The Development of Lesbian and Queer Theory in America

The Development of Lesbian and Queer Theory in America An Examination of the Advancement of Lesbian Theory Criticism –  America: 1950’s-1990’s. Introduction Lesbianism in American society is a concept imbued with social, political, legal, aesthetic and literary codes and conventions, whether considered in 1950 or currently. In the past half century, lesbianism has not only expressed itself as specific articulations of sexuality and lifestyle, but also of ideology and political aspiration. Sexuality has remained essential to conceptualisations of lesbianism in this time span, with its political formulations, societal censures, and social accommodations anchored to the vicissitudes of feminist theory and practice. American social and political morays which have prescribed female functionality in post World War Two years, have cast mainstream female identity in terms of motherhood, wifeliness and domesticity, a formulation of personhood deeply challenged by advancing lesbian ideology and praxis. In this light, one of the significant threads of lesbian theory and criticism to be evaluated pertains to feminism’s examination of female identity in the past 50 years, and the status and reaction of lesbianism within this paradigm. This process encompasses events and issues pertaining to the biological, sexual and social validation of female gender, but also the intellectual development of modes of discourse pertaining to feminism and lesbianism, as a means of female empowerment, paralleled by considered or reactionary responses to wider societal trends. So called second wave feminism, benchmarked by the Stonewall Riots at Greenwich Village in New York in 1969, targeted women’s liberation not only at the level of law, and concrete denotations of inequality and injustice, (akin to feminism’s first wave), but at the more visceral level of societal and political attitudes and values, including the ideological decoupling of female personhood from male sexuality. Since the early 1990’s, the ideological and theoretical formulations of lesbianism have been advancing in disparate lines, at the bidding of post-structuralist or postmodernist discourses. Some of lesbianism’s intellectual impulses have focused upon notions of sexual and personal identity, and in spite of their intellectual sophistication have lost their momentum and coherence, collapsing into an â€Å"ambiguous polymorphy,†[1] whilst attempting to dispense with unhelpful binary oppositional definitions of gender or sexuality. Conversely, an intellectual strength of third wave feminism and post 1980’s lesbian criticism has been the attention to personhood, the integrity of the self and the integration of public and private moralities. Chapter 1 Homosexuality after World War I was broadly viewed as â€Å"an offence against the family and social expectations about gender.†[2] A doctor’s post World War 1 contemporary observations noted that it was â€Å"improper to utter the word homosexuality, prurient to admit its existence and pornographic to discuss the subject.†[3] The same doctor reflects the radical difference between American and European cultural and sexual values, implying that while Europe was perceived by Americans as decadent, European novels could discuss homosexuality openly within a European setting, yet American novels could not, since â€Å"if it existed at all, (as) our soil is unfavourable, our climate prejudicial, our people too primitive, too pure.†[4] Furthermore, Fone contends that homosexuality had come to be seen as a â€Å"subversion of America itself.† [5] Fone also observes that since war is a â€Å"time of fear and upheaval-it produces a virulent, xenophobic str ain of homophobia† tantamount to conceiving â€Å"sexual difference as a betrayal of American values†.[6] Retrospectively implicit among these anecdotal pre World War II dismissals of homosexuality, is the notable silence concerning any distinction between male and female homosexuality, or gay and lesbian sexual phenomenon. The grip of patriarchy was so overarching that lesbianism did not even feature as a notable offence against social sensibilities. Be that as it may. The social discourse regarding lesbianism in the 1950’s was in part a response to the repositioning of women due to World War II. As war demanded heightened US defences and reconstituted the nation’s labour force, women formed the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and were seconded to non-traditional jobs, accounting for one third of the work force. According to Kennedy and Davis, â€Å"World War II had a tremendous impact on lesbian life, by offering lesbians more opportunities for socialising and meeting other women.†[7] Since the war â€Å"gave more independence to all women†¦ lesbians (were) more like other women and less easy to identify. Since all women were able to wear pants to work and to purchase them in stores off the rack, butches who only wore pants in the privacy of their home in the 1930s could now wear them on the streets.†[8] Furthermore, in Buffalo women gained access to better jobs since productivity was heightened by war manufacturing. Since the male population of Buffalo was denuded for military service, lesbians had greater liberty to meet in public and pursue active social lives beyond hearth and home. Extensive social life revolved around â€Å"the proliferation of gay bars†[9] and despite the â€Å"mere presence of homosexuals†¦interpreted by the State Liquor Authority as constituting disorderly conduct†,[10] raids on premises were minimal in the 1940’s due to the shrewdness of business owners.[11] Concurrently, enlisted lesbians found a social space within the male world of military service since enrolment screening practices for lesbians entering the (WAC) were less stringent than for gay men.[12] In this example, the lack of status for women in the military prior to the war resulted in ill-defined screening procedures for women recruits, matched by a choice to not investigate the sexual lives of women, as the goal was to optimise the war effort.[13] The simplistic and binary designations of sexual orientation in the late 1940’s are noted by the comments from â€Å"a group of Marine Corps examiners at Camp LeJeune (who) advised their colleagues, â€Å"that women showing a masculine manner may be perfectly normal sexually and excellent military material.