All posts tagged: Identity

“Daemons of the Shadow Realm”: When twins have an identity crisis

“Daemons of the Shadow Realm”: When twins have an identity crisis

Published by Sam Flores

Being born a twin comes with certain expectations. To speak or act in tandem. To share belongings, space and birthdays. To exhibit a closeness that comes from a ready-made bond since birth. But what happens when the very existence of your twin is a lie? In “Daemons of the Shadow Realm,” based on the manga by acclaimed “Fullmetal Alchemist” creator Hiromu Arakawa, Yuru leads a simple life in the premodern Edo-style Higashi Village. With his trusty bow and arrow, he hunts game and safeguards his twin sister Asa – who, for unexplained reasons, resides behind bars in a dark cell. One fateful day mysterious interlopers massacre the villagers, including Asa. One of the intruders – a tall, dark-haired young woman – claims that she’s the real Asa, not the body in the cell, and that Yuru is in danger if he stays. “When Yuru is faced with that situation, and everything he thought he knew about Asa was fake, and there happens to be another Asa, I think he’s in this state of shock,” Kensho …

Dads Are Getting Real About Losing Their Identities After Having Kids

Dads Are Getting Real About Losing Their Identities After Having Kids

Published by Sam Flores

We often hear about how becoming a mum can impact identity – just this year, a major survey of 4,000 women by Peanut found nine in 10 mums (93%) said they’d experienced a “meaningful change” in identity after becoming a parent. More than half (59%) said they felt like a completely different person after having a baby. But compared with motherhood, fatherhood and identity seem to receive less research attention and much less public discussion. In online forums, some report a sense of feeling lost or no longer recognising themselves after having children. One dad described feeling “like a husk” of the person he used to be. Another described not having the energy for himself and feeling guilt over letting his “career, hobbies and friends slip”. Taking to Reddit more recently, a dad-of-three opened up about having the “realisation” that he doesn’t seem to have an identity outside of keeping his family running. “Somewhere along the way I became the person who remembers everything. The grocery list. The camp forms. The appointments. The lunches. The …

Backed by M in funding, Oak steps out of stealth to fix the identity mess that AI agents are making worse

Backed by $60M in funding, Oak steps out of stealth to fix the identity mess that AI agents are making worse

Published by skeptic

Physical badges used to be all you needed for identity management at a company. But with humans now working alongside machines and AI agents in digital environments, even the identity tools built for the cloud era are proving inadequate. That’s the gap Israeli startup Oak is stepping out of stealth to fill, it says. Co-founded by serial entrepreneur Shai Morag, the company has been quietly building a unified control plane that governs identity across an organization, and is now emerging publicly with its product generally available and already deployed by enterprise clients, backed by $60 million in seed funding that it raised late last year. The company didn’t disclose client names, but said its solution is already generally available and deployed by enterprise clients. Outdated credentials and poor identity access management — or IAM, the systems that control who and what can access company data — are a common security vulnerability, one that AI is expected to make even easier for attackers to exploit. Oak also calls itself AI-native, positioning itself as a replacement for …

People Who Wear Black Clothes All The Time Surprisingly Understand 7 Things Most People Don’t

People Who Wear Black Clothes All The Time Surprisingly Understand 7 Things Most People Don’t

Published by Jenni Sidey

Your personal style says a lot about who you are. So, it’s really no surprise that people who usually wear black clothes understand certain things about life, confidence, and identity that others may miss. Whether they’re building a unique personal style, choosing comfort over trends, or keeping their outfits simple so their personality can speak for itself, people who wear all-black clothing often know that fashion doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful. People who love wearing all black understand these 7 things better than everyone else: 1. Practical and comfortable clothes are a superpower Anderson Smith Arboleda | Shutterstock.com When you can wear practical clothes that you don’t have to worry about staining and comfortable outfits that make it easier to be yourself and relax, the world opens up for some people. They don’t have to feel rigid out in the world. They can get into messes and eat however they please. They can connect with people in an outfit that feels comfortable and authentic to their needs. Sometimes it’s the style of …

Cultural Identity and Well-Being | Psychology Today

Cultural Identity and Well-Being | Psychology Today

Published by Jenni Sidey

“If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.” — Margaret Mead Why is culture so important? So influential? How can we understand the value of accepting the diversity of culture? The term “culture” commonly refers to ‘shared, learned behavior and meanings’ among certain groups of people and provides a framework through which individuals can make sense of their world (1). Cultural Identity Your beliefs, values, ethnicity, where you’ve lived before, and where you live now all comprise your cultural identity. When arriving in a new country, it is likely that the culture’s beliefs and values may differ from those of your home country. This transition to your new country may be difficult, not only for you but also for the new people you will meet. You are trying to hold on to what you value and believe, and this might clash with …

