My Little Pony - No longer JUST for girls!

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The article, 'Bronies' explores the men who adore My Little Pony, describes a documentary that I recently watched, and I thought that sharing some information about the documentary would be a useful exercise for identifying and challenging gender stereotypes in the US.

Bronies are adult males that are fans of the children's show, "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic," which centers on six main characters, all of which are females. Through watching the documentary, I discovered that many of these grown men face much discrimination based on their proclivity for this show, and some are even confronted with physical threats by other men who do not share their interest. Even little boys who like the show face similar opposition. 

Since I am hoping that this article will challenge your understanding of gender roles and stereotypes, I think it may be helpful to provide some prompting questions: 

1. "My Little Pony" is considered by many to be a show for little girls. What makes this show exclusively for little girls? What female stereotypes are referenced to justify this perspective?

2. Why do we find an adult male's interest in this TV show unusual? What stereotypes of men are we referencing to justify this perspective?

3. If you met a brony, without knowing anything else about him, what kind of person would you think he is? Does the article support your perception or not?

4. If you happen to have ever seen the show, how do the characters break away from common female stereotypes?

Here is the trailer for the documentary if anyone is interested: 

A Pink and Blue World

As we've begun to talk about culture and gender, an interesting point we went over was about the socially accepted standard that boys wear blue and girls wear pink. So when did this all begin?

Male, female, or gender neutral?

Let's look at this excerpt from a 1918 article in Earnshaw's Infants' Department:

"The generally accepted rule is pink is for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl."

In the photo above, a young Franklin Delano Roosevelt is seen wearing a frilly white dress and sporting long shoulder length hair, normal for 1884, even considered gender neutral. In those days, boys wore dresses until age 6 or 7, also the time of their first haircut. This is completely different from what you and I have most likely grown up with. It was not until the 1940's that  manufacturers and retailers began to shape the way we see the relationship between color and gender today.

This article from the Smithsonian magazine does a great job of breaking the issue down. Take a look and reflect on what it presents and your own experiences.

Berdaches

As we'll start talking about soon, gender issues and concepts can be much more complicated than just men and women. Some Native American groups had or have a well-known third gender, commonly known as a berdache. Here is a link to a short summery of the berdache and their variable role in society.

Berdaches

Women's Progress in STEM Fields

Piggybacking off April's post below and as we move forward in our discussion of gender, race and ethnicity, and culture, the female presence in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields has been a notable issue in the past couple of decades. Despite making up at least half the workforce, women only make up around a quarter of workers in the STEM fields.

This seems most apparent in this new article detailing how no female students took the Advanced Placement test in computer science in Mississippi, Montana, or Wyoming last year. This data was compiled by Barbara Ericson, a research scientist at Georgia Tech, and I just wanted to list some really surprising points I read through below:

• For states that had some females take the exam, the percentage female ranged from 3.88% in Utah to 29% in Tennessee.
• 11 states had no Black students take the exam: Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
• 8 states had no Hispanic students take the exam: Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming.

Looking at some of those points, it's obvious that the issue extends past simply gender, and definitely warrants some attention in our classrooms.

Check out the White House's initiatives on furthering women in STEM fields and keep these issues in mind as you continue your education here at UGA.

Women in Video Games

Gender constructions and stereotypes are pervasive in many aspects of our culture, though particularly so in video games. Stereotypes and tropes are not always the easiest thing to pin down, especially in our own culture. Feminist Frequency, a web series produced by pop culture critic Anita Sarkeesian, does a good job of extrapolating and elaborating upon various tropes and stereotypes that are perpetuated in popular media. Feminist Frequency also has an on-going web series dedicated solely to the discussion of depictions of women in video games:

If you are interested in more information on the topic of depictions of women in popular culture, please be sure to visit Feminist Frequency's website.

Reading Dead Languages

How do we know how languages evolve? Historical Linguistics. Here's a TED talk by a computer scientist turned linguist on how he's using computers to try to read that world's last major undeciphered script.

Untranslatable Words

More fun with language! We discussed briefly in class how many words are not easily translated between languages because of their strong association with cultural understandings. Here is a short inforgraphic highlighting some examples of this.

