, and sometime to fly upon a staff or fork, or some other instrument, and to show a thousand such monstrous mockeries.”
Ethymology
"Witch" comes from the Anglo-Saxon wicce (meaning witch), which in turn derives from an Indo-European root word meaning to bend or change or do magic/religion (making it related to "wicker," "wiggle," and even "vicar"). It is possibly also related to the Old Norse vitki (meaning wizard), derived from root words meaning "wise one" or "seer." "Warlock" (rarely used, for male Witches) is from the Old Norse varðlokkur, "spirit song" (not "oath-breaker").
"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?When the hurly-burly's done. When the battle's lost and won.That will be ere the set of sun...Fair is foul, and foul is fairHover through the fog and filthy air." Macbeth, Act I, Scene I
Translations and other names
hexe, häxen, hexse, hess, hächse, hezze (german)
hag (english)
heks (dutch)
sorciere (french)
stregha, erbaria (italian)
bruja (spanish)
bruxa (portugese)
larva, malefica, lamia, venefica, striga, masca, maga (latin)
witch:1. a person believed to have magic power: sorceress2. an ugly old woman: hag3. a charming or alluring girl or woman
The Merriam Webster Dictionary
According to sixteenth-century English lawyer William West:
“ A witch or a hag is she which being deluded by a league made with the devil through his persuasion, inspiration or juggling, thinketh she can design what manner or evil things soever, either by thought or imprecation, as to shake the air with lightnings and thunder, to cause hail and tempests, to remove green corn or trees to another place, to be carried of her familiar (which hath taken upon him the deceitful shape of a goat, swine, or calf, etc.) into some mountain far distant, in a wonderful short space of time, and sometime to fly upon a staff or fork, or some other instrument, and to show a thousand such monstrous mockeries.”
Ethymology
"Witch" comes from the Anglo-Saxon wicce (meaning witch), which in turn derives from an Indo-European root word meaning to bend or change or do magic/religion (making it related to "wicker," "wiggle," and even "vicar"). It is possibly also related to the Old Norse vitki (meaning wizard), derived from root words meaning "wise one" or "seer." "Warlock" (rarely used, for male Witches) is from the Old Norse varðlokkur, "spirit song" (not "oath-breaker").
"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?When the hurly-burly's done. When the battle's lost and won.That will be ere the set of sun...Fair is foul, and foul is fairHover through the fog and filthy air." Macbeth, Act I, Scene I
Translations and other names
hexe, häxen, hexse, hess, hächse, hezze (german)
hag (english)
heks (dutch)
sorciere (french)
stregha, erbaria (italian)
bruja (spanish)
bruxa (portugese)
larva, malefica, lamia, venefica, striga, masca, maga (latin)
Jealous
one thing before u read on a friend of mine wrote this for me form a mans points of view i have seen to many people that are Jealous ........ and some of them is people i know that know that and one or tow of my friend are still with them....
Okay, Mr. Midlife Bachelor – you just finished fantasizing about dating a nymphomaniac, and how wonderful and glorious that must be … even if fleeting. Now you can come crashing back to reality with an image that is all too often total reality … that of a jealous woman. Almost all women are jealous to some extent – some more than others. Some women are so jealous that it overwhelmingly defines their personality, and their behavior toward you. Women can be jealous of other women, or the potential of other women possibly wanting to be with you. Or they can be jealous of EVERYTHING that takes your attention away from them. They can be jealous of your friends, your family, your job, and your hobbies. So jealousy is not just limited to your interactions or potential interactions with other women – it can possibly encompass many things.
Dealing with jealousy is often painful. You may be a jealous person yourself and thus unwittingly foster, magnify, or amplify the situation. Jealously is always rooted in feelings of insecurity – so keep that in mind. Sometimes women are jealous because of things that have happened to them in their past, or (more likely) in the recent past … such as having had their last boyfriend cheat on them. The fact is - the more secure you can make a woman feel, the more likely you are to potentially minimize her jealous feelings and actions. I say “potentially” because I have seen some crazy women who were so jealous that it didn’t matter what a guy did – they were always crazy-jealous. And wow – are those the tough ones to deal with. Sometimes you have to make the call that it is not worth continuing.
Okay – now for some examples. The first comes from my own past, a woman named Regina who I loved dearly, who I had the best and most glorious sex with, and who lived with me. [I also wrote about Regina and some of her episodes in the crazy woman section entitled, “Crazy Woman Example – She is Always Upset with You”, and also “Crazy Woman Example – She Hates Your Friends”.] Regina was kind of a fireball Latina who I met at work during a sales conference. She worked in customer service, and I was one of the Southern California sales staff. To be honest, in the five years or so prior to dating Regina, I had made my rounds through her department … and had earned the reputation of being a guerrilla dater (hit and run). When I met Regina, and we spent some time together – I thought that she was the perfect woman for me in every way … she was beautiful, seemed to have a great attitude, wanted children, and had just come out of a bad marriage where her husband had cheated on her. Things were great – for a while … and then over time, as always, a person’s true inner persona gradually appears.
