Classification of Phylum Porifera

Classification of Phylum Porifera The porifera or sponges are marine animals and they consist of loosely organized cells.While all animals have unspecialized cells that can transform into specialized cells, sponges are unique in having some specialized cells that can transform into other types, often migrating between the main cell layers and the mesohyl in the process. Sponges do not have nervous, digestive or circulatory systems. Instead most rely on maintaining a constant water flow through their bodies to obtain food and oxygen and to remove wastes, and the shapes of their bodies are adapted to maximize the efficiency of the water flow. All are sessile aquatic animals and, although there are freshwater species, the great majority are marine (salt water) species. The outer surface of a sponge is lined with thin flat cells called the pinacocytes. these cells are mildly contractlie and due to this the shapes of some sponges changes.In many sponges pinacocytes are specialised into tubelike contractile porocytes. Openings in the porocytes act as pathways for water through the body wall and in this way they can regulate water circulation. Just below the pinacocyte layer of a sponge is a jelly like layer called the mesophyl. The mesenchyme cells also known as amoebiod cells move about the mesophyl and are specialised for reproduction, secreting skeletal elements, transporting and storing food and forming contractile rings around the openings in the sponge wall. Choanocytes also called the collar cells which are below the mesophyl line the inner chamber (s), these cells are flagelatted cells that have a collar like ring of microvilli, surrounding a flagellum.a net like mesh is formed in the collar when the microfilaments connect the microvilli the flagelum creates water currents through the sponge, and the collar filter microscopic food paqrticals from the water. Sponges are supported by a skeleton that may consist of microscopic needlelike spikes called spicules.amoebiod cells form spicules.these spicules are made of calcium carbonate or silica and may take on a variety of shapes.Alternatively, the skeleton may be made of spongin (a fibrous protien made of collagen). The nature of the skeleton is an important characteristic in the sponge taxonomy. Water Flow and Body Types A spongs life is dependent on the water currents the choanocytes create. The flow of the water brings food and oxygen to a sponge and carries away the metabolic and digestive wastes. The way the food is filtered and how the water circulates causes the phylum to have a certain body type. Three types of bodies have been described by the zoologists. Ascon: these are vase like sponges. Ostia are the outer openings of porocytes and lead directly to a chamber called spongocoel. Choanocytes line the spongocoel and water is drawn into it by the flagellar movement of choanocytes through the ostia. Water exits through a single large opening at the top of the sponge called the Osculum. Sycon: in this body form, the sponge wall appears to be folded. Water enters a Sycon sponge through openings called dermal pores. Dermal pores are the openings of invaginations of the body wall, called incurrent canals. Pores in the body wall connect incurrent canals to radial canals and the radial canals lead to spongocoeal. Radial canals are lined by the choanocytes, and the beating of the choanocyte flagella moves water from the ostia, through incurrent and radial canals, to the spongocoel, and out the Osculum. Leucon: sponges have an extensively branched canal system. Water enters the sponge through ostia and moves through branched incurrent canals. Canals leading away from the chambers are called the excurrent canals. Proliferation of chambers and canals has resulted in the absence of a spongocoeal, and often, multiple exits (oscula) for water leaving the sponge. Maintenance and Vital Functions Sponges consume particles that range in size from 0.1 to 50um. Their food consists of bacteria, microscopic algae, protest, and other suspended organic manner. The pray is slowly drawn into the sponge and consumed. Sponges help in reducing the turbidity of coastal waters. A single Leucon sponge, 1 cm in diameter and 10 cm in height can filter in excess of 20 litres of water everyday. Small suspended food particles are filtered by the choanocytes. Water passes through their collar near the base of the cell and moves into a sponge chamber at the opening end of the collar. Suspended food is trapped on the collar and moved along the microvilli to the base of the collar, where it is incorporated into a food vacuole. With pH changes and lysosomal enzyme activity the food is digested. Partially digested food is passed to amoeboid cells, which distribute it to other cells. Sponges are not limited to feed by the filtration method. Pinococytes lining the incurrent canals may phagocytize larger food particles up to 50um. Nutrients dissolved in the sea water can be actively transported by the sponge. Sponges dont have nerve cells to coordinate body functions. Most reactions occur due to individuals responding to a stimulus e.g. water circulation in some sponges is minimum at sunrise and at a maximum just before sunset because light inhibits the constriction of porocytes and other cells surrounding ostia keeping incurrent canals open. Other reactions however suggest some communication among cells. For example the rate of water circulation through the sponge can drop suddenly without and apparent external cause. This reaction