新时代以来，文化的作用愈发关键，文化的地位日益凸显，文化建设的任务也愈加光荣和迫切。全国宣传思想文化工作会议正式提出并系统阐述了习近平文化思想，在党的宣传思想文化事业发展史上具有里程碑意义。那么，马克思主义如何理解“文化”呢？

从文化生成看，文化具有历史性与阶级性。文化具有广义和狭义之分，广义的文化是人类创造的包括物质、精神等在内的一切文明成果，狭义的文化则特指精神文化。无论广义狭义，文化都与人息息相关，是人特有的存在方式，是人区别于动物的重要标志。那么，文化是如何形成的呢？马克思主义认为，文化作为上层建筑，最终由生产方式决定。马克思指出，“生产关系的总和构成社会的经济结构，即有法律的和政治的上层建筑竖立其上并有一定的社会意识形式与之相适应的现实基础。物质生活的生产方式制约着整个社会生活、政治生活和精神生活的过程”。而人类的生产方式会随着生产力的发展不断更迭，“手推磨产生的是封建主的社会，蒸汽磨产生的是工业资本家的社会”，生产方式的变革最终会引起人类文化的变迁，从而使文化具有历史性。另外，文化的形成需要经过长时间的积累，它是历史积淀下来的被群体所共同遵循或认可的共同的行为模式。

Culture also has class nature. Marx pointed out that "a class is the dominant material force in society, but also the dominant spiritual force in society", and "the dominant thought is only the conceptual expression of the dominant material relationship, but the dominant material relationship in the form of thought". Culture is produced by people, and people are not an abstract concept. They are always in a certain social relationship and behave as class people. Cultural forms such as legal and political thoughts, morality, literature and art, philosophy and religion created by people directly or indirectly reflect class interests, feelings and thoughts. Even though individuals can transcend class interests to some extent, even transcend time and space restrictions and create cultural works with lasting value, human culture, as a product of society, is always branded with class more or less. Lenin attached great importance to the class attribute of culture. In About Proletarian Culture, he proposed that proletarian culture and bourgeois culture are two different cultures. The proletariat cannot be separated from the foundation of traditional culture, including bourgeois culture, but it is by no means a simple inheritance and total acceptance. It needs to be transformed and innovated by Marxism, and the cultural principles of the proletariat must be implemented in it, so as to establish a real proletarian culture.

From the perspective of cultural form, culture has nationality and diversity. As a historically condensed and stable way of life, culture focuses on people’s values, attitudes towards life, behavior habits and psychological state. At first, human culture was formed by ethnic groups. Because of the different natural environments such as geography, resources and climate, there are obvious differences in people’s attitudes and lifestyles. On this basis, all ethnic groups form their own culture with their own styles and characteristics. When Mao Zedong explained the culture of new democracy in On New Democracy, he pointed out: "It belongs to our nation and has the characteristics of our nation", and "China culture should have its own form, which is the national form". Culture contains different ideological wisdom, value pursuit and aesthetic taste of all ethnic groups, which has become a unique symbol that distinguishes one nation from another.

With the change from history to world history, exchanges and mutual learning between different cultures have become increasingly frequent, and the cosmopolitan characteristics of culture have become more and more distinct. As Marx said in the communist party Declaration, "As a result of opening up the world market, the production and consumption of all countries have become cosmopolitan … The same is true for material production and spiritual production. The spiritual products of all ethnic groups have become public property. One-sidedness and limitations of the nation are becoming increasingly impossible, so many kinds of national and local literature have formed a kind of world literature. " However, the cosmopolitanism of culture does not mean that the whole human being forms a uniform culture, nor does it dispel the nationality, but the unity of diversity based on the nationality. The more national a culture is, the more cosmopolitan it is.

