Razors, Shaving and Gender Construction: An Inquiry into the Material Culture of Shaving

Physical appearance is an important aspect of an individual's sense of personal identity, particularly in the context of the modern consumer society. The purpose of this study is to explore the ways in which the processes and material components of one particular grooming practice, namely shaving, both reflect and reinforce traditional gender distinctions in modern North American culture. Drawing on a variety of theories and methodologies, this paper attempts to identify the symbolic categories embedded in razor design, and to suggest some of the ways in which these symbolic meanings are circulated. This preliminary exploration suggests that modern shaving practices are a ritualistic process embodying traditional cultural gender prescriptions, and that manufacturers and marketers of these products almost universally incorporate specific ranges of associative imagery in their designs. Résumé L'apparence physique est un aspect important de la perception qu'a une personne de son identité, en particulier dans le contexte de la société de consommation moderne. Cette étude a pour but d'examiner les façons dont les processus et les composantes matérielles d'une forme particulière de soins de beauté, le rasage, reflètent et renforcent à la fois les distinctions traditionnelles de sexe dans la culture nord-américaine moderne. S'inspirant de diverses théories et méthodes, cet article tente de déterminer les catégories symboliques qui entrent dans la conception des rasoirs et d'avancer des façons dont ces significations symboliques sont diffusées. Cet examen préliminaire suggère que les pratiques de rasage modernes sont un rituel exprimant des prescriptions culturelles traditionnelles en fonction du sexe et que les responsables de la fabrication et de la mise en marché de ces produits incorporent presque universellement un éventail d'images associatives dans leurs concepts

Lower Miocene Stratigraphy along the Panama Canal and Its Bearing on the Central American Peninsula

Before the formation of the Central American Isthmus, there was a Central American Peninsula. Here we show that southern Central America existed as a peninsula as early as 19 Ma, based on new lithostratigraphic, biostratigraphic and strontium chemostratigraphic analyses of the formations exposed along the Gaillard Cut of the Panama Canal. Land mammals found in the Miocene Cucaracha Formation have similar body sizes to conspecific taxa in North America, indicating that there existed a terrestrial connection with North America that allowed gene flow between populations during this time. How long did this peninsula last? The answer hinges on the outcome of a stratigraphic dispute: To wit, is the terrestrial Cucaracha Formation older or younger than the marine La Boca Formation? Previous stratigraphic studies of the Panama Canal Basin have suggested that the Cucaracha Formation lies stratigraphically between the shallow-marine Culebra Formation and the shallow-to-upper-bathyal La Boca Formation, the latter containing the Emperador Limestone. If the La Boca Formation is younger than the Cucaracha Formation, as many think, then the peninsula was short-lived (1–2 m.y.), having been submerged in part by the transgression represented by the overlying La Boca Formation. On the other hand, our data support the view that the La Boca Formation is older than the Cucaracha Formation. Strontium dating shows that the La Boca Formation is older (23.07 to 20.62 Ma) than both the Culebra (19.83–19.12 Ma) and Cucaracha (Hemingfordian to Barstovian North American Land Mammal Ages; 19–14 Ma) formations. The Emperador Limestone is also older (21.24–20.99 Ma) than the Culebra and Cucaracha formations. What has been called the “La Boca Formation” (with the Emperador Limestone), is re-interpreted here as being the lower part of the Culebra Formation. Our new data sets demonstrate that the main axis of the volcanic arc in southern Central America more than likely existed as a peninsula connected to northern Central America and North America for much of the Miocene, which has profound implications for our understanding of the tectonic, climatic, oceanographic and biogeographic history related to the formation of the Isthmus of Panama