can be due only choanocytes ceasing activities more or less simultaneously, and this implies some form of internal communication. The nature of this communication is unknown. Amoeboid cells transmitting chemicals messages and ion movement over cell surfaces are possible control mechanisms. Due to the presence of an extensive canal system and circulation of large volumes of water through sponges, all sponge cells are in close contact with water and so the nitrogenous waste removal and gaseous exchange occurs by diffusion Some sponges host photosynthesizing micro-organisms as endosymbionts and this coalation often results in the production of more food and oxygen than can be consumed. Freshwater sponges often host green algae as endosymbionts within archaeocytes and other cells, and benefit from nutrients produced by the algae. Many marine species host other photosynthesizing organisms.The spicules made of silica conduct light into the mesohyl, where the photosynthesizing endosymbionts live. Sponges that host photosynthesizing organisms are commonest in waters with relatively poor supplies of food particles, and often have leafy shapes that maximize the amount of sunlight they collect. Few sponges are carnivorous. They can capture small crustaceans using spicule-covered filaments. In most cases little is known about how they actually capture prey. Most known carnivorous sponges have completely lost the water flow system and choanocytes. Sponges do not have the complex immune systems of most other animals. However they reject grafts from other species but accept them from other members of their own species. In a few marine species, grey cells act as the guards for the sponges. When invaded, they produce a chemical that stops movement of other cells in the affected area, thus preventing the intruder from using the sponges internal transport systems. If the intrusion persists, the grey cells accumulate in the area and release toxins that kill all cells in the area. The immune systems stay activated for up to 3 weeks or so. Reproduction Most sponges are monoecious but do not usually self fertilise because individual produce eggs and sperms at different times. Certain choanocytes lose their collar and their flagella undergo meiosis and form flagellated sperms. Other choanocytes and amoeboid cells in some sponges probably undergo meiosis to form eggs. Sperm and eggs are released from sponge oscula. Fertilisation occurs in the ocean water resulting in planktonic larvae development. In some sponges the eggs are retained inside the mesophyl of the parent. Sperm cells exit one sponge through the Osculum and enter another sponge with the incurrent water. Choanocytes trap the sperms and incorporate them into vacuole. The choanocytes lose their collar and flagellum; they become amoeboids, and transport the sperm to the eggs. In some sponges, early development occurs in the mesophyl. Cleavage of a zygote results in the formation of a flagellated larval stage. The breaks free and is carried the water carries it away from the parent sponge. After about two days the larva settles in a suited environment and starts to mature into and adult. Asexual reproduction also occurs in some sponges. This involves the formation of resistant capsules, called gemmules which contain masses of amoeboid cells. At the death of the parent sponge in winter, gemmules are released from them which can survive adverse conditions. When favourable condition are observed in spring time the amoeboid cells stream out of a tiny opening, called the micropyle, and organise into a sponge. Some sponges have the remarkable power of regeneration. Though this is possible if the right cells are present in the sponge. A few species reproduce by budding Ecology Sponges are very competitive for living space .Many sponges shed spicules, forming a dense carpet several meters deep that keeps away organism which would otherwise prey on the sponges. They also produce toxins that prevent other sessile organisms such as bryozoans or sea squirts from growing on or near them. Sponges are important ecological constituents of reef communities, but they do not commonly contribute to the construction of reef frameworks. Habitats Sponges are worldwide in their distribution, from the Polar Regions to the tropics. Most are found to be in quiet and clear waters because sediment stirred up by waves or currents block their pores, making it difficult for them to feed and breathe. The greatest numbers of sponges are usually found on firm surfaces such as rocks, but some sponges are found on soft sediment they attach themselves by means of a root-like base. Sponges are more abundant but less diverse in temperate waters than in tropical waters, possibly because organisms that prey on sponges are more abundant in tropical waters. Uses The calcium carbonate or silica spicules are too rough for most uses, but two genera, Hippospongia and Spongia, have soft, entirely fibrous skeletons. Early Europeans used soft sponges for many purposes including padding for helmets, portable drinking utensils and municipal water filters. Sponges were used as cleaning tools, applicators for paints and ceramic glazes and discreet contraceptives. The luffa sponge, which is commonly sold for use in the kitchen or the shower, is not derived from an animal but from the fibrous skeleton of a gourd. Sponges have medicinal potential due to the presence in sponges themselves or their microbial symbionts of chemicals that may be used to control viruses, bacteria, tumours and fungi.

