Saturday, December 6

POP CULTURE & TRENDS

Why Do Some People Like To Build People Up And Then Tear Them Down?
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POP CULTURE & TRENDS

Why Do Some People Like To Build People Up And Then Tear Them Down?

Even though someone can be seen as a celebrity, there would have been a time when no one knew who they were. That is unless their parents were already famous, and this would have given them the upper hand. In The Beginning Therefore, if one doesn't have famous parents, for instance, they may have had to work their way up. During this time, they probably would have been able to go out without people recognizing them. This may have been something they enjoyed, or they might have wanted other people to recognize them. Either way, this would have been an experience that wouldn't have lasted forever. Unknown Even so, there is a strong chance that they had no idea what hat happen in the future, and so there would have been no reason for them to appreciate how their life was. If they had a s...
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Deep Roots Of Distrust Shape Vaccine Hesitancy In Polygamous Communities
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POP CULTURE & TRENDS

Deep Roots Of Distrust Shape Vaccine Hesitancy In Polygamous Communities

In polygamous communities, deep roots of distrust shape vaccine hesitancy. From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon church or LDS church, followed government guidelines to protect members of their religious community. On March 25, 2020, the church closed its temples and encouraged members to wear masks. Leaders praised vaccination, which church President Russell M. Nelson, a retired surgeon, called a “literal godsend.” He and other senior members received vaccinations, calling on church members to follow their example. Fundamentalist branches of Mormonism, however – groups who began separating from the LDS church after it ended the institutionally sanctioned practice of polygamy in 1904 – took a different ro...
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Life In Gangs Today Differs Drastically From When The ‘West Side Story’ Jets And Sharks Ruled The Streets
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POP CULTURE & TRENDS

Life In Gangs Today Differs Drastically From When The ‘West Side Story’ Jets And Sharks Ruled The Streets

The songs are timeless, the casting contemporary and dance routines still daring. But for social scientists like us, Steven Spielberg’s remake of the 1961 hit musical “West Side Story” – a film about two rival street gangs – is more than a 21st-century face-lift of a Broadway classic. Released in theaters on Dec. 10, 2021, it is an opportunity to consider societal changes in the six decades since Maria and Tony stole the hearts of audiences across the world – particularly in the world of gangs. As scholars who have studied gang culture, we find that the soul of the street gang hasn’t changed much since the days of the Jets and the Sharks – but the world around them has. Demographics, economics, technology and public policy have reshaped and reshuffled gang life in America. So dramatic ar...
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POP CULTURE & TRENDS

As Ghislaine Maxwell’s Sex Trafficking Trial Begins – What To Know

Originally published by The 19th The sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and alleged accomplice of wealthy investor and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, begins in New York on Monday. Maxwell, 59, faces six charges related to her involvement helping Epstein “recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims” for at least a decade, according to the indictment against her. If convicted, she could face more than 40 years in prison. The trial of the well-connected British socialite has gotten a lot of media attention given the circles in which she and Epstein traveled. They were both photographed socializing at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort; Maxwell attended the wedding of former President Bill Clinton’s daughter. Here is what we know about Maxwell,...
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Why Generations Of American Women Connected With Betty Crocker As She Turns 100
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POP CULTURE & TRENDS, VIDEO REELS

Why Generations Of American Women Connected With Betty Crocker As She Turns 100

Elizabeth A. Blake, Clark University Though she celebrates her 100th birthday this year, Betty Crocker was never born. Nor does she ever really age. When her face did change over the past century, it was because it had been reinterpreted by artists and shaped by algorithms. Betty’s most recent official portrait – painted in 1996 to celebrate her 75th birthday – was inspired by a composite photograph, itself based on photographs of 75 real women reflecting the spirit of Betty Crocker and the changing demographics of America. In it, she doesn’t look a day over 40. More importantly, this painting captures something that has always been true about Betty Crocker: She represents a cultural ideal rather than an actual woman. Nevertheless, women often wrote to Betty Crocker and saved the lett...
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Sex, Drugs And TikTok: Keeping Young People Safe Needs A Mature Response
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Journalism, POP CULTURE & TRENDS

