Matter Of Taste

515 words - 3 pages

Why do we like what we like? Why do our tastes change over time in the manner that they do? If you've ever wondered about these questions, you'll find Dr. Stanley Lieberson's book A Matter of Taste: How Names, Fashions, and Culture Change a fascinating work. Lieberson conducts an empirical study of children's names to examine these questions. Unlike many of our material aspects of fashion, no commercial efforts go into impacting name choice. Therefore, Lieberson observes, names provide a unique opportunity to study what drives tastes in the absence of commercial influences. His findings reveal insights about what drives our tastes that extend well beyond naming practices. Lieberson's absorbing work covers much ground. ...view middle of the document...

In additional analyses, Lieberson provides some interesting looks at issues such as the reasons behind the popularity, or lack of popularity, of certain Biblical names, the impact of the mass media on naming patterns, and the way sounds influence the popularity of names. He also examines how the symbolic contamination of names leads to previously popular names falling out of disfavor once they become associated with certain figures. Examples include the declining popularity of Donald after the appearance of Disney's Donald Duck and Ebenezer after publication of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. A variety of models of the fashion process, such as the collective behavior model, class imitation and aversion, and diffusion are addressed throughout the book. Lieberson develops a theory of fashion that incorporates two major influences on tastes: external social forces and the often-overlooked impact of our "internal taste mechanisms." These internal mechanisms work to generate fashion change even in the absence of social and cultural change. Lieberson's analyses also reveal that the processes of changing tastes do not operate haphazardly. Change is both regular and orderly. These conclusions are applied to a variety of examples including men's fedoras, the length of waists on women's garments, the use of nicknames by politicians and reporters, women's titles, and music. Some of the findings in A Matter of Taste are intriguing; some are fun; almost all are thought provoking. The wealth of information Lieberson brings together expands our understanding of fashion and paints a complex picture of changing tastes and popular culture. Readers interested in these areas will find much to ponder here.

More like Paper On Matter Of Taste

This Is About John Locke's Argument On How We Gain Perceptual Knowledge Of External Bodies

1056 words - 5 pages ... "uncompounded, without parts," and cannot be broken down any further, are simple ideas. Moreover, there are only two ways that a simple idea can find its way into a human mind: through sensation, or by reflection. In sensation the mind turns outward to the world and receives ideas through the faculties of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. In reflection the mind turns toward its own operations, receiving such as ideas as thinking, willing ...

Assignment On A Day In The Wilderness

1301 words - 6 pages ... sound. Soon the subtle, unique sounds individually began to come fourth. The moving brook as it was singing its lovely song. Its soft tune chants that there is not a reason to fear the wilderness because life will continue perpetuating no matter what happens in my life. A large thunderous crash scares everything around the mountain. A very large gust of wind caused the trees to become like the drums, tapping away at each other. They are the ...

Title: Cencorship In Libraries (A Persuasive Essay) Question: Should There Be Cencorship Of Any Kind In Public Libraries

778 words - 4 pages ... librarians or anyone who controls the library systems. One person should never be confined to materials that another one believes is appropriate.In our modern society, there is no place to confine readers to what one believes is suitable for younger readers. Since appropriateness is a matter of taste and taste cannot be legislated, what one believes is not suitable, another might believe is appropriate. For children and adolescence, appropriateness is a ...

Essay Comparing George And Terry's Father From Short Stories "dear America" And "stop The Sun" - Honors English I - Essay

559 words - 3 pages Free ... Natalie Du Bois 11/16/16 A Taste of the War - George and Terry’s Father Bullets go off, ​while​ “zooms” go over heads as bullets fly by. The rainy, humid, jungle of Vietnam ​forces​ sweat fall off scarred faces and drip onto the ever changing ground from dry to ​drenched​, being soaked with blood. The bullets fire and ​dramatically​ more screams can be heard. Then in a matter sixty quick seconds, everything goes silent, everything except the hot ...

The Rise And Fall Of Robert Louis Stevenson

1180 words - 5 pages ... Robert Louis Stevenson, like most authors, was both criticized and praised for his work. There were many people to review his work, before and after his death. No matter what people say, he is one of the most popular authors ever. A lot of the reviews I have read contain very interesting points. There are both things I agree and disagree with in the critical writings. The two novels I read while studying Stevenson's work were "Dr. Jekyll and Mr ...

