The Rage Diaries

The temples of Woman

I like the spa treatments. There, I said it. And occasionally, if I am in the middle of a massage or a facial and I'm still capable of forming a thought beyond "Gah-durrrr....zzzz," I will think, "Didn't I see someone doing this to a piece of veal on the Food Network?"

Forget comparing myself to veal -- according to Emily Nussbaum's "A Stranger's Touch" (New York, Nov 25, 07), I'm actually on the other side of the cruel and exploitive pen. Her thesis:

[R]itualistic grooming—that potent, mutual currency of female friendship—has alchemized into an industry, reproducing that experience as an economic exchange between strangers, each hour, every 15, 30, 60, 90 minutes, on the clock.

It’s a new service economy, one enabled by the same wave of immigrant labor that has made cheap takeout so ubiquitous in Manhattan. And while this caste of manicurists, aestheticians, waxers, and massage therapists varies in their experience and background, their skills have become the invisible engine of New York femininity, making indispensable a new type of labor: a gift for decoration, for intimacy, for tasks that are at their best highly emotional, at their worst shriekingly mechanized, and sometimes both at once.

I buy one part of that statement but not another.

The last time I was in Las Vegas, I had the day to myself so I spent it at the spa in the Paris Las Vegas. Frankly, it ruled: I had access to the fitness facilities, I could poach myself like a trout in the steam baths, and there were big bowls of fresh fruit everywhere. (In Las Vegas, unfettered access to fresh produce on the Strip is a novelty.) And I had a few treatments while I was there. What was striking about these was how precisely the spa had everything choreographed. You were expected to be in your robe and in the anteroom ten minutes before your appointment. At the precise time it started, a line of white-clad aestheticians came out and summoned their specific clients and we walked off like a row of coddled ducklings. When the treatment was over, we were calmly but smoothly escorted down a different hallway on the minute, and the employees whisked over to the anteroom to begin the cycle again. I never felt rushed, but there was a definite sense of efficiency. It was very clear that my hour of pampering was but one unit in the assembly-line production of luxury experiences. I was delighted to observe this: it was perfectly paradigmatic of how Las Vegas sells the idea of pampering and opulence to a very middle-class budget.

But I don't fully buy the idea, put forth in the article, that I am requiring these people to perform "emotional labor" and am thus exploiting them by demanding a false intimacy. And speaking of intimacy, the author also posits that the spa trade is like the sex trade, only without so much kink.

There's a great scene in Coupling when the men and women split off, and each group goes to the "temple of Woman." The guys end up at a strip club. The women end up at the day spa one of them owns. I have always loved that scene. But now, the article suggests, the two temples of Woman really aren't that different after all.

Menchildren

A few months ago, David Denby wrote "A Fine Romance," (New Yorker, Jul 23, 07) in which he derided the recent spate of schlub-scores-hottie movies as deviating from one premise of good romantic comedies -- the fight between equals -- and posited that these movies are anti-woman, writing:

All the movies in this genre have been written and directed by men, and it's as if the filmmakers were saying, "Yes, young men are children now, and women bring home the bacon, but men bring home the soul."

The perilous new direction of the slacker-striver genre reduces the role of women to vehicles. Their only real function is to make the men grow up.

A few weeks ago, Mary Spicuzza wrote "Slacker Guys and Striver Girls" (SF Weekly, Nov 14, 07), in which she notes that unlike the movies, many go-getter women don't treat their boyfriends like fixer-upppers. She reported:

University of California at Santa Cruz literature professor Carla Freccero, whose research focus includes contemporary feminist theories and politics, suspects the slacker-striver films reflect some men's feelings that their manhood is being attacked by feminism. "I don't like that genre of comedy at all," she says.

Freccero says the genre consistently revolves around male-focused plots, and is yet another example of antifeminist backlash. In this case, there's a presumed "economy of scarcity of men" who have their lives together, meaning successful women had better be willing to settle for serious slacker dudes. "It's not about truth, it's a perception," she says.

