Aleph, UCLA Undergraduate Research Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Aleph Volume 21 Letter from the Editor

This paper explores the moral and social landscape of prostitution in eighteenth-century England, analyzing how prostitutes were perceived and represented in various cultural, economic, and legal contexts. In particular, it focuses on the interplay between moral judgment and social necessity that characterized the public discourse surrounding prostitution during this period. Through an examination of primary sources including Bernard de Mandeville’s satirical work, A Modest Defence of Publick Stews (1724), and William Hogarth’s visual narrative series, A Harlot’s Progress (1732), alongside contemporaneous writings on notable figures like Sally Salisbury, this research investigates the nuanced perceptions of prostitutes as sinners, victims, and survivors. It argues that prostitution in eighteenth-century England was not merely a moral or legal issue but was deeply intertwined with the socioeconomic conditions of the time by highlighting how urbanization, economic necessity, and evolving social attitudes contributed to the visibility and toleration of prostitution. My research concludes that the figure of the prostitute in eighteenth-century England served as a focal point for debates about morality, economy, and the law, revealing a society grappling with changing attitudes in its moral and social order.

Before one can address the pressing questions within any discipline, it is worth investigating the narratives and assumptions that undergird the answers. In Chinese archaeology, there have been observable points in time where politics have exerted significant force on academic opinions - certain political epochs correspond to homogeneity in opinion. This begs the question: in the context of Chinese archaeology, how exactly has politics affected archaeological interpretations of discoveries and theoretical frameworks? Within the modern era, I look to three major eras that have well-documented effects on Chinese archaeology to chart the changes in the discipline over time: 1) the Republican era, 2) the Maoist era, and 3) the post-reform period (i.e., 1978 and onwards). In interpreting these broad eras and the political views that characterize them, I will appeal to Michel Foucault’s concept of the episteme. That is, the underlying assumptions that ground the way people understand the world and their surroundings. I find that, regardless of what political narratives become dominant, nationalism is always a core fixture of these interpretations. Further, I also find that nationalism did not appear as a spontaneous phenomenon but served a very specific purpose: to counter the Western colonization of the discipline.

This paper delves into the practice of blood writing in Chinese Buddhism, a unique ascetic ritual dating back to the 6th century CE. Blood writing involves practitioners using their blood to transcribe sacred texts, both embodying sacred Buddhist scriptures and imbuing the practitioner with power. This work traces the origins of blood writing as a reflection of indigenous Chinese beliefs surrounding blood, the body, and morality while drawing attention to the influence of Indian Buddhist ideologies on this practice. Historical and ethnographic accounts of blood writing emphasize its transformative power, not only for individual practitioners but also for broader sociopolitical dynamics. Drawing on multiple embodiment theories, this work analyzes the performative nature of blood writing, highlighting its role in shaping cultural values and ideologies. Blood writing transcends conventional boundaries, embodying spiritual and cultural values, and ultimately serves as a potent force for socioreligious and political change.

Within the previous decade, the burgeoning re-imagination of the Greco-Roman canon in an African American context, presently referred to as “Black classicism,” has traversed artistic mediums not only as a cultural transliteration but an active subversion, rejection, and reclamation of the sociological underpinnings of a historically eurocentric area of study. Though modern reception studies are fraught with racial prejudice accusing Black authors of passively imitating—or merely deriving influence from—antiquity, I argue that the neoclassical inventions of Phillis Wheatley, W.E.B. Du Bois, Rita Dove, and Robert Hayden have transposed myth’s most defining elements onto two prominent social narratives: the public reception of African American scholarship and the collective female consciousness. Of these elements, imagery invoking the movement across transitory ‘liminal’ states has been enfranchised to actively subvert the traditionally-eurocentric classical canon while transferring intellectual ownership to African American authorship. Visualizations of the cyclicality of the rhapsodic oral tradition have further been harnessed to defend the female canon, translating myth’s cyclicality onto contemporaneous social dilemmas.

