The Perfect Tan: An Imperialist Fantasy?

The National Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 included a provision that requires salon tanners to pay a 10 percent tax each time they drop in for some faux sunbathing. The tax will generate an estimated $2.7 billion over the next ten years that will go toward the cost of extending health-care coverage […]

The Hip-Swaying Afghan Star

Contestant Setara Hussainzada from Herat City shocks viewers by removing her head scarf and swaying her hips during her final performance. The Idol-like show was already quite a shock to religious leaders who consider pop music anti-Islamic, but its success has become a symbol of emancipation and cultural revivification for women and men.