Claiming the Indomitable Wave: Masculinities, Sexualities, and the Realm of Surfing in Costa Rica

Examining the relationship between masculinity, sexuality, and the sport of surfing in the context of Costa Rica. Questions the nature of emergent counter identities in the hyper-masculine realm of the surfing subculture and the ways in which the emergence of counter identities changes the nature of the subculture. Focuses on the anthropology of sport, the anthropology of sexuality, and theories of territoriality

The Semantics of Repression: Understanding the Continued Brutality towards LGBTQA Individuals in the Russian Federation

This work serves to examine the linguistic style and choices used by Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin as it pertains to issues of the LGBTQA community in the country and the Anti-Propaganda Law. Using the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis, the author compares the speeches of Vladimir Putin to those of Western leaders Barack Obama and Ban Ki-moon, drawing conclusions as to why brutality towards LGBTQA individuals in Russia has been allowed to continue relatively unopposed. The author suggests that it may be Vladimir Putin\u27s careful choice in words and speaking styles that allows the issue to persist

The Price on Our Practices: Motivation and Cultural Commodification in the Mongolian Tourism Industry

Mongolia, a country as rich in culture as it is in natural resources, is beginning the process of diversifying its economy beyond the mining sector. This process is opening the door to new industries such as tourism, and more specifically, culture-based tourism. The development of such an industry often leads to a phenomenon known as cultural commodification, by which local communities and peoples alter and sell cultural practices and experiences to tourists in return for a profit. Economically, the marketing of cultural practices is beneficial to local communities within Mongolia, but this conclusion is often drawn without considering other implications of a growing tourism industry. Through the methodology of participant observation and interviews of 20 individuals in Khuvsgul, Bayan-Olgii, and Ulaanbaatar, this study attempts to understand the motivations for developing the Mongolian tourism industry and the effects of this development on local peoples who participate in the industry. The participant observation research was conducted among two community groups, the Tsaatan reindeer herders of Northern Khuvsgul and the Kazakh eagle-hunters of Bayan-Olgii. The Mongolian tourism industry is in its infancy, and therefore presents the ideal climate for research and obtaining results that could influence future decisions pertaining to tourism within the country, both at the national and local levels. The research and analysis allowed for the drawing of four sub-conclusions, which contributed to the greater understanding of the Mongolian tourism industries development and effects on local communities. These sub-conclusions include the ideas of misunderstandings of tourism development, systematic unawareness of community-based tourism initiatives and their development, the multi-motivational reasoning for the development of community-based ethnic tourism, and the effects of cultural commodification on perceptions of authenticity of cultural practices