Oddity Central |
- Mind-Blowing Charcoal Mural Is a Finger-Painting Masterpiece
- Bacha Posh – The Cross-Dressing Girls of Afghanistan
- Who Needs an Education When You Can Eat Hot Coal
- English Students Pay University Loans by Renting Out Their Faces
- Controversial Guidebook Advises Muslim Men to Abuse Women
| Mind-Blowing Charcoal Mural Is a Finger-Painting Masterpiece Posted: 29 Mar 2012 03:00 AM PDT
Fingers are definitely not the weirdest thing we’ve seen artists paint with (just check out this tongue painter and the girl who paints with gravity) but I had no idea someone could use their fingertips to create such detailed work. We first featured Judith Braun’s finger paintings a few months ago, but while her artworks were beautiful then, she hadn’t created anything as impressive as this latest charcoal mural. I mean, looking at the photos below, can you believe she painted exclusively with her fingertips? The 12-foot by 48-foot masterpiece was created using Braun’s signature technique, which basically involves her covering her fingertips with ground charcoal and guiding them across the canvas. Entitled Diamond Dust, this magnificent piece is Judith Braun’s largest site-specific project to date. I completely agree with Pinar, from My Modern Metropolis, who thinks Judith’s landscape mural would be very impressive even if it were painted with more traditional tools, but the fact that she managed to create such symmetrical beauty using only her fingertips makes her worthy of our highest respect. And believe it or not, it only took her a few days to complete her work. If you want to see Diamond Dust in person, you can do so at the Chrysler Museum of Art, in Norfolk, Virginia, where it will remain on display until July 1, 2012.
Mind-Blowing Charcoal Mural Is a Finger-Painting Masterpiece was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Bacha Posh – The Cross-Dressing Girls of Afghanistan Posted: 29 Mar 2012 02:57 AM PDT
Cross-dressing in most societies is something that most people aren't comfortable with. But then there are places where the practice is accepted as a way for families to raise their social standing. One such place is Afghanistan, where women live such highly restricted lives that they resort to dressing like men. The cross-dressing is mainly reserved for little girls, whose parents dress them up like boys before sending them out into the world. They are called bacha posh (“dressed like a boy”). 'Bacha posh' is the name given to girls who don a boy's costume. So a family could have daughters, sons and also bacha poshes. A bacha posh is accepted and enjoys all the freedom of a real boyin Afghan society. They have the right to go to school, to travel, to play sports and even to get a job. Inside the home and outside, the bacha posh would be treated like any other male would, even while being referred to in the third person. Among a group of boys, many would not even be aware of the presence of a bacha posh. Should the true gender of the child be discovered somehow, it would be ignored and the pretence would continue as before. Parents who have no sons prefer to convert one of their daughters into a bacha posh to raise their social standing. In a society where having a male child is of utmost importance and a matter of pride, bacha poshes fill in the son's shoes perfectly. Photo: Adam Ferguson/The New York Times If you're thinking that bacha poshes are a few of the more fortunate female children who get to experience the free world of a man, you're completely wrong. What's really disturbing about this practice is that once the girl attains puberty, she is stripped of all privileges and expected to dress and behave like a normal girl; something she's never done before. She would be expected to remain indoors, behave demurely, never meeting a man’s gaze. Soon, the girl's marriage would be arranged, as for all other Afghan girls who have reached puberty. For most former bacha poshes, the transition is a traumatic one. Going from a free bird to being trapped in a cage can hardly be something to look forward to. And to think of the internal identity crisis that such a person would go through is simply heart-wrenching. Given the kind of life that Afghan women live, bacha poshes never want to go back to being one. One bacha posh says, "People use bad words for girls. They scream at them on the streets. When I see that, I don't want to be a girl. When I'm a boy, they don't speak to me like that." Another one states, "I had to learn how to sit with women, how to talk, how to behave. When you change back, it's like you are born again, and you have to learn everything from the beginning." Photo: BBC The problem with bacha poshes is that they simply do not know how to behave like women. They don't know how to 'act' as a wife, often tripping over their burqa (veil). They don’t know how to cook either, or lower their gaze. Worse, they are used to yelling and hitting like the other men do. It must be tough having to control these impulses. The unfortunate fact is that bacha poshes exist in real life, but they aren't officially recognized by the government. There aren't any laws in place for the protection of these 'ghost' members of society. One moment they're around, the next, they vanish into thin air. Sources: NY Times, The Guardian Bacha Posh – The Cross-Dressing Girls of Afghanistan was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Who Needs an Education When You Can Eat Hot Coal Posted: 29 Mar 2012 02:33 AM PDT
People will eat the weirdest things. In the past we’ve featured strange eating habits like munching on bars of soap, gobbling handfuls of sand and eating sponges, but Ambuli Abu, from Coimbatore, India, is the only man I know of who can actually eat red-hot coal. I’ve seen people consume some of the hottest foods on Earth, but none can even hold a candle to Ambuli Abu, an Indian man who likes his food right out of the fire. The school drop-out has been making a name for himself by eating hot coal and light bulbs. It’s not the career everyone dreams of, but for Abu, this was apparently the best way to achieve his goal of setting a world record. In a video interview, the fire eater says he is aware that his mouth and stomach must be suffering as a result of his eating hot embers, and admits that it does cause him pain, but he tries to keep his heart strong in order to fulfill his dream of becoming a record setter. He adds that just the fact that he can do thins other cannot, keeps him going. Simply looking at Ambuli Abu as he bites on and chews a burning piece of hot coal, one can tell this is no ordinary man, but I have to wonder if it’s all worth it. I mean, I think it’s safe to say this guy isn’t able to taste real food anymore, after subjecting his taste buds to this kind of torture for years, not to mention all the health risks associated with his fire eating. And if injecting hot coal and burning embers wasn’t enough, I think that’s a CFL light bulb his chewing on at the end of the video, you know, the kind that contain a little bit of mercury… Now that will definitely cause some serious damage.