From the perspective of cultural function, culture has independence and reaction. On the one hand, Marx insisted on the materialistic view that "social existence determines social consciousness", on the other hand, he also saw the relative independence of culture and its reaction to the economic base. Marx pointed out in "The 18th Fog Moon in louis bonaparte" that "people create their own history, but they don’t create it at will, not under the conditions of their own choice, but under the conditions of direct encounter, established and inherited from the past. The traditions of all the dead ancestors haunt the minds of the living like nightmares, and cultural traditions are one of the important influencing factors. As a long-term accumulation of history, culture is extremely stable once it is formed. This stability is reflected in people’s beliefs, value pursuits, moral concepts, etc., and they will not change easily with the changes of external environment; As far as groups are concerned, a certain cultural pattern will dominate the development of a nation for hundreds or even thousands of years. Even if dynasties change and times change, the way of thinking and behavior habits formed in a certain cultural pattern will still play a lasting role.

As a superstructure, culture also has a dynamic reaction. Advanced, revolutionary and scientific culture plays a positive role in promoting social development, while backward, reactionary and unscientific culture hinders social development. Marx pointed out in the Economic Manuscripts of 1857-1858 that "the disintegration of a certain ideological form is enough to make the whole era fall", and Engels also wrote in his letter to Joseph Bloch that "the economic situation is the foundation, but it has an impact on the process of historical struggle and in many cases mainly determines the form of this struggle, as well as various factors of the superstructure". In today’s world, culture, as a soft power, plays an increasingly important role in the competition of comprehensive national strength, while cultural self-confidence is a "more basic, deeper and more lasting force". This is the concentrated expression of cultural reaction.

The cultural concept of Marxism is rich in connotation and profound in meaning. Only by deeply understanding Marxist cultural concept can we scientifically grasp the characteristics and laws of cultural development, which will help us to do a good job in combining the basic principles of Marxism with Chinese excellent traditional culture and truly undertake the new cultural mission in the new era.

Xiaoying has often been troubled by dysmenorrhea since she was in college, but because all her female friends around her also have dysmenorrhea problems, Xiaoying didn’t care too much.

After marriage, Xiaoying felt that the symptoms of dysmenorrhea were still not relieved, especially when she was in the same room.

Although both husband and wife are trying to get pregnant, Xiaoying’s stomach has not moved for many years. Under the repeated urging of her mother-in-law, Xiaoying has no choice but to go to the hospital for examination.

Results The doctor found that her uterus was as big as a ball, and it was initially suspected that it might be a hysteromyoma.The doctor also told Xiaoying that uterine fibroids can easily lead to infertility.

Xiaoying looked up a lot of information on the Internet, and the related search words of hysteromyoma were "easy to relapse" and "incurable" … Xiaoying began to panic, and she couldn’t get pregnant in the future? Will the husband divorce himself because of this? Xiaoying couldn’t sleep well for this.

Speaking of uterine fibroids, everyone will certainly not feel strange. What is its incidence?

In the "China Expert Consensus on Diagnosis and Treatment of Uterine Myoma", it is pointed out that the probability of women of childbearing age suffering from uterine fibroids has reached 25%, and from the relevant autopsy data,More than 50% of women had uterine fibroids before their death..

Hysteromyoma is the most common benign tumor disease among women. Hysteromyoma is like a small stone growing on the endometrial wall, which not only makes the smooth uterine wall lose its contractile function and elasticity, but also easily affects women’s menstruation.

The exact cause of uterine fibroids is still unclear, but one thing is certain.Uterine leiomyoma is a hormone-dependent disease.

In particular, women with unbalanced estrogen and progesterone levels are more prone to uterine fibroids. If there are few symptoms of uterine fibroids in adolescence, there will be few new uterine fibroids after menopause.

If women are in childbearing age, hysteromyoma is a high-risk disease. At present, clinical medicine believes that this may be because during childbearing age,Estrogen and progesterone in women stimulate the proliferation and hypertrophy of hysteromyoma cells for a long time..

In addition, ovarian tumors, premature menarche and other diseases may also lead to abnormal estrogen and progesterone in women and promote the occurrence of uterine fibroids.

At the same time, if women are stressed for a long time,And have bad habits such as sedentary, staying up late, and eating irregularly., may affect the stability of female endocrine, thus causing uterine fibroids.

Although hysteromyoma is very common, if it happens, it is easy to cause certain harm to women.

For example, uterine fibroids constantly oppress the uterus, which can lead to irregular menstruation; The location where uterine fibroids grow is also easy to cause discomfort such as backache and lower abdomen swelling; In particular, uterine fibroids that grow into the uterus may even squeeze the fallopian tubes, resulting in infertility or abortion.

Some women find that there are uterine fibroids in routine physical examination, and they also have a kind of worry: if they have uterine fibroids, should they cut off the uterus?

In fact, in most cases, uterine fibroids are benign diseases, and only a few of them will become malignant.The data showed that the malignant rate of hysteromyoma was 0.4% to 0.8%..

If some women have no obvious symptoms after developing uterine fibroids, they can consider observation and regular review.

There are also women who enter perimenopausal period, because of the decline of ovarian function, the level of estrogen in the body will plummet.This will lead to the growth rate of some large uterine fibroids slowing down or stopping.Some small uterine fibroids may even disappear.

However, if there are any of the following situations, you should pay attention to it and consult a doctor as soon as possible:

• When hysteromyoma occurs and infertility symptoms occur;
• Without hormone replacement therapy after menopause, uterine fibroids are still growing;
• Uterine fibroids cause menorrhagia or abnormal bleeding, or even anemia in women, or uterine fibroids oppress the digestive, urinary and nervous systems and cause a series of symptoms, and drug treatment is ineffective;
• When women with uterine fibroids are preparing for pregnancy, when the diameter of uterine fibroids exceeds 4cm.

Therefore, women should pay more attention to their physical condition in peacetime, if it appears.Abnormal menstruation, abdominal pain, increased leucorrhea, infertility, hypoglycemia, secondary anemia.When waiting for symptoms, we should be vigilant and do relevant examinations as soon as possible to investigate the cause.

Although there are many benign uterine fibroids, if there are some uterine fibroids with high malignant degree, patients may still have to face the result of hysterectomy. What will happen to women if they lose their uterus?

1. Early menopause

After the uterus is removed, the endocrine system of women will inevitably be affected, which will also lead to the early menopause.

2. Menstruation stops

The generation of menstruation is related to the periodic hyperplasia and congestion of endometrium. If a woman has her uterus removed, this monthly physiological period will disappear and menstruation will naturally stop.

3. Infertility

The uterus is an important organ for women’s life, and hysterectomy also means that women cannot have children.

4. Loss of libido

It is still the problem that hysterectomy will lead to the decrease of estrogen. The decrease of estrogen in women is easy to reduce vaginal secretions or cause vaginal atrophy, which in turn reduces women’s sexual desire.

Of course, in addition to these physical changes, women will also face tremendous psychological pressure after hysterectomy-without the uterus, won’t they become "men"? Can I still share a room? If not, will the lover abandon himself?

In fact, all the characteristics of women are related to estrogen.The organs that women produce estrogen are mainly ovarian portal and adrenal gland.It has nothing to do with the uterus and will not become a man just because the uterus is removed.

As for the problem of sharing a room, there is no need to worry too much, because the treatment of female sexual life is mainly influenced by factors such as mental state and age.

Even if the uterus is removed, as long as women adjust their mentality, both husband and wife can communicate well and consult a psychologist when necessary, and they can have a husband and wife life that is satisfactory to both sides.

Finally, Xiao Jiu would like to remind you that hysterectomy for health does not mean that you are not perfect.

Because beauty never looks at what you have, every woman is a beautiful and independent individual. And hysterectomy will not accelerate aging or affect sexual life. You should know how to adjust your mood and mentality and believe in science.

References:

[1] Uterine fibroids "prefer" the same kind of women, and most of them have this feature. Life Times .2021-12-06

[2] "Why does a good uterus grow fibroids? All the questions you care about most are here! Tencent Medical Code. 2022-03-17

[3] "Women’s Health Care | The doctor tells you that hysterectomy is not so terrible! Guangzhou Women and Children Center. 2020-07-17

Reprinting is prohibited without the permission and authorization of the author.

The emergence and disappearance of tidal current is usually described as the result of cultural change, but cultural change is slow because it is based on stable social norms. The trend, on the other hand, is changing faster and faster, so that people can only run after it in the past 20 years. This new phenomenon-the production and promotion of a large number of cheap disposable clothes is called "fast fashion". The change of fashion is neither cultural nor unforeseeable, and it is not an organic phenomenon, but an act carefully designed to stimulate sales.