Sex, Drugs And TikTok: Keeping Young People Safe Needs A Mature Response

Isabelle Volpe, UNSW and Clare Southerton, UNSW You may have read recently that TikTok allegedly “serves up” sex and drug videos to minors. Media reports have described the video-sharing platform, which is designed predominantly for young people, as an “addiction machine” that promotes harmful content. In an investigation, reporters at the Wall Street Journal created 31 bot accounts on TikTok, each programmed to interact only with particular themes of content. Many of the bots were registered as being aged 13-15, including one programmed with an interest in “drugs and drug use”, which was ultimately shown 569 videos related to drugs. The investigation sought to better understand how the app’s algorithm selects videos for users. The workings of these kinds of algorithms are an industry s...
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Is Art A Wise Investment? A New Platform Lets You Buy Shares Of Blue-Chip Paintings
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POP CULTURE & TRENDS

Is Art A Wise Investment? A New Platform Lets You Buy Shares Of Blue-Chip Paintings

Kathryn Graddy, Brandeis University In the fall of 2018, a Banksy work, “Love is in the Bin,” sold for US$1.4 million. Now the original buyer has put the work up for sale, and it’s expected to fetch over $5 million – that would amount to a return of more than 250% on the original investment. What if, instead of the art market’s being the sole purview of the deep-pocketed, everyday people could buy shares of a pricy piece of art and sell the shares as they please? That’s exactly what a new platform, Masterworks, seeks to do. Art investment funds have existed for over a century. Masterworks, however, has put a new twist on an old practice, in that the platform allows individuals to buy shares of specific artworks in $20 increments. Investors can then sell these shares in an easy-to-use ...
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Air Travel Used To Be Easy – An Entire Generation Of Americans Has No Idea
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POP CULTURE & TRENDS

Air Travel Used To Be Easy – An Entire Generation Of Americans Has No Idea

CULTURE Janet Bednarek, University of Dayton During the mid-1990s I traveled between Dayton, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., twice a month during the school year as half of a commuting couple. I could leave Dayton by 5:15 p.m., drive nearly 80 miles to the Columbus airport during rush hour, park my car in the economy lot, and still get to my gate in plenty of time for a 7:30 p.m. departure. Then 9/11 happened. The terrorist attacks brought swift and lasting changes to the air travel experience in the United States. And after 20 years of ever-more-elaborate airport security protocols, many air travelers have no knowledge of – or only vague memories of – what air travel was like before 9/11. As someone who has studied the history of airports in the United States – and someone old enough to ...
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The Irresistible Allure Of Mocking Southern Accents – TikTok, #BamaRush
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POP CULTURE & TRENDS

The Irresistible Allure Of Mocking Southern Accents – TikTok, #BamaRush

CULTURE Kathryn Cunningham, University of Tennessee As college students across the country return to campuses grappling with the COVID-19 delta variant, Greek letters of a different variety have captivated social media feeds with stunning virality. The #BamaRush trend on TikTok introduced followers to the annual recruitment process for National Panhellenic Conference sororities at the University of Alabama. The popular videos offer a firsthand perspective on the recruitment process, showcasing the various events and the women’s corresponding fashion choices – the “outfit of the day,” or #OOTD – for each stage. When this phenomenon came to my attention, I noticed that TikTok’s algorithm fed me not only the posts of women participating in #BamaRush but also parody videos made by people g...
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TikTok Is The Latest Battleground – There’s A Long History Of Dances Being Pilfered For Profit
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POP CULTURE & TRENDS, VIDEO REELS

TikTok Is The Latest Battleground – There’s A Long History Of Dances Being Pilfered For Profit

Jill Vasbinder, University of Maryland, Baltimore County In January 2020, 14-year-old Jalaiah Harmon created what would become one of the biggest viral dance sensations on TikTok. But few users knew that Harmon, who is Black, invented the dance, which she dubbed the Renegade – at least not until a month later, when The New York Times drew attention to her case. That’s because a TikTok user had copied the dance, and it was that TikToker’s rendition that went viral. Because Harmon didn’t get credit, she wasn’t able to reap the benefits of more views and followers, which, in turn, could have led to collaborations and sponsorships. Harmon is only the latest in a long list of women and people of color whose choreography and dance work have been pilfered for profit – a story that dates back ...
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