Editing Parasitism (section)

== Cultural significance ==

[[File:THE CRINOLETTA DISFIGURANS AnOldParasite in aNewForm.png|thumb|upright|"An Old Parasite in a New Form": an 1881 ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' cartoon by [[Edward Linley Sambourne]] compares a [[crinoline|crinoletta]] bustle to a parasitic insect's [[exoskeleton]]]]

=== Classical times ===

In the [[classical era]], the concept of the parasite was not strictly pejorative: the ''parasitus'' was an [[patronage in ancient Rome|accepted role in Roman society]], in which a person could live off the hospitality of others, in return for "flattery, simple services, and a willingness to endure humiliation".<ref>{{cite book |last=Matyszak |first=Philip |title=24 Hours in Ancient Rome: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gJY4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT252 |year=2017 |publisher=Michael O'Mara |isbn=978-1-78243-857-1 |page=252}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Damon |first1=Cynthia |chapter=5 |title=The Mask of the Parasite: A Pathology of Roman Patronage|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mEJ-aA_XQQQC |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1997 |page=148 |isbn=978-0-472-10760-5 |quote=A satirist seeking to portray client misery naturally focuses on the relationship with the greatest dependency, that in which a client gets his food from his patron, and for this the prefabricated persona of the parasite proved itself extremely useful.}}</ref>

=== Society ===

{{further|Parasitism (social offense)}}

Parasitism has [[Parasitism (social offense)|a derogatory sense]] in popular usage. According to the immunologist John Playfair,<ref name=Playfair2007>{{cite book |last=Playfair |first=John |title=Living with Germs: In health and disease |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSyDYxLPtDoC&pg=PT19 |year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-157934-9 |page=19}} Playfair is comparing the popular usage to a biologist's view of parasitism, which he calls (heading the same page) "an ancient and respectable view of life".</ref>
{{blockquote|In everyday speech, the term 'parasite' is loaded with derogatory meaning. A parasite is a sponger, a lazy profiteer, a drain on society.<ref name=Playfair2007/>}}

The [[satirical]] cleric [[Jonathan Swift]] alludes to hyperparasitism in his 1733 poem "On Poetry: A Rhapsody", comparing poets to "vermin" who "teaze and pinch their foes":<ref name="Swift1733">{{cite book |last=Swift |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Swift |title=On Poetry: A Rapsody |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmIJAAAAQAAJ |year=1733 |publisher=And sold by J. Huggonson, next to Kent's Coffee-house, near Serjeant's-inn, in Chancery-lane; [and] at the bookseller's and pamphletshops}}</ref>

{{poemquote|The vermin only teaze and pinch
Their foes superior by an inch.
So nat'ralists observe, a flea
Hath smaller fleas that on him prey;

And these have smaller fleas to bite 'em.
And so proceeds ''[[ad infinitum]]''.
Thus every poet, in his kind,
Is bit by him that comes behind:}}

A 2022 study examined the naming of some 3000 parasite species discovered in the previous two decades. Of those named after scientists, over 80% were named for men, whereas about a third of authors of papers on parasites were women. The study found that the percentage of parasite species named for relatives or friends of the author has risen sharply in the same period.<ref name="Poulin McDougall Presswell 2022">{{cite journal |last1=Poulin |first1=Robert |author1-link=Robert Poulin (zoologist) |last2=McDougall |first2=Cameron |last3=Presswell |first3=Bronwen |title=What's in a name? Taxonomic and gender biases in the etymology of new species names |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=289 |issue=1974 |date=11 May 2022 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2021.2708 |pmid=35538778 |pmc=9091844 }}</ref>

=== Fiction ===

{{further|List of fictional parasites|Parasites in fiction}}

[[File:Parasites Katrin Alvarez.jpg|thumb|Fictional parasitism: oil painting ''Parasites'' by Katrin Alvarez, 2011]]

