CLOTHES MAKE THE (WO)MAN
In the Pauline letters a new rhetorical aspect of body is presented with the imagery of
being clothed with a person, with Christ or a new a[nqrwpo" (Gal 3:27; Rom 13:14; Col
3:10; Eph 4:24). While body and clothing imagery was well-known in the ancient
Mediterranean world, the picture of putting on a person is new with these passages.
Clothing has implications for movement and identification, but there is also interweaving
between body, mind and clothing related to how humans present themselves,
how they interact socially, how they are empowered morally and politically, and how
they produce rhetorical and political discourse. This essay offers a socio-rhetorical
interpretation of the texts that speak of being clothed with a person, considering the
implications for those who become so clothed. This clothing refashions bodies with new
religious, social and political roles. Refashioned bodies become agents of social
change. The new clothing makes new persons and a new social reality.
'Naked as she was bore': Naked Disenchantment in Lybeaus Desconus
The central disenchantment scene in Lybeaus Desconus raises two significant medieval concerns, the nature of women and marital consent. The enchantment casts the Lady of Sinadoun into the form of a serpent/dragon-woman with its implications of original sin and female blame. Her disenchantment removes this symbolic covering, and in her naked innocence the Lady offers herself in marriage to Lybeaus in language reminiscent of medieval legal terminology for female marital consent. Other marriages depicted in the text, including the Lady's own marriage to Lybeaus, evoke the constraints medieval marriages placed on women – paternal authority, male coercion, and the loss of legal status for women. The disenchantment scene, however momentarily, inscribes female freedom within this marital context.
Ten Years of Public Interest Disclosure Legislation in the UK: Are Whistleblowers Adequately Protected?
Purpose The purpose of this article is to assess the operation of the UK’s Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA 1998) during its first 10 years and to consider its implications for the whistleblowing process. Method The article sets the legislation into context by discussing the common law background. It then gives detailed consideration to the statutory provisions and how they have been interpreted by the courts and tribunals. Results In assessing the impact of the legislation’s approach to whistleblowing both in the UK and elsewhere, the author draws upon empirical research. Conclusion The author concludes that PIDA 1998 has not adequately protected whistleblowers and makes 12 recommendations for change. Despite the European Commission’s acknowledgement that whistleblowers can play a part in the fight against corruption, the author notes that common standards for their protection still seem a long way off.