title: Truck driver

text: As urban areas continue to sprawl, land for development of private truck stops nearby becomes prohibitively expensive and there seems to be an understandable reluctance on the part of the citizenry to live near a facility where a large number of trucks may be idling their engines all night, every night, or to experience the associated increase in truck traffic on local streets.


title: Truck driver

text: Exacerbating the problem are parking restrictions or prohibitions in commercial areas where plenty of space exists and the fact that shippers and receivers of freight tend to prefer to ship and receive truckloads in the early and late portions of the business day.


title: Truck driver

text: The end result is an increase in truck traffic during the morning and evening rush hours when traffic is most dense, commuters exhibit the least patience, and safety is compromised.


title: Truck driver

text: Idling restrictions further complicate the ability of drivers to obtain adequate rest, as this example from California may illustrate:


title: Truck driver

text: Commercial diesel-fueled vehicles with a GVWR greater than 10,000 pounds are subject to the following idling restrictions effective 1 February 2005. A driver may not:


title: Truck driver

text: A truck driver's "DAC Report" refers to the employment history information submitted by former employers to HireRight and USIS Commercial Services Inc. (formerly called DAC Services, or "Drive-A-Check"). Among other things, a truck driver's DAC Report contains the driver's identification (name, DOB, SSN), the name and address of the contributing trucking company, the driver's dates of employment with that company, the driver's reason for leaving that company, whether the driver is eligible for rehire, and comments about the driver's work record (e.g. good, satisfactory, too many late deliveries, etc.). It will also indicate whether the company stored drug and alcohol testing information with USIS. A separate section of the DAC report contains incident/accident information as well as CSA 2010 Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) Reports.


title: Truck driver

text: The DAC report is as critical to the livelihood of a professional truck driver as the credit report is to a consumer. When a trucking company reports negative information about a truck driver, it can ruin the driver's career by preventing him or her from finding a truck driving job for several years or more. It is widely known that trucking companies often abuse this power by willfully and maliciously reporting false information on truckers’ DAC reports, either in retaliation for seeking better paying trucking jobs elsewhere or for any number of other fraudulent, anti-competitive reasons. As long as truck drivers can be threatened with a false DAC report for standing up to management or leaving their company for a better job elsewhere, working conditions at truck driver jobs will not improve.


title: Truck driver

text: Truck drivers in the United States are on the frontline delivering essential goods to Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many truck businesses may refuse to take assignments that travel to areas experiencing active outbreaks, such as New York City. They also found great difficulty in obtaining gas and sustenance as many travel stops have closed.


title: Truck driver

text: In 2010 the FMCSA enacted the "Compliance, Safety, and Accountability" program, formerly known as "Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010" or CSA 2010, a data-driven safety compliance and enforcement program. The program was implemented to improve commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety and prevent crashes, injuries, and fatalities using the carrier "Safety Measurement System" (SMS) using the "Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement Categories" (BASICs). The categories are: 1)- Unsafe Driving, 2)- Hours of Service (HOS) Compliance, 3)- Driver Fitness, 4)- Controlled Substances and Alcohol, 5)- Vehicle Maintenance, 6)- Hazardous Materials (HM) Compliance, and 7)- Crash Indicator. The HM and crash indicators are not currently publicly available.


title: Truck driver

text: There have been improvements, such as the combining of the original "Inspection Selection System" (ISS) and the "Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System" (SafeStat) to create ISS-2 in 2000 but many issues remained unsolved. A 2012 FMCSA rule change addressed issues but still presented many problems including the "Hours of Service" rules for those drivers falling under the required "record of duty status" (RODS). The system in use until 2019 uses a relative scoring system that is based on comparing carriers to their peers


title: Truck driver

text: There have long been truck driver and trucking industry members concerns over the scoring, the bias, especially to smaller carriers according to a General Accountability Office report, associated with the scoring when non-preventable accidents are included, the public posting of the scoring, and a lack of state mandatory procedures ensuring that a citation that was not prosecuted, or that ended favorably for the driver or carrier, was retracted from the national database because it is flawed, artificially raising the driver or carrier scores, and the insurance industry uses these scores to assess risks on insurance. The FMCSA had released a report that the CSA scoring works.


title: Truck driver

text: The hours of service rules has been changed several times since 2010 and is a concern to carriers and drivers. With the new electronic logging device (ELD) rules that became mandatory on 18 December 2017, for carriers subjected to the RODS rules, more issues have resulted. Drivers need to be aware that along with the ELD rule is a mandate to carry a paper log book and verify that the ELD manual and instruction sheet is in the truck. A driver must be able to email or fax the data if directed by a DOT officer. If an ELD malfunctions a driver must create a paper log to comply with the seven or eight day requirements, as well as recording the vehicle inspection.


title: Truck driver

text: Congress has mandated the system to be overhauled and proposed FMCSA rules were scrapped as a result. New rules being proposed and testing includes a new Item Response Theory (IRT) model to replace the current relative rankings system began being tested in September 2018 with changes due in 2019.


title: Truck driver

text: In 2014 the Road Haulage Association and Freight Transport Association (FTA) have called for the government to help address the shortage of qualified truck drivers in the UK. According to the FTA, there was a shortage of 59,000 truck drivers. The average age of a truck driver was noted to be at 57.


title: Truck driver

text: During February 2016, an independent survey on the driver shortage was carried out by a UK freight exchange. The purpose of the survey was to get the drivers opinions about the HGV driver shortage. The aim was to establish whether the results of the driver's survey could help the industry and government understand the issues that the drivers are currently facing.


title: Truck driver

text: The findings of the survey showed that, in the opinion of the drivers, the three main contributing factors to the driver shortage are 1) Poor wages, 2) Poor driver facilities and 3) The way drivers are treated. Over a third of all drivers who participated in the survey felt that they were not being treated well by the companies they drove for.


title: Truck driver

text: The 2021 United Kingdom fuel supply crisis and the shortages of stocked food supplies within supermarkets and restaurants, were attributed to the chronic shortage of HGV truck drivers and its associated factors of excessive hours, poor working conditions and unsustainably low wages. In response to the HGV driver shortage crisis that accelerated due to lower migration (of immigrant truck drivers) resulting from Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.K. government initiated a temporary visa program to allow 5,000 foreign HGV truck drivers to work within the United Kingdom until Christmas. Specifically for the fuel shortages, the U.K. government also readied 150 Army tank drivers to undergo specialised training (for 5 days) and be on standby, in preparation of driving fuel tankers and delivering fuel to fuel stations.


title: Truck driver

text: Huw Merriman, a Conservative MP and chairman of the Transport Select Committee, said that while readying the army was a "good example" of ministers trying to use as many levers at their disposal as possible and would be used as a "last resort", Merriman lamented that told the long-standing driver shortages should be fixed by industry, instead of being reliant on constant government intervention to resolve market failure.


title: Truck driver

text: Although heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers are legally limited to drive only for nine hours a day, drivers are routinely away from home for 12 to 15 hours a day, with unpredictable hours. Job advert from XPO stated:


title: Truck driver

text: Despite the strenuous hours and the required self-funded driver qualifications (approximately £1,500), incomes of truck drivers have been slipping down the wage ladder. In 2010, the median HGV driver in the UK earned 51 per cent more per hour than the median supermarket cashier, in 2020 the premium was substantially reduced to 27 per cent. Truck drivers experienced a tighter pay squeeze from 2015 to 2021; median hourly pay for truck drivers rose 10 per cent to £11.80, instead of 16 per cent for all UK employees.


title: Truck driver

text: Kieran Smith, chief executive of Driver Require, a recruitment agency, noted that employers have pushed labour costs down to compete for powerful customers such as supermarkets.


title: Truck driver

text: Many companies today utilize some type of satellite vehicle tracking or trailer tracking to assist in fleet management. In this context "tracking" refers to a location tracking and "satellite" refers either to a GPS or GLONASS satellites system providing location information or communications satellites used for location data transmission. A special location tracking device also known as a tracker or an AVL unit is installed on a truck and automatically determines its position in real-time and sends it to a remote computer database for visualizing and analysis.


title: Truck driver

text: An "in cab" communication device AVL unit often allows a driver to communicate with their dispatcher, who is normally responsible for determining and informing the driver of their pick-up and drop-off locations. If the AVL unit is connected to a Mobile data terminal or a computer it also allows the driver to input the information from a bill of lading (BOL) into a simple dot matrix display screen (commonly called a "Qualcomm" for that company's ubiquitous OmniTRACS system).


title: Truck driver

text: The driver inputs the information, using a keyboard, into an automated system of pre-formatted messages known as macros. There are macros for each stage of the loading and unloading process, such as "loaded and leaving shipper" and "arrived at the final destination". This system also allows the company to track the driver's fuel usage, speed, gear optimization, engine idle time, location, the direction of travel, and the amount of time spent driving.


title: Truck driver

text: Werner Enterprises, a U.S. company based in Omaha, Nebraska, has utilized this system to implement a "paperless log" system. Instead of keeping track of working hours on a traditional pen and paper based logbook, the driver informs the company of his status using a macro.