Example of report Essay

â€Å"Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.† Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Playwright, Poet, Novelist and Dramatist. 1749-1832) Looking back at the lecturer career, the important of critical thinking to success in the career thinking skills is real, students may not know how to actually apply the information that receive to real world application culture, or lives a life that demands them to talk, read or write to prove proficiency? Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the: understand the logical connections between ideas, identify, construct and evaluate arguments, detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning, solve problems systematically, identify the relevance and importance of ideas and reflect on the justification of one’s own beliefs and values. Critical thinking is not a matter of accumulating information. A person with a good memory and who knows a lot of facts is not necessarily good at critical thinking. A critical thinker is able to deduce consequences from what student knows, and will knows how to make use of information to solve problems, and to seek relevant sources of information to inform. Critical thinking should not be confused with being argumentative or being critical of other people. Although critical thinking skills can be used in exposing fallacies and bad reasoning and constructive tasks. Critical thinking can help us acquire knowledge, improve our theories, and strengthen arguments. We can use critical thinking to enhance work processes and improve social institutions. Start from the week two, first exercise has started. On the second week,  student required to buy the materials such as artline pens 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.8, butter pad, layout pad, technical pen, regal bond, cutting mat and etc. In the first exercise, a student has to draw a box of 6x6cm with a title Visual Element of Form. For the first time, the very 1st sketch was using numbers to determine the dots, line, shape and volume. First time and the second time have been rejected and required to improve the artworks. The third time has accepted and it was four different types of flowers. In week three, the second exercise were introduced and the title is Encounter of Form. On the third week, before starting the second exercise, students required to study the samples which were given on the assignment briefing. Students have to draw the same boxes on the layout pad or butter pad or regal bond. Encounter of Form is about the positive and the negative under seven rules which is detachment, union, intersect, overlap, touching, interpenetration and subtraction. The first artwork was failure and required to improve. For the second artwork was complete success. In week four, the third exercise of the assignment one has given by the lecturer and the title is Space and Depth. Before starting the exercise, students have to understand what to draw and how to draw, how to start. For the first part of the exercise, student has to do boxes with four instruction which is increase, playful, congested and tension. And as for second part, students have to do A3 size artwork with four themes which is peace, war, hope and struggle. With these four themes was hard to choose but ended up with hope. The first artwork was failure and required to improve. For the second artwork was complete success and accepted. At the lecture class which held on week five, the lecturer play a video named Three Idiots which is interesting and funny, some moral values and the way to show critical thinking to argue the logic point. The last exercise of assignment one was called Orisimstylization, and inquire student to get a sample of the existing man-made object, animal and human model. The last exercise strictly follows back the exercise in the second box while the third was rather interesting due to use student’s style and the originality. For the last exercise, the first artwork was failure again and required to  improve again. The second artwork was the different advertising models and has been accepted. In week six, students have to hand in the assignment one along with the front cover and back cover. But because a lot of student have fail to show a good and presentable assignment, whole of the exercise along the cover have to improve and the deadline was postponed to the week 9 with along assignment two. In week seven, the lecturer introduces the assignment two which consisting two part, one was to do Repetition: Unit and Flat Plan while the another were Application. The Unit and Flat Plan, requires student to draw one selected image over on internet or any media that can be used to inquired an image. Then on the 1Ãâ€"1 inch small boxes over 9 x12 grid, student have to draw on it to show the repetition. As for the Application, using the same size of the 9Ãâ€"12 inch over the layout pad, draw an image of the selected material of object to describe the repetition. Example, a t-shirt was used and draw at layout paper, then by applying the selected sample on the Unit and Flat Plan it will show the texture inlayed on the selected application. Around week eight and nine was the week where the lecturer giving opportunity to student to seek and given advice to for their assignment progression. With some feed back by the lecturer, student then improve student artwork while along learning some of the creative and critical thinking over several sample of video given by the lecturer. Within at week nine the student has to do their final makeup before hand in the assignment one along the current second assignment to the lecturer at office around Friday at 12.00 to 12.30pm sharp. With this, the whole assignment one and second has done and hand in by that day.

