Sunday, December 02, 2007
Here's another perspective related to my main theme the sensual/sexual nature of flip flops and the like in the current issue of New York magazine.
I think the very last paragraph speaks to what I'm working with. We love the flip flop way beyond what would seem reasonable, for instance, because maybe a lot of us find we're getting something from that flip flop experience that is hard to come by otherwise. We also want things fast and now and the flip flop is definitely instant gratification, isn't it? Cellphone + iPod + flip flops = happiness.
New York magazine, Dec 3, 2007 issue:
And yet there is also Hochschild’s question: Is something missing in our lives that we’re trying to replace with spa services? Kim and I talk again about why her clients want these treatments—why so many more, right now. “These days, people don’t have family, that’s the problem,” says Kim. “Because at least before, even though they don’t get married, they have their intimate partner, or they live with brothers or sisters, they always have company. These days, they travel a lot. Every family member is living so far away. And when they go home, they do their computer, they watch TV, then they go to sleep; that’s it. You don’t have your sister to say, I do your nails, I braid your hair—even with your family, you’re not really keeping company; people are so individualized.” She smiles and gazes out onto 72nd Street. “How many people do they have to do the braiding of their hair?”
Labels: a really bad foot fetish in a good way, blogs, feet, flip flops, foot fetishes, New York, sex, social commentary, society, spas, trends
