Review: Exploitation as Cool

Author(s): Jean Kilbourne

Review by: Jean Kilbourne
Source: The Women's Review of Books, Vol. 20, No. 8 (May, 2003), pp. 7-8
Published by: Old City Publishing, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4024133
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 I , . A A~~~~~~~~~~~~ *~~1

Exploitation as cool

How Sex Changed Sensing the Self

by Jean Kilbourne

A History of Transsexuality Women's Recovery from Bulimia

in the United States

Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers

"Using clinical inter-

WINNER OFTHE STONEWALL AWARD FOR

views conducted with

by Alissa Quart. New York: Perseus Publishing,

NONFICTION SPONSORED BYTHE AMERICAN

women recovering
LIBRARY ASSOCIATION'S GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL,

AND TRANSGENDER ROUND TABLE

from bulimia nervosa

2003, 239 pages, $25.00 hardcover.

"This unusually intelli-

...Sheila Reindl has

gent and straight-

constructed a

forward cuftural history

thought-provoking

...convincingly shows
study that manages to
T here has never been a propaganda While soft drinks ruin the health of children

that our coming to

be both scholarly and
effort as prolonged and successful and contribute to the epidemic of obesity,

view 'biological sex'-

highly readable... Sensing the Self uftimately

as that of advertising in the past their sale in schools funds sports and

the physical markers of

succeeds in providing both clinicians and

fifty years or so. Alissa Quart's book is a extracurricular activities. A boy in Georgia

femininity and mas-

laypersons with an unusually patient-centered

welcome addition to the increasing body of was suspended from school for wearing a

culinity-as malleable
picture of the joumey out of bulimia."

literature on this topic, and the first I know Pepsi T-shirt on "Coke Day." Schools force

rather than immutable constituted one of the

-Rebecca Sherman,

of to focus exclusively on teenagers. As students to watch "news" programs larded

most profound moral, social, legal, and medical

RADCLIFFE QUARTERLY

Quart points out, marketing to teens has with commercials in exchange for basic

changes in twentieth-century America"

Author photo: ?2000 Allison Evons * $19.95 paper

existed since the word teenagerwas coined by cable equipment. Corporations provide

-ATLANTIC MONTHLY

Madison Avenue in 1941. But there has schools with curricular materials straight out

Author photo: Pat Swope * 20 halftones - $29.95 cloth

Hearts of Wisdom

been an exponential increase in the amount of Saturday Night Live, such as a nutrition

American Women Caring for Kin,

and intensity of advertising that teenagers curriculum from McDonald's and an envi-

1850-1940
Sexual Blackmail

are exposed to, even in their schools, as well ronmental curriculum from Exxon.

A Modern History

as on the streets and in their homes. In 1989 Teens' recreational spaces have been

Drawing on antebellum slave narratives, white

corporations spent about $600 million on taken over by advertisers. Marketers hire

farm women's diaries, and public health

"By culling examples

marketing to kids. In 1999 they spent twen- young people to infiltrate communities of

records, Abel puts together a muftifaceted

from the New York

ty times that amount. In addition, marketers other young people, to hang out at the malls

picture of what caregiving meant to American

Times and the Times

spend billions of dollars on psychological and skateboard parks, finding out what is

women-and what it cost them-from the

of London, legal

research designed to get them into the heads trendy and cool. They report back to head-

pre-Civil War years to the brink of America's

reports, film TV and

and thus the wallets of young people. quarters, where rebellion and originality can

entry into the Second World War

tabloids, McLaren

Even more damaging, however, is the be processed into edgy ads for beer and

$19.95 paper
shows not just how - :.-:.-...

extent to which teens unwittingly collude with burgers, shampoo and cigarettes. Quart

sexual blackmail .

these powerful interests and end up branding takes us on a guided tour of the worlds of

reflects social mores,

Strangers and Kin

themselves, often in the name of rebellion these teen "trendspotters," as well as the

but also the ways in which sexual deceit and

The American Way of Adoption

and self-expression. As an ad in Advertising world of the adult "cool hunters" who

secrecy have affected legislation... The book

Age, the major industry publication, says, exploit them and who shamelessly admit

tracks sexual blackmail from repressive

"Adoption is a quin-

"These days kids don't want to grow up to be that they are willing to make kids feel bad

