How Tattoos Became Middle Class
In the 1990s, middle class clientele used legitimization techniques to "to frame their desires for tattoos within mainstream definitions of success."
How Barbecue Defined America
The barbecue boom in 1950s American was tied to nationalistic concepts of the "perfect family": patriarchal, suburban, and white.
Lesbianism (!) at the Convent
Mother Superior Benedetta Carlini, a visionary nun of Renaissance Italy, was accused of heresy and “female sodomy.”
Black Youths Aren’t Broken
The graduation rate gap between black and white kids is a major issue. One organization emphasizes social identity, media literacy, and youth development in redressing the problem.
Who Gets to Make Commencement Speeches (and Why)?
Why are battles over just who gets the honor of toasting new graduates—and what they say—always so heated?
When Gardens Replaced Children
Historian Robin Veder explains that the way we associate female nurturing with gardens goes back to the way ideas about gender and work changed in the mid-nineteenth century.
Children Are Natural Optimists (Which Has Its Ups and Downs)
Human beings seem to be born wearing rose-colored glasses. Psychologists are interested in how this bias toward the positive works in the very young.
Psychologists on the Radio
Americans have tuned their radios for psychological insight and edification since the dawn of the medium.
Where Sunday School Comes From
Sunday school was just one part of nineteenth century reformers’ efforts to improve children’s lives and morals in this period. But the mission of Sunday schools changed significantly over the years.
The Political Provocations of Asexuality
As more people begin to identify themselves as asexual, their presence is revealing the limits to certain kinds of feminist politics.