Posts Tagged: How stuff works

Creating Diamond Engagement Rings From Cremated Ashes

Forget proposing with Grandma’s diamond ring, what about proposing with Artist, Damien Hirst's Diamond SkullGrandma’s ashes as the diamond ring? Yes, you heard me right. A Swiss company called Algordanza will take the cremated remains of your beloved one and synthesize a diamond between 0.25 and 1.0 carats. Not only is a diamond forever, but now, so is Grandma or Great Uncle Ezekiel or your beloved cat Mr. Jenkins (alright, maybe not Mr. Jenkins, turns out they don’t allow pets). Gives new meaning to DIY.

Discovering the History of Interracial Couples

The fun, quirky and uber-informational podcast How Stuff Works, has a sister Discovery podcast called Stuff Mom Never Told You that focuses on issues of a more feminine and woman-type. Podcast episodes include such titles as ‘Where do all the bobby pins go?’ and ‘Does Queen Bee Syndrome exist?’ And it so happens it covered something we’re of particular interest ourselves over here at The Feminist Bride – interracial marriage or miscegenation.

This particular episode is well done, though I should stress I found the title ‘Why are interracial marriages on the rise?‘ and their treatment of Pew Research’s stats to be overly optimistic. A 2010 Pew Research Center study revealed that 15% of new marriages are between people of different races or ethnicities (compare this to 6.7% in 1980). The total of all existing mixed marriages in 2010 was only 8.4%. The acceptance of such relationships varies, but overall is better than in the 80s; but any statistician will tell you that this growth over a 30 to 40 year period is extremely slow and not the ‘exponential growth’ the podcast mentioned.

In fact only four in ten Americans view such relationships as positive, these people are most likely minorities, college-educated and younger people from the West or Northeast. 63% of Americans say they would accept family members or peers marrying a person of a different race, but in 1986 37% said it would be acceptable for others but not themselves. Even almost a half century after the Loving v. Virginia case went to the Supreme Court, interracial marriage is still not as common as one might think, indicating that we are far from a post-racial society.

But on a whole, give the podcast a listen. It’s full of interesting facts and stories like the Lovings of the 1967 Supreme Court Case of Loving v. Virginia. There’s a new documentary out about the case too. And if you like the podcast’s brief coverage of the biracial children’s identity politics, I highly suggest checking out Adrian Piper’s 1988 video performance entitled, ‘Cornered.’ It covers every angle of her experience as a biracial woman and it’s incredibly provocative and interesting. It’s also really important that we educate ourselves about the history of interracial marriage because the same arguments used to prevent it, are now included in the argument against gay marriage. In addition to that, the measly 15% and the personal lack of acceptance Pew revealed shows that the US has a long way to go before we achieve a purely post-racial society.

For Other Related Feminist Bride Articles, Please Read:

An Interracial Fix for Black Marriage – WSJ.com/

Podcast Episode Description: “Thanks to sociocultural evolution, interracial marriage is increasingly common. Join Cristen and Caroline as they explore Loving v. Virginia, why worrying about children in these marriages is outdated (and likely rooted in racism) and more.”

Are Diamond Engagement Rings Really Worth It?

Ever stop to think about whether or not to say yes to that diamond engagement ring? I’m not talking about saying yes or no to the person doing the asking, I’m talking about the actual diamond ring! We put so much emphasis on the rock that sparks the start of two people’s lifetime commitment to each other – carat, cost, clarity and cut, that have we really stopped to think about if it’s an icon worthy of representing our love for another?