Blue Jeans - American Cultural Artifact Essay Example for Free

Blue Jeans American Cultural Artifact Essay Blue jeans in the last thirty years have attained such world wide popularity that they have come to be considered an American icon. However jeans have not always been held in high stead, but rather have had a troubled history including its beginnings within the working class movement, being considered unsavory by religious leaders and also seen as a rebellious statement about ‘western decadence’. According to the University of Toronto, no other garment has served as an example of status ambivalence and ambiguity than blue jeans in the history of fashion. Throughout this essay I will discuss how jeans have become such a common treasured and even expensive item crossing over class, gender, age, regional, and national lines as reflected by the many changing political views and acceptance from various social classes over the past 50 years. History of Blue Jeans According to the University of Toronto, blue jeans were originally created for the California coal miners in the mid-nineteenth century by the Morris Levi Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant who relocated to New York in 1847. Mr Strauss’ fate and the history of clothing changed forever when in 1872 he received an offer from Jacob Davis, a tailor from Reno Nevada. Mr. Davis, in order to improve the durability of the pants that he made for his clients, had been adding metal rivets to the highly stressed seams. The idea was successful and he wished to patent it, but due to financial constraints required a partner and hence Levi became the financial backer and partner. In 1873, the new partners received a patent for â€Å"an improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings†, and thus the history of blue jeans as we know them began. Blue jeans were originally called â€Å"waist overalls† by Levi Strauss and Co and in the 1920’s these were the most widely used worker’s pants in America. The name of these trousers changed to â€Å"jeans† in the 1960’s when Levi Strauss and Co. recognized that this was what the product was being called by the young, hip teenage boys. The history of waist overalls continues as the history of blue jeans. Jeans is now generally understood to refer to pants made out of a specific type of fabric called denim (Fashion Encyclopedia). Blue Jeans through the decades The popularity of blue jeans spread among working people, such as farmers and the ranchers of the American West. According to the Encyclopedia of Fashion, in the 1930’s jeans became so popular among cowboys that Wrangler formed just to make denim work clothing for those who rode the range. Jeans have tended to follow along in popularity with popular culture as evident with the popular Western films which found adventure and romance in the adventures of the cowboys who rode horses, shot bad guys, and wore blue jeans. Those who wished to imitate the casual, rugged look of the cowboys they saw in films began to wear jeans as casual wear (Fashion Encyclopedia). This effect is not hard to understand, as even today fashion trends are greatly influenced by what highly publicized celebrities choose to wear. During World War II blue jeans became part of the official uniform of the Navy and Coast Guard, and became even more popular when worn as off-duty leisure clothing by many other soldiers. In his book, â€Å"Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon†, James Sullivan states that the rise of the popularity of jeans after the WWII can greatly be attributed to the influence of the film and music industry, during the 1950s many young people began to wear jeans when they saw them on rebellious young American film stars such as Marlon Brando and James Dean. By 1950, Levi’s began selling nationally and other brands started emerging, such as Lee Coopers and each with its own particular fit (Sullivan 287). According to the University of Toronto, in the 1960’s and 1970’s jeans were embraced by the nonconformist hippie youth movement, and the history of blue jeans even gets linked to the downfall of communism. Behind the iron curtain, jeans became a symbol of â€Å"western decadence† and individuality and as such were highly sought. Jeans had become extremely popular, but were still mainly worn by working people or the young. In the 1980’s through to the 1990’s jeans were no longer seen as rebellious or a source of individuality, but they were transformed as the term ‘designer jeans’ was discovered. Many designers such as Jordache and Calvin Klein came on board to create expensive jeans and some jeans even reached haute couture status (Fashion Encyclopedia). In the new millennium denim is seen on designer catwalks and there are now hundreds of styles, types and labels available and of various price ranges. Changing Popularity According to Peter Beagle in his book â€Å"American Denim: A New Folk Art†, the popularity of jeans can be attributed to the fact that jeans can be seen to embrace the American democratic values of independence, freedom and equality. Some Americans even consider jeans to be the national uniform. Blue jeans have evolved from a garment associated exclusively with hard work to one associated with leisure. What began as work clothes has transformed into one of the hottest items available on the consumer market today. What was once apparel associated with low culture has undergone a reversal in status. Blue jeans were the first to accomplish a rather revolutionary cultural achievement bringing upper class status to a lower class garment. Conclusion At one point or another throughout history, blue jeans have been the uniform of many groups and are considered the one garment of clothing that has remained hip for over a century and has survived everything from World War II to the eighties. For half a century blue jeans have helped define every youth movement, and every effort of older generations to deny the passing of youth. Fifty years ago America invented the concept of teenager, and it is probably no coincidence that the enduring character of blue jeans, claiming independence and the right to self-expression, can be traced to the same time. Jeans were once seen as clothing for minority groups such as workers, hippies or rebellious youth, but are now embraced by the dominant American culture as a whole.