†[14] By the late 1940’s however, â€Å"purging of lesbians from the military became increasingly problematic. Many women were forced to deny knowing any of their friends or marry gay men to pass as heter osexual.†[15] Ominously, â€Å"mid 1950’s Navy officials secretly acknowledged that the homosexual discharge rate had become much higher for the female than the male.† [16] When the end of the war brought a resumption of traditional family roles, there were no alternate social prescriptions for women apart from marriage, and enduring singleness subjected females to social disapproval, while the â€Å"aggressive harassment of lesbians and gays was connected to this glorification of the nuclear family and domestic sphere.Homophobia became a way of reinstituting male dominance and strict gender roles that had been disrupted by the war.†[17] The 1950’s remained a social and political milieu of â€Å"severe oppression,†[18] yet Roosevelt suggests the reduced harassment of gay bar culture and the desire of public lesbians to reach out to other lesbians, marked a â€Å"significant transformation in lesbian consciousness.† [19] The emergence of tough butch lesbian sub-culture in the 1950’s, was, according to Roosevelt, a consequence of gay bar life and working class female job creation during World War II.[20] Nonetheless, â€Å"alcohol, insecurity, and repression, in combination with the tough butch image, made fights among tough and rough lesbians a prominent part of the 1950s landscape which increased concern and attention from the larger culture.† [21] Furthermore, the prominence of lesbians and male homosexuals holding positions within the American government agencies in the 1950’s was a matter of growing consternation, in light of the neo-conservatism and right wing extremism of this period. The political tirade against ‘un-American activities typified by the McCarthy led Senate committee inquiries and public hearings, not only felt virtue was found in the purging of communist allegiances and sentiments, but also coupled homosexuality and lesbianism with such perceived political aberrations. Politically enshrined deviance was aligned with sexually defined deviance. The 1950 congressional record addressed homosexuals in government, with congressman Miller of Nebraska addressing the House of Representatives. In an excerpt, Miller stated, â€Å"I would like to strip the fetid, stinking flesh off of this skeleton of homosexuality and tell my colleagues of the House some of the facts of nature†¦ Recently the spotlight of publicity has been focused not only upon the State Department but upon the Department of Commerce because of homosexuals being employed in these and other departments of Government. Recently Mr. Peurifoy, of the State Department, said he had allowed 91 individuals in the State Department to resign because they were homosexuals. Now they are like birds of a feather, they flock together. Where did they go? You must know what a homosexual is. It is amazing that in the Capital City of Washington we are plagued with such a large group of those individuals. Washington attracts many lovely folks. The sex crimes in the city are many.†[22] Miller went on to refer to the Sex Pervert Bill passed through Congress that he authored, exposing his jaundiced view of sexuality by alluding to the peril of homosexuals, as well as the ‘concession’ that â€Å"some of them are more to be pitied than condemned, because in many it is a pathological condition, very much like the kleptomaniac who must go out and steal.†[23] In addition to the homophobic cringe mentality epitomising the 1950’s which also applied to lesbianism, viewing any form of non-heterosexual sex as non-normative and therefore aberrant, prior to 2003, homosexuality (and by extension lesbianism), was â€Å"considered a disease, a sin (and) a threat to public order.†[24] Further reasons why lesbianism was shunned by American mainstream society in the 1950’s concerns the belief that (in the absence of research to the contrary), sexual orientation was subject to change and able to be transferred.[25] As such, a threat or fear existed that there was the possibility of an epidemic conversion from heterosexual to, homosexual, yielding a perceived need to ‘protect’ heterosexuals. Since homosexuals and lesbians were perceived to be engaging in indulgent, wayward and aberrant sexual behaviour by choice, rather than by predisposition, the persecution and stigmatization they received was not viewed as a breach o f fundamental human rights. [26] Furthermore, another potent reason for the social and political aversion to lesbianism was the belief that heterosexual minors could become homosexual by way of seduction, justifying the protection of children and youth by means of criminal law.[27] Amnesty International’s recent statement addressing the decriminalisation of homosexuality globally, demonstrates that third wave feminist ideological battles (discussed later) are far from won. The paper makes the observation that â€Å"far fewer countries explicitly criminalise lesbianism than male homosexuality†¦ as there (already) exists a raft of legislation to limit, police and control womens sexual autonomy. (The writers’ explanation that), lesbianism is not generally subject to legal sanctions may be attributed to the absence of women from the public sphere and the resulting absence of awareness of lesbianism.†[28] This social invisibility[29] of lesbianism leads to some lawmakers denying that it even exists. Miller’s attitudes not only exposed the entrenched criminalisation of homosexuality (and by association lesbianism), but the second social contrivance of lesbianism which coalesced in American culture in the 1950’s, namely its ‘medicalisation’, framing lesbianism as a social pathogen, rather than an issue of sexual difference and diversity, when compared with heterosexuality or monogamy. Such a pathological casting of lesbianism is foreseen in pre-1950’s homophobic stereotypes, where psychic differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals were fabricated – constructing the homosexual male as a deficit being without â€Å"will power, perseverance, and dogmatic energy.