In The Buzz Cut, we bring you a round-up of all the weird, controversial, and wonderful stories we’ve been reading all week.
Comediennes are increasingly taking to the stage to talk all things pregnancy: from lactation consultants to placentas to masturbating while pregnant. Comedy might have started off a male-dominated industry, but not anymore, if Amy Schumer, Ali Wong and Christina Paszitsky have anything to say about it.
*
Cultural appropriation as a form of healthy communication? A Refinery29 writer argues her case for why cultural appropriation is universal, and if done right, can elevate fashion and create a global understanding of individual cultures. She calls it a “balancing act…worth performing.”
*
Photographer Olivia Arthur captures the essence of Saudi Arabian women in photos made in 2009-10, betraying a side to them that often gets lost in the predominantly political conversation about their oppression.
*
Teenage Finnish girls have, for years, ridden a makeshift stick, used their lower body to gallop like a horse while their upper body sat erect like a rider. Called the hobbyhorse girls, they engage in coaching, competitions, and have special diets. Their secret society is finally a mainstream phenomenon.
*
There’s such a thing as a Kidnapper & Ransom insurance, and companies have bought it for people most likely to be targeted by kidnappers since 1932. Who knew the world of kidnappings involved kidnap specialists and insurance salesmen?
*
Your faces, in all their social media glory, are being used by governments and advertisers to train facial recognition softwares. It helps institutions in mass surveillance, and nobody has plans to ask you for your consent.
*
Indian female lawyers are constantly asked if they had a bad day in the kitchen, or ordered to bring in a senior male counsel to court to add validity to their arguments. What’s it going to take to make the Indian judicial system a more welcoming place for women?
*
Photography assumes that a light skin color is natural, that all other skin colours need corrective care, and cameras built reflect this notion. An NYT deep dive explores the connection between racism and photography.
*
A Swiss perfume-obsessed duo, who create “olfactory landscapes” to create installations that combine visuals and smells from a distinct places, have turned their attention to the North Indian city of Kannauj, to create an experience around “mitti ittar” or petrichor.
*
India has a distinct blues sound, and it is championed by a northeastern woman, Tipriti “Tips” Kharbangar. With band Soulmate, she has proven to be a trailblazer for all female musicians different enough for a career in Bollywood playback singing.
