1070 Book Reviews

professions as of 2007 were still being paid less and receiving promo-
tions less frequently than men in similar positions.
Mason began her career as a lawyer, had a son, and then she and her
husband divorced. She could not manage the long hours of her law career
so she gave it up; for nearly a decade, she worked in what she calls the
‘‘second tier’’ as a nontenure track administrator at a small college. She
remarried, had her daughter Eve, and at forty-four ‘‘was given a second
chance’’ (xv): an entry-level, tenure-track faculty position at Berkeley.
In order for women to balance family and career more effectively
today, Mason and Ekman call for ‘‘transformative solutions’’ (109) that
need to take place in the work environments of fast-track careers. They
propose, for example, that employers create more flexibility for women
at the front end of their careers so that they have more options should
they want children and that employers help women return to work after
a short or long hiatus. Establishing paid family leaves is most impor-
tant, Mason asserts, and fathers should be encouraged as well as women
to take leaves without career jeopardy. Mason also rallies for greater
stability and opportunity at the second tier, such that, for example,
part-time instructors are given job security, benefits, and better pay.
Mason and Ekman conclude the book with their own ‘‘personal
strategies for success’’ (115), which, while they probably merit repeat-
ing, seem a bit commonsensical. These include keeping a foot in the
door if a woman takes time off to raise a child, choosing a good partner,
and finding a mentor. Even more, Mason advocates that senior women
become ‘‘cheerleaders’’ for the next generation so that there is an ‘‘old
girls network’’ to match the advantage that ‘‘old boys’’ give to young
men (119). Not a bad suggestion—but this reader would have pre-
ferred a synonym for ‘‘cheerleader.’’

Elif Armbruster
Suffolk University

Girls Gone Skank: The Sexualization of Girls in American Culture.

Patrice A. Oppliger. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008.

With the perspective gained through decades of experience,

many second-wave US feminists are (perhaps rightfully) ambivalent
Book Reviews 1071

regarding women’s gains in regard to freedom from traditional sexual

mores. They issue sharp rebukes to millennial women, warning them
that self-exploitation is not the same thing as feminist empower-
ment. Yet older women are not the only ones who perceive an increase
in media sexualization of adolescent and preadolescent girls, a topic
explored in Girls Gone Skank. This book raises key questions sur-
rounding feminism and girls’ emerging sexualities, even with its
defects.
Patrice Oppliger, a communications professor at Boston University,
surveys images of women across topics including fashion, sports, and
pornography. Each topic is rich with representations of preadolescent
female sexuality, and all have been analyzed thoroughly by other
scholars. While trying to prove a larger point by juxtaposing examples
across media, Oppliger sometimes overlooks contradictory cultural in-
formation. For example, she vividly describes the rise in the late 1990s
of ‘‘skank chic,’’ the wearing of low-cut jeans and thong underwear.
However, she omits the parallel historical popularity and availability of
skater fashions, which with oversized jeans and t-shirts did more to
disguise than to sexualize the female preadolescent form. This omission
invalidates her claim that ‘‘There is little variation from store to store.
Girls are being sold one look’’ (20).
In general, a fair representation of each topic would note the com-
plex potential identities available to young girls, rather than baldly
stating, ‘‘Young girls have a dismal crop of role models in popular
culture’’ (220). Each chapter provides anecdotal evidence in support of
the author’s contentions, but Oppliger rarely includes quantitative
analysis and largely ignores or rejects dissenting media scholars.
Oppliger’s survey ranges from six-year-old child pageant stars to
professional strippers. Her inclusion of adult media in a book about
‘‘girls’’ raises questions about women’s agency in their own perfor-
mances of sexuality. Throughout this book, she claims such perfor-
mances, from sorority initiations to lesbian pornography, are performed
solely for the pleasure of males. Oppliger fails to consider seriously that
male pleasure in itself does not eliminate the possibility of female
pleasure and empowerment, dismissing interviewees’ and scholars’
claims to the contrary. This book also lacks adequate research on female
consumers of sex, unfortunately perpetuating heterosexist and male-
centered stereotypes. For example, the only ‘‘female customers’’ at strip
clubs she considers are women who attend with male dates. Meaningful
1072 Book Reviews

critique of sex work as related to young women’s sexual orientation and

sexual exploration remains to be done.
In the chapter ‘‘Empowerment or Exploitation?’’ the author directly
addresses the question of women’s sexual agency. Instead of grounding
her critique in feminist theory, though, she offers personal opinion and
anecdotal evidence. Her analysis of modern parenting in the conclusion
is similarly shallow, and depends on sweeping generalizations. This
project would benefit from the use of theoretical sources and socio-
logical data from outside the media under critique.
Although Oppliger’s approach is flawed, critical questions sur-
rounding power structures and female sexualities emerge after a close
reading of Girls Gone Skank. Should young girls be free to display their
bodies safely, in whatever fashion they wish? Who is responsible for
monitoring and controlling sexual desires thus aroused? Who has
the power to affect adolescent girls’ media consumption patterns and
influence their evaluation of potential role models? Who decides
whether a female sex worker is empowered or self-exploitative? If a
scholar disqualifies female sex workers from evaluating their own
labor, how can she lay claim to a feminist research framework? This
book is sure to provoke controversy and discussion in media and gender
studies classrooms, and will inspire future researchers to investigate her
claims.

Heather A. Beasley
University of Colorado, Boulder

My Life and Battles: By Jack Johnson. Jack Johnson and Christopher

Rivers. Ed. and trans. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2007.

Long before Muhammad Ali ruffled the feathers of many white

Americans, the career of Jack Johnson (1878 – 1946) witnessed a fire-
storm of racial controversy. In 1909, Johnson became the first African
American heavyweight boxing champion and, the following year, de-
feated Jim Jefferies (1875 – 1953), a popular former champion who had
come out of retirement to return the title to white hands. Johnson was
a defiant figure who loved fast cars, married white women, and rid-
iculed his racist white opponents.