Page 9 of 11

A Different View

September 13, 2014 / Rachel Fletcher / 1 Comment

The image that I have chosen shows a baby pig in the hands of a human. It looks like the pig and human are in a grassy area and the pig appears to be looking at the viewer of the picture. This picture depicts the animal as very cute and loveable, but also somewhat helpless based on its size and the careful way that it is being held with two hands. Because the human is holding the pig, the relationship between the pig and the human seems to be shown as a caretaker/pet relationship. When I first saw this picture, I thought that it may have been a pet pig based on the way that it is being held and because small pigs are now becoming a common house pet. However, when I looked on the website that this picture came from, I learned that this picture is actually used on a website that provides information about a “Master of Animal Science” program. The text around the image explains the program and how it provides information about caring for animals, as well as “practical applications in areas from captive animal care to recreation, sport and biological research.” There is no caption that provides information about this individual pig, and it is possible that this image was only chosen to capture the attention of animal lovers who may be interested in a career working with animals. This picture seems to show a caring relationship between the human and animal, and contrasts the actual purpose of the major which is primarily focused on the use of animals as a resource.

Before reading Berger, I would have viewed this image and simply appreciated how cute it was. I would not have given a lot of thought about the context of the picture or what the actual life of this specific pig is like. Now that I have read Berger, I am much more interested in the life of this individual pig and how it is treated. Although this picture may originally give the viewer a sense of the intrinsic value of the pig because it appears to be looking at the viewer and is very cute, the website that this picture is used for is actually primarily concerned with the instrumental value of the pig. Berger would likely comment that this picture proves that human ambition has led to the marginalization of animals. Despite the fact that this image seems to portray an individual life, the purpose of the website is less focused on individual animals and is more focused on what humans can gain from groups of animals as a whole.

References:

Berger, John. “Why Look at Animals?” About Looking. New York: Vintage, 1977. 3-28. Print.

http://www.land-environment.unimelb.edu.au/future-students/grad/animal-science.html

Horse Riding

September 13, 2014 / Sonia Bhala / 0 Comments

After reading Berger and Walker, I have begun to think of holding a horse in captivity for recreational purposes in a different light. The image that I have selected, shown above, depicts a competitive rider forcing a horse to jump over an obstacle. This image comes from the Chestnut Hill Farm website which is a farm that offers equestrian lessons. It appears that the horse is her property and that the rider is the slave-owner whereas the horse is her slave. This image glorifies the sport of competitive riding. The assumption is that the purpose of the horse is for the control of the rider. The better control the rider has of the horse, the more successful the rider is considered. After reading Walker’s essay, I noticed the firm grip that this woman has on the reins of the horse. That is not something that I would have noticed before and I wonder if it is an indicator of the power struggle between her and the horse.

I found Walker’s analogy between animal captivity and historical slavery interesting and wondered how it could apply to this image. After reading Walker’s work, when I look at this picture I think about what the horse may be feeling or what may be going through the horse’s mind. Previously, I would not have focused on the horse or even thought how the horse may be emotionally affected by being held captive for the purpose of being ridden. After reading Berger and Walker, I find myself viewing this image from the animal’s point of view which has raised several questions for me.

The horse has been reduced and marginalized in order to fulfill the rider’s recreational needs. This is comparable to Berger’s ideas about how we reduce and marginalize animals by keeping them in zoos for our own entertainment. This interpretation of the image is different from how I previously viewed equestrianism. I used to think that it was exciting and fun. I even considered it something that I was interested in doing because I love horses. However, after reading Berger I realized that truly loving an animal does not involve marginalizing that animal. Berger’s view that capitalism is a large cause behind the reason we view animals for their instrumental value struck me and made me wonder if that idea could be applicable to the mission of Chestnut Hill Farms. Chestnut Hill is capitalizing on the horse’s majestic nature by making the sport look beautiful and graceful in this image. The image is focusing on the instrumental value of the horse while completely ignoring its intrinsic value.

