Branded, Alissa Quart

I picked up this book for $1!! - Unbelievable! It was recommended by a culture writer in YouthWorker journal and it was definately worth the read. The author came off a bit presumptious at times - working with the basic presumption that kids selling their souls to A&F is a bad thing, which I agree to, but many don't agree. Overall, an excellent survey of american teenage consumerism - with a superbly fantastic acknowledgment and assessment of their parents roles and influences.

Here's what she had to say:

"I was entering the world of the self-loathing, branded adolescent."

"US teens spent $155 billion in 'discretionary income' in 2000 alone..."

"The success of free software movements, including Linux and music sharing sites such as Napster, reveals a subversive, communal impulse, as do various Do It Yourself scenes in which teens attempt to make their ovwn cheap or free entertainments to entertain one another."

"...these names [brands] now define teen identities."

"...those under twenty-five are now the fastest-growing group filing for bankruptcy."

"Fantasy Credit Cards...mock passports from the country of the branded."

"Raised i nthe era of confessional literature [james: just look at most myjournals or xangas], having seen how secrets can be traded for celebrity, teenagers are selling their own experiences before they know they have a story that should be protected as their own or a self that has yet cohered."

"antitrend"

"The thousandes of kids...feel on some level that the world has always thought of them as a demographic for Pokeman or Nike on one hand, and as hooligans who need to be made to walk in straight lines on the other."

-Alissa Quart