Journal Article Analysis

The article I chose from the Journal of Popular Culture is a book review of the book An Intimate Affair: Women, Lingerie, and Sexuality. By, Jill Fields. The article was written by Eden Leone. The article gave some insight to what the book discussed, what Eden Leone though were strengths and weakness, and her opinion about who would get the most out of the book.
In my opinion this book review is focused towards two types of audience. The first type would be those in the fashion industry looking for information on good sources to research the types of lingerie and its history, hopefully to assist them in creating tomorrow’s new popular cultural symbol. The other type of audience the book is written for is the student who wants to explore history and learn how something as intimate as underwear has had an impact on women by how they perceive their being, how society recognizes them, and how lingerie is in fact a popular cultural item which has evolved throughout the ages along with the culture.
The first part of the article gives a quick overview of the book and a snap shot of what each chapter offers. There are seven chapters and each one covers a distinctly different aspect of the evolution of women’s underwear. The second part of the review offers the writers opinion of the strengths and weakness of the book. The final part of the review the writer offers who she feels would best benefit from reading the book.
The article starts out very strong and immediately grabbed my attention. I assumed that it would discuss the different styles of lingerie and the influence lingerie has had on today’s woman. While the report was structured very well, and logically written; however, I found that the review quickly morphed into an evaluation that did little to give one insight to what the book is about. If the author gave each chapter a paragraph summary instead of a sentence or two, I believe that the she would have made a much better argument for who the book is intended for as well as her opinion’s to the strengths and weaknesses of the book.
When I pick up a book review, I do not want to read the book, yet. I am reading this to find out what I can expect to find in it. In my opinion a book review is there to save me the time of reading the book and to assist me in finding what chapter I need to look at for the information I am searching for. A well written book review would give me a well defined picture of what I will find in the book, not a sentence summarizing the key point of each chapter or subject followed by the opinion of the writer which is not grounded anywhere in the review. If the review is accurate and grounded to the book, that will persuade me to read the book, or skip it; not the authors opinion.
The author recommends this book to “anyone with an interest in feminism, American Culture and history.” (Leone, 2009). I looked up the definition of feminism and according to the online dictionary at www.ask.com the definition is anyone who believes in equality of the sexes or any organized movement around this belief (Feminism, 2005). While I can understand why someone interested in feminism would appreciate this book, I do believe that the author should have given some specifics. According to Leone, chapter one titled “Drawers” is about the pants and power debate. A few more sentences about this chapter could incite the interest of anyone interested in women’s rights and equality.
As far as stating that anyone interested in American Culture and history would enjoy this book, I had never thought of lingerie as a culture icon, but now I do see how it is, and my curiosity has been piqued. It would be all the more so, if I had a summary of each paragraph in the book.
Overall the review was written well. I read through it very quickly and on my second and third reads was able to pick out only minor things I had missed on the first read. The flow was logical and my only complaint is the unfounded opinion of the writer. If the writers goal was to make you want to get more information, and thus read the book, she succeeded. If her goal was to educate you to the contents of the book with enough information to determine whether or not you would enjoy the book, she failed.
I walked away from the article the first time and the point that stayed with me was that women’s lingerie is a cultural icon. Each time I reviewed and reread the article, this point stayed with me and evolved into a more concrete thought. I have always thought of lingerie as a secret between a woman and her husband or lover. I never really thought of how the different styles are driven by our culture and the fashion business. As our popular culture has changed over the course of our Countries growth, so has woman’s lingerie evolved and portrayed what our society deems acceptable.
 
References
Feminism. (2005) The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Houghton Mifflin Company. Retrieved on 31 January 2010 from http://www.ask.com/web?q=dictionary%3A+feminism&content=ahdict|26189&o=13919&l=dis
Leone, E. (2009) An Intimate Affair: Women, Lingerie, and Sexuality. The Journal of Popular Culture, 42(4), 792-794.