“
Every time you see a naked woman’s body on screen, it’s either in a sexual context — or if it’s an older woman it’s the scene in ‘About Schmidt,’ where Kathy Bates gets in to the hot tub and the whole audience is supposed to scream, and Jack Nicholson is so horrified. I’ve seen that over and over, and I find that really offensive that women’s bodies are either objectified or used for comic value.

Director Sarah Polley, on female nudity in Hollywood

(via this interesting piece in NYT)

Priest Lake, I miss you.  View high resolution

Priest Lake, I miss you. 

(Source: whereisthecoool)

(Reblogged from ma-salaama)
Picture of the solar eclipse on May 20, 2012 (as seen over China) Grrr, how could I miss this?!? View high resolution

Picture of the solar eclipse on May 20, 2012 (as seen over China)

Grrr, how could I miss this?!?

(Source: c0rnfields)

(Reblogged from ma-salaama)

Ever wondered how poop-cleanup works for guide dogs?

Wonder no more.

Rebranding Africa

Africa is in the news — but not just for the sad and familiar reasons of conflict and suffering. The continent is entering the fashion arena, with the quality of its handwork, artistic creativity and its potential for economic growth bringing Africa literally in vogue.

The key word for an overall résumé of changes in attitude and perception is “rebranding.”

“Africa does not need charity — Africa needs investment and partnership,” said [UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon]. “Joining forces with civil society and private sector, including non-traditional players, like the fashion industry, has become indispensable. Sustainable development is my top priority.”

The enthusiasm of a young generation to build careers in Africa rather than emigrate has encouraged Fashion4Development to be optimistic. In the last decade, African economies have grown at an impressive rate, with several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa rivaling growth rates in countries such as China, India and Brazil, according to the World Bank.

(via NYT)

Africa’s Child Health Miracle: The Biggest, Best Story in Development

(via Michael Clemens @ CGD)

avocado city (kota alpukat), 2012 View high resolution

avocado city (kota alpukat), 2012

FYI, RE: IUD 4 EC

In a review of previous studies, researchers have concluded that the insertion of an intrauterine device after unprotected sex is the most effective and safest method of emergency contraception…

One [study] reviewed found that despite the IUD’s efficacy and safety, 85 percent of clinicians never recommended it for emergency contraception.

“There are a lot of barriers to the use of IUDs,” said [a staff researcher at Princeton]. “Providers don’t offer them, insurance doesn’t cover them, they can be hard to get. So the emergency contraceptive pill is [also] an excellent option.”

(Story via NYT)

On the other hand…

shitmystudentswrite:

Throughout the course of our history racism has been the cause of many pains and many losses. However, racism has also been the cause of many great successes.

(Reblogged from shitmystudentswrite)
spring (or: why i’m sneezing), 2012 View high resolution

spring (or: why i’m sneezing), 2012

Before the whole Atlantic is abuzz over the idea of this teenager becoming the “World’s Most Beautiful Woman,” someone should probably mention that Beauty is a culturally-specific and socially-embedded construct. I mean, how many of the world’s women does this girl’s face actually represent? (Even TIME’s iconic New Face of America represented the realities of modern multiculturalism better than this.) Not to get too anthropological on y’all here, but the fact that a British university has crowned a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white girl as the global superlative of female perfection is, at the very least, kind of racist unabashedly ethnocentric: “‘Florence has all the classic signs of beauty,’ said Carmen Lefèvre of the Perception Lab at the University of St Andrews’ School of Psychology. ‘She has large eyes, high cheekbones, full lips and a fair complexion. Symmetry appears to be a very important cue to attractiveness.’”  (quote and image via Gawker)

Before the whole Atlantic is abuzz over the idea of this teenager becoming the “World’s Most Beautiful Woman,” someone should probably mention that Beauty is a culturally-specific and socially-embedded construct. I mean, how many of the world’s women does this girl’s face actually represent? (Even TIME’s iconic New Face of America represented the realities of modern multiculturalism better than this.)

Not to get too anthropological on y’all here, but the fact that a British university has crowned a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white girl as the global superlative of female perfection is, at the very least, kind of racist unabashedly ethnocentric:

“‘Florence has all the classic signs of beauty,’ said Carmen Lefèvre of the Perception Lab at the University of St Andrews’ School of Psychology. ‘She has large eyes, high cheekbones, full lips and a fair complexion. Symmetry appears to be a very important cue to attractiveness.’” 

(quote and image via Gawker)

Are you a student? Do you have problems?

In case Academic Coach Taylor can’t solve them all, there’s a new website out there for you.

Spill is a nationwide peer support network made BY and FOR college students. You can vent on the site, confidentially, about whatever is bothering you. Within 24-48 hours, you’ll get feedback from a handful of trained peers who can relate to your problem.

FYI— the Madison, WI-based startup also recently won the $25,000 top prize in the Global Social Venture Competition, beating out hundreds of entries from around the world. According to a local newspaper, the nascent website has already intervened to help prevent 19 potential suicides. 

Check it out: https://spillnow.com/

chicago at dusk (my baby’s comin’ home), 2012 View high resolution

chicago at dusk (my baby’s comin’ home), 2012

victoriousvocabulary: LYCANTHROPY [noun] the professed ability or power of a human being to transform into a wolf, or to gain wolf-like characteristics. The term comes from Greek Lykànthropos (Λυκάνθρωπος): λύκος, lykos (“wolf”) + άνθρωπος, ànthrōpos (“human”).  The word lycanthropy is sometimes used generically for any transformation of a human into animal form, though the precise term for that is technically “therianthropy” or “zoanthropy”. A more modern use of the word is in reference to a mental illness called lycanthropy in which a patient believes he or she is, or has transformed into, an animal and behaves accordingly. This is sometimes referred to as clinical lycanthropy to distinguish it from its use in myths and legends. Wolves are nice, but what about zombies? View high resolution

victoriousvocabulary:

LYCANTHROPY

[noun]

the professed ability or power of a human being to transform into a wolf, or to gain wolf-like characteristics. The term comes from Greek Lykànthropos (Λυκάνθρωπος): λύκος, lykos (“wolf”) + άνθρωπος, ànthrōpos (“human”).  The word lycanthropy is sometimes used generically for any transformation of a human into animal form, though the precise term for that is technically “therianthropy” or “zoanthropy”. A more modern use of the word is in reference to a mental illness called lycanthropy in which a patient believes he or she is, or has transformed into, an animal and behaves accordingly. This is sometimes referred to as clinical lycanthropy to distinguish it from its use in myths and legends.

Wolves are nice, but what about zombies?

(Reblogged from razzberry)
This must be why I’m so blessed.

This must be why I’m so blessed.

(Reblogged from maluna)