†[30] These social postulations of male effeminacy merely mirrored manifestations of female ‘masculinisation,’ such as the butch bar working class lesbian sub-culture, already identified. Instead of current societal emphasis upon diversity and difference, the 1950’s construction of lesbianism underscored deficit and deviance. Roosevelt draws attention to psychiatrists Henry Gay duplicitous motives. Whilst formulating a committee for the Study of Sex Variants in the 1940’s, compiling case histories of over 300 lesbians, producing ‘Sex Variants: A Study of Homosexual Patters’, with the pretext of decriminalising lesbianism, in actuality, the hidden agenda was to legitimise the psychiatry profession, and as a consequence, medicalise lesbianism, merely replacing one construct of deviance with another. [31] Lesbianism remained an immoral practice in the USA until Illinois led the change with its homosexuality decriminalisation law in 1961.[32] Prior to this time, â€Å"criminologists of the 1950’s depicted lesbian inmates as menacing social types which lead to a conflation between women’s prisons and lesbianism.†[33] The shift to greater surveillance of lesbianism in women’s prisons was reflected in â€Å"U.S. popular and political culture in magazines, pulp no vels, and movies where the, previously, comic and benign lesbian gave way to the dangerously aggressive lesbian criminal. By the 1950’s the term ‘women’s prison’ was synonymous with lesbian aggression,†[34]casting sexuality as a potential signifier of membership of a â€Å"criminal underworld, losing class, race, and privilege.† [35]Such pulp novels as those published by Ann Weldy under the pseudonym Ann Bannon, included ‘Odd Girl Out’, (1957); ‘I Am a Woman (In Love With a Woman Why Must Society Reject Me’?) (1959); ‘Women in The Shadows’, (1959);‘Journey to a Woman’ (1960) and ‘The Marriage’, (1960); and Beebo Brinker (1962), the prequel to the first four books.[36] The social limitations of same-gender sexuality identification are evident in the narrative outcomes of these early lesbian pulp fiction titles. â€Å"It was expected that the characters in a lesbian novel would ne ver receive any satisfaction from a lesbian relationship. One or both usually ended up committing suicide, going insane, or leaving the relationship.† Describing the 1950’s as the hey-day of Lesbian Pulp Fiction, Bianco noted that while its boom was inspired mainly by publishers pitching successfully to straight males seeking titillation, oppressed lesbians found a private outlet and psychic survival through such writings denied them publicly by the censoriousness of 1950’s repressive American culture. Bianco noted the publicist’s irony, since while â€Å"cover art of pulp novels always depicted ultra-feminine women, the ‘real’ lesbians in the stories were often tomboys or ‘bad girls’ who seduced innocent straight women. Reflecting psychological theories of the time, lesbian pulp writers often presented lesbianism as the result of a trauma, such as rape or incest. At the end, the innocent straight woman almost always returned to a ‘normal’ life with a man. If the lesbian protagonist wasnt herself converted to heterosexuality, she usually became an alcoholic, lost her job, or committed suicide. Publishers insisted on these kinds of moral endings, condemning lesbian sexuality even while exploiting it. In this regard, lesbian pulps followed the formula of torment and sacrifice.†[37] As such, lurid and socially shunned fictionalisations of alternate sexuality merely reinforced the ethical and moral mainstream fabric of neo-conservative American culture. Anne Bannon, as she was publicly known, reputedly led a double life, a wife and mother who frequented lesbian bars on weekends in Greenwich Village, and strikingly only disclosed her authorship of her lesbian pulp fiction novels in the 1980’s, over two decades after they were published. In the view of Bianco, her works made a significant contribution to lesbian identity in the decade prior to ‘Stonewall’.[38] Theoretical perspectives on lesbian and alternate sexuality critical to the exploration of emerging critical paradigms of lesbianism in America in the second half of the twentieth century, do not merely address the enduring and at times overwhelming dialectical tension between mainstream heterosexual ideology and homosexual reaction; but the internal dialectic within the gay community and how it evolved and responded to dimensions of itself throughout this passage of social history. The butch/fem dialectic itself illustrates the politics of sex and psychology. An increase in sexual experimentation and practices, saw a sub-cultural practice emerge, whereby butch/ fem lesbian couples assumed strictly defined roles, the ‘stone butch untouchable’ finding sexual pleasure exclusively through giving pleasure to her fem, while the fem forbidden to reciprocate, was positioned within the codes of the relationship to only receive pleasure. While some critiqued this relational dynam ic as a mere imitation of conventional masculine approaches to sex, others identified in butches â€Å"a discomfort of being (physically) touched rooted in their biology.There was also much importance placed on role distinction, an unwanted vulnerability involved in mutual lovemaking, the butch ego, and the butch’s ambivalence toward her female body. In the 1950s, Fems approached sexuality from a self-centred perspective†¦and lesbians who would not select a role, but changed roles,were derisively referred to as KiKis or AC/DC and were viewed with suspicion by other working-class lesbians.†[39] That Butches apparently disliked switching roles, imposed such rigid relational rules and maintained such static notions of sexual identity, indicated that the delineation of sexual identity within this specific lesbian subculture, was just as restrictive and jaundiced a stance as the homophobic predilections of the 1950’s heterosexual community in general. The paraly zing dialectic of shame and shamelessness which more contemporary feminists have used to identify heterosexual impediments in the slow march towards sexual liberation[40] is alive in the politics of sex and identity psychology played out in the binary relations of 1950’s butch/fem lesbianism. While many look to the Stonewall Riots at Greenwich Village New York as the defining moment for the empowerment of the modern Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement, others trace the serious beginnings to 1951 in Los Angeles. In the 1950’s gay protest remained largely â€Å"bland, apologetic, unassertive and defensive†¦(relying) upon ‘experts’- psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts, lawyers, theologians†¦who spoke about us, to us, and at us, but never with us.