title: Truck driver

text: Most truck drivers are employed as over-the-road drivers, meaning they are hired to drive long distances from the place of pickup to the place of delivery. During the short times while they are in heavily polluted urban areas, being inside the cab of the truck contributes much to avoiding the inhalation of toxic emissions, and on the majority of the trip, while they are passing through vast rural areas where there is little air pollution, truck drivers in general enjoy less exposure to toxic emissions in the air than the inhabitants of large cities, where there is an increased exposure to emissions from engines, factories, etc., which may increase the risk of cancer and can aggravate certain lung diseases, such as asthma in the general public who inhabit these cities. However, the few drivers who are hired to drive only within urban areas do not have this advantage of spending more time away from toxic emissions that is enjoyed by over-the-road drivers. Other conditions affecting the health of truck drivers are for example vibration, noise, long periods of sitting, work stress and exhaustion. For drivers in developing countries there are additional risks because roads are in appalling conditions and accidents occur more frequently. Truck drivers are a high-risk group for HIV-infection in those countries.


title: Truck driver

text: Drivers who work in mines have extra health hazards due to their working conditions, as the roads they travel are particularly treacherous.


title: Truck driver

text: Truck driver fatigue is defined by the US Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) as being caused by "physical and/or mental exertion, resulting in impaired performance". Factors that increase truck driver fatigue include lack of sleep (quantity and quality), long work hours, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and general stress. Research has shown that while some truck drivers may get a sufficient amount of sleep, many suffer from undiagnosed sleep disorders that impact the quality of their sleep. One study found that within a sample of surveyed truck drivers, 68.1% reported waking up during the night, 64.2% reported waking up feeling unrefreshed, and 51.6% reported waking up too early and not being able to go back to sleep. These sleep experiences have been linked to cognitive deficits, fatigue, and excessive daytime sleepiness. It is important to note that sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality, although of critical concern, are a subset of the larger issue of truck driver fatigue.


title: Truck driver

text: A contributing factor to truck driver fatigue is the stress associated with managing compliance to FMCSA's hours of service (HOS) regulations. Truckers are allowed to drive a maximum of 11 hours during a continuous 14-hour period, and must be off duty for at least 10 hours. In addition, they are limited to the number of hours they can drive during any consecutive 7-day or 8-day period, depending on their employer's operations. There are also reset rules, break requirements, and sleeper berth and short-haul exceptions. Truck drivers are required to keep a HOS-compliant log. Failure to produce a driver's log upon request by an enforcement official or non-compliance with HOA regulations, results in a driving penalty or fine. Better electronic methods for maintaining and managing drivers' logs are needed to help reduce truck driver stress.


title: Truck driver

text: The FMCSA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted an extensive study from April 2001 to December 2003 investigating the causes of large truck crashes. Researchers reported that in thirteen percent of the crashes resulting in fatalities or injuries, truck driver fatigue was present. Another FMCSA study published in 2011 reported that large truck crashes were increasingly associated with driving times greater than 7 hours, which is when fatigue begins to affect performance. The FMCSA also reported that in 2016 truck driver fatigue was a larger contributing factor than alcohol and drugs in fatal truck crashes.


title: Truck driver

text: Truck drivers are also sensitive to sleep disorders because of the long hours required at the wheel and, in many cases, the lack of adequate rest. Driver fatigue is a contributing factor in 12% of all crashes and 10% of all near crashes. Traffic fatalities are high and many of them are due to driver fatigue. Drivers with obstructive sleep apnea have a sevenfold increased risk of being involved in a motor vehicle crash. It is estimated that 2.4-3.9 million licensed commercial drivers in the US have obstructive sleep apnea out of the estimated 18 million total Americans. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says that as many 28 percent of commercial driver's license holders have sleep apnea.


title: Truck driver

text: Research sponsored by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and American Trucking Associations found:


title: Truck driver

text: 0400 and 0600, 0000 and 0200, and 1400–1600 hours and drivers are at the highest risk of a sleep-related accident. Thirty-seven percent of fatal crashes happened between 6PM and 6AM.


title: Truck driver

text: The FMCSA question and answer site is confusing. Question 1 states that a motor carrier is responsible for ensuring drivers are medically qualified for operating CMVs in interstate commerce. The FMCSA published a proposed guidance for sleep apnea testing in April 2012. Carriers began requiring drivers be tested for the disorder using neck circumference and Body Mass Index (BMI). For a male anything above 17" and for a female 15" was the minimum criteria with drivers above that having to be tested. Health care professionals had to be registered with the FMCSA after 21 May 2012, to give certifications, and carriers started to require checking. The agency backed away from required testing.


title: Truck driver

text: A new law was passed in Australia requiring that all "over the road" drivers carry their medical information with them when they "are on the clock". This will help drivers comply with this new law and can also help deliver quick, accurate medical assistance if and when needed.


title: Truck driver

text: According to a 2007 study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 86% of the estimated 3.2 million truck drivers in the United States are overweight or obese. A survey conducted in 2010 showed that 69% of American truck drivers met their criteria for obesity, twice the percentage of the adult working for population in the US. Some key risk factors for obesity in truckers are poor eating habits, lack of access to healthy food, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle, long work hours, and lack of access to care.


title: Truck driver

text: Eighty percent of truckers have unhealthful eating patterns as a result of poor food choices and food availability at truck stops is partially to blame. The options at truck stops are generally high calorie and high fat foods available through restaurants, fast-food, diners and vending machines. Fresh produce and whole grain items are few and far between. Though 85% of mini-mart items are categorized as extremely unhealthy, 80% of these meals are considered a truck driver's main meal of the day. Also, most of the foods carried by drivers in their trucks, whether or not stored in a refrigerator, are purchased from truck stops. Research suggests that drivers value quality and taste much more than nutrition when selecting food. Another issue is the pattern of extensive and irregular snacking while on the road and consumption of one large meal at the end of day. The daily meal is often high in calories and may be the highlight of the trucker's day. Food intake varies during working hours compared to days off and truckers eat meals at the wrong circadian phase during the day.


title: Truck driver

text: Lack of exercise is another contributing factor to the obesity epidemic in the truck driver population. Almost 90% of truck drivers exercise only sometimes or never and only 8% exercise regularly. This is largely determined by long work hours and tight deadlines, the adoption of a sedentary lifestyle and a lack of a place to exercise. Though some fitness resources are available for truckers, most are scarce. Available areas are truck stops, highway rest areas, trucking terminals, warehouses, and the truck cab. However, there are many parking restrictions and safety concerns in trying to incorporate exercise into the daily routine.


title: Truck driver

text: Studies have found the risk of obesity increases in high demand, low control jobs, and more so in jobs with long work hours; the truck driving industry falls under these categories. Also, daytime sleepiness and night disturbances are associated with obesity, and are, therefore, common among truck drivers. Long haul drivers have tight schedules, so they tend to drive longer and get less sleep. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) does have Hours of Service (HOS) regulations. Under the old rule, drivers could work up to 82 hours in 7 days. These regulations were modified in 2011; but the new rule only permits drivers to work up to 70 hours in 7 days. There is now an 11-hour-per-day limit with 10 hours off required after the weekly shift. Fines for companies which allow work beyond 11 hours are up to $11,000 and for drivers up to $2,750. Though these fines exist, there is minimal enforcement of the law.


title: Truck driver

text: Obesity prevalence is affected by access to care for truckers. Company drivers often have issues with insurance, such as necessary pre-approval if out of network. Most owner-operator drivers do not have any kind of medical insurance (that is, in the US where medical treatment isn't free of charge like most countries). Moreover, truckers have difficulties making an appointment on the road and often do not know where to stop for assistance. Many self-diagnose or ignore their health issue altogether. Some are able to be seen at doctor's offices or private clinics while a large percentage depend on emergency rooms and urgent care visits. The Department of Transportation has Convenient Care Clinics across the U.S., but those are hard to find and are few and far between. Health care costs are substantially higher for overweight and obese individuals, so obesity in the truck driver population puts a greater financial demand on the industry.


title: Truck driver

text: A study of 1,600 truck drivers from 2014 found that truckers in the US smoke at twice the rate of other working adults in the United States; 51% of truckers reported that they smoked in a 2010 survey. 61% of truckers in the same survey reported having two or more risk factors, which were defined as high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, high cholesterol, no physical activity, or sleep deprivation (6 or fewer hours of sleep per 24 hours). In another study from 2015, more than 91,000 truck drivers were surveyed and similar types of morbidity were found. Truck drivers also suffer from musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease, and stress at higher rates.


title: Truck driver

text: In the 1980s the administration of President Ronald Reagan proposed to put an end to drug abuse in the trucking industry by means of the then-recently developed technique of urinalysis, with his signing of Executive Order 12564, requiring regular random drug testing of all truck drivers nationwide, as well as employees of other DOT-regulated industries specified in the order, though considerations had to be made concerning the effects of an excessively rapid implementation of the measure.


title: Truck driver

text: Making sudden great changes in the infrastructures of huge economies and the industries crucial to them always entails risks, the greater the change, the larger the degree. Because of the U.S. economy's strong dependence on the movement of merchandise to and from large metropolitan population centers separated by such great distances, a shortage of truck drivers could have far-reaching effects on the economy.


title: Truck driver

text: After the 1929 stock-market crash, for example, the chain reaction of reduction in sales due to consumers' prioritizing and reducing purchases of luxury items, with companies responding by reducing production and increasing unemployment, exacerbating the cycle of reduction or elimination of production, sales, and employment, had the ultimate result of plunging the nation's economy into the Great Depression.


title: Truck driver

text: Likewise, it had to be considered that a sudden halting or stunting of the movement of merchandise, as would occur with a large and sudden vacating of the cargo-transportation workforce, would have similar consequences. Even the 1974 nationwide speed-limit reduction to 55 mph, which merely slowed the movement of merchandise, was followed by the recession of the late 1970s.


