Culture Reviews
the great helmsman’s cultural death
by doug guthrie
Outside of Mao Zedong’s mausoleum in Tiananmen Square, Chinese entrepreneurs sell cigarette lighters, watches, and other trinkets that bear the former leader’s image. Mao’s transformation from cultural revolutionary to kitschy cultural icon is one reflection of a long line of changes in China’s culture and political economy.
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a chinese-led global sexual revolution
by james farrer
Experts at the inaugural meting of the World Association of Chinese Sexologists envision China leading the next wave of a global sexual revolution. A description of that meeting trains a lens on the peculiar power of nationalism in contemporary China.
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it’s sexy. it’s big business. and it’s not just for men.
by lynn comella
Every January the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo transforms the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas into what is arguably the world’s largest adult playground. The AVN Expo-one of many such trade shows that take place each year-is a microcosm of the sex industry and thus offers a revealing sociological window into the marketing, mainstreaming, and gender dynamics of sex in American society.
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heat wave
tales of the heat
by ross macmillan
At least three sociological accounts attempt to explain why such massive heat-related death took place in Chicago during the second week of July, 1995. An epidemiological investigation, Eric Klinenberg’s book Heat Wave, and now the narrative play Heat Wave staged in Chicago this past spring. All three are sociological, two are interesting and entertaining, and one is accurate.
dramatic calamitas
by e.c. hedberg
As a sociologist and former theater and film student, I was curious to see the relationship between sociology and drama reversed, and I wondered if it was even possible to adapt a piece of research into a dramatic framework set for the stage.
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enlightened teenage masculinity
by robert c. bullman and nicole s. mccants
While Superbad continues the crude and sophomoric story of nerdy, horny, and virginal teenage boys desperately eager to have sex with girls, it also presents a novel, enlightened version of teenage masculinity, one that presents vulnerability and tenderness. While fraught with misogynistic and crass dialog, Superbad tells the story of two male best friends who are afraid to part from each other after high school. It challenges us to ask how adolescent boys can learn to be men without ridiculing and dominating women, and without fearing that close friendships with other men undermine their masculinity or heterosexuality.
