{"product_id":"you-play-the-girl-on-playboy-bunnies-stepford-wives-train-wrecks-other-mixed-messages-9780544648944","title":"You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, \u0026 Other Mixed Messages","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eWINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR CRITICISM. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this smart, funny, impassioned call to arms, a pop culture critic merges memoir and commentary to explore how our culture shapes ideas about who women are, what they are meant to be, and where they belong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs a kid in the 1970s and '80s, Carina Chocano was confused by the mixed messages all around her: messages that told her who she could be--and who she couldn't. She grappled with sexed-up sidekicks, princesses waiting to be saved, and morally infallible angels who seemed to have no opinions of their own. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChocano learned that \"the girl\" is not a person, but a man's idea of what a woman should be--she's whatever the hero needs her to be in order to become himself. Drawing from her years as a movie critic, Chocano unveils how stories in popular culture too often limits girls' lives and shapes their destinies. She resolved to rewrite her own story. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eYou Play the Girl\u003c\/em\u003e, Chocano blends formative personal stories with insightful and emotionally powerful analysis. Moving from Bugs Bunny to Playboy Bunnies, from \u003cem\u003eFlashdance\u003c\/em\u003e to \u003cem\u003eFrozen\u003c\/em\u003e, from the progressive '70s through the backlash '80s, the glib '90s, and the pornified aughts--and at stops in between--she explains how growing up in the shadow of \"the girl\" taught her to think about herself and the world and what it means to raise a daughter in the face of these contorted reflections. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the tradition of Roxane Gay, Rebecca Solnit, and Susan Sontag, Chocano brilliantly shows that our identities are more fluid than we think, and certainly more complex than anything we see on any kind of screen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"If Hollywood's treatment of women leaves you wanting, you'll find good, heady company in \u003cem\u003eYou Play the Girl\u003c\/em\u003e.\"--\u003cem\u003eElle\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCARINA CHOCANO is a frequent contributor to\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003ethe \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eElle, \u003c\/i\u003e and her writing has appeared in \u003ci\u003eVulture, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eRolling Stone, \u003c\/i\u003e and elsewhere. A former staff film and TV critic at the\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times, \u003c\/i\u003e she has also worked as a TV and book critic at \u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e and a staff writer at \u003ci\u003eSalon.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Mariner Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50491807891730,"sku":"9780544648944","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_fc35e28c-648b-4fb3-a466-82e62f1241c6.jpg?v=1730556932","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/you-play-the-girl-on-playboy-bunnies-stepford-wives-train-wrecks-other-mixed-messages-9780544648944","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}