We consider ourselves a civilized society, yet "Bodies...The Exhibition" is so popular that it has been shown at the South Street Seaport for over four years. The exhibit displays the preserved remains of twenty two people and two hundred sixty other specimens, which include a pair of male genitals and a woman who has been vertically sliced into fourths. Are we living in a civilized society? Or have we reverted back to the days when the remains of Saartje (or Sarah) Baartman were put on display, as read and discussed in class? Are these people any different just because they are not American?
Not only is the idea of displaying dead people for profit really desecrating the dead, it is also very barbaric. Clearly people get some weird thrill from viewing corpses and body parts, because the exhibit is extremely popular and shows no sign closing anytime soon. People excuse and hide this fascination with the dead by claiming to be interested in the scientific knowledge gained by viewing this exhibit. As said in class, it is also reminiscent of the holocaust, when all kinds of medical experiments were performed on concentration camp prisoners in the name of "science."
For a country like the U.S, that is so "concerned" with human rights, it is extremely hypocritical to allow this exhibit to remain open. The method in which these cadavers were obtained is clearly suspect because China has an extremely poor human rights record. The medical establishment there would not think twice about recycling the organs of executed prisoners to make money. Human rights advocates have continued to question whether these dead bodies were legally obtained; more likely than not, they are the bodies of prisoners and were not legally obtained. China executes between two thousand to three thousand prisoners a year and has a long history of using condemned prisoners for medical purposes. The people on exhibit no doubt suffered during their lifetime. At least now that they have died, probably in a horrible way, they should be finally allowed to rest in peace not "pieces."
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