Anthropology
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2211
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Item Metonymies of Color: The Material Discourses of Race in the Irish and Mexican American Experience(2021) Rivera, Patrick Sean; Brighton, Stephen; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Objects and artifacts are potent signs of cultural values, and in popular media they are often used as external signs of racial identity. This dissertation investigates how certain objects and settings come to be identified as characteristic of particular racial groups, and how stereotypes about material culture are then exploited to justify discriminatory political policy. I conduct an analysis of the visual representation of Mexicans and the Irish in U.S. media, beginning in 1840 and continuing to the present era. I identify when and why certain artifacts, like potatoes or sombreros, began to be used as stereotypical signs of each group. In each case, I examine how these metonymies were employed as weapons in contemporary political struggles over land, jobs, and representation. Drawing on the records of Mexican and Irish representation, I develop a theoretical model I term "the material discourses of race” to identify the three ways that objects are turned into signs of racial identity, and to explain why certain objects are repeatedly employed to construct an idealized image of whiteness in U.S. visual culture.Item Clinical Practice in Prenatal Care: Perspectives of Latina Mothers, Healthcare Providers, and Scientists on Male Circumcision(2015) Colon-Cabrera, David; Freidenberg, Judith N; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examines how the interplay between biomedical and ethnomedical perspectives impacts on reproductive health services and consumer decision to circumcise among Latinos in Prince Georges County, Maryland. International research influenced circumcision decision-making during prenatal care: little is known about how neonatal male circumcision (MC) is understood at local clinics; about what patients and providers know regarding circumcision benefits; and the reasoning behind the choices made regarding MC among Latinos. What are the beliefs, practices, and policies regarding MC at community clinics and the international research that influences these policies? Ethnographic research was conducted in three clinics in the state of Maryland including participant observation in the clinics, and interviews with healthcare providers, Latina women who sought services, and scientists and policy makers currently active in MC research. The study explored the interplay between biomedical and ethnomedical knowledge of prenatal care services. Interviews were also conducted with six scientists and policy makers currently active in MC research. The study found that as a reproductive health procedure MC illustrated a complex interplay between biomedical and consumer knowledge. Specifically, healthcare providers did not talk about MC to patients mainly because: 1) They thought that the majority of the Latina women seeking services did not want the procedure; 2) The clinics are constrained for resources and circumcision is not a priority when compared to other prenatal care topics deemed more important in the short prenatal visits. In addition, the policy makers and scientists made assumptions referring to the discussion of circumcision by reproductive and sexual health services clinics when providing prenatal care to clients. Their knowledge relied exclusively on the results of clinical trial data, and how this data could inform policy and clinical guidelines. This dissertation contributes to understanding how services impact MC decision-making and increase the pool of data in regards to the feasibility of overarching MC policies aimed at infants. In addition, this research recommends to critically examine MC as a biomedical practice that is now being rationalized as an HIV prevention strategy.