The Taste For Civilization By Jane Flammang Summary

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The nature of a person’s behavior is determined by their values and one's actions are guided by those beliefs. In “The Taste for Civilization: Food, Politics, and Civil Society,” Janet A. Flammang, writes about the importance of personal civility and its ability to make a civil society. She argues that the civil manners are practiced around the table and do not lead to the dismissal of necessary conflict. Flammang discusses that not only is civility necessary but conflict is the reason civility exists. Personal civility are the beliefs on how one should act, talk, or express their feelings. Some individuals struggle with using personal civility to their advantage, this is something both Flammang and Orr employ. Gregory Orr’s experience in “Return Manners and citizenship form civility or a civil society, however, if relied on heavily and used in a negative way, it can lead to misunderstanding or maltreatment. Flammang, along with her many ideas, focuses on women in a civil society. She tries to help her audience understand that she is not trying to put forth the wrong idea of a woman’s role in a household. Manners if used negatively can place a burden on women at home. Flammang tries to make her argument about this clear as she claims she is not proposing a “proper place” arguement. Flammang says, “If we want more civility, women should stay home and cook and raise children” (123) I do not agree with statement as abuse can begin to emerge towards women. Personally, one should not depend on this idea to a great extent. To Flammang, women are an important role in creating a civil society but relying heavily on this idea can burden the true purpose of a woman. A civil society can bring maltreatment to women through negative actions. Likewise, Orr struggles through a similar problem in Alabama between the white and African American people. He is a white man from up north which is odd considering he is an activist for the Civil Rights Movement. Part of civility is being able to promote change with your own ideas, which is what Orr did within those circumstances. Although he was privileged and a white man, he Flammang describes the effect civility has on women in government. She is not completely right when she says women have less time and energy to attend to aspects of food and meal rituals of civilization. Relying on civility may have its cons but women in government can manage their lives at home. “American women have historically been responsible for the civilizing functions of food— the art of conversation, family and group rituals,” according to Flammang. (111) Flammang argues about the reasoning behind women being subjected to stay home and complete tasks. Flammang agrees that although she believes in civility in a household she does not want her audience to feel like she means women should be enslaved to the home. In like manner, Orr has a negative experience also with the government which leads for one to infer that although one may rely too much on civility it can be out of hands in the end. Orr struggles with the ability to come to terms with what he realizes. Orr uses citizenship side of civility as he is arrested and beaten forcibly. As the FBI arrived on the premises, he realized the men who abused their civic duty were not there. Orr states, “that the FBI wasn’t a friend or even a neutral ally of the Civil Rights Movement” (223) This clearly employs his mind state after putting forth the best effort he could in support of the civil rights movement. This is where he

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