Check out the “Barbie Girls” website flagged in the 7/23/07 New York Times piece about integrating MP3 players into toys. I’d love to hear critiques from a CST perspective. Beyond the obvious concerns about unabashed consumerism (my favorite feature is shopping for accessories for your pet), I was fascinated by the cultural implications of some of the mechanics as revealed in “tips for girls” and the message to parents.
“When you register, you create a screen name to use on the site. Because anybody in the Barbie GirlsTM world can see your screen name, you don’t wanna include your real name . . . Instead, make up something new and creative!” What are the cultural implications of play through screen names? Although there are obvious safety benefits, in this world of “fun, friends and fashion,” you are never yourself.
“If a girl feels that a friend or best friend is misbehaving, she can click “block” to keep that person from sending her messages. And she can instantly remove anyone from her room by clicking “ask to leave.” Here too, there are important safety concerns, but at the same time, how do instant “block” and “ask to leave” buttons change how they perceive relationships and friendships?
“We want you to make new friends, but we also want you to be extra careful about who you add as a friend, especially if you have never played with her before, in the real world, or online.” While there are tight limitations on random chat in the mall, “best friends” can chat more freely because they have actually met in real life. The definition of a “best friend?”: “To make one of your best friends in real life a best friend online, you both need to own a Barbie GirlTM. Connect your friend’s Barbie GirlTM to your computer and follow the on-screen instructions.” What does this say about what it means to make and be a “best friend”?
The moral dimensions of the “tips for girls” are fascinating. On one hand, there’s a constructive “golden rule” kind of message. “Always be nice to others! BarbieGirls.comSM is for everyone to enjoy, and that means treating others the way you wanna be treated.” “Don’t say anything mean, rude, violent, or untrue about anything or anyone. Also, don’t encourage your friends to say any bad stuff.”
But I’m not sure about the tendency to rely on 7-year olds to intuit when something is wrong, and act on that intuition: “It is always your responsibility to stop chatting or playing with anyone that makes you feel uncomfortable or that is misbehaving.” “We sometimes review chatting to make sure people are being friendly and safe and are following the rules. But because we don’t constantly monitor the site, you should “report” users to us who are misbehaving.” “You should also make sure that the other girls you play with or chat with follow the rules too.” What does this say about authority – and perceptions of autonomy – in kids who are still pretty little?
Would love to hear your thoughts – especially those of you who as parents struggle with the implications of these kind of media. I’m going to use the site as a springboard for a conversation next week with Focolare teenagers, who are part of their summer program are exploring how Catholic spirituality can sustain them in their everyday engagement with popular culture – I’ll keep you posted on their reactions and insights.
Amy
Folks who are following immigration debates might be interested to know that papers from Fordham’s 2005 conference, Strangers No Longer: Immigration Law & Policy in the Light of Religious Values, are now available on line in PDF Format through the University of Detroit-Mercy Law Review website as part of their special volume on law and religion.
Contributions include Michael Scaperlanda’s keynote, Immigration and Evil: The Religious Challenge, and a response by Stephen Legomsky.
Michele Pistone’s (Villanova) contribution has evolved into a book: Stepping Out of the Brain Drain: Applying Catholic Social Teaching in a New Era of Migration (Lexington Books 2007).
Here’s a nice plug for the book by Don Kerwin of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network: "This is a ground-breaking book and should be read by everybody who cares about the interplay between migration and development. Pistone and Hoeffner detail the contributions that skilled workers make to economic development and poverty reduction in their nations of origin. In an era characterized by globalization, they see the mobility of skilled migrants as a 'gain' for both sending and receiving nations, a gain that very directly addresses the root causes of migration."
Amy
Monday, June 4, 2007
The recently announced 2007 Catholic Press Awards includes a first place award for "Is Conscience King?," an essay I put together in part informed by our MOJ conversations about conscience and public policy. I’d like to plug not so much the essay as the magazine. It can probably be said generally that the Catholic press is a real labor of love, and the Focolare’s monthly magazine Living City is no exception. Among the editorial staff, there is a genuine effort to live the spirituality of unity—which means listening to each other and welcoming the variety of perspectives which inevitably emerge as we comment on the issues of our times. On the basis of this openness and love for each other, the hope is to demonstrate an approach to journalism which appreciates the seeds of a more peaceful, just, and united world. I believe it is one of those lesser-known corners of the Church where the left-right polarization, and so many other divisions, are finding quiet but profound healing.... kind of like Eduardo’s recent description of Mirror of Justice.
