Mari Katayama's Punk Prosthetics

Mari Katayama was born with tibial hemimelia, a condition in which children are born with a tibia, i.e. shinbone, shorter than usual or missing. The condition is extremely rare (1 out of every 1 million births) (via). In Katayama's case, tibial heminelia caused club feet and a cleft left hand resembling a crab's pincers, which is also the very reason why crab motifs are often part of her work (via).

“You can’t separate my body from my work. But I’m not making art out of my disabilities.”
Mari Katayama

“I think everyone is lucky whether they realize it or not. No matter what kind of body we are born with, the fact that we are living in this world is lucky. We are here, we can feel, we can cook, we can eat, we can think; I think that’s a great thing.”
Mari Katayama

“All human bodies – including ones like mine that have been altered by human hands – are perfect.”
Mari Katayama

At the time I decided to get my legs amputated, it didn’t seem like such a big decision. I just wanted to wear the same shoes as everyone else. When my legs were amputated, I think I understood that actually I would never be able to be like everyone else.
Mari Katayama

As a child, Katayama used to wear special shoes that were buckled to her legs with braces. Hence, it was not possible to wear regular clothes. Three generations - her great grandmother, her grandmother and her mother - were constantly sewing clothes for her and encouraged her to create her own ones. "Sewing became second nature." There was the choice between a) being bound to the wheelchair for the rest of her life but keeping her legs and b) being able to walk but losing her legs. At the age of nine, Katayama decided to have both lower legs amputated: "I chose to walk." (via)

[Prosthetics has] been the hardest part of my life. Some people say that wearing a prosthesis is part of the body, but for me, it feels like wearing a very heavy boot. I hate prostheses, but I can’t live without them, And I can’t function in society without them either. I’ve recently come to realize that I need to build my own body in order to utilize this electronic prosthesis. I’ve begun to enjoy it, as the more I work at it, the nicer my gait becomes.
Mari Katayama

The amputation also meant that she could wear regular clothes which again sparked her interest in fashion, "hoping she could fit in by dressing like other kids. But the bullying continued." A teacher of hers suggested that perhaps she was bullied because she had provoked others by looking at them arrogantly (via).

At 16, she modelled for the graduation show of a fashion student and tattooed her prosthetic legs. Katayama thought this statement would be a welcome one and that she would make friends with others.  However...

“It made the situation worse,” she says. “Nobody wanted to have anything to do with me.” She had, however, hit upon a way of expressing herself. “It made me realise that words and gestures weren’t the only way to communicate.” Inspired by punk, she dyed her hair green and shaved off her eyebrows. “It was my way of saying, ‘Leave me alone.’” (via)

When asked what the most memorable thing she did to rebel, Katayama replies:

Having a daughter. Everyone was against it. Not that I had a child to rebel, of course. But in my life so far, even compared to becoming an artist, giving birth was the thing that most people were against.
Mari Katayama

photographs via and via and via and via and via

Detroit's Segregation Wall

In 1941, a white real estate developer built the so-called Eight Mile Wall (almost 13 km) in Detroit to secure financing for their white customers by segregating Black and white neighbourhoods. The east side was the Black side, the west side the white side.



This act of segregation had an impact on generations of people living in Detroit.

The side of the wall these residents called home would later affect the sale price of their houses, the value of their next homes, and, eventually, the wealth they might inherit from their parents. Their experience in elementary school would determine the classes they took in high school, their decisions about college or the military, and the ease with which they achieved their goals. And throughout their lives, the friendships they made would frame their interactions with classmates and colleagues, with doctors and law enforcement, in social settings and in job interviews. (via)

In the 1930s, this area had been a remote one (the city had not yet extended sewer lines there) attracting Black families who wanted to get away from other neighbourhoods and build their own small houses there. Then, in the early 1940s, a white developer discovered the area and wanted to create a neighbourhood for white people. What he needed was the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) to agree, however, the administration did not. It refused to back mortgages since the area was too close to the Black neighbourhood increasing "the homeowners' risk of default". The developer found a solution, i.e., building a wall that separates the two neighbourhoods and by doing so sending a very clear message. And, in fact, after the wall was built, the FHA agreed to back mortgages in the white zone which again led to an influx of white people in this area. Decades ago, nearly all white residents left for the suburbs (via and via).

