How Tattoos Became Middle Class

Tattoos used to be taboo, associated with deviants and prisoners. And yet today, tattoos are sported by celebrities, business people, parents, and adolescents alike. Fascinated by this dramatic shift (and informed by her own relationship to the art of tattooing after marrying a tattoo artist), sociologist Katherine Irwin documented the popularization of tattoos in Symbolic Interaction. 

Irwin writes that tattoos didn’t suddenly become acceptable one day. Rather, in the 1990s, adventurous middle class clientele slowly but surely used legitimization techniques to “to frame their desires for tattoos within mainstream definitions of success and achievement.”

- Jstor Daily

Christian Wife Swappers Talk Kink and Christ

In many Christian traditions across many cultures, sex outside of marriage is frowned upon, if not strictly off-limits. But being religious doesn’t mean you can’t be a freak in the sheets. Online groups and forums provide many sexually adventurous church-goers with a virtual community, resources, and support. This is especially the case for those into “the lifestyle”—that is, swinging and wife-swapping.

- Vice

Anthony Bourdain dead at 61

Anthony Bourdain, the gifted chef, storyteller and writer who took TV viewers around the world to explore culture, cuisine and the human condition for nearly two decades, has died. He was 61.

CNN confirmed Bourdain's death on Friday and said the cause of death was suicide.
Bourdain was in France working on an upcoming episode of his award-winning CNN series, "Parts Unknown." His close friend Eric Ripert, the French chef, found Bourdain unresponsive in his hotel room Friday morning.

- CNN

Violence, rebellion and sexual exploitation: the darker side of Ancient Rome

The perceived servile origins of the plebs contributed to their sexual degradation by those above them. For elite men, whose households were stocked with slaves of both sexes, the boundaries of coercion and rape were blurred. “Every master has full authority to use his slave as he might wish,” said the philosopher Musonius Rufus.

In the sexuality of the Roman elite man, it mattered little if one preferred to have sex with men or women. The pleasure to be derived from each was debated in literature, and presumably in conversation. Some men tended to stick to one or the other, but many enjoyed both. ‘Homosexual’ and ‘heterosexual’ were not categories by which contemporaries defined themselves.

- Historyextra

Cubans Tell Their Stories and Reflect on the Future: Pictures

Cubans Tell Their Stories and Reflect on the Future: Pictures.

- Flipboard

Inside Vladimir Putin’s “mafia state”

Mark Galeotti explains the relationship between Russian criminals and the state.

MANY labels have been applied to Vladimir Putin’s Russia: kleptocracy, post-modern authoritarianism and, in Barack Obama’s ill-advised put-down, a “regional power”. One that stuck came from a Spanish prosecutor in a mob trial. He described modern Russia as a “mafia state”.

- The Economist

Pourquoi sommes-nous toujours aussi épuisés?

Chaque fois que l’on s’enquiert de l’état de santé d’un collègue ou d’un proche, la réponse semble toujours la même : « Je suis si fatigué ! » Mais d’où provient cette profonde lassitude ? De plus en plus d’experts s’entendent pour dire que notre mode de vie est aussi responsable que notre hygiène de sommeil de cette fatigue généralisée.

- Le Devoir

In praise of doing nothing

In the 1950s, scholars worried that, thanks to technological innovations, Americans wouldn’t know what to do with all of their leisure time.

Yet today, as sociologist Juliet Schor notes, Americans are overworked, putting in more hours than at any time since the Depression and more than in any other in Western society.

It’s probably not unrelated to the fact that instant and constant access has become de rigueur, and our devices constantly expose us to a barrage of colliding and clamoring messages: “Urgent,” “Breaking News,” “For immediate release,” “Answer needed ASAP.”

- The Conversation

10 Truths to Keep You Going When Everything Goes Wrong

Because here’s the reality: a tiny part of your life is decided by completely uncontrollable circumstances, while the vast majority of your life is decided by how you actively respond to them.

- Hack Life

Should you trust your gut feelings ?

Intuition has fallen out of favour in an age of rational, analytical thinking. But your emotional responses are not as fallible as some would have you believe, says neuroscientist Valerie Van Mulukom.

- Flipboard

The Kitschiest Hotel in the World

Imagine a place where caveman bedding, lime green carpeting and hotel rooms named after cultural ethnicities went unquestioned; where the sound of electric waterfalls and squeaking plastic leather seating was welcomed. My friend, you don’t have to imagine anymore, now that you know there’s a place where your inner-kitsch can be free.

- Messy Nessy Chic

A history of loneliness

Is loneliness our modern malaise? Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says the most common pathology he saw during his years of service “was not heart disease or diabetes; it was loneliness.” Chronic loneliness, some say, is like “smoking 15 cigarettes a day.” It “kills more people than obesity.” Because loneliness is now considered a public health issue – and even an epidemic – people are exploring its causes and trying to find solutions.

- The Coversation

The friend effect: why the secret of health and happiness is surprisingly simple

A study has found that regularly eating meals alone is the biggest single factor for unhappiness, besides existing mental illness. Why is hanging out with friends so helpful?

- The Guardian