Cultural Parallels

Cultural Parallels

An amalgamation of social customs, language, religion, clothing, and foods, culture can be equally alienating and inclusive. Cultural Parallels is dedicated to introducing readers to the ties that bind global traditions, in an effort to promote multicultural understanding. History shows that social influences can transcend national borders as a result of colonization or war, but cultures often share similar customs and beliefs without the provocation of any historic intersection. Cultural Parallels discovers inherent relationships between seemingly disparate peoples. Click the article titles below to learn more.

 

1. WOODEN EFFIGIES WITH AN INNER SPARK | July 7, 2015

Matching Yoruba Ere Ibeji statues, signifying the death of both twins

Matching Yoruba Ere Ibeji statues, signifying the death of both twins. Photo credit: Pinterest.

Traditional Hopi Tribe Katsina Dolls, carved by Ernie Moore

Traditional Hopi Tribe Katsina Dolls, carved by Ernie Moore. Photo Credit: Collector’s Guide.

 

2. THE HUMAN CANVAS | July 14, 2015

Soga’imiti with pe'a tatau

Soga’imiti with pe’a tatau. Photo credit: Todd Hunter McGaw.

Mehndi applied to the hands. Photo credit: Unknown.

Mehndi applied to the hands. Photo credit: Google.

 

3. Tea for Two (Countries) | July 28, 2015

A demonstration of the Japanese tea ceremony. Photo credit: ourcamden.org.

A demonstration of the Japanese tea ceremony. Photo credit: Our Camden.

A selection of sandwiches and desserts for Afternoon Tea. Photo credit: hellengrasso.com

A selection of sandwiches and desserts for Afternoon Tea. Photo credit: Hellen Grasso.

Matcha and Chasen. Photo credit: farmersalmanac.com.

Matcha and Chasen. Photo credit: Farmers’ Almanac.

Palm Court at the Ritz London. Photo credit: theritzlondon.com

Palm Court at the Ritz London. Photo credit: The Ritz London.

 

4. What’s in a Name? | August 4, 2015

Leif Erikson, the historic Norse explorer. Photo credit: DK Find Out

Leif Erikson, the historic Norse explorer. Photo credit: DK Find Out.

Pablo Ruiz Picasso is known by his maternal name since it is less common. Photo credit: Kübra Geyik

Pablo Ruiz Picasso is known by his maternal name since it is less common. Photo credit: Kübra Geyik.

 

5. YOU WOULD CRY TOO | August 11, 2015

Li xi, or lucky money, is given in red envelopes. Photo credit: Intead

Li xi, or lucky money, is given in red envelopes. Photo credit: Intead.

Little thimble cakes. Photo Credit: Pinterest

Little thimble cakes. Photo credit: Pinterest.

North Korean war veterans, tearing up. Photo credit: Daily Mail

North Korean war veterans, tearing up. Photo credit: Daily Mail.

Drinks are on me! Photo credit: Daily Mail

Drinks are on me! Photo credit: Daily Mail.

 

6. LIVING WITH THE DEAD | August 18, 2015

Two young Manila North Cemetery residents riding a bike beside stacked tombs. Photo credit: AP

Two young Manila North Cemetery residents riding a bike beside stacked tombs. Photo credit: AP.

Bonhyang beads, made of cremated remains. Photo credit: NY Daily News

Bonhyang beads, made of cremated remains. Photo credit: NY Daily News.

 

7. MILITARY WOMEN AND MUSIC | September 9, 2015

33rd Caracal Battalion

Soldiers of the 33rd Caracal Battalion. 70% of the soldiers in this infantry combat battalion are women. Photo credit: Pinterest.

Female Israeli soldier with rifle

Female IDF soldiers carry their weapons everywhere off-base, as they can be imprisoned for losing them. Ein Fashka, the Dead Sea, Israel, 1989. Photo credit: Unknown.

A Miss Russian Army 2007 beauty pageant contestant

A Miss Russian Army 2007 beauty pageant contestant. Photo credit: Toovia.

 

8. UNDER THE KNIFE: APPEARANCE AND WEALTH | September 15, 2015

Miss Bum Bum 2015 contest

Contestants in Brazil’s 2015 Miss Bum Bum competition. Photo credit: Splash News.

Cosmetic surgery, South Korea

An ad for cosmetic surgery in South Korea. Photo credit: Business Insider.

Woman going under the knife

Brazil has 5,500 certified cosmetic surgeons, as well as an additional 12,000 doctors performing procedures without requisite training. Photo credit: Voice of Mia.

 

9. LANDFILLS AND AIR POLLUTION  | September 22, 2015

Swedish landfill

Less than 1 percent of Swedish household waste ends up in landfills. Photo credit: Sweden.se.

Guiyu landfill

A young girl holding e-waste in the Guiyu, China landfill. Photo credit: Greenpeace.

Smog Free Tower

The Smog Free Tower, conceived by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde and scientist Bob Ursem. Photo credit: Studio Roosegaarde.

 

10. WEARING ETHNICITY | October 6, 2015

Cultural mashup: Indonesian batik shirt meets Scottish tartan pants. Photo credit: Tumblr

Fashion mashup: batik and gingham. Though gingham is a type of plaid, it isn’t a Scottish pattern—it may have come from the Malay word genggang. Photo credit: Tumblr.

The canting tool used to lay wax on cloth during batik printmaking. Photo credit: Adwindo

The canting tool used to lay wax on cloth during batik printmaking. Photo credit: Adwindo.

Traditional Highland tartan kilt and plaid costume on the Starz series Outlander. Photo credit: Starz

Traditional Highland tartan kilt and plaid costume on the Starz series Outlander. Photo credit: Starz.

 

11. HEAD WHERE THE HATS ARE | May 26, 2019

hatart1

The Zulu isicholo (left) and Haredi shtreimel (right) both signify marital status. © Cassiopeia Neely

hatart2

The Korean heungnip gat (left) and Dutch oorijzers (right) denote social status while offering practical functions. © Cassiopeia Neely 

Advertisement

One thought on “Cultural Parallels

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s