† [41] By 1961, the Homophile Movement, represented in the US by a mere half dozen organizations, yet by 1969, numbering fifty or sixty such proactive bodies. The origins of the Stonewall Riots have their foundation in the â€Å"immigrant, working class neighbourhoods of New York†¦(where) gay sexuality was very much in and of the streets†¦due in part to the economic and spatial limitations of the tenements. Enclaves of lesbians interacted with their gay male counterparts, congregating in the speakeasies, tearooms and drag balls of Harlem and Greenwich Village during the 1920’s.†[42] Furthermore, Greenwich Village’s â€Å"bohemian life tolerated sexual experimentation which conferred upon the area an embryonic stature of erotica unbound†¦lesbian and gay clubs in the Village were founded on the ‘Personality Clubs’ of the bohemian intelligentsia.†[43] Writers commonly view Greenwich as a social space freed from the normal â€Å"social constraints† of modern life, a â€Å"sexual free- zone† and a homosexual Mecca for predominantly white homosexuals, as Harlem was for black p eople.[44] The anonymity of the city had become accessible to post war military linked Americans, and the semi public spaces of night cafà © and bar cultures, served to straddle the psychological and spatial divide between the privacy, domesticity and intimacy of the home, and the disclosure and defiance of public morality played out in the Greenwich domain. As Munt suggests, this cultural transition captured in Lesbian Pulp fiction, tracked â€Å"the lesbian adventurer inhabiting a twilight world where sexual encounters were acts of romanticised outlawry initiated in some back street bar and consummated in the narrative penetration of the depths of maze-like apartment buildings.† [45]Munt views Bannon’s heroines as mythologizing the â€Å"eroticised urban explorer.† [46] The value of Stonewall’s mythologisation is viewed â€Å"as a constitutive moment, while admitting its cultural fiction.†[47] Other signposts of lesbians claiming a small cultural space and some public domain in this ensuing decade indicated by Mathison Fraher, included the formation of the ‘Mattachine Society’ in 1951 (founded to aid homosexuals in the process of chronicling their collective histories and mitigate against social persecution); the initial publication of ‘One’ Magazine in 1953; the foundation of the lesbian organisation ‘Daughters of Bilitis’ in 1955; and the subsequent publication of their first magazine titled ‘The Ladder’ in 1956. Additionally, the Kinsley Report published in 1957 claimed 10% of the population to predominantly homosexual, while in 1961 Illinois became the first US state to criminalise homosexual acts. The Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in 1969 were closely followed by a Gay Rally in Chicago in 1970.[48] Chapter 2 Betty Friedan’s ground breaking book titled ‘The Feminine Mystique’, encapsulated the inexplicable toleration of millions of American women in the 1950’s and early 1960’s that had exclusively devoted themselves to the mutual socially prescribed roles of wife and mother. Friedan’s thesis was that this wholehearted devotion carried a contingent cost and sacrifice beyond the conscious level of comprehension of countless women, oblivious to the enormity of what they were surrendering in the process, as well as the significant parts of themselves they were denying as a result of idolising domesticity. Friedan herself in 1994 retrospectively explained the term ‘feminine mystique’ as when â€Å"women were defined only in sexual relation to men – man’s wife, sex object, mother, housewife- and never a person defining themselves by their own actions in society.†[49] She conceived of this conceptualisation of women as a stifling barrier to their wider participation within society and therefore as fully functioning human beings. It was the notion that this existential position of women was so unchallenged and so instinctively accepted that Friedan found to be so perplexing, provocatively couched by the feminist as a ‘feminine mystique’ to ridicule the notion that the socially contrived roles had acquired the status of an implacable genetic predisposition. Quidlen acclaims Friedan’s foresight in the book’s introduction, as she succeeded in scrutinising ways â€Å"women had been coaxed into selling out their intellect and their ambitions for the paltry price of a new washing machine†¦(seduced by) the development of labour saving appliances†¦(yet being) covered up in a kitchen conspiracy of denial.†[50] Friedan empowered women with confidence to reconceptualise their problems’ origins, lying beyond her marriage or herself.[51] Furthermore, Friedan was a keen observer of hypocrisy, contradiction and imbalance, with a caustic view concerning â€Å"a generation of educated housewives maniacally arranging the silverware and dressing to welcome their husbands’ home from work.†[52] Friedan as many other feminists and indeed lesbians was a strident advocate of the wider participation of women in society. Typifying ways women were alienated from mainstream society and disenfranchised by males, were prevailing attitudes towards abortion, public censure or ambivalence about a woman’s right to choose; the invisibility of sexual abuse, the lack of acknowledgement of more subtle forms of sexual harassment, as well as the economic and social disempowerment with relation to exit strategies for women to leave bad marriages. Friedan observes the 1990’s obsession with defining and crystalising female identity,[53] explaining this as a logical extension of the break down of the feminine mystique and the empowerment of women. This obsession manifested itself through a surfeit of women’s identity literature and college courses in women’s studies. [54] By logical extension, feminism did provide leverage for the liberation of lesbians and the sexual politics associated with lesbianism, in spite of Friedan’s disconnect with lesbianism as a valid expression of women’s rights. Friedan did identify menopause crises, sexual frigidity, promiscuity, pregnancy fears, child birth depression, passivity, the immaturity of American men, discrepancies between women’s tested childhood intellectual abilities and their adult achievements and the changing incidence of adult sexual orgasm in American women as issues pertaining to the emergence of a fuller identity and societal participation for women.