A footnote to the class issue in the media's depiction of Kerrigan and Harding: my understanding is that Kerrigan herself comes from (or at least her parents currently live in) a "working class" neighborhood. However, given that the media have been bandying the term "trailer trash" to describe Harding, Kerrigan -- by contrast -- is imputed stereotypical attributes of the upper middle class. ------------------------------TEXT-OF-YOUR-MAIL-------------------------------- > Department of English, University of Louisville > Phone: (502)852-6770 or (502)852-6801. Fax: (502)852-4182. > On the Olympics and class: I agree w/ Potter Palmer, but I have two > supplements: 1) the class lines were also drawn along body type and skating > style, w/ Harding as the "athletic" but "ungraceful" one and Kerrigan as the > more ideally "feminine." It was convenient for this narrative that Kerrigan > was thinner. But then 2) here in KY, at least, there was a backlash--the > public began to favor Harding as someone who "worked for what she got" and who > was, in effect, a "self-made woman," rather than a child of privilege. Just at > the moment that it seemed the Kerrigan image was backfiring, I began to hear > about her playing hockey with her brothers, and I heard at least one report > mentioning that she was the daughter of a welder. Interesting how fast images > can be reshaped, or at least revised, in a postmodern context. I guess this > has to do w/ the fact that both women are, in media, simulacra anyway. > > bitnet tbbyer01@ulkyvm; internet [log in to unmask] > Thomas B. Byers > Department of English/University of Louisville > Louisville KY 40292