Comments | rivkat: Nonfiction

rivkat

Nonfiction

May 01, 2006 14:44

The scary thing? These are all relevant to my work. Except maybe the Naomi Wolf. ( history of obscenity law, scientific revolutions, presentation of self, misquoting Jesus, sexual awakenings, consumer awakenings, intellectual property )

su: free speech, au: kuhn, reviews, au: de grazia, au: goffman, su: copyright, au: wolf, nonfiction, su: marketing, su: trademark, au: ginsburg & dreyfuss, au: ehrman

Comments 6

Re: Consuming Kids davidhearne May 1 2006, 19:42:02 UTC

To tell the truth, I'm rather ambivalent about anti-marketing ideology nowadays. However, I will share my experience of a big-box store stocked entirely with infant-centered products. Bye-Bye Baby, I think it was called. Basically it's like Wal-Mart, only stuffed full of strollers, cradles and tiny clothes.

Now I was willing to accept that kind of stuff, even in those massive quantities. But then I got to the audio-visual section and found this enormous selection of CDs and DVDs made especially for the under-two demographic.

That's when I got scared.

Re: Consuming Kids rivkat May 1 2006, 20:30:53 UTC

Linn marshals some scary evidence of how increased ad exposure fundamentally changes the way kids think about what will make them happy -- and then leaves them more dissatisfied. Like global warming, it's just too big a problem to figure out where to start.

I've been to Buy Buy Baby, and Babies R Us. The very scale is designed to convince you that buying mass quantities is normal. I've seen and considered the DVDs; my mother-in-law even brought over the Sesame Street DVD targeted to babies 6 months and up. Fortunately, the Rivkid didn't seem all that interested. But I do worry about how to ensure that he reads and thinks instead of just pointing and shooting.

Re: Consuming Kids cschick May 1 2006, 20:41:31 UTC

There's something amusing about putting together an "essentials for baby" list and then comparing that "essentials" list to the list that places like Babies R Us passes out.

arysteia May 2 2006, 07:48:19 UTC

I always find your reviews so fascinating - they get added to the list on my bedside table of things I don't have time for but will try to find when the semester ends... Speaking of which, yours just has, hasn't it? Welcome back.

Is it wrong to say that I got around to posting another L&Cverse clex story while you were incommunicado? If so, sorry. If not, it's here:

http://arysteia.livejournal.com/77756.html

rivkat May 2 2006, 16:35:53 UTC

Thank you! It's good to be back -- and to hear that the reviews are of interest.

I will check out the L&C story posthaste. Thanks for the link.

Edward de Grazia and Kuhn scribbles1977 May 3 2006, 03:19:24 UTC

Edward de Grazia? I know he is a professor of law, but I wasn't aware of this book. I wonder if he is related to Victoria de Grazia, professor of history at Columbia. Some of her work follows a similar vein though her period of study is around the second World War.
Kuhn's book was one of the first I read as a graduate student. His theories as well as Barbara Duden's The Woman Beneath the Skin: A Doctor's Patients in 18th Century Germany did more to destroy my faith in the absolute truth of science and medicine than anything else. One of those moments that made me say, "Wow this graduate student thing is pretty cool!" Slightly distressing to realign paradigms though. :)