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photograph via

US-Americans and the Death of Home Cooking

According to the Economic Research Service's Adult Eating & Health Module (EHM) study carried out over two three-year periods (2006-2008 and 2014-2016), US-Americans spend less time eating and drinking as a primary activity (decrease by 5%) than they did ten years ago. The amount of time spent eating as a secondary activity, i.e., eating while engaged in another activity, has not changed much. Education - directly or indirectly - has an impact on the amount of time dedicated to eating. Those with more than a bachelor's degree spent 18% more time eating and drinking as a primary activity than those with less education. The data collected also showed an increase in prepared food purchases (via).

After the pandemic, spending at restaurants and food-service providers (excluding grocery stores) returned to what was perceived as normal before. The percentage of US-Americans spending money on eating out vs cooking and eating at home swelled to 53.2. (via)

Based on time-use surveys carried out in France and the US, Maria Pleszz and Fabrice Etilé come to the conclusion that both people in the US and in France spent about 15 to 20 minutes less time cooking and eating at home in 2010 than they did in 1985, however, for different reasons. In France, the decrease was mainly due to a drop in eating time while the time spent cooking had remained relatively stable. According to the authors, the time drop in France was mainly caused by an increase in smaller households. In the US, the drop was explained with people spending less time making meals (via).

For some Americans, going out to dinner is a treat, planned and budgeted for. For others, it’s just another Tuesday night. And Wednesday. And Thursday. 
And that second group of people is becoming the majority. The number of Americans who enjoy cooking is declining, while the prevalence of food delivery startups, and culinary-centric television shows grows. (via)

The importance or non-impartance of food is surely culture-bound. Compared to other nationas, US-Americans only spend a small portion of their household income on food (via) and, again in comparison, spend little time on cooking (via). The early introduction of fast food as an acceptable alternative to real meals, their consumption portrayed in movies, and TV characters throwing away food easily might be further contributors to the message that food is nothing to think about much.

Eddie Yoon gathered data over two decades. In his first survey, he found three groups of US-Americans: 15% saying the love cooking, 50% saying they hate it and 35% being ambivalent about it. 15 years later the percentages had shifted, not necessarily for the better: 10% loved cooking, 45% hated it, 45% were indifferent or liked to sometimes cook, In other words, 90% are not really fond of cooking (via). Grocery shopping and cooking are shifting to a niche activity (via).

(...) our fondness for Food TV has inspired us to watch more Food TV, and to want to eat more, but hasn’t increased our desire to cook. (via)

Monsiavais et al. (2014) carried out a study on time use. The authors stratified the sample into those who a) spent less than an hour a day on food preparation and cleanup, b) one to two hours a day, and c) more than two hours a day. Those who spent the least amount of time on food preparation were working adults with a strong focus on convenience. Time spent on food preparation positively correlated with diet quality (more vegetables, salads, fruits, and fruit juices). Spending less than an hour a day on food preparation meant spending more money on food outside home and using fast food "restaurants" more often: "The per-person expenditure in the lowest time-use group was >$22/week whereas that in the highest group was approximately $15/week". 

Surveys show that the time US-Americans spend on cooking has decreased substantially since the 1960s, i.e., to an average of 33 minutes per day for food preparation and cleanup. Lack of time is mentioned as one reason but surely only explains part of the situation (Monsiavais et al., 2014).

A survey from 2019 found that 41.43% of US-Americans preferred to spend less than 30 minutes cooking a weeknight meal, 50.17% found it acceptable to spend between 30 and 60 minutes, 8.4% were happy to spend more than an hour on it (via).

- Monsivais, P., Aggarwal, A. & Drewnowski, A. (2014). Time Spent on Home Food Preparation and Indicators of Healthy Eating. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 47(6), 796-802.
- photographs of Marilyn Monroe eating hot dogs with Arthur Miller in New York, 1957, taken by Sam Shaw via 

Scale of Anti-Feminist Opinion in Europe. From Sweden to Italy. Not the Anticipated Results.