title: Truck driver

text: In the years and decades following Executive Order 12564, efforts to begin random drug testing and pre-employment drug screening of truck drivers were not expedited, leaving the change to occur gradually, out of concern for the dangers of excessively rapid change in economic infrastructure. Since then, a large number of tractor-trailer operators have left the industry in search of other employment, and a new generation of drivers has come in. Subsequent to the measure it became extremely difficult for truck drivers to engage in drug abuse and remain undetected.


title: Truck driver

text: On 12 October 2015, The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to draft a proposed plan to address the use of synthetic drugs among truckers. The NTSB also issued a call to pro-trucking bodies to educate their members about the dangers associated with truckers’ use of synthetic drugs, and to come up with a way to prevent their use while behind the wheel.


title: Truck driver

text: Truck drivers once had a highly elaborate and colorful vocabulary of slang for use over their CB radios, but with the high turnover in the industry in recent decades, this has all but vanished. Most of the newer generation of drivers in the U.S. today speak to one another over their CB radios (or other similar communication devices) in more or less standard English (as understood in the various regions of the country), although a few of the slang words and phrases have remained, and many of these have passed into use in the colloquial language of the general public.


title: Truck driver

text: "Smokey" and "bear" are still used to refer to police officers, especially state patrolmen, and sometimes "diesel bear" for a DOT officer, though many new-school drivers merely say "police", "policeman" and "cop". "Hammer" refers to the accelerator pedal, and "hammer lane" the left lane or passing lane on a freeway, in which traffic generally travels faster. "Handle", meaning a nickname, was once exclusively truck-driver slang, but has now passed into common use by the public, especially for pseudonyms used on Internet forums.


title: Truck driver

text: Most of the "ten codes" have fallen nearly or completely into disuse, except "10/4", meaning "message received", "affirmative", "okay", "understood", and occasionally "10/20", referring to the driver's location, (e.g., "What's your 20?")


title: Truck driver

text: Often older truck drivers speaking over their CB radios are frustrated at new-school truck drivers' lack of understanding of the trucking slang of the 1960s, '70s and '80s, and grudgingly resort to standard English when communicating with them. However today the slang is mostly gone, and some companies such as Swift Transportation consider the CB a safety hazard and prohibit the installation of a CB radio in their tractors.


title: Truck driver

text: One form of unspoken communication between drivers is to flash headlights on or off once or twice to indicate that a passing truck has cleared the passed vehicle and may safely change lanes in front of the signaling vehicle. The passing driver may then flash the trailer or marker lights to indicate thanks. This signal is also sometimes used by other motorists to signal truck drivers.


title: Truck driver

text: Continual flashing of headlights or high beams after emerging from around a corner beside a high wall or from any roadway out of sight to oncoming traffic will alert a truck driver in the oncoming lanes to an accident or other obstruction ahead and will warn him to reduce speed or to proceed with caution.


title: Truck driver

text: Since truck-driver language has no signal for "Do not move in front of me", nor has any understood length of time for turning headlights or high beams on or off, flashing the high-beams to say "Do not move in front of me" may be misinterpreted to mean that the truck is clear to proceed with the lane change in front of the vehicle giving the signal.


title: Truck driver

text: As a rule, "thanks" is signaled to the vehicle behind by switching between the left- and right-turn signal several times, whereas turning on the hazard-warning lights (both turn signals) means "Slow down; danger ahead". As cars would normally use the hazard-warning lights for "thanks", in trucks distinction is necessary. The truck blocks the view of drivers behind it, hence a distinction must be made between "Thanks for letting me pass" and "Danger in front, I may brake hard!" Turning on the left-turn signal (in a right-hand traffic country) when a vehicle behind attempts to overtake means "Back off; lane not clear", and turning on the right-turn signal means "Go ahead; lane clear".


title: Truck driver

text: Truck drivers also use flashing headlights to warn drivers in the oncoming lane(s) of a police patrol down the road. Though not official, two consecutive flashes indicate a police patrol, whereas a rapid series of flashing indicates DMV or other law-enforcement agency that only controls truck drivers. During the day time, the latter is sometimes accompanied by the signaling driver making a circle with both hands (as if holding a tachograph ring).


title: Truck driver

text: Flashing headlights to the vehicle in front (intended for the other driver to see in their mirror) has two meanings. Long flashes are used to signal a truck driver that they are clear to return to the lane. A series of rapid flashes generally means "You're doing something stupid or dangerous" as in "Do not move in front, trailer not clear!" or "I'm overtaking, move aside".


title: Truck driver

text: Truckers also use their 4 ways flashing up a steep hill, mountain roads and on ramps on express ways to let others know that they are traveling at a slow speed and to be cautious approaching them.


title: Truck driver

text: In Europe, the general rule for truckers in a right hand driving country is to raise the left hand and to simply open the hand with all fingers extended without waving it at all with the palm facing forward, known as 'the flat hand'. Or a shorter version is to simply extend the fingers while still keeping the palm in contact with the steering wheel. Raising the right hand is also used in the same way but very rare.


title: Truck driver

text: Truck drivers have been the subject of many films, such as "They Drive by Night" (1940), but they became an especially popular topic in popular culture in the mid-1970s, following the release of "White Line Fever", and the hit song "Convoy" by C. W. McCall, both in 1975. The main character of "Convoy" was a truck driver known only by his CB handle (C.B. name), "Rubber Duck". Three years later, in 1978, a film was released with the same name. In 1977, another film "Smokey and the Bandit", was released, which revolves around the escapades of a truck driver and his friend as they transport a load of bootleg beer across state lines. "Smokey and the Bandit" spawned two sequels. The 1978 film "F.I.S.T." was a fictionalized account of the unionization of the trucking industry in the earlier 20th century, while the future of truck driving was speculated on in the 1996 film "Space Truckers" in which trucking has gone beyond planetary loads to interplanetary ones. One episode of "Cowboy Bebop", "Heavy Metal Queen", also features spacefaring "truck" drivers.


title: Truck driver

text: Truck drivers have also been villainously portrayed in such films as "Duel", "Joy Ride", "The Transporter", "Breakdown", "The Hitcher", "Thelma & Louise", "Superman II", "Supergirl", and "Man of Steel".


title: Truck driver

text: "B. J. and the Bear" is a television series depicting the exploits of a truck driver and his chimpanzee companion. Another is "Movin' On", starring Claude Akins and Frank Converse. On 17 June 2007, the History Channel began to air "Ice Road Truckers", a documentary-style reality television series following truck drivers as they drive across the ice roads in the Northwest Territories in Canada, as they transport equipment to the oil and natural gas mines in that area.


title: Material culture

text: Material culture is the aspect of social reality grounded in the objects and architecture that surround people. It includes the usage, consumption, creation, and trade of objects as well as the behaviors, norms, and rituals that the objects create or take part in. Some scholars also include other intangible phenomena that include sound, smell and events, while some even consider language and media as part of it. The term is most commonly used in archaeological and anthropological studies, to define material or artifacts as they are understood in relation to specific cultural and historic contexts, communities, and belief systems. Material culture can be described as any object that humans use to survive, define social relationships, represent facets of identity, or benefit peoples' state of mind, social, or economic standing. Material culture is contrasting to symbolic culture, which includes nonmaterial symbols, beliefs, and social constructs.


title: Material culture

text: The scholarly analysis of material culture, which can include both human made and natural or altered objects, is called material culture studies. It is an interdisciplinary field and methodology that tells of the relationships between people and their things: the making, history, preservation, and interpretation of objects. It draws on both theory and practice from the social sciences and humanities such as art history, archaeology, anthropology, history, historic preservation, folklore, archival science, literary criticism and museum studies, among others.


title: Material culture

text: Research in several areas looks into the reasons for perceiving an object as having meaning. Common reasons for valuing material lie in their monetary or sentimental value.


title: Material culture

text: A well-known related theory is Kahneman's endowment effect theory. According to Kahneman, people infuse objects they own with a higher value than they do if they do not own the object. The endowment effect is found to occur as soon as an item is acquired and the effect increases over time.


title: Material culture

text: Another way in which material can hold meaning and value is by carrying communication between people, just like other communication forms such as speech, touch and gesture. An object can mediate messages between time or space or both between people who are not together. A work of art, for example, can transfer a message from the creator to the viewer and share an image, a feeling, or an experience. Material can contain memories and mutual experiences across time and influence thoughts and feelings. A study found that couples who have more items that were jointly acquired and more favorite items among them had higher-quality relationships.


title: Material culture

text: Researchers from the fields of sociology, psychology, and anthropology have also been fascinated by gift-giving, a universal phenomenon that holds emotional meaning using material culture. According to Schieffelin, "gift-giving is a vehicle of social obligation and political maneuver." Mauss defines the gift as creating a special bond between the giver and the receiver. According to Mauss, the giver never really leaves the gift but becomes part of the receiver's future by inserting the gift into their life. A gift leads at some point to another gift in response, which creates a special reciprocal bond between people.


title: Material culture

text: Material culture studies as an academic field grew along the field of anthropology and so began by studying non-Western material culture. All too often, it was a way of putting material culture into categories in such a way that marginalized and hierarchized the cultures from which they came. During the "golden age" of museum-going, material cultures were used to show the supposed evolution of society from the simple objects of non-Westerners to the advanced objects of Europeans. It was a way of showing that Europeans were at the end of the evolution of society, with non-Westerners at the beginning. Eventually, scholars left the notion that culture evolved though predictable cycles, and the study of material culture changed to have a more objective view of non-Western material culture.


title: Material culture

text: The field of material culture studies as its own distinct discipline dates to the 1990s. The "Journal of Material Culture" began publishing in 1996. Collecting habits date back hundreds of years.


