After listening to the interview of the mortician, Caitlyn Doughty, I had a more positive view of morticians in general. Doughty seemed like a very likable person, with decent morals and thoughts on the concept of death. However, I still do not think that I would want to be directly involved in the death process of a fame;y member. I could not imagine myself being able to press the button that sent my loved one “off to their final disposition”. Even though I, personally, don’t think that i could handle doing that, i do agree with Doughty in the sense that cremation, and natural ways of “disposing” of the dead are much better than the process of embalming. Doughty thinks that families should ve there to push the button, because she believes that it is a very powerful experience that allows the family member to have complete control over what is done with the body of their loved one. I agree that we should know exactly what is happening to the bodies of our loved ones, but i wouldn’t want to be there to witness it.
Having gone behind the curtains of embalming and cremation, i would say that my views are very similar to Doughty’s in the way that she believes that we, as a culture, should move more towards cremation and natural burial, rather than embalming, because embalming is an unnatural, chemical process. I am a big advocate for natural procedures and processes that involve zero chemicals, which is also why I have negative views on the production of fast-food. I, personally, would not want a loved one of mine to undergo the process of embalming. It appears to be harsh on the body itself, and in the end, i don’t think all the makeup would comfort me at all. I would much rather hold a natural burial where the body is simply placed in the ground (or cremated), without any alterations or chemicals being placed on or into the body. I think that embalming is all about the showmanship, which shouldn’t be a part of the death process. Why do we feel the need to preserve and make the dead meet our standards of beauty? We should just allow death to occur naturally and allow the body to move through the stages of death, without trying to alter it.
Many cultures view death as a very precious and sacred process. For instance, after doing some reading, I found that the Chinese have great respect for the death of their elders. Rather than putting the bodies under chemical processes, they have a rather natural burial, which they usual perform on a hillside. The body is placed in the grave and family members toss handfuls on dirt onto the casket. This is very different from embalming and cremation. Rather than showing off the body (like we do with embalming products), they cover it with a cloth. Their death rituals involve respect, rather than trying to put on a show.
aspenladieu 