Italy, rather associated with macho politics than with feminist values, might be a country with changing attitudes. According to a survey carried out in eight European countries in 2020 and released in 2021, Italians are the least likely to blame feminism for men feeling marginalised and demonised. In Sweden, a country that is often seen as "a bastion of progressive gender-equality politics", 41%, i.e., more people than anywhere else, agree with the following statetement: "It is feminism's fault that some men feel at the margins of society and demonised." 

The trend in Sweden might be explained as a backlash to successful feminist movements of the past. In other words, victories of Swedish feminist could have activated opposite atttitudes. Anti-feminist views are more or less also expressed in other countries: 30% in Poland, 28% in the UK, 26% in France, 22% in Hungary, 19% in Germany, 15% in the Netherlands, and, finally, only 13% in Italy (via).

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photograph by Erich Lessing (Cesenatico, 1960), Magnum Photos via

Anti-Defamation League Global 100: An Index of Antisemitism

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is an anti-hate organisation that was founded in 1913 as a reaction to antisemitism. Today, its "ultimate goal is a world in which no group or individual suffers from bias, discrimination or hate". In 1964, ADL started a series of public opinion surveys in the U.S. to monitor levels of antisemitism and measure the general acceptance of negative Jewish stereotypes. For this purpose, an index comprising eleven statements (see below) was developed. In 2013 and 2014, interviews were conducted in 101 countries to research attitudes and opinions toward Jews using the eleven statements mentioned before, a study - based on 53.100 total interviews - that is known as "ADL Global 100: An Index of Antisemitism". Respondents who agree with at least six out of eleven statements are considered to harbour antisemitic attitudes (via).

Some highly interesting results (via):

Generally speaking, Muslims are more likely to hold antisemitic views than members of other religions. However, geography has an impact since Muslims in the so-called "Middle East" and North Africa (75% Index Score) show a much higher tendency to harbour antisemitic attitudes than Muslims in Asia (37% Index Score), in Western Europe (29% Index Score), in Eastern Europe (20% Index Score), and Sub-Saharan Africa (18% Index Score). In addition, Muslims living in predominantly Muslim countries who get their information about Jews from the internet (score 73%) are more likely to have antisemitic attitudes than those getting their information from other sources.

Interestingly ... the so-called "Middle Eastern" country with the lowest antisemitism Index Score (56%) is Iran. For comparison: Iraq's score is 92%,  Kuweit's score is 82%, Jordan's score is 81%. For more countries see this map.

Outside the "Middle East" and North Africa, the three countries with the highest scores are Greece (69%), Malaysia (61%), and Armenia (58%); the three countries with the lowest scores are Laos (0.2%), the Philippines (3%), and Sweden (4%).

People in countries with larger Jewish populations are less likely to hold antisemitic views (score 22%) than people living in countries with smaller Jewish populations (score 28%).

Male respondents (score 29%) show a higher tendency to harbour antisemitic views than female respondents (score 24%).

Less than half of the people surveyed under the age of 35 have ever heard of the Holocaust.

Two out of three people have either never heard of the Holocaust or do not want to believe the historical accounts to be accurate.

More than a quarter (26%) harbour antisemitic attitudes - an estimated 1.09 billion adults around the world. At the same time ... 

... 74% of these respondents have never met a Jewish person.

18% believe that the worldwide Jewish population exceed 700 million people while the number is around 13,700,000. Those overestimating the number are more likely to express antisemitic views (score 38%).

The eleven statements (via):

1 Jews are more loyal to Israel than to [this country/the countries they live in] 

2 Jews have too much power in international financial markets 

3 Jews have too much control over global affairs 

4 Jews think they are better than other people 

5 Jews have too much control over the global media 

6 Jews are responsible for most of the world's wars 

7 Jews have too much power in the business world 

8 Jews don't care what happens to anyone but their own kind 

9 People hate Jews because of the way Jews behave 

10 Jews have too much control over the United States government 

11 Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust

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photograph (by Abbas/Magnum Photos, "Iran Diary: 1971-2002", Teheran 1977, "Jaleh (left) who runs one of the most fashionable beauty saloons of the capital, welcomes a client with a kiss under the gaze of Askar, employe for menial jobs") via 

Burkina Faso's School for Husbands

A few years ago, the project "School for Husbands" was launched in Burkina Faso. This concept is not new, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been supporting such schools since 2008, starting in Niger (via). The schools in Burkina Faso are financed by the International Development Association through the Sahel Women's Empowerment and Demographic Dividend (SWEDD) and implemented with support from the UNFPA. Husbands (and future husbands) meet once a week to discuss family life, a facilitator guides the meetings in which topics such as women's rights, maternal and reproductive health, family planning and hygiene are addressed. The project aims to change attitude and behaviour among men by allowing them to share their experiences, asking questions and learning from each other. All this is taking place in a region that is characterised by a very unequal distribution of household responsibilities among women and men and where, in 2018 alone, there were 747 cases of neonatal death and 95 women died during childbirth (via).

