Sunday, January 24, 2010
Friday, February 6, 2009
Female Circumcision in the US
Like its male counterpart, circumcision of females has two histories. First it is a ritual or customary practice among tribal societies (mostly in Africa) and some Islamic communities. Secondly it is a medical intervention, justified by Victorian (and, in the USA, some twentieth century) doctors in exactly the same way as they rationalised circumcision of boys: to deter masturbation, to treat obscure nervous disorders such as hysteria, neurasthenia and epilepsy, and thereby to promote health.
Cult of Domesticity in Canada
http://www.musee-mccord.qc.ca/en/keys...
"The Cult of Domesticity"
Jennifer Salahub
The period 1840-67 can be characterized as an age of domesticity in the history of Canadian women. This was an era when appearances and material possessions played a major role in establishing a family's social and cultural aspirations. Daughters were educated to be modest and virtuous, and young wives to be industrious and self-sacrificing.
More About the Cherokee and the Trail of Tears
The Infamous Ernest Hogan
Ernest Hogan (born Ernest Reuben Crowders, 1865 - 1909) was the first African American entertainer to produce and star in a Broadway show (The Oyster Man in 1907) and helped create the musical genre of ragtime.
A native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, as a teenager Hogan worked in traveling minstrel shows as a dancer, musician, and comedian. In 1895 Hogan published several popular songs in a new musical genre, which he named ragtime. These hit songs included "La Pas Ma La" and "All Coons Look Alike to Me". The success of this last song created many derogatory imitations, known as "coon songs" because of their use of racist and stereotypical images of blacks.
While Hogan was considered one of the most talented performers and comedians of his day, his contribution to the racist "coon song" craze haunted him. Before his death, he stated that he "regretted" using the racial slur in his song.
Victorian Racism and the Chinese Massacre in Los Angeles
The Chinese population were consistently subject to ...
• low level jobs
• denied education or the ability to receive a higher education
• banned from testifying in court
• victims of race riots
(Please refer to Chinese Massacre of Los Angeles in 1871)
1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act: Congress prohibited all immigration of admission of unskilled Chinese laborers for 10 years with a ban against "lunatics, idiots, convicts, persons likely to become public charges." The Act was renewed in 1892 and the ban made "permanent" in 1902.