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The reading for Thursday's class I found to be very powerful and kind of disturbing. I have decided that I will probably major in anthropology, and I found it interesting that the piece was written by an anthropologist. A key role of the anthropologist in observing a community is not to impose your own beliefs or understanding of the world on the group. You are supposed to simply watch, and understand that there really is no "sameness" in the world, just variations. "But to attribute 'sameness' across vast social, economic, and cultural divides is a serious error for the anthropologist, who must begin, although cautiously, from a respectful assumption of difference" (355). I tried to act as an anthropologist in reading this material, and I definitely had a hard time. I always assumed motherhood and that unique bond between a mother and child as being universal and surpassing cultural barriers. This piece showed me that environmental factors can have an effect on even this love which I thought to be unshakeable.

I found the phrase "passive euthanasia" used on page 365 to be especially powerful. I found that it reflected much of the attitude toward these babies. It was not always an outward act of abuse committed on these babies, but passive action, which can sometimes be just as bad. Scheper-Hughes claims malicious child abuse is extremely rare in this area. However, I think it is possible to view this passive act of ignoring the baby's health and well-being at such a young age as being malicious in some senses.

It is still hard for me to grapple with this topic of mothers not always having an unconditional bond of love with their child. I think the author provides a sufficient explanation that makes me understand the situation more on page 402. "To give birth to many children and on the expectation that only a few will survive infancy, to invest selectively in those considered the 'best bets' for survival" (402).