As "sports", bullfigting, hunting and other ways of killing species other than
humans have been machismo demonstrations in the Mediterranean. It has been
common not only in Spain but also in Southern France. Ancient romans were the
ones giving this sense of "sport" to killing animals in front of everybody
(remember the Coliseum). Moreover, since different wild animal species were
used, some archaeologists consider it as a major reason for the extinction of
many of such animals in Europe.
The deepest origins of Bullfigting, however, are completely different: it
appeared long before the Roman empire, in Crete, where beautiful women were
dancing and jumping while the bulls were "trying to kill" them. It was a kind
of "humanfigthing" made by the bull wich was considered connected to a kind of
god: the Minotaurus. Romans were the ones converting such "games with animals"
into "sports" killing the latter.
I am panamanian and the main sport demonstrating machismo there is not
Bullfighting but Boxing. Men knocking each other seems more human than
bullfighting and the ancient greeks even had it as an olimpic discipline. No
gloves, only the hands, and figthing until the moment when one says "okey, you
won, I will stay laying on the floor". Cruel, but at least both participants
belong to the same species and do it more volunterly while nobody asks a bull
if he wants to fight. Again, romans were the ones converting it into a bloody
"sport" and even gave weapons to the participants: gladiators. What a bloody
way of being "macho"!
My point is the following: bullfigthing belongs to a (rich) cultural heritage
of the Mediterranean world. If people there like to play with animals, they
should be encouraged to do it according to the non-bloody origins of the
ritual. Perhaps banning to kill bulls in Spain is an opportunity to
bullfighters to win their money by jumping upon the bulls as it was made in
Crete. Many women enjoy to see the bullfighters because they find them sexy:
their glamorouse clothes are tightly attached to their bodies. Well, such women
would have more fun if these men start the ritual with such clothes and then
take-off the clothes. Just for starting, they can take-off the shirt like
saying "look at me, bull: I have no fear on you!", then put oil on their
(semi)naked bodies and demonstrate gymnastic capabilities. Non-killing the bull
would attract to the show many women who hate to see cruelty and blood on the
arena. As biologists we know that such women can become healthyly excited so
smart men can join them to see the show in order to share a nice session of
peace and love after watching the bullfighters. Men non doing it will
potentially have competitive disadvantage in sexual selection...
>From a capitalists point of view, banning the "roman" version of bullfigthing
>and replacing it for a more "Crete" version is not a risk for the buiseness of
>bullfighting: it is an opportunity to make it more profitable.
I have no coin. If you know any buisness man taking the idea, please tell him
to pay me for it.
Edgardo I. Garrido-Pérez
Landscape Ecology department
Goettingen University, Germany
¿De qué te vale tener si no sabes qué hacer con lo que tienes?
Rubén Blades & Willie Colón
> Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:29:33 -1000
> From: ddu...@hawaii.edu
> Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Bullfighting
> To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
>
> I hadn't wanted to get involved in this bull
> (fighting) session but we all tend to have a
> certain perspective that we think is the one true
> right one. However, I am reminded of an example
> of the Yupik and other Native Alaskans who are
> appalled by fly fishing, while many more recent
> arrivals in the Americas consider as the highest
> truest form of fishing. The Yupik instead
> consider it as "playing with your food" and this
> is not something a grownup and moral person does,
> sort of like bull fighting. You only fish if you
> are going to eat it and you never torture your food.
>
> So one man's fly fishing is another's bull
> fighting. The lesson is that cultures
> distinguish themselves from one another by
> finding something repulsive in the other.
>
> David Duffy
>
>
>
> At 10:53 AM 8/19/2010, malcolm McCallum wrote:
> >Back in the 1970s my uncle (Douglas McCallum) in Joliet did a pencil sketch
> >of a bullfighter.
> >IT is a great picture, my uncle was an artist who did quite a bit of pretty
> >good stuff in the 70s
> >before he got injured and could no longer do it. Anyway, just as he
> >finished the drawing, people
> >started raising awareness of animal welfare issues associated with
> >bullfighting. So, here he
> >had this wonderful picture and no where to market it because of the stigma.
> > My mother loved
> >the picture and he gave it to her for christmas or something. Anyway, it
> >hands over my parents
> >sofa in the living room. It is a fantastic drawing of a significant part of
> >Mexican and Spanish
> >culture.
> >
> >It is interesting to me that bullfighting, whether we like it or not, is one
> >area of culture that might
> >be better disbanded, but is still a part of history and its cultural and
> >historical significance still
> >remains. There are many aspects of culture that are completely at odds with
> >society.
> >
> >The difficult part is balancing where do we draw the line between cultural
> >taboos and modern
> >cultural values. We are increasingly faced in a broadening global society
> >with cultural
> >practices that stand very counter to our own values. I have no answers for
> >how we deal
> >with these conflicts, but it is important to recognize that such conflicts
> >are more significant than
> >the usual kinds of strife that we in american and the remainder of western
> >society generally
> >deal with.
