We the Anthros http://wetheanthros.posterous.com A blog on culture & the people who craft it. posterous.com Sun, 29 May 2011 20:31:00 -0700 "Tight" & "Loose" Cultures http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/tight-loose-cultures http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/tight-loose-cultures

In his piece "Of War And Kisses: How Adversity Shapes Culture",  Richard Harris discusses a study that distinguishes national cultures between "tight" and "loose" while seeking to understand the factors behind those differences:

Countries tend to have personalities just like people do. Researchers have set out to define those differences, using a scale that measures how tight the social rules and standards are. They find that cultural rules — as simple as when and where it's appropriate to kiss — are often shaped by a nation's experience with war, disease and other challenges.

Read the rest of this story at NPR News

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Mon, 23 May 2011 20:55:00 -0700 Obama as a "Third Culture Kid" http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/obama-as-a-third-culture-kid http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/obama-as-a-third-culture-kid

Obama, is what we call, a TCK—A Third Culture Kid. TCK’s grow up as the children of missionaries, or as military brats, or as the children of businessmen. It means that you grew up during your early developmental years in a culture outside of your parents’ home culture

....

TCK’s are usually unable to view the world in a simplistic dualistic way. On the contrary, they are usually over-achievers, get advanced degrees, and are infinitely curious about the world. They can accentuate different facets of their personality and experiences based on who they are talking to—and it’s not fake. This is the reason Obama really could connect and appreciate rural farmers in Illinois, fit in with the Harvard crowd, and work as an effective community organizer in Chicago’s South Side. Obama is the classic TCK. This is why he represents the new America so well—he is post-racial, globalized, and a great example of America’s own Third Cultural nature. It also helps to explain why he is so loathed by provincial Middle America.

Read the rest of this commentary at The Daily Dish

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Wed, 04 May 2011 20:53:00 -0700 Many Steps http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/many-steps http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/many-steps

By Takayuki Akachi

MANY STEPS from Takayuki Akachi on Vimeo.

"Cross-cultural anthropology by way of feet."

Source: Curiosity Counts


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Sat, 23 Apr 2011 08:09:00 -0700 Earth Day Ctd. - Pale Blue Dot http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/earth-day-ctd-pale-blue-dot http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/earth-day-ctd-pale-blue-dot

Source: Laughing Squid

 

 

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Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:19:00 -0700 An exercise in Symmetry http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/snapshots-of-a-search-for-symmetry http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/snapshots-of-a-search-for-symmetry

 

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Sun, 17 Apr 2011 19:57:00 -0700 Census 2010 Offers Portrait of America in Transition http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/census-2010-offers-portrait-of-america-in-tra http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/census-2010-offers-portrait-of-america-in-tra

By Aaron M. Renn

Renn-census-map

The Census Bureau just finished releasing all of the state redistricting file information from the 2010 Census, giving us a now complete portrait of population change for the entire country.  Population growth continued to be heavily concentrated in suburban metropolitan counties while many rural areas, particularly in the Great Plains, continue to shrink.

Read more here

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Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:50:00 -0700 Bilingualism not only helps preserve culture... it's also good for the brain. http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/bilingualism-not-only-helps-preserve-culture http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/bilingualism-not-only-helps-preserve-culture

A recent NPR article points to the benefit of raising bilingual children... Language is a key tool for preserving and passing on culture and traditions. This article points out that this does not mean that children will fail to acculturate; rather it celebrates the human ability to adapt, manage multiple languages and cultural identities.

The idea that children exposed to two languages from birth become confused or that they fall behind monolingual children is a common misconception, says Janet Werker, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia who studies language acquisition in bilingual babies.

 

"Growing up bilingual is just as natural as growing up monolingual," said Werker, whose own research indicates babies of bilingual mothers can distinguish between languages even hours after birth.

 

"There is absolutely no evidence that bilingual acquisition leads to confusion, and there is no evidence that bilingual acquisition leads to delay," she said.

 

Werker and other researchers say the evidence to the contrary is actually quite strong. Instead of holding you back, being bilingual, they say, may actually be good for you.

Read the rest of this story here

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Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:02:00 -0700 Brands take over Film in Morgan Spurlock's latest documentary http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/anticipation-the-greatest-movie-ever-sold http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/anticipation-the-greatest-movie-ever-sold

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Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:34:00 -0700 Tween idols make happy parents… but then reality hits http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/tween-idols-make-happy-parents-but-then-reali http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/tween-idols-make-happy-parents-but-then-reali

 

A NY Times Magazine article profiles the American Tween Idol and what she represents not just for girls aged 8-14 but to their parents. Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly) stands at the gates of a sort of coming-of-age period from girl to woman pointing to an ambiguous space where Nickelodeon and Disney don’t seem to belong – the threshold of teenage sexuality:

 

...That makes Cosgrove the latest in a series of “It” girls — among them Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Hilary Duff — who have emerged over the past decade: not just actresses, not just singers, these young women are industries. In addition to TV shows, they have movies, recording careers, clothing and cosmetic lines, and their images appear on everything from coloring books to nail clippers. Their popularity, in part, rises from the new perch they occupy in tween girls’ hearts. Rather than wanting to be with their idols (as they would, say, Justin Bieber), young fans want to be them. That’s a different relationship entirely.

 

Still, the secret to their juggernauts may have less to do with kids’ fantasies than with the one they evoke in parents: from the smoothness of their skin to the length of their hemlines to the banality of their song lyrics and sitcom plots, these young stars embody an ideal of teenage innocence that adults are grateful to embrace. For as many seasons as the illusion can be maintained, they remain, at least onscreen, uncomplicated, untroubled good girls, on the verge of, but never actually awakening to, their sexuality. There is a lot of money to be made — and a lot of parental anxiety to be tapped — by walking that line. There is also a lot of fury unleashed at those who step across it. When young stars pose semi-nude or get caught drinking, they threaten the notion that our own daughters’ coming-of-age could be effortless. Suddenly, the “role models” who have perpetuated that myth become the vector of our fears. The betrayal feels personal and cuts deep.

 

 

 

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Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:33:35 -0700 This blog has to begin somewhere... http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/this-blog-has-to-belong-somewhere http://wetheanthros.posterous.com/this-blog-has-to-belong-somewhere

How about here?

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