Regina believed that I was cheating on her left and right. The reality is that I never did cheat on her at all. Yes – I spoke to other women (oh nooooo – not that), but there was really no basis for her to think I was out scamming on other women. I was even engaged to Regina, and that did not calm her down. Now I did tend to perhaps drink a little more than I should have during that time period – and Regina was certainly no fan of me coming home drunk … but being drunk and cheating are two entirely different things. The reality of that time period was that Regina was always on me … she was constantly asking me where I had been, who I had met up with, where I was going, what time would I be back. Granted – these questions might not seem entirely strange to someone reading this right now … but at the time, I was constantly being hammered with this stuff. Even if I was going to work, I got the third degree – and it got old in a hurry. Now things got really political if Regina saw me actually talking to another woman – holy cow! I remember one time in particular, I was trying to be extra nice to one of my friend’s wife (in front of my friend, of course), and Regina thought that I was paying way too much attention to her … and she made such a fuss that it was embarrassing. It was almost child-like.
After Regina moved in with me, I thought that things would calm down. Surely she would see that I am not out cheating on her. In fact, I’m normally kind of a home-body type … I like hanging around my home, watching TV, doing yard work, washing my cars, doing home improvement projects, etc. I have to admit that before Regina moved in with me – knowing that she was extremely jealous, I went through my entire home, garage, storage, everything … and got rid of absolutely ANYTHING from any previous girlfriends or women. I did this JUST IN CASE Regina might stumble upon something, and have a fit. Well guess what – while I was at work each day, sure enough Regina was going through literally EVERYTHING … looking for even the slightest evidence of me cheating. Well you know what is coming, right? Yes – she found something. Not a love letter, not a photo nor a gift or anything like that. No – she looked in the one place that it honestly never occurred to me to sanitize … my email! Now today, one would think that email is so common that this would be the first place to clean out. This however was back in 1998, and although email was used, to me it was not a mainstay in terms of communication (like it is today). What I’m saying here is that there wasn’t much if anything for me to clean out in my email. But if someone is looking, really looking, for something – they ARE going to find it … and what she found was one email thread between me and a Persian girlfriend that I had parted ways with prior to meeting Regina. I read the email after Regina pointed it out to me, and it was fairly incriminating … but it all was before I met Regina. So my response at the time was,
“Look – I’m sorry you read this … but it was before I knew you, and you really had no business whatsoever going through my private email.”
All of this actually pissed me off enormously because I realized how hard she must have been looking to find that one email out of many hundreds … plus it also tipped me off that she had probably gone through everything else in my house, too. As all of this registered in my head, I got angry – I remember adding to my previous statement something to the effect of,
“SOMEONE has a little too much time on their hands. If you spent as much time and energy looking for a fucking job as you have going through my stuff, then you’d be employed right now and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Well you know what is coming next. She moved out – and my heart was broken. I felt both responsible for it happening, and also not responsible. I mean – I blew my top when I found out she was going through all of my stuff and my email … but I also knew that she definitely had a real problem with jealousy for her to go to those extreme lengths. I loved her so much though. I never really got over her.
Another great example of jealousy has to do with my good buddy, Greg, and his wife, Tiffany. Tiffany has appeared throughout this site in various examples. She is the very attractive blonde who is extremely insecure about her looks … and who is so jealous of anything or anyone that takes the attention of my buddy, Greg, away from her – that she forces that person or thing out of my friend’s life by making it such a major issue. I have previously described Tiffany as a crazy woman who hates Greg’s friends, and also as a woman who is never happy. She actually shares these traits with my former love, Regina – but Tiffany takes it way past anything or anyone else I’ve ever seen. Greg and I were the best of friends before he met Tiffany. We were such good friends that we used to refer to ourselves as “The Gregs”. Each of the Gregs could always tell what the other would say in a given situation – we thought about stuff exactly the same. The Gregs were a couple of happy friends who hung around a lot, and had a lot of fun playing pool, barbequing, going jet skiing, going to dinner, etc. We were best buddies. And then Tiffany showed up, and started dating my buddy, Greg. After a year or so (when people typically start letting their true colors show), Tiffany began getting more and more critical of me. She didn’t really enjoy my sense of humor, and used it against me by telling Greg that she didn’t like my jokes or my sarcasm … and that she didn’t want me around them. And that was fine. Actually, as it turned out – I was just the first to go. Greg’s father was next – as Tiffany decided that Greg enjoyed being around his Dad just a little too much, so she got Greg to think that his father took advantage of him financially, and that his father drank too much, etc. So Greg’s father was banned – at least for a while. To make a long story short, it became very obvious over a six-month period or so that anything that took Greg’s attention away from Tiffany was going to cause a problem. Getting Greg to recognize this was somewhat of a chore. He married Tiffany, and because he is a Christian believed that nothing should interfere with a man’s relationship with his wife. For a time, Greg even told me that he and I could not be friends – and man did that ever piss me off. Over time, Greg realized that what he really had on his hands was a crazy wife – and that he needed his friends and his family in his life to help him cope with her craziness. There is no happy end to this particular story – Greg is still married to Tiffany, and she continues to make his life difficult.