“The school for husbands creates an environment in which men can feel confident sharing with and learning from each other, Here, they can speak without fear of what people will say about subjects traditionally left to women, such as family planning, prenatal consultations, the need to give birth in a health center, and postnatal consultations. Convincing husbands that they have a role to play in these issues helps promote harmony among couples and families. Before the school for husbands was launched in the village, there was a lot of tension among members of my family. And when I drank too much millet beer, I argued with my wives. But that is now all in the past!”
Ouanibaouiè Bondé

“Now, my husband often brings me seasonings from the market for cooking. When I want to do the laundry, his eldest son goes with him to collect water from the creek. When I am pregnant, he goes to the health center with me for the weighings. On the day I gave birth, he was the one who drove me to the hospital and wanted to stay at my side during the birth. I was so happy on that day that I forgot about the pain from the contractions!”
Martine Gnoumou

As of 2019, more than 1,640 schools for husbands have been established in the countries where SWEDD is being implemented (via).

photographs by Sory Sanlé via and via and via and via and via and via and via

Sory Sanlé and the "People of the Night"

"Photography is a witness to everything, a kind of proof of life. When I started out, my nation was a French colony. A few months after, in 1958, we became an independent colony. Two years later, we were fully independent. Haute-Volta, as the country was known before 1983, flourished after independence, and the region experienced its own nouvelle vague."
Sory Sanlé

"There were only a few photographers working in Haute-Volta at the time. Most were in Ouagadougou, the capital. I was one of the first in Bobo, and the first to use the name Volta. People were excited about the possibilities independence offered and played with new identities in the studio."
Sory Sanlé

Sory Sanlé is a Burkinabe photographer, born in 1943, who developed "a reputation as photographer of the Burkinabe club scene in the 1960s and 70s" (via). Burkina Faso's club scene was vibrant in the years after the independence from France, bands played to "stylish crowds riding a wave of liberation". And Sanlé captured it all. (via)

“It was a pleasure to show the joy of those people. People loved each other and there was so much fun. … They might have been poor but they had a ball and enjoyed those moments.”
Sory Sanlé

“It did not matter what anyone’s position was,” says Sory. “People would always mingle, interact and take care of each other — not like today.”
Sory Sanlé

photographs via and via and via 

Ageing Narratives Over 210 Years (1810-2019). Depressive Results. An Abstract.

Objectives: The World Health Organization launched a recent global campaign to combat ageism, citing its ubiquity and insidious threat to health. The historical context that promoted this pernicious threat is understudied, and such studies lay the critical foundation for designing societal-level campaigns to combat it. We analyzed the trend and content of aging narratives over 210 years across multiple genres-newspaper, magazines, fiction, nonfiction books-and modeled the predictors of the observed trend. 

Method: A 600-million-word dataset was created from the Corpus of Historical American English and the Corpus of Contemporary American English to form the largest structured historical corpus with over 150,000 texts from multiple genres. Computational linguistics and statistical techniques were applied to study the trend, content, and predictors of aging narratives. 

Results: Aging narratives have become more negative, in a linear fashion (p = .003), over 210 years. There are distinct shifts: From uplifting narratives of heroism and kinship in the 1800s to darker tones of illness, death, and burden in the 1900s across newspapers, magazines, and nonfiction books. Fiction defied this trend by portraying older adults positively through romantic courtship and war heroism. Significant predictors of ageism over 210 years are the medicalization of aging, loss of status, warmth, competence, and social ostracism. 

