S2E5 - Aging: Like Wine or Milk?

Hi In Theoryites—we’re back and talking about getting older! Especially as women who've crossed into the brave new world of being thirtysomethings. That means we’ve got on point theory for you related to andro-centrisim + biological determinism, and how they're part of calculating what Amy Schumer calls your last f*ckable day. Kidding! We hope. We’re also going to take on cultural difference and eldercare, mentorship, and poetry about wearing purple. Like for real. No need for anti-aging cream here, we LOVE getting older!

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

Linda R. Gannon, Women and Aging: Transcending the Myths (London: Routledge, 1999). Feminist approach to the female body as it ages. http://www.amazon.com/Women-Aging-Transcending-Myths-Psychology/dp/0415169100 

Context

AARP.com: "Talking With Your Parents About Independent Living: Starting the conversation about their options" http://www.aarp.org/home-family/caregiving/info-05-2012/talking-about-independent-living.html

Eric Kleinenberg, Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone (Penguin, 2012). https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/2012/02/14/gIQApdKcYR_story.html (thanks Allison McKim for the suggestion!)

Jenny Joseph, “Warning” poem (1961) http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/warning/ 

Inside Amy Schumer: "Last F**able Day' feat. Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Patricia Arquette," 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPpsI8mWKmg

Articles

Kyle Buchanan. “Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, and Scarlett Johansson Have an Older-Man Problem.” New York Magazine. June 1, 2015. http://www.vulture.com/2015/05/emma-jlaw-and-scarletts-older-man-problem.html# 

Kyle Buchanan. “Leading Men Age, But Their Love Interests Don’t.” New York Magazine. April 18, 2013. http://www.vulture.com/2013/04/leading-men-age-but-their-love-interests-dont.html# 

MacArthur Foundation Research Network on an Aging Society. “Facts and Fictions About an Aging America.” Contexts Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 16–21. Fall 2009. https://www.macfound.org/media/files/AGING-CONTEXTS-FACTFICTION.PDF

Tanzina Vega.  “As Parents Age, Asian-Americans Struggle to Obey a Cultural Code.” The New York Times. January 14, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/as-asian-americans-age-their-children-face-cultural-hurdles.html?_r=1 

Bonus  

We dig 106 year old White House visitor Virginia McLaurin, the “Parents” episode of Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, and the Red Hat Society.  

This week’s music from Jay Z (2014), Gene Autry (1931) & The Beatles (1967).

S2E3 - Patriotic Party in the U.S.A.!

America? F YEAH-- in this episode we take patriotism back from the haters and talk about our own progressive brown lady versions of loving up on our country. We share personal stories, like the creepy Scandinavian encounter that got Maria defending the red white and blue, and how the Shiite genocide relates to Noorain's patriotism. And OF COURSE we've got to talk about country music's uncanny ability to articulate certain kinds of America love! We also give you the theoretical low-down on why we even have nations, how nationalism gets cultivated, and Benedict Anderson's work on "imagined communities". There's some real talk on how to love our country in the face of islamophobia, racist police brutality, and inequality everywhere, too. Welcome to our own Party in the U.S.A.! 

 

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (London: Verso, 1983) http://www.amazon.com/Imagined-Communities-Reflections-Nationalism-Revised/dp/1844670864

Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1983) http://www.amazon.com/Nations-Nationalism-Second-Edition-Perspectives/dp/0801475007

Context
More on Benedict Anderson:  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/world/asia/benedict-anderson-scholar-who-saw-nations-as-imagined-dies-at-79.html?_r=0    

Articles
Murtaza Hussain, "Pakistan's Shia genocide." Al Jazeera America. November 26, 2012. 
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/201211269131968565.html

"Pakistan: Rampant Killings of Shia by Extremists." Human Rights Watch. June 29, 2014. 
https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/29/pakistan-rampant-killings-shia-extremists

Calvert Jones. "The surprising effects of study abroad." The Washington Post. August 20, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/08/20/the-surprising-effects-of-study-abroad/

Adrienne Varkiani. "The Disturbing Rise Of Islamophobia In America." Think Progress. February 10, 2016. http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/02/10/3748058/chapel-hill-anniversary/

