Everyday Anthro

homininae:

Tuaregs doing the camel dance, Ghadames, Libya (by Eric Lafforgue)

”The camel dance: the women make a circle and sing with drums, and the men ride the camels and turn around. The best time to receieve a kick in the ass from the animal for the spectators! The Tuareg are a Berber nomadic pastoralist people, sometimes called the « blue men » because the indigo pigment in the cloth of their traditional robes and turbans. The tagelmust (also known as cheich or cheche) is the most famous Tuareg, an often indigo blue-colored veil. The men’s facial covering originates from the belief that such action wards off evil spirits. It may have related instrumentally from the need for protection from the harsh desert sands as well.. Their way of life is based on livestock breeding, trading, and agriculture. They are the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa. There are about 557,000 Tuareg in Lybia. Tuareg people have to face cultural and linguistic assimilation, and political and economival marginalization. Which led them to armed struggle during the 1990’s. Lot of them left their traditional nomadic lifestyle to settle in the big cities on the edge of the Sahara desert.” 

everythingisanthropology:

So the thing about “traditional marriage” is that there is no such thing as “traditional marriage.” 

Certain societies are, of course, monogamous (traditionally seen in hunter gatherers because of their very specific ecology). But if you wanted to get as traditional as possible, then polygyny is clearly the way to go. Particularly in agricultural societies. Whenever sustainable, polygynous relationships occur. Disregarding ecological conditions necessitating monogamy, it is only when society places an emphasis on faithful monogamy that it is seen like it is in the Western world. But since we are not monogamous by nature, people like Limbaugh and his five consecutive wives exist. 

But even so, these relationships are not “traditionally” between a male and a female. That’s just the majority. Contemporary, non-Western societies exhibit an enormous range of variability, and even pre-contact Native Americans had incorporated the spectrum of human sexuality into their very “traditional” cultures. In fact, a shitton of pre-contact cultures had ideas of homosexuality and the spectrum incorporated into their cultures until post-Judeo-Christian Europeans interfered where they shouldn’t have. 

And don’t get me started on bonobos.

I understand, of course, that a man like Limbaugh holds no credence to scientific theory and historical fact, but seriously? Cultures around the globe today view marriage from every possible angle, or even ignore it completely. How can you claim that your idea of marriage is the “traditional” one, when every single cultural history on Earth could make that same claim?  

And how can you ignore the history of the thing? Homosexuality is not new. The repression of homosexuality is thousands of years old. Why do you think people would just want to jump on that “bandwagon” all of the sudden and subject themselves to that?

So let’s boil this down a little.
1. “Traditional” monogamous marriage is not actually traditional
2. Serial monogamy is not even “traditional” compared to polygyny
3. Every culture has its own ideas about the sexuality spectrum that pre-date colonialism
4. Homosexuality in animals is quite common 
5. Rush Limbaugh is an ass.*

And this isn’t even considering ethics, equality, or morality.
I’ll let you draw your own conclusions based on the facts. 

* Please excuse that last point, as it is merely an initial finding of my scientific study and should by all means be tested for consistency by my peers.

tastefullyoffensive:

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afro-art-chick:

Young Samburu girls adorned with beads and traditional jewelry on their way to a traditional dance in Northern Kenya.

fotojournalismus:

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival.

Every year during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, the Phuket Vegetarian Festival kicks off. The religious festival in Phuket, Thailand, lasts for 10 days, during which sacred rituals take place in the many Chinese shrines and temples. Walking on fire and climbing ladders with bladed rungs barefoot are two of several rituals believed to bring good fortune. The main purpose of the festival, however, is spiritual cleansing and merit-making.

Participants of the festival adhere to a strict vegetarian diet for at least three days. This is one of the 10 main rules meant to ensure good hygiene and inner peace. Sex, alcohol, and meat are strictly forbidden. As cleanliness is considered to be of paramount importance, menstruating and pregnant women are not supposed to attend any of the rituals. The festival rules also call for impeccable mental and physical behavior as well as white clothing. 

A chosen few among the participants, called warriors, will pierce themselves with objects such as nails, swords, and knives. The piercing takes place in a shrine and is followed by the most spectacular part of the festival, the street processions: just like in a parade they file along the streets of Phuket, with groups of one or several pierced warriors leading a number of people behind them. Onlookers throw fireworks at them as they pass; these are intended to be as loud as possible as the common belief is that this will banish evil spirits. The warriors walk and dance in a trance-like state, unshaken by the noise. 

The origins of the festival date back to 1825, when a traveling Chinese opera company came to Phuket to perform for the miners there. An epidemic broke out and as the members of the company fell sick, they adhered to a vegetarian diet to honor two of the Emperor Gods, Kiew Ong Tai The and Yok Ong Sone Teh. When they became well again shortly thereafter, the people of Phuket followed the company’s example - and have celebrated the festival ever since to bring good luck to their communities.

Story and photo by Alexander Widding on Tumblr and on facebook

somewhereintheworldtoday:

Need to find a wife?

Every year thousands of teenage Roma gypsy girls, dressed in their finest, made up to the nines and dripping in gold jewelery, are proudly shown off by their parents at the brides market in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. They come to the traditional annual market in the hope of finding a husband – preferably one willing to pay a large amount of money for his future wife.

More on Roma Bride Market by Somewhere in the world today…

ilovecharts:

“Don’t make fun of men who wear their pants around their ankles - They could be suffering an anatomical malformation. Respect the difference.”