title: Material culture

text: Leslie White was an American anthropologist, known for his advocacy of theories of cultural evolution, sociocultural evolution, and especially neoevolutionism and for his role in creating the department of anthropology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. He was president of the American Anthropological Association (1964). He wrote "The Science of Culture" in 1949 in which he outlined schema of the world as divided into cultural, biological, and physical levels of phenomenon. White believed that the development of culture rested primarily on technology and that the history of human technology could be understood through the study of human-produced materials.


title: Material culture

text: American anthropologist James Deetz, known for his work in the field of historical archaeology, wrote the book "In Small Things Forgotten" in 1977 and published a revised and expanded version in 1996. He pioneered there the ideas of using neglected substances such as trash pits, potshards, and soil stains to reveal human actions. By analyzing objects in association with their location, the history of that location, the objects they were found with, and not singling out the most valuable or rarest ones, archaeologists can create a more accurate picture of daily life. Deetz looks at the long view of history and investigates the impact of European culture on other cultures across the globe by an analysis of the spread of everyday objects.


title: Material culture

text: Ian M. G. Quimby's "Material Culture and the Study of American Life", written in 1978, tried to bridge the gaps between the museum world and the university and between curator and historian. Quimby posits that objects in museums are understood through an intellectual framework that uses non-traditional sources. He also describes the benefits of work on exhibit design as a vehicle for education.


title: Material culture

text: Thomas Schlereth, Professor Emeritus of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame, wrote about philosophies and methods of teaching history outside the traditional classroom. In his book "Artifacts and the American Past", Schlereth defines material culture study as an attempt to explain why things were made, why they took the forms they did, and what social, functional, aesthetic, or symbolic needs they serve. He advocates studying photographs, catalogues, maps and landscapes. He suggests a variety of modes for interrogating artifacts.


title: Material culture

text: Professor Kiki Smith of Smith College, asserts that “…clothes can reveal much about lives from the past,” and that garments preserved in collections are akin to other artifacts, including books, diaries, paintings and letters. She established the Smith College Historic Clothing Collection with 3000 items for the college's theater department. This archive of women’s clothings and accessories, from all social classes, is a resource for courses in costume design, history, material culture, and literary history and curatorial practices.


title: Material culture

text: Gerd Koch, associated with the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, is known for his studies on the material culture of Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Santa Cruz Islands. During his early field work in 1951 to 1952, Koch developed techniques in the recording of culture, including the use of tape recorders and cinematographic cameras.


title: Material culture

text: Archaeology is the study of humanity through the inferential analysis of material culture to ultimately gain an understanding of the daily lives of past cultures and the overarching trend of human history. An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of the artifacts from a specific time and place, most often that has no written record. These physical artifacts are then used to make inferences about the ephemeral aspects of culture and history. With more recent societies, written histories, oral traditions, and direct observations may also be available to supplement the study of material culture.


title: Material culture

text: Beginning in the European Renaissance and the culture's fascination with classical antiquities, the study of artifacts from long-lost cultures has produced many forms of archaeological theory, such as trans-cultural diffusion, processual archaeology, and post-processual archaeology. Additionally, archaeological sub-disciplines have emerged within the field, including prehistoric archaeology, classical archaeology, historical archaeology, cognitive archaeology, and cultural ecology. Recently, a scientific methodology and approach to the analysis of pre-historic material culture has become prevalent with systematic excavation techniques producing detailed and precise results.


title: Material culture

text: Anthropology is most simply defined as the study of humans across time and space. In studying a human culture, an anthropologist studies the material culture of the people in question as well as the people themselves and their interactions with others. To understand the culture in which an object is featured, an anthropologist looks at the object itself, its context, and the way that it was manufactured and used.


title: Material culture

text: The first anthropologist interested in studying material culture was Lewis Henry Morgan, in the mid-19th century. He is most known for his research on kinship and social structures, but he also studied the effect of material culture, specifically technology, on the evolution of a society. Later in the 19th century, Franz Boas brought the fields of anthropology and material culture studies closer together. He believed that it was crucial for an anthropologist to analyze not only the physical properties of material culture but also its meanings and uses in its indigenous context to begin to understand a society. At the same time in France, Émile Durkheim wrote about the importance of material culture in understanding a society. Durkheim saw material culture as one of the social facts that functions as a coercive force to maintain solidarity in a society.


title: Material culture

text: Claude Lévi-Strauss, in the 20th century, included the study of material culture in his work as an anthropologist because he believed that it could reveal a deeper level of structure and meaning unattainable by typical fieldwork. According to Lévi-Strauss, material culture can recall the mindset of a people, regardless of intervening time or space. Also in the 20th century, Mary Douglas thought that anthropology was about studying the meaning of material culture to the people who experience it. Marvin Harris, a contemporary of Douglas, put forward the theory of cultural materialism and said that all aspects of society have material causes.


title: Material culture

text: In archaeology, the idea that social relations are embodied in material is well known and established, with extensive research on exchange, gift giving and objects as part of social ceremonies and events. However, in contradiction to archaeology, where scientists build on material remains of previous cultures, sociology tends to overlook the importance of material in understanding relationships and human social behavior.


title: Material culture

text: The social aspects in material culture include the social behavior around it: the way that the material is used, shared, talked about, or made. An object cannot hold meaning in and of itself and so when one focuses on the social aspects of material culture, it is critical to keep in mind that interpretations of objects and of interactions with them are the ones to evoke importance and meaning.


title: Material culture

text: Museums and other material culture repositories, by their very nature, are often active participants in the heritage industry. Defined as "the business of managing places that are important to an area's history and encouraging people to visit them," the heritage industry relies heavily on material culture and objects to interpret cultural heritage. The industry is fueled by a cycle of people visiting museums, historic sites, and collections to interact with ideas or physical objects of the past. In turn, the institutions profit through monetary donations or admission fees as well as the publicity that comes with word-of-mouth communications.


title: Material culture

text: That relationship is controversial, as many believe that the heritage industry corrupts the meaning and importance of cultural objects. Often, scholars in the humanities take a critical view of the heritage industry, particularly heritage tourism, believing it to be a vulgar oversimplification and corruption of historic fact and importance. Others believe that the relationship and the financial stability it brings is often the element that allows curators, researchers, and directors to conserve material culture's legacy.


title: Material culture

text: Some observers advocate intentionally altering the material cultures created by current civilizations. For example, waste reduction advocates within environmentalism advocate teaching design approaches, such as cradle-to-cradle design and appropriate technology. Anti-consumerism advocates encourage consuming less (thus creating fewer artifacts), engaging in more do-it-yourself projects and self-sufficiency (changing the quality of artifacts produced), and localism impacts the geographic distribution and uniformity of artifacts.


title: Woman yelling at a cat

text: Woman yelling at a cat is an Internet meme first used in a post by Twitter user @MISSINGEGIRL on May 1, 2019. It juxtaposes two images: on the left, a screen capture of "Malibu Beach Party From Hell", an episode from "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills", depicting cast member Taylor Armstrong crying and pointing (held back by Kyle Richards); and a picture uploaded to Tumblr in June 2018, depicting a cat from Ottawa, Ontario, Smudge, sitting at a dinner table behind a salad with a seemingly vicious or confused expression.


title: Woman yelling at a cat

text: The image on the left of the meme image is a screenshot of "Malibu Beach Party From Hell", an episode of the second season of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" (2010–present); the episode depicts a beach party gone awry when housewives Taylor Armstrong and Camille Grammer feud over the latter's gossip regarding Armstrong's former husband Russell, who died of suicide following what she claimed to be an abusive relationship. The still is of the episode's most heated moment, where a tearful Armstrong screams and points at an attendee while being restrained by Kyle Richards; it went viral following its inclusion on a "Daily Mail" article published a day after the episode's airing. Armstrong went on to work at domestic violence shelters and, in October 2019, said she was now in a more positive marriage.


title: Woman yelling at a cat

text: The picture on the right of the meme image is of a cat from Ottawa, Ontario, named Smudge, whom Miranda Stillabower owned since 2015. According to Stillabower, he was very antisocial around humans at home, and disliked not having a chair to sit on when relatives filled up space at the dinner table. At one dinner in 2018, as a guest left his chair that had salad in front of it, the cat quickly took it over and had a seemingly vicious or confused expression on his face; as someone who took pictures of her pets and posted them on Tumblr, Stillabower shot a picture of the moment and uploaded it to the site in June 2018. Although Stillabower had no expectations of her Tumblr post going viral, it nonetheless garnered 50,300 notes and reposts within a year, which "Business Insider"s Paige Leskin suggested was due to the caption's use of internet jargon.


title: Woman yelling at a cat

text: The first incarnation of the "Woman yelling at a cat" meme that used both images was a post by Twitter user @MISSINGEGIRL on May 1, 2019, with the caption "These photos together is making me lose it." In just more than three months, it was retweeted more than 78,000 times and garnered more than 275,000 likes. Although other Twitter users copied the meme with different captions, what surged the meme into massive notoriety was a Reddit post on June 2 by PerpetualWinter satirizing fans of the New York Knicks.


title: Woman yelling at a cat

text: Some journalists, as well as Stillabower herself, attributed the popularity of "Woman yelling at a cat" to its flexibility of use; subjects include daily scenarios such as encounters with spiders, relationship problems in connection to texting, someone noticing a relative masturbating to porn, to debates such as violence in video games and word pronunciations. Occasionally, other memes are incorporated or characters in the meme are replaced with others.