Stigma toward menstruation is closely linked to a lack of knowledge about menstrual health taboos and negative attitudes toward sex and bodies. The menstrual cup (MC), an alternative menstrual product to pads and tampons, may mitigate these negative perceptions through the high levels of body contact and menstrual and anatomical knowledge required to use it. Hence, the current study examines the relationship between MC usage and 1) knowledge about menstruation and reproductive anatomy, 2) personal comfort with sexuality, and 3) attitudes toward menstruation. This study utilized a quantitative survey to investigate the attitudes and experiences of 180 menstruators ages 19-34 and the menstrual products they use. As predicted, more frequent MC usage was associated with higher knowledge, greater comfort with sexuality, and lower disgust and shame toward menstruation.

Over the course of its 140-year existence, Macarthur Park in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles has witnessed a range of diverse phases, from a luxurious recreation area to a locality grappling with issues of crime and poverty. Through the lens of local news coverage, this paper explores the changing landscape of community, politics, and policing in the park and how it has shaped identity and revitalization efforts. By critically analyzing policing initiatives and community-oriented efforts aimed at mitigating crime, the paper outlines the park’s evolution into a vibrant, safe space while shedding light on the challenges posed by racism and immigration status. The focal point of the paper revolves around immigrant political activism in Macarthur Park, focusing on multiple case studies, including the May Day Rally in 2007. This rally, disrupted by LAPD violence, becomes an example of infringement on the First Amendment right to speech and assembly of immigrants. The study concludes by reflecting on the role of park politics in creating a venue for democracy, refuge, and community for Central American immigrants.

An immigrant-made city, Los Angeles has served as the heart of the Immigrant Rights Movement for decades. From the 2006 immigration reform protests to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Los Angeles has rarely neglected the topic of immigration. Yet, one lived experience seldom recognized is that of mixed-status families (i.e., families that are not uniform in legal status). Approximately 1 in 5 individuals identify as either undocumented or having an undocumented family member. Acknowledging that mixed-status families vary, I focus on the mixed-status of U.S. Citizens with Undocumented Parent(s)/Guardian(s) and, consequently, how a U.S. citizen’s life is altered by living under the undocumented umbrella. In this paper, I propose the existence of the Restriction of Mobility, (Active) Family Separation, Second-Hand Undocumented Trauma, and (Un)Documented Double-Consciousness under a developing framework called the Mixed-Status Family Complex. By reviewing existing literature and reflecting on my lived experiences, the mission of the framework is to help understand the nuances of how U.S. children of undocumented immigrants experience belonging.

The current exploratory review examines the upstream factors influencing health disparities in the current healthcare landscape, particularly in the context of the immigrant population in Los Angeles. Specifically, the Latino/Hispanic immigrant population serves as a key case study, offering insights into immigrant experiences and contributing to a nuanced understanding of the broader immigrant population. Upon extensive research, the paper identifies three primary root factors: first, the underutilization of healthcare services due to anxieties related to immigrant status; second, a lack of substantial education and resources hindering accessible healthcare; and third, discriminatory practices in healthcare facilities targeted at immigrants. Characterizing such health disparity as a broader social inequality issue rather than mere isolated individual concerns, the paper asserts a need for effective interventions aimed at addressing the fundamental barriers to immigrant access to healthcare beyond immediate problem-solving. Drawing upon best practices from existing literature, it further proposes a potential intervention, incorporating strategies aimed to instigate positive social change within immigrants’ access to healthcare.

Dominant menstrual discourse constructs menstrual blood as a stigmatized bodily fluid that evokes disgust. Through the enactment of Foucault’s biopower, internalization of this discourse results in a culture of concealment, wherein menstruators’ bodies are problematized and require self-monitoring, management, and sanitization through technology such as menstrual products. Through a case study of menstrual cup company DivaCup’s marketing and social media posts from menstrual cup users, this research uses the theoretical lens of feminist science and technology studies to examine the sociotechnical system of menstrual cups and the extent to which they can be considered a liberatory technology. This research argues that menstrual cups have the potential to facilitate open discussions that push back against dominant menstrual discourse and the culture of concealment, while also necessitating increased embodiment and body literacy compared to conventional disposable products. However, menstrual cup companies still appeal to and thus perpetuate this repressive culture of concealment, despite framing the neoliberal choice of concealment as empowering.