Culture Shift is a weekly newsletter curated by the HuffPost Culture writers and editors.
No images? Click here.
This week we’re talking about Korea's real-life mermaids, the origins of the word "pussy," a surprisingly relevant short story from 1948, how the internet changed your sex life, all the new web series you should watch, Elena Ferrante's new book, and the designers tackling poverty in America.
Bonus: We're the media sponsors for Nitehawk Cinema's upcoming Shorts Festival. Check out our preview of the short films screening below.
Meet The Last Generation Of Haenyo, Korea’s Real Life Mermaids
“These women divers are carrying on a Korean legacy and will be the last of their kind.” (Read more here.)
Tired of Netflix? Here Are 10 Short Films To Watch This Fall Instead
For New Yorkers, the 4th Annual Nitehawk Shorts Festival is coming up soon, from Nov. 9-13 in Brooklyn, and its slate is impressive. Selections include music videos and music-centered shorts, bewitching thrillers and quieter stories from across the globe. We’ve selected a few highlights here, including a story of delinquent teenhood in South Africa and a darkly twee short starring Oscar Isaac. (Read more here.)
Where The Hell Does The Word ‘P***y’ Come From, Anyway?
Pussy is primarily used to talk about sex ― whether it’s the sexual organ or the woman attached to it, or some conflated and generalized combination of the two. Perhaps worse, the word can be used as a slur against effeminate or cowardly men. Think: “George is scared. What a pussy!” Somehow, the term morphed from cat to genitals to sexist insult ― but how? And why?
Quora and Reddit and Agatha Christie-related forums are abuzz with these questions, where people are clamoring to know whether “pussy” is derived from “pussillanimous” (an adjective meaning “showing a lack of courage or determination; timid”)... or if that interpretation is hot garbage. (Spoiler: it likely is.)
It turns out experts are pretty perplexed with “pussy,” too. (Read more here.)
‘The Lottery’ Was Published 70 Years Ago, But It’s Never Been More Necessary
Shirley Jackson’s classic dystopian short story “The Lottery” ― often assigned in English classes, invoked when current events take a dark turn, and omnipresent in paeans to great short fiction ― holds a special place in the hearts of many readers. None more so, as it happens, than Miles Hyman, an illustrator and graphic novelist who also happens to be Jackson’s grandson.
In a brand-new graphic adaptation of “The Lottery,” Hyman translates his grandmother’s famously spare, unyielding prose into an implacably ominous visual journey through one day in a small town with a dark secret. (Read more here.)
Did The Internet Improve Our Sex Lives, Or Make Them Worse?
Emily Witt’s Future Sex explores the ways technology can free us – and limit us – sexually. (Read more here.)
9 Design Projects Tackling America’s Poverty Crisis, One Community At A Time
From Alabama to Arizona, Brooklyn to Washington state, designers are finding ways to help people in need. (Read more here.)
21 Addictive Web Series That Prove Anyone Can Make A Great TV Show
You know, anyone who’s bursting with talent and initiative. (Read more here.)
Elena Ferrante, Francesca Woodman, And Women Who Yearn To Disappear In Plain Sight
On the cover of Elena Ferrante’s highly anticipated upcoming book Frantumaglia, which translates to “self-portrait,” a young woman crouches beneath the window of a dilapidated house, her body cloaked in shards of wallpaper, peeled off into fragments, as flimsy as crepe paper. It’s rare to encounter a wall, often understood as a rigid barrier more than a physical thing, in such a fragile state ― so easily broken, worn like a cloth.
The image is the work of Francesca Woodman, an iconic photographer who took her own life at 22 years old, when she jumped out of a window. It’s Woodman pictured in the photo, her figure blurred like a signature that’s not-so accidentally been smudged. The piece is a self-portrait, though Woodman’s image is purposefully and exquisitely obscured, her boundaries dissolved as if her body were spun of cotton candy instead of flesh.
Woodman’s image is a perfect foil to Ferrante’s words, as both women thoughtfully navigate the space between absence and presence, fame and anonymity. (Read more here.)
BONUS: Book of the week!
In a short story debut, Vanessa Hua draws the reader in with her power of perception. (Read more here.)
Netflix recommendation of the week!
Need help figuring out what to watch on Netflix? Here's what our editors have to say about "Amanda Knox": The doc centers around the now-29-year-old once accused (and later jailed and acquitted) of the murder of her roommate in Italy. The captivating case confused and divided the world into two parts ― those who thought Knox was innocent and those who thought Knox was guilty.
Follow HuffPost Arts & Culture on Facebook and Twitter
©2016 The Huffington Post | 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates from the Huffington Post
Feedback | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe
