Society and Culture
See also: Medical and mental health of Abraham LincolnContributors to public perception of Marfan syndrome include Flo Hyman, an Olympic silver medalist in Women's Volleyball (1984) who died suddenly at a match from an aortic dissection; Jonathan Larson, the author and composer of Rent, who died from an aortic dissection the day before the off-Broadway opening of Rent; and Vincent Schiavelli, an actor and spokesperson for the National Marfan Foundation.
Musicians and composers Niccolò Paganini, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Robert Johnson are thought to have had the disease. Bradford Cox of the indie rock band Deerhunter has openly discussed having Marfan syndrome and its effects on his self-perception and confidence. Abraham Lincoln was once thought to have had Marfan syndrome, but geneticists believe it unlikely, although he had some of the normal characteristic features.
Read more about this topic: Marfan Syndrome
Famous quotes containing the words society and/or culture:
“In a number of other cultures, fathers are not relegated to babysitter status, nor is their ability to be primary nurturers so readily dismissed.... We have evidence that in our own society men can rear and nurture their children competently and that men’s methods, although different from those of women, are imaginative and constructive.”
—Kyle D. Pruett (20th century)
“Anthropologists have found that around the world whatever is considered “men’s work” is almost universally given higher status than “women’s work.” If in one culture it is men who build houses and women who make baskets, then that culture will see house-building as more important. In another culture, perhaps right next door, the reverse may be true, and basket- weaving will have higher social status than house-building.”
—Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen. Excerpted from, Gender Grace: Love, Work, and Parenting in a Changing World (1990)