I recently stumbled upon this knife online and inside of a email chain a number of us turned it into a rather intellectual conversation.
http://www.bostonblueyes.com/blog/nice-knife.jpg With that said, here is the conversation:
"Being one that is interested in symbols and metaphor... and even devoted some time in his formative early 20's studying such things in college, I could tell you some interesting things about what that knife is implying... but I don't think you guys probably want to hear about any of it
"
"Mr. Gruhn,
I don't know if you remember Crafty talking about the homo-erotic nature of prison stabbings but I think that something like this would sum what crafty was talking about...
-mike"
"That Crafty, he is a smart man. If I remember correctly the word "vagina" translates directly into the word "sheath." So you have a sword (you can figure out which body part that equals for yourself) and a sheath. Stabbing someone is a dominant act where you "sheath your sword" so to speak. Also take into consideration that there are two acts that people engage in in which they try to occupy the same space. One is fighting, the other also starts with the letter F. Any guesses what it is?
Both of these activities are coming from the same primitive area of the brain that is concerned with survival. It actually makes a lot of sense... to create a family you do one of the F's. To protect your family you do the other F.
Jon"
"Speaking of sheaths
http://www.teethmovie.com/"
"The relationship between sex and violence is even more readily apparent when you look at the rest of the animal kingdom. Humans (and a few of the other higher primates) are the only ones that have built an artificial wall between the two. If you look at many canines they not only fight their competition for the rights to spread their genes, but they often even fight with thier hard won mate. Small children often catch their parents in the act, and mistake what is happening as some sort of violent altercation.
It is an interesting subject. Most people get freaked out and stop thinking about it. They immediately make some connection with homosexuality, which it is most certainly not about at a base level. I can see how it would turn into that in a prison environment, and that had never occured to me. I guess I have never been up close and personal with prison violence though, and I really aim to keep it that way
Add a megacorp. religion like Christianity into the mix and the entire thing turns into a giant mess, but at heart that knife really demonstrates the two most fundamental instincts of life:
1. Spread your genes at all cost!
2. Kill any mofo that gets in your way!
Jon"
"So, could I make the leap and say, people that are into S&M or autoerotic asphyxiation that ‘wall’ is thinner. Mixing their sex and violence like dogs and cats do?"