SOCIOLOGY 10 Ethnographic Research

SOCIOLOGY

Life of an Embalmer - Mrs Phyllis Ganapathy

“When the bereaved family see their dear ones looking so nice as if they were not dead, it made me feel that I did a great job.” Mrs Phyllis Ganapathy, more affectionately known as ‘Fawn’, was born on 25 November 1923 in Selangor, Malaysia. An affable character, she relocated to Singapore in 1945 after the war through acrimonious circumstances. During her initial years, she eked out a living as a sales assistant at Robinsons. To supplement her meager income, Phyllis started helping her uncle at the Singapore Casket in the mid-60s. The following are extracts of her oral history interviews on being Singapore’s first lady embalmer.

On embalming a post-mortem case…
“After cutting the scalp, I have to scrub and sew it back. The body is cut from the chin to the stomach to determine the cause of death. I put the intestines back and sew it up using a four-inch needle. Then I get the tube and machine to pump formalin into the body. It circulates and goes all the way in. From blue colour, it later becomes clear. A hole is then made on the stomach using a trocar – a long steel with hole in it. After drawing the blood out, a machine or
pump is used to insert green or white formalin through a trocar into the stomach until it becomes clear again. When the body is firm and embalmed, the stomach is then sewn up with a little button.”

On bathing and dressing the body…
“After embalming, the body is placed on a table and given a shower to remove the smell of formalin. After bathing, the bodies are laid out to dry. A hair dryer is used to dry the hair and put curlers. Those with no hair are given a wig to make them look nice. For ladies with long hair, some families may request to bun them. Occasionally, the deceased’s family will provide some perfume or hair spray. After drying, we dressed the men in full suits and girls in their favorite dresses. For younger ones who are not married, we dress them as a bride to make them pretty and beautiful.”

On handling difficult cases…
“When people commit suicide, it makes me feel sad to see their bodies all broken up or their faces get flattened. So the family requests us to make it as good as possible. We try our best to sew back their eyes, noses etc and make them look nice. Burnt bodies from air crashes are equally horrifying. You just only see parts of the body and all burnt. It just makes me very distraught and breaks my heart to see them. There's nothing left of this person, just burnt up, just ribs or one small part of it. Really horrifying and very pitiful…”

Since retiring in 1990, Phyllis has already embalmed more than a thousand bodies. “I like my work at the casket. I have led a happy and good life...” When asked who she would like to embalm her after passing away, Phyllis chooses to remain blithe: “I don’t care how or where I die as long as I die peacefully. They can do whatever they like with me!”

Information extracted from the Oral History Interview of Mrs Phyllis GANAPATHY
Embalmer, Singapore Casket
Accession No: 002126

http://www.a2o.com.sg/a2o/public/html/etc/embalmer.htm



Not for the faint at Heart - Primary Embalmer Tasks
Added: 01/24/2006

The solitary life of an embalmer. It's not a job for just anyone, but some individuals seem to enjoy it. It takes focus and concentration and probably a sense of humor to perform embalmer tasks and duties. You should have a stable psyche during performing any operations with the body of the deceased. Before the last meeting with the relatives and friends, the body of deceased should be prepared. Embalmers wash and dry body, insert convex celluloid, sanitize, preserve and restore body; those tasks are very complex and important.

Some little boys want to grow up to policemen, other a fireman and yet other want to be an embalmer. Well there's one line of work you never have to worry about going out of business. There are many different specialties and positions. Most of them are connected with our life, health and prosperity, but there are some specialties as embalmers and funeral directors, which concern to human death. If you have decided to get the embalmer license, you should know that embalmer tasks are very complicated. A two-year training program should be completed; apprenticeship program includes college courses, on-the-job training and home study. Grade 12 should be completed by candidates, with a good first aid certificate. Chemistry 12 and Biology 12 are also recommended.

Training courses are available within the BCFA (British Columbia Funeral Association). This apprenticeship training is aimed for people who are searching to practice as funeral directors or embalmers in B.C. Full-service funeral provider should employ candidates under the straight supervision of a licensed practitioner. The candidate will register in any of possible routes (there are only 3) for certification of trade qualification. These routes are funeral director, embalmer or embalmer and funeral director.

There are some special requirements for people who want to work as embalmer or funeral director. First of all, candidates should know about responsibility of embalmer tasks, secondly, be able to communicate
rationally with a great variety of people, including theological, legal and health professionals. They should be both empathetic and emotionally stable during communication with bereaved families of different religious and cultural backgrounds. They should be observant for any details, with good organizational and coordination skills. Working schedule often is irregular and, as a rule, long. The work can be mentally, emotionally and physically demanding. Embalmers wash and dry body, insert convex celluloid and sanitize and restore body, so embalmer should have stable mind.

