From screens and tabloids, we are fed images of slender bodies. For decades sleek and angular silhouettes were said to be icons of style, fashion, beauty, youth, and desire. This trend is often blamed to be the source of anorexia. But is anorexia nervosa as simple as that? In her book 'Abject relations: everyday worlds of anorexia' (2009), Megan Warin takes us on a journey to find the answer.
food
A Five Course Degustation for the Changing “Australian” Palette
To this day, I love fried Spam and eggs. The crunchy and salty slice of processed mystery meat dipped in just cooked egg yolk is one of my favourite breakfasts. After all, it was the breakfast that I grew up eating on Sunday mornings when we’d all sit around the table and mum would hand out these small rectangles of fried salty goodness. I didn’t think it was that strange till I had a conversation with some of my friends who furrowed their little brows in disapproval, “ew, Spam is gross, it’s like dog food”. I quickly learned that my beloved Spam breakfasts were not as commonplace as they seemed, but rather they were an oddity. In a world of bacon and egg rolls with hash browns, my beloved family breakfasts of Spam and rice were distinctly different.
Ep# 68“Landing on the Earth”: Ashley Carruthers on Organic Farming and Cycling in Vietnam
The Familiar Strange · #68:Landing On The Earth; Ashley Carruthers On Organic Farming And Cycling In Vietnam This week, we bring you an interview with Dr. Ashley Carruthers. Ashley is a lecturer of anthropology at the Australian National University’s School of Archaeology and Anthropology. His research interests include migration, mobilities, rural-urban relationships, networks and infrastructures, … Continue reading Ep# 68“Landing on the Earth”: Ashley Carruthers on Organic Farming and Cycling in Vietnam
ANZAC Cookies
If you’re an Australian, the title of this blog post likely felt kind of strange to you. Perhaps it just felt a bit wrong or maybe it made you feel a bit uncomfortable in the tummy. Maybe it even made you angry and you’ve already skipped reading this and jumped to the comments section to complain about ‘Americanization’.
Ep #53 Making Meaningful Anthropology: Amita Baviskar on Maggi Noodles and Anti-Dam Movements
“It was a really difficult dilemma for me, because I felt that I needed to stand by my work, but at the same time what was more important was the social movement, because you know, what am I writing for?” In this episode (which is our first interview of 2020!) we bring you our interview … Continue reading Ep #53 Making Meaningful Anthropology: Amita Baviskar on Maggi Noodles and Anti-Dam Movements
Eating Iran: From the delicious to the inedible
I was having second thoughts, but pressed on safe in the knowledge that I was performing an act that would raise my esteem in the eyes of those present and help to rapidly acculturate me. Biting down on the now-charred-still-white pieces, to be sure, the flesh was not as bad as I expected. Neither good nor bad, it was remarkably neutral in taste - flavoured only with a little bit of salt and eaten with lavash bread. My guide smiled as I ate. “They say it’s good for your virility”, he chuckled, “but not even us locals really eat it that much”.
Ep. #18 What taste is made of: Brad Weiss talks pig farming and the meaning of food in America
"Livestock are essential to our lives. We live in a world that is saturated with livestock, and not just with the food that we eat, but with the lives that we live and in the other byproducts that come through livestock production." Brad Weiss, head of the anthropology department at the College of William and … Continue reading Ep. #18 What taste is made of: Brad Weiss talks pig farming and the meaning of food in America
The Familiar Strange 