Anthropological Niche

Bring up the term "meme" near an anthropologist and you may see that they instantly develop a facial twitch as they try to remain calm and explain how meme theory is not supported by ethnographic data.  In a review of Thomas Eriksen's new book, Engaging Anthropology: The Case for a Public Presence, the bloggers at Neuroanthropology discuss meme theory and anthropology:

I’ve just finished his section on Memetics and the Anthropologists. He systematically dismantles meme theory from an anthropological point of view, just like Greg did in his post, We Hate Memes, Pass It On. (Greg’s version is snarkier…) Eriksen also ties in the popular success of meme theory to a consideration of how anthropology can gain public relevance. This description resonates with much that we do here on this site.

An article at Neuroanthropology explores whether walking barefoot may be better than wearing shoes:

The padding in running shoes changes the way that we run, even though we may be completely unconscious that our gait has compensated for the change in the biomechanical properties of the feet produced by footgear (see Divert et al. 2005; but c.f. De Wit et al. 2000).

Over at Neuroanthropology, there is an excellent post on how anthropogists make a difference:

1. Critique.
2. Develop basic knowledge of problems.
3. Investigation.
4. Advocacy.
5. Involve the community in your research.
6. Have concrete community or applied outcomes.
7. Focus on developing or changing policy.
8. Get the word out.
9. Help develop organizations.
10. Create interventions or programs.

I'm currently in North Carolina at the Duke University Marine Laboratory taking a short course in Behavioral Observation.  We were shown an amazing resource for data from the American Time Use Survey.  From the website:

The American Time Use Survey (ATUS) measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work, childcare, volunteering, and socializing.

In a New York Times Magazine article, a Swedish couple keep child's gender a secret to free it from society's "artificial construct of gender".  It reads:

During last week’s discussion of whether couples choose to learn the sex of their baby before he or she is born, a number of you said you wanted to keep the secret as long as possible, because the moment people hear “boy” or “girl” they begin to make assumptions about a child.

One couple in Sweden decided to take that logic a few steps further, and are refusing to tell anyone whether their toddler is a boy or a girl.

The child — called Pop in Swedish papers to protect his or her identity — is now two-and-a-half-years-old, and only a handful of close relatives (those who have changed the child’s diaper) know the sex. Pop’s parents, who are both 24, say they made this decision in the hope of freeing their child from the artificial construct of gender.

“We want Pop to grow up more freely and avoid being forced into a specific gender mould from the outset,” Pop’s mother told the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet last spring. “It’s cruel to bring a child into the world with a blue or pink stamp on their forehead.”