Skate Life: Re-Imagining White Masculinity by Emily Chivers Yochim
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/A7J;(?<; technologies of the imagination new media in everyday life Ellen Seiter and Mimi Ito, Series Editors This book series showcases the best ethnographic research today on engagement with digital and convergent media. Taking up in-depth portraits of different aspects of living and growing up in a media-saturated era, the series takes an innovative approach to the genre of the ethnographic monograph. Through detailed case studies, the books explore practices at the forefront of media change through vivid description analyzed in relation to social, cultural, and historical context. New media practice is embedded in the routines, rituals, and institutions—both public and domestic—of everyday life. The books portray both average and exceptional practices but all grounded in a descriptive frame that ren- ders even exotic practices understandable. Rather than taking media content or technol- ogy as determining, the books focus on the productive dimensions of everyday media practice, particularly of children and youth. The emphasis is on how specific communities make meanings in their engagement with convergent media in the context of everyday life, focusing on how media is a site of agency rather than passivity. This ethnographic approach means that the subject matter is accessible and engaging for a curious layperson, as well as providing rich empirical material for an interdisciplinary scholarly community examining new media. Ellen Seiter is Professor of Critical Studies and Stephen K. Nenno Chair in Television Studies, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California. Her many publi- cations include The Internet Playground: Children’s Access, Entertainment, and Mis- Education; Television and New Media Audiences; and Sold Separately: Children and Parents in Consumer Culture. Mimi Ito is Research Scientist, Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine, and Visiting Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Media and Governance of Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan. She has published widely on new media and youth and led a recently completed three-year project, Kids’ Informal Learning with Digital Media, an ethnographic study of digital youth funded by the MacArthur Foundation. TITLES IN THE SERIES Skate Life: Re-Imagining White Masculinity by Emily Chivers Yochim AFDFQ>I@RIQROB?LLHPis a collaborative imprint of the University of Michigan Press and the University of Michigan Library dedicated to publishing innovative and accessible work exploring new media and their impact on society, culture, and scholarly communication. /A7J;(?<; Re-Imagining White Masculinity Emily Chivers Yochim THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LIBRARY ANN ARBOR Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2010 Some rights reserved This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial- No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press and The University of Michigan Library Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-free paper 2013 2012 2011 2010 4 3 2 1 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Yochim, Emily Chivers Skate life : re-imagining white masculinity / by Emily Chivers Yochim. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-472-07080-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-472-05080-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Skateboarding—Social aspects. 2. Masculinity in sports. 3. Men, White—United States—Attitudes. I. Title. GV859.8.Y64 2009 796.22—dc22 2009033066 ISBN13 978-0-472-02660-9 (electronic) To my boys, my loves Christopher Yochim and Elliot Colin Yochim And in loving memory of Colin Matthew Chivers (1982–2004) Acknowledgments Skate Life has been accompanied by and ushered through great joys and great sorrows, and I have many friends, colleagues, mentors, and family members to thank for seeing it and me through. The words throughout this book are punctuated by many lives, and it is my hope that the following paragraphs can convey my deep appreciation for their contributions. In the course of writing, I have developed friendships and professional relationships with many thoughtful, passionate, and smart people. It was an honor and a pleasure to work with Susan Douglas, whose Where the Girls Are suggested to my undergraduate self that academic work could be both smart and a delight to read. As my graduate cochair, Susan provided sage and pragmatic writing advice, modeled dedicated and energetic engagement in academe, and offered clear and sharp comments that always shepherded my thinking. Bambi Haggins, from my first steps into graduate school, dem- onstrated dedication, love, and creativity, which allowed me to write with confidence and joy. Bambi’s rigorous commitment to the significance of pop culture, her venerable writing and editing, and her nuanced understanding of theory and practice have made my work more dynamic and complex. I’ll never forget sketching out my first-year research project with her and hear- ing her exclaim, “This is a book!” Derek Vaillant’s keen enthusiasm for theo- retical debate and discussion and his willingness to work through the multi- ple layers of theory that accompany interdisciplinarity have both challenged and inspired me. Robin Means Coleman’s lively and sagacious approach to WJJJ t ACKNOWLEDGMENTS research is a consummate model, and her pointed and supportive critiques brought new energy to this project and made my work more rigorous. My new colleagues in the Communication Arts Department at Alle gheny College have been enormously welcoming and kind. As the department chair, Dan Crozier wisely guided me through the first year of teaching, and he carefully advised me as I worked to finish the book, teach my students, and maintain my sanity. It has been a great pleasure to work with and get to know Courtney Bailey, River Branch, Mark Cosdon, Meg Coyle, Mike Keeley, Michael Mehler, Vesta Silva, Ishita Sinha Roy, Jim Strickler, Beth Watkins, and Jon Wiebel. Jan Mailliard was both helpful and generous as we both worked our way through new jobs. It is truly a joy to work in this depart- ment, and I thank these individuals for that. Many thanks to the folks at the University of Michigan Press who have brought this project to life. Alison Mackeen, Tom Dwyer, and Alexa Ducsay have been wonderful and have adeptly guided me through the process of publishing. As reviewers, Ellen Seiter and Joellen Fisherkeller both boosted my confidence and asked meaningful questions that added to this book. The anonymous third reviewer provided me with a great list of academic accounts of extreme sports and asked important theoretical questions that moved my analysis along. I’ve also been granted a great deal of institutional support that gave me the time necessary to complete this ethnographic, historical, and textual analysis. The University of Michigan’s Rackham Regents Fellowship and Rackham One-Term Dissertation Writing Fellowship each provided time off from teaching so that I could focus on research and writing. I was also fully supported by the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan, which provided a Winthrop Chamberlain Research Award and a Dissertation Research Award. I am grateful to the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan for the opportunity to be a part of its Community of Scholars program, which provided me both the funding and the community necessary to usher this project along. My friends and colleagues Megan Biddinger, Sarah Crymble, Kamille Gentles, and Debra Burns Melican brought their vastly impressive brains to my work, reading countless drafts, listening to too many presentations, and talking through theoretical quandaries that reminded me how exciting research can be. 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