Embalmers and funeral directors usually work long and irregular hours. Funeral homes are often open on weekends and evenings, so sometimes shift work is required. Working schedule varies more in not big funeral homes but workers at bigger funeral homes, as a rule, work 8 hours a day and workweek
consists of five or six days. One of the main embalmer tasks is contact and communication with the remains of deceased people with various infections that are why they have to follow strong health order. Out of consideration and respect for the deceased and families, funeral directors and embalmers
must have special appropriate dress. No hip-hop attire allowed.Embalmers and funeral directors have appreciably lower rate of unemployment than the all occupations average. Industry origins show that apprentices continue in their occupations even after their trainings are completed, which furthers to a low rate of unemployment. About seven in ten embalmers and funeral directors work year round, which is appreciably higher than the average of all-occupations. This means that there is little strangeness in
this line of work, though after meeting with embalmer tasks and duties, this situation seems to be clear.

Industry sources indicate that now we have a shortage of embalmers and funeral directors. Candidates who completed an apprenticeship trainings usually have many variants for finding full-time work. These good prospects of embalmer employment are supposed to improve until 2011. Death and taxes. Two facts of life that will always create steady work.

http://www.syl.com/hb/notforthefaintatheartprimaryembalmertasks.html


Embalming

Embalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and to make them suitable for display at a funeral. The three goals of embalming are thus preservation, sanitization and presentation (or restoration) of a dead body to achieve this effect. Embalming has a very long and cross-cultural history, with many cultures giving the embalming processes a greater religious meaning.

History

Embalming has been practiced in many cultures and is one of the earliest surgical procedures humanity undertook. In classical antiquity, perhaps the Old World culture that had developed embalming to the greatest extent was that of ancient Egypt, who developed the process of mummification. They believed that preservation of the mummy empowered the soul after death, which would return to the preserved corpse.

Other cultures that had developed embalming processes include the Incas and other cultures of Peru, whose climate also favoured a form of mummification. The sankar empire also had a form of mummification.

However some of the best preserved bodies in the world are from Han dynasty China, although the preservation process is still incompletely understood. It seems a special liquid, in which the bodies were embedded, was of major influence. (see Mawangdui )

Embalming in Europe had a much more sporadic existence. It was attempted from time to time, especially during the Crusades, when crusading noblemen wished to have their bodies preserved for burial closer to home. Embalming began to come back into practice in parallel with the anatomists of the Renaissance who needed to be able to preserve their specimens. Arterial embalming is believed to have been first practiced in the Netherlands in the 17th century by Frederik Ruysch but his liquor balsamicum preservative was kept a secret to the grave and his methods were not widely copied.

Contemporary embalming methods advanced markedly during the American Civil War, which once again involved many servicemen dying far from home, and their family wishing them returned for local burial. Dr. Thomas Holmes received a commission from the Army Medical Corps to embalm the corpses of dead Union officers to return to their families. Military authorities also permitted private embalmers to work in military-controlled areas. The passage of Abraham Lincoln's body home for burial was made possible by embalming and it brought the possibilities and potential of embalming to a wider public notice.

In 1867, the German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann discovered formaldehyde, whose preservative properties were soon discovered and which became the foundation for modern methods of embalming.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries arsenic was frequently used as an embalming fluid but has since been supplanted by other more effective and less toxic chemicals. There were questions about the possibility of arsenic from embalmed bodies later contaminating ground water supplies. There were also legal concerns as people suspected of murder by arsenic poisoning could claim that the levels of poison in the deceased's body were a result of embalming post mortem rather than evidence of homicide.

Embalming is distinct from taxidermy. Embalming preserves the human body intact, whereas taxidermy is the recreation of an animal's form using only the creature's skin.

Modern embalming is most commonly done to ensure a better presentation of the deceased for viewing by relatives and friends as, everything else being equal, an embalmed body will look better than one this is unembalmed.[1][2]. A successful viewing is considered by many authorities[3][4][5] to be helpful in the grieving process.

Who is an embalmer?

The roles of a mortician and an embalmer are different. A mortician is a person who arranges for the final disposition of the deceased who may or may not prepare the deceased. An embalmer is someone who has been trained in the art and science of embalming and may not have any contact with the family, although many people fill both roles. Embalming training commonly involves formal study in anatomy, thanatology, chemistry and specific embalming theory (to widely varying levels depending on the region of the world one lives in) combined with practical instruction in a mortuary with a resultant formal qualification granted after the passing of a final practical examination and acceptance into a recognized embalming body. Examples of nationally recognized courses can be found found here[6] and here[7].

Legal requirements over who can practice vary geographically. Some regions or countries have no specific requirements as to who may practice embalming. Additionally, in many places embalming is not done by trained embalmers but rather by doctors who, while they have the required anatomical knowledge, are not trained specialists in this field.