[55] It is clear that there was little room in the consciousness of women to process the notion of their sexuality prior to the 1960’s sexual revolution, since women drew neuroses was the energy needed to juggle the conflicting roles between motherhood, domestic duty and work beyond the home and manage the personal and societal guilt which emerged from this 9at times) impossible process.[56] The social and political discourse of the era lionized women who did not lose their man, and balanced service of males, children and home. The wider world was beyond their consciousness and matters of sexual identity were not part of the public domain. Friedan contends that femininity in the 1950’s was a social construction, which, if attended to faithfully, was the only means by which women could achieve contentment and fulfilment, having historically made the blunder of trying to imitate masculinity , instead of embodying femininity, which was deemed to be characterized by sexual passi vity, nurturing maternal love and male domination.[57] Furthermore, the classification of the political domain as a male intellectual and practical bastion did nothing to facilitate women re-evaluating sexual politics and notions of political disenfranchisement in the 1950’s. In 1960, Friedan recalled that â€Å"a perceptive social psychologist showed me some sad statistics which seemed to prove unmistakably that women under age 35 years were not interested in politics.†[58] Furthermore, a false dichotomy was embedded in American national consciousness regarding female sexuality, with no middle ground, namely, women were good who came to the pedestal and whores if they expressed physical sexual desire or sought such pleasure. This dichotomous paradigm disempowered women’s sexual liberation.[59]While the feminine mystique succeeded in precluding women from considering their own sense of personal identity – who they were alone from husband, children and home,[60] the former emphasis of genetic determinism shaped women’s outlook on the path of their lives- plainly, â€Å"the identity of woman is determined by her biology.†[61] (Ironically, the same conclusion regarding lesbianism was not reached by American society for decades, prior to the 1990’s, lesbianism being widely viewed as deviant sexual conduct determined by choice rather than orientation.) Friedan counters the Freudian explanation for the desire of women to depart from the domestic centre, namely the motive of ‘penis envy’ propagated by Freud. [62]Instead, she presciently identified the objectification of women as a societal flaw, â€Å"she was, at that time, so completely defined as object by man, never herself as ‘I’, that she was not even expected to enjoy or participate in the act of sex.†[63] The gay and lesbian revolution gained momentum in the late 1960’s, infused the female with a sense of subjectivity, to counter this objectification, poignantly exemplified through the centring of the female orgasm, which emphatically declared that women were sexual beings, capable and entitled to experience sexual pleasure, rather than being victims of abuse or neutral ‘sideline observers’ of sexual activity while their husbands were actualising their virility through sex. While Friedan acknowledged that â€Å"Freudian tho ught became the ideological bulwark of American of the sexual counter-revolution in America†[64]defining the sexual nature of women, conversely Friedan speculated that an insatiable female sexual desire existed due to the vacuum created by the absence of larger life goals for woman. [65] While she countered Freud with this ex

Gabriel Fallopius

As one looks back on medicine, they see that it is clearly defined by the medical practitioners that pioneered the ideas and procedures that now make up the backbone of modern medicine. From Hippocrates' theory of the four humors to Louis Pasteur's ideas of germ theory to Alexander Fleming's discovery of the antibacterial properties of penicillin, these practitioners and their work have been critical to the way the world currently approaches medicine and healthcare. One of these key medical practitioners is Gabriel Fallopius. Fallopius was a sixteenth-century Italian anatomist who lived from 1523-1562 (Gabriel 2018). His work on human anatomy makes up much of the basis of modern understanding about the skeletal system, reproductive system, and the prevention of sexually transmitted disease and has paved the way for the current understanding and procedures within these fields.Gabriel Fallopius was born in 1523 to Geronimo and Caterina Falloppio in Modena, a province of modern day Italy. He was originally educated in the classical arts, but when his father died, his family experienced financial issues and he turned to the church for his career. In 1542 he became a priest and eventually became the canon, which is a position appointed by the bishop of the surrounding area, at the cathedral in Modena (Gabriel, The Holy See, and Whonamedit 2018). After his family finances were in order, he studied medicine under Niccolo Machella where he began to dissect bodies. He then studied under other medical practitioners and anatomists at the time including Giovanni Battista de Monte, Matteo Realdo Colombo, Andreas Vesalius, Antonio Musa Brasavola, and Giambattista Canano (Whonamedit 2018). Once he completed his training, he went to the University of Ferrara where he became a teacher of anatomy and held the Chair of Pharmacy. After his work in the University of Ferrara, Fallopius went to the University of Pisa where he took up the Chair in Anatomy from 1548 to 1551 which was followed up by him taking the Chair in Anatomy at the University of Padua from 1551 to 1562 (Gabriel and Whonamedit 2018). During this time in 1561, he published his book the Observationes Anatomicae, which was written as a commentary his mentor, Andreas Vesalius' book De Humani Corporis Fabrica which includes his notes and descriptions on the skeletal and female reproductive system including his description of the fallopian tubes (Sophia 2018). After this, he soon fell ill and on October 9, 1562, he died of pleurisy in Padua. (Gabriel and Whonamedit 2018). After his death, five books, which were collections of his notes and descriptions, were published. These books are Expositio in librum Galeni de ossibus, Observationes de venis, De humani corporis anatome compendium, De partibus similaribus humani corporis, and Secreti diversi et miraculis (Whonamedit 2018). One of the key aspects that defined Gabriel Fallopius work is the time period he lived in. Fallopius lived during the