Victorian times to today, when exposure of

tessentially American

athletes, comedians or movie stars. They want about themselves in order to sell products.

sexual secrets if far less damaging ... Deftly

institution, says...

to be highly leveraged brands." It is this cor- In one of the most intriguing chapters,
organized and full of gripping facts and cri-

Barbara Melosh, in

porate colonization of teenagers' hearts and Quart analyzes the change in films targeting
tique, Sexual Blackmail makes reading history

that it embodies opti-

minds that Quart describes best. young people in just the past fifteen years.
a wicked indulgence."

mism, generosity of

Unlike older Americans, today's teens Once the stories of outsiders (such as -Lily Burana, WASHINGTON POST

spirit and confidence

Author photo: Scott Dippie

have been the targets of massive marketing 1985's The Breakfast Club), most films for

in 'social engineering.'

I I halftones, I line drawing * $35.00 cloth

campaigns almost literally since birth. young people these days are paeans to con-

In Strangers and Kin,

"There will be a first step, a first word and, summate insiders-sports stars, cheerlead-

Melosh offers a history of adoption from the

of course, a first French fry," says a recent ers, rich kids and beauties (Clueless, Shei4All Dilemmas of Desire

early 20th century to today. Drawing on

McDonald's ad, one of several that Quart That, Bring It On). Many of these films fea- Teenage Girls Talk about Sexuality

records of adoptions and individual stories,

uses to illustrate her points. Research has ture young women who are rescued from

she presents thoughtful comments on cur-

found that at the age of six months, babies outsider status by the fashion advice of

rent debates surrounding adoption, including

"For all the panicky ink devoted to teen sex,

begin to recognize corporate logos. Not sur- more popular peers. Transformation in
transracial adoption and the ethics of inter-
until now there has been no academic stud)

prisingly, by adulthood, the average these films is brought about by makeovers

on what teenage girls actually want.Tolman national adoption."

American can identify 1000 corporate logos not morals, costume changes not courage.
-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
...fills that gap by focusing on girls' desires,

(but only ten plants). There are two main These films, basically long versions of com- Author photo: Susan Miller * $29.95 cloth
rather than on the social ills they're usually

reasons why children and teens are so mercials or MTV clips, are designed to cele- quizzed on.. The teenage voices she has

attractive to advertisers. First, they have a lot brate consumption and materialism. collected are articulate and refreshing...
Female Spectacle

[Tolman] makes a convincing case for why

of disposable income and are more than
The Theatrical Roots of

we should listen: girls in touch with their

willing to part with it to buy CDs, clothing, ven worse, however, than this inva-
Modern Feminism

own desires make safer, healthier choices

cosmetics, and more. American teens spent sion of educational and recreational

about sex.'
$155 billion on such products in 2000 alone. space is the advertisers' invasion of

Female Spectacle reveals the theater to have

-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Even more important, however, is the fact teens' private spaces. As Quart says, "brands

been a powerful new source of cuftural

I table *$26.95 cloth

that they are developing brand loyalty, a have infiltrated preteens and adolescents'

authority and visibility for women. Ironically,

concept of great importance to manufactur- inner lives." Branded teens tend to be self-

theater also provided an arena in which

Appropriately

ers and advertisers. loathing, since the message at the heart of

producers and audiences projected the

Children begin asking for specific brands most advertising is that you can never really
uncertainties and hostilities that accom-

Modern Mothers in
almost as soon as they can talk. This "nag measure up. Quart explores how girls are
panied changing gender relations. From

factor," as advertisers call it, is an important seduced into eating disorders and cosmetic Traditional Religions
Bernhardt's modern methods of self-promo-

marketing strategy. Children are encouraged surgery in an attempt to look like models, tion to Emma Goldman's political theatrics,
TOVA HARTMAN

to lobby their parents day and night. An ad while there is increasing pressure on boys to from the female mimics and Salome dancers

for an online store features a baby and the to the upwardly striving chorus girl, Glenn
be like their favorite video game action

"This small gem of a book opens a new

shows us how and why theater mattered to

copy, "He'll make you laugh. He'll make you heroes. Teens are made to feel that products

conversation about mothers. Illuminating the

women and argues for its pivotal role in the

cry. He'll make you buy him lots of stuff." are their friends and corporations their allies.

inner voices of women raising daughters in

emergence of modern feminism.

