Can a mirror capture the self?

Is the mirror a reliable indicator of self-awareness for any species, whether sheep or human? Taking a cue from feminist, phenomenological, and cross-cultural philosophy, a relational self rather than a reflective one might better capture what is at stake for the lives of social animals and for science

Twenty-first century fumerist : Bridget Christie and the backlash against feminist comedy

This article engages with the work of comedian Bridget Christie in relation to definitions of feminist and post-feminist comedy. The year 2013 was a highpoint in coverage and acclaim for feminist comedy and this article will explore how, at a time when the majority of female comedians operate from a post-feminist standpoint, Christie’s work seeks to politicise and galvanise her audience. The evolution of Christie’s work is explored in relation to the changes in her delivery style and the implications this has on the accessibility of her material to wider audiences. Additionally, the response of the wider U.K. comedy industry to the higher profile of feminist comedy and the reassertion of patriarchal masculinity in comedy is considered

Limiea Woolf, Mildred E. Mowe, Madge E. Iverson, Cynthia Cynthia J. Willett, Reve J. Abelow, Ruth S. Elderkin, Carl Locke, Rev. Brown, Barbara Dascher, John H. Doscker to James Meredith (7 October 1962)

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mercorr_pro/2039/thumbnail.jp

Draft Genome of a Type 4 Pilus Defective Myxococcus xanthus Strain, DZF1

Myxococcus xanthus is a member of the Myxococcales order within the deltaproteobacterial subdivision. Here, we report the whole-genome shotgun sequence of the type IV pilus (T4P) defective strain DZF1, which includes many genes found in strain DZ2 but absent from strain DK1622

Draft Genome Sequence of Myxococcus xanthus Wild-Type Strain DZ2, a Model Organism for Predation and Development

Myxococcus xanthus is a member of the Myxococcales order within the Deltaproteobacteria subdivision. The myxobacteria reside in soil, have relatively large genomes, and display complex life cycles. Here, we report the whole-genome shotgun sequence of strain DZ2, which includes unique genes not found previously in strain DK1622

Maternal Occupational Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Effects on Gastroschisis among Offspring in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study

Background: Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurs in many occupational settings. There is evidence in animal models that maternal exposure to PAHs during pregnancy is associated with gastroschisis in offspring; however, to our knowledge, no human studies examining this association have been conducted

Water and Wing Give Wonder: Cross-Species Cosmopolitanism

Any interspecies ethics could do well to flip the claim of human exceptionalism several times on its head. Before entertaining a claim to re-naturalize human beings (with the risk of a reductive model of biology), the remarkable communicative, cultural, and cognitive skills of other creatures deserve more investigation. The usual line-up of metaphysical suspects for shoring up human superiority—impartial reason, moral or spiritual freedom, and self-awareness—have been used to gravely overstate our human capacities while obscuring genuinely mind-bending powers that cross species barriers. If there is a common path for ethical and spiritual enlightenment, as an alternative to humanism’s rational enlightenment, it does not seem to originate in any cross-species capacity for high-level reason but in an affect-laden social intelligence instead

Going to Bed White and Waking Up Arab: On Xenophobia, Affect Theories of Laughter, and the Social Contagion of the Comic Stage

Like lynching and other mass hysterias, xenophobia exemplifies a contagious, collective wave of energy and hedonic quality that can point toward a troubling unpredictability at the core of political and social systems. While earlier studies of mass hysteria and popular discourse assume that cooler heads (aka rational individuals with their logic) could and should regain control over those emotions that are deemed irrational, and that boundaries are assumed healthy only when intact, affect studies pose individuals as nodes of biosocial networks larger than themselves. Thus rather than suggesting that the individual can only prevent societal harm by gaining command and patrolling the borders of an autonomous self, we embrace the notion that affects can exert a positive and transformative force on a social reality that is resistant to top-down policy intervention and any straightforward moral or logical plea