The History of Puerto Rican Migration :: Historical Puerto Rico Immigration Essays

The History of Puerto Rican Migration Through out the twentieth century Puerto Rican immigrants have played a major role in the United States’ labor force, cultural identity, and in politics. From the 1920’s, when the cigar makers waged their union battles, attracting the attention of other trade unions to Puerto Rican workers. Today the Puerto Rican Political Action Committee of Connecticut (PRPAC) is a major player in state politics, by supporting candidates and getting the Puerto Rican community involved in the elections of the state, but also the city of Hartford. In the "Memoirs of Bernardo Vega: A Contribution to the History of the Puerto Rican Community in New York", Vega talk about finding a voice for the laborers of the city and fighting for equal opportunity for all workers. In Jose Cruz’s "Identity and Power: Puerto Rican Politics and the Challenge of Ethnicity", he talks about in today’s society how Puerto Ricans must stay together in the battle to be heard by the government. As a result of protests against the imprisonment of Eugene V. Debs, a massive strike broke out in July of 1919. The strike stopped all cigar production in New York City, slowly spreading throughout the United States. Quickly unions began to see the importance of the Puerto Rican worker. This strike had many benefits for Puerto Rican workers. Soon after, Puerto Rican laborers began to enjoy the same wages and hours as other immigrant workers from other countries. However, the most notable result of the cigar makers’ strike was that for the first time Puerto Rican delegates were able to participate in the meetings of the union members. The cigar makers’ strike led to other strikes by different Puerto Rican laborers to call the attention of their owners to the fact that the Puerto Rican labor force was a group that was not going to be pushed around. On December 2, 1922 the Liga Puertorriquena was formed. Composed of an array of social, intellectual groups that had never before taken up the position of the workers’ struggle, Liga Puertorriquena was the first major effort to unify the concerns of the entire community. This new group now had the backing of the Puerto Rican community to make their voice heard in the city. Puerto Ricans were now able to protest and have an impact on what was going on both in the community and back on the island.

25 Good Reasons for Hating My Brother Todd Essay

The plot of the story is about a boy named Emery listing throughout the story, 25 reasons why he hates his brother Todd. The story is told from first person by Emery. Emery is not an average 15 year old, he dresses like a forty year old and he is much more mature than his age and stands out from all the others. When the girl Emery likes, Jodi, gets partnered up with him she isn’t very happy about it till they go to Emery’s house and she sees Todd. Jodi immediately falls in love with him and Todd likes her too. Todd asked Emery if it was okay for him to ask out Jodi, and Emery says he doesn’t like her anyways. Then Emery gets mad and puts his head down on his desk and Todd makes sure if he’s okay. Emery’s older brother Todd does things to annoy Emery unintentionally but Emery thinks he’s doing it all intentionally. The things Todd does is what an average older sibling does, but Emery thinks its just Todd acting big. From Emery’s point of view, Todd is an annoying older brother who acts big about the things he can do. From the point of view the story is told, you can tell Todd isn’t the way Emery thinks he is, he makes sure it is okay for him to ask out the girl Emery likes. When Emery disliked that idea, he puts his head down, and Todd tries to comfort him. Emery makes the list not because he hates his brother Todd for the things he lists, but to make him feel better about Todd asking out the girl Emery â€Å"loves†. Emery is jealous of his brother Todd because he is so much better than everything than him and he is more popular. It’s a common rivalry between older and younger brothers. Todd actually cares about Emery but he always takes everything Todd does in a negative way. The moral of this story is that you can’t stay mad at your family members forever, family always sticks together.

