A Sociological Eye

  I teach a course in sociology of sexuality, and the etymologies of sexual phenomena are things I collect by habit. Let me share one with you!  In Mediaeval Latin, a "clapus" or "claperius" was a pile of stones. What might you do with a pile of stones in the Middle Ages? Well, if you put a few such piles in a stream, and then put stone slabs or wooden planks going from one pile to the other, you could construct what was called in English a "clapper bridge," like the one pictured here. Very picturesque! If on the other hand you piled the stones loosely on the ground with plenty of spaces amidst them, you could make a place to house rabbits for food. In French, this was a "clapier." The association of rabbits with sexual frequency and enthusiasm led the term clapier to come to be used as a euphemism for a brothel. The Normans brought these usages to English shores, where they became, just as in the bridges, a "clapper," referring either ...

  What happened to adolescence? In my seminar on sociology of the body this week, something strange emerged in the discussion. First, a student stated to widespread nodding that it used to be true that children became adolescents when they hit puberty at 12 or so, then existed in this awkward in-between phase of life until they turned 18 and were deemed adults--but that this not the case today. Instead, the student said, girls today hit puberty and instantly look like adults. The class agreed that 12-year-old girls today look like they're 25. And they felt the reason is because the girls immerse in TikTok videos about makeup applications that are designed for adult women, and then duplicate them. They can do that because, while Millennials at 12 got childish makeup palettes at a Claire's in the local mall, filled with bright colors designed for kids, Generation Alpha tweens were "Sephora kids," taught to desire skincare products for adults and indulged with purchases ...