In [[Bram Stoker]]'s 1897 [[Gothic fiction|Gothic horror]] novel ''[[Dracula]]'', and [[Dracula in popular culture|its many film adaptations]], the eponymous [[Count Dracula]] is a [[hematophagy|blood-drinking]] parasite (a vampire). The critic [[Laura Otis]] argues that as a "thief, seducer, creator, and mimic, Dracula is the ultimate parasite. The whole point of vampirism is sucking other people's blood—living at other people's expense."<ref>{{cite book |last=Otis |first=Laura |title=Networking: Communicating with Bodies and Machines in the Nineteenth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VEimJkOmW1kC&pg=PA216 |year=2001 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-11213-5 |page=216}}</ref>

Disgusting and terrifying [[Parasites in fiction|parasitic alien species]] are widespread in [[science fiction]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Parasitism and Symbiosis |url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/parasitism_and_symbiosis |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |date=10 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="Dove2011">{{cite web |last1=Dove |first1=Alistair |title=This is clearly an important species we're dealing with |url=http://www.deepseanews.com/2011/05/this-is-clearly-an-important-species-were-dealing-with/ |publisher=Deep Sea News |date=9 May 2011}}</ref> as for instance in [[Ridley Scott]]'s 1979 film ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]''.<ref name="Pappas2012">{{cite web |last1=Pappas |first1=Stephanie |title=5 Alien Parasites and Their Real-World Counterparts |url=https://www.livescience.com/20624-5-alien-parasites-real-inspiration.html |publisher=Live Science |date=29 May 2012}}</ref><ref name=Sercel2017>{{cite web |last1=Sercel |first1=Alex |title=Parasitism in the Alien Movies |url=http://www.signaltonoisemag.com/allarticles/2017/5/19/parasitism-in-the-alien-movies |publisher=Signal to Noise Magazine |date=19 May 2017 |access-date=11 February 2018 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326033850/http://www.signaltonoisemag.com/allarticles/2017/5/19/parasitism-in-the-alien-movies |url-status=usurped }}</ref> In one scene, a [[Alien (creature in Alien franchise)|Xenomorph]] bursts out of the chest of a dead man, with blood squirting out under high pressure assisted by [[bullet hit squib|explosive squibs]]. [[Organ (anatomy)|Animal organs]] were used to reinforce the shock effect. The scene was filmed in a single take, and the startled reaction of the actors was genuine.<ref name=Guardian2009>{{cite news |title=The Making of Alien's Chestburster Scene |date=13 October 2009 |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/oct/13/making-of-alien-chestburster |access-date=29 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430221033/http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/oct/13/making-of-alien-chestburster |archive-date=30 April 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Nordine2017>{{cite news |last=Nordine |first=Michael |title='Alien' Evolution: Explore Every Stage in the Xenomorph's Gruesome Life Cycle. Celebrate Alien Day with a look at the past, present and future of cinema's most terrifying extraterrestrial |url=http://www.indiewire.com/2017/04/alien-xenomorph-life-cycle-1201808503/ |work=IndieWire |date=25 April 2017}}</ref>

The [[entomopathogenic fungus]] ''[[Cordyceps]]'' is represented culturally as a deadly threat to the human race. The video game series ''[[The Last of Us (franchise)|The Last of Us]]'' (2013–present) and its [[The Last of Us (TV series)|television adaptation]] present ''Cordyceps'' as a parasite of humans, causing a [[zombie apocalypse]].<ref name="Hill 2013 SciAm"/> Its human hosts initially become violent "infected" beings, before turning into blind zombie "clickers", complete with fruiting bodies growing out from their faces.<ref name="Hill 2013 SciAm">{{cite magazine |last=Hill |first=Kyle |title=The Fungus that Reduced Humanity to The Last of Us |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/the-fungus-that-reduced-humanity-to-the-last-of-us/ |magazine=[[Scientific American]] |access-date=4 May 2021 |date=25 June 2013 <!--subscription required-->}}</ref>