Week 4 reading response

The New Yorker has over the years provided an insight into the psyches and personalities of all New Yorkers. In these selected panels the interpersonal dynamics between men and women are displayed, often with humorous in mind.  Most of the selections focus on the cultural mantra that men and women have fundamental communication differences which manifests itself as “two languages” the male and female language. All of the comics except for the “Men are from Belgium women are from New Brunswick” and the “Look, all I’m saying is…” panels reinforce this idea. Most of the comics depict these interpersonal communication problems between spouses. This is a typical dynamic but it only shows one aspect of male/female interaction. This idea is selected because it’s so ubiquitous and familiar to most people. It’s unfortunate that they don’t expand this dynamic a bit more to show different types of interactions in this segment, but the authors focus is kept intact by limiting the extent of the material. In both panels, “Men are from Belgium…” and “And do you, Deborah Tannen, think they…” an amount of intertextuality is required to properly appreciate their message. “Men are from Belgium” is a parody of the popular male/female self help book entitiled, “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus” and Deborah Tannen is a famous writer on linguistics and interpersonal communication. These inferences are not crucial to understand the basic message of the panel but their context helps to orient the reader and add a sense of familiarity to the scene. This is indicative of the typical reader of the New Yorker who is generally an urbanite, with a typical family structure.  

America may be one of the largest importers in the world, but in some ways America is in fact one of the greatest exporters of all time. While the United States exports goods and technology their main export over the last 50 years has been one of culture. American culture is the most prevalent culture in the world, from its cooperate logos to its way of life the prosperity of our nation has been transformed into a symbol of both consumerism and democracy. While the ideals that Americans hold steadfast like democracy may not translate over into other cultures products and consumerism flows to all reaches of the world, even to countries seen as closed off from the influence of capitalism such as China indulge into the consumerist trance like the rest of the earth. While this can be seen as good or bad depending on one’s political views it’s still undeniable that America’s influence is absolute in the area of consumerism. It’s unlikely that the entire world supports this move of “westernization” or “Americanifcation” if you will. With every great movement there is always a degree of backlash or resentment. Especially in countries like China where the United States has been vilified by the government for many years, this sudden policy change is most likely watched over very carefully by the ruling administration. With all analysis of geopolitical issues pictures may tell a thousand words but it’s the words of the people living in these developing countries that will tell the final tale on whether these actions are truly supported by the local people.