Modern Judaica helps Jews express identity, build community in uncertain times 

Modern Judaica helps Jews express identity, build community in uncertain times 

Published by Sam Flores

NEW YORK (RNS) — For generations, Judaica referred primarily to traditional ritual objects: menorahs, Kiddush cups, Shabbat candlesticks, tallits, mezuzah cases and Passover Seder plates. These objects are often made of precious metals and fabrics embodying the tradition of “hiddur mitzvah” — beautifying Jewish practice through artistry.  Today, a growing cohort of Jewish artists and curators say they want to honor the design specifications of traditional Jewish law while playing around and expanding non-traditional design in Judaica — from minimalist and geometric to playful and whimsical, to objects and garments inspired by secular high fashion and streetwear. Their vision comes at a moment when Jewish communities worldwide report an increased desire to engage in Jewish community, ritual or religious life in the years since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.  For some consumers seeking connection outside traditional institutional frameworks, contemporary Judaica has become an entry point into Jewish culture, spirituality and community.  Dana Holler Schwartz, artist and founder of the New York-based brand Via Maris, said she began designing Judaica about five years …

The World Cup is exposing the contradictions of national identity | World Cup 2026

The World Cup is exposing the contradictions of national identity | World Cup 2026

Published by Sam Flores

The World Cup always brings to the fore what is sometimes seen as a pure and mostly straightforward form of identity: national identity. But the 2026 tournament has demonstrated, perhaps as clearly as any global event can, that modern national identity is complex, contested and far from straightforward. The composition of the Moroccan World Cup squad offers a useful case in point. Nineteen of the 26 players on the squad were born outside Morocco, many of them either in Spain or France, the two European powers that colonised the country. The composition of the team has raised fascinating questions about dual citizenship and loyalty, national identity, the diaspora, and the enduring legacies of colonialism. Similar complexities are visible across the tournament. Many of the players on the national teams of the United States, Canada, France, England, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Australia come from immigrant families. In an era of increasingly exclusionary nationalist politics in North America and Europe, some of the countries engaged in the most intense debates about national identity are being represented …

Ovary identity shift after menopause may contribute to inflammation

Ovary identity shift after menopause may contribute to inflammation

Published by skeptic

The ovaries may play a bigger role in post-menopause health than we thought magicmine/Getty Images We used to think that once ovaries had passed through the menopausal transition, the scarred, shrunken organs sat inert in the body. But the discovery that the ovaries of aged mice become infiltrated with immune cells suggests the organ may be linked to widespread inflammation after menopause. “We assumed the organ had done its job [post-reproduction],” says Francesca Duncan at Northwestern University in Illinois. “What we found was super surprising.” In March, Duncan and her colleagues published a study, which hasn’t yet been peer reviewed, looking at the protein composition of ovaries in post-menopausal women aged 50 to 75. They expected all the ovaries to be fairly similar, but instead Duncan found their “molecular signatures changed quite dramatically over the decades, which told us: this organ is not stagnant, it’s changing over time”. To better understand what happens, Duncan and her team have now studied the ovaries of mice in more detail. They analysed the tissue and gene expression within …

5 Action Steps to Make Sobriety Part of Your Identity

5 Action Steps to Make Sobriety Part of Your Identity

Published by Jenni Sidey

Interest in sober living has grown steadily over the years. What once carried a clinical label is now a genuine lifestyle choice for a wide range of people. Generation Z is leading a measurable shift away from alcohol, and for those navigating recovery from substance use disorders, the stakes are even higher. According to Gallup, just 54 percent of American adults reported drinking alcohol in 2025—the lowest rate recorded since tracking began in 1939. But numbers only tell part of the story. What actually changes when sobriety becomes part of who you are goes deeper than most people realize, and further than willpower alone can carry anyone. To understand the psychological shifts involved, I interviewed Stephanie Hazard, a certified recovery coach, author of Making Sobriety Stick, and nationally recognized voice in addiction recovery. What she describes is not a story about quitting. It is a story about becoming. Identity First, Then Behavior Most people think of quitting drinking as a behavioral change. But research suggests something deeper is at work. Studies show that when people …

Los Angeles museum shows featuring artworks about American identity

Los Angeles museum shows featuring artworks about American identity

Published by Sam Flores

The Autry’s current exhibition, “Life, Liberty, and Los Angeles” is an excellent show that takes a deep regional dive pegged to its 250th American anniversary programming. Of all the pieces, See Lee’s meticulously stitched “Hmong Story Cloth” (circa 1980) is a poignant chronicle of making the journey to an unknown future in the United States. Utilizing the traditional paj ntaub embroidery format, the textile documents Lee’s family fleeing war-torn Laos and resettling in Long Beach during the 1970s. The narrative unfolds in sequential sections depicting military violence at a chaotic crossing of the Mekong River; lower panels remember Thai refugee camps, a rescue airplane and a Greyhound bus. This visual testimony shares striking cross-currents with Latin American arpilleras and paños Chicanos, linking disparate diasporic traditions through the shared language of quietly political, deeply personal needlework — in this case, preserving a crucial chapter of Southeast Asian migration to Southern California. 🗓️ On view through Jan. 31, 2027 Source link