Biological Pathogen and Characteristics of Malaria Research Paper

Introduction Malaria is a key public health predicament and cause of much distress and untimely death in the poorer areas of tropical Africa, Asia and Latin America. In many endemic areas it is becoming increasingly complex to control because of the resistance of the parasite to anti- malarial drugs and the failure of vector control measures. Malaria is mainly caused by plasmodium species of the Coccidia family of Parasites. The most pathogenic species of the plasmodium species is plasmodium falciparum which is responsible for almost 90% of malarial infections in the world. The Coccidia are intracellular parasites that reproduce asexually by a process called schizogony and sexually by sporogony. They are normally found in the liver and red cells, and are transmitted by anopheline mosquito vector. Characteristics of the pathogen Four distinct Plasmodium species infect humans: P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, and P. ovale. P. falciparum is the most pathogenic of the human malaria species, with untreated infections causing severe disease and death, particularly in young children, pregnant women and non-immune adults (Caraway, 1959). The pathogenicity of P. falciparum is mainly due to: The cytoadherence of falciparum parasitized red cells, causing the cells to adhere to one another and to the walls of capillaries in the brain, muscle, kidneys and elsewhere and in pregnant women, in the placenta. The Sequestration of parasitized cells in the microcirculation causes congestion, hypoxia, blockage and rupturing of small blood vessels. And Due to high levels of parasitaemia, the activation of cytokines prompts and the destruction of many red cells occur (WHO, 2000). Falciparum malaria parasitaemia can go beyond more than 250 000 parasites per liter of blood. And about up to 30–40% of red cells may become parasitized resulting to severe falciparum malaria which is associated with cerebral malaria, haemoglobinuria, severe anemia, hypoglycaemia, and complications in pregnancy (2000). P. falciparum is found mainly in the hotter and humid regions of the world. It is the main species found in tropical and subtropical Africa and parts of Central America and South America, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South East Asia, Indonesia, Philippines, Haiti, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and many islands in Melanesia (WHO, 2000). It also occurs in parts of India, the Middle East, and eastern Mediterranean. According to WHO, the species Plasmodium falciparum contains several varieties which show differences in geographical distribution, vector susceptibility, human infection pattern, drug susceptibility, morphology and antigenic composition (2000). Transmission Malaria parasites are transmitted when an infected female Anopheles mosquito bites a host. Sporozoites contained in the saliva of the mosquito are inoculated into the blood of a human host when the mosquito takes a blood meal (Webster, 2003). Infection can also occur by transfusion of infected donor blood, by injection through the use of needles and syringes contaminated with infected blood, and very occasionally congenitally, usually when a mother is non-immune. Following inoculation, the Sporozoites rapidly, within 8 hours, leave the blood and enter liver cells. Within 5–15 days, depending on species, they develop into liver schizonts and are referred to as pre-erythrocytic (PE) schizonts. Mature PE schizonts contain many merozoites (2003). When mature, a PE schizont ruptures from the liver cell, releasing its merozoites into the blood circulation. The merozoites infect red cells by binding to receptors on the red cell membrane. Entry of the parasites into red cells starts a cycle of schizogony in the blood which to complete takes 48 hours for P. falciparum.P vivax and P. ovale and 72 hours for P. malariae (2003). During this time the intracellular merozoites develop into trophozoites which feed on the contents of the red cells. As the trophozoite feeds, malaria pigment, known as haemozoin, is produced as an end product of hemoglobin breakdown. This accumulates in the trophozoite, appearing as brown-black granules (Webster, 2003). When the trophozoite is fully developed, the nucleus begins to divide, followed by a division of cytoplasm, resulting in the formation of a schizont containing 8–24 merozoites (2003). The mature schizont ruptures from its red cell releasing merozoites, malaria pigment, and toxins into the plasma which is the cause of a typical malaria attack. Merozoites released from schizonts enter the blood circulation and those which are not destroyed by the host’s immune system infect new red cells, beginning a further cycle of schizogony with more red cells being destroyed. After several erythrocytic schizogony cycles, some of the merozoites entering red cells deve lop into male and female