Word: americanizing
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...which terms like journey and enlightenment are used to describe acts of self-mutilation that would make even Quentin Tarantino cringe, a subculture combining tribal spirituality with kinky sex and a dash of circus sideshow. It may seem weird, but it has a long tradition: in November the American Museum of Natural History in New York City will present "Body Art: Marks of Identity," an exhibition surveying 4,000 years of skin decoration...
Branding is, well, a hot trend largely due to Fakir Musafar, 69, a former ad executive who calls himself a shaman and devotes his life to bod-mod, along with other more fantastic practices like O-Kee-Pa, a mystical Native American body-suspension ceremony. Musafar started a California state-licensed branding school in 1992 and has spread his philosophy through a website and a quarterly magazine called Body Play. He claims that branding is now administered by some 50 people in the Western world and could hit the mainstream in the way piercing did a few years...
...need memorable symbols when they pass from one stage of life to another," he says. "Some get a brand at the end of a divorce, others on their birthday." Many of his clients are punk rockers and S&M aficionados. About half, he says, are fraternity members, including African-American frats that have used branding for years, sometimes choosing slave designs to connect with their ancestors. While branding marks are not as detailed as tattoos (and can hurt more--though no worse than a bad sunburn, say enthusiasts), for some they have more ritualistic power...
...nation can abolish monarchy, as America did with zest in 1776. But it cannot so easily abolish the dynastic impulse. The American fascination with royalty shows itself most flagrantly in our obsession with the Kennedys, but familial succession permeates American political life. Look no further than the glamour races for election year 2000. The top two Republican candidates are the son of a former President and the wife of the party's last presidential candidate (joined at the top by the son of a famous plutocrat...
...means, however, is the dynastic impulse a purely American phenomenon. In Indonesia, Megawati Sukarnoputri led her party to victory in the recent elections. She came out of nowhere. She has no political experience. And her political views are almost unknown. No matter--she is the daughter of Sukarno, founder of the Indonesian state...