Today's NYTimes has an article about "Seventies Somthing" by Judith Warner, who talking about the promoted girlhood in 1970s and right now. She compared two new books.
"This week came “The Daring Book for Girls,” the work of two almost-middle-aged writers whose goal, they told me, wasn’t just to complement the mega blockbuster “The Dangerous Book for Boys,” but also to offer an escape route out of the high-pressure, perfectionist, media-saturated and competitive world of girlhood in our time. The way they do it: by offering up an alternative kind of girl culture that looks and sounds a whole lot like … life in the 1970s."
In the article, Warner is kind of asking readers to be cautious about glorifying the 70s and tries to understand the essence of the 70s and our current cultural environment--the one puts a girl into womanhood at the age of 9.
In the essence of the Sex and City writing, I cannot help thinking about the article from Columbia's Specters yesterday about the presidential search for Barnard College and the way the current president Schapiro's way of leading. Schapiro is a feminist from 1960s and Barnard College has its public images a cradle for future feminists. However, the interview of the students show students are not totally embracing this idea. They tend to label themselves as the moderate feminists. In their words, their mothers belong to the generation of bra-burning; however, they belong to the generation who can talk about the gender politics as well as loving Jimmy Choo's shoes.
It explains the popularity of Sex and City. Not in a single episode you can see much discussion of politics, except in one where Carrie was dating this Republican candidate which ended tragically. The TV show is totally politically correct--it has nothing to do with it. Is it the kind of life we are longing to as girls?
Many of my friends complain that they have nothing to talk with guys. Guys are interested in stocks, politics, golf and material stuff. There is no romance! No love letters! No old fashion woo.
So what a girl should learn to talk with guys?
My suggestion, that is easy. Read a little bit. listen a little bit. Talk a little bit. My observation is that not many girls listen to Brian Lehrer show--the easiest way to learn the local politics and sports you can chat with guys; or listen to the Leonard Lopate show--to learn the local culture events and comments. It is that easy! When you get time, instead of watching Sex and City nonstop, read the columns in NYTimes or articles in NY Book Reviews. Just to get enough to talk about.
To my great surprise, I find my friends are extremely uninterested in the local politics. Not many of them know about the hate crime in Teachers College, or even Jena Six. It seems to me they live a parallel lives--study or work in U.S., but satisfy all their cultural, emotional, and psychological needs in Chinese literature, pop culture, and websites. I am not saying this is a problem--but it definitely leads to a sense of isolation and alienation.
2007年11月2日星期五
What a girl should learn?
Today's NYTimes has an article about "Seventies Somthing" by Judith Warner, who talking about the promoted girlhood in 1970s and right now. She compared two new books.
"This week came “The Daring Book for Girls,” the work of two almost-middle-aged writers whose goal, they told me, wasn’t just to complement the mega blockbuster “The Dangerous Book for Boys,” but also to offer an escape route out of the high-pressure, perfectionist, media-saturated and competitive world of girlhood in our time. The way they do it: by offering up an alternative kind of girl culture that looks and sounds a whole lot like … life in the 1970s."
In the article, Warner is kind of asking readers to be cautious about glorifying the 70s and tries to understand the essence of the 70s and our current cultural environment--the one puts a girl into womanhood at the age of 9.
In the essence of the Sex and City writing, I cannot help thinking about the article from Columbia's Specters yesterday about the presidential search for Barnard College and the way the current president Schapiro's way of leading. Schapiro is a feminist from 1960s and Barnard College has its public images a cradle for future feminists. However, the interview of the students show students are not totally embracing this idea. They tend to label themselves as the moderate feminists. In their words, their mothers belong to the generation of bra-burning; however, they belong to the generation who can talk about the gender politics as well as loving Jimmy Choo's shoes.
It explains the popularity of Sex and City. Not in a single episode you can see much discussion of politics, except in one where Carrie was dating this Republican candidate which ended tragically. The TV show is totally politically correct--it has nothing to do with it. Is it the kind of life we are longing to as girls?
Many of my friends complain that they have nothing to talk with guys. Guys are interested in stocks, politics, golf and material stuff. There is no romance! No love letters! No old fashion woo.
So what a girl should learn to talk with guys?
My suggestion, that is easy. Read a little bit. listen a little bit. Talk a little bit. My observation is that not many girls listen to Brian Lehrer show--the easiest way to learn the local politics and sports you can chat with guys; or listen to the Leonard Lopate show--to learn the local culture events and comments. It is that easy! When you get time, instead of watching Sex and City nonstop, read the columns in NYTimes or articles in NY Book Reviews. Just to get enough to talk about.
To my great surprise, I find my friends are extremely uninterested in the local politics. Not many of them know about the hate crime in Teachers College, or even Jena Six. It seems to me they live a parallel lives--study or work in U.S., but satisfy all their cultural, emotional, and psychological needs in Chinese literature, pop culture, and websites. I am not saying this is a problem--but it definitely leads to a sense of isolation and alienation.
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