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The Young and The Feckless: Bursting Bubbles

Social Commentary post by J Maureen Henderson, Submitted by J Maureen Henderson on May 26, 2010 - 10:05am; tagged class, culture, Facebook, generation y, internet, LinkedIn, lolocats, millennials, privilege, socioeconomics, The Young and The Feckless, Twitter.

It was oddly apropos to be mulling over the idea of social bubbles over bubble tea. Totally unplanned, though (as was the choking on a tapioca pearl). A friend and I were discussing the need to stop accepting online culture as the status quo. It's exclusive and exclusionary, with its own language, its own jargon and touchstones and for all of its ubiquity, the culture of the internet isn't universal*, not even amongst our generation. My brother-in-law doesn't have a Facebook account, my former coworkers had no idea what LinkedIn was, people who aren't using it don't give a flying...fig about Twitter and on and on. But if you're immersed in internet culture, it seems like the norm. Everyone blogs! Or comments on message boards. Or knows what a lolcat is, etc. It's not the norm, though. It's a bubble. And given that the topic recently came up again in an online (har, har, har) discussion wherein the majority sided in favor of the supportive power of surrounding oneself with like-minded folks for the sake of encouragement and motivation, I thought I should finally get around to digging out my hatpin and getting to work on breaking down (bursting if you're the punny sort) the idea of the bubble.

Photo by rksura (Pentax Man)

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Eat, Pray, Spend

Priv-lit and the new, enlightened American dream

Article by Joshunda Sanders and Diana Barnes-Brown, Illustrated by Ana Mouyis, appeared in issue Action; published in 2010; filed under Consumer culture; tagged Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, Oprah, priv-lit, privilege.

For decades, self-help literature and an obsession with wellness have captivated the imaginations of countless liberal Americans. Even now, as some of the hardest economic times in decades pinch our budgets, our spirits, we’re told, can still be rich. Books, blogs, and articles saturated with fantastical wellness schemes for women seem to have multiplied, in fact, featuring journeys (existential or geographical) that offer the sacred for a hefty investment of time, money, or both. There’s no end to the luxurious options a woman has these days—if she’s willing to risk everything for enlightenment. And from Oprah Winfrey and Elizabeth Gilbert to everyday women siphoning their savings to downward dog in Bali, the enlightenment industry has taken on a decidedly feminine sheen.

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