The Stuff of Family Life
Did you know that Sociologists show that your underwear drawer can reveal a lot about you? Makes you think about what condition your drawers are in doesn’t it?
In her latest book, The Stuff of Family Life, Michelle Janning discusses how the material objects of our lives and in our homes, will look like to an anthropologist of the future. What will they think about our collection of everyday household “things”? I promise you that you will NEVER look at your own things quite the same way again.
I just finished reading a pre-release copy of this new book and I have to tell you that I didn’t want to put it down. I actually was laughing out loud at several points because I could so relate to the changes in lifestyles when our children leave home and how we tend to hang on to some pretty strange things for far longer than any useful life that may have ever had in them.
If you are looking for a nice summer read, I recommend ordering this book now, so you will have it when it is released in May.
About the Book
Does putting your smartphone on the dinner table impact your relationships? How does where you place your TV in your home affect your family? The Stuff of Family Life takes readers inside the changing world of families through a unique examination of their stuff. From digital family photo albums to the growing popularity of “man caves,” author Michelle Janning looks at not only what large demographic studies say about family dynamics but also what our lives—and the stuff in them—say about how we relate to each other. The book takes readers through various phases of family life, including dating, marriage, parenting, divorce, and aging, while paying attention to how our choices about our spaces and objects impact our lives.
Janning has joked, “I’m not a social scientist who uses large national datasets to illustrate family life; I’m the social scientist who asks people to examine what’s in their underwear drawers to tell stories about their family life.”
From underwear drawers to calendars, The Stuff of Family Life offers an illuminating and entertaining look at the complexities of American families today.
About the Author
Michelle Janning is professor of sociology at Whitman College. As a board member of the Council on Contemporary Families, she specializes in family and gender studies and cultural sociology. Her work has been published in sources such as the Journal of Family Issues and the Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, and she has been quoted in media such as Women’s Health and Real Simple.
You can connect with Michelle Janning on Twitter, Facebook, and through Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
The Stuff of Family Life will be available soon and you can order it on Amazon in Kindle, Hardcover, and Digital formats.
Don’t have a Kindle? Grab one for yourself. They are so nice to use for reading. I love my Kindle Fire and my little one uses the e-Reader version (just for reading without the added games and internet options).
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