gametocytes. For the life cycle to be continued, the gametocytes must be ingested by a female Anopheles mosquito in a blood meal. If they are not taken up by a mosquito they die. Symptoms The characteristic feature of malaria is fever caused by the release of toxins, when erythrocytic schizonts rupture, which stimulate the secretion of cytokines from leucocytes and other cells. In the early stages of infection the fever is irregular or continuous. As schizogony cycles synchronize, fever begins to recur at regular intervals particularly in quartan malaria, every 72 hours, vivax and ovale malaria, every 48 hours (Beales, 2002). Splenomegaly occurs in all forms of malaria with repeated attacks causing a greatly enlarged spleen. Anemia and jaundice are also features of malaria, particularly falciparum malaria. Malaria caused by P. falciparum is referred to as falciparum malaria, formerly known as sub tertian (ST) or malignant tertian (MT) malaria. It is the most widespread, accounting for up to 80% of malaria cases worldwide (2002). Diagnosis The diagnosis of malaria is by done routinely though detecting and identifying malaria parasites microscopically in blood films, concentrating parasites in venous blood by centrifugation when they cannot be found in blood films, using a malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) to detect malaria antigen (WHO,2000). Measurement of hemoglobin or packed cell volume (PCV) is done due to presence of malaria with heavy parasitaemia particularly in young children and pregnant women. The measurement of blood glucose to detect hypoglycaemia is usually done particularly to diagnose young children and pregnant women off severe falciparum malaria. Also with suspicion of Falciparum Malaria, the total white cell count and platelet count is done. Coagulation tests if abnormal bleeding is suspected in falciparum malaria. A thick blood film is the most suitable for the rapid detection of malaria parasites, particularly when they are few. In areas where P. malariae is found, unless a thick film is examined, infection is likely to be missed because parasitaemia is normally low with this species. In a thick film the blood is not fixed. The red cells are lysed during staining, allowing parasites and white cells to be seen in a much larger volume of blood .A thin blood film is required to confirm the Plasmodium species if this is not clear from the thick film. The blood cells are fixed in a thin film, enabling the parasites to be seen in the red cells. Parasitized red cells may become enlarged, oval in shape, or stippled. These features can help to identify Plasmodium species. Examination of a thin film greatly assists in the identification of mixed infections. By counting the percentage of parasitized red cells before and after treatment, thin films are also of value in assessing whether a patient with fa lciparum malaria is responding to treatment in areas where drug resistance is suspected. Examination of a thin film also gives the opportunity to investigate anemia and white cell abnormalities, and in the absence of malaria parasites, suggest an alternative diagnosis, e.g. sickle cell disease (WHO, 2000). Treatment The treatment of Malaria parasites is now tricky due to intense drug resistance. Artemisinin-based combination therapies are combinations in which one of the components is artemisinin and its derivatives, artesunate, artemether, dihydroartemisinin. The artemisinins produce rapid clearance of parasitaemia and rapid resolution of symptoms, by reducing parasite numbers 100- to 1000-fold per asexual cycle of the parasite, which is more than the other currently available anti- malarials can achieve (Webster, 2003). Prevention Reducing the suffering and loss of life caused by malaria is possible, providing the financial, political, and technical commitment to achieve this is strengthened. The WHO/UNICEF/UNDP and World Bank Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the Medicines for Malaria Venture, the Gates Malaria Partnership and the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria have been established to reduce the burden of malaria by: implementing malaria control strategies, improving health infrastructures, raising awareness of malaria and its effects on poverty and development, mobilizing communities to combat malaria, raising and monitoring funds to effect and sustain malaria control programmes and the development of anti-malarial drugs and vaccines. References Beales, P. F, and Gilles, H .M, (2002). Â  Rationale and technique of malaria control. Ch. 6 in 4th ed. Essential Malariology, pp 107–190 Caraway, W.T., (1959). American Journal of Clinical Pathology, 32. Webster D et al., (2003) Progress with new malaria vaccines. Bulletin World Health Organization, 81(12), pp 902–909 WHO, (2000). Severe falciparum malaria. Transactions Royal Society Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 94, Supplement