Discussion: Though it is unrealistic to reverse the course of ageism, its declining trajectory can be ameliorated. Our unprecedented study lay the groundwork for a societal-level campaign to tackle ageism. The need to act is more pressing given the Covid-19 pandemic where older adults are constantly portrayed as vulnerable. (Ng & Chow, 2021)

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- Ng, R. & Chow, T. Y. J. (2021). Aging Narratives Over 210 Years (1810-2019). The Journal of Gerontology, Series B: Pschological Scienes and Social Sciences, 76(9), 1799-1807.
- photograph by Sepp Werkmeister via

Fuel Poverty and the Heat or Eat Diaries

Fuel poverty means being on a low income and at the same time facing high costs of keeping warm and ensuring basic energy services. It is driven by household income, the increasing cost of energy and the energy efficiency of a home. In 2020, one in five UK households with dependent children experienced fuel poverty. 

Households more likely to be affected by fuel poverty are, for instance, those that are home to people with disabilities or ethnic minority households.

Living with a disability increases the risk of experiencing fuel poverty. It leads to a reduced income: 27 per cent of households that include someone who is disabled are on a low income when measured before housing costs, compared with 15 per cent of households with no disability; and their cost of living is higher. Disabled people face higher energy bills due to having additional needs (such as medical equipment that requires a power source) and spending longer periods at home (41) (42) (2).

Minority ethnic households are more likely to be in fuel poverty than White households (Figure 8). This is partly explained by the income inequality experienced by Minority ethnic households. Official rates of fuel poverty show a decrease in the fuel poverty gap between White and non-White households since 2017, but fuel poverty rates are still higher for Minority ethnic households (43) (44).

Fuel poverty also means health inequality and has a negative impact on health. It can either cause or worsen poor mental health, dementia, respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, hypothermia, and problems with child development. According to estimations, the NHS spends a minimum of 2.5 billion pounds per year on treating illnesses that result from cold and damp homes.

Cold homes and fuel poverty contribute to the phenomenon of excess winter deaths. England saw an estimated 63,000 excess winter deaths in 2020–21. Estimates suggest that some 10 per cent of excess winter deaths are directly attributable to fuel poverty and 21.5 per cent are attributable to cold homes. (Lee et al., 2022)

Older adults, children and people with chronic illness or disabilities are more likely to experience the consequences in terms of health. Since body temperature lowers with old age, physiological thermoragulation becomes less effective. Cold temperature can cause rising blood pressure in older people and increase the risk of strokes. According to a study, the Fuel Poverty Index is a predictor for hospital admittance since there is a relationship between energy efficiency of the home and winter respiratory symptoms among older people.

Studies indicate that cold conditions can exacerbate existing medical conditions including diabetes, certain types of ulcers and musculoskeletal and rheumatological conditions (55). Decreasing body temperature is associated with a build-up of markers for dementia and Alzheimer’s in the brain. A study of over 3 million patients in the United States found fewer dementia-related hospital admissions when temperatures were warmer than average, and that variability in temperatures increased admissions (62). People living in fuel poverty with a diagnosis of dementia may be even more at risk from cold homes due to difficulties in communication and difficulties in being able to self-manage their indoor temperature (such as managing a heating system or being able to dress for the cold), and may become more confused (63). 

Excerpts from "Heat or Eat Diaries" of people living in the United Kingdom (The Guardian):

- 1  Marin, in her 60s

(...) I have battled a fair deal in my 60-something years, but these are some of the hardest times, demanding all of my fortitude. Because this isn’t living, it is enduring. I always got by, but now, due to low pay, soaring prices and my age, I teeter closer and closer to poverty. I worry about being able to keep earning enough to pay my bills. I worry how I’ll get through the next five years to state pension age. I worry, and then what? I worry. 

“Heat your room to 18C,” says the health advice. But what if you don’t have the money? There have been moments over the past few days when I have been so cold I can’t get warm, fingers fridge-chilly and stiff, body weary. I read about what the cold does to your body, increasing the risk of stroke and heart attack. The government knows this. Illness brought on from people being unable to keep themselves or their families warm is inhuman. Putin didn’t start austerity, the Tories did. (...)

I used to read my son Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where his grandparents never got out of bed, and realise this is my life now. I am freelance, so I work from my bed – it’s a claustrophobic world. My woollen mattress topper, purchased in a charity shop for £10, helps keep me warm and is the best find ever. I try not to think about who probably died on it.

