Aging Bodies in Paradise: A Feminist Analysis of Key West’s Fantasy Fest

Cultural constructions of gender and age may be challenged within politically and socially progressive leisure environments, like Key West, that promote social deviance and out-group acceptance. However, this possibility receives limited scholarly attention. Addressing this gap, our study applies a framework that highlights gender and age as performances and uses interviews ( n = 77) collected in 2017 and 2018 at Key West’s Fantasy Fest, an annual carnivalesque event characterized by body displays of nudity, body paint, and costume. In this first systematic study of Fantasy Fest, data analysis revealed four themes centering on gender, age, and bodies—displaying diverse bodies; judging bodies; limiting body displays; and reinterpreting body-related norms. Key West’s cultural ideology of inclusion allowed both young and old participants to perform gender and age in ways that contributed to a more liberating environment celebrating a range of bodies—though performances were constrained by inequalities. Bodies, especially women’s, were subjected to judgments of their sexual appeal that led some, especially older women, to limit their displays. Our findings, nevertheless, suggest progressive, carnivalesque leisure environments’ potential, however fleeting or bounded, to disrupt everyday performances and broaden conceptions of gendered and aging bodies by reinterpreting the norms surrounding them.

A Preliminary Study of Relationship between Chinese Elegant Ideology and Environmental Mobilization

This study investigated the relationship between “Chinese elegant ideology" and environmental mobilization to explore a new possibility of consciousness awakening for environmental protection. The author considered the life posture of scholar-emits in the Tang and Song Dynasties. It conveyed a demand for the inheritance of ideas and civilizations as well as elegant and sustainable life orientation. The study will further identify the ideological and spiritual guidance and practical demonstration of cultural ideology for environmental movements by considering the causes and influential factors of environmental mobilization in modern society. It is supposed to get a trade-off between natural integration and social integration. The given elegant life dynamics of the Tang and Song Dynasty will construct an interaction between nature and mainstream human social behavior, which dramatically reduces the segregation and contradiction between social and natural integration. This study will advocate a sustainable and contracted "new form" that appeals to human spirits by studying the selection of the scholar-emits in the Tang and Song dynasties.

Yorùbá Ethics of Interpersonal Relations in Ọbasá’s Poetry

In the context of Yorùba interrelation, every human being is involved with ́ a clearly defined tradition laced with mutual benefits. The custom of human interpersonal relationship and the challenges thereof are critical issues in modern Yorùbá society. The themes of Yorùbá ethics as related to interpersonal relation are prominent in Obasa ̣’s poetry. In this essay, we identify and ́ analyze the ethical themes in Obasa ̣’s poetry and compare the poet’s engagement with the Yorùbá philosophy with a view to establish their relevance to the contemporary Yorùbá society. Wolfgang Iser’s (1996) principle on hermeneutics that “(texts) impacts information to the reader vis-a-vis the reader’s experience” is our model for the analysis of this paper (63). The ethical issues in Obasa’s poetry are anchored ́ to three sociocultural Yoruba concepts: communalism, cultural ideology on salutation, and conflict resolution. Tis paper affirms the poet’s rational reflection on the Yorùbá cultural ideology and pragmatic approach to ethical issues. As I argue in the essay, the poet’s perspectives affirm the basis of Yorùba ethical concepts on communalism and how it portrays human beings ́ as social “animals.”

Didacticism and Philosophical Tenets in Ọbasa’s Poetry

Projection and promotion of Yoruba cultural ideology and philosophy are motifs in D.A. Ọbasa’s poetry. As an ingenious poet, Obasa adroitly blends the tropes of didacticism and philosophical tenets in his poetry. Existing works on his poetry have explored the thematic preoccupations of his poems, as well as their forms and stylistic features. However, little attention has been paid to the correlation between didacticism and philosophy in his poetry. Tis essay, therefore, identifies the basic tenets of philosophy in the form of ethical, metaphysical, and epistemological aspects of Yoruba philosophy in Obasa’a poetry with a view to establishing the way Yoruba philosophy is used to teach morals in the poems. Ọbasa’s philosophical inclination is anchored on Yoruba philosophy. Some of the philosophical tenets identified are ethical issues, like obedience, truth, hospitality and being respectful. Virtues are extolled, while vices, like jealousy, pride, disobedience and deceit are condemned. The metaphysical beliefs of the Yoruba in death, destiny, and life after death, as well as the belief in the Supreme Being (Olodumare) are also discussed. The epistemological values of Yoruba communal system and ìwà, and ọmọlúàbí concept are also entrenched in Ọbasa’s poetry. It is also revealed that satirical elements, especially humor are used to project Yoruba philosophical belief in order to imbue the reader with moral rectitude. There is a close link between Ọbasa’s poetry and the Yoruba sociocultural milieu. The essence of didacticism and philosophical tenet in his poems is to advance the social development of the Yoruba society and the larger Nigerian society.