There is an increasing pressure in contemporary society to create and maintain the perfect body. - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2393 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Sociology Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Critically discuss this statement Throughout time there has been a fascination with constructing the perfect human form. In Ancient Greece, the perfect muscular body was associated with an individual being a hero, a warrior and an athlete and was symbolic of ones sense of arÃÆ' ªte or full potential (Chaline, 2015). Within the Renaissance period, as demonstrated by Da Vincis Vitruvian Man, emphasis centred on physical beauty and symmetry as signifiers as the embodiment of purity, virtue and morality. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "There is an increasing pressure in contemporary society to create and maintain the perfect body." essay for you Create order The rise of imperialism in Western Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries increased the importance of the fit and healthy body has as a reflection of a nations power and military preparedness. As Synnott (1993) elucidates therefore, the body has long been seen as the prime symbol of the self and how it is thought of is historically, socially, sensually, politically and ideologically constructed: [The body may be seen as]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a tomb of the soul, a temple, a machine, and the self and much more; it has also been treated accordingly. Bodies may be caressed or indeed killed, they may be loved or hated, and thought beautiful or ugly, scared or profane (p.7-8). In late or post modern society, there are multiple pressures for creating and maintaining a sense of physical perfectionism with contemporary cultures relentlessly promoting the body beautiful (Thomas, 2007). We are constantly presented with images of perfectly formed models, celebrities, athletes and film and television stars (e.g. Grogan, 2008; Orbach, 2010) and social media forums such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are saturated with visions of individuals finely tuned bodies and versions of themselves they wish to present. For men, current ideals of physical perfectionism are best understood as muscularity in moderation where muscle size and visibility as signs of health, independence and athleticism are paramount but within given parameters of normalcy. For example, the hyper-muscled body that competitive male bodybuilders develop is deemed freakish (Fussell, 1991; Klein, 1993; Monaghan, 2001). For women, the perfect body is more complex to distinguish and is further oppressed by patriarchal ideologies. Feminist scholars have addressed how womens perceptions of their bodies and what is deemed attractive or imperfect are often informed by the male gaze for the purposes of gaining pleasure (e.g. Shildrick, 2002; Garland- Thomson, 2009). Certain forms of embodiment such as being sl ender, toned, petite and sexy are idealised in contemporary Western culture, but how a woman manages her sense of being in a body is problematic. As Markula (2001: 237) highlights, women are presented with the task of managing a host of contradictory continuums which dictates the female body should be firm but shapely, fit but sexy, strong but thin. This negotiation is made more problematic as women have historically been more defined by their bodies, and as a result, objectified in a number of ways. For example, female athletes are often infantilised or sexualised based on their physical appearance regardless of their sporting accomplishments (Hargreaves, 1994). For both men and women therefore, the body is not only viewed as a sign of physical capability allowing us to perform our everyday roles and routines, but is increasingly associated with, and symbolic of, our attractiveness, successfulness and virility (Bauman, 1990). According to Bourdieu (1991), developing a body that relates well amongst contemporary ideologies of physical perfectionism imbues the owner with physical capital which in turn can be transferred into cultural and economic capital enhancing ones status and distinction in a given social field (i.e. sets of localised social relations): The production of physical capital refers to the development of bodies in ways which are recognised as possessing value in social fields, while the conversion of physical capital refers to the translation of bodily participation in work, leisure and other fields into different forms of capital. Physical capital is most usually converted into economic capital (money, goods and services), cultural capital (for example, education) and social capital (social networks which enable reciprocal calls to be made on the goods and services of its members) (p.127). As a result, inhabiting a typically gendered, young, muscular, athletic, virile and able body is valued and brings rewards in a society that values perf ectionism. For example, Monaghan (2002) explores how his muscled body assisted in him in gaining