We’re still 368 days away from the Iowa Caucus (Feb. 3, 2020), 532 days from the end of the Democratic National Convention (July 16, 2020), and a whopping 642 from Election Day (Nov. 3, 2020). It is understandable if you prefer to check out from the permanent campaign for at least a few more months.
The writer is establishing how far away the 2020 election to show why it's understandable we might not want to focus on it.
All of this can be described as only good news for an industry that has taken its share of lumps over the past decade
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he two in between? 'N Sync's Celebrity in August of 2001 (1,888,000) and Eminem's The Marshal Mathers LP in June of 2000 (1,760,000).
McGuire is using sales data to support his claims about the success of boy bands.
So it should be with open arms, then, that record executives and fans of popular music alike welcome the recent news that British boy band One Direction set a Billboard record when it became the first UK outfit to debut in the Top 200 with a No. 1 album… ever. Yes, ever. As in, not even the Beatles were able to accomplish such a feat.
Current relevance of the topic: a new boy band is at the top of the charts with a huge success.
It's simple math, really. The last time the music business had a legitimate reason to feel good about itself was a time when boy bands ruled the world and albums were flying off shelves quicker than you could say "bye, bye, bye".
Trying to make a logical case for the value of boy bands, but why do we care about the success of the overall music industry?
The more success that super-duper, bigger-than-life, mega pop acts can obtain, the easier the notoriously slumping music industry as a whole can breathe.
First step in getting readers who don't care about boy bands to care about their success--by tying their success to that of the overall music industry.
To add a sense of perspective, consider this: Of the best selling albums in 2011, only three cracked the one million mark, while no position lower than 23 on the list enjoyed sales of more than a half-million.
A third and final (for now?) paragraph establishing the commercial dominance of boy bands.
In fact, of the ten fastest-selling albums ever, eight were released between 1999 and 2002.
Another paragraph designed to make the financial case for boy bands' cultural impact.
Share using Facebook Share using Twitter Share using Pinterest Share using Tumblr Share using Email Close sharing options Show sharing options One Direction Up All Night Label: Syco / Columbia US Release Date: 2012-03-13 UK Release Date: 2011-11-21 Amazon iTunes During the week of 8 April 2000, 'N Sync sold 2,416,000 copies of No Strings Attached. According to Billboard, that was the only album to ever sell more than two million copies in the span of one week
McGuire is using this to establish the cultural weight of boy bands by showing how many records they have sold.
At the moment, it’s an excellent touchstone for students to use to begin deeper considerations of gender. Maybe someday we’ll look back and see it was also something more—a marker, perhaps, of a turning point in the way we think and talk about gender.
Good closing move to think about the specific value of this ad in the moment and what it might lead to.
As a high school English teacher, I loved teaching Lord of the Flies. At the time, I didn’t have the gender vocabulary that we have now, language that helps us discuss toxic masculinity and its repercussions
The Gillette ad can also help us consider the ways we teach the gendered aspects of more traditional literary texts in our classrooms.
Students may not know why the ad title begins with “We Believe.” You could introduce them to Tarana Burke and the #MeToo movement.
Good idea to help students understand the larger context for this ad.
Show the ads again and ask students to come to their answers based on race, as the Dove ad especially focuses on white female beauty.
Yes! It's important to consider the intersection of race and gender when we look at cultural texts.
The popularity of this ad mirrors responses to the 2004 Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.
The compare-contrast is a classic analytical approach, and particularly useful when we're thinking about gender norms in culture.
Though only a few words change in Gillette’s turn from its original slogan, “The Best a Man Can Get,” to its new slogan, “The Best Men Can Be,” the small differences give students an opportunity to consider how just a few words can radically change a message. Here are some questions you might ask:
Really smart suggestion: whether it's a writing class or a gender studies or media studies, class or something else, it's so important to be thoughtful about language usage.
Because the ad is so short and provocative, it can quickly become a classroom text for analysis
The first of various strategies for which teachers can use this ad in their classrooms: the analysis of an argument
While we cannot accept this statement uncritically and forget that the company is trying to sell a product, it’s worth noting that a company using their corporate responsibility to shift attitudes about masculinity is an important piece in the larger cultural puzzle of recognizing, addressing and ultimately ending toxic masculinity.
Again, a classic, "yes, but..." move to reinforce the surprising value of this ad for addressing toxic masculinity.
Any educator using this ad for a lesson should consider taking the next step and actually share Gillette’s statement about the ad, which says in part:
Useful context for readers from the company itself.
and how they affect everyone.
Reference to earlier, relevant piece from this site also written by Dr. Clemens.
A commercial like this one—which overtly calls out toxic masculinity and demands better from men
Links to the ad itself so that readers can see it for themselves.
The first time I watched the video, I teared up. It wasn’t because I thought all gendered violence would stop; it was because I felt like I was watching a sea change that took decades to arrive.
Invokes her personal feelings, invites us to understand why this matters to her.