Medicine On Tap

Topic: Material Culture

Source: I have been using Neosporin on a scrape I have on my leg from falling on the cement last week. I visited the Neosporin website for information on their products and advertisement (link below).

Relation: This past week we have been discussing illness and inequality as well as development and its effect on different cultural societies. For this entry I decided to analyze Neosporin antibiotics as material culture and how it represents the access to medical treatments we have in our society and what that might

Description: The product Neosporin is made by Johnson & Johnson. It is a widely used, over the counter, first aid antibiotic that is most known for its fast acting care for everyday scrapes, wounds and scars. We have three types of this product in just my apartment, the ointment, the antiseptic cleanser, and the “NEO To Go!” mini dispenser. Last week while walking, being the clumsy person that I am, I tripped and fell on the sidewalk resulting in a large gash on my knee cap. My response to this was (after a few indecent curse words) to rinse out the abrasion and coat it with the household favorite antibiotic cream-Neosporin. It was this quick, almost instinctive, medical response to a somewhat relatively insignificant wound that made me realize that is more culture wrapped up in the popular Neosporin reputation than meets the eye.

Commentary/Analysis:

In the United States we have access to an overwhelming amount of over the counter medicine and antibiotics. When it comes to low key infections, colds, headaches, scrapes: we have relatively easy access to immediate relief. In my household, Neosporin is a favorite for anything that needs topical treatment, and with 4 active girls that means it’s used pretty much on the daily. We each have our standard ratio of Neosporin application to Band-Aid coverage as a response to most ordinary cut or wound after years of using the medical ointment. Meanwhile others in the world lack access to some of the most of these basic modernized medical treatments. This some what obsessive use of such a simple medical treatment I feel supports a correlation between inequality and illness present in our world. Those of use with access to almost any medical treatment, even those that are new and somewhat understudied, take it for granted While those who live in intense poverty and face severe illness without preventative care. And then to consider the basic medical care and health insurance that so many people, and their families, lack the access to… it seems there is an imbalance in our medical priorities. The use of antibiotic wound treatments also makes me wonder if there is a hidden side to the vanity that is often present in our society. What is this need to immediately eradicate any sized scar or blemish? Is this instant solution something we are hardwired to seek?

http://www.neosporinfirstaid.com/

Ethnocentrism discourages dialogue

Topic: Ethnocentrism

Source: My source for this entry is primarily an interaction I had last week with two young male missionaries from the Mormon Church, who had knocked on my front door while participating in their church’s missionary program. I also referred to the official website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, http://www.lds.org , as well as http://mormon.org/missionary-work/ for more information.

Relation: In reading about ethnocentrism and the ethnocentric fallacy,” the idea that our beliefs and behaviors are right and true, whereas those of other peoples are wrong or misguided,” in Robbins’ textbook, I came to realize that it is easy to fall into applying this fallacy in everyday common interactions with people, and I thought of any recent times that I was guilty of this. I found the contrast of how I reacted to what these guys were trying to with me about, as well as both of our approaches to the situation an interesting meeting of cultures, and felt it reflected this idea of ethnocentrism.

Description: It was around noon when there was a knock at the front door of my apartment. Two friendly looking young men were dressed in black slacks, white dress shirts and matching black ties. One of them holding a small stack of papers and copies of the Book of Mormon. I immediately knew they were missionaries, as I grew up in a town with a fairly large Mormon population. Missionary work is very important part of a young person in the Mormon church’s spirituality and is a sort of coming of age. It is a program in which young men, starting at age 18, and women, starting at age 21, travel to another part of the world away from their families, generally 2 years for men and 18 months for women, and where they spend a significant portion of their time both handing out copies of the Book of Mormon, and speaking with people about the gospel and their beliefs.

My perspective in the situation with the two was that of a 20 year old college student who identifies as agnostic and generally doesn’t talk to strangers about religion. They gave me a small flyer for the local Mormon church, then asked if I knew of “the lord and savior Jesus Christ,” and if they could speak with me about him. I entered into my usual routine, from past experiences with missionaries, in which I apologetically try to get them to leave me alone: shaking my head and saying things like “I’m sorry but no thank you” or “you’re kind of talking to the wrong person.” While in my head feeling the urge to tell them my beliefs, and rant about evolution or my personal thoughts on the beauty of uncertainty. They persisted for a few more moments to try and convince me to take a copy of their book and read about the “Kingdom of Heaven”, but it wasn’t too much longer before they respectfully left my doorstep at my request.

Commentary/Analysis:

In looking back on this interaction it stood out to me how ethnocentrism can easily occur in everyday situations between people of different cultural backgrounds. What was this apparent need to share, and even push one’s own “right and true” beliefs on others? Or on the other side of the conversation to reject and not even want to hear or consider another’s beliefs as “right or true” because they conflict with one’s own. The young men who tried talking to me believed that my world could be completely changed if I could listen to the words of their God. Just as I believed that they had been misled into thinking their certainty was plausible. We were both committing the ethnocentric fallacy, and were at a stand still. This makes me wonder how interactions like this must take in the United States on a fairly regular basis as we have so many different religious and spiritual backgrounds present, and so must affect other characteristics of our society and block a significant amount of dialogue among one another.