Weird Science

(Photo from National Geographic)

Saturday we took the Kid to see The Bodies Exhibition in Honolulu.  We had a good time.  I wrote about the trip here, but I want to voice my thoughts about it, and things that it made me think about as well.  This seemed as good a space as any.

I spent a good deal of time talking myself into wanting to see it first hand.  It is here in Honolulu (and big things don’t come here often), so it felt like it would have been a missed opportunity to not go at all.

The Exhibit itself disturbs me on a few levels.  One of those are the claims verifying where the bodies originated.  All official statements claim that these bodies were donated to science by the Chinese government since they had no next of kin to claim them.  This sits ill w/ me on two levels, one being that I dislike the idea of a body being used for science where the former occupant did not willingly submit himself or herself, and the second being that the Chinese government is not always forthcoming.  There is no way to show for certain that these bodies are not those of persons executed in Chinese prisons.  Other than the facial structures of the bodies and the statures making it obvious that they are indeed of Asian descent, even the disclaimer on the Exhibit’s website says it can not independently confirm that the specimen are as claimed.  The concept of the Exhibit itself doesn’t trouble me specifically, but rather the idea that it was not voluntary.  China has a bit of history w/ human rights violations, enough to make this sit ill w/ me.  How are we to know that the families of these bodies were simply not informed of these deaths to be able to claim them?

In reality, I am of the mindset that once we are no longer inhabiting our bodies they are simply empty.  I have no problem w/ the voluntary donation of a human body for such scientific purposes, but again, we are talking about autonomy.  What is right for me may not sit well w/ other people.  I can follow the line of thought where profiting from the manipulation of another’s dead body is problematic.  In the end, I am still unsure how I feel about it overall.  I had no trouble going to see it as a family, and as I noted at BaCaW, The Kid had a great time, and learned a great deal w/ the audio phone tour they offer.  Since they are studying the human body in school it segued nicely for her.  How many other places would a student (outside of med school) be able to see a nearly complete display of the central and peripheral nervous system, or a complete circulatory system?

Something else that I thought a lot about was the display of fetal development.  As a Pro-Choice person, I was really glad to see the sign outside of that portion of the Exhibit cautioning that it could be a sensitive display.  Again, the claim is that all of the embryos and fetuses were of naturally occurring spontaneous abortion (commonly know as a miscarriage), and some of the specimens were labeled w/ the cause of such, I can not be certain of the validity.  A visitor is given the opportunity to skip this portion of the Exhibit w/o ever having to see it, and that is a good thing in my mind.  While it gives me reassurance as a Pro-Choice person, meaning that it helps me confirm the reality of my position, I am a believer of it being personal.  For the same reason I would never support forcing a woman to have an abortion for any reason, I would never expect everyone to be OK w/ witnessing such a display.  I found it incredible, since rarely do we get such a close look at fetal development.  You are able to get very close and see an embryo or fetus at each stage of development, and also see the results of a few major birth defects, including having a spinal chord outside of one’s body at birth.  I am taken back to my thoughts in tenth grade molecular biology, where my teacher (Hi, Mr. DeMeester!), had many jarred specimen, including a human fetus.  He told us he inherited it w/ the classroom.  It was an interesting thing for me to see then, too.

There were med students and doctors there, all commenting how it was amazing to see such a display, in this manner, since it is something you rarely see outside of a morgue.  Text books and models can’t quite bring it to reality, they said.

In the end, I am certainly glad that I went.  I did find it extremely educational, and felt strongly that I needed to judge it for myself, as I do w/ movies and other things that people find objectionable or offensive.  The Bodies Exhibition isn’t going anywhere anytime soon (except to other cities), but like it or not, it is out there.  It also made me think, long and hard about what I think it means that all of these bodies are (supposedly) Chinese (and that disturbed me for reasons I am still exploring), and about being a willing body donor.  If you are considering going, read about it first.  Some of the things I saw haunted me a little, and some were so fascinating that I couldn’t look away (despite my involuntary shuddering).  Make up your own mind about it, and if you decide, like me, that you want to see it for yourself, I hope you get as much or more from it as I did.