Traditionally, the fashion industry has been replaced according to the cycle of "eight seasons": spring, summer I, summer II, autumn, autumn and winter, winter I, winter II and holidays. But now, customers who are at the forefront of the trend can pay attention to 24 different new seasons, such as back-to-school season, dance season and even wedding season. Among them, there are not only basic items that are regarded as necessities, but also luxury items that show superior social status. Although these new seasons are of different types, the existence time of each trend is getting shorter and shorter, and the gap between necessities and luxury goods is getting smaller and smaller. Historically, price, brand and quality have distinguished low-end products for the mass market from high-end products. Today, the difference in quality between products priced at 10 euros and 200 euros may be imperceptible. The key to high sales is price: if you want to sell more, you must sell it cheaply. This is why cheap goods and disposable goods have replaced durable products.

In order to get a lower price, it is necessary to reduce the production cost. This will bring many consequences: industrial pollution, social problems, damage to human health … The exploitation of labor by industrial production will aggravate global poverty, promote the production of a large number of industrial wastes, and hinder the improvement of wages in developing countries. Because the purpose of industrial production is to promote people’s excessive consumption of cheap, disposable clothes. Price is a core factor, which determines whether customers are willing to continue to consume.

European companies such as ZARA and H&M dominate this fast fashion industry. They are famous for producing goods that are affordable but look expensive. The success of this business model has prompted all retailers to join the Nuggets. Even some traditional luxury brands, such as Versace, now rely on this sales strategy. Low prices expand the customer base and make them feel that they have a luxury. This pursuit has completely changed the clothing industry. The strategy of price positioning must first determine whether consumers will spend 10 euros, 200 euros or something in between for a piece of clothing. The ability of the manufacturer to create and promote the brand image, value and prestige is the driving force of this game. Innovation and brand reputation enable them to set higher prices, but when the trend fades, the prices will fall, and these clothes will be replaced by other styles … Therefore, consumers who are most sensitive to fashion will pay high prices to gain the advantage of leading the trend, while others are waiting for affordable prices.

In view of technological innovation and industrial innovation, retailers can meet the needs of fashion hipsters at very low prices, which has given birth to a new competition and reclassified the market. In fact, when the variable price is removed from the equation to distinguish market segments, retailers will readjust their strategies and seek the lowest price for the highest-end products. Historically, consumers have two markets to choose from when buying goods, namely mass market and luxury market. But now they have more intermediate options. The "first-line big-name" market-the sales price of clothing, accessories and cosmetics is second only to luxury brands, and the "light luxury" market-is slightly more expensive than the popular brands, but it is close to the products of luxury brands in terms of taste, style and even quality. The development of fashion industry has also promoted the transformation of clothing function, which was once the symbol of social status, taste, general cultural awareness and unique personality. With the emergence of these new categories, the original logo has gradually disappeared.

The real success of fast fashion lies neither in advanced technology nor in the proximity of factories, but in unprecedented sales. The reason why prices can keep falling is that consumers will buy new clothes as soon as they are introduced. On average, customers go to the store 17 times a year. In ZARA, the unsold inventory is less than 10%, while in other brands, the proportion is 17% to 20%. The production cycle no longer follows the law of seasonal purchase, but must satisfy people’s continuous consumption.

Fast fashion stores have their own marketing strategies to make customers buy more clothes, even if their closets are already filled with similar styles of clothes. Fast-selling brands rarely replenish the most popular goods in order to attract consumers into the store with "new products" that are constantly on the shelves. What customers buy is scarcity. In fact, there is nothing innovative about a pair of blue jeans. The combination of low price and treasure hunting in shops is only to persuade and "create desire". There is no limit to how many clothes a person can buy, especially cheap clothes.

(This article is excerpted from The Evil of Fashion: Creation, Production and Manipulation, by Audrey Mier, translated by Qu Xiaorui, and published by Peking University Publishing House.)

Author: [France] Audrey Mier

Editor: Yuan Yilu