Analyzing the Sustainability of Water-Cultural Industry and Their Influencing Factors in China

This study is an empirical analysis of China’s “sustainable development ability of water cultural industry” based on the attributes of water cultural industry (economic attribute and cultural ideology). First, using “factor analysis” and “grey relational analysis theory,” establish an indicator-system for the level of sustainable development of the cultural industry, then quantify the relationships between the water cultural industry and its influencing factors, and finally, propose some solutions for enhancing the sustainable development of the water cultural industry from the perspective of “improving resiliency.”

Upacara Ngerebong di Pura Agung Petilan Desa Adat Kesiman

Ngerebong ceremony is an oral tradition which is interpreted as a sacred ritual for the people in the Kesiman Traditional Village, Denpasar City. The Ngerebong ceremony is held every six months, to be precise every eight days after Kuningan Day. Until now, the Ngerebong ceremony which involves many parties and cultural components is still carried out by the Kesiman Traditional Village community. This is a challenge for the people of the Kesiman Traditional Village who do not shut themselves off from the influence of modernization. The purpose of this research was carried out to find out and understand the problems associated with the implementation of the Ngerebong ceremony for the people of the Kesiman Traditional Village. The research, which is located in the Kesiman traditional village, was conducted using qualitative methods and analyzed using the habitus theory. The problems studied include (1) what factors cause changes in the implementation of the Ngerebong ceremony?; (2) what is the function of the Ngerebong ceremony for the people of the Kesiman Traditional Village?; (3) what are the implications of the Ngerebong ceremony for the people of Denpasar City? The results showed that (1) the people of the Kesiman Traditional Village saw that they had to continue to carry out the Ngerebong ceremony because in their life it was motivated by religious ideology, conservation ideology, power ideology, and cultural ideology that made them obey the traditions they already had; (2) along with the times, the people of the Kesiman Traditional Village carry out the Ngerebong ceremony lively but still in accordance with the stages, traditions and customs they already have; (3) the implications of the implementation of the Ngerebong ceremony in the current global era for the people of the Kesiman Traditional Village appear to directly touch the characteristics of their life, strengthening the quality of cultural values ??and togetherness for all people in facing the challenges of cultural change in the global era.

Recontextualizing Barstool Sports and Misogyny in Online US Sports Media

This critical qualitative case study interrogates the roles Barstool Sports and its founder, Dave Portnoy, serve in reaffirming the narrative power of conservative cultural ideology in mainstream US sports media. Portnoy’s targeted harassment of female journalists is analyzed as examples of how the outlet alienates critics of heteronormative, hypermasculine discourse within relevant cultural arenas in digital sports media. To examine how the company deflects criticisms of misogyny, we explore Barstool Chicks—an alternative version of the company’s website targeting female audiences. Resultantly, Barstool and Portnoy undermine the potential for feminist-driven narratives in sports media and contribute to the normalization of repressive conditions within cultural industries that perpetuates the continued dominance of conservative ideology.

An Analysis of American Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism has received fierce controversy and discussion upon its proposal for its complexity in definition and in practice. This research discusses the definition of multiculturalism focusing on the comparison between the term “cultural pluralism” and “multiculturalism”, its influence on American society and its distinct characteristics, which is the claims of equality and identification between different cultures. It is argued that multiculturalism is not only a cultural ideology and a cultural war between the WASP-based mainstream culture and the cultures of the disadvantaged groups, but also a political and economic movement. The research also analyzes the practice of multiculturalism in the fields of political participation, education, race, media and the practice of multiculturalism that targets the disabled people and women. Moreover, the problems arise during the proposal and practice of multiculturalism are presented in the research. It is argued that the relationship between multiculturalism and homogeneous culture is not contradictory but united. A mature, sustainable and energetic national culture needs to seek common ground while recognizing and reserving the differences.

Nationality Thought in Developing Critical Education

Critical education has a very strategic role in supporting and accelerating the formation of a civilized democratic society. Its existence is able to change the world, create the culture, carve out the history, engineer the world to be more fair and humane, even to change concepts, ideas, systematics, and strength. Implementation of critical education is based on three dimensions: the pedagogic practical, normative, and cultural ideology dimensions. Critical education process is formulated as a process of cultural dimension. The main function and target of critical education is "self-awareness", or "critical awareness". The concoction of Indonesian nationalism as a reflection of critical education has been clearly being pioneered since revolution era by R.A. Kartini, Budi Utomo, and K. H. Dewantara in the form of the establishment of some schools and the freedom of indigenous children to get the education. More qualified human resources can be cultivated through a critical education.

Research on the Application of Cultural Symbol Digitization in Movie Poster Design

With the vigorous development of the film industry, film posters, as the first impression of the film on the audience, break the language barrier and become an important medium for the output of cultural ideology. From the perspective of cultural symbols, this article explores the differences between the digitalization of Eastern and Western cultural symbols in the design of Chinese and foreign movie posters, and analyzes the digital symbols in the design of movie posters from a cultural perspective, providing a new thinking for the digital design of cultural symbols in movie posters.