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Eric March

Pop Culture

Fascinating study shows watching TV is a risk factor for unrealistic body ideals.

Do people who have limited access to TV have different beauty ideals than those who watch more frequently?

Photo by Ajeet Mestry on Unsplash

Television has a way of tuning off... healthy images.

This article originally appeared on 02.26.16



Do we all, instinctively, find the same types of bodies attractive? Or do TV, movies, and pictures in magazines subtly influence what sorts of bodies we're attracted to?

Researchers at Newcastle University in the U.K. set out to study this question — and walked away with some really fascinating new data.

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Identity

9 women describe the frustration, shame, and heartbreak of being a fat person on a plane

"The most important thing that fellow passengers can do is just acknowledge the humanity of the people they're traveling with."

Image via YouTube video.

An animation depicts the discomfort of flying as a larger person.

This article originally appeared on 12.07.16


Before moving to London to pursue a degree in anthropology, Stacy Bias had to decide if it was worth getting on the airplane.

"As a woman over 300 pounds, flying was pretty anxious for me," Bias says. Over the years, Bias came to fear being stared at, subjected to rude comments from seatmates, or asked to purchase an extra seat. The anxiety got so bad that at one point, she stopped flying altogether.

With a little determination and encouragement from her partner, who had recently relocated to the U.K., Bias faced down the fear and got on the plane to London. Soon after, she started a Facebook group to offer discussion, support, and tips to other fat travelers who had encountered similar roadblocks. The group quickly grew to nearly 4,000 members and Bias, in conjunction with a research project for her undergraduate dissertation, presented the group with a survey, encouraging members to share their experiences in the air.

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Education

Scientists compared the bones of modern and ancient women and made a surprising discovery

Researchers studied how strong ancient women were. What they found was astonishing.

Image via Pixabay.

Demonstrating the flexing of a bicep.

This article originally appeared on 11.29.17


Think about the illustrations you've seen of men and women of the Bronze Age who lived thousands of years ago.

Perhaps there's one you recall from your elementary school text book — in which men are probably depicted hurling bronze spears and strangling lions with their bare hands, while the women are most likely pictured leading children around, sifting through grapes or weaving tiny reeds into baskets (presumably to hold the fruits of their husbands' labor).

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Most Shared

19 of the weirdest, funniest, creepiest, most surprising items found by archivists

University, corporate, and museum archivists around the world dug out the coolest, rarest, and weirdest items in their collections, photographed them, and put the results on Twitter.

Photo by yns plt on Unsplash

A man sticks out his tongue making a weird face.

This article originally appeared on 10.05.17


Ever wondered what goes on in a library's dark corners, where you aren't allowed to go?

Wonder no more, thanks to The Society of American Archivists' Ask an Archivist Day.

On Oct. 4, 2017, university, corporate, and museum archivists around the world dug out the coolest, rarest, and weirdest items in their collections, photographed them, and put the results on Twitter.

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