Thursday, March 31, 2016
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Stuff you missed in History: Olive Oatman
Stuff you missed in History podcast here.
Her Mojave nickname was "Spantsa" which meant "rotten/sore vagina." It was, apparently, a term of endearment that she was okay with--the tribe is know for a dirty sense of humor.
Although there's no way to know for sure, all accounts of her story state that there was no sexual contact--but I'm not sure it would have been discussed or recounted if it had happened. From what I've read it was a reference to differences in hygiene habits between her and the Mojave women. They were pretty sexually liberal as a people, though.
Regarding the hygiene theory, that was because the Mojave bathed daily and were very focused on hygeine--at that time, White settlers did not.
In the book "Violent Encounters: Interviews on Western Massacres" there is also a theory that the term actually translates to "rotten womb" and referred to her being infertile. I have no idea if this is accurate either (it seems odd given that the nickname was apparently kind of an in-joke for her tribe). However, she never had her own kids and later adopted, so it's possible she was infertile. -
In the 1880s, the “tattooed captive” became a popular circus theme. “Their stories turned, provocatively, on the notion that people of color could transform whites into people of color,” Margot Mifflin writes in The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman.
Her Mojave nickname was "Spantsa" which meant "rotten/sore vagina." It was, apparently, a term of endearment that she was okay with--the tribe is know for a dirty sense of humor.
Although there's no way to know for sure, all accounts of her story state that there was no sexual contact--but I'm not sure it would have been discussed or recounted if it had happened. From what I've read it was a reference to differences in hygiene habits between her and the Mojave women. They were pretty sexually liberal as a people, though.
Regarding the hygiene theory, that was because the Mojave bathed daily and were very focused on hygeine--at that time, White settlers did not.
In the book "Violent Encounters: Interviews on Western Massacres" there is also a theory that the term actually translates to "rotten womb" and referred to her being infertile. I have no idea if this is accurate either (it seems odd given that the nickname was apparently kind of an in-joke for her tribe). However, she never had her own kids and later adopted, so it's possible she was infertile. -
In the 1880s, the “tattooed captive” became a popular circus theme. “Their stories turned, provocatively, on the notion that people of color could transform whites into people of color,” Margot Mifflin writes in The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Bye Bye Blues
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Via Bill Domonkos |
Labels:
another life,
blue,
gender,
gif,
Isn't she lovely,
living inbetween,
music,
old jail,
olive,
websites
Ophelia like...
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Sir John Everett Millais, completed between 1851 and 1852 |
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The Hours. |
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Friday, March 25, 2016
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Uncanny Bodies
In 1931 Universal Pictures released Dracula and Frankenstein, two
films that inaugurated the horror genre in Hollywood cinema. These
films appeared directly on the heels of Hollywood's transition to sound
film. Uncanny Bodies argues that the coming of sound inspired
more in these massively influential horror movies than screams, creaking
doors, and howling wolves. A close examination of the historical
reception of films of the transition period reveals that sound films
could seem to their earliest viewers unreal and ghostly. By comparing
this audience impression to the first sound horror films, Robert Spadoni
makes a case for understanding film viewing as a force that can
powerfully shape both the minutest aspects of individual films and the
broadest sweep of film production trends, and for seeing aftereffects of
the temporary weirdness of sound film deeply etched in the basic
character of one of our most enduring film genres.
Monday, March 14, 2016
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Walking The Beat In Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, Where A New Day Began Together
Friday, March 11, 2016
Monday, March 7, 2016
'Imbeciles' Explores Legacy Of Eugenics In America
In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court decided, by a vote of 8 to 1, to uphold a state's right to forcibly sterilize a person considered unfit to procreate. The case, known as Buck v. Bell, centered on a young woman named Carrie Buck, whom the state of Virginia had deemed to be "feebleminded." Author Adam Cohen tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that Buck v. Bell was considered a victory for America's eugenics movement, an early 20th century school of thought that emphasized biological determinism and actively sought to "breed out" traits that were considered undesirable.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Davis Rhodes and Cat's Eye
"There are other colors, pink for instance: pink is supposed to weaken your enemies, make them go soft on you, which must be why it's used for baby girls."
- Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye p. 47
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