title: Woman yelling at a cat

text: The meme was represented in other formats, being used as Halloween costumes (one of which Armstrong responded to on Twitter) and for a sign at a September 2019 event in Guatemala protesting the San Rafael Mining Company. A recreation of the meme using a modded "The Sims 4" was created by SimplySimmer19 and uploaded to Reddit in April 2020, garnering more than 42,000 upvotes within that month. More than a year after the meme's initial surge, Bruce Sterling recreated the meme in art styles unique to several periods; and Ochre Jelly, who has also Lego recreations of other memes, did one for "Woman yelling at a cat", with the situation being about stepping on Lego bricks.


title: Woman yelling at a cat

text: The meme turned Smudge into an internet personality, garnering an official website of clothing, coffee mugs, and other merchandise based on him; 1.4 million followers on his Instagram; and a "Smudgeposting" Facebook group that had 23,000 followers. The Instagram and the Smudgeposting numbers are as of December 2019. Content on Smudge's Instagram includes various types of post, such as him having the same expression as in the meme towards other foods such as nachos. Smudge's owners used sales of a t-shirt of the cat as donation money for the cat-rescuing non-profit Furry Tails. On Instagram, celebrities such as NFL linebacker Bruce Davis and WWE wrestler John Cena posted Smudge memes as well as themselves wearing shirts of the cat, rapper Snoop Dogg also showing appreciation.


title: Woman yelling at a cat

text: The meme has been used by notable individuals and institutions. NFL's Stefon Diggs, during an interview, wore cleats with the meme on it. Library and Archives Canada used the meme in a Facebook post explaining why its employees sometimes handle rare books bare-handed.


title: Woman yelling at a cat

text: Publications called "Woman yelling at a cat" one of the best memes of 2019 and the 2010s decade, while Smudge himself topped "Time" magazine's 2020 list of the all-time best popular online cats.


title: Woman yelling at a cat

text: "Woman yells at a cat" won Meme of the Year at the 12th Shorty Awards, presented to Armstrong and Smudge on May 3, 2020.


title: Woman yelling at a cat

text: Writers cited "Woman yelling at a cat" as an example of the pop culture impact of "The Real Housewives" franchise, and how previously-released media gain a second life on the internet.


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst , (born 17 August 1953) is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series and made for television films, as well also on stage and in feature films since the early 1970s. Hazlehurst has been honoured with numerous awards including Australian Film Institute Awards, ARIA Awards and Logies, including being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: Hazlehurst was born in Melbourne. After attending St Leonard's College in Brighton East, Victoria, Hazlehurst studied Drama at Flinders University in South Australia from 1971 to 1973, where she resided at Flinders University Hall and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974. She has studied ballet, singing, piano, speech and drama. In the 1980s and 1990s, much of her work concentrated on children's television.


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: Along with roles at the ABC, her first television work was in guest lead roles in television serials produced by Crawford Productions. She played the regular role of Sharon Lewis in "The Box" in 1975 before joining the original cast of "The Sullivans" as Lil Duggan in late 1976. She was a "Play School" presenter from 1978 to 2001, and has been a National Ambassador or Patron for many children's events and charities, including Children's Week (1991-2007) and Barnardos. She has worked extensively for children. Hazlehurst has recorded several music and spoken word albums, including the children's music album "Shout and Whisper" (1988).


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: Hazlehurst appeared in the miniseries "Nancy Wake" (played the title role), as well as such films and miniseries as "The Shiralee", "Ride on Stranger", and "Waterfront" in the 1980s.


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: From 1995 to 2005, she hosted the Seven Networks "Better Homes and Gardens", a lifestyle show which is affiliated with the monthly magazine of the same name.


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: In 2006, she starred in ABC's telemovie "Stepfather of the Bride". From 2007 to 2011, she played Detective Superintendent Bernice Waverley on Channel Seven crime drama "City Homicide". In 2010, she was a guest on The 7pm Project on Network Ten. In July 2011, as part of a rapidly growing internet meme, she read the book "Go the Fuck to Sleep" to camera in the style she formerly used on "Play School". She immediately offered to record a reading of the book after being sent a copy by the publisher.,


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: Beginning in 2013, she appeared as Elizabeth Bligh in the 1950s-set Australian melodrama "A Place to Call Home" on the Seven Network, playing the wealthy matriarch of the family. The show was renewed for a second series which premiered in 2014, following the second series the show was briefly canceled yet the show was unexpectedly commissioned for a third series which came in 2015. The show then went into production for a fourth series which aired in 2016 and a fifth season airing in 2017 with the final sixth season airing in 2018. She played "Ambrose" in ABC TV's "The Letdown", and as Pamela in a new series "The End" (2019).


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: Hazlehurst has had starring roles in Australian films since the 1980s, including roles in "Fatty Finn", "Fran" and "Australian Dream". Her most prominent role during this decade was as the lead, Nora, in "Monkey Grip" (1982), based on Helen Garner's novel of the same name. The film, concerning the relationship between a single mother and a heroin addict, was a modest box office success in Australia and received generally favourable reviews from critics. She later starred in "Little Fish" in 2005, "Candy" in 2006, and "Bitter & Twisted" in 2008. Recent film roles include "The Mule", "Truth", "The Broken Shore" and "Ladies in Black".


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: Credits include "The Man from Mukinupin", "On Our Selection", "Traitors", "Hamlet", "No Names, No Packdrill", "Cut and Thrust", "Frankie & Johnny in the Claire De Lune", for the STC: "Navigating" (Dir: Marin Potts) "The Breath of Life", "Woman in Mind", for the MTC: "Grace", (Dir: Marion Potts), "Madagascar", (Dir: Sam Strong) and "The Heretic", (Dir: Matt Scholten). In 2014 she appeared in a critically acclaimed production of "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" (Dir: Declan Eames) for the Kin Collective at 45 Downstairs. In 2015 and 2016 Noni performed in a one-woman play, "Mother", (Dir: Matt Scholten), written for her by Daniel Keene, on a national tour produced by If Theatre & Regional Arts Victoria. "Mother" received two Helpmann Awards nominations for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Play and Best Regional Touring Production for If Theatre. "Mother" was performed at Belvoir Street Theatre in early 2018 and was presented at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in August 2018. Hazlehurst won the 2018 Matilda Award for Best Female Actor in a Leading Role for "Mother".


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: Hazlehurst has also been an ambassador for Barnardo's Mother of the Year, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by her alma mater Flinders University in 2007.


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: In 1994 a painting of Hazlehurst by artist Rosemary Valadon titled "Noni Hazlehurst – Summer '94 Waiting Again" was a finalist in the Archibald Prize.


title: Noni Hazlehurst

text: Hazlehurst married director Kevin Dobson, and she subsequently married John Jarratt in circa 1987. She and Jarratt have two sons. After separating from Jarratt in August 1999, she dated cameraman Ian Marden.


title: Bridal shower

text: The history of the custom is rooted not necessarily for the provision of goods for the upcoming matrimonial home, but to provide goods and financial assistance to ensure the wedding may take place.


title: Bridal shower

text: The custom of the bridal shower is said to have grown out of earlier dowry practices, when a poor woman's family might not have the money to provide a dowry for her, or when a father refused to give his daughter her dowry because he did not approve of the marriage. In such situations, friends of the woman would gather together and bring gifts that would compensate for the dowry and allow her to marry the man of her choice.


title: Bridal shower

text: The earliest stories about these events have been known to originate in Brussels, Belgium around 1860. A frequently quoted legend traces the origin of this practice to the 16th or 17th Century Netherlands. However, there are also parallels with many dowry practices and the United States colonial or hope chest ("trousseau") custom.


title: Bridal shower

text: A related custom practised in medieval England was the Bride Ale: in Langland's "Piers Plowman" (§ B.II.45) there is a reference to a "bruydale." This was a feast held before the wedding day, at which the bride made beer and sold it to the guests at a high price.


title: Bridal shower

text: In the United States, bridal showers started in urban areas in the 1890s mainly among the upper middle classes. By the 1930s, bridal showers had spread to rural America.


title: Bridal shower

text: The earliest use of this sense of the word in print may be in the Grand Rapids "Michigan Evening Press" 22 June 4, 1904: "The ‘shower parties’ that through mistaken hospitality the wedded couple are forced to attend ..." and may derive from the custom in Victorian times for the presents to be put inside a parasol, which when opened would "shower" the bride-to-be with gifts.


title: Bridal shower

text: Many different customs have developed in different regions and social groups, but the basic format has been relatively unchanged for generations, and emphasizes traditional gender roles. Sociologists like Beth Montemurro write that the ritual of the bridal shower "socializes women into the hyper-feminized traditional wife role," with its emphasis on the future role of the bride-to-be as family cook, homemaker, and sexual partner. Historian Elizabeth Pleck echoes this dynamic in pointing out that traditional shower gifts were "for the bedroom or the kitchen." But this role is more of an homage to the mothers and grandmothers than a reflection of how the bride-to-be will actually behave in the marriage.


title: Bridal shower

text: Although the format has remained relatively consistent, there have been some significant changes. An etiquette guide from the 1920s suggested showers should be "purely spontaneous and informal," with guests arriving unannounced at the bride-to-be's home, while a planning guide from the 1950s suggests more complex themes and games.


title: Bridal shower

text: Showers are often held during the afternoon or evening, but not generally as luncheons or dinner parties. They commonly take place four to six weeks before the wedding.


title: Bridal shower

text: Due to the prior history of showers being "purely spontaneous and informal", showers have not developed the same formal etiquette that has developed with respect to weddings. Invitations may be issued informally, by mail, telephone, or e-mail.