Renaissance which occurred from 1350-1650 AD. During this time, the common cause of disease was thought to have been an imbalance of the four humors, which were blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile (Gill 2017). Each of these humors was tied to an element and certain qualities. Blood was related to air and was considered hot and moist, phlegm was linked to water and was cold and moist, yellow bile was connected to fire and was hot and dry, and black bile was associated with earth and was cold and dry (Gill 2017). Conditions were treated by using remedies that were from the opposite humor. If a person had a condition that was thought to be caused by blood, which is hot and moist, it would be treated with remedies associated with black bile, which is cold and dry (Gill 2017). Medicine at this time also began to become separated from the church which led to an increase in the dissection of cadavers as well as more accurate anatomical drawings and descriptions such as those done by Fallopius and Leonardo Da Vinci. The renaissance also led to the introduction of improvements in medical practices and understanding, such as the practice of dressing a wound during surgery instead of cauterizing it to stop blood flow, and explanations of disease transmission (History 2018). Although these new advancements were being discovered, they were still often rejected, and superstitions and traditional practices such as bloodletting and leeches were still being implemented (Intro to Healthcare and EuroHistoryMed 2012). Fallopius' contributions to the medical field were vast and covered many body systems. Many of these contributions were discovered through the dissection of cadavers, which are human corpses. These cadavers would not only those of adults, but also those of fetuses, newborns, and young children (Whonamedit 2018). One of the body systems that Fallopius greatly contributed to was the skeletal system with contributions including descriptions of the semicircular canals which are fluid-filled bones in the ear that are responsible for balance and descriptions on the development of bones. Fallopius also described the formation of the bone of the sternum through ossification, the primary dentition of teeth during infancy, and the change from primary (baby) teeth to permanent (adult) teeth. He also disproved the belief that teeth and bones develop from the same tissue and Aristotle's claim that the bones of a lion are solid and contain no bone marrow (Whonamedit 2018). Fallopius work also greatly contributed to the modern understanding of the reproductive system. Within this system, Fallopius discovered and gave the first description of the fallopian tubes which connect the ovaries to the uterus, allow for ovulation and pregnancy, and are subsequently named after him. He also described and provided the scientific names for the vagina, placenta, and clitoris, and disproved that the penis enters the uterus during intercourse (Gabriel and Whonamedit 2018). Fallopius also contributed to the understanding of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and their prevention. His work on STDs primarily focused on syphilis as it had been rapidly spreading at that time. This was done through a study Fallopius conducted where he had 1,100 men use a contraceptive of his design during intercourse and observed to see if they later developed syphilis. The contraceptive he constructed consisted of a sheath that went over the penis that was held in place by a bow. When his trial concluded, none the men had developed the disease. (Whonamedit 2018).Gabriel Fallopius' work has had a profound effect on the current state of modern medicine and healthcare. First, his work on the skeletal system has allowed for a modern understanding of conditions that affect the bones such as osteoporosis. It has also lead to a greater understanding of the development of the bones and teeth from infancy to adulthood. Within the reproductive system, his work has allowed for advancements in fields and procedures that involve the female reproductive system such as gynecology and childbirth. Lastly, his studies pertaining to the prevention of syphilis has led to modern measures for prevention against sexually transmitted diseases through developments such as the latex condom and education about protected intercourse. His discoveries have led to the betterment of mankind and his accomplishments have made it clear that he is an influential figure in the history medicine.

Law question Essay

Ali had an antique motorbike which he decided to sell. He parked the motorbike on his front lawn with a sign † For sale- RM20,000†³. Ah Chong, who saw the sign, said to Ali that he would be prepared to buy the motorbike for RM15,000. Ali replied that the price is too low and suggested RM18,000. Ah Chong responded by asking if Ali would be prepared to accept payment of the RM18,000 in three monthly instalments of RM6,000 each. Ali replied that he would not. Ali then added,† Anyway I am no longer interested in selling the motorbike to you. † At that precise moment Ali spoke these words, a helicopter flew low overhead and drowned out his words. Ali did not bother to repeat what he had just said and was leaving when Ah Chong quickly agreed to the RM18,000 suggested earlier by Ali. Discuss whether there is a contract between Ali and Ah Chong. Explain whether your answer would be different if the helicopter flying overhead had not drowned out Ali’s words and Ah Chong heard what was said? Assignment Answer In this assignment, I would like to discuss the question above part by part. First of all, from the sentence ,† He parked the motorbike on his front lawn with a sign † For sale- RM20,000†³,† it is said that there was an invitation to trade. Invitation to treat or simply speaking information to bargain means a person inviting others to make an offer in order to create a binding contract. An example of invitation to treat is found in window shop displays and product advertisement. . In another words it is a special expression showing a person’s willingness to negotiate. The issue of invitation to treat was discussed in the case of Fisher v Bell[1961] 1 QB 394 by the English Court of Appeal : â€Å"It is perfectly clear that according to the ordinary law of contract the display of an article with a price on it in a shop window is merely an invitation to treat. It is in no sense an offer for sale the acceptance of which constitutes a