Eleven Untranslatable Words from other Cultures

Jake

The Beauty of Charro Culture

Since we've spent some time discussing the link between culture and identity, I thought I'd share this piece detailing the "Arte en la Charreria" exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum. Take a minute to look at the wonderful photos accompanying this article, and think about how the author describes the decorative motifs and how they can help us trace back the origins of Mexican and American cowboy culture. If anyone plans to be in the Albuquerque area before March 30 definitely check it out!

Here's the link to the FULL STORY and another about an annual Charro festival.

Charros on the fence.

To learn more in general about this topic, check out the official Charros Federation USA.

What's that Smell?? Culture, Language, and the Senses

As one of the topics for this week is "Culture and Language," this article offers a fascinating case study on the language of senses and description. This case highlights beautifully how our understandings of the world, and the ways in which we experience the world, are shaped by our cultures. Briefly, the article outlines a Malaysian language in which descriptions and conceptions of smell are very different from our own.

"An Indigenous Malaysian Language Describes Smells As Precisely As English Describes Colors"

Garbology

Last week our archaeology lecture briefly touched upon the University of Arizona Garbology project. Led by Dr. Rathje, archaeologists use archaeological techniques to examine modern day trash.  Researching since the '70s, garbology archaeologists have discovered all kinds of things about us and the stuff we throw away.

Check out this short video and a short piece by Dr. Rathje himself about the project. 

Garbology - YouTube

Rathje - Article

Dr. William Rathje

Food as Culture

Since this week we will be focusing on understanding culture, I wanted to share an article about how culture often defines what we consider 'food.' Cuisine, which includes food and all the cultural components that contribute to the 'ritual' of eating, is a really great way to experience and begin to understand cultures that differ from our own.

For Most People, Eating Insects is Only Natural

Yes, insects! In many parts of the world, insects are commonly consumed and considered an important protein source. Even Europeans have a long history of insectivory, as the article states:

"Eating insects certainly is an old tradition," he said.

The ancient Romans and Greeks dined on insects. Pliny, the first-century Roman scholar and author of Historia Naturalis, wrote that Roman aristocrats loved to eat beetle larvae reared on flour and wine.

Aristotle, the fourth-century Greek philosopher and scientist, described in his writings the ideal time to harvest cicadas: "The larva of the cicada on attaining full size in the ground becomes a nymph; then it tastes best, before the husk is broken. At first the males are better to eat, but after copulation the females, which are then full of white eggs."

The Old Testament encouraged Christians and Jews to consume locusts, beetles, and grasshoppers. St. John the Baptist is said to have survived on locusts and honey when he lived in the desert.

Still hesitant? Well, I hate to break it to you, but you may have already eaten some bugs.

Welcome to the Anthropology 1102 Blog!

The purpose of this blog is to expose you to current events related to topics discussed in Anthropology 1102 - Introduction to Anthropology. More than that, this blog is a jump off point for  thinking critically about the world.

In exploring the blog's contents, you will gain basic knowledge of current events and research findings that when examined holistically, comparatively, and critically (i.e. anthropologically) shed light on humans and their evolutionary relatives across time and space. This is a basis for coming to appreciate the ways in which anthropological perspectives bear on the following questions (as well as many others):

1) What is anthropology and what does it mean to be human?

2) How does culture shape the ways in which we see the world? 

3) What are the scientific principles that govern natural systems and how do these principles explain the emergence and biological evolution of humans?

4) In what ways have human populations become culturally, behaviorally, and biologically different?

5) What are the consequences of human activity on local, regional, and global ecosystems?

6) How does the environment shape human behavioral and cultural variation?

In addition, this blog is a source for examples of human diversity around the world. Such examples expose the multiple categories, norms, and rules (learned and socially accepted), that shape human behavior, whether at the level of the individual or group. When you analyze, interpret, and evaluate these examples, you will come to see that how people organize themselves affects their ability to meet cooperative goals through institutions of family, law, government, and religion, etc. This is a useful starting point for thinking through factors affecting present-day problems in the United States and in other societies (social, environmental, etc.), as well as for brainstorming solutions.

Happy reading, thinking, and problem solving!