a position as a nightclub doorman which in turn opened up avenues of (hetero)sexual experience. These norms of perfectionism are now so engrained in Western society that the term body fascism has arisen in popular culture to express the oppressiveness inherent in the narrowing of norms about the ideal body (Hughes, 1999: 155). These strict bodily boundaries limit how the body may be imagined and experienced at the expense of alternative expressions of embodiment. According to Pronger (2002) the ubiquity of the fit, slender, muscular body creates a panoptic effect as individuals watch over themselves for any deviations from these norms. Non-normative or less valued bodies such as old, fat, disabled, short, tall bodies or bodies that transgress accepted norms (e.g. female bodybuilders who transgress traditional ideals of femininity) are therefore oppressed or excluded altogether. As Sparke s (1997: 88) iterates some constructions (of embodiment) come to be more equal than others, some come to be more legitimate than others, and some get to be promoted over others. Indeed, as Hughes (1999) points out some bodies, for example the disabled body, is placed as a binary opposite to fascist ideologies of body perfectionism and is used for the very construction of the perfect body. As pressure exists to live up to certain levels of perfectionism there is increasing awareness that the body itself is perfectible through various bodily regimens and modifications. This has resulted in the body being increasingly seen as an object of consumption creating further pressures for individuals to work on their bodies as part of a self-reflexive project (Giddens, 1991; Shilling, 1993; 2003). According to Shilling (2003), engaging in body projects allows people to make strong, public and personal statements about who and what they are within a multitude of social contexts: In the affl uent West, there is a tendency for the body to be seen as an entity which is in the process of becoming; a project which should be worked at and accomplished as part of an individuals self-identity. Body projects still vary along social lines, especially in the case of gender, but there has in recent years been a proliferation of the ways in which both women and men have developed their bodies. Recognising that the body has become a project for many modern persons entails accepting that its appearance, size, shape and even its contents, are potentially open to reconstruction in line with the designs of its owner (p.4; emphasis added). Modifying ones body in line with socially and culturally constructed norms therefore promises control and security and creates space for an individual to situate oneself in the world. As Shilling (2003) suggests, not only can individuals create their own identity through altering the appearance of the body amongst an array of choices but it is their r esponsibility to do so through engaging in modifications and everyday bodily maintenance as a demonstration of diligence and labour. People may therefore choose, and indeed feel pressured, to undertake bodily modifications such as committing to regimes of physical training, disciplining nutritional intake, undertaking plastic surgery and botox, having teeth whitened or piercing, tattooing and scarifying the skin at the bodys surface (e.g. Featherstone, 2000). These modifications are supplemented by daily routines of bodily maintenance such as washing and cleaning, adorning the body with clothing, brushing our teeth, applying makeup and moisturisers, having our haircut in particular ways and undertaking techniques that remove hair from certain body parts. Such pressures perhaps contribute to the continual obsession with gym culture in contemporary society. The gym offers a space where physical labour (which is constantly declining in an increasingly technological world) is reprodu ced promising the construction of a strong, powerful, functional, independent, desirable body and offering potential for the transformation of the self. As Fussell (1994) observes, the built body in contemporary, capitalist, visual, aesthetic society has more symbolic and cultural importance than it is has usefulness in the production of labour: The bodybuilder is a perversion of puritanism, and utilitarianism. He doesnt use his muscles to build bridges, but to raise eyebrows. They are at once functionless, yet highly functional (p.45). Gyms are thus important social spaces where individuals are encouraged to work their bodies like a project through which they can transform or maintain their body-self identities. As Fussell (1994: 57) continues of bodybuilders the muscular body, the picture of eternal adolescence, is their dominant dream, and the gym their nightly launching pad. In affluent Western society of course individuals are presented with an ever increasing choice of he alth and fitness regimes, diets, and bodily practices which they may engage in. However, it is important to critique the freedom to which individuals are really afforded in these practices. For Foucault (1981), there