![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Jun. 12th, 2008 08:30 pmI rarely post soapbox-type rants, but this is one I'm going to weigh in on. Here's the source of the issue:
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080612/BREAKING/80612090
In a nutshell, what's happening is that a controversial exhibit displaying human remains, including full cadavers in various poses, will be exhibited here beginning Saturday and running through the end of the year. The issue is controversial because there was (and is) no guarantee that the bodies being displayed were not those of Chinese prisoners.
The bodies were obtained from China.
What bothers me more is not so much the issue of whether the bodies were prisoners, but more that even if the people in the exhibit had died of medical or natural causes, as is reportedly claimed, that none of them had ever given consent for their bodies to be used for science. That is where I personally draw the line.
If the people had agreed to donate their bodies to science, then I would have no problem with the exhibit. But without that, it's taking someone else's misery and glamorizing it, or turning it into porfit. I certainly wouldn't want my body being displayed, after my death, publicly without consent.
The bodies will reportedly be given a "proper Chinese burial" once the contract expires, but such a burial would be meaningless. It's still disrespecting the body, no matter how you look at it.
So while I admit I am curious about seeing the exhibit, you'll excuse me if I decide not to do so.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080612/BREAKING/80612090
In a nutshell, what's happening is that a controversial exhibit displaying human remains, including full cadavers in various poses, will be exhibited here beginning Saturday and running through the end of the year. The issue is controversial because there was (and is) no guarantee that the bodies being displayed were not those of Chinese prisoners.
The bodies were obtained from China.
What bothers me more is not so much the issue of whether the bodies were prisoners, but more that even if the people in the exhibit had died of medical or natural causes, as is reportedly claimed, that none of them had ever given consent for their bodies to be used for science. That is where I personally draw the line.
If the people had agreed to donate their bodies to science, then I would have no problem with the exhibit. But without that, it's taking someone else's misery and glamorizing it, or turning it into porfit. I certainly wouldn't want my body being displayed, after my death, publicly without consent.
The bodies will reportedly be given a "proper Chinese burial" once the contract expires, but such a burial would be meaningless. It's still disrespecting the body, no matter how you look at it.
So while I admit I am curious about seeing the exhibit, you'll excuse me if I decide not to do so.