In the United States, the title of an embalmer is based largely on the state that they are licensed in. In states such as Pennsylvania, Virginia, Minnesota and Maryland, a funeral director is someone who is licensed only to make arrangements and handle the business side of the funeral home while a mortician is licensed to do these things as well as to embalm.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embalming


CONFESSIONS OF AN EMBALMER

Sebastien Dufault works as an embalmer for a funeral home in Montreal’s South Shore. He talked about his life’s passion with Arts & Opinion.

ARTS & OPINION: So you like to work with the dead?

SEBASTIEN: I like my work, which involves working with the deceased.

A & O: But you chose a profession whose essential materials are the dead?

SEBASTIEN: To the best of my knowledge, my colleagues are quite alive as are the families and friends of the deceased with whom I’m in daily contact.

A & O: Why didn’t you choose a normal profession, like social work or teaching?

SEBASTIEN: Embalming is perhaps an unusual choice, it’s not an abnormal one. By the age of 9, I already knew I wanted to be an embalmer.

A & O: That must have pleased your parents?

SEBASTIEN: At the beginning, they weren’t at all that pleased, but as I got older and they realized that’s what I wanted to do in life, they accepted it and have been very supportive.

A & O: How did your classmates react to your inclination?

SEBASTIEN: Knowing how cruel kids can sometimes be, I guess I had the presence of mind to keep my fascination with embalming a secret until I was well into my teens. When I finally came out -- in a manner of speaking -- most of my classmates respected my choice.

A & O: Do you know or understand why, at such an early age, you wanted to become an embalmer?

SEBASTIEN: Yes. I had to attend a funeral when I was young, and I was amazed by the transformation on the deceased’s face, having just seen and remembered that face ravaged by death. It was almost as if the embalmer had brought the deceased back to life, so convincing was his work.

A & O: Analogous to a resurrection?

SEBASTIEN: You could say that. The experience turned out to be a transforming moment of my life, and I remember during those years that wanting to become an embalmer was an obsession.

A & O: Most of us on the outside regard you on the inside as a bit weird. We imagine you with all sorts of hang-ups and social phobias, that embalming is the refuge of the socially challenged. Your comments?

SEBASTIEN: I can’t speak for everyone in the profession, but without exception, all of my fellow embalmers are normal and socially well adapted. Like in all professions, I suppose there are bad eggs, those who choose embalming for the wrong reasons, but they are certified professionals subject to a professional code of ethics.

A & O: If a garbage collector’s kick comes when he finds something valuable or newsworthy in the garbage, and a doctor’s kick comes when he saves a patient’s life (depriving you of work, of course), how do you get your professional kicks?

SEBASTIEN: In our line of work, most of the bodies we receive are in very terrible condition; bodies that have been in terrible accidents, burn victims, bodies ravaged by cancer. Our challenge is to restore dignity to the deceased, to rid their faces of suffering and anguish, to transform their ugliness into something more beautiful than when they were alive. The satisfaction comes when the families view the embalmer’s work for the first time: the amazement in their eyes, the pleasure at what they are observing. This is my kick. Gone is the pain and suffering of the deceased’s final days; he or she has found his peace and it shows in their faces. In our special way, we are artists, bringing beauty into the world, a beauty that will survive in the memory of the survivors. The satisfaction of our work is in no small way an aesthetic one.

A & O: It must be frustrating that most people think you are weird?

SEBASTIEN: I’m comfortable doing what I’m doing. I cannot allow my work which I find meaningful to be held hostage by public opinion. If people like you think people like me are weird, that’s your problem.

A & O: Aren’t we as a society avoiding the unpleasant facts of death by covering up or editing out the death of the deceased, dressing him/her up for big show?

SEBASTIEN: The family members and friends who have spent time with and cared for the dying cannot be accused of avoiding the unpleasant facts of death.

A & O: Do you develop relationships with the dead? Do their faces reveal something of their lives, if they were happy or not, if they were good or bad people?

SEBASTIEN: As mentioned earlier, most of the deceased have suffered considerably in the last days of their lives, have been administered strong drugs, and this is what you see in their faces. It is during my contact with family members that I try to learn of the deceased’s life, his history, to arrive at a better likeness of the person as he was in life. So yes, like their survivors, I think about them, wonder about them, especially if I have access to photographs that span their entire lives.

A & O: From time to time, I’m sure, a perfectly healthy, perhaps beautiful young body arrives. How does this affect you?

SEBASTIEN: These are the most difficult cases, when someone young is brought in, who hasn’t lived, whose life has been cut short. These cases leave me with a feeling of terrible sadness.

A & O: If I may be indiscreet, on those thankfully rare occasions when young bodies arrive, the opportunities and temptations to experiment with necrophilia might be considered an occupational hazard. Would you care to respond?

SEBASTIEN: Mr. Lewis. I am not sexually attracted to the dead.

A & O: Do you ever hear of such behaviour within the profession?