According to a poll commissioned by the This is especially poignant and perilous at a

the orthodoxies of Judaism and Catholicism, i

27 halftones * $18.95 paper

Center for a New American Dream, the time when personal and famnilial relationships
reminds us that all mothers mother in ortho-

average American child aged 12 to 17 will are so often bleak and fragile. As young peo-
doxy. Rarely have I seen the intelligence of

ask his parents nine times for a product he ple seek meaning, identity, and connection in
mothers so respected or their conflicts

wants, even in the face of repeated denials. brands, individuality and imagination are portrayed with such eye-opening honesty"'

Fifty-five percent of kids said their parents undermined, idealism is perverted, and a -CAROL GILLIGAN

$29.95 cloth
would eventually give in. sense of political powerlessness is embedded

Children and teens are not only constant- deep in their psyches. Perhaps most tragical-

ly assaulted by ads on television, radio, bill- ly, they learn to mistake consumer choice for

boards, the Internet, and in magazines, they free will, fashion statements for freedom.

are also captive audiences for advertisements Quart, a journalist, makes a powerful
:o. A*

in their schools. Quart vividly describes how case that a commodified youth culture is

underfunded school systems, desperate for dangerous as well as depressing. She

cash, sell their students to corporations. explores forms of branding that go beyond

The Women's Review of Books / Vol. XX, No. 8 / May 2003

m__Z~~*. . i

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 to understand it. But this is the point:

advertising, such as the pressure on young

How might a new biography of Zora

people to get into "brand-name universi-

Neale Hurston complicate the life of an

ties" and the new phenomenon of teen

icon for an audience that takes her exis-

"memoirists" who trade their secrets for
IconograpLy

tence for granted? As with all biogra-

celebrity and end up as packaged as their

phies, the main object is to make the sub-

books. Many teens who can't get pub-

by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts

ject come alive, in motion and in color.

lished post their traumas and confessions

Boyd ascends to the task with impres-

on websites, some with cameras that cap-

Wrapped In Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston

sive confidence. A seasoned journalist

ture them living their lives, posing, some-

and former arts editor of the Atlanta

times half-dressed. As Quart says, "It

by Valerie Boyd. New York: Scribner, 2003,

Journal-Constitution, she writes with an

makes sense to these teens to merchandise

ease, a grace likely honed by years under

their bodies and experiences."

528 pp., $30.00 hardcover.

the pressure of deadlines. Her life of

Although Quart's style is smart and

Hurston is achieved with equal urgency,

sassy and her book is not meant to be aca-

and with the vigor of fresh discovery.

demic, I wished for notes and references

Also refreshing is the absence of the

is tromping through the American South
and for more depth. Her conclusions are T he critic is wise, upon receiving a

trappings one might expect from a biog-

toting pistol and tape recorder; she trem-
based on interviews with teens, most of book for review, to toss the cover

rapher writing after the triumph of cul-

of that book aside: thoughtfully bles with visions, seduces every man,
whom seem to be white and middle- or

tural theory. Imagine lost or future theses

out of reach for preservation should the woman, and child in sight, makes the
upper-class. There are huge numbers of

on Hurston read through the lens of the

scene and then disappears entirely, lost in
teens who don't have the luxury of worry- volume be fit to travel from the stack of

various disciplines: feminist psychoanaly-

cruel poverty. Ironically, Zora-Icon is the
ing about getting into college at all, let things read on duty to a spot in her pleas-