Amy
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Tom, a couple of thoughts on your questions about being “hard-wired” for altruism:
It seems like the reductive read on this research – in which morality and immorality boil down to brain chemistry – is its own distinctive problem that has taken numerous forms – as with the “evolution vs. religion” debate, or the “tension” between faith and science, we need to identify that the problem here is, as theologian John Haught put it, an insistence that science “tells the whole story.” If we can get beyond that insistence, then it doesn’t strike me as strange that there might be some inner harmony between our biological / chemical make up, and the core spiritual and psychological dimensions of human nature.
Re theological resources for dispelling the worries, Trinitarian theology might also be a helpful place to look for an explanation – eg, here’s the beginning of a fascinating section in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church which I think gives a pretty good explanation of why we might be happy when we live for others.
a. Trinitarian love, the origin and goal of the human person
34. The revelation in Christ of the mystery of God as Trinitarian love is at the same time the revelation of the vocation of the human person to love. This revelation sheds light on every aspect of the personal dignity and freedom of men and women, and on the depths of their social nature. “Being a person in the image and likeness of God ... involves existing in a relationship, in relation to the other ‘I'”[36], because God himself, one and triune, is the communion of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
In the communion of love that is God, and in which the Three Divine Persons mutually love one another and are the One God, the human person is called to discover the origin and goal of his existence and of history. The Council Fathers, in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, teach that “the Lord Jesus Christ, when praying to the Father ‘that they may all be one ... as we are one' (Jn 17:21-22), has opened up new horizons closed to human reason by implying that there is a certain parallel between the union existing among the divine Persons and the union of the children of God in truth and love. It follows, then, that if man is the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake, man can fully discover his true self only in a sincere giving of himself (cf. Lk 17:33)”[37].
35. Christian revelation shines a new light on the identity, the vocation and the ultimate destiny of the human person and the human race. Every person is created by God, loved and saved in Jesus Christ, and fulfils himself by creating a network of multiple relationships of love, justice and solidarity with other persons while he goes about his various activities in the world. Human activity, when it aims at promoting the integral dignity and vocation of the person, the quality of living conditions and the meeting in solidarity of peoples and nations, is in accordance with the plan of God, who does not fail to show his love and providence to his children.
A few years ago I did a brief piece which touched on some of these questions after attending a Metanexus conference on the faith-science dialogue. The argument is not well-developed in the piece, but there are interesting resources in the footnotes. (Can True Altriusm Ever Exist, on p.17 of the PDF linked here).
Amy
Richard's analysis on the complexity of a "pro-life" position makes a lot of sense to me - because it grapples seriously with some of the very hard pratical questions. I am attracted to this line: "Nevertheless, we think that, at least for now, the best way to eliminate abortion is not to threaten women but to empower them, not to reduce their choices but to increase them" - but I am also struggling with some of its implications.
I agree that we need to empower women and increase their choices, but am also concerned that a woman's own definition of freedom, choice and power is often permeated and shaped by crushing cultural pressures that make it difficult to be open to life. Should / can the law play any role in shaping or turning around those cultural pressures? Perhaps it comes down to that really hard question, of whether we see law as a teacher of virtue, setting out an ideal; or as a tool for prudently managing and controlling socially destructive or bad behavior.
A comparative analysis also strikes me as very helpful. (Others who are deeper into the scholarship can guide me, I know that Mary Ann Glendon's Abortion and Divorce in Western Law is a good place to start). Perhaps comparative work might also shed some light on these hard questions about the nature of law.
Amy
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Thanks, Tom, for flagging that really thoughtful piece by Richard Mouw on praying to the saints.
I just got back from a May crowning which happened to conclude the noon mass at the parish next door, and the Mouw piece got me thinking, why is it that I love the litanies of Mary and the saints? Perhaps part of the reason is their tremendous breadth, which speak to the variety of circumstances that I encounter in my own life and work – the same person is both “tower of ivory” and “refuge of sinners…” both “most powerful” and “most merciful,” both “house of gold” and “help of Christians…” and of course, “mirror of justice.” Yes, it’s as Mouw put it, “a conversation with another Christian”, but also contemplation of an amazing example of what it means to live out the message of Jesus. Reciting the litany of the saints you can’t help but be taken into the sweep of the whole of church history, and God’s concrete intervention through an incredible variety of gifts of the spirit….
I know we don’t post too much poetry here, but this is something that I wrote a few weeks ago that might capture something of this dynamic.
WAKING UP
Waking up cold
In the middle of the night
The blanket’s right there
It’s enough to pull it up
Or let myself be covered
By a gentle neighbor's touch
Mary in my life.
Waking up to the cold in the middle
Of the other’s night
The blanket’s right there
It’s enough to stretch
To extend its warm cover
Mary in our life.
Awake, to the cold
In the middle of the night
Huddled together to be warmth
The blanket’s right there
Mary for the world.
Amy
