Media & Society-Week 8

TOPIC 1: BANNED BOOKS AND YOUR BOOKSHELF

1. Do you see any books on the ALA list that you've read or know about? List some of them and what you thought of the book.

I’ve read a fair number of these, including ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian’, which I loved. Titles I’ve read and enjoyed on the list are: ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ by Mark Haddon, ‘Fun Home’ by Alison Bechdel, ‘Persepolis’ by Marjane Satrapi, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, ‘Nickel and Dimed’ by Barbara Ehrenreich, ‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker, The Harry Potter series, ‘Julie of the Wolves’ by Jean Craighead George, and ‘Summer of My German Soldier’ by Bette Greene. When I was 12-13, I loved the Captain Underpants books, and the His Dark Materials trilogy has been one of my favorite series since I first read them at 15.

2. What’s your take on limiting access to various books and other materials in public schools or local libraries? Do objections seem reasonable?

 Some seem reasonable but many don’t. ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ in a school?! That seems ridiculous to me, those books are clearly meant for adults (leaving the issue of how problematic the relationship depicted in it completely aside). Overall, I think the ages of the kids the books are assigned to is the most important factor, for instance ‘The Color Purple’ wouldn’t be appropriate for a 12-year old, but it’s an excellent book that I think an older teen could appreciate. When it comes to public libraries, however, I feel like there shouldn’t be any sort of banning of books. People of all ages and walks of life use the public library and while I don’t feel like Becky the 12-year old is an appropriate reader for, say, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, Rebecca the 50-year old should be able to read it if she wants. How various materials are addressed in schools is also an important consideration, as even difficult or potentially offensive subjects can be important learning points. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ depicts racism, yes, but it can be used as a tool to help kids understand and fight against racism.

3. Now think about the bookshelves at your home. List some of the books and authors that visitors would find on your bookshelves. What do those books and writers tell us about you and your interests/passions?

 A disproportionate number of my books are on Historical Fashion, Costume Design, Set Design, or drawing/arts guides. And I want more! I also have a number of books that fall under the category of humor/satire, such as The Onion’s ‘Our Dumb Century’ and James Lilek’s ‘Gastroanomalies’. I love natural science and history, so I have a few books on that. Fiction takes up a fairly small amount of my bookshelf, but Stephen King is well represented, as well as two sets of three books that I’ve held on to through many moving-related book purges: The Myst books by Rand and Robyn Miller and David Wingrove, and ‘Uzumaki’ by Junji Ito.

I think a visitor would be struck first and foremost by how many Costume and Set Design-related books I have and would accurately guess that it’s something I’m very passionate about. They could probably guess from the humor books I have that I have a wry, sarcastic sense of humor and that I love the horror genre (especially works by Stephen King), since so many of my limited fiction books fall into that genre.

TOPIC 2: MAGAZINES

1. What THREE magazines, either in print or online, have you read over the years? Write about your interest in these publications, and what they say about you and your interests? What, in particular, do you like or look for in these magazines? Cite some examples.

The Smithsonian can pretty much always be found in my home. I’ve been pretty lucky in that my mother manages to earn lots of points through online surveys that we trade in for subscriptions to that magazine. Through that same method, we’ve been subscribed to Afar magazine for long stretches of time, as well as Better Homes and Gardens.

I love the Smithsonian because of the interesting and informative articles, although I do feel like the quality of these has dropped a bit over the past couple of years. I enjoyed reading Afar because of it’s descriptions of different locales, and I liked to think about maybe visiting those places (although, discounting moving, I don’t travel that much). I liked Better Homes and Gardens mostly for the recipes, but also considered their home decorating and gardening tips a bit.

2. Consider the advertising in these publications. What products and services are featured in these magazines? List some of them. Finally, what do these publications say about you as a consumer?

The Smithsonian’s ads seem to be directed towards older, more affluent consumers, as there are many ads for medications, hearing aids, and special orthotics. There are also ads for cruises and vacation destinations and vehicles.

Unsurprisingly, Afar’s advertisements were mostly for travel-related businesses, such as hotels, airlines, etc. Better Homes and Gardens advertising seemed to be marketed at moms: ‘kid-friendly’ foods, cleaning supplies, and stores like Target, although there were also ads for prescription medications as well.

I think looking at my usual magazines, someone might mistakenly assume that I’m older than I am (not many ads catering to single mid-to-late 20s women in any of the three publications). One might also get the impression I have a great deal more wealth than I do. However, a correct impression one might gain from looking at my magazines is that I’m curious about new things and like getting inspiration from seeing how other people do (or don’t) do things, from traveling the globe to redoing the living room.