Anonymous asked:
What's something (or somethings) that you learned from studying anthropology that just completely blew you away? Maybe not something revolutionary, but just something you thought was cool?
anthropologist-on-the-loose answered:
Oh man, there’s so much?? I think a really cool example is the existence of culture-bound syndromes. These are diseases that are not universally present, but are real diagnosable occurrences in within specific cultures. They’re not “"fake”“ diseases, they often have an actual physical health component in addition to a psychological component, but they only present within the context of certain cultures. One of the ones we learned about, for example, was latah, a condition involving an extremely intense startle reaction that is local to Southeast Asia, or susto, from Latin America. But an example of a illness that can (and should) be considered a culture-bound syndrome in Western culture is anorexia. Because anorexia, as an illness, just quite simply isn’t found worldwide. Again, these diseases are by no means fake, but they are highly informed by cultural perceptions. So basically, yes, plenty of psychological diseases that have debilitating somatic symptoms exist, but the presentation of these symptoms and what triggers them can be entirely culturally based. Culture shapes our brains in ways that are so much deeper than we realize.
Look I’m ace and I still know to appreciate her thighs, they’re that amazing
You’re gonna have to take my word for this; I can’t find a video or gif example. The closest I can find that sorta shows what I’m talking about is her opening cutscene; you can’t see anything but she is absolutely not sitting ladylike at all. Trust me, if you play the game for any length of time and get knocked over as much as I did once I got ahold of it, you’ll see what I mean. I later noticed as I was traipsing through high-level areas and getting knocked over a lot (look I was able to do areas way over my level in Syndicate so I thought it’d be fine) that there was a fuzzy sort of indistinct blur under the skirt, kinda like how dresses in old video games would seem to have a “floor” to them, only it felt more natural. Like when something happens really fast, and part of you thinks you should have seen something, but at the same time your brain is just like “it was too fast you probably didn’t have a chance to see anything,” so nothing ever looks wrong about it to your brain unless you’re expressly trying to determine how on earth the game devs were accounting for such a short skirt. Which I was. Sorry boys, no pausing your game recordings at the exact right frame to get a pic of Kassandra’s undies (or lack thereof; we’ll get there in a sec) like an old copy of Return of the Jedi. Ya pervs.
Which is cool enough oh my god I was having such a nerd-out playing the game after going to class and then going back to class to learn more about the time period in the game UGH
We’re talking about Sparta and how it treats their women and how their citizenship works (which has interesting implications regardless of if you play as Kass or Alexios and I hope the game addresses it) blah blah blah… and then I get this bombshell information
Like, you know the 300 movie lady?
These ladies usually went TOPLESS unless there was a reason not to (such as not getting stabbed in the chest). So Kassandra’s early-game burlap sack dress is actually historically accurate in it’s lack of covering anything that the ERSB will let them leave in the game. Same goes for some of her other in-game outfits:
They’re already known for setting the bar for historical accuracy crazy high in these games. I’m completely unsurprised (though still pleased like the giddy history-nerd I am) that they added this detail to Kassandra’s character design.
Like, no joke. This series of circumstances is something out of every gamer boy’s dream; the chance to shut down every feminist wanting to take away their bouncy boobed fighting characters in skimpy outfits with the argument “It’s historically accurate!” and have it actually be true. Like even the 300 movie lady whose name I don’t know appeals heavily to the male gaze with the sideboob dress.
That being said, please, someone who makes clothing for women can we please take note from this and give me modest clothing that accounts for boobs and also doesn’t choke me with the neckline please and thank you.
Let me explain. You know how superhero movies are all shooty shooty bang bang shout at each other show muscles fight things no one shows any emotions at all everyone looks super cool all the time sort of deals? That’s the male gaze directed at themselves. That’s the ideal. That’s what they want to feel like, so they make it happen in their movies and video games. Meanwhile, the male gaze directed at women is the sexy lady with camera angles that pan up her legs and have no muscles at all for some godforsaken reason. It’s what they want their fantasy love interest to be like.
The female gaze directed at themselves is what they want their super awesome fantasy selves to be. Only because we don’t have as many women as men in movie and game making industries, we don’t get that sort of characterization because the men didn’t know nor cared about what women wanted their representation to be like. Whereas the female gaze directed at men is like Eugene Fitzherbert from Tangled. That’s what they want their fantasy love interest to be like (and I have to say women set the bar a bit more reasonably for men then I think men set it for women but that’s a talk for another day).
You can see the difference between the male gaze and female gaze most blatantly in what straight guys find attractive and what wlw find attractive. I’m ace so to be perfectly honest I’m not sure what either of those things are respectively but I’ve heard a LOT of gay panic over Kassandra lately and very little chatter on the male end of things so I think that’s clear.
Point is, women love Kassandra because she is a female character they feel is empowering (or at least I did and I know a few others who do) and wlw love Kassandra because she could kill a man with her thighs and is sassy and whatever other things that have nothing to do with how much or little boob her “historically accurate” outfit shows us. Meanwhile, a lot of people who have played the game find Alexios less interesting because he is just another one of your buff serious soldier hero type; a trope that appeals to the male gaze and that we’ve had since men started making movies and video games. (credit to @outsidexboxofficial @outsidextra for putting that feel Alexios gave off into words; I don’t remember if it was on show of the week or show of the weekend but they talked a good bit about this)
unionising employees get sent to the mindfulness booth to atone for their sins
checked it out and uh
‘small room’ is generous, motherboard
THATS. THE SIZE OF MY SHOWER OH MY GOD
being mentally ill + suicidal at a young age (before 18) is. strange, because you grow up with this idea that one day you’ll finally snap, turn off, be brave enough to kill yourself, so you don’t really plan for the future. adulthood- further life, it isn’t for you, nor do you feel included within the future of it. it isn’t.. it isn’t part of your life plan.
and then before you know it you’re 18 and you’re an adult but you never thought you’d get this far and sure it’s great that you’re still alive you guess but also. you feel so alone + lost in a world you never expected or planned to be a part of.
