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oyceterIf I hadn't been on public transportation, if this hadn't been a library book, and if it hadn't been my only reading material for a good hour or so, I would have chucked this against the wall.
Then I would have picked it up, and chucked it again.
I think Halter's main argument is that Americans are more and more interested in consuming their own ethnicity, as can be seen in the more ethnic ads and marketing. Unfortunately, she doesn't complicate the argument much. While she does have chapters on the romance of ethnicity and the historical effects of racism and marketing, I got increasingly frustrated with her assumptions that the production of ads with "Oy vey" and "kvell" in them were accurate representations of Jewish culture, that the increased buying of such products by Jews indicated approval or a desire to consume ethnicity, and the fact that she wasn't looking at stereotyped imaging or financial power or the power of corporations and etc. etc. etc.
Simply telling me that more people of one ethnicity bought something after having an ad targeted to them doesn't convince me that people increasingly want to consume ethnicity. Nor does it go into details on the problems of consuming ethnicity in the marketplace, or into discussion on the construction of ethnicity and how authentic ethnicity is manufactured and markerted as authentic.
I mean, she does go into the last point more, but I was so frustrated by how much she was just taking on the surface level.
Also, while she kept saying that her book covered all ethnicities in America, the majority of her examples were from marketing targeted to the Jews, the Irish, or Latinos. I am paranoid and thought I was making it up, except then she wrote, "Although there have been many examples throughout this volume of marketing to Latinos, to American Jews, and to Irish-Americans, what follows is a closer look at some of the specific ways that consumer culture has intersected with ethnicity among these three populations."
I'm not arguing with that, or that she chooses to focus on those three groups. I am, however, taking umbrage with the fact that her book is supposed to cover the marketing of American ethnicity, and the fact that she keeps appending other groups and dedicating a few sentences, sometimes even as much as a few paragraphs to them. I wish if she had chosen to focus on three ethnic groups, she could have just specified that in the beginning. As it is, I feel like she's only paying lip service to other groups.
So yes. I was very, very disappointed, and I wanted to read something that questioned the consumption of ethnicity more and talked about appropriation and power differentials and all that happy stuff.
Then I would have picked it up, and chucked it again.
I think Halter's main argument is that Americans are more and more interested in consuming their own ethnicity, as can be seen in the more ethnic ads and marketing. Unfortunately, she doesn't complicate the argument much. While she does have chapters on the romance of ethnicity and the historical effects of racism and marketing, I got increasingly frustrated with her assumptions that the production of ads with "Oy vey" and "kvell" in them were accurate representations of Jewish culture, that the increased buying of such products by Jews indicated approval or a desire to consume ethnicity, and the fact that she wasn't looking at stereotyped imaging or financial power or the power of corporations and etc. etc. etc.
Simply telling me that more people of one ethnicity bought something after having an ad targeted to them doesn't convince me that people increasingly want to consume ethnicity. Nor does it go into details on the problems of consuming ethnicity in the marketplace, or into discussion on the construction of ethnicity and how authentic ethnicity is manufactured and markerted as authentic.
I mean, she does go into the last point more, but I was so frustrated by how much she was just taking on the surface level.
Also, while she kept saying that her book covered all ethnicities in America, the majority of her examples were from marketing targeted to the Jews, the Irish, or Latinos. I am paranoid and thought I was making it up, except then she wrote, "Although there have been many examples throughout this volume of marketing to Latinos, to American Jews, and to Irish-Americans, what follows is a closer look at some of the specific ways that consumer culture has intersected with ethnicity among these three populations."
I'm not arguing with that, or that she chooses to focus on those three groups. I am, however, taking umbrage with the fact that her book is supposed to cover the marketing of American ethnicity, and the fact that she keeps appending other groups and dedicating a few sentences, sometimes even as much as a few paragraphs to them. I wish if she had chosen to focus on three ethnic groups, she could have just specified that in the beginning. As it is, I feel like she's only paying lip service to other groups.
So yes. I was very, very disappointed, and I wanted to read something that questioned the consumption of ethnicity more and talked about appropriation and power differentials and all that happy stuff.
(no subject)
Tue, Jul. 11th, 2006 04:32 am (UTC)PS. Yes, I just got back in, so you can call any time now, or else I'll call at 10:00 as we said.
(no subject)
Tue, Jul. 11th, 2006 11:30 pm (UTC)