title: Bridal shower

text: As showers are explicitly a gift-giving occasion, everyone who attends the shower is expected to bring a small gift. People who decline the invitation for any reason are not expected to send a gift or otherwise participate in the party. The hosts are expected to hand over gifts, or favors. These can be small gifts like chocolate coins that have been personalized with the name of the bride and the date of the event or a simple thank-you message.


title: Bridal shower

text: Food can be served at bridal showers. Treats such as cake and candy buffets can also be served for guests.


title: Bridal shower

text: Hosting the bridal shower falls to one or more close friends of the bride, often one or more of the bridesmaids. Close family members traditionally did not host bridal showers, however, it has become commonplace for mothers of the bride and groom or other members of the family to host or contribute to the event. Some organizations, such as social clubs or religious groups, host bridal showers for every member who is being married.


title: Bridal shower

text: The number of guests and their relationship to the bride varies widely. In Canada, among some immigrant communities parties in community halls with upwards of 300 guests were normal, while other cultures emphasized intimate parties with only close friends and relatives.


title: Bridal shower

text: Though many cultures have events before the wedding, bridal showers are most common in the United States and Canada.


title: Bridal shower

text: In the United Kingdom, bridal showers have been described as a "consumerist American idea" with "limited acceptability". In the UK, wedding presents are normally selected from a list provided by the couple, and delivered either at the wedding or by the shop, and sometimes displayed at the wedding. Nonetheless, bridal showers are sometimes held, and shower-planning services are frequently offered by wedding planners.


title: Bridal shower

text: In Australia and New Zealand, a custom related to the North American bridal shower, known as a Kitchen Tea, was traditionally held before the wedding. During a Kitchen Tea, female friends and family members would gather at the bride's family home for an afternoon tea, where they would give kitchen-related gifts to the bride. Recently, the influence of American culture has seen a rise in the prevalence of American-style bridal showers as opposed to the traditional Kitchen Tea.


title: Bridal shower

text: In India, Mehndi is a bridal-centric pre-wedding event where the bride's female friends and family gather to prepare the bride for the wedding. In the event the bride's traditional henna tattoos are made.


title: Bridal shower

text: In Denmark and Germany, the only pre-wedding events commonly held is a bachelorette party for the bride and a bachelor party for the groom.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: El Chapulín Colorado (English: "The Red Grasshopper") is a Mexican television comedy series that ran from 1973 to 1979 and parodied superhero shows. It was created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños (Chespirito), who also played the main character. It was first aired by Televisa in 1973 in Mexico, and then was aired across Latin America and Spain until 1981, alongside "El Chavo del Ocho", which shared the same cast of actors. Both shows have endured in re-runs and have won back some of their popularity in several countries such as Brazil, Colombia or Peru. Although the series has a regular cast, all actors but Gómez Bolaños play different characters each episode, and it is therefore described as an anthology series.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: "Chapulín Colorado" translates literally in English as "The Red Grasshopper" or "The Cherry Cricket" (the word "chapulín" is of Nahuatl origin and applies to a Mexican species of grasshopper, while "colorado" means "red".). The show embodies many aspects of Latin and Mexican culture while making a critique on the unrealistic image of superheroes. In each episode, people recognized Chapulín wherever he appeared (one episode took place on the planet Venus), believing him to be a great superhero. Recognition caused him to boast, only to stumble and fall right away, proving himself to be puny and timid, and disappointing his fans. Despite this, Chapulín tried his best to help, and all his adventures ended well (though sometimes by sheer good luck or outside help.)


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: Parodying Superman's "Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive" introduction, Chapulín was introduced as follows in the show's opening, reinforcing the idea of a barely powered hero:


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: He is a superhero that hails from somewhere in the U.S. (most probably its southernmost regions) whose appearance is very similar to that of Uncle Sam (including the famous top hat with the colors of the U.S.), but his suit is similar to Superman's. Half of the things Súper Sam says are in English, considering his inadequate skills with Spanish (he is known for having to carry an English-Spanish dictionary in his pocket whenever he needs to save someone in Mexico). Súper Sam's primary weapon is a bag full of dollars that he says were "few, but very powerful"; it is usually used to beat on the head of the wrongdoers or Chapulín, as both don't get along very well. Every time he uses his weapon, the ringing of a cash register chimes in the show's audio. His catchphrase is "Time is Money, oh yeah!" and when present, most people say that "they don't want imported superheroes", much to Súper Sam's annoyance. According to Florinda Meza's character, Super Sam is "just like Chapulín, but with a bank account."


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: With "Chapulín", Chespirito and along his production team made extensive use of the chroma key device and bluescreen to produce visual effects which made the adventures of this superhero more interesting. Though somewhat unrefined by modern standards, the show achieved surprising effects like floating in the air or flying, performing impossible acrobatics, fighting against Martians, strange creatures, witches and various monsters, and, most often, to get the physical reduction effect thanks to his famous "pastillas de chiquitolina", which Chapulín frequently used to pass under doors, reach dangerous areas without attracting attention, or solve problems.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: This innovation, which was already known in Mexican television but not widely used, gave "Chapulín" the distinction of being virtually the only adventure-comedy broadcast in Mexico.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: In May 2017, Roberto Gomez Fernandez revealed that an animated film adaptation of El Chapulin Colorado is in development. On 6 October 2019, it was reported that Gomez Fernandez had begun working on the script. Later that month, Gomez Fernandez revealed that production on the film has begun. He also said that the film will take place in a shared universe featuring characters created by Chespirito.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: In December 2020, Gomez Fernandez revealed that a live-action film based on the character is being produced in parallel to the animated film. The idea for a live-action feature film was conceived during development on the animated film. Althrougth no actor has been cast on the title role, Gomez Fernandez acknowledged that the studio has certain actors in consideration.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: El Chapulín Colorado comics were sold in Mexico during the program's broadcasting years from 1974 until 1982. These comics have also been seen occasionally appearing in some episodes of "El Chavo" (where El Chapulín Colorado is considered a fictional character on the show) usually being read by the characters. The comics were sold weekly and sold an estimated total of more than 400 issues.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: In the early 1990s with the high popularity of the products of the Chespirito characters in Brazil, two series of children's comics were made in partnership with the Editora Globo, with a new art style different from Mexican comics. These comics were "Chaves & Chapolim" (1990–1993) and "Chapolim & Chaves" (1991–1992), both comics features stories both with El Chavo and El Chapulín Colorado.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: In May 2017, along with the announcement of a film, Gómez Fernández revealed that a comic series based on the character is in development.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: "Chapulín" has enjoyed popularity all over Latin America, the United States, Spain, Portugal and other countries, albeit somewhat less than its sister production of "El Chavo". Like "El Chavo", it is still shown in reruns in various countries. The cast of "Chapulín" was the same as that of "El Chavo", although only actors Florinda Meza, Carlos Villagrán and Ramón Valdés were usually in every episode; however, the characters usually were different. Some of the regular (albeit infrequent) characters who appeared, usually Chapulín foes, were El Tripaseca (Valdés) and El Cuajinais' (Villagrán), a pair of Mafiosi who liked to make heists, as well as concurrent superhero Super Sam (played by Valdés too; see below). One-off villains, mostly those played by Valdés, like Wild West outlaw El Rascabuche, are also fondly remembered by fans.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: Shorter Chapulín adventures were preceded by a skit, usually featuring Chespirito's other characters, like Dr. Chapatín, a tactless, impatient old physician, or El Chómpiras, an incompetent thief in the skit called Los Caquitos, along with El Peterete, played by Ramón Valdés. Chompiras and his new partner in crime, El Botija, played by Edgar Vivar, came to dominate the later years of "Chespirito", an hour-long showcase featuring all the characters of the show.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: The physical diversity of "Chespirito" actors permitted the richness of characters in the adventures, each week a new one. Chapulín was a hero of undetermined geographic and temporal location: his adventures could unfold in the American Old West, in ancient China, in London, in the Swiss Alps, during the Spanish Inquisition, in pirate ships, in Nazi Germany (an episode in which Chespirito played a double role as Chapulín and as Adolf Hitler himself, in the style of Charles Chaplin's "The Great Dictator") or outer space, and his enemies range from the Yeti to Egyptian mummies, including his interaction, in some occasions, with literary characters such as Romeo and Juliet (""Juleo y Rumieta"", or literally "Juleo and Rumiet").


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: "El Chapulín Colorado" is also extremely popular in Brazil. The company, Tec Toy, responsible for distributing the Sega consoles in Brazil, published a video game for the Sega Master System called "Chapolim x Drácula: Um duelo assustador" ("Chapulín vs. Dracula: A Frightening Duel"). It was a localization of another existing SMS title, "Ghost House", with the hero's graphics changed to Chapulín's.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening has said that he created the Bumblebee Man character after watching "El Chapulín Colorado" in a motel on the United States–Mexico border.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: The Marvel Comics superheroine Red Locust, a member of the newest incarnation of the Champions, was created as an homage to El Chapulín Colorado.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: On the manga and anime series "One Punch Man", a superhero called "Smile Man" physically resembles El Chapulín Colorado, while it also resembles classic Japanese character Anpanman. The character wears almost the same yellow and red suit as El Chapulín, using a big red and yellow hammer as well. However, there're a few noticeable differences, such as the lack of antennae on the head, a big smile face instead of a heart shield on his chest (just like Anpanman) and the use of a mask. While it is yet to be confirmed if the character is a parody or a tribute of El Chapulín Colorado, several news websites (especially from Latin America) noticed the physical similarities. The official Spanish Twitter account of the series even acknowledged the similarities, using one of El Chapulín's quotes along a screenshot showing Smile Man.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: El Chapulín Colorado appears in one of the episodes of season 5 of "Monica Toy" (animated spin-off of "Monica's Gang").