Bonus
Pure shade hijab:  http://theslot.jezebel.com/this-hijab-is-the-purest-shade-youll-ever-see-on-fox-ne-1743239769

Our original interview that got us started in talking about patriotism with the ICONIC Olive Carrolhach:  http://www.intheory.us/episodes/2016/2/24/interview-with-noorain-maria-part-2

Music this week (both sampled and just referenced) from Miley Cyrus "Party in the U.S.A." + Simon and Garfunkel “America” + Jay-Z and Kanye feat. Frank Ocean “Made in America” + Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings “This Land is Your Land” + Craig Morgan, “That’s What I Love About Sunday” + Jason Aldean "Flyover States" + Beyonce's 2009 rendition of “America the Beautiful” at President Obama's first inauguration + Trisha Yearwood "American Girl" + Louis Armstrong, "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" - that's you, America!

S2E1 - Periods: Surfing the Crimson Wave

Hey you! In Theory's back for Season 2 and we're taking on menstruation! Ever wondered why we have periods? (No really - WHYYYYY??? <cramping pain>) We've got answers for you! Turns out that menstruation is full of theory to be unpacked. This week we discuss menstrual taboos across cultures, how creative tactics can help people survive oppressive systems, Maria's dream mechanical womb, and gab about the First Moon Party you never had. This isn't just for ladies--come one, come all and surf the crimson wave with us! 

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

Thomas Buckley & Alma Gottlieb. Blood Magic:  The Anthropology of Menstruation (1988). http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520063501

Michel de Certeau. The Practice of Everyday Life (1984).  http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520271456

Context

Natalie Angier. "Radical New View of Role of Menstruation." The New York Times. September 21, 1993. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/21/science/radical-new-view-of-role-of-menstruation.html?pagewanted=all

Articles

Lauren McGuire. "The Pill and the invention of the monthly cycle." Sociological Images. December 4, 2015. http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2015/12/04/the-pill-and-the-invention-of-the-monthly-cycle/

Shreya Dasgupta. "Why do women have periods when most animals don't?" BBC News. April 20, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150420-why-do-women-have-periods  

Bonus

last year's amazing #happytobleed campaign in India :: the First Moon Party you never had ::  new products that are leveraging a body positive view of periods in their marketing:  Helloflo / Thinx / DearKate / Lola

Classic period tunes this week courtesy of Ani DiFranco and the great Dolly Parton.

Season 1 Gab: SHORTS! on Celebrities, Noorain's Wedding, News, & Vacations

Listen to segments separately:

It's summer, and In Theory brings you shorts we've recorded over the past few months that are just a little bit shorter and little bit sweeter. Perfect for between quick dips in the water at the beach! This week’s shorts are on celeb culture, Noorain's wedding, how we get the news, and our summer vacations. Come on in, the water's fine!

Links to Stuff We Talk About:

CELEBRITIES (and why they matter)

This one is on celebrity culture: why we love to talk about celebrities and how celeb gossip can be meaningful in our lives (even if we never meet Snooki or the Hemsworths ourselves).

On moral dilemmas in reality TV:  

Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture, Ch. 2: “Buying into American Idol: How We are Being Sold on Reality TV.” New York University Press, 2006. Print.

 Hollywood scandals and why celebrity gossip matters:

Anne Helen Peterson, Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema. Plume, 2014.

Allie Merriam. Let an Academic Explain Why Your Celebrity Obsession Is Perfectly Normal. Buzzfeed. 27 Oct. 2014. 

MOAR Anne Helen Peterson:

Anne Helen Peterson. “Jennifer Lawrence and the History of Cool Girls.” Buzzfeed. 28 Feb. 2014. 

Gossip, or “Rumor” (“compared with whom no other is as swift”!) in Classical literature:  

Virgil, The Aeneid, Book IV:  http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/VirgilAeneidIV.htm#anchor_Toc342021

 

NOORAIN’S WEDDING (reflections 2 years on)

Following up on Episode 5’s discussion of the Wedding Industrial Complex, Noorain talks us through some of the pressures she felt and decisions she made when planning her own South Asian-American wedding.

