Short response paper for Philosophy of Human Rights. Regular blog follows.
The idea of feral children tugs on the ends of about eighty-six-thousand different strings of thought. The result is a twisted knot that I could explore and untangle for hours. However, I will only discuss one aspect of my feral-children-string-theory now (y'all are lucky in that respect) and take it to a logical place for a class on human rights. Most of all, feral children prove that "humanity" is a result of socialization and training that takes place from birth: humans are not naturally "human" (the pictures I'm looking at now of my friend's toddler who found the magic markers and gave himself quite the makeover prove it). We must be taught to be of this species.
Judith Butler discusses the discursive limits of sex: a body's sexual function is assigned it by the language and social convention used in addressing it; without these assumptions and constraints, our sexuality is inert and shapeless. The same is true of speciation, as illustrated by the physical development of the two Indian children found living with wolves who developed the bodily features and dietary habits of their lupine community. Not only do feral children not have the social skill set that is considered essentially human, but their bodies have not been assigned by any society the humanizing shape with which we are familiar and through which we identify a being as a member of our species. Humanity is extraordinarily malleable. Without the shaping forces of society, we cannot be fully human: we make each other human.
If human community forms humanity, than it is a human right. To lack community, one lacks humanity. To deny a person membership to his or her community is to deny him or her what makes him or her human. The philosophy of the social contract is incredibly insightful in this way. (I'm not just being partial because I'm a sociology student.) We need society and civilization to be who we know ourselves to be. Darwin posited that those species with a strong social structure live longer, supporting and protecting one another National identity is a right protected in the UDHR. This fits perfectly with my argument. The French fought for Liberte, Egalite, et Fraternite_brotherhood, human brotherhood. I'm tempted to say, then, that one of the major rights that comes with human identity is the right to the privileges and structures of community and society: health care, social security, education, food and water security, protection from outside forces, etc.
A strong negative right is established here, then: one has a right to be free from the forces and influences that seek or end up alienating one from his or her species being. The use of that last phrase, "species being", is a deliberate allusion to Marx. Capitalism and the ideal of extreme individualism seen in much of Western and Westernized culture result in a state of being that does not allow one true access to or membership in the human and humanizing community.
Franz Kafka addresses this theme of alienation in The Metamorphosis in which a man literally loses his humanity. So alienated was he by the dehumanizing forces of modern, industrialized Europe that he woke up in the body of a giant cockroach, no longer identifiable to himself and others as human. Where are we taking ourselves and each other with each technological development that leads to less and less required human interaction?
Oh you lucky, lucky people. . . I shot with the amazing AlissaBrunelli on Saturday. Oh man. This set is so effing hot. Oh man. Oh man. haha. THe lovely Sunshine had the enviable job of keeping me visually appropriate. haha. It's hard to explain without giving away anything about the set. But you'll appreciate her work as much as I do! I also got to meet the adorable Bully again. We'd met before but only in passing.
We went out for sushi after the shoot. Four hot chicks and two of their friends. So much fun. I had to leave early, though, so I could get to work ad missed out on the later hilarity. So sad. On the way home, my boss calls me and tells me not to worry about coming in since the weather was so bad. Which confused me. since so far, I'd seen maybe a dozen raindrops. I was exhausted, though, so I didn't argue with him. Before long, I was in driver's hell. We got an ice storm that made the roads terrifying. It ended up taking me over TWO HOURS to get home.
I ended up falling asleep face down in a text book in front of SNL around midnight.
Sigh. . . Can't wait to see the product of Saturday's shoot. AlisaBrunelli and I worked really well together. Frills. Pinkness? I hope!
