Results tagged “television”
Reveling in Humiliation (04/01/09 - 26 Comments)
Some time ago I read Girls Gone Mild, a book by Wendy Shalit. Shalit's first book, A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue was published eight years ago and caused quite a stir. Shalit, an Orthodox Jew, made the audacious claim that the sexual revolution may not have been entirely beneficial for women. She decried the lack of modesty this revolution has brought about and, according to TIME defended "compellingly, shame, privacy, gallantry, and...
Things I Miss About Cable T.V. (11/09/08 - 66 Comments)
It must have been a couple of months ago now that Aileen and I got rid of cable TV. We didn't get rid of the television altogether--we kept it so we could watch DVDs and enjoy the Wii. But we got rid of cable and now have access to precisely 0 channels. Today I paused to reflect on all of the things I miss about having cable television. Here they are in no particular order:...
The Cost of Entertainment (08/05/08 - 8 Comments)
Why we watch so much television today is a question that will have many and multi-faceted answers. But in his book Media Unlimited, Todd Giltin offers solid statistical evidence for at least one of the answers. Here is a small table outlining the cost for a general laborer to enjoy the entertainment of that day, given as a proportion of his daily wage. 18th century (theater)More than a full day’s wage Early 19th century (theater)1/3...
Glorying in Humiliation (07/19/07 - 17 Comments)
Over the past few days I've been reading Girls Gone Mild, the new book by Wendy Shalit. Shalit's first book, A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue was published seven years ago and caused quite a stir. Shalit, an orthodox Jew, made the audacious claim that the sexual revolution may not have been entirely beneficial for women. She decried the lack of modesty this revolution has brought about and, according to TIME defended "compellingly,...