Jan 29 2013
Tuesday News: Men and their high heels;
Why did men stop wearing high heels? – Ned sent me this link about how the first wearers of high heels were men, a fashion accessory which denoted wealth. During the Enlightenment period, rational and useful dress became the style and high heels for men went out. High heels were seen as “foolish and effiminate” like women and thus high heels became a favored form of female attire. BBC Magazine
Barnes & Noble to Whittle Stores for Years – According to this article in the WSJ, B&N will close over 200 stores in the next decade or 1/3 of its stores or 20 stores a year, whichever way you want to look at it. Wall Street Journal
The Race Grows Sweeter Near Its Final Lap — Modern Love – This is an essay by Eve Pell about her love found later in life. Trust me, you want to read this.
“One evening at the movies, after we had been seeing each other for several weeks, I felt his hand on mine. If I close my eyes and concentrate, I can recapture the moment: the dark of the theater, the warmth of his hand, my happiness. One might not expect an old grandmother to feel a surge of romance, but I did, and I knew that his reaching out was a brave gesture. I reciprocated, inviting him in for tea when he took me home. I have a narrow, uncomfortable sofa in my living room, poorly designed for intimacy, but nevertheless that was where we sat, and that was where we kissed before he went home. “ NYTimes.com
It’s digital – they won’t mind – Feel like you don’t get the same quality in a digital edition as you do in print? Can’t imagine why anyone feels that way. the simpleton
Stephen King Publishes 99-Cent Kindle Single About Guns – Stephen King published an essay titled “Guns” through the Amazon Kindle Single program (which is exclusive to Amazon) wherein he explains his position on guns and gun tonrol and why he is asking that his book Rage be pulled from publication. The short story features a disenchanted youth taking his high school classroom hostage with a gun. Several teenagers have referred to this book as a source of inspiration. I think King’s actions give fuel to the argument that violence in entertainment begets violence. ” You don’t leave a can of gasoline where a boy with firebug tendencies can lay hands on it.” writes King. GalleyCat
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Jan 29, 2013 @ 04:29:25
Jane, thanks so much for sharing Eve and Sam’s story – it’s lovely and totally inspiring. We need more stories like this!
Jan 29, 2013 @ 05:32:49
So that’s who we get to blame for heels. Good to know. Seriously though, that was a very interesting article.
Jan 29, 2013 @ 06:13:51
The Eve and Sam story is great and why am I not surprised about men giving up heels but expecting women to wear them? If it’s uncomfortable let’s hand it to a woman and then tell her we find it sexy.
Jan 29, 2013 @ 07:50:04
Loved Eve & Sam’s story. Thank you so much for sharing that!
Jan 29, 2013 @ 11:15:49
” I think King’s actions give fuel to the argument that violence in entertainment begets violence. ”
Hmmm. I think that taking that single line out of context makes an unfair characterization of his position. In all his writings about writing, he never says that that art is absolutely mimetic in its effects (or inspiration, for that matter); but rather that each person’s general disposition can be channelled into specific actions by the environment available to him or her. It’s sort of the artist’s version of the weak Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and not at all ridiculous or dangerous.
I think that it would be foolish to argue for a direct line of causation, yes, but it would be equally foolish to say that there is NO correlation between themes in entertainment and behavior.
After all, isn’t there an ongoing discussion in Romancelandia about how depicting abusive sexual behavior promotes “rape culture”?
Or conversely, how exposing ourselves to different ideas and cultures and lifestyles in our entertainment promotes empathy and tolerance?
If what we read and watch has zero effect on our choices, then billions of advertising dollars are surely going to waste!
Jan 30, 2013 @ 13:44:33
@hapax: “If what we read and watch has zero effect on our choices, then billions of advertising dollars are surely going to waste!”
I don’t know much about how advertising works, but find it fascinating nevertheless. I would think advertising is most successful if the target has a predisposition towards the product to start with.
For example, I’m exposed to tons of advertising via television commercials but rarely buy the products shown. I can watch all those Dyson vacuum cleaner commercials but, until I’m actually at the point where I need a new vacuum, I’m mostly going to tune them out. (Of course, I may give a Dyson product a look when I do start seriously shopping, so there is a delayed benefit.) I don’t drink beer, so I could watch beer commercials for hours on end and I’m still not going to buy/drink it.
Of course, I have my weaknesses, books being an obvious one. I don’t need much inducement to buy a new book and consider it a major feat of willpower if I can read one of Jane’s daily deals posts without making a purchase. I’m already susceptible going in.
I don’t know that I’m qualified to apply any of this to violence/gun violence/harmful acts but it’s food for thought. Human behavior is a complex thing, isn’t it?
(I know that one sentence wasn’t the gist of your point, but it got me thinking about advertising.)
Jan 30, 2013 @ 15:47:24
@Susan — actually, you very much got “the gist of my point” — and, if I’m correct, King’s too!
It’s not so much that reading a violent story will turn a peacable kid into a gun-toting monster; it’s that, just like the ad that has little effect until someone is already predisposed to buy, reading that same violent story — if someone is already inclined to act violently — a particularly vivid scenario might provide them a framework to model their behavior on.
I can’t blame King for feeling uncomfortable with that right now.