Often, we treat animals the way we treat human beings in many aspects. My interpretation of this image human-animal relationships after reading Berger and Walker caused me to think about human-human relationships in a similar context. For example, human slaves were sold as gladiators during Ancient Roman times for the entertainment of the people. Similarly, animals such as horses are being sold for recreational purposes as well. Berger and Walker have gotten me thinking about whether keeping animals (both human and non-human) captive for recreational purposes is ethical. It also raised the difficult question of whether it is possible to have an animal as a pet and still give it full life. This is a question I have begun thinking about after reading Berger and Walker but have still not come up with an answer to because I do not believe that there is one simple answer to this question. I believe that the ability to give a pet full life has to do with how the animal is treated as well as if the owner views the animal for its intrinsic or instrumental value.

References:

Chestnut Hill Farm, 2014. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.

John Berger. “About Looking”. Pantheon Books, 1980. Print.

Walker, Alice. “Am I Blue.” Human Rights Anthology. Ed. Lee Peralta. New York: Columbia U. Press, 1995. 438-445. Print.

Looking Deeper Into a Picture

September 12, 2014 / Michael Astor / 0 Comments

I found this picture in an advertisement website, where the advertisement is promoting “A day of being a zookeeper”. Therefore, this picture is a perfect way to represent what a great day you can have by being a zookeeper! At first glance, this picture looks as if both the zookeeper (the woman in the photo) and the serval (type of cat) are content with their situation during the moment of the picture. The zookeeper is wearing a smile on her face that runs from ear to ear, the serval and the zookeeper are both seemingly sharing a hug, and it even looks as if the serval is enjoying the hug; her ears are perked up as if it were a dog when it hears the word “walk”, and it even looks like she has a smile running through her face. This image makes the viewer assume that every person in this image (including the serval) is enjoying the moment at the zoo. But as you look deeper into the picture, you can see that there is a more critical perspective of this image.

The first part of the image that can be dissected is the background zoo. Tall grasslands, woods, savannahs, and other places associated to these types of habitats are mostly where servals are habituated. Concrete and boulders, as shown in the background, are not. Berger would say that the only reason we believe that this is a happy picture of a serval and a zookeeper is because of our nostalgia of zoo’s and how we see these types of animals as magical because of this great nostalgia of something we are not used to seeing. By remembering the way these zoo animals were in our nostalgia, we are creating in our minds the image of a serval, and by creating this image we are devaluing the actual animal for how it is because this animal will never live up the expectations our minds create.

Alice Walker would look at the way the animal actually feels, rather than where it is located. At closer look, the eyes of the serval tell its real emotions. The serval looks fiercely focused into space, which in many animal languages, is a sign of basically saying “back off”. Secondly, the “smile” can be interpreted as the serval’s hiss, also a sign of “back off”. The serval seems to be actually trying to push its self away from the zookeeper, instead of into the zookeeper.

By searching zookeeper into the internet, I knew I would be able to find an image that seems so inviting and loving towards animals, but could also be shown to have a more critical side to how we as humans are related to animals.

Works Cited:

Berger, John. Why Look At Animals?. New York: Vintage International, 1977. Print.

Walker, Alice. “Am I Blue?”. Other Nations. Baylor University Press. 182-187. Print.

http://www.zavvi.com/gift-experience-days/zookeeper-experience-zookeeper-for-a-day/10051858.html

http://www.servals.org/wild.htm

Looking at Race Horses

September 12, 2014 / Abigail Perham / 2 Comments

The image that I want to look at and discuss focuses on horses. For the majority of my life, I lived in Upstate NY near Saratoga. For those of you who don’t know, Saratoga is famous for its’ race track. This image centers around the relationship between horses and humans. As clearly shown in the picture, the jockey (human) is dependent on the horse. It is also widely believed and understood that there is a close knit relationship between horse and human. The assumptions regarding the relationship is that the human is primarily in control of the horse and will respond to the human’s commands. Along with that, the horse tends to “match” its’ jockey (similarly colored reigns) and both the human and horse are assigned a number. The image to me shows more of a competition between jockey to jockey and not a competition from horse to horse. I feel like there is more of a focus on the first jockey in the image than there is on the horse. The jockeys are the ones who seem focused on their goal with the tensed body language, whereas the horse seems more as if it is just there because it has to be based on its demeanor.