> >
> >Malcolm
> >
> >On Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 6:48 AM, William Silvert <cien...@silvert.org>wrote:
> >
> > > Since we recently had an exchange about the Catalonian ban on
> > > bullfighting,
> > > I thought that this account of a bull fighting back might be of interest.
> > > Ironically this was not a regular bullfight but rather a macho game of
> > > bull
> > > dodging. Sort of the opposite of a Portuguese bullfight, where the bull
> > > charges into a row of young men who try to wrestle it to the ground (the
> > > horns are covered with wood, but the bull can still do a lot of damage).
> > >
> > > Raging bull rams spectators in Spain
> > >
> > > AFP AUGUST 19, 2010 7:20 AM
> > >
> > > A bull leaps out of the arena at a bullring in Tafalla near Pamplona,
> > > northern Spain on August 18, 2010, and charged into a crowd of terrified
> > > spectators. Some 30 people were injured.
> > >
> > > Three people, including a 10-year-old boy, remained in hospital Thursday
> > > with injuries suffered when a bull charged into a crowd of terrified
> > > spectators at a bullring in Spain, local authorities said.
> > >
> > > Spanish television showed dramatic images of screaming spectators,
> > > including children, frantically trying to avoid the rampaging animal after
> > > it leapt several metres (yards) over a security barrier and then clambered
> > > over a fence and into the crowded stands Wednesday evening.
> > >
> > > The animal stumbled around the stands before falling down several steps,
> > > crushing more people, at the bullring in the town of Tafalla, in the
> > > northern Navarra region.
> > >
> > > Several employees of the bullring finally managed to get a rope around the
> > > bull after about 15 minutes, and it was killed and removed by a crane.
> > >
> > > The Navarra regional government said 32 people were treated at hospitals
> > > and clinics. Most suffered minor injuries such as bruising and were
> > > released, but three remained hospitalized Thursday.
> > >
> > > A 10-year-old boy was in serious but stable condition with "abdominal
> > > trauma" after the bull fell on him, it said in a statement.
> > >
> > > A 23-year-old woman was being treated for a crushed vertebrae, and a
> > > 47-year-old man for wounds suffered when he was gored in the lower back.
> > > Both were in stable condition.
> > >
> > > In addition to the 32, "several more" suffered shock or minor scratches
> > > and
> > > bruises, the statement said.
> > >
> > > The incident did not take place during a traditional bullfight but during
> > > a
> > > contest of "recortadores", in which
> > participants try to dodge the bull while
> > > staying as close to it as possible.
> > >
> > > The bull, named Quesero, had already twice tried to jump the barrier
> > > during
> > > the event, breaking one of its horns, and was about to be removed from the
> > > arena when it launched itself into the crowd.
> > >
> > > "I was terrified. I ran out of the stadium, crying," one young woman told
> > > the television of the neighbouring Basque region.
> > > Another young woman said, "people started to fall over each other . . .
> > > Then I couldn't find my friends, what happened was awful."
> > >
> > > "I have never felt so afraid. I'm still shaking," one of those injured
> > > told
> > > the ABC newspaper.
> > >
> > > "The bull had already made a few attempts, but I was relatively calm. And
> > > suddenly, I saw that the animal had jumped and, after staying stuck on the
> > > fence for a few seconds, it came over. Then there was chaos . . . There
> > > was
> > > stomping, pushing, shrieks, blows."
> > >
> > > The Navarra government said most of the spectators were young people who
> > > were able to react in time to avoid the bull, or the number of casualties
> > > could have been far higher.
> > >
> > > Such incidents are very unusual at bullfights. Although the animals
> > > occasionally manage to leap the security barrier they very rarely get into
> > > the stands.
> > >
> > > Wednesday's incident came amid intense debate in Spain over the
> > > centuries-old tradition of bullfighting.
> > >
> > > The northeastern region of Catalonia last month became the first part of
> > > mainland Spain to ban the practice, which
> > animal activists condemn as a form
> > > of torture and others see as part of the country's cultural heritage.
> > >
> > > In a recent opinion poll, 60 per cent of Spaniards said they do not
> > > approve
> > > of the spectacle, which ends with the death of the bull from a well-placed
> > > sword.
> > >
> > > Navarra, where Tafalla is located, is famous for the traditional "running
> > > of the bulls" in the regional capital of Pamplona.
> > > Dozens of people are injured each year when the runners try to outrace
> > > bulls which charge through the old town's
> > narrow streets to a bullring where
> > > a bullfight is staged.
> > >
> > > © Copyright (c) AFP
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >--
> >Malcolm L. McCallum
> >Managing Editor,
> >Herpetological Conservation and Biology
> >
> >1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert
> >1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss,
> > and pollution.
> >2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction
> > MAY help restore populations.
> >2022: Soylent Green is People!
> >
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>
>
> David Cameron Duffy
> Professor of Botany and Unit Leader
> Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU)
> University of Hawai`i
> 3190 Maile Way St. John 410
> Honolulu, HI 96822-2279
> (808) 956-8218 phone
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