August 2012 - Culture

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In Mexico – Beyond Gay and Straight

Although Mexico can be quite intolerant of homosexuality, there are also places - like  the town of Juchitán - where the world is not divided simply into gay and straight. The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call “muxes” — men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders.

Photo: New York Times

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Photo: Flickr/RobinCD123

Desperate Ugandans Seek Makeshift Healers as Mysterious Illness Strikes Young

Haunted by a merciless and debilitating disease that doctors cannot cure, villagers in this remote enclave in northern Uganda have turned to traditional healers.

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Postpartum Traditions Around the World 

Special foods, prohibitions against sex, certain clothes, rest - traditions surrounding post-partum practices have existed universally since Biblical times. What's really surprising is that so many of the practices around the world are so...similar.

Photo: Flickr/David J. Laporte

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Cultural Quick Note: Denmark 

Folklore plays a big part in Denmark's culture and heritage.  Danish folklore includes lots of references to elves and other non-human characters. The elves, in traditional Danish folklore, were beautiful females living in hills and underneath boulders.  On the downside, they were capable of dancing a man to death.

Source: About.com