Before reading either Berger or Walker, I would not have really put in a lot of thought in regards to what this image represents to me. Especially since I grew up around this race track, it came off to me as incredibly normal and a part of daily life. I always automatically assumed that horses and their jockeys held some special bond and that they perceive each other as equals. However, after reading “Am I Blue?” by Walker, my perception changed. After reading Walker, I saw the horses in this image as being neglected. My perception changed from a passive view of the animal to an active one – and my active perception recognized that the horses are being treated solely as if they only possess instrumental value. Walker would disagree immensely with the entire concept of horse racing – as it does not take into account the horse’s needs and emotions. Along with that, Berger would also state that this is mistreating the animal. The horse in this image is not a horse – it is simply a number and a name used for entertainment and monetary purposes. With the entertainment culture surrounding this image, the horse loses all sense of individuality and “horseness” (Walker). The animal is entirely marginalized – no longer is a horse a horse, now it is a form of entertainment. The horse is nothing more to the general audience as a car would be in the Nascar world. The relationship between horse and jockey is also something that I may have overestimated in my mind, which I recognized after reading Walker. The jockey and the horse probably do share a relationship and a bond, but I still did not take into account that the jockey’s success and pride comes out of what the horse can give him; therefore the horse becomes an instrumental object in the jockey’s life. All in all, I realized that my perception shifted from a passive view to one that takes into account the intrinsic value of the horse, as well as recognizing how the horse is simply just an accessory to the human as shown in the image. After reading Berger and Walker, I now view horse racing as marginalizing the animal and shifting its’ value from intrinsic to instrumental.

Introductions

September 11, 2014 / mateckek / 0 Comments

I’m not sure why I picked this picture I just like hedgehogs….

My name is Emma. I am a junior and a bio major. I have an older sister who also went to Lafayette and she graduated in 2010. I live in a really small town in New Jersey at the beach. In the summer, I spend all my free time at there and playing tennis. I went to Biotechnology High School and it was very science focused. I didn’t particularly enjoy going there. My parents met at a ski mountain in upstate New York so since before I was born our family has been skiing at Hunter Mountain. I’m involved in a few clubs on campus including the Lafayette Activities Forum, as Director of Marketing and Outreach.

I was a mechanical engineer for two years, however I have since reevaluated my life plan and realized that I am not meant to pursue that career. When I was little I once told my family I wanted to be a flower, then after realizing this dream wasn’t possible, I decided I wanted to be a zoologist, and then a vet. I wanted to be an artist in high school because I was so fed up with science. I wanted a job out of school though so I went to engineering because my physics teacher told me I’d be good at that. I still don’t have a completely clear path that I’m on right now. I think I may want to become a pediatrician someday.

My favorite animal is an elephant so here is a video of a cute little elephant: here

Introduction to Nicholas Gurzynski

September 7, 2014 / Nicholas Gurzynski / 0 Comments

Hello Classmates,

I am Nicholas Gurzynski, a GOV/LAW and Geology double major from a small town on Long Island named Locust Valley. I have had the opportunity to have some really cool pets and hang with some rare and endangered animals in my life so far! I am fascinated by the unknown, whether its behavioral traits in whales or migration patterns of turtles. I am an avid fishermen but I always throw what I catch back, hopefully to catch it again another day.

I am involved in the Marquis Steering Committee and am a Marquis Scholar here on campus. My hobbies include coral reef research and sailing, both of which I was able to do this summer while interning in Australia. I am pursuing a career in intellectual law, more specifically a focus in patents and inventions. I am always down to go for a hike or fly fish down on the Delaware. My dad and grandpa both attended Lafayette and I am proud to be on a third generation on this campus.

