One of our readers sent in a Valentine’s Day card that came in a box of cards her 10-year-old received. The card reinforces the idea that pretty girls are high-maintenance; they’re materialistic and, implicitly, demanding or difficult — which they presumably get away with in exchange for being attractive:
For another example of cultural assumptions about pretty girls, and the idea that they play by a different set of rules, see our post on the “I’m too pretty to do math” magnet or t-shirt.
Zeynep P. sent in a commercial for Teleflora, a company that delivers flowers, that, as Zeynep points out, combines objectification with the explicit message that women exchange sexual favors for gifts from men:
The ad normalizes the idea that women would manipulate men with sex, and that men would expect that doing things for women (especially spending money on them) should result in sex. It’s a winner all around.
Gwen Sharp is an associate professor of sociology at Nevada State College. You can follow her on Twitter at @gwensharpnv.
Cross-posted at Montclair SocioBlog.
Being in the dominant majority allows you that comfort of not thinking. People in that majority can assume that everyone shares their views, ideas, and even characteristics, and much of the time, they’ll be right. “Flesh colored” in the U.S., sometimes even today, means the color of white people’s flesh.
White is the default race, the American race. It’s easy to ignore that African Americans might not see those Band-Aids as flesh colored. Similarly, Christianity is the default religion, and those who are in the majority can make those same flesh-colored assumptions. Justice Scalia, for example, seemed unable to understand that the Jewish families of Jews killed in war might not feel “honored” by a cross placed on the grave of their son or daughter. (My post on this is here.)
The latest example: this Hannukah card sent in South Carolina, presumably to Jews, by Rick Santorum’s local team. First tweeted by political reporter Hunter Walker, it’s rapidly making the rounds of the Internet.
We’ve posted in the past about awkward or puzzling attempts by companies to recognize Black History Month. The L.A. Clippers let underprivileged kids attend a game for free, though technically in the wrong month. The NBC cafeteria offered fried chicken and collard greens, as did a grocery store. Or maybe you prefer to celebrate Black History Month by buying hair straightener. And sometimes companies just sort of say they’re celebrating Black History Month, but without any specifics.
Emma A. sent in our newest example. Chad Ochocinco, of the New England Patriots, tweeted this pic of Black History Month being celebrated…with a sale on Kool-Aid:
Yep.
Dolores R. sent in an infographic with various statistics regarding the superbowl. I thought this bit about food and drink consumption was especially great:
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Another example, forwarded by Aaron P., of the trivialization of holidays meant to celebrate the triumphs of the marginalized:
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
While most Americans think of the witch as a possibly evil character associated with Halloween in the U.S., many Italians would see a motherly figure who keeps a clean house (hence the broom) and gives candy or coal to children. The character’s name is Befana. Thanks to Katrin for drawing my attention to her.
Italians celebrate the end of the Christmas season today, January 5th. Tonight is the night before the Feast of the Epiphany (celebrating the understanding that Jesus was God in human form) (source). According to Italian mythology, Befana will visit children’s homes, filling their shoes with candy (if they’ve been good) or coal (if they’ve been bad) (source). Epiphany Eve is celebrated throughout Italy.
For more examples of variation in the culture of Christmas, see our posts on Krampus: Santa’s Evil Side Kick, The ChristKind, Snegurochka: Santa’s Granddaughter, and Black Pete (trigger warning for blackface).
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
