APY 106, Spring 2021
Assignment 3 (Submission date, Fri, April 23rd 11:59pm)
25%
Please write a short answer for each of the questions below.
Each short answer should be about 200 words at least, and should address the question directly
citing examples from texts read/movies viewed.
Please note: You are not expected to cite sources of any kind and you may draw upon your notes,
readings and lecture slides to formulate your answer but UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES
CAN YOU COPY PASTE MATERIAL FROM SLIDES INTO YOUR ANSWERS. Be sure
to write in your own words and whenever you use direct words or sentences from a text please
provide the citation i.e. author name and page numbers.
Questions
1. What is the difference between disease and illness? Using the example of the film Unrest
explain why understanding this difference (between disease and illness) is so significant.
2. Cultural representations and social ideas about pregnancy and labor have a significant
impact on how “risky” birth is considered to be and in turn how it is managed and treated.
From the excerpt on birth in four cultures in Guest (2018) compare birthing in
Netherlands and USA. Discuss the differences between how labor is conceptualized and
then treated or experienced in these two contexts. Why is this difference important to
study?
3. Taking the example of de-medicalizing anorexia (O’Connor and Van Esterik), discuss the
multiple factors or contexts that an anthropological framework focusses on to understand
this condition. Consequently, how does anthropology contribute to
a holistic understanding of anorexia?
4. Twine argues that commercial surrogacy is exploitative because it is an example of how
reproduction is stratified especially along the lines of race, ethnicity, and class. The BBC
radio conversation “Womb for Rent” highlights some of these aspects of Twine’s reading
in conversation with an Irish woman who hires an Indian surrogate. Using these two
examples as evidence:
a. Discuss if both the Irish and the Indian women possess reproductive choices and
liberties equally? If yes, why? If no, why not?
b. In your own words explain what you have understood by the term “stratified
reproduction.”
5. From Bisan Sahli’s article, discuss at least three ideas that the whitecoat symbolizes.
Using 2 examples from text show how these ideas about the whitecoat help the healing
process.
6. The author’s research shows that almost all physicians faced situations when they were
confident about the diagnosis based on physical examination and patient history alone.
But this was not enough to elicit patient trust and in order to gain patient’s trust, they
often ran lab tests (even though they were not required to make a diagnosis). Why do you
think that in biomedicine lab tests have come to replace the authority of the doctor?