Consuming Passions

"The collection's spice derives from Williamson's unusual approach to feminism. Every passage is full of surprises and most stand customary feminism on its head."--Psychology

With wit, charm and intelligence, Williamson explores the forces that channel our tastes and structure our lives: film, books, television, advertisements, photography, music, political movements and even the royal family.

Publishers Weekly

In our consumerist society, people's desire for progressive change is channeled into a need for new cars, hairstyles and stereos. Williamson, a British journalist and filmmaker, here discusses the ways our needs and impulses are modified by social structures they might otherwise threaten. She explains why buying and owning objects gives consumers a sense of control and shows how commercial images of family life hold out leisure as the arena where desires are fulfilled. The author ponders the abiding popularity of Britain's royal family, debunks the Cosmo girl's prudent wisdom, decodes Doris Day's good-girl image, criticizes the antinuclear movement's use of motherhood as an emotionally charged symbol and analyzes what dressing in drag reveals about women's relative powerlessness. Her reviews of Body Heat, Raging Bull, 10 and City of Women scan these films as reflections of male insecurities. A mixed bag of essays, articles and reviews. (March)