A Five Course Degustation for the Changing “Australian” Palette
To this day, I love fried Spam and eggs. The crunchy and salty slice of processed mystery meat dipped in just cooked egg yolk is one of my…
Tag: identity
Kamala Harris’ Refusal of the One-Drop Rule
When Kamala Devi Harris was sworn in as vice president earlier this year, many people in the U.S. and around the globe recognized that gender and racial barriers…
How Black Caribbean Communities Are Reviving an Ancestral Dance Tradition
Bèlè dancers and musicians help shape how some Martinicans envision their future society. Benny René Charles As public discussions about social justice and Black resistance continue in th…
What Dog Breeds Say About Race
In the Philippines, the most sought-after dogs are those that have a breed—and preferably a certificate that proves their provenance. Be it Alaskan malamute, German shepherd, or Siberian…
When Kinship Is Traced Through Women, Their Health Follows
Among the ethnically Mosuo community in China, some groups are matrilineal, meaning inheritance passes from mothers to their children rather than from fathers to sons. Patrick Aventurier/Gamm…
Boob Boxes: Post-Mastectomy Prosthetics and the Artifice of Breast Cancer
I chose to go flat. But I almost wasn’t allowed to. This is largely due to the unacknowledged psychological tension that underlies deeply gendered illnesses: that it is…
How to “Co-Live” With a Natural Hazard
Tungurahua, an active volcano in Ecuador, sits amid farming communities that have dwelled alongside it for generations. A.J. Faas As the Andes mountain range curves through Ecuador, it…
Bridging the American Cultural Divide
[no-caption] Jondave Libiran/Pexels The Sufi mystics like to tell a story about an old man crossing a rickety footbridge that spans a deep gorge. When he reaches the…
Do Twins Share a Soul?
I have a clone. He’s an identical twin brother, really. But as monozygotic twins derived from one fertilized egg, we share the exact same genome. Since birth, we…
Partnering with Nonhumans for Climate Action
Arctic sea ice is breaking up and melting as the world’s atmosphere and waters warm. Julianne Yip Arctic sea ice is dying: Its extent, volume, and thickness have…
Facing COVID-19 as an Undocumented Essential Worker
Many immigrants in the U.S. continue working in agriculture and other essential sectors amid new pandemic safety protocols. Brent Stirton/Getty Images One afternoon in mid-April, I was si…
What Rez Dogs Mean to the Lakota
Painting by Lakota artist Keith Braveheart from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota. Keith Braveheart A tragic event occurred on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakot…
The Cookout (and All Other Manners of Heavenly Black Things)
[no-caption] Manny Rodriguez As a poet and an anthropologist, I often write about the cycles of Black grief, death, celebration, and life. As a Black queer descendant of…
The Travesties of India’s Tribal Boarding Schools
[no-caption] Biswaranjan Rout/AP Photo The Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, is the world’s largest boarding school. KISS is a private school that…
We started a podcast!
Standplaats Wereld is expanding with a new component. We will continue to marvel you with our stories, but from now on, we will also explore them in the…
Called to the Torah: Navigating Feminism and Jewish Law in Modern Orthodox Communities
The synagogue – a deeply symbolic cultural space – is a place where feminist congregants are increasingly seeking equality. These women wish to read from the Torah (a…
When Colorblind Parenting Meets Anti-racism
Author Zeray Alemseged and his daughter attend a Black Lives Matter protest in Chicago. Peter Stamos I watched the uniformed White policeman kneel on the Black man’s neck…
Development of Tribal Cultural Identity at the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation
A good number of people have over the years shown some confusion about the identity of the tribal members at the Grand Ronde tribe. Many natives and non-natives…
My Nonbinary Child
[no-caption] Andrew Hasson/Getty Images “Mom, how do you know you’re a woman?” Sarah, my only child, startled me by asking this question during a telephone conversation this spring.…
What Scars Say About Sex and Stereotypes
[no-caption] Dean Krakel/Getty Images I recently noticed a curious phenomenon playing out on various television series. In Outlander, Scottish heartthrob Jamie Fraser’s back is seared wit…
Why Capitalizing “Black” Matters
An intergenerational photo of a Black family in Texas captures the enduring legacy of both community and family. Thomas Barwick/Getty Images In the last few weeks, major media…
Archaeologists Respond to the Black Lives Matter Movement
Students work with archaeologist Alexandra Jones (center) on an excavation at the Estate Little Princess plantation in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Archaeology in the Community Amid th…
What Does Baseball’s Bilingualism Reveal?
Dominican-born Yordano Ventura, Kansas City Royals’ starting pitcher, holds up a Dominican flag following the team’s World Series victory in 2015. (Ventura died tragically in 2017.) Shane Key…
Reflecting on the Rise of the Hoteps
Egyptian culture and art have been harnessed by some African Americans as a focal point for Black pride. Steve Evans/Flickr A meme circulating on social media shows “the…