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: To celebrate the 91st anniversary of Chespirito's birth date and the 50th anniversary of the character's creation, on 21 February 2020, the videogame "FIFA 20" added a free DLC based on El Chapulín Colorado. The DLC specifically added a new yellow and red uniform based on the character for the "Ultimate Team" game mode, which includes the heart shield on the uniform's shirt.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: On October 29, 2021, it was announced that El Chapulín Colorado would become a playable character in the popular video game "Fortnite", becoming available to the public as of November 2, 2021. Additionally, there are two sets of 5 outfits made with common "Fortnite" characters wearing the Chapulín Colorado outfit.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: On July 9, 2022, a skin based on El Chapulín Colorado was added to Epic Games' "Fall Guys", which was available until July 13. Later that year on October 11, a Chapulín Colorado-themed vehicle and the character's imagery were added to sister game "Rocket League", which were available until October 17.


title: El Chapulín Colorado

text: El Chapulín Colorado was one of the subjects incorporated by photographer Dulce Pinzon in her photographic series titled "The Real Stories of the Superheroes." In this series, Pinzon dressed mostly Mexican immigrants as various superheroes, but performing their normal, daily work in construction, childcare, waitressing, window cleaning, etc., and then photographed them. The series included super heroes such as Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, as well as El Chapulin Colorado. This photographic series was declared as part of the National Legacy of Mexico in 2020.


title: Loop of Henle

text: In the kidney, the loop of Henle () (or Henle's loop, Henle loop, nephron loop or its Latin counterpart ansa nephroni) is the portion of a nephron that leads from the proximal convoluted tubule to the distal convoluted tubule. Named after its discoverer, the German anatomist Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, the loop of Henle's main function is to create a concentration gradient in the medulla of the kidney.


title: Loop of Henle

text: By means of a countercurrent multiplier system, which uses electrolyte pumps, the loop of Henle creates an area of high urea concentration deep in the medulla, near the papillary duct in the collecting duct system. Water present in the filtrate in the papillary duct flows through aquaporin channels out of the duct, moving passively down its concentration gradient. This process reabsorbs water and creates a concentrated urine for excretion.


title: Loop of Henle

text: The tissue type of the loop is simple squamous epithelium. The "thick" and "thin" terminology does not refer to the size of the lumen, but to the size of the epithelial cells. The loop is also sometimes called the Nephron loop.


title: Loop of Henle

text: The loop of Henle is supplied by blood in a series of straight capillaries descending from the cortical efferent arterioles. These capillaries (called the vasa recta; "recta" is from the Latin for "straight") also have a countercurrent multiplier mechanism that prevents washout of solutes from the medulla, thereby maintaining the medullary concentration. As water is osmotically driven from the descending limb into the interstitium, it readily enters the capillaries. The low bloodflow through the vasa recta allows time for osmotic equilibration, and can be altered by changing the resistance of the vessels' efferent arterioles.


title: Loop of Henle

text: As well, blood in the vasa recta still has large proteins and ions which were not filtered through the glomerulus. This provides an oncotic pressure for ions to enter the vasa recta from the interstitium.


title: Loop of Henle

text: The descending loop of Henle receives isotonic (300 mOsm/L) fluid from the proximal convoluted tubule (PCT). The fluid is isotonic because as ions are reabsorbed by the gradient time system, water is also reabsorbed maintaining the osmolarity of the fluid in the PCT. Substances reabsorbed in the PCT include urea, water, potassium, sodium, chloride, glucose, amino acids, lactate, phosphate, and bicarbonate. Since water is also reabsorbed the volume of fluid in the loop of Henle is less than the PCT, approximately one-third of the original volume.


title: Loop of Henle

text: The interstitium of the kidney increases in osmolarity outside as the loop of Henle descends from 600 mOsm/L in the outer medulla of the kidney to 1200 mOsm/L in the inner medulla. The descending portion of the loop of Henle is extremely permeable to water and is less permeable to ions, therefore water is easily reabsorbed here and solutes are not readily reabsorbed. The 300 mOsm/L fluid from the loop loses water to the higher concentration outside the loop and increases in tonicity until it reaches its maximum at the bottom of the loop. This area represents the highest concentration in the nephron, but the collecting duct can reach this same tonicity with maximum ADH effect.


title: Loop of Henle

text: The ascending limb of the loop of Henle receives an even lower volume of fluid and has different characteristics compared to the descending limb. In the ascending portion, the loop becomes impermeable to water and the cells of the loop actively reabsorb solutes from the luminal fluid; therefore water is not reabsorbed and ions are readily reabsorbed. As ions leave the lumen via the Na-K-2Cl symporter and the Na-H antiporter, the concentration becomes more and more hypotonic until it reaches approximately 100-150 mOsm/L. The ascending limb is also called the diluting segment of the nephron because of its ability to dilute the fluid in the loop from 1200 mOsm/L to 100 mOsm/L.


title: Loop of Henle

text: Flow of the fluid through the entire loop of Henle is considered slow. As flow increases, the ability of the loop to maintain its osmolar gradient is reduced. The vasa recta (capillary loops) also have a slow flow as well. Increases in vasa recta flow wash away metabolites and cause the medulla to lose osmolarity as well. Increases in flow will disrupt the kidney's ability to form concentrated urine.


title: Loop of Henle

text: Overall the loop of Henle reabsorbs around 25% of filtered ions and 20% of the filtered water in a normal kidney. These ions are mostly Na, Cl, K, Ca and HCO. The powering force is the Na/K ATPase on the basolateral membrane which maintains the ion concentrations inside the cells. On the luminal membrane, Na enters the cells passively; using the Na-K-2Cl symporter. Then the Na/K ATPase will pump 3 Na out into the peritubular fluid and 2 K into the cell on the non-lumen side of the cell. This gives the lumen of the fluid in the loop a positive charge in comparison and creates a Na concentration gradient, which both push more Na into the cell via the Na-H antiporter. The hydrogen ion for the antiporter comes from the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, which takes water and carbon dioxide and forms bicarbonate and a hydrogen ion. The hydrogen ion is exchanged for the Na in the tubular fluid of the loop of Henle.


title: RSVP Movies

text: In 2017, Ronnie Screwvala re-entered the entertainment business with RSVP after his exit from UTV Motion Pictures in 2013 and produced "Love per Square Foot" which was digitally released on Netflix in 2018.


title: RSVP Movies

text: "Love per Square Foot", starring Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar, was the first film produced under RSVP's banner. The film was released on 14 February 2018 and was screened at Beijing International Film Festival 2019.


title: RSVP Movies

text: RSVP produced "Lust Stories" (2018), an anthology film consisting of four short films from four directors, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar. The film has an ensemble cast including Radhika Apte, Bhumi Pednekar, Kiara Advani, Manisha Koirala, Vicky Kaushal, TejasKrish, and Sanjay Kapoor.


title: RSVP Movies

text: In 2018, RSVP produced Akarsh Khurana's directorial debut "Karwaan" (2018), starring Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan and Mithila Palkar. RSVP collaborated with Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films for "Pihu" (2017), which premiered at 2017 International Film Festival of India and screened at the Fajr International Film Festival. The film was released theatrically in November 2018.


title: RSVP Movies

text: RSVP collaborated with Guy in the Sky Pictures and produced "Kedarnath" (2018) starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Sara Ali Khan. RSVP produced the directorial debut of Aditya Dhar, "" (2019), starring Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Mohit Raina, and Yami Gautam. The film got listed in the top ten Hindi films with the highest domestic net collection and won four National Film Awards including Best Director and Best Actor. In 2019, RSVP produced "Sonchiriya", directed by Abhishek Chaubey and starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee, Ranvir Shorey and Ashutosh Rana. Vasan Bala's "Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota" (2019) starring Abhimanyu Dassani and Radhika Madan was also produced under RSVP's banner. The film premiered at Midnight Madness section of 2018 Toronto International Film Festival and won the People's Choice Award. The film was also screened at 2018 JIO Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image Film Festival.


title: RSVP Movies

text: "The Sky Is Pink" starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, and Zaira Wasim which is going to be premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2019, "Bhangra Paa Le" featuring Sunny Kaushal and Raat Akeli Hai starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, and Shweta Tripathi Sharma are some of the acclaimed films. RSVP has also announced three more projects, "Natkhat", a short film co-produced with Vidya Balan, "Rashmi Rocket", starring Taapsee Pannu and directed by Akarsh Khurana and Sam Bahadur starring Vicky Kaushal and directed by Meghna Gulzar and Tejas starring Kangana Ranaut. In 2021, the company produced its first Telugu film "Pitta Kathalu" along with Flying Unicorn Entertainment.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Spartan women were famous in ancient Greece for having more freedom than women elsewhere in the Greek world. To contemporaries outside of Sparta, Spartan women had a reputation for promiscuity and controlling their husbands. Unlike their Athenian counterparts, Spartan women could legally own and inherit property and they were usually better educated. The surviving written sources are limited and largely from a non-Spartan viewpoint. Anton Powell wrote that to say the written sources are "'not without problems'... as an understatement would be hard to beat".