contract. †[1]. An offer can be seen from the prescribed text, â€Å"Ah Chong, who saw the sign, said to Ali that he would be prepared to buy the motorbike for RM15,000. † It is stated in Section 2(a) Contracts Act 1950,† when one person signifies to another his willingness to do or abstain from doing anything, with a view to obtaining the assent of that other to the act or abstinence, he is said to make a proposal. † and Section 2(b) Contracts Act 1950,†when the person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted :a proposal, when accepted, becomes a promise. † . Both laws were applied when Ah Chong has shown his willingness to make an offer as he would be â€Å"PREPARED† to buy the motorbike for RM15,000. However, a counter offer was made by Ali when instead of accepting or rejecting Ah Chong’s offer, Ali made another offer:† Ali replied that the price is too low and suggested RM18,000†³. Ali’s offer refers to a counter offer. In this situation unless an acceptance is rendered, there is no binding contract between A and B. This situation is stated in Section 6(c) Contracts Act 1950-† by the failure of the acceptor to fulfill a condition precedent to acceptance†. There was famous case known as [2]Hyde v. Wrench, [1840] EWHC Ch J90 where Wrench (D) offered to sell his estate to Hyde for 1200 pounds and Hyde (P) declined. Wrench then made a final offer to sell the farm for 1000 pounds. Hyde in turn offered to purchase the property for 950 pounds and Wrench replied that he would consider the offer and give an answer within approximately two weeks. Wrench ultimately rejected the offer and the plaintiff immediately replied that he accepted Wrench’s earlier offer to sell the real estate for 1000 pounds. Wrench refused and Hyde sued for breach of contract and sought specific performance, contending that Wench’s offer had not been withdrawn prior to acceptance. The question or issue here is if one party makes an offer and the offeree makes a counteroffer, does the original offer remain open? Answer is No because a counteroffer negates the original offer. By making a counteroffer, the plaintiff rejected the original offer and he was not entitled to revive it. So in another words, the parties did not form a binding contract. Then we proceed to the next part where Ah Chong made a mere enquiry to Ali by asking if Ali would be prepared to accept payment of thr RM18,000 in three monthly instalments of RM6,000 each. Then, Ali replied that he would not. On top of that, Ali added that he is no longer interested in selling the motorbike to Ah Chong. Section 5(1) Contract Acts 1950 – A proposal may be revoked at any time before the communication of its acceptance is complete as against the proposer, but not afterwards. This particular case [3][3]ROUTLEDGE V GRANT (1828) 4 BING 653 is another example of revocation of an offer : Grant wrote to Routledge offering to purchase the lease of his house. The offer was to remain open for six weeks. Grant then changed his mind about purchasing the lease and, within the six weeks, withdrew his offer. After Routledge had received Grant’s letter withdrawing the offer, he wrote back to Grant, within the six weeks, accepting Grant’s offer. The issue before the court was whether Grant could withdraw his offer within the six week period or whether he was bound contractually given that Routledge had accepted the offer within the timescale. The court held the offer could be withdrawn within the six week period without incurring any liability – if one party has six weeks to accept an offer, the other has six weeks to put an end to it. One party cannot be bound without the other. The case and scenario above convey an useful reminder that until such time as an offer is accepted, the offeror is free to revoke it, even if they have given the recipient a period of time to consider it. When Ali spoke :† I am no longer interested in selling the motorbike to you. † a helicopter flew and drowned his words. And yet, Ali did not bother to repeat what he just said and was leaving when Ah Chong quickly agreed to the RM18,000 suggested earlier by Ali. In this particular moment, Ali rejected Ah Chong’s offer but according to Section 6(a) Contracts Act 1950-† by the communication of notice of revocation by the proposer to the other party†. It states that revocation os not effective until it is received, communicated. In fact, Ali himself reluctant to repeat what he said which is very important and vital in that situation. Here is one similar case, [4]Byrne v Van Tienhoven (1880) LR 5 CPD 344. In this case, Van Tienhoven offered to sell goods to Byrne by letter dated 1 October. On 8 October, prior to acceptance, Van Tienhoven posted a letter revoking the offer. This letter was received by Byrne on 20 October. In the meantime, on 11 October Byrne received the letter and dispatched an acceptance. Was there a contract? To be effective revocation must be communicated. Where post is used for acceptance, acceptance occurs when and where sent. However, this rule does not apply in relation to revocation of offers – thus, if post is used for revocation, communication is only effective if and when it is received by the offeree. As this occurred after acceptance there was a contract formed in this case. An offer was containing a price escalation clause. A counter offer was then made without this clause; it contained a detachable receipt which the company sent back with a notation that they assumed it was on their terms. Thus, the intended message was failed to be received by Ah Chong, the offer has not been revocated. There is a contract between Ali and Ah Chong in this scenario. Section 6(a) Contracts Act 1950 obviously stated revocation must be actually communicated to the offeree before the offer can be treated as effectively revoked. Besides, Section 4(1) Contracts Act 1950-† The communication of a proposal is complete when it comes to the knowledge of the person to whom it is made†. Importance of conveying message has been shown when either offering or revocating an offer. On the other hand, if the helicopter flying overhead had not drowned out Ali’s words and Ah Chong heard what was said, outcomes definitely would be different. As was mentioned earlier, if the intended message was communicated or received by Ah Chong, revocation of the offer will succeed. In conclusion, communication is very crucial when conducting contracts or offerings as the outcomes and consequences can differ easily.