I am an avid writer, mostly personally, but I have been a research associate on some published works titled, “Crassotrea Virginica, the use of an electrical stimulus as a means of population enhancement and heightened growth.” I look forward to learning more about animals and our varied perceptions of them through this course! My writing and research papers are published on http://coral.org/, a non-for profit organization I work for called the National Coral Reef Alliance. The picture I attached is one of my cats Blizzard, in my suitcase which happens regularly. Blizzard has a twin sister named Comet and I nicknamed them respectively Dot.Com and the Blitz.

Alice Walker

September 7, 2014 / Bianca Falbo / 0 Comments

You may know our new author, Alice Walker, as the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Color Purple. Walker was born in Georgia in 1944. Her parents were sharecroppers and she was the youngest of 8 children. She attended Spelman and then Sarah Lawrence college. An activist for social justice, after college Walker worked on behalf of voter registration drives and participated in the famous 1963 march on Washington. Her biographer in The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature (my source for this post) notes that Walker has written in every genre and that her writing “demonstrates a remarkable grasp of the political realities of systematic oppression.”

The title of the essay we read echoes a song, “Am I Blue?” made famous by Billie Holiday (1915-1959). The essay invites readers to think about connections between its project, the song, and the life of Holiday.

About Sandy

September 5, 2014 / Jixuan Zhang / 4 Comments

My name is Jixuan Zhang. Call me Sandy. I’m majoring in Economics. I’m from Chengdu, China. It is a big city located at east part of China .It is a city famous for hot pot and pandas. Hot pot is a very special and local food in Chengdu. Basically you just put a big simmering metal pot at the dinner table and add a lot of chili and sichuan pepper into the pot. While the pot is simmering, you could add any ingredient you want. Having hot pot every once in a while means that you need to have a very high tolerance of spicy food. And I love spicy food. I don’t have any brothers or sisters thanks to the single-child policy in China. So growing up in a big city without a sibling can get quite lonely at times too.

Sadly, I don’t have a dog. It is not easy to have a dog in a big city like Chengdu. But I love dogs and I used to spend a lot of time with my cousin’s dog. It’s a white Labrador.

For this class, I do want to learn a lot about college writing. All my previous experience about college writing comes from FYS, which is obviously not enough at all.

As for my life after class, I spend a lot of time playing soccer and tennis with my friend. I also like to watch soccer games on weekend. Real Madrid and Manchester United are my favorite teams. Although the United is not doing so well recently, I have been supporting them for over 10 years.

Depictions of Mice

September 5, 2014 / Michael Astor / 2 Comments

Hey guys,

In class we have been discussing a lot about the different ways images can depict animals, and in particular the 2 different images of the mice have stuck in my mind. These two pictures are especially interesting to me because I actually have pet mice in my dorm room (don’t tell residence life!). I was able to see the non-personal side of these pet mice when I was first unfamiliar to them grow into a personal familiarity that shows a uniqueness to each one of them.

Also, some of the pictures I’ve taken of them are remarkably similar to the ones in class.

The life of Bri

September 4, 2014 / Brian Fogler / 1 Comment

Hello class, my name is Brian Fogler. I am a junior economics major at Lafayette College. As a junior, I am involved in several on campus organizations. Those include: being a third year club soccer player, and being a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. I love watching most sports, mainly soccer and football. In addition to watching sports, one of my favorite things about Lafayette College is the great organization of the intramural sports pr index ogram, which makes it fun to participate in.

I was born in Philadelphia, and raised in a town called Cherry Hill, New Jersey. My favorite family member by far is my dog Bazzle, a 13-year old Vizsla with a big heart.

I lived in Kamine Hall my freshman year, where I still maintain a good relationship with the great people who shared the same floor as me.

Over the summer I work at a day camp called Tall Pines Day Camp. I have been there for 14 years. I started as a camper and have worked there for the past seven years. For the last three summers, I have been in charge of 14-17 four and five year old boys. It is very rewarding to influence a younger generation, and all the hard work is worth it merely by the laughs I get each and every day from the outrageous things the kids say.

I am looking forward to garner a lot of writing skills throughout this class, as well as to make strong friendships with the rest of you. I wish the best of luck to all of you, and thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

Representing Animals