is less choice of what we do with our bodies than we are conscious of as we are placed under multiple cultural confines and constructs of perfectionism and normalcy. Engaging in a body project is therefore not exclusively an expression of individual agency, but is policed through the adherence, or docility as Foucault called it, to dominant cultural discourses. As Bourdieu (1990: 63) asserts, there is a causal relationship between the social and the corporeal, and so accordingly we must see society written into the body, into the biological individual and vice versa. The increasing pressures to conform to and commit to achieving the perfect body have been highlighted as contributory factors to compulsory and obsessive behavioural disorders such as anorexia nervosa, b ulimia and most recently the phenomena of bigorexia amongst men (Ahmad, Rotherham Talwar, 2015). Increased consciousness of the body and perceived inability to embody ideals of perfectionism has also been linked with self-dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression and negative wellbeing (Grogan, 2008). There is also increasing suggestion that people are taking more risks to achieve perfect bodies including taking supplements, steroids and dietary pharmaceuticals (Monaghan, 2001). Embarking on a body project as an attempt to transform the self into socially and culturally constructed visions of perfectionism therefore problematic. Furthermore, as Shilling (2003: 5) reminds us, bodies are doomed to fail as they inevitably age and decay, become sick and injured, and are not always malleable in the ways that we desire bodies are limited not only in the sense that they ultimately die, but in their frequent refusal to be moulded in accordance with our intentions. Offering some reflections, it is evident that within late or post modern society that is aggressively aestheticised (Featherstone, 1991) the vision of the perfect body takes centre stage. As a result, pressures exist for people to embody perfected physical forms. Although there are plenty of examples of people who reject these norms and take measures to differentiate or individualise themselves in alternative ways (e.g. through non-normative tattoos) in general there are demands for us to present and perform our bodies in particular ways. The perfect body is of course mythical. Participants in numerous studies in a variety of contexts have reported how they are never happy with their bodies no matter how much work they undertake on them (e.g. Monaghan, 1999). Bodily perfectionism should therefore be better conceptualised as a socially constructed ideology dependent on time, culture, space and an individuals biography and subjectivities and is ultimately impossible to achieve. Perhaps promoting this understan ding and how the perfect body does not exist in a fixed, essentialist, homogeneous way but rather is better seen as fluid, constructed and heterogeneous could offer a number of benefits and ways to ease the pressures that people experience with regards to anxiety with their bodies. For example, recognising the impossibilities and constructions of physical perfectionism may allow people real freedom to create unique self-reflexive body projects where multiple versions of perfectionism may be imagined. Promoting these variable body projects (Monaghan, 2001) promises more fulfilling body-self relationships, less risky bodily practices, opportunity for empowerment and increases in overall embodied wellbeing. References Ahmad, A., Rotherham, N. Talwar, D. (2015) Muscle dysmorphia: One in 10 men in gyms believed to have bigorexia. BBC Newsbeat. Online article (accessed 22nd October 2015): https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34307044/muscle-dysmorphia-one-in-10-men-in-gyms-believed-to-have-bigorexia Chaline, E. (2015) The Temple of Perfection: A History of the Gym. London: Reaktion Books. Bauman, Z. (1990) Thinking Sociologically. Oxford: Blackwell. Bourdieu, P. (1991) Language and Symbolic Power. Harvard: Harvard University Press. Featherstone, M. (1991) Postmodernism and Consumer Culture. London: Sage. Featherstone, M. (2000) Body Modification: An Introduction. In: Featherstone, M. ed. Body Modification. London: Sage. Foucault, M. (1981) The History of Sexuality (Volume 1). Harmondsworth: Penguin. Fussell, S.W. (1991). Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder. Poseidon Press. Fussell, S. (1994) Bodybuilder Americanus. In: Goldstein, L. ed. The Male Body: Features, Destinies, Exposures. Michigan: University of Michigan Press, pp. 43-60. Garland-Thomson, R. (2009). Starring: How We Look. New York: Oxford University Press. Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self Identity: Self and Society in Late Modern Age. Cambridge: Polity Press. Grogan, S. (2008) Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women and Children. Hove New York: Routledge. Hargreaves, J.A. (1994) Sporting Females: Critical Issues in the History and Sociology of Womens Sports. London: Routledge. Hughes, B. (1999) The constitution of impairment: modernity and the aesthetic of oppression. Disability and Society, 14 (2), pp. 155-172. Klein, A. (1993) Little Big Men: Bodybuilding Subculture and Gender Construction. New York: SUNY Press. Markula, P. (2001). Firm but shapely, fit but sexy, strong but thin: the postmodern aerobicizing female bodies. In: A. Yiannakis M.J. Melnick (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Sociology of Sport. Champaign: IL: Human Kinet ics, pp. 237-258. Monaghan, L. (1999) Creating The Perfect Body: A Variable Project. Body Society 5 (2-3), pp. 267-90. Monaghan, L. (2001) Bodybuilding, Drugs and Risk. London: Routledge. Monaghan, L. (2002) Opportunity, Pleasure and Risk: An Ethnography of Urban Male Heterosexualities. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 31 (4):440-477. Orbach, S. (2010). Bodies. London: Profile Books Pronger, B. (2002) Body Fascism: Salvation in the Technology of Physical Fitness. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Shildrick, M. (2002) Embodying the Monster: Encounters with the Vulnerable Self. London: Sage. Shilling, C. (1993) The Body and Social Theory: 1st Ed. London: Sage. Shilling, C. (2003) The Body and Social Theory: 2nd Ed. London: Sage. Sparkes, A.C. (1997) Reflections on the socially constructed physical self. In: Fox, K. ed. The Physical Self: From Motivation to Wellbeing. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, pp. 83-110. Synott, A. (1992) Tomb, temple, machi ne, self: The social construction of the body. British Journal of Sociology, 43, 79-110. Thomas, C. (2007). Sociologies of Disability, Impairment, and Chronic Illness: Ideas in Disability Studies and Medical Sociology. London: Palgrave MacMillan.

The Shooting Death of Oscar Grant

On New Years Day 2009, an Oakland police officer shot and killed an unarmed, pinned suspect. The officer, Johannes Mehserle, was arrested on murder charges on January 14th, 2009. The trial  began on June 10, 2010. Heres what happened: Passengers Detained On January 1, 2009, at approximately 2 a.m., officers of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) responded to reports of a fight on an Oakland subway car. They detained approximately 20 passengers. One of the passengers, who witnesses say was not actually involved in the fight, was 22-year-old Oscar Grant. Grant Captured Grant, a local grocery store butcher, and the father of a four-year-old girl were unarmed. He approached police in what appeared to be a nonviolent manner and was backed against the wall. In one video, he can be seen kneeling and pleading with police for reasons that are not yet clear. Some eyewitnesses say that he had already begun asking police not to shoot him. Officers restrained Grant and pinned him, face down, on the pavement. It is not clear whether he was handcuffed at this point. Shot to Death As shown in a widely disseminated cell phone video of the shooting, Grant was restrained by two officers. A third, 27-year-old Johannes Mehserle, then drew his service pistol and shot Grant fatally in the back. Current Status Mehserle quietly resigned from BART and has issued no statements regarding his reasons for the shooting. An internal investigation is pending. An attorney for Grants family has filed a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city.On January 14th, 2009, Johannes Mehserle was arrested and charged with suspicion of murder. Theories Because Mehserle shot Grant in front of dozens of witnesses, including other police officers, it is difficult to fathom why he would have chosen this opportunity to execute a suspect in cold blood. Alternate theories suggest that he may have mistaken his pistol for a Taser (unlikely given the fact that BARTs Tasers bear no resemblance to firearms and require cartridges to be pre-loaded), or may have felt something while frisking Grant, such as a cell phone, that he mistook for a weapon. Our visceral impression of the shooting is similar to that of one expert quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle in a recent interview: We  assumed the shooting was accidental until we saw the video, but Mehserles relative calm at the moment the gun discharged is jarring. ... Roy Bedard, who has trained police officers around the world, advanced a different theory after his first viewing of the video: that the shooting was a pure accident, a trigger pulled because of a loss of balance or a loud noise. But in an indication of how the videos might move the investigation, Bedard reached a different conclusion after viewing the shooting from a different angle. Looking at it, I hate to say this, it looks like an execution to me, he said. But we  cant fully accept this explanation because we dont understand why Mehserle, whose wife was pregnant and gave birth to a son within days of the shooting, would execute a suspect in public. That doesnt make any sense. We need more data—we all do. The trial may have brought us closer to understanding why Mehserle killed Oscar Grant. But whether it does or not, this killer should be held fully accountable for his actions.