Does God Exist Essay - 1820 Words

Does God Exist? In this essay I am going to create a balanced argument from over the years which many people have used to base their beliefs on whether or not God exists. Furthermore the topic of God is such an important issue in the past few years due to the Iraq war and recent terrorist attacks. It is of importance because in the Iraq war we have a predominantly White-Christian country occupying a predominantly Middle eastern-Muslim country, each with opposing religious beliefs. Which if left to escalate any further could spark a world wide uprising of opposing fundamentalist groups. All because of this entity called, God. To prove whether God exists or not millions of people have created arguments to sway a mind in what they think†¦show more content†¦However atheist have a way to counter this argument with the use of a Geiger Counter. This is a meter that gives the infamous â€Å"Click† when radiation is present in an area. Alerting the senses that the area around them is radioa ctive. So far no theist has produced an instrument that makes a â€Å"Click† or any sort of alert, even through prayer, that God exists. In defiance of needing some sort of alert to prove that God exists, theists say â€Å"We can look around at Gods creation and have all out senses alerted by nature itself.† This argument is relatively new to the philosophers world and it has been dubbed The Atheists Nightmare. However it still relies on looking at nature itself as proof that God exists. This argument is based around the idea that a banana carries the characteristics of being created by an intelligent designer, simply because it is the perfect food for a human being. The basis of the argument is that they are five edges around a banana that fit exactly into the contours of the human hand. Which make it easy to grip and will not slip out of your fingers. Another feature is that it is colour coded so it is easy tell whether it is ripe or not. When the bananas skin is gre en it isnt ripe just yet. When the banana is ripe the skin will turn into its commonly known yellow colour, and when the banana has become over ripe it turns a black off putting colour. God in his infinite wisdom has also created a convenient â€Å"tab† at the topShow MoreRelatedDoes God Exist?1074 Words   |  5 PagesDoes God Exist ? 1. What role do arguments play in answering this question? I think arguments have played an important role in analyzing and understanding the depth of this question, for mankind. Although the question itself seems factual (either it does or it doesn t), yet no arguments have been able to answer this question conclusively, despite many debates going on for centuries. One possible reason for that inconclusiveness may lie in our intuition and the way, humans define God and existenceRead MoreDoes God Exist1417 Words   |  6 PagesDoes God exist? Does God exist? This seemingly simple question is in fact loaded with a myriad of twists and turns that scientists and theologians have debated for years without reaching an accepted conclusion. Part of the problem lies in the many definitions of God. Traditionally it is accepted that God is a supreme being, infallible, perfect, and existing outside of the material world of humanity. It is this definition that is generally used when debating Gods existence. There have been severalRead MoreDoes God Exist?1366 Words   |  5 Pagesbetween Jesus and his disciples before Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot. The main philosophical question that arose to me when I saw this painting was if God exists. Depicted in the painting there is a higher being or God watching over Jesus and his disciples. There are many arguments and ideas for the existence of a higher being or God, some of the main ones are; Pascal’s Wager, the Ontological argument, the Cosmological argument, the Teleologic al argument, the Moral argument, and the argumentRead MoreDoes God Exist1483 Words   |  6 PagesDoes God Exist The question of God’s existence has lingered in the mind of man since the dawn of religion. The simple fact that billions of people consider themselves to have some allegiance to a deity means that this question deserves to be seriously considered. In this paper I will argue for the sake that God does exist and the reasons why. I will include many of the arguments found in our philosophy book and those covered in class as well as other subjects such as human suffering and the reasonsRead MoreDoes God Exist?668 Words   |  3 Pagesculture has its God. Christianity and Islam have their own god; the Romans and Greeks had their Pantheon. A lot of people believe in god have thought that there is more to life the material world around us. It seems arises naturally the world over by believing in god. Does God exist? I believe in God is exists by the philosophical argument: ontological argument, the first cause argument, the argument form design, and the moral argument. Arguments relate to the existence of God are in differentRead MoreDoes God Exist?563 Words   |  2 PagesDoes God exist? There is no evidence that any god exist, so I assume that there isn’t one. I do not believe in a heaven or a hell! Although, I wonder where did we come from? Where will we end up after death? Will we rot underneath the soil? There are over twenty different religions with answers; some similar, some different but overall, majority of them are bias. Bias, because none of them are proven. In today’s society, we humans have adapted through evolutions by using our surroundings such likeRead MoreDoes God Exist? The Existence Of God?1876 Words   |  8 PagesDoes God Exist? The existence of God is a question that has troubled and plagued mankind since it began to consider logic. Is there a God? How can we be sure that God exists? Can you prove to me that He is real? Does His existence, or lack thereof, make a significant difference? These loaded questions strike at the heart of human existence. But the real question is, can we answer any of them? These questions are answered in the arguments of St. Thomas Aquinas, Blaise Pascal and St. Anselm ofRead More Does God Exist? Essay1145 Words   |  5 Pages Proof Of The Exsistence of God Either God exists or He doesnt. There is no middle ground. Any attempt to remain neutral in relation to Gods existence is automatically synonymous with unbelief. The question for Gods existence is really important. Does God exist? Theology, cosmological, teleological and ontological arguments are all have ways to prove the existence of God. With all of these great arguments how can one deny that there is a God. There is a God and with these reasons I will proveRead MoreDoes God Exist? Essay925 Words   |  4 PagesDoes God exist? The question of Gods existence is a perplexing one, the only evidence we have of God is what we are told from those who worship him, and unknowns can be debated logically if a higher being is in control. It has been written that in the beginning there was man and there was woman, and God put the two together to create a new race of beings. We are to assume then that God gave these beings a soul to distinguish them from other beings, for example, plants. The soul is often arguedRead MoreDoes God Really Exists? Essay1306 Words   |  6 PagesDoes God Really Exists The idea of God has been one of the most debatable issues since the dawn of humanity and with it guided as well as deluded most lives in the pursuit for the truth. The impacts springing from the notion of God has from time memorial changed history, inspired more poetry and music including philosophy more than anything else, imagined or real. Peter Kreft once concluded that â€Å"The idea of God is either a fact, like sand, or a fantasy like Santa† (Lawhead, p. 334). Over the cause