Word: contexts
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...tell you, much of Western culture is built around metaphors about the penis as dominator or conqueror. But odd though it is, women rarely think about, let alone talk about, vaginas. When they have, it has often been in big books by the feminist intelligentsia and mostly in the context of a power struggle--vaginas as a target of oppression (Susan Brownmiller's Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape), or vaginas as a primal, mysterious force that intimidates men (Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex). Ensler's contribution is to embrace both those traditions in the Monologues...
...found wherever they happen to find themselves. The first rule of Buddhism, which lies at the heart of Japan's ancient rites and assumptions, is the reality of suffering (which means that anything other than suffering is an unexpected luxury). The second rule is impermanence, which in this context translates into taking the long view of things. The economic forecast calls for overcast skies, I hear my neighbors saying, but that can only change at some point, and in the meantime Japan has the second-largest economy in the world and unparalleled private savings. Besides, a rainy day allows...
This year sees both artists release what are possibly their finest albums ever. With Blowback, Tricky, recovered from his hormone disease, has released the album he has apparently avoided making since Maxinquaye. His latest is an instant classic that puts his previous few albums in the context they deserve, proving that all of Tricky’s experiments and claustrophobic introspection were deliberate choices, not the leavings of an artist who has lost his way. Interestingly, he has adopted a low profile on his own album, while reaping the benefits of a bizarre and fantastic series of collaborations, from various...
...Still, even if the U.S. manages to arrest some of those who planned the attack, and to destroy some of the infrastructure that made these attacks possible, there is no shortage, right now, of volunteers for suicide missions against Israel and its ally, the United States. The political context most likely to have provided both motive and personnel for the vicious terror strike will be left unchanged no matter how hard the U.S. hits in retaliation. The chilling reality is that this is a war that's just beginning...
...Pastrana says the peace process is the reason he was elected. He has staked his political career on it, and abandoning it would be admitting defeat. But Powell's visit comes in the context not only of the U.S. looking askance at the safe zone, but also of strong hints that not everyone in the U.S. security establishment is persuaded by the current policy - the U.S. supports anti-narcotics efforts by the Colombian government, but not counterinsurgency efforts per se. And the difficulty, of course, is that the line between the two is often blurry when the guerrillas are financing...