The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: Culture

  • The Destruction of Women

    Today I came across this picture on Facebook.   A friend of mine rightly commented, “And this was before Photoshop.” Women used to aspire to have wasp waists. To heck with breathing, we wanted to be desirable! These contraptions caused deformities in ribs and internal organs, weak muscles, and respiratory problems. It also increased the…

  • History Repeats Itself

    Here in America most of us think of the Great Depression as being something that impacted our country alone. Not so. The depression did originate in the United States after the stock market crashed in 1929, but it spread throughout the world, causing drops in personal income, tax revenue, and international trade. Unemployment went sky…

  • A Real Cliffhanger

    Back in 2005, I took a trip out west with my boyfriend at the time to Canyon De Chelly because I had a fascination with all things Anasazi. The canyon is now a national monument, but people have been living there for almost 5,000 years. Currently about 40 Navajo families are in residence. As with…

  • The Cigarette Girl and the Waving Man

    I spent the first 10 years of my life in Connecticut, so when we moved to a small Southern town in the 1970’s, it was quite a culture shock. The segregation was more subtle than it had been in the 50’s, of course. We all went to school together. But we certainly didn’t live in…

  • Rules? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Rules!

    As I lie here in a feverish fog brought on by a cold that surely came from the very bowels of hell, I have been thinking about chaos, or more specifically, what keeps our world from falling into chaos. Rules. Not laws, mind you. Those we cannot really control, and must abide by. No, I’m…

  • My Recipe for Peace on Earth

    Have you ever noticed that the most prejudiced, judgmental, belligerent people are often the very ones who have had little or no exposure to the groups that they are complaining about? Many years ago I decided to travel to Puerto Rico with my boyfriend at the time. Upon hearing of our plans, his mother completely…

  • I’ve Got Your Number. Right Here.

    Well, everyone, I’ve got sad news. Today is 12/12/12, and it’s the last day any of us will see a triple date like that in our lifetimes. How sad. I’m sure to some people it’s even very significant, perhaps life-threatening. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there is a doomsday cult out there somewhere…

  • Express Yourself While You Can

    The written and spoken word has always been dear to me. That’s why I got a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies. I wanted to be able to express myself in more than one language and really get into another culture. I wanted to see how communication differed in another tongue. After living…