Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture
Fair Observer's exploration of human creativity in all forms including literature, theater, film, opera, art, sculpture, music, dance, cuisine and travel.
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360° Analysis / Honky Tonk / Johnny Cash Show / musicians per capita USA / Nashville / Nashville music scene / North America / Rock Music / Sarah Rowland / Tennessee / Third Man Records / United States / CultureNashville’s legendary status as America’s cradle of music remains unchallenged. "I walked into a world where everyone wants the same thing – the teachers you have, the lady that cuts your hair, the guy selling you jeans at the mall – every single one of them has a story of how they've moved here to play music,” says Steven Darden, an aspiring musician and Nashville, Tennessee native. Indeed, this is the absolute essence of “Music City” – a place overflowing with dreamers and believers. It is impossible to stroll down Broadway Street, famous as a place for creating early musical beginnings, without seeing hopeful artists...
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feminism / Maya Shlayen / North America / porn industry / pornography / Pornstars / sex / Sexual / Vanessa Belmond / wealth inequality / Women's rights / Focus Article / CultureBy Maya Shlayen“Feminist porn” is not compatible with feminism. In recent years, a trend known as “feminist porn” has gained visibility. Including films and even an annual Feminist Porn Awards ceremony, an increasing number of women are embracing the idea that porn, if done right, is compatible with feminism. Lies about anti-porn feminists – that we’re in bed with the religious Right (we aren’t), that we snub our noses at the women in pornography (we don’t), or that we support censorship (also not) – have painted the feminist anti-porn movement as something rigid, outdated, and anti-sex. Feminist defenders of pornography claim to be defying traditional...
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360° Analysis / forced labor in Asia / Human Trafficking / malaysia / Sophia Akram / Trafficking / US State Department on Trafficking in Persons / victim-sentric approaches to trafficking / Culture / Asia PacificBy Sophia AkramIn Malaysia, victims of trafficking are often treated like criminals. Analysts claim human trafficking is rife on every continent on the globe; present in almost every country and, according to the recent annual report of the US State Department on Trafficking in Persons (TIP), the situation in Malaysia paints a grim picture. Malaysia is mainly a destination country of trafficking for the purposes of prostitution and labor — manual or domestic — from countries in South and Southeast Asia. Victims may be held forcefully by their “employers” or have been compelled to stay in their situations through duress — methods such as threats of reporting them to the...
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360° Analysis / anti-traficking laws in South Africa / Apartheid policies / Bernedette Muthien / Legalizing prostitution / Police corruption is South Africa / South Africa / Africa / CultureIn South Africa, sex trafficking is a problem of corruption and patriarchy. In an interview with Fair Observer's Africa Editor, Annika Schall, the Director of Engender, Bernedette Muthien, talks about problems surrounding human trafficking for sexual exploitation and suggest ways to combat the practice. Annika Schall: Where do victims of sexual trafficking in South Africa come from, and are some people more likely to become victims than others? Bernedette Muthien: Sex trafficking affects people from South Africa, as well as victims coming from outside the country. Inside South Africa, sex trafficking often occurs from rural areas to urban ones. And also within cities,...
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Christian communities in India / gay rights in India / India / Indian Penal Code Section 377 / LGBTI movement in India / Makepeace Sitlhou / Presbyterian Church of Mizoram / Focus Article / Culture / Central & South AsiaIn the Indian state of Mizoram, homosexuality is still a taboo. "If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense" (Leviticus 20:13). As more states in America and first world nations join the bandwagon for marriage equality, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes intercourse between same-sex partners as an “unnatural offense” and equates it to intercourse with an animal, is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court of India. Meanwhile, there have been several petitions filed against the decision....
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360° Analysis / abolitionism / Forced Labour / Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation / North America / Second Wave Feminism / UN Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons / White Slavery / Europe / CultureBy Donna HughesSex trafficking has existed since the dawn of civilization. The practices of sexual exploitation and sexual slavery are older than recorded history. Whenever a woman or girl — or man or boy — was without status or protection, he or she could have been subjected to sexual exploitation. The same is true today. Debates and Protocols “Sex trafficking” is a modern term. It was coined during the second wave of the women’s movement in the 1980s, when female activists started protesting the exploitation of women and girls in prostitution and pornography. Debates raged for years among feminists about “free” and “forced” prostitution, and whether...
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Bahar Confectionary / Baklava / Cafe Confectionaries / Cafe Culture / Communist Revolution / French Confectionary / Iran / Minion Chocolate / Nobel Confectionary / Orient Confectionary / Qottab / Tehran / Ukraine / University of Tehran / Yazdi Cake / Focus Article / Middle East & North Africa / CultureOld Café Confectionaries in Tehran evoke memories of bygone years. Old buildings, palaces, as well as monumental streets or museum objects are not the sole articles in a country’s history which can make up that country’s cultural heritage as well. Café confectionaries are also among “sweet” heritage of every country. The history of confectionery business in Iran has not been well-documented. However, before new confectionaries became famous and established in Tehran, it was café confectionaries which attracted the citizens of the Iranian capital city. The early cafés of Tehran gradually started presenting sweet items and, by and by, their...
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femicide / genocide Guatemala / Human rights in Guatemala / indigenous people's rights / trial of General Efráin Rios Montt / Focus Article / Latin America / CultureBy Dianne PostSeventeen years after the end of a brutal civil war, Guatemala’s human rights record remains appalling. Since its independence from Spain in 1821, Guatemala was ruled mostly by dictators and commercial interests. Late in the 20th century, resistance to the government grew and the country was devastated over the course of a 36-year-long civil war, which ended in 1996 with the signing of the Peace Accords. The war, in which the United States backed the government of Guatemala, sought to eliminate the leftist insurgency through the military’s “scorched earth campaign,” which ordered more than 626 massacres of native Mayans, who make up nearly half of the country...
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Al Dostour / Al Watan / Blasphemy / Censorship / Egypt / Egypt Penal Code / Hosni Mubarak / Islam / Media / Mohammed Morsi / Muslim Brotherhood / Political Cartoon / Politics / Religion / Salafism / Satire / SCAF / Focus Article / Middle East & North Africa / CulturePolitical cartoons are useful survey instruments for mapping permissible speech in Egypt. This is the first of a two part series. The job of political cartoonists is to push the envelope. But what happens when the size and shape of the envelope changes? That, in effect, is what has been happening ever since Hosni Mubarak was removed from power by the combination of a mass uprising and a military coup. Since then, the contours of permissible speech have been shifting constantly. This has led as much to confusion as it has to creativity. Cartooning has long been one of the pillars of the public discourse in Egypt. Especially during authoritarian times, cartooning has often been where...