Just about all of us have had a crazy jealous girlfriend of some sort in our past. The extreme examples of Regina and Tiffany are good lessons – just in case you have not had a REALLY jealous girlfriend before. They are out there – and they are evil, even though they don’t realize it. These two women are really good-looking – so the insecurity behind their jealousy is unrelated to anything physical, rather it is all mental on their part. When faced with a jealous girlfriend, you the midlife bachelor have got to make a conscious decision as to whether the woman is worth the mental pain and anguish she is causing you. If the sex is great, then that may mask your ability to think clearly … but sooner or later you will see the light, and know whether you did the right thing by staying with the woman. Don’t try to cure jealousy – that is what mental health professionals (and years of therapy) are for. As a midlife bachelor, you don’t have that kind of time on your hands – you’ve got other places to go, other women to meet!
Okay, Mr. Midlife Bachelor – you just finished fantasizing about dating a nymphomaniac, and how wonderful and glorious that must be … even if fleeting. Now you can come crashing back to reality with an image that is all too often total reality … that of a jealous woman. Almost all women are jealous to some extent – some more than others. Some women are so jealous that it overwhelmingly defines their personality, and their behavior toward you. Women can be jealous of other women, or the potential of other women possibly wanting to be with you. Or they can be jealous of EVERYTHING that takes your attention away from them. They can be jealous of your friends, your family, your job, and your hobbies. So jealousy is not just limited to your interactions or potential interactions with other women – it can possibly encompass many things.
Dealing with jealousy is often painful. You may be a jealous person yourself and thus unwittingly foster, magnify, or amplify the situation. Jealously is always rooted in feelings of insecurity – so keep that in mind. Sometimes women are jealous because of things that have happened to them in their past, or (more likely) in the recent past … such as having had their last boyfriend cheat on them. The fact is - the more secure you can make a woman feel, the more likely you are to potentially minimize her jealous feelings and actions. I say “potentially” because I have seen some crazy women who were so jealous that it didn’t matter what a guy did – they were always crazy-jealous. And wow – are those the tough ones to deal with. Sometimes you have to make the call that it is not worth continuing.
Okay – now for some examples. The first comes from my own past, a woman named Regina who I loved dearly, who I had the best and most glorious sex with, and who lived with me. [I also wrote about Regina and some of her episodes in the crazy woman section entitled, “Crazy Woman Example – She is Always Upset with You”, and also “Crazy Woman Example – She Hates Your Friends”.] Regina was kind of a fireball Latina who I met at work during a sales conference. She worked in customer service, and I was one of the Southern California sales staff. To be honest, in the five years or so prior to dating Regina, I had made my rounds through her department … and had earned the reputation of being a guerrilla dater (hit and run). When I met Regina, and we spent some time together – I thought that she was the perfect woman for me in every way … she was beautiful, seemed to have a great attitude, wanted children, and had just come out of a bad marriage where her husband had cheated on her. Things were great – for a while … and then over time, as always, a person’s true inner persona gradually appears.
Regina believed that I was cheating on her left and right. The reality is that I never did cheat on her at all. Yes – I spoke to other women (oh nooooo – not that), but there was really no basis for her to think I was out scamming on other women. I was even engaged to Regina, and that did not calm her down. Now I did tend to perhaps drink a little more than I should have during that time period – and Regina was certainly no fan of me coming home drunk … but being drunk and cheating are two entirely different things. The reality of that time period was that Regina was always on me … she was constantly asking me where I had been, who I had met up with, where I was going, what time would I be back. Granted – these questions might not seem entirely strange to someone reading this right now … but at the time, I was constantly being hammered with this stuff. Even if I was going to work, I got the third degree – and it got old in a hurry. Now things got really political if Regina saw me actually talking to another woman – holy cow! I remember one time in particular, I was trying to be extra nice to one of my friend’s wife (in front of my friend, of course), and Regina thought that I was paying way too much attention to her … and she made such a fuss that it was embarrassing. It was almost child-like.
