HW Reading 7

1 A. Back in the 1970s, I was an anthropology student sitting in the library doggedly reading books and articles about the social lives of people in Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific. Why doggedly? The scholarly reading matter covered kinship systems, clan alliances, land tenure, and farming and political systems. Rarely did the reader of these texts catch a glimpse of the day-to-day lives of the people written about or what it was like to live amongst them. However, some books started with a preface describing how the anthropologist arrived in the distant village or town of study, found somewhere to live, and started engaging with local people. These accounts were often the most interesting part of the book and whetted my flagging appetite for medical anthropological research.

2 B. Since graduating, I have applied my anthropological training to health-related projects across Africa and Asia. Some contracts have lasted two years and some two weeks. The short-term research I have done is sometimes called 'quick and dirty'. 'Quick' means that surveys are carried out and people interviewed in a matter of weeks rather than years; 'dirty' means that the findings are analysed rapidly without too much concern for 'cleaning' the data so that exact percentages can be calculated and any inconsistencies in what people said can be accounted for. Quick and dirty research elicits the voices of the people for whom a development project is intended. The approach provides facts and figures that guide project design, but may not satisfy purist academics.

3 C. A lot of books discuss the ethics and methods of research in more detail than in the past. Such accounts of fieldwork contain useful ideas and guidance, usually in the introductory chapters. There are a number of particularly sensitive areas that people interviewed may be reticent about, notably personal finance, sex, and illegal activities. Yet, research of sensitive topics with people considered 'hard to reach' can be interesting and rewarding. There are some basic rules and approaches that should keep the researcher, especially in the medical field, safe and the data collection ethical and effective.

4 D. Anybody going to do fieldwork should dress carefully. It is important to try and wear clothes that do not draw attention to yourself. You do not want to be more conspicuous than you need by being more smartly or formally attired than the people you are going to talk to. Equally, it may be inappropriate to copy the dress code of interviewees, as you risk looking ridiculous.

5 E. It is always useful to work with local guides or gatekeepers who can help you reach people who are not part of mainstream society. For example, if you want to study the world of illegal drug users it is best to work with an insider. If you already know any drug users, ask one of them to introduce you to other people in his or her network and to vouch for you. Alternatively, you could approach drug or social service agency workers and ask them to make introductions.

6 F. When you interview people, it is important that they are not worried about confidentiality. Often people will not tell you anything of great interest unless they receive assurances that you will not reveal their private business or their full names. When you ask sensitive questions, interviewees may want you to answer similar questions in return, so researchers should be prepared to disclose some personal information. It is important that you do not lie about yourself and what you are doing: this is unethical and you risk being caught out and losing credibility.

7 G. Sensitive questions should be asked in a matter-of-fact manner because, if you appear embarrassed, the respondent will also be embarrassed and will 'clam up'. Do not be, or appear to be, judgemental or shocked, no matter what you hear, as the interviewee will sense your reaction and stop talking. In addition, you should not contradict people even if they have said something that you know to be incorrect. You are there to listen and collect data, not to enter into argument or discussion. When the interview is over you can correct any potentially harmful misconceptions that the interviewee holds. But the most important rule to remember is: if you get nervous or scared, leave the situation.

8 H. Recently, I have started saying to colleagues that there are three qualities required in the anthropologist working in 'the field': liking people; respecting people; curiosity about people's lives. If you cultivate these qualities, the tips I have outlined will come naturally to your work.

1 A. The pressures on women to look slender, youthful and attractive have been extensively documented, but changing expectations for women's bodies have varied widely. From voluptuous and curvy in the days of Marilyn Monroe, to slender and androgynous when Twiggy hit the London scene in the mid-1960s, and then on to the towering Amazonian models of the 1980s and the "heroin chic" and size-zero obsession of today, it is not just clothes that go in and out of fashion for women. The prevailing notion of the perfect body for men, however, has remained remarkably static: broad shoulders, a big chest and arms, and rippling, visible abdominal muscles and powerful legs have long been the staple ingredients of a desirable male physique.