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Similar to other places in ancient Greece, in Sparta, far more is known about the elites than the lower classes, and ancient sources do not discuss gender in relation to the non-citizens who constituted the majority of the population of the Spartan state.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Sparta is one of only three states in ancient Greece, along with Athens and Gortyn, for which any detailed information about the role of women survives. This evidence is mostly from the Classical period and later, but many of the laws and customs we know of probably date back to the Archaic period. The literary sources which give us the most information about women's lives in Sparta are written exclusively by non-Spartans; they are also exclusively written by men. Non-literary sources, including archaeology and ancient art, are limited.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: The earliest evidence about the lives of Spartan women come from archaic Greek poetry, such as the ("maiden songs") of Alcman, a Lydian poet who lived and worked in Sparta in the seventh century BC. Other important sources are Herodotus, fifth century Athenian drama, and fourth century Athenian political treatises, including Xenophon’s "Constitution of the Spartans" and Aristotle's "Politics". In the Roman period, sources include Plutarch's biographies and collections of sayings and customs of the Spartans and Pausanias' guide to Laconia.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: According to Plutarch, Spartans practiced infanticide as a matter of course if children were thought to be unhealthy. It is unclear whether this applied to girls as well as boys, though evidence from elsewhere in Plutarch and Xenophon implies that it did not. It is likely that girls were simply given into the care of their mothers immediately after birth, though there is not enough evidence to say whether this was the case throughout Spartan history. Female Spartan babies were as well fed as their male counterparts – in contrast to Athens, where boys were better fed than girls – in order to have physically fit women to carry children and give birth.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Information about the education of Spartan women is hard to find as there are more surviving sources about the education of Spartan boys. In Sparta, boys were educated in the agoge from the age of seven, at least during some periods of Spartan history. It is likely that whenever the state arranged for the education of boys, it also institutionalized the education of girls. Unlike their male counterparts, Spartan girls would have been raised at home with their mothers while undergoing their education. They would learn about the duties and responsibilities of looking after the home, largely because the males of the household were often away. There is evidence for some form of official educational program for girls as early as the archaic period, and this system seems to have been discontinued in the Hellenistic period. The extent to which education for girls was restored under the reforms of Cleomenes III is unclear, but it may have become voluntary rather than compulsory. State-supervised education for girls was once again abolished in 188 BC and restored in the Roman period.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Literacy in Sparta was a skill limited to the elite. However, there is evidence from the Classical period that some women could read. For instance, anecdotes about Sparta are preserved which feature mothers writing letters to their sons who were away. A reference by Aristophanes to a Spartan woman poet, Cleitagora, and the Spartan Pythagoreans listed by Iamblichos, suggest that some Spartan women may have been highly literate.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: As well as reading and writing, women studied "mousike" – which consisted of not just music, but also dance and poetry. Women seem to have learned to play musical instruments, as shown in surviving statuettes. "Mousike" was an important part of Spartan religious activity, particularly as part of the cults of Helen and Artemis. Spartan girls danced in choruses made up of girls of similar ages, and they were led by an older girl ("chorēgos"), and trained by a professional poet. Along with training in song and dance, these choruses educated girls in ritual and cultic activity. Dance also provided physical benefits: in Aristophanes' "Lysistrata", the Spartan character Lampito attributes her fitness to the Laconian dance known as the "bibasis", which involved buttock kicks and leaps. The "bibasis" was a competition that both Spartan men and women competed in to win prizes. Finally, the songs to which the girls danced provided an opportunity to inculcate them with Spartan values and gender roles.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Unlike elsewhere in Greece, in Sparta, unmarried girls regularly participated in sports. The Spartan exercise regimen for girls was designed to make them "every bit as fit as their brothers", though unlike their brothers they did not actually train for combat. In his "Constitution of the Spartans", Xenophon reports that Lycurgus required that women should exercise just as much as men, and to this end instituted athletic competitions for women.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Early sources report that Spartan girls practiced running and wrestling; later texts also mention throwing the javelin and discus, boxing, and pankration. They also learned to ride, and votive offerings have been discovered depicting Spartan women on horseback. It is possible that Spartan girls exercised naked, because Archaic Spartan art portrays naked girls, unlike the art of other areas of Greece. Girls might have competed in "gymnopaedia," the Spartan festival of naked youths. They also competed in running races for various festivals, of which the most prestigious was the Heraean Games. Upon marrying, Spartan women likely ceased participating in athletics.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Spartan women seem to have married relatively late in comparison to their counterparts elsewhere in Greece. While Athenian women might have expected to marry for the first time around the age of fourteen to men much older than them, Spartan women normally married between the ages of eighteen and twenty to men close to them in age. Spartan men under the age of thirty were not permitted to live with their wives, instead they were expected to live communally with other members of their syssitia. Due to the husband's absence, women were expected to run the household largely alone. Unlike in Athens, where state ideology held that men were in charge of the household, Sue Blundell argues that in Sparta it is likely that women's control of the domestic sphere was accepted, and possibly even encouraged, by the state.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: According to Spartan ideology, the primary role of adult women was to bear and raise healthy children. This focus on childbearing was likely responsible for the emphasis on physical fitness in Spartan women, as it was believed that physically stronger women would have healthier children. Before marriage, there was a trial period for the potential couple to ensure that they could have children; if they could not, divorce and remarriage was the customary solution. For Spartans, all activities involving marriage revolved around the single purpose of producing strong children and thus improving their military.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Spartan marriages could also be arranged based on one's wealth and status. The evidence for the role of "kyrioi" (male guardians) in arranging Spartan women's marriages is not decisive, though Cartledge believes that, like their Athenian (and unlike their Gortynian) counterparts, it was the responsibility of the "kyrios" to arrange a Spartan woman's marriage.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: There is some evidence in ancient sources that the Spartans practiced polyandry. Herodotus says that the bigamy of Anaxandridas II, who married a second wife because his first had not been able to produce an heir, was un-Spartan, but Polybius wrote that it was common at his time, and a time-honoured practice. Andrew Scott suggests that polygyny would have been more common in ancient Sparta in the early 4th century BC, when the number of Spartan citizen men sharply decreased. Along with plural marriage, Xenophon states that older men with younger wives were encouraged to allow younger, more fit men impregnate their wives, in order to produce stronger children. Further, Polybius claims that when a man had enough children, it was a Spartan custom for him to give his wife to another man so that he too might have children.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: On the night of the wedding, the bride would have her hair cut short and be dressed in a man's cloak and sandals. The bride appeared dressed like a man or a young boy to be perceived as less threatening to her husband. The bride was then left alone in a darkened room, where she would be visited and ritually captured by her new husband. Men were expected to visit their new wives at night and in secret. The purpose of this was to make it more difficult for new couples to consummate their marriage, which was thought to increase the desire between husband and wife, and lead to the creation of stronger children.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Because Spartan men spent much of their time living in barracks or at war, Spartan women were expected to run the household themselves. Unlike in Athens, where state ideology held that men were in charge of the household, Sue Blundell argues that in Sparta it is likely that women's control of the domestic sphere was accepted by the state. Due to this Aristotle was critical of Sparta, and claimed that men were ruled by strong and independent women,


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: unlike in the rest of Greece. Aristotle also criticized Spartan women for their wealth. He attributed the state's precipitous fall from being the master of Greece to a second-rate power in less than 50 years, to the fact that Sparta had become a gynocracy whose women were intemperate and loved luxury.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: All Spartan women, not just the richest, would have taken advantage of helot labour to perform the domestic tasks that elsewhere in Greece would have fallen to free women. Activities such as weaving, which were considered women's work elsewhere in Greece, were not considered fit for free women in Sparta. Therefore, women were more preoccupied with governance, agriculture, logistics and other sustenance tasks.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Spartan law codified under Lycurgus expressed the importance of child-bearing to Sparta. Bearing and raising children was considered the most important role for women in Spartan society; equal to male warriors in the Spartan army. Spartan women were encouraged to produce many children, preferably male, to increase Sparta's military population. They took pride in having borne and raised brave warriors. Having sons who were cowards, however, was a cause for sorrow, and the ancient author Aelian claims that women whose sons died as cowards lamented this. By contrast, the female relatives of the Spartans who died heroically in the Battle of Leuctra were said to have walked around in public looking happy.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Spartan women did not simply celebrate their sons who had shown bravery and mourn when they had not, but they were crucial in enforcing social consequences for cowardly men. When Pausanias, a traitor to Sparta, took refuge in a sanctuary to Athena, his mother Theano is said to have taken a brick and placed it in the doorway. Following this example, the Spartans bricked up the temple door with Pausanias inside. Similarly, Pomeroy cites three of Plutarch's "Sayings of Spartan Women" which tell of Spartan mothers killing their cowardly sons themselves.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Alcman’s "Partheneia" or ‘maiden song’ was among the first documents discovered to express homoerotic sentiments between women. This was performed as choral hymns by young women in Sparta, and the piece was probably commissioned by the state to be performed publicly.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: Alcman’s poem has a verse where the younger choral girls admire their older choral leaders who invoke admiration and also inspires these erotic sentiments. The women describe the way that eros (sexual desire) for their choral leaders has taken over their bodies.


title: Women in ancient Sparta

text: In ancient Sparta, cults for women reflected Spartan society's emphasis on the women's roles as child-bearers and raisers. Consequently, cults focused on fertility, women's health, and beauty. The cult of Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, was an important cult for Spartan women. Also important was the cult of Helen, with many objects used by women – mirrors, eye-liners, combs, and perfume bottles, for instance – dedicated at her cult sites. As well as two major cult sites, a shrine to Helen was located in the center of Sparta, and many steles featuring her were carved and displayed throughout the city. Cynisca, the first woman to win an Olympic victory, also had a cult in Sparta, the "only woman on record" to have been thus commemorated.