After Regina moved in with me, I thought that things would calm down. Surely she would see that I am not out cheating on her. In fact, I’m normally kind of a home-body type … I like hanging around my home, watching TV, doing yard work, washing my cars, doing home improvement projects, etc. I have to admit that before Regina moved in with me – knowing that she was extremely jealous, I went through my entire home, garage, storage, everything … and got rid of absolutely ANYTHING from any previous girlfriends or women. I did this JUST IN CASE Regina might stumble upon something, and have a fit. Well guess what – while I was at work each day, sure enough Regina was going through literally EVERYTHING … looking for even the slightest evidence of me cheating. Well you know what is coming, right? Yes – she found something. Not a love letter, not a photo nor a gift or anything like that. No – she looked in the one place that it honestly never occurred to me to sanitize … my email! Now today, one would think that email is so common that this would be the first place to clean out. This however was back in 1998, and although email was used, to me it was not a mainstay in terms of communication (like it is today). What I’m saying here is that there wasn’t much if anything for me to clean out in my email. But if someone is looking, really looking, for something – they ARE going to find it … and what she found was one email thread between me and a Persian girlfriend that I had parted ways with prior to meeting Regina. I read the email after Regina pointed it out to me, and it was fairly incriminating … but it all was before I met Regina. So my response at the time was,
“Look – I’m sorry you read this … but it was before I knew you, and you really had no business whatsoever going through my private email.”
All of this actually pissed me off enormously because I realized how hard she must have been looking to find that one email out of many hundreds … plus it also tipped me off that she had probably gone through everything else in my house, too. As all of this registered in my head, I got angry – I remember adding to my previous statement something to the effect of,
“SOMEONE has a little too much time on their hands. If you spent as much time and energy looking for a fucking job as you have going through my stuff, then you’d be employed right now and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Well you know what is coming next. She moved out – and my heart was broken. I felt both responsible for it happening, and also not responsible. I mean – I blew my top when I found out she was going through all of my stuff and my email … but I also knew that she definitely had a real problem with jealousy for her to go to those extreme lengths. I loved her so much though. I never really got over her.
Another great example of jealousy has to do with my good buddy, Greg, and his wife, Tiffany. Tiffany has appeared throughout this site in various examples. She is the very attractive blonde who is extremely insecure about her looks … and who is so jealous of anything or anyone that takes the attention of my buddy, Greg, away from her – that she forces that person or thing out of my friend’s life by making it such a major issue. I have previously described Tiffany as a crazy woman who hates Greg’s friends, and also as a woman who is never happy. She actually shares these traits with my former love, Regina – but Tiffany takes it way past anything or anyone else I’ve ever seen. Greg and I were the best of friends before he met Tiffany. We were such good friends that we used to refer to ourselves as “The Gregs”. Each of the Gregs could always tell what the other would say in a given situation – we thought about stuff exactly the same. The Gregs were a couple of happy friends who hung around a lot, and had a lot of fun playing pool, barbequing, going jet skiing, going to dinner, etc. We were best buddies. And then Tiffany showed up, and started dating my buddy, Greg. After a year or so (when people typically start letting their true colors show), Tiffany began getting more and more critical of me. She didn’t really enjoy my sense of humor, and used it against me by telling Greg that she didn’t like my jokes or my sarcasm … and that she didn’t want me around them. And that was fine. Actually, as it turned out – I was just the first to go. Greg’s father was next – as Tiffany decided that Greg enjoyed being around his Dad just a little too much, so she got Greg to think that his father took advantage of him financially, and that his father drank too much, etc. So Greg’s father was banned – at least for a while. To make a long story short, it became very obvious over a six-month period or so that anything that took Greg’s attention away from Tiffany was going to cause a problem. Getting Greg to recognize this was somewhat of a chore. He married Tiffany, and because he is a Christian believed that nothing should interfere with a man’s relationship with his wife. For a time, Greg even told me that he and I could not be friends – and man did that ever piss me off. Over time, Greg realized that what he really had on his hands was a crazy wife – and that he needed his friends and his family in his life to help him cope with her craziness. There is no happy end to this particular story – Greg is still married to Tiffany, and she continues to make his life difficult.
Just about all of us have had a crazy jealous girlfriend of some sort in our past. The extreme examples of Regina and Tiffany are good lessons – just in case you have not had a REALLY jealous girlfriend before. They are out there – and they are evil, even though they don’t realize it. These two women are really good-looking – so the insecurity behind their jealousy is unrelated to anything physical, rather it is all mental on their part. When faced with a jealous girlfriend, you the midlife bachelor have got to make a conscious decision as to whether the woman is worth the mental pain and anguish she is causing you. If the sex is great, then that may mask your ability to think clearly … but sooner or later you will see the light, and know whether you did the right thing by staying with the woman. Don’t try to cure jealousy – that is what mental health professionals (and years of therapy) are for. As a midlife bachelor, you don’t have that kind of time on your hands – you’ve got other places to go, other women to meet!
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