May 18, 2012
I’ve been reading Lady With a Spear, the autobiography of Eugenie Clark about her early research career as an ichthyologist, as a Japanese-American, and as a woman in the 40′s and 50′s. Her writings are peppered with the struggles she faced when to-be-employers, often after her official hire and international travel, discovered that “E. Clark” was not a white man. [Continue reading...]
Mar 3, 2012
I recently had the opportunity to re-read a fantastic book by Esther Newton called Mother Camp. This was the first ethnographic study of a homosexual community, published in the early 1970s. Newton examined the lives of drag queens in Chicago and Kansas City in the late 1960s, a time before Stonewall where being publicly homosexual was a criminal offense. [Continue reading...]
Feb 22, 2012
If you can stomach it, watch this clip of Jesse Tyler Ferguson (from Modern Family) and the hosts of The View discussing the obnoxious “Don’t Say Gay” bill proposed in Tennessee.
If you can’t bear to watch the whole 3-and-a-half minutes, pay particular attention to Sherri Shepherd’s discussion from 1:04 to 1:43. [Continue reading...]
Feb 12, 2012
I finally got around to reading Undoing Gender by Judith Butler (it was assigned for a course I’m taking). While her writing is sometimes dense and hard to follow, there are moments of lucidity where her brilliance shines through. Here is one of those moments: [Continue reading...]
Feb 11, 2012
As a pre-medical undergraduate student, working in an ER and shadowing a physician, it could be said I am a busy fella. I would love to contribute more and will try to make my presence known here more often. I definitely have a lot to say as I am being introduced to the medical community–specifically Pediatric Oncology/Hematology and anthropological theory. Hopefully, you will all see more from me soon.
Feb 9, 2012
Are you an anthropologically minded skeptic? Do you like to write? Well, we have a proposition for you.
We are considering turning Stranger & Friend into a group blog consisting of skeptics/freethinkers with backgrounds in anthropology (and sociology). We are concerned with the ongoing maltreatment of oppressed people in our movements. The recent rise in feminist, anti-racist, anti-heteronormative, and anti-cissexist discourses in skeptical communities is inspirational and very much needed, and we hope to contribute to these ongoing discussions in meaningful ways. [Continue reading...]
Feb 6, 2012
This Anthro Quote brought to you by French philosopher Michel Foucault. This particular quote comes from his book The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception (New York: Vintage Books, 1994[1973]).
The first task of the doctor is therefore political: the struggle against disease must begin with a war against bad government. Man will be totally and definitively cured only if he is first liberated…If medicine could be politically more effective, it would no longer be indispensable medically. And a society that was free at last, in which inequalities were reduced, and in which concord reigned, the doctor would have no more than a temporary role: that of giving legislator and citizen advice as to the regulation of his heart and body. There would no longer be any need for academies and hospitals…And gradually, in this young city entirely dedicated to the happiness of possessing health, the face of the doctor would fade, leaving a faint trace in men’s memories of a time of kings and wealth, in which they were impoverished, sick slaves.
If you have interesting anthropology quotes or other quotations about culture, feel free to submit them and I may use them in future AQ posts.
Jan 25, 2012
Blue Shark, Costa Rica
Hello Strangers and Friends,
So, I’m a tattooed person. A heavily tattooed person. It’s common enough–even in academia these days. Most of my ink reflects my work as an ornithologist, dog lover, and gender heart breaker dream-maker love-taker worshiper. I wear a marvelous bearded lady (Petunia), portraits of my dogs (Tessa and Old), a “Mary of Guadeloupe” style microscope, the chemical symbol of coelenterazine luciferin, and 13 tattoos of birds. Here I’ll talk a little about my newest and possibly most meaningful peice, inked by my wildly talented (and deeply kind) friend Paul Holland, of Big Kahuna Tattoo in Boca Raton, Fl. [Continue reading...]
Jan 14, 2012
After having read some of Donna Haraway‘s work in a course last semester, I’ve been thinking a lot about cyborg theory and the intersection of human and technology–the blurring of the lines between nature and culture. Here’s a quote from Donna Haraway’s essay “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century,” in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature [Continue reading...]
Jan 8, 2012
I’ve been an unrepentant apostle of musical project, Symphony of Science, since its advent in 2009. Creator John Boswell describes the project as “bring[ing] scientific knowledge and philosophy to the public through music…[Symphony of Science] is intended to bring a meaningful message to listeners.” From its onset, I was positively smitten with the dynamic and inspired words of science’s greats- Goodall, Hawking, Sagan, DeGrasse Tyson- set to those bone-deep instrumentals and heart-swelling visuals. I was impressed too, with Boswell’s inclusivity; he routinely featured people of science who are women, Dis-abled, LGBTQ, and People of Color. “Want to see something AMAZING??” I’d swoon. From the abismal neck-fold of the Orgo lab, all the way across campus in the Women’s studies department, I’d feverishly gather my cohorts, readying them for what, I was sure, was about to ‘esplode thier fricken brains off. I should have been embarrassed, really. [Continue reading...]
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