Anthropologists in the News

We feel it is important to share the work of others in the business anthropology community as a way to demonstrate the critical work we are doing and to inspire the next generation of anthropologists. Likewise, we are sharing a few articles that reference the work of some anthropologists from our community.

The first article titled ‘Be a man’: What does that mean in modern America?, features Timothy Malefyt and his masculinity research for Gillette. It compares the research Malefyt conducted in 2010 with NASCAR fans with Gillette’s recent Super Bowl ad. The ad used their classic slogan “Is this the best a man can get?” as a jumping off point to call men to move beyond the toxic behaviors inspiring the #MeToo movement. However, as the article points out, the beliefs behind the toxic behaviors are a bit more nuanced than they may seem in the ad. As Malefyt’s research had discovered, masculine values can be a bit paradoxical including aspects of friendly competition, ingenuity at work, strong friendship, and intergenerational bonding. To learn more, read the article here.

The next two articles feature Gigi Taylor of Luminosity Research. Taylor is speaking at South by Southwest (SXSW) on a panel titled An Anthropological Approach to Reaching Customers which seeks to call attention to how anthropology can support research in advertising. The panel is featured in the Ad Week article titled A Guide to Maneuvering SXSW 2019’s OOH Panels as well on SXSW’s website.

Finally, in an article titled What physicians can learn from anthropologists posted on KevinMD, Matt Artz, founder of Azimuth Labs, and Carolina Severiche MD discuss how physicians could benefit from anthropological thinking. The article argues that our increasing emphasis on technology has shifted medicine away from a patient-centered approach to a tech-centered approach to the detriment of patient satisfaction. To help physicians get back to their origins, and provide patients with the kind of care they expect, the authors suggest adopting a holistic emic perspective that is grounded in observation and humanism.

If you have an article you would like to see featured, please contact us.