SEBASTIEN: We are certified professionals, not perverts.

A & O: In the brilliant Canadian film entitled Kissed, the female protagonist, played by Molly Parker, makes love to the dead because she is fascinated by the mystery of death and believes she can get closer to it, by what she refers to as “crossing over,” in order to contact the deceased’s soul. As a viewer, I found her motivation totally convincing, and her love making with the dead almost sacred, easily more dignified that ours with the living. Your response?

SEBASTIEN: I have seen the film and wasn’t particularly impressed. People who indulge in necrophilia are perverted and they need professional help. Secondly, the premise of the film is flawed. Dead bodies don’t arrive at our doorstep with erections. I’ve embalmed over 1,500 bodies in my career and only one or two have arrived in this state, and only after severe abdominal bleeding has leaked blood into the penis. The movie Kissed has propagated a negative stereotype about the profession of embalming which is very unfortunate. And while there may be a very small percentage of disturbed people among embalmers they are the exceptions. There are periods during the year when I’m on the job 70 hours per week. We have a job to do and not enough time to do it. If you are looking to categorize the gist of our work, our profession is similar to that of restoration, where we try to bring something back to its original state.

A & O: Does working with the dead sharpen your appreciation of life?

SEBASTIEN: Absolutely.

A & O: Do you believe in God?

SEBASTIEN: Yes.

A & O: Do you ever question what kind of God it is that brings you up close to bodies and faces that have suffered so terribly in their last days?

SEBASTIEN: First of all I don't question God's ways, nor do I regard him as an executioner. Perhaps he doesn't permit suffering but rather tolerates it.

A & O: Thank you, Sebastian, for your time and frankness. I have learned much today.

SEBASTIEN: It’s been a pleasure discussing my life’s passion with you. If I should be fortunate enough to outlive you, it will be both a pleasure and privilege to embalm you.

A & O: I’ll pass on that, hopefully for the long term.

http://www.artsandopinion.com/2004_v3_n4/embalmer.htm

The Embalmer by Mitsukazu Mihara
By Batling

As children, when we start dreaming up possible futures for ourselves, no kid says, “I want to be a mortician when I grow up.” Except me, and my parents ere very worried.

I was thrilled when Embalmer by Mitsukazu Mihara, my favorite manga-ka (manga creator), came out. Mihara is best known for her Doll series which tells touching and sometimes heart breaking stories about life, love, and the struggles of being human.

The Embalmer manga deals with death and how the people left behind deal with it. Sometimes seeing the ones you love one last time as you want to remember them can mean all the difference in the world.

The stories aren’t for everyone, if you’re looking for action or comedy pass this up. If you’ve wanted manga with depth and emotions look no further. This beautifully drawn manga is truly a feast for the eyes. Her drawings look more true to life than other Manga. As you look through her books, you can see at times the clothes seem to be the focal point and the characters are drawn for the outfits.

In Embalmer, Mitsukazu Mihara sprinkles panels with embalming facts and the difference between east and west’s view of death. For example: Death, in Japan, is
seen as a failure to recover from what the cause is and is treated with indifference, like the loser of a sack race.

Being an Embalmer in Japan is viewed by some to be the same as being a black magician by the job’s close association with dead. It also sneakily addresses how easy it is to hurt the people you love by not being able to just say that you love them.

This is a manga where no one has super powers or discovers they’re magical. The Embalmer could be your life or the life of someone you know. There are some great lessons to get you thinking and detailed and Gothic drawing. What more could you want?

A refreshing and honest take on the world. You’ll be glad you picked this one up.

- Lola S. Batling-Lee

http://www.geek-vs-life.com/blog/2007/02/18/the-embalmer-by-mitsukazu-mihara/

BIRTHDAY

 I just want to GREET MY DATABASE TEACHER "MA'AM LANI" a HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

Good Health and Good Outlook in Life.

Deviant.......

We have just discussed in our Sociology  subject late this morning about DEVIANCE particularly Crimes involving Young or what we call Criminal Delinquency. I was wondering, why do some people chose to be a deviant and engaging to activities that may lead them to cell. Though, we know from the fact that their is always reason for everything.  Whatever it is, its just a matter of choice.

All I know is to live life for whatever it is. Just be fair to everyone. Don't make things complicated. Accept reality even if sometimes it hurts. Nevertheless, "BE HAPPY." Happy in a sense that leave the past, live for tomorrow and today.

   

Moving On

Today is a day of hope and moving on. As i look into the faces of my classmates, I can see their emotions within. Someone who looks haggard and depressed, someone who has a big smile like Yahoo Messenger, someone who regrets and fall, someone who give supports and admiration. After all this is just a day of moving forward and opportunity to live with. Thus, we just human who commit mistakes. Live life to the fullest. Time flies when you have fun. Furthermore, we are the one who will turn mistakes into chances.