Book Review Of The Time Machine By H.G. Wells

1394 words - 6 pages Free ... grey area, in the character of the Time Traveller is he and Elois or a Morlock or is the human a mixture between them both.They long for a taste of his blood just as he longs for the taste of theirs. His reference to them as being his descendants shows that he is well aware of the linkage between the Morlock and himself. Here I thought Wells to be drawing the line that separates the civil human being from the primitive. Wells believed that this ...

Frankenstein

752 words - 4 pages Free ... but took it a little too far to my taste. I did like how Shelley showed the monsters feelings. I think its wonderful that this was in the book and very important for people to realize what peoples emotions can lead to. I feel a lot of times people don't realize that people need some attention. If someone is abandoned, such as the monster, then it can lead to such things as murder or suicide. Even if the effects are not that dramatic severe ...

Science Review For Exam - Study Notes

2119 words - 9 pages ... . What is the general name of an organism that recycles matter in ecosystems and breaks down waste from living and dead things? e. Primary Producer f. Consumer g. Omnivore h. Decomposer 4. What is the term defined as "the FORCE that moves electric charges in a circuit?" a. Power b. Current c. Voltage d. Resistance 5. What is the Unit of Measurement of RESISTANCE? a. Amp b. Volt c. Watt d. Ohm 6. What is the ...

Philosophical Analysis Of "being John Malkovich" - MCC Philosophy 101 - Essay

808 words - 4 pages ... see, hear, feel, and taste everything that John Malkovich does. All of the external sensory information that his mind receives is also received by the viewer. But never at any time can the Viewer hear John Malkovich’s thoughts. What does this mean? I think that this means that two minds or souls can inhabit a vessel at once. One controls the body at a time as a dominant mind and the rest being submissive. But they never seem to consume each other ...

Persuading Someone With Confidence - West Hills/english-1a-l09 - Persuasive Essay

968 words - 4 pages ... saying, “You as a person does not matter, buy your people as a whole do”, which means one individual does not make a difference, you are only rather your race in general does make a difference. Hitler completed an extraordinary activity of influencing individuals to feel in prevalent, making an existence of dread for all was the best way to control a great many individuals. Aside from the evils of the world, one man, above them all did the ...

Hate

1058 words - 5 pages ... . Whenever you see, touch, taste, or smell the object that you feel hate towards, your stomach will begin to turn, and it will feel as if someone has placed it in a blender, and is trying to make a purée of your insides. Your body temperature will rise with the quickness of a cheetah, and will become so high, that you would probably be able to cook breakfast on your forehead. You would then start to shake uncontrollably with no indication ...

The Essay Is A Opinionated Essay That Takes About How One Man Can Co - Anderson CVI - Essay

880 words - 4 pages Free ... do what he wants. For example, the time when his mother was not home and he took a large wedge out of a cake that his mother made for a church. That, of course, got her mad, but he still manipulates the situation with his charm and poetic words to get the pressure off of him by saying “My mother, my queen!” (3) or saying “How could someone with any taste buds at all ignore the creation of so great a cook? ”(3). He praises her while giving her ...

The Taming Of The Shrew - Play Within A Play - Baruch College / English - Essay

855 words - 4 pages ... Cherry on top of the cake It doesn’t really matter what genre author is going to present to audience, what really matters is setting up a proper mood for the reader. It might be some critical final moment or some totally out of context situation – in both cases intro atmosphere is what can create or demolish further experience in any reading, this is what makes a story believable. Shakespeare was aware of this trick and perfectly used induction ...

The Fall Of Okonkwo

1218 words - 5 pages ... Okonkwo know, Ikemefuna was destined for death, ironically by his hand. Here Okonkwo actually has a bond, only to have it severed by himself. The killing of Ikemefuna pushes Okonkwo even deeper into the isolated hole inside of him. Because of Ikemefuna's death, Okonkwo's ability to open up and bond became somewhat more impaired than it originally is. It seems as though Okonkwo is deeply affected, "Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the ...

A Matter Of Perception: Treasure Island Is Good Or Bad

1095 words - 5 pages ... Criticism, Vol. 5, pp.394). None of the critics today cantell you if Treasure Island is a good book or not. It is a matter of perception to see it as agood or bad book. Like the saying is, "You can't argue taste."Works CitedBarterian, Gerald R., Evans, Denis Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism Vol. 63.Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1984. This source has a brief ananysis ofTreasure Island's literary excellence.Harris, Laurie Lanzen, Fitzgerald ...