(There's a Patton Oswalt routine that makes me snort every time I listen to it, about how those KFC bowls are really "failure piles in sadness bowls." Part of me wonders if the American slacker dudes who are currently drifting onto the pop-culture radar would order this. )

And two nights ago, I finally saw Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Both movies reminded me a bit of the British series Manchild -- the protagonists may indulge in some indulgent, adolescent antics, but it's clear that they're paying a price for doing so, and in every case, the men must reckon with their own character and why they've gone for the immature option. If these guys grow up, it's not because some bitch of a woman wants them to, but because they want to. Viva the cultural differences across the pond!

Green is not the only criteria for conscious commerce

If you'd like to reward companies that have a strong track record of supporting equality for the GLBT community, download the Human Rights Campaign's "Buying for Equality" 2008 guide. It's got an easy-to-understand scoring system for retail categories like travel, groceries, banking/finance, apparel, restaurants, etc.

(Remember also: last week I posted the ten companies that the Consumers' Union vetted as being worthy of your shopping dollars.)

A nation of princesses, each in her pink cradle

[W]hile Disney appears to have exploited every corner of princess mania, it is also under pressure to keep its $4 billion princess franchise growing. So Disney's princess minders are hoping to hook even younger girls and their moms on the craze with a new range of princess products aimed at newborns. The princess clan will feature on cribs, diaper-changing mats and other infant products next year.

Also on tap: adding new princesses to the core lineup that includes Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Belle and Jasmine (more-recent characters, Mulan and Pocahontas, are largely on the sidelines). Disney plans to introduce a new African-American princess called Tiana in an animated film, "The Princess and the Frog," a response to demands for more diversity among princesses. Two other animated princess-based movies -- one starring Rapunzel and another starring a Scottish princess in a new Pixar production -- will be rolled out after that.

[...]

[M]many parents of princess-obsessed daughters notice they abruptly drop the brand at about age 6. In an attempt to keep girls enchanted longer, the company launched Disney Fairies, a slightly edgier group of characters (including Tinker Bell) aimed at 7- and 8-year olds. Mr. Mooney estimates the Fairies franchise will generate $750 million in retail sales this year.

-- "Disney Reaches to the Crib To Extend Princess Magic," WSJ, Nov 19, 07

I have never been so grateful to have come of age during the "Free to Be ... You and Me" years.

I, chocolassandra II: the plot thickens, deliciously

As you all may or may not know, Campbell's Soup owns upscale chocolate brand Godiva, and it's put it up for auction. The most likely buyers are Starbucks or Hershey. Either buy would be interesting for the chocolate marketplace. ("Starbucks Craves Godiva's Delights," WSJ, Nv 2, 07)

In the case of Starbucks buying the chocolate maker, I think it would lead to a revival of chocolate-house culture. Although its own chocolate drink Chantico didn't succeed -- in part because customers are used to customizing their own drinks ("Starbucks Cuts out Chocolate Drink," USAT, Feb 10, 06) -- having a more well-rounded line of chocolate products allows Starbucks to capture a still-growing masstige market and give shoppers the sense of customization.

If Hershey's buys it, that's just more proof that they're consolidating their position as a leading luxury chocolate maker. They've been on a buying streak before -- see this earlier entry and the New Yorker's Oct 29, 07 "Extreme Chocolate," which talks about the Green & Black deal.

Speaking of Hershey's, I have vowed not to hit the mint miniatures until after Thanksgiving. O, sweet waiting!

Where to go in 2008 ...?

I am thinking ahead to 108 in 2008 ... what to put on it, whether I even want to do it, or whether there's another effective way to map out and execute a new project.

The Reduce-Reuse-Recycle challenge worked out really well for a lot of reasons this year: the incremental nature made it easy to incorporate new actions into everyone's lives; the tripartite nature of the challenge let us mix up the activities each month; it was a collaboration where we all shared information; we have somewhat quantifiable net results. I don't think I want to do another reduce-reuse-recycle challenge, but I would like to do another month-by-month venture that picks up the best traits from Reduce-Reuse-Recycle.

What areas do you think we can take this into in 2008? Fiscal fitness? Consumer activism? Conscious commerce? Think about one area you'd like to tackle in 2008 and make your suggestions below.