sis making much of her fraught relation-

fruit of the earnest toil of a past genera-
alone into a brand-name college. I found ure library; or (if the critic is me) relegat-

ships with men; performance theory

tion whose rediscovery, or as this book
myself wondering what differences she ed to the black hole next to her desk, atop

going wild with ever-shifting identities;

prefers in its hagiographic mode, "resur-
might have discovered with other ethnic other detritus of the trade, including (but

revisionist anthropology questioning her

rection" of Hurston was done against the
groups and classes. She does compare the not limited to) other book covers, bound

methods in the South with that gun and

tide of a hostile mainstream. It was neces-
quinceanera, the Latino cultural celebration galleys not worth the paper they're print-

tape recorder, or the veracity of her find-

sary in order to validate the very existence
of a girl's fifteenth birthday, with lavish bar ed upon, and semi-literate press releases

ings in Haiti, where she became an initi-

of a black feminist lineage. The famous
and bat mitzvah parties and Sweet Sixteen thick with gushing, bribed blurbs.

ate of Voodoo. Any of these takes might

mandate from Alice Walker's essay
parties, but I wondered how this commer- Disposal did not cross my mind when

be compelling, but such biographies also

"Looking for Zora" encapsulates the task:
cialization of a rite of passage manifests contemplating the cover of this latest

risk obliterating the lives they are meant

book, Wrapped in Rainbows, the new biog- "We are a people. A people do not throw
itself in poor communities. Interestingly,

to tell, leaving a paper doll where a per-

their geniuses away. And if we do, it is our
most of the working class teens and teens raphy of Zora Neale Hurston. Never

son once stood. Boyd's book is not the

duty as witnesses for the future to collect
of color featured in the book are activists mind what is said about judging, books,

work of a scholar pale from years chasing

them again for the sake of our children. If
working to change the system. and covers: the exterior of this tome poses

wraiths in the archives. In fact, its shape

necessary bone by bone." Now that the
Quart ends the book with anecdotes a vexing riddle. Is it real? Or rather, is she

owes much to the genre of long profiles

work of the bone collector is done
about young people who are fighting back real? She is, one presumes, Zora. But here

in glossy woman's magazines. This is a

(Walker took her own words literally,
and resisting exploitation in many different she is shown in full color: a face ripped

populist Zora, a book to be devoured by

locating the unmarked grave of Hurston
ways, ranging from protesting in the streets out of the sepia past, made contemporary

reading groups. Ably summarizing and

and providing it with a headstone), the
and in the schools to creating alternative with honey colored skin and red lips fram-

contextualizing Hurston's major works,

children find the remains perfect for
forms of entertainment. Although these sto- ing the immortal smile. Zora as she may

Boyd provides no fresh readings. Perhaps

ancestor worship, in a sort of cultural
ries are inspiring, they can create the impres- have looked in dreamy Technicolor gives a

that is the overdue work of some future

necrophilia. A heroine whose tumultuous
sion that individual effort will solve this shock to the historical sense. Forgiving the

scholar: The party line on Hurston has

life is high on entertainment value is
problem. In truth, the commercialization of rather literal rendering of the book's title,

changed so little since the middle eighties

inevitably flattened in death. Zora is a
our culture is increasingly a public health the cover image seems perfectly to ani-

and is so widely agreed upon that stu-

byword for sassy, romantic, black girl
problem. As such, it can only be addressed mate the hefty proposition (and dilemma)

dents can consult online cheat sheets.

bohemia, the Queen of the Harlem
by changing the environment, which requires of the pages within.

