Wizards, Vampires, Klingons, and Other Alternative Cultures
On the last day of my introduction to anthropology class, we watch scenes from the documentary Trekkies. Students grin at the sincere folks dressed as Starfleet officers and…
Tag: Gender
Gender and Mental health: The need for a wider lens
As the Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby powerfully put it, it would help if we didn’t start by seeing females and males as being from different planets. Experiences of…
What the Tech Sector Could Learn from Anthropology
Technology is a social tool that requires understanding of social and cultural factors for it to be a driver of equality. Failing to incorporate an anthropological perspective into…
International conference on “Local horse breeding in Russia in the past, present and future”, June 22-24, 2018
It is worth travelling north in mid June to experience one of the wonders of the Arctic. It is polar day when the sun disappears only for a…
We Need to Talk About “Gun Violence”: Reflections on Terminology and Contexts of Violence by Joe Anderson
Among the many political challenges of our time, gun violence in America has emerged as one of the most divisive. A retreat into partisan communities prevents us from…
Sirpa Tenhunen on her new book, A Village Goes Mobile
h https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-village-goes-mobile-9780190630270 Interview by Ilana Gershon Ilana Gershon: What is so fascinating about A Village Goes Mobile is how effectively you use yo…
That Most Dangerous, Sacred American Space, the Bathroom
Binary clarity at an Interstate comfort station. “Ladies” to the left, “Gentlemen” to the right. Courtesy Robert Myers. uncommon sense Spoiler alert: In Hitchcock’s masterpiece Psycho, Janet Leigh…
Web Roundup: Women, Withdrawal, and Antidepressants by Katherine Warren
In April, an article in the New York Times caused a stir with the headline, “Many People Taking Antidepressants Discover They Cannot Quit.” The piece begins with a…
Der inspizierte Muslim
Buch zur Politisierung der Islamforschung in Europa Herausgeberin: Prof. Dr. Schirin Amir-Moazami Der Sammelband widmet sich der Beobachtung, Beforschung und Vermessung von Muslimen. Wer wird als M…
Why Aid Remains Out of Reach for Some Rohingya Refugees
[no-caption] Sajjad Hussain/Getty Images Ameena (a pseudonym) is a 25-year-old Rohingya refugee in New Delhi, India, who is seven months pregnant with twins. Her face is gaunt. Often…
(Anti)Institutional Menses: Our Blood, Our Business by Andrea Ford
Photo courtesy of “Jane” Jane started us off by saying “I grew up in the US, so I could never count on having healthcare.” Jane (for whom I’m…
“Red-carpet catholicism”: gendering the heavenly body
by Mac Spencer Three decades after the fallout from Like A Prayer, the relationship between pop culture and Catholicism seems on more stable ground if the pinnacle of…
Diaspora, Gender & Mediated Revolution
In several relatively recent papers (2017, 2015a, 2015b) I’ve made the point that for tens of millions of Egyptians, the uprisings of 2011 weren’t something they physically experienced…
Anthropology as Open Marriage
A New Life Style for Anthropologists This blog-post reproduces my comment on Paul Shankman’s “The Public Anthropology of Margaret Mead: Redbook, Women’s Issues, and the 1960s” publis…
An Anthropologist’s Obsession with Outlander
I have been on hiatus from blogging for some time, mainly due to two factors. First, I launched a public anthropology podcast, Anthropologist on the Street (huzzah!), which…
Orientalized Gender and the Field
Salma Moustafa Khalil *** During my Masters program, I went to Leipzig to conduct my Masters fieldwork. My interest was in the memory of the GDR and how…
Not That Innocent: fertility, vengeance and serpentine symbolism within pop music
By Mac Spencer In the summer of last year, globally scrutinised pop star Taylor Swift quietly deleted every piece of content from her online accounts. A brief social…
Letting Silence Have a Voice in #MeToo
On December 9, 2017, #MeToo ralliers in New York City, many of whom are survivors of sexual violence, took a stand against prominent men who have reportedly committed…
Nederland houdt van gewoon
Door Irene Stengs. In het kader van ‘onderzoek om de hoek’ kom ik nog een keer terug op mijn veldwerkexcursie naar de Huishoudbeurs van afgelopen februari. In mijn…
Breffu: a slave, a rebel, a fighter – and a woman almost invisible to history
The role of women in conflict is often lost to the archaeological record – but Breffu’s story illustrates how sometimes we catch a glimpse of them Early one…
Breffu: a slave, a rebel, a fighter – and a woman almost invisible to history
The role of women in conflict is often lost to the archaeological record – but Breffu’s story illustrates how sometimes we catch a glimpse of them Early one…
Secrets of a Brothel Privy
For Jade Luiz, a graduate student in archaeology at Boston University, historical archaeology is all about detective work. Through piecing together historical documents and archaeological finds from t…
De Huishoudbeurs: de grootste braderie van Nederland
door Irene Stengs Als antropologisch onderzoeker van ‘cultuur in Nederland’ doe ik in feite al mijn onderzoek ‘om de hoek’, en dit is helemaal het geval bij onderzoek…
Book Review: Gendered Lives, Livelihood and Transformation: The Bangladesh Context edited by Meghna Guhathakurata and Ayesha Banu
In Gendered Lives, Livelihood and Transformation: The Bangladesh Context, editors Meghna Guhathakurata and Ayesha Banu bring together contributors to explore women’s lives and livelihoods during…