"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem." - Howard Zinn
In Girl Wide Web 2.0, Sharon R. Mazarella and Allison Atkins present"Community, Content, and Commerce." In particular, they discuss Alloy.com which was begun in 1996 as a "media platform to reach hard-to-reach young consumers..." Wait a minute? Is it just me, or doesn't this already sound like a crock?
Mazarella and Atkins note, this is a day and age when "actual physical spaces for youth (e.g., parks, acitivity halls, and so on) have disappeared." Instead, "virtual spaces have become welcoming spaces for the young as they combine entertainment, advice, friendship , community, and shopping" (266). Ah, now I get it -- and so does Alloy. Girls are online -- and they just so happen to be spending lots of money. Girls ages 8-14 spend $51 billion dollars a year, consuming mostly that which promises to give them self esteem in the form of appearance - beauty products, fashion, etc. Little do they know Alloy Marketing is spending more than 3X as much to keep them believing the consumerist lies that keep them buying and eventually segue them into the $175 Billion teen market. So while they may promote themselves as being "friendly and understanding social space for young girls," this is obviously not the case. Their forums and articles are simply a ruse, with the ultimate goal of doing exactly what their co-founder Matt Diamond says in the first place, target young girls as consumers "and act as a conduit for corporate America" (264).
Good ol' Corporate America. America's corporate and political elites now form a regime of their own. Remember those thieves Zinn talked about -- yep, you got it. The poor are the majority and always have been. If you are living in a situation of poverty or near-poverty, you are the norm. Corporate America wants you to believe just the opposite. In industrialized nations like The United States being poor carries with it an onus of shame and despair because capitalist societies place value only on productive individuals, and the image of ‘a good life’ that is promoted in countries like ours is not simply one of having enough to eat and wear and a warm place to live. The acquisition of possessions far beyond basic needs is promoted as the difference between happiness and misery. In the Western World, it may even be more psychologically stressful to be poor because all media and societal norms so heavily promote ideals of wealth that are beyond the reach of the majority. And I am speaking of adults carrying these ideals and burdens -- imagine what it must be to be the child navigating through life deciphering the value of her beliefs and actions. Obviously, corporate America, corporations like Alloy.com DON'T CARE.
I think girls today need Alloy.com as much as we need to see another Charlie Sheen interview. What a shameful enterprise. I suggest showing tweens this instead:
In Girl Wide Web 2.0, Sharon R. Mazarella and Allison Atkins present"Community, Content, and Commerce." In particular, they discuss Alloy.com which was begun in 1996 as a "media platform to reach hard-to-reach young consumers..." Wait a minute? Is it just me, or doesn't this already sound like a crock?
Mazarella and Atkins note, this is a day and age when "actual physical spaces for youth (e.g., parks, acitivity halls, and so on) have disappeared." Instead, "virtual spaces have become welcoming spaces for the young as they combine entertainment, advice, friendship , community, and shopping" (266). Ah, now I get it -- and so does Alloy. Girls are online -- and they just so happen to be spending lots of money. Girls ages 8-14 spend $51 billion dollars a year, consuming mostly that which promises to give them self esteem in the form of appearance - beauty products, fashion, etc. Little do they know Alloy Marketing is spending more than 3X as much to keep them believing the consumerist lies that keep them buying and eventually segue them into the $175 Billion teen market. So while they may promote themselves as being "friendly and understanding social space for young girls," this is obviously not the case. Their forums and articles are simply a ruse, with the ultimate goal of doing exactly what their co-founder Matt Diamond says in the first place, target young girls as consumers "and act as a conduit for corporate America" (264).
Good ol' Corporate America. America's corporate and political elites now form a regime of their own. Remember those thieves Zinn talked about -- yep, you got it. The poor are the majority and always have been. If you are living in a situation of poverty or near-poverty, you are the norm. Corporate America wants you to believe just the opposite. In industrialized nations like The United States being poor carries with it an onus of shame and despair because capitalist societies place value only on productive individuals, and the image of ‘a good life’ that is promoted in countries like ours is not simply one of having enough to eat and wear and a warm place to live. The acquisition of possessions far beyond basic needs is promoted as the difference between happiness and misery. In the Western World, it may even be more psychologically stressful to be poor because all media and societal norms so heavily promote ideals of wealth that are beyond the reach of the majority. And I am speaking of adults carrying these ideals and burdens -- imagine what it must be to be the child navigating through life deciphering the value of her beliefs and actions. Obviously, corporate America, corporations like Alloy.com DON'T CARE.
I think girls today need Alloy.com as much as we need to see another Charlie Sheen interview. What a shameful enterprise. I suggest showing tweens this instead:
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