(...) My rented home is poorly insulated – I put the heating on for two hours last week to dry some washing and the temperature rose from 7C to 8.5C. (...)

- 2  Sophie, single mum to two autistic children

(...) Today I had cold rice pudding because I didn’t want to use the microwave. When I boil the kettle, I fill a flask up, so I can have another cup of tea later or some instant soup for lunch. The other day, I boiled some eggs in the same pan I was cooking pasta. Frozen veg seems to cook quicker and I do it all in one pan, and I’m certainly not cooking a roast dinner at the moment. It’s about scrimping and saving where I can to minimise that initial shock. (...)

- 3  Siobhan, in her 30s

(...) My dad is entitled to a rebate from his electricity provider – which got more and more urgent when temperatures dropped to -8C. He doesn’t have central heating, he’s 6ft 4in but only weighs about 8 stone. He needs the space heater on, but electricity has been costing him £15 a week. To claim the rebate on his behalf – which isn’t paid in cash, it just credits his account – I have to go to a post office with one of three forms of ID: either a passport, a driving licence or a utility bill. But my dad doesn’t have a passport or a driving licence. What’s the point when you’re too sick to travel or drive? He doesn’t have a utility bill as it’s all done online: who has a utility bill in 2023? 

For weeks, my life has been hanging on the phone to his electricity provider, who assure me every time that the post office will accept alternative ID, like letters from the DWP or the council or the NHS – and then queueing in every post office within walking distance, only to be turned away in front of a long line of neighbours because it’s not the ID specified by the provider. 

Yesterday, finally, my dad told me to give up as I probably looked too scruffy – and ask my landlord to have a go instead. My landlord went in – a middle-aged, middle class, white man – and the post office added the rebate to my dad’s account straight away. It may be just coincidence, but things like that make me so angry. I’m walking around in this total rage – and then a day later, I’m numb, then I’m so tired and exhausted to my bones, I feel like I’m going to cry. Then all that passes and I feel really accepting of all the stuff I can’t change – before something happens to trigger the anger again. I’m living on this constant emotional rollercoaster. 

Loads of my energy is spent keeping Dad warm. It’s hot-water bottles, blankets and I’ve now ordered him heated clothing – leggings and a vest that you can charge up with a USB, a bit like an electric blanket, but wearable. They were expensive – £30, so it was a big decision – but he’s so poorly that if he doesn’t stay warm, he’ll die. Like everything in the post, though, they still haven’t arrived. (...)

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- Alice Lee, Ian Sinha, Tammy Boyce, Jessica Allen, Peter Goldblatt (2022). Fuel poverty, cold homes and health inequalities. London: Institute of Health Equity.
- photographs by Saul Leiter via 

Vues de l'esprit. By Fabrice Monteiro.

Fabrice Monteiro is an Agouda, a descendant of Brazilian slaves with Portuguese names. He was born in Belgium, grew up in Benin and now lives in Senegal. Before becoming a photographer, Monteiro worked as a model. In his series "Vues De L'Esprit", he revisits iconographical religious images and questions how they have a damaging effect (via and via).

Growing up in Benin, I was always fascinated by the sight of hundreds of black men, women, and children bowing down to a pink Jesus. What could be the effect of such an act on our self-concept?

Fabrice Monteiro

above: Hodegetria, 2012

As a child, Monteiro was “intrigued by the religious images and the huge pink Jesus in the forecourt of many churches in Benin—when everybody around me was Black. If Jesus, the image of ultimate perfection, is white with straight hair in a world of Blacks, how does this affect how Africans perceive themselves?” (via)

"The term “view” is often used in West Africa to refer to a photograph. A view of the mind is a fictitious image, an intellectual concept and it differs according to as many criteria as culture, education, religion, "race"... 

This work proposes to revisit religious Epinal images that we take for granted and that do not pass through the filter of our reason, images that are part of our unconscious cultural baggage and influence our perception of things. 

These portraits are inspired by Christian religious iconography but contain elements specific to other beliefs and other cultures. 

By diverting these "cliches", I wonder about the withdrawal of identity in all its forms in an attempt to achieve a utopian universality."

Fabrice Monteiro

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photographs by Fabrice Monteiro via