Shopping your conscience

The more I see of Shop Smart, the more I like it. The Jan 08 issue's stand-out feature: "The Best Companies to Buy From." The Consumers' Union tapped KLD Research and Analytics, The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience author Richie Unterberger and Better World Shopping Guide author Ellis Jones, and it came up with ten companies that it says are doing the right thing. The best part of the article: these companies make good products that are often widely available.

The top ten, with hyperlinks to the policies that landed them there, are: Ben & Jerry's; Clif Bar; Kettle Foods; Stonyfield Farms; Burt's Bees; Seventh Generation; Tom's of Maine; Ikea; Patagonia; and Timberland.

What I find interesting about the list is that I know at least three of the companies are owned by other, larger firms (Unilever owns Ben & Jerry's, Colgate-Palmolive owns Tom's of Maine, and Clorox just announced plans to buy Burt's Bees) and both Seventh Generation and Tom's of Maine have business relationships with Wal-Mart (see more details here and here). This tells me that there's growing recognition among companies that having a socially-conscious business unit is an effective way to cultivate a fairly recession-proof audience segment -- the people who don't necessarily let price determine which product they'll select in a consumer category.

The politeness of princes

Part of the frustration is that late people seem more likely to change punctual people than the other way around. When Barbara Otto, a retired international banker, worked overseas, "I realized quickly that I would wind up in an emergency room if I didn't adjust my expectation," she says.

To cope with diddling staffers, she gave phony deadlines. But her tactic became obvious.

The worst late people use time as a weapon. Craig Sparks, a corporate lawyer, used to show up at his client's office for meetings with accountants, investment bankers and other lawyers. The executive kept them waiting. "He became a braggart about how many dollars he was wasting by keeping us all in the conference room waiting," says Mr. Sparks. "It was really perverse."

-- "I'm Not Really Late, I'm Just Indulging in Magical Thinking," WSJ, Nov 13, 07

Are you among the compulsively punctual or the chronically late? How do you deal with your opposite number -- do you not see the point to starting at whatever-o'clock on the dot, or are you unable to understand why people can't just manage their time better?

The longer I am in the workplace, the more I am convinced that some people use scheduling and punctuality or tardiness as a way to remind people who's really in charge. The really amusing thing is, sometimes that reminder is entirely unintentional.

Reduce, Reuse, Recyle: How are y'all doing?

We're nearly halfway through the month ... check in and tell me what you're up to.

Also, if you'd like to use this time to kvell about your ongoing changes-of-habit, please share.

Alternately, you can kvetch. I am planning on doing some of that myself, as I have not been able to get to the big pile of dirt in my front yard, and now it's sprouting oxalis on me. I would have done so last weekend, but I had better things to do, such as collapse after finishing TWO Prison Break recaps in five days, or get soaked to my skin during the Cal/USC football match, or Bring It at the Container Store when someone gave me guff about wanting to exchange one glass shelf for another. And now ... I look at my muzzy green hillock and I think, "Damn you, non-daylight-savings time! I can't weed in the dark!"

Everything is the housing bubble's fault

Only a year ago, money taken out of houses was still more than 9 percent of the nation’s disposable income, Mr. Zandi calculated, using a sampling of Equifax credit reports to supplement Fed data. By this fall, it had dropped to about 5 percent, a difference of about $350 billion a year.

Much of the attention in the recent collapse of the housing boom has focused on those in danger of losing their home or facing higher monthly payments in their adjustable mortgages. But the broader effect on the economy is likely to come from the much larger group of homeowners who can no longer count on rising home values to bolster their wealth.

-- "Homeowners Feel the Pinch of Lost Equity," NYT, Nov 8, 07

Some of that $350 billion is going to be missed around the holidays. In today's "Holiday Job Outlook Iffy," the Chicago Sun-Times reports that holiday sales are expected to rise a mere 4% over last year; this is below the 10-year average of 4.8% and a short drop from last year's 4.4% rise. It's still sales growth, but it's slowing growth, and it could represent more money being spent compared to more goods being purchased overall.

As for me ... expanding your consumer credit powers with your home's equity seems D-U-M, but what do I know? I am not imaginative enough to look around my house and say, "You ... yes, you will help me pay for Christmas presents."