Qs
1. Who was the better hubby: Ricky Ricardo or Fred?
2. What's the weather like where you are?
3. What will I be when I grow up?
4. Do you nap? How often? For how long?
5. Why aren't you having more fun?
The idea of feral children tugs on the ends of about eighty-six-thousand different strings of thought. The result is a twisted knot that I could explore and untangle for hours. However, I will only discuss one aspect of my feral-children-string-theory now (y'all are lucky in that respect) and take it to a logical place for a class on human rights. Most of all, feral children prove that "humanity" is a result of socialization and training that takes place from birth: humans are not naturally "human" (the pictures I'm looking at now of my friend's toddler who found the magic markers and gave himself quite the makeover prove it). We must be taught to be of this species.
Judith Butler discusses the discursive limits of sex: a body's sexual function is assigned it by the language and social convention used in addressing it; without these assumptions and constraints, our sexuality is inert and shapeless. The same is true of speciation, as illustrated by the physical development of the two Indian children found living with wolves who developed the bodily features and dietary habits of their lupine community. Not only do feral children not have the social skill set that is considered essentially human, but their bodies have not been assigned by any society the humanizing shape with which we are familiar and through which we identify a being as a member of our species. Humanity is extraordinarily malleable. Without the shaping forces of society, we cannot be fully human: we make each other human.
If human community forms humanity, than it is a human right. To lack community, one lacks humanity. To deny a person membership to his or her community is to deny him or her what makes him or her human. The philosophy of the social contract is incredibly insightful in this way. (I'm not just being partial because I'm a sociology student.) We need society and civilization to be who we know ourselves to be. Darwin posited that those species with a strong social structure live longer, supporting and protecting one another National identity is a right protected in the UDHR. This fits perfectly with my argument. The French fought for Liberte, Egalite, et Fraternite_brotherhood, human brotherhood. I'm tempted to say, then, that one of the major rights that comes with human identity is the right to the privileges and structures of community and society: health care, social security, education, food and water security, protection from outside forces, etc.
A strong negative right is established here, then: one has a right to be free from the forces and influences that seek or end up alienating one from his or her species being. The use of that last phrase, "species being", is a deliberate allusion to Marx. Capitalism and the ideal of extreme individualism seen in much of Western and Westernized culture result in a state of being that does not allow one true access to or membership in the human and humanizing community.
Franz Kafka addresses this theme of alienation in The Metamorphosis in which a man literally loses his humanity. So alienated was he by the dehumanizing forces of modern, industrialized Europe that he woke up in the body of a giant cockroach, no longer identifiable to himself and others as human. Where are we taking ourselves and each other with each technological development that leads to less and less required human interaction?
Oh you lucky, lucky people. . . I shot with the amazing AlissaBrunelli on Saturday. Oh man. This set is so effing hot. Oh man. Oh man. haha. THe lovely Sunshine had the enviable job of keeping me visually appropriate. haha. It's hard to explain without giving away anything about the set. But you'll appreciate her work as much as I do! I also got to meet the adorable Bully again. We'd met before but only in passing.
We went out for sushi after the shoot. Four hot chicks and two of their friends. So much fun. I had to leave early, though, so I could get to work ad missed out on the later hilarity. So sad. On the way home, my boss calls me and tells me not to worry about coming in since the weather was so bad. Which confused me. since so far, I'd seen maybe a dozen raindrops. I was exhausted, though, so I didn't argue with him. Before long, I was in driver's hell. We got an ice storm that made the roads terrifying. It ended up taking me over TWO HOURS to get home.
I ended up falling asleep face down in a text book in front of SNL around midnight.
Sigh. . . Can't wait to see the product of Saturday's shoot. AlisaBrunelli and I worked really well together. Frills. Pinkness? I hope!
Qs
1. Who was the better hubby: Ricky Ricardo or Fred?
2. What's the weather like where you are?
3. What will I be when I grow up?
4. Do you nap? How often? For how long?
5. Why aren't you having more fun?
VIEW 18 of 18 COMMENTS
who the hell are they?
2. What's the weather like where you are?
around 10-15 C and sunny
3. What will I be when I grow up?
an astronaut or a firefighter
4. Do you nap? How often? For how long?
sometime on sunday afternoons, for not more than 2 hours
5. Why aren't you having more fun?
because i'm not having sex right now