Stigma . It is a mark or signal that is made on the body or psyche of people. Cause of bad reputation: his criminal record was the stigma that prevented him from prospering. Mark or sign that appears on the body of some saints and that is not due to natural causes.
Summary
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- 1 Concept
- 2 Background
- 3 Philosophical and scientific explanation
- 4 Is the tattoo a stigma?
- 5 Stigmatized from today’s world
- 6 Sources
Concept
The word stigma comes from the Latin: stigma, and means mark or sign on the body.
For Botany Terminal thickening of the flower style on the surface of which pollen is received.
In Biology Small hole in the integument or tissue of insects, arachnids and other animals with tracheal respiration so that air can enter through it: stigmas are part of the spider’s respiratory system.
Other meanings Mark or sign on the body. In its religious sense it refers to the phenomenon of carrying the sores of the crucifixion of Christ physically. These sores appear on the hands, feet, side and head of certain saints as a sign of their participation in the passion of Christ.
Background
Until the eighteenth century , the incisions made by the pagan faithful in honor of their gods or the marks in the form of a cross that the first Christians made on their arms to testify to their faith were called stigmas. There is also talk of the stigmata of a disease or a vice.
History includes as the two most significant cases of stigmatization that of Saint Francis of Assisi (the first case in history) and that of Padre Pio, who was recently canonized . The stigmas of Saint Francis of Assisi are considered by the Church to be the most similar to the suffering of Christ .
These sores , if it is the correct term to name them, appear in certain people as a sign of their participation in the passion of Christ , this, according to Christian beliefs; they are called visible stigmas. Others suffer only the sufferings, without showing any external marks, these are called “invisible stigma”.
The sores can remain on the body for a long time, Padre Pio carried them for 50 years. These sores are said to be a gift from God , although they are also attributed a devilish character, there are cases in which this “gift” is used for profit. Stigmata represent a sign of what Christ suffered during the passion, and therefore constitute a theological fact that needs to be explored further.
The Church has established criteria to determine the authenticity of stigmas:
- The sores must be located in the places of the five sores of Christ.
- Stigmas are not infected.
- They appear spontaneously in the body while the person is in ecstasy.
- They do not yield to medical treatment.
- They bleed copiously and for long periods.
- Authentic stigmata cannot be explained by natural causes.
There are many cases of stigmatization throughout history, among which we can mention Saint Francis of Assisi , Holy Father Pius of Pietrelcina , Saint Catherine of Siena , Saint Gema Galgani , Saint Rita , Saint Veronica Giuliani and others.
Philosophical and scientific explanation
Stigmata are a physical phenomenon of Christian belief. From a medical point of view , the problem has been treated by many authors to try to explain it, but until today there is no specific definition of stigmas under a medical profile. From a point of view of current knowledge, attempts have been made to assimilate stigmas as wounds, but they are not such, since they usually heal. Others have tried to interpret them as sores , but they cannot be considered as such either, since the sores evolve and produce suppurations when infested.
The most orthodox postures are in controversy with the divine position, stating that the sores (marks) on the hands occur in the wrong places. The examination of crucified human bodies shows that the arms were nailed at the height of the wrists. That is why the most radical position denies the phenomenon treating it as imposture and considering as an explanation that the patients cause the wounds themselves.
In most of the cases studied, doctors have always taken the necessary precautions to prevent fraud , proceeding very strictly. Most of the doctors and students of the stigmatized phenomenon are convinced of its authenticity, and it is that although the origin of these wounds is unknown, there is evidence of the reality of the phenomenon.
Various scientists hold the idea that the psychic and emotional position together with the strong religious belief that the minds of these people assume influences their physical condition. This is not strange if one takes into account that many illnesses originate in the mind and become somatized , that is, that psychic problems transform into organic symptoms without the patient realizing it.
Is the tattoo a stigma?
The tattoo is an attribute that produces stigma. This statement sounds obvious and not controversial. It is able to conquer consensus, the tattoo is a drawing on the body, the drawings on the body displease many people because they can be warnings about the evil intentions of their wearers, tattoos make their wearers look suspiciously and in some rejected cases.
Actually, the problem is not the attribute itself. Stigma is only possible when that attribute is crossed with the variable of a social category . A whole world of relationships is what makes tattoos a stigma.
Today, tattoos have become fashionable in various social strata , young people from all over the world display them on their bodies. The tattoo can speak of the stigmatized condition of the wearer. The tattoo is intended to convey social information: Goffman says : The information, like the sign that transmits it, is reflective and embodied , it is transmitted by the person who wears it.
The segregating social construction acquires somatic expression (tattoos, scars, rough body shape, coarse facial features) or cosmetic (low-quality attire, dyes and haircuts). The subject adopts a style and accompanies it with arrangements that accentuate the stigma and proclaim it. Today’s society provides the niche of meaning for that stigma and then applies sanctions. If fashion passes, what will happen to the brands on the skin made in a moment of social acceptance? For some scholars, it will become a new stigma.
Stigmatized from today’s world
In the history of the Church more than 350 cases are known, 72 of them have been declared saints . The Church often distinguishes between divine stigmas and devilish stigmas.
Divine manifestation or disease of the human mind, the truth is that modern societies are full of cases of “marked”, some on their own and others, the cruellest cases, by current trends that widen the gap between rich and poor . Children in South Africa whose appearance is deformed by hunger and disease causing irreparable damage to their body and mind are also stigmatized , this fact occurs at the sight of a “modern civilization” that absorbs them, the victims of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshimay Nagasakique they produced a number of stigmatized that grows to the present day.
People who are marked understand the meanings of cruelty and ignominy . “Stigmatization is a condition that surely was born with the first human beings. Those who suffer from it are often excluded and ostracized many times . Sometimes the damage is irreparable and the marks are impossible to erase. Today brands are subject to new methods much more reactionary than slavers . ”
The current stigmatization in society has its origins in the economy and the social life of the stigmatized. Stigma is carried by the poor, they carry various attributes, traits, and conditions that result in this stigmatized group being viewed culturally as inferior or unacceptable.
They are also marked by chance or the need to live somewhere in the world the prisoners tortured during the war in Iraq , which stigmatized an entire people. The suicides by the crudeness with which sometimes stigmatization is exercised are not uncommon. For happiness of our species there are other stigmatized: the great athletes who get Olympic titles, the great personalities of history whose contribution magnifies human civilization are also marked by the society in which they have to live. For these men the crucifixion of the redeeming Christ was worth then .