2 B. A growing body of evidence suggests this is changing, however. Rootsteins, a mannequin design company in Britain, has released its newest male model—the homme nouveau—with a cinched-in 27-inch waist. "To put that into perspective," says one female fashion reporter, "I had a 27-inch waist when I was thirteen...and I was really skinny." The company suggests that the homme nouveau "redresses the prevailing 'beefcake' figure by carving out a far more streamlined, sinuous silhouette to match the edgier attitude of a new generation".

3 C. Elsewhere in the fashion industry, the label American Apparel is releasing a line of trousers in sizes no larger than a 30-inch waist, which squeezes out most of the younger male market who have an average waistline over five inches larger. Slender young men are naturally starting to dominate the catwalks and magazine pages as well. "No one wanted the big guys," model David Gandy has said, describing how his muscled physique was losing him jobs. "It was all the skinny, androgynous look. People would look at me very, very strangely when I went to castings."

4 D. Achieving such a physique can be unattainable for those without the natural genetic make-up. "I don't know that anyone would consider my body archetypal or as an exemplar to work towards," notes model Davo McConville. "You couldn't aim for this; it's defined by a vacuum of flesh, by what it's not." Nevertheless, statistics suggest it is not just an obsession of models, celebrities and the media—more and more ordinary men are prepared to go to great lengths for a slender body. One indication is the growing number of men who are discovering surgical reconstruction. Male breast-reduction has become especially popular; in 2009 the year-on-year growth rate for this procedure rose to 44 percent in the United Kingdom. Liposuction also remains popular in the market for male body reconstructive surgery, with 35,000 such procedures being performed on men every year.

5 E. Additionally, more men now have eating disorders than ever before. These are characterised by normal eating habits, typically either the consumption of insufficient or excessive amounts of food. Eating disorders are detrimental to the physical and mental condition of people who suffer from them, and the desire to achieve unrealistic physiques has been implicated as a cause. In 1990 only 10% of people suffering from anorexia or bulimia were believed to be male, but this figure has climbed steadily to around one quarter today. Around two in five binge eaters are men. Women still make up the majority of those afflicted by eating disorders, but the perception of it being a "girly" problem has contributed to men being less likely to pursue treatment. In 2008, male eating disorders were thrust into the spotlight when former British Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, admitted to habitually gorging on junk food and then inducing himself to vomit while in office. "I never admitted to this out of shame and embarrassment," he said. "I found it difficult as a man like me to admit that I suffered from bulimia."

6 F. In some respects, the slim male silhouette seems to be complementing, rather than displacing, the G. I. Joe physique. Men's Health, one of the only titles to weather the floundering magazine market with sales increasing to a quarter of a million per issue, has a staple diet of bulky men on the cover who entice readers with the promise of big, powerful muscles. Advertising executives and fashion editors suggest that in times of recession and political uncertainty, the more robust male body image once again becomes desirable. Academic research supports this claim, indicating that more "feminine" features are desirable for men in comfortable and secure societies, while "masculine" physical traits are more attractive where survival comes back to the individual. A University of Aberdeen study, conducted using 4,500 women from over 30 countries, found a pronounced correlation between levels of public healthcare and the amount of effeminacy women preferred in their men. In Sweden, the country considered to have the best healthcare, 68 percent of women preferred the men who were shown with feminine facial features. In Brazil, the country with the worst healthcare in the study, only 45 percent of women were so inclined. "The results suggest that as healthcare improves, more masculine men fall out of favour," the researchers concluded.

7 G. Ultimately, columnist Polly Vernon has written, we are left with two polarised ideals of masculine beauty. One is the sleek, slender silhouette that exudes cutting-edge style and a wealthy, comfortable lifestyle. The other is the "strong, muscular, austerity-resistant" form that suggests a man can look after himself with his own bare hands. These ideals co-exist by pulling men in different directions and encouraging them to believe they must always be chasing physical perfection, while simultaneously destabilising any firm notions of what physical perfection requires.

8 H. As a result, attaining the ideal body becomes an ever more futile and time-consuming task. Vernon concludes that this means less time for the more important things in life, and both sexes should resist the compulsive obsession with beauty.

