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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: taboo

taboo stories: 12 news summaries

 Gaza Film 
 Exposes Deadly 
 Breast Cancer Taboos 

Animated movie is based on young Palestinian who died

Oct 8, 09 9:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - A heart-wrenching Gaza cartoon inspired by a real-life case follows the story of a young Palestinian woman in a refugee camp who dies of breast cancer because of cultural squeamishness about female bodies and difficulty obtaining health care. One doctor in the animated film Fatenah tells the woman, who's worried... More »

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breast cancer • Palestine • women • taboo • movies • animated film

 Is Incest Always Rape? 

Blog pundits debate if consent is ever an issue in father-daughter sex

Sep 24, 09 5:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - Actress Mackenzie Phillips has already raised the "Stockholm syndrome" regarding 10 years of sex with her rock icon dad, leaving many to wonder if incest can ever be consensual. The blogosphere appears unanimous that John Phillips' sex with a blacked-out Mackenzie was rape since she was unable to consent—... More »

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abortion • sex • rape • taboo • incest • Mackenzie Phillips • John Phillips • Mamas and the Papas

OPINION

 The C-Word Ain't 
 What It Used to Be 

'Superstar of four-letter words' hits Guardian's front page, losing its bite

Aug 31, 09 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rest assured, Dear Reader: As a respectable organization, Newser won’t publish what Kathleen Deveny in Newsweek calls “the rudest, crudest, most taboo term in the English language.” To be blunt, on this issue we must punt, because, on a family website, that dog just won’t hunt—... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Vagina Monologues • women • taboo • society • female sexuality

ANALYSIS

 Female Sex Crimes: 
 Society's Last Taboo 

Gender myths, unreported cases allow problem to persist unchecked

Aug 8, 09 6:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - A mother’s love is supposed to be sacred, which may explain why Britain is struggling to face up to child molestation at the hands of women, Charlotte Philby writes in the Independent. Stats are hard to come by, but one UK abuse organization says 11% of callers in 2004—... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Kingdom • women • child molestation • sexual abuse • taboo • pedophilia

(Newser) - The Black Eyed Peas' new album, The E.N.D., isn’t of much consequence, but that’s just as well. Reviewers generally appreciate the party-hardy attitude.
  • “Ever true to their defining characteristic, the Peas have no shame,” Ann Powers writes in the Los
... More »

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entertainment • hip-hop • album release • Fergie • taboo • Black Eyed Peas • music review • Will.i.am • Jay-ZTV

(Newser) - China is about to topple taboos big time with giant plastic genitalia and sexual technique workshops at a new sex theme park, reports the BBC. "Love Land" is slated to open in Chongqing in October. "Sex is a taboo subject in China but people really need to have... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • theme park • extreme sex • taboo • bisexual • anal sex • female sexuality • puritanical • inhibition • love land

Go Ahead, Marry Your Cousin

Relatively small chance of birth defects doesn't warrant the taboo, says new report

Dec 24, 08 7:34 AM CST
(Newser) - Laws against first cousins marrying are unnecessary and should be repealed, argue two scientists in a recent Public Science of Biology editorial. The risk of genetic defects in children born of cousin marriages is estimated at 2%-3% higher than in the general population, Wired reports, but no greater than that... More »

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genetics • marriage • cousins • taboo • incest • birth defect

 Girl Group Rocks Saudi Taboos 

The Accolade still underground but gaining popularity as youth push boundaries

Nov 24, 08 12:02 PM CST
(Newser) - The Accolade sounds like a typical female rock band: Its members have teased hair and facial piercings, and their clothing shocks passers-by as they tell a New York Times reporter about their new song with lyrics about a failed relationship. But the Accolade’s home base is conservative Saudi Arabia,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Saudi Arabia • Islamic Sharia law • Muslim women • taboo • rock music • religious police

Doctors Fight to Beat
Cultural Cancer Taboos

Stigma surrounding cancer suspected of causing higher mortality rates

Oct 4, 08 10:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - The fight against cancer is being hindered by the stigma the illness carries in many cultures, the Wall Street Journal reports. Chinese, Russians, Muslims, and many other groups may shun treatment and try to keep their condition secret. Experts believe the taboo plays a big role in the higher cancer... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cancer • Jews • Muslims • cancer treatment • Russians • Chinese • taboo • cancer prevention • doctors

 Fewer Blink at Prominent Ink 

Really visible tattoos—like on the neck and hands—appear on doctors, teachers

Sep 25, 08 1:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - Aggressively visible tattoos, like those on the neck and hands, are no longer the sole purview of ne’er-do-wells and pop stars, the New York Times reports. Until recently, most reputable tattoo artists wouldn’t dare cross the cuff or the collar of a subject with a straight job. But... More »

MORE ABOUT:
discrimination • body art • tattoos • appearances • taboo • personal style

Saudi Religious Cops Toss US Exec in Pokey

Her crime? Sitting with a male colleague at Starbucks

Feb 7, 08 8:25 AM CST
(Newser) - A 37-year-old American businesswoman says Saudi Arabia's religious police swooped her out of a Riyadh Starbucks and bundled her off to jail, where she was strip searched, humiliated, and bullied into signing confessions, reports the Times of London—all for sharing a table with a male colleague when the Internet... More »

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Saudi Arabia • Starbucks • women's rights • taboo • Mutaween • religious police • Islamic moral code

In Egypt,
Belly Dancing
Goes Co-Ed

Overcoming taboo, male dancers are making a comback

Jan 3, 08 1:44 PM CST
(Newser) - Belly dancing is an ancient tradition in Egypt, and two centuries ago, it was dominated by men. Now male belly dancers are making a comeback, overcoming suppression by government and religious leaders who equated gyrating male hips with homosexuality, Bloomberg reports. More »

MORE ABOUT:
Egypt • dance • homosexuality • taboo • belly dancing

12 Stories


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