Renaissance. She has become a wax-figure

collective action and legislation. Some school The first Hurston biography in over 25

W^ T rapped in Rainbows insists, above

mascot. Her legacy is determined, her
districts are refusing to sell their students to years bears a peculiar burden. Its subject,

all, on being a good story.

place in history confirmed, and the ways
advertisers. On a grander scale, some whose existence was once little more than

Taking cues from its subject-

to feel about her fixed.
European countries have entirely banned a rumor, was this year commemorated on

a master prose stylist-the pages seem

advertising that targets children. Another a United States postage stamp. Marched

Hurston at home in

blessed with the presence of Zora her-

legislative possibility would be to end the tax out of anonymity and into the canon by

New York, demonstrating the

self. In fact, page after page features the

deductibility of advertising and use some of brigades of feminist, womanist, and mul-

Crow Dance. From Wrapped in Rainbows.

actual words of Zora, through excerpted

the money to fund media literacy in our ticulturalist culture warriors, Zora Neale

letters and substantial quotations from

schools. It is, of course, important to get Hurston is now Zora-Icon. Everyone is

Hurston's memoir and her autobiograph-

on a first-name basis with Zora-Icon, and
corporate hucksters out of our schools.

ical fictions. At first, one is startled,

More important, though, we must adequate- everyone knows her story. The colorized

though pleased, to find a biographer so at

ly fund public education and vote people Zora of Wrapped in Rainbows seems perfect

one with her subject. Boyd has crafted a

into office who value children as more than for a moment when Frida and Virginia,

narrative voice perfectly suited to

consumers. We must also combat the those other one-name heroines of the sec-

Hurston's life and work; high-toned, ele-

widescale deregulation of consumer protec- ond wave, suffer on the big screen, all fur-

gant hyperbole slips into honeychile ver-

tion and antitrust laws (leading to increased rowed brows and

nacular. The product seems a fulfillment

concentration of media ownership) begun pursed lips in a fever

of the benediction (quoted by Boyd in a

by Reagan and continuing with Bush. of feminine creation.

recent interview) from Hurston's first

The influence of advertising and mar- Zora: The Movie will

biographer, Robert Hemenway, who said

keting on our lives is far, far more perni- have all the crucial

that a new life should be written, and by

cious now than when I began studying it scenes: There she

a black woman. The reasons for this are

over thirty years ago. However, there has goes dancing around

most evident in Boyd's language, and

also been a positive change and that is the Harlem measuring

leave one to wonder if she has not indeed

proliferation of organizations and coali- Negro heads; now she

initiated a whole new model, ready for

tions that have sprung up to counter the

perfection, of how the lives of black

power of the advertisers, such as

The un- women might be written. The intimacy

Commercial Alert, Dads & Daughters, and

troubled afterlife achieved is admirable, but after a while

the Adbusters Media Foundation. I wish

of an icon is a one wants to feel some friction between

Quart had included a list of resources in

the two. There is no resistance. Boyd

thing Hurston
her book. References to books such as

.,R...........

. . - . , .. .... . . - . .. .

herself might seems to have written a book with full

Naomi Klein's bestseller No Logo, Robert

have found quite cooperation, as if she were a ghostwriter

McChesney's Rich Media, Poor Democracy,

, , . ... ..... ... ..-.. , ..

hired to tell the authorized story. (The

pleasing, so
and David Korten's When Corporations Rule
".. . .'.' ' ..- .. .. ..

active was she in book is dedicated "to Zora Neale

the Wor/d would buttress Quart's arguments

.-..s............S.

the production of Hurston, for choosing me.")

and broaden the discussion.

personal mythol- Boyd follows Hurston trustingly,

Alissa Quart has written a frightening

........i'': .0t

acknowledging the obvious omissions

ogy during her
and important book. Branded is the per-

own lifetime. and half-truths of Hurston's memoirs

fect title, since it captures the sinister

Perhaps this is a with the wink of a co-conspirator. While

nature of what corporate America is

painting her as the ultimate yarn-spinner,

luxurious gripe, made by a critic born
doing to teens today-searing them,

inventive dreamer, and teller of tall tales,

after the first Hurston biography of
owning them, herding them. It is hard to

Boyd takes her neat episodes at face

1977, who has never known a world
imagine a more important mission than

value, including her account of her life as

without Zora, who knew that face on the
rescuing our children from this soul-

the fulfillment of prophetic visions

postal stamp before she was old enough
destroying, collective fate.

8 The Women's Review of Books / Vol. XX, No. 8 / May 2003

------------------------------- I_WO ~ M

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