Ruminations of a biological anthropologist
No doubt you’ve heard of the “Palaeo” diet – also known as the “Stone Age” or “Caveman” diet. The idea is to eat foods available to humans during the Palaeolithic era (~2.5 mya to ~10 kya). The underlying hypothesis is simple: we should eat the stuff our species evolved eating.…
We’ve all heard a dieter confess to their weekend “cheat”. There is a certain shame that comes with breaking the rules of a diet; indulging is a crime. Of course, this makes sense at a superficial level. However, drill deeper and you might just start seeing things differently. For 99%…
Recently, a fellow bio-anth friend quizzed me about my definition of love. It’s that ever-present force, both bonding together and wreaking havoc on the lives of us mere humans. Love can be the death of us, yet it’s something we can’t live without. Ironically, I shall start by stripping…
Life is an existential card game. The random shuffling of genes and circumstance determine which cards you are dealt with. Perhaps you get a lucky first hand – good looks, good health, inherited wealth. Perhaps you start out disadvantaged. Nonetheless, this does not mean you have lost the game; you…
Modern feminists consider themselves the deities of female rights, the celebrants of women. In reality, feminists seem to condemn femininity. Some reject the very things that make women, well, women. Symbols of femininity have somehow become tools in an arsenal feminists like to call the “social construct”. The woke West…
The ‘hypoxymoron’: a hypocritical oxymoron. Many years ago I created this term to describe a strange phenomenon plaguing society. Hypoxymorons are the result of a chicken-and-egg scenario. A problem is identified, but when one attempts to solve it, they end up creating the very problem they wished to solve. This…
We all have something to be proud of. Maybe you’re proud of your all-nighter essay which got a first, or your 4-day Duolingo streak. Maybe you’re proud of your little brother for winning a swimming race you helped him train for. What confuses me, however, is pride in things we…
Genetic ethnicity testing is in vogue. Just pop a swab of saliva in the mail and an affordable test will reveal the components of your ethnicity. It’s the new form of heritage reconstruction, a ‘scientific’ confirmation of the family tree. After all, who doesn’t want to know what they’re…
Throughout my studies at university, I’ve thought of ways to apply anthropological reasoning to real life. One of the biggest issues I’ve found is the definition of a relationship. At what point do people consider themselves ‘committed’? Things may seem pretty reasonable at first glance. In conventional Western society,…
I’m just a woman muddling through life in an increasingly feminist society. The fight against misogyny, for equal rights and female success, seems pretty wonderful to me. However, we girls have backhanded ourselves by relinquishing the gift of ‘chivalry’. Chivalry used to mark the gentlemen from the ingrates. It…