Abha Bhattarai. Lavish Indian weddings help D.C.-area hotels turn handsome profit. The Washington Post. 13 Feb. 15. 

Shalene Gupta. Big fat Indian weddings get bigger and fatter. Fortune. 8 Aug. 2014. 

And if you're curious about commentary on the class issues associated with weddings in Pakistan, check out this and this. 

 

NEWS (how N&M get theirs)

Maria and Noorain share how they keep up on the news every day: their favorite sources, apps, and thoughts on social media’s role in informing us today.

Noorain’s sources of choice:

NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/

NY Magazine: http://nymag.com/

Maria’s morning news routine:

Hourly News App: http://hourlynewsapp.com/

The Skimm: http://www.theskimm.com/

NPR App: http://www.npr.org/services/mobile/iphone.php

Getting news from social media: 

Pew Study, “How Social Media is Rehaping News” http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/24/how-social-media-is-reshaping-news/

 

VACATION CATCH-UP

Noorain and Maria bring each other up to speed on their summer travels, with detours to talk about amusement parks old and new, the importance of taking (and planning!) vacations, and unlimited soda.

“Happiness is ... looking forward to your vacation.“ Science Daily. 19 Feb 2010.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100218125204.htm

Tanya Mohn. “U.S. The Only Advanced Economy That Does Not Require Employers To Provide Paid Vacation Time, Report Says.” Forbes.com. 13 August 2013. http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2013/08/13/paid-time-off-forget-about-it-a-report-looks-at-how-the-u-s-compares-to-other-countries/

On the West's imagination of the East as an exotic destination:

 Edward Said, Orientalism. Vintage, 1978.

Tivoli Gardens! Disneyland! Lake Compounce! Be a pro like Noorain and get through Disneyland lines faster with MouseWait.

Episode 3: Cultural Appropriation!

This time we talk about cultural appropriation: What is it? How can you know? Is eating a taco cultural appropriation? We get into the roles of context, history, and power disparities in answering these questions...plus more on tattoo fails, pop music, some of Urban Outfitters' most facepalm-worthy designs, and the dangers of "strategic anti-essentialism".  

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

On strategic anti-essentialism. George Lipsitz, Dangerous Crossroads: Popular Music, Postmodernism and the Poetics of Place (Verso, 1994). http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Crossroads-Popular-Postmodernism-Haymarket/dp/1859840353

Context

Cheyenne Evans. "CULTURAL APPROPRIATION: A BRIEF DISCUSSION AND OVERVIEW." Anthropology Rocks! February 25, 2014. https://anthropologyrocks.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/cultural-appropriation-a-brief-discussion-and-overview/

Katie J.M. Baker. "A MUCH NEEDED PRIMER ON CULTURAL APPROPRIATION." Jezebel. November 13, 2012. http://jezebel.com/5959698/a-much-needed-primer-on-cultural-appropriation

Articles

Abby Phillip. "Urban Outfitters sells tapestry ‘eerily reminiscent’ of Holocaust garb." The Washington Post. February 10, 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/10/urban-outfitters-sells-tapestry-eerily-reminiscent-of-holocaust-garb/

Ellie Hall and Kevin Tang. "34 Ridiculous Chinese Character Tattoos Translated." Buzzfeed. August 2, 2013. http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/ridiculous-chinese-character-tattoos-translated#.lgKN03nzq6

Music
In this episode, we used music clips that represent cultural appropriation in various ways (including music that appropriates from other cultures). Read up on our music selections below. 

"Hello Kitty" by Avril Lavigne
{more on the controversy prompted by this song/video here, here and here}

"Khusara Khusara" by Egyptian musician Hassam Ramzy
{used in Jay-Z's 1999 hit "Big Pimpin'", resulting in this controversy}

"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" from the album Graceland by Paul Simon
{more on the controversy prompted by this album here}

"Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" from the 1981 Hindi movie Jyoti
{music used in Truth Hurts' 2002 hit "Addictive"}