I adore the look of turbans that are worn by Sikhs and other cultural communities for various religious and practical reasons. I also love them as a fashion item, a pinnacle of refinement. Elizabeth Taylor comes to mind, who donned them often in the 1960s-70s. Those sparkling violet eyes, a sea of gemstones glimmering on…
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We love you Michelle, but dating is more than monogamy & marriage
It feels sacrilegious to disagree with the former First Lady, but her recent comments about Tinder demand some teatime. On the September 6th episode of The Michelle Obama Podcast with guest Conan O’Brien, she said: “you can’t Tinder your way into a long-term relationship.” The dating app dis prompted hundreds of people to post their Tinder success…
Read MoreGraduation
‘Tis the season of scholastic celebration. Images of young women in generic capes holding flowers and little kids saying goodbye on their final class zoom call are flooding the socials. It’s much rarer to see pictures of young men in their cap and gowns, which is interesting. I graduated high school in 1990, when acid…
Read MoreBe a Lady They Said
“Be a lady they said” was written on December 6, 2017 when Camille Rainville, now twenty-two years old, was studying at the library on the University of Vermont campus. Rainville created her blog Writings of a Furious Woman to spotlight the now viral 785-word poem read by Cynthia Nixon during the three minute fashion film released…
Read MoreWhen the plane ends
I just returned from Kasabonika Lake First Nation, an Oji-Cree community located 53 degrees North and 88 degrees West in the province of Ontario. I spent four days there as part of a collaborative research project designed to support youth resilience and foster community engagement. This was my fourth trip to “Kas”, and each one…
Read MoreHappy Baptism, Treena
Part of my Master’s Degree in Anthropology involved taking several courses, but the most important part of the training was doing independent fieldwork. I was interested in learning about the lives of Indigenous teenagers in northern communities, and I was fortunate to live in a remote Naskapi reserve in Quebec for four months to accomplish…
Read MoreWhat’s an empath to do?
It’s been a minute or two since the last blog-MEA CULPA. Life happens and I’ve let this slide down the list of priorities. I’m still working on my Bumble-related adventures, rest assured! But here’s something a little different to whet your appetite in the meantime. The issues of trauma and violence emerge in different places…
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Once upon a time in India
One of my research projects focused on HIV prevention for female sex workers in India. For many of the readers of this post, that may seem far removed from your daily reality, as it speaks to not only cultural, but also socioeconomic difference. Further, and let’s be honest here, it would be a vast understatement…
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Treena Orchard 