Culture
Making meaning of people making meaning.
A Chinese-Led Global Sexual Revolution
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 … Read MoreThe Great Helmsman's Cultural Death
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 … Read MoreTrespassing in Someone Else's Utopia
Fan Fair-the Country Music Association (CMA) Music Festival-is an annual migration for tens of thousands of fans. Nashville’s storied Lower Broad district is glutted with … Read MoreThe Big Business of Haut Chocolat
Chocolate, in case you haven’t noticed, is big business. Visits to the 13th annual Salon du Chocolat in Paris and the 10th annual … Read MoreGood Sociology Makes Lousy TV
There are very few films and virtually no television or literary characters that speak to sociology. And what is out there depicts sociologists as idealistic … Read MorePeeing in Public
The inequities of class, gender, and physical capacity gain their expression in moments of anxiety over how to eliminate one’s waste. This is one truth … Read MoreThe Word is Egalitarian
The larger trend that includes Akeelah and the Bee has catapulted the once esoteric activity of spelling competitions into commercial pop culture. Cable television and … Read MoreSociology At The Stove
Ratatouille is a treasure trove for sociologists because it lays out an organization with its attendant work roles and then shows how it functions in … Read MoreThe Lie of Heroism
Several elements combined to make the California fires a mega story. And most prominent among the media attention were stories of firefighters that, for the … Read MoreComment Dit-on "do'h!" En Français?
Every once in a while a comedy manages to transcend cultural boundaries. Today, the most successful of the few American television comedies that work outside … Read More