1 Humans have long been fascinated by the possibility of extra-terrestrial life. Novels, films, and folk-tales have encouraged curiosity and speculation about what might be 'out there in space. More recently, scientists have joined in on the collective wonderment after the first discovery by astronomers of a new planet—Gliese 58Ig—that could almost certainly support such organisms. In fact, Steven Vogt—one of the two astronomers credited with discovering the planet—has declared that 'the chances of life on this planet are 100 percent and that he has 'almost no doubt about it'.

2 A. Although we currently know very little about Gliese 581g, a couple of its features strongly indicate that this planet might harbour the existence of organisms. Firstly, Gliese 581g is located at almost exactly the right distance from its red dwarf parent star (Gliese 581) in order to sustain liquid water, which is the only known criterion for organic formation. Planets that orbit too close to or too far away from their stars do not have a suitable climate; this can only be found in a slender strip of solar space around each star known to astronomers as a 'habitable zone'. Around our star—the Sun-Earth is the only planet that occupies this zone, although it nearly stretches to Venus and Mars. Gliese 581g is also the right size for organic life. It is about 3.1 to 4.3 times the size of Earth, and this relatively low mass means it should be made mostly of rock. Planets that grow beyond 10 times the size of Earth tend to become gaseous and uninhabitable, without the solid or liquid infrastructure necessary for organisms.

3 B. Gliese 581g is part of a string of planets in the Gliese 581 solar system. Two of Gliese 581g's siblings—Gliese 581e and Gliese 581b—orbit too close to their parent star to support any kind of life on them. Gliese 581c skims the near side of the habitable zone, but scientists suggest that it does not have enough of a toehold in this zone to provide a stable infrastructure for organic formations—roughly the same goes for Gliese 581d, which has a stronger presence in the habitable zone on its far side, but may not be hot enough for liquid water—opinion is not 'completely settled' on this matter, says James Kasting of Pennsylvania State University. Kasting, who has studied the two Gliese 581 planets on the outer edges of the habitable zone, suggests that Gliese 581g is 'smack dab in the middle' of the zone which, along with its size and composition, makes it the most exciting and realistic prospect for extra-terrestrial life yet.

4 C. The comparisons between the Earth and Gliese 581g should not be overstated, however. Even if Gliese 581g can sustain organisms, it would be a very different place to live. The main difference is that Gliese 581g orbits much closer to its star than the Earth does to the Sun. Because Gliese 581 is only one percent as bright as the Sun, it exudes little warmth, and its habitable zone lies much closer than the Sun's. At this closer distance, planets in the zone get locked into strong gravitational pulls that tend to slow their circular movements over time. Eventually, they become stuck with one side constantly facing the star—just as the Moon always shows the Earth the same face. Because of this, it is likely that Gliese 581g experiences permanent daytime on the side facing the star and permanent shadow on the other side. It is estimated therefore that average temperatures on the star side would be about 71 degrees C and average temperatures on the other much chillier: -34°C. Nevertheless, Steven Vogt suggests that Gliese 581g probably has a comfortable area along the midpoint, known as the terminator. Any life here would always see the star sitting on the horizon and consequently experience eternal sunrise or sunset.

5 D. Even if there is no life on Gliese 581g, its discovery reveals that habitable planets are quite common, with around 10 to 20 percent of red dwarves and sun-like stars boasting them. Gliese 581 is one of just nine stars at that particular distance which astronomers have searched with high enough precision to uncover a planet in the habitable zone. While the odds may prove to be slightly lower than 10 percent, the evidence of life—or at least, the high possibility of life—is still overwhelming. There are at least a few hundred billion stars in our galaxy, which means that around 20 to 40 billion planets have the potential for the development of organisms.

6 E. And so, the search for life continues. Unfortunately, Gliese 581g is not particularly amenable to observation. The next step in finding out the chances of life on the planet would be to measure its light spectrum, a process that would reveal molecular oxygen if indeed it exists. The glare from the parent star makes this impossible to do with current instruments, however. Another way to gather information would be to transport a vessel to and from the planet. The technology currently exists to do this, but at 20 light years from earth, it would take 200 years for astronomers to receive the result. Luckily, new information may just be a few years away. Astronomers suggest that many rocky planets are likely to be found in habitable zones during the coming years, and some of these will provide a better platform for research with current instruments.