Who Needs an Education When You Can Eat Hot Coal was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| English Students Pay University Loans by Renting Out Their Faces Posted: 29 Mar 2012 02:30 AM PDT
Renting out body parts seems to be a trend that's catching on fast. We first heard of it when it was used by this New Zealand woman on her backside, and then there was a German man who tried to rent out his face for tattooed ads. The latest to join the bandwagon are a couple of British 22-year-olds, Ross Harper and Ed Moyse. Unlike the others however, they aren't using tattoos. Their concept, called Buy My Face, is to sell their faces to a different ad campaign every day, which are painted on using face paint. The boys are trying to raise enough money to pay off their student debts, which amount to £50,000 ($80,000). So far, they've managed to make £30,000 ($47,000). The goal of Buy My Face isn't only to get people to look at the advertisements that are printed on their faces. The advertising extends onto their website, which works by directing online traffic to the advertiser's web page. Harper and Moyse paint ads on their faces and then photograph or film themselves doing funny things. Advertisers can pay for them to do several stunts, such as skydiving or plunging into cold waters. All this is put up on the website, along with the name of the day's advertiser. When the duo started off on October 1st, their first ad went for exactly £1. But they've managed to sell their faces every single day since then, and today the rates have moved up to £400 a day. Photo: BuyMyFace.com Marketing experts are impressed with the concept created by Harper and Moyse. However, the duo knows that their success won't be long-lived. "What we're doing is a gimmicky thing," admits Harper. And they plan to wrap up their business by September, once they've made the money they need. They call this stint an entrepreneurial gap year, and hope to set up a more serious business after this. We don't know how long Buy My Face will last, but until then you can have some fun going through their website. They have some nice pictures on the Blog, and I learned that the faces are not just reserved for businesses, but individuals too. You can purchase a date for your birthday, or as a unique way to propose to your beloved. The only unavailable day is Christmas, as they plan to auction the special date for charity. Photo: BuyMyFace.com English Students Pay University Loans by Renting Out Their Faces was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Controversial Guidebook Advises Muslim Men to Abuse Women Posted: 29 Mar 2012 02:05 AM PDT
Wife beating in Islam is a widely discussed subject. In fact, it is the topic of several debates around the world, with people within the religion itself differing in their opinions. Some Muslims say it's alright for a wife to be controlled through minor beatings, and others disagree. What the religion truly proposes is not exactly clear, but looks like people aren't ready to change their minds about wife beatings anytime soon. Not with books being written that provide men with tips on how exactly to beat their wives. That's right, there actually is a book called A Gift for the Muslim Couple that encourages wife beating as a method of control. News reports suggest that it was available for sale at a Toronto bookstore, but was 'sold out' pretty soon. It isn't stocked anywhere online anymore, either. The 160-page book, written by Hazrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi, and released in Canada, is reported to carry this in its opening pages: "It might be necessary to restrain her with strength or even to threaten her." I'm supposing it won't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the rest of the book is going to be like. On page 45, which apparently lists the rights of a husband, it says a wife cannot leave the house without his permission; she must fulfill his desires and not allow herself to be untidy. She must also beautify herself for him. I don't really mean to disrespect the personal opinion of the writer, but doesn't this just sound twisted? It doesn't get any better after that. There's more advice for men on how to carry out physical punishment. The book says that a man may scold his wife, beat her by hand or stick, withhold money from her or pull her by the ears. Oh, and there's a disclaimer in place, that the husband should "refrain from beating her excessively." Sounds like it might have been put there to avoid lawsuits in the future. Hazrat also has a very bizarre way of advising Muslim men to also be kind to their wives, saying that "the husband should treat the wife with kindness and love, even if she tends to be stupid and slow sometimes." It's true that not all Muslims agree with what is being propagated by the book. Tarek Fatah, a moderate Muslim, says that the shopkeeper should be charged for selling such a book. "I wouldn't say it's hate, but it is inciting men to hit women," says Fatah. Let's try to steer clear of the religious aspect for a while, because I'm sure no religion would actually encourage violence against women. The book seems more like the work of an extremist individual. The physical abuse of women is a serious issue in today's world, across several religions and cultures. And books like these certainly do not help the case. While they may provoke abusive men into further action, I seriously doubt "A Gift for the Muslim Couple" is a book any wife would want to 'gift' her husband. Again, we are aware this is a very sensitive subject, and we just want to make it clear that this article doesn’t in any way condemn Islam as a religion, we just disapprove of violence against women and its promotion through this kind of means. What’s your opinion on the matter? via Toronto Sun Controversial Guidebook Advises Muslim Men to Abuse Women was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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