Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2020 January 24

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January 24

Menstruation

I have watched more wilderness survival shows and clips that most people. These are usually conducted by men. There is one essential item that I have not been able to find a solution for. When in a survival situation, if you need two people to survive comfortably, and one is “off sick” for 5 days, this does not bode well. What is the natural solution for menstruation? How can the flow be stemmed? I understand the concept of modern feminine hygiene products, but how can these be safely and hygienically reproduced in a survival, situation? E.g. all you have is a machete an iron pot and the wilderness. Thanks. Anton -- 09:09, 24 January 2020 81.131.40.58

Menstruation#Poverty offers some alternatives. DroneB (talk) 14:01, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Women aren't "off sick" while menstruating. They don't call in to work a few days a month, do they? The natural solution is probably free bleeding in a survival situation. And if the iron pot is very small, it could be used as a menstrual cup.Temerarius (talk) 23:26, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Coronavirus

Is this really as big a problem as it is being made out to be? There have been at last count about 20 deaths. It would appear to me that this is simply scare mongering. Over 600 people die of the flu in the UK each year. 22 people are gored to death by cows each year, in the USA alone. Is Coronavirus really as big a problem as the media is making out? Also, it kind of seems like the start of most Zombie movies — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.131.40.58 (talk) 09:10, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

See the instructions at the top of this page "We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate." Asking whether we think it's a big problem or not is really not appropriate for this venue. If you have a specific question about the disease or about the latest outbreak that we can help you find reading material about, please ask that question. But asking for whether or not something is a "big problem" or not strays too far into opinion or debate. --Jayron32 13:52, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

The OP never asked what we think. For an answer to the question, read this. --Viennese Waltz 14:16, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

This is probably better handled on the Science desk, where we already have had some related questions. But in general terms, the dangerous thing about new viruses is that they're new. Will their mortality rate stay the same in other populations? Will it mutate slowly or quickly? Will we be able to contain it, at least to some degree, like we did with SARS, or will this simply become yet another pathogen we have to live with forever? Matt Deres (talk) 14:53, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

The tally so far is 25 deaths out of 830 confirmed cases in China,[1] (about 3%) which I suspect is a lot higher morbidity than the run-of-the-mill flu viruses. Alansplodge (talk) 23:24, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Now 41 deaths, rising at a pace that rivals that of SARS. Yes, it is serious. DOR (HK) (talk) 18:39, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

About a new deadly pathogen we don't know also how contagious it is: will it kill the whole town in the first week and the whole country in the second one? Tuberculosis for example has two billions people infected and every year 10 millions become acute and 1.7 million die, but it is not very infectious. 2003:F5:6F0A:9800:4C12:9BC8:3522:842C (talk) 15:41, 26 January 2020 (UTC) MPB

The great thing about Mother Nature is that if She develops a really, really nasty disease, it will kill off its host FAST. That limits the longer term damage. DOR (HK) (talk) 20:48, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Wikipedia has a decent article on Mathematical modelling of infectious disease which might be a good read for this discussion. --Jayron32 12:57, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

Autism fanfiction

Hi all!

I am currently writing a paper about representations of autism in fanfiction on Archive of Our Own and fanfiction.net. I am planning to examine around 4-6 pieces of fanfiction which contains autism, and was wondering whether anyone could recommend me some more controversial fanfiction containing autism (as I can't think of a way to search for such works on these sites)? Any advice is gratefully received!

Thanks in advance. Best wishes, 80.6.3.235 (talk) 11:13, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

The Accountant starring Ben Affleck. Anton. 81.131.40.58 (talk) 11:39, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

NB: this query was also made on the Entertainments Ref Desk. As this copy has already received a response I have left a note there suggesting that further replies be made here, and asking the OP not to duplicate queries on multiple desks. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.205.58.107 (talk) 13:27, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

I don't think big budget Hollywood movies meet the usual definition of fan fiction. Matt Deres (talk) 14:55, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Although there is the somewhat famous case, not involving autism AFAIK, of Fifty Shades of Grey (film) which was based on Fifty Shades of Grey which was derived from the author's Master of the Universe Twilight fan fiction. Nil Einne (talk) 20:59, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

[2] gets some promising-looking hits. 67.164.113.165 (talk) 21:13, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

The hero and wench

In fantasy artwork there's a standard trope where the hero is depicted before a field of fallen (or still fighting) enemies, facing the viewer, with a woman laying at his feet but grasping his leg, usually in some state of undress. It's the kind of thing that National Lampoon's Vacation movie poster was parodying. It's very widespread, extremely popular, and has existed for quite some time. But is there an index case? A source from which this derives? The layout is so stereotyped, it feels like there might be a specific model drawn from. Is there? Matt Deres (talk) 19:26, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

I'll be interested to see if someone can track down the origins of this trope. I suspect that you know that Frank Frazetta became a master of that image. People my age grew up seeing his art on 100s (if not 1000s) of paperback covers. MarnetteD|Talk 19:37, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm sure it goes back way before Frazetta. Look at Weird Tales, Damsel in distress, etc. Probably goes back to Renaissance art or earlier. 67.164.113.165 (talk) 21:27, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Well, those old Weird Tales covers contain the germ of the idea, as do some of the images of the damsel in distress. I was already aware of them, but I find them fascinating as well. However, I'm looking for a fairly specific formulation. Frazetta was certainly a popularizer, but was there an inspiration for him? Matt Deres (talk) 13:58, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

A Venus and Adonis triangle, but done by J. Allen St. John, Frank Schoonover or Roy G. Krenkel? Krenkel looks to have more of the heroic pose. Don't see much trampling on bodies in those three tho.—eric 15:38, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

Wow, those last two are excellent articles on this topic - thank you very much! None of them seem to address the source, but I at least feel better that I'm not alone in wondering about this image. Matt Deres (talk) 01:05, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Liberty Leading the People.—eric 23:41, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

I don't think that's the same at all. Marianne is upright on her own feet, not lying grr User:Matt Deres lying, not laying at the feet of a hero. --Trovatore (talk) 23:46, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Oh my gosh, he must have meant "The hero and the wench".—eric 00:58, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

Argh. A thousand apologies, Trovatore; I knew that. Oddly, even though you tagged my user name, I did not get a ping. Matt Deres (talk) 13:50, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

The userpage link must be made in a signed edit so [3] doesn't cause a ping. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:56, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

TV Tropes has an article on "Leg Cling", but I found no example in the history of painting. The article gives a lot of examples, but none of them appear to predate the 20th century, except for one brief note saying "It happens in The Iliad". I couldn't find any artwork on the Iliad showing such as a pose, nor do I know which scene this might be. ---Sluzzelin talk 23:59, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

A bit of clinging going on in Jupiter and Thetis (1811) by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, but that's the closest I could find. Alansplodge (talk) 17:06, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

There was some brief leg-clinging during the last part of the tribute to Prince at the Grammys yesterday... -- AnonMoos (talk) 23:41, 27 January 2020 (UTC)